Letters to the Editor

A message of thanks

Thank you to the Horowitzes and to everyone who has helped them bring the General Store back to life. They have committed to a place we value in our town and have created opportunities and jobs here. They’ve welcomed providers of local goods. I thank them for continuing the tradition of giving kids a place to have a hot dog after school and for keeping a landmark on the map. We add our voices to the local chorus saying how wonderful it is to have the General open and to see its lights shining when we drive into town in the early morning and when we head home as darkness begins to fall.

Laura Farwell Blake and Michael Blake
Bowers Road

Loving the General 


Let me add my name to the growing list of those who have discovered our wonderful new General Store. It is spectacular! It offers both treats and necessities, with more to come. Adam and Lyn Horowitz have labored mightily and birthed a gem that is an asset to Harvard. I’d like to publicly thank them for their vision, good taste, and most of all, patience. May they enjoy years of success and pride in their gift to us.

Susan Leeming
Whitney Road

Thankful for the General’s return

I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Adam and Lyn Horowitz for bringing the General Store back into existence. This historic store is not only physically located in the center of our town, it is also the metaphorical epicenter of life in Harvard. In fact, it is a wonder our town ever survived the several-year drought from the General’s refreshments and treats. True, Harvard has been invaded by Dunkin’ Donuts, but no franchise will ever match the General in history or character.

The General Store is so much more than just another store. After a hot day of school in June, where do both Bromfield and elementary school students go for a cold soda or ice cream? The General. In between the many Saturday soccer games in the fall, it’s the General for a hot cup of coffee and a lollipop. When your child has an extra dollar left over from lunch money, where do they go to spend it? The General. Sunday mornings the General is the place to go for newspapers to keep on top of the week’s news. These past few years without the General have demonstrated that it is an irreplaceable facet of our society. The large crowd inside the General following the town’s recent Fourth of July festivities is a testament to how sorely it was missed by the community.

Thankfully the General is now back in business. It has changed in several ways, now sporting a high-class coffee bar and extensive M&M machine, but the history of the General has not been ignored. It is clearly displayed in posters on the walls, reminding us all of the qualities that have made the General a quintessential part of society in Harvard. It is not easy to move any establishment forward in accordance with the rapid changes in the current economy while still maintaining its history. Adam and Lyn Horowitz, however, seem to have done just that with the General Store. So again, thank you to the Horowitzes for bringing this integral part of Harvard back to life.

Abby Alexander
Littleton Road

Meet me at the picnic tables 


It is a plan come true—the town center has a new gathering place. Granted, they’re seasonal and a bit rustic, but the new picnic tables on town land in the center are a welcome place to sit down and chat with people.

Charles Eliot’s 1970 study, Planning for Harvard, Massachusetts recommended that the town center be a place where residents could meet up with each other at small businesses and municipal buildings and thus perpetuate the strong feeling of community unique to Harvard. Unfortunately, the ensuing years brought fewer, rather than more, gathering places as the post office moved out of the center, the General Store building sat empty for years, and the old library was vacated. Residents have been longing for a revitalized town center, for places to meet up with friends and to make new acquaintances. Enter, the picnic tables.

When I talked to Adam Horowitz, owner of the new General Store, about Parks and Rec’s putting the donated picnic tables on the town land between the store and the Congregational Church, he said he is delighted. He commented that people have been requesting benches since the idea of the store was first floated, and added, “We have always tried to listen to what people want and to do whatever we can to enrich the town center experience. Our investment has always been toward that end.” For his part, Horowitz has readily agreed to help keep the area picked up.

It’s quite lively in the town center these days. Bikers and walkers have a place to sit down for a rest and a drink. Inevitably, conversation flows between the tables, often begun over a comment about Jake, the official welcome dog.

“Meet me at the picnic tables in the center.” What a great ring that has to it!

Carlene Phillips
Oak Hill Road