framingham.com (*** TEST SITE ***)

Author: Deb Cleveland

  • IAFSA Celebrates 140 Years of Service with Alumni House Exhibit

    IAFSA Celebrates 140 Years of Service with Alumni House Exhibit

    Alumni House, Framingham State University
    Alumni House, home of IAFSA

    FRAMINGHAM, MA – 2014 is a landmark year for the Independent Association of Framingham State Alumni (IAFSA). It was founded 140 years ago in 1874.

    Drawing from its archives and loaned items from alumni, IAFSA staff and volunteers have assembled a 140th Anniversary Celebration Exhibit at Alumni House, 42 Adams Road, Framingham.

    As honored guests, members of the Framingham State Class of 1964 will officially open the exhibit with a ribbon-cutting ceremony during IAFSA’s annual meeting on Saturday morning, May 17th, 2014. The exhibit will close following IAFSA’s student scholarship award reception in the fall.

    The exhibit features student life, alumni achievements and reminisces. It includes a retrospective fashion display, mementos, and (more…)

  • Super Seniors Expo at Office Depot May 5th

    FRAMINGHAM, MA – Office Depot is hosting a special Super Seniors Expo this Wednesday, May 5th, from 10 to 3 at its location in Shoppers World, Rt. 9W, Framingham.

    State Senator Karen Spilka and State Rep. Pam Richardson, the Callahan Senior Center, Soar 55 and other area organizations will be on hand.

    This will also be a great chance to learn about area businesses that offer products and services that 50+ seniors may find useful at home, work, or business. About 25 businesses will offer information about organizing, downsizing, assisted living options, errands, homecare services, mortgages, longterm care insurance, volunteering, and more.

    Free coffee and refreshments will be available, including a complimentary brunch by John Harvard’s Brew House.

    Free PC Checkups and certificates for $5 worth of free shredding services will be offered, as well as raffles, giveaways, and coupons.

    There will be vendors and store staff there to answer questions, and make recommendations on products and services to help you use your computers, printers, cameras, phones, and other items to get the most out of them.

    This event is free. Come and bring a friend. All welcome.

    For further information, call the Framingham Office Depot store at 508-620-5570.

    ###

  • Things we keep

    The April edition of the Framingham Tales and Trivia program on FPAC-TV will be about “old objects that we have always kept.”

    I have been invited to participate in the panel discussion for this show and am trying to decide what to bring and talk about.

    I look around and see things in my home that we have had so long that they are literally like part of the woodwork, some we use, like an old iron doorstop from Nana’s house, or wedding presents used only special occasions.

    What kinds of things have you kept? And why?

  • Chartering Schools

    The school reorganization plan suggests the town seek Horace Mann charter school distinction for the Wilson and Barbieri schools.

    If Wilson and Barbieri were Horace Mann schools, they would have their own governing bodies, but still be “district schools funded by the district budget,” said School Committee Chairman Adam Blumer.

    How will they be different from the McAuliffe Regional Charter School? Does anyone know?

    If they have their own governing bodies, will they pay rent for the buildings? Will the teachers and other staff work for the governing bodies and not for the Town of Framingham?

    What do you think about the reorganization plan?

  • Framingham & The Civil War

    Next year is the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the American Civil War.

    Framingham has many significant connections and contributions to The Civil War, from weaving wool for uniforms and blankets, to sending the most men per capita of any town in Massachusetts.

    The Battle Hymn of the Republic was first publically sung here at Plymouth Church.

    William Lloyd Garrison created a national uproar by burning the Constitution during a anti-slavery rally at Harmony Grove on Farm Pond.

    Dr. “Zab” Adams instituted the first triage “hospital” in the midst of a battlefield at Gettysburg.

    Various Framingham organizations will be planning a year long series of events. The Framingham History Center hosted a meeting to start pulling the organizations together and to create committees. It was great to see such a large turnout and to hear about some of the plans already underway.

    To get involved and find out about future meetings, contact Michelle McElroy at michelle@framinghamhistory.org.

  • Signing…off!

    When I was grocery shopping, I noticed some flyers under the windshield wipers of several cars in the parking log.

    I find it annoying and an invasion of privacy. (I don’t like finding door hangers on my front door, either.)

    I only know of one time that someone told me that they responded to a flyer stuck under their wiper. Do people respond? Is it worth it? When the exhibit Bodies was in town, there were several occasions when I found a postcard about it on my car when I parked in Shoppers World. And they littered the parking lot.

    It’s also illegal, according to Framingham’s Sign By-Law. I wonder if a sign inspector has ever fined a business for putting literature on a car.

  • Rainy Day Bird

    During the downpour today I was surprised to look out and see a bird, I think a finch, eagerly feeding at the feeder hanging on our crab apple tree. The bird clung to the feeder in the wind, looking around as it nibbled, but rarely looking toward our window.

    I was only about 6 feet away and tried not to move.

    The bird left and came back for more, then left.

    Sometime later a squirrel, the first I’ve seen near the feeder, ran up the tree and started toward the feeder. Maybe he spied me, or felt the slender branch that the feeder is on wasn’t up to his weight, but he backed down, and scampered off.

  • Bird Song

    photo by Deb Cleveland

    FRAMINGHAM, MA – We added a bird-feeder and suet to a crab apple tree near our window bird-feeder.

    But since the robins, we’ve only seen a chickadee or two intermittantly. Then this weekend, we had a grouping of Tufted Titmouse. One in particular kept coming to the windowsill and singing. I don’t remember hearing that particular birdcall. Not that I have paid close attention before. I know crows and jays, and mourning doves, but that is about my repetoire.

    There was once a very annoying bird that I could never see, that used to start chattering about 4:30 a.m. near my open window some summers ago. The Tufted Titmouse had a very pleasant chirp. I don’t know if I will remember it, but I like it.

    After the Titmouse left, a Junco with a very yellow beak showed up and perched on my neighbor’s stockade fence for a while. He didn’t sing, that I could hear.

    Please note that since my knowledge of birds doesn’t go much beyond robins, bluejays, crows, and pigeons, I use a two-sided guide, called the Audubon Alliance Bird Identifier, courtesy of my mother, to figure out my backyard visitors.

    ###

  • Do I have a Volunteer?

    The other day I happened to overhear bits of a conversation between a mother and daughter. The daughter, perhaps in middle school, was questioning why her mother was buying large quantities of colored paper.

    The mother replied that she was volunteering. But why are you volunteering, the daughter asked. Why do it? The mother explained in brief that there was a project for the school and when a lot of people pitched in, the project would get done, to help out the school. That volunteering was a good thing to do.

    It certainly was for the Stapleton School in Framingham. Thanks to the efforts of a parent volunteer, the school just received a $ 1500 donation from Bob’s Discount Furniture. Parent Michelle Baker had taken the time to submit a letter to Bob’s Random Acts of Kindness Program which each month randomly selects nominated organizations and give them a donation. Thanks to Baker’s letter, Stapleton School was chosen as a recipient this month.

    Kudos to Baker and all parents who volunteer in large and small ways to support their schools. Not only are they helping their community, they are setting a good example to their children, that it’s not just about me, it’s about my community.

  • Now, That’s Italian

    While walking through the Natick Mall tonight, friends and I almost passed the pushcart kiosk featuring Vino Cotto. The words “Vino Cotto” somehow caught my eye. I stopped and turned to see our good neighbor Deena Montillo.

    Ah-ha! I knew she and her husband Greg had been building a business making Vino Cotto from a genuine old family recipe. Greg is from Italy, and Deena is Italian-American and they always were known for cooking up (more…)