May 2008 Archives
Many of you have probably heard of the famed Arnold Arboretum in Boston. When we were living in town, we frequently made trips there and the highlight was the annual lilac festival, the one time of the year you were allowed to bring in food. Probably less famous, even to those who live around here, and certainly smaller, is the Acton Arboretum. Situated on 64 acres near Acton Center off Taylor Road and Route 27 (Main Street), it's an oasis even for an area that has lots of conservation land. It's also inspiring. The gardens have given me ideas for what is possible on my own property and it may do the same for you. For those of you looking for prime portrait locations for your family, this place cannot easily be beat. There are a fair number of apple trees which is a first hint of the history of the land. There are daylily, hosta, herb, wildflower, and rhododendron gardens as well as a newly planted lilac garden. Specimen trees dot the landscape, though they aren't as rare or numerous as their cousin in Boston. There are small ponds, climbable trees, stone benches, and more.
The upper gardens are most active and visible. The paths that wind into the woods and transport you to other beautiful gardens are somewhat hidden and add to the mystery of the place. There's also a relatively new footbridge that winds over streams and through wooded wildflower garden that is currently being worked on. This trail connects to the Highland Loop which leads to a secluded bog (another piece of history). Further hints of its rich history are the stone walls and the old foundation surrounding the herb garden.
I have heard some comment on dogs running loose. They should come to Stow's Delaney Project where you cannot help but step into dog poop and the trails are rundown and dusty. This is absolutely not the case here. The people are friendly and the dogs are friendly and mostly they are on leashes and if not they are responsive to their owners. People pick up after themselves as there is no litter anywhere even though picnics are allowed and there are several picnic tables available for use. It's completely free to the public.
The arboretum has a rich history which you can find on the member application on the site linked below. In short, during the American Revolution it was owned by Joseph Reed who fought at the North Bridge and the Battle of Bunker Hill and came home to a heroes welcome: most of his land was sold for nonpayment of taxes! It seems like we are doomed to repeating history as our heros of today frequently come home from war with similar tales. What was left of the land was later sold to the Tuttle family who grew and sold cranberries and apples for over 100 years. The Town of Acton bought the property in the year our country celebrated is bicentennial (1976) and in 1986 at Town Meeting it was designated as an arboretum. It turns out the two arboretums, Boston and Acton, are somewhat related. I am told by Joan Yatteau of the Friend of the Acton Arboretum that the former director of the Arnold Arboretum, Dick Howard, retired to Acton and helped in the early stages of development. In addition, two students at the then Landscape Design seminar at Radcliffe College helped to develop the master plan as part of their degree program. What a wonderful story of a wonderful project!
Image: Allium is a member of the onion family and is particularly attractive to shoot. Here, I was giving my friend Larry some pointers on how to use his new Nikon D200 with my Tamron 90mm/2.8 Macro lens.
If you've ever been to a Stow SpringFest, you know it usually rains (or snows)! This year we got lucky. It was a very special year for us because our town celebrated its Tercenquarternary. What's that word you say? Well the word was "invented" for this occasion and simply means we celebrated our 325th anniversary. We had a huge parade this year. We had the Stow and Sudbury Minutemen, bagpipers, tractors, trucks, antique cars and fire trucks, a replica of the Stow West School (the 1-room schoolhouse still standing on Harvard Road), and a hayride. We even had ourselves a clown on a bike! The girl scouts carried the flags belonging to Stow over the years and the parade was closed by the famed Belgian horses of Rockbottom Farm.
The parade ended at Center School where the real festivities began. There were huge cakes to celebrate the Stow Community Chest's 25th anniversary, students playing instruments at the Stow Friends of Music booth, encampments of minutemen, animals, an old-fashioned broom maker, a blacksmith, spinning and weaving demonstrations, firemen playing "water polo", 20 information booths, and activities galore.
The afternoon gave us a wonderful children's play at the Old Town Hall. "The Time Trap" was a unique lesson in Stow history from a kids' point of view. The play was inspired by books by Stow's Martha Perkins and chronicled the lives of modern day Stow kids who got caught in a parallel existence with 18th, 19th and 20th century Stow kids. The portal in time was an old outhouse.
For more images, visit: Paul's Apple Country Gallery no. 21 or see a select few in the "Images" post below. Proceeds from print sales will go to support the Stow Community Chest.
For more images, please visit: Paul's Apple Country Living Gallery no. 21. Proceeds from print sales will go to support the Stow Community Chest.
Last night I attended my fifth or sixth Town Meeting and, like voting, it's a very humbling experience. Stow has an open Town Meeting, which means it's open to all voters. I grew up in a town that had representative Town Meeting, which meant that the town was too big to house all the voters who would want to come. While my middle school history teacher tried to explain what it was (he was a representative), I never understood it until I moved to Stow. It's a practice that dates back to colonial times and is somewhat unique to New England. We have a moderator who makes sure everything runs smoothly and it's quite official with the Town Clerk on stage, the Selectmen, Town Administrator, and Finance Committee seated at the front and we methodically plod through the Warrant which specifies each and every piece of spending for the following year's budget.
If you want to participate in how your town is run, move to a town like Stow that has such a form of self government. You get to decide how much each town employee gets paid, whether the fire department will get that shiny new fire truck, and all kinds of other issues that may seem mundane to most, but are really quite interesting. Over the years we have had contentious debates on big projects like whether to fund a new school or buy land for playing fields and little things like whether to officially recognize the name of a road. But the great thing about Town Meeting is that anyone can discuss any of the items on the warrant. You can ask Why does this person get paid this much?" or "Why doesn't the police department buy a hybrid vehicle?" (a perennial favorite). If you want, you can feel free to vote against every spending article if you want and have the satisfaction of knowing you did so. And unlike large elections that don't turn on a single vote, often Town Meeting votes are quite close. In Town Meeting your vote certainly counts! Especially if there is an issue that divides the town.
Unfortunately, last night we learned that our Town Moderator, Ed Newman, is suffering a serious illness. Gary Horowitz (pictured), Deputy Moderator, ran the show and broke the news to everyone in attendance at the beginning. He read an optimistic letter from Newman who vowed to preside over next year's gala. Town Meeting, while it has its moments, is certainly far from boring. During votes or down times various people "entertain"–this year there were presentations on the upcoming 325th Anniversary celebration known as Springfest as well as an update on our elementary school building effort. Plus, you get to talk to lots of people you don't usually get a chance to talk to. Apparently, though, not everyone appreciates the power they have at Town Meeting or appreciates the entertainment. Attendance last night was 211 and there are 4464 registered voters; a rate of a little less than 5 percent.
The Persuasions are one of the world's premiere a capella groups who began singing together in Brooklyn on street corners and subway stations in the 1960s. From there they went on to release 20 albums. How did they come to our little town? You may remember the tragedy of the death of 19 year old Frankie DeMeo, captain of Nashoba Regional's wrestling squad. Vinnie Sestito, an entertainment industry executive and Stow resident, brought the Persuasions here to kick off the Frankie DeMeo Memorial Scholarship Fund. The fund, which is being run by high school students, aims to create "a Northeastern experience inside the high school," according to Sestito. The reference is to Northeastern University's well-known internship program that combines classroom experience with real-world training. The fund aims to help learning disabled students achieve their potential. Frankie struggled with an autism spectrum disorder, but through wrestling and hard work became a success in high school and was preparing for college.
Donations can be sent to Frankie DeMeo Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o Nashoba Regional Scholarship Fund, PO Box 523, Bolton, MA 01740. Image: Four members of the Persuasions (Jim Hayes, Joe Russell, Jaytois Washington, BJ Jones).
The social and entertainment event of the year in our neck of the woods has to be the Battle of the Bands at Nashoba Regional High School in Bolton. This is the second annual event and proceeds benefit the Friends of Sudanese, an organization that assists Sudanese refugees who were brought to the Boston area in 2001 by the State Department after 9 years in a Kenyan refugee camp. Last year we had the opportunity to meet one of these people who told us how different things are here and helped us to appreciate just how great this country is.
Shelburne Farm is right around the corner from our house and is one of the five apple orchards we have in Stow. Each orchard has its own appeal and, if you are somewhat local, I suggest you check them all out. Owner Ted Painter was one of the recipients of a grant to plant tall spindled apple trees–a modern advance in orchard design. And did they plant: 1400 of them to be exact, spaced about three feet apart. These aren't the apple trees you are used to seeing that are broad and planted far apart. It was quite a sight as a tractor pulled a large spade that prepared the planting for each tree. As you can see from the image, the planter just places a tree in the trough every three feet and someone comes along behind them and fills in the dirt.
There is nothing that signals spring more than baseball's opening day, whether it's at the professional or tee ball levels. The Assabet Valley Little League serves the towns of Maynard and Stow and draws approximately 600 players on 52 teams. A far off dream for many of these kids is to play Tee Ball at the White House. President Bush, who as you probably know is the first President to have played Little League, has been hosting annual Tee Ball games on the South Lawn of the White House. This year, there will be a Tee Ball "All Star" game with one player selected from each state. A more realistic dream is to just be part of a local All Star team in the regular baseball and softball local and regional tournaments where they can hope, with skill and a little luck, to get to Williamsport, PA. Image: Manager Jeff LaPlante and his Minor League "Reds" team prepare for the first Opening Day exhibition game this past Sunday on DJ's Field in Maynard, MA.
