Thrifty Thursdays
Thursdays, 3:00-6:00 p.m.
West Acton Baptist Church Coatroom, 592 Massachusetts Ave., Acton.
Entrance next to Mini Food Pantry.
Pop-up thrift shop featuring vintage clothing and accessories. New items added weekly.
Presented by West Acton Baptist Church.
Questions? Contact West Acton Baptist Church.
AB Farmers Market
Sundays through October, 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Elm Street Playground, Acton.
Stock up on local produce and artisanal goods while you enjoy music, artisan offerings, our community table, friends and neighbors. Free yoga classes. SNAP match for EBT cardholders.
Latest updates available at https://abfarmersmarket.org/.
Open Houses at Iron Work Farm
Sunday, September 22
Jones Tavern, 128 Main St., Acton. 1:00-3:00 p.m.
Jones-Faulkner Homestead, 5 High St., Acton. 3:00-5:00 p.m.
Event is free.
Iron Work Farm continues its series of “4th Sunday” open houses at their two South Acton house museums. Jones Tavern was first built in 1723 and opened as a tavern by Samuel Jones in 1750. Visitors can explore the restored rooms of the 1707 Jones-Faulkner Homestead, the oldest house in Acton. Members of the Nashoba Valley Weavers’ Guild will be on hand to demonstrate weaving, spinning, and other textile crafts.
Presented by Iron Work Farm.
More information at Iron Work Farm.
Flag Retirement Ceremony
Sunday, September 22, 3:00 p.m. (rain or shine)
Woodlawn Cemetery, Concord Road, Acton.
The Acton-Boxborough Department of Veterans Services and all Acton and Boxborough Boy Scout and Girl Scout Troops invite the public to join them in their flag retirement ceremony. If you are unable to attend and have flags you wish to retire, contact James MacRae at 978-929-6614 or jmacrae@actonma.gov.
American Cancer Society Bicycles Battling Cancer Ride
Sunday, September 22, 6:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
YMCA Camp Lowe, Fort Pond Rd., Lancaster, MA.
Bicycles Battling Cancer is a fully supported one-day 30, 50, 63, or 100 mile scenic ride through Central Massachusetts and New Hampshire to raise funds to save lives, celebrate lives and lead the fight for a world without cancer. Riders of all levels are encouraged to join and participate individually or as a team. After the ride, there will be a celebration with our riders, their families, friends, volunteers, and community members. There will be a robust celebration with music, food, activities, and a fun zone.
Presented by the American Cancer Society.
More information at Bicycles Battling Cancer.
Hazardous Waste Day
Tuesday, September 24, 4:00-6:30 p.m.
DPW Garage, 14 Forest Rd., Acton.
For Acton residents only; proof of residency will be required.
The Town of Acton holds a Hazardous Waste Day twice a year and offers residents a safe and legal way of disposing of hazardous materials. All residents must stay in their vehicles at all times during drop-off. Clean Harbors has a policy that anyone who attempts to exit their vehicle will be asked to leave. Waste will be accepted from truck bed, trunk of car, or back hatch of SUV. Materials will not be accepted from seats or when handed from residents. Clean Harbors will not be returning any containers (gas containers, storage totes, etc.). Please plan accordingly. If possible, make one trip to Household Hazardous Waste Day.
Presented by the Town of Acton.
More information at Household Hazardous Waste Day Flyer.
Public Forum on Plans for New DPW Facility
Thursday, September 26, 7:00 p.m.
In person at Acton Town Hall, Room 204, 472 Main St., Acton or by Zoom athttps://link.edgepilot.com/s/520a2595/6TQId7lfY0eHZfCu0Dq1ag?u=https://actonma.zoom.us/s/86920329549
The Town of Acton DPW Building Committee will host a public meeting where the current design of the new Department of Public Works (DPW) facility will be presented and discussed. The Town’s design engineering firm, Weston & Sampson, will present the current schematic design of the new facility and answer questions from attendees.
Hosted by The Town of Acton DPW Building Committee.
Questions or comments, email the DPW Building Committee at dpwbc@actonma.gov.
Crown Resistance Day in Acton, 1774
Wednesday, September 25, 7:00 p.m.
In person at Acton Town Hall, Room 204, by Zoom at http://tinyurl.com/Acton250-ZOOM, and live at Acton TV.
Historian Mary Fuhrer returns to the Acton 250 lecture series to explore Crown Resistance Day 1774, a critical point in Acton history. Her talk delves into the character of the town and its leading citizens at this time, how and why they responded to the growing crisis with the Crown, and what brought them to the point of revolution. By focusing on the distinct character of Acton and the personalities of its leading citizens, we will see how important personal convictions and individual actions were in shaping history. Every town’s story was different, and Acton’s story was unique – and inspiring. Mary Fuhrer is an Acton resident and Ph.D. social historian whose work focuses on daily life and change in small town Massachusetts in colonial and early Republic Massachusetts.
Presented by Acton 250 Committee with generous support by the Acton Lions Club.
More information at https://www.actonma.gov/250.
Mushroom Forage
Sunday, September 29, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
NARA Park, 25 Ledge Rock Way, Acton.
To register, click here.
This fall, Acton Conservation Trust will again hold a joint Mushroom Forage event with Boston Mycological Club (BMC.) We will not be eating any of our foraged finds, just identifying them with the help of BMC’s fungi experts. All ages are welcome but no pets (except service animals) are allowed. More information will be sent a few days before the event. Lightning will cancel the walk.
Presented by Acton Conservation Trust with Boston Mycological Club.
Questions? Contact Jody Harris at jharris.actonconservationtrust@gmail.com.
EV Driver Meet-Up
Monday, September 30, 5:00-7:00 p.m.
Rapscallion, 5 Strawberry Hill, Acton.
Open to the public.
Are you a current EV driver? Share notes with other EV drivers about your vehicle, its range, charging, and other information. Are you a future EV driver? Come ask questions, see various models, and find out why we LOVE our electric vehicles. Make it a family affair and bring the kids. We will have coloring and crafts for them.
Presented by Energize Acton as part of National Drive Electric Week.
For more info, go to Energize Acton EV driver meetup.
Pay and Play Like it’s 1982 at the Discovery Museum
October 1-6, 9:00 am-4:30 p.m.
Discovery Museum, 177 Main St., Acton.
Advance reservations are recommended through www.discoveryacton.org.
Discovery Museum is a hands-on museum for families that blends science, nature, and play. In recognition of the Museum’s founding in October 1982 and to thank its community for more than four decades of support, the cost of admission will be $2.50 per person during “Pay and Play Like it’s 1982.” Existing discount programs that offer deeper discounts will be honored and include EBT, WIC, ConnectorCare, active-duty military families, teachers, and children under 1.
More information at Discovery Museum.
Maynard Porchfest
Sunday, October 6, 12:00-5:00 p.m.
Multiple porches throughout Maynard.
Free and open to the public.
Maynard Porchfest is a community gathering of friends and neighbors sharing music and art with the community. Porches throughout town are set up as stages where the community can visit and mingle as they choose.
Produced by Elizabeth Barren. Sponsored by Sanctuary.
More information at Maynard Porchfest.
Open House at Jonathan Hosmer House
Sunday, October 6, 2:00-5:00 p.m.
Jonathan Hosmer House, 300 Main St., Acton.
The Hosmers were an early Acton family, serving the town from its beginning. Jonathan Hosmer (1712-1775) was a selectman and town clerk for many years as well as one of the first Deacons of Acton’s church. Jonathan Hosmer (1734-1822), like his father, was a brick mason and farmer. Jonathan married Submit Hunt (1737-1812) in 1760 and built the Hosmer House. Though records are not perfect for the time period, it appears that Jonathan and several of his brothers did military service during the Revolutionary War. His younger brother Abner was killed at the North Bridge in Concord, April 19, 1775. In addition to other roles in Acton, Jonathan served on the town’s Committee of Correspondence in 1777 and a committee to provide for soldiers’ families in 1779 and 1780. Seven children were born to Jonathan and Submit Hosmer. Their eldest Jonathan died in service in Bennington in 1777.
Presented by Acton Historical Society and Acton 250 Committee.
More information at https://www.actonhistoricalsociety.org and https://www.actonma.gov/250.
Archaeological Discoveries in New England
Wednesday, October 9, 7-8:30 p.m.
In person at the Acton Memorial Library, 486 Main St., Acton and via Zoom.
Event is free, but registration is required at Friends of Pine Hawk events.
Peabody award winning Smithsonian filmmaker Ted Timreck shares documentary footage from two little known discoveries that show the potential of what might be found anywhere in the New England countryside.
Presented by The Friends of Pine Hawk.
Questions? Email friends.of.pinehawk@gmail.com.
Acton Raas Garba & India Mela
Saturday, October 12, 5:00-11:00 p.m.
McCarthy-Towne Elementary School, Parker Damon Building, 11 Charter Road, Acton.
Tickets: Kids ages 5-10 years $5; Adults $15. Limited spots available.
Immerse yourself in the vibrant rhythms and colorful traditions of Garba music and dancing, a joyous Indian dance form. Event highlights include live Garba music, Indian fashion clothing/accessories, artifacts and jewelry shopping, Mehndi and face painting, and delicious Indian food. Prizes will be awarded for best dressed and best dancer. The funds raised on this occasion will be used for the Autistic Foundation Center, Boston.
Tickets at http://sulekha.com/razzmaa and https://venmo.com/u/RazzMa.
Questions? Contact 774-330-9872.
Ancient Winters at the Flagg Swamp Rockshelter
Tuesday, October 15, 7-8:30 p.m.
In person at the Acton Memorial Library, 486 Main St., Acton and via Zoom.
Event is free, but registration is required at Friends of Pine Hawk events
Eric Johnson of UMass-Amherst provides a retrospective on the excavation of this remarkable 4,000-year-old site in Marlborough, Massachusetts.
Presented by The Friends of Pine Hawk.
Questions? Email friends.of.pinehawk@gmail.com.
Adult Archaeology Walk
Saturday, October 19, 10 a.m. to noon
In-person only. Limited to 20, ages 17 and up.
Event is free, but registration is required at Friends of Pine Hawk events.
Bettina Abe, Acton trail volunteer and retired member of Acton’s Conservation Division, will lead a brisk hike along the Nashoba Brook Trail, with stops at the stone chamber and Native American ceremonial sites. Trail conditions can be rocky, uneven, and often wet, and thus participation is limited. Registrants will receive a detailed email several days before the walk.
Presented by The Friends of Pine Hawk.
Questions? Email friends.of.pinehawk@gmail.com.
Burying the Trowel: A History of Controversy and Innovation in New England’s Cultural Stone Features Debate
Tuesday, October 22, 7-8:30 p.m.
In person at the Acton Memorial Library, 486 Main St., Acton and via Zoom.
Event is free, but registration is required at Friends of Pine Hawk events.
Unusual stone features dot the woodlands and hillsides of New England and their provenance has been subject to many theories and debate. Cultural anthropologist Caitlin O’Riordan will give an overview of the changing ways these features have been understood over time and the friction this has caused between avocational researchers and professional archaeologists.
Presented by The Friends of Pine Hawk.
Questions? Email friends.of.pinehawk@gmail.com.
Acton-Boxborough Family Network Spooktacular Halloween Party
Saturday, October 26, 10:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
RJ Grey Junior High School Gym, 16 Charter Road, Acton.
Open to the public. Members: Free. Non-members: $10 per family, must pre-register at Acton-Boxborough Family Network
Halloween Spooktacular event includes a magician and other fun activities provided by local preschools and businesses. The magic show will be from 11:00-11:45 am. There will also be a family costume contest, so come dressed for a chance to take home cool prizes donated by local businesses.
Presented by Acton-Boxborough Family Network.
Questions? Email events@abfamily.org.
Green Acton Fixit Clinic
Saturday, October 26, 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Acton Memorial Library, 486 Main St., Acton.
Event is free; you may be asked for a donation to defray supply costs.
If you have a non-functioning item that seems repairable, bring it to the Fixit Clinic where knowledgeable coaches will help you troubleshoot, tinker, and maybe fix your item. Coaches will also sharpen dull kitchen knives and garden tools. Items can include small appliances, toys, devices, clothing, electronics, bikes, and anything else you can carry. Future Fix-it Clinics dates are January 11, 2025 and May 24,2025.
Presented by Green Acton.
Changes in the Land Book Discussion
Tuesday, October 29, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
In person at the Acton Memorial Library, 486 Main St., Acton.
Event is free, but registration is required at Friends of Pine Hawk events.
Join a group discussion of this landmark environmental history by William Cronon, which offers an original and profound explanation of the effects European colonists’ sense of property and their pursuit of capitalism had upon the ecosystems of New England.
Presented by The Friends of Pine Hawk.
Questions? Email friends.of.pinehawk@gmail.com.
Community Service Day on Trail through Time
Sunday, November 10, 1-3 p.m.
In person. Limited to 25, ages 13 and up.
Event is free, but registration is required at Friends of Pine Hawk events.
Assist with trail and site maintenance on the Nashoba Brook Conservation Land’s Trail Through Time, a multicultural heritage trail in North Acton. The focus of this annual effort will be trail and site maintenance as well as cleaning trail kiosks. Rain date is Sunday, November 17.
Presented by The Friends of Pine Hawk.
Questions? Email friends.of.pinehawk@gmail.com.
Acton Arboretum Walk
Saturday, November 16, 9:30-11:00 a.m.
Acton Arboretum, 2 Taylor Road, Acton. Limited to 12, adults only.
Event is free, but registration is required at Friends of Pine Hawk events.
Join Kevin Gallant and Bettina Abe for a walk through the Acton Arboretum to observe what may be Native American Ceremonial Stone Landscapes (CSLs). Many cultural structures have been destroyed by development but some may still exist. The walk will be on and off the trail over uneven ground.
Presented by The Friends of Pine Hawk.
Questions? Email friends.of.pinehawk@gmail.com.
A Day in the Life of a Local Archaeologist
Wednesday, November 20, 7:00 p.m.
In person at the Acton Memorial Library, 486 Main St., Acton and via Zoom.
Event is free, but registration is required at Friends of Pine Hawk events.
David Gutbrod, professional archaeologist and Chair of Westford’s Historical Commission, conducted research in North Acton, the first application of Acton’s new Archaeological Protection bylaw. He will share significant highlights from the Acton project as well as remote sensing projects conducted in Tampa Bay’s lost cemetery and the hidden remains of Ethel, Florida.
Presented by The Friends of Pine Hawk.
Questions? Email friends.of.pinehawk@gmail.com.
Native Americans and the Revolution: The Times are Exceedingly Altered
Thursday, December 5, 7:00 p.m.
In person at the Acton Town Hall, 472 Main St., Acton and via Zoom.
Event is free, but registration is required at Friends of Pine Hawk events.
At the end of the 1780s, a group of Mohegans bemoaned that “[t]he times are exceedingly altered, yea the Times have turned everything topside down.” That was true for indigenous peoples in southern New England who survived the devastations of King Philip’s War a century earlier, as well as those between the Appalachians and the Great Lakes who were subject to a half-century of displacement and wars between European powers. Daniel Mandell, Professor of History Emeritus, Truman State University, and author of Tribe, Race, History: Native Americans in Southern New England, 1780-1880, will present how thousands of Native people were involved in and impacted by the Revolution and how they sought to secure their rights in different ways.
Presented by The Friends of Pine Hawk. Funded by Freedom’s Way and cosponsored with Acton 250.
Questions? Email friends.of.pinehawk@gmail.com.