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 Trivia - What other major Upper Falls infrastructure project was related to the building of Echo Bridge?

Wildlife Watch - Last issue, Margaret Alexander asked about how common deers are on the streets of Upper Falls, after seeing one strolling down Rockland Place.   Maristela, another Rockland Place resident wrote  "At the end of the summer when I was putting the dogs out in the morning, there was a deer in our front yard, under an 'ancient' beech tree. Since neither of us was 'expecting' one another, we both got spooked. He ran toward the street and I tried to 'run' after it. It went down on Rockland Place., where we live, toward High St."  It's beginning to sound like Rockland Place has a regular visitor.

A few blocks away on Chestnut St, Lee and Jean Fisher said "Yes, we also saw a deer in our side yard on Tuesday morning... he/she may have been confused by the storm.  Not the first time, but very rare"

Rockland Place+ - the deer spotting Margaret (above) has also just started a new neighborhood email list for the area of Upper Falls near Rockland Place.  Said Margaret, "In the part of Newton Center that we lived in before we moved to Upper Falls, folks on two or three streets had gotten together and set up a group page (this one on Google) to be able to share very, very local information--borrowing a table for a party, lost gloves, holes in the street, pet sitting suggestions. no politics or personal comments about folks allowed.  We started this off probably in the mid-80s as a simple email list and it grew to its own group of about 50 or so addresses by the time we left."

So if you live near Rockland Place (see map) and would like to join the group, click here.  We here at the Upper Falls News love the idea and just joined the Rockland Place+ group ourselves.  We are especially delighted that this new hyper-local newsgroup has just elevated the Upper Falls News to being the "big media" of Upper Falls.

Aldermen Vote Yes on Greenway - the Board of Aldermen's Public Facilities Committee voted unanimously this week to allow the city to enter into a 99 year lease with the MBTA for the Upper Falls Greenway trail/park.  Next up in the coming weeks, is a vote by the Board's Finance Committee regarding an environmental insurance policy, followed by a vote of the full Board of Aldermen.  After that, the city will be ready to sign the lease for the property.

Highlands Link - Here's a way we could connect the Upper Falls Greenway right into Newton Highland.

More on Church Bells - Charles Benedict writes "I remember when the bells at Mary Immaculate of Lourdes Church tower rang on the hour, every hour, night and day. When they were restored a few years ago, they only rang until nine or ten at night and then resumed in the morning, around six, (more recently they also rang the "Angeles") Why not ask the Pastor to have them ring the hour at all of the hours. There was something comforting (and reliable) about hearing the clock bells ring, whether up with a sick child or just getting ready for work."

It turns out that there's a city ordinance that limits the bell ringing to 9AM to 9PM.  Also, after only recently getting the bells ringing after a long absence, the recent storm led to water problems and the bells are broken again.  They hope to get them fixed again as soon as possible.

Indiana Terrace - On Thursday, November 15, Newton’s Traffic Council will be hearing a request to introduce resident-only parking on weekdays on Indiana Terrace. The meeting begins at 7:00 PM in City Hall, Room 222.

Area Council Meeting - Also on Thursday, November 15, the Upper Falls Area Council will be holding its November meeting at Emerson Community Center starting at 7:00PM.  The agenda can be found here.

Our Friends Across the River - Most everyone in Upper Falls considers Hemlock Gorge to be "our park".  It's easy to forget that the park is as much in Needham as it is in Upper Falls.  Here's an article from the Needham Times about the park cleanup a few weeks ago.  It features Upper Falls alderman Brian Yates and lots of photos of the hard working crew, particularly Jim Lerner who merited two photos.  He was working twice as hard as the rest of us.

Recycling History - Rebecca Hill writes, "Where did the partial millstone come from that is sitting down in the ditch below the piano factory/Paulette's on Oak Street/Needham street intersection?  My husband asked someone in the building if he could have it and haul it away, but they told him no.  I am curious if it is really old or not.  If so, maybe it could be moved to the intersection of Oak and Chestnut and be repurposed as a bench or something!"

Does anyone have any more information or interest in this interesting artifact of Upper Falls history?

Did you know ... ? There are bugs living in your eyebrows!.  "Did you know ...?"  features an interesting and random fact every issue, collected by ten year old Upper Falls resident Jayla Reilly.

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.

Trivia Answer - The Newton and Boston Street Railway built a streetcar line connecting Newtonville, Newton Center, Newton Highland and Upper Falls.  The line first began running at the end of the summer of 1892.  When Echo Bridge was completed the following spring, the new street car line brought the crowds (up to 5000 a day) to Hemlock Gorge for the amusements and to get a look at the spectacular new bridge.  The street cars ran down High St to Summer St and turned around at the corner of Summer and Chestnut, right across the street from Echo Bridge. - cribbed from Ken Newcomb's "Makers of the Mold - a History of Newton Upper Falls"