February 25, 2015 — Wanting and needing to spend more time with her family, and less  time as a salon owner, inspired Ann-Michele Dragsbaek to find a solution. She has sold her salon  to Rosemarie Cugini Walsh, but will continue as a hairdresser with her own chair in the same location, which is now called the Uptown Salon & Color Studio.

      And at the same time, Rosemarie was looking to bring her involvement to the next level as a salon owner. 

     "It was fateful that we both got what we wanted," she said.

     "What I bring to the table is another level as a colorist," she said. 

      Rosemarie worked at MG Salon and Spa in Medway for 10 years of her career, after having worked for hair color companies Goldwell and KAO, teaching other stylists in the profession.

         "I am an American Board Certified Colorist," she added, saying that there is room for growth and opportunity at Uptown Salon.

         "We have a chair to fill for an enthusiastic and talented stylist who would love to continue to perfect their craft."

Rob White
Caribou, ME

February 25, 2015

Jean Scarlata, who retired this past fall, was on hand as the Selectman honored, Louie Mongiat, who retired after 46 years of service to the town. Louie started with the Highway Department in 1968. He moved over to the water department and also was on call for emergencies for the sewer department.

Louie also worked many years as an on-call Firefighter. He truly embodied the spirit of helping out any and all departments and any citizen he encountered. He was a member of the Marathon Committee and was a prominent figure involved in the painting of the starting line each year.

Louie took over the duties of his late friend, Cookie Kumlin, and made sure the Doughboy Statue and the war veterans memorials were taken care of each year. Louie is best known as the guy who ”Knows where everything is”. If you need to know where a pipe is buried, where a drain discharges to, or where a rarely used spare part was, you asked. Louie and he always knew.

His Co-Workers wished him the best of luck and his union members presented him with custom DPW jacket. Louie plans to remain active in his bowling league and he still stops by to visit at the Wood Street garage.

~ Eric Carty

Congratulations go out to the Hopkinton High Cheerleaders for winning their fourth TVL title in a row (no other Hopkinton Hiller Cheer team has ever accomplish this feat).
This season has been especially difficult for the Hopkinton cheerleaders for a couple of reasons. All this snow has forced schedule changes and missed practices. Also, several injuries have forced teammates to the sidelines. Still, they’ve been able to overcome all these obstacles and continue their winning ways.
One thing this team is especially proud of this season is receiving the TVL Sportsmanship Award. The Hiller Cheerleaders , and Hopkinton Hiller sports in general, hold this particular awarded in high regard. The combination of humility, hard work, and the spirit of winning are paramount, and have always been essential to the success of this team. A special thanks for Eric Karjel for his support. He was on hand to award the girls the TVL First Place Trophy and the Sportsmanship Plaque.
It has been a difficult year; however, because of the inner strength of this team, they have been able to overcome all the challenges before them. They continue to accomplish their winning tradition and exhibit Hiller pride. They will now move on to the regional competition this coming weekend. Please join us and support this wonderful group of young women at:

MSSAA 2015 Winter Cheerleading South Regionals
Whitman Hansen High School 600 Franklin Street, Whitman MA.
March 1 2014 Competition starts at 2:00 PM

February 24, 2015 — Last night the Planning Board held a Public Hearing to receive input on several zoning suggestions for Town Meeting Articles, but two of the proposals drew the most attention..
        One, brought forward by developer Steven Zieff (Photo, left) and home builder Finley Perry (Right), would add up to 375 "multi-family dwellings" and buildings as tall as 100 feet, in a new district called the Crossroads Redevelopment District.  Mr. Perry, a homebuilder, is the former Chairman of the Land Use Study Committee, who helped pave the way for the current Legacy Farms Development, for which his partner in this endeavor, Steven Zieff, was the Project Manager.

          Selectman John Coutinho, an enthusiastic  supporter of growth, spoke as a member  of the Zoning Advisory Committee, which first heard the proposal. He advocated for the development, saying the zoning changes needed to be in place so the developers "would know what to put there."

         "375 units. That's going to be a huge impact on our town, our schools... we haven't solved the school situation from 2000, and it's 2015. We are going to have such a burden on our schools," said Jackie Potenzone.

          Cliff Kistner, who owns a piece of land across from the Golden Spoon, which recently sold for $1.7 million, posed many questions about the project, but was firm about one thing.

          "If we are pulling more residents in, we're not solving a problem, we're creating a problem. And then we'll say it's too late." He said the area is already zoned commercially, but the residential component would be problematic.

           "I don't believe in any aspect that this is right for the town of Hopkinton at this time."

           One attendee said in the hallway after the hearing, "That project is dead in the water." However, at the end of the meeting, the board did give the proponents a laundry list  of things that could help gain their support.

           The big winner of the evening was Roy MacDowell, Jr., who brought a revised plan to the board to swap 200,000 square feet of commercially zoned land and reduce the amount of single family homes in Legacy Farms North from 50 to 15, in exchange for a change in the Host Community Agreement that would allow 180 Age restricted homes. Only Planning Board member Frank D'Urso spoke against the change, saying that the deal was made at Town Meeting, and that they should be made to comply with it.

         But another member explained that business can change over time, and that what was going on on 2007 has changed a lot today. When Mr. MacDowell was proposing 450,000 square feet of commercial development in 2007, another company, Taurus New England, said that there would not be as much interest in commercial, and so their proposal at the time offered substantially less commercial space, which is more like today's proposal from Mr. MacDowell.

           Mr. MacDowell cited $1.8 million in payments to the town for trails, the Downtown and public safety, as well as over $15 million in net positive fiscal benefits over ten years.

February 22, 2015 — The "before" of 30-34 Main Street is the background for this photo of the newly erected sign showing the finished restoration of the building alongside the one to be built on the empty lot, by Kathy and Greg Mazur. It is appropriately named Central Place, a nod to the historical building  that stood there before its demolition a few years ago, a 19th Century-looking structure that was an inn called the Central House. On the ground level was a bar called the Tap Room that wrapped around a small package store  that also had frontage on Main Street. A historical Photo is below.

February 22, 2015 — An individual called to report this pickup truck off of the road, a truck, the caller said, that was travelling in the opposite direction prior to the crash. The driver was taken into custody following field sobriety tests performed above by Officer Arthur Schofield this afternoon.

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by Robert Falcione

February 21, 2015— It finally happened, the purchase of a Hopkinton landmark, and the end of an era. The Golden Spoon Restaurant was  sold yesterday by  owner Bill Morgan to businessman Richard Landry, who wants to develop the property, for $1,701,197.48. Mr. Landry, who attended the several Planning Board  meetings that preceded  the sale, has shown a Starbucks and a Unibank with a drive-thru as his two anchor businesses on his drawings. The current building will be demolished. As part of the development plan, the owner will give up a strip of land to accommodate a future right turn lane onto Lumber Street.

        The Spoon was started in 1981 by Jeanne and Fred Rousseau, who ran it for 20 years. Then, daughter Michelle and husband Tom Fillingim took over the reigns until Monica and Bill Morgan bought the business in 2001. The couple, parents of two children going through the Hopkinton school system, made the place more of a restaurant, than a coffee and sandwich shop, and offered short-order breakfast and fast, low-priced meals for lunch.

        Most recently, the Spoon offered dinners in the evenings, beginning with $3.99 fish and chips one night, $6.99 chicken dinner another night; and fresh haddock every night for $9.99, "...that you can pay $25 for elsewhere." Their claim to fame, which Mr. Morgan says he will repeat elsewhere before the year is up, is fresh seafood. He worked at Capt. Marden's for ten years, and since purchasing the restaurant, on most days of the week, a Capt. Marden reefer could be seen delivering the daily catch to the The Spoon.

        "We cook to order," said Mr. Morgan in an interview this afternoon. 

        "The standard has risen in the knowledge base of the consumer when it comes to seafood. They want it fresh, and they know when it is fresh. People are more aware," he said.

        Mr. Morgan's wife Monica passed  away in 2012, a few months after the original owner, Fred Rousseau passed away. Both, he said, were pretty essential to helping him in the business, although other staff did help pick up the slack. A lot has happened, he said.

         "But a lot of it has been great. I'd like to replicate the hometown feel that we've had. It's a great business. It's a great culture. And we'll see if we can improve on anything that needs improving."

         Mr. Morgan plans to reopen the Golden Spoon in a new location across Lumber Street in a building to be built by Paul Mastroianni, he said, before the end of 2015.

NOTE: The Spoon will close on March 1, 2015.   

February 20, 2015 — Builder Finley Perry and developer Steven Zeiff, calling their project for Elmwood Park "Crossroads" are asking the Planning Board to endorse their Article for rezoning at May Town Meeting. Please open the Planning Board Agenda in the link below and learn exactly where it is going.

       From the Planning Board Agenda for Monday, February 23, 2015: 

"The Crossroads Redevelopment District (CRD) includes dimensional requirements for lots and structures, including a maximum floor area ratio, pervious surface area, and three building height zones with maximum heights ranging from 25 to 100 feet. New uses would be permitted, including up to 375 multifamily dwelling units."

       The board will hold a Public Hearing on Monday February 23, 2015 at 7:30 pm to entertain supporting or not supporting this proposal and several other several changes to the Hopkinton zoning bylaws and map.

February 20, 2015 — Water Fresh Farm owner Jeff Barton and barista Karen Deiana are enthused about the $1 hot dogs they are offering as part of the Water Fresh Farm Farm family tradition.

     "Happy Pitchers and Catchers Day, which is the traditional “first day of spring” in my family.  We are going to celebrate the beginning of Spring Training with $1 hot dogs on Saturday and  Sunday," says Mr. Barton.