Spring cleaning. |
1950 and no women jurors! The first year that women showed up on the Hopedale lists was 1951; thirty-one years after getting the right to vote. Maybe it was because many, probably most, women didn't drive until around that time. I'm assuming the nearest jury trial would be in Worcester, but that's just a guess. Another possible explanation is that it was probably felt by many that women shouldn't be hearing the sort of testimony that would come up in some cases. They might "swoon." |
More choices in those days. Even though Hopedale was a dry town, the Prohibition party didn't do very well |
Looks like election season in Milford. |
and a few items from Marches of the past Hopedale history ezine for March 1 - Mannings in Hopedale, Part 1 Ezine for March 15 - Manning in Hopedale, Part 2 March 2016 February 2017 HOME . |
For a few weeks, when recycling began in Hopedale in 1990, paper, glass, metal, and several types of plastic were collected at the town hall parking lot. Eventually permission was obtained to move to the former Draper parking lot, across the tracks from the highway barn. I notice that Debbie Dalton's name was forgotten in the article. She and Sarah Shonbrun were the two who formed the committee. |
The Milford bottle plant. |
The bathroom building at Town Park will soon be under construction. We, the Town and the HPC, have been given the gift of an addition to the building. The addition will house a single handicap accessible bathroom stall, and a utility room for the addition of hot water at the sinks. The buildings electrical service will also be upgraded. Please use caution in the area of the construction. A little more attention to your kids as well will keep everyone safe during this project. We anticipate having the existing toilets functioning by March 20, the start of Spring sports at the High School. Below - Also from the Park Commission Facebook page, comments on donations to the project. |
Ongoing work at Phillips Brothers Field, including playground equipment and an increase in parking space for about 35 to 40 more vehicles. |
Hopedale Pond - March 5. |
The lower end of Hopedale Pond (and practically all of the upper end) was clear of ice on February 26. On March 6 it was covered with a skim that you can see in the picture above. Click here for more on when the ice has gone in the past. |
There is no charge for this event. To reserve your spot please stop by the Bancroft Memorial Library upstairs registration desk or call 508-634-2209. Click here to go to the library page for more on this program. |
A sign of spring. |
The photo above, of John Mayo, Jr., was taken by Tracy Griffin Johnson. Tracy also wrote the paragraph below, and posted both on her Facebook page. At the time that I added them to this page, I noticed that on Tracy's Facebook page it had 318 likes, 62 shares, and a great number of comments saying what a wonderful man John was. The world lost a great man yesterday...the town of Hopedale lost a great man yesterday. Maybe you saw John walking the town picking up sticks, maybe you saw him at the local sport games, or maybe you saw him riding his bike to McDonald's...or saw him working there. You may have seen him at Union Church where, until recently, never missed an event or a Sunday. No matter where you may have seen John he always had a smile on his face, a positive thing to say and a stat of a local or national sports team! I took this picture only about 6 weeks ago, days before he was diagnosed with cancer. He was telling me about going to lunch with his sister for his birthday. He was a simple man. We should all aspire to be a little like John...Heaven just got lucky and I know John is happy to be there, he loved God! |
March 10 - So much for signs of spring. This didn't amount to much, though. The streets and sidewalks were too warm for it to accumulate on them. The prediction for Tuesday-Wednesday is for a much larger storm. |
Hmmm...thanks, DJ. |
March 12 - For a second time, after being clear of ice, ice has returned to Hopedale Pond. See the iceout page for more on this. |
I thought it felt a bit chilly when I put the trash out this morning, and yes, looks like it is. A bit of snow is predicted for tomorrow. Quite a bit, for the middle of March. A foot or more. |
Well, that didn't turn out to be too bad. Not here, anyway. After lots of warnings (we're on the edge of the predicted 12 to 18, but near the 8 to 12 zone) we got about a foot, which cleaned up fairly quickly on the afternoon of the 14th. Picture taken looking down Inman Street from in front of Hope1842.com World Headquarters. |
Happy Pi Day |
St. Patrick's Day on Hopedale Street. |
From Adin Ballou's History of Milford. |
Adin Ballou, History of Milford. |
March 22 - During a few warm days, much of the ice on Hopedale Pond melted. Much colder temps are predicted for the next few days. |
Thanks to Tom Bair and the Upton HIstorical Society for giving 42 photos of the 1955 flood in Hopedale to the Bancroft Library. They were taken by the Draper photography department and most are of in and around the Draper plant. Click here to see photos of the Freedom Street end on the shop, and more of cars flooded in the Draper parking lot. |
The Friends of the Hopedale Library presented another excellent program on March 22. The title was Discovering New England Stone Walls. The speaker, Kevin Gardner, shown above, gave a history and many fascinating facts about stone walls, while building the miniature wall shown. The next program will be about the Sacco and Vanzetti case. The speaker will be Chris Daley. It will be at the library starting at 6:30 on April 24. |
also from the Upton HIstorical Society. Click here to see a page of them taken inside the shop. |
Mia - 2002 - 2017 |