Finishing up the Northeast quadrant

     It was a beautiful day to finish up visiting the Northeast section of the map, and we headed out early in the morning in the hopes of being done before the rain that was predicted for late afternoon. The first stop was in the town of Leverett, where the firehouse is located on Montague Road. This is an "on-call" firehouse, and the firehouse also shares space with the town police department.

Leverett Safety Complex

           

 

                

   The next stop was the town of Shutesbury. We spotted this random sculpture of an arrow along the way. I am sure there is a great story behind this, if anyone happens to know about it, let me know what it is please!

                                                        

       The Shutesbury firehouse is located on Leverett Road, and is also mostly a volunteer fire department. It has a great tower in the rear of the building as well.

Shutesbury Fire Station

     

  After leaving Shutesbury, it was time to head for one of my favorite parts of this area of Franklin County, where recreation and relaxation go hand in hand. Lake Wyola is one of those places, and the water was beautiful today. I wanted to grab the boat and head out on the lake, but that wasn't on the agenda for today unfortunately. Next time.

                               

Lake Wyola from Wendell dockside

     The town of Wendell, where this side of the dock is located, has a firehouse that shares space with the town highway department and let me just say, Google Maps totally has the location wrong. After not finding it on the Google directions, we tried the town hall, which had the doors unlocked but the building was dark and empty. The police station next door was also locked, and the little store near the hall was also closed at 10am. Finally we headed across the street to the town's "free library" which I think was larger than the town hall, and where the resident dog comes to greet you when you walk inside. We got the proper directions, and headed down the main road about another half mile to reach the building. A quick couple of shots and we were off to the next location.

You wouldn't know the fire department was even here except for the fire safety sign between the two left bay doors

     The town of New Salem was next on the list, and is located on South Main Street. It is a paid call volunteer department, and is considered to be in the North Quabbin area of the state. 

    I was able to get the first shot of the day of a memorial as well

        

On the side of the firehouse was an added bonus, a fire safety house 

Heading north of New Salem, the town of Orange was next on the list. I would also like to point out that the word orange does not rhyme with anything. Along the way, we were treated to two pretty great looking totems along the side of the road near the center of town.

The detail work on this was amazing

      About a quarter of a mile past this totem, we were greeted with a second one.

Over the bridge we went and turned right to the firehouse which is located overlooking the river appropriately on Water Street. I absolutely loved this firehouse, it fit in perfectly with the surrounding buildings.

Orange Firehouse Memorial

     

Millers River in Orange

     After leaving the town of Orange, it was time to head west along part of Route 2A to the town of Warwick. The firehouse in Warwick is located off Orange Road, and I still can't think of anything that rhymes with orange.

     The firehouse is also a volunteer station, and currently has a staff of about 16. There was a great old truck on the back side of the firehouse, which I was thrilled to see. 

You can't possibly go through town and not stop without checking out the antique signpost at the intersection of Athol and Hotel road telling you where you are in relation to the towns around you

With only two towns left to go on the route, it was time to head west on Route 2 and reach the town of Erving. Erving has two firehouses, located on East Main Street and Moore Street. Across from the East Main Street location is the Freight House Antiques store and restaurant. All I am going to say about that is that it is overpriced-I'm talking about almost $8 for a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich here. Even then, I would recommend you go instead to the Box Car next door if you want better food and happier waitstaff that won't make you wait fifteen minutes to even take your order when they aren't busy. But please do go eat at the Freight House if you like your food cooked with the staff using their bare hands and handling cash in between.  Dare I even mention that they seem to take one order at a time, cook and serve it before they go on to the next customer? But enough of that rant, below are the Erving firehouse photos. 

East Main Street firehouse

Moore Street Firehouse

After leaving Erving with hungry stomachs, we headed to the last stop of the day in the town of Gill. The firehouse, which is also a volunteer staion,  is located on Main Road, and I now know without a doubt that there definitely is poison ivy on the ground on the opposite side of the road from the firehouse.

It was a relief to finally finish the upper Northeast portion of the map. Calamine lotion is offering even more relief on my ankles.