MONTAGUE, MA (FRANKLIN COUNTY NOW) — The Montague Selectboard has proclaimed October 5th to be Farren Memorial Appreciation Day.

The Farren was opened in 1900 by Bernard Farren and the hospital became a pillar of the community. Nearly a hundred years later the Farren became a rehabilitation facility and in 2023 the building was demolished and redevelopment is underway.

From the Montague Selectboard:

Farren Memorial Appreciation Day Proclamation

By the authority invested in us as the Selectboard of the Town of Montague we hereby proclaim

WHEREAS the Farren Memorial Hospital (hereinafter “the Farren”), built by benefactor Bernard
N. Farren in memory of his son Frank, opened in 1900; and

WHEREAS the Sisters of Providence ministered to patients with kindness and skill; and

WHEREAS many doctors, nurses, healthcare providers, and support staff worked together to
create a healing atmosphere at the Farren; and

WHEREAS many area residents were born, treated, and died at the Farren; and

WHEREAS many high school students were given the opportunity to volunteer as “Candy
Stripers” at the Farren; and

WHEREAS the Farren became a rehabilitation care facility for persons with both physical and
mental health issues in 1990; and

WHEREAS the Farren provided unique healthcare services throughout its one-hundred-andtwenty-
year history

Now, therefore: on behalf of the entire Select Board, we do hereby proclaim that Sunday,
October 5, 2025 be observed as Farren Memorial Appreciation Day in the Town of Montague,
and encourage citizens to celebrate the memory, and reflect on the contribution of The Farren to
this community.

In Witness Whereof, we have hereunto set our hands and caused to be affixed the great Seal of
The Town of Montague, Massachusetts, this 15th day of September 2025.

Matthew Lord, Chair

Richard Kuklewicz, Vice Chair

Marina Goldman, Clerk