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An edition of the Community Advocate
· Westborough · Northborough · Southborough · Marlborough · Hudson · Grafton
Vol. 52 | No. 32 | August 7, 2026
Endless ‘Pasta-bilities’
Over 6 million gallons of sewage released into Quinsig since 2016
SHREWSBURY | 5 Hudson Eagle Scout honored for organizing fundraiser for migrants
HUDSON | 20
Woman launches pasta brand in memory of grandfather
Southborough family reshaping the mac-and-cheese market
Piccoline’s Table has become popular pasta purveyor
The ingredients had to be perfect – all three of them
By Evan Walsh Managing Editor
By Evan Walsh Managing Editor
MARLBOROUGH – An appreciation of food was instilled in Kirstin Carvalho from the beginning. Growing up in New Jersey, she’d eagerly follow her grandfather around as he perused local farmers markets. Inevitably, she’d end up holding the groceries – typically a loaf of bread, stick of pepperoni, or jar of something or other. Carvalho would make lunch from the market’s offerings. Her grandparents (on her mother’s side) were as Italian as one can imagine. Carvalho’s grandmother spent Sundays rolling fresh pasta, shaping meatballs, and bringing her perfect sauce to a boil. Her grandfather kept a vegetable garden and practically forced Carvalho to try what was fresh. Her grandparents’ homecooking was the embodiment of “food equals love.” “My grandfather loved food – as I’m sure a lot Italians do. When I was little, he always tried to get me to appreciate what I was eating and where it came from,” Carvalho told the Community Advocate. “I adapted the Italian tradition very young.” Though both of Carvalho’s grandparents have since passed,
SOUTHBOROUGH – When one of Jad and Juliana Chahine’s children was offered macaroni-and-cheese at daycare, it inadvertently launched a business. Like many children, the Chahines’ son developed an appetite for the cheesy entree, and before long, mac and cheese became a major part of weekly life. When a kid wants something, they want something. Nothing wrong with that. And yet, something bothered Jad Chahine as he opened boxes of the popular brands of mac and cheese: high amounts of sodium, artificial flavors, preservatives, and a series of what he calls “mystery ingredients” listed on the label. Some of the stuff just seemed like “junk.” Chahine was health-conscious, but not afraid of a treat. Still, there were too many question marks. “Truthfully, there was nothing on the market we felt good giving them on a regular basis,” he said. And so, alongside his family, Chahine launched Mac Goodness in 2025, a “super clean” mac-and-cheese option that contains “no junk, no additives, no corn starch, no gums, and no artificial anything.” In other words, as Chahine says, it has “more of the
Pasta | 14
Mac | 15
Don’t weather the seasons alone ~ Come Home to Christopher Heights! AN ASSISTED LIVING COMMUNITY
99 Pleasant Street • Marlborough, MA 01752 • 508-281-8001 • www.christopherheights.com
‘Peanut’ rotary redesign recommended by consultant
WESTBOROUGH | 29 Grafton cheers on Pan-Mass Challenge riders
GRAFTON | 31
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