Milling Millbury

Ice time

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Thu, 12 May 2016 09:47:00 +0000

There is no youth ice hockey in Millbury, as is the case in most small towns, but luckily nearby Worcester has always been a big "hockey town" and the area offers several good hockey organizations, including my favorite (see below). In mid-May 2016, the future of youth ice hockey - and I mean hockey for kids from all financial backgrounds - in the area could take a big step forward.

I have loved ice hockey since I starting playing at age 4. If you don't play, I'll let you in on a little secret - there is something very unique about hockey people and the greater hockey community in general that I haven't seen in any other sport. It's hard to explain, but just ask someone you know who is already a part of the "hockey family" - it is a very special place. And it kills me to see kids who'd love to play, but can't afford to. That's where the Worcester Junior Sharks come in.

Worcester Junior Sharks. Hockey has always been expensive - both for players to play and for organizations to offer. It is a big commitment in terms of money and time dedicated to it. As the only non-profit youth ice hockey organization in the area, Worcester Junior Sharks have figured out a way to make great-caliber ice hockey available to nearly everyone, which is why I am such a big supporter of them.

More (or less) of a good thing. What I love most about the Jr. Sharks is that, like my favorite tech gear manufacturers, they don't give you a worse product for less of your time/money, they just offer a lesser amount of the same good thing. If you are interested in maximizing the amount of time on the ice per week and don't mind travelling to seek out the strongest competitors in the area, they have leagues for that ("AAA Elite" & "Travel"). If you love hockey and want dedicated, experienced coaches along with great local competition but can't make the time or money commitments of most leagues, they have a league for that too ("House league").

Update May 19, 2016. Planning board unanimously approved the rinks!

May 18, 2016. Hockey's biggest hurdle has always been the limited amount of ice time available (at reasonable times of day), especially for young players. The two new rinks proposed for Worcester's Canal District would go a long way to solving this, especially for the Jr. Sharks & Jr. Crusaders.

Please consider attending the Worcester planning board meeting on May 18th, 2016 (5:30pm) to push this great project forward!

Attention grabber

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Thu, 18 Jun 2015 02:40:00 +0000

Jonathan Lahue of the Audette's Auto Body Little League team makes a leaping catch in one of the last few regular season games of 2015

Unlike when I was a kid, there are now many (often much more expensive) baseball leagues to choose from. As a relative outsider, it seems that regular old Little League baseball is falling out of favor, so I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and level of (volunteer!) coaches in Millbury Little League this season.

It was another great example of when our community has a mind to, it can really shine. I genuinely hope that former players and upcoming coaches will continue to support their community with the same level of passion, respect, and honor of those molding our children this year!

Ed. note: Whenever I photograph one of my kids' teams, I like to follow the game and shoot everything, not just my own boy. It's much more interesting photographically and I usually come away with many more quality shots. This game was no exception, so it came as a pleasant and rare surprise that my favorite shot of the game happened to also be of a play made by him.

Dueling Goliath

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Sun, 05 Jan 2014 08:50:00 +0000

Knights (well, their suits of armor anyway) square off in a duel inside the Higgins Armory in the final days before it closed for good on December 31, 2013.

In what turned out to be a most epic battle of the 2013th year of this age, two monumental icons of the region squared off in a duel, not with each other, but with much mightier foes. It is with great sadness that we must bid farewell to the towering Armory of Sir Higgins of Worcestershire and the hearty Central Diner of Sir White of Millburyville.

May the (remaining) unique cultural, flavorful nuggets of our community fare better in 2014 - we just got 2 steps closer to vanilla.

Looking back at 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Sun, 15 Dec 2013 17:55:00 +0000


Modern education in Millbury	A&D port in a storm	Two-wheeling around town	A little faith

Meet: Matt Brodeur	All stars	Local real estate photography (w/ Joan Pearsall)	Into the Shark tank

Low frequency, high amplitude
— Brian Lam (@blam) October 25, 2013

Following in the footsteps of Brian Lam (of Gizmodo and, my new personal favorite gadgety site, TheWirecutter fame), "Low frequency, high amplitude" is my mantra around here. I don't need or want to post a bunch of junk every single day. I try to put quality before quantity, page views, and all that other stuff that mucks up the interwebs to make an advertising buck these days. (Here's a great interview with Brian on this mentality, btw).

Looking back at 2013 I managed just 8 posts, and I'd love to get your feedback on which photos you enjoyed the most.

'Lil help? Please take a moment to click on your favorite(s) above & use the social media buttons on the following page(s) as a way of casting your vote. Google +1's are the easiest for me to track, Twitter makes for an easy back-and-forth, but whatever floats your boat... I will use this info in my hunt for new & interesting things to stick in front of my camera in Millbury in 2014.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year. And most importantly, thanks!

Into the Shark tank

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 13:42:00 +0000

Two mites teams in the Worcester Junior Sharks youth ice hockey organization, made up of kids from several local towns (including Millbury), got a special surprise after their November 24th opportunity to play during intermission of the AHL Worcester Sharks game at the DCU Center. Worcester Sharks captain Rob Davison popped in to the kids' locker room after the game, talked hockey with them, and proceeded to take them on what will surely be a lifelong-memory-of-a-tour through the Worcester Sharks' locker room, dressing room, training room, and weight room, answering questions and stopping for the kids to get players' autographs all along the way.

Needless to say, it was an awesome experience for them. This is a guy, a team of players, and an organization who all truly "get it": Support your community and your community will support you. Things like this in our community should not go unnoticed. Bravo Sharks!

Local real estate photography

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 20:16:00 +0000

Note: Pardon the interruption from the normal format (1 big photo & a short-ish caption), but this long-form post was the best way I could think of to shed some light on what should be an important topic. Back to your regularly scheduled program next time!

The big picture. The point of this post is to highlight the importance of having quality photographs for a real estate listing when the time comes to move (hopefully you stay in town!) and to try to knock down some of the barriers to getting good photos in and around Millbury.

The most important stuff by far is the information, but being a photo-centric blog, interspersed within the text are photos I took of my sister-in-law's summer rental house on Cape Cod so she could shift from relying on a real estate agency (and their mediocre photos) to listing and renting it herself. Did the photographs help? Well that's hard to say but, she went from partially-rented for the summer of 2012 (with an agent) to fully-rented in 2013 (independently) which made her happy, for whatever that is worth.

The math makes no sense. In a typical real estate transaction, the seller pays their agent and the buyer's agent 2.5% of the selling price. Each! For a $250,000 home, that totals $12,500! That's a lot of money. People go to great lengths to sell their home, between real estate agents, re-modeling, re-painting, repairing, etc. All that money spent, and often times you see blurry, poorly-lit, crooked, hastily-shot photos posted for potential buyers to make their all-important 1st impression on when, for a fraction of what a real estate agency gets paid, nice photographs could present an entirely different story. That makes zero sense to me!

Rather than blabber on with my uneducated opinions, below is some real information from a local person with actual experience.

Millbury real estate photographer Joan Pearsall. A quick Google search along with talking to a few town residents pointed me to Millbury's Joan Pearsall, a professional real estate photographer at Best View Imaging. I reached out to Joan and she was kind enough to answer a few questions for me. Our (paraphrased) phone conversation went something like this:

(Me) Thanks for making some time to answer my questions. Do you still live in Millbury?

(Joan) For the next 2 days, I do. I'm moving to Newton. My business operates mostly out of my home but my office is currently in Worcester.

(Me) Will you still cover the Worcester / Millbury area after you move?

(Joan) Yes. I'm expanding my business, both in coverage area and I've just hired an additional photographer to be able to keep up.

(Me) How long have you been shooting photographs for real estate listings?

(Joan) Well, I've been a photographer for ~30 years, but I started in real estate in 2008.

(Me) Who is your typical client?

(Joan) My clients are almost exclusively real estate agents, with a handful of homeowners and/or for-sale-by-owners per year mixed in.

(Me) Are big, expensive, fancy houses needed to benefit from quality images?

(Joan) Larger, higher-end homes are certainly easier to photograph, but I find (and research has shown) that having high quality photographs is actually more beneficial to properties at lower price points. They tend to sell more quickly and closer to asking price than those with mediocre photos. Having nice photos is something less and less listings at lower price points have, so the ones that do really stand out.

(Me) We've all seen non-flattering photos in some real estate listings. In your experience, why are sellers/agents not opting for professional photography services in these cases? (Perceived costs? Tight timelines? Simple ignorance?)

(Joan) It's not often a concern over the timeframe for turning photos around. In most cases, the real estate agent simply believes their photos are good enough, but the starting point for most potential home buyers is on the internet, where the photos are what draw people in to take a closer look. They look at the added cost of paying for photographs and they don't feel like it is worth it - their photos are good enough. What the general public doesn't realize is that despite the relatively large dollar amount that goes to the seller's agent in a real estate transaction (5-6% of the selling price), after they subtract all of their costs including the buyer's agent's portion, their own cut is much smaller. Every dollar they have to subtract, like marketing dollars used to pay for photography, matters. Typically, it is the agent with not bad, but mediocre photos who comes asking for my services. They know photos are important and are at least trying to make quality images, they just don't have the expertise and equipment to pull it off and they realize this. But at least they are trying!

(Me) What's the biggest hurdle to a DIY homeowner photographing their own home (my guess: lighting equipment & know-how)?

(Joan) Knowledge, equipment, expertise… They just don't have the wide-angle lenses and off-camera flash equipment or an understanding of how to use it.

(Me) Since you've been a photographer for 30 years, I don't have to tell you that creativity plays a big role in how photographs turn out. Does shooting houses for real estate listings still give you the opportunity to be creative in your work?

(Joan) That depends on the real estate agent and the seller. The typical seller simply wants to convey how big and how nice their property is. But I recently had a client who came to me because the seller was not happy with the photographs that their agent provided, via another photographer. The homeowner went out and found a listing with photographs they liked and asked their agent to find out who took those pictures: it was me. The seller turned out to own a lot of nice artwork and in that case, I was able to deliver more creative, artistic images which the seller liked very much. I usually try to slip 1 or 2 more creative photos into the edit I deliver, just to see if they make it onto the listing website - sometimes they do!

(Me) I'd ask how expensive your services are, but seeing your 2013 pricing, I can't believe they start at $125 for an entire house. Knowing some of the work involved, I might expect that price was per room! Are those prices correct?

(Joan) When I started my business (real estate photography in 2008), the real estate market had taken a downturn and using professional photography services for real estate listings was a relatively new concept in Worcester County. I had to price my services at a point which clients would actually go for them. Now that things have started to turn around in the market, my phone is ringing off the hook. I had to develop a style and a workflow that allowed me to shoot the photos and turn them around quickly - high volume, quick turnaround was the key.

(Me) How long do clients typically have to wait for your photos?

(Joan) One day is routine. I shoot one day, deliver the finished photos the next day, and they are listed on the MLS the day after that.

(Me) Can you actually shoot more than one house in a day?

(Joan) I've gotten to the point where I can comfortably do 2-3 in a day, 4 if necessary, and deliver the finished images the next day. Depending on the size of the home, it usually takes me 1 to 1.5 hours per home. Since the MA MLS allows no more than 30 photographs, most agents just ask for the best 30. In that case, I usually edit it down to about 50 photos, deliver 40 or so and mark the best 30 from my perspective.

(Me) Thank you very much for taking the time to talk to me. I hope and think this will really benefit people looking to sell their homes in Millbury.

(Joan) You're quite welcome.

If you're interested in seeing Joan's work or contacting her for more information, check out her website at Best View Imaging.

DIY. So, can real estate photography be a Do-It-Yourself type of thing? In my opinion, certainly. But you need a basic understanding of photography, lighting, a creative imagination, and some gear beyond the basic "nice camera" to get started. If that's not your thing or your timeframe is too short to learn this stuff, I'd hire it out. But if you are interested in learning, here is a great primer on DIY real estate photography to get you started.

Why am I writing this? Simple. I enjoy using photography to make my town a better place to live, for me and everyone else. Increasing awareness of the "why" and "how" of real estate photography in Millbury is a no-brainer and a win-win for everyone: People selling their Millbury homes will (hopefully) get more interest and ultimately higher prices for their properties, which drives up other home values in town, which drives tax revenue, etc. A local business like Joan Pearsall's gets some well-deserved attention and (hopefully) a little more business, which will feed back into the local economy as well. And folks in Millbury may learn a thing or two to help them out which, if you're anything like me, is always a good thing.

Many positive feedback loops, all because of photography. Boom! How awesome is that?!?!

All stars

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Tue, 16 Jul 2013 01:47:00 +0000

Members of the 2013 Millbury Little League 8-year-old All-Star team, who finished the year-end tournament with a 2-2 record after losing to Grafton in a walk-off nail-biter on July 13, 2013.

Along with most other towns, Millbury as a sports community has seemingly gone through the stages of:

"Only-the-winners-get-a-trophy" (from which most are necessarily excluded)

To "everyone-gets-a-trophy" (which is a meaningless waste of money)

To "nobody-gets-a-trophy" (which is as equally unfair as the winners-only trophy mentality).

But in reality, kids emulate the sports stars and teams they see on TV. Adults may say "we're not keeping score" but guess who is? Yup, they know the score of their own games and they know who "won" and who "lost." Adults are not fooling the kids, we're just fooling ourselves.

Regardless of which side of things you find yourself (or your child) on in a given situation, I hope we're all learning that it is important for kids in our community to be acknowledged in a meaningful way for their successes, just as it is critical to emphasize good behavior and not just punish them for the bad!

But what about the majority of the times, when your youngster is not included that time around? As I can attest, he will be sad, but he will also get over it and be pushed to find what he enjoys and excels at, which is really what we want in the first place. Just as she was sad when the Bruins lost in the Stanley Cup finals or when he was punished for doing something wrong, he/she got over it and is probably better for it.

I really encourage this short-term-loss, long-term-gain type of thinking and I hope we as a community will continue to do more of it.

So when it is their turn to be in the spotlight for their achievements - will they be excited about it? What do you think!?!?

Meet: Matt Brodeur

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 05:00:00 +0000

Meet Matt Brodeur, a life-long Millbury resident who describes himself as "a stay-at-home Dad who's into tech and guitar." Matt is my favorite type of Millbury-ite: one who has figured out how to take his own creative juices and put them to use to make his community a more enjoyable place for others to live.

As a recent example, Matt melded his love of music, a little creative ingenuity, his active role as a Millbury Cub Scout den leader, and a touch of internet inspiration to teach members of Pack 109 how to create their own (remarkably good-sounding) banjo/ukulele hybrid out of pie tins and hardware store tidbits. How awesome is that?!?! (More details on Matt's "banjolele" build here.)

I'm an avid supporter of folks like Matt who put their creative interests & talents out there for others in the community to enjoy. If you are too, you can catch him frequently playing at Ed DeLuca's Open Mic Night at the PACC in Webster, MA or keep up with him on the web for other local gigs (links below).

I don't know about you, but I'd be much more likely to hang out for an evening at one of Millbury's fine local establishments if it came with fine local entertainment! Hint, wink, nudge.

Matt Brodeur on the web:
MattBrodeur.com
MattBrodeurTrio.com
Facebook
Twitter
Video: Matt's acoustic Beatles demo

A little faith

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Mon, 13 May 2013 13:28:00 +0000

Reverend Paul LaPalme, pastor of St. Brigid's Catholic Parish on Main Street, serves second graders their First Communion.

Whether you are a religious person or simply interested in the town's history, here is a nice piece by Josh Farnsworth recently published in the Millbury-Sutton Chronicle on the history and current state of religion in Millbury.

Two-wheeling around town

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 08:00:00 +0000

Chad Lemieux races in a "sprint" triathlon in nearby Webster, MA.

Whether you are an avid cyclist, just looking for a quiet place to ride, or anything in between, Millbury has a lot to offer in the bike-riding department. At first glance, the current state of Millbury's roads may lead you to believe that there is an outright hatred for anything which travels on asphalt, but dig a little deeper and you just might like what Millbury is peddling (see what I did there?).

Paved surface biking. The surprisingly well-maintained and mapped Blackstone River Valley Bikeway / Greenway, which will someday extend 48 miles from Worcester, MA to Providence, RI, currently serves up ~2.3 miles (the Millbury portion, a 4.6 mile out-and-back loop) of uninterrupted, neatly-paved, motorvehicle-free asphalt for the cruising, complete with parking lots if you need to drive to a starting point.

Dirt trail biking. If off-road / trail riding is more your thing, the Martha Deering Wildlife Management area, accessible from Riverlin Street near Dorothy Pond, lays claim to 182 acres of town-owned land covered in trails and is open to the general public for free. The more experienced riders in the mountain biking community rave about the adjacent "Rayburn" trails.

Bike gear & service. The widely-regarded, recently-relocated Trek Stop bike shop in neighboring Grafton gives you half your money back towards your kid's next bike with their Youth Bike Trade-up Program. It is the type of local business the truly gets it, treating their customers the way we want to be treated: to lifetime discounts and a no-pressure, information-rich bicycle buying / servicing experience.

More info:
Local cycling community clubs & foundations

A&D port in a storm

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 02:38:00 +0000

It was great to see neighbors helping each other dig out from the blizzard on February 8/9th, 2013, but if you're like me, it was at the expense of thinking about dinner.

Despite the state closing roads to all non-essential vehicles for 24 hours at the height of the storm and a few busy signals on the phone, I was relieved and somewhat amazed to find A&D Pizza and Pub, a staple of the Millbury community, open. Open and hopping - apparently I wasn't the only one!

Modern education in Millbury

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 03:30:00 +0000

Education in 2013 is very different than it was when I was growing up. From iPads and eBooks to online courses and document-sharing, even free blog tutorials, kids today are learning in an entirely different environment than they were just 10 years ago.

It wasn't all that long ago that many of the teachers I knew would pay Verizon every month to not publish their personal phone numbers. I can't say I blamed them either - they deserved their personal privacy when not educating our youngsters.

Fast-forward to today, a time when more and more teachers in Millbury are utilizing email, websites, and social media to connect and communicate with students past, present, and future - both inside and outside of school. As a parent and someone who not only takes education seriously, but for whom a key to happiness is continuously learning, I think this is wonderful.

Conversely, as a (ahhem) young adult with a career of my own, I find it intriguing that educators in town are willing to put their personal time and online persona to use in this way, outside of their jobs.

An educator's perspective
Tom Reilly, an English and Journalism teacher at Millbury Junior Senior High School, had this to say on the matter:

"Teachers should use social media whenever possible to connect with their students because that's how their students communicate. Email is passe` and teachers need to take advantage of a variety of tools that are evolving daily. Administrators need to acknowledge that this is the wave of the future and unbend security. Fail to do this and be left behind."

Halloween, Millbury-style

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 12:21:00 +0000

Nicholas, a young Halloween partygoer in Millbury, giving a modern-day nod to a classic character with his Volkswagen superbowl commercial-version of Darth Vader.

Enjoy your Halloween and don't forget to check out the local annual Halloween favorites (did I miss any?):

Haunted Hayride at The Millbury Youth Camp (Oct. 20, 26, 27 in 2012)

Corn Maze at nearby West End Creamery in Whitinsville

The Tale of Two Gavels

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 21:00:00 +0000

Where do little nuggets of history come from? Sometimes they are simply all that remains from a given time and place. But sometimes it's that people went out of their way to save something from the past and preserve it for others to see in the future, thus becoming a little piece of history themselves in the process.

As the story goes, Fred Baldwin and his son Warren saved a piece of mahogany handrail from the old Millbury Town Hall just as it was being destroyed by fire in 1971. If you haven't read the full (but concise) story on the Millbury Historical Society's website, I highly encourage you to do so (and then imagine today trying to enter a burned building with a chainsaw while the fire hoses were still running!).

The salvaged chunk of mahogany was fashioned into a pair of beautiful gavels in Fred Baldwin's shop, one of which (pictured above) is on-display at the Millbury Historical Society's Museum, located on the second floor of the Asa Waters' mansion on Elm Street.

Side lines

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 09:58:00 +0000

Soccer fans begin to settle into their seats on a cool June evening at Foley Stadium to watch the Worcester Hydra play during their first season.

Extending the Boundaries: I am trying to keep the people and places highlighted here within the bounds of Millbury, MA but occasionally I am willing to extend the boundaries slightly to include something just outside of Millbury which has no equivalent in town and is worth the short trip.

A lofty tribute

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 03:32:00 +0000

His Farm League teammates send balloons to the heavens in a touching tribute to Owen Carrignan before their baseball game on Friday June 1, 2012.

Just as with an individual person, I believe the character of a community is defined not by how they act on their best day, but by how they handle themselves when times get tough. As the healing from the tragic loss of such a wonderful young boy is just beginning, the outpouring of love and support for Owen's family from so many members of his community truly made me proud to be a member of it.

To the Millbury community: Bravo.

To Owen: You will be missed by many but forgotten by none.

Got Grubs?

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Mon, 21 May 2012 03:11:00 +0000

One of the biggest detractors from having a nice lawn in Millbury, from my experience anyway, is this little critter - or more accurately, LOTS of these little guys (small numbers are not a problem). Grub worms, the lavae of the Japanese beetle, can accumulate in your lawn and no matter how diligent you are at keeping up with the basics of lawncare, grub damage can take a serious bite out of your efforts (bah-dump, ching!).

There is a difference between killing grubs which are already causing you bigtime headaches and preventing them from getting to the point of causing damage. I'm more concerned with prevention as that has a long-term solution which many people don't seem to know about and which would kind of negate the whole mass-killing thing altogether.

Prevention for the long-term. While there are chemicals (like Scotts' GrubEx) that you can put down on your lawn to prevent grubs from becoming a problem, it requires perfect timing on your part and worse, to be applied every year. Who has the time or money for that? In my opinion, a better solution is to develop a healthy environment (to both people and beneficial organisms in your soil) that is not only incompatible with grub worms, but the mere presence of grubs enhances the grub-prevention mechanism itself.

Huh?

Milky spore. On a recent visit to Worm's Way, the kind lady behind the counter saw my bag of "Milky Spore" and commented that people "in-the-know" buy it all the time, but that not enough people seem to be in-the-know (hence this post). Milky spore is a bacterium which causes a grub-killing disease in the little pests without harming the "good guys" living in your soil (or playing in your yard for that matter). By multiplying inside their soon-to-be-deadski grub host, the bacteria further add to the grub-unfriendly environment in your lawn. The best time to start seems to be mid- to late-summer, so why not do your homework now and give it a go this year?

The best news: After it is established in your lawn (~2 years of twice-a-year application), milky spore maintains itself for many years (up to 20, provided you don't kill the bacteria by using insecticides) to come, all without polluting the water we drink with chemicals year-after-year. Zero effort required - just my style!

Playgrounds

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:13:00 +0000

In an age where news reports seem to contain an endless stream of stories about how children are spending too much time in front of television and video games, it was refreshing to find so many kids of all ages out running around and enjoying themselves at "Woolie World," one of Millbury's many public playgrounds, in the (way too) early Spring 2012 weather.

Interactive Map. Below is an interactive map labeled with the locations of the public playgrounds and sports fields in Millbury. If you find any missing, click thru to the bigger version and feel free to add them (anyone can edit it!). You will also find a list alongside the map.

View Public playgrounds in Millbury, MA in a larger map

Blackstone River

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 02:06:00 +0000

As one of many communities along the winding path of the Blackstone River, Millbury reaps the many benefits. From the nearby bikeway which will (someday) run from Worcester to Providence, to the old mills now converted to condos/housing, to all the natural beauty that comes with a moving body of water - we get it all.

But we also sadly get the downstream effects of the accumulated industrial and residential pollution. Luckily, the modern-day communities along the river have banded together to tilt the balance of the benefits to liabilities more in our favor. Local organizations like the Blackstone River Watershed Association, working in connection with others under the umbrella of the Blackstone River Coalition, are dedicated to cleaning and preserving the river and its surroundings for all of us.

Below is a list of links to local groups working to improve the condition of the Blackstone River. If you know of more, send them my way and I'll include them here. If you'd like to help in any way, they are always looking for more volunteers.

Blackstone River Watershed Association

Blackstone River Coalition

Upper Blackstone Water Pollution Abatement District

New game in town

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 10:08:00 +0000

Like most communities, Millbury offers kids in town the opportunity to learn to play football and cheer... but now younger kids (ages 5-7) can learn the rules and fundamentals of football before they get into tackling as members of the flag football program.

More information about the new-but-increasingly-popular flag football teams can be obtained by emailing flag@msyfc.org and (eventually) on the Millbury-Sutton AYF Football website alongside the tackle football and cheer programs.

Millbury youth sports

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 01:51:00 +0000

For so many people, youth sports played an important part in their upbringing. Whether it was a first step in their social development, an introduction to teamwork, or just an outlet to burn off that extra energy kids seem to have (and adults long for) while having some good clean fun; sports to a youngster are terrific.

Millbury has a wonderful community of organizers and volunteers that makes their youth sports programs possible. Below is a list of those which I am aware of, but if you know of more, please let me know and I'd be happy to link them up!

Millbury Little League Baseball
Millbury Pee Wee Basketball
Millbury-Sutton AYF Football, Flag Football, & Cheer
Millbury Soccer Club
Millbury Girls Softball

Meet: Brian Ashmankas

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 02:32:00 +0000

Well actually, from winning his race in the 2010 election for town selectman, it seems many of you living in Millbury have already met (and voted for) Brian.

Since political orientation can be so polarizing even to a small community like Millbury, lets toss aside whether your's aligns with his for now and look at a more important aspect. How great is it to see young, motivated people like Brian step up and try to make his lifelong hometown a better place for all of us to live in, all while doing something he loves?!?!

You don't have to be a political figure to make a difference in your community either. Think of what you are passionate about (art, music, whatever) and try to discover a way to utilize those creative juices to do something positive in the place you live. You'll not only satisfy your urge to do something you enjoy (and probably would be doing anyway) but allow your (old, new, and future) neighbors to come along for the ride! These days, the time you have to do what you really want to do is preciously slim. You might as well make the most of it!

You never know. You might just be taking the first step of a new career as Brian did.

To keep up with him, you can follow Brian Ashmankas on Facebook.

Fireworks from on high

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 01:51:00 +0000

Would you like an unobstructed view of Millbury's annual 4th of July fireworks? It is no secret to the folks in town (read: get there early) that the view from the southern end of the parking lot of The Shoppes is great... as long as you don't mind not being right on top of the action. It is ideal for kids who don't like all the noise or people concerned with debris landing on them.

One caveat: don't make any plans immediately following "the show" as you'll be sitting in the traffic of a full parking lot trying to empty all at once!

Growing green in Millbury

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 16:51:00 +0000

Did you ever wonder how one house in Millbury can have a lush, beautiful lawn while their neighbor's is patchy and full of weeds? While I never had a nice lawn, I did in fact have plenty of excuses: not enough time, not enough patience, not enough money, not enough equipment... but what I didn't have (and really needed) was information. As with anything from lawn care to photography, it isn't about the equipment - it is the knowledge of how to use it that matters.

Here are some tips I've accumulated (mostly from knowledgeable people on The Garden Web forums who were willing to share) that I've found work well in our climate and most importantly won't cost you in money or time compared to what you probably already are doing.

The big picture. Each aspect of this plan is designed with one goal in mind: to tip the balance in favor of growing the grass you want and away from growing the weeds you don't.

Mow it long! Next time you mow, set the height adjustment of your mower as high as it will go. Good, now leave it there! Mowing long does a lot of good things: long grass will help retain moisture in the soil longer, it encourages roots to grow deeper, and most importantly, it crowds out new weeds from getting a grip and growing in your lawn better than short grass does. If the grass isn't too high, mulch-mowing is great for your soil too.

Water it deep! Your lawn really only needs about 1-2" of water a week (including rain). The key is for it to get it all at once. When needed, first thing in the morning water the patch of lawn your sprinkler(s) can reach for an hour or so straight. Good, you're done in that area for the week, at least. Watering deeply encourages roots to grow deeper. Watering only once a week (and in the morning before the sun gets hot) allows the water to sink in deep (to where the roots of your grass are) and THEN the surface soil to dry out a bit during the sunny part of the day, making it harder for errant weed seeds landing there to germinate. Since your grass isn't wet very long this way, it also keeps disease to a minimum.

The Cycle: When it comes to the stuff you put on your lawn, it isn't about the brand or even the type (organic or traditional) of fertilizers and chemicals you use, it is the process. In a nut shell, it goes like this: add new seed over the top of your existing lawn (called "overseeding") in the early fall (think late August / early September), fertilize a few weeks later (to feed the grass when it needs it), and use weed-preventing fertilizer in the Spring (think March, before you see crab grass popping up). Fall overseeding gives you more grass and Spring pre-emergent weed prevention keeps the weed seeds from germinating while the grass you planted in the fall has a chance to thicken up. Since most weeds (including crab grass) die at the first sign of frost, you can imagine that if you do this a few years in a row, every year your grass will become better and weeds get competed away (without using nasty weed-killing chemicals) - but you have to stick with it. Don't miss a step or put it down 2-months too late or you'll be starting over from the beginning.

Benefits of going organic: Around 2006, I went organic with my lawn care and have never looked back. While the safety of putting non-toxic stuff where the kid-o's play was certainly a draw, I did it because it is actually more difficult for me to screw up. In short, organic fertilizers work by feeding the bugs and microbes living in your soil, who in-turn feed your lawn. You can put down your fertilizer a month too early and it doesn't matter: the little buggers won't eat until they are ready then your lawn gets fed right when it needs it. You can't burn your lawn by over-fertilizing. The critters eat as much as they want to eat and again, your lawn gets what it needs. Just remember, you need those bugs to make it all work, so no more insecticides - but once you're on-board, there are organic solutions to nearly every problem (for example, I'm a big fan of using Milky Spore for grub prevention)! Depending on what you buy, organics can be slightly more expensive than chemical fertilizers, but you can use the money you save by not needing weed and bug killing chemicals to make up the difference.

Buy locally and support your community: If you do decide to give organics a try, you can find fall fertilizer as well as springtime pre-emergent weed preventing fertilizer (look for "corn gluten meal" on the label) from Roger's Farm and Garden Supply right in town or Worm's Way, just over the Sutton line.

What to do if your neighbor's lawn looks like mine used to and is threatening all of your hard work? Send 'em a link to this page for some info! Let's see if we can refine the look of an already great town one front yard at a time.

Loud crowd

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 15:00:00 +0000

During the annual Millbury Little League parade held every year in late April to kick off the baseball season, each team of kids walks through the center of town together. As they passed underneath the bridge carrying Rt. 146 traffic over Elm Street, they screamed, yelled, hooted, and hollered just to hear the echos. It was loud!

Crazy LOUD!!!! It was as "loud" as it looks in this photograph.

Millbury runs a great Little League baseball program for kids starting at age 5. Check out their website around March for signup info and schedules. Be sure to catch a game this summer!