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Dear PC Abby-
I have been following the movements surrounding the old
Nichewaug Inn/Maria Assumpta Academy for almost a year now. I
have photographed every inch of that beautiful historic
structure, sweated through town meetings to determine its fate,
and spoken with many townspeople to make suggestions to save the
property. I was sad to see the first floor boarded up, though at
the same time glad to see that the town had begun to protect an
endangered building. I personally plan to volunteer to head a
task force to decide what can be done with this building and
hope that that town is receptive to efforts to reuse a piece of
Petersham history. It is almost spring again and I would soon
love to see the windows of the inn open to the breeze and new
beginnings.
Dear PCAbby,KA Dear KA From where we sit, dear, it is truly difficult to conceive of how your message came to include the word "movement." The promised "task force" has not materialized. The Friends of the Nichewuag are nowhere to be seen. and have not been heard from in months. The old adage "Be careful what you wish for ..." may apply. One avers there may be a flaw in the belief that government can somehow do better than 35 years of private efforts to find a use for the building. Time, of course, will tell. PC Abby
My husband was reading a brochure for the Barre Farmers' Market and found these words, "Come spend the morning with us on the picturesque (Barre) Town Common, believed to be the most beautiful in Central Mass." We do stop there sometimes for veggies and flowers. What say you? Good Neighbors in Gardening Dear GNEIGHB LFLDDDDDDaabbbbbbbbbbbbmbbb Land sakes alive. Reading what you wrote, PCAbby nearly swallowed her tea cakes and required the Heimlich. What? Most beautiful? Who wrote that? A Red Sox fan? Of course, PCAbby loves to cheer for the home team, too. But we aver, the Barre Common derives no benefit in beauty from the presence two convenient stores, two pizza shops, a Subway and a used car sales emporium. Granted, great care has been taken with landscaping recently, and nice benches and day lilies abound. But can you really make a silk purse from a sow's ear? We think not. PCAbby proffers nearby Petersham, Hardwick and Royalston as examples of town commons unsullied by the plastic signage of commerce. PCAbby Dear PCAbby,
Since you seem to know everything about Petersham, I am hoping you
can help me!! I live in Petersham on Birch Drive. It has come to
my attention that my road is being paved soon but only 1/3rd of the
way-200 feet short of my driveway. Would you know who I can contact
to get the whole road paved or at least the part with tax paying
homes on it? Any and all help is appreciated.
Thanks,
JB
Dear JB Abby is a relative newcomer to the town and claims no special knowledge. Others have been here for many generations, we for only two. But some questions are really rather simple - some quests have easier starting points than others. Birch Drive has long held challenges for both the town and some of the folks who have lived there over the years, but we digress. Norman LaPointe is the Highway Superintendent. The highway department is on South Street. The Board of Selectmen meets Tuesday nights in the town office building at 7 p.m.
Either
would be a great source of information. Once you have information, you
can decide who to ask and for what.
Hope that
helps.
PC ABBY Hello
Hello to you too, Kirsten. Thanks for asking. Glad to help. Jean Day operates the Winterwood B&B just north of the common on Main Street. Mark & Deni Ellis are open at their B&B, Clamber Hill, just a mile further north. Terry Emmerich and Gary Orcutt will show you their alpacas and you can stay at their B&B, Colonial Hill Alpaca Farm, just a couple of miles further north. And if you like herbs, try Hartman's Herb Farm B&B on Old Dana Road in Barre PCAbby
Dear
PC Abby: Dear Just Passing Through: From the West:
(Albany, Pittsfield, etc.) Travel along Route 2 heading toward Boston.
When you reach Orange, STOP. Turn around. Go back. You've come too far. OK? PCABBY Dear PC Abby: Hey it looks like you got a slogan thing going on on the local news pages. What is up with that "five minutes ahead of everyplace else" thing anyway? A mother wants to know. Dear MOM: Slogans are cool, right? Like, Just Do It? If you stop near the common at the top of the hour, you'll likely hear the clock in the Unitarian church chime. Unlike most, it is wound by hand once a week. It seems that Henry Woolsey likes to get places on time, so when he was doing the winding, took the liberty of setting the clock five minutes fast. Charles Crowley took over the task and the tradition. If you want to set things right, climb up there yourself. PCAbby Dear PC Abby: How come the restaurant page has a review of a restaurant in Miami? That ain't anywhere near the North Quabbin area. What's up with that? WhasUp? Dear WHA: Dear PC Abby: The Letter That Started All This Trash Colors Clash with Kitchen Decor Dear PC Abby: I have just re-done my kitchen in a lovely harvest color scheme. Now I find that the new Mauve bags we will have to use for our trash really clash with my lovely window treatments. Are they going to allow a choice of colors? Will I have to re-do my kitchen? Please help. J.B., Petersham And the Answer Dear J.B. - The
Transfer Station switched from Orange Bag Stickers to Mauve bags to
ensure that everyone pays for using the dump. If the colors really
clash, maybe you could stick the bags in a closet or something so
they'll be out of sight until Saturday when the dump is open. PS We
agree with you about the color. This is an opportunity that is open to all. Send your information to info@petershamcommon.com or post it in the community calendar. PC ABBY
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Dear PC Abby
I think I have an idea for the the old
inn. it is still in the thinking stage but i would like to turn it
into a glass blowing shop. it has been a life long dream of mine to
own a shop like this and i feel the inn would be the perfect place.
I don't know who to contact to try and realize this dream but would
like to figure it out. I believe the building is the
perfect size because the shop its self needs many kilns, glory
holes, torch shop, cold shop with all types of equipment, each shop
area would cover about 3500 square feet to 8000 square feet (to be
comfortable) plus as a teaching school they need more space as well
as artist need studio space too and one would need a store front to
display the artist work. In addition I would like to have it open as
a place to spend the night because many people who do this would
travel to the area and need a place to stay over.
Matthew Bennington Oh Dear, Dear, Matthew. Whilst PCAbby has often wondered about learning to blow glass for the fun of it, she avers that a 100,000 square foot former inn and school would hardly be suitable for your purpose. You could most certainly make do in one of the garages for your shop. There is a task force studying things (Local News) Perhaps you could find one or more members in the phone book to see if and when they plan to hold meetings? PC ABBY Dear PC Abby: What's wrong with leasing the plywood ranch in Petersham Center to the Country Hen of Hubbardston? TR Dear TR: Well, I never... How can you be so flip about such a serious attempt to do good? We don't know where you live, but it is clearly not on The Common. Who could imagine it?Turn a big thing into a big stinky thing by filling it with chickens? What, the Hilltop Town should become chickentown US of A? We think not! Truly, the former Nichewaug Inn, now boarded up with plywood covering its windows, is a huge project without a clear path to anyplace. It could become a millstone. But a chicken coop? No. Even organic eggs wouldn't cover the cost of renovations. But thanks for your interest. Actually, if anyone has a viable idea, we encourage them to put it forth. Heaven knows, now that all of us own the place, we do need to do something. PCAbby Dear PC Abby: Please help. I am at my wits end. I have been trying all afternoon to get the woodstove going. My wood pile got snowed on. I've used up about a dozen copies of Quabbin Valley Voices with no luck. What's my problem? Spunky Dear Spunkster: Don't fret so. Sometimes combustion just isn't so spontaneous as one might wish. Why I could tell you stories... but I digress. Getting the stove going requires only two things, well, three, really - heat, air and a fuel source. You might be right about the wood. Is it punky, spunky? It wants to be as dry as the journals you are igniting to get things going. (And aren't we all so glad that newspapers have not completely disappeared yet?) Newsprint - even with typos - burns ever so much better than those slippery four-color slick Martha Stewart Living magazines. And there are stacks of the stuff right by the door at Hannafords, free for the taking. Wet (or green) wood is not good. Make sure the air can get in and around your sticks. Patience is sometimes required. Bring your wood in under cover. All will be well. And if all else fails, just grit your teeth and turn up the oil heat if you can stand wondering why $3.10 a gallon and climbing is OK with those folks down in Washington Abby avers that we could use some backbone there -- and a tax on the speculators who are to blame for all of this. Be of good cheer, reports of the first Robin cannot be far off. PCAbby Dear PC Abby: Has anyone ever considered making an Arboretum and public gardens where the Nichewaug Inn and the old school building now exist? Grant money is available for this purpose. I would really like to have a few opinions from the abutters. Thekla Dear Thekla: PCAbby avers that the future of the Nichewaug Inn is a critical element of town policy making - now that we own it. 30 years of private efforts to find a viable use is not encouraging of the prospect that a public entity will do much better at coming up with a viable use. Deeper pockets? Taxes are already significant. Suggestions to date have included some sort of town office and public safety complex or a couple of house lots. The Selectboard promises to create a task force, but we haven't heard more yet. The windows are boarded up for safety sake. Perhaps you want to ring up the Select folks and nominate yourself for the task force? Surely, some heriloom roses or whatever would be a lovely addition and done right, might even bolster tourism? Please do ask the abutters - the outcome will affect them most directly and they certainly deserve a role in the process. PCAbby Dear PC Abby: I have been an admirer of the former
Nichewaug Inn for some time and have been following the recent
history of the property. I was wondering how the town has
progressed to date in regards to this building's future. Has the
task force come up with any plans / idea's for its use or
discovered any grants that they can apply for towards the
resurrection of this lovely "white elephant" as you call it? April Dear April: April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, and one of four months with the length of 30 days. The month of April begins (astrologically) with the sun in the sign of Aries and ends in the sign of Taurus. From this humble vantage point, "progress" as you put it, is difficult to measure. To date, the town has torn down a fire escape and boarded up ground floor windows with unpainted sheets of plywood. The police cruiser makes relatively frequent forays around the back side of the building. To the best of our knowledge, no task force has yet been assembled and no grants have been applied for. But PCAbby will check on those answers and get back to you if necessary. We think the chapel was originally a saloon or tavern and will check with Larry Buell about that. As far as the redoubtable Mr. Brooks, he rests in the cemetery beside the town office building. His home, since demolished, was next to the Brooks law office at the head of the north common meadow. Here's more info. Hi PCAbby: While watching my tomatoes the other day, I thought I noticed a few more cars on my road than usual. Then I found a sort of slick brochure in the weeds by the side of the road with a bag of McDonald's trash and french fries for something called the Northern Tier Geocashing Tournament. What is Geocatching anyway? I'd like to know. Grundig Dear Grundie: PCAbby avers (often) that humans are immensely needy of things to fill their time. Gardening, cycling, reading, fly fishing, riding fancy bikes in troupes, even sitting in neighborhood bars are all great time consumers. And we are gullible, too. So the marketing folks who make global positioning units weren't selling enough units to the bass fishermen. Hey, ponds aren't so hard to find after all. So some smart marketing guy thinks out loud, "Here's an idea. Let's start a treasure hunt that relies on GPS units - that'll will get the yuppies and the hiking boot types and their credit cards right up off the couch, I betcha." Yes, folks, it worked like a charm. People ran right out and bought plastic boxes at Wal-Mart and stuffed them full of little plastic lizards, key chains and other junk including personal notes. Then they buried or otherwise hid them in quasi-public locations like our peace park. And yup, right on command, folks like those at North Quabbin Woods saw their opportunity so now they organize tournaments, spend money on brochures and called it eco-tourism. Sales of GPS units ($199 to $1,000) spiked. And the yuppies rose by the thousands like a trout to a fly. "Gas up the SUV, Mona, we're going out tonight. Global warming here we come. Spew out those hydrocarbons, we're going on a treasure hunt!" Yahoo." And they called this eco-tourism? PCAbby cannot imagine wasting more time and resources for less reward. Relevance? Who cares, we're Americans. PCAbby suggests other things to do, for those with dimly-lit imaginations - how about volunteering in a shelter? Teaching someone to read? Picking up trash by the side of the road? Helping to build someone a house? Protesting an injustice? Raising money to help stamp out hunger and homelessness. Watching paint dry? Just be sure to look both ways before crossing your street on Geocaching days - hunting treasures can be so exciting that speed limits hardly seem to matter. -- PCAbby Dear PC Abby,Don't you think it's just horrible the way they are trying to build windmills everywhere? I mean, how are we going to enjoy the view if they do that - like out there by Martha's Vinyard? I compost and bring my groceries home in a net bag every week but this is just terrible. Someone has to STOP this. Eco-Friend Dear Eco, Abby thinks you should go out and see if a wheel has fallen off your hay wagon. Or go to Europe and see for yourself. There are windmills quietly making electricity every few miles all across North Central Germany. You did e-mail your question. You do read after dark, right? Pay attention. The permafrost is melting, the water is rising. It's way past time that we were doing something more than taking a few plastic bottles to the recycling bin. A lot more. PCAbby Hi PC Abby, Dearest M First let us offer congratulations on your impending nuptuals and then get straight to your questions. Our Unitarian Church is often used for weddings. It's on the common, has a full kitchen and two church halls if you want to stay all in one place on the day. Winterwood Inn, near the common, can accommodate up to 70 for a reception www.winterwoodinn.net. A short distance away, Clamber Hill B&B www.clamberhill.com can do the same. Mark and Deni Ellis are the innkeepers. Nearby, in Barre, Hartman's Herb Farm can seat 150-plus for dinner in their post and beam reception halls. Contact Lynn Hartman for information www.hartmansherbfarm.com. Best wishes and please, do let them know that we were thinking of them when you call. PCAbby Hi PC Abby, Dear Gotta: You strain Abby's usual unflappable composure, dear, but that is hardly your fault. Thanks for visiting. The building to which you refer could be a White Elephant of monstrous proportions. It is the former Maria Assumpta Academy and the former Nichewaug Inn, all rolled into a moldering property that has stood silent for three decades. Recently, town fathers and a friendly group of concerned citizens convinced voters to agree to take over the property. I guess they figure the town can come up with a plan where private interests have consistently failed to do so for 30 years. Some hope they are right. Others think they'll be no more successful and will simply wind up spending lots of public money in the attempt. It is what you want it to be, but it is by some accounts 100,000 square feet of asbestos-laden outdated building in pretty bad shape. Soon enough, it will become town property and the discussions will begin anew. PC Abby Dear PC Abby Hello Linda from Canada - and Thanks for visiting. Jim Baird is president of the Historical Society 978-724-3430
and Larry Buell is major domo of all things historic PCAbby Dear PC Abby, Dear Susan: Larry Buell has become
our local history expert. Perhaps he can help get you started.
larrybuell@earthlink.net or earthlands@earthlands.org should get
to him. Jim Baird is president of the historical society and is
likely in the phone book. Good luck in your search and thanks
for visiting petershamcommon.com. Hello PCAbby When we have had married presidents in the past, their spouses have been called "First Lady." I am wondering, if Hillary gets elected, what will we call her husband? Political Novice Dear PoNo Hmm. People have called Bill Clinton lots of things over the years, but you are right, First Lady simply won't do in this case. This is a real stumper. We will ponder your question for a while and get back to you. After all, we have two years to figure this one out. PCAbby Hi PC Abby I am looking for information on the Maronite Monastery of the Holy Trinity that is or was located in Petersham Mass. I would like to know if it is still in existence or not. If it is still around I would like an address and phone number. If it is still inexistence but changed its name I would like that or if it moved to a different locale. Also is it an actual monastery or a convelescant home etc. Thank you for any information you may have Tab Hello Tab: Thanks for asking. All the words you need to know are right here www.maronitemonks.org on the web. PCAbby Hey PCAbby: I have a questionDear PCAbby: My friend and I were at a
recent weekend event and we saw a local farm selling gently
raised turkeys. Now, we like to support all that Local Hero and
Buy Local stuff, but when we asked, it turned out that these
turkeys were selling for about $3.20 a pound. Kind of makes you
want a Butterball, doesn't it? Dear BRrrrrr. (oops, the key got stuck) It was sort of chilly over the weekend and yes, with regular - whatever that means - turkeys available for under a buck a pound, you raise an excellent question. The Solar People, the Bio-Diesel people and the Grow Locals must have all been brought up on the same farm. I don't know where they think the rest of us come from, but the prices they'd like to charge are often eye-poppers. Eggs in the supermarket are less than $1 a dozen. Can we afford to pay $2.50 to $4.00 for local and/or organic? You'd think with no transportation in the mix, they could do better. A lot better. PC Abby
Dear PCAbby: A reader, below, asked who is the Old Maid for whole the Old Maid's Mile is named and PCAbby has learned that the apostrophe must be moved. It is the Old Maids' Mile (more than one Maid it turns out). The block is named after either school teachers or maids at our local Inns who lived in the Crossin house (corner of West Street and Hardwick Road) and who took their daily exercise by walking around the block. Charlotte Kennan says the maids were teachers. Larry Buell says they could have been chambermaids at the inns but is willing to accept Charlotte's version. So move the apostrophe to the end. The "Old Maid's Mile" Dear PC Abby Dear Dave: You raise more than a single interesting question. Among those, What is someone from Holliston doing with a copy of the Barre Gazette? But, to your point, The Old Maid's Mile is the distance (REPUTED TO BE A MILE) along West Street, Hardwick Road, Spring Street and Main Street starting at, say, the Unitarian church and going west, south, east and north back to the church. It is sort of like a large "block" with not much in the middle. When next we see our able local historian, Larry Buell, we'll ask "Who was that Old Maid anyway?" and get back to you with the info. PCAbby Dear PCAbby: How much more are you going to add to the Petersham site? Much more andI won't need Yahoo anymore. Steve F., Derry, N.H. Dear Stevie: We're just boppin' along, adding stuff every day. Did you notice WebCamWorld in the Tool Box? . And you ain't seen nothin' yet. Yahoo already has enough people logging on. They don't know you. They don't need your clicks. We have more interesting links anyway. Go ahead. Be the first kid on your block up there in New Hampshire to Make Petersham Common your home page. TaTa PCAbby Dear PC Abby: Dear Anon I'm certain you know that out here in the country we sometimes have unwanted visitors. If they are small animals, a HavAHart trap can be a pretty good solution. But what if a skunk wanders into the trap? Worried in P'ham Dear Worried: Worry no longer -- PCAbby, long-time Internet maven, found the answer in the FAQs on the HavAHart web site. Follow the instructions below -- exactly. We did -- twice -- and two of our nocturnal visitors have been safely relocated. 1. What should I do if I catch a skunk? It is best to prevent any undue annoyance to the skunk then there will be no need to fear any obnoxious odor! First, find an old cloth, towel or sheet that will be used to cover the trap. Next, approach the trap cautiously holding the trap covering in front of you. Make sure that this covering extends to the ground while holding it - don't let the skunk see your feet coming as this may alarm him. When you're close enough to the trap, gently cover the trapped animal--trap and all. Since skunks are nocturnal, den-dwellers this covering will help to calm him. He may even curl up in a corner of the trap if given a few minutes to relax. After that, the covered cage can be lifted by the handle and the skunk transported to a safer place and released. We do suggest that transporting the varmint can best be accomplished in an open vehicle like a pickup truck. It is also wise to keep Fido in the dog house during the first part of this exercise. Skunks often react, well, like skunks, when barked at. PCAbby
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