The Framingham History Center recently hosted a roundtable discussion about the Sarah Clayes House on Salem End Road. The house, one of the oldest in Framingham, was built around 1693 by Peter and Sarah Clayes, who were one of several families impacted by the Salem Witch Trials that relocated to land then owned by (more…)
Author: Deb Cleveland
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A Robin in Winter
I confess I’ve never paid much attention to birds in Framingham except noting the huge numbers that congregate on the telephone wires at the lights on Rt. 30 and the Burr St. Extention by Midway Motors.
My mother, on the other hand, has several bird feeders and enjoys the variety of birds that visit her yard in Maynard. She has a bird feeder that sticks onto a window with suction cups. If you are patient and slow moving, you can see many of the birds up close. The more I saw the birds this past summer, the more interested I became.
For my birthday my mother and sister gave me a window birdfeeder like my mothers and a bag of sunflower birdseed. Mom told me it sometimes takes a while for the birds to find the feeder. I think it was late October that I filled it and scattered seed on the ground. Nothing. I also didn’t see that many birds in the yard.
Weeks went by. I added some popcorn and spread more seed on the ground. Nothing. Although the seed on the ground disappeared.
I spread more seed and put some on the window sill. Nothing. My mother gave me a fake cardinal which is about like size. She said that putting red by the feeder can help, as well as having a decoy.
Finally, about three weeks ago a chickadee appeared, grabbed a seed, and flew off. He came back again a few minutes later. My Marine son, home for the holidays even got excited. He called the bird the scout.
Intermittently a chickadee has since appeared and helped himself.
This morning I saw a chickadee and then my other son said, hey, there’s a robin in the side yard. Actually there were four, going from tree branch to tree branch on the other side of the house from the feeder. I didn’t think that robins appeared until the warm weather in April, but there they were.
I wandered back to the room with the birdfeeder and within a half hour saw robins going for seed on the ground that I had scattered while the chickadee made several runs at the feeder and the windowsill. Meanwhile, I also saw a woodpecker, a bluejay, and some grayish birds, starlings?, grackles?
Then all the birds left the scene for a couple of hours.
The grayish ones, about the size of a robin, as well as a few robins, just reappeared and swooped in and pecked at the seeds on the ground as well as at the dirt and mulch showing through the snow around the foundations of my and my neighbor’s houses. I take care to move very slowly as I sit and type and watch.
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The Vote Getting Out
Today was election day in Massachusetts to decide who will succeed Senator Ted Kennedy. I didn’t head to vote until around 5:30 p.m.
As the snow fell in bigger and bigger clumps, the driveway in and out of the King School was clogged with cars, more than I’ve ever experienced when going to vote.
The closest experience was some years ago when I recall there was an overide on the ballot. I think of it as the walkers vs. strollers election. At the time I saw more seniors with walkers and more young parents with strollers than at any other election in memory.
Tonight I saw a variety of ages again. I was struck by the number of parents with very young children toughing it out. I saw one mother with a heavy baby carrier in one hand, holding a small child by the hand with the other, making her way through the slushy and snowbordered parking area, silhouetted by the oncoming headlights of a line of cars.
The voters were out, and determined. They were galvanized by the contest.
Having a son in the service, the voters validated his commitment to protect our way of life and freedom to vote.
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School Move?
The Framingham School Committee is reviewing a plan for organizing the elementary schools.
Parents are paying attention and discussing the plan online on Facebook and on an email listserve, frambors as well as attending the open public forums.
I hope that the school committee and the media get input from the communities such as Southborough, that have implemented a similar plan.
Somehow having children changing schools every three years doesn’t seem like a way to go.
One side issue is that it may result in a reduction in parental and student loyalty. It’s hard enough to engage parents in the PTO and school activities and the less time they have to become attached to a school, the less involved they may be.
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Framingham Loses Two Community Activists
FRAMINGHAM, MA – Within the last few days Framingham lost two people who were active in the community: Ruth Gordon, and Jim Friel. I didn’t know either one of them, but I do know some members of their families and it is clear that the parents passed on the baton of serving the community to their offspring.
I look to my own parents, who were active volunteers in Little League, scouts, PTA, Board of Health, and Board of Library Trustees, as well as community activists and planted the seeds of service in my siblings and me.
Not enough people are thanked and acknowledged for their contributions. I was thinking about that today when I was talking with Kathy Foran about her advertising. I thanked her and mentioned how I appreciated all the donations and service that she and her siblings and her parents had put into the community.
There are a lot of business people in Framingham that have done well, but not as many like Kathy, that also do good.
And I’d like to note that, by and large, the people who have been sponsoring advertisers of framingham.com are active in the community and deserving of your business.
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Clothes Racking My Brain
I recently noticed some collection bins for donations of clothing and shoes set up in the middle of the Shoppers World parking lot.
Then I thought about how Savers, a chain that sells used clothing, might open in the former CompUSA site. Savers buys clothing in bulk from organizations such as Big Brother, Big Sister.
And I thought about St. Vincent de Paul and The Salvation Army and Goodwill and all the clothing seen at local rummage sales and yard sales. Where does it all end up? Where is the end of the “clothes” line?
I have heard of people finding little treasures in castoff clothing, but has anyone ever come across items of clothing in a store that they had donated to one of the larger charitable organizations and never expected to see again?
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It’s a Shoe-In
My feet need a lot of cushioning. I stand and walk a lot on hard surfaces. Some years ago I discovered MBT’s (Masai Barefoot Technology shoes.) My bad knee stopped bothering me. My plantar faschiitis cleared up. I met people who raved about them.
Recently when I needed to replace my shoes, I decided to see what else is available that might be a bit less expensive but would give me good cushioning and support. (My MBTs ran about $ 225.) Before MBTs I pretty much bought New Balance or Nike or such on sale for $ 40 or under so the MBTs were a leap.
I tried Good Feet on Rt. 9. The shoe that I liked is $ 160, but for the support needed, there’s a patented orthotic type insert that goes for about $ 260. Yikes! But that it has a 3 year warranty is a selling point. Then there is a cushioned insole for about $ 28, but they would throw that in. And the shoes were non-returnable.
Nordstroms in the Natick Collection was having a sale, and I asked about MBT’s because a friend told me they carried them. The answer was that I can order them, but they didn’t have them in the store anymore.
Then I noticed that Nordstroms had Skechers Shapeups, which had a similar cushioned sole to the MBTs. The style I liked, which would transition from work to play was $ 99, but they didn’t have my size in black. The helpful sales clerk told me I could order them, but I am leary of buying shoes without trying them on.
I found the same style up the way in the Skechers store in the Natick Collection, but they didn’t have my size and they were $ 110.
After checking the Skechers website, where the price was also $ 110, I found the same pair at DSW Shoe. They had my size, my color, and the price was $ 99. Sold!
But I was surprised that Nordstroms was less expensive than I would have expected. I will have to check them out more often.
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Yes, Virginia, there really is a dollar store at the mall
During one of our weekly mall walks a month or so ago, we were surprised to see a “dollar” store in the Natick Collection. After touting the high end stores in the new section and working to attract their clientele, having a dollar store in the mall just seems a bit inconsistant with the higher end ambience the mall has been striving for.
The store is a distance away from the newer section, located just outside the JC Penney upper entrance. It is a good place to find kitchen items and stocking stuffers. If you need large bags for Christmas gifts, this is the place to pick them up. Greeting cards are two for a buck.
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FHS’s Marvelous Marketplace
It has been a week since the Framingham High Marketplace, but I am still in awe of the great spirit of cooperation evident among the parents and students who pulled together the event.
To support the school’s athletics, the various teams and their parents pitched in to make money to fund their activities. They didn’t just create another holiday shopping event, they embellished it with entertainment, and with creative ways of making money with raffles and sales of goodies and gifts.
For vendors, it was a dream experience as far as set up and break down. Parent greeters and facilitators directed students to help with loading and unloading. Shuttle service was provided to and from parking. Tables and chairs were provided at a nominal fee.
For shoppers there was a good mix of vendors with reasonably priced goods. Among the more unique items were desk signs made from Scrabble tiles and bags stitched from Capri Sun drink pouches.
While some traditions, such as Flag Day celebrations, have gone by the wayside due to lack of funds and volunteer support, the Framingham High Marketplace looks to be an indicator that the community still has the will and spirit to come together to create and nourish new volunteer initiatives.
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SOS for OCP
Saxonville has some great neighborhoods, but unfortunately, traffic and development threaten them.
In particular, Old Connecticut Path has been subject to a series of heavy traffic generators. In the early 1990’s twenty odd towns were bringing truckloads of yard waste to create the mother of all compost piles at the New England Sand & Gravel site. Then when neighbors and the Board of Health protested and ended that stream of trucks, the MetroWest Water Tunnel Project came along.
Hundreds of trucks bearing equipment and gravel and tunnel rock were a daily sight along OCP for years.
Then the Planned Unit Development or PUD, with its (whittled down to) 525 units on the NE Sand & Gravel site, threatened to bring in more construction vehicles and later, residential traffic from PUD residents. Neighbors, and the tanking economy, halted the PUD for the forseeable future.
Now there is the proposed concrete plant, that Paulini Loam wants to build behind Suburban Shell and near the cherished Reardon Park and hard fought for Cochituate Rail Trail. The traffic from it could significantly impact OCP.
So far the neighbors and Town have been able to fend off requests for a permit to build the plant. But Paulini isn’t taking “No” for an answer and continues its quest working through a special permitting process with the ZBA.
Residents are urged to attend the ZBA meeting on Dec. 9th and to sign the online permit at: http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/no-special-permit-for-concrete-plant.html
One thing we do wonder about: What happened to Save Our Towns, the group of Framingham and Wayland residents that were so intent on fighting the PUD because of the impact to the neighborhood? This project could have a major impact on many of the same people affected by the PUD.