Dinner Will Aid Goldsworths After Home Fire

HOPKINTON - As many as 125 people are expected to fill the Hopkinton Town Hall Saturday for a goodwill dinner to raise money for veteran Hopkinton-Fort Jackson fireman Gerald Goldsworth and his wife Antonia H., who lost their home in a January fire.

Mr. Goldsworth, 85, has been an active volunteer fireman for more than 70 years, most of that time in the Hopkinton-Fort Jackson area.

Saturday's 5 p.m. dinner at the town hall was organized by volunteers, the Hopkinton SummerFest Committee and local businesses, according to Susan M. Wood, secretary/treasurer for the Hopkinton-Fort Jackson Fire District.

Mrs. Wood said the event is being held because the Goldsworth family has given so much to the community over the years.

"As with any fire, people always feel bad. However, when it is someone who has dedicated so much of their lives to community service, it is devastating," Mrs. Wood said. "This is when being in a small community is good."

Saturday's goodwill dinner will consist of ham, mashed potatoes with gravy, coleslaw, corn, rolls, dessert and beverage, according to Mrs. Wood.

"We have asked local businesses and citizens to make donations," she said. "Since this is a good-will dinner, anything people donate for the cost of their dinner, is what will be accepted. Any and all proceeds will go to the Goldsworth family."

Mrs. Goldsworth said she and her husband have been overwhelmed with the kindness of people from throughout the area since losing their home. The couple has been staying with family in St. Regis Falls since the blaze, and are hoping to eventually rebuild on the site of their former home on Route 11B, she said.

"We have been overwhelmed. It's unbelievable. People we don't even know have been very generous to us," Mrs. Goldsworth said. "It makes us very humble. There are so many good people in this world that you never know about."

Mrs. Goldsworth and her husband moved to Hopkinton from Sayville, Long Island in 1969. Mr. Goldsworth is a former Hopkinton-Fort Jackson fire chief, fireman of the year, and at 85 is the department's oldest active member.

A 5:25 p.m. blaze blamed on an electrical malfunction destroyed his family home Jan. 2, and the couple lost all of their belongings.

Mrs. Goldsworth said the memories can never be replaced.

"It's still stressful for him," Mrs. Goldsworth said of her husband following the fire. "We lost so many things. My daughter says it's only stuff, but we've been married almost 59 years. You accumulate a great deal in that amount of time."