This Is Framingham

We were out taking a walk tonight and saw some of the new recycle bins that the town is in the process of delivering to each household.   They’re pretty big but good for picking up every two weeks.  The containers pictured above are the larger ones that I believe had to be requested and the standard 64 gallon bin are delivered to everyone else.   In fact, when we got home from our walk the recycle bin fairy had stopped by our house and there was a shiny new bin waiting for us at the end of our driveway!
I think it’ll be fine but my friend Rev. Bob pointed out that this will be more of a challenge for the people who rummage through the bins in search of cans and bottles.  I picture seeing legs sticking out of the tops of the bins every pick up day but we’ve been pretty lucky to have neat rummagers who make sure to put everything back so hopefully it’ll stay that way.
The new recycle schedule of picking up ever other week starts Sept 7th.  For more infomation, check out the town website.

The Planning Board is meeting on June 24th and on the agenda is parking for the former White’s Hardware which will finally be occupied.  As soon as White’s when out of business, I wondered what could possibly want to take it’s place.  The location is behind a strip of three stores on Franklin St and it’s very hard to see from the street.  

When I heard that a wine storage company was looking to move in, it seemed like a perfect fit.  A big warehouse type space that doesn’t need pedestrian traffic to operate.  International Wine Vault has a website you can check out to see what they do and what their rates are.  I won’t be needing their services, but I think it’s great they are occuping the old place and I wish them luck.  One less empty, lifeless building in Framingham!

At the last Downtown Renaissance meeting, Director of Public Works, Peter Sellers was a guest speaker and told us about the summer projects for the area.
The projects planned will be started this summer and completed sometime next summer.   They’re going to make functional and aesthetic improvements to downtown.  Some of these projects include adding brick lined sidewalks, taking out all the trees and replacing them with a different kind of tree that can handle the area better (species yet to be determined), and installing tree grates to protect the roots.  Also with the subtraction of the rotary, they will be increasing the space in the plaza area in front of the Memorial building.  In addition to all this, they’ll install brick crosswalks and add ornamental lighting that will “dramatically” light up downtown at night using LED lights.
Downtown can be a touchy subject. Some people say its too far gone to improve and some see it’s potential.  My feelings about it vary from day to day.  While it doesn’t solve the major issues, I feel it’s better than not doing anything and I’m looking forward to having these improvements done.

I got an email a few days ago from Savers thrift stores saying they are coming to Framingham!  As some may know I’m a thrift store junkie and I love hunting out little treasures to add to my collection of useful and useless items.  I’m so excited because it’s become my favorite thrift store since I found it last year in Woonsocket.  As much as I’m always looking for a reason to visit Woonsocket (and I mean that, I’d love to make a thisiswoonoscket.com) I’m really looking forward to having Savers right here in the ‘ham.  Their selection of vintage housewares and electronics are fantastic. I recently got some lovely items like:
a never-used coffee pot/plate warmer:

crockette in excellent condition:

mint condition baking dish and set of side plates:


Occasionally I’ll buy something that isn’t brown but for the most part this place is a gold mine for me and Ethan actually always finds a nice record to bring home - some of his finds:

Not only will this be great for shopping but according to their press release, it will create 50 jobs for this store. 
For more information you can visit their site at http://savers.com

I take my daily (I try for daily) morning walk through downtown and around Farm Pond, and it’s a way to get some exercise and see if any vacant stores have any signs of occupation or get a glimpse of nature.  Sometimes I see things like this:

or this:

and sometimes I see things like…this:

and then sometimes I find out things I wouldn’t normally find out unless I took a walk, like this:

I didn’t even know about phases I-III of Cushing Park’s improvement plan but this sign was recently posted on the walking path there.  You can see more detailed before and (what will be) after images the Parks & Recreations plan posted on the town website here.  After looking at their site, I noticed they also posted they will be completing a new playground across the street at Farm Pond.  You can see those plans here.  I’m hoping they don’t get rid of the metal snail I used to enjoy playing on but maybe the town will put it up for sale(?)  Just another thing to keep an eye on.

I was taking a walk early in the morning so sorry for the bad picture, but if it were maybe 15 minutes later, you’d be able to see more clearly that the sign in the windows next to Wings says it there will be a liquor store coming soon called Southside Liquors.  I think its a decent match for being next door to a wing place and it’s nice to see something finally going to occupy that space.

Also, Cafe Belo, which I recently posted had closed, apparently has opened again:

I hate to say it, but it’s kind of too bad.  Only because I was looking forward to something different, I know Eb’s isn’t coming back but at this point even having it become a train station again, as some readers have suggested,  with a coffee shop in it would be nice and useful.

And also, the phone out side of the Memorial Building is out of order.  It’s nice to see they’ve found a use for at least one of the cones that used to be on the crumbling steps!
 

Doug Stephan of Eastleigh Farm (used with permission)
According to their site, Eastleigh Farm has been okayed (again) to sell raw milk starting in March.
There are people who think it’s a good idea and those who think it’s a bad idea but what it comes down to is that it’s a choice people can make, just like people choose how well they want their burger done.
Personally I’m not a big milk drinker, but I do enjoy cheese made from raw milk and I know there are lots of people who prefer to drink raw milk. I think it would be great for Framingham to be known as a location where you can get raw milk and support a local farm. When I talk to people who don’t live in town they’re surprised when I tell them we have actual farms here - they think Framingham is just crime and shopping.
I had the pleasure of talking with Doug Stephan a few weeks ago and he said the milk will start off being available as milk shares and then in a few months most likely be available by the bottle and then move onto cheese, yogurt and ice cream as well.
Everything you’d want to know about this, like why people want to drink raw milk, and more about the farm can be found on their website: http://www.eastleighfarm.com