Category: Around Town

While pirates from Somalia are making news, we have play in the works by the Framingham Community Theater based upon a legend that Captain Kidd buried some treasure near Learned Pond.  The legend may have evolved from Joseph Braddish Jr. who was born in Framingham Plantation around 1675 in the Nobscot section of town.  He grew up to be a pirate and captain of a captured ship.  He met up with  Captain William Kidd when jailed for piracy.  He was hanged in England in 1699.  

And, once upon a time, plays were fundraisers for preserving the Village Hall in Framingham Centre.  As the Civic League building, where the theater troupe used to mount it’s plays, is no longer available , plays have returned to the Village Hall.  Renting the Village Hall for the production will help preserve it, and it is a local treasure.

The Friends of Saxonville recently held their annual meeting. 

Many “Friends” that we hadn’t seen in a while were there. 

The agenda was packed with a lot of information about what was happening in the area, from work on the water and sewer lines, to the Cochituate Rail Trail, to the Getchell Nature Trail. 

It was fascinating to hear about all the work that FASR (Framingham Advocates of the Sudbury River) had done over the years, that perhaps many people are unaware of, especially their role in pushing more investigation and cleanup of Nyanza related problems.

FASR was disbanding and turned over what remained in their treasury, a bit over $ 4,000, to the Friends of Saxonville.

It was one of the most informative meetings ever!

Office Depot in Shoppers World just put out some interesting totebags. 

They have plastic clips that you hook onto each side of a shopping cart.

They are large enough to hold a couple of paper grocery bags of merchandise.

If you use the scan and bag method at Stop & Shop, when you are finished shopping & paying, you can simply unhook the clips, pull them together and snap, and load  them into to your car.  Saves handling and keep things from rolling around in the back of your car.

They have long enough handles to slip over your shoulder for easy carrying into the house.

Makes shopping a lot simpler.  And saves on bags.  And they are only $ 1.99.

The Framingham DPW has been enforcing the guidelines regarding waste and recycling pickup.  Trash barrels that hold more than 35 gallons are getting stickered. 

Disposal is limited to 3 barrels holding no more than 35 gallons and weighing no more than 40 each, or the equivalent.

These limitations save the town money and reduce worker injuries.

The Town’s website has an extensive list of questions and answers about the solid waste policy and how and why it is enforced.

The larger yellow barrels, available at the Recycling Drop-Off Center and at the DPW office make recycling easier than ever. 

The more we recycle and comply with the regulations, the better.  And maybe the longer we have before going to a “pay as we throw” system. 

And to think, back in the day of Tony Colona, we had trash pickup twice a week!  We were the envy of all our friends and family members who didn’t live in town.

John Harvard’s just hosted a meeting of the Cochituate Rail Trail and their back function room was SRO.

Slowly, but surely the trail is evolving.

Support from John Harvard’s who donate’s proceeds from their Rail Trail Ale ( over $ 4300 this batch) and from REI were acknowledged.

As the DPW has determined that it would be easier and less expensive to run replacement sewer lines along the proposed trail route, the trail is being incorporated into a plan to build the trail as the sewer line is put in place.  A real serendipity.  And the funding may come through an economic stimulus package.

Instead of ripping up roadways, and causing detours and traffic interruptions, the construction of the new sewer lines would take place behind the scenes while enhancing the community by adding the rail trail.

This proposal brings the tFramingham part of the trail a lot closer to reality.

After much back and forth negotiating, the Framingham Historical Society (renamed the Framingham History Center) has come to terms with the Town over long-term leasing of the Village Hall, Edgell Library, and the Old Academy Building.

For a token $ 1 a year, for a 50 year lease, the buildings will be under the supervision of the Framingham History Center.  With the lease in hand, the Framingham History Center hopes to better attract donations and grants.

Hope so.  These buildings are a part of what makes Framingham unique and special.  So at least for a while they will be exempt from being sold off during our current economic crisis.

Last year Town Meeting members indicated their interest in preserving many town structures by approving funding of many infrastructure projects long overdue.  Thank goodness they did so before the economy took a dive.  There are too many buildings that have suffered due to lack of basic maintenance funding and the subsequent costs of repairs and replacements keeps increasing geometrically.  Town Meeting members seemed to realize that underfunding today is more expensive tomorrow and voted accordingly.