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DTSTART:20251008T223000Z
DTEND:20251008T235000Z
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SUMMARY:Local Author Ed Orzechowski: Becoming Darlene—The Story of Belchertown Patient #4952
DESCRIPTION:Darlene Rameau\, the eighth child in a family of fourteen\, was 
 born in 1956 in the mill town of Fitchburg\, Massachusetts. Abused and 
 neglected\, Darlene didn’t respond to her own name. She considered 
 herself an It. At age three she was sent to live with an aunt\, where the 
 abuse continued. The little girl didn’t speak\, but began to hear voices 
 in her head\, and when she was seven years old\, Darlene was sent to a 
 place called Belchertown State School. \n\n The institution had opened in 
 1922 as the Belchertown School for the Feeble-minded. By mid-century\, it 
 had become a dumping ground\, housing more than 1200 patients\, many of 
 them with severe mental and physical handicaps. Spread across more than 600 
 acres\, the campus had nine dormitories\, three nurseries\, a school\, a 
 hospital\, infirmary\, and farm colony. Although established with good 
 intentions\, Belchertown State School soon grew overcrowded\, 
 underbudgeted\, and understaffed. Buildings reeked of feces and urine\, 
 where wards and day halls overflowed with screaming patients\, many of them 
 naked.\n\nIt was there that Darlene met a sister she didn’t know she 
 had\, and there that the voices in her head helped her cope. She 
 dissociated from her surroundings\, but held fast to a dream of one day 
 getting married and raising a family of her own. When she was “Discharged 
 from Placement” at age 17\, she was thrown into the world with no social 
 skills or training about day-to-day living.\n\nYet Darlene persevered. She 
 met a man who had recently returned from the Vietnam War\, they married and 
 had two sons. Darlene was determined to raise them to see that the world 
 isn’t an awful place. \n\nBecoming Darlene follows the publication in 
 2016 of You’ll Like It Here\, The Story of Donald Vitkus—Belchertown 
 Patient #3394\, which became an all-time best-seller for Levellers Press of 
 Amherst\, Massachusetts. Both books are the work of Ed Orzechowski\, a 
 retired high school English teacher\, radio\, and print journalist\, who 
 lives with his wife Gail in Northampton\, Massachusetts.\n\nBooks will be 
 available for purchase at the program. \n\nThis program\, sponsored by the 
 Friends of the Greenfield Public Library\, is free and open to the public. 
 \n\n
LOCATION:Community Meeting Room
ORGANIZER;CN="Lisa Prolman":MAILTO:lprolman@greenfield-ma.gov
CATEGORIES:
CONTACT;CN="Lisa Prolman":MAILTO:lprolman@greenfield-ma.gov
STATUS:CONFIRMED
UID:LibCal-14829313
URL:https://greenfieldpl.libcal.com/event/14829313
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