The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

Town of Wellesley, holidays schedule 2021-22

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wellesley bell town hall
Wellesley Town Hall bell

The Town of Wellesley will follow a holiday schedule on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Here’s the breakdown:

Wellesley Recycling & Disposal Facility

  • Friday, December 24—closing at noon
  • Saturday, December 25—closed all day
  • Friday, December 31—closing at noon
  • Saturday, January 1—closed all day

The RDF is also closed on Sundays until the spring, so plan accordingly when disposing holiday trash.

Wellesley municipal buildings and offices

  • Thursday, December 23—closing at noon
  • Friday, December 24 —closed all day
  • Thursday, December 30—closing at noon
  • Friday, December 31—closed all day

Buildings and offices will be open for regular business hours on Monday after each holiday.

Wellesley Public Schools break

All school buildings will be closed for winter break on Fri., Dec. 24, 2021.

Classes resume on Mon., Jan. 3, 2022.

Wellesley Free Library and branch libraries

Fri., Dec. 24—closed
Fri., Dec. 25—closed
Fri., Dec. 31—closed
Sat., Jan. 1—closed

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Final paint collection for the season at Wellesley Recyling and Disposal Facility

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Wellesley RDFSafely dispose of your used paint at the Wellesley Recycling and Disposal Facility‘s  (RDF) paint drop-off area on Thursday, October 7, 3pm – 6pm.

The following materials are accepted: interior and exterior latex paint, interior and exterior oil-based alkyd paint, and solidified paint.

Materials that are not accepted are: creosote and turpentine, other solvents, and unmarked containers. These materials may be brought to the RDF on Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day, which is to be announced.

This is the last paint drop-off day for 2021. Paint recycling will resume in spring 2022.

Paint is available for the taking from the shed during regular RDF hours except 3pm – 6pm on scheduled paint drop-off days.

Other methods of paint disposal

Empty cans of paint can be disposed of in the regular household trash.  The empty metal cans cannot be recycled due to the high level of paint contamination.  If a gallon of paint is less than 3/4 full, dry the paint out by mixing it with kitty litter.  Once it is dry, dispose of it with the regular household trash.

Wellesley RDF hours:

Mon. – Wed.: 7am – noon
Thur., Fri., Sat.: 7am – 3:45pm
Sun: 10am – 3pm

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Bring your hazardous household waste and old documents to Wellesley RDF, Sept. 12th

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The Wellesley Recycling and Disposal Facility (RDF) will hold a hazardous household waste collection & document shredding event on Sunday, September 12,  9am – 3pm, at 169 Great Plain Ave.

Wellesley RDF, Hazardous Materials Day

Only Wellesley residents may participate in the event.

Read the complete procedures for Hazardous Household Waste and for Document Shredding.

Accepted hazardous household waste items

[Read more…]

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Happy Labor Day weekend, Wellesley—here’s what’s closed

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Wellesley Town Hall, spring 2021
Wellesley Town Hall, spring 2021

Happy Labor Day weekend, Wellesley. Here’s what’s closed on and around this upcoming Monday, September 6th federal holiday.

Schools —closed on Monday, September 6 and on Tuesday, September 7 for Labor Day and Rosh Hashanah observances. 

The Recycling and Disposal Facility — closed Monday, September 6

Libraries — closed Saturday, September 4 – Monday, September 6

Town Hall and town offices — closed at noon on Friday, September 3 – Monday, September 6
Note: Town Hall summer hours end after Labor Day. Regular hours for the building are Monday through Friday, 8am-5pm. (Schedules vary by department, so check department webpages for the most up-to-date hours.)

Tolles Parsons Center — closed Monday, September 6 (also closed Saturday and Sunday, as usual)

Post offices — closed Monday, September 6

Banks — closed Monday, September 6

Liquor stores — open at owner’s discretion

MBTA  — operating on a Sunday schedule. View all schedules here.

Bars, restaurants, retail — open, regular hours/owner’s discretion

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Hanging out at the Wellesley Recycling and Disposal Facility

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We stop by the Wellesley Recycling and Disposal Facility (RDF), affectionately known around town as “the dump,” on a regular basis ostensibly to keep things tidy in the garage. But our weekly visit is so much more than just a way to dispose of trash and deal with our recyclables. Going to the dump is part chore, part fun. We never know what we’ll find—a discarded rose of sharon, root ball intact, while we’re tossing our yard waste; the very book we need for next month’s book group; or almost the entire contents of our swell office.

Here are a few Wellesley RDF summer pics, just in case you’re away and miss the old place.

Wellesley RDF, books area
Wellesley RDF, books area. The box usually holds notices about town doings, but for the past couple of weeks it’s been repurposed as a natural history display. The feather on the left looks to us  like it came from a turkey. We’re not sure about the one on the right. Same turkey?

 

Wellesley RDF, books area
Wellesley RDF, books area. Move fast if you need to round out your John Grisham collection.

 

Wellesley RDF, chair
This is our most recent find from the Reusables Area, the perfect chair to go into our swell office. We’ve been looking for just such a treasure all summer.

 

Wellesley RDF, Swellesley office
Most of The Swellesley Report’s office decor (formerly known as Our Oldest Son’s Bedroom) has been sourced from the dump. The linen panels, braided rug, mirror, and  chair have all been dragged home by Mrs. Swellesley over the years. Thanks, Wellesley. You all have such good taste in home cast-offs.

There’s always a face palm at the end of the trip. What did we forget to bring this time? Dammit. The food waste. Again. We keep leaving it behind in the freezer. So now there’s officially more garbage in our freezer than consumable food. Oh well. Next week.

Wellesley RDF hours

Monday – Wednesday: 7am-noon
Thursday – Saturday: 7am-3:45pm
Sunday: 10am-3pm

Upcoming RDF event

Wellesley RDF, hazardous materials day

 

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How to safely dispose of your old paint at the Wellesley Recycling & Disposal Facility

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Wellesley RDFSafely dispose of your used paint at the Wellesley Recycling and Disposal Facility‘s  (RDF) paint drop-off area on Thursday, September 2, 3pm – 6pm.

The following materials are accepted: interior and exterior latex paint, interior and exterior oil-based alkyd paint, and solidified paint.

Materials that are not accepted are: creosote and turpentine, other solvents, and unmarked containers. These materials may be brought to the RDF on Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day, which is to be announced.

There will be one more paint drop-off day this year on October 7, 3pm – 6pm, and then paint recycling will resume in spring 2022.

Paint is available for the taking from the shed during regular RDF hours except 3pm – 6pm on scheduled paint drop-off days.

Other methods of paint disposal

Empty cans of paint can be disposed of in the regular household trash.  The empty metal cans cannot be recycled due to the high level of paint contamination.  If a gallon of paint is less than 3/4 full, dry the paint out by mixing it with kitty litter.  Once it is dry, dispose of it with the regular household trash.

Wellesley RDF hours:

Mon. – Wed.: 7am – noon
Thur., Fri., Sat.: 7am – 3:45pm
Sun: 10am – 3pm

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At ease, Wellesley RDF soldier, and thank you for your service

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We always enjoy our adventures to the Wellesley Recycling and Disposal  Facility (RDF) because we never  know what we might find. During a recent foray we noticed something unusual not at the treasure trove that is the Reusables Area, but over at the construction debris pile. There, standing at attention, was a 3-ft. tall statue of a U.S. soldier in combat uniform. The base of the statue reads, “Honor and  Bravery.”

The polyresin-constructed military man was much the worse for the wear, and it seemed obvious that the RDF was his last stop. A online search showed that such statues are easily available in the $100 – $150 range. We imagine this soldier stood proudly out in the elements for a long time before he finally got to the RDF.

At ease, soldier, and thank you for your service.

Wellesley RDF find, Army man
Wellesley RDF find, military man

 

Wellesley RDF find, military man
The base of the statue reads “Honor and Bravery.”

Although the next pic isn’t a dump find, in keeping with the military theme of this post, I’ll share that below are the spent shells from dad’s military funeral seven years ago. A standard part of any military funeral is the ceremonial shooting of three volleys in honor of the deceased. The spent shell casings are then presented to the family.

One year on dad’s birthday Mr. Swellesley and I went out to dinner, and my fortune cookie said, “Courage comes through suffering.” I don’t typically believe in messages from beyond, but this fortune was so accurate that there was no tossing it out with the leftover lo mein. There was only one place for these words—on display with our family’s final reminders that service to country can bring lifelong challenges.

Army shells

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