The beginning of a new school year has always been a momentous occasion. I remember it growing up as a time of renewal. You start with all "A's". The weather is just beginning to turn from blistering hot to quite comfortable. Structure and routine returns. The reactions to the new school year appear to be one of those universal constants. Nothing has changed since when I was a kid. Except now I see it from the eyes of being a parent.
]]>Last week was an exciting one for school-based music from children in Stow!
On Tuesday night, the Center School Elementary Bands held their annual Spring concert. Led by new band director and music teacher Jessica Nolan, the bands each played a full program. The fourth grade band played American and Mexican folk songs as well as a trumpet feature from Mozart, a trombone feature from Rossini, and features of flutes, clarinets, saxophones and percussions. The fifth grade band played four numbers including a dance and a march and ended with the ever popular John Williams "Star Wars" theme.
On the following night, the Hale Middle School Bands took the stage. Led by longtime band director and music teacher Don Moultroup, the performance included the chorus featuring Erika Rohrberg on flute and voice soloists Lyndsey Hawkes and Sam Griffen. The two jazz bands then wowed the packed house. Jazz Band II played "Corazon" and "Rescue Me" (featuring vocals by Ms. Hawkes). The MAJE Gold Medalist Jazz Band I played Duke Ellington's "Mood Indigo" in the vintage 40s style as well as a salsa number "Rice and Beans." The ensemble 6th, 7th and 8th grade bands then closed out the show, with the grand finale being an arrangement of famous "The Doors" songs.
The music program is enhanced by the support of Stow Friends of Music (SFOM), a non-profit organization whose mission is to support music education in the Stow, Massachusetts schools. This year, the SFOM has been able to provide drums, percussion instruments, sheet music, instrument repair and more. For information on contributing or joining this non-profit organization, please email Nanae Ervin.
Note: Unfortunately, I was not able to take photographs of the middle school concert because I was stuck in the sound booth. But I hope you enjoy the images from the Center School concert. Because this was a school function, high-resolution downloads are free and prints are near-cost from the larger set of gallery images.
]]>The Stow PTO sponsored the 9th annual Arts Buffet Festival yesterday. For more from this event, see Arts Buffet on Stow PTO
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On St. Patrick's Day, hence all the green, students at Pompositticut and Center Schools came together for the "Topping Off" ceremony. Students and townsfolk signed the "final steel beam" which will be placed in a prominent location in the interior of the ongoing addition and renovation of Center School.
For a full gallery of images, see Center School Topping Off Ceremony Images on the Stow PTO site.]]>
The Stow PTO sponsored the 23rd annual Lip Sync yesterday, which gave elementary school kids the opportunity to shine on stage.
External link: For more from this event, see Lip Sync Images and Video on Stow PTO]]>
While we still have a lot more winter to go in these here parts, it is already the seventh greatest season snowfall total recorded at 70.5 inches. The record is 107.6 inches during the 1995-6 season. Number two is 96.3 inches set during the 1993-4 season. We have a shot at both of those records. Though I am not sure where we will put the snow. My driveway and walkways are surrounded by walls of snow, my mailbox is now completely covered and is inaccessible, and because we live on a corner, the town's front loader moves the snow back off the street piling it up to 15 feet.
Here in New England we are used to snow. We like to think we are tough. That we can take what Mother Nature throws at us. And we handle it with aplomb. Well, sort of. We handle days like yesterday by hunkering down and shoveling out (or in my case snow blowing out). Everything gets cancelled. School. Work. Activities. The roads are empty sans for snow plows and people like hospital workers. For most of us, though, it is like the world comes to a complete halt.
But it is fun. There is something special about all this snow. So, I say... "Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!"]]>
The second annual Stow Story Slam last night packed in a crowd at the community hall of the First Parish Church of Stow and Acton. Featured was author M. T. Anderson who grew up in Stow. Anderson was presented with an official Resolution from the House of Representatives of Massachusetts acknowledging his literary gifts and local roots by our local Representative Kate Hogan. Ten short tales were told by audience members whose names were drawn from the story hat and stories were judged by friendly audience volunteers.
Ralph Deflorio told a story about his childhood memories of playing the trumpet and how he would maybe still be playing today had he known about the greats like Miles Davis when he was young. Felicia Reynolds told a fable about princes and a rock. Brian Schimpf won the slam and told a story about his school days playing baseball and recalled the time he hit his first double. Paula Tosti told a story about being single in the 80s and how she learned that being perfect is not what is important in life. Jack Zettler came in second place and told a hilarious story about being 8 and shooting a shotgun. Linnea Kennison told a story about being lost with a GPS. Barb Sipler told a genealogy story. Willem Ledeboer told a story about getting to MIT. Tom Shepherd told a story about snow, coyotes, and owls. Peter Senghas came in third place and told a story about his sister's imaginary friend.
External link: Stories Told and Funds Raised (February 2, 2011 article by Ellen Oliver of The Stow Independent newspaper)]]>
A house on Great Road in Stow was engulfed in flames tonight, setting off a three-alarm fire. Unfortunately, I was about an hour late to it, so I wasn't able to get a good image of the whole house ablaze. In this situation, I decided to focus on small scenes where the action would fill the frame, and this one appealed to me the most. To get to it, I had to trek through the woods knee deep in snow, then climb up upon an old truck to get a better angle. And because I forgot my gloves (and snow boots), I did not stay all that long.
External link: Fire Destroys Great Road Property (January 26, 2011 article and photos by Nancy Arsenault of The Stow Independent newspaper)]]>
The Stow Center School project is well underway. Its current phase is pouring and finishing all the concrete foundations. According to clerk of the works Glen Davis, the steel beams will be delivered and erected in early January. Although, that piece of information was told to me before the current blizzard. Please feel free to visit here for regular updates of the project.
Related post: Stow Elementary School Groundbreaking (June 20, 2010)]]>
The Nashoba Regional High School basketball team, the Chieftans, took on Lunenberg in an early season matchup this past Friday night at home. The Chieftans were locked in a tight battle with the Blue Knights at the half, but picked up their intensity in the third quarter to open up a double digit lead they did not give up. The final score was 52-36, and the Chieftains improved to 2-0 on the season.
]]>The Thoreau Sharks swim team, a program of The Thoreau Club in Concord, had a dual meet against Lexington's Hayden Dolphins on Saturday, December 10, 2010. The Shark's 138 member team, consisting of area youth ages 4-18 hosted the meet. The Thoreau Sharks and the Hayden Dolphins are a part of the Metro Swim League, a recreational swim league providing instruction, training, and competition skills to area youth. The Sharks swim team has kids from not only Stow, but also Harvard, Acton, Maynard, Concord, Carlilse, Groton, Westford, and Boxboro. The Thoreau Club's winter swim team runs from October to March and they also have a summer team. ]]>
Does anyone remember September 11th? When foreign nationals came to the US to train as pilots and then hijacked jets and flew them into buildings. As a result of that tragedy, our country, and countries around the world, dramatically changed its aviation security regulations. In the US, the Transportation Security Administration was formed. Most people know of the TSA because when boarding commercial flights, passengers now must be subject to strict security. Part of that security is ensuring that all foreign flight students be checked against terrorism, criminal and immigration databases.
The Boston Globe reported today, that the owner of the TJ Aviation Flight Academy at Minute Man Air Field in Stow, MA, Thiago DeJesus, is a Brazilian immigrant who was charged in July with being in the United States illegally. Yet, he was still giving flying lessons to, you guessed it, illegal immigrants. In total, there have been 34 arrests made beginning in July and ending last week. What happened to those TSA databases?
While there has been no connection made to possible terrorist activities, it still seems ludicrous that all the arrested immigrants are free pending deportation hearing in federal immigration court. Did anyone think it may be possible they will perhaps skip their deportation hearings? Not likely, you say? The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has estimated that about 30 percent of illegal aliens who are ordered to appear for immigration proceedings fail to show up. Of those who do appear, about 85 percent become fugitives if a judge orders them to be deported.
Image: Flight approach to Minute Man Airfield in Stow, MA from July 2007.]]>
Country fairs are quite popular in New England, and one of the largest and best is the Fryeburg Fair in Maine. This was our first year attending, and it did not disappoint. The fair began in 1851 as a few local farmers got together to show off their produce and cattle. Now, more than 150 years later, the fair attracts hundreds of thousands of people, yet still retains that small country flavor.
Even though this Maine fair is sort of outside the geographic span of this site, I am including a post on it. Why? Because at Hale Middle School in Stow, students were asked to write the story of Legend of Sleepy Hollow but in a different setting with different characters. Having just gone to the fair, my sixth grade daughter Elena chose to write about the Legend of the Fryeburg Fair for her story.
You can find the story here: Legend of the Fryeburg Fair.]]>
One of the key reasons for my family moving to Stow a decade ago was our longstanding tradition of coming here every year to go apple picking in autumn. I know we are lucky that we get to live in a place that holds so many good memories for us. We have been to all the orchards in Stow. Each is unique and we love them all. But when my grandparents got older we began to visit Carver Hill. Its smaller size made it easier to park and because the terrain is flat, it is easier to walk.
Our family tradition used to be that we left the North Shore around 10AM with all kinds of food packed. We first stopped at a Digital (DEC) building on Route 62 in Maynard to have lunch on the picnic tables. There was the traditional pasta with meat sauce, fresh Italian bread, fresh grated parmesan cheese, and wine and sodas. Then onto the orchards! After a day of fun, we drove back and stopped across from Emerson Hospital, where there were more picnic tables, and had "dinner." Dinner was rather eclectic. We had donuts from the famous Kane's Donuts in Saugus, peppers and eggs, and fresh cold cuts and rolls.
When we moved to Stow, we did not need to seek out picnic tables on private property anymore! We set up shop at our house. Yes, we have lost all my grandparents, but the tradition lives on. ]]>
One of the benefits of living in Stow is the amount of protected lands and open space we have. The town, through the Conservation Commission, owns and manages local garden plots along the scenic Tuttle Lane. The garden plots offer a chance to grow vegetables and flowers while meeting other gardeners to exchange ideas and share in the joys (and misery) of gardening. Part of the misery is the battle with choke weeds. Another is the issue of getting water from the two pitcher pumps to your garden. But, if you can deal with those, you will be rewarded!
The garden is plowed and harrowed yearly in the spring as soon as the soil can be worked and harrowed in the fall to allow for planting of cover crops. The approximate gardening season runs from April 1st through October 15th. For 2010, perennial plots are available for gardeners who want a longer growing season and want to grow crops like asparagus or strawberries.
For those interested in reading about how gardening can be a positive role in your life, you may want to check out the book Plant Seed, Pull Weed: Nurturing the Garden of Your Life by Geri Larkin.]]>