Lowell’s annual City of Lights Festival is tomorrow, the 30th. There will be caroling, trolley rides, skating, food trucks, crafts, and more. The City of Lights Parade begins at 4:30 and the City Hall Lighting takes place immediately thereafter.

Some of these activities will surely involve road closures, the parade in particular. I’ve been unable to find any online info, but the parade’s usual route is Jackson Street to Central to Merrimack to Arcand Drive so be aware that there may be traffic issues in the afternoon and evening if you’re driving anywhere. On the bright side traffic-wise, if you’re having any visitors tomorrow, there are signs about town saying parking in city garages will be free—but again, I haven’t found anything online to confirm that.

Just a heads up that because of Thanksgiving this month’s Canal Place Association Board meeting will be held this week, on Wednesday, the 20th, rather than next. The meeting is at 7:00 in the lobby office. Residents are welcome.

The input I’ve gotten is running just slightly in favor of keeping Trick-or-Treating at Canal Place on Thursday the 31st despite Lowell changing the city-wide date to Nov. 1st. This isn’t a board-sponsored activity, nor is anyone in officially in charge of it, so there’s no one to make a formal decision. But I would encourage residents to stick with the original date and celebrate Halloween on Halloween, as planned, from 6-7:30. I know some people have set up their schedules that way and can’t change them.

That said, if anyone shows up at my door on Friday evening during those hours, they’re welcome to candy too!

The City of Lowell has rescheduled general Trick-or-Treating to Friday due to weather concerns. Does anyone feel we should follow the city schedule or should we leave it alone and enjoy our warm and cozy indoor event as scheduled on Thursday the 31st?

Last time this happened we followed the city schedule and changed the date, to the dismay of some residents. My personal preference is to leave it on the 31st now that the flyers have gone out and everyone would have to be notified of any change. But input in the comments or directly to me is welcome!

Pumpkin pictures for hanging on the doors of those units welcoming trick-or-treaters have been left on everyone’s doorsteps. There are also a couple of spares on the lobby bulletin board for anyone who may have gotten missed.

Sorry folks. I just spent 2 1/2 hours having my teeth drilled and I thought I’d gone all the way through Tuesday into Wednesday. 😉

The tradition in this building for the past several years has been to trick-or-treat between 6:00 and 8:00 (although we cut it to 7:30 last year because that last half hour is always dead). The usual flyers haven’t gone out as of yet but as far as I’ve heard it’s still on for tomorrow night. It’s a fun opportunity to see your neighbors and admire the kids’ costumes.

I’ll see that some sort of flyer with a “trick-or-treaters welcome” image for the doors of anyone who wants to participate gets distributed tonight—even if I have to do it myself!

I have two half-full gallons of washer fluid that have been riding around in my car for years. Can anyone use them? I’m getting rid of my car. Just let me know and I’ll hand them over. admin@canalplaceone.com

Has everyone’s network been crashing or is it just us and we should look at new modems? Ours has crashed at least twice today and it’s been a regular thing for the past week or two. It’s a real problem for residents who work online!

In anticipation of moving away, Fred has tendered his resignation to the Canal Place Board. The means we need a volunteer to fill his Board seat for the remainder of his term which ends in May. If you’re a Canal Place One owner, please consider volunteering for this interesting and important aspect of association membership.

Smoke seeping in from other units continues to be a problem for some residents, not only tobacco smoke, but the particularly pungent smell of marijuana. Please, please be considerate of your neighbors. Smoke can travel from unit to unit via the building’s many connecting systems as well as inside the walls and along the fire corridors.

Please take any smoking outside whenever possible, and use air filters, open windows and vent fans to lessen the problem inside. Consider ways you might keep smoke from traveling into common areas or your neighbors’ units, such as calking any openings where your walls meet the big upstairs beams. If you’re using marijuana, whether for medical or recreational reasons, please consider other ways to ingest it. Any help in alleviating this problem would be much appreciated!

On a different topic, a resident has asked me to point out a local fundraiser that they thought worthwhile. It’s a modest goal for STEM classroom supplies and it’s easy to donate to via PayPal or charge card. I did!

And finally, people particularly interested in the recent post about replacing windows might want to check out several comments that were made in response. For those who were unaware (like me), Cathy clarified at Wednesday’s board meeting that when people talk about window replacement in this building it’s the glass that gets replaced, not the whole window.