By Janet Tice Do you sometimes feel you don’t have a say in the changes taking place around you? The Shirley Village roadway improvement project – which seeks to improve safety for pedestrians and other “vulnerable road users” in Shirley’s busy downtown – hopes to change that. Still in its earliest stages, the project team is actively seeking input from residents. As a first step, Project Manager Chris Lyman met with the Shirley Transportation Action Committee and a handful of interested residents on May 18 to provide a project overview and solicit early input. STAC was a good place to start as the committee was instrumental in obtaining the $306K planning and design grant underwriting the project. Lyman represents Howard Stein Hudson, the engineering firm hired by the Town to manage the project. Not only does HSH have local roots, the firm – and Lyman himself – has worked with the Town on several prior projects in an especially smooth and effective manner according to Town Administrator Bryan Sawyer. His knowledge of – and, yes, appreciation for – Shirley Village was on full display during the presentation in which he stressed the “hidden potential” in the Village, an area ripe for improvements that would create safe, walkable connections between residential areas and schools, shops, restaurants and commuter rail. The project timeline extends until July 2027. Data collection is already underway and will wrap up by mid-summer 2026. The conceptual design phase, which continues through January 2027, will identify specific improvements for future implementation. As the final step, one or two of these will proceed to the “preliminary design” stage sufficient to support bid requests.  Final implementation (i.e. construction) is beyond the scope of the planning and design grant and will require the Town to obtain separate grant or other funding. During his presentation, Lyman expressed genuine enthusiasm for a robust process of community outreach. With the project just getting off the ground, the STAC meeting was the first step in what will be a multi-faceted effort to engage residents in the planning process. Next steps will include attending the June 26th Concert on the Common in Shirley Center and surveying residents via questionnaire. In-person “pop-up” outreach is also planned for the commuter rail station and the elementary and middle schools during student pick-up and drop-off. These early efforts will help Lyman focus the project on the roadway areas of greatest concern to residents. Later, as recommendations begin to take shape, public presentations with lots of time for community feedback will help refine the final product: a prioritized set of improvements for future implementation. In closing, a word about STAC. Created in 2022 by a group of Shirley residents seeking to improve traffic safety, STAC was given official status as a subcommittee of the Select Board a year later and has continued to work hand- in-hand with Town leadership to implement roadway safety improvements. Since its inception, the committee has completed a number of initiatives including reducing the speed limit to 25mph in thickly-settled areas, creating the four-way stop at the intersection of Groton and Townsend Roads, adding a 20mph “safety zone” in Shirley Center, and has succeeded in securing $500K in grant funding for various transportation projects in Shirley. Be sure to play your part in shaping Shirley’s future by completing the roadway safety survey as soon as it becomes available. Can’t wait until then? Provide immediate input to contact Project Manager Chris Lyman at clyman@hshassoc.com.

By Paul Przybyla Farandnear, the beloved 87-acre nature preserve on Center Road in the middle of Shirley, bears an unusual but charming name.  The common explanation is that being 50 miles from the original owner’s family home in Wollaston, it was “far” enough away to require a two day’s journey by horse yet “near” enough to be a seasonal home. It is also possible that it may have been inspired by a famous New York lawn tennis club with a similar name. Charles Goodspeed was a Boston dealer in antiquarian books and an enthusiastic player of lawn tennis who wanted a summer place in the country, In 1902 he purchased his first three acres on Center Road, named it Farandnear, and built his summer cottage. It later became his primary residence and afterwards the home of his daughter Miriam and son-in-law Gordon Banks and finally his grandson Arthur Banks. Over the years the family added the cranberry bogs and the Paradise hemlock ravine to their property. The fence posts of the old tennis court are still visible, now surrounded by beautiful perennial gardens. Today the estate is a Trustees of Reservations property with the original residence replaced by a covered multi-use pavilion. Shirley natives best remember Farandnear for the golf course that Gordon Banks created and generously invited the public to use. Many a Shirley teenager learned to play golf there in return for helping maintain the greens.  Arthur Banks was not a golfer and replaced the golf greens with evergreen plantings to create his extensive conifer collection. Although golf eclipsed lawn tennis as the years went by, the name Farandnear may claim tennis as its provenance.  Among the antiquarian books that Arthur Banks bequeathed to Hazen Library was his grandfather’s 1886 edition of Rules of the U.S. National Lawn Tennis Association.  Listed  in that edition was the association’s president Thomas K. Fraser, of the Far and Near Lawn Tennis Club, Hastings-on Hudson, NY. One can only guess whether Charles Goodspeed fondly remembered that club name when he came to have a lawn tennis court of his own in Shirley. Today visitors can enjoy Farandnear from sunrise to sunset at no charge. Ample parking and seasonal bathrooms are provided. Dogs are welcome but must be kept on leash at all times. The formal landscaped area with its perennial gardens and conifer collection provides a perfect opportunity for a leisurely stroll or picnic on the manicured lawn, while the extensive trail system provides access to natural surroundings and a variety of different habitat types. If you’re a Shirley resident (or not!) be sure to spend an afternoon exploring this local treasure while reliving a small part of Shirley’s history. Paul Przybyla moved to Shirley in 1991. His love for local history is satisfied through volunteer work for the Shirley Historical Society and Shirley Meeting House and maintaining his 1761 colonial. Paul is also an Associate Trustee of the Trustees of Reservations.