Just calling a few local items to your attention.

The last official Lowell Walk  of the year is this Saturday, the 15th. This one covers part of the Concord River Greenway and meets at the Lowell Cemetery Lawrence Street gate (opposite 1025 Lawrence Street) at 10:00am.

The Baystate Marathon is Sunday morning (starts at 8:00) and will mean traffic delays.  Please take that into account if you have plans to drive anywhere.

And the Lowell Downtown Neighborhood Association’s monthly meeting is Monday at 7:00 at LTC across the breezeway from the Visitor’s Center.

If you’re looking for more things to do around town, I recommend Howl Magazine for ideas, or subscribing to the COOL weekly newsletter.

Enjoy the weekend, All!  We’re just about at the end of the nice weather.  (We haven’t turned on the heat in our unit yet but I understand it’s available again.)

First of all, fire alarm testing will be taking place on Thursday, the 29th.  Ron and the technician must have access to all the units.  If you haven’t already returned your completed permission form to the office, please do so ASAP.

There will be a board meeting next Wednesday, the 28th, at 7:00 PM in the lobby office.  Residents are welcome.  The agenda is posted on the first floor bulletin board next to the elevator.

There is a meeting of the Downtown Neighborhood Association scheduled for Monday evening at 7:00 at LTC, 246 Market Street. That agenda can be found here.

Finally, the first Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race will be starting tomorrow morning right out front on Market Street.  There will be activities and live music, as well as some bizarre, human-powered, race vehicles passing by, between 9:30AM and 4:00PM.  Sounds like a lot of fun—even spectators are encouraged to come in costume!  The Lowell Sun recently published info and a detailed schedule.

Just got this question from a resident:

I’ve noticed a chlorine-like smell in our neighborhood air lately. Anyone else notice this? Anyone know what it is?

I haven’t noticed anything.  Has anyone else?  Feel free to respond in the comments.

If I had to guess, I’d say they were doing some heavy-duty cleaning in our building’s back end section, the former power plant area that’s being rehabbed into luxury condos.  But I’m only guessing.

I recently acquired a 78rpm record from early in the last century and then realized we got rid of the only turntable we had that played 78s when we downsized and moved to Lowell.  Is there anyone in the building who has the equipment—and the willingness—to let me hear this thing before I decide if it’s worth having it professionally transferred to digital?  And does anyone have any recommendations about a transfer company to use?

Thanks for any info!  Feel free to reply in the comments or e-mail me at admin@canalplaceone.com

This year’s final First Thursday is coming up this week, with several events centered over near the Swamp Locks on Thorndike/Dutton.  A special Lowell Walk, live music, ethnic food, and a creative lighting of the Swamp Locks canal complex are all on the schedule.

After the recent power outage downtown, there’s now a link on the “Links” page of this site that will take you to the National Grid Outage Map where you can find out if they know of the problem and if a repair crew has been assigned.  Of course, if you’re dependent on your home computer to get online and the power’s out, this isn’t going to do you much good, but for those of you with smart phones, it may be useful.

Lowell has replaced their old emergency notification system with a new one called Civic Ready.  You can subscribe to receive announcements about a range of issues via  e-mail, phone, or text messages.  I found the old system very useful for learning of snow emergencies, water main breaks, and other traffic/parking issues. Here’s hoping the new one is equally helpful.

The Cultural Organization of Lowell recently opened a cute little storefront on Merrimack St.  The hours are still in flux, but I recommend checking it out.  Should be a great place for Christmas shopping this season (and they have my dance history book available too!)

And speaking of unique shopping opportunities, try stopping by the weekly Sunday farmer’s market at Mill no. 5.  It’s got a tempting selection, live music, and great atmosphere.  Next Sunday’s holiday weekend Farmer’s Market should be extra special.  And next Saturday is Open Studios at Western Ave as well as a flea market at Mill no. 5—both events run noon to five.  Lots of fun things to do within walking distance as the summer comes to a close!

Please remember to fill out your permission slip for the maintenance crew to come in and flush your AC lines, and return the form to the lobby office ASAP.  The form is due by noon this Friday and work starts the following Tuesday.  As someone who’s had other people’s AC leak water through my ceiling, I highly recommend you have this work done!

I believe there’s a board meeting Wednesday night, the 27th, in the lobby office at 7:00.  Residents are welcome.  You can check the bulletin board by the first floor elevator for more info.

Time is running out for the discounted lo-flo toilet replacement.  Frank Potvin’s discount ends on August 30th and he needs to have time to look at the job and order the toilets.  So if you’re considering having it done, now is the time.  Call Frank Potvin Plumbing at 978-957-2518 for more info.  For more about other people’s experience, check out theses comments on an earlier post.

The Lowell Folk Festival is next weekend.  Be prepared for tents and signs sprouting about the neighborhood during the week and then street closings starting Friday afternoon.

And finally, if you’re interested in where some of the trendy night spots were in this neighborhood a century or two ago, I put a do-it-yourself walking tour of the early, local dance halls online awhile back.  You can link to pdfs and print out a brochure from my Twirling Jennies site.  Or you might be able to catch me handing them out at the Lowell Parks & Conservation Trust booth near St. Anne’s next weekend!  (But only for a few hours—too much else to do at the Festival)

Due to the wet pavement from last night’s rain, the parking lot lines didn’t get painted today.  The painting is now scheduled for Thursday morning from 8:00 to noon.  If your car is parked in the surface lot, please see that it gets moved from the lot during that time.

For anyone parking on the surface lot or in the building’s basement garage who hasn’t seen the notices posted around the building, there is work being done on the surface lot tomorrow (Tuesday the 28th) from 8:00 to 5:00.  If you are parked in the lot, you need to move your car before 8:00am tomorrow or it will be towed.  If you are parked under the building, you will not be able to exit or enter the garage between those hours.

People should also be aware that parking in the Leo Roy garage is in very short supply due to construction and is often restricted to pass-card holders—evenings or before 6:30am are your best shot at getting in without a pass-card. If you know someone with a car in our surface lot who is away or might have missed the notices, you might want to give them a heads up.  More info can be found posted on the building’s front door and on the first floor bulletin boards.

Also, a resident is looking for advice about getting her stairwell painted:  “I want to paint my foyer and stairway — those giant walls — and am looking for references/contact info for painters others have successfully worked with. Thanks.”

If you have any info for her, please comment here or e-mail me and I’ll pass it along.

For anyone who’s interested, this month’s board meeting is tomorrow night at 7:00 in the lobby office.  Residents welcome.

Relaying some important info from LDNA: