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by Glenn C. Koenig, webmaster at Town Wide Mall (Additional information for this story was contributed by Bob McCarthy, of the Maynard Marketing Task Force)  Maynard, MA - Last night’s town meeting finally adjourned at 11:45 PM, almost five hours after it had started, without an official break. By that time, all 38 articles had been voted on, although at least half of the voters who were there at the beginning had already left. In spite of the length of the meeting, the moderator did his best to keep things moving along, and stood firm that applause, booing, or cheering would not be tolerated; the assembled voters quickly acquiesced. At one point, during the discussion of the school budget, I had half a mind to stand up and demand that the school department add a required course to the curriculum ... how to use a microphone! The student volunteers from WAVM there actually knew better than many of the adults in the room. But in spite of their best efforts to adjust the height and angle of the mic stands, many who got up to speak could not be heard, until admonished by the moderator to please speak directly into the thing.
Most of the articles were presented well by their proponents, and most were also voted on after only a brief discussion. Almost half the total time was spent debating just five articles: 4, 6, 7, 33, and 34. Article 4, about the use of “Certified Free Cash” (see my previous news report on how that works), was originally submitted by the Select Board. It requested that the fund be allocated to 24 various accounts. In the Warrant, the Finance Committee indicated that it would not have its recommendation for this article ready until the start of Town Meeting. At the meeting, the Finance Committee provided a separate page with their updated recommendations, for articles 4, 6, and 7. They did not recommend the amounts listed in the original Article 4, but their vote was split, 4 to 2. The reasoning of the majority was this: During the pandemic, partly because of the receipt of COVID relief funds, the schools did not spend all of their "Circuit Breaker" funds for Special Education that they received from the state. That unspent money ended up in the free cash account at the end of 2022. The idea was that it all should go back to the schools to help with the extraordinary increases in Special Education costs, as the use of those funds was originally intended. When Article 4 "came before" the meeting (was brought up for discussion and a vote), Natasha Rivera, Chair of the School Committee, offered an amended list of amounts, but the Finance Committee had not had a chance to vote on this new list. A slide was projected on the screen in front of the meeting with the her amended amounts, and she described the changes while at the microphone (See: https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1864/2023-Annual-Town-Meeting-Presentation - slide #8), but there was no hand out with these changes for voters to read at their seats before hand. After much discussion on this, the vote was to approve the amended version, rather than the amounts shown in the Warrant for the original article. (I revised this paragraph on 17 and 29 May 2023, to correct errors. Please also read my notes in the "Comment" section, below the end of the main article.) Article 6 was the entire town budget, except for certain extra funds covered in later articles. Although Article 6 included funding for the School Department, they added Article 7, to increase their department's allocation by an additional $514,842. Both the Finance Committee and Select Board voted not to recommend Article 7, but their recommendations were only described in the pages they made available at the meeting, not in the Warrant, because their votes couldn't take place after the warrant was printed. These two articles got the most debate of the evening, taking us until well after 9 PM, with still 31 articles left to go! The school committee and school department officials went through an extensive presentation to support their position to increase their budget beyond what the finance committee had recommended in Article 6, in order to achieve what they called “level service operating expenses.” There were many questions back and forth, during which representatives for the other town departments stated that they had already backed off from “level service” funding for non-school operations, in order to make the budget balance. (I have revised this paragraph on 17 and 29 May 2023, also, for better clarity.) The overall Town budget (Article 6) passed , but the vote for Article 7 was only a simple majority (92 to 89), which caused some confusion at the meeting. Wording in Article 7 says "... from General Stabilization or other available funds in the treasury...," but it takes a 2/3 majority vote to spend any money from the General Stabilization fund (one of the town’s “savings accounts,” so to speak). I remember someone in the meeting saying that the lack of a 2/3 majority meant that the General Stabilization money could not be used, but perhaps other money could be appropriated from other sources. When I first posted this news report, I thought that was still possible. However, after doing further research, reading comments on this story (see below), and contacting the Town Administrator's office, I learned that the lack of a 2/3 vote on this article meant that it failed in its entirety. That means the school budget remains at the amount voted in Article 6. The presence of Article 7 is actually unusual, from what I understand; typically, anyone wishing to amend amounts in the budget would have offered an amendment to Article 6 itself, rather than introduce a separate article. As a side note, even after the votes on these two articles, there remains some uncertainty for the town. That's because the state (aka The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Legislature) has not yet finalized how much money it will grant to each town nor fees it will charge to each town, for next year (this is detailed on the so-called “cherry sheet” - a tally of state aid and charges to the towns, originally printed on bright pink paper years ago). This is a chronic problem that has been going on for many years, where the state requires the towns to vote on their budgets before June 30th, but fails to provide all the necessary information on time. So the town isn't "playing with a full deck," budget wise, by necessity. When it came to articles 33 and 34, there were plenty of questions and comments. Article 33 was about a non-binding vote (to recommend but not compel) to prohibit the use of fossil fuels in the proposed Green Meadow School building project. Article 34 was about the town adopting a building code standard (known as the STRETCH code) for any new buildings built in the future, in town. Both articles were introduced by Roger Stillwater, and both involved moving forward on so-called “green” policies, with the intention to reduce the environmental impact of the energy we use in buildings, yet to be built.
Comment Town Meetings typically face a trade off: Give the voters enough time to understand the Articles they are voting on, yet keep the meeting from running excessively long. This is the challenge that faces the moderator, as well as individuals who get up to ask questions or comment.
Article 4 is a good example. I was at the meeting as both a voter and a self-appointed reporter. Before the meeting, I had read the list of appropriations in Article 4, as shown in the Warrant, so I thought I was prepared to vote. I had just picked up the Finance Committee's report on Article 4 when I walked in the door, along with a number of other pages of additional information on other articles. I sat down with a lot of reading to do, just as the meeting was starting. The Finance Committee's recommendation for Article 4 was a full page of description of the changes they wanted to make. I don't fault them for that; the situation that they wanted to address was complex and not easy to describe. I think they did a good job, but I found it difficult to read and understand the entire thing while sitting my seat while the meeting was going on. In addition, their suggested changes, as well as a slide on the screen, gave the specific amounts in paragraph form, not in a tabular form, as was the original article in the Warrant. I would have liked to see two columns, with the original amounts side-by-side with the revised ones. As it was, it took more time for me to understand clearly what they were proposing. Because representatives from the School Committee and administration also spoke from the stage in favor of the changes, I became confused as to who was asking for what. It is partly for this reason that my original report on Article 4 was in error (see note regarding my revisions, above). Fortunately, two people sent messages to me, advising me of my error and I was able to go back to re-read the materials and revise my report, just now. I believe that I have corrected those errors, but if there are still issues, I'm open to hearing them. My report on Articles 6 and 7 was somewhat confusing. In my original write up, I had seemed to imply that the School Budget is traditionally voted apart from the rest of the town budget. This, however is not the case; the school budget is typically included. Article 7 was included as a separate article, instead of the School Department offering a substitute motion for Article 6. This has been one of the most difficult news reports I have posted so far, since I started Town Wide Mall last month. This kind of report poses a difficult challenge for any reporter. If the story is too brief, it may not report all the relevant facts or provide enough perspective on what happened. On the other hand, if the article goes into too much detail and runs too long, there's a risk that readers will end up overwhelmed, give up, and never read the rest.
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by Glenn C. Koenig, webmaster at Town Wide Mall
If you do not have a copy of the Warrant (the agenda and information booklet for the meeting, an excerpt of which is shown above), you can pick one up at Town Hall until 4:00 PM or the Maynard Public Library until it closes at 5:00 PM. After that, additional copies will be available at the meeting.
Additional information is available on the town's web site: https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/415/Annual-Town-Meeting-May-15-2023 On that page is a link to the entire Warrant: https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1803/Annual-Town-Meeting-Warrant There is also a link to the display of slides and other information that will be shown at the meeting here: https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1864/2023-Annual-Town-Meeting-Presentation I have tried to determine if the meeting will be carried live, but the WAVM web site: https://wavm.org/watch-us-live/ ... does not seem to have any mention of the meeting that I can find, as of 3:30 PM this afternoon. WAVM's channels for cable TV subscribers are channel 8 (Comcast) and 28 (Verizon). A statement on that page indicates that livestreaming over the web is not working at this time. The telephone number shown on their "contact us" page gets to the School Department general office, and has an option to reach the high school office, but the recording says that they are both closed after 3 PM, so I was unable to contact anyone directly. 4:10 PM - I was able to contact a friend of mine who believes that the meeting will be carried live on WAVM's YouTube Page, here: https://www.youtube.com/@WAVMproductions/streams If you have enough space on your computer screen, you can put their coverage in one window and follow along by scrolling down through the warrant in another. (Note: this story may be updated before the meeting starts) by Glenn C. Koenig, webmaster at Town Wide Mall Maynard, MA - Next Saturday Morning, May 20th, a line of people will start gathering at 8:00 AM, waiting for up to an hour to get into a special event that takes place only once a year. At 9:00 AM no doors will open because the event they’re anticipating takes place in ... a parking lot! No, they’re not there for an early morning rock concert (as if there were such a thing). They’ll be there ... to buy plants! Admittedly, one can purchase potted plants and seeds in a variety of places this time of year, but this plant sale is special. It’s a fundraiser for Maynard Community Gardeners (MCG), one of many local groups that make Maynard the amazing town that it is. So, where is this parking lot? It’s at the Maynard Lodge of Elks, 34 Powder Mill Road. People from miles around will show up to select from the literally hundreds of plants available, gathered and displayed by members of the group. These are both perennials (recurring year to year, once planted) and annuals (only grow for one season). Plants include both decorative, and vegetables, for buyers to enjoy all season long. This is a public event, so anyone can show up to have a look around. The funds raised by the group at this event go towards supporting their activities during the entire year, until the next fundraiser, next May. I was alerted to this event by MCG president Andrea Vana, who graciously provided me with a number of fascinating details about the group, how it got started, and some of its activities. Before I go further, the event is listed in the Events Calendar page on the Discover Maynard web site: https://discovermaynard.com/calendar/ When I selected the 20th of May, there, I found a link to the Maynard Community Gardeners web site: https://maynardcommunitygardeners.org/
by Glenn C. Koenig, webmaster at Town Wide Mall Maynard, MA - Last night the Town of Maynard Finance Committee held its latest meeting, starting at 7 PM. The bulk of the meeting had two purposes, to review all the articles in the Warrant for Town Meeting, coming up in about a week and a half, and to take a look at some challenges related to long term financial planning for the town. The meeting was still wrapping up around 10 PM when I clicked the “Leave” button on my computer screen. Although that may seem like a long time to sit in at a meeting, even from home, it was well organized by the committee, and moderated by the Chair, Alannah Gustavson. The committee, often referred to in short hand as the “Fin Comm," (or "FINCOMM" in the Warrant), has the job of reviewing everything having anything to do with money and finances that will be voted on at Maynard’s Town Meeting, scheduled for Monday, May 15th. For details, you can use this link: https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/415/Annual-Town-Meeting-May-15-2023 This year, the Warrant, which is essentially the agenda of what’s to be voted on at the meeting, runs 65 pages of mostly single spaced type intermingled with tables showing dollar amounts for the various budgets and funds used to operate the town for the coming year. There are 38 articles, (essentially items on the agenda) listed in its pages. One reason it’s a bit longer this year has to do with an update of the town’s Charter, an overall guiding document for town operations, sort of like our constitution. State Law dictates that it be reviewed every ten years, and this is our year. As if all these pages are not daunting enough, the document also uses various terms and language that have been traditional in town governments for decades, or even centuries. Fortunately, there is a glossary of terms on page 3 to help, but even then, some concepts take awhile to fully understand. For example, although the term, “Free Cash,” might remind you finding a coin on the sidewalk while out for a stroll, the concept is a bit more complicated than that ... although it would be nice if somewhere around $2 million just dropped out of the sky! It also doesn’t help that the “Fiscal Year” used by towns in Massachusetts starts on July 1st, rather than January 1st. The fiscal years are named after when they end, rather than when they start, so this meeting concerned itself with Fiscal Year (or "FY") ’24, even though it starts on the first day of July, 2023. It certainly helps to apply the three most important principles of journalism when encountering all this: Curiosity, Diligence, and Patience. A sense of humor is certainly recommended as well (thus my title for this News report). A version of the Warrant, printed as a booklet, was supposed to be mailed to every household in town, but if you didn’t get one, there is a link provided (on the web page I referenced above) to view it online. I believe extra printed copies are available at the Town Hall and the Library, and should also be present at the meeting itself on the 15th. For the visually interested, like me, here's a little diagram on how Free Cash works:  The Finance Committee meeting was held remotely, with Committee members and a few interested members of the public logged in over Zoom. As with many meetings, it was forced into this mode at the start of the pandemic, but I actually prefer it this way, for a number of reasons: It’s easier to hear people when it’s their turn to speak. The name of each person appears right on the screen, so it’s easier to get to know who’s who (a boon for folks such as myself who are terrible at names). And it’s much easier to read and follow the documents on a desktop computer, rather than squint at a projection screen across the room, under garish fluorescent lights. When I joined the meeting, a few minutes late, there was a discussion going on about that very same “free cash” that I just mentioned, above. This occurred because some money budgeted for the school department in FY 2022, was not spent by them, partly based on the upheaval caused by the pandemic. Some children were not in classrooms and certain costs were not incurred. Money not spent in a given fiscal year is transferred into the Free Cash account and can then be allocated by a vote at the Town Meeting later on, often for unexpected needs. At the meeting, one contingent urged that this exact amount should be given back to the schools, now that “things are back to normal” (the pandemic is mostly over). However, another contingent stressed that if they didn’t need to spend it back then, then it simply wasn’t needed, so we should use it for anything that Free Cash is traditionally used for (those unexpected costs, more fully described on page 9 of the Warrant). Later on, there was more discussion related to two articles that have been submitted by what’s called a “Citizens’ Petition” rather than by a town board or department. One, Article 33, requests that the new elementary school (proposed to be built to replace the existing Green Meadow School) operate without fossil fuels. The other, Article 34, is a request that the town adopt a revised building code, known as the “Stretch” code for any new buildings built in town. This code pertains to new rules regarding insulation, energy efficiency, and so forth. I think it’s important to note that Article 34 refers only to any new buildings to be built in town; existing buildings do not have to be renovated or rebuilt. During this discussion, I suspended my role as reporter and asked some questions in my role as an ordinary citizen, voter, and taxpayer. One thing I wanted to clarify is that the cost of new school buildings is not included in the school budget itself. Rather, the town borrows the money and combines it with available state funding to pay for building them after which the school department then uses money in its budget to operate and maintain them. § § § Shortly after 9 PM, after all the articles in the Warrant had been discussed, the meeting turned to a presentation related to planning for the long term. The presentation consisted of a number of slides with commentary, laying out some of the financial challenges we expect Maynard to face in the coming 5 to 10 years. It was prepared with input from a variety of people in town (in addition to Finance Committee members), including Bob McCarthy, now on the Maynard Marketing Task Force. The presentation referred to both likely challenges and opportunities we may have to meet them. This kind of thing is often difficult for towns to grapple with, since Town Meeting, as with most legislatures, must concern itself with one fiscal year at a time only. In addition, there are many forces over which the town has little or no control that can greatly impact how much money we may have, and what we may have to spend it on. The pandemic is one significant example of this. Changes in state and federal policy and funding are another. Economic downturns, continuing “supply chain” interruptions, labor and resource shortages, as well as shifts in the real estate market, are all important, yet unpredictable. We are almost like small boat, making our way on the surface of a sea, beset by occasional high waves and storms. We do what we can to steer our way along. § § § On a personal note, I plan to attend Town Meeting on the 15th, but one thing I’m not looking forward to is the likely confusion that may stem from the fact that the Town Charter is divided up into “Articles” but the agenda items at Town Meeting are also referred to as “Articles.” I don’t envy the moderator, who must try to keep everything straight, as well as the voters who attend, who may wish to get up to speak. To be clear, the Charter has “Articles” (analogous to the Articles found in the US Constitution) numbered from 1 through 7, whereas they will be discussed during the meeting when it gets to Articles 9 through 15 in the Warrant. Thankfully each Charter Article has its own separate Article in the Warrant to amend it, so you can just subtract 8. Are you following me, here? No? I don’t blame you.
by Glenn C. Koenig, webmaster at Town Wide Mall Maynard, MA - Although Maynard is a small town, both in size (just 3 square miles, effectively) and in population (around 11,000, give or take), it's a very active place! But, without any central reference, such as a local newspaper, how does anyone find out about all the events and activities going on, in order to choose those in which they might be interested? To help answer that, I decided to post this article. Here are some links to sources I know about so far. If you think I’ve left something important out, please let me know and I will add a link. Also, if you see any errors here, please inform me. I want this to be a true community effort, and as such, I invite you to help maintain and improve it. • Discover Maynard https://discovermaynard.com This site includes a calendar of community events, along with a list of shops, restaurants, and activities in town. It's sponsored by the Massachusetts Cultural Council and donations. • Maynard Town Government https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov As you might expect, this site includes information related to all town departments, a calendar of meetings and other events related to government, including voting and elections, as well as a guide to services the town provides and how to access them. • Maynard's School Department https://www.maynard.k12.ma.us Although the public schools are part of town government, they have their own web site, with its own calendar of events, and other information regarding resources provided by the schools. • Maynard Public Library https://www.maynardpubliclibrary.org Again, the Library is a part of town government, but it also has its own web site, calendar of events, and other information about library services. • Action Unlimited https://www.actionunlimited.com The Action Unlimited is a for-profit weekly publication with a primary content of display and classifiec advertising by local businesses and individuals. It is intended to be mailed to every household in Maynard, typically arriving on Fridays. It also carries some notices of community events. Each edition typically covers a group of two, three, or four towns. Their web site provides a way to read each edition online, even if you don't receive one in the mail. === Comment === Inspiration for this article: Last Saturday evening (6 May 2023), my partner and I walked down to the center of town, just after 5 PM, to participate in ArtWalk, an annual event with artists and musicians all along Nason and Main streets, sponsored by the Maynard Business Alliance. https://www.maynardbusinessalliance.org/spring-artwalk After it was over, I realized that I didn’t post anything on the Town Wide Mall news feed, to herald this event. I wondered, after this great start at creating a news site, am I slipping? I realized that, as I’ve started to post news articles here, a few weeks ago, I’ve focused on events and issues of interest to me, or what I happened to learn about from a variety of sources. Many people I have met, since starting this, have expressed support for what I’ve been doing. But I'm only one person and there is so much going on in Maynard! I can only post just so much information on a regular basis; how can I possibly keep up with all that's going on? The answer is, I don't have to! All I have to do is provide the links to other web sites, already being maintained by other people, to help people find what they are looking for. History & Intent:
I believe that the future lies in sharing, networking, and collaborating to support and enhance life on the local level. To make that work, it's our job to link up with each other, so that each can refer to the others in a true “web like” fashion. I designed this web site for two reasons: • To provide a list of community groups, as suggested to me by David Mark, back in 2022 • To create a news feed, something I felt a need for, myself. I have begun the news feed, and you are reading it here. The list of community groups is still a work in progress, but I will have it ready soon. I am designing it to be a “living document,” continuously updated as groups form or change (or cease), as people join or move on, as web sites are created, and so forth. Unlike a newspaper printed on paper, this web site allows me to utilize any media that seems appropriate for the content, be it text, sound, photos, or video. A printed newspaper cannot do that. However, one drawback is that people without good access to high speed data, and the understanding of how to use it, are at a disadvantage. Here is where a new idea in networking might come in. People with high speed internet access might print out selected news or information on paper to give to their neighbors who don't have any. Right now, this is just an idea, suggested to me by Denise, whom I know through ArtSpace. There are questions to be answered, of course, such as how can we help people match up with each other for such a service? How might we help the people doing the printing to cover their expenses (paper, ink, printer maintenance, and their time)? We're open to suggestions. by Glenn C. Koenig, webmaster at Town Wide Mall Maynard, MA - Approximately 25 residents attended a meeting at 7 PM Wednesday evening, hosted by the town's Green Meadow School Building Committee. The town is proposing to replace the existing school building, Maynard's only elementary school, with an entirely new building, funded partly by the state. The purpose of the meeting was to review the Schematic Design document, prepared for the project (to submit for state funding), answer questions, and gather input from the public. Members of the committee, representatives from Mount Vernon Group Architects, as well as the school's principals were all on hand to join in the presentation. Details of that document are available on the Project's web site: https://www.maynard.k12.ma.us/o/green-meadow-school/page/gm-building-project-information A representative of WAVM was there with a video camera to record the meeting for later posting on their web site: https://www.youtube.com/@WAVMproductions/videos
One member of the public commented that, in the long run, a heat pump system would actually cost the town less than any other option, even though the initial equipment cost would be slightly higher. She cited statistics from the Schematic Design document itself. The break-even point, she contended, would vary based on the amount of rebates obtained, but regardless, it would occur well before the end of the lifespan of the building. Once the meeting was adjourned, the school's Principal led a tour through the current building for those interested. The group looked at representative sample of classrooms and other areas, making a full circuit of the hallways, many of which slope up or down in the building's most recent addition. We were told that this was done originally to avoid blasting to demolish the ledge (solid rock outcroppings) beneath those portions of the building. === Comment === In the interest of full disclosure, I was at this meeting in two capacities: As a reporter and as an interested citizen. I have done my best to write the above report as objectively as possible, but of course, there were way too many comments and points made to detail them all here. While at the meeting, I made a number of observations and had some thoughts regarding what we're facing overall. The setup: • I was disappointed that the sound system was not employed. I saw loudspeakers mounted in the room, but I do not know why they were not in use. There were no microphones present and there were refrigerators on one side of the room making significant noise. If you view some of the video posted above, you may get some idea of how hard it was to hear the presenters. It was even more difficult to hear the questions asked by those attending. The presenters did attempt to repeat the questions asked, but on occasion didn't remember to do so. • The screen used by the presenters was much too small for the fine detail on most of the slides, many of which were taken directly from the document itself, with text much too small for audience projection. Most people could not read them from where they were sitting; some people had to interrupt to ask the presenters read some content to them. Attendees were invited to access the document online, after the meeting, in order to see the details they might have missed. • When members of the audience wanted to speak, no one invited them to stand in order to be heard more clearly. I'm not pointing all this out to blame anyone in particular, because I don't know what factors might have contributed to this situation. Sadly, I have experienced similar setups in other towns, and it seems counterproductive when the object is to inform the public and gather their input. It certainly left me straining to hear and view the material. The challenge: • The document being presented and discussed at this meeting is over 1600 pages long. It includes much in the way of detailed technical information. This presents a significant challenge to anyone in town to find the time to adequately understand the material it contains, in order to better decide how the town should proceed. • A significant number of questions could not be answered by the presenters because information is not yet available. Again, this is the document needed to submit to the state in order to obtain the $30 million in state funding. This lack of answers has resulted for a variety of reasons - some government programs and regulations are still in flux and some details cannot be worked out until after a vote to proceed on the project overall takes place - there just aren't the funds available right now, to pay for all the additional research ahead of time. So voters this fall will be asked to trust that those details will be worked out to their satisfaction, after approving funding for the project. The Big Picture: • The classic difficulty faced by many towns is that state funds are often insufficient to help towns maintain and improve school buildings properly over the years, whereas significant grants are available to tear them down and build new ones. This leaves towns with difficult override votes, followed by tax increases that can last for 20 years or more. • An $83 million building project is an incredibly complex undertaking, something that has become increasingly difficult to present to the public who will have to pay for it. We are a far cry from the old wooden schoolhouse with a pot belly stove for heat and chairs in rows, bolted down to the floor. In those days, the public could easily understand what was being built and vote accordingly. Now it's a completely different story. No, I'm not recommending returning to that era, but our government decision making process is still quite similar to what it was back then. We still have meetings and votes, we just have more people, more requirements, more details, and much greater costs involved. We've added telephones, cars, radio, TV, web sites, social media, and cell phones to our lives since those old days, yielding a level of complexity unimaginable back then. It's no wonder that many people feel overwhelmed by government process and opt to let others make decisions for them, for better or worse. The Future: It is human nature to postpone major changes until a crisis occurs. Again and again, I hear recommendations that we become more proactive, instead of reactive. That is, look at where trends are going and start developing plans for alternatives before the crisis is on top of us. We certainly live in times of rapid and profound change, which makes future projections even more daunting. And yet, I think finding at least some time to examine where we're headed is worth it. As our tax funded education systems become more and more expensive over time, just waiting for the crisis doesn't seem like a good idea. If the task of significantly changing the current system just seems impossible, may I suggest we look at how learning is supported in other countries, in other non-public schools, and in various other traditions. Of course, we may not want to just copy what others are doing, but we can certainly learn something and adapt it for our own purposes. Learning is a life long endeavor, after all, not just for those in school. § § § Note: If you discover any errors or factual inaccuracies in my reporting, please click once on the headline of the news story in question, then scroll down to the comment box and fill it in. I will endeavor to make changes as necessary.
by Glenn C. Koenig, webmaster at Town Wide Mall I plan to attend the building committee meeting this evening to see how things play out. There is a controversy regarding the HVAC (Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning) system proposed for the building to be built to replace the existing school.
The meeting is tonight at 7:00 PM at the Green Meadow School, 5 Tiger Drive, in the cafeteria. by Glenn C. Koenig, webmaster at Town Wide Mall Maynard, MA - A local volunteer group, Trail of Flowers, met outdoors in the rain, yesterday at 4:30 PM to dedicate a new public park on the property of the former Marble Farm. The park is located in Northeast Maynard, adjacent to the Assabet River Rail Trail, just short of the border with Acton (right next to the intersection of Acton Street and route 27). A full report of the event, posted by David Mark, a principal member of the group, is posted here: http://www.maynardlifeoutdoors.com/ The story on that web page starts out with the history of the farm at the site, but details and photographs of the event yesterday can be found by scrolling down to the break entitled "New Content." === Editorial === Two things come to mind related to this story:
First, the culmination of the work done to create this park is testament to the power and effectiveness of this group. This serves as just one example of the many community groups that work for the betterment of the Town, and of everyone who lives in the area, with either minimal or no public financial support. If you look carefully at the group photograph (shown on the linked website, above), you may notice that certain key public officials attended to help celebrate the event, lending further support to projects such as this. Second, a park such as this one stands in contrast to our "mentally busy" world of information overload, increased "screen time" (for people of all ages, not just children and youth), and addictive social media platforms. True, this very site, Town Wide Mall, is yet another screen to view (we don't have the means to publish this as a conventional newspaper), but research shows that both mental and physical health and well being are enhanced by spending time outdoors, close to nature, and without hurry. After all, there is nothing pressing to do in the park itself besides strolling around, reading the few bits of information posted there, or just sitting to enjoy the surroundings. In this time of increasing stress, despondency, or worse, we encourage you, dear reader, to find some time, make your way up the Assabet Rail Trail to this location, and just stop there for a few minutes or more. Perhaps let your mind just drink in the surroundings. Yes, the traffic on route 27 can be a bit busy during some hours of the day, but it's possible to find times where the area is more peaceful. In our view, resources such as this represent true access to "health care" - perhaps lessening the need for medical care, later on. by Glenn C. Koenig, webmaster at Town Wide Mall
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November 2025
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