I remember spending up to eight hours some days in the woods, just listening, watching, and
    waiting. I've seen osprey diving for fish; a small group of river otters feeding in a cove; huge groups
    of blackbirds moving in October, as well as nighthawks streaming at dusk, feeding on flying ants
    as they migrated; hawks, herons, ducks and owls. I recall the robin I freed from a fishing line at
    West Cove.              Click here to see who wrote this and read more of his Parklands memories.

Memorial School in a 1961 Draper publication.

Hopedale in April 2019


Hopedale in March 2019   

Hopedale in April 2018   

Ezine for April - Hopedale Foundries to Shut   

Recent Pictures Menu, 2019       HOME   

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    Our kitchen was our one room that had heat. The stove burned both wood and coal. Our
    water had to be brought in from the well in buckets. On cold mornings, I’d use a knife to
    break the ice on the top. To do the laundry, my mother had to heat the water on the stove
    and wash the clothes using a scrub board. She baked all our bread.

    Those are the memories of a gentleman who was born in Long Pond, Newfoundland in
    1923. The words above are about his early life there. He came to Hopedale in 1948 and
    is still living here. Click here to read more of his memories.

    This is an ebay item from one of the "other Hopedales," Hopedale, Ohio,
    showing the birthplace of Clark Gable. When I saw it, no one had met or
    exceeded the starting bid of $0.01.

    I'll put more of these on over the next few month, mainly because the
    names of the contributors might bring back memories to some of
    you. There's no publication date, but there's a Rockwell ad in it, so not
    earlier than 1967 and probably no later than 1980.

Hopedale Pond - April 1

Thanks to school librarian and class advisor to the Class of 1987, Laurie Wodin.

    The site where Hopedale Hardware, and before that, Hopedale Coal & Ice was
    located, near the western end of the Hope Street bridge and Cemetery Street. If
    you "mouseover" the picture you'll see the same location many decades ago.

    Below - Hazel Street, where Mr. Greenway had his business long ago.
    The ad says he did curbing. I wonder if he was the one who did
    Hopedale's unique (and gradually disappearing) fieldstone curbs.

    Right - One of the surviving examples of the curbs - Jones Road.

    This is just a screenshot, but if you go to it on the Caltopo site
    you can zoom in or out, and get lots of detail about the trails.
    Also, you can mouseover to see a 1913 Parklands map.

    This is a piece of one of many vernal pools in the Parklands. Wood frogs
    were chirping away in most of them today (April 2) but when we'd approach
    they'd duck down into the water, leaving the ripples that you can see here.


    In honor of National Frozen Food Day (Sorry - we missed it.), we’ve asked dietitians
    to share some pros and cons of frozen foods: products worth stocking your freezer
    with and pitfalls to avoid.

    “Frozen foods can be a lifesaver when you don’t have the time or ingredients to make
    a healthy meal from scratch,” says Angie Murad, R.D., a dietitian with the Mayo Clinic
    Healthy Living Program. “But not all frozen foods are ones you want to rely on, so you
    do have to be careful what you choose.”  
    What to Look For

    The healthiest frozen foods are the single-ingredient ones. “I stock my freezer using
    the same principles I use when buying fresh food,” says Liz DeJulius, R.D., a
    dietitian at the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine. “I look for high-quality
    whole foods that I can use as ingredients for making a quick, healthy meal.”

    Fruit. Keep bags of berries, mangoes, and other fruit in the freezer to use in
    smoothies, yogurt parfaits, or muffins. Unlike the fresh variety, you can find them year-
    round at a reasonable price. Choose products that are free of added sugars.

    The advice above is from Consumer Reports. Click here for the rest of the article.

    This is for those few of you who will recognize
    some names and faces here.

Leonardo da Vinci, born April 15, 1452.

    Thanks to Ann Lamontaigne at the Milford Museum for these
    fabric Draper mailing bags. (On the upper right corner of the paper
    tag it says "This space for postage.") Since they say Draper
    Corporation, they were made no later than 1967 when it became
    Draper Division, North American Rockwell. Since they include a
    ZIP code, they must have been made no earlier than 1963 when
    the ZIP code was first used.

Stamp from 1973 used to promote ZIP codes.

Spring is here.

    The house shown above was destroyed by a fire that occurred on
    February 3, 2018. The photo below was taken on April 12, 2019.

March 2017 - 145-147 Hopedale Street.

Milford Regional Medical Center

Below - Hopedale Pond, April 13.

Beaver dam about 100 yards upstream from the Rustic Bridge.

    High water and no lily pad cover yet. It's rare to see
    this part of the upper pond looking this good.

    The temperature got up to 73; warm enough
    for the turtles to get out in the sun.

    Hopedale, MA - Lost Black Dog

    Westcott Rd / Briarcliff Rd area.

    DO NOT CHASE. Her name is Mercy, a 6 month old Chow mix. She slipped out of her harness and is now
    missing. She is very skittish so DO NOT APPROACH OR CHASE. May approach if lured with treats. She does have
    her collar and tags on. She does not bite, but is very scared of people and animals. Be on the lookout for this pup
    and report any sightings.

    Please share and call 978-493-6617, or Hopedale Police Department at 508-473-8444 or message ACO Sullivan
    when spotted or found.

    Helping Lost Pets: https://www.helpinglostpets.com/petdetail/?id=2745651
    HeLP Map: https://www.helpinglostpets.com/v2/?pid=2745651

    Contact: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10218452642765838&set=p.10218452642765838

    Photo and text here are from Facebook.

    Here's a memory brought up by this article and sent to me
    not long after this page was posted.

    Dan I love reading all of these. What is cool for me in this
    months is the article about the band performing at the Worlds
    Fair in 65. Because they were there my brothers Robert and
    Steve went across the street to Shea Stadium and were able
    to buy 3 tickets to see the Beatles in August! The legendary
    Shea concert and we were there! The tickets were like $5.75
    each. Our parents bought a car to drive us there and they sat
    in the car while we went to the concert and we drove back
    home that night! Pretty amazing! Our seats were 9 rows from
    the lights on the first base side! It's nice that there are actually
    good videos out there so we can finally hear what we couldn't
    then!!! We saw the Beatles the next year at Suffolk Downs we
    were 12 rows from the front and still couldn't hear much!!!!
    LOL!!
    Dave Rose

    PS - I was 9 at Shea Stadium!!!! Steve was 14 or 15 and Bob
    15 or 16!!! I cant imagine letting 3 kids that young go into a
    concert that big alone!!!!LOL!!!


    Here's part of the article from the Heddles site.

    There are 45 Draper X3 looms left, some of which dating back to the 1940s, which Dellinger has every intention to get
    back up and running. After buying the White Oak site, he explained that he developed a deep appreciation for the place
    and the people who ran it after taking possession last year, “Through buying the White Oak site, I had the opportunity to
    meet and understand what this place means. I want to preserve it as best I can.”

    Dellinger plans to keep the looms in Greensboro and hopefully in the White Oak plant itself and, pending insurance
    liability, allow visitors to see these historic machines in action. Although they won’t be able to do spinning, dyeing, and
    finishing like the original plant, he plans to use loom beams to weave selvedge denim at the same White Oak standards,
    rehiring many of the old White Oak workers in the process.

    While the denim will be running again in the near future, the entirety of the facility will not survive into this next chapter in
    White Oak’s life. The mill itself covers 1.8 million square feet (the equivalent of over 30 football fields), and some of the
    less historically significant portions of the building will need to be demolished to give the place a sustainable overhead
    for the new operation.

    All things considered, this seems to be the best possible ending to the White Oak story. It’s still all speculation, but we’re
    looking forward to seeing denim roll off of a Draper loom on the White Oak property in the near future.

Boston Marathon runners in the center of Natick.

    Little Engine That Could photos from the
    Milford History Museum at  Memorial Hall.

Bradford pear season - April 25

    Don't put plastic bags in with your recycling material, or put
    paper in plastic bags. If you do, a worker like this guy will have
    to get them out from between the blades that cut up the paper.

    The first of the Draper field days was in 1901. This picture of a field day boat race
    must have been taken during the first decade that they were held. I'm sure we'll
    never know the names of most of the people shown, but the name of the man on
    the left, working with his camera, is known. Click here to see who he was.