Free
Volume 3, Issue 4
November-December 2006
Sam Slater ~ Our River ~Dining Out ~ Chain of Lights
Page 2
Grafton Celebrates the Holidays
Sunday, December 3, 2006 12-4 P.M.
1 . Willard House and Clock Museum, 11
W i l l a r d S t r e e t , N o r t h G r a f t o n . The historic
Willard House and Clock Museum will be decorated for
the holidays in the Colonial tradition for the museum's
Annual Christmas Tea from 2 pm to 4 pm. Enjoy tea
and pastries, children's activities and a clock-making
demonstration. Free admission sponsored by
AG Edwards & Sons.
2 . North Grafton United Methodist Church
10 Overlook Street, North Grafton.
Stop by North Grafton United Methodist Church, make
your own origami paper crane for peace, and hear the
story of the peaceful crane. Refreshments served from
12 to 3 pm.
3. North Grafton Shopping Center
215 Worcester Street, North Grafton.
Visit the traveling petting zoo.
At O a s i s H o t T u b s , I n c ., families can bring
bathing suits and towels and enjoy a free soak in one of
their six hot tubs to warm up before heading back to
the cold. Refreshments served. $5 off gift certificates.
Visit S i r L o i n ' s B u t c h e r y & D e l i where adults
can sample some succulent appetizers while children
decorate Christmas holiday cookies.
4 . Bottle'N Cork, 197 Worcester Street.
Regular store hours, 12 to 6 pm. Delivery available.
P r i n c e s s N a i l s , 2 0 0 W o r c e s t e r S t r e e t . Any
gift certificates above $35 will receive a discount of $5
off this day only.
Spirit of Wellness, 202 Worcester Street.
We’ll be raffling off a facial and massage package &
offering 10% off all gift certificates. 15% discount on
any organic skin care products. Refreshments.
Floral Elegance, 204 Worcester Street.
Experience the joy of the season. Make your own holiday centerpiece (free to children under 12 years). Gift
certificate special ($5 off a $50/$15 off a $100) this
Look for our mascot logo
day only. Enter to win a beautiful designer holiday
wreath. Refreshments.
G r a f t o n P i z z a , 2 0 4 W o r c e s t e r S t r e e t . $1
off small pizza /$2 off any large pizza all day.
Unlimited.
8. Commonwealth House Plaza, 80
W o r c e s t e r S t r e e t Visit Santa's Toy Workshop at
O ' M a l l e y F a m i l y C h i r o p r a c t i c and enter a free
raffle to win one new boy's bike and one new girl's
bike.
5 . Brigham Hill Community Farm/Grafton
Land Trust /Grafton Shakespeare
Club/Grafton Garden Club, 37 Wheeler
R o a d , N o r t h G r a f t o n . Wagon rides, music, and
refreshments will be featured at this working farm,
along with activities and exhibits from many of
Grafton's non-profit organizations including Community
Harvest Project, GLT, Grafton Shakespeare Club,
Garden Club and Apple Tree Arts.
9 . The Beanery Café, 79 Worcester Street,
Grafton.
The Beanery Café will have gingerbread cookies for
children to decorate in the Café.
6. Country Plaza/Stop & Shop, 100
Worcester Street.
At C V S P h a r m a c y , receive a free gift with skin care
consultation. Free make-and-take Christmas ornaments
for kids.
See what surprises are at S t o p & S h o p .
At C i t i z e n ' s B a n k , make a craft with holiday
themes.
Stop by R e / M a x E x e c u t i v e R e a l t y for hot apple
cider and free gifts for the children.
S a v e r s B a n k will have Christmas ornaments for decorating on December 2.
Stop by S u b w a y S a n d w i c h e s for a free cookie with
the purchase of a sub.
7 . Santa's Village at Grafton Suburban
Credit Union, 86 Worcester Street.
Santa is stopping by Grafton Suburban Credit Union for
a free Polaroid and gift for boys and girls from 12 to
3:30 pm. Light refreshments will be served. Enter to
win a 6' stocking filled with toys. Choose a fresh holiday tree from the G r a f t o n L i o n ' s C l u b annual tree
sale.
1 0. Perreault Nurseries, 68 Worcester
S t r e e t . Enter to win a large children's basket.
11. Municipal Center/Food Bank Craft Fair
30 Providence Road, Grafton.
Over 30 artisans and crafters bring you the finest crafts
from 10 am to 3 pm. Pastries, soup and sandwiches
will be available with proceeds benefiting the Grafton
Food Bank. Children can ride the trackless train
around the Municipal Center. Girl Scout Troop 219 will
be organizing the gingerbread house contest and doing
face-painting.
12. Valley Plaza Discount Liquor, Inc.
4 1 M a i n S t r e e t , S o u t h G r a f t o n . From 12 to
4 pm, drop by for wine and beer tasting. Apple cider
and cookies for the kids plus door prizes.
13. Farnumsville Firehouse, 3A Main
S t r e e t . Open house. Guided tours/light refreshments
12 to 3 pm.
Grafton Community Television, 296
P r o v i d e n c e R o a d . Stop by for a tour of the studio
and see how access television is made. Bring a blank
VHS or DVD and record a 5-minute holiday greeting for
military personnel overseas or for friends or family.
Coffee and Vienna fingers.
The Community House, 25 Main Street.
Open house from 12 pm to 3 pm. Light refreshments.
14. Gibson Kennels, Inc. , 139 Upton
Street, Grafton.
Come down to Gibson's Kennel with your pets and family for photos with Santa. All proceeds benefit Dog
Orphans Shelter. Get a tour of the kennel and sample
treats. Eat cookies and candy canes.
15. Businesses on the Common, Grafton.
Ice sculpture demonstration on the Common from 12 to
3 pm. Enjoy an old-fashioned hayride.
T h e T u s c a n R o s e has treats for children. A holiday story reading at 1 pm with books for purchase.
Join A n t i q u e s o n t h e C o m m o n with an old-fashion holiday. Our little elves will give out candy canes.
Stop at P e g g y ' s P l a c e and enter a raffle.
Unitarian Universalist Society of Grafton &
U p t o n is having a hot lunch from 12 pm to 3:30 pm.
Enjoy the musical celebration concert at 1 pm featuring
the UUSGU Bell Choir and special guests. Themed raffle baskets, hand-made ornaments, children's activities.
Purchase a poinsettia or pick up reindeer food at
Grafton Center Playschool.
The Apple Tree Arts Community Concert
begins at 2:30 pm at the Evangelical Congregational
Church.
L e C l a i r e P r o p e r t i e s will have hot chocolate, cookies, and a children's craft.
A t t h e G r a f t o n C e n t e r L i b r a r y , Apple Tree Arts
musicians perform at 3:30 pm.
G r a f t o n H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y will have its
Christmas open house from 1 pm to 3 pm. Historical
displays, free punch and cookies.
G r a f t o n C o u n t r y S t o r e will have hot mulled cider
and samples from Stonewall Kitchens. Mr. Kim will
perform at 2 pm. A t t h e B a p t i s t C h u r c h , come
view the Nativity displays.
Tree lighting and sing-along begins at
4:30 pm at the Grafton Common.
15. Grafton Common Businesses
1. Willard House & Clock Museum
Tree Lighting at 4:30 at the Common
2. No. Grafton United Methodist Church
Evangelical Congregational Church
3. North Grafton Shopping Plaza
4 . 1 9 7 - 2 0 4 W o r c e s t e r S t r e e t , N o r t h G r a f t o n LeClaire Properties, Inc.
Antiques on the Common
5. Brigham Hill Community Farm
Grafton Country Store
6. Country Plaza
Peggy’s Place
7. Grafton Suburban Credit Union
Grafton Historical Society
8. Commonwealth House Plaza
The Tuscan Rose
9. The Beanery Cafe
Unitarian Universalist Society
10. Perrault Nurseries
Grafton Playschool
11. Grafton Municipal Center
Baptist Church
12. Valley Plaza Discount Liquor
Grafton Public Library
13. Farnumsville Firehouse Etc.
Ice Sculpture Demonstration
14. Gibson Kennels
A big thank you to our donors who make this community event possible.
BENEFACTOR: Grafton Recreation Commission
PATRONS:- George N. Prunier & Sons, Inc.
Republic Plumbing Supply & Yesod Foundation
SPONSORS: Floral Elegance
Gibson Kennels, Inc.
LeClaire Properties, Inc.
Grafton Suburban Credit Union
SUPPORTERS: Apple Tree Arts
Charles A. Gagne, DDS, PC
CVS Pharmacy
Donut Star
Gaudette Insurance Agency
Grafton Country Store, LLC
Grafton Pizza
Grafton Stop & Shop
HomeQuest Mortgage, Inc.
Koopman Lumber Co.
Michael J. McManus, Esq.
Millbury National Bank
O'Malley Family Chiropractic
ReMax Executive Realty
Roger's Auto Service
Savers Bank
Sir Loin's Butchery & Deli
Subway of Grafton
Temp-Flex Cable, Inc.
Unitarian Universalist Society of
Grafton & Upton
Valley Plaza Discount Liquor, Inc.
Willard House & Clock Museum
FRIENDS: Antiques on the Common
Bottle'n Cork, Cardoos Gourmet Caterers
Citizens Bank, Danielle's Breakfast and Pub
Dave Hall's Auto Body, Fazzino Chiropractic
Grafton Center Playschool, Inc., Peggy's Place
Grafton Historical Society
MacKoul's Cars, Inc.
MJ's Pepper Jelly, Oasis Hot Tubs, Inc.
Pastor Linda Stetter, Princess Nails
Richard F. Rodger, DVM, The Tuscan Rose Ltd.
Spirit of Wellness Massage Therapy & Skin Care
Page 3
Blackstone Valley
Bar & Grille
by Barbara Van Reed
Blackstone Valley Bar & Grille
opened in March on Main Street in
downtown Douglas, a year after the
last restaurant in that location closed.
Now, with a new owner, a new name, a
new look, and a great new menu, the
place is bustling again on weekend
nights.
Owner Dale Kamishlian set out to
give the space a warm feeling, with
brown tones on the walls, floor and
ceiling, and added a contemporary
accent with ceramic tile floors and
granite table tops. While the intention
and costs are
clear, the restaurant feels a bit
austere.
Not so the bar
menu and the food
menu. The bar has
its own menu of
martinis, 27 of
them, starting with
Apple Harvest and
ending with
Watermelontini. More on the bar later.
We were seated in the dining room,
in a large, comfortable leather booth.
We chose our drinks from the wine
list, which has a number of wines
available by the glass and the bottle,
including a Kendall Jackson Reserve
Chardonnay, Hardys Notting Hill
Shiraz, and Blackstone Merlot, all reasonably priced.
The leather bound menu is eclectic
and extensive, starting with a selection
of appetizers that include several varieties of fried calamari ($6.95), standard shrimp cocktails ($9.50), chicken
fingers and wings ($5.95), as well as
roasted peppers with feta cheese, and
sausage stuffed mushroom caps
($5.95).
Next on the menu is a Soups, Salads
and Lighter Fare section, then
Sandwiches and Burgers. The
Butcher's Block features a 14 oz. New
York Strip Steak ($22.95) and a
Tennessee Style Barbecued Pork Rib
Chop ($16.95). The Chicken, Fish &
Pasta section includes such items as
Sauteed Chicken Marsala ($16.95),
Baked Fresh New England Haddock
($16.95) and a Baked Seafood
Casserole ($22.95).
The head chef, Robert Eckel, along
with two others, came to the Bar &
Grille from the Pleasant Valley
Country Club in Sutton. Everything
they make is fresh, hand cut, and made
to order, said Kamishlian, nothing is
prepackaged or frozen. "It costs a little
more to go that route," he said, "but
our customers can tell the difference."
The Specials Menu each day offers
excellent values, for example, Sirloin
Tips (Tuesday,
$13.95), Surf &
Turf (Thursday and
Sunday $15.95),
Fish & Chips
(Friday $7.95). We
dined on a
Wednesday and
chose our entrees
from the Specials
list: Bottomless
Bowl of Pasta ($10.95), and Blackened
Halibut Fillet ($17.95).
I could not decide which of the five
available pasta sauces to order, so the
waitress suggested she could bring
three different ones for me to try. I
chose Primavera in Garlic Butter,
Broccoli Alfredo, and Mushroom &
Spicy Tomato. The Primavera was
comprised of large slices of zuchini,
red onions, dried tomatoes, and red
bell peppers, perfectly flavored and
cooked. The Mushroom & Spicy
Tomato sauce was indeed spicy, just
rightly so, and delicious. The pasta
also came with two huge pieces of
very tasty garlic bread. Our waitress
Lisa told us that she has brought only
three people a second bowl of pasta
since March; that's how big it is. The
pasta selection included a choice of
salads, mine was the Caesar, which
was a nicely arranged bed of romaine
with shaved Parmesan and foccacia
croutons.
The Blackened Halibut Fillet
($17.95) was also an excellent choice.
The fish was coated with a spice blend,
pan blackened and served with drawn
butter, red bliss mashed potatoes, and
steamed broccoli. The fish was light
and flaky, done just right. We ordered
this entrée with the house salad, lettuce
tossed with carrots, red onions, and
tomatoes.
The tableware, flatware and
stemware were all of good quality,
enhancing the dining experience. A
small distraction was the sound system, which seemed to be a radio, playing pop numbers, at one end of the
dining room.
After our meal we went into the
large cheery bar area and chatted with
Dale for a moment. He showed us his
state-of-the art beer system, with a glycol line that keeps the beer at a perfect
refrigeration temperature. He also told
us that the menu will be revised soon
and the prices adjusted, to better reflect
the dining preferences of his
Blackstone Valley customers.
Whether you visit Blackstone
Valley Bar & Grille now, or later, the
food will not disappoint.
Blackstone Valley Bar & Grille is at
306 Main Street, Douglas, MA. Phone
508-476-7220. Hours: Tuesday
through Sunday, 4 p.m. until close.
Parking available. Handicapped
accessible. Children's menu.
Editor’s Note: Since the
Blackstone River Valley runs from
Worcester to Pawtucket, or perhaps
Pawtucket to Worcester some might
say, we felt it only fair and intriguing for our readers to learn a bit
about restaurants from both states.
Enjoy!
Art, Culture, &
Fine Dining in
Woonsocket
by Patti McAlpine
Woonsocket, a "boomtown" in the
early 19th-20th centuries as the commercial stopover site between
Providence and Worcester along the
canal or by railroad, still has much to
offer in art, culture, history and dining
in the 21st century as a new "boom"
emerges in the city.
If you have not visited St. Ann’s
Arts and Cultural Center in
Woonsocket to be inspired by the substantial beauty of the internationally
renown fresco paintings and stainedglass windows, you can also view the
current exhibit "Celestial Passion The
Inspired Paintings" of Maureen
Gaffney-Wolfson of California until
November 19th.
The exhibit draws on the inspiration
of St. Ann’s buon fresco compositions
created in the 1940s by Guido
Nincheri. Gaffney-Wolfson combined
her inspiration with the images of
some of the original work in St. Ann’s
to reproduce her own signature, simplified versions of these magnificent
works. Her work is no less magnificent
as she works with vivid tones and
vibrant hues to awaken and draw
you closer to the spiritual nature of
her work.
continued on page 18
Page 4
Stonewalls of
New England
by Shirley Cheney Usher
I saw them again this summer, old and gray, some
moss-covered and split apart. Others, losing themselves in the tangled weeds. I saw them, leaning as if
embracing the weather worn posts, posts waiting for
the gates to be swung open once more.
When I walked down the gravel and dusty roads, I
saw them: The Stonewalls of New England, and they
spoke to me of the farmers, now gone, whose tawny,
sunbrowned arms glistened with sweat under the
heat of the noon-day sun as they toiled in the fields.
They spoke to me, these walls, in whispers, of
young lovers that once sat there in the cool of the
evening, and of the herd of cows, Holsteins, Jerseys
and Ayshires munching on hay and stubble as they
moved in closer and closer to the shade of the old
apple tree that leaned over the walls.
I saw them, these ancient stonewalls, as I drove
down the roads that divided the fields like walls
dividing rooms in a house; I thought of a tired man
at the end of the day, stepping back to survey his
day's work, a look of satisfaction on his face at the
now finished job that took days, maybe months to
build. Then, he looks up towards the house and puts
behind him the day's work and with a wipe of the
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The old stone wall at Waters Farm in Sutton
brow, turns to go home, to refresh himself for tomorrow.
I saw them, the Old Gray Stonewalls of New
England, the same that I'd seen all my life, over and
over, the same that my father and his father had
made; a lump arose in my throat. A special feeling of
pride, happiness and yes, sadness came over me, for
I was not seeing only stonewalls; I was seeing my
heritage left to me and to my children, and to theirs,
on and on, if not removed, and even then, for they
are imprinted on the pages of our book of memories.
There is such beauty in a rock, not perhaps, in a
vegetable garden, or on a perfectly made lawn, but
placed row on row, rock upon rock, broken here and
there by post or gate, these stonewalls are the seams
of New England's handiwork.
Thanks to Shirley Cheney Usher, formerly of Mendon,
now living in Florida, but still visitng often.
Editor’s Notes: The lovely, ubiquitous old stonewalls
that grace our valleys, fields, woodlands and border
some N.E. homes were mostly built between 17751825. Before that, zigzag wood fences were usually
built for fencing, but these wore out and wood
became scarce as cleared fields, bigger farms and
increased immigration carving out more acres made
woodlands and trees harder to find back then.
Most stone walls are made from granite, limestone
or gneiss which were left behind when the glaciers
melted. These walls were used for animal pounds,
boundaries and for fencing animals. For more information on N.E. stonewalls:
www.primaryresearch.org/stonewalls/schweizer/inde
x.php
Page 5
Transitions
The brisk weather has arrived again
and that means we are in the middle of
autumn, the season of harvest. The
harvest moon came and went without a
killing frost here in Sutton, but finally
we got socked by a freeze on October
14th. Not all annual plants in the gardens were killed, but there was a lot of
damage. We were prepared for it, and
had covered a row of tomatoes down
back in hopes of saving the strongest
plants. I haven't had a chance to drive
down there and see if it worked, but it
might have. I am convinced that part
of the reason so many plants die with
the first frost is that they are pretty
much ‘played out'; they died last year
in the torrential October rains without
benefit of a frost!
Bins of every imaginable color of
peppers and eggplant line the barn and
storage. They will last a couple of
weeks, and hopefully a good many of
them will be sold by then.Tomatoes
are stacked in their half-bushel boxes
near the compressor fans, being
warmed into thinking it's August and
not October. The apples don't mind
the cold a bit, and are being picked on
by Jane Keown Oliver
a regular schedule according to their
harvest date. My flowers stand glumly
as a brittle reminder that summer is
over and it is time to make the transition into winter. Mostly browned and
bedraggled, they wave to me in the
breeze as I drive past them on my way
to the post office or grocery store. I
wave back, content with the time I
spent with them, knowing that next
year there will be a new crop to enjoy,
pick, and sell. I think I am getting better at these transitions.
In years past, I would hear the
news of impending frost with frantic
fear. I would call friends to come and
help me ‘save’ the remnants of my
flower crop, especially those meant for
drying such as globe amaranth, statice,
and celosia. We would hobble around
the hillside until well past dark, always
seeing just one more batch that could
be saved. I am more sanguine about
the whole ‘frost bit’ now. I have
enough dried flowers hanging in the
barn: more than anyone will buy, I'm
sure. And ending a season of quiet
pleasure with the birds and butterflies
by one day of frenetic activity just
1. 40B Excessive Profits - Several MA Valley
communities have faced some very dubious 40B
projects with less than factual projections, yet
accepted as worthwhile by MA DHCD. Affordable
housing is most welcome in the Valley, yet the dense
developmental impacts on marginal lands risking our
most critical resources along with the questionable
tactics of some 40B developers has long been troubling. Now, the MA Inspector General has found
excessive profits (far above the 20% limit) in almost
seems wrong. The field of flowers
doesn't deserve to be disturbed on its
last day in the sun by a greedy farmer.
So I now pick what I need for the next
day's market, but don't turn it into a
wake for the zinnias. New ones will
replace them next year, and I can
dream about these all winter.
As most of my friends know, I long
for my winter hibernation about this
time of year. The weeks of working
fourteen hours a day have taken their
toll on my aging body, and I am getting weary. I still have ten more weeks
of the schedule to go, but then three
blessed months of catching up on the
bookkeeping and filing, reading books
whenever I want, and sleeping late [if I
can] loom before me as a carrot to
keep me moving in the chilly air. Yet,
even in the next couple of weeks, I
have to turn my attention to ordering
seeds and plants for next year's crops,
in order that I can get what I need
when I need it. Availability is everything in this business! My dreams of
big snowstorms and apple-wood fires
will be put on hold while I figure out
what to grow next year.
all of the 40B projects chosen to be examined by an
audit. He states that profits have been excessively
understated and the monitoring system is “broken”.
In fact, audits certified by the cost monitoring agents
have failed to uncover these apparent abuses. For the
full text of Sullivan’s letter,
www.BlackstoneDaily.com/InspectorGeneral
lettertoMassHousing.pdf
2. Preservation Worcester - Wonderful events,
fascinating photos and histories of some of the city’s
most endangered buildings. www.preservationworcester.org
3. All About the Valley - Discover the Valley,
its news, issues, history, events or peruse back issues
The transition of one season into the
next will happen without my doing one
thing; Mother Nature will take care of
that. But what and how we farm in the
future is a transition that Artie and I
have to contemplate and upon which
we need to decide. After running the
farm for ten years now, it is becoming
clear to us what works and what does
not. Our goal is to build a farm that is
self-sustaining and profitable. We
move closer in that direction each year.
Plans for replanting fruit trees and
other perennial crops must be laid out
years in advance, but that is becoming
easier for us, too. Experience is [or
should be] a great teacher. Looking
backwards is only profitable, however,
if it leads you to improve in the future.
Soon the plants that were this year's
tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and flowers will be torn from the ground, and
tossed into a compost pile. The
Jamaicans will return home, and the
fields blanketed with snow. Another
season will have come full circle, and
the tired farmers will rest and renew in
preparation for a new beginning:
Spring!
of Journeys. Ease your holiday shopping needs with
local shops or major online affiliates. Post your
event, club, nonprofit, class, workshop or read about
your community, add your insight or comments anytime 24/7. BlackstoneDaily.com
4. Northern R.I. Fun, Events & Sites - Bob
Billington’s Northern R.I. Tourism Council was
North America’s first recipient ever of the United
Nations’ UNWTO Ulysses Award for Innovation in
Tourism Destination. www.tourblackstone.com
5. The Field of Flags - St. Andrew’s Church in N.
Grafton has memorialized the fallen soldiers who
have made the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq and
Afghanistan. www.BlackstoneDaily.com/field.htm
Page 6
Hank Bosma: Doing It His Way
by Carol Masiello
If you want my opinion, and perhaps you don't, the best people to have
a conversation with are farmers. They
don't care if you are impressed by
them and they aren't particularly
impressed by you- what a wonderful
balance! No twenty dollar words or
long speeches, they are as utilitarian in
their dialogue as they are in their
lifestyle. I enjoy being with them
because I throw aside the city-raised
love of glitz and instead I wrap myself
in the warmth of their reality. I know I
could never do the work they have
chosen to do and I admire them for
doing it. I do not insult them with long
soliloquys about the honesty of their
labor and how they are at "one with
nature." Heck, they work hard, the
work is tiring and often dirty and there
are few rewards.
My most recent encounter with a
farmer was like all the others, educational, enjoyable and an exercise in dry
wit. I had the pleasure of meeting
Hank Bosma and once again I was
immersed in tales of days gone by. I
was the student and he was the teacher,
and as always, I came away richer for
the encounter. Let me introduce you to
a true Renaissance Man.
Most of us have driven up West
Harford Avenue in Douglas past
Edgewood Golf Course and Bosma's
Hoop Barn at least once. Maybe some
of you have even played golf there or
stopped in at the antique and collectibles flea market. Both are landmarks and the story behind the barn
and its dairy farm is a typical New
England story - but with a creative
twist. Hank is the creativity behind that
twist; he is more like a James Dean
rebel than your typical farmer. He has
taken a few shortcuts and a few forks
in the road along his life's journey.
I was with Hank a few days before
his 80th birthday and I learned the history of this wonderful part of the heritage of the Blackstone Valley.
The original farm, where the historic hoop barn is, was purchased by
Hank's father, Gilbert Bosma.. Gilbert
was of Friesian Dutch descent like
most of the dairy farmers along the
work was his and his alone.
hills of Hartford Avenue, but he was
Bosma's Dairy was a typical dairy
distinct. He was the only Dutchman to farm; they peddled their own milk
live in Douglas. The Friesian Dutch
and grew what they needed on
came to the area by virtue of the noble their farm.
cow.
The hallmark hoop barn that we
John Whitin, owner of Whitin
admire today for its history and
The only known Dutch hoop barn still in existence
Machine Works in Whitinsville, owned magnificent shape was not original
age they received from the storm was a
the "hundred acre lot" on Sutton Street. to the farm. The design came from a
tree falling on the house, and happily
The land was poor and rocky, not at all plan in a book his father had bought.
no one was hurt.
suitable for farming, so Whitin had his Construction was begun in 1938. The
Gilbert was the first dairyman on
mill hands clear the land and build the
logic of the round top design was that
the hill to pasteurize milk and in addiwonderful stone wall that runs along
the loose hay would seep into the
tion to peddling his milk, he also sold
the roadside. After the land was
shape of the barn.
to the A and P in Whitinsville. Hank
cleared, the lot was used as a hobby
Gilbert hired four Dutchmen from
started to peddle milk dutifully for the
farm for the farm's registered heard of
Whitinsville to build the barn; the boss
farm when he was 17 or 18 years old.
Jersey cattle. A case of tuberculosis
carpenter made $1.25 an hour and the
Going beyond the culture of being a
wiped out the herd forcing Mrs.
help $.75 cents an hour. When it came
farmer's son, Hank was also the son of
Whitin, (who now ran the farm after
time to construct the second floor,
a Dutchman. He was raised in the traher husband's death in 1886), to import there was a small dispute between the
dition of the Dutch and was expected
Holstein-Friesian cattle from the
head carpenter and Gilbert. The carto follow along the traditional routes of
Netherlands. A Friesian man named
penter said it was impossible to build a
the Dutch culture. Dutch families went
John Bosma came with the herds to
round top but Gilbert said it could be
to the Pleasant Street Church and minhelp get the cattle settled and get the
done. So Gilbert and his brother
gled within their own group, keeping
farm on its way.
worked with the
the old ways of the old country. Dutch
Mr. Bosma liked
men on the sechad jobs in the shop in the Whitin
the land and
ond story and the
foundry and "Dutch married Dutch."
countryside so
carpenter sulked.
Sundays were spent in church all day
much, he sent for
He did not speak
and you did nothing, not even read a
family and gradto Gilbert for one
newspaper on Sundays. This was a litually the group
month, but every
tle too much for Hank and this is
expanded with
week he went
where his path diverged from many of
more Friesian
and got paid and
the Dutch.
Dutch coming
never said a
Hank attended school in Douglas
over. By WWII,
word. In spite of
but first had to tend to daily chores
nearly 65% of
the carpenter's
starting at 5 a.m. each morning and
the privately
misgivings, the
often after school, too. As he grew up
owned farms (not
barn was built
and turned into a strong young man, he
The rounded side in the large Dutch hoop barn
company) were
and still stands
played softball in the Dutch league. He
in the hands of
today.
was a leftie and his team played twice
the Dutch farmers. The Dutch became
Gilbert had not only been right, but
a week against both town and mill
a vital part of the agricultural commuthe barn survived the Hurricane of
teams. Local baseball played a key
nity in the Whitinsville, Uxbridge area. 1938. Hank vividly remembers coming
role in community life back then.
Gilbert was born in this country
home from school around 3:40 while
Schuster's mill in Douglas would bring
and worked on the Bangma farm. This the wind was blowing fiercely. There
in college boys as ringers to play on
farm was started by Hendrick Bosma,
were trees falling everywhere on Main
the team. The mill hired them as part
who later sold it to Louis Bangma. In
Street. By the time he got home, there
time help so they would be eligible to
1926,Gillbert purchased a farm from
were no lights but he remembers his
play.
Jasper De Jong who was the custodian mother was ironing. His uncle came
Schuster's wanted to win at any
for the public schools in Douglas.
home at 4:15 from working at the shop
cost, and cost them it did. The college
Hank was born that year and four sisand then the wind blew out the doors
boys got paid $5 for a single, $10 for a
ters would come along, all while the
of the new barn. They had to milk the
double, $15 for a triple and $20 for a
farm continued to prosper.
cows by hand that night because there
home run. Those must have been excitIt wasn't easy being the only boy in
was no power.
ing games, watching the ringers go up
a farming family, the bulk of the hard
Fortunately, the only serious damagainst a team of large Dutch farm
boys. You can almost picture the
mill bosses sitting in the stands
smoking their large cigars watching
"their boys" try to out hit and outwit the locals. The mill would keep
an eye on their ringers, or as Hank
said, "they kept a finger on them."
Hank would give them rides in his
pick up truck and head to the
Victory Diner and other sites for
fun and food. His life was full of
softball, candlepin bowling and just
growing up in a small close knit
community.
continued on page 16
Page 7
“A Life in the Air”
What was it in the skies of the Blackstone Valley that caused so
much excitement in the 1870s?
( This was supposed to be Part 3 of
“Blood on the Blackstone,” but I’m
awaiting some further research materials. In the meantime, let’s try some
lighter fare, maybe some “Barnum on
the Blackstone,” if you will.)
“Regardez!” cried the French
Canadian lads rushing down Hamlet
Avenue in Woonsocket. “In the sky!
Look!” Like a tribe of wild-eyed aborigines, they scattered through the
heart of Hamlet village, ducking
between tenements and shouting at the
top of their lungs. “Come see! Come
see!”
Comme ca, thought disgruntled old
men, dropping their supper forks to go
see what all the commotion was about.
Qu’est-ce que c’est?” called several
villagers from their porches and
stoops. “Why are you boys shouting?”
“In Bull’s Meadow,” the children
shrieked. “By the river! It’s landing!”
“What is?”
The reply was garbled by many
voices answering at once. But even
those who heard correctly had to wonder. After all, little boys were notorious storytellers. Of course, if what
they said wasn’t a story, if it were
true…
“Hey garcon! Wait for me!”
Ladies and gentlemen! Children of
all ages! In 1874, the world’s greatest
showman, P.T. Barnum, debuted one of
the biggest circus shows of the 19th
century. “Occupying the entire block
bounded by Fourth and Madison
avenues and 26th and 27th streets” in
New York City, the show was christened “Barnum’s Great Roman
Hippodrome.”
An evening at the Hippodrome was a
spectacle in the truest sense. By
Barnum’s own reckoning, the dazzling
show “required nearly 1,000 persons,
several hundred horses, besides elephants, llamas, camels, ostriches, etc.”
Each performance began with a lavish
parade called “The Congress of
Nations,” followed by a nail-biting,
palm-sweating series of acrobatic and
wire-walking exhibitions. Then came
the show-stopper – a tournament of
“Roman” chariot races around the
arena’s indoor track.
Tickets to the Hippodrome sold
almost as fast as they came off the
press. In fact, the phenomenal sales
gave rise to a new kind of circus performer – the ticket seller. At Barnum’s
show, a man named Ben Lusbie once
sold an amazing 6,000 tickets in an
hour. Sure enough, Lusbie’s mustached face soon adorned circus
posters billing him as “the quickest
dispenser of show tickets in the
world.”
Following his success in New York,
Barnum took his new show to other
major cities. By August of that year,
the Hippodrome had arrived in Boston.
According to circus historians, Barnum
had realized the potential of railroad
travel early on. He regularly loaded
his show onto custom-designed box
cars for overnight jaunts into the
Northeast, where the massive troupe
played only the bigger and better
towns.
The gritty mill city of Woonsocket
probably wasn’t included on the
Hippodrome’s schedule -- that is, until
fate pencilled it in.
“Barnum’s balloon, which makes
semi-weekly ascents from the
Hippodrome, left Boston at a quarter to
5 o’clock last Friday,” reported the
Woonsocket Patriot, August 21, 1874,
“and landed in the Hamlet village, a
little after 8 o’clock on the same
evening.”
Probably no ascent should have been
attempted that day. “It will be remembered that the afternoon was stormy,
with the wind in the North-East,” the
Patriot observed. But given that four
of the five aboard were Boston newspaper reporters, and the fifth was
Barnum’s famous daredevil aeronaut,
“Professor Donaldson,” it’s easy to see
why the trip was made anyway.
“After passing up through the clouds
the party could not tell where they
were until about 6 o’clock, when they
found themselves sailing over Medway
and Franklin. The remainder of the
voyage was made at low altitude, from
one to two hundred feet above the
earth,” the Patriot stated.
“At five minutes past 7, the basket
touched the ground in a field, on the
farm of Thomas Wood, in the easterly
part of Woonsocket. Here the party
alighted amid a drenching rain, and
were soon entertained by the nearest
residents, Wm. M. Whitaker and James
Sweet.”
The average person would have had
enough balloon travel for one day,
thank you. But Bostonians? Rubbish!
The crew voted to try for the sky one
more time. First, however, they had to
boot someone out of the basket: “as the
balloon would not carry all the party,
lots were drawn, and to Mr. Childs,
representative of the Boston Traveller,
was left behind.
We would hope that the rain had
tapered off by then, for the Patriot
doesn’t say. Weather or not, “the
remainder of the voyage was of short
duration.”
After lifting off from East
Woonsocket, roughly in the vicinity of
today’s Wood Avenue, Barnum’s balloon failed again. It drifted west, gradually losing altitude. “A mile distant,
in the Hamlet village, the balloon made
its final descent.”
The exact landing site was never
recorded. However, a Woonsocket
map drawn during that decade suggests
that a broad span of riverside meadows, owned by Mr. I.M. Bull, offered
the only safe haven for the great balloon. Today, these lands are occupied
by the former Lafayette French
Worsted Mills.
Imagine three reporters in the basket,
how their hearts must have raced as the
balloon dropped lower and lower, closer to the Blackstone River. How high
above the stream did they pass? Forty
feet? Thirty? Doubtless it gave them
something to write about once they got
back to Boston.
The landing must have been rougher
than the first, as the Patriot noted that
“the balloon had received some rents.”
Although the inflatable missed the
river, it nevertheless made a splash
upon touch-down. “As soon as the
strange arrival was made known, the
curious villagers flocked to the scene.
The voyagers were invited to the
neighboring houses, and acknowledged
courtesies from Messrs. I.M. Bull, J.A.
Burnett and D.S. Morton.”
According to the Patriot, the wayward balloon “was packed up, and the
next morning it accompanied the party
to Boston by the early train over the
B.H. and E. Railroad. The distance
traveled by the balloon in this voyage
was over 37 miles.”
And so ended Woonsocket’s first
brush with P.T. Barnum’s “Great
Roman Hippodrome. In a way, the
unexpected balloon visit was probably
more exciting than the circus show
itself.
Ideally, the story should end right
here, nice and tidy. But believe it or
not, the Blackstone Valley was treated
to yet another performance of the wayward balloon, piloted once again by the
one and only Professor Washington
Donaldson.
We should note that Professor
Donaldson had a rather checquered
record when it came to balloon navigation. At different points in his career
he had attempted flights in balloons
constructed of materials as diverse as
cotton twill and manila paper. In
January of 1872, a balloon under his
command at Norfolk, Virginia simply
burst in mid-air. Unfortunately for the
Professor, he was a mile above the
ground at the time.
Incredibly, he survived the long fall
to earth. He described his experience
thus:
The balloon did not collapse, but
closed up at the sides, and, swaying
from side to side, descended with
frightful velocity. I clung with all my
strength to the hoop. I could not tell
how badly I was frightened, but felt as
though all my hair had been torn out. I
scarcely had time to realize that I was
alive, when, with crash, I was projected with the velocity of a catapult into a
burr chestnut tree. The netting and rigging, catching in the tree, checked my
velocity, but I had my grasp jerked
continued on page 16
Page 8
Winter’s Delight: Attracting Birds
As winter approaches and the winds howl, tearing
away any remaining crisp leaves from our trees, the
visual panorama around us changes quite dramatically. The stark landscape offers it own beauty, including the opportunity to more easily spot our yearround or winter resident birds. But what are these
birds and what do we feed them to attract the species
we really like to see? What kind of bird feeder shall
we choose? There are local shops with advice to
attract the bird species you most enjoy.
All of this also depends on many factors, of course,
including cats, squirrels, and location of your feeder.
But let’s review what birds might be in the
Blackstone River Valley during the winter. Many of
our summer bird varieties, such as warblers, barn
swallows, broad winged hawk and some robins fly
south for more warmth and plentiful seeds or insects.
But we do have plenty of colorful species delighting
us with their vitality and sounds even during the
most treacherous winter months, including the state
bird of Massachusetts: the chickadee.
The Chickadee: These ubiquitous birds are well-known by
their black caps, white bibs and
white cheeks. They are often
quite friendly and almost appear
tame at feeders, especially when
filled with peanut butter, suet
and sunflower seeds. These birds nest as far north as
Alaska and generally feed on insects, seeds, and
fruit. Their call is a very distinctive "chick-a-dee".
The Tufted Titmouse: This
common bird has rusty flanks,
a gray back and white front
with a large crest. They live
around parks and homes as well
as in the woodlands. They also
have a distinctive call - a
whistling "peter,peter" sound.
They feed on acorns, berries,
beetles and caterpillars, beechnuts and cherries. They
also enjoy suet, bread and sunflower seeds from bird
feeders.
The Northern Cardinal: This brilliant scarlet male bird is very picturesque against the stark, bare branches of winter. His female counterpart
is less colorful, an olive-gray with a
light pink bill and
tinges of red on her
wings. They usually perch in thickets
and low-lying, thick bushes but can
also be found in trees. They generally eat beetles, aphids, weed seeds
but especially enjoy sunflower seeds
at the feeders.
White-Breasted Nuthatch:
This bird can often be seen
walking down a tree headfirst,
searching for bugs. Their tail
feathers are short, their breasts
are white and their caps and
back of their necks are black.
They feed on acorns, insects, and are also very
attracted to sunflower seeds and peanut butter at a
feeder.
The Blue Jay: This feisty bird is
the nemesis of many bird feeder
enthusiasts for being such bullies.
They are intelligent but also pushy
and are known for destroying bird
eggs and nests. They love shell
peanuts at a feeder but also eat
small vertebrates, grasshoppers, beetles, more.
The House Finch: Related to
the yellow American goldfinch,
this bird easily adapts to feeders
enjoying seed with sunflower,
thistle, white proso millet and
canary seeds. They have migrated east from southwest U.S. but
have faced a thinning population over the last decade due to an eye disease. They
are friendly and sociable, enjoying gathering in
groups. They are drawn to black sunflower oil and
fresh water.
A thankful heart is
not only the greatest
virtue, but the parent
of all other virtues.
~Cicero
The Downy Woodpecker: The
smallest woodpecker is found
throughout most of the U.S. They
look similar to hairy woodpeckers
but their bill length is shorter than
their heads, whereas the Hairy
Woodpecker’s bill is longer than
than the length of its head. These
Woodpeckers are often seen at feeders.
The Hairy Woodpecker: Shyer
than the smaller Downy woodpecker, this bird plays an important role in preserving many trees
by finding and eating harmful
bugs, such as woodboring beetles.
They enjoy suet at the feeder
which adds body heat during the cold winter.
The Redbellied Woodpecker:
This larger woodpecker, seen
less frequently, still enjoys feeders as well as hammering its
beak at trees to find ants and
other insects. It also eats acorns, beechnuts and
fruits. Its red-belly is actually a pinkish tint with a
red crown (male) and red nape at its neck. It often
loses its tree cavity home to aggressive starlings.
The Northern Flicker:
This woodpecker is distinct
in probing for its food in the
the ground for ants and other
insects rather than pecking at
trees. Though many migrate
further south, these are still found in winter. They are
very attractive birds.
Dark-Eyed Junco: Five variations of this species
are common birds at winter bird
feeders. Flocks of these small
sparrow-like birds, formerly
called “snowbirds.” visit the
region for winter from Canada
before heading north again in the
Spring. Enjoy....
Page 13
Slater’s Legacy: From
Pawtucket to Webster
by Bob Haigis
America were totally dependent on
England for their finished textiles.
It is an undeniable fact that many
While serving his apprenticeship in
New Englanders played a monumental
England, he was privy to British texrole in the settling of what became the
tile technology, particularly the
United States. There is also no question that the colonies and communities Richard Arkwright system, as well as
mill construction: information that was
of Southern New England, from
to become very valuable. He carried
Worcester to Pawtucket, provided
much of the brainpower, determination this knowledge with him to the "New
and muscle from which the nation was World.” However, leaving England
wasn't just a simple matter for him.
formed.
In an effort to keep its talented
Although not American born, one
of the early entrepreneurs with incredi- engineering and skilled textile personble quantities of all three of the above, nel within the Kingdom, it was illegal
for people like Slater to leave the
plus foresight, was a young man
country. In addition, England would
named Samuel Slater. Born in
not want its talent defecting to a counDerbyshire England in 1768, Slater
try that had just defeated her in a
began his apprenticeship in the textile
bloody rebellion.
industry at the young age of fourteen,
Therefore, Slater
under a friend and
was forced to disbusiness associate
guise both his
of his wealthy
appearance and
father.
intentions when
As part of a deal
leaving for the trip
in which the elder
abroad. Instead of
Slater provided land
traveling in the
and water rights to
"first class" section
Dedediah Strutt, an
of the ship (whateventerprising mill
er that was in
builder, Strutt
1789), as I'm sure
offered an apprenhe would have
ticeship in textile
Visitors being greeted outside Wilkinson mill
wanted to, he was
management to one
forced to emigrate disguised as an
of Slater's sons. Because of his age
agricultural laborer.
and early signs of mathematical comThe long voyage must have been an
petence and organizational skills,
adventure in itself. Arriving in New
Samuel was selected.
However young he may have been, York, Samuel took a job as a laborer in
he adapted quickly as only a few years a mill there and it wasn't long after that
he heard of an experimental mill to be
later he became superintendent of the
built in Pawtucket. At that point, Slater
mill. There is no doubt that his
made his way to Rhode Island.
father’s influence allowed Samuel
He became associated with Moses
inside information that probably
Brown and his family, and he offered
wouldn't have been revealed to others:
to work with them and build a textile
but still, he must have been an adept
mill to spin cotton, based on the sucstudent.
His father's untimely death from an cessful Arkwright type used in
England. The Browns had purchased
accident left Samuel an inheritance
all their machinery from England, but
that undoubtedly came in very handy
became frustrated trying to adapt it to
in the forthcoming years. In 1789, he
conditions here in New England.
emigrated to America.
Changes had been made in some of
Slater came to America believing
that the British textile industry had just the operating machinery, and Slater
had already acquired first hand experiabout peaked out, and that the new
nation to the west was where the future ence, thus becoming invaluable on the
job. Brown was reluctant to change
lay, with untold fortunes to be made.
any of his equipment at that late date,
Up until that time, the Colonies in
Photo: The 1793 Slater Mill site which also includes the early 19th c. Wilkinson mill
and the Sylvanus Brown home. Sandwiched between the medieval and Dickensian time
periods, Slater Mill Historic Site, birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution,
offers a Candlelit Tour and Tea each month. Share the holidays with costumed interpreters as you sip tea. Don't miss Santa's arrival to Slater Mill on Saturday, November
26 as part of the Holly Day celebration from 12-5pm, which includes puppet shows and
games for all ages. Admission price is $9.00 for adults, $8.00 for seniors, $7.00 for
children 6-12, Free for children under 6. In December, share holiday stories at the
mill with a presentation of Rhodes Stories Family Festival featuring Mark Binder and
Carolyn Martino on Saturday, December 16 at 7pm.
For more information, www.slatermill.org.
but Slater convinced him that changes
wool into yarn, and wove cloth: all
indeed were necessary to get the
functions that had been done by
equipment up and running.
tedious hand labor and crude equipSlater agreed to work for nothing
ment up until now. By now, Slater and
for the first ten weeks while he rebuilt
the Brown family were partners, and
a spinning frame to show that he knew ready to move forward to their next
what he was talking about. Slater conundertaking: building their own mill.
vinced the Browns and the project
Once called Almy, Brown and Slater,
went forward.
the structure on the Blackstone River
In a rented fulling mill, the enterin Pawtucket has gone down in history
prising group set up their equipment,
known as the Slater Mill.
and changed history. (A fulling mill
This mill, seen above, was conwas a place where wool was processed structed with the expertise and knowlinto cloth by pounding it until it was
edge of Samuel Slater. In 1793, the
transformed from a
mill was the first
loose hairy fiber to a
successful textile
tight knit fabric
mill in the America,
much more efficient
and is heralded as
and comfortable to
the beginning of
wear.)
our industrial revoIn 1793, not long
lution.
after Slater became
At construction,
involved in
Slater's mill was
Pawtucket, he marreally quite small ried the daughter of
only about 29 by 42
one of his partner's
ft, and 2-1/2 stories
The large water wheel in Wilkinson mill
associates, Hannah
high, closely
Wilkinson. The bride turned out to be
resembling surrounding dwellings.
quite unique, and shortly after the nup- Over the years, it was modified and
tials, Hannah Slater became the first
enlarged to its present appearance.
woman in America to file for a patent
It also was the beginning of the
in our fledgling U.S. Patent Office.
incredible history of how the Valley
She developed an updated way to spin
was transformed from a sleepy area of
thread.
farms and small mills into one of the
Slater and the Browns finally got
nineteenth century's greatest industrial
their system for spinning yarn up and
areas.
running, and two years later it was
declared a booming success. The
Continued on page 14
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Page 14
Slater’s Legacy,
Another method Slater borrowed
from his English tutors that was common there, was importing labor from
the countryside. Later called his
"Rhode Island system," Slater brought
entire families from surrounding farms,
including children, to work in his mills
and associated enterprises.
In the beginning, his entire work force
consisted of children aged seven
to twelve years. The advantages of
this were cheap labor, individuals easy
to control, and the fact that they
could move faster and work longer
hours than their elders.
Unfortunately, this practice led to
untold suffering and oppression of both
elders and children, and was really
only a small step above slavery. The
workers were forced to work long,
tedious hours for very little pay.
Slaking off and laziness were not tolerated; often physical punishment was
the penalty for anyone who didn't turn
out their day’s allotment.
The mills were cold and damp in
winter, terribly hot and humid in summer. The air was constantly filled with
small fibers that frequently caused
health problems. Aside from that, the
mills were always fire traps, in which
continued from page 13
flash fire was a constant danger. This
is attested to by the frequency of mills
burning to the ground, and countless
deaths, both here and in England.
Then, in 1803, Slater and his
brother John, who had also emigrated
to America, along with partners Almy
& Brown, built another - their second mill in North Smithfield. On the banks
of the Branch River, the pre-planned
town that was to become Slatersville
R.I. was built around the mill. By
1807, the mill was the largest industrial building of its day, and of course
highly successful. Not only was the
mill itself unique, but in a new idea for
a fledgling enterprise, Slater's model
town was totally dedicated to the production of cloth. The village grew and
incorporated a store, church, school,
two tenement houses for workers and
the owner's home.
This first "mill village" was to
become the prototype for all the industrial communities built in the
Blackstone Valley for the next hundred
years or so.
The mill was destroyed by fire in
1826, and replaced shortly after with
an even larger structure that still stands
today. Slater's home stands close by.
Slatersville remained in the family
until 1900 and was then sold for a new
enterprise - bleaching and dying cloth.
T.R. Hoope kept it for only fifteen
years before selling it to the Kendall
family.
Another of Slater's incredible successes was the founding and development of Webster, Mass. Prior to 1812,
due to its ideal location along the
French River and with plenty of open
land, Slater purchased large sections of
acreage in then what was known as S.
Gore and part of Oxford.
Not only did Slater build a mill there,
he built three, the first going up in
1812. Expanding his business, each of
the three mills performed a different
process. One spun cotton, one wool,
and the third was a cambric mill.
Today, the Cranston Print Works
stands on the original site of the Green
Mill, a huge complex built by Slater
and partners in 1812. It burned in
1878, but was immediately rebuilt and
part of it is still operating by Cranston
Print.
Although the residents wanted to
name the town Slater, he insisted it
was named after someone he greatly
admired - another giant of the period -
Slater’s grave at Mt. Zion Cemetery
Daniel Webster.
Samuel Slater spent his last years in
Webster, and died there in 1835. At
his passing, he owned all or parts of
thirteen textile mills, and had a worth
of nearly one million dollars. His son,
Horatio Slater, took over his enterprises at his father’s demise.
Samuel Slater is buried in Webster
in a family plot in Mt. Zion Cemetery,
surrounded by family members.
Undeniably, Samuel Slater was a
giant of early America, and well
deserves the honor of being called the
"Father of the American Industrial
Revolution."
Comments: [email protected]
Photos below: (L) The old Slatersville
mill being revamped into condos. (R)
The old Slater homestead
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Page 15
Courage
by Gretheline Ramos-Bolandrina
"A voice is only heard if spoken and a
story is only read if written."
Sometime in May of this year, at
work, early on my 7 AM-3 PM shift as
a medication nurse at the sub-acute
unit of a Milford facility, I was busily
popping pills off their blister packs. I
was on the long hall, where practically
every other healthcare worker was
rushing about. I’ve got pills to pop, the
phlebotomist’s got blood to draw and
most of the Nursing assistants are giving morning care, busy getting people
out of bed. In between call light beeps,
the phone, the noisy clatter of breakfast tray trucks, I heard this lovely
voice, a calming soothing melody to
some Celine Dion song. Never mind
the words to the song for I can’t seem
to recall it, what struck me was the act
itself. Micheline Slattery was giving
the most “tender loving care” imaginable. On a floor where everyone is hurried and often, where some caregivers
rarely spoke because of language barriers giving care silently, here is
Micheline singing, soothing and giving
comfort.
A nurse sometimes is only as good
as the assistants she works with. I
found Micheline to be very efficient
and cheerful, a wonderful, positive
influence. Though her bubbly
demeanor, elegant style and fluent
English didn’t make her a quick choice
among her peers, we developed a
friendship. There was something about
her that drew me in. Initially, I attributed it to “Charm”, but now that I
know more about her, I’ve clearly recognized what sets her apart.
“Courage.” It’s in the way she breathes
in, unhurriedly, the way she exhales,
just as calmly. It’s in the way she talks,
never assuming, always respectful. The
way she carries herself, like she’s
walking in the park, like she has an
invisible halo giving her an extra pep
in her step. It’s in the way she looks
into your eyes and listens intently to
what you have to say.
I came to America as a Registered
Nurse, in 1989, not really all by
myself. There were 11 other Filipino
nurses with me. But my parents, siblings and all my relatives stayed
behind. I was 22 years old and the
move across the globe was the biggest
decision I have ever made. It was truly
life changing. My grandmother wrote
about how brave it was of me, how
courageous. She hasn’t met Micheline
yet. Here is part of Micheline’s story,
the beginnings, stuff in the middle and
the happily ever after that she is striving to live.
Micheline, born to a prominent
political family in Jacmel, Haiti, was
orphaned at age five and was sent to
live with her aunt and uncle in a town
nearby. Among rural families in Haiti,
it is common to have relatives work as
a servant. A child slave — thus
Micheline became a restavec, as commonly known there. Micheline was
expected to clean the house, wash and
fold the laundry and walk for miles to
collect water. Failure to complete her
chores meant she was whipped and
beaten by her relatives; this she
endured for nine years. She still bears
a scar on her left cheek from the time
her cousin struck her across the face
with a butcher knife. "I used to think
that I was bad, that this was the life
that God chose for me," she says. At
fourteen, Micheline was trafficked to
Connecticut, still to serve as her
cousin’s slave — performing domestic
chores and taking care of her three
children. Her cousin did permit her to
attend school — but never anywhere
else. At home, she was still a slave;
she never received compensation for
her work and, when Micheline took a
part-time job, her cousin confiscated
her wages. It took several years before
Micheline was finally able to leave and
resettle in Massachusetts.
Micheline began speaking out just
recently. At a Justice for All Event, she
was the featured Anti-Slavery Speaker,
"Micheline Slattery; 21st Century
Slavery: Living Proof". “Slavery still
exists, today, at this very moment, and
in our very own backyard” the writeups begin. Micheline has testified
before the Massachusetts State
Assembly, spoken at the International
Women’s Day reception in
Massachusetts alongside Dr. Swanee
Hunt, former US Ambassador to
Austria, and was featured by New
England Cable
News, the
Boston Metro,
the New York
Times, Marie
Claire and
The Hartford Courant. Isabel Garcia, a
documentary filmmaker from
Brookline, MA commented “Micheline
shatters every preconception one has
of a slavery victim.” And I say, she is a
definition of “Courage,” in any country, in any culture. As a speaker, I read
reviews that Micheline has a remarkable ability to connect with her listeners; people hang on to her every word.
I have yet to hear her speak of her
ordeal.
I’m looking forward to being a part
of her audience. As a healthcare worker, she’s perfected the art of listening. I
salute this courageous and selfless
woman. A book about her life is coming out soon; I’m hoping this article
helps in spreading the word. “It's not
something I will ever feel free and
comfortable talking about, but I do it
because I think it will make a difference,” Micheline says. “I want people
to understand that it’s happening. If
they need to see a face, see mine.”
Pictures do not even do justice. Hers is
a face to remember, the beautiful face
of a survivor, the caring face of a
healthcare worker, the face of a friend
and a face of courage.
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Page 16
Bosma,
continued from page 4
Hank’s father, Gilbert, bought the
golf course in 1944 but with the war
on, no one had gas for their cars, so
no one could play golf. His father
turned the course into a farm to grow
the hay and corn feed for the dairy.
Gilbert died at the age of 50 and Hank,
being the only boy, had to help raise
the family. He ran the farm and took
care of his sisters and mother. But this
did not deter him from being the independent thinking young man he had
always been. He smiles when he refers
to himself as the "black sheep" of the
Dutch community. He knew being
Dutch back then meant adhering to the
rules of the Dutch culture, but those
limits were not to this man's liking.
Most Dutch snuck into the movies in
Worcester on a Sunday so no one
would know they were breaking the
rules. He, bold as brass, went to the
movies in Whitinsville. I can picture
his lanky frame swaggering in making
sure that all noticed him breaking the
rule. And horrors of horrors, he even
peddled milk on Sundays! The elders
came to his house on a few occasions
and tried to show him the error of his
ways and get him to conform to the
Dutch ways. They wanted him to sell
some of his land; he had too much for
Our River,
a young man to run alone. He should
marry a good Dutch woman and the
litany went on and on. They were kind
men who wanted the best for him, but
Hank knew what he wanted and it
wasn't what they were preaching. He
married all right, but it was an independent thinking and speaking business woman named Marlene. She was
English and French and not at like the
typical Dutch woman.
Farming is hard work and it doesn't
pay a king's ransom. You work 12
hours a day just to keep the farm
afloat. You are up at five and peddle
milk all the while you hope to get paid
at the end of the week. Hank kept the
dairy in business till the 1970's but
then sold the business and cows to
Stewart Baker. He reminisced about
the fickle nature of people. He had
sold the business to Baker but continued to deliver Baker's milk in his old
bottles. One day, Hank ran out of
Bosma bottles so he used some Baker
bottles. A week or so later, a woman
complained that the milk just didn't
taste right. She had noticed over the
past two weeks it was not as good, and
that coincided with Hank changing to
Baker's bottles. The same milk mind
you, but just in a different bottle. He
again delivered her the milk in Bosma
bottles and she was happy, the milk
tasted better.
After selling the dairy, he turned
the hayfields back into a golf course.
Hank needed two jobs to support the
family and all that land but at the time,
there were plenty of nine hole golf
courses; but now there is only one, his.
Talk to anyone around these parts and
they remember playing golf in the
summer and tobogganing on those
beautiful Edgewood hills in the winter.
Adults stop in every now and then to
re-introduce themselves to Hank as the
children who came of age on his land.
Each one has a story of how Hank
touched their lives in a particular way
and they are grateful to him for just
being there. One summer, a terrible
thunderstorm broke out and Hank
looked out at the golf course to see this
sad kid standing under a tree. Hank
went out and grabbed the boy and told
him to wait in the shelter of the house,
darn fool standing out there under a
tree in that storm! Well, didn't that boy
grow up and make the trip back to
thank Hank for what he had done that
day.
I know my own son has great memories of being in high school and play-
ing up at the course during summer
vacations. His favorite time was at the
end of the season when Hank would
give some of the boys' golf clubs that
were left hanging around the place.
Those clubs hold wonderful memories
and they are part of the legacy that is
Hank Bosma.
So what does our octagenarian
Renaissance Man do to occupy himself
now? For one thing, he collects the
fees for the golf course; he likes that
because people pay up front not like in
the old days of peddling milk. He
mows the lawns of the golf course and
goes to the dump twice a week.
Sounds pretty tame but if I know Hank
Bosma, he does it his own way and
certainly on his own terms.
For photos of the hoop barn, go to
www.BlackstoneDaily.com/barn.htm
continued from page 7
loose, and was precipitated through the
limbs and landed flat upon my back,
with my tights nearly torn off, and my
legs, arms, and body lacerated and
bleeding.
A short time later he attempted
another lift-off from Norfolk. On this
occasion he merely wound up entangled in some trees, with his balloon
wrecked beyond repair.
Donaldson’s next feat was to build a
balloon he named Magenta. He and
his lighter-than-air lady made several
ascensions, including a memorable
voyage from Chicago in which winds
carried him out over Lake Michigan.
Magenta lost altitude and Donaldson
was dragged more than a mile through
the water, coming to a stop only when
the basket smashed into a stone pier
and he was knocked unconscious.
One wonders whether those intrepid
newspaper reporters from Boston knew
anything of Donaldson’s previous
career when they accepted his offer of
a ride.
In 1873, the year before Donaldson’s
first visit to the Valley, he and two
other hearty souls attempted to cross
the Atlantic in a balloon – yes, the man
who was keelhauled by his own balloon on Lake Michigan believed he
could conquer the world’s second
largest ocean.
A new balloon was specially commissioned for the trip. Monstrous in
size, it was said to weigh over three
tons and could accommodate 700,000
cubic feet of gas. Rather than a traditional basket, or “car,” as it was called,
this balloon had a lifeboat suspended
beneath it. The boat was loaded with
provisions and great quantities of sand
(for ballast). Donaldson and his two
companions, named Ford and Lunt,
planned to use the boat as they would a
basket. And on the off-chance that the
balloon went down in the Atlantic, a
lifeboat would be a nice thing to have.
As it turned out, the balloon never
quite made it to the Atlantic. Leaving
from Brooklyn, New York, it headed
northwest into Connecticut where after
about 100 miles it became painfully
Book Your Holiday Party!
apparent to everyone aboard that
Donaldson was completely incapable
of controlling the monster balloon. It
started to descend, skittering over treetops and fences, dipping perilously
close to the ground. Spying an opportunity to escape, Donaldson shouted to
his companions to jump – possibly one
of the few times in history when people were advised to jump out of a
lifeboat to save themselves.
Donaldson and Ford dropped safely to
the ground, but Lunt either lost his
nerve or tarried a moment too long.
Lunt and the runaway balloon
careened across the landscape of northern Connecticut. A 1000-lb. drag rope
Continued on page 17
Page 17
Our River,
continued from page 16
trailed from the balloon, preventing it
from rising any higher but at the same
time keeping it on a collision course
with trees, barns and houses. Finally,
fright got the better of Lunt. He abandoned ship, leaping into the first tree
he brushed against, in the town of
Canaan. The poor man crashed
through the branches and hit the
ground hard. He died six months later.
Professor Donaldson, meanwhile,
had a new job six months later. That
year, 1874, he made his first balloon
ascension as an employee of P.T.
Barnum.
While biographies of Professor
Donaldson include descriptions of his
many misadventures, they make no
mention of his descent into
Woonsocket in 1874. Nor do they
record his other appearance in our
skies. Luckily for us, the correspondents of the Woonsocket Patriot did
just that.
(Due to an uncharacteristic gap in my
records, it’s unclear at this point
whether the following incident
occurred during the 1874 or 1875 season.)
“Aerial Visitor,” the headline
announced. “Barnum’s balloon, from
the Hippodrome in Boston, which left
that city at 5 P.M. sailed over this
[Woonsocket] and neighboring towns
on Tuesday evening, between 7 and 8
o’clock. It was distinctly seen here,
and at Chestnut Hill, Blackstone, its
altitude was so low as to permit conversation between the voyagers and
people on terra firma,” reported Patriot
editor S.S. Foss.
It was far and away the most exciting thing to happen in Millville all
year. “The staid farmers of this rural
district were thrown into quite a sensation Tuesday evening, about 7 o’clock,
by the aerial passage of the veritable
‘P.T. Barnum’ over this section from
Boston,” wrote the Patriot’s Chestnut
Hill correspondent. “The balloon,
when first observed, was approaching
from a northeasterly direction, and so
low that it apparently purposed to take
a look at the ‘old meeting house.’
“Passing over the farm of Mr. Estes
Burdon, its living freight within the
basket called out to Mr. Wm. O.
Burdon and Caleb Thayer, ‘What town
is this?’ and who seemed to hear the
response of ‘Blackstone.’ At this point
the drag rope, the general contour and
the creaking of the aerial machine were
distinctly seen and heard.
“Men, women and children filled the
roads, leaped fences, scrambled over
rugged walls, and run the fields in their
eagerness to be first at its pretended
place of descent; and everyone
believed that dead old Millville was for
a while to be resuscitated. But in this
anticipation they were doomed to disappointment: for discharging a shower
of sand, it shot up like a thing of life,
following the precise route of the proposed new road from this place to
Millville …
“On and on, we watched it until the
shades of night concealed it from our
view, and we fancied that it was over
the territory of wooden nutmegs and
sawdust clocks, on some message to
Bridgeport, the home of the great
showman. [Note: P.T. Barnum was the
most famous resident of Bridgeport,
Connecticut – in fact, in 1875 he was
elected mayor of the city.]
“We returned home to seek repose,
only to dream of a perilous voyage,
hair-breadth escape, broken bones, torn
flesh, and nervously awaited the dawn
of morning to scan the daily paper,
hoping that the ready pen of the
reporter might be enthusiastic in his
description of a life in the air.”
Off into the evening sailed the
vagabond balloon, following the setting sun west. It tacked not towards
Bridgeport but Burrillville, where it
announced its presence in fine
Donaldson style.
“At about 8 o’clock the balloon
made its appearance at Glendale,
Burrillville,” the Patriot’s editor noted,
“where its drag-ropes struck the mill of
Francis Carpenter, tearing shingles
from the roof. Mr. Carpenter, his
brother and the clerk were in the
counting room, and attracted by the
noise of the villagers, came out just as
the balloonists seemed to be in the act
of alighting, a short distance west of
the village.
“To a shout of ‘Halloo, Donaldson,’
a voice from the car cried ‘catch the
ropes.’ This was done by several men,
but they were drawn and thrown about
like corks, and were glad to let go of
the ropes after blistering their hands,
and while in danger of being dashed to
pieces against stone walls and trees.
“At this juncture sand ballast was
thrown out by the voyagers, and the
balloon arose rapidly and sailed off to
the south, in the direction of Glocester,
where it landed three minutes after
nine o’clock, on the farm of Mrs.
Nathan Page. After packing up the
balloon, the party were conveyed to
Chepachet by Mr. S. Steere, where
they arrived about midnight.
“The place where the balloon came
down was in an orchard, and there was
some ‘grand and lofty tumbling’
among the trees. The party consisted
of Professor Donaldson and six
reporters of the Boston press, all of
whom escaped harm,” Foss concluded.
“On Wednesday morning they went to
Providence, and thence to Boston.
The distance travelled by the balloon
was about fifty miles. Half of this distance was made in the first hour.”
Professor Donaldson made many
ascensions during his time with
Barnum’s Hippodrome, some successful, some pure Donaldson. In his first
year he completed trips from New
York City up into the Hudson Valley
and once even roamed as far as
Vermont. In October, 1874, he escorted a bride and groom to a dizzying
height above Cincinnati, where the
couple exchanged vows. In June,
1875, he took off from Buffalo and
crossed Lake Erie, landing safely on
the Canadian shore.
Of course, that same month he tried
an ascent from Toronto in the company
of three reporters. The party was carried out over Lake Ontario and
dragged through the water for several
miles, finally being rescued by a passing schooner.
To the best of my knowledge, the
Professor and his balloon were never
again seen gallivanting through the
skies of the Blackstone Valley. The
last anyone saw of him was in July,
1875, when the Hippodrome was playing the lakefront at Chicago. After
one of Barnum’s managers complained
because Donaldson had cut his trip
short one day, the Professor replied,
“Wait till tomorrow, and I'll go far
enough for you."
The flight lifted off as promised at 5
pm the next day, in winds of 10-15
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miles per hour. Knowing the conditions might be more strenuous than
usual, the Professor permitted only one
passenger on the trip, a Mr. Newton S.
Grimwood of the Chicago Evening
Journal.
The balloon steadily rose to a height
of about one mile and started up Lake
Michigan, soon shrinking from sight.
About two hours later, the crew of
small boat spotted it about about thirty
miles off shore. The balloon was running parallel to the surface of the lake,
dragging the car through the water.
They tried to reach it, but the balloon
shot skyward, as if it were suddenly
free of some weight. Darkness closed
in, and with it came a violent storm.
Mr. Grimwood’s body washed ashore
one month later. No trace of Professor
Donaldson, or his balloon, was ever
found.
NEXT: BLOOD ON THE BLACKSTONE, PART 3 (really!)
© 2006 by Joe Doherty
PO Box 31
South Salem, NY 10590-0031
[email protected]
Page 18
Where Do Zoo Animals Go In The Winter?
by Betsey Brewer, Executive Director
Earth/Southwick's Zoo
If you were to ask that question to
most New Englanders, the answer
would probably be, "some sleep, some
go south and others hibernate.”
Hibernation might sure sound
“sweet” to most of us! Just contemplating the possibility of ignoring the
hassles and stresses of everyday life
and sleeping for
six months sounds
great, but for most
of the animals at
Mendon’s
Southwick Zoo,
winter time means
something very
different.
After the
Columbus Day
weekend, the number of zoo visitors
declines. As much as we would like to
stay open for the winter, the lack of
visitors and harsh winter conditions
makes it impossible for us to keep
operating. At Southwick's, during the
fall, we start our own period of dormancy. Human and non-human animals alike get ready for the long, cold
winter. The zookeepers break out
warm rain gear, hiking boots and soon
after, snow apparel. The chimps are
given blankets and the pellet stove in
their house is cleaned and put back in
operation. I think
this year, we may
have to get them a
new television as
well!
Other animals
adapt in other ways.
The lions, tiger and
leopard suddenly
seem to be more
alive and they even
appear larger
because their fur
coats become thicker and heavier for
the winter. The hoof stock, of course,
weathers the cold temperatures just
fine. It only makes sense that a Tibetan
Woonsocket,
yak would be more comfortable when
the air gets really cold.
The rhinos have a heated floor and
a heated building, but they spend most
of their time outside when the weather
is cooperating. They push through their
plastic flaps and get the choice to stay
inside or out. I have to say that it is
pretty amusing to see a four thousand
pound animal "ice skate" - just imagine!
While most of the animals have the
choice to stay outside on occasion,
other species need to spend the winter
inside. I have had people ask, "Why
don't you send them south?”
Wait a minute, "why don't you send
me south?” Well, the answer to the
first question is that the Southwick
Zoo is home for our animals. Also,
transporting animals is expensive and
stressful. We pride ourselves on having
very healthy animals with stress free
habitats. The amount of time that the
smaller mammal species, birds and
reptiles stay inside is pretty minimal,
since we began building winterized
habitats many years ago. They are
also fortunate to have the same keepers
and familiar surroundings each year.
Well now, the answer to the second
question "Why doesn't anyone send me
south in the winter" is because we still
keep working, bringing the zoomobile
program to schools all winter long.
Additionally, the staff at the Earth Ecoeducation center stays busy taking
care of the animals along with giving
interns opportunities to earn college
credits. The entertainment and education doesn't stop because the zoo is
closed. It just changes, along with the
seasons.
See you in the Spring!
continued from page 3
The brochure states, “Gaffney-Wolfon’s detailed
visual work stems from a spiritual process which can
even include spirits long since passed on appearing
in her work without her intentionally having put
them there." This is clearly evident, not only from
observing the Celestial Passion Series of work but
also in her various landscapes that are part of the
exhibit. They invoke a sense of spirit as well as a
sense of place. (Sunday tours, 1-5 p.m, $5.)
Fine Dining in Historic Setting
You may wish to follow your taste of art with
some creative dining at Northern Rhode Island's
newest restaurant, The Vintage, located right in historic Market Square. The ambience alone will inspire
in this historic mill setting, but the food is also an
wonderful blend of flavors. At a recent lunch along
with a group from Conway Tours, diverse appetites
were pleasantly satisfied and the comments were all
positive. I recommend the tasty grilled chicken and
mushroom sandwich. The Vintage also serves up
wonderful plates of Hors d'oeuvres for special events
and offers a quiet bar for an evening rendezvous with
friends.
Museum Offers up a Taste of French Canadian
Culture
After lunch, you should still have time to meander through the Museum of Work and Culture next
door to learn about the French-Canadian culture in
Woonsocket. For decades, Woonsocket had the highest French-speaking population in the nation. Their
culture was kept intact by
their French schools and
their strong heritage - a
blessing for us all as we
visit the museum. The
Industrial Revolution drew
thousands of FrenchCanadian immigrant families to work in the textile
mills along the River
Valley.
Housed in a former textile mill, the Museum offers
several interactive audio
displays, two movies, six
walk through exhibits tak-
ing you
from a
Quebec
farmhouse
to a journey
through
the work
day world
of
Woonsocket's residents from the early 20th century
to the present. Experience a three-family tenement,
a local church, and sit in an old school room to learn
about labor history in the union hall. Don't forget the
gift shop for some unique and fascinating books and
gifts. The textile industry still endures in Woonsocket
with woolen blankets on sale that are woven locally
by Northwestern Woolens.
If you still have a bit of energy, why not take in a
show at the Stadium Theatre Performing Arts Centre,
a beautifully restored 1926 movie house. The month
of December includes a local production of the
Charles Dickens classic "A Christmas Carol."
For information about Woonsocket and things to
do, visit Erik Eckilson's great site,Woonsocket, My
Hometown at www.woonsocket.org.
What does Woonsocket mean? It means "Thunder
in the Mist" for the thunderous falls on the
Blackstone River, now contained by flood controls.
Be sure to take a peak when you visit this appealing,
quaint area but be careful not to get sprayed by the
mist!
Page 19
Nast: Illustrator Extraordinaire
by Gail Myers
Although Thomas Nast is part of
the curriculum in public schools, his
legacy goes deeper than his limited
name recognition. His influence is
particularly prevalent in our lives
this time of year
between voting day
and Christmas.
Thomas Nast created the familiar
icons for both the
Republican and
Democratic parties,
the Republican elephant and
Democratic donkey. In 1874, he
drew a cartoon for
Harper’s Weekly
depicting a
Republican elephant being intimidated by a Democratic donkey when
he was concerned that Grant was vying
for a third term of presidency. These
symbols stuck and are well known
today.
The Bavarian-born illustrator
almost singlehandedly created our
image of Santa Claus, too. From 1862
through 1886, based on Clement
Moore’s poem, ‘Twas The Night
Before Christmas,’ Nast drew more
than 2,200 cartoon images of Santa for
Harper’s Weekly. Although illiterate
when he arrived in the U.S. as a teen,
Nast had become
intrigued with the
poem when his wife
read it to him.
Before Nast’s drawings, Santa had
been thin and stern
or even almost a
gnome-like figure
in strange clothes.
Nast’s drawings
stuck and he also
created Santa a
cozy home at the
North Pole, drew
his workshop filled
with elves, and
illustrated his list of
the good and bad
children of the world.
Nast left his mark in many other
issues in the mid to late 1800s as he
aggressively targeted Boss Tweed’s
corruption in New York City. "Let's
stop them damned pictures," the Boss
supposedly said, "I don't care so much
what the papers write about—my con-
stituents can't read—but damn it, they
can see pictures." (1)
Nast dealt with many other raw and
sensitive issues, from the Civil War to
the slaughter of all the buffalos with
very vivid and poignant drawings and
inscriptions that could relate well to
contemporary issues. His legacy has
spawned many awards, notable collections and ongoing, still popular
exhibits.
The photo depicting Christmas during the Civil War is still timely today
as our soldiers face loneliness and
threats in Iraq and Afghanistan far
away from home. Over 150 years later,
probably no other cartoonist has influenced public opinion so broadly on
social and political issues that Nast had
on abolition, Indian rights, political
corruption and much more. (1)
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/dec04
.html
To view a Field of Flags, N. Grafton’s Episcopal Church, St. Andrew’s
memorial to each of the 3089 individual soldiers lost in the Iraq or
Afghanistan conflict, go to: www.BlackstoneDaily.com/fieldofflags.htm
P A U L ’ S C E N T E R B A K E R Y , 75 Elm Street, (508) 8650055. To get you started, join us for breakfast from 5 AM to1
PM or come rest your weary feet. Fried dough & hot beverages
will be served from 11AM - 4 PM.
M I L L B U R Y P U B L I C L I B R A R Y, 128 Elm Street, (508)
865-1181. Celebrate 10 AM- 4 PM with stories at 10:30 AM,
1 & 3 PM. At 11:30 AM, David Polansky will perform Holiday
Music. Holiday crafts for children. Refreshments.
PEARSON'S CHRISTMAS TREE FARM &
E L M H U R ST D A I R Y, 4 Fjellman Road, (508) 865-2158.
Bring the kids to enjoy activities at the farm. Select a tree from
hundreds, tour the dairy, visit the maple syrup house. Bring
your camera for a picture with a cow or sitting on a tractor.
SANTA will arrive by oxen
around 2:30 P.M.
E L M D R A U G H T H O U S E C I N E M A, 35 Elm Street, (508)
865-2850. Enjoy our complimentary "Famous" popcorn and
view a continuous Special Holiday Feature in Millbury's historic
movie house. Serving beer, wine, soda, pizza, and more. The
features will run continually until the scheduled start of the
Patriots Game.
M I L L B U R Y S E N I O R C E N T E R, 1 River Street, (508)
865-9154. Embellished with holiday attire provided by
Isabelle's Dream, a Victorian Tea with special sandwiches and
homemade pastries will be on sale. Irish Step Dancers at 1:00
pm, Craft Vendors, Hand Knitted Items, Women Club's decorated Wreaths and more. Decorate a gingerbread man cookie in the
old RR car, enjoy free face painting by Millbury
Health Center.
E A R T H S O N G S, 55 West Main Street, (508) 865-4757.
"OLD Time Christmas" in a home built in 1848. Enjoy sweet
treats, dips, spreads and mulled cider served in the original
"ENCHANTED" barn. FREE picture taken with "GINGERBREAD
MAN" and get a "KISS" too. We feature unique hand crafted
gifts, snowmen, ornaments and much more. Register for surprise drawing.
A S A W A T E R S C H R I S T M A S F E S T I V A L, 127 Elm Street,
(508) 865-5248. An old fashion Celebration, including a visit
from Santa and Mrs. Claus.
11:00 The Patty Morris Dance Unlimited
Performers
12:00 R.E. Shaw Elementary School Chorus
12:30 The Painted Bird with David Bourdeau
1:30 R.E. Shaw Elementary School Wind Ensemble
2:30 The Greendale Retired Men's Chorus
4::30 Christmas Tree Lighting & Elmwood St. Chorus
5:00 Grand Raffle Drawing
.
M I L L B U R Y T O W N E F L O R I S T, 4 South Main Street,
(508) 865-5831. One stop shopping is here at Millbury Town
Florist. Decked for the Holidays, our shop is bursting with gift items and country collectibles. Our talented design staff can create a unique holiday
arrangement just for you. Register for door prizes and complimentary gift.
B O S S E N E L E ' S P I Z Z A, 198 Millbury Ave., (508) 5818885. Stop by, bring the kids! Open at 11 AM. Sample a pasta
buffet and enter our Italian Pasta Gift Basket raffle. Kids activities, too. We offer a full menu, take out or dine in. Delivery
available.
M I L L B U R Y B A P T I S T C H U R C H, On the
Common, Millbury, MA (508) 865-6321. Sign a huge Christmas
Card for our troops. Pick-up cookies at our cookie swap or grab
a bite for lunch. All proceeds benefit Heifer Project - providing
animals and training to help the World's rural needy become
self-sufficient. We will be open 12 noon to 4 pm.
M I L L B U R Y F E D E R A T E D C H U R C H , 20 Main Street,
Millbury, MA (508) 865-6274. View the live nativity at the
White Church on the Common or stay for lunch or an early supper and warm up in the vestry. Performances are at 1:30, 2:30
& 3:30 for the Live Nativity (including animals) 12 - 5.
Homemade Soups, Chili and Sandwiches.
M I L L B U R Y F E D E R A L C R E D I T U N I O N, 50 Main Street,
(508) 865-7600. Begin your Tour here and enjoy light refreshments and take a chance on a raffle, while your children participate in seasonal craft activities.
MILLBURY FIRE HEADQUARTERS
( L A D I E S A U X I L L A R Y)
207 W. Main St. Join the Millbury Fire Department Ladies
Auxiliary and Mrs. Claus for an All American Christmas with hot
dogs, popcorn, desserts and refreshments. Raffles and free balloons for the kids.
Even with all the sorrow that hangs,
and will forever hang, over so many
households; even while war still
rages; even while there are serious
questions yet to be settled - ought it
not be, and is it not, a merry
Christmas?"
~ Harper's Weekly,
December 26, 1863
If you’d like to help Uxbridge Support the Troops send care packages to our
soldiers, call either Diane at 508-278-5131 or Linda at 508-278-9425 OR visit
us on the web at www.uxbridgesupportsourtroops.com
I S A B E L L E ' S D R E A M, 330 West Main Street, (508) 8653777. A Victorian and Country gift shop, with a wide array of
gifts, home decorating and unique personal items, and filled
with wonderful Christmas treasures.
F I R S T C O N G R E G A T I O N A L C H U R C H, 148 West Main
Street, (508) 865-9737. Snow Flake Fair - Homemade goodies,
Baked Beans, Free Kids crafts, Books, Holiday Crafts, Jewelry,
Gift Baskets, White Elephant Table, Free Face Painting and a
Special Raffle **A giant 5 foot Christmas Stocking filled with
toys**
“Ought it not be a
Merry Christmas?”
T H E C A N D Y S H O P P E , 19 Main Street, (508) 865-0085
Santa Claus will be here 1 PM to 5 PM, bring your camera.
Raffle: 1st prize a 20 lb. solid Santa 2nd prize a $25 gift certificate. Raffle proceeds to benefit the Cam Neeley Foundation.
M I L L B U R Y Y O U T H C A M P , 23 Herricks Lane,
(508) 865-5061. Visit the Gingerbread House. Pony
rides, kids games, craft fair & baked goods. Come for
lunch with BBQ pork rolls, homemade ginger breads &
more. Do your holiday shopping, too!
ROBERT & CO. ANTIQUES/GINA'S ANTIQUES
A U C T I O N S & A P P R A I S E R S, 379 Greenwood
St.,(508) 755-1377. In the wonderful old setting of the
1830 Elias Hull House, make the holidays exciting with
unique and affordable accessories from years past. These
precious and perfect antiques and collectibles are the sure
cure for the cookie-cutter Christmas and seasonal gifts.
RADIUS HEALTH CENTER OF
MILLBURY
29 Main St., (508) 865-6106. An afternoon of fun filled
with pictures with Santa, face painting and entertainment.
Light refreshments will be served.
C O U N T R Y C A N D L E , 22 West St.,Open 10-5. (508) 8656061. New England’s most complete candle factory outlet with M I L L B U R Y H I S T O R I C A L S O C I E T Y , I n c . , The
a wonderful assortment of new and unusual candles. There will "Grass Hill" school on West Main St. in West Millbury will
be Special Candle Dipping for children.
be open from 12 to 4 PM. Millbury elementary school
students will present a historic Christmas recreation, with
V I N T A G E V I C T O R I A N T R E A U R E S, 40 Providence St., performances at 1:30 and 3:00 pm.
(508) 865-2113. Warm your heart and spirit with memories of
Christmas pasts, refreshments, raffles & ornaments for the chil- M I L L B U R Y W O M E N ' S C L U B - 1ST Annual Holiday
dren.
Door Decorating Contest. Come visit us at the Millbury
Senior Center and cast your vote for your favorite Holiday
T H E F L O R A L B O U T I Q U E , 242 Millbury Ave. Celebrate
Decorated Door. To help you with your decorating, we
the magic of Christmas while browsing our festive displays of
will be selling beautifully handcrafted holiday artificial
unique arrangements and collectable giftware. Complimentary wreaths. Tickets for our Lottery Ticket Raffle will be availhors d'oeuvres. Holiday door prizes.
able.
M I C H A E L G R A V E S S T U D I O, 10 Hayward Lane, (508)
865-3183. Mike is a local Pleinaire artist, which means he
paints outdoors in all kinds of weather and all over the United
States. From Wyoming , the coast of Maine and Central Mass,
his art is spectacular. His studio and home will be open to
display his oil paintings from 1:00-4 pm.
Experience the spirit and wonder of the holiday season in Millbury on Sunday, December 3rd
from 10-4. Enjoy free trolley rides, play raffles, holiday shop and even win cash by visiting
sites. Happy Holidays to all!
Page 20
During this holiday season, let Charlton Furniture help simplify your life. As our gift to you,
TAKE AN ADDITIONAL 10% OFF our discounted floor prices.*
A huge selection of in-stock furniture, painted accent pieces, unique accessories including pictures,
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The truth is you don’t have to fight the hustle and bustle of the city to find style, quality and
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Gift Certificates Available
508-248-5566 • Route 31, Dresser Hill Rd., Charlton (Off Rt. 20W, 3 Miles South)
Hours: Mon & Fri 10-8 • Tues, Wed, Thu 10-6 • Sat 10-5 • Sun 12-5
www.charltonfurniture.com
*Previously marked down merchandise excluded. Ask about our financing plans.