Search results can be really strange sometimes.

MC Machine Co, once the Westcott Mill - Spindleville

It's been a long time, but they still turn up now and then.

Hopedale in June 2014

Hopedale history ezine for June 1 - The Postal Service  

Ezine for mid-June -
Al Tarca  

Hopedale in May                   Ezine Menu                   HOME  

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G&U cars near Freedom Street seen from Hopedale Pond.

Highland Street - June 4

    A groundhog coming out from his home
    under my shed. In the lower picture, he's
    keeping St. Francis between us.

Here's another strange search result.

    South Main Street - A hall of fame in town? Maybe
    that's the explanation for the 100 million visitors.
    One of the neighbors says it's a joke. Too bad. I
    was looking forward to seeing those visitors.

    There he is again. So far it appears
    that he's just eating clover, so I won't
    bother him. I think it's the skunks that
    keep the grub population in my lawn
    down. I won't bother them either.

    Hopedale High graduation - June 7.
    Click here for a few minutes of stills
    and video on YouTube. It was a mere
    55 years ago when I was one of a
    class of 27 who graduated here in
    front of the Community House.

A rare item these days - the pay phone at Cumberland Farms.

    Neighboring town photos for June - Milford quarry walk guided
    by Anne Lamontaigne of the Milford Historical Commission.
    That's Anne in the photo above, middle of picture, paper in hand.
    These pictures are from the first quarry on the walk, which is
    behind the Shadowbrook apartments off of Purchase Street.

    It's not supposed to happen, but the quarries still are
    places for hanging out, swimming, jumping and diving..
    A few of these kids jumped in while we were there.

    Art show - Atria-Draper Place - June 12 - Sponsored
    by Atria and the Hopedale Council on Aging.

Above - Boy Scouts collect cans and botttles.

Below - Cub Scouts collect fish.

June 14

    Poetry by the statue, sponsored by
    the Friends of the Library - June 16.
June 18

    From the book, The Smartest Kids in the World...and how
    they got that way, by Amanda Ripley. Massachusetts had
    the top score in the US on the test used for this map.

    A few months ago, when we were paddling on Hopedale Pond, a bit beyond the Rustic
    Bridge, my son DJ noticed a flag fluttering in the breeze. We could tell that it said
    Hopedale, but that's about all. Today, June 19, I was up there again and this time I was
    able to hold it out with my paddle in one hand, and get a picture with my camera in the
    other. The Republic of Hopedale. Just what Adin Ballou was thinking in the 1840s.

Hopedale Pond, seen from Fisherman's Island.

    Another neighboring town photo. There we were at the Upton chamber on Summer
    Solstice Eve. DJ, in photo on left, reminded me that the story is that the chamber was
    built so that the sun would shine directly into it on the evening of the summer solstice.
    We went to check it out. We were actually closer to the time of the solstice than if we
    were there on the evening of the first day of summer, because this year summer
    begins around six on the morning of the 21st. With all the trees in the way, it doesn't
    give the sun much of a chance to shine through, but for a couple of minutes we could
    see a bit of it hitting one of the rocks inside. In the picture above, I was looking out
    from a few feet into the entrance tunnel. You can see where the sun was peeking
    past the tree in the middle of the picture. It was rather wet in there so we didn't go all
    the way into the main chamber. More about the mysterious Upton chamber.   

    Hits on the site around 11 pm, June 20. Wonder why someone in
    Pakistan is interested in shooting sports in Hopedale. A few days
    later, someone in Hanoi was looking at the Draper organization
    chart for 1950.

    Asian pear in the foreground, just to the right of the rebar.I planted it last fall
    and it seems to be doing well. I should have planted a couple of these forty
    years ago instead of apples. Behind the pear are some spears of
    asparagus. We got a lot from that little patch this year, but now it's time to
    let it grow for the rest of the summer. Two good things about growing
    asparagus - You get to pick it much earlier than anything else you're likely
    to plant, and the groundhogs and rabbits don't eat it.

    Gravestones in the Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain with a
    Hopedale connection. Above Supply Clap  and Anne Thwing, probably
    related to the Hopedale Thwings. Annie Haven Thwing wrote children's
    books, including Chicken Little. Below, William Lloyd Garrison, who
    spoke in Hopedale at abolitionist meetings and whose son went to
    school in Hopedale. Thanks to my son, DJ, for the photos.

    In this small town
    That I adore
    Is folklore and history
    Gossip galore

    Left behind
    Kept safe from the wicked
    Is a treasure you see
    One might call
    A utopian Community

    Generations of stories
    Of days long gone
    From K to 12 still
    The same children
    Mingle along

    Over half my life
    I did roam
    This beautiful town
    I call home
    The pond and forest
    A gift from God
    A place to go
    In my own backyard

    The buildings and park
    The pond all aglow
    Make me stop to ponder
    Where will it go?

    Keep safe these gifts
    For they are unique
    No laundry on Sundays
    And houses kept neat

    If you are smart
    Your voice will be heard
    Be not afraid
    To protect and preserve

    For if you don’t
    It will be forgotten
    And left to the world
    And that would be rotten
    For this small town.

    This came by email which said,
    "author, anonymous," but I will tell
    you that her picture is on this page.

    Band concert - June 25. The
    Blackstone Community Concert Band
    was too big for the bandstand.

G&U yard - June 24