The South Coast Insider - April 2023

SPRING EVENTS BEES’ KNEES PLANTER’S PROMISE

OPEN YOUR to good things

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Shop small, shop local!

Why risk your health (and sanity) at crowded malls on Black Friday? Take advantage of incredible offerings in your own neighborhood on Small Business Saturday, November 28, throughout the South Coast. Check out sbsshopri. com for shop-and-stroll events in Rhode Island. For that special gift, support local craftsmen and artists by heading over to the in Providence to visit the safe outdoor pop-up markets (waterfire.org/art-mart). And Thursdays (November 5) you can “shop and dine local” in Barrington, Bristol, and Warren (discovernewport.org).

Kick-off the holiday season at Frerichs Farm in Warren with “Girls Night Out” on November 6, 7 and 8 – buy your holiday trees, greenery, and gifts there, too (frerichsfarm.com). Then mark your calendar for the Newport Block Party & Holiday Stroll at Bowen’s Wharf on November 27 – you can watch the Illuminated Boat Parade while you shop and enjoy Caribbean music (bowenswharf.com).

It’s the thoughtful gifts that count

And if you can’t find gifts for all the special people in your life, consider buying gift cards to restaurants, shops, vineyards, special event venues, local farms, e-commerce websites, or grocery stores. Use mail-order services to deliver flowers, sweets, and specialty foods yearround to someone you want to thank or to express your appreciation.

April 2023 | Vol. 27 | No. 4

Published by Coastal Communications Corp.

Publisher and Editor-in-Chief

Ljiljana Vasiljevic

Editor

Sebastian Clarkin

Sales Manager

Mari Burns (508) 916-0374

Contributors

Michael J. DeCicco, Shauna Ferry, Paul Kandarian, Tom Lopes, Sean McCarthy, Elizabeth Morse Read

Layout & Design

Janelle Medeiros

The South Coast Insider is published monthly for visitors and residents of the South Coast area and is distributed free of charge from Mount Hope Bay to Buzzards Bay.

All contents copyright ©2022

Coastal Communications Corp.

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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, by any means, without written permission from the Publisher. All information contained herein is believed to be reliable. Coastal Communications Corp. does not assume any financial responsibility for typographical errors in advertisements, but will reprint that portion of an advertisement in which the typographical error occurs.

Deadline 20 days prior to publication.

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OPEN FOR FUNCTIONS

For those who are always hard to buy a gift for, consider signing them up for an annual subscription to a streaming service, app, podcast, premier sports/ movies/cultural channel, magazine, or newspaper. Or make a donation in their name to their favorite charity, educational institution, or cultural organization. Consider how much it would be appreciated if you upgraded an older relative’s digital capabilities with an easy-to-use smartphone, tablet, or notebook – and then helped to set up Zoom or Skype.

You can keep the holiday spirit alive this year, even though you may not all be together to celebrate Thanksgiving. It just takes some imagination and good cheer!

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Don’t waste a second. If you’re experiencing a cardiac emergency, call 911 and seek care at the Heart and Vascular Center at Charlton Memorial Hospital.

Scan the QR code or visit southcoast.org/heart to learn more.

Branco Pennisten, a Building, River descent.

and

SAME

We buy GOLD and DIAMONDS

table, how strawberries. local College recent other collaboration an taken on a policy culture. Over newly Cultural proclaimed voted the flower proposal the Commission. hopes to such as wayfinding group’s and and city’s creativeartsnetwork.org.

COVER STORY

12

14

Staying Grounded

By Sean McCarthy

Don’t hate, pollinate!

By Shauna Ferry

THINGS TO DO

6

18

Celebrate in April!

By Elizabeth Morse Read

Unexpected sounds

By Sean McCarthy

BUSINESS BUZZ

16

Get your greens

By Michael J. DeCicco

22

I love them, I love them not

By Paul Kandarian

ON THE COVER

The dark days of winter are behind us and the world is in bloom! Join the South Coast in celebrating the return of spring this month –visit botanical gardens, tend to your yard, and visit Aquidneck Island to take part in Daffodil Days, the series of spring-themed events taking place through April.

CELEBRATING 133 YEARS!

CELEBRATING 132 YEARS!

Celebrate

IN APRIL

by Elizabeth Morse Read

After the soggiest and most confusing extreme-weather winter, it’s time to emerge into the sunshine and warmth of springtime on the South Coast! Celebrate Easter (April 9) and Earth Day (April 22), and the return of all the flowers, early vegetables, and woodland critters.

Gather with your family, friends, and neighbors to once again enjoy local theatre, concerts, and outdoor events!

Everything’s bloomin’!

Step into spring during Daffy Days in Newport throughout April (newportdaffydays.com) and during “Gateway to Spring” at Blithewold Mansion and Gardens in Bristol (blithewold.org)!

Make your reservation now to wander through the spectacular fields of daffodils at Parsons Reserve in Dartmouth (dnrt. org), or pack a picnic and stroll through the daffodils and tulips at the whimsical Green Animals Topiary Gardens in Portsmouth (newportmansions.org)!

Family activities

Hop over to Buttonwood Park Zoo in

New Bedford on April 1-2 for the Spring Fling and Breakfast with the Easter Bunny! Full breakfast indoors, magic shows, games, crafts, unlimited carousel rides, animal visitors – purchase tickets online (bpzoo.org)!

Take the whole family to the free Herring Run Festival at Oliver Mill Park in Middleborough on April 15-16! Food, games, music and beer garden (discovermiddleborough.com).

Enjoy free family fun and entertainment on the second Thursday of every month at New Bedford’s AHA Nights –“Sustainable South Coast” is the April 13 theme (ahanewbedford.org)!

Head for Providence with the little ones to see “Bluey’s Big Play” April 1-2 at The VETS (thevetsri.com)!

Take the little ones to the annual Easter Egg Hunt at Livesey Park in North Fairhaven on April 8 – and check

the calendar for the town’s Cherry Blossom Festival in late April or early May (fairhaventours.com).

Classical acts

Don’t miss “Dreamcatchers” on April 29 at St. Gabriel’s Church in Marion, or on April 30 at St. Peter’s Church in Dartmouth, performed by the South Coast Chamber Music series (nbsymphony.org/southcoast-chambermusic-series).

Enjoy an afternoon of “Chamber Music in the Parlors” at the Rotch-Jones-Duff Mansion in New Bedford on April 16, performed by members of the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra (rjdmuseum.org)!

Don’t miss the Pilgrim Festival Chorus’ performance of Handel’s “Israel in Egypt”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

The spectacular fields of daffodils at Parsons Reserve in Dartmouth (dnrt.org)

The shows must go on!

Don’t miss The Wilbury Group’s performances of “Indecent” April 13-May 7 in Providence (thewilburygroup.org).

Enjoy dinner with your drama at the Newport Playhouse! Don’t miss “Blithe Spirit” through April 5, “Run for Your Wife” April 12-May 24 (newportplayhouse. com)!

Head for the Providence Performing Arts Center to enjoy the musicals “SIX” April 11-23 and “Beetlejuice” April 25-30 (ppacri.org)!

Buy your tickets early to see “The Inferior Sex” through April 16 at Trinity Rep in Providence (trinityrep.com).

Head for the Zeiterion in downtown New Bedford to watch “On Your Feet!” April 12 and the New Bedford Festival Theatre’s production of “The Wiz” April 27-May 6 (zeiterion.org).

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6

on April 29-30 at St. Bonaventure Parish in Plymouth (pilgrimfestivalchorus.org).

Listen to the Rhode Island Philharmonic perform “The Rite of Spring” at The VETS in Providence on April 15 (riphil.org).

Head for the Zeiterion in downtown New Bedford to hear the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra’s performance of “Mahler’s Farewell” on April 8 (zeiterion.org).

Listen to “Music of Poetry and Love” sung by the Sippican Choral Society at Tabor Academy on April 30 (sippicanchoralsociety.org).

Newport Classical will present Thomas Mesa and Ilya Yakushev at Emmanuel Church in Newport on April 21 (newportclassical.org/events)!

Enjoy a performance of the Handel & Haydn Society on April 23 at Concerts at the Point in Westport (concertsatthepoint.org).

Head for Rehoboth’s Arts in the Village on April 29 to hear Jonathan Cohle and Rasa Vitkauskaite (rehobothantiquarian.org)!

Mark your calendar for the benefit concert for the Plymouth Philharmonic with “Time for Three” on April 29 at Memorial Hall in Plymouth (plymouthphil.org).

Watch the Festival Ballet Providence’s performance of “Pure Dance” on April 28-30 at the Moses Brown School in Providence (festivalballetprovidence.org).

On the road again

Register now for the Newport 5K Night Run on April 1 (newportnightrun.com), or the West Island 5K Run/Walk on April 23 in Fairhaven (fairhaventours.com)!

Dash through the daffodils in Newport on April 15 in the Newport Rhode Races – marathon, half marathon, 5K or beach mile (rhoderaces.com)!

Register now for the Cinco de Mayo 5K in Wareham on May 7 (southshorerace.com)!

Get Healthy! “Walk With a Doc” on Saturdays at Buttonwood Park Zoo, part of the New Bedford Wellness Initiative (nbewell.com).

Sign up now for the Providence Marathon and Half Marathon

(and post-race festival) on May 7 (providencemarathon.com).

Meet like-minded people

Learn more about Homer’s “The Odyssey” at the Bristol BookFest March 31 and April 1 at Linden Place in Bristol (bristolbookfest.com, lindenplace.org).

Check out the Friday afternoon movies at the Newport Public Library (newportpubliclibraryri.org)!

Try your hand at pickleball at Fairhaven’s indoor Southcoast Pickleball arena (southcoastpickleball.com).

Quench your thirst for learning at the free monthly New Bedford Science Café lectures and discussions at The Last Round Bar & Grille (nbsciencecafe.com)!

Sounds of the South Coast

Head for Plymouth’s Pilgrim Memorial Hall to hear Get the Led Out April 7, comedian Steve Travino April 22, Time for Three April 29 (memorialhall.com).

Listen to New Edition: Legacy Tour on April 21 at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence (dunkindonutscenter.com)!

Enjoy the outdoors!

Go on a guided Seal Watch boat tour with Save The Bay, departing from Bowen’s Ferry Landing in Newport through April (savebay.org/seals)! Go on free guided Bird Walks on Sundays, a scavenger hunt on April 8, or the Earth Week Extravaganza with Bill Harley April 19-20 at the Norman Bird Sanctuary in Middletown (normanbirdsanctuary.org)!

Sign up for the Outer Cape Birding and Whale Watching Hike on April 2 with the Lloyd Center for the Environment in Dartmouth (lloydcenter.org)!

“Discover Buzzards Bay” offers an online portal with information about 100+ public places to walk, bird-watch, kayak/canoe, fish, snowshoe or cross-country ski (savebuzzardsbay.org/discover). You can find other outdoor recreation spots along the South Coast at thetrustees.org, exploreri.org, massaudubon.org, asri.org, riparks.com or stateparks.com/ rhode_island.

Head for the Zeiterion in downtown New Bedford to hear David Sedaris April 1, New Bedford Symphony Orchestra’s “Mahler’s Farewell” April 8, “On Your Feet!” April 12, Ruben Studdard & Clay

Aiken April 14, Tape Face April 15, movie “Vote to Decide” April 16, New Bedford Festival Theatre’s “The Wiz” April 27-May 6 (zeiterion.org).

Head for The VETS in Providence to hear Get the Led Out April 28 (thevetsri.com)!

Don’t miss Iron Maidens April 15 or

Draw the Line April 22 performing in The Vault at the Greasy Luck Brew Pub in downtown New Bedford (vaultnb.com)! Find out who’s on stage at the Spire Center for the Arts of Greater Plymouth! Don’t miss The Breakers April 1, Celtic Angels Ireland April 2, Tommy Castro & the Painkillers April 6, George Winston April 12, Joe Henry April 15, Joan Osborne April 21, Delta

CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

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Family activities

Hop over to Buttonwood Park Zoo in New Bedford on April 1-2 for the Spring Fling and Breakfast with the Easter Bunny! Full breakfast indoors, magic shows, games, crafts, unlimited carousel rides, animal visitors – purchase tickets online (bpzoo.org)!

Take the whole family to the free Herring Run Festival at Oliver Mill Park in Middleborough on April 15-16! Food, games, music and beer garden (discovermiddleborough.com).

Enjoy free family fun and entertainment on the second Thursday of every month at New Bedford’s AHA Nights – “Sustainable South Coast” is the April 13 theme (ahanewbedford. org)!

Head for Providence with the little ones to see “Bluey’s Big Play” April 1-2 at The VETS (thevetsri.com)!

Take the little ones to the annual Easter Egg Hunt at Livesey Park in North Fairhaven on April 8 – and check the calendar for the town’s Cherry Blossom Festival in late April or early May (fairhaventours.com).

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9

Generators April 28, Hey Nineteen April 29 (spirecenter.org).

Don’t miss Won’t Back Down April 8, Paul Nelson April 14, Whiskey Saints April 16, 420 Party April 20, Johnny Folsom 4 April 21, Disco Dream April 22, Workin’ for a Livin’ April 28 at The District Center for the Arts in Taunton (thedistrictcenterforarts.com)!

Head to the Narrows Center in Fall River to hear John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band April 1, Jimmy Webb April 7, Liz Longley April 8, Mile Twelve April 14, Blood Brothers April 21, The Silos April 22, Journeyman April 29 (narrowscenter.com)!

Eat fresh – eat local!

Take the family to the Open Farm Days at Round The Bend Farm in Dartmouth starting this month! Grass-fed meats, seasonal produce, honey, maple syrup,

botanicals, and family-friendly farm tours (roundthebendfarm.org).

Fill your baskets with seasonal produce, artisanal foods and dairy products! To find a farm, vineyard or farmers market near you, visit semaponline.org, coastalfoodshed.org, farmfreshri.org, or localharvest.org.

What’s coming up in May

Listen to the Fall River Symphony Orchestra’s “Spring Concert” with the South Coast Community Chorale on May 7 at BCC’s Jackson Theatre (fallriversymphonyorchestra.org). Get ready for the Buttonwood Park Zoo’s annual “Red, White and Brew” beer- and wine-tasting festival on May 19 in New Bedford (bpzoo.org)!

Register early for the day-trip to the Bronx Zoo on May 13, leaving from the Roger Williams Zoo in Providence (rwpzoo.org/programs/2023-bronx-zootrip)!

Plan ahead for the 7th annual Newport

Oyster and Chowder Festival at Bowen’s Wharf on May 20-21 (bowenswharf.com).

Head for the Priscilla Beach Theatre in Plymouth, one of the oldest barn summer stock theatres in America! Plan ahead for “Singin’ in the Rain” May 5-13 (pbtheatre.org).

Treat Mom to a Mother’s Day Mimosa Boat Tour through the waterways of Providence on May 14 (providenceriverboat.com)!

Mark your calendars for the return of the Wareham Oyster Festival on May 28 (warehamoyster.com)!

Don’t miss the Newport Contemporary Ballet’s performance of “Catch Fire!”, including a reimagined “Firebird,” at the WaterFire Arts Center in Providence May 18-20 (newportcontemporaryballet.org).

Discover the Barker Playhouse on Benefit Street in Providence, the oldest continuously-running little theatre in America! Don’t miss “Avenue Q” May 19-28 (playersri.org).

Newport in bloom

The 12th Annual Daffodil Days will be taking place throughout April in Newport. Visit to enjoy over 1,350,000 buds in bloom!

Festivities begin with the opening ceremonies at Bannister’s Wharf at noon on April 1 with an explosion of musket fire and a garland of daffodils cut by Miss Daffodil and the Mayor. Then, the annual “Daffy Doggy Paw-rade” trots off to Queen Anne Square for the judging of the daffiest dressed dogs (and humans).

McGovern’s Family Restaurant

310 Shove Street, Fall River

508-679-5010

On April 8, bicyclists will “petal on” to view Newport’s fields of daffodils, including a private garden with over 20,000 blooms to welcome yellow-clad arrivals. The following Saturday, April 15, the Newport Rhode Races start from Easton’s Beach, where 60,000 daffodils will wave as the runners pass by. And from April 14 through April 23, Daffodil Days overlap with Newport Restaurant Week, allowing foodies and flower lovers alike to enjoy discounts and deals at local restaurants.

1955 on the historic wharf that dates to the 1700s, isn’t all about summer

mcgovernsonthewater com

This well-known restaurant and banquet facility overlooking Laurel Lake usually packs them in for a large buf fet on Thanksgiving Day The menu typically includes traditional turkey dinner with Paul’s butternut squash, prime rib, ham, and much more The restaurant ha in an

On April 25 and 27, join the former chief horticulturalist at the Green Animals Topiary Garden for a special tour as he describes the over 22,000 daffodils in bloom, featuring 70 different varieties representing all 13 official Daffodil divisions.

Be sure to check the Let’s Get Daffy calendar at NewportinBloom.org for even more events and updates.

Last year they served up a feast of turkey, roast prime rib, sausage and more The restaurant currently of fers dine-in and takeout, including some oven-ready dishes like seafood casserole and stuf fed lobster

White’s of Westport

66 State Road, Westport

Last year, Merrill’s served up turkey and prime rib, all the sides like apple sage and sweet corn and polenta ravioli, plus pies galore

100 Alden Road Fairhaven

years in the hospitality industry, White’s is accustomed to cooking for a crowd

Pumpkin Old-Fashioned

Grounded Staying

by Sean McCarthy

Knowing this, the Audubon Societies of Massachusetts and Rhode Island offer programs and events for children and families to get outdoors and appeal to their natural desires to learn and grow.

While Earth Day is celebrated every year on April 22, these organizations have programs and events that encourage people to get outside to learn and have fun most each and every day.

“As a kid I went hiking and canoeing with my family. I grew up with a passion

The Bristol location is also home to the Audubon Nature Center and Aquarium, which includes a nature museum featuring interactive exhibits that explore local habitats and wildlife found in the region

for nature that has been with me all of my life,” says Lauren Parmelee, Executive Director for Education with the Rhode Island Audubon Society. “Kids being able to be outdoors, run around and smell the flowers, chase the bugs and look at the birds is really healthy for them

in so many ways. It’s not just the exercise, fresh air, and sunshine – it’s about enabling their curiosity. It gives them real world experiences that they can write about, take photos of, and talk about. It’s a healthy way to get them away from their screens.”

Located at 1401 Hope Street in Bristol, the Audubon Society of Rhode Island has a lot of programs designed for kids and families, particularly during school vacation week taking place this month.

From April 10 through 14, their programming includes nature walks and bird walks, classes about turtles, owl babies, hawks, and toads, as well as pond explorations, a scavenger hunt, lessons in bird feeders and more.

On Saturday, April 8, they will host their Free Family Funday event. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. they will celebrate

Educating children about the planet and showing them the joys and virtues of being exposed to nature has benefits that will last a lifetime.

the Earth with a plastic pollution awareness walk on their Bristol wildlife refuge in addition to a Nature Craft Table, Nature Storytelling, and an Animal Interview opportunity.

The Bristol location is also home to the Audubon Nature Center and Aquarium, which includes a nature museum featuring interactive exhibits that explore local habitats and wildlife found in the region. They offer year-round activities with crafts and meetings with their Animal Ambassadors and more.

Their 14 public wildlife refuges are free to explore every day from dawn to dusk, including locations such as the Caratunk Trail in Seekonk, which offers a 100-acre refuge with fields, forests, and streams. There is also a refuge in Tiverton and another on the grounds of the Bristol museum.

“The more time kids spend in nature in an unstructured way – like hiking down trails with their family, canoeing, or going to camp – they build confidence and they build a connection with the outdoor world. If we’re going to save the planet, we’ve got to have a connection to it” says Parmelee.

Earth Day every day

Regional programming from the Massachusetts Audubon Society includes a “Love Mother Earth”

themed float to be presented in downtown

New Bedford on Thursday, April 13 by the New Bedford Department of Parks and Recreation. That night will also feature a display at the New Bedford Main Public Library in downtown that will include a butterfly/ pollinator outreach table with crafts and information and an opportunity for participants to plant a seed and bring it home to grow their own pollinator.

On April 20, there will be a presentation called “Birding as a Pathway to Phenology” at the Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary at 1280 Horseneck Road in Westport. From 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., guests will be able to see how the changing patterns in weather, climate change, seasons, and habitats influence which birds are present in birding destinations.

On April 22, the Buttonwood Park Zoo in New Bedford will host a Party for the Planet from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The “Spring Into Action” event will be led by a Mass Audubon staff member, with a nature-themed outreach table that includes activities, crafts, and takeaways.

For more information, contact the Audubon Societies at asri.org or massaudubon.org.

"The more time kids spend in nature in an unstructured way – like hiking down trails with their family, canoeing, or going to camp – they build confidence and they build a connection with the outdoor world.

DON'T HATEpollinate!

by Shauna Ferry

Spring has arrived and it’s time to plan out those gardens!

I’m not much of a vegetable grower myself, so I’m leaning more in the direction of a flower garden focused entirely on local pollinators. It’ll be beneficial and aesthetically pleasing. As a dairy farmer and environmental science graduate, I love caring for and learning about living things and our environment. In addition, I have a two-year-old daughter who loves nature and being outside, so I felt this project would be perfect to do with her – she can learn about local pollinators as well as various native plants. Some pollinators in New England include honeybees, bumblebees, hornets, wasps, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Creating gardens for these species is very impactful to our ecosystem. The first step in creating a pollinator

garden is to plan. It’s imperative to know where you’ll place your garden and how much sun that area receives so you can sort out which plants, shrubs, and grasses will fit best. My garden is

going on the south side of my home, so it’ll be receiving sun all day. I chose to go with a kidney shape to keep it simple and easy for me to lay out in a drawing on the computer as I chose plants. Reading through various plants was one of my favorite parts of planning this project. I wanted to have a variety of plants that would come and go throughout the spring, summer, and fall. Variety is an important factor in the success of your garden. In addition to variety, you must be sure you fill your garden with native plants. Native perennials are the ideal choice – they should come back healthier and heartier each year.

The Mass Audubon website was a fantastic reference for me and I highly recommend it to anyone just getting

Some pollinators in New England include honeybees, bumblebees, hornets, wasps, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Creating gardens for these species is very impactful to our ecosystem

started. They have an entire page dedicated to planting a pollinator garden. On this page is a link to the Native Plant Trust, which lets you pick the plant type, color, region, what you’re looking to attract, sun exposure, etc. I chose two types of grasses first: big bluestem and little bluestem. These grasses are great host plants for pollinators and songbirds love them as well. I planned for a total of five grasses – two big and three little – placing them on the outer rim of the garden. Since there is such a huge variety of perennials to choose from, I decided on having a variety of fifteen plants for my first year, having five different plants for each blooming season.

Starting with spring, I chose Sundial Lupine, Starry False Solomons Seal, Early Saxifrage, Red Columbine, and Marsh Marigold. Each of these plant varieties had a small spread (only between 8-12 inches) and averaged heights between 12-24 inches, except for the Saxifrage, which only gets between 4-10 inches.

Summer native perennials were much more abundant and choosing just five was difficult, so I cheated a little bit: I chose milkweed and beebalm in three different varieties. For milkweed I chose butterfly milkweed, purple milkweed, and common milkweed. Butterfly milkweed is orange and vibrant. In beebalm, Marshall’s Delight, Jacob Kline, and Spotted. Bee balm stands tall, with some varieties getting up to four feet! The other three perennials I chose for the summer blooms were Kobold’s Original Gay Feather, Cardinal Flower, and Broad

Leaf Mountain Mint. The Mountain Mint has more subtle flowers, but has a minty fragrance. The leaves are also silvery and light in color.

Last were my fall varieties, and I wanted to continue picking the bolder colors. I chose Tall Larkspur, Grey Goldenrod, Anise Hyssop, Downy Skullcap, and Blue Mist flower. There are several different kinds of Goldenrod, but I liked the thick tight flowers of the gray variety.

The accents within the garden were also important. I'm placing the stump of a cedar tree by the Saxifrage near the grasses; it acts as a small shelter for different species. I’ll also be adding a very shallow bird bath. It’s important to have a water source within your pollinator garden, but ensure that it's shallow enough where a pollinator wont land in it and have no way to get out. Another rule is to never use pesticides in your garden – that’ll defeat the purpose and harm your pollinators.

I learned so many different things I hadn’t known before just researching through native plants. For example, Showy Lady’s Slippers, a very rare native perennial (I’ve never seen one in person), attract bees and other pollinators. Unfortunately they’re very difficult to grow. I think I may try my hand at one and see what happens. Also, the purple pitcher plant can be grown in our area. Pitcher plants are a type of carnivorous plant and I have one in my home, but I never realized they could be grown outside here – so amazing!

Another cool fact: Sunchokes, also known as Jerusalem artichokes, are in the sunflower family and are absolutely beautiful, but the coolest part is that you can consume the tubers, which are very high in several vitamins and can help prevent chronic illness. Beware though – they spread like crazy and can become invasive.

I thoroughly enjoyed planning out my garden and I’m excited to bring it to life. I can’t wait to see all these plants come together and hopefully a plethora of pollinators will enjoy it as much as my daughter and I will. I wish everyone the best of luck with their gardens this year!

Variety is an important factor in the success of your garden. In addition to variety, you must be sure you fill your garden with native plants. Native perennials are the ideal choice – they should come back healthier and heartier each year.

Get your greens

by Michael J. DeCicco

Springtime and beautiful gardens go hand-in-hand

That's especially true in greater New Bedford, where the city's Garden Club and the Rotch-DuffJones House are the two biggest reasons local flora shines so brightly this time of year.

The Greater New Bedford Garden Club has had a lot of experience stimulating the city's gardening priorities. It is celebrating its 100th anniversary. It formed on April 23, 1923 and joined the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts in 1928. Around this time of year, its very active Community Beautification Committee plants flower boxes and maintains gardens at the Acushnet Council On Aging, Fort Taber, the New Bedford Art Museum, and the New Bedford Historical Society headquarters.

Club president Lisa Borges said the group's biggest project this year will be at the Buttonwood Park Zoo. The club is hoping to plant a tree there and other new plantings this season. Borges said club members walked the grounds with zoo president Marion Wainer and considered where the club may soon add their own garden touches. Some of the plans include designing and creating pathways to habitats, pruning,

weeding, and adding plants to existing gardens, and developing gardening programs and activities for children.

In the Buttonwood Park greenhouse, the club is currently growing geraniums, assorted annuals, and cuttings that it will sell, along with perennials donated by members, at its annual Plant Sale on May 13 from 9-11 at NBC Distribution, 145 Alden Road, Fairhaven. All sales and donations from the Annual Plant Sale help maintain the club's Community Beautification Program, fund club activities, and go to the club's two scholarships. Last year, the club awarded $1,500 to two high school students interested in horticultural-related studies. This year it will award two $2,000 scholarships. Scholarship applications are available to students

In the Buttonwood Park greenhouse, the club is currently growing geraniums, assorted annuals, and cuttings that it will sell

attending Greater New Bedford Regional Technical High School, Bristol Aggie, New Bedford High School, Bishop Stang, Dartmouth High School, Wareham High School, Old Rochester Regional, and Old Colony.

Apart from the scholarships, the club's other public outreach is its Garden Therapy Program, where volunteers bring greens and flowers to residents of Sipppican Health Care and Our Lady's Haven to conduct hands-on workshops.

Borges is proudest to note that one of the scholarship's early recipients was the young Allen Haskell, who would go on to create the Allen C. Haskell Public Gardens in New Bedford. "He asked for $300 for equipment instead of a scholarship." At the age of 28, he was awarded the President's Cup at the Boston Flower Show. This honor was considered the most prestigious nationwide by horticulturists, she said.

The Greater New Bedford Garden Club meets on the first Wednesday of the month at 1 p.m. at the Acushnet Council on Aging. At every meeting, it conducts a business meeting followed by a program or hands-on workshop followed by refreshments organized by the hospitality committee.

Sweat of his brow

The Rotch-Jones-Duff House and Garden Museum's Facility Manager and Lead Gardener Rick Finneran also gets very busy this time of year.

He is responsible for all the maintenance of the entire garden grounds, including 16 separate rose beds, three elm trees, the boxwood border around the walkways, a walkway lined with over 20 species of wild flowers, and an orchard with six Heirloom apple trees and a pear tree. On the County Street side of the grounds, there's a large 100-year-old apple tree and a large Copper Beech Tree that shades the front yard and entrance, giving him a total of eight fruit trees he must prune whenever necessary along with his other garden maintenance work.

The garden's design is in the service of the way the gardens appeared in 1880, the last year that a whaling merchant, Edwin Jones, lived there, Finneran said. "We try the best we can to keep it as it was then."

For instance, he said, the garden had a similar orchard back then. Now the orchard features Baldwin-Porter apple trees, "the popular kind in New England."

In the winter, his job is carpentry fix-ups and trimming the fruit trees. March finds him starting to prune all the rose bushes into an open vase style. In early April, he trims the boxwoods, cleans beds of weeds, sprays the roses with horticultural and dormant oils, then turns on irrigation and plants any new roses or plants.

During the rest of April, he'll keep cutting out the sick and bad rose flowers, then spray the roses with more horticultural and dormant oil. In May, he light-prunes the roses to keep centers open.

This spring, he'll also be tending to new plantings at the County Street side: Presidential Shanley roses (named after a noted past president of the American Rose Society) and an Evangeline Walsh Rambler. And he'll apply fertilizer and other plant-enriching agents to the flower beds: an oil to address blight and mildew, and Liquid Fish oil fertilizer to enrich the base of the soil.

In June, the roses will bloom and he will remove the “spent” blossoms. By July 1, he will get rid of dead roses in the bed. Then the rambling roses bloom in earlyto mid-July.

He said this is the time of year to prune roses because that's when cutting them at the knobby nodule section of the stems will re-invigorate them, get the sap flowing, and stimulate new growth and blossoms. In the winter, one should just leave one’s rose bushes alone to die out on their own. he said.

That's why in winter he catches up on carpentry work. "I don't prune the roses then. I just let them die naturally."

He says the best time to visit the garden is "between April and May, but it depends on what you want to see. April's a good time to see a lot of it. The roses are best in mid-June."

This advice dovetails well with his plan to offer a free garden tour on June 8 (during AHA night). "I will provide a tour and a history of the garden and the neighborhood," he is proud to note.

He is even prouder to add, "We want this space to be user-friendly and wellmaintained. That's my goal here."

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UNEXPECTED SOUNDS

by Sean McCarthy

the trajectory of the city’s cultural renaissance.

Whether it’s acoustic music at an open mic, tenacious punk rock in an area pub, or reggae bliss on the beach, original music is benefitting both artists and the local economy.

“You may be surprised to find that you really like a local band that’s as good as anything in your record collection,” says New Bedford’s Chris Guaraldi, who debuted on the local music scene in 2001 at the New Wave Café as the singer and guitarist for the punk band Chris Evil & The Taints.

lead singer for the local hardcore punk band American War Machine. Guaraldi is currently the at the forefront of the band Blood Feeder.

“There’s something special about listening to a band that is from your community,” says Kat Knutsen, keyboardist and vocalist with the band Long Swan. “You don’t have to travel to Providence or Boston to enjoy musical creativity. Original music is a different type of creation with a unique mindset. Audiences show up to enjoy the craft of what goes into original songs.”

What was once known as “Secret City” for its ample offerings of quality original music has experienced a stretch of struggles in the past decade. But in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, live original music is seeing a resurgence – a burgeoning music community that mirrors

“If you’re a music fan and you want to hear something new, there’s always new young bands getting started, and if you’re a musician you can be inspired by listening to another local band,” Guaraldi says. “There’s a lot of great musicians around here doing something creative.” Today, Guaraldi hosts an open mic event every Tuesday evening at the Dipper Café in New Bedford, and also books live shows at the Pour Farm Tavern in downtown one Saturday night a month. The Dipper Café is co-owned by Freetown’s Josh Gagne, who is the

On February 26, Long Swan shared a bill with the band Star Bath for a show at PLAY Arcade in downtown, as part of the room’s Sunday night concert series. The event filled the arcade/bar/restaurant with an audience of more than two dozen. “Music invigorates the economy,” Knutsen says. “It brings more revenue to the city, it helps invest in local businesses. People come out to listen to the music and support the venue, and they spend money to go to restaurants before or afterwards.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 20

There’s nothing like discovering a local band that you love, and that opportunity is greater than it has been in recent years as original music is experiencing a growing footprint in the New Bedford area.

The New Bedford artist Milky Maze performs with her band at the Paradise McFee Gallery in downtown New Bedford last October during the 4752 Music Festival.

Getting in their licks

One of the most unique live music events in New Bedford is the 4752 Music Festival hosted each October by Devin Byrnes, owner of Destination Soups in downtown. This event welcomes original bands and performers from throughout the region to play free shows at seven downtown businesses in a variety of underground genres such as punk, noise, and alternative folk.

“This event aims to introduce people to downtown businesses by providing music in smaller spaces that usually don’t have music,” Byrnes says. “It’s free and you can come and go as you please, so you can listen to 12 hours of music or 10 minutes, whatever you prefer.”

The bassist and singer for the band Picniclunch, Byrnes talks about the lure of hearing original music.

“Some people enjoy hearing songs they’ve never heard before,” Byrnes says. “Maybe it resonates something in them, or they’re hearing something crazy that expands their headspace and they think, ‘Wow, I’ve never heard a guitar make that sound.’ Music is so powerful, and in a lot of ways it’s up to the individual.”

New Bedford’s Scott Bishop contributes significantly to the local music culture. In addition to the music he makes as his alter ego, Scapeghost, he curates performances at downtown establishments as part of the Unexpected Music Concert Series, hosting shows at unconventional spaces such as the Interwoven maker space, the Co-Creative Center, and the wooden cat art gallery at Hatch Street Studios.

Bishop says that original music shows differ from bars that offer cover bands.

“Unexpected Music creates a listening space for musicians,” Bishop says. “They’re not playing for a bar full of people who are there just to hang out, drink and chat instead of listening to music. It’s an opportunity for people who don’t get to play out often, or want to workshop new material, or want to try something different in a space where people want to give their undivided attention to the music.”

Bishop books local performances with the Seaport Sessions on AHA! Nights

held every second Thursday of the month in downtown. He also curates concerts at the New Bedford Art Museum/Art Works! on the first Friday of each month, known as the First FriYAY’s concert series.

Since 2018, the Stove Boat Concert Series has provided an opportunity for inclusive events and safe spaces for the LGBTQ+ community with a special focus on booking artists from the trans/queer/ non-binary community. What began as house concerts has expanded to a variety of venues in downtown, including Interwoven and the Co-Creative Center. The events are hosted by Michael McLean, the writer/singer/guitarist for the band The Bitter Hearts, and the drummer for Long Swan.

Unexpected Music and Stove Boat Concerts are funded by grants from The New Bedford Local Cultural Council, which is supported by the state agency, the Mass Cultural Council.

Deep cuts

Another downtown establishment booking original music is the No Problemo restaurant. Owner Craig Paiva books alternative genres such as punk, hardcore, metal, noise, doom, and surf rock. Paiva recalls his youth that included he and his adolescent skateboarding friends taking in shows at VFW halls and church basements, and hopes for the day when all-ages concerts will return to the city. No Problemo only offers 21-plus shows due to the sale of alcohol.

“Going to shows back in the day really gave me something to do – something to be a part of. We could use more of that

now,” Paiva says. “Putting on shows now are a labor of love for me. I like giving people a place to play. I’m not doing it for the money. It’s awesome to see the place filled to the brim with people having a good time. Nowadays I have shows that draw people in their 20s to people in their 60s.”

This summer, reggae will return to the city with another lineup of shows in the Reggae On West Beach concert series that include bands and deejays from throughout the northeast.

This June, the ska outfit NB Rude Boys will release a five-song EP, “Welcome To Rude Bedford.” Lead singer Sean FitzGerald talks about the experience of creating and sharing original music.

“To get out on that stage and perform a composition strung from one’s own heart and create an impassioned audience that vibes and grooves – that is truly what it’s all about. There is nothing like that feeling of positive human feedback in the moment of passionate musical deliverance and acceptance.”

There are too many bands and performers in the New Bedford area to mention all of them. But most acts have their music available online to be explored and enjoyed at any time. You may be introducing yourself to a band with a big future.

“Almost every band that is successful was once a local band,” says New Bedford’s Sara Shaughnessy, who spent five years as the Local Music Director for the UMass-Dartmouth radio station, WSMU. “When listening to music in a local venue you could be catching a band that’s at the start of something big. As

The band Long Swan.

and emotional welfare of children is at stake, especially in children from high-risk homes. The socioeconomic divide will only become wider, and who is protecting the kids who need it right now? I stress about how I will find a high school during this time for my daughter next year. I can’t imagine being a mother of a child who is being abused, starving, freezing… School is safety, shelter, and home for many kids. It’s sad to think most will continue to be at home not getting the help they need.”

an audience member you get to go to small spaces and see bands getting their go-ahead. You can see your friends doing their thing playing for people before they branch out to bigger cities, and they sometimes they get their tours and keep progressing from there. It’s great to watch local bands grow.”

New Bedford is not foreign to bands that have experienced national or global success. The melodic punk rock of A Wilhelm Scream has taken the band around the world, and Gagne just returned from a tour of Europe with American War Machine. The metal band Beyond The Embrace was signed to the esteemed label, Metal Blade, and toured North America. The avantgarde musings of Eric Baylies have taken him throughout America, while the acoustic works of Sarah Donner and Mercy Bell have earned multiple national tours.

Did I hear any really reassuring advice? Not really. The takeaway, then, is that navigating unchartered territory is all of these: unsettling, vacillating, unnerving, terrifying, hopeful, necessary, and inevitable. We are writing this story, together, as we go along. The best we can do then is to trust that others are arming themselves with as much information as possible and will live in such a way as to do no intentional harm.

“There will always be original music being made,” Guaraldi says. “There will always be an influx of young people making new music.”

“There’s an invigorating level of positivity with local music,” FitzGerald says. “It’s more collaborative than competitive, which is good for New Bedford.”

Fairhaven’s Kevin Grant has been a stalwart presence in the local punk rock community for more than 25 years, as the vocalist for bands such as Gaskill, the Hidden, Iron Oak and others. His current project is the band Wire Lines.

While Coronavirus has woken us up in terms of helping us appreciate our prior freedoms (to travel, to go to school, to mingle with friends, to attend concerts), that loss of innocence has hopefully helped us grow. School districts, judging by the amount of work that goes into reopening under state guidelines, have been working tirelessly to create a plan of action. Parents are proactive and creative in imagining a new routine. Through the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives around the globe, the best we can hope for is that we have gained insight about our interdependency: we are all truly in this together.

“Local bands, or really any underground bands, are typically better than established acts,” Grant says. “They aren’t under the same pressure to have hit songs or to recover a massive debt they owe to whatever label they’re on. This allows for a sort of unadulterated creative process. Additionally, the idea of mass appeal isn’t really in the equation either, you are writing for a curated audience with specific tastes, which allows for more adventurous playing and writing.

“It’s good to know that you deserve nice things, and the best things in life are not from McDonald’s, Walmart, or the Grammys. Venture out a little bit, with music or anything, and you will be rewarded.”

Some of us, though, want to go back to that innocent time, when we could get excited about backpacks and sneakers and lacrosse games. Maybe not return to “normal” but get as close to it as possible in the midst of a pandemic as we can. Kellie, a healthcare professional from Florida, has daily interaction with the Coronavirus and she is hoping her kids can go back to school soon. “This virus isn’t going away,” she says pragmatically. “We all need to get back to some sense of normalcy. Practicing safe reintegration is essential. We are all going to be okay. I know I’m biased because two of mine [tested positive] and were essentially fine. I treat [COVID] patients every day – and I’m fine.”

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I love them, I love them not

by Paul Kandarian

April showers bring May flowers. If only I knew which was which

Look, I’ll admit it: I’m not a flower guy, or flowery, but let’s stick to the literal for now.

Flowers are like cars to me; I really can’t tell one from another unless they’re really different, like telling a VW Beetle from a Rolls Royce. That much I can get, though I can’t afford either. When someone asks what

kind of car I like, I shrug and say, “Blue?”

Flowers are the same.

I mean, I know roses… I think. And maybe daisies. I say maybe, because I think there’s another breed or species or kind or whatever that sorta looks like that.

Sunflowers are easy because they’re freaking huge, and beautiful, and

towering over me when they’re fully bloomed like they’re going to eat me like the man-eating Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors. Now another I should know are hydrangeas, because we have them in the yard – my lady loves hydrangeas. But every time I try to remember what they are I say “chrysanthemum,”

and I’m so proud of myself, not for being wrong but for spelling “chrysanthemum” correctly on the first try despite never having written the word out before until just now. Yay, me! Give that man some flowers! But the other morning, I took a picture of flowers in a vase my lady put out, which were catching the early day rays just beautifully, illuminating the looping, velvety petals and also the anthem, the filament, the overall pistil, three words that identify flower bits that I had no

idea existed until I just now looked them up (quick defensive reminder: I can spell “chrysanthemum”).

So I posted it because it was so lovely and I said I thought it was a tulip and then the botanical wrath of the gods came crashing down upon me which may be overstating it but not really because it was from my Italian cousin whose wrath-crashing abilities are second to none.

My daughter had pointed out that it was a lily, NOT a tulip, at which point my tarttongued cousin chimed in with “Your daughter’s right, numb nuts, it’s a lily.” I mean, c’mon, is there a need to know? I hike a lot and have an app on my phone to identify plants, because I like foraging for edibles and don’t want to die eating pretty, poisonous things. I eat dandelions, for example, a flower even I can identify because they were all over my yard when I was a kid and my Italian aunt who always wore black because her husband died like 100 years before, would come over and dig them up to make salad or wine or offer to the gods – who knows.

But I love dandelions. I eat the flower, the stem, the greens and as I choke down the bitter blend I remind myself that dandelions are high in nutrients and vitamins, as well as a significant gag factor that I force myself to overlook.

But this app is amazing. I can take pictures of a tree trunk and it tells me what tree it is. I snap flowers or leaves or berries and boom, the name pops up on my phone. So really, do I need to know the names of flowers off the top of my male head? I think not.

That’s why the god of apps created it.

And speaking of my male head, maybe it's the whole men-are-fromMars-women-are-from Venus thing – if I have my planet-metaphors aligned correctly – but what is the female fascination with foresting every possible inch of couch and chair and bed with as many pillows as they possibly can?

Seriously, you have a perfectly good threehuman couch but stack pillows on either end like puffy books on a shelf and leave maybe room for one skinny-butted person to wedge themselves in the middle. Worse are bed pillows, like in hotels, where when you get to your room you wonder where they hid the bed until you see it buried like the ancient city of Atlantis under a veritable sea of pillows.

More confusing still: many hotels have “pillow menus,” which would make sense if you ate them but not for just sleeping on. But hey, there usually are so many you can get a quick highintensity pre-sleep workout by having to de-pillow the bed before you can get in it. And okay, if couch or chair decorations like that are technically called "throw pillows," why do women get upset when you throw them on the floor to sit on the couch because you can't when the furniture is like a fully loaded aircraft carrier for pillows?! There must be some explanation even for a man like me, with a brain as soft a – yup, a pillow – and the velvety petals of a tulip… or do I mean lily?

But hey, at least I can spell chrysanthemum. Yay me! Give the man some flowers!