Dear Listers, When I was growing up in this area. My uncle would take me to Lowell's Dairy in Mendon. It did NOT look like what it did a few years ago before it burnt down. This is what it looked like. You were traveling up ROUTE 16 from Milford OR Hopedale. When you got to the top of the hill at the lights at the corner of ROUTE 16 and to the left was Main Street in Mendon...To the right North Avnue. You continued on straight at the lights heading toward UXBRIDGE. On the left was a grassy Knoll, where the cows grazed. And also on the left was Lowells Dairy. This was at the time, a small basement type structure that you entered from a back door. INSIDE was a large refrigerator with MILK, CREAM, EGGS and BUTTER BUT also was a counter with about 10 stools where you could order a ice cream or a frappe or a sundie. My UNCLE would take us there for ice cream or dairy products. At the time...There was a very large BARN across the street. This is where the cows lived...so if you were traveling up ROUTE 16 you had to slow down OR a complete stop to let the cows go home...SO to speak. The grassy knoll has a small shopping plaza there now with a bank. And across the street where the cows lived is NOW the MENDON GIFT BARN. Later on in time they added hamburgers and hot dogs to their menu. When Lowells burned down a few years ago. They were a FULL RESTAURANT. They could NOT rebuild on that sight BECAUSE MENDON does NOT have town water and most of Mendon lives on WELLS.There was no fire hydrant near Lowells dairy Restauraunt and Mendon had to watch as that Restaurunt burned to the ground. Is WHY they are NOW located In Bellinham. Because Bellingham was trying a few years ago to TYE into Mendon with water... to rebuild Lowells where they were located. The bank at that grassy knoll funded to rebuild...BUT the laws say for fire insurance...HOW far away is the HYDRANT?? They COULD NOT rebuild there. Maureen _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today - it's FREE! http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/

Maureen - I can't imagine cows trying to cross Rte 16 now! When I moved out here, we started getting our milk at the Briggs farm in Medway - Shady Oaks on Winthrop St. Every day around 4 in the afternoon, they would bring the cows across the street and back to the barn - of course they brought them out to the field that way too, but I was never there in the AM. We used to go there a lot when my kids were small they got to milk the cows and see the newborn cows, then watch the entire milking process because they bottled the milk there too. Mr. Briggs called my older son 20 questions, and then when my younger son came along, he called him 40 questions. Part of the Mendon Gift Barn is the actual barn - but I didn't know it was connected to Lowell's cows. I'll have to ask my son - he went there once with cub scouts, and learned something about the way the barn was constructed - I'll ask him if he remembers. We still get our milk in glass bottles from Maple Leaf Dairy on North Ave, and we get our eggs at Ferrucci's farm which is in Milford. That's another place I used to take my kids - every year in the spring when they got the new chicks, and sometimes they were able to see them sort the eggs by size on this ancient machine. The new Lowell's is actually in Mendon, but it is right on the Bellingham line. Before Lowells moved in it was the Mendon Jade, a Chinese restaurant, and before that it was Ma's Pancakes. I think that restaurant had been there for quite a while, but I don't know how long. I have an article from the Milford Daily News about the Lowell's fire, and a little history about it. If anyone wants it, let me know. Lisa ----- Original Message ----- From: "Maureen Cooley" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, March 07, 2006 10:21 PM Subject: [MAWORCES] About Mendon, Mass. > Dear Listers, > When I was growing up in this area. My uncle would take me to Lowell's Dairy > in Mendon. It did NOT look like what it did a few years ago before it burnt > down. This is what it looked like. You were traveling up ROUTE 16 from > Milford OR Hopedale. When you got to the top of the hill at the lights at > the corner of ROUTE 16 and to the left was Main Street in Mendon...To the > right North Avnue. You continued on straight at the lights heading toward > UXBRIDGE. On the left was a grassy Knoll, where the cows grazed. And also on > the left was Lowells Dairy. This was at the time, a small basement type > structure that you entered from a back door. INSIDE was a large refrigerator > with MILK, CREAM, EGGS and BUTTER BUT also was a counter with about 10 > stools where you could order a ice cream or a frappe or a sundie. My UNCLE > would take us there for ice cream or dairy products. At the time...There was > a very large BARN across the street. This is where the cows lived...so if > you were traveling up ROUTE 16 you had to slow down OR a complete stop to > let the cows go home...SO to speak. The grassy knoll has a small shopping > plaza there now with a bank. And across the street where the cows lived is > NOW the MENDON GIFT BARN. > Later on in time they added hamburgers and hot dogs to their menu. > When Lowells burned down a few years ago. They were a FULL RESTAURANT. They > could NOT rebuild on that sight BECAUSE MENDON does NOT have town water and > most of Mendon lives on WELLS.There was no fire hydrant near Lowells dairy > Restauraunt and Mendon had to watch as that Restaurunt burned to the ground. > Is WHY they are NOW located In Bellinham. > Because Bellingham was trying a few years ago to TYE into Mendon with > water... to rebuild Lowells where they were located. The bank at that grassy > knoll funded to rebuild...BUT the laws say for fire insurance...HOW far away > is the HYDRANT?? They COULD NOT rebuild there. > Maureen >