Features
Simply Good: The Simple Man Saloon
By Ellen Oliver
Looking for some live music to accompany the game on a weekend night? Head over to the Simple Man Saloon in Clinton where you can get music, food and sports all in one unpretentious venue.
One look at the five-page menu lets you know simple does not mean limited at the SMS. The menu offers a wide variety of salads, burgers, pasta, chicken and potatoes. A simple man must like potatoes. You can order skins, waffle, shoestring, sweet potato or spicy fries with toppings including bacon cheese and chili, ranging in price for $4.95 to $7.95.
We Love Franco’s, Too
By Ann Needle
Subliminal advertising thrives at Franco’s Trattoria in Sudbury — witness the Internet address for this Italian restaurant,welovefrancos.com. This convinces the potential customer to love it, or be un-trendy.
Luckily for Franco and the gang, this family was quite happy.
The Nature Connection Brings Healing
By Ann Needle
Her job began almost a decade ago, after wandering into a Concord bookstore for a reading. Today, Stow’s Sophie Wadsworth helps power a non-profit organization that uses nature to literally, in many cases, change lives.
The Concord-based Nature Connection’s mission is to bring nature to those who don’t have access to its power, such as troubled children and seniors in nursing facilities. Executive Director Wadsworth explained that staff and volunteers bring animals, plants, and other pieces of the natural world to residential programs, special-needs schools and elder care facilities in the Boston/MetroWest area, bringing nature’s healing power into their lives. Programs usually run up to twice a month for a year, at a modest cost of under $300, she added.
Vacation and Community Photos
Nicolas and Carter Valentino took their Stow Independent on the Norwegian Dawn to Bermuda. Nicolas loved getting soft serve ice cream after all of his meals and Carter enjoyed playing chess with the pieces that were almost as big as he is.
Pizza: What’s Hot for Summer
By Ann Needle
The cliché “it’s too hot to cook” was quite likely heard last week in a lot of kitchens. With August yet to go, residents may be looking for new ideas for shutting off the oven and giving yourselves one less thing to sweat over.
In the coming weeks, the Independent will spotlight take-out spots for pizza that are a bit unexpected. Pizza is often the choice – easily served with minimum clean-up — when it gets too hot even to grill. For the lucky among you, it’s possible to easily balance a slice AND stay on your rubber float in the pool.
River’s Edge Reaches to Stow
By Ann Needle
It offers entertainment all summer and beyond, a vibrant organization that brings a variety of opportunities to act, sing, draw, play an instrument, or simply soak in a show.
Formerly the Hudson Arts Alliance, the non-profit River’s Edge Arts Alliance changed its name to reflect that it is open to anyone wanting to participate, with about 30 surrounding towns now enjoying its work, according to River’s Edge Executive Director Lynne Johnson. “We changed the name to be more encompassing of the surrounding communities,” Johnson said. “I don’t think people understood it was one big organization.”