The Milford Oval has always been a place of possibility, starts and just plain synchronistic magic for me. Here’s a snapshot.
In 1995, I completed a yoga teacher training program and found a lovely room above the Post Office in Wilton I could rent by the day. It was a large open room with wooden floors and tall windows. Beautiful. My plan was to grow my business to where I could rent the space full time, which was $800 a month plus utilities.
However, when I was ready, I learned the building had sold and the new owner didn’t seem interested in renting, almost resistant.
Around that time, my son and I were out walking around the Milford Oval. As we wandered down Middle Street, we paused to look in the window of a small shop being renovated. I said, “Gee, this would make a great little place for a yoga studio — if I were looking for one.” It was smaller than the space over at the Post Office but the location was great and there were no stairs to climb.
The door was open so we went in.
An older man was painting and greeted us warmly. “You all looking for a space?”
My son looked at me. “Maybe.”
“Great location,” the man said.
“How much?” I heard myself ask.
“$450 a month — everything included.”
As he described the renovations he was planning, I felt a quiet resonance with him. Something about what was happening felt easy, effortless, like we’d stepped into a scene already written and we were just playing our parts.
And as natural as could be I said, “Can I complete an application?”
“No need. I know you’re good,” he said, reaching out to shake my hand.
“When can I sign the lease?”
“No lease necessary. Just a handshake,” he said smiling. And with that, I started a 12-year relationship with Ray Gagnon as a renter in his building.
And there was still more. A few years after opening my yoga studio, we moved to Greenfield. Immediately, my phone bill skyrocketed. This was right before cellphones were the norm. So, I decided to find an office in town, somewhere around the Oval close to my studio. And, I decided I didn’t want to pay more than $250 a month which was about how much extra I was paying in phone charges.
My husband, who was working part-time as a real estate agent for Nancy Hubert on the Oval, looked in the multiple listing and found nothing. So, I decided to do it the old-fashioned way, by foot.
On a rainy Friday, I went to every business around the Oval inquiring about any available space. Then, at the last stop, the owner said, “You may want to try across the street at the Stickney Building. There are some offices upstairs.”
“Great. Thank you. I will.”
As I reached the top of the stairs, I noticed the middle office on the right was empty. Someone across the hall said the tenants had just moved out.
“Who owns this building?” I asked.
“Dick at Dick’s Barber Shop downstairs.”
“Oh, okay. Thanks.”
So, down I went to the barber shop where Dick was busy cutting hair.
“Hi,” I said, introducing myself. “I own the Tree of Life Yoga Studio over on Middle Street. I’m interested in your vacant room upstairs to use as an office. I see you’re busy. I’ll just leave my card here on the shelf.”
“It’s already rented,” he said without looking at me. “I showed it this morning and I think the people are going to take it.”
“Oh, okay. But if it doesn’t work out, I hope you’ll give me a call,” I said and walked out. I actually thought he’d been borderline rude. Then, a couple weeks later, the message came on my answering machine:
“Stephanie, this is Dick the barber. Sorry I haven’t gotten back to you. I’ve had the flu. Anyway, if you’re still interested in the room upstairs, I’ll rent it to you. I do have to charge $150 a month but that’s everything included. Give me a call if you’re still interested.”
It was perfect, of course. Much less than I’d hoped and close to my yoga studio.
And still more. Fast forward a few years, I returned to rent that exact same space, indeed the whole second floor of the Stickney Building, newly available of course, to be the first home for the church I’d founded, the Tree of Life Interfaith Temple.
Today, every time I drive around the Oval I remember all the years, the wonderful people who’ve now moved on or passed, the sweet beginnings and, most of all, that magical sense of synchronicity that made it all possible.
Who knows? Maybe I’d end up there again someday.
Rev. Dr. Stephanie Rutt is founding minister of the Tree of Life Interfaith Temple in Amherst. She lives in Nashua.