Connect with us

Massachusetts

Looking for the perfect fun Bay State fall experience? It’s in the bog

Published

on

Looking for the perfect fun Bay State fall experience? It’s in the bog


Since I live in a vacation spot – the South Shore of Massachusetts – I’m often asked what season is the best for a visit.

The sparkling days of summer, when the beaches are warm and the days long? Love it. The winter days of snow, bundling up and early night star gazing? It’s a special time as well.

But there’s one season I tell everyone to focus on for a visit: Cranberry season. From mid-September through the end of October, the Bay State shines even more. With awe-inducing foliage, the tilt of the earth slanting the sun’s rays in a way that just makes the ocean, ponds, lakes and sky even bluer, “sweater weather,” and less humidity – this is the place and time to be.

The cranberry harvest gives it all the exclamation point of beauty. Rosy red berries floating in a blue pond, surrounded by vibrant colored trees? It’s just perfection, and an experience you cannot have just anywhere.

Advertisement

Massachusetts isn’t the top cranberry producer in the nation – at just under 30% of the total crop coming from the Bay State, we’re just behind Wisconsin for that. But when it comes to ways to savor the Cranberry Harvest season, Massachusetts may just have them all beat. Consider these adventures:

Ride past them: There are so many safe, well-maintained and easy-to-ride bike paths in Massachusetts. Take the Cape Cod Rail Trail and you’ll spot some bogs along the way. Or, sign yourself up for the Cranberry Century Ride (https://www.crw.org/Centuries), a multi-distance choice bike ride held by the Charles River Wheelers this year on Oct. 15.

You can go anywhere from a very doable 29 miles up to a full 100. You started and finish at Plymouth’s beautiful Myles Standish State Forest and then loop out to Mattapoisett and back, passing many a bog and other sites. Each distance is led by a team leader, and you’re well taken care of with sustenance and support at break stops along the way. Pre-registration is required.

Golf over them: (And hopefully not into them). More than a few Massachusetts golf courses offer peeks at bogs, but no place puts you up close more than Souther’s Marsh Golf Club (https://southersmarsh.com) in Plymouth.

The executive course was built around and through bogs that have been producing cranberries for longer than most can remember. During harvest season you’ll play up along (and sometimes over) bogs in the process of harvesting. And should you get lucky and there’s a wedding that week, you may even see their signature move: floating cranberries in the shape of a heart.

Advertisement

Get right into them: What better way to celebrate, view and learn about cranberries than getting right in there and working a bog? Sign on for the Cranberry Bogger for a Day program curated by Keolis Mass Adventures (https://keolismassadventures.com). You’ll board a train at South Station in Boston and head to Benson’s Pond in Middleboro where for two solid hours, you’ll don your waders and work the bog, using antique harvesting tools, picking fresh cranberries, and enjoying cranberry-inspired snacks and beverages.

Should you want to get up close but not as wet, they also offer walking tours of bogs. Preregistration is required and spots fill up fast.

Celebrate them: Harvest Fairs are the happening of the season and cranberries get in on the fun. Edaville Railroad (https://edaville.com) celebrates Oct. 12 and 13 with a flea market, craft fair, steam train rides past bogs, live music and more. Family friendly to the max.

Pick and cook them: Massachusetts is home to 300+ cranberry farmers, 14,000+ acres of cranberry bogs, and 65,000+ acres of associated open space. Sounds like a lot to take on, but luckily we have the non-profit Massachusetts Cranberries (https://www.cranberries.org) on our side.

Operating since 1988, the organization supports the industry and also offers, via their website, the history of the crop – a cool thing to understand before savoring the season.

Advertisement

Their website lists bog tours across the state, spots you can get fresh berries and other season fruit, special events around the harvest and even better: tried and true recipes so you can take the berries home and pay the love forward.

Keolis Mass Adventures offers the chance to be a Cranberry Bogger for a Day. (Photo courtesy Keolis Mass Adventures)
The Cranberry Century Ride starts and finishes at Plymouth's beautiful Myles Standish State Forest. (Photo courtesy Charles River Wheelers)
The Cranberry Century Ride starts and finishes at Plymouth’s beautiful Myles Standish State Forest. (Photo courtesy Charles River Wheelers)



Source link

Massachusetts

Mass. House votes to set new rules for DiZoglio’s audit

Published

on

Mass. House votes to set new rules for DiZoglio’s audit


Twenty-eight lawmakers dissented Wednesday as the Massachusetts House voted to set new terms around what state Auditor Diana DiZoglio would be able to review in the legislative audit voters authorized her to carry out in 2024.

Almost all House Democrats voted for the measure, which also proposes to make more state government records accessible to the public. Three Democrats — Cambridge Rep. Mike Connolly, Attleboro Rep. Jim Hawkins and Fall River Rep. Alan Silvia — joined the body’s 25 Republicans in voting no.

Speaker Ron Mariano said the bill responds to an ongoing call from voters for more transparency out of Beacon Hill and provides a path forward in lieu of a what he called “politically motivated audit conducted in violation of the Constitution.”

Leaders of the House and Senate have resisted DiZoglio’s audit push, arguing that a probe by the auditor’s office would run afoul of the separation of powers laid out in the state Constitution, bringing the legislative branch under the review of a piece of the executive branch.

Advertisement

“We are not accountable to any constitutional officer,” said Rep. Mindy Domb, an Amherst Democrat. “We are only accountable to our constituents.”

Taunton Rep. Lisa Field, a Democrat in her first term, said she was among the 72% of Massachusetts voters who backed the audit ballot question in 2024.

“Due to legitimate concerns and questions about constitutional privileges and separation of powers, we have been stuck on this audit issue for more than a year,” Field said. “Let’s not be like Washington, D.C. and accept such gridlock — not about the audit and not about public records. Let’s not let perfect be the enemy of good progress.”

The House’s bill would authorize DiZoglio to review what it defines as the “administrative functions” of the Legislature, going back to the 2021 fiscal year. Those areas include the adoption of annual budgets, official audits of the House and Senate by independent firms, spending by both chambers, and the execution of any financial settlements with lawmakers and employees.

It would also newly apply the state’s public records law to the governor’s office, and create a process by which people could request and receive certain legislative files.

Advertisement

Massachusetts is currently the only state where the Legislature, governor and judiciary all claim to be exempt from the public records law.

Warren Republican Rep. Todd Smola described the process that led up to Wednesday’s vote as opaque in and of itself. Mariano last week said the House would take up what he called comprehensive transparency legislation, but did not say when or what, specifically, the bill would do.

The bill was circulated to members of the House Ways and Means Committee around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, and committee members had a little over a half hour to vote on whether to advance it. Smola, the ranking Republican on the committee, said during that 34-minute window, “we had members on both sides of the political aisle that were calling each other back and forth to say, ‘Can you explain this portion to me?’”

“We are so much better than the process that has unfolded,” he said. “And for the sake of people that are asking us for transparency, that is not transparency. That’s the opposite of transparency.”

Rep. Michael Soter, a Bellingham Republican, said he was particularly concerned with a part of the bill that removes the courts from settling disputes between the auditor and the Legislature.

Advertisement

He said that by setting its own rules around an audit, the House would be “ensuring the auditor can only see exactly what we allow her to see and nothing more.”

It’s not clear yet if the Senate will pass the bill. Last week, state senators voted to turn over a limited set of documents to DiZoglio. The documents the Senate plans to provide mirror the records she would be allowed to review under the House bill.

Asked if he expected the Senate to agree to the legislation, Mariano on Tuesday said only, “I talked to the Senate.”



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Massachusetts

French-Mediterranean Eatery Charts Opening In Boston

Published

on

French-Mediterranean Eatery Charts Opening In Boston


BOSTON, MA — An international restaurant group with locations across the globe is preparing to open its first Massachusetts restaurant this year.

LPM Restaurant & Bar, a French Riviera-inspired restaurant founded in London, is set to open on the second floor of the Four Seasons Hotel One Dalton Street in Back Bay, according to Four Seasons. The hotel lists the restaurant as “Opening Summer 2026,” while the Boston Business Journal reported the restaurant plans to open in September.

The Boston restaurant will mark LPM’s debut in the Northeast and its third U.S. outpost, following locations in Miami and Las Vegas, according to a Four Seasons announcement.

LPM, also known as La Petite Maison, was founded in London in 2007 and is known for French-Mediterranean food, Mediterranean ingredients and dining rooms influenced by Belle Époque design.

Advertisement

The business operates locations in London, Dubai, Miami, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, Riyadh, Limassol, Doha, Mykonos, Kuwait, Boston, Maldives and Bangkok.

Four Seasons said LPM will take over the space that formerly housed One Dalton’s breakfast concept, One + One. The restaurant will join other dining options at the hotel, including Zuma and Trifecta.

See Also:





Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Massachusetts

Massachusetts high school under investigation after teachers diagnosed with breast cancer

Published

on

Massachusetts high school under investigation after teachers diagnosed with breast cancer


A Massachusetts high school is under investigation after “several” teachers have been diagnosed with breast cancer or precancerous conditions.

The state Department of Public Health is set to visit Uxbridge High School on Thursday to “conduct a series of air quality tests,” to determine whether the multiple cases are potentially connected.

Superintendent David Ljungberg and Principal Michael Rubin alerted families and district staff on Monday of the “sombering news,” after Uxbridge High School’s graduation over the weekend.

“We are writing to inform you about a concern we are investigating at Uxbridge High School,” Ljungberg and Rubin stated in the letter. “Several female teachers have been diagnosed with breast cancer or precancerous conditions over the past few years.”

Advertisement

“It is, of course, possible that these multiple cases are not connected to one another,” the leaders added, “but out of abundance of caution, we are looking into any environmental factors at the school that may be a factor in their diagnoses.”

The 123,000-square-foot school, with an enrollment of roughly 600, was constructed in 2012 at a cost of $45 million, including a $22-million state reimbursement.

Uxbridge school leaders say they notified the state Department of Health and local health board as soon as they became aware of the cases, seeking “counsel about how best to proceed.”

“Massachusetts DPH officials have indicated that there is no evidence of immediate danger in the building and no reason to limit access to or use of the facility at this time,” they wrote in their letter. “In fact, the public health officials have commended our decision to approach them with these concerns, our readiness to partner with them in support of the evaluation process.”

Health officials are assessing the school’s interior and exterior to “ensure there are no issues with the infrastructure that would present risks (including electrical, plumbing, mechanical, HVAC, and other systems)” and the indoor and outdoor air quality on campus.

Advertisement

The superintendent and principal said that state officials have ruled out water supply as a “risk factor” after “thorough testing.”

“The team has reached out to the women who have been diagnosed, requesting data to evaluate whether there may be a connection among their cases,” Ljungberg and Rubin wrote. “We are grateful for their cooperation.”

They added that the state has said discovering an environmental “smoking gun” is “rare” in workplace investigations.

“However, even if a direct causal link is not established,” the leaders wrote, “the administration is utilizing this process to rigorously test the building and guarantee that it meets all safety standards moving forward.”

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending