My Southborough

Events this week: Mamma Mia matinee, Cookbook Club, High School Musical Jr, and more

by beth on January 22, 2019

Above: This week’s events include a chance to cook up and share food from the Momofuku cookbook and to watch the junior high’s jr version of High School Musical. (image left from Facebook)

Here are highlights of what’s happening around town this week.

[Note: The highlights don’t include ongoing weekly programs. For those listings and more, check the Event Calendar.]

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Knitting Club (Senior Center Program) (1:00 – 2:00 pm) @ The Southborough Senior Center, 9 Cordaville Rd: Bi-weekly gathering coordinated by Helen Varney. Come join a wonderful group of ladies working on their own creations and discussing community projects. Stop by for a cup of coffee/tea and visit with the group or join right in!

Poetry Workshop (6:30 – 8:30 pm) @ Southborough Library, Main Level: At the semi-monthly sessions, Everyone is asked to bring in five copies of their original poetry for supportive feedback. If you don’t have a poem, come and share your insights.

Wednesday, January 23, 2019

NSPAC – Importance of Self-Care for Parents (10:00 am) @ Northborough Library, 34 Main St, Northborough: NSPAC Meeting featuring this presentation by June David-Fors, Director of Northborough Family and Youth Services. For details, see dedicated post.

Movie matinee (Senior Center program) (1:00 – 2:50 pm) @ Southborough Senior Center: Free screening of comedy musical Mamma Mia (PG-13) Snacks will be provided. Please sign up in advance at 508-229-4453. (You can click here for synopsis on official movie site.)

Tales & Tails (6:15 – 7:15 pm) @ Library, main level: Children are welcome to come in and read to a dog. The kids must have some reading ability. Registration is required. Please contact the Children’s Room staff for more information. (This event runs monthly on Wed evening and Thurs afternoon.)

Thursday, January 24, 2019

Tales & Tails (4:00 – 5:00 pm) @ Library, main level: Children are welcome to come in and read to a dog. The kids must have some reading ability. Registration is required. Please contact the Children’s Room staff for more information. (This event runs monthly on Wed evening and Thurs afternoon.)

Cook Book Club (7:00 – 8:00 pm) @ Southborough Library: Join the Library for its monthly cookbook group. Participants will each cook a different dish from the selected cook book of the month. This month’s selection is Momofuku by David Chang and Peter Meehan. To avoid overlap, please email msorensen@southboroughma.com in advance with your selection.

Friday, January 25, 2019

The Crown (Senior Center program) (12:30 – 3:00 pm) @ The Southborough Senior Center, 9 Cordaville Rd: The Center will be screening episodes from the 2nd season of the popular Netflix series – two at a time with a break for refreshments in between. For headcount purposes, please sign up to attend.

High School Musical, Jr (7:00 – 8:15 pm) @ Trottier Middle School auditorium, 49 Parkerville Rd: Trottier’s 6-8th grade winter musical. Tickets are $5 each. (Snow date would be Sunday, January 27th)

Saturday, January 26, 2019

Chess program at Library (2:00 – 4:00 pm) @ Southborough Library: The Southborough Library is continuing its Saturday Chess program for players ages 12+ who are interested in learning beginner chess skills. It meets on Saturdays twice a month. (For details, see initial post from when it launched in the fall.)

High School Musical Jr (3:00 – 4:15 pm) @ Trottier Middle School auditorium, 49 Parkerville Rd: Trottier’s 6-8th grade winter musical. Tickets are $5 each. (Snow date would be Sunday, January 27th)

Light Up Sledding (4:30 – 8:00 pm) @ Chestnut Hill Farm, Chestnut Hill Road: This event is weekly weather permitting and it’s the first week this year that we’ve had snow as a possibility. But with forecast warmer temps and rain mid-week, it’s likely to be gone again. If weather cooperates, the hill will be lined with lit lanes for after dark sledding.

{ 0 comments }

The week in government: Advisory on DPW (budget, capital plan, articles, and more)

by beth on January 22, 2019

Here is a selection of the committee and board meetings for the week along with my selected highlights from the agendas. All these meetings are open to the public, so you’re welcome to stop on by.

Be aware that changes to the meeting schedule are known to happen throughout the week. For an updated list of meetings, visit the town website.

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Board of Trustees Southborough Library, 6:00 pm @ Cordaville Hall, Room B, 9 Cordaville Road (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Reconstruction Update; Facade Restoration Project; and appointment of Library Assistant Candidate

Southborough Scholarship Committee, 6:30 pm @ Cordaville Hall, Room A, 9 Cordaville Rd (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Scholarship application review to submit to area high schools; Timeline for process; fundraising

Historical Commission, 7:00 pm @ Historical Society Museum, 25 Common St (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Budget; election of officers; progress report on 26 Granuaile Rd; Civil War gravestones

Southborough Cultural Arts Council, 7:00 pm @ Recreation Building, Conference Room, 21 Highland St (agenda) Agenda Highlights: 2019 Grant Update and reception planning; Girl Scout Gold Award Project proposal

Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Northborough – Southborough Special Education Parent Advisory Council, 10:00 am @ Northborough Library, 34 Main St, Northborough (agenda) Agenda Highlights: ‘Importance of Self-Care for Parents’ presented by June David-Fors, Director of Northborough Family and Youth Services

Advisory Committee, 7:00 pm @ Cordaville Hall, Room B, 9 Cordaville Rd (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Discussions with DPW on operating budget FY20 and beyond, proposed FY20 Article for road maintenance, 10 year Capital budget plan, all open past DPW articles, and future of Transfer Station; Continuance of proposed FY20 operating budget including identification of Advisory proposed changes

Thursday, January 24, 2019

Southborough Housing Opportunity Partnership, 8:30 am @ Hearing Room, Town House, 17 Common St (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Discuss membership, DHCD Inventory/Affordable Housing; Recording Secretary; Master Plan Committee Rep

Southborough School Committee – Policy Development Subcommittee, 9:00 am @ Neary School, Office of the Superintendent, 53 Parkerville Rd (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Review/Develop all or some of the following policies – Homework, Drafts on Responsible Tech use guidelines for staff and students and employees on social media, bullying prevention/intervention, students assigned to buses, pupil dismissal, dangerous articles/weapons, and school cancellation and instruction

Conservation Commission, 7:00 pm @ Hearing Room, Town House, 17 Common St (agenda) Agenda Highlights: Hearings on 10 Turnpike Rd, MassPike resurfacing, 141 Deerfoot Rd lot changes, 124 Deerfoot Rd house, Woodward School driveway and parking improvements, 5 Gilmore Rd house, Fayville Hall driveway/parking/septic, 17 White Bagley Rd house; Order of Conditions at 18 Lovers Lane; Changes in Chestnut Hill Roadway Culvert; and 11 Blackthorn violation

{ 0 comments }

“Roller Skate for Shifrins” – February 2

by beth on January 22, 2019

You are invited to “Roller Skate for the Shifrins”. The fundraiser will raise funds to help with expenses to help Brian Shifrin in his fight against ALS.

What started as a private event has turned into a public fundraiser. Organizers welcome the community to join them on Saturday, February 2nd from 6:00 – 9:00 pm:

(click to enlarge)

Please come spend a cold wintery night with family and friends roller skating to raise funds for the Shifrin family. Brian Shifrin is a Southborough husband, father & friend who was diagnosed with ALS in 2017. Today, Brian’s disease is progressing where he can no longer be without the assistance of costly care and medical equipment.

Roller skate/In-line skate, race contest, 50/50 raffle, DJ, karaoke & snack bar are all part of the fun.

Donations with a suggestion of $20 per kid or max $50 per family. Skate rentals are available for $3.00 or bring your own. All proceeds will go directly to Brian’s medical care & equipment bills. PLEASE help make this a #SHIFSTRONG night by bringing your friends and family.

Cash, checks to Kristine Shifrin or Venmo @shifstrong-Shifrin – All accepted.

If you don’t skate, you can still support the cause:

Folks have asked about donations… Cash, checks to Kristine Shifrin or VENMO @shifstrong-Shifrin – All accepted. 100% goes to the family.

If you do plan to attend, you are encouraged to pre-pay to save time at the door:

donate by Venmo at @shifstrong-Shifrin Add your kids name in the comments, we can put them to our list. $20/kid or max $50/family.

(To be clear, by “comments” they mean in Venmo, not this blog post.)

The event takes place at Roller Kingdom in Hudson. You can find more details and updates on the Facebook event page.

{ 0 comments }

“Here, Cisco”: Owner seeking lost cat

by beth on January 20, 2019

Above: Has anyone seen this cat wandering around town? (Image contributed)

Please help an owner find her missing cat, Cicso. The formerly indoor cat escaped from his home in Westborough near Uhlman’s a few months ago.

His owner saw a post about a cat recently found in Southborough (apparently not him) and reached out. Cisco has previously been sighted near the town border, so may be in our town now.

His owner writes:

(click to enlarge)

Cisco, is a brown, black and white tabby cat, neutered male, around 3 years old. He is an indoor cat, on the smaller, thinner side – around 8 lbs. His special markings include white paws, chest, and blaze down the middle of his face. He has a black spot on his nose. . .

I am hoping people contact me at 302-230-6024 with ANY sightings so we can try to get him back home. He is friendly, but likely timid as he has been outdoors now for quite some time.

Tagged as: lost pets

{ 1 comment }

Saturday/Sunday Storm: Changing snow forecasts; Expect freezing rain and icing

by beth on January 18, 2019

An update from Southborough Emergency Management confirms that while we may have a bad storm in Southborough tomorrow night, the details keep changing.

So be prepared for heavy snow up to 8″, followed by freezing rain/ice, and potential power outages Saturday night and Sunday. But don’t blame SEMA if the warning ends up seeming overblown.

Click on thumbnails below to enlarge the latest maps from the National Weather Service this afternoon:

This afternoon, SEMA’s Neal Aspesi shared:

The storm track is still teetering, making the exact snow, ice, rain line difficult to pin down.

We have gone between the 8-12 and 6-8 inches of snow mark in multiple forecasts over the last 24-hours…

The most current forecast has the track sneaking north just a bit bring the area of most concern for freezing rain and icing (0.25-0.50 inches) very close to our area. That said we are still in the 0.10-0.25 inch zone, of which I would predict us to be on higher end of the range.

The combination of heavy wet snow and ice will give us a pretty high potential of moderate+ damage and power outages. One the plus side, the snow should create a blanket before the freezing rain starts, reducing the chances of direct ice accretion on wires and trees. The snow blanket (and thus ice crust) should fall fairly quick from the high winds that will follow the storm. [click to keep reading…]

{ 0 comments }

Public Safety Building December Update: 35% complete (?) and clearing up flag confusion

by beth on January 18, 2019

Above: Progress is continuing on the Public Safety Complex. The only issue reported in December was the public’s confusion over a “faded” flag. (images L-R cropped from newsletter and contributed pic)

The latest monthly report is out on progress on the big Public Safety Building project. This time around, the only “issue” to report was misconceptions about the flag hung on the building.

The update by the Owners’ Project Manager explains:

it has been brought to Vertex’s attention that some community members are wondering why the flag that has been hung on the building is “faded”. The flag that was selected and hung is a 9/11 memorial flag. It differs from the typical American flag because the red, instead of being solid, is actually the names of the fallen from that day. This flag will be taken down and displayed in the building.

I don’t have an original photo, but the committee Chair shared an example with me. (You can click on the thumbnail right for a better view.) The “Flag of Heroes” lists the names of emergency personnel who lost their lives that day trying to save others.

At a glance, the report shows that the project status was at 35% as of the end of last month. Later in in the document “(under review)” appears next to that figure. The “Schedule” section explains:

CTA Construction Managers provided an updated schedule to the team for review on December 17, 2018. The schedule is still under review as both Vertex and Context have questions and comments regarding the new schedule. Comments will be issued, and discussed at the upcoming project meeting.*

You may recall that earlier this fall, the general contractor asked for more time. The Town pushed back and eventually settled on allowing an extra unpaid 10 days.

(click to enlarge)

The newsletter again shares a load of details on construction activity, average daily work hours, change orders and more. It also features photos on various aspects of the project – like the framing of the second floor interior.

You can see all of that by clicking here.

Those of you more concerned about the land surrounding the building can read my post from earlier this week on the Golf Course status.

Speaking of the Golf Course, it seems some commenters have been including part of that project’s cost when referring to the building in comments. Part of the original Article was for the land deal to acquire and preserve St. Mark’s Golf Course.

The building project was approved for $22.6M. That included a contingency and the committee appears to be on track for shaving millions from that.

*Again, the newsletter is status as of the end of December. So, those issues may have been resolved since.

Tagged as: public-safety-building

{ 3 comments }

Town Meeting and budget update: Article sponsors urged to educate voters (Updated)

January 18, 2019 12:47:00 PM

This week, the Board of Selectmen continued to prepare for Annual Town Meeting. They are far from done, but here’s an update on what they discussed.

0 comments Read the full article →

Drop-in Art Workshops for Children – Mini clay figures on Jan 26 (Updated)

January 18, 2019 10:33:10 AM

This weekend, the library is continuing it’s Art Workshops series.

0 comments Read the full article →

More Free Skate and Sticks & Pucks

January 18, 2019 08:02:56 AM

St. Mark’s School has opened its doors to the public again for some free skating opportunities.

0 comments Read the full article →

Ice Safety and Texting 911

January 17, 2019 04:36:22 PM

The Southborough Fire Department asked me to share some warnings and helpful tips about Ice Safety. While I’m at it, I’m also sharing updated news the department posted about 911.

0 comments Read the full article →

Federal workers can get help from the Southborough Food Pantry

January 17, 2019 03:12:57 PM

The Southborough Food Pantry asked me to share an announcement. Any Federal workers in our comunity who aren’t receiving checks due to the government shut down should make use of their services.

0 comments Read the full article →