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Tag: 1997

Framingham Blues Festival (1997)

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September 27, 1997
Bike Ride Raises $50,000 for Diabetes

A Framingham Police motorcycle escort lead riders up Central Street on the last leg of a 7-day, 550+ mile Diabetes fund-raising bike ride.

FRAMINGHAM, MA – The New England Classic is a fund-raising bike ride which left Framingham on July 12, 1997 for a week-long trek accross the New England states, (MA, ME, NH, and VT). The group rode an average of 80 miles per day, spending most nights on college campuses along the route.

A total of about 60 riders made the trip, along with a dozen volunteers including EMTs, mechanics, and average people interested in helping to support efforts to find a cure for diabetes. Volunteers also supplied and drove five vehicles to carry gear and watch out for the rider’s safety.

The riders pedaled from the starting point in Framingham (MA) to Durham (NH) then on to Gorham (ME), and Bretton Woods (NH), through Montpelier (VT), Killington (VT), Ringe (NH) then returned to Framingham (MA) for a total of approximately 550 miles!

Riders return to Framingham on the last stage of the American Diabetes Association's (Mass Affiliate) New England Classic.

Along with the ordinary touring style bikes, one rider, Bill Goodwin made the entire ride on a recumbent bike, (the type you sit back in and the pedals are in the front of the bike). Goodwin not only covered the 550 miles on this bike, but added to the trip logging a total of 673 miles.

Congratulations and thanks should be given to all who rode or volunteered to help —- pledges and sponsorship of the The New England Bike Classic raised approximately $50,000 which will go to the ADA to help find a cure for Diabetes.

July 18, 1997
With or Without Wheels

FRAMINGHAM, MA – Temperatures above 50 degrees and wind from the east are not considered favorable conditions for running from Hopkinton to Boston, and it was already starting to show on the faces of some of the ten thousand plus runners as they paced their way through the Framingham stretch of the 101st running of the Boston Marathon.

Runners left Hopkinton at 12 noon and the wheelchair division 15 minutes earlier. To participate, entrants had to be 18 years or older on race day, and have completed a sanctioned marathon with a qualifying time for their division during the previous year. With competetion like the Kenyans, Uta Pippig, Jean Driscoll, and other course favorites, most knew from the outset that they could not hope to win — and most only hoped to finish the 26.2 mile course …in any amount of time.

First to cross the Framingham town line and pass the cheering crowds in downtown at a few minutes after noon, was the wheelchair division. Passing the Rt. 135 / Rt. 126, (Waverly St. / Concord St.), intersection, the difficulty of navigating rail-road crossings on the three wheeled racing chairs was obvious — and became painfully so for Jean Driscoll when she later lost control and flipped her chair in Bookline’s Cleveland Cirlce after her front wheel got hung up on a trolly track.

At the time of the crash, Driscoll, who had won the woman’s wheelchair division for the past seven years, and held the course record in (more…)

April 21, 1997
April Fool’s Blizzard of ’97

FRAMINGHAM, MA – After an unusually warm winter, with little snow, people were a little amused when, during the last days of March, meteorologists started predicting a blizzard would hit the area.

Just the day before this photo was taken people were seen walking around downtown in t-shirts and shorts, but during the storm it was necessary for plows to pile 8-10 feet of snow in the rotary in Memorial Square to keep roads clear and traffic moving. (photo by Randy Harris)

It wasn’t Yankee humor, but the weather forecasters did have the last laugh when rain, then sleet, then snow, snow, and more snow buried the town in 24″ of the heavy wet stuff during the record setting single-day storm.

Warm temperatures returned almost immediately after the storm causing such fast melting snow and runoff that the ground vibrated as water pounded over the falls on Winter St. (photo by Randy Harris)

As luck had it, town elections, originally scheduled for April 2nd had already been moved up to April 8th.. this was done because Framingham Public Schools were on vacation for the week, which also lessened the impact of the storm— school kids were home to enjoy the snow without adding snow days to the end of the school year.

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April 1, 1997
From Our Frozen Fish Dept…

Jim Richards, Custodian at the McCarthy School, Ice fishing on Learned Pond, Framingham, MA, (January 19, 1997)

FRAMINGHAM, MA – With the temperature below freezing for the past week, many people look for warm, comfortable, indoor activities to pass the time on a New England Sunday afternoon, but Jim Richards would rather do something he’s done for the past 40 or so winters… go fishing!

Richards, a custodian at the McCarthy School, packs his rig– a handmade wooden box with ski like runners, and heads out on the frozen surface of Learned Pond for a day of ice-fishing.

To pass the time Jim listens to a battery operated police/fire scanner, and talks with friends who stop by to see if the fish are biting.

Using a hand auger, Richards set five traps in the 5-6″ thick ice, (he noted that five was the the legal limit, and that you must also have a valid fishing license to ice-fish).

Many fisherman use these wooden pop-up traps so they may fish several spots at once. A baited line is attached to a trap which has a spring loaded flag. The flag pops up to show a fish has made a strike at the bait and may be hooked.

When the ice gets much thicker he uses a gas powered auger.

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January 19, 1997