LEOMINSTER — City resident Ron Girouard was beaming with pride at a signing held at Main Street Gift & Cafe last weekend for the book he recently published, a labor of love years in the making.
“I was inspired by how many historic photos were disappearing or sitting in boxes and I wanted to preserve them before they were lost forever,” the 69-year-old said at the Jan. 24 event of the 318-page book titled “Changing Times,” a past to present photo history of the city he has called home for the majority of his life. “Photos tell stories that words alone can’t and this book helps connect generations and shows how much our city has changed while honoring the people and places that came before us.”
Girouard has been active with the Leominster Historical Commission since 2008 after being invited to join it by his late friend Rocco Palmieri. Girouard said Palmieri was an instrumental resource when it came to putting together the book, including supplying and helping him sort through a plethora of old photos from commission archives that represent the period of time the book covers — 1879 to 2025.
Seeing his and his late friend’s vision finally come to fruition is incredibly meaningful to Girouard, who will be a guest on the Jan. 29 edition of Mayor Dean Mazzarella’s “Inside Leominster” television show — someone the newly minted author has known since he was a young boy.
Girouard said he is looking forward to talking about the book — which has a slew of organizations and people listed on the thanks and acknowledgment page – on the show produced by Leominster Access Television and getting the word out about the special project.
“This project truly belongs to the community,” he said, of the book printed by high school students in the graphic communications department at Leominster Center for Technical Education Innovation. “Every photo shared and every story told helped make the book possible and I’m proud to help preserve Leominster’s history for future generations.”
Palmieri’s daughter Susan Sargent was at the Saturday book signing and shared that her father, who passed away just before Thanksgiving at the age of 93, would be thrilled to see the book in print.
“Without Rocco I would not have been able to do this,” Girouard said of his friend. “This is very important to me.”
Girouard shared that he sold a whopping 150 copies of the book within the first three days it was out, with proceeds benefiting city-based nonprofits Ginny’s Helping Hand and the Spanish American Center and the mayor’s fuel assistance fund. He will be donating copies to the Leominster Public Library, Leominster Senior Center, and city archives, some have already gone to the Leominster Historical Commission, and local realtor Kevin Cormier bought 50 copies.
Girouard went on to say how grateful he is for the community partners who stepped up as sponsors of the book project — Cormier, All One Credit Union, and Main Street Gift & Cafe, which has copies in stock available for purchase and the book can also be found at city hall, Leominster Historical Commission, and Leominster Historical Society.
When asked how he is feeling about the overwhelmingly positive response from people all over the community surrounding the release of his first book, Girouard said “grateful.”
“The support from the community has been incredible and very humbling,” he said.
He credits his faith in God with keeping him going in life and at the book signing mentioned someone very important to him who was not there. When he spoke about her, his voice broke with emotion — one of his biggest fans, his beloved mother Cecile Robichaud, who passed away in 2010.
“I wish my mom could see this.”
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