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Needham Bank, Natick

Natick represents at Mass Hort Festival of Trees

December 11, 2020 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

You’ve got through Sunday, December 20 to check out the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s Festival of Trees, an annual holiday event that has been kept going this year due to the tireless efforts of masked-up volunteers and loyal supporters. They’ve moved heaven and earth to ensure that there are plenty of decorated trees to see (about 70); the always-popular snow village model train exhibit; and more. Outside there are decorations in The Gardens at Elm Bank, and visitors can keep warm and cozy melting s’mores at the fire pit.

Mass Hort, Festival of Trees
Mass Hort, Festival of Trees

Try your luck at the raffle and maybe you’ll win one of the trees, decorations on it, presents under it, and all. The raffle takes place on the last day of the Festival, and you will be contacted if you’re a winner.

When I stopped by to enjoy the display, volunteer Elaine Lawrence told me, “The Festival is a little smaller this year, but we are keeping everything very safe for everyone.” That means, in part, that timed-entry tickets must be purchased in advance.

In strict observance of all COVID protocols, visitors will be escorted through the Festival in small groups. You can get all the latest info on their website. Both the Festival of Trees display in the Hunnewell building and the Snow Village are accessible.

Here’s a look at a few of the decked-out trees:

Mass Hort, Festival of Trees
“Take Me for a Ride,” by Tom and Christine Boisvert of Natick
Mass Hort, Festival of Trees
“Legends of the Lost Treasure Camp,” by LINX Camps
Mass Hort, Festival of Trees
“Traveling Bears,” by Beth Gray-Nix of Natick
Mass Hort, Festival of Trees
Bill Meagher of Needham, creator of the Snow Village, makes sure all the moving parts are working. The enchanted exhibit of holiday villages and trains are is full of intricate figures on display. Look for model trains as they wind through Dicken’s Village; Fenway Park; Beacon Hill;  Downton Abbey; an amusement park with a Ferris Wheel and Spin Ride; Santa climbing the North Pole; and more. Meagher donated the entire village to Mass Hort several years back.

Natick was well-represented at the event, with residents and business contributing their time and talents to the Festival by donating decorated trees:

Berkshire Hathaway; Catherine Clifford, Elizabeth Carol and Kate Grzesink; Friends of the Bacon Free Library; Monica Carlsson Foley; Natick Garden Club; Occasional Magic; and Tom and Christine Bolsvert.

Plan your visit:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Beyond Natick, Charity/Fundraising, Entertainment, Gardens, Holidays, Volunteering

Linden Square, Wellesley
London Harness, Natick Report

MassBay to hold virtual Open House

November 7, 2020 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

MassBay, WellesleyMassBay Community College will hold its annual fall Open House, virtually, on Saturday, November 14, 2020 from 9:00AM – 12:00PM. MassBay President, Dr. David Podell, along with faculty, staff, students, and alumni, will remotely greet prospective students and their families.

Prospective students, from the comfort of their homes, can learn about MassBay’s 70 degree and certificate programs, transfer opportunities after studying at MassBay, free resources available at the college, as well as the admissions and financial aid processes. Prospective students will also be able to apply for admission during the Open House. Current MassBay students, alumni, and staff will be available to live chat and answer questions.

WHAT: MassBay Community College Virtual Fall Open House
WHERE: Online
WHEN: Saturday, November 14, 2020
TIME: 9:00AM – 12:00PM

*An RSVP is required at www.MassBay.edu/OpenHouse or call the Office of Admissions at 781-239-2500. Once registration is complete, MassBay will send an email with instructions on how to join the Open House.

Filed Under: Beyond Natick, Education

Page Waterman, Wellesley

Dedham Country Day—educating children Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 8

October 11, 2020 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

SPONSORED POST: Dedham Country Day believes that balance matters—in learning and life. They combine academic challenge with support and pedagogical tradition with innovation. Strong scholastics together with outstanding arts, athletics and service learning creates a program that is balanced and whole. At DCD, a premium is placed on both academic and emotional intelligence.

Dedham Country Day School
DCD is made up of a vibrant and diverse community from 32 different towns.

Children learn who they are as diverse individuals and how to be part of something bigger. Acceptance is a given, and children find encouragement in every connection they make. It’s a community that nurtures, nudges, and gives. That’s how DCD grows “whole” children—and, ultimately, adults who will thrive with the intellectual and emotional capacity to contribute to their world and enjoy meaningful lives.

While DCD’s campus and classrooms may look a bit different this year, reconfigured to maintain the health and safety of its community, DCD’s ability to deliver an education that is challenging, inclusive, and engaging, reflective of its mission, remains unchanged. From Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 8, DCD students tackle hands-on projects, collaborate, take risks, solve problems and, most of all, engage deeply in their experience.

Dedham Country Day
With 160,594 sq.ft. of indoor space and 17 acres of outdoor space for creating, making & playing, there’s room to grow at DCD.

Explore DCD through a series of virtual admissions events and personal connections with the school’s admissions staff this fall. The first Learning Spotlight for Pre-K and Kindergarten is on October 20. Visit www.dedhamcountryday.org for details and
registration.

Dedham Country Day School

www.DedhamCountryDay.org
781-329-0850

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Want a Sponsored Post for your business, school, or group? More information here.

Filed Under: Beyond Natick, Education, Kids, Schools

Just beyond Natick: a visit to The Gardens at Elm Bank

September 29, 2020 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

I was recently lucky enough to be invited along to tour  The Gardens at Elm Bank at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s Wellesley headquarters, located at 900 Washington St. in Wellesley (a major part of the site is located in Dover). It had been a long time since I’d wandered the 36-acre property, listed since 1987 on the National Register of Historic Places, so I jumped at the chance. The Gardens at Elm Bank are leased from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, which maintains the 175 acres that include the Gardens, the woodland along the Charles River, and fields.

Tour highlights included a turn around Mass Hort’s Trial Garden; the Goddesses Garden; the kid-friendly Weezie’s Garden; the Italianate Garden; and the Bressingham Garden, created by British design powerhouse Adrian Bloom in 2007.

Here are some pics:

Elm Bank Reservation, Wellesley
The tour started off at the Trial Gardens, a cooperative effort between Mass Hort, the Massachusetts Flower Growers’ Association, and the University of Massachusetts. In this space, a wide variety of annuals, perennials, and vegetables are grown as a trial to see how they will do in the New England climate. New, unreleased, and old standard types of each variety are grown side-by-side and judged on how they perform. Results can be found at All-American Selections.
Elm Bank Reservation, Wellesley
Mass Hort’s Hartley Botanic Victorian Lodge has been a centerpiece of the Trial Gardens since 2017. The 19′ x 11′ handmade aluminum structure was made possible in part by a generous donation from Mass Hort Trustee Scott Bierney’s. Bierney wanted Mass Hort to have a place where for visitors where flowers would brighten gloomy days in winter and give hope that spring was on its way.

Elm Bank Reservation, Wellesley

Elm Bank Reservation, Wellesley
Weezies Garden, installed in 2004. The active garden space designed for outdoor place-based youth education includes  an Enchanted Woodland, a Tea Party Garden, a Pollinators Garden, Sandbox Archaeology area, green arbors and plant tunnels, water features, and more. Kids of all ages love this area, which was extensively renovated in 2015.

 

Elm Bank Reservation, Wellesley
The Elm Bank manor house, viewed from Bressingham Garden. The garden was installed in 2007 and installed over two very hot summer days by over 200 volunteers. Designed by plantsman Adrian Bloom of Bressingham, England, it is a four-season garden that uses mass planting techniques to create visual impact.
Elm Bank Reservation, Wellesley
Bressingham Garden
Elm Bank Reservation, Wellesley
The Italianate Garden’s Copper Beech hedge provides the “walls” of the garden.
Elm Bank Reservation, Wellesley
The New England Unit of the Herb Society of America maintains this teaching garden.
Elm Bank Reservation, Wellesley
Autumn interest in the herb garden.
Elm Bank Reservation, Wellesley
Ceres and Pomona, two of the three Roman goddess statues that stand guard at Mass Hort.

 

Elm Bank can always use volunteers looking for a meaningful and rewarding experience. They need help with everything from weeding and mulching to helping out in the library and the office. You don’t need a green thumb — the staff trains and guides volunteers.


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Filed Under: Beyond Natick, Gardens, Volunteering

Beyond Natick: Andres Institute of Art in Brookline, New Hampshire

July 30, 2020 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

In a small New Hampshire town on the Massachusetts border, art-lovers flock to a long-abandoned ski area. There, they wander the  woods to view sculptures made of stone, steel, wood, and other materials in the same setting where, decades ago, thrill-seekers sped straight down black diamond trails.

Andres Institute of Art in Brookline, NH
Andres Institute of Art in Brookline, NH is a 501(c) (3) charitable organization. To find the spot, GPS this address: 98 Rte 13, Brookline, NH 03033

At the Andres Institute of Art in Brookline, NH, artists from all over the world have contributed pieces to what is New England’s largest outdoor sculpture and hiking park. And new art is created and installed on the 140-acre hill every year at this hidden gem, which is  free, fun, and open to the public year-round, dawn to dusk.

Over 100 thought-provoking, original works of art are nestled along walking trails all over the mountain, just waiting for visitors to view and enjoy the experience of a personal connection with nature combined with a chance to see large-scale art created on-site.

Andres Institute of Art in Brookline, NH
“Tuttaposto,” by Bernie Carreño, USA, 2014. Artists are invited to create works integrated with the landscape.

The park is the brainchild of engineer and innovator Paul Andres, who in 1996 purchased Big Bear Mountain and moved into the house at its peak. There, he was able to combine his lifelong love of nature and passion for art to devote a portion of the property to a sculpture park. Once Andres joined forces with sculptor and long-time Brookline resident John M. Weidman, there was no stopping the pair, and the Andres Institute of Art was born. What started as a few works in the front yard of Andres’ house has turned into a full-blown outdoor museum, with art placed among the many trails that criss-cross the mountain.

Andres Institute of Art in Brookline, NH
“Human Boulder,” by Norman Jager, Germany, 2014. The Institute is a great way to introduce art to kids in a non-stuffy environment.

Start your visit by picking up one of the maps available in the parking area. An Andres Institute trails map is a curious thing — all at once necessary, inscrutable, and practically useless. Maybe the map is itself a work of art, and I’m too obtuse to understand it. I don’t know. Sometimes it map helped. But sometimes I consulted mine, looked up and around, and wondered if I had perhaps strayed to the edge of a flat world, one where beyond there were beasties  waiting to devour me. Still, you need one of those maps if you’re to have a chance of really enjoying the place. Think of it as just one tool. Having your hiking wits about you is another. Basically, you can’t get all that lost on a 613-foot-high, 140-acre mountain, right? Also, there are signs here and there, so that’s one more tool in your kit.

Andres Institute of Art in Brookline, NH
My personal favorite, “Old Man in the Mountains New Home,” Alak Roy, Bangladesh, 2014. For those unfamiliar with the story, the Old Man in the Mountains was a part of Cannon Mountain in NH that, from one location, a visible profile of a face could be seen. Known as a symbol of NH, on May 3, 2003, the iconic landmark collapsed.

Relax, you’re here to hike and enjoy art. If you bring children, fantastic. They can run and shout and actually touch the art. Even normally reluctant, complaining young hikers will be kept so busy looking for the next sculpture that before they know it, they’ll be at the top of the mountain and it will be time for a snack or lunch. If you bring a dog, also great. Just keep that member of the family on a leash, and it’s all good.

Andres Institute of Art in Brookline, NH
The backside of “Old Man in the Mountains New Home.”

During my visit, I walked the Summit Loop with the goal of enjoying my bagged lunch with a view of the Monadnock Mountains range. Pro tip: when you get to the cell phone towers, you’re at the top, it just might not be 100% obvious. Here’s where your hiking wits come in. Where are cell towers placed? At the tippy top of wherever it is they are — church spires, sky scrapers, mountains, right? OK, you’ve got this. Walk a little further, poke around a bit, and before you know it, the Monadnock range will be arrayed before you, over a dozen peaks, great and small. To the left, there’s Barrett Mountain. Straight on, there’s Mt. Monadnock. Over to the right, Pack Monadnock. What you’ve got in front of you is a whole list of future adventures.

Old Man in the Mountains, NH
Old Man in the Mountains, NH. I miss the old lug. Photo credit: Library of Congress.

All that and art, too. You made it. Plop yourself down on the old bowling alley seating and enjoy the amazing view that include, of course, a perfectly placed, massive stone sculpture.

Andres Institute of Art in Brookline, NH
“Phoenix,” by Janis Karlovs, Latvia, fabricated from found granite on the mountain, 1999. Artists immerse themselves in the rural setting and are given the time and space to create their art on the property at a location of their choosing.

How the art gets there

Once a year, several artists from all over the world travel to the Institute to immerse themselves in its rural character and create their art as part of the Bridges and Connections International Sculpture symposium. The artists travel to the Andres Institute for a 3-week stint to craft what are often multi-ton works. The program is part short-term residency, part cultural exchange. Artists stay with locals who sponsor their stay, and work with volunteers who groom and prepare sculpture sites, and operate the heavy equipment needed to properly place the works.

Andres Institute of Art in Brookline, NH
“Conscious,” by Isadore Batu Siharulidze, Republic of Georgia, 2012

According to the Andres website, “The artists are paid a small stipend for their attendance, but the real reward is that they are allowed to create whatever sculpture they like and to place it wherever they want on the mountain. The Institute provides tools and materials to help each artist realize his or her vision.”

The result is beautiful art hidden in plain sight among the natural backdrop of a New Hampshire forest.

Andres Institute of Art in Brookline, NH
“She Lifted Her Heart and Floated Away,” by Cheryl Ann Lorance, USA, 2018

The best part about the Andres Sculpture Park is that it’s unique and charming, with an original sculpture at every bend. The mountain itself, immovable and unchanging, serves as host to a this constantly growing work-in-progress that attracts an increasing number of artist applicants who vie for the four coveted spots per year.

We arrived for our visit to the Institute late-morning on a Saturday and enjoyed an easy, breezy socially distanced experience. The mountain was peopled but not crowded, and visitors were quick to don their masks upon approaching others. We’re told that a nice side trip is to stop off at the New Kun Garden Chinese Restaurant down the street for their Thai ice cream roll, followed by a dip at Potanipo Pond. We opted to hit one of the many farm stands in the area for organic produce and homemade baked goods.

Details:

Andres Institute of Art
98 Rte. 13
Brookline, NH 03033
603-673-8441

Open year-round, dawn to dusk.

Parking is plentiful.

There is a port-a-potty in the parking lot, but it was off limits when we was there due to COVID.

There is no water available, so be sure to bring your own.

This is a carry in/carry out park.

Downloadable maps are available online.

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Filed Under: Art, Beyond Natick, Kids, Outdoors

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