BELCHERTOWN — Two Hampshire County residents have won prizes in the Massachusetts State Lottery in recent weeks.

Joshua McConnell of Belchertown is the winner of a $500,000 top prize in the Lottery’s “$500,000 Frenzy” instant ticket game, while William Charron of South Hadley won a $1,000 a week for life prize in the “$1,000 a Week for Life” $5 instant ticket game.

McConnell received a one-time payment before taxes. He plans to use his winnings to fix up the house he inherited from his mother and save. The winning ticket was purchased at Town Mart, 10 Federal St., in Belchertown. The store will receive a $5,000 bonus for its sale of this ticket.

The “$500,000 Frenzy” instant ticket launched with a total of 50 top prizes. There are 44 top prizes of $500,000 that remain unclaimed.

Charron chose the cash option on his prize and received a one-time payment of $800,000 before taxes. He plans to buy a new car to replace his current one, which he purchased using winnings from a Mass Cash win in 2017.

The winning ticket was purchased at Stop And Go Smoke Shop, 643 Prospect St. in Chicopee. The store will receive a $10,400 bonus for its sale of this ticket.

Belchertown will celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary with a flag-raising and a reading of a proclamation on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. outside Town Hall, 2 Jabish St.

Documents dating back 250 years, voicing Belchertown’s support for American Independence, will also be read. The documents can be viewed online at  https://stonehousemuseum.org/belchertown-in-1776/.

On June 22, the Select Board adopted a resolution supporting this national milestone as an opportunity to educate, preserve, commemorate and innovate. Other events this year include celebratory fireworks planned for Thursday, Sept. 24, in conjunction with the Belchertown Fair, with more to come from the 250th Anniversary Committee.

Community Legal Aid has named new managing attorneys to lead its offices serving Franklin and Hampshire counties.

Annie Connor will lead the nonprofit’s Northampton office, which serves Hampshire County, while Santina Sciaba-Douglas has been appointed managing attorney of the Greenfield office, which serves Franklin County.

Connor joined Community Legal Aid in 2022 as a staff attorney in the CORI & Re-Entry Unit before becoming the unit’s coordinating attorney a year later. Before that, she served as director of intergovernmental affairs and legislative liaison in the Somerville mayor’s office under Mayor Joseph Curtatone and spent five years as a public defender with the Committee for Public Counsel Services in Roxbury, Dorchester and Worcester.

A graduate of Northeastern University School of Law, Connor also holds a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a bachelor’s degree from Vassar College. She lives in Northampton with her wife and dog.

Sciaba-Douglas began her legal career as a law clerk for the judges of the Western Massachusetts Superior Court after graduating from Western New England University School of Law. She later worked as a special assistant attorney general for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Lead Program and represented clients through the Committee for Public Counsel Services.

She also spent nearly 20 years at the Center for Public Representation, where she represented clients appealing denials of Social Security benefits and advocated for students with disabilities seeking special education services. Most recently, she served as deputy executive director and interim executive director of Disability Rights Connecticut. A native Spanish speaker, she lives in Franklin County.

Connor and Sciaba-Douglas succeed Jennifer Dieringer, who led the Northampton office since 2011 and the Greenfield office since it opened in 2024. Dieringer is leaving Community Legal Aid to become a full-time lecturer at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Community Legal Aid provides free civil legal services to low-income and elderly residents in Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire and Worcester counties. Last year, the organization handled more than 9,000 cases, including about 1,000 involving Franklin and Hampshire county residents.