The Norfolk Community League is hosting a night of shopping, eating and socializing Thursday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. at Primavera Restaurant, 20 Pleasant St., in Millis. While shopping, enjoy hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar, and enter to win raffle items.

The following vendors will be featured: The Pink Poppy, Nantucket Bodyworks, Harvest Moo, Boden, Trappings of Wellesley, Entertaining at Home, Bibsy, Be Dazzled, Jems by Jules, Pampered Chef, Silpada, Lia Sophia, Village Arts and Flowers, Arbonne ,Bonnie Tragakis Stationary, Tupperware, Jan's Jewels, Usborne Books, 5 Sisters, Snapdragons Jewelry, Nauts, and Newton Street Designs.

The entrance fee is a $20 charitable donation to NCL and can be reserved in advance by going to www.norfolkcommunityleague.org to download the reservation form. A limited number of tickets will available at the door. All of the proceeds from ticket sales and vendor fees will go directly back to the community. For more information, call Sarah Logie at 508-528-4220 or e-mail selogie@gmail.com.

New tool for rescues

Town firefighter paramedics have a new tool available to help patients with congestive heart failure being transported to Norwood Hospital. Paramedics have been using Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) for quicker relief of congestive heart failure symptoms. Long used in the Norwood Hospital Emergency Department, CPAP increases air pressure to prevent airway collapse during inhalation. CPAP is able to be used by the paramedics under a waiver from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. To obtain the waiver, the emergency medical services in a town must meet guidelines for training, performance and quality assurance.

Norfolk paramedics completed training on using CPAP. Outcomes data for patients transported with CPAP are reviewed and reported to the DPH Office of Emergency Medical Services.

Dr. Gregory Quirk, the medical director for Norwood Hospital, said, "We are now able to provide very effective treatment for congestive heart failure patients much earlier."

Ex-selectman now a graduate

Former Selectman Ramesh Advani has graduated from a prestigious leadership development program, according to the Boston Center for Community and Justice, which develops socially-responsible leaders throughout Greater Boston.

Advani completed the year-long LeadBoston development program, which is for mid- to senior-level professionals in the corporate, nonprofit, and government sectors, and develops their knowledge of diversity, awareness of social responsibility, and connections across sectors.

Gov. Patrick spoke at the graduation ceremony, praising participants for their leadership and commitment to helping others.

"They are focused on social responsibility and are certain to make a lasting impact," said Todd Fry, executive director of the Boston Center for Community & Justice.

LeadBoston participants spend one day per month learning about an issue facing Greater Boston, from education to healthcare to criminal justice. The program includes hands-on tours, conversations with the city's leaders, and completion of a project that creates a blueprint for economic development.

Advani served as a selectman from 2003 to last spring. He was appointed by the governor to the Massachusetts Asian American Commission and has chaired its Economic Development Committee. Read about history

Books on local history are available for purchase from the Norfolk Historical Commission. Order slips are located on the counter opposite the town clerk's office on the lower level of town hall. Deposit slips are in the historical commission mailbox in the mail room, which is located on the left, inside the entry door from the parking lot at town hall. A member of the NHC will contact you to arrange delivery.

Books available: "Norfolk Stories," a collection of interviews with Norfolk residents who lived in Norfolk in the 20th Century; "Life and Times of Bertha Fales," a biographical study of the author of the first History of Norfolk and the origins of the Fales Memorial Park Preserve; "Settlement at Stop River Falls," the history of the Campbell Street area at Stop River Falls from 1690 to 1940 - tells the tale of the grist mill, saw mill, the Walpole Foundry and blast furnace, and paper mills that once flourished there and the people who made it all happen; "Industrialists of Walpole," a history of the industries that once flourished along the Neponset River in Walpole - Bird and Son, Hollingsworth and Vose, Kendall Mills/Curity and more; "The Story of Powderhouse Hill" - a 1,700-foot high hill once stood between Spring Sreet and West Street in Walpole and was reduced over time to a depression that now sites the Swan Pond Condos. A mansion once sat atop this hill and later a hospital, a reform school and a stone and gravel company would call it home.

This column is compiled by staff writer Stephen Peterson. Peterson can be reached at 508-236-0377 or via e-mail at speterson@thesunchronicle.com.