Stratus is Moving to Mill & Main

I'm loving this opening line, "Stratus Technologies has leased 102,321 square feet at the former Clock Tower Place in Maynard..." 

Here's the article I just read about it. Great news!

Summer Kids Programs at the Fine Arts Theater

I was down a the Fine Arts Theater yesterday, showing it off to a couple of out-of-town friends, when a flyer caught my eye. They're going to be showing a different kids movie weekly, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at eleven a.m. throughout the summer. Just $5 a ticket.

Here's the lineup:

Tues., July 7, 11 a.m.: "Matilda"
Weds., July 8, 11 a.m.: "Matilda"

Tues. July 14, 11 a.m.: "The Smurfs"
Weds., July 15, 11 a.m.: "The Smurfs"

Tues., July 21, 11 a.m.: "The Karate Kid (1984)"
Weds., July 22, 11 a.m.: "The Karate Kid (1984)"

Tues., July 28, 11 a.m.: "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs"
Weds., July 29, 11 a.m.: "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs"

Tues., August 4, 11 a.m.: "Jumanji"
Weds., August 5, 11 a.m.: "Jumanji"

Tues., August 11, 11 a.m.: "The Muppets Take Manhattan"
Weds., August 12, 11 a.m.: "The Muppets Take Manhattan"

Tues., August 18, 11 a.m.: "Hotel Transylvania"
Weds., August 19, 11 a.m.: "Hotel Transylvania"


Stopping in to the theater will be a great day to cool off for a few hours on hot summer days. Maybe I'll see you there!

"Clock Tower Place" No More! Let's Welcome "Mill&Main"

Photo of Ted Saraceno and Henry St. Hilaire taken
in early spring at Clock Tower Place

This evening the public got to hear the Saracen presentation about their proposed changes to the mill complex.

Let it be known that the buildings formerly know as "Clock Tower Place" will now be called "Mill&Main," emphasizing the new positioning of having the mill become more a part of the downtown.

The library's Roosevelt Room (the largest meeting room) was standing room only, with lots of people hanging out as close as possible in the lobby. Those present seemed very enthusiastic about what they were hearing, even breaking into applause and cheers several times.

Did you miss the presentation? If so, you can catch the same presentation made to the Board of Selectmen. It's available on the Town of Maynard Web site, click here and scroll down to it. There seems to be a little problem with the sound quality at the beginning, but you can still hear Henry St. Hilaire (of Saracen Properties) speak, it just buzzes a little from time to time.

Questions asked at the public presentation were different from those at the BOS meeting, so it might be a good idea, if you attended the June 11th presentation, to listen to the one on the town's site. It lasts about forty-five minutes, visuals and all.

At the public presentation, one man stood up and talked about how he and his wife are moving to Maynard from Sudbury, and how they felt like they bought at the exact right time because they could see that there are a lot of good things that are going to be happening here. I couldn't agree more.

There was a journalist in attendance who will be writing about the presentation, so I'll end here and let him do his job. I'll post a link to his article when I get it. In the meantime, you can keep an eye on the Mill&Main Web site for updated information.

Now, let's all start practicing saying Mill&Main. I wonder how long it will take for us to make it a local thing.

Followup on That Crazy Turkey

The female turkey is fine. She was examined by the animal control officer and released into the woods somewhere, where she promptly flew away. 

We're all glad to hear the news!

Strange things seen in Maynard, Episode 6: Any Turkey Can Use a Treadmill!

I was downtown around dinnertime Tuesday evening and saw a cruiser outside Aim for Fitness. People walking in that area seemed to be drawing toward the scene. I saw broken glass and a big hole in the top of one of the windows. Had some vandal thrown a cinder block? Did an over enthusiastic fitness buff push themselves just a little too hard? Nope. It turns out that a wild turkey had flown right through the window!

Animal control went in with a net to capture the wild bird, who, for a few minutes, had landed on a treadmill. According to my source, the turkey seemed to be unharmed. Hopefully she (maybe he?) is recovering from the shock and can get back to the wild soon.

Don't Miss the Saracen Presentation About Their Plans for Clock Tower Place on June 11th!

Photo taken in March when I saw some work happening.

Somehow, I was able to see the presentation that Saracen will be making about proposed changes to the Clock Tower Place property. How I managed to get to see it is a long story, and I feel very fortunate that I was given the opportunity. I'm very excited people—really, really excited.

Let me start by saying that I had heard that there was a tenant in the building who had trouble with past management and was getting ready to relocate out of Maynard. After Saracen came in, not only did they decide to stay, but they also signed a five-year lease. Somebody must be doing something right.

And a friend of mine and the company he works for (located in another town) went in to talk about potential space. He saw the presentation and told me that if Saracen can do what they hope to do, he'd want his company to be there. He's a good friend, so I can say with conviction that he's a person not easily impressed.

Given that Saracen is still discussing their plan with the town, I can't really tell you anything specific that I saw, but I feel like I can talk about it in broad strokes, so you get the feel for it. But really, you all should just be at the presentation to the public. Even my talking about it wouldn't nail it. That property is so huge that we had to go back and forth a couple of times on the visuals for me to understand the parts we were talking about.

My take on the presentation is that Saracen understands that Clock Tower Place should be more a part of our downtown. Part of the plan might include the removal of the iron fence that surrounds it. They're also interested in making the mill pond more of a feature than it is currently. That's about all I can say, really. I know it's not much, but the rest of the stuff I don't have the right to talk about, and really, it's something that is best understood with the visuals. So in broad strokes: they are looking to make the CTP campus more accessible to the community and more attractive to potential tenants, and the plans certainly seem to reflect that. I think we might all agree that that's something to look forward to right there.

The presentation to the public will be on Thursday, June 11th at 6:30 pm, and will take place in the Roosevelt Room of the Maynard Public Library,

Update on the Bazaar Russe

It was totally awesome. 

Okay, to give more detail, we had lunch there on Friday. I had a hard time picking what we should eat, so I just picked a bunch of stuff. Everything was delicious. And I really loved that they had banquet tables set up and you could just sit with whomever. That made it fun.

Unfortunately, we didn't have time to take a tour of the church, but I hear they have these events twice a year. So come fall, I'll be stopping in again; for kielbasa, pieroshki, borscht, and so many other things, not to mention a tour of the Russian Orthodox fairyland-castle church.

Strange Things Seen in Maynard, Episode 5

Not all my "strange" postings are strange-weird, some are more strange-unexpected. This is one of those. I spotted this little beauty as I walked toward the corner of Main and Nason. I saw an acquaintance having a late lunch at Serendipity Café and said hello to him. Sal introduced me to his wife Terry. I said, "Look at that Volkswagon Bus, isn't it beautiful?!?" And Sal says, "I've been working on her for a while."

So, many congratulations go out to Sal for a job well done. If you see him around town, give him a thumbs up. Now I just need him to put one of my bumper magnets on it!

Denault Studios is Relocating

Denault Studios will be shutting their doors on Nason Street, but don't panic people—this is not bad news. It's actually really good news. In the last couple of years they've really expanded their studio classes, and they've run out of space (Working with glass is so, darn cool!). I was talking to owner, Michael Denault just yesterday, and he says that as of Friday, May 15th, they'll be closing shop on Nason, but they'll be moving to their new location on Main Street! They are taking the location that used to belong to Paint 'n' Pour (55 Masin Street), next to Sugarsnap. They expect to be open by next Wednesday, May 20th.

Those of us who are members of ArtSpace Downtown are really happy for them and we welcome them to our end of town. We're looking forward to having them join us and Gallery Seven when we have joint gallery openings—it's going to be a great time! We'll be sure to keep you posted so you can join in the artistic experience.

You can follow Denault Studios on Facebook. If you're in the area, congratulate them on the new space.

Enjoy Russian Food and Tour That Darling Little Church

Have you ever driven down Acton St. (Rt. 27) in Maynard and happened to look down Prospect Street? The first time that happened to me, we were driving along and I think a happy and surprised little "oh!" burst out of my mouth as we went by. I thought I must surely be hallucinating because it seemed as though I had seen a fairy palace at the end of that street. If memory serves me right, I might have made my husband turn around, and there it was, what I would later learn is the Russian Orthodox Church.

I have lived in Maynard for nearly eighteen years, and I have yet to go inside Holy Annunciation Orthodox Church. Not being Russian Orthodox, I felt like I didn't really have a reason to visit. They have their annual Bazaar Russe that falls close to my birthday, so somehow we keep missing it. But today a friend insisted that I must go. She said the food is amazing and that Father Robert gives tours of the church. How can I resist that? Really people, how? My friend Liz said that if you get there in time, you can even get some pierogi (traditional Russian dumplings) and other Russian foods to take home and freeze, but that you have to get their early or they run out.

So this year, I'm going to mark my calendar and head over there. The bazaar is being held on Friday, May 15th, from 10:00am– 8:00pm (food service starts at 11:00) and Saturday, May 16th, from 10:00am–4:00pm (food service starts at 11:00). I hope you'll join me in poking around the church and eating tasty food. Here's a link to the event, where you'll find a menu of food being served there, and a menu of takeaway items.

Fine Arts is Playing "Mr. Turner" 5/8-5/13

This from the Fine Arts. Please share and encourage people to attend so Mr. Trumble understands that these are definitely the kinds of films that the Maynard area can support. 

"Beginning Friday Night May 8th, the Fine Arts Theater will be showing a wonderful film by Mike Leigh., fantastic film maker. Check out "Mr. Turner" in beautiful 35mm. Limited release, playing for 6 days at the Fine Arts Theatre Place."

Strange Things Seen in Maynard, Episode No. 4

Maynard has not one, but two more than four purple houses! And they're less than a mile from each other. You can't really get more purple than the house by the fire department without starting to smell like grape soda.

Update, May 11, 2015: When I made this blog post, my Facebook page was suddenly bombarded with people telling me about the other purple houses in Maynard. If you know of a purple house in Maynard that I don't have here, let me know and I will add it. 

New Management at Clock Tower Place is Making Good Choices

My husband works at CTP, so he just casually mentioned this in passing. I thought it was worth sharing and a pat on the back. Saracen Properties, the new owners of Clock Tower Place, has started full recycling. Before companies located in the building could just recycle cardboard. Now they can recycle glass and metal, too. This is a great relief to my husband because, as his company continues to grow, his ability to bring home the recycling has become more and more difficult.

So a pat on the back to Saracen Properties for doing good. Hooray! And a pat on the back to Yieldbot for putting in the extra effort for so long.