Since 2020: More than you really want to know about Natick, Mass.
More than 80 members of the Natick Public Schools staff, escorted by Natick police and fire department crews, divided and conquered the town’s streets via 3 parade routes on Friday afternoon as a tribute to the Natick High School Class of 2020 and all students in the system.
This Friday would have been the commencement ceremony for Natick High, which now has other plans.
We caught the action near Lilja Elementary School.
Photos by Duncan Brown
Get ready to celebrate the Natick High School Class of 2020 and the rest of the students on Friday from 2-3pm, as a series of 3 police-escorted car parades descend on town.
Dozens of Natick Public School staff will be driving the vehicles as a way to honor students, who will be among the onlookers. High school grads hope to have an in-person commencement ceremony on Aug. 6 if the health crisis allows.
Students, originally scheduled to have their graduation ceremony today, this week were gifted with yard signs, caps & gowns.
Here’s the parade routes plan, which will no doubt go exactly as scheduled. The routes start at the high school, Wilson Middle School and the Cole Center.
[gview file=”https://www.natickreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/May-29-2020-Parade-Routes.xlsx”]
The Natick Police Department this week has been hit up with more than a dozen reports by residents of identity theft in connection with fraudulent unemployment claims filings, a situation playing out across the country as a result of this scam taking advantage of new benefits for the many newly unemployed.
The Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance has issued a press release about the scam that says criminals are exploiting personal information stolen in earlier national data breaches. The department has put in place additional security measures, which unfortunately for those collecting benefits legitimately could mean delays in their payments.
If you suspect you’ve become a victim of this scam, here’s what you should do, not in any particular order:
If you’re one of the unlucky ones and want to share your story with us, let us know: natickreport@gmail.com
It’s not that they wouldn’t like to do more of them, but according to a Facebook post by the Natick Police Department: “the amount of requests have become unmanageable and our calls for service are increasing.” Presumably, as the state re-opens, the police are going to have more action than they’ve had during the stricter hunkering down period of the COVID-19 crisis.
“We have so enjoyed being able to provide birthday parades during the past few months. Seeing the smiles and feeling the love from our community has helped us immensely during these trying times,” NPD posted, along with a video from one recent parade.
One mom replied on the Facebook page: “This remains the highlight of our quarantine! We were the lucky recipients of this serenade, and we can’t thank NPD enough for taking the time to make our birthday boy’s day extra special.”
The streets of Natick won’t be clogged with inspiring runners and adoring fans on Sept. 14 after all following the Boston Athletic Association announcement that the City of Boston has nixed the Boston Marathon that had been postponed from April due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The BAA has come up with a plan to try to soften the blow by allowing those registered to get refunds and instead run a virtual marathon that will still reward them with medals and other swag. That is, if they can complete a 26.2-mile route between Sept. 7-14 and prove they did it in less than 6 hours.
While this is not the outcome runners hoped for, it does at least provide clarity on training, which runners up to now were challenged to figure out. It’s still unclear what fees might be associated with taking part in the virtual race, which will no doubt take part across many areas of Natick (except maybe spots like Pond Road going north) and other communities along the official course.
Virtual race times will not count as qualifiers for the 2021 marathon, but qualifying times for the 2020 race will. Those running for charities should consult with their running teams for further details on fundraising deadlines.
More than 30,000 runners were to take part in the marathon, which is being canceled for the first time in its 124-year history.
When we interviewed those from Natick or running on behalf of Natick organizations in April, after the initial postponement, we heard a mixed response. While they were all understanding of the decision, they took different strategies toward training for the new date. Now they’ve got another decision to make.
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