The recent survey results regarding what the town felt would be the best way to proceed with the Town Hall project were posted on the previous post. As with other surveys taken here, the results followed the vote.
Pretty accurate poll taking.
It was unquestionable that the majority of those that responded to the poll wanted to proceed with the original plan to renovate the Town Hall and the Center School. In the text sections of the survey there were a variety of reasons for doing so ranging from the historic benefit the buildings bring to the area, to the plan being the most cost worthy of all those plans out there. Few thought that the economic times would affect the continuation of the project.
This pulse taking of the town is important. It allows the residents to voice their feelings in a specific, anonymous way that gives a certain credibility to the poll results. The poll is set up to prevent multiple entries from the same computer in order to skew the results, and the same question is asked in a different ways in order to get the very best results.
The town has spoken, and it is time to move on and get the project started, and completed. Let's hope the town's plan is a good one, and the the buildings will shine once again and be a focal point in the village center we all can be proud of.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Town Hall Survey Results
The following are the results from the recent Town Hall Survey held here on Thinking Out Loud.
1. In your opinion, how important is restoring the Town Hall?
36.4% Crucial
36.4% Very Important
18.2 % Needs to be done eventually.
9.1% Not critical at this time.
2. What do you feel would be in the best interest of the Town?
Moving on with the original plan of renovating the Town Hall and the Center School. 63.6%
Building a new facility in town. 36.4%
3. What do you feel would be the shortcomings of moving
on with the original renovation?
No town owned parking at the Town Hall. 12.5%
Congested access to Town Hall. 12.5%
Limited lifespan of renovated Town Hall (30-50 years). 12.5%
Separate buildings. 37.5%
Other: 4. Why do you feel the renovation would be either
not in the best interest of the Town, or the best choice?
5. In the space below please describe what you feel to be
plan that would serve the best interest of the Town of Sturbridge.
1. In your opinion, how important is restoring the Town Hall?
36.4% Crucial
36.4% Very Important
18.2 % Needs to be done eventually.
9.1% Not critical at this time.
2. What do you feel would be in the best interest of the Town?
Moving on with the original plan of renovating the Town Hall and the Center School. 63.6%
Building a new facility in town. 36.4%
3. What do you feel would be the shortcomings of moving
on with the original renovation?
No town owned parking at the Town Hall. 12.5%
Congested access to Town Hall. 12.5%
Limited lifespan of renovated Town Hall (30-50 years). 12.5%
Separate buildings. 37.5%
Other: 4. Why do you feel the renovation would be either
not in the best interest of the Town, or the best choice?
5. In the space below please describe what you feel to be
plan that would serve the best interest of the Town of Sturbridge.
Summer Dreamin'
There are a few things that have always made me feel warmer. The song below is one of them.
I was only a kid when it was a hit, but later on it had become one of those annual summer songs that would always play on the radio while I was enjoying the warmth of the sun.
It brings back a lot of memories, and warmth, even today.
I don't have a pellet stove, but this will do for now. Click play, then close your eyes for a few minutes, and let your mind drift off to that special summer memory. Take a deep breath. Smell the suntan lotion mixed in with the sand, and saltwater. Listen for the laughter and noise from the kids playing on the beach, the distinctive 'pphhhffffttt" of a soda can opening, a radio playing off in the distance, and the surf touching the shore.
For just about three minutes it will be July, and sometimes, just that little bit of time away from the world is all that it takes to make it through til the day actually arrives in person.
No charge, consider it Beach Therapy.
A Summer Place - Percy Faith
I was only a kid when it was a hit, but later on it had become one of those annual summer songs that would always play on the radio while I was enjoying the warmth of the sun.
It brings back a lot of memories, and warmth, even today.
I don't have a pellet stove, but this will do for now. Click play, then close your eyes for a few minutes, and let your mind drift off to that special summer memory. Take a deep breath. Smell the suntan lotion mixed in with the sand, and saltwater. Listen for the laughter and noise from the kids playing on the beach, the distinctive 'pphhhffffttt" of a soda can opening, a radio playing off in the distance, and the surf touching the shore.
For just about three minutes it will be July, and sometimes, just that little bit of time away from the world is all that it takes to make it through til the day actually arrives in person.
No charge, consider it Beach Therapy.
A Summer Place - Percy Faith
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Tables On The Common
When I first came to Sturbridge there were a few picnic tables on the Town Common. They were set out each Spring, and taken in in the Fall. Something so simple gave so much pleasure.
I remember mothers parking their minivans alongside the Common, and releasing a half dozen little people onto the grass. I'd watch them play for a while, and eventually they would settle at a table. Mothers would walk around the tables setting juice boxes down in front of each face, and whatever snack they had brought along. After awhile of free form play and running about, the tables have a way of collecting children, and placing them back into some form of controllable order.
Functional furniture at its best.
There were times I'd see dog walkers sit at a table with their long leashes splayed out over the grass. The dogs doing their thing, and their master enjoying their coffee, and the morning, while seated at one of the tables.
Often, I would sit at a table close to the Charlton Street side, and read the paper, scribble in my journal, or just people watch. I lived very close to the Common, and it was like an extension of my front yard. It was a destination that was shady, comfortable, and one that allowed a passive enjoyment of the that great green space we are so fortunate to have in the center of our Town.
Then the tables were gone.
One year, they didn't show up. I called around, and found out that the Recreation Department were charge of the tables. I spoke to a woman that told me that the Department no longer had the money to place the tables out on the Common.
Money?
She went on to explain that a few of the tables needed repair, some needed to be replaced, and the DPW were the ones that were in charge of placing them on the Common, and getting them to work that task into their schedule was difficult. I asked her how many were in good enough condition to put on the common for the upcoming season, and even offered to help pay for repairs, or a new table. I was told there were about three tables. I then asked her to arrange with the DPW to place those three tables out there. She never took me up on my offer to help repair the tables.
During our conversation, she didn't sound happy, but a few weeks later the tables were dropped off. That summer was the last year I ever saw them on the Common.
It's time to put them back.
Now, I don't expect the Town to suck up the cost of the tables. There is a guy in town that builds picnic tables, and sells them at a reasonable price. The Town should establish a Picnic Table Fund, and folks can donate directly to the fund at the Town Hall, or at other places around town. Maybe businesses can donate a table and have their business name carved in the table as an incentive.
Eight tables would be just right. Three along each side, and two along the back edge of the Common on Chamberlain Street. Figure on $120.00 per table that comes to $960.00. Not an overwhelming amount to collect through donations.
Once the money is collected, and the tables are purchased they could be brought to the DPW garage and painted by volunteers, and then set out on the grass for another year of picnics, people watching, concert viewing, and sipping coffee in the afternoon.
Something so worthwhile, so relatively inexpensive, that provides so much enjoyment is hard to come by. Face it, we all need to enjoy life nowadays, and these little things can make a world of difference.
Now that I've brought it up on this space, I'll leave the rest to the Town. Forward this post onto the powers that be, and ask them to start a fund for the "Common Tables". Once the go ahead is given, I'll be the first to donate.
You know what would go great with picnic tables on the Town Common?
Wi-fi. Free wi-fi.
Bridging the gap between the 17th century and the present.
Let's discuss it more over coffee this summer at a table on the Common.
Express your support for "Tables on the Common" by forwarding this article to:
Town Administrator
Recreation Coordinator
You can forward this article by clicking the envelope at the bottom, and pasting the email addresses listed above in the "send to" space.
I remember mothers parking their minivans alongside the Common, and releasing a half dozen little people onto the grass. I'd watch them play for a while, and eventually they would settle at a table. Mothers would walk around the tables setting juice boxes down in front of each face, and whatever snack they had brought along. After awhile of free form play and running about, the tables have a way of collecting children, and placing them back into some form of controllable order.
Functional furniture at its best.
There were times I'd see dog walkers sit at a table with their long leashes splayed out over the grass. The dogs doing their thing, and their master enjoying their coffee, and the morning, while seated at one of the tables.
Often, I would sit at a table close to the Charlton Street side, and read the paper, scribble in my journal, or just people watch. I lived very close to the Common, and it was like an extension of my front yard. It was a destination that was shady, comfortable, and one that allowed a passive enjoyment of the that great green space we are so fortunate to have in the center of our Town.
Then the tables were gone.
One year, they didn't show up. I called around, and found out that the Recreation Department were charge of the tables. I spoke to a woman that told me that the Department no longer had the money to place the tables out on the Common.
Money?
She went on to explain that a few of the tables needed repair, some needed to be replaced, and the DPW were the ones that were in charge of placing them on the Common, and getting them to work that task into their schedule was difficult. I asked her how many were in good enough condition to put on the common for the upcoming season, and even offered to help pay for repairs, or a new table. I was told there were about three tables. I then asked her to arrange with the DPW to place those three tables out there. She never took me up on my offer to help repair the tables.
During our conversation, she didn't sound happy, but a few weeks later the tables were dropped off. That summer was the last year I ever saw them on the Common.
It's time to put them back.
Now, I don't expect the Town to suck up the cost of the tables. There is a guy in town that builds picnic tables, and sells them at a reasonable price. The Town should establish a Picnic Table Fund, and folks can donate directly to the fund at the Town Hall, or at other places around town. Maybe businesses can donate a table and have their business name carved in the table as an incentive.
Eight tables would be just right. Three along each side, and two along the back edge of the Common on Chamberlain Street. Figure on $120.00 per table that comes to $960.00. Not an overwhelming amount to collect through donations.
Once the money is collected, and the tables are purchased they could be brought to the DPW garage and painted by volunteers, and then set out on the grass for another year of picnics, people watching, concert viewing, and sipping coffee in the afternoon.
Something so worthwhile, so relatively inexpensive, that provides so much enjoyment is hard to come by. Face it, we all need to enjoy life nowadays, and these little things can make a world of difference.
Now that I've brought it up on this space, I'll leave the rest to the Town. Forward this post onto the powers that be, and ask them to start a fund for the "Common Tables". Once the go ahead is given, I'll be the first to donate.
You know what would go great with picnic tables on the Town Common?
Wi-fi. Free wi-fi.
Bridging the gap between the 17th century and the present.
Let's discuss it more over coffee this summer at a table on the Common.
Express your support for "Tables on the Common" by forwarding this article to:
Town Administrator
Recreation Coordinator
You can forward this article by clicking the envelope at the bottom, and pasting the email addresses listed above in the "send to" space.
Monday, February 23, 2009
A Fine Winter Whine
I am snow blind.
I can't see anything but white outside my window. Oh, there are some gray sticks, and some other stuff stuck in the white, but it's mostly white. And, cold.
It's February 23rd, and I have reached my "Winter Limit" weeks before it is due. Last week, just after some warm weather, there was actual grass exposed in my yard. A lot of grass. My driveway had begun to shed the pile of ice that I park over everyday, and I took the truck to C&R Tire for a scrubbing. I was pumped, but noooo, did the white stuff keep melting away?? Nope. More of it came to taunt me instead.
(sigh).
Well, that was a good Monday Morning Whine. I feel better, no warmer, but a little better. Whining is something I mastered early on. I was a pro. I think I backed off the whining as I became an adult, but now, at middle aged, I think it is a feel good skill that shouldn't go to waste.
It serves two purposes:
I am surprised Mary has not duct taped me and stuffed me in a closet till Spring.
I think I make life for those around me in February a living hell. I know, I should be out snowshoeing, or taking a walk in the snowy cold.
But, I don't wanna.
I could have planned a mid winter escape to someplace sunny. That would have helped, but other things were a priority this past year, like getting married.
I'll plan a lot better for next winter. Believe me.
In the meantime, I'll sit tight, whine, and maybe take my whining online and annoy the bejeepers out of others.
Hey! I'm doing that right now! Awesome!
I'm feeling a better already.
Let it snow.
I can't see anything but white outside my window. Oh, there are some gray sticks, and some other stuff stuck in the white, but it's mostly white. And, cold.
It's February 23rd, and I have reached my "Winter Limit" weeks before it is due. Last week, just after some warm weather, there was actual grass exposed in my yard. A lot of grass. My driveway had begun to shed the pile of ice that I park over everyday, and I took the truck to C&R Tire for a scrubbing. I was pumped, but noooo, did the white stuff keep melting away?? Nope. More of it came to taunt me instead.
(sigh).
Well, that was a good Monday Morning Whine. I feel better, no warmer, but a little better. Whining is something I mastered early on. I was a pro. I think I backed off the whining as I became an adult, but now, at middle aged, I think it is a feel good skill that shouldn't go to waste.
It serves two purposes:
- If done right, it can be like a mantra, and actually soothe oneself.
- And, if done very well, it can annoy the heck out of those around you.
I am surprised Mary has not duct taped me and stuffed me in a closet till Spring.
I think I make life for those around me in February a living hell. I know, I should be out snowshoeing, or taking a walk in the snowy cold.
But, I don't wanna.
I could have planned a mid winter escape to someplace sunny. That would have helped, but other things were a priority this past year, like getting married.
I'll plan a lot better for next winter. Believe me.
In the meantime, I'll sit tight, whine, and maybe take my whining online and annoy the bejeepers out of others.
Hey! I'm doing that right now! Awesome!
I'm feeling a better already.
Let it snow.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)