Maynard's ArtWalk Is This Saturday, May 3rd!

Last year's Maynard Spring ArtWalk was such a hit that they're doing it again. I was lucky to be one of the participating artists, and even though my group was upstairs and away from Main St., there were still loads of people who came up to talk to the people representing ArtSpace.

If you get a "passport" at one of the participating settings, you can have it stamped at each of the art spots, and then you can enter your fully-stamped passport into a drawing to win a piece of art. It acts as a great map, helps keep you from missing anything, and lets you have a bit of a scavenger hunt.

The owner of Porfino barbershop is going to be shaving some art into someone's hair, so you could watch that as a kind of performance piece. And the comic book shop, Legends, will be giving comic books away for National Free-Comic-Book day.


Here's an article that the Beacon Villager did on the event.

(Photo taken from Gallery 7's Facebook page.)

May 3rd is Free-Comic-Book Day at Legends in Maynard!

Photo via Flickr:
Comic Books, 2012, Sam Howzit

Saturday, May 3rd, is Free-Comic-Book Day at Legends in Maynard! Go in there and check out the store while you get yourself a free comic book. So cool! We went last year with out daughter, and her head nearly exploded with excitement.

Legends is located at 94 Main Street Maynard. Don't miss it! And while you're in town, stroll the Maynard Spring ArtWalk from 5–7.

Maynard's Parking Deck Is Down

I left my street yesterday, took the turns I take to go into Maynard's petite and lovely downtown, and noticed that the light seemed different. Then it hit me—the parking deck had been demolished. It sure happened fast. I had been under the impression that they were going to try to keep it going for a while longer and try to hold off on the expense of taking it down, but it was obvious that the parking is needed down there.

It will be interesting to see what ends up happening there, whether they just leave it as part of the parking lot, or if they build a new deck in the future.

Reminder: Meet Candidates for Selectmen

MAYNARD

MEET THE CANDIDATES’ NIGHT

School Committee & Board of Selectmen

TUESDAY, APRIL 29^TH

7 to 8:15 PM

Maynard HS Auditorium

Please spread the word!

Presented by the Assabet Valley Chamber of Commerce

and the Revitalize Maynard Collaborative

Explore Pathways to Wellness—Worth a Visit

On Thursday I was on day five of a headache. I could feel the tension in my shoulders, and I knew the pain it was causing was creeping up my neck and around my head. I have a massage therapist that I like, I really do. She's good at what she does. But on this particular day, probably because I was wandering around downtown Maynard, I decided to see if Deb Hledik of Explore Pathways to Wellness was available. She just so happened to have an opening at a time when I was going to be available.

Those of you who know me know that I have some significant problems with my spine, so I take massage very seriously. I don't go for those spa-type massages at all because they're completely useless to someone who needs real help. So I consider myself bit of a connoisseur.

I've never had a massage experience like what I had at Pathways. The first thing Deb Hledik did was sit down with me and talk to me about my lifestyle, what was ailing me, what the pain trigger might be, etc. Then she had me stand and she took a look at my posture, front and back. She proceeded to give me very practical tips for improving my posture—so many that I can't remember them all. And finally we got down to the massage.

The work Deb did on my neck and shoulders was concrete and measurable. She checked my range of motion and was able to recheck to see the improvement later. She showed me that my shoulder that I thought I had and injury in (or possible arthritis) was really just muscle pain. And she gave me what I'll call dollar-store techniques for helping my own body deal with tension and discomfort. I was completely impressed.

So, to sum up, I went for a massage, but I came away with so much more. Thank you so much Deb and Pathways!

The Boston Bean Now Open on Sundays (again)

Not sure if this has anything to do with the arrival of spring or perhaps the arrival of Mishka to lighten the load, but the Boston Bean House has resumed their Sunday hours.

When they were at their old location (where Serendipity currently is) they never kept Sunday hours. At the new location, in the Masonic Building, they had a stretch of time where they were open on Sundays.

Whatever the reason for the inclusion of Sundays, we welcome it.

Meet the Candidates: Selectmen, School Committee

The Assabet Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Maynard Revitalize Collaborative have teamed up to present a Meet the Maynard Candidates’ Night on Tuesday, April 29^th, 7 to 8:15 pm., in the Maynard High School Auditorium.  The event will include very brief statements from candidates’ for the School Committee, but the bulk of the time will focus on candidates’ for the Board of Selectmen. 

Your Questions About Maynard's Fine Arts Theatre Place

I little more than a month ago, people submitted questions to Steve Trumble and Melanie Perry, owners of Fine Arts Theatre Place. They answered those questions in a blog post a couple of weeks ago. Some people asked silly/fun questions, but there were serious question raised. I think questions were answered in the order they got them, so if you go to the post, don't think that the most important question is at the top. It most certainly isn't.

For me the most important question was why they even needed our money. I wasn't going to pitch in until I got a good answer. I'll save you the trouble of searching for it. I think this answer explains a lot and makes me feel confident about supporting them.

A brief history of the recent past and an understanding of why we need help in raising funds for the digital conversion:

We purchased the Fine Arts theatre property to invest in real estate in downtown Maynard because we saw it’s growth and rental income potential. When we were initially looking at the building in Winter 2012-13, the property was faced with the strong possibility of being sold to developers, looking to knock it down. We both had sentimental ties to this theatre and decided that we could invest in the real estate, while saving the cultural icon. With the purchase last Spring, came the transfer of an 8 plus year tenant, renting and running the theatre for the previous owner. We thought this was the perfect situation- we could spend 250-300k to fix up the building and remodel the exterior; while we had a tenant rent the actual theatre from us and operate their business out of it. While we were aware of the additional costs affiliated with the digital conversion, we were not planning on assuming these costs, for what was originally intended to be a “non-owner occupied” commercial property investment. It was not our intention or previous experience running a movie theatre business, hence we did not account for our tenant’s costs within their industry and operating expenses.

Former Maynard town treasury employee accused of stealing trash sticker revenue

Maynard Town Administrator, Kevin Sweet, today announced that a former employee in the Town Treasurer/Collector's Office has been fired and criminal charges are being filed after an investigation determined she had allegedly been siphoning proceeds from the sale of "pay-as-you-throw" trash and rubbish stickers. 

Here's the rest of the article in The Beacon Villager about the incident. There doesn't seem to be a byline for me to give credit. 

Denee Howard of Leominster—boooooo!

Opening Reception at the Maynard Public Library: "Made in Maynard"

Thursday, April 10th, 5-7 p.m. is the opening reception for the current art show up at the Maynard Public Library. The exhibit entitled "Made in Maynard" features the work of artists from ArtSpace Maynard. I'm one of the artists whose work is being shown.

If you think having a vibrant arts community is important to the culture of Maynard, please come and celebrate our work with us.

Erikson's Ice Cream is Officially Open for the 2014 Season!

There was not a leaf on a tree, and some places still have patches of snow on the ground, but that didn't stop Erikson's Ice Cream from opening on Saturday, April 5th. Our daughter wanted to skip breakfast altogether and just go for ice cream. Fortunately, we were able to tell her that they wouldn't be open until noon. 

So after getting a few errands done, we went to get our first cones of the year. My favorite flavor, Almond Joy, wasn't on the list yet, so I had to go for my second favorite—Grape Nut. My husband's favorite, Peanut Butter Fudge, was also not there.  I'm not worried about it, I know all those bonus flavors will make their way on to the board in good time. Perhaps I'll take this as an opportunity to sample some of the flavors I'd never dare try. I saw a couple of new flavors; Coffee Cake and Chocolate Cupcake. I heard from a good friend that the latter was rather tasty. 

Every year, during ice cream season, I'm reminded of a friend whose family liked to go out for "Sundae Dinner". Hmmmm, maybe it's time to start a tradition like that in my own family. I'm also thinking of trying to count how many Erikson's cones I consume this year, but I'm not sure it's a good idea. 

Support Open Table—Be an Iron Cake Chef!

Would You Like to be 

Known as the 

Cake Boss?

       Then…enter a Team in 

               Open Table’s 

   Cake Decorating Competition

Saturday, April 12, 2014

6:00-9:00 PM

Open Table is looking for 2-person cake decorating teams to compete at our Iron Chef themed fundraiser. Yes…

Your Team is the Entertainment. 

Just like on TV, you and your teammate will create a culinary masterpiece from the secret ingredients available. With icing, fondant, candies and mystery design elements you’ll decorate your way into cake history.

Go Home with the Title of Cake Boss!

No experience necessary… 

Just a love of design and decorating, a bit of the theatrical,

And, the desire to have a little fun.

Spread the word!  It’s all in good fun and the ticket proceeds go to 

Support Open Table’s Efforts to Relieve Hunger in our Area.

Some Details:

• Teams consist of 1-2 individuals.

• Entire participation time should be approx. 5:30pm-8:30pm. Decorating starts at 6:10pm. 
• Total decorating time is 1.5 hours
• Each team will start with 2-18x26 cakes, white buttercream frosting and cake base. Cakes can be cut and formed to your design. You bring your own tools, decorations, colors etc...
• The theme is “Joy-celebrating community, connection and caring.” You will be judged on, among other things, your expression of the theme.
• You will be given several mystery design elements to incorporate into your design-a la Iron Chef.
• Winner will be determined by 3 judges. 
• There will be a separate Iron Chef cooking competition running concurrent with your competition.
• A live video feed of cooking will be shown on a screen for the audience to see. An Emcee will be interviewing cooks and decorators throughout the competition so be prepared to say hi to the crowd. This is a lighthearted event so don’t be intimidated. Ham it up!
• We encourage team comaraderie, uniforms/costumes, chants/cheers.  Have fun!
• If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Barbara Blankenship at Babsarella.bb@verizon.net

How to Register:

• Space is limited. Please register early to assure a position.
• Fundraising request is $50.  If you raise more we appreciate it! Make Check payable to “Open Table”.
• Send registration slip with your entrance fee to:  Tracey van Putten, 462 Hayward Mill Road.  Concord, MA 01742
• If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Barbara at  978-335-4417  babsarella.bb@verizon.net
• More info to follow once you are a confirmed team.

NAME OF TEAM

WE ARE INTERESTED IN CAKE DECORATING (2- PERSON TEAM)

#1 PRIMARY CONTACT PERSON

NAME

EMAIL____________________________PHONE___________________________________

#2  

NAME

EMAIL____________________________PHONE___________________________________