1. This year loom-mania is sweeping the nation, and kids all over Sudbury are weaving rubber band creations with the much sought after Rainbow Loom.
“We like to think of ourselves as the Rainbow Loom Headquarters,” said Learning Express of Sudbury owner Matt Sahagian. “Kids love that we stock our store with charms, organizers, and all the latest band colors. They love to come in and share their latest creations with our staff.”
Learning Express Toys Founder and CEO, Sharon DiMinico, attributes much of the Rainbow Loom’s success to its old fashioned appeal.
“This isn’t a toy that lights up or requires an app; it goes back to basics,” said DiMinico. “The Rainbow Loom encourages social interaction, builds fine motor skills, and inspires creativity. We’ve come to discover the play possibilities really are endless with this toy.”
The Rainbow Loom is also proving to have universal appeal. The toy is equally popular with boys as it is with girls, and it appeals to a wide variety of age groups.
The Rainbow Loom was invented by parentpreneur Choon Ng. A former crash safety engineer at Nissan, Ng was inspired to develop the loom after seeing his daughters weave bracelets out of small rubber bands. In the early days, Ng took the loom store to store—hopeful that local retailers would take a chance on his product. Learning Express Toys was one of the first retailers to recognize the loom’s potential. Back in July of 2012, franchisee Cindy O’Hara began to carry the Loom in her Atlanta based locations. The Rainbow Loom quickly took her stores by storm, and Cindy shared that success with her fellow 130 franchisees -- a standard LE practice. The result: within a few months loom-mania had spread from Georgia to Colorado, California, and everywhere in between.
2. Our Lady of Fatima’s 2013 Parish Picnic is Sept. 29, 12:30-3 p.m., rain or shine.
A barbecue and beverages (beer and wine for adults) will be provided, along with potato salad, cole slaw and macaroni salad. Also:
• Entertainment, games and activities for all ages;
• Face painting, crafts, balloon animals;
Find out what's happening in Sudburywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
• Volleyball, corn toss, sack races;
• Bouncy house;
Find out what's happening in Sudburywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
• Please bring something to share (drop off any time after 10:30 a.m.)
• Family last name A-P – appetizer, veggie or fruit side dish that doesn’t require refrigeration;
• Families last name Q-Z – dessert or something sweet;
• Bring a blanket or lawn chair (limited table seating will be available);
• Visit www.fatimasudbury.org to RSVP;
• Teen volunteers – contact Pastoral Associate Mary Peterson at mary@fatimasudbury.org or 978-443-2798 x116 to contribute your time and energy.
3. HOPEsudbury and First Parish of Sudbury are collecting backpacks and school supplies for homeless children living at Mary’s House in Waltham and for Sudbury youth.
New backpacks and new school supplies are welcomed. Notebooks, binders, paper, pencils, pens, calculators, dividers, pencil cases, book covers and other new supplies are gratefully accepted.
Through Aug. 30, donation bins will be located conveniently at First Parish of Sudbury (327 Concord Road), the Grange Hall (326 Concord Road), the Sudbury Town Flynn Building (278 Old Sudbury Road - Route 27), Goodnow Library, Longfellow Club and Longfellow Children’s Center (524 Boston Post Road in Wayland).
From Sept. 1-30, donation bins will be at all of the locations except Goodnow Library.
This is the 10th year HOPEsudbury and First Parish have collaborated on the annual backpack drive.
For more information on the backpack drive, call Carole Ann Baer at 978-443-6684.
4. You're Invited to the Sudbury Social Tweetup on Aug. 29.
Two residents of Sudbury, Bob Cargill and Phil Hollows, will be hosting their 24th Sudbury Social Tweetup at Bistro 20 at 120 Boston Post Road in Sudbury from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
The purpose of this networking event is to bring together business people, marketers and professionals who live or work in Sudbury and the surrounding communities who want to meet others from the area and learn more about social media such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube and blogs.
Bob and Phil host the Sudbury Social Tweetup on the last Thursday of each month. At each Tweetup, an informal discussion is held about different social media-related topics and issues.
The event is free to attend and sponsored by FeedBlitz (http://feedblitz.com/).
For more information on the event, please contact either Bob Cargill at Cargill123@gmail.com or Phil Hollows at phil@feedblitz.com. To register to attend the event, go to http://sudburysocial.eventbrite.com/. If you decide to write about the event online, the hosts ask you to use the hashtag, #SudburySocial.
Thursday: A mix of sun & clouds with an isolated PM shower---especially across the Worcester Hills as well as N.H. Cooler & less humid with highs in the mid to upper 70s.
Friday: Partly sunny. Highs in the upper 70s to near 80 - warmest away from the coast.
Saturday: Partly sunny. Better chance for PM storms in the afternoon (for everyone except Cape Cod and The Islands). Low 80s.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
