FRAMINGHAM 25 YEARS LATER

"...I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance..." (from 2 Peter 3:1)

Yesterday evening after I'd just picked up a couple of prescriptions at Walgreen's on Route 9 in Framingham, I found myself thinking about the Framingham I'd moved to in January of 1987 and how much has changed. (Many of you know that I served at pastor of First Assembly of God of Framingham which closed a couple of years ago. I lived in Framingham until one year ago when I moved to Webster, although I have a secular job in Framingham so I come to the community almost every day.)

Walgreen's on Route 9 did not exist in 1987. On that exact site was "Duca's" which had been a popular restaurant and nightspot for many years. On the site of what is now the stip mall which includes Staples and Ruby Tuesday's was the Boston West Hotel. That hotel had opened in the early 1960s with a Spanish name; I think it was the Fonda Del Corro. For awhile after we sold our original building, we held services in that hotel. In fact, the hotel broke its lease with us because it had been sold to the strip mall developer.

Cars were still being built at the GM plant on Western Ave in the late 1980s. As I recall, it was the mid-sized GM cars that were built there. You'd see all the car carrier trucks driving through Town loaded with brand new Buick Specials and Pontiac 6000s. Speaking of GM cars, there was a Chevrolet dealer, Crown Chevrolet on Union Ave. I got thrown out of there on Washington's Birthday 1987. I went in to just ask a couple of questions about leasing, and a salesman threw me out because I was "wasting his time"! Of course, there was also Long Cadillac on Waverly Street which has now been gone for a few years.

One of the first things we did in Framingham was to open bank accounts at Pioneer Bank which was a one story brick building on the site of what's now the parking lot in between the police station and the Memorial Building on Union Ave. Pioneer was a very customer friendly bank. After a few years, they closed that site and relocated to Edgell Rd. A couple of years after that, they were bought out by Bank of Boston. Of course, Bank of Boston is now long gone. In 1987 there was still a popular charismatic and evangelical boostore (Logos Bookstore) in Town located on Union Ave. That closed up many years ago.

I used to do food shopping at both the Big D on Waverly Street and Purity Supreme in Saxonville. Once in awhile, I'd go to the old Stop & Shop on Waverly St. Market Basket in Ashland had not yet been built. On that site was a closed up old King's Dept. Store. There was a lot of talk about what kind of development should go on that old King's site, and of course, now we know. What was Big D closed up somewhere around 1991. The latest business there was Paramount Motorcycle which is now gone. Stop & Shop was at the corner of Waverly and Beaver Sts. That store was closed and eventually replaced by the brand new Stop & Shop on Old Connecticut Path. Purity Supreme was once a popular chain in the Boston area. I think they are now all gone. That store is now the Robinson's Ace Hardware.

Believe it or not, the traffic pattern on Route 126/Concord St. between Route 9 and downtown was different. That used to be used as a FOUR lane road- two on each side! No kidding! It was a lot like the Jamaicaway in Boston's Jamaica Plain section or Nahatan Street Norwood. In late 1987, they radically changed the traffic pattern, changing it to ONE lane on each side with turning lanes in the middle. Everybody HATED it at first and predicted it would become a traffic nightmare. It has. Would it have been any better if they'd have just left it alone? I don't know.

The Sampan was a pretty good Chinese restaurant in downtown Framingham in 1987. It was small, too small to have a buffet, but the food was very good. Around 1995 the food quality started to slide a bit, and by 2005 it had gotten pretty bad. Of course, Limey's Pub is in that place to day. In 1987 Wallace's Family Restaurant was still operating on Concord St. near Hartford St. It was a very popular family restaurant and in the years before I'd moved to Framingham was known for its ice cream. Somewhere around 1990, Wallace's changed hands and became the Han Dynasty Chinese Resturant. The Han started out very bad, got good for awhile, got very bad again, and closed a couple of years ago. The Union House was very popular in 1987, as was its rival, LaCantina, just down the street. Rumors had it that the Union House STOLE LaCantina's house salad dressing recipe, or was it the other way around?! I liked both restaurants but thought the Union House was slightly better. Alas, the Union House has been gone for probably at least eleven years. Ken's has been around in Framingham for years. It got kind of mediocre in the 1990s but in the past five years has updated and rebounded to be a very popular and very good restaurant.

The original Shopper's World was still functioning in 1987. I went there on a Spring day in 1987 to the special WRKO blood drive. I donated blood and watched Gene Burns and Jerry Williams broadcasting outdoors under the gazebo. Jerry was doing all he could to "work the crowd" but was having kind of a tough time of it that day. I do miss the old Shopper's World. It was a very unique and special place. I also miss the original Natick Mall even more. That present Natick Mall is a monstrosity.

There were Brazilian residents and businesses in Framingham in 1987, but only about a fifth as many as there are today. Downtown Framingham was more Puerto Rican than anything else. Say, I also forgot to mention that I miss Brigham's in downtown Framingham and Friendly's on Union Ave.

I joined the Framingham Interfaith Clergy Association shortly after coming to Town. I was amazed at the longevity of some of the clergy. Lutheran pastor Andy Finger had been in Town since the 1950s- almost as long as I'd been alive! Episcopalian Rector Mason Wilson had been at St. Andrew's since 1961. I got a kick out of him. He had a very nasal way of speaking, was heavy and very bald, and had quite a strong personality. The Rev. Wilson shared his reflections about Framingham at the time of the Kennedy assasination in one of our meetings. That had been one of his most challenging times as a minister in town. Methodist Pastor John Ambler at First United Methodist was almost at the end of his career. He'd marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. in the civil rights marches in the South and said he'd have "followed him anywhere." I really enjoyed Mark Ferrin, pastor of First Baptist Church. He looked and acted a lot like comedian Bill Murray. In fact, Mark used to literally dress up as a clown and entertain that way. In those days, there was another American Baptist Church in Town, Park Street Baptist on the common downtown (now the Armenian Orthodox Church). That church was pastored by Mike Scott an interesting guy who was a former police officer. Notice that the clergy then were pretty much all MALE. By the end of my stint as a Framingham clergyperson, msny of my pastoral colleagues were WOMEN.

I was just 32 when I came to Framingham, with a full head of dark brown hair and a perfectly brown mustache. Now I look at my thinning, graying head and my white mustache at age 57 and wonder where the time went. What will Framingham be like in another 25 years?