Author: Julia Schultze

  • ‘The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow’ as ‘Annie’ takes the stage

    Opening night jitters and “break a leg” well wishes are beginning to stir as the Needham Community Theatre’s production of “Annie” prepares to open Friday, Nov. 21 at 8 p.m.

    Cast members say the classic tale of a pure-hearted, redheaded orphan who seeks her parents and ends up finding family in unexpected places, carries a deeper meaning than the experience of memorizing lines and frenetic costume changes.

    “It’s a community theater because really everyone’s such a community,” said Deahna Spada, the 13-year-old actress who plays Annie. “I get to go in after a long day of school or work and (be a member of) a community where everyone loves each other, and we all get to work on something really magical in the end.”

    Spada, who began performing at age 5 and appeared professionally in “The Little Mermaid” and “SpongeBob” by age 11, said the theater provides a refuge from life’s daily pressures. Unlike her other passion, competitive ski-racing, she says she enjoys the helpful, communal ethic of working with other actors.

    Meg Dussault, who plays the villainous Miss Hannigan, typically directs shows for the Needham Community Theater, but chose to act in “Annie.” 

    “When you’re a director, you have to take care of all the details and it’s your job to worry about everything,” Dussault said. “When you’re a performer, you really just have to worry about, ‘Can I do my best and can I deliver?’”

    She described the 40-plus people involved in the production as talented and supportive, so much so, the cast was unaffected by shortened days of sunlight and seasonal mood challenges. “As soon as we get daylight savings everyone’s cranky,” Dussault said, “and that hasn’t been here.”

    The actors involved in the show include Michael Bailit, who plays Franklin D. Roosevelt and is on the theater board. His dog Harpo is cast as Sandy. The cast has put in two to three hours per rehearsal, three times a week, since September. 

    “The theme of the show and its uplifting message means a lot to our community right now because we live in fraught times, where there’s not a tremendous amount of optimism that people are feeling about our country at this moment,” Bailit said when asked what the show means to the Needham community. “Having a show where the theme song is, ‘The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow’ is, I think, a balm for sad souls.”

    With opening night approaching, actors are antsy to begin.

    “I’m really excited, I can’t wait for all my friends to come,” Spada said when asked how she feels about opening night, her hair cut and dyed, ready to play the part.

    “We’re ready,” was Bailit’s response to the same question. “We have a wonderful director, Marianne Lonati, who has directed for us previously and she runs a tight ship, and she makes sure that her cast is ready to go by the time it’s opening night.”

    Performance dates for the show along with tickets and other details can be found on the Needham Community Theatre website.

  • The case of the purloined posts

    Tim Puopolo first discovered a signpost was missing on Oct. 7. Over the next three days, Puopolo, Needham’s conservation specialist and trail coordinator, found that a dozen more of the 8-foot-tall, beefy wooden posts — newly installed and waiting for trail directional signs to be attached — had disappeared from the Town Forest, leaving dirt-filled holes on the crisscrossing trails.

    The thefts have interrupted a 16-year trail improvement project and prompted a police investigation. The posts were installed at the Town Forest and Ridge Hill Reservation as part of the Trails Master Plan to update all of Needham’s forest trails into a cohesive park system. 

    The signposts were being installed ahead of the winter frost. Next spring, they will be supplemented with trail markers to help hikers who commonly find themselves lost in the maze of pathways.

    Each of the 4-by-4-inch cedar posts weighs more than 50 pounds. The thieves appear to have used trucks and specialized equipment to dislodge the posts, which were buried 3 feet deep.

    “As far as I know, (police) haven’t uncovered anybody with these posts or received any tips leading them in any particular direction,” said Puopolo. “It’s no longer a little act of vandalism, but something that’s very targeted.”

    Premier Fence, a company based in Canton, began installing the trail markers for bikers, hikers and dog walkers Oct. 6. Days later, by Oct. 9, more than $2,000 worth of wood was missing.

    Posts one and 29 were taken the day after they were installed Oct. 7. The fencing company replaced both posts, only to discover four more posts missing the day after. Three of those were from new locations, but post 29 was snatched for a second time, according to Puopolo. 

    “I went out there that Thursday morning, the ninth, and found seven more posts were missing,” said Puopolo. 

    It was at that point that he went to the police and filed a report Oct. 10 for a misdemeanor and the $2,000 of stolen property. 

    “There are no suspects or cameras and the poles will be replaced,” the report said.

    The wooden posts that have been inserted into the ground, sprouting 5 feet above the soil, don’t make for an easy snatch and sprint.

    “It was quite an effort to pull these things out,” said Dave Herer, chair of the Conservation Commission. “They weigh over 50 pounds, 3 feet of wood is in the ground too.”

    “It would not be possible for a person to carry 10 of these out of the property without multiple people, multiple trips, or even the aid of a vehicle,” said Puopolo.

    The majority of posts were taken off a major artery of the blue trail that goes through the property, one that’s big enough to allow for vehicular access. The posts haven’t been found anywhere on the property, and the holes left behind from being dug three feet into the ground have been backfilled by the thief with dirt and debris, according to Puopolo.

    “I’m thankful they were worried about people not breaking their ankles in the holes, but that just adds another level of intention into this whole thing,” he said.

    Puopolo hasn’t returned to the scene of the crime in weeks, putting a halt to replacing the posts until the project starts up in the spring. In hopes of explaining what the posts are and why they’ve been put on the trails, Puopolo has put up laminated signs stapled onto the wood that explain they’ll be “helping people at major intersections and trailheads.” 

    “I thought people were just uninformed or fearful of potential projects,” said Puopolo when asked what someone’s motive for taking the posts would be, suspecting that a lover of Needham’s outdoors might’ve been trying to put a stop to any construction that would destroy the landscape. 

    Herer says the signs are needed. “I know people that don’t even want to go there because they’re afraid of getting lost,” he said.

    Eleven of the 85 trail markers have been stolen as of Oct. 9 — as far as town officials know — but there may be more. A full assessment of the theft is expected to be finished when the project starts back up in the spring.

    “There’s no guarantee that any time, money and effort we spend replacing them now that they’ll stay,” said Puopolo. “It’s not just the cost of the post, but the labor.”

    Needham Police currently have no leads on the thief’s identity. Some of the $2,000 worth of wood that’s gone potentially could be covered by insurance, but the town finance department has yet to give the final word on that process, according to Puopolo.

  • Counting cars

    One of the many uses of AI software is to examine traffic patterns to help plan construction projects. But how does the software work? 

    The environmental engineering firm Apex, which is consulting on the Envision Needham Center project, uses Vissim software. It conducted a traffic study on Sept. 9 to model future traffic flow along Great Plain Avenue to help guide consideration of the three proposed concepts for redesigning the downtown roadway. 

    “Vissim allows engineers to assess how proposed design changes, developments or policy scenarios will affect congestion, delay and safety performance,” said Amy Haelsen, Needham’s director of communications and community engagement, who noted the town itself is not using the software or another program, Placer ai.

    The software analyzes roadway geometry, signal timing and driver behavior parameters to calculate various traffic scenarios, according to Haelsen. While phone data isn’t being used by Vissim to conduct an analysis, Replica, a similar traffic analysis AI program, does. Apex uses the software in conjunction with Vissim.

    Replica receives data only from phones that have opted in through certain mobile apps that collect location information. These apps ask for permission to use cellphone users’ location for services such as weather and navigation. The only people included in the data are those who allow for these apps to have their location, according to information provided by Apex. The Replica software collects location pings that tell the company when a person is in a certain location, how long they’re there, and when they move. Personal content such as text messages, photos, contacts, or app usage is left out of the data collected, according to Apex.

    In order to refrain from being a part of the collective data, cellphone users must turn off location services on their phone or opt out of location permissions for any apps that request it. 

    “Every time you link to a cell tower they can track and see who’s linking where,” said Select Board member Kevin Keane. “Your phone is a tracker, and they can just follow you.”

    When asked how far the software can track you, Keane mentioned a case during COVID where the software tracked college students in Florida for spring break as they traveled back to their respective schools, mainly in the Midwest. The data was used to document a spike in COVID cases. 

     “It tracks every cell phone, and a lot of companies subscribe to it, and you can get a data dump. Pick a day and a location and they’ll go take a look,” said Keane. “It’s somewhat concerningly big brotherish, but the data and what you see and understand … is really amazing.”