For anyone driving down Boston Road during the past week or so, there's been a an unexpected development: Eric's is now gone. What happened? Well, you asked Patch, and we found an answer. Recently, the first Eric's, down in Reading, was sold, along with the name "Eric's." So, the Eric's here in Westford reverted to Drew Gardens, a name purchased by Eric's owner Tom Goddard when he purchased the property from Drew Farms about 12 years ago. All this time, Goddard owned the Drew Gardens name, but didn't use it according to staff we talked to at Eric's, now Drew Gardens. And, in case you didn't…
Yesterday afternoon, Patch doublechecked with the Westford Fire Department for what happened at Tuesday's Board of Selectmen meeting versus the First Article 30 Board of Selectmen meeting, and here's what we were able to confirm. Before both meetings, the upper floor and lower floor of town hall were at, or beyond capacity (approximately 150 people). According to Fire Department officials, the first floor was at capacity at approximately 6:40 p.m., but there were fewer people on the first floor than the Article 30 meeting. Once capacity was met, the only people allowed to move from the …
It’s a question we get asked a lot: “How do I submit a Letter to the Editor?” Well, there are two ways. 1. As a local voices column, also known as a blog post. Submitting a Letter to the Editor that way is easy, and.... It will be approved immediately and instantly available through search engines like Google and through the search function here on Patch. We'll aim to put your letters into the "Top 4" slots ASAP. Please note though that we prefer to do this with either Westford residents, those who work in or represent Westford, or those who are talking about a Westford-specific topic. All …
One reader told us that they love the Westford Police Logs here in the Patch, but were curious how many arrests Westford Police officers made in 2012. The answer? 149. You can see it for yourself, the Westford Police Department puts all of their logs online at the town website, just go to Public Safety, then Police Department then Police Activity Log. On Westford's logs, all arrest reports have a name that uses the last two numbers of the year, the number that arrest was during the year and "AR". For example, the details with the 149th arrest of 2012 can be requested by asking for "12-149-…
You know the old saying "Fall back, spring forward." Well, it's almost time to spring forward. We received a reader question on the date Daylight Saving begins this year. Well, you ask, Patch answers. This year we move the clocks overnight on Sunday, March 10. Don't forget to move your clocks ahead one hour before going to bed Saturday night (Don't worry, we'll remind you again). Officially Daylight Saving is 2 a.m. on Sunday. Yes, moving the clocks ahead does mean we all lose an hour of sleep, but in return it will be light later in the day.
One thing that has been continually discussed over the past year in Westford is how much the School Department is pinching pennies when it comes to per-pupil costs and teacher salaries. We checked out the 2010-11 overall statistics from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and here's what we found. Out of the 328 districts in the state, Westford ranked 278 in per-pupil expenditures, approximately three times less than #1 (Provincetown) and approximately $2,000 per-pupil more than #328 (Shirley). In terms of teachers' salaries, Westford was #147, about $22,000 a…
Neither rain, not sleet...except for blizzards. Westford residents be wondering if there'll be any new mail in your mailbox today (that is, if you can even make it to your mailbox, with all this snow.) The answer is that mail service in all of New England — not just Massachusetts — has been suspended, according to the Huffington Post. The ban extends throughout all six New England states. The unusual decision was made due to safety concerns, according to Postal Service spokeswoman Christine Dugas. The decision came after over two feet of snow falling throughout much of New England made many…
You've probably heard occasional—but perhaps not frequent—references to this winter storm as "Nemo." While it makes for some good jokes about that cute little orange fish, Nemo is not the brainchild of the Disney Corporation, but rather, a pre-determined name The Weather Channel gave to this latest storm. If you missed it: The Weather Channel in November announced it would name "noteworthy winter storms" in the 2012-2013 winter season. Sure, snowstorms have been informally named after the fact (remember Snowtober?) This is the first season, however, that The Weather Channel is naming them as …
Last Friday, an astute Westford Patch reader noticed some SCUBA divers at the bridge on Depot Street next to Stony Brook Acres and the East Boston Camps. Here at Westford Patch, our initial impulse was to assume the SCUBA divers were international secret agents looking for F-650 dump truck, but we watch too many James Bond movies. In reality, the SCUBA divers were part of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation's bridge inspection unit, performing a normal bi-annual inspection of the bridge.
Awhile back we got a question from a reader asking how fast the speed limit was in that stretch of Carlisle Road between the Jack Walsh ballfields and the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail, close to the proposed fire station. While there are signs saying it's 30 miles per hour up at the corner Powers and Concord and Old Lowell and Carlisle, when Concord and Carlisle merge into one road near Jack Walsh, the only sign nearby is one saying "slow." (pictured) We searched and we searched for the speed limit on that stretch of road, but it was right under our nose in a state law we reported on over a year…
In this week's Patch Answers, we have a question from a reader wondering what is up with that construction near the corner of Littleton and South Chelmsford Road. We want to apologize for being slightly misleading, there's a senior living community being built just behind the trees you can see from the road but that's not what you're seeing when you're driving by. According to town officials, that construction immediately on the road is a treatment facility and leetching field for Tech Park East, the row of high tech office buildings on Technology Park Drive like Goodrich, Juniper Networks…
Grown Ups 2 came to Merrill’s Quarry on the Westford/Tyngsboro line on Sunday for a week of shooting, and that week ends today. The cast and crew of the film will be returning to the North Shore for additional scenes, but the question lingers as to why Westford was chosen for filming. Several Westford Patch readers have asked us this, and according to site manager Mark Fitzgerald the answer was simple: it’s the closest real life location to what director Dennis Dugan saw in his head when he needed a quarry in Massachusetts. “We just got a script with a scene that says ‘quarry’, so we went …
Today’s “You Asked, Patch Answers” address a question surrounding the busiest intersection in town, Minot’s Corner. However, the question isn’t about traffic at the corner of Littleton, Boston and Carlisle Roads, but who exactly Minot was. If one looks closely while making a right hand turn off Exit 32, they can see the answer, but we can help out those who don’t feel like risking their life at that tricky intersection to search for the small plaque in front of the Mobil on the Run. Minot refers to the Minot family, especially Capt. Jonathan Minot. Jonathan wasn’t the first to live in the …
Recently a Westford Patch reader saw that all the gas prices, including correlations between different kinds of unleaded gas seemed to be closely tied to other gas stations nearby. They wondered why that was, and after some research, here's what we found out after talking to a few local gas station managers. Ultimately, determination of gas prices in Westford has very little to do with Westford itself. While it varies slightly from company to company, people at the corporate level give station managers a baseline price and then ask for a set of criteria to determine the price that will …
Hello Westford! Today we combine three answers to questions from Westford Patch readers about a single topic, one of the biggest topics of discussion in town right now: Cornerstone Square. #1. Will there be outdoor seating for restaurants at Cornerstone? Yes, currently all restaurants are expected to have outdoor seating capacity. A special dispensation from state laws regarding town liquor license quotas has also been brought into the Massachusetts State Legislature just for Cornerstone restaurants. #2. Will there be a new traffic light due to Cornerstone? Yes, the new traffic light will…
Anyone living in Westford during the late 80s or the 90s fondly remembers Cinder, the dalmatian who became mascot of the Westford Fire Department. From welcoming visitors to the Fire Department to representing fire fighters in each year's Apple Blossom parade to teaching children how to stop,drop and roll, Cinder was perhaps the greatest non-human celebrity that Westford has ever known. But once Westford Patch reader has asked us where Cinder came from originally. The answer comes from Ellen Harde's book "The True Story of Cinder, the Westford Fire Dog", as told by George Fletcher, former …
Every year after the Apple Blossom Parade, judges award the coveted Roudenbowl trophy to that year's best float. The J.V. Fletcher Library won for the third year in a row thanks to their book carousel dancing routine, but upon recieving the award, a question arose. Previous winners are noted on the base of the trophy and there was some confusion over the entry in 1996. That year's prize went to a joint float done by Westford Against Substance Abuse (WASA), Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD) and a group called the WCTCP. No one could remember what the WCTCP was, so we here at Patch found …
For anyone driving down Westford roads, it's easy to forget just how many stonewalls there are in town. There are so many that they can blend into the landscape and almost seem to vanish until honing in on them, at which point it becomes apparent how ubiquitous they are. One Westford Patch reader had this revelation recent and asked us why there are so many stone walls in Westford. The answer is fairly simple, since ancient times, stonewalls have been used for boundary demarcation. In the United Kingdom and parts of the U.S that were settled prior to independence, such as Massachusetts, a …
Today's question comes from a reader that drives up and down Carlisle Road all the time and wondered just who the heck this Jack Walsh guy was that they named the Jack Walsh Field after. Well, that reader's in luck. According to Bob Oliphant's Westford Gazetteer, Jack Walsh was an instrumental member of the Westford Recreation Commission and helped found the Westford Soccer League in 1976. Walsh also was a founder for the Westford Youth Track Program, served on the board of directors for the Westford Hockey League, and volunteered for the Westford Youth Basketball League (now known as the …
Hello Westford, and welcome to our latest edition of "You Asked, Patch Answers." Each week we attempt to answer a question from our readers, and today's question refers to those two buildings going up along Boston Road at the future Cornerstone Plaza. More specifically, the reader asked what they were going to be once finished. The answer? The one next to Mobil on the Run is going to be a Panera Bread, and the one near 495 is a Burton's Grill. At the last Planning Board meeting, Panera petitioned for a sign variance that would bring signage pointing toward the Mobil and Boston Road. The …
