The Upper Falls News is an email newsletter about what's going on in our village.  The Upper Falls News is brought to you by the Upper Falls Area Council but it's intended to cover any and all news in the village. 

                                         *** Craigslist Edition ****

Normally we don't run personal ads in the Upper Falls News but we're making an exception this week.

Multi-Family Yard Sale - Tom O'Shaugnessy at the Variety Store tipped me off to a multi-family yard sale at 121 Oak St this Saturday, May 10 from 10 - 3PM

Upper Falls Apartment Wanted - Bob Burke writes "I have friends in Brighton who are very interested in finding a rental in Newton Upper Falls. Tom and Dawn Sullivan and their 12 year old daughter Chelsea are looking for a nice 2 bedroom apartment for about $1500-1600 a month.  They can get by with one full bathroom. They are big fans of Echo Bridge and Hemlock Gorge.  I told them they wouldn't find a nicer group or people anywhere than the folks in Upper Falls.  If you have any leads, send them to Bob Burke".

Where Am I? - In what unlikely place in the neighborhood can you see this blue fire hydrant? (answer below)



Greenway News - the construction of our new mile long park, the Upper Falls Greenway, continues.  The Iron Horse crew moved across Oak St this week and has been removing the railroad ties from there to the Charles River.   Next up, they'll be digging out and framing the 90 foot long vegetation border behind the Biltmore.  Other great Greenway news is that the plans have been changed for the "Sunset Deck" on the river.  The original plans were for a deck about a 1/3 way across the bridge on the river.   Greenway guy Jim Lerner realized that wouldn't get you out far enough on the bridge for the beautiful view downstream.   Iron Horse and the city agreed that they'll extend the deck out to the halfway point and we'll get that river vista after all.

There's still a lot of moving parts but the official ribbon cutting for the Greenway is tentatively scheduled for Sunday June 29 and it will be a big neighborhood party.  So pencil it into your calendars.

Something's Fishy - While walking down High St my daughter (and retired UF News "Did You Know ..." editor) noticed something fishy,  Here's the story.

Local Business You've Never Heard Of - There's a really interesting business around the corner here in Upper Falls that you've probably never heard of.   At the very end of Chestnut St, at the corner of Linden St there's a garage'y looking building on the edge of a parking lot.   Inside is Hammersmith Studios, "designers of world class artmetal".  They do all sorts of beautiful metal work - historical restoration, hand forging of new pieces.

Tour de Newton - the 2nd annual Tour de Newton will be on Sunday June 15 (Father's Day) starting at 9:30.  The 13 village 20 mile fun ride is a great event for anyone with a bike - kids, adults, occasional riders.  The Upper Falls riders will all start at The Depot Coffee Shop (Chestnut & Oak).  As you work your way around the city, there's a stop every mile or two at the next village.  At each village you're met by local residents who tell you a bit about the village and hand out village badges and refreshments.  Ride the whole 20 mile loop and collect all 13 badges or just ride a portion if you like.  All riders get a Tour de Newton T shirt and are entered into a raffle to win a new bike from International Bicycle.   There are only slots for 500 riders city wide, so sign up for the Tour de Newton today, 

Calendar Helper - For those keeping score, the Upper Falls calendar is rapidly filling up:
  -  Hemlock Gorge Eggcellent Breakfast - TBD
  - Tour de Newton - Sun June 15
  - Feast of the Falls - Sun June 22 
  - Greenway Party/Ribbon Cutting - Sun June 29 (tentative)

Mysterious Utility Work - When the city work crew showed up to run a new water pipe up Spring Street strange things happened.  What do you make of it?

Tarzan on the River - Two weeks ago was NewtonSERVES day, the annual citywide day of volunteer service across the city.  There was a team of about 20 volunteers working in Quinobequin Park.  They were divided into three crews with the Boy Scout volunteers working on cutting/sawing Asian Bittersweet vines.  These vines are a highly invasive species that climb up and encircle trees and eventually uproot and destroy the trees.   At the end of the morning, the Boy Scouts discovered that there was something to like about Asian Bittersweet after all.

'Old School' Trail Signs - Speaking of Quinobequin - a few old style, hand made Quinobequin Trail signs popped up on the trails in recent weeks

Where Are They Now? - Here's a photo of the 5th grade class of the long gone Emerson School from 1961 courtesy of Billy Byrne.  Did you know any of these kids?  Are any of them still in Upper Falls.  Let us know what you know about any of them.

Did You Know .. that the mantis shrimp has sixteen color-receptive cones, which means it can see thirteen more colors than us?"  Did You Know ..." features an interesting and random fact every issue, collected by 6th grade Upper Falls resident Ian Wittler.

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Send Us Your News - If you have any upcoming events, activities, news, trivia, stories, anecdotes or jokes related to Upper Falls just send them to news@UpperFallsNews.org and we'll include them in the next newsletter.  For those who prefer living in the past, back issues of the Upper Falls News are archived at UpperFallsNews.org.

"Where Am I" Answer - The inexplicable blue hydrant is in the woods (photo below).  Just downstream from the westbound entrance ramp to Route 9 at Ellis St is a peninsula between the two branches of the Charles River.  On one side of the peninsula is the main body of the Charles that flows over the Horseshow Dam.  On the other side of the peninsula is the smaller branch of the Charles that flows over the new smaller dam at the bottom of Ellis St.  In between is the peninsula full of woods.  In the middle of the woods is the blue hydrant - reminiscent of the street lamp in the woods of Narnia.

To check it out, you can either walk out on the peninsula from the Rt 9 entrance ramp or even easier, cross under Rt 9 to Quinobequin, climb over the low guard rail and walk down the trail to the bank of the small branch of the river.  Look across the water and you'll see the hydrant in the woods on the other side.

If you know the what/when/why this blue hydrant in the woods, please send us details.