The Upper Falls News
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.  If you have any upcoming events, activities, news or stories related to Upper Falls just send them to info@UpperFallsNews.org and we'll include them in the next newsletter.

Upper Falls Trivia - For many in Newton, Dunn-Gharin's is one of Upper Falls best known landmarks.  Where did the name Dunn-Gharin's come from?

More Echo Bridge Music - Last issue we featured a musician who used the bridge for its natural echo.  The bridge also inspired a local band called Echo Bridge Bluegrass who were together for twelve years of bluegrass music from deep in the hills of Newton Upper Falls.   Here’s their tribute to Echo Bridge.  The band featured Mark Bridger, one of our newly elected members of the Upper Falls Area Council, on mandolin and vocals .... and he wrote the song

Starting Their Day With Fun! - Rather than start their day in a classroom, for the next twelve weeks, a number of Upper Falls kids will start their day with an hour of fun.  Local resident and Countryside parent Jane Taylor has organized the new "BOKS" program at Countryside.   BOKS is an hour long before-school program for fun, games, and exercise.  The program has been spreading school by school across the country.  Jane heard about it and brought it to Countryside.  She says "it's a great way to make sure kids get the exercise they all need ... and the kids love it".  Upper Falls students Isabel Taylor, Freddie Taylor, Cleo Whitney, Asa Whitney, Colum Donovan along with 35 other Countryside students have signed up for the program and are having fun while the rest of us are still looking for the homework and running to the school bus in the morning.

Bend the Mayor's Ear - Mayor Warren will be at Dunn-Gaherin's restaurant (344 Elliot St) on the evening of April 11 as part of the "Mayor's Night Out" series of village stops.  He's here to listen to the neighborhood so come speak to the mayor about any city issue that's on your mind.  To schedule an appointment, call the mayor's office at 617-796-1110, or email agoldman@newtonma.gov.  In an effort to accommodate as many people as possible, appointments will be kept to approximately 10 minutes each.

Opening Day in Upper Falls - Tom O'Shaugnessy at the Variety Store has been a lifelong Red Sox fan.  To celebrate the Sox's home opener next Friday (4/14), he'll be selling "Tommy Ball Dogs" at the Upper Falls Variety.  He says they'll be just as good as a hotdog you'd get at Fenway.  If it goes well, he's threatening to paint his back wall green and recruit a local "Wally the Green Monster" character.  Can crackerjacks, beer and helmet day be far behind?

Upper Falls Area Council - The Upper Falls Area Council is your voice to the city.  Their next meeting is on Thursday, April 12 at 7pm at the Emerson Community Center on Pettee St.   This month's agenda includes: Greenway project status, condition of Emerson parking lot, NewtonSERVES, Post Office update, and various street issues (Indiana Terrace parking, Oak/Christina traffic light, Elliot, Pettee, and Tamarac) - If you have ideas, concerns, or questions about anything else happening in the village, send an email to the council, come to the meeting, or both.

Clean the Green ! - Every year Newton organizes an army of volunteers on a single day for a wide variety of worthwhile projects around the city - NewtonSERVES.  This year our neighborhood project is a big cleanup of the future Upper Falls Greenway trail on Saturday April 29. The new Greenway bike path won't be built until next spring but in the meantime, with your help, we can make the path usable and passable today.  We plan to remove litter, clear brush, remove saplings and make the trail attractive and accessible today.  We can use all the help we can get.  For more information on the Greenway cleanup or to sign up, click here.  Special thanks to Upper Fall'er Jim Lerner for putting this project together.

Dam(n) Construction at Hemlock Gorge - The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is about to start rebuilding the small “sluiceway” dam in Hemlock Gorge by the corner of Ellis St and the Rt. 9 exit.  They plan to block off that whole area with a fence in the coming days for the duration of construction. The dam in question is in poor shape and has been crumbling and leaking for a while now.

The plan is to drop a portable dam a short distance upstream and divert most of the water over the larger horseshoe dam by the Rt. 9 exit during the construction.  The whole project won’t be completed until mid or end of July.

Those Old Tracks - Upper Falls resident Jerry Reilly has been writing an occasional neighborhood column for the Newton Patch.  Here's his latest column about the history of the railroad tracks that run through Upper Falls.

Spread The Word - Our goal is to collect email addresses from every resident of Upper Falls as well as anyone else who's interested in the village.  Please help spread the word and urge your friends, family and neighbors to sign up for The Upper Fall News.

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.

Trivia Answer -  In the Irish language, "dun" (or dunn) means "fort".  All over Ireland there are place names beginning with "dun" - e.g. Dun Laogherie, Dundalk, Dunmore.  So translating from Irish to English, Dunn-Gharin's means "Fort of Gaharin".  While all of this is true it actually has absolutely nothing to do with the etymology of Dunn-Gaharin's. Our much loved local restaurant and pub is owned by Robert Dunn and Seana Gaharin.  They quite rightly believed that Dunn-Gaharin's was a way better name than Ro-Sean's.

By the way, it's not too late to sponsor Seana's Boston Marathon run.  She's raising money for Project Hope.  Seana's a great neighbor and is always willing to pitch in and help out with every Upper Falls activity or project.  This is a great way to thank her .... or if you'd rather, just go have a pint or a dinner at Dunn-Gaharin's.