The Upper Falls News is an email newsletter about what's going 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. 

Upper Falls Trivia - How did the police handle hen thieves in Upper Falls in 1885? (answer below)

Party in the Park! - The Friends of Hemlock Gorge will hold their annual Summer Concert and Picnic next Tuesday, Aug 7th from 6PM to dusk in Hemlock Gorge reservation.  Everyone is welcome to this free and fun party.  Bring a picnic supper, a chair or blanket and enjoy the setting along the Charles River.  Kick back to the sounds of a very talented band performing classic rock and originals.  The concert is in the clearing at Hamilton Place in Needham, just over the river on Eliott St.  (Rain date, Wed Aug 8)

MBTA Hands Us a Park - The plan to build the Upper Falls Greenway, the new mile long park/walking trail/bike trail, took a big step forward this month.  The MBTA's Board of Directors voted at their July 11 meeting to proceed with a 99 year lease to the City of Newton for their railroad property that runs through Upper Falls.  It's expected that the signing of the lease should happen relatively quickly.  Once the city has the lease in hand, the planning for the new park can kick into high gear so that we can have a brand new park by next summer.

Not Everyone is Happy - In recent weeks, three residents of the Chestnut Grove Condominiums on Chestnut St expressed their concerns about the plans for the Greenway in the Newton Tab.   While 51 abutters, including many from Chestnut Grove signed the petition in support of the Greenway, these abutters think it's a bad idea.  The Aldermen representing Ward 5 and the Upper Falls Area Council will soon meet with the residents to see if any of their concerns can be assuaged. 

Summer St  - The City of Newton was just allocated it's funding for road construction from the state.  The city published a list of streets it plans on repaving in the coming year.  The only Upper Falls street on the list is Summer St.  That's a good candidate, since it's been torn up and patched multiple times in the last couple of years and is in rough shape. The Upper Falls News staff is particularly excited because the Upper Falls News' massive corporate offices are right around the corner on Spring St and construction has already begun.

Gone Fishin’ – The Newton Upper Falls Area Council will not be meeting this month and will resume their usual third Thursday meeting schedule on September 20.

Braceland Park - The new improved Braceland Park looks pretty close to completion.  The crosswalk, the walkway, benches are built.  The tennis court looks like its nearly done too.

Healing Through Massage - Jane Aransky, one of our Upper Falls neighbors, discovered nearly by accident that massage was one of the few powerful reliefs for people overcome with grief after losing a loved one.  Jane who owns the La Residencia Spa in Upper Falls, was featured recently on Fox News Boston discussing the new not-for-profit organization called Touching the Healing Heart Fund that she recently started.  The organization works with local hospitals, hospices, and senior centers and offers free massages to those who have recently lost a loved one.  She seems to have really hit on a wonderful idea and has been contacted by people around the country interested in spreading the good work she's been doing here in Upper Falls to the rest of the country.   She could use your help to keep this worthwhile program running, so please consider giving a donation if you can.

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 info@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.

Trivia Answer - They shot at them.  "One Friday night recently hen thieves were at work in this village, but so prompt and decisive was the action taken by Officer Purcell that it is doubtful that they will reappear. One was at work under Spear's stables, and as Officer Purcell started off in that direction he dropped his hat and bag in effecting an escape, and as he slunk away in the inky darkness, the officer rushed in Pursuit and fired three times in the hope to bring him down, but in vain, - he had placed too great a distance between himself and the stern arm of the law." - From Ken Newcomb's Makers of the Mold -  a History of Newton Upper Falls