Anne Heaton performs at the Steeple Coffeehouse this weekend (Photo from www.anneheaton.com)

No reason to leave town if you want to hear some live music this weekend. The Steeple Coffeehouse has a show on Saturday night, and the Assabet Valley Mastersingers perform on Sunday. Here are all the details.

Steeple Coffeehouse, Saturday, 7:30 pm, Pilgrim Church
Two artists will grace the Steeple Coffeehouse stage on Saturday night. Singer/songwriter, guitarist, poet and Falling Mountain recording artist Andrew McKnight brings his engaging collection of songs and stories celebrating the American landscape and people. Also appearing is Boston-based singer-songwriter/piano-player Anne Heaton, who is known for the infectious energy of her live performances with songs both lush and whimsical.

Tickets are $14 in advance and $17 at the door. Discounts are available for seniors and students. Learn more on the Steeple Coffeehouse website (www.steeplecoffeehouse.org)

Assabet Valley Mastersingers, Sunday, 3:30 pm, St. Mark’s School
On Sunday the Assabet Valley Mastersingers present Elijah, an Oratorio. Considered one of Felix Mendelssohn’s greatest works, Elijah tells the dramatic tale of the prophet Elijah from the Old Testament. The performance features a cast of soloists, as well as the Algonquin Regional High School Camerata Choir.

Tickets are $20 for general admission and $18 for students and seniors. Parking is available at Pilgrim Church with a shuttle bus to take you to the concert hall at St. Mark’s. For more information, visit the Assabet Valley Mastersingers website (www.avmsingers.org)

The Modern Pilates studio at BodyScapes in Southborough

Curious about Pilates? Here’s your chance to learn what it’s all about:

Modern Pilates will be hosting an Open House from 4:00 to 7:00 pm on Monday, March 15 at BodyScapes Gym on Route 9 (same building as Starbucks).

Owner Lisa Johnson and Instructor Kathy Hendrix will be on hand to answer questions about Pilates, demonstrate the equipment, and let you try it out too. Just come on in and say hello. For more information go to ModernPilatesBoston.com or email at Pilates@ModernPilatesBoston.com.

(Modern Pilates is a My Southborough sponsor.)

Whether it’s a bunch of balloons or something more precious, Southborough firefighters take ice rescues seriously.

The Worcester Telegram and Gazette recently tagged along with some of our firefighters as they practiced ice rescue safety drills on the Sudbury Reservoir. It was part of an article on how dangerous semi-frozen bodies of water can be this time of year. Here’s an excerpt:

Southboro firefighters do ice rescue safety drills routinely when winter begins — even though the public is not allowed on the reservoir. Earlier this week they hit the ice at a time they said is dangerous for the public — the end of cold weather.

“This is the perfect ice for people to fall through,” Firefighter Franks said. “Right now it is getting warm, the spring is coming; the ice is thawing. It looks safe. A lot of places it’s not safe. This is a really dangerous time of year.”

You can read the full article in the Worcester Telegram and Gazette. And be sure to check out this video to see the firefighters in action.

Creative dance instructor Susan Paino will be at the Southborough Library on Monday to present Movin’ to the Music. Here’s how Paino describes the program on her website (www.susanpaino.com):

Leap! Float! Shake! Dance a story to music! This lively workshop with educator, Susan Paino, is designed especially for children. Everyone in the audience of a Movn’ to the Music Morning is invited to dance, play, and use their imagination.

The program starts at 10:30 am. It’s geared toward kids ages 3 to 7, but all are welcome. No pre-registration is required.

The folks at Assabet sent this notice along:

Nominations are now being accepted for the Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School Hall of Achievement, recognizing and honoring outstanding alumni, teachers, and individuals who have achieved or contributed to the development of students or to the excellence of the vocational/technical programs of the school.

Nominees may be in the categories of Alumni, Teacher, or Significant Contributor. Criteria would include bringing pride and distinction to Assabet Valley through personal commitment, sacrifice and dedication, bringing honor to nominee’s organization and community through exceptional achievements and /or service, or serving as extraordinary role models of character, courage, leadership and citizenship.

For further details and to download the nomination forms, please visit the Assabet Valley website, www.assabettech.com, and open the “About AV” tab on the left, scrolling to “Hall of Achievement.”  Forms may also be requested by calling the school at 508-460-6574, ext. 1458.

All nomination forms should be sent by mail to the school at 215 Fitchburg Street, Marlborough, MA 01752.  No email or fax submissions will be accepted. The deadline for submissions is March 31, 2010.

We had some glorious weather these past few days, and I got to take full advantage of the sunshine on a recent trip to the Breakneck Hill Conservation Land. Even with the sun and the bright blue sky, the view was still decidedly brown, but you could feel spring just itching to burst through.

Here are some photos. Click on a thumbnail to enlarge and view as a slideshow.

 

(Photo by scott*eric)

Tonight is Southborough Unscheduled. The kids (in theory) have no homework. You (in theory) have no meetings or commitments. It’s a night dedicated to family time.

So, how will you spend the evening? Board games? American Idol? Sock puppets?

Let us know in the comments.

There hasn’t been much good news on the budget front this year, but School Superintendent Charles Gobron got to share some last night. Gobron told the school committee that thanks to additional cuts, cooperation from teachers, and some help from Uncle Sam, the school was able to trim their budget by an additional $350K.

The biggest chunk of assistance came in the form of an unexpected $150K in stimulus money from the federal government that will help offset the loss of $450K in state circuit breaker reimbursement for special education services.

In addition, the Southborough Teachers Association voted unanimously to take a furlough day next year in lieu of a professional development day. That move will save the district $80K in salaries and professional development costs.

Katherine Howard, president of the teachers association told the school committee that teachers did what was in the best interest of the students by voting “without hesitation to give back.”

Teachers weren’t the only ones making sacrifices. Principals and office staff members will go without raises next year, like their municipal employee counterparts. That will save the district about $25K.

Other savings came from a renegotiated school bus contract — a $43K savings — and small cuts to a number of other accounts.

All told, the reductions bring the budget down from a 3.63% increase over last year to a 1.65% increase. If you take away the $450K state cut to special education reimbursement, the budget is actually lower than last year’s by 1.19%.

The budget still calls for the reduction of six teachers along with about 3-1/2 full-time support positions.

There was praise all around for the efforts of the school administration and teachers to reduce the budget, but officials stressed that it still all comes down to town meeting.

“The fight’s not over,” School Committee vice-chair Marybeth Strickland said. “We’re not out of the woods.”

“It’s a big help, but I don’t want anyone to leave here thinking it’s problem solved,” Advisory Committee member John Butler sad. “Don’t cancel your babysitter for town meeting.”

Butler said it’s likely the town will be able to figure out a way to close the remaining budget gap, but how that happens is still up in the air. Whether it’s through additional cuts, increased taxes, or the use of one-time funds, will be the decision of town meeting voters.

School committee members also painted a bleak picture for next year’s school budget. Since much of the cost reductions this year are through one-time funds like the federal stimulus money, the district won’t be able to rely on them in fiscal year 2012.

Said School Committee member Jack Kessler, “There’s no reason to believe next year will be better.”

Algonquin recently released its honor roll for the second term of the school year. There are three levels of honors, with Principal’s List being the highest. Here are the names of the students in each of the three lists:

1. Principal’s List (415 students)
2. Honor’s List (234 students)
3. Commended List (283 students)

Congratulations to all who made the honor roll.

This house at 10 Beechwood Lane went on the market for $469,900

Here’s what went on and off the market this week. Thanks to Doug McClain (email) of Century 21 Commonwealth Realty for supplying the listing information.

New on the market
112 Marlboro Road (map) – 7 room, 3 bed, 1.5 bath Cape – $359,900
10 Beechwood Lane (map) – 8 room, 3 bed, 2.5 bath Cape – $469,900
5 Witherbee Lane (map) – 11 room, 4 bed, 3 full, 2 half bath Colonial – $910,000
2 Schipper Farm Lane (map) – 15 room, 4 bed, 4 full, 2 half bath Colonial – $1,595,000

Sale pending
7 Winchester St (map) – 8 room, 3 bed, 2 bath Colonial – Listed at $299,900 – 320 days on market
3 Devine Ln (map) – 12 room, 4 bed, 2.5 bath Other – Listed at $850,000 – 128 days on market
14 Wolfpen Lane (map) – 13 room, 5 bed, 5 bath Colonial – Listed at $1,299,000 – 27 days on market

Sold
9 Burnett Road (map) – 1 Residential acres (43560 sq.ft.) – Listed at $199,900 – Sold for $148,600 – 1027 days on market
135 Woodland Road (map) – 7 room, 3 bed, 2 bath Cape – Listed at $418,900 – Sold for $400,000 – 120 days on market