On Tuesday, October 8 at 7:30 p.m., John Pritchard will talk about Boston’s chocolate industry, based on his extensive experience with the Confectionary Division of NABISCO. In 1986, John was sent to Itapetinga, Brazil as a technical adviser for a facility being constructed to manufacture black Dutch cocoa. He is also familiar with the history of the Walter Baker Chocolate Company in Dorchester.
John grew up in Westwood and returned to the town after traveling the world. He graduated from Burdett College in Boston and then served with the U.S. Navy for eleven years. John had the honor of serving on board the spacecraft recovery ship for the splashdown of Freedom 5, the first unmanned flight to orbit earth in 1961. Once John returned to civilian life, he headed the quality control/assurance department for the Confectionary Division of NABISCO.
John has always been involved in Westwood organizations. As a teenager, he helped construct Camp Wildwood, an early Girl Scout camp in Westwood. He was also a volunteer firefighter for several years. John was very active in the Westwood Historical Society and served on the Westwood High School Alumni Association Board, the Westwood Interfaith Council and has been a judge for the Thurston Middle School Scripps Spelling Bee, as well as the Massachusetts Regional Academic Decathlon – just to name a few.
Pritchard is also this year’s Quarter Century Award recipient; the community is encouraged to join the Historical Society for John’s presentation, and to celebrate his lifelong contributions to Westwood.
This program will be held at the Fisher School (located on 830 High Street), is open to the public, handicap accessible and free of charge. Parking is available in front of the Thurston Middle School. Refreshments will be served.
