Feature Articles

Editor’s note: Sutton residents Bob and Laura MacKinnon and Cindy Charest came by The Yankee Xpress office last week to pick up their $1,000 check for finding the Grand Prize certificate and tell us their stories about the scavenger hunt. Bob had noticed The Grand Prize notice in the June issue of the Blackstone Valley Xpress and convinced his friends it could be a fun summer activity.

It was lightning, thundering... Read More

By Rod Lee

There may be no better place in America than the 1,100 square miles of “irreplaceable historic natural resources”—the appropriately named “The Last Green Valley” of southcentral Massachusetts and eastern Connecticut—for an event like “Walktober.”

Talk to Marcy B. Dawley and Scott Benoit and you will certainly get the impression that they are of that mindset.

Ms. Dawley is project administr... Read More

By Thomas D’Agostino
www.tomdagostino.com

I would like to present one more lighthouse ghost story before moving on to a new subject. This is one that will be appearing in a forthcoming book. It is one of my favorite little stories as it mixes music with a haunting. This is the account of the second oldest light in Maine, the Seguin (SEE-guin, also pronounced se-GUIN) Light.... Read More

By Becky Harvey

Though you may not see a new structure or a change in menu, there is a big change at a local pizza shop in Oxford. For the past thirteen years, Pizza Post, on Main Street, has been one of the popular places to hit for a tasty bite to eat.  Founding owner Bob Leveillee opened the restaurant at its original site in the old post office in 2003. Seven years later, he pulled up stakes and moved the business acro... Read More

By Amy Palumbo-LeClaire

Gisele Bundchen’s catwalk across the Rio de Janeiro stage during the Olympics’ Opening Ceremony caught a bit of controversy, along with more than a few glances. Meanwhile, gym members of CrossFit HammerMill were likely doing what they do best—training like Olympians. 

Be it via Olympic Weightlifts, kettle bell work, short sprints, or partnered rowing, members of this strength-based “box” loca... Read More

By Rod Lee

Jannine Almquist has at least two reasons to feel proud of Inspiration Hair Studio & Day Spa, which she asserts is the town of Uxbridge’s oldest such salon.

  For starters, there is the fact that Ms. Almquist, a local girl and a graduate of Uxbridge High, bought the business from original owner Hope Bedard in 2014—fulfilling an ambition. The transition has been a smooth one. Not only is Ms. Bedard sti... Read More

By Rod Lee

Do not be surprised if businesses like C.M. Allaire & Sons, Country Bumpkins and Yarn Garden trot front and center for the town of Mendon’s 350th-anniversary in 2017.

Or if such other enterprises as Alicante Restaurant & Lounge, The Blessing Barn Home Store, George’s Surf & Turf, The Head Shed, Southwick’s Zoo, New England Steak & Seafood, Willow Brook Restaurant, Mendon Greenhouse and of... Read More

Our congratulations to the winner, and our thanks to all who participated in summer's quest. All clues (and their meanings) will be published in the August 26 Blackstone Valley North (and in subsequent Xpress editions). And, of course, you'll get the winner's story!