Author: Deb Cleveland

Spring and flowers are busting out all over.  Thanks to the garden clubs and lovely and dedicated lady in Park and Rec, Framingham’s traffic islands and small parks are in bloom.

Also thanks to folks like the DAR, who sponsors the floral display around our Minuteman statue, and Mark Galante of Exit Realty who sponsors the landscaping on the island by Vernon St. and Edgell Road. 

If you take a moment to take in the sides of the road, Framingham has a bounty of lovely trees, flowers, and landscaping due to private and public efforts, donations, and the Planning Board’s emphasis on tree scapes on larger business properties.

As restaurants close during these hard economic times, we started thinking about  places we remember because  of the good food and atmosphere.  All too many are only a memory.

People still talk about Giovanni’s, an Italian place that was on Rt. 9.  Union House was another legendary Italian eatery.   Marconi’s of Ashland another, briefly semi-reincarnated as Marconi’s II on Rt. 9.

Then there is signature food:  Once upon a time was the South Framingham Doughnut, and more recently, the jelly stick doughnuts at Tasty Donut in Pinefield Shopping Center. 

What local restaurants and foods of today are memorable and the stuff of future “legend?”

We would miss the freshly baked pita bread at Pizza Wagon in Saxonville and the antipasto salad at the Villa in Wayland.

Any other nominations?

FRAMINGHAM, MA – Many places in and around Framingham are serving as backdrops for feature films.

Hanson’s Farm, The Civic League Building, (soon to be owned by Mass Bay Community College), North End Treats on Rt. 30, and Mansfield St. are some of the Framingham sites.

The Martha Mary Chapel in Sudbury was used in the new Matthew McConaughey film, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.  Seeing trailers of Matthew McConaughey with long hair put us in mind of Framingham’s Jim Pillsbury, local cable talk show host, activist, and state rep candidate.

Maybe he could add movie stand-in to his credits if Matthew McConaughey returns to the area for another film.

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On Memorial Day each year, there is a tour of Framingham’s sites associated with those who served in the military defending the US.  There is a bus, prayers, taps, wreaths, short speeches.

Somehow it is expected and carried out.

Thank you to the Veteran’s Council and all those who plan and carry out the tour, and the placing of flags at the cemeteries. 

You help us pause to remember.

Thank you.

Similar technology and tunnel boring machines to those used in creating the English-French Chunnel made our MWRA 18 mile underground tunnel possible.

While the Chunnel was created under the English Channel to avoid water, Framingham’s underground tunnel is to channel water to the Boston area.

Members of the MWRA working group monitored the progress of our tunnel, which took 7 years, and involved hundreds of homes, 1000’s of truck trips and millions of dollars.

One of the issues that was brought to light was the condition and future of the “Birch Wells” a cluster of wells adjacent to the New England Sand & Gravel property where the construction of the tunnel was staged. The area was fenced off and acknowledged owned by the Town of Framingham.

While at the time, the cost of treating the magnesium and other elements in the well water was deemed prohibitive, the idea of someday turning to the wells to supply Framingham’s drinking water was floated.

At the 2009 annual town meeting, a water treatment plant project was approved. As the cost of MWRA water rises, the rationale and numbers show that the pricetag for the plant will be redeemed in savings in the coming years.

The person in the Working Group who many felt had an irritating monomania about protecting and using the wells has since moved away.

While his message turned out to be spot on, it was lost in the delivery because he came across as noisy, bombastic, and disruptive. He was perceived as a troublemaker, at Board of Selectmen’s meetings as well as at Working Group meetings.

He was right, but so wrong in his approach.

Although the concerts have been in jeopardy in past years due to lack of enough sponsors dollars, somehow enough comes through so that the shows go on.

This year, with the economic meltdown, it looks as though Friday nights will be quiet on the Centre Common.

Not only has the funding lagged, but also Jim Egan, Director of Town Buildings, and the organizer of the concerts, says that he is short manpower, too.

We hope that public outcry, and sponsorship dollars come through to help Jim, but we also hope that the town take a look at how this wonderful tradition can be sustained.

Edgell Memorial Library is in the running for grant money from the Partners in Preservation initiative. Instead of applying for a grant, supporters are asked to vote online daily. While it’s a great way to awaken the public to supporting the library, it is also a little open to tipping the scales as people can vote multiple times by using different emails. Last day to vote is May 17th.

We can hope that people who are inspired enough to spend time creating new email addresses and then voting daily, will also volunteer, if they aren’t already, and help the Framingham History Center raise money in other ways as well.