Deborah Brown, Author at Natick Report

Natick Food Pantry— keeping the shelves stocked during pandemic

May 28, 2020 by Deborah Brown

The Natick Food Pantry has experienced a sharp increase in requests for food assistance due to the coronavirus pandemic. To meet this need, the pantry has remained open while addressing the health and safety of clients, volunteers, and staff.

The pantry, which operates under the umbrella of the Natick Service Council (NSC), has switched to a contact-less curbside pick-up model of food distribution. Clients schedule an appointment, and each family receives 2 -4 bags of food, depending on the family size. Formally, clients were able to shop the shelves, but that system is on hold for now to minimize community contact.

What hasn’t changed — families still are provided with up to two weeks of nutritious foods, including fresh fruits, vegetables, low fat dairy products, lean meats and personal care items.

The pantry is still managing to keep the shelves stocked in large part through a partnership with the Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB). This partnership has allowed the pantry to purchase large quantities of essential food pantry items at a fraction of the cost of large stores. The GBFB operates under stringent health and safety measures to ensure the food the NSC is distributing is safe.

Never have monetary donations been more needed. Here’s how you can donate to the Natick Service Council and help them continue to serve clients while minimizing community contact.

Should you need any assistance, please call the Natick Service Council office at 508-655-1791.

The Natick Service Council’s annual appeal

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Beyond Natick: a visit to Boston’s Arnold Arboretum

May 28, 2020 by Deborah Brown

I’ve missed out on all my favorite garden-related visits this spring — the Beacon Hill Garden Tour, the Art in Bloom exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts, the Kelleher Rose Garden in Back Bay’s Fens area, all canceled or closed due to COVID-19 concerns. But there are still flowers and spring beauty to be seen out there in the world, this much I know. But how to do so without rubbing elbows during these socially distant times?

I’ve put a few common-sense practices into action to help me get out and about while staying socially distant. The tricks are to get moving early, stay off the beaten path, and and find the wide-open spaces. In my search for serenity in an outdoors setting I’ve found destinations that are far less crowded than the obvious popular hot spots. Let others embrace spoiled walks on crowded paths as they glare at those without masks and draw back in horror at the approach of others, later posting bitter complaints on social media. To them, I cede the trail.

If you’re looking for a more tranquil experience, try out Arnold Arboretum in Boston, 13 miles from Natick Center. A recent Saturday morning visit left me refreshed and vowing to return to the 281-acre National Historic Landmark, owned by Harvard University. Parking can be found at various small lots around the perimeter of the property. I arrived at 9am and found a spot in the lot at the corner of Walter and Bussey Streets. When I came back to my car a little before noon, there were still spaces available. The Arboretum suggests that the savvy work around the peak hours of visitation of 4pm – 7pm on weekdays and 2pm – 7pm on weekends. The Arboretum is open dawn to dusk.

Arnold Arboretum, Boston — The Arboretum is open dawn to dusk. Pedestrians, runners, and cyclists are required to wear a mask or other facial covering. The mask vibe here is one of compliance. The only people I saw without one were very young children in strollers.

The Arboretum is famous for its collection of almost 400 lilac plants representing 180 different kinds of the heavily perfumed bloomers. The season, which traditionally starts on Mother’s Day with the Lilac Sunday celebration, extends over five weeks.

For pictures around Natick see our Instagram page, @natickreport, and please follow us.

Natick virtual runners and cyclists step up to help charitable organizations

May 27, 2020 by Deborah Brown

We always look forward to the many fun and family-focused running and cycling events in the area each spring but, unsurprisingly, charitable organizations have had to reimagine their races due to COVID-19 concerns.

The annual 6-mile Tour de Natick family bike ride put together by the Rotary Club of Natick has gone to a virtual format this year. The Virtual Tour de Natick can be completed anytime over Father’s Day weekend, and organizers encourage riders to bike anywhere that works best for them — literally from anywhere in the world! You can even use a stationary bike if you prefer.

All money raised through the Virtual Tour de Natick will go toward the Rotary Club of Natick’s charitable foundation to benefit Natick Scholars. Each year the Club gives away over $10,000 in scholarships to graduating Natick High School Seniors and over 300 dictionaries to the town’s third graders. Thanks to funds raised through the Tour de Natick, over the past 14 years the club has distributed over $151,000 in scholarships and over 4,500 dictionaries.

The need is literal, not virtual

Other 501(c)s that rely on the fundraising generated during the annual springtime events — New Life Furniture Bank, Natick-based Family Promise, and The Second Step program — need essential funding more than ever to continue with their missions of helping families.

The Eliot Church of Natick stepped up by fielding a virtual team of 15 runners and walkers for the New Life Virtual 5k. To participate in a safe and socially distant manner, group members completed their own personal 5k walks or runs. Funds raised benefited the New Life Furniture Bank of Massachusetts in its mission to provide essential home furnishings to those in need.

Eliot Church, Natick — The Eliot Church Cross Country (ECXC) team participated in a “virtual 5k” in support of New Life Furniture Bank. Top row: Bill Seymour, Emily Banthin, Tara Humphries, Rosemary Driscoll, Nick Eburne. Second row: Dave Dimmick, Allison Nelson-Eliot, Katie Scott, Ellen Banthin, Rich Geckle.

Across the border, the Wellesley Hills Junior Women’s Club (WHJWC) invites the community to participate in a “Virtual Wonder Run” to support of two organizations — The Second Step program and Family Promise Metrowest.

Both programs are committed to helping families through difficult times, and are facing difficult times of their own with the increased critical financial needs associated with COVID-19.

The WHJWC is about halfway to its 15k fundraising goal.

Here’s how the WHJWC Virtual Fun Run works:

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Holy Big Top! Could former South Natick church get new life as circus school?

May 18, 2020 by Deborah Brown

The former Sacred Heart Catholic Church at 26-28 Eliot St. in South Natick has been shuttered since 2004, its closure a result of declining church attendance; the need for the Archdiocese of Boston to raise money to settle lawsuits from the clergy sexual abuse scandal; and the dwindling number of priests.

sacred heart church, Natick — The shuttered Sacred Heart Church in South Natick may get a new lease on life.

Now we hear that the 150-year old building, on the market for $450k, may get new life as a circus school. It seems the sanctuary with its soaring heights just might be the perfect space to train aspiring young trapeze artists on how to fly through the air with the greatest of ease.

Seeing the lights on in the church this past week, which illuminated the stained-glass windows, indicated possible new life.

Over the years, this building just across the town line from Wellesley has come close to achieving a resurrection. In 2015, the Natick Planning Board granted a permit for a buyer to build five condo units in the church. Although that didn’t come to pass, the rectory across the street was beautifully renovated into two units. But the 62,000 square-foot church has remained empty for the past 16 years.

That the decommissioned Sacred Heart church may be born again after having served the spiritual needs of parishioners for 114 years is good news for many. We’re neighbors of the church, and it breaks our heart every time we walk by and see the general disrepair of what was once a beautiful building. As my husband said when the religious statues in front of the church and the rectory across the street were removed in 2012, “You know the neighborhood is going downhill when Jesus and Mary move out.”

Abutter Christine Schell isn’t certain the idea will sail through, however, noting, “That property isn’t covered for a commercial entity. The space is zoned for housing units. So there’s a zoning issue.”

Neighbor Marco Kaltofen concurs. He says, “This building is currently zoned residential and the Natick Planning Board has given careful consideration to multiple plans that recognize the residential character of our neighborhood. Any new use would need to have appropriate limits on noise. density, parking, intrusive lighting; of course, it would also need to be lawful. I imagine that everyone wants a use that allows people to maintain the peaceful and tranquil use of their homes.”

Sacred Heart is just down the street from Elm Bank Reservation, where the Circus Smikus, the traveling youth circus, used to perform during the summer not long ago.

Other former churches have undergone similar conversions. In Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts in 2017 renovated one of that area’s long-closed Catholic churches and started welcoming trapeze artists, jugglers, contortionists, and other practitioners of circus arts.

A little social distancing gallows humor in Natick, Massachusetts

May 13, 2020 by Deborah Brown

Thanks to a sharp-eyed reader who sent us this shot of Natick teens putting the social into social distancing at a local parking lot. Look closely at the chalk drawing in the center. Looks like the kids are playing hangman. We all get through worldwide pandemic in our own way, right?