Published monthly by: Maynard Marketing Task Force
Welcome! This newsletter is dedicated to providing, you, our readers, with an ongoing narrative on the many positive and sometimes too little-known aspects of our town; in short, to promote Maynard as a place in which to live, invest and enjoy. The monthly editions (with no fees, sales pitches or paid-for ads) will inform, entertain and share good news in order to promote our advantages, raise awareness of challenges and opportunities, and increase community connectivity.
A sampling of what you may find here in the coming months:
⦁ Articles about what is happening or being considered in Maynard
⦁ Progress reports on local and municipal initiatives
⦁ Local Business Spotlights
⦁ Testimonials
⦁ Coming events
⦁ Volunteer stories
⦁ Economic Development Ideas
⦁ Town challenges and opportunities
⦁ How government and other civic groups cooperate to get things done
⦁ How can you help – some ideas/help-needed opportunities
In this issue we cover a couple of things you may not know about Maynard;
A new recreation opportunity on the river, (surprising?) news about how Maynard High School ranks against others, some background on a local business…
So, here we go. Our goal is to frequently refresh communications to accurately show a current picture of what is available now, what is on the horizon and how we are adapting in a rapidly changing world. We hope you find something of interest here and even have some fun. You can reach us if you would like to see our brochure, have ideas or would like to contribute:
Email us at: [email protected]
Events around town:
August dog days?…
The Market offers shoppers the freshest local produce and products as well as weekly musical performances, kids’ activities, information about local nonprofit groups, and place to visit with friends and neighbors. Rain or shine, stop by to celebrate another wonderful farmers’ market season!
Spend a summer evening listening to live music along the beautiful Assabet River[…]
The Assabet Co-op Market’s “Music By the River” Free
August 31 and September 7 @ 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm Assabet Co-op Market, 86 Powder Mill Road, Maynard, MA
For more events, see https://discovermaynard.com/calendar/
On the menu …
Magnolia is now open on Nason Street for great Chinese Food
See more dining options on https://discovermaynard.com/dining/
Recreation:
Paddling without getting your feet wet?
Did you know… The town now provides local Kayak rentals at Ice House Landing off Winter Street adjacent to the rail trail on the Assabet River. The town will be providing kayak rentals for the rest of the summer – and planned for years to come.
And a recent news story on the Kayak Rentals ribbon cutting;
https://www.townwidemall.com/news
Details on rentals: Sponsored by Town of Maynard Conservation Commission at this link below
This month’s testimonial:
How does a new business see Maynard?
Interlude Music: “When we moved to Maynard, we had no idea how much we would fall in love with the community. There’s a walkable downtown, an easy commute into Cambridge and Boston, and beautiful bike paths and nature reserves we walk along daily. With the movie theater, ACME theater, galleries, restaurants and a music venue, The Sanctuary, we feel like we have the benefits of living in a city with the coziness of a small town. We have also felt incredibly supported by the Maynard community as small business owners and local artists. This is a town with a lot of people who care deeply and stay involved in their community. There are many ways to find belonging from library sponsored spice clubs, open mic nights, community theater, film clubs, martial arts dojos and more, and everything is less than a five-minute drive.”
Ella and Devereux Geiger… Interlude Music
Business Spotlight:
Butler Lumber
67 Parker Street, Maynard MA, 01754
978.897.7271
Reprinted from a previous article in The Action Unlimited
Butler Lumber is a small “hardware-and-more” store that has withstood the test of time and the Goliaths of big-box stores and online retailers. While Butler Lumber has just about everything a homeowner, carpenter or modern-day home builder might need, walking through the store is a little like taking a step back in time. Our success is culture-based and formed from the customer-oriented values of dedicated employees. Our culture is based on quality products, fair prices, excellent
customer service, old-fashioned atmosphere, and profound respect for our customers.
Serving is the foundation of our culture and continues after business hours by supporting local charities and organizations. We have embraced opportunities to help our community since we opened in 1938.
Successfully sustaining our business for over 80 years without reliance on glitzy marketing and online shopping tactics is a testament to the power of service excellence and customer loyalty.
Mike Sawvelle, owner since 2019, started working at Butler Lumber in 1987. He started in sales, but in time he did a little bit of everything, with sales his primary focus. Over the years he has developed a talent for telling a good story which goes well with his outgoing personality and easy smile. He has a knack for taking care of customers,
understanding their needs, anticipating future needs and offering solid advice on how to get things done.
Butler Lumber, named not for an owner but for its location on Butler Avenue, celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2018. It moved to its current location on Parker Street in 1946-47, and in all there have been three owners prior to Mike. Over the years some different slogans have been part of the Butler identity, including “we’re not big, just better; you
can’t beat Butler; for the common and unique.” But in the end it comes down to the customers, knowing what they need and how to service them and providing quality products at a fair price.
Education in Maynard:
We have one of the highest ranked high schools in the Greater Boston area [Source: Boston Magazine]
https://www.bostonmagazine.com/education/best-public-high-schools-boston-2022-chart/ .
The student population has access to great competitive courses and is small enough to offer participation in extracurricular activities that rivals small private schools.
(Note: Overall ranking for Greater Boston High Schools placed Maynard at #25 of 151 school districts and ranked in the top 11 for “Bang for your housing buck”)
Featuring: Commentary
Did you hear the one about a man who wakes up in a hotel bath tub missing a… _? Can you fill in this blank? (Oh, and by the way, it never happened. Look it up for some fun)
Why the Maynard Advantage? Thoughts about what grabs our attention: Opinion: Bob McCarthy, Maynard Marketing Task Force
https://www.rebellionresearch.com/
A friend and I were discussing why human nature appears to be attracted to what I called “train-wreck stories” and it caused him to think of “rubbernecking” at highway accident scenes … especially when they are on the other side of the highway! Two things occurred to me about this behavior.
1) Most of us might admit to at least occasionally joining in on the rubbernecking. It is very hard to resist doing, and we know of course it needlessly slows the traffic behind us (and limits attention to the bumper ahead of you).
2) My definition of train-wreck stories shares the same compelling need to watch spectacular wrecks, fires and other disasters of many kinds. Watching often comes with a need to tell others a version of what happened with, shall we say, loose attention to all the facts. Plus, it often is connected to a desire to share the story as widely as possible to willing (or unwilling, but captive) audiences. Listeners are likely reminded of their favorite similar story and may even start thinking how it will outdo the story being shared. Sound at all familiar? What information is really shared in this type of exchange? Does the juiciest but perhaps least factual story get repeated the most? Could this be how urban legends originate? I truly don’t know the answer, but…
I bring this up to explore the difficulty of sharing stories that are meant to inform the public of steady, methodical progress that follows many calculated steps to success. These are sometimes hard to tell in a way that is as “entertaining” as a good train-wreck story – or as much of an adrenaline boost as being witness to what could be a fatal crash scene. And, of course, there is now a world of train wreck stories literally at our fingertips; no need to wait for a face-to-face conversation. That steady diet can obscure what’s really going on, sometimes out of sight, right?
So, to repeat part our introduction once again, The Maynard Advantage Newsletter from the independent Maynard Marketing Task Force is dedicated to looking further ahead past our current challenges and prioritizing realistic and achievable opportunities to overcome them. Some of this will be in the form of providing data-backed information, with less anecdotes or focus on what might go wrong since that can take up all the oxygen and energy in a brainstorm. We hope to help build a stronger foundation of story-telling about some of the maybe less eye-catching daily activities in town and how work is proceeding on priorities. And share some of the things about our town that are envied by our neighboring communities. We see the need to build upon some great strides happening currently in our little town, even some that may not be easily visible. We aim to focus on solutions and progress for aiding current citizens and attract like-minded new residents and businesses who want to partake in, and add to, our Maynard Advantage.
And just like that …
We managed to start a new way to stay connected in Maynard. Please enjoy and let your friends know about us.
If you want to learn a bit more about us and the background of what we wish to do in the future, visit and bookmark our Homepage at:
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Quotes of the month for a little perspective…
” Social media is just what it is – a media. Don’t forget to live your life offline too.” Unknown
“The reason we struggle with insecurity is that we compare our ‘behind-the-scenes’ with everyone else’s highlight reel.” – Steven Furtick