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. 

Upper Falls Historic Trivia - When/what was the first use of water power from the river in Upper Falls.

Rock Walk in the Park -  The Friends of Hemlock Gorge and the Department of Conservation and Recreation are sponsoring a Geology Walk this Saturday, Nov 2, 1PM -  2PM.  Les Tyrala, a registered geologist, will lead the walk.  You will see recent glacial features as well as the evidence of ancient rugged mountains to the west that discharged river-carried sediments into the area.  You'll see the fish weir on the Charles River as well the Sudbury Aqueduct that runs through the Gorge and Echo Bridge.  To register, or for more information contact Maggi Brown at the DCR.

Politic + Sports at the Emerson - Last night's Politics and Sports night at the Emerson was a big success.  Six candidates for mayor (Ted Hess-Mahan), Alderman At Large (Deb Crossley, Chris Steele, Brian Yates), and School Committee  (Mararet Albright and Andrea Steenstrup) were there.   Lots of questions from both the moderator and the audience were answered and it was a good opportunity to meet the candidates AND THE RED SOX WON THE WORLD SERIES.  This is one serious feather in the cap for the three Area Councils (Highlands, Upper Falls, Waban).  We may have to have them organize another event if the Patriots make it to the Superbowl.

Earn $$$ This Winter, and/or Be a Good Neighbor - Every year, the city puts together lists of neighborhood snow shovelers that are ready, willing and able to move the white stuff.  You can sign up here as either a paid shoveler or a volunteer.  If you're paid, it will be up to you and the home owner to work out the price between you.  If you're a volunteer, you'll be helping out a neighbor that is unable to shovel for themselves.

Herbs & Books - The Little Free Library on the side of the Rockland Place has just added free pick-it-yourself herbs while they last, from now until the frost does them in.  A sign next to the library explains how to find the herbs.  We can't wait to see what Margaret and Mick Alexander come up with next to give away free.  I even heard a rumor that they were giving away free candy to anyone that knocked on their door tonight.

How Can You Tell the Difference? - While walking down Chestnut Street behind a pair of 6th graders this week, I heard the following conversation as they passed the painting of a waiter on the wall of The Biltmore's patio.   "Is that graffiti?"  "No, it's paint".  "How can you tell the difference?" "If it's supposed to be there, it's paint.   If it's not supposed to be there, it's graffiti".

Greenway Construction - After last week's official groundbreaking of the Upper Falls Greenway, the Iron Horse crew has been hard at work pulling up all the tracks.  It looks like all the tracks from Oak St to National Lumber may already have been pulled.  I think once they finish pulling the rest (Oak Street to the river), the next step is to remove all the rails and then begin on the wooden ties.

Did You Know ...that microwave ovens were invented accidentally when a researcher walked past a radar transmitter and the chocolate bar (Mr. Goodbar) in his pocket melted.  Bonus trivia - the original name for the microwave oven was Radarange. "Did you know  ..." features an interesting and random fact every issue, collected by eleven-year-old Upper Falls resident Jayla Reilly.

Did You Know ... that 'Did you Know' editor Jayla Reilly just turned 11 years old last week?

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.

"Upper Falls Historic Trivia" Answer - In 1688 John Clark built a sawmill powered by the river at Upper Falls that ran for over 100 years.  From that first sawmill in 1688 right on into the early 1900's, the river powered all sorts of mills and machinery.   The Echo Bridge Office Park (Chestnut & Elliott) is what remains of the last functioning mill (silk mill) on the river at Upper Falls.