Greg Jarboe

ABRHS senior organizes “Senior Prom” at Acton Senior Center

April 19, 2025

by Greg Jarboe

Sarah Willard, a senior at Acton-Boxborough Regional High School, organized an innovative cross-generation event recently for her year long senior project. She invited older Acton residents to attend a “Senior Prom” at the Acton Senior Center. The theme for the event, which was held April 8, 2025, was…

What’s on your pizza? A March Madness review

March 29, 2025

by Greg Jarboe

March Madness is a time for basketball, statistics, and hanging out with friends and family. As for many folks around the country, it’s also a time when Acton residents make fast breaks to a dozen pizza places or order a large pizza with their favorite toppings for delivery…

Craic travels fast at the Lions Club St. Patrick’s Day Lunch

March 22, 2025

by Greg Jarboe

“Craic travels fast” is an Irish idiom that means news or information spreads quickly, often gossip or rumors. And you could have knocked me down with a feather when I heard the latest “craic” about The Acton Senior Citizen Newsletter during the Lions Club St. Patrick’s Day Lunch…

$125,000 grant fills transportation gap for Council on Aging and CrossTown Connect

March 15, 2025

by Greg Jarboe

The Healey-Driscoll Administration has just awarded $5.8 million in grants to 44 organizations for 56 projects aimed at improving mobility for older adults, people with disabilities, and low-income individuals across Massachusetts. This includes a $125,000 grant to the Town of Acton for a shared regional dispatch system for…

Acton 250 lecture: Renowned Acton Sculptor draws appreciative crowd

March 15, 2025

James ConboyandGreg Jarboe

March 6, Acton Town Hall: Thirty-three fans of fine art were treated to a presentation by one of their neighbors, as sculptor, essayist, and poet Meredith Bergmann, an Acton resident, offered a talk about her work, complete with a comprehensive slideshow. Part of the Acton 250 celebration, the…

Was Silver Girl ribbon cutting prelude to bigger plans this fall?

March 15, 2025

by Greg Jarboe

There have been so many ribbon cuttings at new restaurants in Acton lately that Maura Haberman, the event coordinator for the Town’s Economic Development Office, has just sent out the giant scissors used by business owners and local officials for these ceremonies to be sharpened. The latest ribbon…

Acton 250 Lecture: A snapshot of Acton’s early Black residents

March 8, 2025

by Greg Jarboe

On Feb. 26, “A Snapshot of Acton’s Early Black Residents” featured historical research documenting that Black residents were here when Acton first became a town in 1735, and several fought in the Revolution at the Concord Bridge and other New England battles. This latest event in the Acton…

Acton Area League of Women Voters explores Town Meeting effectiveness and accessibility

February 21, 2025

by Greg Jarboe

The League of Women Voters-Acton Area held a webinar entitled, “The State of Town Meeting and Weighing Alternatives for Local Governance” on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. Four panelists spoke about what works with Open Town Meeting as well as what we can learn from other types of local…

Who won the food fight at Super Bowl parties in Acton?

February 15, 2025

by Greg Jarboe

According to a story by Brian Steinberg in Variety, viewers of last Sunday’s “Big Game” witnessed a veritable food fight during their Super Bowl parties. The actual football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs was squeezed between ads from a plethora of food and beverage…

Representatives Cataldo and Sena share legislative priorities

February 15, 2025

by Greg Jarboe

Acton has two state reps. State Rep. Simon Cataldo (14th Middlesex) represents Precincts 1, 2, 6, and 7 of Acton, while State Rep. Danillo Sena (37th Middlesex) represents 3, 4, 5, and 6A of the town. So, some voters think our community’s political clout is split in half,…

ABRHS whiz kids on GBH’s High School Quiz Show

January 25, 2025

by Greg Jarboe

Acton-Boxborough Regional High School (ABRHS) has a team that will be competing in Season 16 of GBH’s High School Quiz Show, and a strategy for winning the academic tournament for Massachusetts high school students. I interviewed three of four members of the ABRHS team last week along with…

Town Manager updates residents at Java with John

January 25, 2025

by Greg Jarboe

Acton Town Manager John Mangiaratti gave town updates at his monthly Java with John meeting at the Acton Senior Center. Here are the key takeaways from the meeting: The second half of the meeting focused on specific town initiatives and resident concerns. Finally, the meeting concluded with a…

Acton apartments sold for $13M to Needham firm

January 25, 2025

by Greg Jarboe

RCMA Properties, a property management firm owned by a Needham family, has recently acquired six apartment buildings located in Acton, in a $13 million transaction. The acquisitions include the Assabet Garden Apartments and the Nagog Gardens Apartments. The Assabet Garden Apartments, a 30-unit complex situated on 3.9 acres,…

A graph showing age and gender distribution in Acton.

BACKGROUNDER: Acton’s changing population

January 17, 2025

by Greg Jarboe

Population and population growth impact many aspects of life in Acton, from school population, to traffic density, to drinking water demand, to viability of the Town Meeting form of governance. To provide a context for these and other issues, the Acton Exchange offers this backgrounder, digging into who…

Acton business owners briefed on concert series and economic development plan

January 10, 2025

by Greg Jarboe

The Acton Economic Development Committee (EDC) held a luncheon at Town Hall on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, to brief local business owners on the 2025 summer concert series and special events as well as upcoming public workshops on the Town’s Strategic Economic Development Plan. 2025 proposed concert series…

Acton is one of the best suburbs to live in in Massachusetts

January 10, 2025

by Greg Jarboe

According to Niche, a ranking and review site, Acton is one of the best suburbs to live in the Commonwealth. Using the most up-to-date data available from dozens of public data sources, including the Department of Education, U.S. Census, and FBI, Niche gives our community an overall grade…

Film-makers fall through thin ice at NARA Park; Acton Fire responds

December 21, 2024

by Greg Jarboe

Acton Fire Chief Anita Arnum reports that Acton Fire responded to and rescued five individuals who fell through thin, choppy ice Monday afternoon. On Monday, Dec. 16, around 2:50 p.m., Acton Fire and Acton Police were dispatched to NARA Park after receiving 911 calls that multiple people had…

A double shot of espresso at Java with John

December 21, 2024

by Greg Jarboe

The monthly Java with John event at the Acton Senior Center featured a double shot of espresso. Both John Mangiaratti, Acton’s Town Manager, and Peter Light, the Superintendent of the Acton-Boxborough Regional School District, shared updates and expressed gratitude to the community. Mangiaratti opened the meeting with thanks…

Local housing priorities addressed at regional meeting

December 21, 2024

by Greg Jarboe

No town (in Massachusetts) is an island (except Nantucket). Every town is a piece of the Commonwealth. And Acton is part of the 495/MetroWest region, which stretches along the interstate highway from Westford in the North to Foxborough in the South. So, it wasn’t unexpected for Acton’s Economic…

Have you taken Acton’s Housing Production Plan survey?

December 21, 2024

by Greg Jarboe

The Town’s Planning Division is inviting residents to share their perspectives on “housing solutions that contribute toward a healthy, equitable, and prosperous Acton” by taking a Housing Production Plan survey. What is a Housing Production Plan? A Housing Production Plan (HPP) is a proactive strategy aimed at planning…