The Community House. That's where the Hopedale High proms were held through the end of the 1950s. At some point after that, they were taken over by the prom-industrial complex and since then have been held elsewhere. |
Giving a cane to the oldest man in town was started in 1909 as a Boston Post publicity stunt. Starting in 1930, they were given to the oldest person. Over the years, most of them disappeared. The Hopedale Council on Aging has revived the tradition here, but now the cane is kept at the Community House and the person's name goes on a plaque next to it. In the picture to the left, the cane is in the case on the mantle and the plaque is to the left of it. |
Hopedale Pressed Metal ashtrays can be found on Ebay from time to time, but this one was brought to the Bancroft Library by a gentleman who had had it for many years. The company was located off of Hopedale Street, behind the houses in the odd numbered low 200s. The building is still there and several companies operate out of it. |
Hopedale in October 2014 Hopedale History Ezine for October 1 - A Plaque for Willard Ezine for October 15 - Seance Ezine for November 1 - Homes with Names Hopedale in September Ezine Menu HOME . |
this year at the United Parish hall in Upton. At left, Blackstone Valley Tech students who made the meal. Thanks to John Trainor for the photos. I took pictures too, but John has a much better camera. |
The Ledges, 55 Adin Street. I had this on the September page, but since it went on at the end of the month, most of you probably missed it. It's for sale. Here's a link to a real estate page with a 14 minute video that will take you on a tour of it. There are also a large number of photos. Here's a link to the Now and Then - The Ledges page. |
It must have been a slow news week. |
From the Find A Grave website. Thanks, DJ. |
Joe D raking the Parklands road for his cross country team. |
G&U track work in the Parklands - October 6. |
October 7. |
It was like paddling through vegetable soup. Click here for a page of pictures of Hopedale Pond in October. |
I put Hopedale stats from the How Well Do You Know Your Neighborhood site on the Hopedale in March page. Here's what it's showing today - October 10.. Most of the numbers are the same or close to the same, but some of these things can be a bit weird. On the March page, the air quality number was 38. Now it's 71.8. Really??? I hadn't noticed any difference. |
A G&U train rolling through the Parklands, at about 2 mph with lots of stops. October 13. Three locomotives, three wallboard cars, one boxcar and two cars dropping ballast, which was evidently the reason for the stops. Those of you who walk along the tracks there will recognize the rock in the picture to the left. It's a good place to get pictures of the train. Click here to see more pictures of the train in that location on October 13. |
page views went to four digits in a day. I got this at 11:45 pm and things had slowed down a lot by then. The count always goes up on the days when I send out the "ezine. In addition to total page views for the day, it gives page views for the past hour. The rest of the day had been much busier. By clicking on the page titles on the left. I can see where the person looking at it is from. For example, the one looking at Transportation - Early 1900s is in or near Yuba City, California. That page gets lots of hits from all over the country. I presume that happens where transportation is being studied in school. Other popular pages are Aerosmith (of course), and Sylvester Roper. Sylvester gets hits from all over the world. Why? Take a look and you'll see his claim to fame. He probably never lived in Hopedale, (though History of Worcester County says he did) but his son was a prominent resident. |
the 17th. We decided that the best place to use it was Draper Field. There's a good view in all directions and there's very little light around it. There's room to park on the entrance road near the No Parking sign. From there, walk 100 yards or so past the No Trespassing sign to the parking lot and field. There weren't any planets or the moon to see, but we did have some good sights, including the Milky Way. |
Signing their recently published book, Images of America: Milford, are authors Lyn Lovell, Deborah Eastman and Anne Lamontaigne. Milford historian Paul Curran is the gentleman wearing a green hat. Many copies of the book were sold at the Historical Commission's annual open house at Memorial Hall. Copies of the book can be purchased at the Milford Library. |
Hopedale Pond - October 20. |
The new book, A Journey Through Upton Memories, is now available. It is a great collection of stories from Upton's happenings, people, legends and celebrations. The book is available at the Historical Society museum, the Town Clerk's office and A Little Common Sense. Cost is $32. Member price is $30 if purchased at the museum. Mail orders will be accepted, add $6.00 for postage. Send a check to Upton Historical Society P.O. Box 171 Upton MA 01568 |
Two former Hopedale residents meet after a concert at Columbia Gorge, Washington State. Maybe some will be thinking, "Who's that dude with Richard Bodreau." Click here if you need a clue. |
Maple-leaved viburnum. It's fairly common in the Parklands, mainly on the west side. Between the color at this time of year and the berries, it's easy to tell they're not little maple trees. |
Hey, Lincoln Pierce, Joe's book just came out. You could have had Nate assigned to write about Oliver Hazard Perry. |
The Parkland - October 27 |
Progress Street - October 27 |
Highway Department - October 30 |
Hopedale Pond - October 30 |
across the pond, toward where the tracks are, was taken just a few minutes earlier. It hardly looks like the same area. This was the longest train I've seen come in since they started running again. Five locomotives and about fifteen cars of wallboard. |
Not many trick-or-treaters make it off the beaten path to Inman Street, so this year I'm putting the pictures of our visitors on this page rather than a separate page. |
Highway Department cleaning up leaves - Bancroft Park, October 31. |