Hello all!  Please send me a quick reply if you get this notification email.  One subscriber, who was formerly getting emails about new posts, has recently stopped receiving them.  Before I go step by step through every possible reason at my end, it would be good to know if others are still being notified of new posts (as admin, my notifications are still coming through).  Thanks!

The fountain has obviously spent another lifeless holiday season—alas.  But progress has been made. The plumber and fountain company completed their portion of the work last week.  A work crew is due to be here in another week to reinstall the granite, clean and seal the metal surround, and get the fountain ready to go.  The doors from the atrium to the lobby are scheduled to be changed out at the same time (I believe this is to satisfy some code concerns and that it is being done at the contractor’s expense).  Following all that, there should be painters and carpet people in cleaning up the last of the atrium odds and ends.  This atrium project has been a bit of a haul, but the end is in sight!

FYI, there’s a water main break on Arcand Drive today (Saturday, January 10th).  The city is warning residents to stay away from that area (between City Hall and the Tsongas Center) and that there may be an interruption in water service.

For those of you expecting Santa to be particularly generous this year, it happens that this weekend is “Material Saturday” in Lowell. Old TVs, mattresses, appliances, and a number of other hard-to-dispose-of items can be dropped off (some require a small fee) at the Lowell Regional Waste Water Utility at 451 First Street Blvd between 8 am and noon on Saturday.  For more info, click here.

Lowell Boy Scout Troop 23 is again picking up Christmas trees in return for a donation (usually $20 or $25) as part of a fundraiser.  It’s a bit tricky being in a big building; one year we had them phone us and we brought the tree down to them at the loading dock, another year we left it outside the front entrance and taped a check to the front door.  But I’m sure you can work something out if you’d like to avoid hauling the tree off yourself.  More info can be found here.

If you’d rather just get rid of the tree yourself, you can find the city information about drop off sites here.

Please remember to wrap your tree in something (an old sheet always works for us) before taking it out of the building—a dry tree will leave needles everywhere!  And trees should be brought down in the freight elevator, not the front one.  Thank you, everyone, for being considerate of your neighbors.

The latest of the masonry reports is now available here.  And the combined reports—there’s a link on the link page—now include the newest report also.

No word yet about the Boy Scouts’ Christmas tree pickup program for this year.  I’ll pass it along as soon as I hear anything.

I’d also like to wish everyone the best of holidays. Stay warm, stay safe, and may both the season and the coming year bring joy and good health!

Just a reminder that Western Ave Studios will hold another holiday shopping weekend from noon to 5:00 on Saturday and Sunday, plus a special evening on Thursday from 5:00 to 9:00.

And Mill #5 will have their OtherWhere Market from 12:00 to 6:30 on Saturday, complete with a harpist for some mood music!  We attended their bazaar last week and found quite a lively crowd and lots of interesting goods.  We even managed to get some shopping done for some of the tougher people on our gift list!

Just wanted to let people know that, while I personally enjoy the smell of balsam in the front elevator, and I don’t think there was an official notice from the management on the subject this year, the usual rule is that Christmas trees should be wrapped when being carried through the building and that they should go in the back freight elevator only.  We always cart ours in and out wrapped in an old sheet so that no one is stuck cleaning up a trail of needles.

For newcomers to our building: Following the holidays, Lowell has various Christmas tree drop-off sites and there’s a local Boy Scout troop that will pick up your used tree in return for a donation.  I’ll post more about those options as we get nearer to take-down-tree time instead of put-up-tree time.

No new news about the building has reached me this week, but if you like the idea of shopping locally and supporting Lowell’s creative side, there are two excellent opportunities today.

Western Ave Studios is open for holiday shopping today and tomorrow from noon to 5 pm. With 245 studios, there’s a little something for everyone.

A newcomer to the scene, Mill #5 on Jackson Street, is easy walking distance from us and has Totally Bazaar II today from noon to 6:00 in addition to their regular stores. They also have a Farm Market from 10:00 to 2:30 on most Sundays, including tomorrow.  And next Saturday is an Other Where Market slanted toward Fantasy, Steampunk, and Sci Fi.  At least some of these events even have live music!  And there’s a stunning, little Art Deco theatre in the complex.

(Incidentally, I’m using Facebook links here since I find the Mill #5 website to be over-ambitious and clunky to use—FB seems more helpful.  The link below is to a Boston Globe article from last year.)

For those unfamiliar with Mill #5, which may be most, they’re located on the 4th floor of one of the old Appleton Mills on the far side of Jackson Street, #250.  They are an up and coming project, kind of artist-studios-meets-mini-mall-meets-Victorian-street, that will probably have a much better shot if they get some better signage and the bridge connecting the Visitor’s Center lot with Appleton Mills gets built. In the meantime, they’re well worth a look-see but the entrance isn’t obvious.  One needs to walk into what looks like a little alley/parking area just to the right of the Cotton House Lofts entrance vestibule and head for the left, rear corner of the parking area where there’s an elevator tucked away.  Oh, and if you’re into imagining what the mills around here looked like in their heyday, Mill #5 has a general store set up in what looks to be virtually unaltered mill offices, complete with tin ceilings, built-in glass front bookcases and more.