Tri-Town Blog

Breaking down the fair

Posted on October 13, 2008 by drogers
Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

Hours before the gates were scheduled to close, marking the end of the 190th annual Topsfield Fair Monday night, the deconstruction process had already begun.

John Flynn, right, of Fiesta Shows was busy collecting identification tags from the various booths late Monday morning. Flynn was in the kiddie ride section when this photo was taken.

The sinister and the innocent

Posted on October 13, 2008 by drogers
Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

Visit the Boxford or Middleton Police Department and you’ll likely notice this poster. It’s a way of reminding residents about the very real danger of identity theft. Despite the seriousness of the poster, I can’t help but chuckle when I see it.

I mean, really, could they have picked a more sinister looking guy to represent the would-be identity thief? And talk about innocent looking, the would-be victim. There’s no irony here at all, just plain black and white menace.

Wouldn’t it be something if the woman in this poster turned out to be an embezzler and the dude, a minister?

Boxford Village a ghost town

Posted on October 13, 2008 by drogers
Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

Happy Columbus Day. For a few moments, I forgot it was a holiday today and got a little freaked when I pulled into Boxford Village this morning. It was empty, as if there was a curfew or a plague or something. Even the Boxford Community Store was closed. No coffee, no newspaper, no Chief Stickney and his fellow firefighters, no fun.

Another ubiquitous Ferris wheel shot

Posted on October 12, 2008 by drogers
Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

Last week I highlighted the ubiquitous top of the Topsfield Fair’s Ferris wheel view. Well, here’s another common angle of the big wheel taken from ground level.

Note to Sarah Palin: don’t go to a Flyers hockey game

Posted on October 12, 2008 by drogers
Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

Too bad Sarah Palin didn’t take this advice as she was soundly booed by the notoriously boisterous crowd at last night’s game against the Rangers. Don’t feel too bad if you’re a Palin fan however. The Flyers fans actually booed Santa Claus when he made an appearance at the arena.

Topsfield Town Hall to close, for a week

Posted on October 10, 2008 by drogers
Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

The agenda for next Tuesday’s Topsfield Board of Selectmen’s meeting is out and on the list of things to discuss is closing Town Hall for a week. The plan is to close it from Dec. 26 through Jan. 2. My guess, it’s for repair work. More on this later….

Travolta a no show

Posted on October 10, 2008 by blewis
Filed Under Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Yes, it appears that those rumors about Johnny Travolta going to the Topsfield Fair yesterday were false. Or perhaps, he just caught wind of the potential media attention and decided to bail. Either way, I didn’t see him yesterday and neither did fair spokesman Sally O’Maley. However, she still had to field calls all day long about the possible superstar sighting.

John Travolta in Topsfield?

Posted on October 9, 2008 by drogers
Filed Under Uncategorized | 6 Comments

I’ve been told by two people today that there are reports out there that film star and former Sweathog, John Travolta will be stopping by the Topsfield Fair sometime today with his family. The story goes that he and his family flew into Beverly Airport yesterday to visit friends in Boxford. We’ll be looking too but if anyone spots him and takes his photo, send em’ our way.

Boxford rep says town should consider cutting spending

Posted on October 9, 2008 by drogers
Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

Boxford State Rep. Barbara L’Italien, D-Andover, said Tuesday the town should consider where cuts can be made to its budget.

“It’s reasonable and prudent to do that,” L’Italien said during an interview at the Boxford Community Store.

Considering the turmoil in Wall Street and its trickle down effect to Main Street, L’Italien said the state is looking at ways to cut their budget. That, in turn would affect how much state aid communities can expect in the coming years.

“We’re going to have to look at spending cuts, scaling back,” she said.

A snarky comment from teacher union rep

Posted on October 8, 2008 by drogers
Filed Under Uncategorized | 2 Comments

For a story regarding the Masconomet Teachers Association’s attempt at arriving at a new contract with the school district, Transcript reporter Brendan Lewis contacted union rep Jim Dillon via e-mail hoping for a few comments.

Here’s Dillon’s e-mail response:

Hi Brendan,
Thank you for your interest. At this point in time the Masconomet Teachers Association will not be conducting contract negotiations in the local newspapers.

What?

keep looking »