Natick Report

More than you really want to know about Natick, Mass.

Tour de Natick was a fun Father’s Day ride, not an intense race

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As over 250 cyclists readied themselves for the Natick Rotary Club-organized Tour de Natick at the starting point between the post office and the Common Street Spiritual Center, a police officer shouted out a friendly directive: “Remember, this is a ride, not a race.”

The goal: have fun and keep the action on the 6-mile Tour de Natick course as unlike the Tour de France as possible—no crazy speeds, no glaring at the upstart about to pass you, no hyper-competitive peloton groupings. The annual Father’s Day tradition (except for two bye years due to that pesky pandemic) went off without a hitch, and raised nearly $10,000 to fund college scholarships for Natick students through race entrance fees and the event’s  20+ generous sponsors.

Tour de Natick

 

Tour de Natick

Rotary Club president Mark Canegallo said, “We’re super thankful to our sponsors. Middlesex Savings Bank has been with us every single year for 19 years. TJX stepped up as a new corporate sponsor for us, and Bernardi Auto is a major sponsor as well. Coach & Carriage Auto Body has always been a sponsor.” In addition, Wegman’s donated the food for the post-race bar-b-que.

 

Natick Rotary Club, Tour de Natick

In addition to the scholarship program, the Club gives a dictionary to each of Natick’s approximately 300 third graders. Over the past 15 years over 8,000 dictionaries, each one personalized with the receiving student’s name, have been donated.

Dolphin successor 7 South Bottle + Kitchen opens this week in Natick Center

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7 South Bottle + Kitchen, which we assume people will just call “7 South,” opens on the first day of summer, this Tuesday (June 21) at 5pm-9:30pm. First come, first served, and dine-in only for this successor to long-time Natick restaurant Dolphin Seafood. While the Dolphin used 12 Washington St., as its address, 7 South is using 7 South Ave. as its address.
7 south
The new Natick Center restaurant from the Giannacopoulos family will have the following schedule this week after that:
  • Wednesday : 5 – 9:30pm
  • Thursday : 5 – 10pm
  • Friday : 5 – 10pm
  • Saturday : 5 – 10pm
  • Sunday : 5 – 9:30pm

While the Dolphin is gone, seafood will be included on 7 South’s menu. This includes shrimp & grits as well as salmon. Other items include braised short rib grilled cheese and buttermilk chicken and waffles. Early reports described the restaurant as focusing on American comfort food…not sure how comfortable this will be, but it sounds interesting. Entree prices range from $16 to nearly $30 for salmon.

7 South is promoting a drink menu that features red sangria, a Dirty Shirley, and Cold Brew Espresso Martini.

7 south

Natick Select Board office hours, June 23

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The Natick Select Board will hold in-person office hours on Thursday, June 23, 9am-10am, at the Community-Senior Center, 117 E. Central Street. Residents may speak to Select Board member Mike Hickey on a walk-in, first-come/first-serve basis. Residents may ask questions, give input, and share concerns about Town operations, economic development, and other issues.

Natick Town Hall

Select Board office hours will continue to be held twice per month. On the first Thursday of each month, meetings will be held either at Town Hall or online via Zoom from 6-7pm. On the fourth Thursday, meetings will take place from 9am-10am at the Community-Senior Center. The in-person meetings may be attended on a walk-in, first-come/first-serve basis.

The Select Board has scheduled additional office hours meetings through 2022. Select Board members will rotate through the schedule.

For more information, call the Select Board office at (508) 647-6410.

Select Board office hours schedule through 2022

Natick Select Board office hours

Natick Select Board office hours

IMAX back in action in Natick

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The IMAX theater in Jordan’s Furniture reopened on May 27, and so Natick Report took it upon itself to check out the larger-than-life screen (76×55 -foot, to be precise).

When buying tickets I was a bit disappointed to see that the only available movie for the weekend was Jurassic World Dominion, the third entry in the popular dinosaur series. I’d seen the first movie years ago, but I had skipped the second one. On top of that, I hadn’t heard very good things about this one, and the sci-fi/adventure flick clocked in at 2h 26min. Hmmm—well, no one said that reporting Natick news would be cushy.

I bought two tickets ($18.50 each), and prepared to go to the theater. Driving to Jordan’s is dramatic in its own right, as it is perched on top of a hill overlooking route 9. After summiting the hill, parking was an easy affair. The entrance to Jordan’s promotes IMAX theater prominently, but once inside I was a bit lost as to where to go. If you were wondering, Jordan’s no longer hands out bead necklaces when you walk in; the Mardi Gras theme has been thoroughly exterminated.

In all likelihood I missed a sign, but I decided to guess which way to go, which resulted in some wandering until I found a helpful employee who pointed me in the right direction. When you first enter the store what you should do is walk straight to the back and then turn right into the leather section. From there, follow signs until you see an escalator.

The escalator gives the proper red-carpet treatment to IMAX movie-goers. The paparazzi mural, famous in its own right, is on both sides as you ascend, cameras flashing, making the entrance feel extra-special.

 

After the excitement of the escalator, the theater entrance is pretty basic: black walls, movie posters, and a snack bar with expensive popcorn. You come in at the back of the theater, with it sloping down from the entrance. The screen is truly big, and the seats are fairly comfortable, but they’re not miniature beds like in the nearby AMC theater.

Immersed in the experience

The movie itself was not very good, but if there was anywhere I would have wanted to see it, it would be in an IMAX theater. It was slightly too loud at some points, but the surround sound and giant screen made the dinosaurs and the action feel immersive.

The audience was a challenge at times. A gaggle of middle schoolers began a full volume conversation about halfway through the movie, and needed shushing from the rest of the crowd before they quieted down.

After the movie ended several audience member attempted to leave the way we had come in, before being herded to a second door on the opposite side of the theater. From there it was a quick exit through some more furniture galleries before heading home.

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Tigers in two: Natick Little League champs

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The Natick Little League Tigers team, No. 1 through the regular season in the majors bracket, stayed that way until the end of the playoffs by topping the Nationals 2 games to none. We just missed the end of the game, but managed to snap a photo of the winners.

Congrats to all of this season’s players.

natick little league champs tigers

More: Natick Little League parade (April, 2022)

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