Spring Festival Includes Hike to Cedar Swamp

The swamp covers ten percent of the town, and many have never seen it.

  As part of the Westborough Spring Festival presented by the Rotary Club of Westborough, the Westborough Community Land Trust and OARS are hosting a free hike at Cedar Swamp this weekend. Cedar Swamp in Westborough is the headwaters of the Sudbury River and covers about ten percent of the town. WCLT guides will lead a three-mile walk on a dirt road into the swamp. The hike begins on Saturday, May 5 at 9:30 a.m. A rain date is scheduled for Sunday, May 6 at 1:30 p.m. Hikers will view Cedar Swamp Pond, old dumps of Bay State Abrasives, the TransFlo facility construction and views across the swamp. Participants are urged to wear sturdy shoes and long pants and bring bug spray and water. The program will begin behind Steinmart in Bay State …

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Fire Notes

Small Brush Fire Ignites Near Rail Tracks

Westborough firefighters call Northborough Fire Department for help.

  Westborough firefighters took less than an hour to put out a small brush fire reported along the railroad tracks on Friday at 6:50 p.m. The fire department received a report of a brush fire from a train passing through Westborough. “Tell the railroad that we’re working along the tracks and they need to make a lot of noise when they come in and go slow,” a Westborough firefighter at the brush fire radioed to the fire department. Shortly after that, a long, loud train whistle could be heard in the area. The fire was reported to be about 50 by 100 feet and located in the same area as a large brush fire in July that singed an estimated 20 acres near Cedar Swamp. Northborough Fire Department was called to bring its brush truck. Firefighters …

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On Patch This Week

5 Hot Stories This Week on Patch

The 2012 Miss Massachusetts USA was born and bred in Westborough.

  This week on Westborough Patch, there was plenty to talk about, starting with the crowning of a woman born and raised in the 100th town. Here are five stories that had readers talking this week:   1. Westborough High School graduate Natalie Pietrzak, class of 2004, was crowned Miss Massachusetts USA in a ceremony at Lowell Memorial Auditorium on Sunday, Nov. 20. Pietrzak told Westborough Patch that she shocked to hear her name announced. 2. Westborough Patch blogger and cooking enthusiast Bruce Tretter shared a story this week about his recent hunting expedition at Cedar Pond. “The sun was warm and the water glass clear, lushly lined on the edges with richly alive green vegetation - nothing at all that even hinted a whisper of a muddy, …

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6,000 Year Old Artifacts Unearthed at Cedar Swamp

Archaeologist Alan Leveillee spoke of historical artifacts discovered in Cedar Swamp.

Wednesday night Westborough residents traveled back in time thousands of years. The Forbes Municipal Building was the portal into ancient times at the Historical Commission's crowded event "Time Travel to Cedar Swamp Via Archaeology" with archaeologist Alan Leveillee from Public Archaeology Laboratory (PAL). For several months last fall, Leveillee, accompanied by a survey team, conducted a dig in Cedar Swamp at the proposed site of the future CSX TRANSFLO station. The purpose of the dig was to locate, analyze and remove for preservation any historical artifacts that might be hidden beneath the soil before construction began. Along with presenting his findings at the event, Leveillee provided for Westborough residents a glimpse into New …

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Fire Notes

Fire Destroys 20 Acres of Brush Near Cedar Swamp

Twelve towns, roughly 60 firefighters and state forestry officials rush to Westborough to help contain the blaze.

An estimated 20 acres of brush were destroyed by a fire during an afternoon blaze near Cedar Swamp on Sunday, July 17. According to Westborough Fire Department Captain Lawrence, 12 towns and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation sent crews and tankers to the fire, with about 60 firefighters working to bring the fire under control. Lawrence told Westborough Patch that the state estimated the damage at about 20 acres. “We’ll probably never know what caused it,” Lawrence said Monday morning. “It started by the [railroad] tracks, so it could be a train or someone walking down the tracks.”   Firefighters received news of the fire at 3:40 p.m. Because there are no roads accessing the area of the blaze, firefighters worked …

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UPDATE: Fire Ignites Brush Near Cedar Swamp

The Westborough Fire and several departments from surrounding towns are responding to a brush fire near Cedar Swamp.

UPDATE 9:15 p.m.: According to Lt. Brian Roberts, the fire is "controlled" and crews have wet the area to prevent it from reigniting and will revisit the scene to reassess in the morning. Roberts said it is still too soon to have an estimate on how many acres were damaged in the brush fire. The department has not yet determined a cause. 7:15 p.m.: The fire has reached the equivalent of a five-alarm fire. According to scanner reports the brush fire near the tracks is "under control" as of 6:17 p.m. and responders began to concentrate their efforts on the Union Street side of the swamp. Westborough, Hopkinton, Grafton, Northborough, Southborough, Berlin, Ashland, Upton, Millbury, Shrewsbury and Boylston responded to the brush fire, which …

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