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(9-JUL-26) Boxborough's volunteer-powered FreeBee Market returns for its sixth season on Saturday, July 11, 2026, at 10:30 a.m. on the side lawn of UCC Boxborough, 30 Middle Road. What began as an emergency response to the challenges of 2020 and the fire on Swanson Road has grown into a joyful community tradition centered on food rescue, sustainability, and neighborly sharing.

FreeBee was born during the pandemic and in the aftermath of the Swanson Road apartment fire, when Boxborough residents organized to support displaced families. As volunteers worked to meet immediate needs, one group discovered another gap: most food pantries were closed on Saturday and excess food normally given to them (“gleaned”) was going to waste. Volunteers began rescuing surplus produce and meat from local supermarkets and sharing it on the lawn of the UCC Boxborough. By 2021, the effort had become the FreeBee Market, guided by its simple motto: "Give what you can, take what you need."

(9-JUL-26) In the days leading up to the Fourth of July weekend, Boxborough residents reported several black bear sightings on the eastern side of town. 

John Ehrlich of Davidson Road shared that a black bear visited his yard several times between June 30 and July 4. Most sightings were in the evening, roughly 7:30-9 p.m., with one visit around 8 a.m. “Looks youthful,” Ehrlich reported, “perhaps 1-2 years, solitary, no visible tags. Handsome critter.”

On Friday, July 3, Boxborough resident Susan Bak saw a bear cross Mass Ave (Route 111) while she was driving westbound around 4:30 p.m. “It was medium size,” she said. “It was just after Flamingo” [Market & Liquor] and before Sadler Lane. “He was running from my left [south] to right [north].”

“In that black bears have moved east, we must learn to live safely knowing they're around,” commented Boxborough Conservation Trust President Rita Gibes Grossman. “The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife has a good resource on bears and we strongly recommend everyone read it: https://www.mass.gov/black-bears-in-massachusetts.”

The Division of Fisheries and Wildlife reminds all Massachusetts residents to remove bird feeders, secure garbage, protect pets, and use electric fencing for chickens and other livestock. And, if there is a bear in your yard, “wait for the bear to leave, then remove or secure food sources on your property.”

Grossman also suggests that Boxborough residents report any bear sightings to the Boxborough Police Department and to the “MassBears” research project at Amherst College at https://massbears.wordpress.amherst.edu/.

(9-JUL-26) Movement is necessary. Thinking is necessary. Coordinating these two together are essential for our physical and mental health well-being.   

Many of the inventions during my lifetime of working with people's bodies and studying mobility science have unintentional consequences that hurt us over time. Ask any of my students how much I railed against backup cameras in cars. Are they a safety measure, yes. Should we use them at times, yes, but for people who have let their usage become a habit and never turn around anymore to see out the back window of a car? Many have upper back immobility issues. All have lost the thoracic rotational ability.  Most have shoulder and neck pain that follows them daily. 

Another example we have all heard of is “tech neck.” Fifteen years ago it never existed, but now has a medical term associated with it. It is a deformative realignment of the neck vertebrate that resembles whip lash on an x-ray. It is caused from hours of looking down at a computer screen or our phones in our hands. Physical therapy and Yoga can help the associated pain, but if we don’t change the root cause, it continues to reemerge in our lives. 

All of the painful physical manifestations of our habits are reversible with conviction. Most can be prevented with knowledge and understanding. Anything that becomes a habit that we do without thinking is probably a red flag area for your body. Our movements should be mindful and intentional and varied. Look over your shoulder and twist to look for cars, move your computer screen higher and simply put the phone down. Do hand yoga exercises to stretch out overly shortened muscles or add mobility training to your day. 

Or better yet, simply write notes by hand. The brain lights up like a Christmas tree when you hold pen to paper and write, but the brain stays dark with no neurological connection when typing on a keyboard. We know our bodies are designed to move and our brains are designed to think. We have learned that not moving is tantamount to disease and discomfort in our life. Can you imagine how damaging using AI is to our brain? Things that make life “easier” are not designed with our overall health in mind. 

Humans are physical beings whose bodies can do amazing things. We need to use the  muscles and brain to coordinate neuroplasticity for a successful and pain-free aging process. That coordination keeps our brains young and flexible, but many of these inventions that are designed to make our lives easier are slowly taking away our physical and mental abilities as we age. Use of AI will accompany great losses in our brain health overall.