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Needham Bank, Natick

Natick mourns high school junior who died in car crash

March 7, 2021 by Admin Leave a Comment

Hundreds gathered at Natick High School on Sunday to mourn the death of junior Giovanni Taboh, who died after being thrown from a vehicle involved in a car crash on 93 South in Canton on Saturday night.

The 17-year-old Gio Taboh died after the Jeep he was a passenger in smashed into another car on an off ramp and rolled over.

“We are all devastated by the passing of Giovanni Taboh, a Junior at Natick High School,” Principal Brian Harrigan said in a message to the school community. “Gio was a fantastic human being loved by so many students and adults in our community.”

A WHDH-TV report includes remembrances from students who grew up with Taboh.

A crowdfunding campaign has been launched to raise funds for funeral and medical expenses.

Condolences to Gio’s family and friends.

Filed Under: Obituaries & remembrances

Linden Square, Wellesley
London Harness, Natick Report

Beyond Natick: Hiking at Ravenswood Park in Gloucester; bookstores; and lunch

March 7, 2021 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

The forecast called for mild temperatures in the 40s and promised no wicked winds or bone-chilling winter precipitation, so we took the one-hour drive from Natick to Gloucester to explore Ravenswood Park. The 600-acre nature preserve is owned and managed by the Trustees of Reservations. Open year-round, sunrise to sunset, the spot is a magnet for hikers, dog walkers, and cross-country skiers. Mountain biking is  permitted on a few trails, but those trails are closed to mountain biking March 1 to April 30, during mud season.

Ravenswood Park, Gloucester
The main trail was packed down to a hard and slippery ice-and-snow mix.

The small, no-fee parking lot located at 481 Western Ave. was almost full when we got there, and many cars were parked along the street at this popular spot. We made our way across the muddy lot and onto the wide trail. Pretty soon into our hike we face-palmed ourselves for not throwing our yaktrax into our back packs. What are we, amateurs? We’ve been doing this winter hiking thing for months now.

“It’s icy like this the whole way,” a friendly local advised us. “If you have yaktrax back in the car, you should go get them.”

We trotted the five minutes back to the parking lot, strapped on our traction aids, and were the happier (and steadier) for it. The main trail, undoubtedly once covered with light, fluffy snow, was now packed down to a hard and slippery ice-and-snow mix. But now we were a match for such conditions. Steps that were slow and tentative when we set out with just our hiking shoes became confident strides now that we didn’t have to fight for purchase on a slick surface. Amazing how much better a hike gets when you’re not worried you’re going to fall and break a hip.

The usual suspects were on the trail—casual walkers and their dogs; family groups; and determined types eager to get off the wide, main path and explore deeper into the woods. The further you get from the parking lot, the more the hiking experience improves. The madding crowd fades away. The quiet creeps out from behind the trees and under the rocks, making its presence felt as a calming companion in the snowy New England landscape. You may be deep in the woods, but it’s hard to get lost at Ravenswood. The multiple trails are well-marked, and permanent maps located at potentially confusing junctions keep hikers in touch with their true north.

Ravenswood Park, Gloucester
We left the main trail and veered off onto the well-marked Ledge Hill Trail.

 

We followed the Ledge Hill Trail. Once you get the top you’re rewarded with a view of Gloucester Harbor, known as America’s oldest seaport. Especially with young kids, if all you did was an out-and-back hike on Ledge Hill trail to the overlook, that would be a fine hike and a successful family outing. The path is lined with moss-covered boulders, some of them absolutely massive, and the hiking itself is easy, with no sudden elevation changes.

We decided we needed to stretch our legs a little more and from the overlook we followed the blue trail loop. About two miles later, we met back up with the Ledge Hill Trail, which led us back to the path most taken, and the parking lot.

From there we took the 7-minute drive to Gloucester’s Main Street to wander around a bit before lunch. Because it was a Sunday in the winter, many of the shops were closed. And because we are in a pandemic, some of the shops are open by appointment only. And because we are in a pandemic, some of the shops are closed for good. There isn’t a town we’ve explored this winter that doesn’t have empty storefronts. Gloucester is no exception.

Gloucester, Massachusetts
Gloucester Harbor view.

 

Come on a sunny spring day and you’ll find the doors open to antiques shops, art galleries, upscale clothing boutiques, shoe stores, a record store, restaurants, and more. We stopped in at two places—The Bookstore of Gloucester, 61 Main Street; and Dogtown Books, 132 Main Street.

The Bookstore of Gloucester is an independent shop that’s been in town for over 45 years. They sell a curated collection of new books that include everything from bestsellers to nautical history and local literature. Thanks to their artist of the month program, the walls are always full of original art, most of it for sale.

Dogtown Books is one of those fiercely unique places where a book lover can get lost for hours. The mission of the secondhand spot according to its website is “to be the best destination for Gloucester’s local and visiting readers, writers and creatives, and to connect people with the books that they will love.”

Gloucester, Massachusetts
With a street scene like this beckoning, it was impossible to pass by Dogtown Books.

 

How can you not love a place like this? Dogtown is filled with all the things I secretly want to surround myself with at home. They’ve got books shelved neatly, and books piled in corners. Maps and magazines, and odds and ends. Leather bound tomes and tattered paperbacks. I love the vibe, but if I cart it all home, then I’ll have to dust it. Not that Dogtown, or any of the best used book shops, puts much faith in the idea of dusting. But when cool indie places are a little disheveled and unable to pass the white glove test nobody cares. It’s part of their charm. When they do things like devote an entire bookcase to “penny dreadfuls,” they’re considered hip and/or keepers of the past. When I do it, my family calls me a “hoarder.”

If you wander downtown Gloucester, definitely stop into both bookstores. I mean, two bookstores on one Main street? How is that even possible today? Must be some kind of North Shore magic.

All that hiking and wandering made us hungry. Our goal was to get takeout, park on Ocean Ave., and eat our lunch overlooking the water. We tried out a hugely popular local favorite, The Causeway Restaurant. After picking up our order of Caesar salad with scallops, fried calamari, and clam chowder, we drove a couple blocks down the street Ocean Ave. and got our parking space with a view. The ocean was pretty and all, but the people watching was even better. Everyone was out and enjoying the day, some sitting on benches and taking in the view, others on power walks. Nearby Stage Fort Park is another good place to have lunch if the parking spaces on Ocean Ave. refuse to open up. Plus there’s a playground and a dog park there, so fun for all. But the visitor center and its all-important bathrooms aren’t open until mid-spring.

Lunch smelled fantastic so we opened up the bag and got going. Whoops. They forgot to include our clam chowder. Pity. We’d heard rave reviews, but that’s the way it goes. A quick call to the restaurant cleared the charge off our card. On to the rest of the order. The meal-sized appetizer of fried calamari was fried up light and lovely, and the squid itself was tender. The Caesar salad was also enormous, with so many large and delicious scallops, perfectly grilled, that the leftovers became part of a bruschetta that night.

Other menu items that looked tempting were baked coconut rum haddock (dinner only); bacon wrapped scallops; shrimp scampi or alfredo; plus classics like onion rings, whole belly clams; burgers; swordfish, and steak tips. This diamond-in-the-rough spot offers friendly, informal service, reasonable prices, and huge portions. The dining room is open, and it’s BYOB.

There’s so much more to do in Gloucester—hang out one of their beaches, or catch a whale watch, or charter a fishing boat. Maybe we’ll be back in the summer and return with more to report.

MORE:

A winter hike at Ashland State Park

Andres Institute of Art in Brookline, NH

A spring visit to Boston’s Arnold Arboretum

A walk around Walden Pond in Concord


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Filed Under: Beyond Natick, Books, Food, Outdoors, Restaurants, Shopping

Page Waterman, Wellesley

Natick summer camp listings 2021 — find the experience of a lifetime

March 6, 2021 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

Natick Report’s Summer Camps page is now updated with over 75 camps in Natick and beyond. It’s time to sign your child up for the summer camp experience of a lifetime. Whether they’re into coding, arts and crafts, sports, drama, or nature, the perfect camp is out there for them.

LINX, summer camp

 

Natick Report’s camps page is sponsored by LINX Camps. Over 40 Premier Camps. Perfect for your family.

Contact Deborah for more info on inclusion of your camp located in Wellesley or elsewhere, or for advertising on Swellesley. Camp parents and guardians: Please let camps know that you found them here, if you did…thanks.

Filed Under: Camps, Entertainment, Kids

(W)omen (E)ntrepreneurs Love Natick holding online meet-up on International Women’s Day

March 5, 2021 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

(W)omen (E)ntrepreneurs Love Natick invites women business owners to connect online on March 8 at 10am to share with and learn from one another.

The free event will feature Michelle Mercier from the popular podcast “The Resilient Entrepreneur” & other local business owners.

Register here


Got business news to share? Email us the details: natickreport@gmail.com

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Filed Under: Business

Meet candidate for Natick Select Board—Paul Joseph

March 5, 2021 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

The Town of Natick depends on the active participation of its citizens in governance of the Town. Natick voters will on March 30, 2021 cast their ballots for candidates running for Select Board, a contested race.

There are two candidates running for one open 3-year seat on the Select Board, which serves as the chief executive board of the Town and, as such, is vested with all the municipal authority not specifically retained by the Town’s legislative body, Town Meeting.

The Select Board candidates are Paul Joseph and Guimel DeCarvalho.

Natick Report invited the candidates to answer a few questions about their qualifications and priorities for the Town of Natick. Below is  Paul Joseph’s Q & A. Here is a link to Guimel DeCarvalho’s Q & A.

Paul Joseph—candidate for Select Board

Paul Joseph, Natick
Paul Joseph, candidate for Select Board

Natick Report: What is your background and what qualifies you for a position on the Select Board?

I’ve been politically active in Natick for more than 13 years. An extensive overview of my experience can be found on my website (onenatick.com); however, some highlights include:

  • Natick Select Board member from 2010-2013, chair of the Economic Development Committee (EDC) for 6 years, and Town Meeting member for almost 10 years
  • More than 30 years of business experience, spanning start-ups to Fortune 100 companies. I’ve started or co-founded three business, served on several non-profit boards, and worked as the CEO of the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce from 2015-2019
  • Extensive experience supervising people, including hiring, firing, disciplining and developing; managing high performing teams; and, serving on executive task forces during two major corporate mergers, consolidating different corporate cultures into unified teams
  • Business strategy consultant and teacher, including adjunct faculty at Babson, WPI, and in several Executive Education programs. I’ve used simulations to provide experiential education and coaching to business leaders, including international audiences in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
  • Recipient of the Foundation for MetroWest’s “2017 Civic Leader of the Year” award.

My platform is focused on four priorities, including:

1) Hiring Natick’s next Town Administrator
2) Navigating the impacts of a post-pandemic economy on Town revenue and operations, especially municipal services and school budgets
3) More effectively incorporating community feedback into policy decisions, operations, and volunteer appointments
4) Examining Natick’s governance model and operating norms and their impacts on the Town’s ability to grow and operate more effectively and equitably

I became politically active in late 2007, when Natick Public Schools proposed closing Johnson Elementary School to close an anticipated gap in the Town’s FY2009 budget. My interest in one issue sparked curiosity about “why” did things get to that point, “how” does local government work, and “what” can I do about it? I went from volunteering on the 2018 YES for Natick Operating Override initiative to serving extensively in various local government and non-profit roles.

My wife of 23 years, Magdalena (“Lena”) and I moved to Natick in 1995 to attend graduate school. After a brief move to Austin, TX for my job, we bought our first home in Natick in 2002 where we’ve raised our two children. Now aged 20 and 18 years old, our children benefitted substantially from Natick’s public schools, local athletics programs and community resources. Most valuable have been the relationships with our Natick neighbors and our “village,” the lifelong friends we’ve made as fellow parents and community members.

NR: How can Natick further support existing businesses and encourage new ones to come into Natick?

Joseph: Natick must:

1) Update and simplify its zoning bylaws and hearing processes
2) Invest more heavily in economic development, ideally earmarking budget from local options taxes and creating a economic development corporation as a non-profit, public-private partnership with the Town
3) Create and implement a robust business retention and expansion (BRE) action plan in collaboration with local businesses, commercial property owners, the Natick Mall, Natick Soldiers Systems Center, and various Town constituencies, including the Natick Public Schools.

These efforts should leverage the extensive work already completed, including the Natick 2030 Master Plan, the Natick Public Schools 5-Year Strategic Plan, the Natick Center Strategic Plan, the “Golden Triangle” Study, and the 2050 Net-Zero Action Plan, to name a few. These should inform a unified “revenue generation” plan that spans the municipal services and school department budgets and defines measurable and time-bound objectives for growing our commercial tax base.

Throughout the pandemic, our Community and Economic Development (CED) Department, Board of Health, and key community partners, notably the Natick Center Cultural District, have done a great job educating businesses about changing guidance from the Federal and State agencies, conducting inspections, promoting grant and loan programs, and serving as vital resources to our struggling businesses. The CED also effectively partnered with the EDC and outside vendors to launch new a website and online resources to “hook” prospective new businesses during their site-selection processes.

Further, we’ve become more agile and flexible, allowing some short-term changes to zoning and permitted uses of space—curbside pick-up, sidewalk dining, etc. We “must not waste a good crisis” and make sure that some of these improvements don’t get lost when we return to our new normal! Let’s learn from these “exceptions” and permanently adopt those practices that will accelerate our economic recovery and enhance our quality of life!

NR: How should Natick manage the financial implications of the pandemic going forward?

Joseph: Effective planning must take both a longer-term and “singular” view of our revenue and operations—we must get away from the parallel processes undertaken annually by the school department and municipal services “sides” which then subsequently try to reconcile gaps through often heated, “zero sum” negotiations. Our taxpayers are better served when we focus more on growing the pie together and less on fighting over the slices.

Natick must employ more sophisticated, and multi-year, scenario planning, working from a unified accounting/IT system, and through a process predicated on the effective and respectful collaboration between the town’s two “chief executives, the Town Administrator and Superintendent, their department heads, and the major policy boards.

We need to leverage Natick’s strong bond rating and reserves by focusing our budget with “the end in mind” – big picture thinking about what the community wants from its schools and municipal services in the next several years, not just one year at-a-time, and establishing the goals, and metrics, that will take us there. On the operations side, we should establish metrics such as “service level agreements” (SLAs), “quality of service” (QOS), etc. while potentially sharing services across departments. This approach will help each “side” take baby steps toward a more unified, transparent, and value-oriented budgeting process.

If we continue to build budgets with an “incremental” or “level services” mindset, compounded by our parallel planning and budgeting processes, Natick will rapidly fall behind other communities with more agile systems and governance already in place.

NR: How can Natick best continue to act on the concerns of its residents of diverse backgrounds?

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Election, Government

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