Septembers Overture

There a little pieces of the year that I enjoy more than others. Early Octobers colors knock me out, and sunlight bouncing off that very first snow has a way of bringing a smile to my face. The change in the air in late March when the smell of mud is all around, the trees are just beginning to bud, and temperatures are beginning to hold above 40 for a couple of days. The best is that one day in Spring when the air is clear, the sky is bright blue with an occasional puff of a cloud and the temperature is around 70 degrees with a hint of a breeze. That is the day I wait for all year long.

There is another time of the year that I enjoy just as much, but not so much for what the earth is doing around me, although that has a lot to do with it as well, but what the world is doing outside my window. That time of year is now.

Early September is the unofficial end of summer with the start of school. Funny, we attend school for twelve plus years of our lives, and that calender stays with us long after we have left the classroom. That last summer blast over Labor Day evaporates in a mist that lingers till the following Tuesday morning. Then, through the morning mist, down the road where the yellow lines disappear into the fog, comes the sound, and then the distinctive shape of the school buses.

The start of the school year was always something I looked forward to as a kid. Now remember, I said the start of the year, the rest of the year was something I couldn't wait to get through as fast as I could.

There was something about the smell of newly shaved pencils, crayons, and erasers all lined up inside a new pencil box that got my juices flowing. Tools. They were my tools , and some of them I had no clue as to what to do with them. Most pencil boxes came with a ruler, a protractor, and a compass amongst the colored pencils and erasers. What the heck was the protractor for? I figured out the compass was for carving my name in the desk pretty quickly, but the protractor had me stumped.

Still does.

I lived about a mile or so from my elementary school in one of those new developments built in the late 50's, early 60's. We'd walk through the neighbors yards till we came to Summer Street, and then we'd follow the roads the rest of the way till we arrived at the Memorial School, the school for grades first through third. I usually walked with my friends in rain, and snow to school, even though my father drove to school everyday to his job as the music teacher.

I still wonder about that. I'd be soaked by the time I go to the end of the driveway, and he'd be pulling out, beep, wave and drive off to school all dry and snug in his Mercury.

No matter, though. Despite being abandoned by my father on the road to school, the walk is something I still remember to this day. I had a routine. I'd eat the apple I had in my lunch bag on the way to school, usually finishing it about the same place on Pine Street, off Summer every morning. Even then I felt guilty about throwing an apple core onto the ground, as biodegradable as they are, so I would take the core each morning and stuff it into the exhaust pipe of the same car. Around the middle of October it go harder to stuff those cores into the pipe. It was getting a bit full.

One morning I saw the blue Chevy truck from the Sunoco station in the driveway of the Apple Core Car. The mechanic was on his knees with a coat hanger, or something, reaching up inside the exhaust pipe.

I played dumb, and walked real fast while whistling "The Colonel Bogey March". I looked guilty as hell.

The weather in early September was mild. The mornings were cooler than a few weeks before, and the leaves had yet to change and fall onto the street for us to kick our way through. It was a the Transition. It was the time of free wheeling apple core stuffing, newspaper kicking into puddles, sweaters tied around our waists in the afternoon, and still lots of daylight left in the day to get into mischief.

The daily ritual of changing from school clothes to play clothes when I arrived home became ingrained in me. Sometimes, I slip and refer to my jeans and t-shirt as my "play clothes", and hope nobody has heard me. They do.

All those wonderful September feelings come back year after year. All it takes is a trigger. This year it was the school bus stopping out front of our house to pick up our neighbors little girl for kindergarten. The sounds of the bus, the door opening, and the yells of, "Goodbye, Honey! Have a great day at school!" as the bus pulled away brought back a rush of memories long locked away.

That's all it took. All those sounds are like an overture of things to come.

I don't think it is a sign of getting older, I've always been susceptible to memories, but I do seem to appreciate their appearance more and more each time they come knocking.

This year was no different.

Labor Of Love Program

I recently learned of a group of residents that are forming "The Labor of Love" committee. This committee, an all volunteer effort, will aid senior residents, disabled residents, and single parent households with the upkeep / maintenance of their home. Volunteers will give one day, or a weekend, to the two families selected by the group each year, and assist with the immediate needs of the family related to their home. This could mean landscaping, repairs, or painting around the house.

The committee is currently looking for volunteers to perform the work, and vendors to assist with supplies.

Small towns have always come through for those in need. This kind of program is like a barn raising with everyone getting together to help out others in need.

This is a great idea, not just for the obvious reasons, but for the sense of community it builds as well. That renewed sense of community can go far in spawning other programs, and events.

Yep, I like this idea a lot.

To obtain more information click here.

Comments on this post are now closed.

Taking a Toll

I don't profess to know a whole lot about town government, I'm like most of you--I know enough to get by. One thing I do know about is open meeting laws, and "executive sessions".

There are nine exceptions for going into "executive session". Eight of the exceptions do not fit the recent scenario with the Board of Health, but one may.

Click on the quote below to be brought to The Massachusetts Open Meeting Law in .pdf format.--ed.

"9. Exception Nine - "To meet or confer with a mediator, as defined in section twenty-three C of chapter two hundred and thirty-three, with respect to any litigation or decision on any public business within its jurisdiction involving another party, group or body, provided that: (a) any decision to participate in mediation shall be made in open meeting session and the parties, issues involved and purpose of the mediation shall be disclosed; and (b) no action shall be taken by any governmental body with respect to those issues which are the subject of the mediation without deliberation and approval for such action at an open meeting after such notice as may be required in this section. "

"This exception, passed in December, 1994, exempts mediation sessions from the Open Meeting Law's requirements provided that the decision to enter into mediation is made in open session and that the governmental body does not take any action concerning the issue or issues submitted to mediation until it has deliberated and approved such action in an open meeting."

If the above was followed as the law is written, then it was done properly. Only those residents that were there that night can tell if there was a quorum, a proper vote to go into executive session, and a vote on anything decided upon in the executive session in an open meeting directly after the private session.

However, if the residents of the town are disappointed, concerned, and against the decisions made in "executive session" there are avenues to take in order to stop it. A vote a Special town Meeting is one way to address the issue.

$50,000.00 is a paltry sum. There is too much at stake here, and an issue this big, that affects the health and well being of all of us here in Sturbridge must be taken before the citizens of the town for a vote, not decided in a private session.

Here's an idea that can be brought up at Town Meeting, if an access road is to be built to the Southbridge Landfill from Sturbridge, how about installing a Toll Gate? Allow access, but charge a fee per ton of refuse trucked along the route. The income from a venture like this could more than make up for settling for a mere $50,000.00.

Just a thought.

ed note: I've been told (see comments) that the access road to the landfill will not be coming out of Sturbridge as I believed. Bummer. However, the law is clear regarding Open Meetings, and if things were done correctly the town should have no worries about the mechanics of what was decided. Were they done correctly according to the law?

Due to the volatility of this subject, the comment section will remain open.

Sent: September 3, 2038

To: blanche345@yabloo.com
From: oldtraveler44@gaggle.com

Subject: Our Trip to Sturbridge
Date: September 3, 2038


Dear Blanche,

Well, Harry and I drove north this past weekend and stayed in Sturbridge again. Let me tell you that so much has changed here since we last stayed here back in 2008!! It is a whole new place! First of all we had the traffic to contend with on I-84, seems like everyone was getting off at the Sturbridge exit!

Remember when we all came here back in 2004? And remember when we got off the interstate and headed towards Sturbridge Village, well that big plot of grass between the east and west bound lanes of Route 20, you know the place, where Harry hit the skunk, well it is like a golf course now!! All sorts of trees planted and bushes. It's so pretty, Blanche, and then there is nice "Welcome to Sturbridge" sign smack in the middle of the grass with flags on both sides and all lit up with spotlights. the whole thing is surrounded by the cutest little split rail fences, just like at Old Sturbridge Village. Blanche, it looks so pretty! And, a little further up, on the right, there is a lake!!! where the heck did that come from, Blanche?? But, I was told it was always there, but hidden in the trees. They took all the scrubby trees down and it was like raising the curtain on opening night! Voila! A beautiful lake right in the middle of the town!! Who'd have figured that?

Well, we drove to our hotel, and let me tell you the town looks like the folks from Disney came in and did a makeover. First of all there are the nicest old fashioned street lights on both sides of the street as far as you can see. The crosswalks are made of bricks and sidewalks are now wide enough to handle my scooter. No more telephone poles in the way anymore, and having to drive that thing out into the road.

We drove into the hotel parking lot and checked in to our rooms. The hotel was filled, and it wasn't even a holiday weekend, or a convention in town! We were so lucky to get a reservation when we did back in February. The girl at the desk told us it is like that all the time now, so we booked again for the spring right then and there!

Let me tell you all about the other changes around there. First of all the Basketville store is gone. I was disappointed till I went inside the new place, and it is one of those specialty grocery stores and a bookstore now. All sorts of natural this, and organic that, and there was even a place to grab a cup of coffee and sit outside and read the book you just bought!

Let me back up a little bit. You know where the Friendlies restaurant is, right? Right beside that there is the most fantastic little shopping place. It used to be a motel and a part of Old Sturbridge Village, but now all the little motel buildings are shops. There are art galleries, a pottery store, a store with nothing but bronze art work and statues, and a linen outlet store where we bought a quilt for the guestroom. Harry got lost in a store that sold weather instruments while I walked around outside. There was a small band playing under a gazebo, and there was a so many people just sitting around at these little tables having a cold drink and listening to the music!

It is amazing how much the place has changed!! You and Mel have go to go there!!!

After we listened to the music, Harry and I walked along the main street and there on the side of the road was a new footpath. It led to the river. Did you know there was a beautiful river running behind all those buildings on Main Street? I didn't!! They've been hiding it, but now this little trail takes you right to it, and there is a an area with picnic tables and benches set up right on the waters edge with grass, and a little bridge that crosses the river to the other side. The signs on the other side give directions to a long trail back to the Old Sturbridge Village, or the other way to a new group of stores and restaurants at this place called the Mill Pond. We walked down to it, and what a wonderful sight it was seeing this old mill building from across the pond all redone!! There was a large deck outside with table and umbrellas along the pond just above a waterfall! Blanche, they even had a waterfall!! Another little bridge took us across the waterfall to the Mill building and we wandered around in all the shops for over an hour. Finally, we sat out on the deck and had the best lunch!! There were swans on the pond and ducks with all their babies. It was so peaceful!!

The stores at the mill pond are right at the intersection route 20 and where Route 148 starts. There is another large sign welcoming people from the west to Sturbridge. The place is so pretty now, Blanche!

Well, I got to go, Harry is home from golf and is telling me that the golf course in Sturbridge is now 18 holes and he wants to book another trip there before the snow flies.

Hermoine in Passaic

Comments are now closed on this post.

The Air Is Different Now

"The summer wind, came blowin in - from across the sea

It lingered there, so warm and fair - to walk with me

All summer long, we sang a song - and strolled on golden sand

Two sweethearts, and the summer wind"

There is a change in the air. Happens every year around this time, yet it still takes us by surprise when we feel it. The nights are becoming cooler. The mornings darker. The maples by the wetlands have already begun to change their color, and the dew on the grass stays longer in the mornings.

Things are changing.

It's a long way to Memorial Day. (sigh).

Photo: Long Pond on an early September morning.