State Representative Margaret Scarsdale

Margaret was born in Georgia, just outside of Ft. Benning. Her family often struggled to make ends meet, and she dropped out of high school at the end of her junior year to help. While working full-time, she acquired her General Equivalency Diploma at age 17. Margaret moved to Massachusetts in 1984 and immediately put down roots. She ran her own successful writing and consulting business for many years, and was sought after by the state’s top employers, including Digital Equipment Corporation (now HP), Motorola, and others. She met her husband and best friend during this time, and they settled first in Groton and then in Pepperell to raise their son and daughter. In between all this, Margaret also returned to school, graduated with the Chancellor’s Medal of Honor with a dual degree in American Studies and Sociology, and received a full scholarship to a doctoral program in Sociology at Northeastern.

When her children were older, Margaret used her writing and leadership skills to help launch Ayer’s downtown revitalization efforts, and administered over a million dollars in state grants while working at Ayer Town Hall. She later obtained her teaching certification and passionately taught English Language Arts to middle schoolers.

In her hometown of Pepperell, Margaret is a long-time volunteer at the Albert Harris Center (formerly the Senior Center) and participates in yearly town clean-ups. She was a community leader in the fight to stop the Kinder-Morgan gas pipeline, and she remains a community leader in the fight to stop the proposed toxic dirt project. Margaret served as Chair of the Light, Air, and Noise Bylaw Committee, where she was instrumental in getting a protective Noise Bylaw passed overwhelmingly at Town Meeting. Formerly, as Chair of the Pepperell Select Board, Margaret led with distinction, stepping up to write and secure funds for economic development of the downtown.

More overarchingly, serving on the Select Board strengthened her commitment and ability to work with diverse groups and people. This includes U.S. Representative Trahan, State Senator Kennedy, former State Representative Sheila Harrington, the MA Department of Environmental Protection, and the dozens of municipal leaders in the regional municipal climate change collaborative she helped organize, and all with an eye toward prioritizing town goals to achieve success. 

Margaret’s family is also committed to public service: Her husband works for a sustainable energy company, her son uses his astrophysics degree to help understand planetary habitability, and her daughter is a Firefighter/Paramedic.