FRAMINGHAM, MA – The magic of Harry Potter will descend on the BLOCKBUSTER in Framingham, 17 Temple Street, on Monday, Dec. 7 at 8:30p as the store hosts a midnight DVD release party for “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.”
In addition to being the next chapter in the highly popular series of films based on J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” novels, the movie is the highest grossing film of 2009 and is among the top 10 highest grossing films of all time.
Activities include conjuring and illusions with Boston’s David Hall the Magician and his white rabbit Hocus, fun with Mix 104.1’s Sue Brady and the street team, and a chance to win 52 free DVD rentals ($250 value) and the opportunity for loyal Harry Potter fans to be among the first to rent or purchase the movie on DVD or Blu-ray, while supplies last. Those who can’t stay until the midnight release are invited to reserve a copy for purchase with $5 down.
In addition to the single-disc DVD, BLOCKBUSTER will be offering several special editions: a two-disc DVD version and a Blu-ray+DVD+Digital Copy Combo Pack, as well as a Harry Potter Years 1-6 Giftset, featuring all six of the Harry Potter movies on DVD or Blu-ray.
Additional event features include magical trivia tournaments and Quidditch themed games, free Harry Potter themed giveaways (broom shaped pens, lightning bolt tattoos, kids’ crafts), and much more.
Admission is free and open to all Harry Potter fans and movie buffs.
FRAMINGHAM, MA – The latest Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, is set to be released at midnight tonight. To ease the wait for eager fans, Borders Bookshop & Café on Rt. 9, Framingham, is celebrating the release of the book with a free party starting at 9 p.m., Friday, July 15th.
While waiting for the book to go on sale, enjoy face painting, trivia, and crafts, including birthday cards, dragon masks, wizard hats, and decorating party bags. Also, get your picture taken with Harry and Heromine! Just before midnight, sing “Happy Birthday”, and cut a birthday cake for the star of the show. Be one of the first 50 people to get your book, and receive a special door prize!
Come dressed as your favorite character this weekend, and enter into the costume contest. The contest runs both Friday and Saturday, and everyone who enters will receive a prize, with grand prizes going to the best of each category! The categories include Scariest, Funniest, Most Original, Most Beastly, and Other (for those who don’t fall into any of the other categories)!
But the fun doesn’t stop there. More events are planned for Saturday, July 16th! Calling all performers! Think you have what it takes to steal the show? Saturday, July 16th, starting at noon, come show off your skills and enjoy 15 minutes of fame as you perform for fans from all over the area. Prizes for the best acts!
Besides the Talent Show, Elevenses, and High Teas, there’s face painting, trivia, drawings, and prizes, including door prizes for the first 50 people to pick up their books. There will be a Guess the Beans contest (enter all weekend, closest guess will be contacted) and a free book drawing (enter all weekend, name will be drawn Sunday night).
Don’t miss out on the magic during this magical weekend! Saturday, July 16th, at 2pm, the wizard for the day, “Frankie D. Magic”, will put on a magic show, aided by his protégé, “Mr. Magic Christopher”.
If you can’t make the party, you can still enter to the Guess the Beans and the Free Harry Potter Book drawing by visiting the framingham.com table at tonight’s (July 15th) Concert on the Green, Framingham Centre Common, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.. framingham.com will also have a table and giveaways at the Borders Midnight Magic Party.
For more information, call or visit Borders Books, 85 Worcester Rd (Rt. 9), Framingham, MA 01701, (508) 875-2321.
FRAMINGHAM, MA – The Framingham Heart Study is famous the world over and is the subject of a new book, “A Change of Heart: How the People of Framingham, Massachusetts Helped Unravel the Mysteries of Cardiovascular Disease” by Heart Study Director Dr. Daniel Levy.
The book, published by the Alfred A. Knopf company, is available at a discount from Amazon.com, or in local bookstores.
(For more info, see the Framingham Heart Study section right here on framingham.com, they are among the most popular pages on the site and are visited by people throughout the world).
FRAMINGHAM, MA– Between Mother’s Day and Father’s day, husband and wife, parents, Framingham residents and co-authors, David and Elsa Hornfischer find themselves telling and retelling the story of how their books came to be…
Listening to rock superstar Sting give a commencement address at Berklee College of Music, (where Dave is a Vice President), and hearing how Sting’s mother had influenced his life, and later, when they were discussing how the public was so interested in celebrity lives, and stories of what influenced people to succeed, Dave and Elsa came up with an idea for a book about mothers of famous people…
The Hornfischers knew that finding an agent and publisher were nearly as hard as writing a book — they knew since their son Jim is a literary agent and an author himself, (Right Thinking, by James D. Hornfischer, Pocket Books/Simon & Schuster).
Like many parents, the Hornfischers try to show interest in their children’s work, so Dave and Elsa have presented several ideas for books to Jim, but none were ever written. This idea was different. Jim liked it enough to talk to a publisher, who also liked the idea and gave the couple a contract and an advance to produce the book “Mother Knew Best… wit and wisdom from the moms of celebrities“.
Research for the book was done almost exclusively at the Framingham Public Library, by reading biographys and looking for quotes that reflected the influence mothers had on their famous offspring. While doing research the Hornfishers categorized the subjects based on seven recurring virtues that the mothers had instilled; Ambition, Courage, Devotion, Faith, Perspective, Responsibility, and Self-Discipline. One example, a “perspective” story is that of W.C. Fields who learned his sense of timing and sense of humor from his mom who later seeing him perform a routine in New York, commented, “I didn’t realize you were watching me so closely as a child”.
Having sold some 20,000 copies of the book, the Hornfischers naturally followed with “Father Knew Best…“, which was released in April of 1997. The books each contain 101 quotes and anecdotes about parents of famous people.
Father Knew Best
The couple and their books have been featured in radio, newspaper and magazine articles, and they even maintain their own web site to promote the books and their other interests which include Elsa’s stained glass work, (Elsa is also Framingham Town Meeting Member, and recently on the Rt. 126 Corridor Study). Dave writes reviews on sports and business books and posts them on the website along with info from his academic/financial interests. (Here’s one of Elsa’s stained glass pieces!)
Stained Glass piece by Elsa Hornfischer
Taking a quote from their homepage on why the books are so popular, the Hornfischers write; “At a time when our society is looking to understand, develop and enhance the concept of family values, it is important that we look to our role models for illustrative examples of how their values were shaped by their parents”.
The couple’s has two maried children, Jim, a literary agent living with his wife Sharon and child ‘to be’ in Austin TX, and Amy (Michaud), who attended Framingham South High and lives in Framingham with her husband Marcel and son Jacob.
Here’s a list of just some of the celebrities in the “Knew Best..” books; Milton Berle, Frank Lloyd Wright, Booker T.Washington, Zsa Zsa Gabor, James Whistler, Lou Gehrig, Joan Lunden, Henry Fonda, Dan Rather , Gene Autry, Joan Rivers, Norman Vincent Peale, Shelly Winters, Reba McEntire, Helen Keller, Douglas MacArthur, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Henry Kissinger, Geraldine Ferraro, Jackie Robinson, Chris Burke, Hans Christian Anderson, Andrew Jackson, Carl Sandburg, Sojourner Truth, Hume Cronyn, Dan Jansen, Elvis Presley, Leonard Bernstein, Emmitt Smith, Dr. Charles Mayo, Jack Benny, Sally Jessy Raphael, Bill Cosby, Larry King, Sigmond Freud, Bill Russell, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Roger Clemens, Van Cliburn, Duke Ellington, Judy Garland, Sting, Mohammad Ali, Loretta Lynn, Mahatma Gandhi, Dolly Parton, Mother Theresa, Robert Frost, Robert Louis Stevenson , Marian Anderson, Naomi Judd, Kathie Lee Gifford, Danny Thomas, Diana Ross, Johnny Cash, Rachael Carson, John Cleese, Eric Sevareid, David Brenner, W. C. Fields, Ronald Reagan, Bob Hope, Will Rogers, Doris Day, Jack Lemmon, Harry S. Truman, Meryl Streep, Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Shirley Temple Black, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Norman Rockwell, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Mark Twain, Dr. Benjamin Spock, David Letterman, Barbara Bush, Lauren Bacall, Warrick Dunn, Barbara Lavallee, Patsy Cline, Louisa May Alcott, Houdini, Bill Gates, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ginger Rogers, Albert Einstein, Marie Antoinette, Jimmy Carter, Dale Carnegie Tom Seaver, Henry Ford, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Thomas Edison, Martina Navatilova, Christa McAuliffe, Margaret Thatcher, Benjamin Franklin, Stephen Spielberg, Mickey Mantle, Michael Jordan, Carl Yastrzemski, Roberto Clemente, John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Bill Bradley, Fiorello LaGuardia, Pablo Picasso, Ansel Adams, Paul Simon, Liza Minnelli, Walt Disney, Conrad Hilton, and many more…
The Hornfischers
will be doing
a book signing at
Borders Bookstore
Framingham, MA
June 7, 1997
Mother Knew Best…
wit and wisdom from moms of celebrities.
ISBN: 0-452-27618-7
Penguin/Plume
(paperback) $9.95
Father Knew Best…wit and wisdom from dads of celebrities.
ISBN: 0-452-27772-8
Penguin/Plume
(paperback) $10.95
![[PHOTO] Stained Glass piece by Elsa Hornfisher, Framingham, MA 1997](https://framingham.biz/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/window1.gif "Stained Glass piece by Elsa Hornfisher, Framingham, MA, 1997")