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homes & more
26 • COMMUNITY ADVOCATE • Friday, November 18, 2022 HOMES MORE&
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Michelle Gillespie REALTOR® MEGA AGENT Direct Line: 508-934-9818 michelle@michellegillespie.com www.michellegillespie.com 10 Main St, Northborough
Keller Williams Pinnacle Metrowest
Winter is approaching…is your home ready?
Now that autumn leaves have changed color and cool crisp fall nights have arrived, we are reminded that winter is just around the corner. As you work on your fall cleanup, here are a few of my home maintenance tips on preparing your home for the upcoming winter months.
Roof, Gutters and Downspouts
Rain, ice, snow and wind can all cause damage to your roof and gutters. Now’s the time to trim all tree limbs and vegetation away from the roof. You should remove debris, such as leaves and sticks, from your gutters and downspouts. Clogged gutters don’t allow water to properly drain away from the home, which can cause seepage in your ceilings and walls. You can invest in gutter guards, a screen that prevents debris from entering the gutter and directs the flow of water away from the house and into the ground
Water Heater
You don’t want to find out that your water heater isn’t operating properly when you need it most. So use this time to perform an annual inspection, which includes having your tank’s pressure and temperature relief valve checked.
Heating and Cooling System Fireplace
Are you ready to sell?
Now’s the Time!
Inventory continues to be low, and buyers are looking for new inventory. If you want to sell your home and would like to discuss the best approach for a positive outcome, please call me, Michelle Gillespie at 508-934-9818 or e-mail me at michelle@michellegillespie.com. Visit mywebsite at www.michellegillespie.com for more information.
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If you have a forced warmair heating system, you should check the exhaust vent and air shutter openings for dirt and dust. Clean any lint and dirt to prevent airborne dirt from circulating throughout your home. Wash out your reusable filter or replace it if it’s disposable.
Doors and Windows
To help control heating costs, make sure your doors and windows are properly sealed. Now is the time to repair or replace weather stripping around door bottoms and jambs and window frames. Check for loose or missing glazing putty and for caulking deterioration. If you have storm windows, install them.
Water Pipes
Frozen or burst pipes can cause major damage to your home and be expensive to remedy. Before frigid weather hits, protect your pipes in unheated areas from freezing by adding insulation, which reduces heat loss from hotwater pipes and condensation on cold water pipes. This can be accomplished by wrapping the pipes with heating tape or blanket insulation and duct tape or by encasing the pipes with preformed plastic foam. In addition, examine your pipes for cracks and leaks.
Before you light the logs and get ready to settle in front of a cozy fire, make sure that your fireplace is in good working order. It is important to clean your chimney and check the chimney flue on a yearly basis. There are many chimney cleaning companies that will clean, inspect and repair as needed. In addition, before inspecting, cleaning or making any repairs, refer to your owner’s manual for all equipment for proper instructions, which should be the final authority on any maintenance.
Outdoor Surfaces and Landscaping
Fall is a great time to seal your driveway, stone patio and other hardscape surfaces. In addition, prune tree branches away from your home. Plant spring flower bulbs and move sensitive potted plants indoors. Although this list is merely a guide, it can help you keep your home in good shape and have a winter free of major repairs.
Each office is independently owned and operated.
Feed a Neighbor founder on a holiday mission
By Caroline Gordon Reporter HUDSON - Steve Dembro, owner of Stevie’s Back Road Cafe & Catering and founder of Feed a Neighbor, is on a mission to make sure every family in Central Massachusetts can enjoy a warm Thanksgiving meal this year.
“There are people with cupboards that have nothing in them. How do we solve that problem? The only way we solve that problem is if we do something,” Dembro said.
When the pandemic struck in 2020, Dembro was forced to close the cafe, leaving a freezer filled with food that would go to waste.
Dembro and his staff inventoried all of the food and realized they had meat worth 1,800 meals that he did not want to throw away. He used the meat to create meals to sell for $5 that would serve as his “seed money” for when the restaurant could open again.
However, when Dembro began to advertise the $5 meals, he said people “came from everywhere” to pick up the meals to donate them to a neighbor in need.
That’s when Dembro decided to provide free meals for people who could not afford food due to the pandemic.
‘I am going to do everything ... to help them’
Within the first three months of Feed a Neighbor, Dembro donated 9,200 meals. When COVID-19 restrictions were lifted and he was able to reopen Stevie’s Cafe, he continued to provide free meals to those in need.
Two-and-half years later, Dembro still supplies free meals to families who suffer from food insecurity as well as selling the $5 meals to local organizations such as the Rotary Club, which then also donates the meals.
Dembro receives donations for Feed a Neighbor through businesses and “kind-hearted people.”
However, when there is not enough money in the donation fund to pay for the food, he said Stevie’s Cafe covers the cost. But the food pantry makes food donations, and the Hudson Police and Fire Departments help deliver the meals.
Dembro said local and state institutions that help families with food insecurity ask him to provide free meals to families in need until they receive SNAP Benefits.
“We don’t charge them anything. The Feed a Neighbor program takes over,” he said.
According to Dembro, Feed a Neighbor provided 700 meals to those in need for Thanksgiving last year, but he predicts the number of those in need of food may be higher this year due to the state of the economy.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know how many people we are going to feed, but all I know is that we already got volunteers who have already signed up,” he said.
Dembro added, “If we [Feed a Neighbor] can play a little part in keeping people going, so that they can focus on what they need to do to get out of their situation, I am going to do everything I can do to help them, it’s that simple.”
Steve Dembro smiles for a photo behind the counter at Stevie’s cafe.
PHOTO/CAROLINE GORDON
Steve Dembro
owner of Stevie’s Back Road Cafe & Catering
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28 • COMMUNITY ADVOCATE • Friday, November 18, 2022 PEOPLE PLACES&
Hudson parade and ceremony thank military veterans
By Ed Karvoski Jr. Contributing Writer HUDSON – Stars and stripes were plentiful Nov. 11 in downtown Hudson.
The town’s Veterans Day parade was led by three color guards: Hudson AMVETS Post 208, Marine Corps JROTC of Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School and Hudson Police Department.
A ceremony, emceed by Commander Joe Jacobs of AMVETS Post 208 and American Legion Post 100, followed outside the Town Hall.
Hudson Veterans Agent Brian Stearns relayed a Martin Luther King Jr. quote: “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”
“Our veterans answered this question by answering the call to serve our nation – to serve all of us,” Stearns said. “As a nation, we will always need men and women to defend our freedom from foreign and domestic enemies, and ensure that our democracy remains intact. … It’s imperative that we celebrate our veterans on this day – and every day.”
Also expressing appreciation for military veterans were state Rep. Kate Hogan (DStow) and Select Board member Shawn Sadowski.
Boy Scout Troop 2 members Nate Caglarcan, Olivia Foo and Steven Foo recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Hudson High School Marching Band, under the direction of Jason Caron, performed patriotic songs in the parade and during the ceremony. HHS freshman and trumpeter Max Brito played “Taps” in remembrance of fallen veterans.
For more photos, visit communityadvocate.com.
PHOTOS/ED KARVOSKI JR. Left: Local veterans salute as the Hudson High School Marching Band plays the national anthem.
Below left:Cadets from the Marine Corps JROTC of Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School march in the parade.
Below:The color guard of Hudson AMVETS Post 208 leads the parade, beginning on South Street.
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Consultants for Portuguese Club redevelopment on Hudson Town Meeting warrant
By Caroline Gordon Reporter
HUDSON - Funding for environmental consulting services to redevelop the Hudson Portuguese Club into municipal and school office space is on the Town Meeting warrant.
“It’s a good size building with a lot of land and a ton of parking. I just hope the town supports it. I think it’s a great opportunity,” Select Board Chair Scott Duplisea said. “The investors and some of the people who have been with the club for a long time prefer that the club, the land and the buildings stay with the town.”
This spring, the Select Board began analyzing the possibility of acquiring the club.
The article before Town Meeting – Article 10 – asks to raise and appropriate $23,500 to fund a contract with Woodard & Curran, an environmental consultant, to provide environmental consulting services to the Select Board regarding the site.
Duplisea called the article “akin to doing a building inspection when buying a house.”
The Portuguese Club proposed the town purchase the roughly 10-acre site, which is located at 13 Port Street, to the Select Board last year. After discussions with other town boards and committees, the Select Board decided it would best serve as a school administration building because the current building on Apsley Street is “in need of desperate repair,” according to Duplisea.
He said the school department had discussed the possibility of moving the school administration building to the old police station on Packard Street, but it would have cost too much to repair.
Duplisea said an appraisal of the site has been obtained and the results of a feasibility study will soon be reviewed by the Select Board.
A majority vote during Town Meeting is required for the passage of this article. If Article 10 is approved at Town Meeting, Duplisea said it will then be included as a ballot question for the town election.
“There is nothing else in town that size that could possibly be obtained by the town and used for, not only municipal and school uses, but recreational uses also. I find it to be attractive, even though it is going to cost money,” Duplisea said.
Town Meeting is scheduled for Nov. 21.
The Portuguese Club is located on Port Street.
PHOTO/LAURA HAYES
Scott Duplisea Select Board Chair
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