My Southborough

Weekend at a Glance: Walking Tour, Last Farmer’s Market, Halloween parades & parties, Outdoor Movie, and Fall Fun on the Farm

by beth on October 22, 2021

Above: If you’re heading to the SFA Halloween parade and party (with costume contest), you may want to bring a candy bucket, since Rec’s “Trunk or Treat” immediately follows. (photos by Susan Fitzgerald and Beth Melo)

There is a lot going on in Southborough this weekend. Most, but not all of it, is Halloween-themed fun. Here’s a reminder of the highlights:

Saturday, October 23, 2021

Fay School Farmer’s Market (9:00 am – 12:00 pm) @ Fay School, parking at Brackett House, 31 Main St: The school is featuring a farmer’s market with vendors selling a variety of foods and goods. Plus (as detailed below), the market is hosting the Library’s Halloween Party. For details, see dedicated post.
- Southborough Library’s Halloween Party for Kids (9:00 am – 12:00 pm) @ Fay School Farmer’s Market: Fay School will host the Southborough Library’s annual Halloween party at their Farmer’s Market. This is free and open to all ages, no registration required. The event will include Halloween games and crafts, plus a Halloween story time, costume parade, and children’s concert. For schedule and details, see dedicated post.
Historic Walking Tour: Model Farms and Country Seats (1:00 – 3:00 pm) @ Main Street: Southborough Historical Society is hosting two tours of the Historic Main Street area this month. This one will focus on the development of West Main Street as an area of vast summer estates for Boston’s wealthy elite. Advanced registration is required and limited. The tour is free to SHS members or $15 for non-members. For details, see dedicated post.
Town hosted Halloween Fun (3:30 – 7:40 pm) @ at Woodward Campus and the Public Safety Complex
- SFA Halloween Parade (3:30 – 4:30 pm) @ Woodward School to the Public Safety Building: Southborough Firefighters Association is hosting their free annual Halloween Parade and party with costume contest. Marchers are asked to line up at Woodward School. From there they’ll march to the Public Safety Building. No registration required. For details, see dedicated post.
- Trunk or Treat (4:30 – 6:00 pm) @ Woodward School parking lot: Southborough Recreation is inviting kids to trick or treat at an array of cars lined up with trunks open, decorated in Halloween spirit. Free, no registration required. For details, see dedicated post.
- Outdoor Movie Night – Monster’s Inc (6:00 – 7:40 pm) @ Choate Field – in front of Woodward School: Southborough Recreation is putting on a free outdoor movie night, screening Monster’s Inc. The movie is rated G. No registration required. For details, see dedicated post.

Sunday, October 24, 2021

Fall Fun on the Farm (12:00 – 4:30 pm in 90 minute windows) @ Chestnut Hill Farm: Enjoy a classic New England fall day featuring apple cider, hayrides, a climbing haystack, live music, scenic walking trails, a Storywalk, and a visit to see the goats, chickens and sheep. Indulge in yummy food, apple cider, and other seasonal treats available for purchase. Pre-registration (and fee) required. For details, see dedicated post.

Tagged as: halloween-2021, southborough-events-this-week

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Fay School Farmer’s Market hosting the Library Halloween Party – Saturday

by beth on October 22, 2021

Above: The last farmer’s market this fall in Southborough will feature a Halloween party. (image right is cover art for a song Stacey Peasley is likely to perform at the party.)

This weekend is the last Fay School’s Farmers Markets to this fall. Their wrapping up the series with a lot of fun for families with young children.

Tomorrow morning, October 23, the school is Hosting the Southborough Library’s Halloween party. (Open to all for free, no registration required.)

Kids are invited to enjoy Halloween games and crafts throughout the 9:00 am – noon market. In addition, some special activities are lined up. (Scroll down for those details.)

Of course, the Farmer’s Market isn’t just about kids. It offers something for all ages, with a variety of vendors each week.

This Saturday’s vendors are:

One Bite Bakery – mini cupcakes (flavors vary weekly), oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookies, vegan gluten free banana bread, mini cinnamon rolls, snickerdoodle cookies, brownies
Papa’s Catch Salmon – wild Alaskan sockeye salmon caught in Bristol Bay Alaska (vacuum-packed whole fillets and portioned fillets)
Yummy Mummy Bakery – homemade baked goods (decadent brownies, cookies, cake pops, edible cookie dough, and more!)
Wild Poppy Farm – locally grown (on Potter Hill Farm in Grafton), specialty cut flower bouquets and bunches, herbs (culinary & medicinal), plus dried flower bouquets, handmade floral wreaths, and other dried flower decorations
Valicenti Pasta Farm – farmstead pasta sauce, various flavors of gourmet ravioli, various flavors of unique fresh pasta, ready-to-cook lasagna
The Jimmy Fund – handcrafted greeting cards with all proceeds from donations going to The Jimmy Fund Walk and Dana-Farber Cancer Research
Baypath Humane Society – selling clothing items and giving out freebies (pet bags, hand sanitizer, pens, pencils)

As for the Halloween party, here are the scheduled activities:

10:00 Halloween story time with Miss Kim from the Library
10:30 Costume parade
11:00 Spooky music with Stacey Peasley (children’s musician/songwriter)

For those of you who don’t know Peasley, click on her single “Spooky” (right) to hear a song she’s bound to be including in the concert:

For more details, click here.

The market will be held in Upjohn Circle on Fay’s campus.

Parking is available behind Brackett House at 31 Main Street.

Updated (10/22/21 11:58 pm): I forgot to note that the party is free with no registration required.

Tagged as: halloween-2021

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On the market this week in Southborough

by beth on October 22, 2021

Above: This home at 55 Breakneck Hill Road went on the market this week for $1,099,000 (MLS photo)

Here’s what went on and off the market this week. Thanks to Gail DuBois (email) of Keller Williams for supplying the town’s new listing information for the week.*

New on the market

55 Breakneck Hill Road (map) – 12 room, 4 bed, 3f 1h bath Contemporary, Log – $1,099,000
2 Sears Road (map) – 11 room, 4 bed, 4f 1h bath Colonial, Farmhouse, Shingle – $1,900,000

Sale pending

9 Oak Hill Road, Unit 9 (map) – 7 room, 2 bed, 2f 1h bath Colonial – 14 days on the Market, Listed at $458,000
68 Charles Court, Unit 68 (map) – 7 room, 2 bed, 3f 1h bath Townhouse – 5 days on the Market, Listed at $615,000

[click to keep reading…]

Tagged as: Southborough Houses for Sale, Southborough Real Estate

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Downtown District Zoning: A look at the specifics

by beth on October 21, 2021

Above: I’m trying to make it easier for readers to understand what would and wouldn’t change under zoning Article 10 of the Special Town Meeting Warrant.

I see a lot of comments and internet chatter about what the proposed Downtown District zoning will do. Frankly, I’m not sure how many readers are actually familiar with what the proposed changes really are.

To paraphrase Planning Chair Don Morris from Monday night’s hearing, it’s difficult to educate voters on zoning, because its complex but boring.

(It doesn’t help that due to Covid Safety, the Town can’t hold traditional in-person, pre-Town Meeting forums. Plus, Article proponents won’t be able to make on screen presentations at the Special Town Meeting on November 1st.)

So, I’m trying to help readers understand in advance what the proposed zoning changes mean. (Or, at least, figure out what questions you want to ask.)

I tried to do the most boring part of the work for you of studying the proposed bylaw line by line to compare with the current code.*

Click here to see the differences in what building uses would be allowed by right or special permit. (At least, in the area defined for the Downtown District in the map right. For properties shown as remaining in the Downtown Business Village District, nothing will change.)

But uses aren’t the only part of the zoning code that would change.

To update zoning (and presumably compensate for allowing more by right uses), the proposed bylaw refines details on the layout for lots. There are specific requirements for landscaped green space, parking by use, and more. You can take a look at those differences here.

*[Note: The comparisons I make are based on the version of the Article that voters will be asked to approve, based on modifications after the Warrant was posted.

You can find the Warrant here on the Town’s website. (The handout for amending the Article had yet to be posted when I posted this story. But that is the page that Town officials are likely to post handouts to.)]

Tagged as: mixed-use downtown, special town meeting fall 2021, zoning-bylaw

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Join Board of Health forum “From Invisible to Indispensable (In One Pandemic)” – tonight

by beth on October 21, 2021

The Board of Health is inviting the public to a forum tonight with former BOH Chair, Dr. Louis Fazen.

The zoom meeting will feature Dr. Fazen’s presentation on his recent report to the Board “From Invisible to Indispensable (In One Pandemic)”.

You can read that report here. The meeting is scheduled for 7:00 pm on Thursday, October 21st. (Click here for the Meeting ID and passcode.)

Updated (10/22/21 5:37 pm): For those who missed the forum, you can find the video here.

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Reminder: Sign up for Historic Tours of Main Street this Saturday and next

by beth on October 21, 2021

Above: SHS is marketing two special historically themed walking tours. (images cropped from SHS website)

This Saturday and next, the Southborough Historical Society is inviting the public to join them in appreciating the Town’s heritage.

SHS is holding two walking tours in honor of the Main Street district’s soon-to-be-official designation on the National Register of Historic Places. Each Saturday afternoon walk will focus on a different historic theme.

Advance reservations are required and participation will be limited to 30. (So, act soon!)

The tours are free to members of SHS. (You can learn about joining here.) For the general public, it is $15 per person (at the door).

The first will be of interest to those who have been watching 84 Main Street restorations with interest. Later this month, the walking tour will enter the grounds (not buildings) to explore the restored exteriors and at “Deerfoot”. (Note: The grounds, not the inner buildings!)

Model Farms and Country Seats – October 23, 1:00 – 3:00 pm

[The tour] will explore the development of West Main Street as an area of vast summer estates for Boston’s wealthy elite. Beginning at the museum, we’ll be taking in the history of Pilgrim Church, The Town House, St Marks, the Kidder, Choate and Sears Estates, as well as a special tour of the newly restored grounds at 84 Main Street, the Burnett Mansion.

The second will include area closer to downtown

Merchants and Ministers – October 30, 1:00 – 3:00 pm

[The tour] will head east from the museum to investigate the history of our main street from its origins as a native American trail to its development as a small commercial center. Stops will include most of the homes along Main Street, as well as the former sites of the railroad station, the Sealey Block, the Southborough Arms, and the second iteration of the Congregational Church. We’ll end up in the Old Burial Ground just in time for Halloween to hear some remarkable tales of those buried within.

For more details on the tours, and reservation links, click here.

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Town Basketball: Grades 1-8 Register through 31st

October 21, 2021 08:15:25 AM

Registration has been expanded through 8th grade and extended through the end of this month.

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Photo Gallery: Haunted Construction Site in Southborough

October 20, 2021 04:10:06 PM

A reader reached out with some fun news about her neighbor.

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US News & World Report gives high ranking to Southborough schools (WW ranked #3 in state)

October 20, 2021 01:35:40 PM

All three Southborough schools that qualified for rankings did well in US News & World Reports’ report. But one especially stood out.

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Downtown District zoning: Compromise reached on the allowed mix in mixed-use

October 20, 2021 10:50:00 AM

Last night, selectmen voted to approve bringing a revised version of the Downtown District zoning bylaw to Town Meeting voters in less than two weeks. It accepts compromises reached between the Planning Board and the Economic Development Committee.

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NSPAC webinar: No Sibling Left Behind

October 20, 2021 09:30:00 AM

The Massachusetts Sibling Support Network will hold a webinar for Northborough and Southborough parents next month.

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Gobble Wobble ’21: Volunteers requested

October 20, 2021 07:30:00 AM

The Friends of the Southborough Recreation Department are hoping that families in town will continue to support its Thanksgiving tradition – the Gobble Wobble.

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