For Sarah Fletcher, figuring things out has never necessarily meant having all the answers first.
“I can figure it out as I go,” is how Fletcher describes the approach that has carried her through decades of community work in Westford.
That spirit was celebrated Sept. 19 when the Westford Historical Society and Museum named Fletcher its 2026 Wild Woman of Westford during the sixth annual “Wine with the Wild Women of Westford” event.
The award recognizes a contemporary Westford woman alongside the historical women whose stories are celebrated at the annual event. This year’s program highlighted May Emma Day, Jean G. Downey, Sarah Elizabeth Keyes and Virginia M. Strong Kimball.
The recognition continues a tradition that has become part of the museum’s effort to celebrate both the women who shaped Westford’s history and those shaping its community today. In 2025, Emily Teller was named the contemporary Wild Woman of Westford.
“This program was inspired by the Westford Remembers Doll Collection,” said Linda Greene, Museum Director. “They are women whose stories we honor, the women who help tell their stories, and all of you who keep Westford’s women’s history alive.”
For Fletcher, however, the evening became more than a recognition of her own work. It became an opportunity to reflect on the people and organizations that shaped her and on what it means to build a community.
A life in Westford
As WestfordCAT reported in September, Fletcher’s connection to Westford stretches back generations. She grew up in town and lives in the house her parents built on land she said was once part of Fletcher Farm. Her earlier WestfordCAT interview also explored the winding path that eventually brought her to community leadership, including work with the Roudenbush Community Center, Middlesex West Chamber of Commerce, Parish Center for the Arts and, ultimately, WestfordCAT, where she serves as executive director.
But one of the most revealing things Fletcher said in that earlier conversation was not about any particular job.
“I don’t feel like I’ve directed my life as much as my life has directed me,” she said.
It is a fitting description of a career that has taken several unexpected turns.
Fletcher worked in retail, taught martial arts, became a Reiki master and operated a wallpapering and painting business before finding much of her professional life in nonprofit organizations. Along the way, she experienced significant loss early in life and said those experiences helped shape her perspective.
Rather than following a single predetermined path, Fletcher seems to have followed the needs and opportunities in front of her.
That has taken her through very different corners of Westford’s community — and eventually connected them.
A community connector
At Roudenbush Community Center, Fletcher helped connect adults with classes and instructors. At the Chamber of Commerce, she worked with local businesses. At the Parish Center for the Arts, she helped manage the calendar and book events.
At the Westford Business Association, she helped strengthen relationships between local businesses and nonprofit organizations.
And at WestfordCAT, her work has included outreach, partnerships, marketing, technology and live production.
Those roles gave Fletcher a view of Westford as what she described in her earlier interview as a larger community “ecosystem.”
During the Wild Women event, she focused less on her résumé and more on the common purpose connecting those organizations.
She spoke about educational organizations, business groups, family and youth organizations, arts and entertainment groups, service organizations and nonprofits.
Each, she said, has a story to tell about its impact on the community.
“What all of these organizations are trying to do is to create value for the community,” Fletcher said. For nonprofits, she said, the mission comes first. But fulfilling that mission requires understanding what residents need and finding ways to provide it.
“We’re doing it for the mission, not the money, but we need the money to promote the mission,” she said.
Finding a way forward
That philosophy has played out in practical ways throughout Fletcher’s career.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, her work took on particular importance as community organizations searched for ways to keep residents connected while gathering in person became difficult.
Town meetings, graduations, football games and other events were brought to residents through video.
One of the most memorable examples involved a 300-foot fiber-optic cable.
When the Parish Center for the Arts needed to livestream its eagerly-anticipated annual Charlie Brown Christmas concert but did not have an internet connection capable of carrying the broadcast, WestfordCAT found another solution. Fletcher purchased a 300-foot fiber cable to run from the PCA to the former fire station, allowing the concert to be streamed to residents.
The same cable was later used for other broadcasts.
The story has become something of a symbol of Fletcher’s approach: identify the problem, find a solution and keep moving.
It also illustrates what the Historical Society’s award recognizes in Fletcher — not simply one accomplishment, but a willingness to help make things happen when the community needs them.
Standing on the shoulders of giants
Fletcher said she was “completely humbled and delighted” by the recognition.
But as she listened to the stories of women who had shaped Westford’s history, she found herself thinking about the people who came before her.
“Because of their impact, I’m standing here tonight, standing on the shoulders of giants,” she said, visibly moved.
She asked previous Wild Women in attendance to stand, turning the moment of recognition into one of collective acknowledgment.
Two of the historical women honored that evening had particularly personal connections to Fletcher.
Jean Downey, created the Westford Women Remembered doll project with other women at First Parish Church United in 1985. Her daughter Ellen Rainville was present and the first to be recognized as a Wild Woman of Westford, by the Historical Society.
Fletcher recalled a more personal memory of Downey. During a church service, someone commented that they were surprised Fletcher was wearing jeans to church.
Downey came to her defense.
Fletcher said she has never forgotten it.
She also pointed to author and former Westford Eagle editor Virginia Kimball, whose legacy continues through the Westford Villager and managing editor Kathleen Veth, who was once a student and friend of Kimball.
The connections underscored a theme of the evening: community history is not simply something preserved in museums. It continues through the people who pick up the work and carry it forward.
Fletcher’s connection to community-building can also be traced to childhood.
Her parents organized square dance clubs for families and teenagers, sometimes moving furniture out of their kitchen so people could gather and dance.
She sees a connection between those gatherings and the work she does today.
Today, Fletcher hopes WestfordCAT can serve as a similar community space — a place where residents can explore podcasting, video production, games, performances and other creative interests.
She also sees local journalism as part of the same community ecosystem.
Fletcher announced plans for the first issue of The Westford Villager that will be distributed townwide intended to reach every postal address in Westford, describing communication as one of the biggest challenges facing community organizations.
“The hardest part about getting anything done in the community is getting the word out to the whole community,” she said.
Her approach to the project mirrors her philosophy about nonprofit work: try something, see whether the community responds and adjust accordingly.
“If the community says yes and wants it, then we’ll have subscribers,” she said. “If they don’t, then we’ll try something else. We’ll figure it out as we go.”
For Fletcher, that willingness to try, adapt and keep going is part of being a community organization.
And perhaps it also explains why her earlier observation — that she has not so much directed her life as been directed by it — fits so naturally with the story of her life in Westford.
“This town raised me, and I mean it,” Fletcher said.
She acknowledged that none of the work happens alone.
“Whatever wild means, it doesn’t happen alone,” she said. “It happens because a village shows up, event after event, subscriber after subscriber, decade after decade.”
Fletcher closed by expressing gratitude for the recognition, her health and, above all, the people around her.
“Thank you for being my village,” she said.
Then, embracing the title she had just been given, Fletcher offered the final words of the evening:
“There are a lot of wild folks out there doing amazing things for my hometown of Westford, and tonight I embrace this title of wild woman.”
In naming Sarah Fletcher the 2026 Wild Woman of Westford, the museum added another chapter to a tradition that honors both the women who built the town’s past and those who keep figuring out how to strengthen its present.
