How much fun is the month of October? It is the month of dragging out all the old skeletons in your closet, scaring yourself silly, and eating way too many of the chocolates you purchased "for the kids". It's the month of holding your breath as you pass by cemeteries, and eyeing nervously that slightly run-down house at the end of the road. And, yes, it is also the time you think most of ghosts.

There are a few high profile spooks known to the Needham History Center and Museum, and in this episode, Gloria Greis shares them with some surprising details. For instance, the town's best known ghost story is more a tale of ghost-busting. But before you can say that 'you ain't 'fraid of no ghost', she'll tell you about a haunting so persistent, the house eventually moved out of town.

Gloria's guest today is Ginny Gregg, who has a different perspective on living with the past. Sometimes, co-existing with your home's prior occupants can be relatively easy... if you choose to embrace them.

We like to think that we use this podcast as "a bridge to the past", but in this edition of All Roads, the bridges are the history we are looking at. The town of Needham, Massachusetts has an uncommon number of bridges as a matter of necessity, as the Charles River winds its way around most of its borders.

As we kick off our second season, Gloria takes an inventory of the many crossing points that form the town's gateways, including what may be its most beautiful and fear inducing spans.

She also talks with two of the people responsible for keeping the structures safe and functional. Her guests, making a return appearance, are Carys Lustig, director of the Needham DPW and town engineer Thomas Ryder. They explain that indeed, they don't make them like they used to....and maybe that's a good thing.

School may be out for summer in Needham, but the administrative staff will be working hard to prepare for September. Fortunately, they have a modern, cool space in which to perform those duties. But that was not always so. The home for Needham Public Schools is the Emery Grover Building, the oldest public building still in existence in the Town. It was always a bit of a grand, odd duck, out of character for a small, New England town. It was also, for a long while, out-dated, severely lacking, and somewhat dangerous.

In this episode, we remember the town's efforts to bring it back from the brink, and track its evolution to the 21st century with one of the people most responsible for breathing new life into the site, Needham's Director of Building Design and Construction, Hank Haff.

You could say that Nature is what happens when humans stop imposing their will on their surroundings. Judging by the fact that we've been around only for a relatively short period of time, our environment has a pretty strong mind of its own....and that is a good thing.

As our New England spring continues to bring renewal to the natural world, our minds are cast to a couple of companions that we have enjoyed in town during our colorful past. Horticulturally, we have a mystery to solve: why do we have landmarks that refer to Rosemary, when it isn't native to the area? Is it possibly a red herring? Speaking of which, will our fishy friends ever make a real comeback in this area?

We will speak with the Needham Conservation Specialist Tim Puopolo joins us as we talk rivers, marshes, woods, and habitats. It will certainly be a wild time!

In just over a week, representatives from every neighborhood will descend on the Town Hall, and Needham will tend to the business of being Needham. Budgets will be finalized, rules will be set and changed, and the big issues that face the community will have their moment to be raised, contemplated, and resolved as best they can.

Welcome to Town Meeting, one of the hallmarks of Needham life for 315 years, and all over New England for close to four centuries. Loved by some, ignored by others, this is where your voice can be heard, and town plans are made, altered, advanced and deferred.

Executive Director of the Needham History Center and Museum, Gloria Greis walks you through the history of this remarkable institution, and then is joined by the person charged with safeguarding it for Needham, Town Moderator Michael Fee.

So let the meeting come to order, and may all in favor say "Aye"...

For this episode, our "All Roads" title can be taken fairly literally!

This year, the nation celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It's a big deal in Massachusetts, and for the town of Needham especially. However, the events of 1776 didn't spring up out of nowhere, and it certainly didn't happen overnight. There was a long road leading up to it, and one particular day a year earlier that had a deep impact on our community.

Join us as we recount the details of the day, and explain how the Needham History Center and Museum has grown the tradition of remembering them. This time our guest is Kevin Keane, a member of the town's Select Board and the history center's board of directors. His passion for Needham's early history and its role in the Revolutionary War has led to an epic--and fun-- walk to Arlington.

No question, as a nation we are living in tumultuous times. Big questions about who we are as a country, and what we stand for are being posed. As a government simultaneously breaking down old systems and building new ones, roles are being challenged, and the efficacy of the different branches are...in doubt, shall we say?

Even though it may feel like it to us, this isn't the first time. As we enjoy the Presidents' Day weekend, our minds are transported to the very beginning of our nation. While we might think that it sprang fully formed from the head of the British Empire, the truth is that the United States stood on pretty wobbly legs for most of its early history. It wasn't a sure thing, and what the founding fathers needed was someone the fledgling nation could stand behind. A unifying figure. They needed...George Washington. Time for old George to pack his bags--again.

If a quick scan of the internet is to be believed (and when has the internet ever been wrong?), 19th century writer Charles Dudley Warner once remarked “Everybody seems to complain about the weather, but nobody seems to do anything about it.” Through the years, people laugh at its absurd nature, and agree with its sentiment, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. Facts are, we all have a hand in the weather, and some are doing an awful lot about it.

In August of 2023, a microburst hit Needham, straining its drainage system to its fullest, and leaving many neighborhoods to deal with intensely damaging floods. While the duration of the event was just a few hours long, the ramifications of the flooding will carry over for many years to come.

Of course, this wasn’t the first major flooding to hit Needham, and today Gloria Greis, Executive Director of the Needham History and Museum, walks us through some of the town’s most striking storms. We also will talk with two of the people who are working to make residents more resilient to weather events, through building both infrastructure and community partnerships. We sit down with Carys Lustig, Director of Public Works, and Tom Ryder, Needham’s Town Engineer.