The South Coast Insider - December 2021

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Inside derr

DECEMBER 2021 Vol. 25 / No. 12

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Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Ljiljana Vasiljevic Editor Sebastian Clarkin Online Editor Paul Letendre Sales Manager Mari Burns (508) 916-0374 Contributors Michael J. DeCicco, Ron Fortier, Stacie Charbonneau Hess, Paul Kandarian, Tom Lopes, Brian J. Lowney, Sean McCarthy, Elizabeth Morse Read, Rona Trachtenberg Layout & Design Janelle Medeiros

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the region’s coastal charms. Their new property was a former tomato farm, perfect for supporting the couple’s new hobby: raising chickens.

Fortunately for them, they had a knack for it. Before too long, the Bishops had more eggs than they knew what to do with. They began selling the surplus, and learning about how to expand the farm in a healthy and sustainable way.

To give a sense of how successful this expansion has been, the farm’s chicken population has ballooned from the original 20 to over 3000.

While her husband has kept his IT job, Ester has been able to commit herself to the farm full-time. She prides herself on providing her animals with joyful, stressfree lives. “People should know where their food comes from – you can really taste the difference,” said Bishop.

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December 2021 | The South Coast Insider

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THINGS TO DO

The magical days OF DECEMBER

by Elizabeth Morse Read

There’s a lot more to December than just the holidays! Let your children (and the young-at-heart) experience the stories and songs and snowy adventures that only December brings. Celebrate the festive lights that dispel the long dark nights, and the cheery warmth of friends and family sharing time together on a cold winter’s day!

A breath of fresh air

You’re never too old to build a snowman or have a snowball fight! Get out the sleds and toboggans and put on those boots and mittens. It’s time to lace up your ice skates (or rent them) at indoor skating rinks in Fall River, New Bedford, Taunton, or Plymouth (fmcicesports.com/ rinks). Or enjoy ice skating (and bumper cars!) at The Providence Rink at the BankNewport City Center – twice the size of the Rockefeller Center rink in New York City (theprovidencerink.com). And for outdoor skating with a great view, try Gurney’s Ice Skating Rink in Newport (gurneysresorts.com).

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

Find out what’s happening at the Lloyd Center for the Environment in Dartmouth (lloydcenter.org) or wander through Parsons Reserve or Paskamansett Woods, operated by the Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust (dnrt.org). Take a free guided Sunday Bird Walk at the Norman Bird Sanctuary in Middletown (normanbirdsanctuary.org).

Day trips for the family

Whether indoors or out, there’s plenty for you and your family to do during school vacation and on weekends this month! Go on a guided Seal Watch boat tour December 4 through April with Save the Bay, departing from Bowen’s Ferry Landing in Newport (savebay.org/ seals), or take the kids to see the Harlem Globetrotters at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence on December 30 – and check out the hockey and basketball games (dunkindonutscenter. com). Delight the family with Cirque Dreams Holidaze December 17-18 at the Providence Performing Arts Center (ppacri.org)!

THE SHOWS MUST GO ON! Don’t miss Wynonna Judd at the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River on December 16 (narrowscenter.com) or the Greg Abate Jazz Trio at Linden Place in Bristol on December 17 (lindenplace. org). Be dazzled by a performance of Black Violin December 9 at the Providence Performing Arts Center (ppacri.org)! Kansas will play at the Zeiterion in New Bedford on December 10 (zeiterion.org).

And, if you’d like a little Irish with your holidays, listen to Lunasa December 16 at the Spire Center for the Performing Arts of Greater Plymouth (spirecenter.org).

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

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December 2021 | The South Coast Insider

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December 2021 | The South Coast Insider

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11/4/21 8:29 AM

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 If you’re in the mood for a quiet afternoon, spend time in the galleries at the RISD Museum – free admission on Sundays (risdmuseum.org). And you can purchase tickets online for the indoor planetarium shows at the Museum of Natural History in Roger Williams Park (provideneri.gov/museum) or explore the Children’s Museum in Providence Tuesday through Saturday (childrenmuseum.org).

Welcome the lights

Don’t let the shortest days of the year keep you indoors! The Annual Festival of Lights at LaSalette Shrine in Attleboro runs through January 2 – more than 300,000 lights illuminating ten acres (lasaletteattleboroshrine.org). You can check out WaterFire in Providence on December 4 (waterfire.org), or you can celebrate the re-opening of Edaville RR in Carver at the Christmas Festival of Lights – take your children on a heated train ride illuminated by 17 million lights throughout the park, Thursday through Sundays, through January 1 (pre-purchased tickets from 2020 will be honored!) (edaville.com). Or else bundle up and enjoy larger-than-life dazzling displays illuminated by 1.5 million lights as you stroll through the Holiday Lights Spectacular at Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence on select dates through January 2 (rwpzoo.org/holidaylights).

8

Old-world holiday charm

Whether it’s your grandmother’s cookie recipes or carols from “the old country,” there’s something special about keeping family traditions alive.

You can hear the Vienna Boys Choir in either Plymouth or Providence this year – listen to them perform “Christmas in Vienna” at Plymouth Memorial Hall on December 3, or at the McVinney Auditorium in Providence on December 5 (viennaboyschoir.org). Or listen to a truly inspiring performance of Handel’s “Messiah,” performed by the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra and the Providence Singers on December 12 at the VETS (riphil.org).

You can listen to the chamber choir Ensemble Altera perform at Emmanuel Church in Newport on December 3-4 (emmanuelnewport.org). Or you can experience the grandeur of a Christmas choir accompanied by a century-old Casavant pipe organ on December 19 inside the magnificent Saint Anthony of Padua Church in New Bedford (musicatsaintanthonys.org).

Or you can experience Christmas music and pageantry from the past, when St. George’s School in Middletown presents its candlelight concert of hand bell choir, lessons and carols on December 10, and the 110th Medieval Christmas Pageant on December 14 (stgeorges.edu/ christmas).

And you can shop at a European-style Christmas market on December 11-12

December 2021 | The South Coast Insider

at the 35th Bristol Christmas Festival (christmasbristolri.com or facebook. com/bristolchristmasfestival)!

Magical moments

Let the children experience a magical performance of “The Nutcracker,” a dream-like recreation of an old holiday tale performed by Festival Ballet Providence December 17-24 at the VETS in Providence (festivalballetprovidence. org), or let your them watch the rarelyperformed “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” a one-act children’s opera, December 2-12 at The Little Theatre in Fall River (littletheatre.net).

Gather your family together to watch

ENJOY THE LOCAL HARVEST! Fill your baskets with local produce, baked goods, and holiday greenery! To find a farm, vineyard or winter farmers market near you, visit semaponline. org, coastalfoodshed. org, farmfreshri.org, or localharvest.org.

BE PREPARED! Many South Coast venues have successfully reopened, but Covid-19 safety precautions still apply – whenever you’re indoors, wear a mask and keep your distance as much as possible, even if you’re fully vaccinated. Always check the event/attraction’s website for ticket pre-purchase information, last-minute cancellation or scheduling changes, and their refund policy. And remember – if you don’t feel well that day, stay home!

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Dive into the New Year

Head for downtown New Bedford on December 31 for “City Celebrates New Year’s Eve”! Fireworks, live music, ice sculptures, dance party, street performers, and more (downtownnb. org, ahanewbedford.org)! Or celebrate a groovy New Year’s Eve with “The 60s” at the District Center for the Arts in Taunton (thedistrictcenterforarts.com)!

Then wash away 2021 on New Year’s Day in the chilly waters along the South Coast with a charity Polar Plunge! Brave the frigid waters at Fort Phoenix in Fairhaven (fairhaventours. com), or at Sandy Beach in Fall River, a fundraiser for Forever Paws Animal Shelter (creativeartsnetwork.org). You can help raise money for the Tiverton Library by jumping in at Grinnell’s Beach (tivertonlibrary.org), or fulfill a wish for a sick child at Newport’s Wish Come True Annual Polar Plunge at Easton Beach (awish.org).

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COVER STORY

This is the time of year to find festivals of lights both near and far.

T

he grandest of them all, the National Shrine of Our Lady Of LaSallete's "Festival of Lights" in Attleboro, will open as usual this year on Thanksgiving Day, November 25. Its acres of brilliant holiday lights displays will be available for public view every night from 5-9 p.m. until January 2, 2022.

This year's theme is "Love is Born", said Father Flavio Gillio MS, shrine director.

He proudly notes it will be a full-fledged celebration of the true meaning of Christmas this year. The Crech Museum, devoted to an international display of Christ in the manger scenes, will open Monday to Friday from 5-9 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 2-9 p.m.

The food court and snack bar will open Monday to Friday from 4-9 and Saturday and Sunday noon to 9 p.m..

LaSallette's very popular yearly attraction, Christian folk singer Father Pat, Gillio added, will also again appear in concert starting on Thanksgiving Day at 7 p.m. and every Friday and Saturday at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.

10

A light on the holidays

by Michael J. DeCicco

The National Shrine of our Lady of La Salette has been a spiritual, social, and human service home to thousands of people from all walks of life for over 60 years Father Andre Patenaude MS, known to all as “Father Pat,” began singing in his childhood years in Fall River, the LaSallette website notes. He continued to sing and learned to play the guitar during his preparation for the priesthood with the La Salette Missionaries. Father Pat is a world-renowned Christian music legend, Catholic evangelist, singer, songwriter, composer, and recording artist. He is known for his graceful tenor

December 2021 | The South Coast Insider

voice and charismatic concerts which take place around the nation and the world, and for hosting his own radio and television programs.

Children's attractions and rides will again include photos with St. Nicholas in the welcome center on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 5-9 p.m. and the "Ride to Bethlehem" and the Carousel. Masses will be held Monday through Saturday in the church at 12:10 and 4, and Sunday at 12:10, 4, and 5:30 p.m. Confession will be available daily from 1-4 p.m.

The National Shrine of our Lady of La Salette has been a spiritual, social, and human service home to thousands of people from all walks of life for over 60 years, its website notes. In 1942, the La Salette Missionaries bought the Attleboro property as a major seminary and in 1952 the construction of the Shrine was announced. The Feast of the Immaculate Conception marked the

CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

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CITY LIGHTS

In New Bedford, holiday lights cover every section of the city at this time of year. Manuel Silva, deputy commissioner of the New Bedford Dept. of Public Infrastructure, said his department installs and maintains 20,000 lights every Christmas season, and the effort takes a total of 4,000 hours of manpower and the entire month of November to complete. The department is responsible for the seasonal lights at a total 15 sites around the city, and that doesn't include the 150 wreaths and 85 large snowflakes the department places on the city's street lights.

Last year's holiday lighting effort went smaller because, of course, it was the year of the pandemic. There were no seasonopening events.

The elaborate Clasky Common Park's "Festival of Lights" display of holiday-theme houses and decorations was redesigned as a drive-through experience, with much of it closer to the roadways.

This year, that has all changed.

Downtown's Christmas Tree and lights display will first light up on December 4.

This year's tree will be a 300-foot Spruce donated from Fairhaven, installed, as usual, in front of the public library with a ceremony that will include a Christmas choir and a visit by Santa Claus. The Clasky Common's "Festival of Lights" display will first light up, accompanied by a similar ceremony, on December 5.

The first "Festival of Lights" at the Clasky Common Park opened in December 1952. The effort to erect what is still known as the city's largest and most popular city holiday season display has been assisted by the teachers

SDecember eP tember /o C tober 2021 19 Insider 2021 | The South Coast

and shop students from New Bedford Vocational High School since December 1955. Today it features 18 large, lighted holiday-themed structures and another 16 holiday-themed “houses,” including a chapel, a manger, a Christmas village, Santa's workshop, and animated lighting fixtures.

Surprisingly, 2021 will be the first year the common lights aren't manually controlled. Thanks to students' innovations, the lights will be on a controlled automated timer this year, Silva said. Just the same, a department electrician will be responsible for regularly checking every electrical connection on the common every day until the structures are taken down again and stored away until the next year.

"We actually install all of it," Silva said, "but with assistance from the students in various shops.

The kids scratch our backs, and we scratch theirs. It's worked very well for years."

Silva said all of this effort is more than worth it. The city puts this much work into each year's Christmas season displays because it wants to put its best foot forward to make sure everyone gets the feeling of and enjoys the season in the best ways possible. "We do what we can to give the people the best Christmas season possible," he said. "The pure enjoyment we see in people's faces. That's what keeps us going."

New Bedford's other holiday lights displays can be found at Ashley Park, on Acushnet Avenue in the North End (snowflakes from Coggeshall Street to Irvington Street), Brooklawn Park, Riverside Park, Buttonwood Park, Custom House Square, the downtown Octopus lighthouse, Harrington Park, Loretta Bourgue Park, Monte's Park, West Rodney French Boulevard (from Cove Street to Brock Avenue), and the Howland Green Library.

This year's tree will be a 300-foot Spruce donated from Fairhaven, installed, as usual, in front of the public library with a ceremony that will include a Christmas choir and a visit by Santa Claus.

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BUSINESS BUZZ

FALL RIVER

celebrates

by Ron Fortier

Everyone from Fall River remembers the Christmas displays that decorated downtown. The most vivid memories perhaps are those of their childhood.

For each generation, regardless of how you celebrate the season, the month of December was a festive time of year. Downtown offered a wide agenda of shopping, entertainment, and celebratory events.

Nothing has changed when it comes to those who look forward to the lights, the sounds, and the foods that are a large part of these winter festivities. Yes, things did change.

Fall River’s downtown, as did others across the country, declined as the growing influence of the malls ushered in a new era and a new mindset when it came to retail shopping, especially during the Christmas season. However, there’s new life returning to the heart of downtown due in part to MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development agency.

The agency’s mission is to work with, “businesses, nonprofits, banks, and communities to stimulate economic growth” in specific areas of the city.

14

Fall River’s downtown resurgence is a reality due in part to its designation and inclusion as a TDI area (Transformative Development Initiative), a program for Gateway Cities such as Fall River that seeks to assist accelerated economic growth within focused districts such as in the heart of downtown.

Fall River’s TDI District “connects the city’s art district to its newly developed waterfront” and incorporates the area near the Government Center, which includes a sizable portion of South Main Street from Anawan Street and down to Union Street near Kennedy Park. The district offers a wonderful walkable area with waterfront views, retail establishments, and family-friendly restaurants and eateries offering local favorites, seafood, and more.

In November, kicking off the holiday season, the area features the Spindle City Festival, a free family-centric event celebrating art, music, food, and fun.

This and the recent first annual Fall River Farmers & Artisans Market or, Thanksmas Market are helping to create the district’s distinct identity.

Events like this and others help to promote Downtown Fall River as a destination. This December features the 37th Annual Fall River Children's Holiday Parade on Saturday December 4th at 1 p.m. The parade’s route starts at Kennedy Park and goes down South Main Street ending at the corner of Central and Bedford Street.

The parade is considered one of the

December 2021 | The South Coast Insider

largest children’s holiday parades in New England. It features high school bands from throughout New England, giant parade balloons, decorated floats, other marching groups including local fire and police departments, as well as motorized units and costumed characters.

Fall River Public Schools and other local schools also participate and help to set the stage for Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus’ annual visit! Greater Fall River RE-Creation is sponsoring its Holiday Celebration featuring free holiday fun for the whole family on December 5 from Noon to 3 p.m. including food, face painting, pictures with Santa, and lots of holiday fun. Speaking of the jolly old soul, on Friday December 10 at 6 p.m. Greater Fall River RE-Creation is sponsoring Dinner with Santa!

On Sunday, December 19 at 3 p.m., it’s the Fall River Symphony Orchestra's 97th Season: Holiday Pops Concert.

There’s more music! The Narrows Center for the Arts’ December agenda is packed! Here are just a couple of the featured acts, all playing from 8 to 11 p.m. on their respective days: on December 4 it’s John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band; on December 16 it’s Wynonna Judd; and on December 17 it’s the Masters of the Telecaster featuring Jim Weider, GE Smith, and Jon Herington.

For more information about these events and celebrations, visit vivafallriver.com, gfrrec.org, or narrowscenter.org.

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December 2021 | The South Coast Insider

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COVER STORY

A family

by Sean McCarthy

Back row from left, Tom Simmons (owner) and Abraham Macutkiewicz. Front row from, Jennifer, Sárah and Lucien Macutkiewicz.

For many families the Christmas season begins with the search for a Christmas tree, and finding that perfect tree can be an exciting and memorable experience. It is an experience that Mockingbird Hill Christmas Tree Farm has been providing for more than 40 years.

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experience,” says owner Tom Simmons.

“It’s something people want to do as a family. They enjoy finding and cutting their own tree, it’s something that their children are going to remember.”

Mockingbird Hill’s Christmas tree fields are open Wednesday through Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. They open on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving, November 26.

“Families are coming back year after year,” Macutkiewicz says. “They’ve had a

"

“There’s a perfect tree for everyone!” has been a long time motto at Mockingbird Hill, located at 147 Rhode Island Road in Lakeville. “We offer a variety of trees for a variety of people.

Someone may want a large tree or a smaller tree, a full tree or a sparse tree.

We shape all of our trees so that they’re symmetrical and well groomed,” says manager Sarah Macutkiewicz.

At Mockingbird Hill, customers can walk amidst five-acres of fields to find their preferred tree or choose from the precut trees brought in from Nova Scotia.

They have the option of cutting down their own tree with tools provided at the location, or they can have an employee do the cutting for them. The trees are then transported to the parking lot where they are affixed to their automobile for the ride home. Customers can enjoy free hot chocolate on the weekends during their visit!

“What we sell here is a family

What we sell here is a family experience, says owner Tom Simmons. It’s something people want to do as a family. They enjoy finding and cutting their own tree, it’s something that their children are going to remember.

December 2021 | The South Coast Insider

personal experience and many of them have become friends with our family.

They appreciate the service they’ve gotten.”

Harvey and Mary Coles are part of one of those families. Twenty years ago the Raynham couple and their children began buying their trees from Mockingbird Hill.

Today they share that experience with their grandchildren as well.

“The kids look forward to finding our Christmas trees, they get excited about it,” Mary Coles says. “It’s a great experience when they’re young and Santa Claus is a big part of the picture.”

The perfect decorations

Once a tree has found its home, the fun of decorating it begins. “A lot of the joy of having a Christmas tree is making it your own,” Macutkiewicz says. “You can make your own decorations by stringing popcorn, dehydrated orange slices and/ or cranberries, you can make your own

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Christmas trees is “Decorating the relatively simple – they our trees. tree is a good time, must have a base that We buy used vehicles it’s a nice part of our family tradition,” holds water. The lifespan of a tree is usually all makes and models Mary Coles says. “We have a lot of great more than four weeks, though they can 643 Brayton Ave., Fall River, MA Christmas memories thanks to our last up to six or eight weeks, depending on trees.” when they stop taking in water.

508-675-1303 The majority of trees offered at “We put our tree up after Thanksgiving bobluongosautosales.com Mockingbird Hill are Fraser Firs, the most and we usually have it up until after New popular style of Christmas tree. They Year’s,” Mary Coles says. also have a few potted Blue Spruces for Hill is2020 a third-generation 2Mockingbird November | The South Coast Insider those families that want to plant their tree family business. It was started by Leavitt after the holiday season. Mockingbird and May Simmons when they first began Hill also sells tree stands, a large number planting trees at the Lakeville location in of poinsettias, and wreaths which are 1972. Because the average Christmas tree located in and around the greenhouse. requires 7-to-15 years to grow, they didn’t Trees can grow as high as 12 feet or more, begin selling them until eight years later. while they also offer “Charlie Brown trees'' “Finding a Christmas tree is something that are much thinner and sparser than people did as a child, something that conventional trees. they’re going to pass along to their “People like cutting down their own children,” Tom Simmons says. “We try to tree because they know they’re getting give people a unique family experience. something fresh,” Simmons says.

People keep coming back because they “Mockingbird Hill is well-organized,” enjoyed the experience they’ve had.”

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THINGS TO DO

feasts FAMILY

by Brian J. Lowney

The holidays are certainly a wonderful time of the year!

While the past two years have certainly changed the course of our lives, many families of all ages are eager to restore time-honored family traditions and perhaps add new ones along the way.

During the pandemic, many folks have developed a new interest in cooking, baking, and learning about their family and friend’s culinary roots and ethnic specialties. Many people have explored their family’s genealogy and ancestry.

People are eager to step out of their comfort zone and to try new and more exotic cuisines. During the busy holidays, many religious-based organizations and other community organizations often sell specialty foods and sweets that shouldn't be missed and attract legions of fans who savor these delicious annual events found throughout the South Coast.

Acushnet resident Cameron DeGrazia truly appreciates this festive time of year and is proud of his Italian and Portuguese heritage that highlights the importance of family, friends, and good food.

“The holidays are always good fun,” shares DeGrazia, who earned a degree in Culinary Arts from Bristol Community College and is employed at St. Vincent’s Services in Fall River as Food Service Manager.

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“We laugh and enjoy being around the table,” he continues. “It’s a good time to be with family. The holidays bring our traditions together.”

The talented chef shares that one

Acushnet resident Cameron DeGrazia truly appreciates

this festive time of year and is proud of his Italian and Portuguese heritage that

highlights the importance of

family, friends, and good food. of his favorite holiday desserts is homemade rice pudding, lovingly made by his late grandfather during the family Thanksgiving meal using a traditional family recipe that was developed in the Azores.

DeGrazia adds that he also enjoys his family’s Portuguese stuffing and notes that every family and village has its own way to prepare the side dish.

“Every holiday we make rice pudding

December 2021 | The South Coast Insider

and use our family recipe and it’s so delicious,” DeGrazia tells. “My late grandfather always told people who came to the house to enjoy some hospitality and ‘to come and eat.’” While his grandfather has passed, DeGrazia plans to continue the longstanding tradition of ensuring that all guests are well fed.

“My Italian side enjoys the traditional seven fishes on Christmas Eve with spaghetti and shrimp,” he says. “We also must have Nan’s Italian meatballs.

They are always handmade and they are always excellent. I don’t know how to replicate them. You have to have my grandmother’s touch and add seasonings as the meatballs are made.”

According to DeGrazia, Christmas Day must include traditional lasagna, and lots of Italian cookies and festive mouthwatering desserts.

“We always must have olives,” he says.

“It wouldn’t be Christmas without olives.”

Like many families. DeGrazia emphasizes that “with the pandemic, life was difficult, especially during the holidays. It made people realize that it made people realize the importance of family and of being together. My family just gathered with my immediate family and now we are looking forward to

McGovern’s Restaurant Grandpa’s Family Rice Pudding

310 Shove Street, Fall River ¾ cups River Rice 508-679-5010 6 cups Milk mcgovernsonthewater.com 4 eggs beaten This well-known restaurant and ban1 cupfacility Sugaroverlooking Laurel Lake quet Pinch Salt usually packs them in for a large buffet Cinnamon (to taste) on Thanksgiving Day. The menu typical-

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

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

ly includes traditional turkey dinner with Add Rice to milk in a double boiler and stir constantly min.

White’s for of 30 Westport Paul’s stuffing, butternut squash, prime Road, Westport Remove frommuch heat more. slowlyThe andrestaurant stir in eggs for66 fiveState minutes. rib, ham, and Return tooffering heat anddine-in add vanilla and sugar. Stir 508-675-7185 for five minutes. has been and takeout, shop.lafrancehospitality.com Remove from heat.famous corned beef including its locally and cabbage, for 50 Here’s a proTransfer to a pan andyears. let cool on the table. When cool, has refrigerate until ready for White’s been offering family-style tip: if you can’t wait until Thanksgiving for takeout and curbside meals pickup for serving. a roast turkey dinner, you don’t have to – months, so when Turkey Day comes it’s on theMeatball regular menu. around, it’s a good bet they’ll have a hanNan’s Recipe dle (or rather a drumstick) on that too.

1 pound hamburger or ground sirloin Currently, the restaurant is offering meal Half loaf of dried Italian bread Merrills on the Waterfront packages and platters like its “Taste of Minced garlic 36 Homers Wharf, New Bedford New England” that comes with chowOne large egg 508-997-7010 der, quahogs and clam cakes or its Italian Salt and pepper merrillswaterfront.com package of salad, lasagna, meatballs and Romano cheese This favorite restaurant and function breadsticks. Both meals serve six. Also (Adjustsits theon seasoning to the cook’s preferences) facility the waterfront overlooking available are dinner-for-two meal packs the busy fishing port. But if fish isn’t your like fish and chips, lobster rolls, bourbon Combine all ingredients, and pan fry. thing on traditional turkeyform, day, be sure beef tips, and even kid-sized pasta and Transfer to crockpot and cookofferings. in a favorite pasta sauce. to keep watch for their holiday meatballs for two. With more than 60 Last year, Merrill’s served up turkey and years in the hospitality industry, White’s Scottish prime rib, allShortbread the sides like apple sage is accustomed to cooking for a crowd. stuffing, and sweet corn and polenta ravi(Adapted from the Betty Crocker cookbook) oli, plus pies galore.

Ingredients: 3/4 cup butter (not margarine!) softened 5 tablespoons sugar The Pasta House 2 cups Gold Medal All-Purpose flour 100 Alden Road, Fairhaven

Pumpkin Old-Fashioned

508-993-9913 Directions: First you’ll need to concoct cinnamon thepastahouse.net syrup. ½ cup sugar, cup water, Heat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, stir butter and fourMix tablespoons of ½ the sugar If their Pumpkin Patch Old-Fashioned and a three-inch cinnamon stick in a until well-mixed.

Stir in flour.

(If dough is still crumbly, mix in 1 to 2 tablespoons (now on the bar menu) doesn’t get you small pan.

Bring it just to a boil, turn off more of the softened butter.) inside, nothing will. Luckily, you can find the heat and let it cool.

Remove the Roll dough on lightly floured surface until 1/2 inch thick.

Sprinkle with remaining a recipe in the sidebar for this drink and cinnamon stick and discard or use it to sugar.itCut inyour smallThanksgiving shapes or with cookie cutters.

On ungreased cookie sheets, serve with dinner garnish the cocktail if you like.

The syrplace shapes 1/2 inch apart.

Bake about 20 minutes or until set.

Remove to takeout up will last for three weeks in the fridge. cooling racks.

The Pasta House served up a spread To make the cocktail, fill a shaklast year that included turkey dinner, ham er halfway with ice. Combine ¼ cup dinner, fillet mignon, braised short rib, pumpkin puree with three ounces and more. Currently, pickup and delivery bourbon, two ounces maple syrup, ¼ is available from the regular menu, includounce cinnamon syrup, one ounce oring their apple cider sangria to go. We’ll spending time with our extended families cooled in the kitchen, and the joy and ange liqueur, and two just have to wait and see what they dream and friends.” fun that she had as she baked during the dashes orange bitup for Thanksgiving.

While almost everyone fondly recalls holiday season. ters. Shake well. a favorite holiday recipe from their Following three holiday recipes Fill two oldare fashThe Wharf Tavern childhood that was once lovingly that will bring a smile to your family and ioned glasses with 215 Waterby Street, Warren prepared a family member or friend, friends.

The first ice, pour in the two recipes are shared 401-289-2524 I’d like to share a simple holiday recipe bystrained Cameron DeGrazia; the third recipe cocktail thewharftavernri.com that my late mother, Catherine Lowney, came from my mother’s treasured and and garnish with a Whilebaked stuffed nibbled by the always asquahogs part of her Christmas well-worn Betty Crocker cookbook. twist of orange peel water may notI be a Thanksgiving tradipreparations. fondly recall the delightful Enjoy! and a cherry. tion, the established in aroma ofWharf these Tavern, delicious buttery cookies

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The South Coast | November 2020 December 2021Insider | The South Coast Insider

19

BUSINESS BUZZ

Orange

Above, Wampanoag language instructor, Durwood Vandershoop and right, Laura Tohe, Navajo Nation Poet Laureate.

SHIRT DAY

A more truthful history

by Stacie Charbonneau Hess

On September 30, via Zoom, a small committee of educators at Bristol Community College presented an event to honor the Native children who survived (and the ones who did not) the Residential Schools in North America.

L

aura Tohe, Navajo Nation Poet Laureate, and Durwood Vanderhoop, Wampanoag language instructor, spoke at the event sponsored by Bristol’s Holocaust and Genocide Center. The virtual event honored a Canadian-born tradition called Orange Shirt Day and was joined by sister events at Bridgewater State University.

The educators involved in Orange Shirt Day are committed to telling a more inclusive and truthful history of the present-day United States, no matter how uncomfortable. Healing historical wounds that live in the memory of native peoples cannot heal until they are fully revealed. So much of Native American history has been white-washed or left out of textbooks, and this event was one way to bring the atrocities to light, and highlight the resilience of indigenous peoples.

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The Orange Shirt is just a symbol of the many things that were taken away from native children: their language, cultural, family and tribal identity.

It was the first time many people, educators included, had heard of Orange Shirt Day – the day to formally recognize survivors of Residential schools. Orange Shirt Day grew organically from the testimony of a First Nations woman named Phyllis Webstad in Canada.

She told her story during Canada’s truth and reconciliation process of her grandmother buying her a shiny, orange shirt for her first day at the “Mission School.” When she got there, her shirt

December 2021 | The South Coast Insider

was taken away from her and she never saw it again.

Of course, the Orange Shirt is just a symbol of the many things that were taken away from native children: their language, cultural, family, and tribal identity. The assimilationist policies of America during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries aimed to “civilize the savages” and further the tenets of Manifest Destiny that the founders of the country staked their claims on.

Though Phyllis spent one year in a residential school, many thousands of children spent much longer, and some never made it home. You may have read that in May of this year that the remains of 215 children were found buried in unmarked graves outside one of these schools in Canada. Hundreds more have

CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

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Business Saturday, Shop Local and Support your community.

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since been recovered and thousands more are expected to be found. The Canadian government operated schools like this for over a century to educate, indoctrinate, and assimilate First Nations children. What you may or may not know, however, was that Canada’s system was inspired by our own.

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This Small Business Orange Shirt Day is one Saturday, survivor’s attempt to Shop Local and bring attention to the century-long era of North Support your American history. community.

Here in the U.S., the motto was to “Kill the Indian, Save the Man.” Government policies made it possible for a child to be abused for speaking her native language.

Some students endured unspeakable abuse and trauma, felt for generations.

Orange Shirt Day is one survivor’s attempt to bring attention to the centurylong era of North American history.

“When you wear an orange shirt,” Phyllis says, “It’s like a little bit of justice for us survivors in our lifetime in recognition of a system we can never allow again.”

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Truth and reconciliation

Though I was honored to help organize the event, it was not a celebration.

Orange Shirt Day is more of a funeral – a day to remember what was once precious, living, alive, and taken away too soon. The discovery of the mass grave confirmed what indigenous peoples all over the world knew. What happened to native peoples in North America is our genocide – not the one people deny but the one people don’t know about.

During the event, Laura Tohe read poetry from No Parole Today, her book about her time in a Residential School years experience in the30+ American Southwest. Tohe’s father was a Code Talker in World24/7 War Pet boarding, owner on premises II. She points out that “at the same A/C, fenced in yard, outdoor kennelstime that [assimilation] was taking place in One-on-one training for basic obedience the boarding schools, the Navajo code talkers were being asked to come up 1100 Reed Rd. Dartmouth, MA with a secret codeNorth that they could use.

Monday -Saturday 9am-5pm These young code talkers – including

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The South Insider | November 2020 December 2021 | The South CoastCoast Insider

9

my father – who was forbidden to speak Navajo in the schools, were now asked to come up with a code. This code helped save many American lives because it was quick, it was accurate, and it was never deciphered by the Japanese.”

Though Vanderhoop noticed parallels among his tribe, the Wampanoag of Aquinnah, and the Navajo, unlike Tohe, he did not grow up speaking his native language. He began learning Wampanoag in his early twenties before becoming an instructor in the Wôpanâak Language Reclamation project. Woody’s three children are now growing up speaking both Wampanoag and English, a feat of resilience after centuries of colonization, removal, and assimilation policies and practices. As part of reclaiming the language he said, “We had our own folks go to MIT and study and become trained linguists in order to not have to rely on some other folks interpreting our language.” He expressed how when he and other tribal members learn to communicate in their ancestral language, that “even a simple greeting, [is] our way of identifying each other and signifying that we have that additional understanding of who we are and where we come from. To me it’s very powerful.”

Professors Robyns Worthington (History) and Alejandro Latinez (Spanish and Portuguese) noted that what happened at the boarding school is not in the distant past, as evidenced by Tohe’s presentation and by the Orange Shirt Day story. Federal Indian policies have at their very root abuses of power that peoples all over the world wrestle with, even today.

The gathering, though virtual, existed as a show of goodwill from all the participants to build bridges of understanding and empathy for what was lost, or stolen, and ways native ways can be reclaimed and revitalized for future generations.

Perhaps the day can be summed up with a contribution from Professor Carlos Almeida, who teaches the traditional Cape Verdean language, when he quoted Nelson Mandela: “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.”

December 2021 | The South Coast Insider

23

COVER STORY

SCOU T S

Sea Scouting started in the U.S. in 1912 and has had a long and rich tradition. Massachusetts was the first state to have a ship.

A

rthur A. Carey of Waltham used his schooner Pioneer and was subsequently appointed Chairman of the National Council Committee on Sea Scouting. Over the past 109 years, thousands of young men and women have had the opportunity to follow the traditions of the sea, while having fun and developing critical skills.

“Now, the South Coast is finally getting its own Sea Scout Ship #1930,” announced a proud Joseph Pacheco, who is the hardworking Commodore of the Low Tide Yacht Club that is sponsoring this project.

“Sea Scouting is a Venturing Division of the Boy Scouts of America. Cub Scouts have packs, Boy Scouts have troops, and Sea Scouts have ships and are established all across the country on oceans, bays, rivers, and lakes. They provide limitless opportunities and exciting challenges that you won't find anywhere else. Sea Scouts is a place to grow and learn, find adventure, and build long-lasting friendships.”

The Scoutmaster of a Sea Scouting Ship is called the skipper. Dennis Pacheco (no relation to Commodore Pacheco)

24

will assume that role. “We are recruiting co-ed teens ages 14 to 21 from Westport to Wareham. The next-closest Sea Scout Ships are in Warren, Falmouth, North Weymouth, and Nauset. The time has come for local South Coast teens to

Now, the South Coast is finally getting its own Seas Scout Ship #1930 learn about our maritime history, become better citizens, build character, improve boating skills, and gain experience of water safety through adventures on sea and land,” said Dennis.

Teen members of Sea Scout Ship #1930 will become proficient in safety, swimming, boating, sailing, marlinspike, piloting, seamanship, signaling, cruising, galley preparations, first aid, lifesaving, navigation, boat and engine maintenance, sea history, equipment, forecasting weather, using a marine radio properly, ethics, customs, and ideals. Sea Scouts

December 2021 | The South Coast Insider

AT S E A

by Rona Trachtenberg across the country hold jamborees, rendezvous, regattas, and even enter international competitions for trophies.

The scouts can work as a team or set personal advancement goals through ranks of Apprentice, Ordinary, Able, and Quartermaster, as explained in the Sea Scout Manual. More importantly, they will make long-lasting friendships while enjoying adventures on land and sea.

Teens already participating in Girl and/ or Boy Scouts are welcome to join Sea Scouts also.

As an added perk, Commodore Pacheco promised, “During the boating season, our Sea Scouts will have the opportunity to practice the skills they have learned on a real boat from our Low Tide Yacht Club. We are thrilled to be spearheading this Sea Scout Ship #1930 because it fits right in with our club’s mission: to educate others about marine activities such as boating, sailing, navigation and boating safety and to support other groups who promote and further maritime interest.”

ABOVE AND BELOW DECK

According to Rick Washburn, National Coast Guard Auxiliary Commodore, “In August 2018, an agreement between the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary and the Boy Scouts of America made Sea Scouts the official youth program of the Coast Guard Auxiliary. The Coast Guard

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December 2021 | The South Coast Insider

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Offering Physical, Occupational, Speech and Respiratory therapy. Respite and Long-term care services also available.

Auxiliary is the uniformed volunteer component of the United States Coast Guard. Since 1939, the Auxiliary has supported the Coast Guard in nearly all of the service’s missions. This partnership gives Sea Scouts an opportunity to benefit from Coast Guard seamanship and vocational training, while introducing Sea Scouts to the Coast Guard.”

“The BSA is proud to continue our partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary as we continually strive to improve leadership development, real-life skill-building and unique STEM training through the Sea Scout program,” added Mike Surbaugh, Boy Scouts of America Chief Scout Executive.

“This win-win partnership will thrive only with the inclusion of local volunteer adult leaders,” added Jason Oliveira, who was chosen to spearhead the USCG Auxiliary’s First Northern District as Liaison with the Sea Scout Program.

Jason’s wife, April Oliveira, the Vice Commander of Flotilla 65, will also be volunteering. She explained, “Adult leaders must be over 21 years of age and can be male or female. The first requirement is to take the online Youth Protection Training course. There will also be a CORI background check on all leaders to give parents peace of mind.

Future leaders can take online training seminars in Sea Scout leadership and get assistance from national staff at the Narragansett Council.

“At least two adults will supervise the regularly scheduled meetings, which will be held twice a month, on Thursday evenings from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., at The Fort Rodman Marine Educational Association d/b/a the Low Tide Yacht Club in New Bedford.”

Commodore Joseph Pacheco concluded, “This is a priceless experience that every teen deserves. Are you ready for a challenge?”

For more information about Sea Scouting in general, visit the website seascouts.com. If your teen is interested in joining Sea Scout Ship #1930 please visit SeaScoutsNewBedford on FB or contact Commodore Joseph Pacheco at josephpacheco46@yahoo. com or Skipper Dennis Pacheco at dennisisamason@comcast.net.

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THINGS TO DO

A group of volunteers, pictured here, went back to help harvest crops at the YMCA Dartmouth which operates the Sharing the Harvest Community Farm The harvest goes to local food pantries and shelters.

K EEPI N G

all the year

by Ron Fortier

I

n Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, an unrelenting and unrepentant Ebenezer Scrooge refuses to give the charity workers a donation.

He exclaims that the “prisons and workhouses” provide for such people and, when told that people would rather die than face those tortuous indignities, that “If they would rather die, they’d better do it, and decrease the surplus population!”

Few are as cold as Scrooge, but how many of us can say that we embody the exact opposite of what he represents?

The holidays are an important time for charitable organizations. There is always a year-round need. But that need is compounded during the holidays. There is also a need to have the soul and the spirit nurtured by the customary and traditional family holiday gatherings – the need to belong, the need to have a sense of accomplishment, especially at the end of the year. All these things may seem unavailable and certainly out of reach for the homeless.

28

The poor, the destitute, and the homeless are still among us.

There are many organizations of a charitable mind, but one of the most recent is New Bedford-based Works 4 U, Inc. The poor, the destitute, and the homeless are still among us. There are many organizations of a charitable mind, but one of the most recent is New Bedford-based Works 4 U, Inc. It is their mission to end homelessness through employment. The philosophy is not about providing a handout but rather, a hand up. Trey Whalley, one of the organization’s founders says, “We line up work for anyone who is currently suffering from homelessness or previously was homeless.”

Homelessness is a spiraling problem in this modern world. That downward spiral

December 2021 | The South Coast Insider

creates a disconnection. Says Whalley, “For most people, having permanent shelter and food requires having a job.”

Not having an address compounds the homeless individual’s constantly deteriorating situation. No address means no access to services. Work is key. Having a job is key.

There’s a sense of self-worth that comes with having a job, receiving compensation for your labor, and the satisfaction of acquiring what you need.

“Let’s face it: having a sense of purpose is fundamental to stability in life,” says Whalley.

Works 4 U clients, who are either currently or previously homeless, are provided with training, placement, and support. This support helps them to maintain permanent employment.

Clients are recruited to volunteer for work projects allowing the organization to get to know their work ethic and finding the best way to help them develop leadership skills. Works 4 U

conducts nearly 40 local work projects a year.

These projects help develop community goodwill. It is also a way to observe and recognize the volunteers who want to find full-time employment.

On one given Saturday in October, eleven client volunteers were split into two teams, one team cleaned up around The Salvation Army’s neighborhood in New Bedford. The other team helped at the Sharing the Harvest Community Farm located at and operated by the YMCA in Dartmouth.

This wasn’t the first time the Works 4 U clients helped them out. It was harvest time and, “they really enjoy working with the people there as well as the wholesomeness of farm work!” The harvest is earmarked to supply to local food pantries and shelters.

And even though several of the volunteers are currently homeless and have experienced homelessness at one time or another, despite their situation and hardships, they maintain a strong desire to serve their community.

Works 4 U’s client volunteers take a lot of pride in helping others like them.

The organization has helped eleven individuals who are experiencing homelessness get jobs this year.

They still need work opportunities for others to fulfill their mission of ending homelessness through employment.

Their other projects have included volunteering with the Salvation Army’s continuing Serve-A-Thon (Lift-In-Love), which raises money every year for both The Salvation Army and Mobile Ministries in New Bedford. One of their several volunteer driven projects, painting the benches and lamp posts of Buttonwood Park was with the participation of the Mayor of New Bedford.

The season of giving is short but, volunteering, sharing, and working towards eliminating homelessness through honest employment.

Works 4 U continues to find part-time work for their client volunteers such as painting, landscaping, lawn mowing, or moving furniture.

If you can help them help others while helping youself, please contact them at (774) 762-7609 or email Trey Whalley at twhalley@w-4u.org. For more information, visit w-4u.org.

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ON MY MIND

‘Twas Three Months

before Christmas

by Paul Kandarian ‘Twas three months before Christmas and all through the land Christmas commercials were airing, it was so far out of hand!

My wife watched TV intently, making happy note of the “sales” Nothing more than retail cons thinly shrouded by glitzy veils.

No stockings were yet hung, it would be far, far too soon To hope St. Nicholas’s gifts would soon make us swoon!

We sat too quietly, Mama with her wine, me with my beer My brain feeling the strain of so many commercials already here!

But there on the telly, flashing and screaming Were entreaties from companies evilly scheming

I mean there on the telly, this materialistic natter Made me spring to my feet, my thoughts in a tatter.

To get us to spend, and spend, and spend even more Until our purses were empty, leaving us all dirt poor!

But I had to say something to ease my darkness within I had to say something to make my family begin

I shook my head glumly and looked about the room, A sense of sadness upon me, all gloom and all doom.

To see the true meaning of the holiday’s intent Not this vile, rapacious materialistic bent!

The children were nestled all snug in their phones While visions of TikTok fame danced in their bones!

Away to the telly I flew like a flash And with my empty beer bottle, the screen I did smash!

CONTINUED ON PAGE 32

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 30 My family was aghast at such a display Of their father, ere so calm, his mind now fiercely astray!

“The commercials harp at us,” I cried, “a relentless attack With no frost yet to form, no clock yet to set back!

“It is endless and tiring and should be deemed a true crime To part us from our money far too long before it’s time!”

I roared out my screed before their astonished eyes No pulpit was needed as I thundered words I thought wise.

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“Don’t you see, can’t you hear, the prattle and drone Of American big business making our souls all their own!

“With propaganda and puffery and sheer razzmatazz To take our hard-earned cash with their evil marketing jazz!

“Stealing the true meaning of Christmas from our heart and our mind Which should be love and sharing and peace for mankind, “Not gift after gift with all thoughts of ourselves As we pillage the store village, tearing down from the shelves “Things that have no true meaning, no worth at their core And for what, I pray thee, for what?!” I did implore.

“For gifts so shiny and noisy and whirring and loud?

Is that what’s important to us, does that make us proud?

“Or is the joy in our hearts that we must share with all That is the key to our future?” my words bellowed in a squall.

I stood silent and still, letting out a long sigh, A single tear of sorrow, yet hope, glistening in one eye.

“No TVs, no toys, no fancy gadgetry, no more...

It’s all about love,” I whispered, that tear dripping to the floor.

It was eerie and quiet, the TV screen smashed into darkness My family in near shock, alarmed by the starkness.

The droning noise of the sales pitches gone in flash Their father shuffling slowly to stand by the sash And look out upon trees not yet wearing fall hues.

I shook my head and moaned, “Oh, what’s the use?”

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My wife stood beside me, gently holding my arm And trying her best to ease my alarm And talk me down from my dread and the ache of despair With talk of Christmas too soon already heavy in the air.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 35

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 32 “The holiday is coming, this much we know to be true But we must do shopping early for all that is shiny and new!

“For the pandemic has laid all shipping plans to waste, So now we shop earlier, so now we make haste “To avoid the disappointment and sorrow on our children’s faces We must shop and shop and shop to cover all possible bases!”

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I looked sadly at our children, lost in their phone’s telling glow And formed the question, the answer of which I needed to know.

“What’s important to you, my dear girl and dear boy, “What’s the true meaning of Christmas, what would bring you the most joy?”

They looked up from their phones, briefly stopping their tapping attacks, And said with a shrug, “Duh, Dad, the iPhone 13 Pro Max!” “Who’s responsible for this, this rampant buy buy buy!”

I screamed out the window, I screamed at the sky.

And then in a twinkling, there appeared in a poof The grinning bald head of the grinning bald-headed proof.

“It is I!” said this hologram that popped into view.

“It is I!” said the grinning bald head, and I knew it was true That this vision, this specter, this image unholy Had stolen the meaning of a season so totally.

For there shimmered Jeff Bezos, the new god of Christmas Who said with a smile, “My friend, I am the isthmus, “The connective thread to what you don’t know you truly need If not for my grinning, bald-headed marketing greed!

“And if that means starting your shopping earlier still That is my method, my madness, my skill!”

And before he shimmered away, he turned and laughed and said without pause, “My friend, you surely know, ‘TIS I WHO IS NOW THE TRUE SANTA CLAUS!” Of course he was right, I thought with chagrin, The new meaning of Christmas was not from within

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But from the joyous feeling of buying too much From screens where we purchase with the merest of touch!

I looked back at the set I’d smashed into pieces And knew in a flash the meaning of what peace is: I turned to the sky and shouted with glee, “Hey Mr. Bezos, how about a new flat-screen TV?”

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