When we stopped in the Sudbury Town Hall recently, we noticed a copy of an old map on the wall. The map was “Saxton’s Map of Suffolk 1575.” Many names on the map were unfamiliar, or in different locations from where they are now.  “Ipswitche” was closer to Rhode Island than to New Hampshire.  “Saxted”…

As we gingerly walked on ice and trudged through snow this week to retrive our newspaper from the front walk, we asked ourselves why. We can get news online, but not the smaller local stories.  And, at least for us, there is nothing like reading and holding a paper or a book.  Two stories that caught our eye today…

We are having withdrawal symptoms because McAuliffe is closed due to problems with the HVAC compounded by the neighborhood power outage during the recent storm. We hope that the smoke from the HVAC meltdown doesn’t penetrate the books and materials and the problems are a fairly routine fix.

This is the winter of ice storms and power outages. The Framingham Police even put out a call urging people not to venture out last night if possible.  Many stores closed early.  During one storm before Christmas, even a sidewalk plow slid off the way and into a gully near the Mass Pike Overpass on…

We went to return some books tonight about 6 o’clock and noticed that the library was dark as we drove up. At first we thought the library’s hours had changed because of budget constraints. There was a sign in the window that stated that the library closed at 5 p.m. due to lack of heat.…

Predictable news stories around this time of year are:  people falling through the ice on a local pond or river, and someone taking the Baby Jesus statue out of the manger in a nativity scene. This week the Framingham area had both.  The kids are OK after being rescued.  But the Nativity scene at St.…

Fabricplace was one of those businesses that you took for granted would be there if you needed anything in the way of sewing, window treatments, or uphoulstery.  Oh what a fabric selection, and wouldn’t you like to dress as a bride again when seeing the bridal accessories? After recently celebrating its 60th year in business,…

The MetroWest Daily News published an Associated Press article about a method for bureaucracies to become more efficient.  The process, from Japan, is called kaizen, and is about working on continuous improvement. Kaisen involves the workers and looks at why things are done a certain way, mapping and breaking down each step, and eliminating and reducing…

Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, who was known as “The Angel of the Battlefield” due to her extraordinary work in providing medical supplies to wounded Civil War soldiers, has Framingham connections.  As Massachusetts celebrates “Clara Barton Days” from December 25 – 31th, Framingham can claim Clara as a local heroine, even though…