THE NEW
Uxbridge Times established in 1991 Vol. 29 • Issue 4
Over 21,000 Copies Mailed Free
UxbrIdge • North UxbrIdge • LINwood • doUgLas • NorthbrIdge • whItINsVILLe • sUttoN • MaNchaUg
Community Gardens to Celebrate Opening Day spring feels a bit early this year, and what better way to welcome it than with a stroll through the awakening Uxbridge Community Gardens on sutton street? to kick off the new season members of the community are invited to an Open House at the Gardens on saturday, April 18th from 10:00 a.m. to noon (rain date April 19th). If you’re headed to see the new Dog Park, the Gardens are just a few steps down the street, adjacent to the youth soccer fields. stop by to visit your gardening neighbors or to get your questions answered about the Community Gardens program. Pick up a raffle ticket for a chance to win a beautiful basket or just enjoy the outdoors at one of the prettiest spots in town. the coffee will be hot and light refreshments will be served. Opening Day at the Gardens is the traditional time for gardeners to visit their garden spaces for the first time and to talk about plans for the summer with their garden friends. there are still a few gardens available for the coming season. A 25’x20’ plot can be had for $20 a year and can be claimed by anyone who is a resident of Uxbridge or a surrounding town. If you can’t make it to the Open House, email: uxbridge communitygardens12@gmail.com for further information or pick up an application at the Uxbridge library or town Hall. Applications are also available on the Community Gardens page of the town website at: www.uxbridge-ma. gov/Pages/UxbridgeMA_Bcomm/Gard ens/index. some free vegetable seeds, for things like tomatoes and peppers that need a little extra time to mature, were made available at the Uxbridge Free Public library in March. seeds for direct-sow crops, those things that can be seeded right in the ground like corn and beans, are available now. Although the selection is somewhat limited this year, there is a variety of seeds at the library for
posTAL pATron
both vegetables and flowers, courtesy of the Uxbridge Community Gardens and the URI extension service. If you took advantage of some of the free early-start seeds, your seedlings should soon be outgrowing their tiny starter cells. when your plants have two or three sets of true leaves, carefully remove the tender seedlings from their small pots and transplant them to larger containers. true leaves are the ones that come after the very first set of seedling leaves, and generally look like the leaves of the mature plant. Once transplanted, your plant’s roots will appreciate the extra space and will be stronger when it is time to set them in the garden after the last frost. start a routine of a weak fertilizer solution once the plants have three sets of true leaves. then get out paper & pencil and plan that garden. summer isn’t far off!
Protecting Patients from COVID-19
A sure sign of spring - The annual return of the killdeer at the uxbridge Community gardens is a beautiful sight. They skitter along the ground in search of the perfect nesting site, often choosing to raise their young among the veggies in one of the phOtO by baRbaRa hall garden plots.
Watershed group seeking monitors the Blackstone River Coalition (BRC) needs volunteers to assist its Headwaters team with the 17th year of water quality monitoring of 30 testing sites in and around worcester. Field monitors are needed to sample sites for Broad Meadow Brook at Dunkirk Ave, Kettle Brook at stafford street, Poor Farm Brook along N.e. Cutoff, as well as Bummit Brook at Rt. 30 in Grafton. Additional volunteers are needed who can serve as "floaters" to cover one or more of the 30 sites as a substitute monitor. Fieldwork not your thing? Come volunteer in the watertesting lab. the lab for the BRC’s Headwaters team is located at Mass Audubon's Broad Meadow Brook wildlife sanctuary at 414 Massasoit Rd. in worcester. the lab operates between 8:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on PResORteD stANDARD Us POstAGe PAID BOstON, MA PeRMIt NO 55800
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aPrIL 2020
testing days. the BRC recruits and trains citizen scientists to participate in the Coalition's watershed-wide volunteer water quality monitoring program. the goal of this long-running program is to gather information about the current status of, and long-term changes in, the health of the Blackstone River watershed. this valuable information helps local & state officials, and concerned citizens make the Blackstone River cleaner for people and wildlife. Over 90 volunteers sample 75 sites throughout the watershed from worcester to Pawtucket. sites are sampled on the second saturday of each month from April through November. Field monitors and floaters are trained in a one-hour session to test for dissolved oxygen at the site, record physical and
aesthetic parameters, and collect a water sample that they drop off at the lab between 9:00 a.m. and noon on the saturday of testing. lab volunteers, who help test these samples for nutrients, conductivity, and turbidity, do not need to commit to helping each month or for the entire testing day. they are trained the first time they assist. If you live between Upton and Blackstone, MA, you can assist the Midreach team (28 sites), which runs its testing lab out of the triRivers Medical Center on Oak street in Uxbridge, MA. the Rhode Island team is based in lincoln R.I. and its volunteers monitor 17 sites in the northern part of Rhode Island. to volunteer as a field monitor, floater, or lab assistant, please contact susan thomas, Coordinator, BRC Volunteer wQM Program at 508-4710988 or at sthomas@massaudubon.org.
MRMC launches COVID-19 Hotline Milford Regional Medical Center has established a dedicated COVID-19 information hotline, staffed by healthcare professionals, and an online assessment form to ensure that the hospital remains connected to the community and accessible to all of their patients in this
unprecedented health crisis. Milford Regional encourages anyone who is experiencing symptoms associated with COVID-19 or has questions about the virus to call the information hotline at 508-717-3702 between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. FMI visit: milfordregional.org.
In order to protect patients and staff from the risk of potential exposure to the coronavirus (COVID-19), Milford Regional Medical Center has instituted precautions to limit traffic and the possible spread of the virus within the hospital. Until further notice, the following restrictions are now in effect. VIsItORs NOt AllOweD: • those under the age of 15 • those who are ill or show signs of respiratory symptoms • those who have had close contact with someone who has tested POsItIVe for Covid-19; those who traveled within the past 14 days to China, Macau, Hong Kong, south Korea, Italy, Iran or Japan; or those who work with or have had contact with employees of Biogen within the past 14 days. VIsItORs AllOweD: • One visitor per patient is allowed in all areas, including the emergency department and maternity. In maternity, only the birthing partner is allowed. CANCelleD PROGRAMs: • All community education programs including wellness programs, lectures, classes & support groups are cancelled. • All childbirth education programs are cancelled. “we at Milford Regional recognize how disruptive these restrictions will be and it is our hope that they will be short lived,” says edward J. Kelly, president and CeO of Milford Regional Medical Center. “However, any precautions we take to evade the spread of COVID-19 is our responsibility as both healthcare providers and good stewards to the communities we serve. I ask for everyone’s support and patience as we do everything in our power to protect our patients, their families and our staff.” Milford Regional is monitoring the progression of Covid-19 and will reassess restrictions as new information and circumstances present themselves.
~ INDEX ~ Town news............page 4 Home section…..page 13 society……………page 23 school news……page 25 Business news....page 27 sports…………… page 29 Classified.............page 31