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Welcome back!
We had a monumental week here in Sudbury. As the road to Town Meeting unfolds, boards and committees are taking bigger and bigger votes. As a result, this is another one of those mammoth editions. With that in mind, let’s just get things started.
Here’s what we have for you this week:
January 16, 2026 Edition
Let’s get into it!
Run for Local Office – It’s Your Right!
NEWS
By the League of Women Voters of Sudbury
It’s your right to run for local office. Here’s what you need to know to run in 2026:
File Your Intention to Run
Any Sudbury registered voter can run for local office. Visit the Town Clerk’s office, located in the Sudbury Town Hall, or, for Lincoln-Sudbury school committee candidates, the L-S District Clerk located in Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, to complete the form to file your intention to run. This process is colloquially called “pulling papers” because once the form is filed, you will receive a candidate packet containing dates and deadlines, details regarding campaign finance rules and requirements, a Save the Date from the LWV Sudbury for the Candidates’ Forum recording session and the Meet the Candidates event, and a set of nomination papers. According to the Town Clerk, registered voters can file their intention to run beginning Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. You can find a list of open positions here and important dates, deadlines, and resources to help you run for office here.
SPS Committee Voices Frustration With Administration, Budget Process
NEWS
By Kevin LaHaise
The Sudbury Public Schools School Committee appeared to be fed up in their January 15 meeting. After two months of a budget building process that raised more questions than answers, the committee let the administration know that they expect better communication from Superintendent Brad Crozier moving forward.
Over the course of two nights this week, the committee sought to reverse a unilateral decision made by the administration to restructure the Extended School Year program (ESY) into a consolidated 4-day format. They also sought to establish a summer program to bridge families for one more year after voting to eliminate the SMILE and Explore programs. Those began with a joint meeting with the Special Education Parent Advisory Committee on Wednesday, January 14 and continued in an ensuing budget meeting on Thursday January 15.
No One Files for Town Election in Second Week
NEWS
By the League of Women Voters of Sudbury
Ballot gaps remain after the second week of the local election season since no additional prospective candidates “pulled papers” to file their intention to run for the 11 open town and school committee seats in the March 30 Annual Town Election. The deadline to pull papers is Thursday, Feb. 5.
According to the Town Clerk’s office, as of the close of business on Friday, Jan. 16, only one person has filed an intention to run for the two open seats on the Sudbury School Committee, and no one has filed to run for the Park and Recreation Commission nor the Planning Board.
None of the eight people who have filed an intention to run has become an official candidate whose name will appear on the ballot. They become official candidates when they return their papers with the required signatures and those signatures are certified by the Town Clerk’s office. The deadline to return papers is Monday, Feb. 10.
You can find a complete list of open positions here. You can find information about how to run for office here, and resources to support a run for office here.
Here are the articles about town election activity to date:
Duck Soup: What Customers Can’t Get Anywhere Else
FEATURES
By Nancy Brumback
Customers drive Duck Soup’s business.
“We sell an eclectic mix of everything, reflecting our local customers. I bring in what my customers want and look for very interesting things to fill the space.” That’s how Louise Mawhinney approaches Duck Soup, the store specializing in foods, gadgets and gifts in Mill Village. And it’s also why she bought the Sky Bar candy business and installed it adjacent to the retail store.
Mawhinney did not start out in the retail business. She is from Edinburgh, Scotland, and her husband’s career with Raytheon brought them to Sudbury in 1985, where they raised their two children. Her son Frank is now manager of Duck Soup and operations manager for Sky Bar, making most of the major decisions, she said.
Professionally, Mawhinney served as chief financial officer for several biotech startup companies.
With SEA Contract Settled, SPS Focus Turns To Nurses
NEWS
By Kevin LaHaise
The Sudbury Education Association (SEA) recently ratified three union group contracts. The Sudbury Public Schools School Committee also ratified the contracts, which brought some clarity to the Fiscal Year 2027 budget.
In a statement issued this week, the SEA noted “The new contracts benefit not only our educators, but our students as well. Our members showed solidarity throughout this process, and we can see what’s possible when educators stand together to advocate for what our students deserve. By listening to the voices of our members, these agreements ensure that our schools remain places where our students and staff can thrive.”
CPC Votes Down Parkinson Field Proposal
NEWS
By Kevin LaHaise
Voters at Annual Town Meeting in May will not have an opportunity to vote on a proposed project to widen the driveway and renovate the parking lot at Parkinson Field in Sudbury. While the project qualified for Community Preservation Act funding, Sudbury’s Community Preservation Committee (CPC) voted unanimously against a motion to recommend the project to Town Meeting during their January 14 meeting.
Sudbury Savoyards Celebrate 65 Years with ‘The Gondoliers’ This February
NEWS
By Kevin LaHaise
As the winter chill settles over New England, the Sudbury Savoyards are preparing to transport audiences to the sunny, sparkling canals of 1750s Venice. For their milestone 65th anniversary season, the renowned community theater group will present Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Gondoliers; or, The King of Barataria at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School later next month.
Known for being one of the few companies in New England to perform the Gilbert & Sullivan canon as “Theater on a Grand Scale,” this year’s production promises to be an energetic musical comedy that blends the spectacle of Broadway with the musical richness of opera.
Softball Field Project Targets Summer 2026
NEWS
By Kevin LaHaise
The second phase of softball field renovations at Feeley Field in Sudbury is targeting construction in the summer of 2026. The so-called “Feeley Phase 2” project has four priorities according to a presentation given to the Park and Recreation Commission by a representative from Gale Associates on January 14.
Those priorities include re-routing the accessible pathway that was originally routed through the dugouts of one of the softball fields during the first phase of the project. The new walkway would go behind the dugouts on the first field nearest to the lower parking lot, then extend to the field farthest from the parking lot and wrap around behind the backstop to a bleacher section. Second, the project would fix the drainage on both fields. Third, they would add dugouts and bleachers on field two, which is farthest from the parking lot. Finally, they would add irrigation via a connection to the Sudbury Water District system.
SPS Contracts Officially Ratified
NEWS
By Kevin LaHaise
The Sudbury Public Schools school district has officially settled three major contracts. The district announced on January 12 that all parties had ratified new collective bargaining agreements.
The agreements, announced Monday, cover the Sudbury Education Association (SEA), the Educational Support Professional Association of Sudbury (ESPAS), and the Sudbury Educational Association of Custodial Employees. The School Committee voted to approve the contracts on January 5, 2026, and the respective unions have subsequently ratified the deals, placing them into immediate effect.
The Power of Strength Training and How to Get Started in the New Year
FEATURES
By Dr. Randall McShine
Your Health with Dr. McShine
[This column is part of a regular series of health information and wellness tips from Emerson Health Sudbury.]
Often when people think about exercise, they think of walking, jogging, or biking. While these are excellent for health, strength training is an essential part of overall wellness, especially as we age. Strength training is safe, effective, and easily accessible for people at nearly all fitness levels, and it delivers important health benefits.
Why is strength training key to good health? Strength training helps build and maintain muscle mass, which naturally declines with age. Loss of muscle can affect balance, mobility, and independence, increasing the risk of falls and injury. Strength training preserves your muscles, bones, and joints by making them stronger. It can also improve your posture and make everyday movements easier – like climbing stairs, lifting groceries, or getting up from a chair.
Sudbury Police Gear Up For Rail Trail Safety
NEWS
By Kevin LaHaise
Sudbury’s Police Department is acquiring speciality equipment and developing educational materials and event concepts to educate the community on rail trail safety. Lieutenant John Perodeau joined the Rail Trails Advisory Committee (RTAC) meeting on January 7 to present what the police department has been doing to address safety concerns on and around the Bruce Freeman and Mass Central rail trails.
One of the top concerns in the community has been unsafe behavior around road crossings. Residents have observed cyclists crossing roads without stopping and using the crossing signal systems. While that’s also a concern for the Sudbury Police Department, Perodeau cited motorized vehicle use on the trails, and locating injured trail users as two major concerns for the department. He noted that mile markers on the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail make it easier for injured pedestrians to indicate their location when requesting police assistance, but no such markers exist on the Mass Central Rail Trail at this time.
Events
Parting Thoughts
Believe it or not, there’s more news to report from this week. For example — the Community Preservation Committee voted to support the field design projects at Broadacres and Davis Field. That gets Sudbury one step closer to some new baseball and rectangular fields. But we just couldn’t get to it.
We’re planning to run a story on the Planning Board, which was scheduled to discuss wireless coverage this week (excellent timing with the Verizon outage!), as well as the first meeting of the Select Board’s new Sewataro subcommittee. Though we might just punt the Sewataro story to next week, because the full Select Board is keeping Sewataro on the agenda for every meeting while the subcommittee conducts its work. They’ll be talking about all that fun stuff on Tuesday.
Anyway… keep an eye on the site over the weekend for more news!
Onward!