Blue, blue sky provided a lively backdrop for the warm sun on a Sunday in October. Having parked in a field along the side of Nixon Road, I unloaded my van of a card table, chair, and tablecloth &emdash; upon which I set a large cooler of ice water, paper cups, and an ice bucket topped with clear bottles of water. With a quilting project in hand, I sat down to wait. As I stitched, cars slowed, stopped, and people entered the old red barn across the street. Between stitches, I watched. At regular intervals, children and adults emerged from the barn carrying pumpkins, apples, vegetables and cider. Some crossed the street to visit farm animals behind the fence a few yards from my perch before leaving in their cars. Occasionally I’d see someone I knew. A pleasant way to spend a brilliant fall day &emdash; stitching on my quilt and watching the comings and goings at Hanson Farm.

Suddenly the bicycles started to come up the hill - bicycles of all sizes and shapes. Sophisticated bicycles with water bottles, narrow seats, low handlebars, and complicated gears managed by the athletic. Small bicycles with thick tires, high handlebars, and three gears guided by the young and the restless. A bicycle built for two &emdash; 90’s style &emdash; propelled by a young couple who just smiled and kept pedaling up the hill. A three wheeled bicycle with a basket driven by someone who secretly wished, I’m sure, for a push. Instead, like most of the riders, he stopped at my rest station to enjoy a drink of water and a pleasant word or two, then pushed his bike up the hill. The second annual Tour de Fram was in high gear. Sponsored each year by the Framingham Historical Society, Tour de Fram entrants choose either the 7 or15 mile ride through the hills and valleys of northwest Framingham.

Between bicyclists, I continued to observe the farm. I knew Hanson Farm had a long history but did not then know the details. Scores of similar farms made up a large part of New England’s population at one time, before entrepreneurs like Abner Wheeler and Ariel Bragg promoted turnpike building and shoe manufacturing in the early 1800’s. In fact, my great grandfather Harrison Hutchins, great great grandson of Thomas Hutchins of London, one of the founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, had a similar farm before the turn of the century atop Densmore Hill in West Woodstock, Vermont. All that remains now, however, is a photo of our large extended family standing next to the farmhouse, among them my teen-aged grandmother-to-be, Calla Caroline. Most of our New England family farms are gone, but Hanson Farm remains!

Since the 1760’s, Hanson Farm has been owned by only two families, explains Jane Whiting and Diantha Harrington in their 1985 publication entitled Hanson Farm. The second family, represented by May E. Hanson, bought 42.8 acres along Nixon Road in 1913. (The rear portion of the farmhouse, built by Abiel Lamb prior to 1712, is one of the oldest standing structures in Framingham.) Today, May’s descendants Chink and Patty Hanson occupy the farmhouse.

In 1986, concerned about the dwindling number of farms in Framingham, Town Meeting voted unanimously to purchase development rights to the farm, "Framingham’s last working farm." Established in 1977 in order to preserve farmland, the development rights program gives funds to farm families provided that their farm always remains a working farm.

Down the hill and along Edmands Road sits another farm originally bought by Timothy Stearns in 1723. Timothy’s daughter married a Colonel Nixon whose descendants owned the property until it was purchased by Margaret Welch. In 1951, Englishwoman Penelope Turton came to the Welch farm for a six month visit, never left, and subsequently became a United States citizen, a companion to Margaret Welch, and a farmer. In 1954, her Stearns Organic Farm began specializing in growing organic, chemical-free vegetables and herbs and in 1975, according to Stearns Farm board member Laurie Evans-Daly, Margaret Welch donated the land to the Sudbury Valley Trustees. In a 1984 Middlesex News article, Penelope described her "reverence for the soil." Having learned the farm business by "doing, reading, and talking," she added that, "The Hanson family and I have the privilege of working the field &emdash; I stress the word privilege &emdash; because it’s not something to take for granted, to have something this beautiful for free."

Since Penelope Turton’s death, the historical farm is still in operation as an organic farm. In 1991, the farm was adopted under the "community supported agricultural model." Laurie states that the Board of Directors has just hired a new farmer, Kathy Huckins, and received a grant from the Sudbury Foundation. Each season, shares of the farm are sold and for twenty weeks, shareholders can pick up one or two bags of organically grown vegetables if they put in two four hour work sessions at the farm. Anyone interested in participating as a shareholder can call Laurie at 877-0059.

The Society’s Education Committee, headed up by Board Member Carol Getchell, needs new members to enrich our school history programming. If you are interested in education or history, do call Carol at 877-1170. She would love your help!

Save Sunday, March 21^st. From 3-5 PM. Joyce Stamps, doll collector, dealer, and genealogist will present "Black Dolls for the Millennium" and will display antique, present, and future collectible dolls at the Old Edgell Library. The lecture is sponsored by The African American Heritage Committee of the Framingham Historical Society. FREE admission to members, non-members $5.

The Framingham Historical Society’s "We Are History" oral history project is still looking for people who remember the !940’s and 1950’s in Framingham. We would love to interview you! Call me if you are interested at 620-6440.

Framingham Historical Society Museum is in the Old Academy at the corner of Vernon and Grove Streets. Hours are Wednesday, Thursday 10am to 4pm, and Saturday 10am to 1pm. Admission $2, under 12 FREE.

For questions or information about becoming a member, call 872-3780.