More than you really want to know about Natick, Mass.
The Charles River Rotary Club, serving Ashland, Framingham, Natick and other MetroWest communities, has presented the Natick Service Council with $5,000 to support its Thanksgiving Dinner program.
Our roundup of the latest Natick MA business news:
Kaycha Labs has shown patience. The Fort Lauderdale marijuana product testing firm began the process of trying to open in Natick more than a year ago, and after getting town approvals earlier this year had hoped to open in April. Seven months later, Kaycha has received state approvals and opened its doors at 16 Tech Circle, adding to its roster of labs in other states, including Colorado, Tennessee, and California.
Kaycha COO John Schwartz said in a statement about the opening that the firm’s lab setup “should translate into more informed decision-making for our clients to optimize their product mix, reduce costs, and enhance profitability.” Kaycha tests products for the types of adult-use and medical marijuana facilities that have or will open in Natick. It looks at everything from potency to pesticides to contamination, helping its clients meet regulations and provide safe products to customers.
Outdoor dining has been pushed about as far into the year as it can go weatherwise, and Lookout Farm in Natick says its now time to go inside its covered Greenhouse to eat and drink. We first checked it out last December.
The Greenhouse is open for brunch, lunch, and dinner, but check their schedule to be certain of hours. Oh, and Santa will be making appearances in December.
We’re pretty sure The Paper Store can afford to cut a ribbon or two, and have plenty left for shoppers. The store, which sells everything from stationery to jewelry, had its official grand opening at Sherwood Plaza on Rte. 9 east this past weekend.
The Paper Store was previously located at Shopper’s World, and is making a comeback from corporate’s voluntary Chapter 11 filing last year.
Update: Here’s a video of the ceremony.
The Boston Athletic Association on Wednesday, Nov. 10 plans to recognize those who saved a runner’s life during the 125th Boston Marathon, according to the Natick Police Department.
The ceremony is being held at 1pm in front of the Natick Fire Station at 22 East Central St. in Natick and will recognize the runners and professional first responders who provided life-saving care to Meghan Roth, a runner who suffered cardiac arrest near mile eight, just before the Natick line.
The Massachusetts Film Office, which encourages producers to film movies in the state via tax incentives, encourages property owners to list their homes, offices and more for possible shooting locations.
Currently, about 2 dozen Natick properties are listed, including Town Hall, the South Natick Dam, the downtown fire station, and a few homes.
Listing your property as a possible movie shoot site is straightforward, and involves sharing pictures. The office provides tips on how to best reflect the nature of your property in photos.
We’ve seen reports that homeowners can reap thousands of dollars a day for renting out their property for filming, with the monthly mortgage sometimes used to figure out the daily rate. That could work out pretty well for a Natick homeowner indeed.
You’ll probably be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement by the filming outfit so their big secrets aren’t revealed.
Natick Executive Assistant Donna Donovan (ddonovan@natickma.org) is listed by the film office as the person to start with in town (we reached out to her but received no reply). We also tried Town Administrator Jamie Errickson, hoping to get info on what benefits the town gets from movie shoots, other than police details. Ultimately, filming in town requires permission from the Select Board, according to the film office.
If listing your property isn’t something you want to do, there’s still a mess of other interesting info on the Mass Film site, including internship and casting call opportunities.
This past summer the area saw film crews parking at a church lot on Union Street, as well as at Elm Bank Reservation, for local filming of projects such as Halle Berry’s Mothership. Past films shot in part in Natick include Labor Day and I Care a Lot.
If you’ve rented out your Natick property for filming and are willing and able to share your experiences, or want to help clarify anything in this piece for us, please let us know at natickreport@gmail.com
