REGION — How to update the language outlining the district’s dress code was considered by the Wachusett Regional School District Committee at its regular meeting in August. District Superintendent James Reilly led a presentation on the proposed language, developed by Deputy Superintendent Jane Day working with school principals and district legal counsel.

STERLING — The Sterling fire department is taking a page from pandemic modifications and is now offering its home and fire safety program to homeschool elementary students. “In these changing times, we recognize that the number of children being homeschooled has increased recently,” said Sterling firefighter Fil Santos, the in-house coordinator of the Student Awareness of Fire Education (S.A.F.E) program.

Ken Cleveland HOLDEN — It has been a quarter century or so since the “new” Holden Farmers Market started, providing a later shopping option for those who wanted to shop for fresh produce and local goods after work. There is a long history of having a farmers market in town, according to one vendor who was herself involved in starting the current farmers market in 1995.

Kristen B. Payson HOLDEN — To quote Samuel Clemens, “The report of (The Landmark’s) death was an exaggeration.” Yes, that is the correct version of the quotation.

Ken Cleveland HOLDEN — Dawson area recreation facilities will be growing, adding synthetic turf fields and other features. The fields to be built off Industrial Drive will be added to the field to the rear of Dawson, which could also be a turf field, Town Manger Peter Lukes said at a recent meeting of the Select Board.

I always start feeling incredibly melancholy around mid-August, as the sands of summer begin to slip through my fingers. It’s not so much anxiety as a deep nostalgia for the warmer days, which are numbered at that point. And with back to- school looming, sort of panic sets in, a “but I didn’t get to do everything I wanted to do this summer with the kids!” feeling in the pit of my stomach.