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Snowcation
Welcome back!
Traffic has been light around town this week. Presumably because everyone in Sudbury was taking a carbon-neutral stay-cation at home, and certainly not sun bathing on an island while the rest of us watched dog droppings reappear through the melting snow.
Here’s what we have for you this week:
February 20, 2026 Edition
Sudbury Savoyards Celebrate 65 Years with a Grand “Gondoliers”
FEATURES
By Ellen Gitelman
To celebrate their 65th year, the Sudbury Savoyards—the only opera company in Massachusetts to regularly produce the works of Gilbert & Sullivan—pulled out all the stops for The Gondoliers, the duo’s eleventh collaboration. If you’ve never seen a Gilbert & Sullivan performance, or even if you’ve seen all thirteen comic operas, you shouldn’t miss this one. It surpasses their usual high standards!
From the moment the professional-sounding orchestra plays the overture’s first note to the final curtain call, I was nearly transported to London’s Savoy Theatre (where the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company regularly performed Gilbert and Sullivan’s operettas). The show originally ran there for a very successful 554 performances, which at that time was the fifth longest-running piece of musical theatre in history.
Simon Campaign Off to the Races, Kouchakdjian Steps Aside
NEWS
By Kevin LaHaise
It has only been a bit more than a week since Carmine Gentile, Sudbury’s representative in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, announced that he will not seek reelection for a seventh term. But much has happened since then.
Within days Gentile’s legislative aid, Ravi Simon, announced that he would be running for Gentile’s seat, with Gentile’s full endorsement.
This week, Lisa Kouchakdjian, chair of the Sudbury Select Board, issued a statement on social media informing the community that she would not be joining the race.
NEWS
By Kevin LaHaise
Local author and clinical psychologist Ava Roberts is set to release a domestic thriller, The Summer House Murder, on April 7, 2026.
Published by Crooked Lane Books, the novel has already garnered praise from critics, with Kirkus Reviews describing it as a “whirlwind domestic thriller” and a “pitiless anatomy of the costs of motherhood and sisterhood”.
A Brief History of Featherland… Farm
FEATURES
By Kevin LaHaise
Sudbury’s little league baseball hub, known as Featherland Park, has been recreation land for over six decades. But how did it get its name? And what’s the story behind the land?
As it turns out, it’s a pretty cool story.
Featherland Farm began as a humble chicken farm. But it grew to be a large operation thanks to Edith Nason Buckingham. Buckingham is a fascinating figure in her own right. A deeply-researched profile on Lady Science, calls out that she was “the first woman to receive a PhD in Zoology from Radcliffe College in 1911.”
In the late 1920’s she purchased Featherland Farm, and proceeded to grow it into a fairly large operation. Research from Lady Science indicated that she grew the farm from 1,000 to 7,000 birds, nationwide shipping, with additional crops grown on-site and an equipment rental business added to the property by the 1950s.
Sudbury Fire Department Issues Urgent Warning After Recent Ice Rescues
NEWS
By Kevin LaHaise
Following a string of dangerous incidents on local waterways, the Sudbury Fire Department is issuing a stern warning to residents: stay off the ice.
The department’s plea comes after a second dog was rescued from the ice in Sudbury this season. These local scares are part of a broader, more tragic pattern across the region. Just last week, firefighters in Maynard were forced to rescue a dog that had fallen through, and a devastating incident in Eastham earlier this week claimed the lives of two dog owners who fell through the ice while walking their pet.
Housekeeping for the High School: L-S Regional Agreement Heads to Town Meeting
NEWS
By Kevin LaHaise
While much of the buzz around the upcoming Annual Town Meeting will focus on budgets and capital projects, a quieter but foundational article will ask voters to update the blueprint of the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional School District itself.
Article 22 of the draft 2026 warrant (the number may change on the final warrant) proposes amending the “Agreement between the Towns of Lincoln and Sudbury”—the governing document that established the regional district decades ago.
Ramen Restaurant Proposed For Meadow Walk Plaza in Sudbury
NEWS
By Kevin LaHaise
A restaurant called Ramen Haven could be coming to Sudbury. Representatives for the restaurant have appeared before the Sudbury Planning Board and Design Review Board in recent weeks, indicating that a Sudbury opening could be imminent.
There is already a restaurant called Ramen Haven located in Berlin, MA. It appears to be working to expand its footprint, but a representative for the restaurant could not be reached to confirm the relationship between the two.
A representative for Ramen Haven joined the most recent meeting of the Sudbury Planning Board to discuss options for fencing on the patio outside the Meadow Walk unit previously occupied by Paani Indian Cuisine. Based on the discussion, the restaurant intends to serve alcohol.
Answers To Election Questions
NEWS
By the League of Women Voters of Sudbury
Do you have questions on voter registration, voting by mail, voting in person or what’s on the ballot for the March 30 Annual Town Election?
The League of Women Voters of Sudbury offers answers to frequently-asked questions on its website, www.lwvsudbury.org.
Find out how to register to vote before the March 20 deadline and how to check the status of your voter registration to see if there are any issues.
Events
Parting Thoughts
Sudbury’s “Capital Night” is on Monday. That’s when the Select Board hosts a bunch of other committees to go over the capital budget and capital articles proposed for the next fiscal year.
In prior years, particularly prior to the arrival of the current administration, it could be a tense discussion. But the Town now has an honest-to-goodness long-term capital plan in place, which has been a priority for virtually all boards and committees that deal with Town financial matters.
The benefit of a plan is that there doesn’t have to be a huge debate about needing a plan. But as with any plan, it creates an opening for a big prioritization debate.
Sudbury is in the thick of another wave of plans. The Open Space and Recreation Plan kicks off next Thursday with a Town Forum. The Select Board has embarked on a planning process for the Camp Sewataro property. The Fields Needs Assessment was recently minted, along with the Housing Production Plan and a Route 20 Corridor Study.
In each an every one of those plans, prioritization is a challenge. What are the priority properties for affordable housing? Which athletic fields should we build first? Should the Town prioritize revenue from Sewataro, or resident use? Should we focus on getting sewer service on Route 20, or rezoning the corridor to incentivize creative redevelopment?
Behind the wonky talk about municipal finance, priorities, and planning is really a simple question: What kind of Sudbury do you want to have in five, ten, or fifteen years?
That’s a big, bold question. But in a community that has a Town Meeting form of government, it’s equally bold that residents are the ones who get to answer it…directly.
Onward!