More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.
If your mask collection is due for an upgrade or refresh, be on the lookout in Wellesley Square on Saturday from 11 am to 1pm in front of Wellesley Books.
Elizabeth and Thomas McDonnell and sitter Elizabeth Shapiro will be selling small and large tie-dye masks ($10) they’ve been cranking out in the backyard, with all proceeds to benefit The Foundation for Metrowest to support COVID-19 efforts.
When it comes to how much time they spend planting, weeding, and generally fussing out in the yard, gardeners can be a coy lot. “Oh, I wander through before breakfast, deadhead the roses, pull a few weeds, and that’s pretty much it,” they’ll claim with a straight face.
Gardeners are such liars.
Joyce Hannaford is different. She comes clean right from the get-go. “I’m out here 60 hours a week,” she tells me when I stopped by recently for a tour of her almost quarter-acre property just outside Natick Center. When she copped to that 60 hours, it was the second time in two minutes my jaw had dropped. The first time was when I entered the garden. I wasn’t sure if I’d walked into a painting or a dream.
From the front, the home Joyce and her husband Charlie share looks like your average Natick home that’s maybe better tended than most. The lawn is perfectly edged, the windows sparkle, and there’s not so much as a stray leaf on the brick sidewalk leading up to the front door of the almost 100-year-old, two-story Colonial. But once you go around back, the concept of “average” disappears. This is no ordinary suburban spread.
Color is everywhere you look. A pink clematis vine winds its way up a wooden lattice fence next to a yellow rosebush. The Asiatic lilies look like they’re going to burst any second now, which will make the combination of three neighboring perennials in bloom at the same time complete — the gardener’s trifecta. Further along the path, purple delphiniums tower, leading the eye visually to the red maple tree, and the stacked stone wall behind. On a small stone patio near the detached 2-car garage, an enormous clay pot bursts with pinks, blues, and whites. A light-green galvanized watering can on a battered table completes the sense of a still life.
The garden, divided into seven rooms, is filled with such vignettes. It wasn’t always that way. The Hannafords bought the home in 1999. “It was a dump,” Joyce says. But it was a dump that met the seven criteria she’d demanded of her realtor: “It had to have a wood-burning fireplace; my oriental rug, grandfather clock, and canopy bed had to fit; it had to have garden space; the basement needed to be dry; and I wanted gas heating — no oil tank.”
Boxes checked, the Hannafords closed on the place and got to work. Although Charlie’s supposedly not much of a gardener, while I was there he looked pretty proficient with the extended clippers as he tamed the climbing hydrangea threatening to make a break for it and cover the garage. He’s also had a hand in creating the many stone sculptures scattered throughout the garden, and apparently takes orders from Joyce cheerfully enough. But for the past 21 years it’s been Joyce’s endless passion to experiment with color, form, and combinations. There’s no question that there are over 1,000 perennials in this garden, in various stages of bloom. “There’s always something popping,” the retired personal chef and caterer says.
A member of the Natick Garden Club (the people who design and tend the planters on the bridge over the Walnut St. commuter rail tracks, among other civic projects), Joyce frequently opens up her garden for tours. She also keeps a vegetable garden at the Hartford Street Community Gardens. “I’ve been gardening since I was 3,” she says. “Dad in New Hampshire had a huge vegetable garden. We ate from its bounty right through winter.”
She and Charlie aren’t all work and no play. Their place is made for entertaining. I eye their two-car garage and ask if they keep their vehicles inside. Gardeners are notorious for giving over garage space to gardening tools and equipment. Don’t ask me how I know this. But no. This is Joyce, and she keeps things just so. Charlie opens up the garage and behold, a car occupies one of the two bays. There are also twinkle lights that sparkle on the ceiling, and draperies that can be drawn to hide the workbench and hanging tools. A screen on the same type of track system as the garage door can be pulled down to keep the bugs out. It’s a working garage, but with a flick of the wrist, it’s also a party garage.
I take a few more pictures, then reluctantly leave Eden. Comparisons are unhealthy and all, but personified, my garden looks like a bohemian who’s had a too much absinthe (for details on that hot mess, check out my rack and ruin garden). Personified, Joyce’s garden looks like a top model who has her life together. I vow to make a better effort in my own yard. Truthfully, though, I ‘d rather just be Joyce’s backyard neighbor, who has a view of the garden without having to do all the work.
“Come by anytime,” Joyce calls out, with a wave.
Oh good. I haven’t been cast out of Eden. I’ve been given a chance to return and maybe and learn a few things.
MORE PICTURES:
Wellesley’s local election will take place on Saturday, June 13, 2020. In-person voting for ALL precincts will be held 8am – noon at the Babson College Recreation and Athletic Center, 3 Babson College Dr.
More information here on early voting and how to request a ballot.
Many of the candidates running for office to serve on the Town’s 11 Boards and Committees took the time to answer questions from The Swellesley Report. For your convenience, below is a round-up of all the candidates and a link to their Q&A’s.
This post is sponsored by the Put Wellesley Students First Committee.
The position for moderator is a contested race; vote for not more than one:
Candidate for moderator, Ronald Alexander
Candidate for moderator, Mark Kaplan
The position for Board of Selectmen is a contested race; vote for not more than two:
Candidate for Board of Selectmen, Ronald Alexander
Candidate for Board of Selectmen, Elizabeth Sullivan Woods
Candidate for Board of Selectmen, Thomas Ulfelder
The position for Board of Assessors is an uncontested race; vote for one:
Candidate for Board of Assessors, Stephen Burtt
The position for Board of Health is an uncontested race; vote for one:
Candidate for Board of Health, Shepard Cohen
The position for Library Trustees is an uncontested race; vote for not more than two:
Candidate for Library Trustees, Ann-Mara Lanza
Candidate for Library Trustees, Ann Rappaport
The position for Natural Resources Commission is an uncontested race; vote for not more than two:
Candidate for Natural Resources Commission, Martin Jay McHale
Candidate for Natural Resources Commission, Allison Burson
The position for Planning Board is an uncontested race; vote for one:
Candidate for Planning Board, Thomas Taylor
The position for Board of Public Works (3-year term) is an uncontested race; vote for one:
Candidate for Board of Public Works, 3 years, Jeffrey Wechsler
The position for Board of Public Works, 1-year term, is a contested race; vote for not more than one:
Candidate for Board of Public Works: Thomas Skelly
Candidate for Board of Public Works: Scott Bender
The position for Recreation Commission is an uncontested race; vote for one:
Candidate for Recreation Commission: Nathalie deFontnouvelle
School Committee is a contested race; vote for not more than two:
Candidate for School Committee: Lauren Duprey
Candidate for School Committee: Melissa Martin
Candidate for School Committee: Catherine Mirick
The position for Housing Authority is an uncontested race; vote for one:
Candidate for Housing Authority: Renee Spencer
Do you believe the Town of Wellesley should keep our current 7 neighborhood elementary school model by rebuilding and/or renovating the Hardy, Hunnewell and Upham Elementary Schools, instead of closing one school and redistricting all of our elementary students into 6 schools? Please vote YES or NO. A YES vote would advise the Town of Wellesley to retain our current neighborhood school model by renovating and/or rebuilding the Hardy, Hunnewell and Upham Elementary Schools. A NO vote would advise the Town of Wellesley to close either Hardy Elementary School or Upham Elementary School, without voter input on which school to close, and to re-district all our town’s elementary students into six schools.
As the COVID-19 crisis emerged, the Wellesley Housing Authority’s (WHA) first concern—beyond health-related ones—was about residents’ rent calculations.
“We knew that a lot of our residents would be affected by COVID-19 due to loss of hours, or possibly loss of jobs,” said Executive Director Sean Barnicle, sharing his report at the most recent WHA board meeting. “So we took the proactive approach of talking to residents and making changes [to their rents] without specific requirements for backup paperwork… We were able to have them put their requests in writing through us.”
This enabled the authority to adjust rent amounts without having to wait for letters from employers confirming changes in jobs or collecting several pay stubs for proof, said Barnicle, who started his job at WHA in April.
“We wanted to try to give them some solace that we’re trying to work with them through this unprecedented time,” he said.
While a significant number of residents, particularly in family units, have lost jobs or hours during the pandemic, others—including those on the front lines—have gained shifts and hours. Rules put in place by the country, state and WHA have helped to ensure that these residents are able to pocket gains, including stimulus checks. Rents were frozen March 1 and will stay that way through the end of July, and monies such as stimulus checks and enhanced unemployment aren’t being factored into income that rent calculations are based upon.
“The money should go to the residents, it shouldn’t then be portioned back out to the local housing authority, which then goes out to the state and federal coffers,” Barnicle said. Things can be re-evaluated as the new normal presents itself.
WHA has also taken care of its staff, and as a result its residents, by moving to a work-at-home system early on, and that will largely continue, with some employees trickling back to the office on a rotating basis. It also works closely with the town’s Board of Health, which considers the public housing community in Wellesley one of its priorities.
Facilities workers have largely been kept out of residents’ units, with work focused outside when possible, including landscaping, refurbished flower boxes and other beautification work where employees are able to divide and conquer.
One way WHA has made sure to stay in close touch with residents even from afar is by launching a new Wellesley Housing Authority website, said Jackie Sullivan, deputy director. Sullivan’s goal had been to get the site up by June, but she launched it earlier when she realized electronic communication was going to be the norm during the pandemic. The site features resources on the new coronavirus, WHA announcements, and fun stuff like a jelly bean counting contest.
Looking ahead, as the COVID-19 threat hopefully subsides, WHA has residential improvements planned. These include a $250K window replacement project at its Washington Street units near the police station. The bidding process for that work, which includes the replacement of old crank-out windows that are tough for residents and maintenance to deal with, is getting underway.
Another project in the works is a refurb of the Barton Road complex office. While having two big projects going at the same time will be a handful, Barnicle is also hopeful that this will be a prime time to get good deals out of contractors hungry to get back to work.
Barnicle lamented that he had to be the bearer of bad news to some residents who had rolled out kiddie pools as the weather heated up. They’re too much of a liability concern to allow. But the town has come to the rescue with a good alternative. Through the Wellesley COVID-19 Relief Fund, a few dozen splash pads/sprinkler mats are being supplied to residents and other families in need.
More: Embracing diversity in Wellesley
Wellesley’s annual Art in the Park community event has had its challenges in the past with dicey weather that might drench or blow away someone’s work. But the COVID-19 pandemic presents a unique challenge that has driven the event, which would have been held as part of the now at-least postponed Wellesley’s Wonderful Weekend, onto Instagram.
Thanks to @issac_gardiner for sharing this great shot of the F-15s flying over Wellesley on Wednesday to pay tribute to hospital workers during the COVID-19 crisis.
From our vantage point near South Natick, we heard the rumbles but no jets were to be seen. Judging from the comments and videos posted on our Facebook page, we were somehow about the only people in town who eluded the flyover.
104th F-15 flyover from Wellesley, MA. Flag and flight direction was total luck! pic.twitter.com/4ANgtY8aix
— Issac Gardiner (@issac_gardiner) May 6, 2020
My plan was simple: swing by Longfellow Pond area to pick up a persimmon tree sapling. The Rotary Club, in partnership with the DPW, had placed 500 Arbor Day saplings in a buckets of water in five locations around town. I knew that one of those locations was the Oakland St. parking lot. So did everybody else. By the time I got there, the tiny trees were long gone, an empty orange bucket the only hint that something cool had already been discovered.
Oh, well. Might as well take a quick lap around the pond, just to see how spring was making out. Here are a few pics of my 0.8 mile walk around the human-made pond, which was created back in 1815 by damming Rosemary Brook.
