The South Coast Insider - December 2013

Holiday Event Guide December 2013

the south coast

Vol. 17 / No. 12

coastalmags.com

Embrace the season Register to win a Spa Treatment ! see page 7

13 New Year’s resolutions

The perfect holiday gift

Recipes for tradition

Year in review

Changing lives

News & views

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“After many years of looking for the best financial partner for our business, we finally met our perfect match,” says Richard Oliveira, President of Princess Limousine in Fall River. He’s talking about Ed Moniz, Business Development Specialist for Anne’s Credit Union.

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Contents In Every Issue

4

From the publisher

32 Dateline South Coast

By Elizabeth Morse Read

FLOORING

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COVER STORY

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Changing lives, living right

By Jay Pateakos

Responsible corporate citizens

By Jay Pateakos

28 The year in review

22

26 The comfort of tradition

By Stephen C. Smith

YOUR FUTURE

36 Tarot-scope

By The Celtic Cricket

ON MY MIND

38 Bittersweet celebrations

By Paul E. Kandarian

By Stacie Charbonneau Hess

THINGS TO DO

6

Ringing in the changes: celebrating the New Year

By Mike DeCicco

20 A gift of the arts

By Joyce Rowley

30 The latest from

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Your guide to

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By Elizabeth Morse Read

WHOLESALE

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December 2013 / The South Coast Insider

South Coast authors

ON THE COVER It’s a wrap! This holiday issue of “The South Coast Insider” has it all, from gifts to giving to the sharing of joy across the generations. All the best to you for the New Year.

FROM THE PUBLISHER December 2013 / Vol. 17 / No. 12 Published by Coastal Communications Corp.

The holiday season is upon us, with its joys, laughter and

Publisher and Editor-in-Chief

family traditions. We hope you enjoy this holiday issue

Ljiljana Vasiljevic

of “The South Coast Insider,” and our writers have once

Editor Greg Jones

again amazed us with the range of stories they have to tell.

Contributors Michael J. DeCicco Stacie Charbonneau Hess Paul E. Kandarian, Tom Lopes, Jay Pateakos, Elizabeth Morse Read, Stephen C. Smith The South Coast Insider is published monthly for visitors and residents of the South Coast area. The Insider is distributed free of charge from Mount Hope Bay to Buzzards Bay.

Joyce Rowley invites us to take a walk and enjoy our Christmas shopping, by heading to New Bedford’s historic downtown during one of the special weekends hosted by the area’s artists and galleries. Her story, starting on page 20, has everything you need to find that perfect gift and support local artists as well.

What would the New Year be without resolutions? Whether we keep them or merely recite them, resolutions for the year to come are part of our personal calendar. Every 12 months we take stock and try to bring things back into bal-

All contents copyright ©2013 Coastal Communications Corp.

Deadline 20 days prior to publication.

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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.

Circulation 30,000 Subscriptions $25 per year

Address The South Coast Insider 144 Purchase Street • PO Box 3493 Fall River, MA 02722

ance with resolutions. Or at least that’s the theory. Elizabeth Morse Read has her take on resolutions on page 22, balancing good intentions with practicality.

Paul E. Kandarian’s family has had its share of trials this year, and on page 38 he shares the difficulties of a holiday season that, for the first time, lacks the kind of familial continuity that grandparents provide.

And of course we have all the regular features that have made ‘The South Coast Insider” our region’s leading source of information on what’s happening, where, and for whom. From concerts to plays to festivals to family fun, it’s all here. Be sure to go to The South Coast Insider’s website, www. coastalmags.com, to register for online promotions and giveaways.

Finally, a word of thanks for the advertisers who have brought you this latest edition of “The South Coast Insider.” Without them, you just wouldn’t know.

Shop local, save local, live local.

Phone (508) 677-3000

Website www.coastalmags.com

Ljiljana Vasiljevic Publisher and Editor-in-Chief

E-mail editor@coastalmags.com Our advertisers make this publication possible–please support them

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December 2013 / The South Coast Insider

Money Minute Tips Protecting Your Plastic from High-Tech Criminals

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hile many consumers still like to use paper money and coins during the holiday season, more and more people are pulling out credit or debit cards to make purchases. And, as the popularity of payment cards has grown, so has the number of criminals trying to steal very valuable details, including the cardholder’s name and the card’s account number and expiration date. Protect yourself by being on the lookout for credit and debit card reading devices, employees at retail or restaurant establishments that walk away with your card for payment and “phishing” emails or phone calls trying to obtain your card information. Some individuals even go as far to combat against card fraud by using technology known as radio frequency identification (RFID). This uses wireless radio signals to identify people or objects from a distance. However you choose to protect yourself, please be sure to report any suspicious activity to your credit card company or bank immediately!

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THINGS TO DO

Ringing in the New Year

by Mike DeCicco

T

here’s good and bad news about the region’s First Night-like free, familyfriendly New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day events this season.

First the bad news: The area’s biggest First Night-like New Year’s Eve celebrations—in Providence and Boston—have been cancelled or almost cancelled.

Good news from New Bedford.

The good news is that the South Coast’s biggest First Night-like event, New Bedford’s fifth annual City Celebrates New Year’s Eve, is still going strong.

Lee Heald, director of AHA, Inc., which manages the New Bedford event, said communities must pay ‘First Night USA’ to use the name and must stay open until midnight.

New Bedford did not want to do that, and the event has not lost patrons because of that decision, she said.

City Celebrates starts at 4:30 p.m. on December 31 with an opening ceremony on the City Hall steps featuring Mayor Jon Mitchell. From 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Custom House Square will feature an ice sculpture display.

Wings Court will feature a DJ music block party for teens. Other venues downtown will offer children’s activities, with entertainment, art and music for all ages, including a fire-eater and a puppet show.

6

Entertainment galore Confirmed performers include the Toe Jam Puppet Band, the Jedlie Magic Circus and the Suspenders Juggling group. Live music will include Aoife Clancy and Eddie Dillon performing Irish and Celtic music at the Seaman’s Bethel, jazz music in the Whaling Museum theater, a jazz piano group, “Scott Corriera and Friends,” at the Star Store campus of UMass Dartmouth, and an outdoor (weatherpermitting) performance by a steel drum band from UMass Dartmouth.

The grand finale will be fireworks set off from New Bedford harbor at 8:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, the website for Providence’s annual “Bright Night” celebration posted a cancellation notice for what would have been its 11th anniversary: “We have recently announced that our festival will be taking a break this coming New Year’s Eve due to serious cuts in available sponsorship and funding...the Bright Night director and the organizing committee have decided that it needs more time to seek the support necessary....”

Even in Boston, where the First Night concept was born in 1976, the celebration for New Year’s 2014 was threatened with cancellation when, according to reports in “Boston Magazine” and the “Boston Globe,” its longtime organizer went bankrupt. It has been revived for 2014 only by the

December 2013 / The South Coast Insider

generosity of another donor who will be the lead sponsor for the upcoming event.

Heald easily explains why New Bedford’s City Celebrates New Year’s Eve” survives. “The thing that’s great about the New Bedford event is that it is all in a warm, walkable footprint,” she said. “There’s great music early on and activities for kids. Our event is only from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. It’s all family-friendly. People love it.”

Take the New Year’s Day plunge It’s all good news for 2014 New Year’s Day public celebrations around South Coast, with several popular fundraising polar plunges continuing their annual tradition.

In Newport, RI every New Year’s Day the Newport Polar Bears invite the public to join them for a swim in the North Atlantic Ocean at noon.

All proceeds from the swim and the after-swim party at the Atlantic Beach Club at the east end of Easton’s Beach are donated to “A Wish Come True,” a charity that grants wishes to seriously ill children.

Fall River’s fourth annual Sandy Beach Neighborhood Polar Plunge is scheduled for January 1, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. at Mount Hope Avenue and Atlantic Boulevard in the city’s south end. It raises funds for “Forever Paws,” Continued on next page

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Event organizer and city councilor Patricia Casey said the sign-up sheets are being readied now. The event raises over $6,000 and attracts an average of 100 swimmers each year. Participants include Mayor William Flanagan, who has taken the plunge every year, and other town workers. There is no upfront cost to sign up; the money comes from participants collecting sponsors.

Casey said the event was started because, “it seemed like a great way to start off the New Year, and there had been no polar plunges in Fall River before it.”

Casey herself takes the plunge. “You just have to think positive,” she said.

“Once you are in, you get right out and you’re fine. I always make sure I go underwater, which is a shock. But it’s worth it.”

To sign up, call Casey at 508-6768004 or Gail Furtado of Forever Paws at 508-678-0804.

Fairhaven’s annual Fort Phoenix Polar Plunge is scheduled for January 1, 2014 at the Fort Phoenix State Beach and Reservation, at the south end of Green Street, at 10:00 a.m.

Event co-director Kathy Lopes said it started 10 years ago as the Nancy Schonheinz Plunge, dedicated to the memory of a Fairhaven victim of domestic violence. “The original organizers didn’t want to continue it,” Lopes said, “Ted Silva, Carol-Ann Days, and I didn’t want to see the plunge end so we organized this. It is a fun familyoriented event that is now in its fourth year.”

The event remains dedicated to the memory of Fairhaven’s domestic violence victims, with a focus on education. Every year it grants a $1,000 scholarship to a Fairhaven high school senior through the Fairhaven Dollar for Scholars fund. It attracts an average of 200 swimmers each year.

The cost to join is $25 for the T-shirt.

The plunge itself is free. For more info, go to fortphoenixpolarplunge on Facebook.

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The South Coast Insider / December 2013

9

COVER STORY

Subtle influences

by Jay Pateakos

There’s a scene in Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life,” right near the end, when all of the people that George Bailey had helped over the years decide to give some of that kindness back when George needed it most.

A

t that scene, George, and just about all of us, realized the impact that he had on everyone— friends, family and even people that he may not have been the best of friends with. But the truth is, George had hints of the impact he had on people throughout the movie; he just failed to see it. And for the most part, we don’t see it either.

While Christmas can be a joyous time of year, there are many people that don’t find the season happy at all.

Depression and suicides go up as the year-end draws near and many people, just like George Bailey, fail to see how important just one person can be on others’ lives.

But the signs are all around us. Minus a guardian angel to help us, it’s just a matter of seeing that we can all make a difference in our own ways.

Here are four people who have had impacts—some on massive groups of people and others on individuals—over many years, but in the end, what matters most is not the size of the impact but the fact that you’ve helped to change people’s lives for the better

We’ve all had teachers that have done that for us, but often teachers, like many of us, never know the true impact they’ve had. For every student they catch up to later in life, there are hundreds hey never hear from again.

Karen Jacobsen, 63, of Marion, spent nearly 20 years teaching elementary school at Sippican School in Marion.

She retired a little over a year ago and says the key to having an impact is maintaining a positive attitude and making connections with everyone you meet.

“We all meet so many people throughout our lives, but for me, I always tried to bring a positive attitude to the workplace, a zest for life, because that kind of attitude spills out to people,” said Jacobsen.

“Ever talk to someone on the phone that was so friendly that, when you got off the phone, you felt you had lightness in your step? That’s what I’m talking about. Making that attitude spill forward.”

Jacobsen warned that people cannot get caught up in thinking too much about making an impact. Instead, focus that energy to make a connection with everyone you meet. You never know what that connection can do for a person.

Jacobsen was known for her long hours staying after school, sometimes after dinnertime, helping students with their homework or test preparation, but much of it was simply making a connection with the child.

I always tried to bring a positive attitude to the workplace, a zest for life, because that kind of attitude spills out to people.

– Karen Jacobsen

A teacher Many see being a teacher as a career that can have a role equivalent to parents in helping to point students down the right path.

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December 2013 / The South Coast Insider

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Continued from previous page “To me, that was the best time of the day because it was the time when I could connect with the students, talk to them as people; it was a magical time, help them to feel safer,” said Jacobsen.

Looking back on her nearly 20 years as a teacher, Jacobsen said she recalled one particular troubled fourth-grader many years ago.

“By the time I got him as a student, he had already experienced things that no human should have experienced,” said Jacobsen.

The boy would meet her after school and they would work on his spelling or anything else he needed, forging a connection that made the boy more comfortable in the class and in his own skin. This was someone with so much rage that he could have gone down many dark paths. But over the year, Jacobsen slowly helped him improve his spelling grade, first by five points, and then much more. The student began to walk with more confidence and less rage.

“Rage as a youngster is just another negative but if you turn that into motivation, now you have something,” said Jacobsen.

“By the time the year ended, he had created his own greeting card company in school. All because he was helped out of his shell and empowered to do better. This isn’t on me, this is about the importance of making a connection, and sticking with it.”

Jacobsen would often find something that the student liked outside of school and when she had the chance, talk to the student about it between classes. This boy had greetings cards and those cards that he presented to Jacobsen at the end of that year are something she still has today.

Despite moving to Florida, the boy’s mother continued to write to Jacobsen. The student decided to apply to a community college in California, and drove from Florida to get there.

“That boy was an inspiration to me and any company would be grateful to have him. This is the finest experience I had as a teacher in carefully carrying this boy for 10 and a half months,” said Jacobsen.

“He can now achieve what he wants to achieve and be proud of himself. But this wasn’t about patting himself on the back. It was about a kid saying ‘I can do this.’”

And also the person that pushed him to make himself believe. Having that support likely made all the difference to him and the many other students that Jacobsen influenced.

One wonders where this student would have ended up without this special fifth-grade teacher. And think about all the connections teachers have had, that we will never read about.

A superintendent In 1985, Swansea Schools Superintendent Jack McCarthy decided to let a 14-year-old hemophiliac named Mark Gardiner Hoyle, who had contracted the AIDS virus through a blood transfusion, re-enroll in Joseph Case Jr. High School.

Against the wishes of ill-informed parents who were concerned about their children contracting the illness, McCarthy became the first superintendent in the country to make such a decision.

Both Hoyle and McCarthy would have their impacts for generations to come. For McCarthy, it was bucking the trend of fear about allowing HIV children back into the schools. After talking to several doctors and the Centers for Disease Control, McCarthy never secured evidence that other students were in danger with Hoyle around, and Hoyle was allowed back in school.

Mark Hoyle would succumb to his illness a year later and would eventually have a town school named after him.

McCarthy, now 83, retired in 1992, fittingly, the year the Mark Gardiner Hoyle Elementary School was dedicated.

“Back then, this was a national dilemma and one no one wanted to take a position on. But there was nothing we read or were told that made us think that having Mark come back to school would be a threat for any student.

The school department did what it had to do: it educated,” said McCarthy, who set up several town meetings to talk with concerned parents and residents.

“I asked people to not let fear motivate them, to think about the situation. I think in the end, what we did, was what people really wanted to do. They were all afraid. Everyone was afraid.”

In contrast, Ryan White, a Kokomo, Indiana, middle schooler, who also contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion, had been expelled from his school due to a lack of understanding of the AIDS virus. But in Swansea, McCarthy made sure it wouldn’t happen here.

“It taught a whole country a lesson and children with AIDS slowly but surely started to be allowed back in schools,” said McCarthy.

“Mark was the hero here. He was the one that had the impact and he was the one who was suffering, but he became the people’s hero and I’m so glad the town came out to support him. I may have been the guy out front taking the shots, but he was the one that was sick. He was the one that inspired us all. He was the symbol for our town.”

McCarthy said most people struggle to see the impact they’ve had on people’s lives but stressed that people shouldn’t really be looking for that impact anyway.

It taught a whole country a lesson and children with aids slowly but surely started to be allowed back in schools.

– Jack McCarthy

12

December 2013 / The South Coast Insider

They should simply do the best they can and the rest will fall in place.

“Always do what’s right; analyze the situation and don’t succumb to pressure; stick to your guns and do what’s right; that’s what we did,” said McCarthy.

“You see an issue and you take a stand; there may be negative feedback, but in the end, if you do what’s right, it makes all the difference in the world.”

There aren’t many people that could say they have lived by those words, but McCarthy is one.

A judge Superior Court Judge Robert J. Kane has been in the criminal justice system for decades, first as a District Court judge in 1986 and then a Superior Court judge in 2001.

Despite the thousands of judgments and words of wisdom he’s made to people in his courtroom over the years and the impact he’s had on many lives, Kane looks to his greatest impact as his volunteering on the local chapter of the “Changing Lives Through Literature” program.

This bibliotherapy program, created in 1991 by UMass Dartmouth Professor Robert Waxler and Judge Kane, offers alternative probation sentences to offenders by helping them to focus on reading, character development and the end results of actions.

“The idea behind Changing Lives Through Literature is to have a program where men read a good fiction book where these characters are facing dilemmas that allow them to reflect on their own lives,” said Kane, 66, who volunteers his time, at night, for these sessions.

Each session, with between six and 11 people. lasts 12 weeks, with six, two-hour sessions every other week, with a book to read for each session. CLTL is an enduring program that is part of the probation process, Multiple studies have confirmed a lowered recidivism rate for CLTL participants.

“It has given me a real sense of authenticity,” said Kane.

Kane recalled one individual who, after a bad stretch of violence, participated in the program. The book he had to read was, “Tell The Women We’re Going,” a short story about two married friends that go out on a joyride for beer and pool and one of them ends up killing two innocent girls.

Kane said the man uttered, “it’s rage,” during part of the reading, identifying in the story what he himself had become. Through the discussions and follow-up, that man would end up changing his life around, leaving the rage behind and finding the success that had always eluded him.

Kane said that is just one of many lives that have changed through the program. Sometimes, he noted, people just

want someone to talk to, someone to listen to them.

“Many of these people have had very difficult lives and they at times live this stereotype that they have to be a certain person or live a certain way but in our group, we allow them to just be themselves,” said Kane.

“Sometimes it doesn’t work but sometimes these people can use the voice in the book, take what it says, and realize they don’t have to be a certain way; to give them a chance.

We are not in the group to make judgments, we are just there to help them.”

Kane said Hemingway’s “Old Man and the Sea,” the story of a fisherman who hasn’t caught a fish for 84 days and his eventual struggle with a marlin, is a book that resonates with the group.

“They understand the struggle and the desire to get to a certain point and not be able to,” said Kane.

“Many of these criminals don’t spend much time reflecting and a lot of it has to do with a bombardment of sounds and images that they see and hear. There’s not much selfappraisal there. But they have the ability in class to really talk things out, read over time and see the errors of their ways.

Things get clarified. It strikes a real different relationship with probation.”

We are not in the group to make judgments, we are just there to help them.

– Robert J. Kane

A professor

UMass Dartmouth Professor Dennis B. Roderick, a full-time lecturer in Crime & Justice Studies, has a background in developmental psychology and mental health. He has spent much of his life trying to improve the lives of others, helping at-risk adolescents find their way or those who suffer from substance abuse to straighten up.

“I think you always need to be doing something that will help improve the quality of life for people, in even small ways. Every morning you should wake up, and not focus on yourself, but on how you will have a positive impact on the people around you today,” said Roderick, 64.

“It’s about the way you approach teaching, as I did in mental health work, where you give of yourself in a manner in order to make a difference.”

Roderick got involved with Upward Bound in 2001, a program that helps provide opportunities for students to succeed in their pre-college performance and ultimately in their higher education pursuits, serving mostly disadvantaged and low-income families. But it’s not the academics as much as it is the life lessons.

“To me, the better the person you are, the better the professional you will become. But getting a 4.0 in everything doesn’t really matter; the elusive goal is in the person you become,” said Roderick.

Continued on next page The South Coast Insider / December 2013

13

DINING GUIDE • DINING GUIDE DINING GUIDE • DINING GUIDE Continued from previous page “Sometimes people that have the greatest impact are the ones that are the least recognized. That’s what it’s all about.”

In addition to his professor duties, Roderick is a volunteer EMT for the town of Warren, RI, and has received a number of commendations for heroism. Like many people trained to save lives, people will call them heroes for what they do, but Roderick said for most of them, they never see it as more than just doing their job.

“Amazing things happen every single day and nobody knows about it besides the people that were there,” said Roderick.

“You don’t realize the impact you’ve had on people.

Maybe you will years from now, but you don’t see it other than the fact that you are just doing your job.”

As for advice on how to have an impact each day, Roderick said it’s simply about giving the best you can each day.

Do it without seeking anything in return and try to do it every day. What you do is going to have an effect on people’s lives. That will be your contribution.

– Dennis Roderick “No matter what you do on any given day, give the best you have that day and nothing but the best. We need to recognize sometimes that our best on one day may not be our best on another, but whatever that best is, to give it; that’s how you have an impact,” said Roderick.

“Do it without seeking anything in return and try to do it every day. What you do is going to have an effect on people’s lives. That will be your contribution.”

We may never know the effect we have on the people around us. Some of us are thrown into scenarios where we have to make decisions that impact many lives or create programs that have far-reaching effects on so many.

Others, people like you and me, may wonder if we’ve even changed one life for the better. The focus shouldn’t be on leaving a lasting impression, rather it should be on helping people any way we can. Volunteering your time for a worthwhile organization, a simple handshake or even a smile or positive tone to someone, as Jacobsen spoke of, could change people. You may never know it, but we’ve all helped to make that difference in people’s lives, one at a time, over a lifetime.

14

December 2013 / The South Coast Insider

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BUSINESS BUZZ

More blessed to give

by Jay Pateakos

Nick Christ and BayCoast Bank have donated more than $800,000 in grants and donations to hundreds of charities and organizations across the South Coast over the past 12 months.

Christ, 62, a very humble man, father of four and grandfather to three, lives in Westport and quietly goes about his life as if what he’s doing is simply something everyone who can do it, should do.

Christ is on just about every “Outstanding Citizen” or “Man of the Year” nomination list but you won’t see him accepting any accolades; he prefers to direct credit to his many employees or the board of directors.

That’s just the way he is.

But the former Citizens-Union Bank, settling in quite nicely to its BayCoast Bank name, continues to make a name for itself helping organizations and the communities around it.

As elusive as they come in talking about himself, “The South Coast Insider” was able to sit down with Christ and ask him some questions about what went into changing a bank name that had been around for more than a 160 years, where his true passion is and what makes this area stand out.

very proud of. The bank was chartered in 1851 so there was a great history behind the organization. However, it was becoming increasingly apparent in the rapid growth of Citizens Bank and the Royal Bank of Scotland’s purchase of Citizens Bank that we were going to have some brand recognition issues.

Over the next few years, it really did become an issue where people began to lose sight of our brand.

Q

The name Citizens-Union Bank had been around for a very long time. In prior interviews, you talked about the merging of that name and your acquisition of Bank of Fall River but talk about the process leading to why you felt there was a need for the name change considering its history?

A

We have a very traditional board of directors and the name Citizens-Union was one they were

16

December 2013 / The South Coast Insider

Q

Why BayCoast for a name?

And how has it been since the change?

A

To be honest, we didn’t think there were any good names left but someone from our marketing team came out with it and it resonated. Our market area is a blend of many great bays, Mount Hope, Narragansett, Buzzards Bay, Plymouth and for all

intents and purposes, our market is along the coast. The change has been very successful for us and has given us the opportunity to distinguish ourselves in the marketplace, becoming identifiable now that we are no longer part of a name-association branding competition.

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If you had to pitch your bank to a potential customer, what would you say is the thing or things that sets it apart from other banks in this area?

A

Our employees and their commitment to service and the community.

Q

It seems like every day you open the newspaper, BayCoast is donating more money to charitable organizations. Many wonder how the bank can be so generous and why it continues to set the bar for all other organizations like it. Why do you do it?

A

With the downturn in the economy, our board of directors decided that rather than decrease the amount of money we provide to the communities, we would increase it.

We felt that now, more than ever, our community needed our support. As a mutual organization or bank, we really feel the community needs our assistance and our sense of responsibility to that is most profound.

But the story goes far beyond that.

We feel our employees are our greatest assets and we recognize that these people are the reason we can make a difference in the community. We ask our employees to care about their co-workers, their customers and their neighbors and community where they live. If we ask that of them, then we as a company need to act accordingly.

Q

You are the chairman of the new EdUp campaign in the Fall River area, placing focus on educational attainment and helping to tackle many other issues to improve education for many years and generations to come.

Continued on next page

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Although BayCoast has certainly provided funds for many organizations, education and education attainment seem to be your true passion. Can you talk about that?

A

Without question, one of our priorities in charitable giving areas is in education. We feel there can be a great impact on the area in the driving of education. We feel there is a direct correlation between the health and welfare of the community and its educational attainment.

Unfortunately, New Bedford and Fall River have low education attainment, which results in a number of health issues and high unemployment, some of the highest in the state. You look at some of the health issues—cardiac disease, diabetes, smoking; this area is at the wrong end of the spectrum. If we can drive educational attainment and improve educational attainment, there will be an improvement in the quality of life in this area. This is where our interest must be.

Q

A

Financial literacy is one of the greatest investments a society can make in a community. In addition to teaching the basics of budgeting, it educates individuals about how to make informed decisions regarding their finances, planning for their future, and becoming responsible consumers. Financial literacy is an essential component of a well-rounded education and a requirement for lifelong stability and success.

December 2013 / The South Coast Insider

A

I am originally from Pennsylvania but came to college in Boston more than 40 years ago and I fell in love with the area, the distinct ethnic communities, the great beauty of its coastlines, the proud, hard-working people that make up the neighborhoods. I recognized the great potential this city and this area had. Looking back on its history, the cities of New Bedford/Fall River were recognized as the national center of commerce and industry in the state and beyond. I’d like to think in one small way, we are trying to get them back to that.

Financial literacy is one of the greatest investments a society can make in a community.

One of your favorite projects seems to be educating high school students about the world of banking. Can you talk a little about the importance of this project and how it helps high school students prepare for life?

Q

many different things—some deserved and some not so much. What is your take on this area and its future?

The New Bedford and Fall River Area tend to get a bad rap for

Q

You seem to be fully vested in the South Coast. What kind of advice would you give to a new business or company that’s relocating to this area?

A

Take advantage and leverage all of the great resources that this part of New England has to offer. This area has a capable workforce with a very strong work ethic. We have some of the finest salt and freshwater fishing in the United States. Our beaches are without peer. We have the state’s largest bio-reserve, great museums and art studios, theatre and music venues that are considered excellent. Our cities offer the taste of many diverse ethnic cultures, all of which bring their own delicious foods to life.

We live in a special place that requires our attention and stewardship.

Q A

What does the future look like for BayCoast? What’s next?

Well, our name is BayCoast and we will continue to extend our franchise along the coast, situating around more cities and towns as we go. North Dartmouth will soon open and we are getting close to a branch in South Dartmouth as well.

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19

THINGS TO DO

The art of giving

by Joyce Rowley

R

emember what you gave your favorite nephew last year? How about your kid sister? Thought so—you grabbed whatever you could because it was bright and shiny and you were tired from all that running around.

Although you try to make each gift special, it’s so hard to find something unique with everything that needs to get done this time of year—the shopping and the food and the holiday parties and the kids’ school activities and everybody and their cousin wants to visit. And then there’s getting a tree, trimming it, and then decorating the house. And who looks forward to fighting for a parking space at the mall?

Make shopping fun This year, why not find that special gift in a place where shopping for the gift is part of the fun?

Take a stroll in historic downtown New Bedford and shop at the local art galleries’ “holiday boutiques” during the 6th Annual Downtown New 20

Bedford Holiday Stroll. Give the gift of art while supporting our amazing South Coast artists and artisans.

On Saturday and Sunday, December 7 and 8, all of the major galleries will be showcasing the works of local artists and artisans for special exhibits and sales.

What’s available This year marks the twentieth anniversary for the innovative arts non-profit organization that works to build community through the arts.

ArtWorks! is known for its workshops and classes, and for providing exhibition space for local artists.

“Shoppers purchasing this work are able to give a unique, original piece of artwork to family and friends during the holiday season while supporting a local business and the local artists,” says events coordinator Alicia Moretti.

Located at 384 Acushnet Avenue in the heart of the historic district, the boutique will feature paintings by Aaron Sousa, photography by Kristi Oliver, jewelry by Louise Medeiros,

December 2013 / The South Coast Insider

ceramics by Amy Schusser.

Inspire your own budding artist with children’s crafts. ArtWorks! is hosting an “Elves’ Recycling Workshop” and make-your-own “Snowman Soup” and “Nature’s Bounty” ornaments from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

“It’s about shopping,” says Jenny Newman-Arruda, co-owner of the gallery at 100 William Street. She and coowner Adriana Swink presented the idea of a Holiday Stroll to Downtown New Bedford, Inc. six years ago.

Coming from Holliston, MA, where there were few downtown stores but successful “stroll” events, Swink and Newman-Arruda envisioned the same for New Bedford.

“Why not do it here? We have more to offer than Holliston,” said Swink. “We thought this could be amazing.”

TL6 the Gallery has a wide variety of local artwork and hand-made gifts from 20 local artists year-round.

Expect to find Sara Adam brooches and handmade activity books for children, Maruca Design handbags, Squirrelforge ceramics, Dawn Michelle

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glass earrings, and Tenacious Lilly jewelry.

Look for Michael Vincent Bushy of MVB Printmaker, Inc., who will be on hand at the event with his one-of-akind journals and hardcover books.

“We try to cover all media,” says Nicole St. Pierre, specialty milliner of Gallery 65 at William, and co-founder of the artists’ cooperative with Kim Barry, ceramicist.

Paintings by Sarah Brown, Neil Alexander photography, jewelry by Ann Harrison and Paula Kochanek, and wood works by Brian Weir are just a few of the artist members’ work on display and on sale.

Something for everyone!

New Bedford Art Museum is transforming into an art market for its third annual “Holiday Artists Boutique.”

The shopping gets started at the Winter Wonderland celebration and fundraiser on December 7 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., which benefits their free youth education programs for the kids of New Bedford.

NBAM is excited to offer local handmade goods to help celebrate New Bedford’s AHA themed month, Made in NB. Artists joining NBAM’s Boutique are; the UMass Dartmouth Ceramics Club, Kelly Jean Conroy, Willoughby Elliott, Monica Guerra, Nicole Montforti of Headcase Press, Judith Klein, Avery Lucas, Ed McAloon, Muse, Denn Santora, and Alison Wells. These artists were selected to give their holiday market a high-quality, diverse price-range, and a wide selection of handmade goods, from paintings and prints to jewelry and stained glass.

“It’s perfect that the Museum is raising money by selling art to help fund its art education classes, which inspires creativity in New Bedford’s youth,” says Lindsay Mis, NBAM’s exhibition and events coordinator.

NBAM will be free to the public from

December 8 to December 22, from noon to 5:00 p.m., to give everyone a chance to stop by and purchase a piece of art from NBAM’s Winter Wonderland, Holiday Artists Boutique.

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Oh, yes, there’s also a Santa Sightings 5K race down Union Street from 11:00 a.m. to noon Saturday, where two thousand people dress like Santa and run a 5K race.

The real Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive at the New Bedford Whaling Museum at 1:00 p.m. to entertain the young ones and the young at heart. Mr. and Mrs. Claus lead a stroll over to Mare Studio on Center Street where children can sit for a photo op with Santa and a free 5" x 7" souvenir photo.

All afternoon the New Bedford Whaling Museum will host three free shows in the Whaling Museum auditorium: Kathy Medins’s School of Dance, Showstoppers “A Christmas Cabaret”, and the Cheryl McCormack Dancers perform A Holiday Show.

If you need to refuel, there’s Cafe Arpeggio at the corner of Purchase and William, and No Problemo Taqueria across the street. Travessia Winery is down Purchase with Wicked Kickin’ cheesecake to go with your favorite wine.

And then there’s the tree lighting ceremony with that gorgeous gigantic fir tree in front of the New Bedford Library at 4:30 p.m.

Parking is free—as are the trolley shuttle and antique fire truck rides.

So, go for the art and boutiques, stay for the tree lighting, and remember that the true meaning of the holiday is to give…and have fun while you’re at it.

The 6th Annual Downtown New Bedford Holiday Stroll is sponsored by Downtown New Bedford, Inc. Parking is free at the City’s Elm Street Garage.

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25

COVER STORY

New Year’s Resolution

revolution

by Elizabeth Morse Read

At holiday time, everyone starts thinking about what personal changes they’d like to make in the New Year. Lose weight—check.

Save more money—check. Get de-stressed—check….

But notice how those are the same resolutions you made last year, and you still haven’t gotten any closer to those targets? Think about it: if you’re still not a wildly-famous C&W singer or a billionaire, maybe you need to be more realistic about your goals.

Maybe it’s time to think outside the box, be more playful and spontaneous, and take a more round-about approach to changing your life in both large ways and small. You’re guaranteed to get better overall results pretty quickly if you do.

Here are some unorthodox (and slightly eccentric) resolutions to consider:

Roads less travelled Don’t be in such a perpetual hurry to get home in time for your TV shows that you lose your childhood instinct to explore. Have you ever visited Dighton Rock? Or the boardwalk at Onset Beach? Or the beer can museum in Taunton? Or a vineyard on the East Bay? There are year-round, no-cost sights and delights throughout the South Coast, many in urban neighborhoods and smaller towns you pass through every day. Take an oldfashioned Sunday drive on the back 26

roads with all the kids, and discover the little local treasures and experiences you rush by all the time.

Get to where you’re going by driving on Route 6 instead of 195; do your gift shopping at the little stores in town instead of at the mall; eat out at a holein-the-wall family restaurant instead of at a fast-food joint or a homogenized national chain. Live your life more slowly—you’ll enjoy the journey a lot more.

Non-digital days Imagine if you were to suggest that everyone in the house go cold turkey one day a week, and switch off the computers and tablets and cell phones.

It would probably trigger what looks like a season of “Survivor” in most households. Throw in no TV or radio, too, and it would be more like an episode of “The Walking Dead.”

“Just pretend like you’ve lost power from a hurricane or blizzard,” you explain, “but, miraculously, your lights and kitchen appliances are still working.” Good heavens! Everyone would have to pass the time by talking or doing laundry or calling your grandmother or fixing that leaky faucet!

I didn’t eat meat on Fridays for a very

December 2013 / The South Coast Insider

long time, and it never did me any lasting harm, so why can’t we abstain from digital/electronic devices one day a week? Pardon my French, but all that combined techno-crap is just an expensive and addictive distraction from priceless everyday life, which you can’t get back once you’ve wasted it. LOL and :( and WTF? Really?!!

Create an album Hey, remember the time when your Uncle Manny knocked over the grill at your extended family’s July 4th picnic, and your mother’s secret-recipe BBQ ribs landed on the lawn as a result?

Wouldn’t it be fun to see an old graduation photo of Manny side-by-side with your Mom’s marinade recipe? Or a red-eyed Easter snapshot of Nana right next to her barley soup recipe? Or how about you in your scout’s uniform along with a S’mores recipe?

The combinations are endless: family lore; newspaper clippings; fishing photos; even the blue ribbon for the pie! There’s a wonderful Syrian/Lebanese cookbook that does something similar to that; “A Fistful of Lentils.” If you’re lucky enough to have handwritten recipes from your late mother-in-law or your nephew’s

Vietnamese wife, by all means, include them, too!

It’s a great project to get your kids and their cousins involved in, and you can show it to everyone at the next family gathering. (Just keep Manny away from the beverages table, okay?)

Grow something Trust me: no matter how much of a “black thumb” you may be, you cannot kill a philodendron, cactus, aloe or snake plant. You can go on a two-week vacation and forget to have someone water them, and they’ll still be waiting for you; wilted, maybe, but still alive.

If you’re nervous about adopting a houseplant or two, avoid high-maintenance or temperamental indoor plants like African violets, ficus, orchids, ferns—if you so much as look at those the wrong way, they keel over.

the outside world, if only in a tiny way.

Try a new recipe Is your BMI having a little trouble getting into your BMW? Has your “getup-and-go” got up and went? You’ve noticed lately that your silhouette in the mirror has become broad-ofbeam, and that you just don’t have the same energy, physical, emotional or mental, that you used to have. You are definitely not alone, no matter what your age.

Change your diet, recharge your body’s batteries with more nutritious foods and healthier eating habits. You don’t have to go hungry or deprive yourself of food pleasure. If you can’t resist seconds on your favorite pasta dish, then at least switch to wholegrain pastas and yolk-free noodles, and use brown rice (or barley or

buy smaller dinner plates, make more soups, stop eating in your car, and learn more about hara hachi bu.

Create a bucket list If you’ve always made those vague New Year’s resolutions to get more organized, and it didn’t work after 45 minutes on January 1, then you might want to review your game plan. I’m just saying that if number one on your lifetime bucket list is “Run the Boston Marathon,” and you’re 45, working a desk job for the DPW, and taking Lipitor every day, then you should seriously consider scratching it out and thinking about more manageable, short-term goals. For instance, “Create a budget/diet/exercising schedule I can actually stick to,” or “Hide the remotes at homework time.” Think tactically—there may be more ways to get

If you’ve always made those vague New Year’s resolutions to get more organized, and it didn’t work after 45 minutes on January 1, then you might want to review your game plan.

Having houseplants gives your living space interesting visual accents, especially if you’re not one for colorful throw pillows or museum posters.

During the holiday season, you can force-bloom amaryllis or narcissus bulbs. And if you’re lucky enough to have southern-exposure windows, you could even grow chives or oregano! (If everything above fails, try air plants.)

Houseplants are completely lowmaintenance: they don’t need to be spayed, walked every day or vaccinated. They don’t annoy the neighbors, scratch your furniture, chase the mailman, or pee on your new rug.

Houseplants are quite giving, actually; they help purify the air you breathe, they make your living space feel cozier, and they keep you connected to

quinoa or kasha) as a substitute in some of your recipes.

You still don’t like your vegetables?

Then at least try out some new vegetables, especially in the winter months.

Make room on your plate for sweet potatoes, acorn squash, parsnips and cabbages. Or throw more and different veggies in soups, omelets, stir-fries and tacos. And you can stop eating iceberg lettuce (not a real vegetable in my book) and start eating more fruit.

So, you’ll eat anything that’s got sour cream in or on it? Then at least learn how to substitute non-fat plain Greek yoghurt in all those artery-clogging recipes. Look for the lowest-fat version of any dairy product you eat, whether it’s Swiss cheese, ricotta, frozen yoghurt, cream cheese or milk.

Are you still struggling with the concept of “portion size”? Then at least

from A to Z than hiring a nutritionist or buying a Soloflex or signing up for credit counseling.

Break it all down into baby steps, and if you stumble one month, get up and start over. For example, if you’re serious about losing weight, try smaller monthly goals like “get rid of all processed foods in pantry,” or “try a new vegetable each week.” If you don’t have time to exercise, get creative: if your office is on the fifth floor, take the elevator only up to the fourth; the following month, only up to the third, and so forth.

Clean out your closets Stop indulging your inner child. Get rid of excess “stuff” (all of which has to be paid for, stored, maintained) Continued on next page

The South Coast Insider / December 2013

27

Continued from previous page by clearing out your cupboards and drawers and closets once in a while.

Are you and your family surrounded by clutter, bling and litter? If that opened box of baking soda at the back of your refrigerator has been there since you last changed your hair color, pour it down the sink. If you never got around to returning those don’t-fit pants and you can’t find the receipt, put it in a Goodwill box. And what about that pile of shriveled roses for some never-started project? K.I.S.S. Don’t want to use that chipped turkey platter when company’s coming? Add it to your “Salvation Army” pile, along with the lava lamp, the mismatched lawn furniture, and the collection of hideous ties and sweaters received from your aunt every Christmas. Don’t

Help out a neighbor Let’s bring back the age-old custom of being our neighbor’s keeper. The elderly couple next door would greatly appreciate someone shoveling their walkway, picking up a prescription or an invitation to your backyard barbecue. That frazzled young mother whose husband is off fighting in Afghanistan would probably love to take a bubble bath or just read a book if someone offered to take her three kids for a few hours. Freeze a few post-op dinners for that guy at work who’ll be in the hospital for a week.

Sending a tax-deductible check to UNICEF or the Red Cross is always commendable, but don’t forget the people in your own backyard who could use a helping hand, and it doesn’t cost you a dime.

AHA! Nights in New Bedford (on the first Thursday of every month) is a perfect example. Free, family-friendly, both educational and entertaining.

Plus, you’re walking around, windowshopping and people-watching. Or else there’s Waterfire in Providence, or the Lighting of the Green in Taunton, or the Fourth of July parade in Bristol… or any of the many really great community happenings, no matter where you live. Some of the best things in life really are free.

Visit your elders Okay, so you spent your teens and early 20s trying to get out from under their collective thumbs, but they’re no longer conspiring to ground you for doing something stupid. They’ve got more important things on their mind

Don’t feel compelled to help the hopelessly helpless every time they call hoard useless junk, and don’t go and replace it with more junk when you’re feeling antsy.

Americans have an unhealthy habit of using shopping as a form of amateur therapy. Feeling unloved? Buy some shoes! Didn’t get that promotion? Buy a new car! Spending another Saturday night at home? Eat a gallon of ice cream while you watch Home Shopping Network! But you don’t feel any happier when the pounds and credit card bills pile up, do you?

Find healthier ways to fill the void than by crowding your life with things you don’t want, need, or you’re going to forget about the next day. Volunteer at an animal shelter, help weed a community vegetable garden, bake brownies for your niece’s kids. By reaching out to others, you’ll be pulling yourself out of that hole.

28

Support local arts I think we’ve got a pretty good momentum going on around here called CSA: Community Supported Agriculture. (Live long and prosper.)

But what I’d really like to see develop parallel to that is another CSA: Community Supported Arts. I’m not talking about funding support or free publicity support; I’m talking about Everyday Joe and Jane getting off the couch and checking out a local choir performance or library lecture or ethnic festival or museum or nature walk.

Hometown sports and ESPN are all well and good, but there’s a lot more to enjoying your no-cost free time than just watching someone else have all the fun.

Become a patron of local arts.

Get involved with town fairs, high school plays, farm/zoo/nature exhibits.

December 2013 / The South Coast Insider

now, like their health, their finances, their role in the larger family tree.

They loomed large and god-like when you were a kid, but they won’t be around forever. Include them in your plans, involve them in your life, ask for and listen to their advice. If you’re always too busy to call or visit them, then you’re too busy. Treat them the way that you hope your own children will treat you.

Give away something Okay, it’s Chinese proverb time: “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.” Amen. But he’d need a fishing pole first, right? Meanwhile, you gave up surf-casting years ago and your tackle is still sitting in the back of the shed.

When you get into your seasonal

purging frenzy, try to repurpose stilluseable items for targeted NPOs and charities. Really, how often do you need two blenders at the same time? Is your garage crammed with equipment and supplies for chores you’ll never get around to? Are you still attached to the baby clothes your college sophomore wore? Nobody wants (or needs) a broken rocking chair or moth-eaten sweaters, but nostalgia (or inertia) is no excuse for hanging onto perfectly good stuff that someone else could use. Lots of people don’t mind eating off chipped dishes or wearing handme-downs or reading used books.

Enrich someone else’s life (and give that christening blanket a second life) when you donate something.

There are many organizations that would gladly accept old (but working) cell phones, bicycles, car seats or many other specific items for aid programs both local and worldwide. So think of that before you head for the recycling center or sell stuff like that on eBay.

Spend quality time Be your own best friend and get reacquainted with yourself. Spend an unplanned morning or lunch hour all by yourself walking along a beach or park trail, visiting the library, eating a hot dog or bagel with the newspaper. The chores and paperwork will wait an hour. Stop and think: what would you really like to eat for lunch?

Don’t stuff yourself with what’s available and fast. Either find some corner diner that serves what you’re craving, or else learn how to make your own Reuben sandwich or quiche Lorraine or shrimp scampi or quesadillas.

Turn off your cell phone when you get into your car, and turn on the radio instead. Stay off Facebook or LinkedIn and stare at your own face in the mirror: need a new haircut? facial? dental work?

Don’t wait for anyone else to consider your priorities before their own, or expect them to be fluent in your body language, and then get all sulky when they don’t. Don’t feel compelled to help

the hopelessly helpless every time they call, or volunteer for something you really just don’t have time for. There’s nothing rude or wrong or selfish about defining your limits or expressing your priorities for the day.

Stop whining Whining should be made illegal.

No more “poor me” excuses for bad behavior or even worse attitudes, whether it’s eating the last Stouffer’s mac-and-cheese in the freezer because you’re ticked off, or calling in sick because you hate your boss/ teacher/mother or always pleading not guilty because you’re a professional victim. And don’t be talking trash about a broad-brush category of people (i.e., Southerners, gays, government workers, Republicans, Muslims or “all-those-people-on-welfare”), whom you’ve never met, nor ever made any effort to learn about. You’re just projecting your own inner turmoil when you take it out on others.

Stop complaining about the village idiots you voted for (or aligned yourself with) who are now acting like extras in a “Sopranos” episode (think Washington, DC). And if you can’t be bothered to vote, then you don’t get to complain about anything.

Yeah, life’s full of challenges, annoyances and obstacles, but you really need to get over it, okay? You can waste your whole life blaming Monsanto, the Pakistanis, the bankers, the CIA, or the nuns for all the ills of the world and your own personal woes. Take control of what you can and try to effect some positive change. In other words, if you don’t like the way things are or the direction the world’s heading in, then work to change the situation, whether it’s local or national. As my grandmother would say, “God helps those who help themselves.” Get out your Magic Markers and set up a flash-mob march, or else step up to the plate and run for office, whether for PTA, shop steward or Congress.

Who says New Year’s resolutions have to be boring or painful?

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29

COVER STORY

The comfort of tradition

by Stacie Charbonneau Hess

I remember those wintry days after making snow angels, building forts or exploring the woods we would come home greeted with a cup of hot chocolate by my mom.

Hot chocolate heaven What was so special about this hot chocolate memory is that it didn’t just happen one time. My mother made hot chocolate every time we played in the snow. It was our tradition.

The rituals of traditions mark the passing of time, help us slow down and appreciate the moment with a feeling of comfort and connection, something we could all use a little more of these days.

No short cuts Tradition is never, by its very nature, 30

rushed or truncated. Tradition is tied to holidays; everyone has a Christmas or a Hanukkah memory.

Now, with two teenagers and a young one in the house, I am creating new traditions.

The birth of a tradition One new tradition was making granola bars. I adapted an amazing recipe in “Bon Appetit” magazine and now I stock up on all things “nuts” and “seeds.”

During last year’s snowstorms I baked a lot of granola bars. I passed

December 2013 / The South Coast Insider

them out to neighbors, my children and their friends, who looked forward to a new batch of granola bars every few days.

This year, I started making them in October. My daughter’s friend pronounced, “It’s granola bar season!” And so began a tradition, starting with a recipe, a little snow, and a lot of love And isn’t love what carries anything on, especially tradition? My children still play in the snow. Meanwhile, I have a pot of hot chocolate, stirring it full of love and mother-memory, waiting for them to come home.

Cherry-Almond Granola Bars (Adapted from “Bon Appetit,” November, 2012) n

2¼ cups old-fashioned oats

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¾ cup whole raw almonds

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¼ cup coconut oil plus more

¾ cup coarsely chopped dried tart cherries (about 4 oz.) n

n ¾ cup unsweetened finely shredded coconut (about 3 oz.) n ½ cup roasted unsalted shelled sunflower seeds (about 3 oz.) n

2 tablespoons flaxseeds, toasted

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½ cup honey

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½ cup (packed) light brown sugar

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1 teaspoon kosher salt

Coconut oil, unsweetened finely shredded coconut, and flaxseeds can be found at natural foods stores and some supermarkets.

Preheat oven to 400°. Mix oats and almonds on a large heavy rimmed baking sheet. Bake, stirring once, until just golden, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool on sheet. Reduce oven temperature to 325°.

Meanwhile, brush a 13" x 9" x 2" metal or glass baking dish with coconut oil.

Line with parchment paper, allowing it to extend over long sides. Brush paper with oil.

Brush a large bowl generously with oil. Place oat mixture, cherries, coconut, sunflower seeds, and flaxseeds in bowl.

Bring ¼ cup oil, honey, sugar, and salt to a boil in a medium heavy deep saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar.

Boil for 1 minute. Immediately pour over oat mixture in bowl. Using a heatproof spatula, stir until evenly coated.

Transfer granola to prepared pan.

Lightly press evenly into pan; smooth top.

Bake for 10 minutes. Turn pan; continue baking until golden brown with slightly darker edges, about 15 minutes longer.

Transfer pan to a wire rack and let granola cool completely in pan. Using paper overhang, lift granola from pan.

Cut into 24 bars. DO AHEAD: Bars can be made 4 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

TIPS: I’ve tried lots of different fruits and substituted cashews for the almonds. Hazelnuts or macadamias would be likewise incredible. I’ve experimented with no brown sugar, only honey and a little agave, and those provide more than enough sweetness!

Don’t try to substitute the coconut oil, though, and invest in a little silicone pastry brush to make oiling the bowl and parchment easy.

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Homemade Hot Chocolate (a la Martha Stewart, from MarthaStewart.com) 3½ cups sugar 2¼ cups cocoa n 1 tablespoon table salt n Whole milk for serving n n

In a large bowl, combine sugar, cocoa, and salt, and whisk to combine well.

Store the mixture in an airtight container.

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The South Coast Insider / December 2013

31

BUSINESS BUZZ

In Fall River, we witnessed the beginning of construction to remove the “spaghetti ramps” connecting Route 79 with I-195.

The Year in Review

By Stephen C. Smith

Triskaidekaphobia —fear of the number 13—turned out to be a paper tiger when reflecting upon the year 2013. On balance, it has been a pretty good one for the South Coast.

Here’s what the numbers tell us.

Overall, the economy is slowly crawling out of the Great Recession hole, and as usual, we are emerging more slowly than other parts of the state.

Over the past year, the number of jobs in the region is up bone per cent, but unemployment is still stubbornly high; just above nine per cent for the region and in the 12 per cent range for the cities of Fall River and New Bedford. It seems that jobs are not yet expanding fast enough to absorb the unemployed.

There are some encouraging trends, however. Bristol County home sales are up more than 10 per cent over the past 24 months and the median home sales price jumped six per cent in a year. Regional building permits were up 73 per cent over the previous year, but they are still only half pre-recession levels.

Business start-ups are always a good economic indicator, and they were up slightly over the past year. Cranberry production continues strong, and New Bedford retained its numberone in the US ranking of the value of 32

commercial fish landings.

Two big news stories unfolded this year in Boston that resonated on the South Coast. The Marathon bombing took on an eerie dimension when we learned of the UMass connection, but despite some initial negative press, the

2013 saw the announcement of the closing of the state’s largest fossil fuel powered generating facility university emerged in a favorable light with the way they responded to the situation.

The unexpected Red Sox championship was extra special. They may not be South Coast, but if you are from here, you are genetically programmed to be a Red Sox fan. And their “last to first” storyline has some apocryphal

December 2013 / The South Coast Insider

resonance for us in the South Coast.

Another way to keep score on the year is by measuring progress on big regional projects. By that standard, 2013 was a success.

In Fall River, we witnessed the beginning of construction to remove the “spaghetti ramps” connecting Route 79 with I-195. The region let out its collective breath with that event, because the rusted roadway looked as if it was ready to collapse on its own any day now. After a couple of years of pretty disruptive construction, the city will have a safer and more human scale road system leading into the newly painted blue Braga Bridge.

On Innovation Way off the new Route 24 Exit 8B is the first in the nation Massachusetts Accelerator for Biomanufacturing. This building, affiliated with UMass, will provide a bridge between research and production for biotech companies. It was completed and dedicated in 2013 and should be an essential piece of our economic future.

In New Bedford there have been

comparable big developments. On the transportation front, the city opened the long-awaited conversion of the Route 18 highway to a boulevard. This project has reunited the city’s historic downtown with the waterfront by replacing the highway with a more pedestrian friendly street. Phase one was dedicated this past summer.

Further down the waterfront, construction has begun on the $100 million Marine Commerce Terminal, which the city is planning as a staging and servicing area for offshore wind farms. New Bedford is positioning itself to be a national leader in renewable energy.

On the flip side, 2013 saw the announcement of the closing of the state’s largest fossil fuel powered generating facility, the Brayton Point power station in Somerset. Environmentalists and health advocates cheered while Somerset officials agonized over how to replace the property tax revenue. The plant will close in a few years. This announcement was offset somewhat by statistics showing that the South Coast was far and away the state’s leading region for generating solar energy.

South Coast Rail, the perennial alsoran for biggest story of the year, did make some positive big news in 2013.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finally released their Environmental Impact Statement and told us what we knew all along: the Stoughton route is best and can be permitted. This was long overdue but very welcome nonetheless. We just cleared a big hurdle.

Our institutions of higher learning expanded in 2013. UMass Dartmouth dedicated the Claire T. Carney library and announced a new $55 million academic building. Bristol Community College unveiled plans for a new science building.

So it turns out we had little to fear from 2013. We can come out of hiding and plunge into 2014 with renewed energy.

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33

THINGS TO DO

Getting booked for the holidays

When done properly, a book is a nearly ideal Christmas gift. When the recipient unwraps a book that suits their tastes, then you have the perfect present.

A

round the South Coast, we have a plentiful supply of writers, and their books cover the literary spectrum.

There are also good bookstores, with the work of local and national authors shelved and ready for a satisfying afternoon of browsing. Try doing that at an online bookstore.

Starting with a bestselling author who lives locally, Jeff Kinney has released the latest in his “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series, with the release of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck.”

Partners Village Store and Kitchen, at 865 Main Road in Westport, has this book in stock, and it’s a terrific read for the young folks around your house.

Providence author Ann Hood has been busy lately, with the release of “Knitting Yarns: Writers on Knitting” and her novel, “The Obituary Writer.” In “Knitting Yarns,” 27 writers tell stories about how knitting healed, challenged, or helped 34

them to grow. “The Obituary Writer,” part literary mystery and part love story, examines expectations of marriage and love, the roles of wives and mothers, and the emotions of grief, regret, and hope. The books are available at Titcomb’s Bookshop at 432 Route 6A in East Sandwich, MA, as well as other independent booksellers along the South Coast.

Brian Lowney, no stranger to the pages of this magazine, has written a new book entitled “Unconditional Love: Pet Tales to Warm the Heart.”

“I wrote this book for anyone who loves animals, especially those furry, finned, and feathered creatures that bring pure joy to their owners’ lives,” Lowney said when announcing the release of his first book. The 178-page book contains inspirational stories about special cats and dogs that have transformed their owners’ lives, breed profiles, practical veterinary advice presented in interviews with leading experts, and reflections on the writer’s many years spent enjoying the sport of purebred dogs. To purchase this book, go to Amazon.com or visit your local bookstore.

December 2013 / The South Coast Insider

The Cape Cod Canal was proposed

by Miles Standish in 1623 and George Washington ordered the first of many surveys to explore the idea, but it wasn’t until 1914 that the Cape Cod Canal passed its first vessel, the result of a privately funded venture. It is the world’s largest sea-level canal as well as a popular recreational area, with its bordering bike and walking paths. The book, “Cape Cod Canal,” written by Timothy T. Orwig for Historic New England, boasts more than 200 vintage images of the canal throughout its history. The book is available at your local bookstores, online retailers, or through Arcadia Publishing at 888-313-2665.

Fall River author L.S. Gagnon is also the executive chef and pastry chef at the Fall River Country Club.

“Witch: The Secret of the Leaves,” due out November 26, is her third book in the series, inspired by a visit to Salem, MA. A book signing is scheduled for

Sunday, December 8 from 12:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the Fall River Country Club, located at 4232 North Main Street. All of Gagnon’s books are available online from Amazon.com, in both paperback and Kindle versions.

Southeastern Massachusetts’ own number-one bestselling author, Steven Manchester, has announced the national release of his latest novel, “The Rockin’ Chair.” This emotional story is guaranteed to make readers reach for the tissue box. A rich portrait of a family at a crossroad, “The Rockin’ Chair” is Steven Manchester’s most heartfelt and emotionally engaging novel to date. “The Rockin’ Chair” can be purchased at your local bookstore or on Amazon.com.

Living on the South Coast, nearly everyone either is a sailor or knows one, and the latest book by renowned sailing writer and historian Stan Grayson of Marblehead, MA, “The Wianno Senior Story,” would make the consumate holiday gift. The book is a perfectly crafted history marking the centennial of a legendary one-design sailboat that is still actively sailed and raced in Nantucket Sound and the waters around Cape Cod. Among the fans of the Wianno Senior was President John F. Kennedy, and “The Wianno Senior Story” will make the reader a fan as well.

An ever-increasing interest in the problems resulting from drug and alcohol abuse has led to an equal increase in the number of books that deal with

helping the abuser break the destructive cycle. Author Alberta Sequeira, of Rochester, MA, lost both her husband and daughter to addiction, and she wanted answers to help others locked in denial. Her book, “What is and isn’t Working for the Alcoholic and Addict” is a book of personal stories from 34 alcoholics and drug users from all walks of life.

“What is and isn’t Working for the Alcoholic and Addict” is a conclusion to Ms. Sequeira’s other books, “Someone Stop This Merry-Go-Round; An Alcoholic Family in Crisis,” and its sequel, “Please, God, Not Two; This Killer Called Alcoholism.”

The book is available in paperback and Kindle on www.amazon.com.

“Tinkered Treasures: 35 simple projects to bring charm to the everyday,” is written

by Rhode Island author Elyse Major, whose artful “tinkering” gives new life and charm to everyday objects. Her beautifully illustrated book will demonstrate for the reader how to turn everyday objects into special gifts and treasures.

“Tinkered Treasures” is available in paperback from Barnes & Noble or your local bookstore, and is also available from Amazon.

“The Coastal Table,”

by Karen Covey, is one of the most attractive cookbooks on the market, as well as a collection of recipes that draw on the culinary traditions of New England. With contributions from some of New England’s finest chefs, this is a cookbook written for the home cook who yearns for the New England seaside and its flavor, year round. Available at your local bookstore, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

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The South Coast Insider / December 2013

35

DATELINE: SOUTH COAST

News, views and trends... from Mount Hope Bay to Buzzards Bay

by Elizabeth Morse Read

If you haven’t started your Christmas shopping by now —join the club! But when you do get around to cooking and shopping for the holidays, give your business first to the grocers and craftsmen and merchants in your neighborhood or town, before you head for the malls or the internet.

Make sure you’ve lined up plenty of things to do with the kids over vacation week—check out the parks, libraries, and children’s museums—and find a familyfriendly First Night celebration near you!

The South Coast is a very special place to be during the holiday season. Don’t miss any of it!

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Across the region

Attleboro

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Let’s not forget those who defended us. Head for Battleship Cove in Fall River to attend the wreath-casting on December 7, Pearl Harbor Day. Free to veterans and all military personnel. For details, call 508-678-1100 x101 or visit www.battleshipcove.com.

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If you’re 62 or older, check out the trips sponsored by the New Bedford Senior Travel Program: “Branson on the Road” at Foxwoods December 3, Christmas at Hukelau December 10 and “Wicked” at the Providence Performing Arts Center January 11. Call 508-991-6171. The Fairhaven Council on Aging will go to Foxwoods for the Celtic Yuletide Spectacular on December 10. Call 508-979-4029.

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“My Brother’s Keeper” in Dartmouth is looking for volunteers and gentlyused residential furniture for families in need. Free pick-up. Call 774-3054577 or visit www.MyBrothersKeeper. org.

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Acushnet The Silverbrook Farm hosts many family-friendly events—check out the 3rd Annual Santa Farm Follies on December 7. Call 617-834-5567 or go to www.thesilverbrookfarm@gmail.com.

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December 2013 / The South Coast Insider

Attleboro is to the Christmas season what Plymouth is to Thanksgiving—find time to visit the 60th Annual “Festival of Lights” at LaSalette Shrine through January 5. For dates and times, call 508-222-5410 or visit www. lasalette-shrine.org.

Don’t miss the Attleboro Community Theatre’s performance of “A Christmas Carol” on weekends starting December 6. Go to www.attleborocommunitytheatre.com.

Bristol Take the plunge at the December 31st Polar Dive into the Sakonnet River, a fundraiser closing to all the 365 events of the past year. For info, call Bob Hamilton at 401-683-3553.

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Walk through “Family Traditions,” the stunning Christmas decorations at Blithewold. Every Wednesday, there’s Holiday Story time for children 4-8, with crafts and cookies. Go to www. blithewold.org or call 401-253-2707.

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Get close to the land this holiday season at Coggeshall Farm in Bristol.

There’s the Christmas sale on December 7-8, and the very special “Christmas in the Barnyard” on December 24.

Go to www.coggeshallfarm.org or call 401-253-9062.

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Buzzards Bay

YMCA breaks ground on restoration project

Take the family on the “Train to Christmas Town” from Buzzards Bay to Hyannis through December 3. Go to www.capetrain.com or call 888-7977245.

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The Fall River YMCA recently held a groundbreaking ceremony to launch their comprehensive restoration project that will revitalize the entire 50,000 square foot historic facility located at 199 North Main Street in the heart of downtown Fall River. The project will include a new Education Center that will encompass the entire fourth floor, state-of-the-art health and wellness facilities and equipment, and will also serve as a historic preservation effort in renovating the historic downtown Fall River property.

Among those participating in the groundbreaking were (top photo, l-r), YMCA Southcoast board chair, Peter Bullard; along with benefactors Chuck and Stacey Charlton representing the Earle P. Charlton, Jr. Charitable Fund, which has pledged $1,000,000 to the project. Additional funding of $100,000 has been pledged by Mechanics Cooperative Bank.

Next year’s Bourne Scallop Fest will move to the Cape Cod Fairgrounds in East Falmouth. It is already scheduled for September 19-20 and will be renamed the Scallop Festival.

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Carver Take the kids on a (heated) train ride at Edaville for the “Christmas Festival of Lights” through January 1. The “Polar Express” evening rides also run on select dates this month. For more info, go to www.edaville.com or call 508-866-8190.

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Dartmouth Dartmouth Middle School Principal Darren Doane was chosen “Principal of the Year” by the Massachusetts Secondary School Administrators Association. Kudos!

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Enjoy the great outdoors at the Lloyd Center for the Environment. Walk the trails, sign up for a canoe or kayak excursion, visit the Nature Center. Free admission. Visit www.lloydcenter.org.

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The winners at the recent New Bedford Chowder Festival are: “best clam chowder” went to Emeritus Senior Living of Dartmouth; “best kale soup” was won by Cedars Assisted Living in Dartmouth; “best seafood chowder” was awarded to Catali Mar Restaurant in New Bedford, and “best stuffed quahogs” went to Brandon Woods of Dartmouth. Congratulations!

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“My Brother’s Keeper” is looking for volunteers and gently-used residential furniture for families in need. Free pick-up. Call 774-305-4577 or visit www.MyBrothersKeeper.org.

ABOVE: (l-r) Fall River YMCA Executive Director, Frank Duffy; Mechanics Cooperative Bank President & CEO, Joseph T. Baptista Jr.; and YMCA Southcoast President & CEO, Gary R. Schuyler.

Compassionate Care Clinics is meeting with town officials to discuss opening a medical marijuana dispensary in the former Lottery building on Pequod Road.

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Easton During school vacation week, join in the fun at the Easton Children’s Museum. Go to www.childrensmuseumineaston.org or call 508-230-3789.

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Fairhaven Don’t miss the multi-event “Old-Time Holiday Weekend” December 1315. Call 508-979-4085 or visit www. fairhavenevents.blogspot.com.

Looking for a good Christmas tree and a good cause? Head out to the Douglass farm on Sconticut Neck Road in Fairhaven on December 7 and 8 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. for this year’s tree and support the fight to find a cure for ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease).

All trees are $40 and volunteers will

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The South Coast Insider / December 2013

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Continued from previous page help cut and carry the trees to your car. All proceeds will support the ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI), a Cambridge, MA-based nonprofit.

Fall River Standard & Poor recently upgraded the city’s bond rating by two points, from BBB to A-minus.

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Stroll through “A Victorian Christmas” at the Fall River Historical Society this holiday season. For dates and times, call 508-679-1071 or go to www.fallriverhistorical.org or www. lizzieborden.org.

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Bristol Community College’s CATCH Institute (Culinary Arts, Tourism, Casino Hospitality) is offering training programs in anticipation of new casino jobs in the South Coast. Go to www.bristol.mass.edu or call 508-6782811.

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14, Girls, Guns & Glory December 27, and New Riders of the Purple Sage December 28! For complete details, visit www.narrowscenter.com, www.ncfta. org or call 508-324-1926.

holiday crafts, open mic. For info, call 508-947-6744 or visit www.soulehomestead.org.

Lakeville

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Join the Lakeville Holiday Celebration at the Senior Center on December 14. For details, go to www.lakevillearts. com.

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Little Compton “Executive Travel” magazine has named Little Compton as one of America’s best small towns.

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Marion Support the Sippican Women’s Club’s scholarship fund by attending the Holiday House Tour & Sugarplum Fairy Tea on December 14. Call 508748-5411 or visit www.SippicanWomensClub.org.

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Enjoy the “Children’s Christmas Concert” with the Sippican School Concert Choir and the Tri-County Symphonic Band on December 15 at the Sippican School. For info, go to www.tricountysymphonicband.org.

Head for Battleship Cove to attend the wreath-casting on December 7, Pearl Harbor Day. Free to veterans and all military personnel. For details, call 508-678-1100 x101 or visit www.battleshipcove.com.

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Enjoy “Christmas Around the World” on December 15, performed by the South Coast Community Chorale at the Good Shepherd parish. For a schedule of performances, go to www. sccchorale.com.

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The Durfee Union Mills complex now houses many local businesses, including S&S Urban Acres, a solar-powered indoor hydroponic farm which grows lettuces and herbs for area restaurants and grocery stores.

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During school vacation week, join in the fun at the Children’s Museum of Greater Fall River. Go to www.cmgfr. org or call 508-672-0033.

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The Narrows Center for the Arts has a great line-up—there’s Donna the Buffalo December 8, Roseanne Cash December 12, Savoy Brown December

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The Sippican Choral Society will sing “A Ceremony of Carols” at the Wickendon Chapel on December 8. Visit www.sippicanchoral.org.

Mattapoisett Enjoy “The Christmas Carol” at Old Rochester Regional High School December 5-8. For info, call 508-7586762.

At the end of the five-day Back Eddy Bass Tournament in Westport, Ray Jarvis of Mattapoisett placed first for his 36-pound catch.

Middleborough Don’t miss the Holiday Fair at Soule Homestead on December 7. Free.

Soup-and-bowl fundraiser lunch,

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December 2013 / The South Coast Insider

Middletown The Newport Navy Choristers will perform “Christmas in Song” at St. Lucy’s Church on December 13. For info, go to www.newportnavychoristers.org.

It’s “Holly Days” for kids December 7 at the Norman Bird Sanctuary—ornament-making, cocoa, stories. For more info, visit www.normanbirdsanctuary. org or call 401-846-2577.

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Take the children to the Nativity of Christ Puppet Show at the United Congregational Church December 4-6.

Visit www.uccmiddletown.com.

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Don’t miss the candlelit 102nd Annual Medieval Christmas Pageant on December 17 at St. George’s School Chapel. Free. Visit www.stgeorges.edu or call 401-847-7565.

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New Bedford St. Anthony of Padua Church has become a stunning venue for music on the South Coast: there’s the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Zelenka’s “Magnificat” and Handel’s “Messiah” on December 1, and the Christmas Concert & Caroling on December 15. Go to www.saintanthonynewbedford.org or call 508-9931691.

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Enjoy the New Bedford Preservation Society’s Holiday House Tour on December 14 and 15. For info, contact Catherine at www.nbps2000@yahoo. com or call 508-997-6425.

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Artworks! and the New Bedford Art Museum are considering a merger.

Stay tuned…

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Ring in the New Year on December 31 at City Celebrates! festivities downtown. Free and family friendly. For info, go to www.ahanewbedford.org or contact dagny.ashley@newbedfordma.gov or call 508-979-1745.

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Enjoy free family fun and entertainment at AHA! Night. The December 11 theme is “Made in New Bedford,” and the January 9 theme is “Tempest in a Teapot.” Go to www.ahanewbedford. org or call 508-996-8253.

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And for all the guys: do your lastminute shopping on Men’s Shopping Night Out, December 20 in downtown New Bedford. More than 20 stores are participating and there’s refreshments.

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Get ready for the 17th Annual Moby Dick Marathon January 4-6 at the Whaling Museum. For info, go to www.whalingmuseum.org or call 508997-0046.

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The Ocean Explorium now offers Saturday afternoon programs in both Spanish and Portuguese. To learn more, call 508-994-5400 or go to www.oceanexplorium.org.

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It’s holiday time at the Buttonwood Park Zoo. Congratulations! There’s the Holiday ZOObilee on December 8, 15 and 22. Go to www.bpzoo.org or call 508-991-6178.

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The Sippican Choral Society will sing “A Ceremony of Carols” at Grace Episcopal Church on December 6. Visit www.sippicanchoral.org.

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It’s all happenin’ at the Z! Don’t miss Childsplay December 6, “The Christmas Carol” December 14, and the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra playing “Family Holiday Pops” on December 21. And plan ahead for January 24, when William Shatner will beam down! Call 508-994-2900 or visit www.zeiterion.org. and www.nbsymphony.org.

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Newport Deck the (Tennis) Hall of Fame on December 8. Free, refreshments. Call 401-849-3990 or visit www.tennishalloffame.com.

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Also at the Tennis Hall of Fame; don’t miss Blacklight 2013: Christmas in “Sign” on December 14. Call 401-8464600 or visit. www.mahercenter.org.

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Saint Anne’s Hospital adds new urgent care center Saint Anne’s Hospital broke ground in early November for its new “Urgent Care Center at Riverside Landing,” on Coggeshall Street in New Bedford Scheduled to open in fall 2014, the 10,000-square-foot urgent care center will provide walk-in outpatient care, including laboratory and diagnostic imaging, for the treatment of non-life-threatening illness or injuries. Urgent care is a way to provide care when a patient’s primaary care physician is not available, or when more expensive emergency room care is not required.

Among those celebrating the

groundbreaking were (left-right) Mark Dickinson, of Dickinson Development, of Quincy;Mark White, of D.W. White, of Acushnet; James Gularek, chief executive officer of Hawthorn Medical Associates;William E. Caplan, MD, medical director, Hawthorn Medical Associates; Stephen Hall, first vice president, Rockland Trust; Sister Vimala Vadakumpadan, OP, chair of the board of directors, Saint Anne’s Hospital; New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell; and Craig Jesiolowski, president, Saint Anne’s Hospital.

The South Coast Insider / December 2013

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TAROT-SCOPES

by The by Celtic Cricket and his family of psychics at the Silver Willow www.thesilverwillow.com

Aries—You need to shut yourself down and rest: haste makes waste. Focus on a few small tasks, and watch out for those dishonest people this month.

Taurus—Maintenance is what you are all about this month, so don’t start any new projects or jump into new adventures. Plus, it’s a very good time to stay on your budget or to create a new one, if you haven’t already done so.

Gemini—Love is in the air and also there is great opportunity in the workplace. This appears to be a great month for you, enjoy it.

Cancer—You need to put your foot down and make your demands known and heard loud and clear.

Changes at work or at home are needed this month in order to get things moving. If you see things become old and stagnant, move on.

Leo—You must say ‘no’ more often, because your plate is full and you can’t help everyone this month. Put yourself first, and spend some time enjoying yourself.

Virgo—Expect help from an unlikely source because you need it. You may find your spouse or coworkers being very helpful. Let them help because they owe it to you.

Libra—Always think before you speak because a mouthy Libra will lose money and friends by speaking too freely.

If in doubt, keep silent.

Scorpio—You will see much improvement in relationships this month.

Things are looking very well, feel the love, hunny!

Sagittarius—Take chances this month and stick your neck out! Much to gain by being brave and daring, and change is definitely good. Create it.

Capricorn—Your job is what keeps you going and you are on the right track now. So keep it up, the payoff is very close.

Aquarius—Don’t rock the boat and please remember to keep the peace this month. I know things can get boring, and they do slow down; but it’s okay to just relax and not have such big goals this month.

Pisces—Just move on and let your stress calm itself down. Look ahead, not behind you. Your future is waiting! And it’s right in front of you.

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Stroll through Christmas at the Newport Mansions through January 1. Call 401-847-1000 or go to www.newportmansions.org. n

Join in the 6th Annual Singing for Shelter at Channing Memorial Church on December 3. Call 401-849-4250.

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Check out the Giant Gingerbread House at the Newport Marriott Hotel.

Free with a canned-good donation.

Call 401-849-1000.

Ride in a heated car on the Holiday Train Ride, December 26-31 on the Old Colony & Newport Railway. For info, go to www.ocnrr.com or call 401-8464674.

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“Angel on My Shoulder” is playing at the Newport Playhouse through December 31. Go to www.newportplayhouse.com or call 401-848-7529.

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Enjoy Holiday Evenings at the Breakers December 7, 14, 28 and at The Elms and Marble House December 21.

Live music, refreshments. Visit www. newportmansions.org or call 401-8471000.

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Bundle up and head for the Bowen’s Wharf Tree Lighting and Open House on December 7. Free, live music. Contact MJG@bowenswharf.com or call 401-849-2243.

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Go for a Holiday Lantern Tour of Historic Newport on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays through December 28.

Call 401-841-8770 for reservations.

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n A must-attend! Listen to the St. Petersburg Men’s Ensemble in Concert on December 15 at Emmanuel Church.

Visit www.EmannuelNewport.org or call 401-847-0675.

If you’ve never heard a hand-bell choir, here’s your chance! Head for the First Presbyterian Church on December 15. Free! Call 401-847-1749 or go to www.fpcnewport.org.

The Newport Historical Society will host two significant events in December, at the Colony House on Washington Square. .On December 5 Annie Sherman will discuss her new book “Legendary Locals of Newport” and on December 12 author Christian McBurney will discuss his new book “Kidnapping the Enemy: the special operations to capture Generals Charles Lee & Richard Prescott”. The programs cost $5 per person. For more information or to RSVP call 401-841-8770.

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Enjoy a performance of “The Nutcracker” at Rosecliff Manor, performed by the Island Moving Co. December 1, and 3-6. Visit www.islandmovingco. org. n

Take the Polar Express Train Ride on the Newport Dinner Train weekends in December. For info, call 401-8418700, 401-293-0800 or go to www. newportdinnertrain.com.

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Sharpen your ice skates and head for the Newport Skating Center at the Yachting Center. For info, call 401-8463018 or visit www.skatenewport.com.

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Join the Swanhurst Chorus in the “Messiah and Carol Sing” on December 21 at Emmanuel Church, followed by a Wassail Bowl reception. Go to www. swanhurst.org or call 401-682-1630.

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December 2013 / The South Coast Insider

Plymouth Join the Holiday House Tour, with lunch at the Country Club, starting at Pilgrim Hall Museum on December 7 and 8. Call 508-746-1620.

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Listen to “Holiday Pops!” with the Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra December 14-15 at Memorial Hall. For info, call 508-746-8008 or visit www. plymouthphil.org.

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Providence Head for the Providence Performing Arts Center to see “Phantom of the Opera” through December 7; the Festival Ballet’s performance of “The Nutcracker” December 20-22; “Wicked” December 26-January 12. Call 401-421-2787 or go to www.ppacri.org.

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During school vacation week, join in the fun at the Providence Children’s

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Museum. Go to www.childrenmuseum.org or call 401-273-5437. Or check out what’s happening at the Roger Williams Park Zoo—call 401-785-3510 or visit www.rwpz.org.

Check out what’s going on at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center this month— there’s Donnie and Marie Osmond on December 7, and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s rock opera “The Lost Christmas Eve” December 18. Go to www.dunkindonutscenter.com or call 401-331-6700.

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Follow the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra! On December 7, for its “Handel’s ‘Messiah’ with the Providence Singers” at The Vets. Call 401-248-7000 or go to www.riphil.org.

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Rehoboth

Wareham

Follow “Arts in the Village,” the classical concert series at Goff Memorial Hall. The next performance will be Trio Amici on December 7. For info, call 508-252-3031 or visit www.carpentermuseum.org.

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Rochester

The Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra conducted by Keith Lockhart will perform the “Holiday Pops Tour” at the Providence Performing Arts Center on December 13. Call 401-421-2787 or go to www.ppacri.org.

If you love medieval and Renaissance Christmas music, don’t miss the Sine Nomine Choral Ensemble’s performance “Sound the Trumpet!” at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church on December 14. For info, go to www.sinenominechoir.org.

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Portsmouth Stroll through the Holiday Open House at Glen Manor House on December 15. Free, local entertainment. Call 401-683-4177 or go to www. glenmanorhouse.com.

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Head for Common Fence Music for the Yiddishkeit Klezmer Ensemble December 7, Aine Minogue December 21 and more. Call 401-683-5085 or visit www.commonfencemusic.org.

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Town Meeting approved a bylaw to purchase a water taxi/boat launch for boaters in Onset Bay, and an “outdoor classroom” next to the library.

Warren

Somerset

Head for 2nd Story Theatre this holiday season! There’s “Golda’s Balcony” through December 8 and “Saint Joan” through December 15.

For details, call 401-247-4200 or go to www.2ndstorytheatre.com.

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The new owners of the Brayton Point Power Station have announced plans to shutter the plant by June 2017. Brayton Point is the largest coal-fired plant in New England.

Volunteer firefighter Patrick Rimoshytus was the recipient of the Carnegie Medal from the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission for his rescue of a woman from a burning car back last December.

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Taunton Celebrate the 100th Lighting of the Green on December 7, followed by the Christmas Parade 100 Years of Family Memories on December 8. To volunteer at the events, call 508-821-1000.

For more info, call 508-821-1415.

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Don’t miss the “Tidings of Peace” concert performed by the Southeastern Massachusetts Festival Chorus on December 14 at Taunton High School and on December 15 at St. Andrew the Apostle Church. For more info, call 508-821-9571 or visit www.smfconline.org.

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Take the family to “The Christmas Carol” through December 28 at Trinity Rep. “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” runs through December 22. Call 401-351-4243 or visit www. trinityrep.com.

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Beginning next summer, Wareham will be an official stop on the Cape Flyer train from Boston to Cape Cod. For info, go to www.capeflyer.com.

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Happy 310th birthday to the Rochester Congregational Church! The “Church on the Green” has been at the same location since 1703. n

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The Wareham Boys & Girls Club has found a new home in the former Hammond School.

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Westport “Concerts at the Point” will present the Hodgkinson-Lee Duo December 15 and the Handel & Haydn Society January 12. For details, visit www.concertsatthepoint.org or call 508-636-0698.

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J. Michael Lennon’s book “Norman Mailer: A Double Life,” is a 900-page biography recently published by Simon & Schuster.

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Tiverton There’s always something going on at Tiverton Four Corners—don’t miss the Winter Arts and Artisan Fair December 14 and 15. For details call 401-624-2600 or visit www.tivertonfourcorners.com. n

The Sandywoods Center for the Arts will present the Amy Black Band December 6, Danielle Miraglia December 7 and Antje Duvekot December 21. Go to www.sandywoodsmusic.com or call 401-241-7349.

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Bob Singleton won first place for his 1,426-pound pumpkin at the regional competition held at Frerich’s Farm.

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Rivers Vineyard and Winery brought home four gold medals and one “best buy” from the World Wine Championships!

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At the end of the five-day Back Eddy Bass Tournament, Ray Jarvis of Mattapoisett placed first for his 36-pound catch.

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The South Coast Insider / December 2013

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ON MY MIND

Holiday memories

by Paul E. Kandarian

C

hristmas this year will be bittersweet. My brother and I lost both our parents in five week’s time from August to September. As jarring as that was, it was almost welcomed. Both had been in dramatically failing health and their passing was expected and in many ways, a blessing. They lived long, most of it well, and when it’s time to go, lucky are those who go with a bit of grace and dignity without tremendous suffering over too long a period of time.

But still, the holidays will be a little more emotionally bare, decidedly bleaker by their absence. Granted, recent years with them hadn’t been all that festive. My dad lived alone, my mom was confined to a nursing home due to her Alzheimer’s Disease and none of us felt the urge or need to celebrate. I took comfort in the celebration of others nearest and dearest to me, and that was wonderfully sufficient.

Those Christmases long gone, however, are where we take our comfort, warmed by the memories of what was, the love and keen sense of family, all the more so when the holiday rolled around.

We are an Italian family and as such, much of any holiday, indeed much of every single Sunday in my youth, centered around food, great food, abundant food, made all the more tasty by the love with which it was crafted.

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Nonnie’s house, Nonnie being Italian for grandmother, was the best, great mounds of candy in ornate dishes (some of which I now have), all manner of pastas and meats and vegetables and pastries, an afternoon-long festival of food that left the older males snoozing before black-and-white football games on television in the days of three channels and at best, spotty reception, while the woman cleaned up the mess left behind.

I best remember Nonnie, in housedress (grandmothers and all women of the day wore dresses, didn’t they?) bouncing around between kitchen and dining room, never without platters full of food, relatives swearing they were too full to eat but soon laying those platters bare.

Nonnie died when we were young, as did Nana, my Italian grandmother

December 2013 / The South Coast Insider

on my father’s side of the clan, but I still miss them terribly, and recall them with precise detail.

Nana was stocky and boxy, impatient and forever blurting out that impatience in Italian, hands cutting through the air in traditional Italian gesticulation, but her love of family and her grandchildren always rising above it.

Nonnie was calmer, a warm woman ever ready to give a crushing hug and usually some candy to go along with it.

I recall her broad smile and gentle demeanor and the way I cried for hours upon hearing of her passing.

Our grandfathers were the best, too, decidedly different but unwavering in their love of us all.

Nonno, on my mom’s side, was a character study. Tall and lean, he was a street kid, hailing from the Bronx as I recall, tough as nails and nobody’s fool. He’d tell us stories of growing up with very strict parents, of how he’d had a curfew as a teen and one night after running home to make it, ran into a clothesline in someone’s back yard, crashing to the ground and knocking himself out, landing in a puddle.

He finally made it home, but too late: His father locked the door and he had to sleep on the porch, cold, wet, shivering and miserable.

And learning a valuable lesson about punctuality.

He was a rum runner in Prohibition, transported liquor illegally, and we loved hearing about those stories,

and about his playing cards on Federal Hill with the leader of the Italian Mafia in the area, Raymond Patriarca, which didn’t please Nonnie, who’d wave off his stories with a hand and saying “Eyyy, you’re so proud of these people you know!”

Grandpa, my dad’s father, was kind and portly, gentle and soft-spoken, ethically straight as an arrow, the perfect balance to Nana’s outbursts, a woman he loved more than anyone else, a woman whom he’d once said he could sit across from at the table for the rest of his life and never be happier, a woman who lovingly called him “Three bellies” in Italian when he’d navigate tight spaces in stores, banging into everything, hat in hand apologizing as he did, backing into something else.

He was a giving man, the unofficial bank of our family, his kitchen freezer always with an envelope of money hidden inside where we’d go to cash checks from work if we couldn’t get to the bank in those long ago, pre-ATM days.

His largesse was legendary. The story goes he was on a bus one day and overheard a pair of women talking about their lives and struggles to make ends meet as housekeepers. When he got off the bus, he handed each of them $5 without saying a word.

I miss my grandparents, and wish I had just five more minutes with them to hear those stories again, to ask questions about their lives, to revel in their presence. And though they’re scarcely gone, how I miss my parents as well. Though their health waned in recent years, their love never did.

Whenever I was with them, each and every time, I felt the more secure and thankful for it.

They’re gone, they’re all gone, the parents, the grandparents, the aunts, the uncles, leaving behind a legacy of love and kindness and fierce family honor and proud tradition. And with it, that bottomless well of exceptional memories to find comfort in, that this Christmas, I will drink from and savor with evermore appreciation.

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BRISTOL COUNTY PRECAST n Reinforced concrete septic tanks (1,000-10,000 gallon capacity) n Leaching chambers n Landscaping wall blocks & manholes

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December 2013 / The South Coast Insider

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Call Marco today 508-525-0343 508-558-7436 • Power Washing • Custom Colors

Boxwood wreaths Custom-designed fruit baskets Jams f Jellies f Cider f OPEN ’TIL CHRISTMAS EVE f

515 Old Westport Road No. Dartmouth, MA 508-992-9337

• Restoration

• Deck Finish

• Maintenance

• Sealing/Staining

• Driveways

• Wallpaper Removel

like us on facebook for special events

www.mvpainters.com 280 South Main St. Fall River, MA

1 Mile West of UMass Dartmouth

767 Main Road • Westport, MA (508) 636-0063 • deniscloset.com

HOLIDAY SPARKLE

We sell new & slightly used women’s clothing & accessories

Celebrating Over 300 Years of Arts & Culture in a Historic & Beautiful Shopping Village

3 stone emerald and diamonds set in 18 ct.

HOURS: Mon. & Tue. 10-5, Wed.-Fri 10-7, Sat. 10-6, Sun. 12-6

Over 20 Sophisticated Shops Where

&

Exclusions may apply • Offer expires 12/31/13

Intersect...

RI Sales Tax-Free Arts District www.tivertonfourcorners.com

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30% OFF

1 FULL PRICE CLOTHING ITEM with this ad

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147 Swansea Mall Dr. #4 Swansea, MA 508-730-2211 Tue., Wed., Thu. 10AM -5 PM • Fri., 10 AM -7PM Sat., 10AM -5 PM • Closed Sun. & Mon.

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— OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK — 20 Commerce Way v Seekonk, MA 800-550-2724 v 508-336-6500 www.TheCladdaghConnection.com

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A Diamond in a Pearl by Galatea.

YOU LIKE NEW

The pendant and chain: $895.

Face Lift Brow/Forehead Lift Eyelid Surgery Nose Surgery Ear Reshaping

Show your love with a beautiful gift

Scar Revision Liposuction Implants Lip Enhancement Hair Restoration

207 SWANSEA MALL DRIVE • SWANSEA CROSSING PLAZA

Skin Resurfacing

SWANSEA MA • 508-673-0561 • INFO@PLANTEJEWELERS.COM

Botox/Dysport

WWW.PLANTEJEWELERS.COM

Dermal Fillers Obagi Skin Care Vivité Skin Care

Agata K. Brys, MD Board Certified Facial Plastic & Hair Restoration Surgeon

JOIN US

FREE FACIAL REJUVENATION & LASER SEMINAR Weds, January 15 6 - 7 p.m.

Q Club Mansion 306 No Main St Fall River, MA

Register 508-961-0904

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Call to schedule an appointment 508-961-0904 www.drbrys.com 535 Faunce Corner Road Dartmouth, MA

(3) 1 hr. massage gift certificates for $175 With this ad – Expires 12/31/13

Call 508-672-2227 for holiday gift cards

Cards will ship via USPS certified mail–Order deadline 12/16

1211 G.A.R. Highway Swansea, MA

FREE Consultation

A D V E R T I S E

508-672-2227 BackIntoBalance.net

A $100 value

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Southcoast Urgent Care Center now open in Fairhaven.

For right-away care, when it’s not quite an emergency. For sprains, for back pains, for those times when maybe you should’ve let someone else cut the bagel. We’re here for you.

Walk-in care, 7 days a week.

Weekdays 8 to 8, weekends 9 to 5.

Board-certified doctors.

208 Mill Road, Fairhaven Adults + children (6 months and older). southcoasturgentcare.org

Burn s • Bite s • Broke n Bon e s • s titch e s • e ar ach e s • Back pai n s o r e t h r oat s • F l U • e y e i n j u r i e s • O h , A N D BAG E L ACC I D E N T S

HAPPY HOLIDAY WISHES FROM Clifton All of us at Clifton Healthcare Campus would like to extend warm holiday greetings to members of all faiths in our community.

We wish you Joy, Happiness and Peace for the coming New Year.

CLIFTON REHABILITATIVE NURSING CENTER 508-675-7589

CLIFTON OUTPATIENT REHABILITATION CLINIC 508-675-0329

Compassion Dignity Comfort CLIFTON ASSISTED LIVING COMMUNITY 508-324-0200

CLIFTON HOSPICE SERVICES (a community hospice agency) 508-675-7583

CLIFTON HEALTHCARE CAMPUS

WILBUR AVENUE, SOMERSET, MA 02725

Proud to be Celebrating Over 50 Years of Dedication to Excellence.