The South Coast Insider - August 2012

the south coast August 2012 / Vol. 16 / No. 8

coastalmags.com

Summer’s last hurrah

Discover local wonders Schools on budget tightrope

Mangagement rings?

Host a wine tasting and more

“Ed Moniz helped double our business growth.”

Charles Saliby of Guimond Farms speaking about Ed Moniz, Business Development Specialist at St. Anne’s Credit Union “When I met Ed Moniz for the first time, I knew from the start his goal was the same as mine: to help our business grow,” says Charles Saliby, owner of Guimond Farms in Fall River.

“He demonstrated his ability to perform within a short time.”

In fact, with Ed’s help and support, Charles says he was able to double the growth of his business in just five years.

“We were so impressed, we recommended Ed to our family and friends who own businesses.”

Photo on left: Westport Market owner

Rabih Salibi and St. Anne’s Senior Business Development Specialist, Ed Moniz. Photo on right: Ed Moniz and Guimond Farms owner Charles Saliby, with staff Sami Saliby, Nouhad Saliby, Nicole Saliby and cashier/employee Heather Moniz.

“I’m confident that Ed’s knowledge and professionalism will help any business achieve their growth goals,” says Charles’ cousin Rabih Salibi, owner of Westport Market in Westport.

Own a local business?

Charles and Rabih have this advice: “Give Ed a chance and he’ll prove himself to be the best in the business.”

Ready for a local banker who knows how to make things happen for your business? Call Ed Moniz today at (508) 542-7949.

“We’re making a difference.”

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Better health starts with a strong relationship with your primary care provider. Choose a family physician for you and your family’s primary care needs today.

MASSACHUSETTS Southcoast Physicians Group Family Practice 300 Faunce Corner Road Dartmouth 508-995-6381 – David Clark, DO – Brett Hurteau, DO New Bedford Medical Associates Family Practice 368 Faunce Corner Road Dartmouth 508-985-5040 – Irena Gesheva, MD

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Many of our physician practices include family practice providers who can care for a range of ages — from children, teens, adults or seniors.

Experience family-centered, personal care with Southcoast Physicians Network providers.

www.southcoast.org/doctors

New Bedford Medical Associates Family Practice 370 Faunce Corner Road Dartmouth 508-999-5666 – Debby Almeida, MD – Eleni Rethimiotakis, MD Southcoast Physicians Group Family Practice 1030 President Avenue Fall River 508-730-3100 – Carlos Correia, MD – Felicia Freilich, MD – Jessica Inwood, MD Southcoast Physicians Group Family Practice Internal Medicine/Pediatrics 1565 North Main Street Fall River 508-675-0369 – Miguel Brillantes, MD – Jason Diogo, MD – Diane Patrick, MD – Kenneth Piva, DO – Angela Simpson, MD – Shobhita Sundar, MD – Karl Zuzarte, MD Southcoast Physicians Group Family Practice Internal Medicine/Pediatrics 109 Fairhaven Road Mattapoisett 508-758-3781 – David Chesney, MD – Joseph Costa, DO – Michael Kelly, MD – Drew Nahigyan, MD New Bedford Medical Associates Family Practice 4543 Acushnet Avenue New Bedford 508-998-0003 – Anne Marie Treadup, MD

Southcoast Physicians Group Family Practice 479 Swansea Mall Drive Swansea 508-672-5300 – James Lippincott, MD – Mark Ringiewicz, MD – Priscilla Shube, MD – Jeffrey Syme, MD – Hugh Woolverton, MD Southcoast Physicians Group Family Practice/ Internal Medicine 100 Rosebrook Way Wareham 508-273-4950 – Randy Caplan, DO – Piyali Datta, MD – Brian Fitzpatrick, MD – Thomas Gleason, MD – Mazhar Jakhro, MD – Robert McGowen, MD – R. Preston Reynolds, MD New Bedford Medical Associates Family Practice 53 Marion Road Wareham 508-291-2409 – Thomas McCormack, DO Southcoast Physicians Group Family Practice 829 Main Road Westport 508-636-5101 – Scott Lauermann, MD – Jane Li, MD RHODE ISLAND Southcoast Physicians Group Family Practice/Pediatrics 672 Aquidneck Avenue Middletown 401-847-0519 – Michelle Boyle, MD – John Hand, MD – Richard Morgera, MD – Wendy Regan, MD Southcoast Physicians Group Family Practice/ Internal Medicine 2444 East Main Road Portsmouth 401-683-4817 – Andrea Bond, MD – Julie DeLeo, MD – Jennifer Levy, MD

AUGUST 2012

Contents 34

In Every Issue

THINGS TO DO

4

20

Block Island’s fine

42

Dartmouth music reigns

By Paul Letendre

By David M. Prentiss

FLASH

6

From the publisher

On my mind: Plane talk

22

Onset festivals

By Paul E. Kandarian

By Cara Connelly

8

Dateline: South Coast

By Elizabeth Morse Read

46 Tarot-Scopes

44

By The Celtic Cricket

Book Picks: Vacation planners

26

South Coast wonders

By Elizabeth Morse Read

SOMETHING NEW

30

Mangagement rings

By Cara Connelly

MUSICAL SOUTH COAST

25

Simply the best

HAPPENINGS Visit CoastalMags.com for things to do

By Magoo Gelehrter

WINE NOTES COVER STORY

14

School budget woes

By Joyce Rowley

16

A ‘Big’ difference

By Stacie Charbonneau Hess

18

Fifth grade: Then & now

By Fred Zilian

34

Host a tasting

by Alton Long

BUSINESS BUZZ

36

Launch a business

By Sherri Mahoney-Battles

38

Businesses miss bridge

by Jay Pateakos

ON THE COVER

2

40

Tame the Octopus

By Lilia Cabral

August 2012 / The South Coast Insider

August is a great time to hit the beach or take a ride and then enjoy clam cakes, chowder and other treats. Look for roadside stands.

The South Coast Insider / August 2012

3

FROM THE PUBLISHER August 2012 / Vol. 16 / No. 8 Published by Coastal Communications Corp.

August is a month of contrasts. It can be sticky hot or kind

Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Ljiljana Vasiljevic

of cool. It’s the height of summer, but the eve of the school year. So make of it what you want.

Editors Joe Murphy Michael J. Vieira, Ph.D.

This issue provides articles to help you appreciate both.

Take a trip to Block Island. Paul Letendre provides some

Contributors Lilia Cabral, The Celtic Cricket, Stacie Charbonneau Hess, Cara Connelly, Paul E. Kandarian, Paul Letendre, Alton Long, Tom Lopes, Sherri Mahoney-Battles, Elizabeth Morse Read, Jay Pateakos, David M. Prentiss, Joyce Rowley, and Fred Zilian 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. All contents copyright ©2012 Coastal Communications Corp.

Deadline

pointers. Cara Connelly provides a preview of two of the final summer festivals in scenic Onset. Don’t want to travel far? Elizabeth Morse Read offers some wonders of the South Coast.

Joyce Rowley takes a look at school budgets and explains why it might be a tough year for districts—and that means challenges for administrators, teachers, students and parents. Get involved to ensure the education our young people deserve. You can also help make a difference by getting involved.

Stacie Charbonneau Hess gives a look at Big Brothers and Sisters and how they help.

20 days prior to publication.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, by any means, without written permission from the Publisher. All information contained herein is believed to be reliable.

Coastal Communications Corp. does not assume any financial responsibility for typographical errors in advertisements, but will reprint that portion of an advertisement in which the typographical error occurs.

Plus enjoy our regular features like Flash, Al Long’s wine tasting tips, and Business News. Jay Pateakos provides an update on the Brightman Street Bridge to nowhere and Sherri Manoney-Battles tells how to launch a successful business. You can also hear about the Dartmouth music program and discover new opportunities by visiting our advertisers.

And remember, whether near or far, you can visit us at coastalmags.com.

Circulation 30,000

Enjoy,

Subscriptions $25 per year

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

Ljiljana Vasiljevic Publisher and Editor-in-Chief

Phone (508) 677-3000

Website www.coastalmags.com

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

4

August 2012 / The South Coast Insider

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ON MY MIND

Coffee, tea, or me?

by Paul Kandarian

There was a time when air travel was glamorous.

That would have been the day Murray, the forgotten Wright brother, said to Wilbur and Orville, “The sky’s the limit boys! The plane will leave on time, land early, and there’s no charge for bags, blankets, food, pillows or oxygen! Godspeed and blue skies!” and then 18 seconds later, they landed, skidded to a stop on their bellies and got a mouthful of South Carolina grass and mud, which coincidentally was the last time a decent meal was served in coach.

OK, that may be overstating it.

Airline food isn’t that bad. They’ve added salt.

I write this aboard a convection oven also known as a U.S. Airways flight leaving from Boston going to Philly.

It’s hot because the big electrical thing, technically an auxiliary power unit, isn’t working so there’s no air conditioning as we sit, sweat and wait on the ground.

It also means it can’t start the engine, technically known as that thing we need to technically get off the technical ground. Small point. We know this because the pilot says so.

He’s a guy who, every single time he comes on the PA, attempts, and fails, at being clever by saying that he’s “talking to you from the front office.”

I get the feeling if he had a baby at home, he’d feed it brandishing the spoon like an airplane and make annoying plane noises and saying, “This is Daddy in the front office! Here comes the plane into the hangar!

Open up!!!”

At which point if there were a God 6

in heaven, that kid would spit pureed peas all over Daddy’s face and uniform.

But I digress.

So we have to wait for another auxiliary power unit and it’s hot, and kids are sweaty and screaming, but that’s understandable and I want to join them in their sweaty, screaming chorus of discomfort but I’m a mature adult who knows it would be unwise to go primal because it will mean

I ran roughly the energy equivalent of six triathlons to the gate, made it with five minutes to spare, only to see the plane pulling away and the smarmy gate agent gloat—and I’m not kidding —“Ooops!

You just missed it by a minute!” some quiet time with a rubber-gloved TSA agent, and no one wants that.

As we sit in the broiling Boston sun waiting for the unit, I can’t help but wonder: 1. Why the hell haven’t airports mastered solar power, what with it being in the actual open sun all the time and such, and 2. What happened to the glamorous days of travel?

August 2012 / The South Coast Insider

Air travel used to be a blast, it really was, even running through airports trying to catch flights was fun. Of course, that was when my legs and lungs were 30-plus years younger.

Maybe that has something to do with it.

Case in point: Last spring at Miami airport, which is roughly twice the size of Texas but with air conditioning and no cactus, I had to catch a flight at the farthest possible point from customs where I came in.

In what was probably the least glamorous moment of my flying life, I ran roughly the energy equivalent of six triathlons to the gate, made it with five minutes to spare, only to see the plane pulling away and the smarmy gate agent gloat—and I’m not kidding —“Ooops! You just missed it by a minute!” whereupon I limped away having torn my Achilles tendon which would need surgery six months later.

Glamour, thy name ain’t air travel anymore.

But it used to be, back in my youth when dinosaurs roamed freely and during eclipses, we emerged from our huts, grunted madly and threw rocks at the monster eating our sun.

Then, flying was fun. And I like to think I was part of the reason why.

I was a flight attendant then, and no, I wasn’t what you’re thinking, and yes, many of my male friends were, and you bet it left a lot of the females up for grabs. Somewhat literally.

Back then, things were free, easy and often sleazy. You could smoke on airplanes—not a good thing. But you could smoke pot in airplane lavs —which was a good thing. And you

laughed a lot—that is always a very good thing.

I had a blast with passengers on my flights, making bad jokes—“It was a great year for rubber chicken, whaddya mean you don’t want any?”—and doing really silly, juvenile things like wearing the oxygen mask on my head like a fez during safety demonstrations, which surely got their attention.

Nobody pays attention to safety demos now, maybe because flight attendants don’t even do them. Mostly, they just stand there, unsmiling, under small flip-down TV screens where smiling actors (the smiles are how you can tell they’re not real flight attendants) tell you the essential stuff like how to fasten a seat belt.

I mean, really. If you’re too dumb to know how to work a seatbelt, I do NOT want you sitting next to an exit I may have to go through.

The thing is, it’s not hard work, not now, not passing out little bags of salted dust anyway on short flights, or selling pre-packaged, overpriced “meals” and booze on longer ones.

When I flew, flights of two hours or more meant full, hot-meal service and

two beverage services. Long flights were two meals and a bunch of beverage runs.

And we smiled a lot doing it. Of course, many of us were stoned, but hey, we were smiling.

This isn’t to malign all flight attendants. I’ve had many who are friendly, who do smile, who do laugh, and who don’t make you feel like lavatory blue water if you dare ask them to do anything above and beyond their minimal duties.

For instance, once I got to Philly and then on to St. Thomas, I had a crew of flight attendants who were the best I’ve had in ages, a group of ladies with collectively about 100 years’ experience flying, who joked with passengers, had actual conversations with us and didn’t make us feel like lavatory blue water.

“I still fly because I’m here to have fun,” one of them told me, “and if I’m having fun, you’ll have fun.”

Now that’s the ticket, if not to the glamour that flying once was, then to having a blast. Which is ‘way more important.

Henry H. Rogers Tours

Tuesdays & Thursdays, 10:00 a.m.

Begins at Visitors Center, 43 Center St. Learn about the town’s benefactor Henry H. Rogers and the gifts he gave to his hometown. Free.

Fort Phoenix Tours

Thursdays, Fridays, 2:00 p.m.

Fort Phoenix, Fort Street Learn about this Revolutionary War era fort and 18th century life. Free.

Unitarian Church Tours

102 Green Street Tuesdays & Thursdays 2-4 p.m.

Old Stone Schoolhouse 40 North Street Saturdays 12:30 to 4:30 p.m.

A one-room district schoolhouse.

Whitfield-Manjiro House

11 Cherry Street Saturdays & Sundays 1-5 p.m.

In 1843 this was the home of the first Japanese person to live in America.

Farmers Market

Fairhaven High School, Rte. 6 Sundays 1:00-4:00 p.m.

Artisans Marketplace August 2ud & August 9th Unitariran Church Lawn, 4-8 p.m.

Free Outdoor Concerts Thursdays August 2ud & August 9th Town Hall, 40 Center St., 7:00 p.m.

Rod & Custom Car Cruise Night Friday, August 10 Sullivan Tire, Rte. 6 (K-Mart Plaza) 4:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Music by DJ Johnny Angel. Sponsored by NFIA, Downshifters & Prowlers.

Fairhaven Office of Tourism 43 Center Street, Fairhaven, MA

508-979-4085

FairhavenTours@aol.com M,T,Th & F 8:30 - 4:30, Sat. 8:30-12

The South Coast Insider / August 2012

7

DATELINE: SOUTH COAST

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

by Elizabeth Morse Read

We’re approaching the “dog days” of August, so pack a picnic and explore the South Coast with your family and friends. Gas prices are down, home sales and mortgage refinancings are up and things are generally looking better for the South Coast.

The black bear that was captured in Provincetown and relocated to central Massachusetts didn’t stay put for long.

It was recaptured a few weeks later climbing a backyard tree in Brookline.

This time it was transported to the wilds of far western Massachusetts.

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The great white sharks are back in the waters off Cape Cod, especially where there are colonies of seals, the sharks’ favorite lunch. Best advice for humans is simple—don’t go swimming anywhere near seals.

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it would also benefit the struggling fishing industry. The bill will now include commercial fishermen in the existing USDA Emergency Disaster loan program. It was co-sponsored by Sen. Scott Brown and will now go before the US House of Representatives.

The second annual “Fishing for a Cause” fishing tournament in June netted over $100,000 to benefit the Schwartz Center for Children in Dartmouth.

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If you’re over 50, learn more about the day trips sponsored by the New Bedford Senior Travel Program.

There’s a day trip to Twin River Casino Aug. 7, Foxwoods Aug. 27 and the Thimble Island cruise Aug. 29. And sign up now for the Oct. 28-30 trip to Atlantic City. Call 508-991-6171 for more info.

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And strange lights were reported in the night skies near Plymouth over Memorial Day weekend. Similar reports came in from around the world within a two week period.

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State lawmakers are looking to grant $500,000 to SRTA (Southeast Regional Transit Authority) to upgrade bus service and increase ridership.

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When the Agricultural Reform Act of 2012 passed in the U.S. Senate recently, Sen. John Kerry made sure that that

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The casino situation is still up in the air. The towns of Lakeville and Freetown voted a resounding NO to the proposal presented by the Wampanoag of Gay Head (Aquinnah)

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August 2012 / The South Coast Insider

while the residents of Taunton voted YES to the Mashpee Wampanoag.

Meanwhile, KG Urban, who invested heavily in plans to build a casino on New Bedford’s waterfront, is back in the picture. And South Coast officials are pressing Gov. Patrick to link funding for South Coast Rail with the final agreement on the Taunton casino.

Stay tuned.

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Enjoy the bounty of fresh local foods—farmers markets, roadside stands and pick-your-own farms are open—find out what’s available near you by visiting www.semaponline.org or www.localharvest.org.

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Acushnet Enjoy a free outdoor family movie night on the first Saturday of every month at Silverbrook Farm. For details, call 774-202-1027 or go to www.thesilverbrookfarm.com.

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The Attleboros Take the family to a hidden gem!

Spend an afternoon at the WWI Memorial Park & Zoo in North Attleboro for free! Petting zoo, playgrounds, picnic areas. Call 508-285-6457.

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Visit a tropical forest and spend some time with exotic animals at the Capron Park Zoo. And there’s a summer Zooacademy for kids! Call 508-222-3047 or go to www.capronparkzoo.com.

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Bristol Enjoy “Music at Sunset” BYOB picnic events on the Great Lawn at Blithewold. Visit www.blithewold.org or call 401-253-2707 for more info.

Buzzards Bay The largest multiclass regatta in the country will happen in Buzzards Bay August 3-5. For complete details, visit www.buzzardsbayregatta.com.

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Max’s Restaurant on Rt. 6 will be on The Phantom Gourmet television show in the coming months.

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The Lloyd Center for the Environment is a great natural resource for everyone on the South Coast. Call 508-558-2918 or visit www. lloydcenter.org for complete details.

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Easton Composer/musician Kurt Biederwolf of Easton has been nominated for a Daytime Entertainment Emmy Award for his musical accompaniment to ABC’s One Life to Live. He was previously nominated for his compositions used by CBS’ As the World Turns.

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Check out what’s happening at the Easton children’s museum. Go to www.childrensmuseumineaston.org or call 508-230-3789.

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Dartmouth UMass Dartmouth has raised tuition and fees 4.9% for the 2012-2013 academic year. The UMass Law School is freezing its tuition and fees for the next three years.

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A new online bill-payment service called Invoice Cloud will allow town residents to pay bills and track their accounts from home.

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Starting this month, curbside recycling pickup will be handled by automated trucks. Residents will receive new recycling carts at no charge.

Fairhaven: Fairhaven received a $870K Community Development Block Grant from the federal government to upgrade housing and infrastructure, improve public service programs, as well as to create job opportunities.

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Rocky’s Ace Hardware will be building a new store and garden center at the Stop and Shop plaza on Route 6.

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The town hosted the Moving Vietnam Wall in July as part of its bicentennial celebrations.

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Town residents are hoping for a $500K grant from the state, sponsored

by Rep. Christopher Markey, to repair and upgrade the Padanaram Bridge.

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Chow down at the Old-Fashioned New England Clambake August 11 at the Smith Neck Friends Meeting House. For details, call 508-994-5816 or email cstryan@gmail.com.

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When Dartmouth native William Standish Knowles passed away recently at age 95, few people realized that he’d been awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2001.

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The developer of Fairhaven Wind is considering options to address residents’ complaints, such as cutting operating hours and offering to pay for insulating and air conditioning. Meanwhile, the town’s Board of Health has asked that the state’s Dep’t of Environmental Protection conduct sound tests on the turbines.

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Continued on next page

Saturday, August 11, 2012 Rain Date – Sunday, August 12

11am-6pm – on the bluffs at Onset Beach, Onset, MA Over 90 vendors • A great variety of Cape Verdean food and music!

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The South Coast Insider / August 2012

9

Turn heads

Continued from previous page

Freetown After waiting for more than two years, Freetown residents finally have a new Narrows Road Bridge.

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Fall River The city has been recognized as a “Tree City USA” for the seventh consecutive year for its achievements in urban forestry.

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Florsheim Lakeside Oxford Brown 20% OFF

The Narrows Center for the Arts has a full schedule of fun things to do this month. There’s The Lee Boys Aug. 3, Ruthie Foster Aug. 15 and the Albert Lee Band Aug. 17. For complete details, visit www.ncfta.org or call 508-324-1926.

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Dansko clogs & sandals $20-$30 OFF select styles

SAVE $5.00 OFF ANY ITEM — With this coupon —

Rockport • Steve Madden • Kenneth Cole Clarks Merrell • Skechers • Lifestride Naturalizer • Bass • Dockers

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A ferry service from Fall River’s State Pier to Block Island (New Shoreham, RI) is in the planning stages.

St. Anne’s Hospital will be shutting down its cardiac rehabilitation program. Diagnostic cardiac testing and cardiac care will still be offered.

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A $14.5 million federal grant will prevent two city fire stations from closing and will save almost 80 firefighter jobs. Sen. John Kerry and Reps. Jim McGovern and Wm. Keating were instrumental in securing the grant.

Those six huge liquid propane gas (LPG) tanks on the Taunton River will soon be gone—emptied, burned off and sold.

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Fall River native Thomas J. Hudner, 87, is not only a Medal of Honor winner, but also one of the rare military veterans to have a naval destroyer named after him. The announcement was made at a ceremony at Battleship Cove on Armed Services Day, with (ret.) naval aviator Hudner in attendance. The state-of-the–art Tomahawk class guided missile destroyer Thomas J. Hudner will be built in Bath, ME.

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Like us on Facebook.com 10

Town native Casey Tebo (Thibeault) has become the official videographer and documentarian for the supergroup Aerosmith.

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Teva Sandals • Body Boards • Woolrich • Speedo Sperry Topsider • Keen • Merrell • Carhartt Fresh Produce • Zutano • Isis • The North Face Leon Levin • Mt. Khakis • and gifts too!

With the okay from the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation, the town will be conducting “controlled burns” within the Fall River-Freetown State Forest to clear away dead trees and prevent hazardous fire conditions.

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August 2012 / The South Coast Insider

Marion The town is looking to consolidate its now-separate Fire and Emergency Medical Services departments.

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The annual Town Party will return on August 25. For details, call 508-2655852, 508-776-1625 or 774-217-8355.

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The Buzzards Bay Habitat for Humanity will be building affordable housing in Marion that will be outfitted with energy-saving solar panels.

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Mattapoisett A proposal to build a new cell phone tower in town is stirring up debate.

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Treat the kids to a summer camp co-sponsored by the Coalition for Buzzards Bay and the YMCA Southcoast. The River Exploration Camp, based at Camp Massasoit, is scheduled August 13-17 for ages 1214. For complete details, go to www. ymcasouthcoast.com or www.savebuzzardsbay.org.

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A new shuttle service called NBLine is aimed at introducing tourists to the city’s attractions beyond downtown.

One route covers the downtown/ historic area; one heads for Fort Taber and the beaches; another runs from downtown to Buttonwood Park. A $1 day pass covers all three routes.

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New Bedford Yachting magazine has named New Bedford one of the top 50 ports in the country.

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The city has received a federal COPS Hiring Program grant, which will allow the city to hire fifteen new police officers.

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August 2-5 is the 96th annual Feast of the Blessed Sacrament, the largest Portuguese festival in the world. For a schedule of events, visit www.portuguesefeast.com or call 508-992-6911.

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The new downtown “pocket park” at Wing’s Court is finished. The completely landscaped space includes a stage, chess tables and a quiet place to eat lunch.

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The infamous “Octopus” intersection at Route 6 and Purchase Street downtown is under review for muchneeded redesign.

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Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational-Technical high school has received a $77K grant from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.

The funds will be used to improve clean energy knowledge and skills within the STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) programs at the school.

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Enjoy an evening of free family fun and entertainment at New Bedford’s AHA! Night on the second Thursday of every month. The theme for August 9 is “Harbor Sounds.” Go to www.ahanewbedford.org or call 508-996-8253 x 205 for a full schedule of events – and don’t forget that there’s plenty to do, enjoy and eat at AHA! After Nine.

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Find out what’s happening at the Zeiterion this month. There’s ABBA: The Concert Aug. 8 and Al Green Aug. 26. Call 508-994-2900 or go to www. zeiterion.org.

Interior and Exterior Painting Wallpapering • Tile Work/Flooring Carpentry • Remodeling • Gutters and Siding Decks and Additions Home Repairs and Maintenance New and Replacement Windows/Doors No Job is Too Small – References Available

Paul L. Rousseau

508-996-1795

Home Improvement Contractor HIC License #127946 CS License #104196 Fully Insured – Established in 1985

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The Community Boating Center is looking for a pier that is handicappedaccessible so that disabled boaters can use the Center’s handicapped-accessible Sonar boats.

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See what’s going on at the Ocean Explorium: for hours and activities, go to www.oceanexplorium.org or call 508-994-5400.

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Solar panel manufacturer Konarka Technologies has closed its doors and filed for bankruptcy. Konarka produced revolutionary thin-film plastic panels, but Chinese competitors undersold them.

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Seven New Bedford High School students received recognition from the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury and the U.S. Dept. of Education for their performance on a financial literacy exam taken by more than 80,000 students across the country. Four of the NBHS students received perfect scores.

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Two New Bedford scallopers were recently featured on the Discovery Channel’s Deadly Seas series.

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After an eight-year absence, Naughty Dawgs has returned to downtown near City Hall.

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Home Repairs • Windows, Siding & Doors • Roofing , Gutters & Skylights • Decks, Railings, Access Ramps • Bathroom/Shower Remodeling • Blown-In Insulation & Bulkheads • SunSetter™ Awnings & Sunrooms • Free Estimates

Keep up with activities at New Bedford’s Buttonwood Park at www. bpzoo.org or 508-991-6178, or at the Whaling Museum at www.whalingmuseum.org or 508-997-0046.

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Newport

Quality Products & Service Since 1983

Don’t miss the Newport Jazz Festival August 3-5! For info, call 401-847-3700 or go to www.newportjazzfest.net.

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Indulge in a food and wine extravaganza at the Newport Winefest August 17-19. For more info,

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Continued on next page

home improvement co., inc.

119 Alden Road • Fairhaven, MA

CallStevens.com

508-997-9495 • 1-800-696-9495 MA HIC #101251 • RI Reg: #13863

The South Coast Insider / August 2012

11

Continued from previous page go to www.newportwinefest.com or call 888-481-8555.

Swansea The much-anticipated and longoverdue rebuilding of the Wood Street Bridge, damaged in the floods at the end of March, 2010, is scheduled for completion this month. Details of the ribbon-cutting ceremony are not yet announced.

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Check out the Sunset Music Series on the Waterfront. For complete details, go to www.newportwaterfrontevents.com or call 401-846-1600.

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Providence Catch some serious film at Flickers: the Rhode Island International Film Festival August 7-12. Call 401-8614445 or visit www.film-festival.org.

The new “Imagination Playground” at the Providence Children’s Museum is a big hit. Call 401-273-KIDS or go to www.ChildrenMuseum.org for details.

Check out what’s going on at Trinity Rep. Call 401-351-4242 or go to www. trinityrep.com. Discounts for seniors, students, educators and heroes (military, police, and firefighters). And get discount tickets there for performances of the RI Philharmonic, too! For a schedule, call 401-248-7000 or visit www.ri-philharmonic.org.

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T

Taunton

The Taunton Area Chamber of Commerce is offering a discounted health insurance plan to member businesses with 50 or fewer full-time employees. This new Chamber Health Coop will offer the Fallon Community Health Plan and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, as well as a no-cost health and wellness program.

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Bristol Community College’s Adult Education program, currently housed at the Boys and Girls Club, has formally asked the city’s school district to move the programs to the Cohannet School property.

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The Taunton Public Library offers free or discounted tickets/passes to many area attractions including Buttonwood Park Zoo and several museums.

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Get in the act at the Providence Performing Arts Center! For more info call 402-421-2787 or go to www.festivalballet.com or www.ppacri.org.

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The perennial favorite Onset Blues Festival is scheduled for August 4. Tickets are available through PayPal at www. onsetvillage.org. p8.hostingprod.com. For more info, call 508-207-5995.

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There’s always something happening in August in Onset Village. There’s the Illumination Night and Lantern Tour Aug. 25; the Cape Verdean Festival Aug. 11; free family movies at the Bandshell on Thursdays, free concerts at the Bandshell every Wednesday, and Market Day at Prospect Park every Wednesday 12:30-4:30. For complete details, go to www.onsetvillage.org.

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Wareham

Rehoboth

Tiverton

The New Bedford Area Chamber of Commerce has named Wareham’s Factory Five Racing as the 2012 Small Business of the Year. Factory Five designs and manufactures assembly kits for sports cars.

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Wareham received a $900K Community Development Block Grant from the federal government to upgrade housing and infrastructure, improve public service programs, as well as to create job opportunities.

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Westport Enjoy the Friday night Summer Sunset Concerts at the Westport Rivers Vineyard and Winery. Pack a picnic and bring a blanket. For more info, call 508-636-3423.

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Learn how to build a professionalquality stone wall! Attend a one-day workshop August 18. For details, call 401-274-9330 or go to www.learnconnect.com.

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The town has switched over to single-stream recycling. Since introducing a pay-as-you-throw program last year, the town has reduced solid waste by 50%.

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Check out the Sakonnet Growers Market at Tiverton Four Corners every Saturday 9-1.

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Rochester Ye Olde Breakfast Shoppe, operated by the Rochester Senior Center, received a $10K “What’s Working” grant from the Aging Network’s Volunteer Collaborative.

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12

Watch the Environmental Film Series Aug. 8 & 22 at the Meeting House, or enjoy the South Coast Artists Open Studio Tour Aug. 18 & 19 (go to www. southcoastartists.org.)

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August 2012 / The South Coast Insider

To view area events or post your own event listings visit www.coastalmags.com

Open NURTURING Studio OUR FUTURE Tour LEADERS Child Care

2012

AUG 18 & 19 southcoastartists.org

Immerse yourself in the Earth as Art. WESTPORT CULTURAL COUNCIL

Westport Cultural Council

L I T T L E C O M P T O N & T I V E RT O N , R I • D A RT M O U T H & W E S T P O RT, M A

Contact your Y branch for program details

Did you know that Y is ranked #1 in the country for child care?

Y child care is licensed by the EEC and designed to meet the developmental needs of children in caring and structured environments. We provide experiences that enhance each child’s cognitive, language, social, emotional, physical, and creative development. Discover all the wonderful features you and your child will love about the Y Child Care Program.

PRESCHOOL CARE » Gleason Family YMCA at Sippican Elementary School TODDLER CARE TOO! » New Bedford YMCA » Mattapoisett YMCA AFTER SCHOOL CARE » Dartmouth YMCA - also offers before school care » Fall River YMCA » Gleason Family YMCA at Sippican Elementary School » Mattapoisett YMCA and at Rochester Memorial School » New Bedford YMCA

YMCA SOUTHCOAST Dartmouth YMCA 508.993.3361

Fall River YMCA 508.675.7841

Child Care now includes a FREE Family Y Membership with five full days or household combination of five full days of child care.

Financial Assistance is Available.

ymcasouthcoast.org

Gleason Family YMCA 508.295.9622

Mattapoisett YMCA 508.758.4203

New Bedford YMCA 508.997.0734

BLITHEWOLD’S

Music at Sunset You bring the blanket, food and friends, we’ll take care of the music, the can’t-bebeat location and the sailboat races!

On the Great Lawn, 6–8 p.m. Wednesdays: August 8th & 22nd

Buttonwood bp-

oo Park Zoo

BYO Picnic tickets $10, join us at 5 p.m. for Marjorie’s Cocktail Party tickets $30. Visit blithewold.org for concert tickets and our full schedule of family-friendly events and programs.

425 Hawthorn Street • New Bedford, Ma 02740 • 508-991-6178

Blithewold Mansion • 101 Ferry Rd • Bristol, RI 02809 • 401.253.2707

The South Coast Insider / August 2012

13

COVER STORY

Meeting the budget gap meant cutting two and one-half teaching positions. It also meant raising fees on lunches, clubs and use of buses.

Superintendent Colley could point to a few pluses, though. Among them was that no schools were closed.

Dartmouth Dartmouth managed to squeeze by without having to lay anyone off this year. But that was only because the Town has held to a tight budget across the board for years, said Superintendent Ann Riley. Its frugality meant it was able to hang onto its existing 316 teachers, and instead added four more.

However, next year, Ms. Riley said the School District will need to show that the positions were warranted.

Fairhaven

by JoyCE roWlEy

As the south Coast gets ready to go back to school next month, several towns are still sorting out how to pay for the same services they had last year—some with fewer teachers. The past five years have left south Coast school districts with tough choices.

As FAIRHAVEN suPERINTENDENT Robert N. Baldwin said during that town’s budget process, after years of cutting operational budgets there’s simply nothing left to cut except staff.

And Fairhaven is not alone.

Half of the South Coast school districts had to eliminate teaching positions in FY2013.

Here’s how the South Coast schools are faring in these difficult economic times as they balance providing a

14

solid education to our children at a price residents can afford.

Westport In a July 3, 2012 letter to the residents, Westport Superintendent Carlos Colley explained that the school district had to meet a $675,000 budget gap. The district had tried and failed to get a “debt override,” a vote by taxpayers at Town Meeting and Special Election if the town budget is going to exceed a 2½% increase.

August 2012 / The South Coast Insider

Fairhaven School District cut eight staff positions, most of them teachers, to meet a townwide 2% budget cut. On the other side of the coin, the FY2013 budget included $175,000 for unemployment from the layoffs.

Fairhaven had 147 teachers prior to the cuts serving 1,963 students. The total FY2013 budget is $17 million.

Mattapoisett, Marion and ORR Both Mattapoisett and Marion operate school districts just for their elementary schools. Their budgets are similar--$5.76 million in Mattapoisett and $5.25 million in Marion. However, Mattapoisett was able to prevent layoffs, but Marion eliminated five staff positions. One retiring teacher did not get replaced, and five paraprofessionals were not brought back for the new school year.

Both schools use the Old Rochester Regional (ORR) school district for junior and senior high schools (Grades 7 through 12). ORR also did not replace a retiring teacher, and had five paraprofessionals whose contracts lapsed.

Wareham Like Westport, Wareham’s budget was sent to Town Meeting needing $780,000 in debt exclusions. But unlike Westport, Wareham Town

Meeting approved the budget and sent it to the Board of Selectmen, who also approved it. The Selectmen scheduled a Special Election of July 25, 2012 for a referendum vote on the debt override.

Still, on June 15, 2012, the last day of school, Wareham laid off 21 teachers, or nearly 10% of its teaching staff.

Notification and layoffs are required when funding will not be available at the beginning of the fiscal year, July 1.

If the voters at the Special Election on July 25th approve the debt exclusions, the 21 teachers would be reinstated, Superintendent Barry Rabinovitch said.

However, Wareham voters have never approved a debt exclusion before.

substantial State “Chapter 70” funds that pay almost all of education costs.

Fall River will receive $96 million; New Bedford will receive $113 million. Neither district is facing teacher layoffs.

For Fall River, the extra funds allow them to retain their teachers and maintain the same level of service as last year. Still, the City must come up with $1.6 million to meet the gap between its budget and available funds.

New Bedford has not completed its budget process as of early July, but it, too, received enough Chapter 70 funds to meet its school needs.

Each school district has done their level best, each in their own way, to provide the highest level of service to their students.

The cost to laid-off teachers and their families is tremendous. Regardless of the underlying reasons, hopefully the Solomon’s task that the South Coast schools faced this year won’t need to be repeated next year.

Each school district has done their level best, each in their own way, to provide the highest level of service to their students.

Fall River and New Bedford The two urban school districts—Fall River and New Bedford—are struggling with twin problems of meeting State educational standards and finding the funds to do so. Both receive FY2013 Budget

Budget Cuts

Staff Cuts

Students

Dartmouth

$35.5 M

($607,000)

4.4 added to 311.7

3,878

Fairhaven

$17 M

$360,000

8 out of 147

1,963

Fall River

$88 M

N/A

0 out of 701

9,834

Marion (Elementary only)

$5.26 M

($376,000)

5 out of 31

473

Mattapoisett

$5.75 M

$47,113

0 out of 38

512

New Bedford

$108 M

N/A

0 out of 887

12,551

ORR

$16.6 M

$493,537

--- out of 85

1,151

Wareham

$25.1 M

$2 M

21 out of 250

2,996

Westport

$16 M

$675,000

3 out of 134

1,737

School District

Christine’s Academy of Dance

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Come in for a tour or register for fall classes

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www.Christinesacademy.com

(M=million). Source for data: Individual town and city websites, and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) website for school profiles. Budgets shown do not include “town costs” or costs paid to the town by the school district for such things as payroll administration or trash pick up.

The South Coast Insider / August 2012

15

COVER STORY

Time with a child a mutual gift

by Stacie Charbonneau Hess

What if you could make an impact on a child’s life just by agreeing to be there for him or her four hours a month?

Would you give up a tennis match, a golf game, or a Sunday afternoon drive in exchange for the feeling that you have truly influenced, simply by your presence, a young man or woman in need of a role model?

Yes, it is that easy. Four hours a month.

Usually though, when a relationship is established between Big and Little Brothers or Sisters, they choose to see each other more often, such as every other weekend, on Fridays, or for special outings.

Being a Big Brother or Sister, however, should not be confused with doing “community service” because, as Phil Carney of South Dartmouth, a decade-long Big Brother attests, “I get as much out of it as the kids do.”

There are so many ways to give of oneself, of course, as we are reminded each time we receive a form letter from our favorite charity suggesting we join the annual campaign and send in a check.

How easy it is to do that, and yet how much does it help our hearts to know that we have opened up our checkbooks for a “cause” when we also have the opportunity to make a direct impact, by personally influencing one 16

child or adolescent?

The Big Brother/Sister program allows for these personal interactions that have the possibility of influencing the very course of a child’s life.

For example, one “Big Brother” I spoke to encouraged his Little Brother (after talking it over with the boy’s mother) to transfer as a middle schooler into Nativity Prep school (a tuition-free boys school in downtown New Bedford), where learning is intense and accelerated, and boys who succeed are often placed in prestigious boarding or prep schools when they graduate - a lofty goal for an inner city student of limited means.

Without this larger world view from the Big Brother, however, the opportunity may have not been introduced.

A real-life example Phil Carney is of retirement age; he became a Big Brother around the time he retired from full-time work ten years ago. He came into the program by a rather circuitous path, as that of an “ESP” or Educational Surrogate Parent, someone who makes educational decisions for kids in state custody. He felt that becoming a Big Brother was the next level of commitment for

August 2012 / The South Coast Insider

him.

“What I was seeing was kids in need, kids who need somebody to be there for them, who they can talk to, who they can depend on.”

Often, as now, there is a greater need for Big Brothers (i.e. men), because single mothers, for example, have placed their child’s name on the waiting list in the hopes of finding a male role model for their sons.

No matter why they come to be on the waiting list, or what the family circumstances, children of the Little Brother age range (7-14 years old) are highly susceptible to influence, and receptive to adult attention, though sometimes, understandably, it takes time to establish trust.

Sometimes, the Big Brother wants to help, but struggles with how to spend the precious time he has with his little Brother.

Quality time Phil endured one such struggle. He tells of a story about how he and his former Little Brother learned how to communicate with one other, through a game of cards.

“In the beginning, I was taking Darren (not his real name) to places like he Museum of Science in Boston or to the New Bedford Whaling Museum. I was trying to make it interesting for him. Then one Friday evening I picked him up and he said to me, ‘Phil, I’d like to go to Fairhaven

and get some Pokemon cards.’

“So we do this a few times, and each time he gets in the car, he plays his Gameboy, and I drive him to Fairhaven, and we hardly talk.

So I told him, ‘You know, this isn’t working for me. I pick you up, you play your Gameboy, and there’s no communication.”

Darren was concerned. He asked, “Well, what can I do?”

Phil replied, “If you communicate, and we talk about things for three weekends in a row, I’ll get you some Pokemon cards on the fourth weekend.”

The next weekend, when Darren got in the car, Phil was inundated with questions from Darren. Phil was heartened by the change, and remembered the deal they had.

For three weekends, there was no Gameboy in sight, Darren was fresh with conversation, and Phil enjoyed what he was really seeking in a relationship with his Little Brother, to open the avenues of communication with the young man so they could forge a real relationship.

sharing a lesson Phil attributes the Pokemon game and his setting boundaries with really teaching them both a valuable lesson.

“The real bottom line,” says Carney, “is that we were learning to communicate with one another. That carried over into the game, which became a real lesson in socialization. Every Friday night we would go, and this kid really blossomed.”

Incidentally, Phil does explain that his relationship to his “Little Brother” is more akin to that of Grandfather and Grandson. He likes it this way, and does not think the age difference has any negative impact whatsoever on what he is trying to achieve with these boys.

For all ages The Big Brother/Big Sister coordinator concurs, as she welcomes adults of any age to apply to participate in the Program. The important thing

is finding someone who cares about kids, and who believe that they have something to offer.

Phil Carney wants to make a difference, and he realizes the Big Brother program really carries out his intention. He explains that it’s mostly about “being there,” about paying attention to a child whose life circumstances might cause the child’s hopes and dreams to be overlooked.

“You know,” says Carney, “What I’ve come to realize is that all these kids really need is a break.”

Something as simple as a ride to Fairhaven on a Friday night might not seem like a big deal to many suburban parents who strive to make sure their children have all the enriching activities they need outside of school and home. But for many kids in the city, parents may not have access or means to buy a car, and even something as simple as a doctor’s appointment becomes a logistical hurdle.

Phil Carney is just one man, but in ten years he has managed to have a real impact on the lives of several young man, in the pivotal age when a role model can mean the difference of a future path of hope and possibility or struggle and indecision.

Precious moments The difference between those who serve as Big Brothers and Sisters and those who simply intend to do something good is the lost moment in a child’s future, a future shaped not only by parents, siblings, and family, but by you and me.

We ultimately inhabit the same world, so why would we not want to help, especially when helping is as easy as giving four hours a month to something that will reward us in unexpected ways, a mutual gift.

If you would like to learn more about how to become involved as a Big Brother/Big Sister, please call Deanna Bodeau, Coordinator of the Program at Child and Family Services of New Bedford, (508) 990-0894 or reach her at dbodeau@cfservices.org.

GET INVOLVED!

by MiKE ViEirA

As an educator for almost 40 years, who’s married to a long-time middle school teacher, I’ve observed one thing that hasn’t changed. A caring, involved adult makes all the difference in a child’s education.

Most agree that a child’s two parents are the best folks to encourage, nurture, and reinforce the value of school, but despite what at least one Presidential candidate believes, at least in the South Coast, that’s not realistic.

Single parents, grandparents, older siblings, family friends, community leaders or foster parents can make a difference. What’s the difference between those successful private or charter schools and the so-called troubled public schools? When parents actively choose the school, pay for it or volunteer at it and stress the value of it, that carries over to the kids. If an adult shows the same respect for the teachers and public schools, the students will tool.

But it’s just not success in school that matters. It’s learning to be a good community member and productive citizen in and out of school.

There are programs that help do both.

As a SMILES mentor, I’ve seen the impact just one hour a week can make on a young person. Big Brother and Big Sister programs are an excellent way to create an even stronger bond. For more information, visit http://www.peopleinc-fr. org/programs-smiles.html or http://www.bbbsmb.org/Locations/ Default.aspx.

Our children are our future. We all need to invest in that.

The South Coast Insider / August 2012

17

COVER STORY

Fifth grade classrooms gap Separated by two generations

by FrEd ziliAN

I

do not remember having a poetry recital in Ms. Macaluso’s 5th grade class in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, to which my parents (and grandparents) were invited. Back in 1959 we certainly read poetry in English class—although I remember more clearly the long division arithmetic and, of course, my crush on the teacher—but the school never invited parents (let alone grandparents) to a planned event.

Not so in Portsmouth last June As our granddaughter, Mary Jane Milici, was completing 5th grade at Portsmouth Middle School, we attended what I thought 18

would be a rather short “poetry recital.” Perhaps I was (again) not listening to my wife, Geri, closely enough, because what I experienced that day was much more than a recital.

I had a classroom experience dramatically different in physical layout, teaching format, and technological sophistication than what I experienced as a 5th grader, 52 years ago.

The first difference was that Mary Jane attended 5th grade not as member of a particular teacher’s class, but as part of Learning Center B4. I attended Euclid School and was in Ms. Macaluso’s class. She owned it. I do remember Mr. Tobin, the French teacher, instructing us once

August 2012 / The South Coast Insider

or twice per week. Aside from him, I remember all other instruction coming strictly from Ms. Macaluso.

Not so with Mary Jane She was taught by a “team’ of teachers. Ms. Cindy Jilling served as her homeroom and science teacher.

A native of Westerly, Jilling arrived in Portsmouth 36 years ago, started her teaching at Melville School, but has spent most of her 22-year teaching career at Portsmouth Middle School.

Speaking to Jilling, I quickly realized there was no single principal teacher; there was a team of teachers teaching my granddaughter.

I made it a point to meet the other teachers. Lori Stone, the social studies

teacher, is homegrown, actually attended Portsmouth Middle School, and lives in Portsmouth. She has spent her entire 11-year career in Portsmouth, teaching Social Studies, English Language Arts, and Science.

A native of Worcester, Massachusetts, Amy Guertin was Mary Jane’s English Language Arts (ELA) teacher. Now living in Bristol, Guertin has been teaching for eleven years; her subjects include ELA, Social Studies, and Science.

She is the teacher who assigned the Self-Portrait Assignment to write an “I am” poem. This led to the poetry recital part of this experience.

The fourth member of

the teaching team was Jeanne Kane, a case manager and special education teacher. A native of Meriden, Connecticut, she now lives in Newport and has been teaching for 24 years. She has taught a range of subjects over her career at several Newport County schools, including Coggeshall, Kennedy, Elmhurst, and now Portsmouth Middle. Karen Heller, the Math teacher, was the final member of the team.

In good old Ms. Macaluso’s class, we sat in individual desks (that still had inkwells) aligned in columns facing forward.

Not so now In fact, this was my first impression last June when I sat down at Mary Jane’s circular table and gazed at the other students and parents around that table. (A table normally had five-six students.) This was profoundly different than sitting at individual desks with our heads always facing the teacher.

As an educator myself, I had two reactions. First, such a layout shifts the focus from the teacher to the other students. Second, this should promote cooperation among the students, allowing students to teach students, but it also might increase student distraction and chatter.

My final and lasting impression was the level of technological sophistication in the classroom. I vaguely remember my teacher back in 1959 using an overhead projector. The technology was primitive and owned

exclusively by the school— chalk, blackboard, and overhead projector.

Today’s technology Not only is today’s technology owned also by the students, the students may indeed have greater facility with it than the teachers.

Jilling admitted that many of her students “know more than I do” about today’s classroom technology, a comment that probably applies to many teachers at the Middle School.

Each teacher now has a laptop that can be connected to an Elmo Projector, allowing the projection of such things as assignments, student work, and internet sites. Teachers also post homework assignments on their classroom webpages for students and parents.

Finally, teacher grade books are now online, allowing parent access. Guertin indicated “there are no surprises when the quarter ends.”

As I sat at the round table with Mary Jane, my wife, my daughter Nicole, and my son-in-law Marc, playing a dice game of PIG, and watching a student at the next table projecting his Power Point about planet Jupiter to a white board, I had a sense of true wonderment about the changes in the 5th grade learning experience over these five decades.

Fred Zilian is an educator at Portsmouth Abbey School and an educational consultant with Catholic School Management.

He lives in Portsmouth.

Contact: zilianf@aol.com.

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If you think you may have cataracts, Call 508-730-2020 today to schedule your appointment.

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The South Coast Insider / August 2012

19

THINGS TO DO

Block Island

by PAul lEtENdrE

Do you ever get the feeling that you would like to be far away, but you really don’t have the time or the money to be far away?

A one hour boat trip to Block Island can bring you into a different world.

We live in a world where everything is connected. Block Island doesn’t feel so connected. Maybe it has to do with the 14 miles of ocean that separate it from the rest of North America.

Less popular than the Vineyard or Nantucket, Block’s greatest asset is that it is less popular than the Vineyard or Nantucket. It doesn’t have that trendy pretentiousness that those islands can sometimes overwhelm one with.

If Nantucket were Scotch, and the Vineyard were wine, Block would be draft beer, lowbrow draft--not the fancy artsy-fartsy stuff. It’s a blue collar island.

The island is roughly 4 miles by 6 miles. In 2010, the population was 1,051; it was estimated to be 1,400 to 1,500 in 1662. It hasn’t grown in 350 years …that’s refreshing. This gem of an island has 52 lakes and 17 miles of beaches. The bluffs on the south side of the island offer ocean panoramas 20

that rival any.

The Nature Conservancy, a leading worldwide conservation organization working to protect ecologically important areas, named Block Island as one of the planet’s “Last Great Places.” Think about it, we have one of the world’s last great places in our back yard.

Most of the local ferry services will drop you at Old Harbor, on the east side of this small island. New Harbor is accessed from the west side, so Connecticut and New York boats favor that side.

Old Harbor is the population center, where most of the Island’s hotels, restaurants and shops are located.

Very casual seaside dining fare is the norm here, although there are a few “fine dining spots,” most notably at the Hotel Manisses and the Atlantic Inn.

Aldo’s Aldo’s bakery, restaurant, bike and scooter rentals lie one block back of Water Street where the ferry docks.

August 2012 / The South Coast Insider

Aldo’s is a second generation business started by Aldo Leone in 1970. The businesses are now carried on by his seven children and their spouses.

When Aldo first opened in 1970, he found that his shop was a little removed from the busier tourist areas.

He needed to sell more bakery items, so, each morning he loaded his whaler with products from his bakery and went into the harbor selling his freshly baked goods to still sleeping yachters who sat at anchor.

“Andiamo” (Italian for ‘let’s-go’) he would shout to wake his customers with warm pastry. This nautical pastry run became an island tradition that is carried on by the Leone family and “andiamo” has become somewhat of an island tag. A visit to the island is incomplete without a stop at Aldo’s.

Expensive?

You would expect prices to be relatively high on an island where the bulk of the business is seasonal, where electricity cost 5 to 7 times the norm, where the help has to be housed for the summer, where the property prices are astronomical, and all of the products have to be brought over by boat.

Yes, prices are higher than on the

mainland, but not nearly as high as one would expect and very reasonable for the day tripper.

Old Harbor has island funkiness to it, but the rest of the island is where the beauty lies. “Captivating” is a word that I have never personally used, I don’t like the word. It sounds phony or like an overstatement.

But, I can’t think of another word or phrase that better describes what happens when one views Mohegan’s Bluff. If you are not afraid of heights, you can just stay for hours and gaze— it’s captivating.

New Harbor

From here it will be a downhill coast to the marinas in New Harbor. There are a couple of restaurants and snack bars in the area. The Oar has long been one of my favorites. It’s a casual marina restaurant with great chowder and burgers. They have seating on a deck overlooking the marina and harbor. Take a stroll around the docks and check out the boats and yachts. It’s enjoyable just being around the place.

Watch your time if you are taking a ferry back. You still have a 10-15 minute bike ride to Old Harbor.

If you ride along Ocean Avenue out The Bluffs of one of the marinas, take a left onto To get to the Bluffs from the boat Beach Avenue (at the Police Station). dock, take a left on Water Street, follow It’s a downhill ride to Corn Neck Road a few hundred yards and it changes and the town beach. to Spring Street, follow that up the hill If you take a left on Corn Neck, you’ll past the Southeast Lighthouse and have a 2½ mile ride to the island’s suddenly you’ll be on northernmost point, the Mohegan Trail …the Pond and the After a couple Sachem Bluffs will be on your Block Island National left. This is a hike (30of hours on Wildlife refuge. Other40 minutes) if you are wise, from the intersecthe island, I walking; better to rent a tion of Corn Neck and bicycle or moped, or, if inevitably feel Beach Road, you’ll be the weather is inclema mile from town. my metabolism about ent, take an Island cab There are a few more slow down and spots along the way. (ask for Henry).

If you are biking and I can ignore the Pappas Pizza is highly in decent physical recommended if you are cell phone and in a pizza mood. shape, continue on the Mohegan Trail …you will the message eventually circumnaviA body and soul treat beeps. gate the eastern half of I’ve been visiting the the island. Remember, island irregularly since this island is 4 miles x 6 miles. You the mid 70s. After a couple of hours on can’t get too lost. the island, I inevitably feel my meAlong the way are many scenic tabolism slow down and I can ignore vistas and walking trails. You might the cell phone and the message beeps. venture onto some to the dirt roads Urgent matters become unimportant. along the way; you might stumble It’s almost like being in an alternate upon some seldom visited lakes or a universe—the standards are different secluded ocean nook. here.

Continuing along Mohegan will lead The world has changed dramatically you onto Lakeside Drive and Central since the mid 70s; Block Island hasn’t.

Road. You might want to stop at the Maybe it’s a blessing that this island airport. It’s not your normal airport; gem has been so overlooked. no jets... twin prop planes are the big When you get back to the mainland, boys here. This is what the airports of when you start your drive home, the 30s and 40s were like. It also houscheck yourself; you’ll be viewing the es a little restaurant that is a favorite surroundings a bit differently, you’ll lunch spot for many of the islanders. notice things that you’ve previously taken for granted or overlooked. Block Island can do that for you.

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21

THINGS TO DO

Stunning backdrop, great entertainment

by Cara Connelly

Onset hosts some of the best entertainment of the summer at two festivals in one of the nicest locations—the beautiful seaside setting overlooking Onset Bay.

The lineup for the 20th Onset Blues Festival includes Ricky “King” Russell and Diane Blue, below.

Blues Festival The Onset Bay Association is proudly celebrating their 20th year of bringing highly respected blues artists to the Onset Blues Festival, Saturday, August 4th, at the Gregerman Band Shell amphitheater. Gates open at 11am for the noon to 7pm concert.

Performers will be blues greats Gina Sicilia, Ricky “King” Russell & The Cadillac Horns with harp player Jerry Portnoy along with The Gil Correia Band, and special guests Sean Chambers, Diane Blue, Ton Of Blues and Willie J. Laws.

Tickets are $20, available at the door, or in advance through PayPal at the Onset Bay Association website- www. onsetbluesfestival.com, and at The OBA Office, 4 Union Ave, Onset MA, Oak Grove Package Store, 47 Depot Street, East Wareham and Tarra Dean Studio, Union Ave, Onset.

22

August 2012 / The South Coast Insider

There will be an ‘After Concert Party’, a gathering of Blues Festival artists who will sit in with The Gil Correia Band at 8PM at Stevie’s Pier View Restaurant, 201 Onset Ave, Onset—no cover.

The Onset Blues Festival is sponsored

by Mayflower Bank, affirming the bank’s commitment to support cultural activities in the community and acknowledging the important role the Onset Blues Festival plays in bringing visitors to Onset village.

The Onset Bay Blues Festival is one of the many community activities sponsored throughout the year by the Onset Bay Association. For more information contact Onset Bay Association, 4 Union Ave, PO Box 799, Onset MA 02558 Diane Vance, 508-207-5995, www.onsetbluesfestival.com

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The music of Cape Verde has a beat similar to Salsa; performers who have emigrated from Cape Verde and now live in the area are asked to play their instruments and sing, and the music they bring is original to the Cape Verde Islands.

Traditional Cape Verdeans foods and vendor items such as art, jewelry and clothing will be on sale.

The mission of the Onset Cape Verdean Festival is to promote information and the culture of Cabo Verde, to foster a wider understanding and celebrate the immigrants’ origin, history and culture, especially in the communities with large numbers of residents with Cape Verdean heritage, and, most importantly, with Cape Verdean youth.

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August 2012 / The South Coast Insider

Open studio Tours The self-guided tour will take you across small highways and rural byways of stunning natural beauty.

Along the way you’ll discover the work of welcoming artists working in such diverse mediums as oils, acrylics, watercolors, photography, sculpture, basketry, fiber arts, ceramics, glass, wood, metal, jewelry, paper and mixed media. All you have to do is follow the map in the brochure and look for the blue and white Open Studio signs and windsocks marking each studio or gallery. And, if you can’t make it to every gallery on the tour, remember that each artist can be reached through SCA’s Artist Member Directory on the website and plans can be made with individual artists for a visit some other time.

The Open Studio is figuring 70 exhibiting artists. Tour weekend is free, open to the public, and require absolutely no registration. For more information visit www.southcoastartists.org

FLASH

Lloyd Center’s Clambake XXVII, ‘simply, The Best!’

The Lloyd Center for the Environment’s CLAMBAKE XXVII, known locally as “Simply, the best!” was held on the evening of Friday, July 13, by the side of the sea at Demarest Lloyd State Park in Dartmouth.

Those who have attended this event in the past, know it to be the unofficial “kick-off” of the South Coast’s summer season, with its glorious sea-side setting, complete New England boiled-lobster “clambake” dinner, top-shelf open bar, extraordinary silent auction and dancing to the strains of ‘Men in Black’, a fun, high energy, six piece band with powerhouse male and female vocals. A tradition upon which so much depends, the Clambake helps to underwrite the costs of the Lloyd Center’s critically important environmental research and education programs.

Today, the Lloyd Center is working hard to protect the nature of our beautiful coast and to bring first-rate environmental science classes to thousands of deserving children in our area’s public schools. The Lloyd Center is truly giving back to children that vital connection to nature, which for so many had been lost.

The South Coast Insider / August 2012

25

THINGS TO DO

The Seven (or so) Wonders of the South Coast

by Elizabeth Morse Read

U

sually by August, most parents are more-thanready for their kids to go back to school.

And so it was when I was a kid growing up in New Bedford in the 1950s.

My mother took us to the beach Monday through Friday. Sunday was reserved for my father’s notorious “scenic route drives” to visit relatives or to get ice cream at Gulf Hill in Dartmouth.

We’d all pile into the station wagon, including my slightly-dotty grandmother, and we’d all get maple walnut cones, whether that’s what we wanted or not.

But no matter where we went, those Sunday drives were adventures for me.

The world(s) we passed through looked very different than the view from my bedroom window – sand dunes, forests, airplanes, lots of boats, cornfields.

And even if there were a more direct route to our destination, my father always chose the road less travelled, so the view from my car window changed every week.

Fortunately for me, there were a few other indulgent grown-ups with cars who thought it was important that I visit a herring weir or watch cows getting milked or visit the seven-plus won-

26

ders of the South Coast.

The cost of gasoline is a lot higher now than it was when Route 6 was the major highway to anywhere, but a child’s “Wow!!!” is priceless.

Here’s my list, seen from the rear-view window of 50 years ago:

Going to the movies One of the great things about growing up in a city was that you could walk just about anywhere. So Saturdays were walking days, no matter the weather— piano lessons, Confession at church.

But it was a “with permission” day to fly solo and explore beyond the neighborhood. I could walk downtown, buy a bag of roasted peanuts and meet my friends to see a matinee movie. And then I’d take the scenic route walking home—funeral parlors, churches, corner groceries, florist shops.

Old ladies in rocking chairs waved at you, cars stopped when you crossed the street, and the pharmacist (who doubled as the soda jerk) wasn’t surprised when all you ordered was a nickel Coke.

But going to the movies in a car was even more exciting. Getting someone’s mother to drive us all to see

the Vincent Price doubleheader at the little theatre in north Fairhaven was a major Saturday adventure.

The popcorn was stale, the floors were sticky and the movies were painfully bad, even to us. But we knew we’d be getting root beers at the A&W and maybe a side trip to the Portuguese bakery afterwards.

But the ultimate movie experience was going to the drive-in.

My father would flip down the middle seat of the station wagon and spread blankets and we’d all pile in (minus my grandmother)

dressed in pajamas and clutching a pillow. And we’d drive off into the dark to watch a movie only your parents would want to see.

But, if we behaved, we could walk over to the concession stand (in pajamas) to buy a box of French fries with malt vinegar. Sometimes we saw fireflies.

Fast forward. Fifteen years ago, I moved back here with my three children from metro New York City and bought a house up the street from the same Vincent Price movie theatre. The popcorn was still stale, the floors were even

August 2012 / The South Coast Insider Ned’s Point Light in Mattapoisett.

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stickier, but for $2 each, my kids could walk to a Saturday matinee.

And even though the screen and concession stand were torn down decades ago, the marquee for the Fairhaven Drive-In still stands on the corner of Route 6 and Bridge Street.

Big rocks Seeing as we spent a lot of time at the beach (and seeing as I spent many summer weeks visiting my cousins on Nantucket), I developed a lifelong fascination with rocks.

Scrambling over the jetties at low tide was the kidversion of climbing Mount Everest. Smaller rocks (aka stones) along the waterlines were either smooth and glittery or chunky and pink.

Again, not something you’d find in your back yard.

Plus there’d be funny birds with skinny legs and long beaks scurrying every-

where. Even I knew they weren’t pigeons or seagulls.

And then there were the really BIG rocks along the South Coast that tourists were interested in. Plymouth Rock was a puzzling disappointment to me back then. Even at that age, I found it suspicious that the Pilgrims had managed to land on a rock inscribed with “1620.”

But then there was Dighton Rock in Berkley, with all sorts of strange inscriptions.

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And just a few miles away was Profile Rock in Assonet.

If you squinted, you saw the profile of the Wampanoag chief Massasoit. In Fall River, there was the trafficstopping Rolling Rock, the official glacial rock of Massachusetts. (It’s anchored down now, but even to a grown-up, it’s really BIG.)

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August 2012 / The South Coast Insider

There are probably as many Catholic churches on the South Coast as there are in Rome. They dominated the skyline of my childhood and let me know whose neighborhood I was walking through.

If there were no funeral cars parked out front, you could sneak in through a side door and just gawk at the stained glass windows, statues, frescoes, huge organs and ceilings that disappeared up to heaven.

They all smelled of lemon oil and beeswax and sometimes incense.

And then there were the libraries. Sure, I loved books, but the buildings themselves were a wonder.

The Millicent Library in Fairhaven is like something out of a fairy tale. The New Bedford Public Library had massive paintings and hand-written ships’ logs on the third floor, just like a museum. And there was the scary sculpture out front of a man with a harpoon standing in a “stove boat,” which I assumed had something to do with heat or steam.

My favorite museums at that time were the Fall River Historical Society Museum—lots of old clothing, Lizzie Borden artifacts (to this day, I shudder whenever someone calls me ‘Lizzie’) and, of course, the Whaling Museum. Who’d think of putting a boat inside a building??

I loved to draw, so the scrimshaw intrigued me and I was amazed at how many ways you could make a knot from a piece of rope.

I’ve since visited Buddhist temples, Aztec pyramids,

Roman ruins and plenty of Gothic cathedrals, usually with my kids in tow, but nothing quite matches the thrill of a seven-year old coming face-to-face with the monumental and mysterious for the first time.

Little beaches Many people have their favorite fishing holes, usually in some out-of-the-way location the tourists haven’t discovered yet. And so it is with the many hidden “swimming holes” and waterside havens along the South Coast.

Sure there are the sprawling state beaches like Horseneck in Westport, but that’s a day-trip of traffic, parking fees and noisy beach parties, not to mention not-kidfriendly surf conditions and green flies that bite.

My parents warned us about the Undertoad that would suck you off your feet and drown you. Why would a kid want to spend a day worrying about giant frogs under the water??

My favorites from that time were Onset Beach in Wareham, which is in a time warp from Victorian days with its boardwalk, salt-water taffy store, gazebo and tiny beach any vigilant mother would love.

Fort Phoenix State Beach in Fairhaven has lots of rocks to climb and fish from—and real Revolutionary War cannon to climb!

(Now with the hurricane dike, you can walk forever and watch the fishing boats go in and out of the harbor.)

And, although it might not be much of a swimming hole, Ned’s Point in Mattapoisett was a great place for picnics, kite-flying, watch-

ing the sailboat races and chasing each other around the lighthouse. C’mon—how often do you get to run around a lighthouse?

Places with trees One of my earliest memories is of watching the elm tree in front of my house keel over during a hurricane. Many people think of cities as concrete wastelands barren of plant life. But I grew up in a city that even Herman Melville praised for its lush gardens and majestic trees.

Sure, we could go to Buttonwood Park or take a Sunday drive through the orchards in Acushnet or the state forest in Freetown, but I could walk up and down the streets of my neighborhood and get up-close-andpersonal with horse chestnuts, cherry, lilacs, maples, willows and the occasional gingko.

We made crowns and wreaths from willow branches and a cousin showed me how to carve a pipe from the chestnuts.

A bouquet of lilacs for the classroom shrine earned major brownie points with the nuns. But the trees were all in someone’s yard, so I never got to climb them.

I finally got to climb a tree when I went to camp. It was a pine tree, so there were lots of branches to stand on or grasp. By the time I climbed down, I looked like I’d been tarred-andfeathered. No one told me that pine trees oozed sap that left black splotches on your clothes and took three weeks to wash out of your hair.

Fast-forward a few decades (when I’d outgrown the urge to climb trees): I was chaperoning a group

of European exchange students on a field trip to an apple orchard. Apple trees are pretty easy to climb, and climb they did, as they tossed me their cameras to record the event. But just as I was about to call out, “Say fromage!,” I noticed that the branches they were sitting on were covered in poison ivy. Apparently, they don’t have poison ivy (or skunks) in Europe.

I tried to take the same “Sunday scenic route” approach with my kids as had shaped me, and they seem to have survived.

We once took a three-day detour to Iceland on the way to Germany. Granted, Iceland is not your average tourist mecca, but kids just look at things differently than grown-ups do.

On that trip, my daughter, then seven years old, commented, “Mom, have you noticed that there are no trees in this country?” Two years later, after a few days in Mexico City, she commented, “Mom, have you noticed that there are no clocks in this country?”

Huh. Maybe they were listening after all.

And the point of all this ramble?

Look at your surroundings through the eyes of a child, and take a kid or two with you when you leave the beaten path. The malls, amusement parks, and orchestrated birthday pool parties will all be forgotten.

Go pack a picnic lunch with a thermos of lemonade. Go fly a kite or climb a (safe) tree. Go teach someone how to bait a hook or skip a stone or tie a square knot—or how to identify poison ivy. Let the little ones teach you about stuff you never noticed before.

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29

SOMETHING NEW

Engagement vs. man-gagement?

by Cara Connelly

How long is too long to date someone without becoming engaged? Are some women, tired of waiting for that romantic proposal they dreamed about when they were little girls, and “popping the question” themselves?

More engagements are now becoming mangagements.

Modern times, modern traditions, I suppose. What has been “the way” for nearly a decade in many European countries is now becoming a trend in the United States. In 5% of all engagement relationships, the woman did the proposing and offered her intended a ‘mangagement ring’ as a symbol of a promise date and commitment.

Yup, you read it correctly, ‘mangagement ring.’

Although the term sounds more like a ring someone would be given as part of a promotion to the management tier of his company, it’s the term used to describe a ring a man is given by his significant other—actually an engagement ring for guys!

Whoa! What the heck? Is this some gimmick by the jewelry industry to get you to spend more? Or is it a ploy by feminists to brand men with engagement rings, too? Maybe it’s something for insecure partners who weren’t satisfied he changed his Facebook status to engaged and want 30

to alert the entire world their man is in an engaged relationship?

Even as I am typing this article, the spell check on the computer underlines mangagement as an alert, a red flag, a word it does not recognize. I bet that changes with the next Word update.

Engagements have a long tradition.

An engagement or betrothal is a promise to marry and also the period of time between proposal and the actual marriage ceremony— which may be lengthy or trivial.

During this period, a couple is said to be betrothed, affianced, engaged to be married, or simply engaged. Future brides and grooms may be called the betrothed; a wife-to-be or husbandto-be, fiancées or fiancés, respectively (from the French word finance).

Something old Long engagements were once common

August 2012 / The South Coast Insider

in formal, arranged marriages. It wasn’t uncommon for the parents who were arranging the marriage to set long engagements for the couple, to give significant time so that the details could be worked out and the couple would be old enough to marry.

This is still common in culturally conservative communities in Israel, India, Africa and Persian Gulf countries, although most of these have a requirement that the bride be at least allowed veto power.

The art of negotiating the ‘bride price’ or dowry originated in Europe. In most

cultures now what was once the dowry is now an engagement ring and a marriage contract.

I don’t think anyone except the couple themselves can put a time frame on the length of the engagement.

Some people complete it in weeks/ months, but some people take years.

Some take decades. Then, others are engaged for life—they like the commitment of being engaged, but do not wanting to be married, for whatever personal reasons.

If they agree on the duration of the engagement, then all is well. It’s usual to tell everyone you are engaged, and usual for the woman to wear an engagement ring as a sign of her promise.

The idea that the man will also wear an engagement ring gives relationships a new sense of equality. It is a precommitment from both the man and the woman.

But what if you want the man to wear a symbol to display his commitment?

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something new Amada Gizzi, spokesperson for the Jewelry Information Center, says the concept of mangagements is starting to take off in the United States.

“Engagement rings for men are a new concept here in the U.S. Men and women both wear engagement rings in a lot of countries around the world.

For the United States it has never been our tradition. Therefore, it is a foreign Continued on next page The South Coast Insider / August 2012

31

Continued from previous page

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August 2012 / The South Coast Insider

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concept to most people.”

Jewelry industry insiders say they’re seeing a lot more female clients doing the proposing. They, of course, are quick to remind us that at no time should a man then assume that diamonds are a dispensable part of the deal.

Gizzi adds, “The idea that the man will also wear an engagement ring gives relationships a new sense of equality. It is a pre-commitment from both the man and the woman.”

The good news is that some of these rings are more affordable than traditional wedding bands.

Of course, you can go as expensive and elaborate as you want or as simply as you want; Prices usually range from a couple hundred dollars to thousands.

Gizzi says the types of metals range from platinum and gold to stainless steel to tungsten. “Find one that fits his personality and style.”

It’s common to add a personal touch.

If your guy is a gear head, a custom ring with the flair of a nut or bolt would be a perfect option. Some men prefer precious metals and stones, maybe combining birthstones of the engaged couple.

Then what do you do on the big day, standing at the altar, ready to exchange rings? Jewelers say it’s up the couple. Some couples will simply keep the original ring. Others still will add another ring to the initial mangagement ring. Still other couples will upgrade the initial ring.

The beauty of the mangagement ring is that there is no right or wrong way to this new twist on the engagement process. It’s all about your taste, style and budget.

Watch out—in the next few years, the term mangagement will roll off your tongue as easily as the word diamond and even your grandmother will know what it means.

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The South Coast Insider / August 2012

33

WINE NOTES

Let’s host a wine tasting!

BY Alton Long

Holding a wine tasting is a great way to entertain your friends and neighbors. It does not have to be a somber and serious activity. It can be for fun and pleasure, yet somewhat educational.

To do this, you need to decide what your objectives are, the balance you wish to strike as you blend the enjoyment of bringing friends together with learning a little about some interesting wines.

Select a theme There are dozens of themes and approaches and you can make it as sophisticated or simple as you want.

Let’s pick something in the middle, mixing a bit of fun with just a little education.

Perhaps you have a preference for Italian wines, so you select that for your theme. Or you might “visit” a number of European countries, or a single area of the United States.

If the guests are fairly inexperienced in wine, you can have 4 to 6 different wines from that many countries or vineyards. But if the guests are more serious you can pick a theme, like wines of Spain or Italy, or even more specific like wines of the Rhone regions of France. The possibilities are almost unlimited.

To keep everybody happy, you might want to plan on having two or three white wines for a particular country or region followed by two or three reds. Of course, if you have selected

34

a northern European country like Germany or Austria you will most likely find that you will be tasting all white wines.

How much to buy?

Start by picking up several different wines, including a few you have always liked plus one or two you have never tried, or, a couple that the wine shop person recommends.

Assuming that the guests will want a decent pour of wine in their glass, about 2 ounces of each wine, you will need a bottle of that wine for a dozen guests. If you have a larger group, like 16 or more, you will need two bottles of each.

If you control the pouring you can save a little so that some guests who linger can go back and re-sample one they particularly liked. But for safety’s sake you need to keep the consumption down to 12 ounces or less per individual and make sure that the guests have a lot of tempting palette cleansers like cheese and dips.

Individual rating forms The tasting attendees should have rating sheet or “Wine Evaluation Forms” listing all the wines they will be tasting, if this is not a “blind”

August 2012 / The South Coast Insider

tasting. If you want to keep it simple, you can have a basic “10” point scale, allowing 1 point for color and clarity; 2 for aroma and bouquet; 3 for taste, balance and flavor: and 4 for aftertaste and your own predilection.

There are more complex forms, most of them using the 20-point scale such as those used in California for many years (the UC Davis form). The American Wine Society has a similar form on the web. As a wine judge as well as a wine writer, I have my own form quite similar to the UC Davis form, but I have a different version for red wines, white wines and sweet wines.

Glass or plastic?

Decide what type of “vessels” you will use to serve the wine. Few people have enough wine glasses to allow each guest to have six or eight glasses each, and the best solution is to have only two wines at a time, then dump and rinse between each round.

Having two wines provides the taster with an immediate comparison of

which of those two wines is “better” and “why.”

Or you can use 8-ounce clear plastic wine “cups.” But if you do feel you must provide six to eight wines all at once, put a sticker on each cup providing the number so the taster will not get them mixed up.

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Include time for comments After the guests have had a chance to taste and rate the first two wines, let each person say what they like or didn’t like. Keep it informal and jargon-free.

For example, “I found wine number one a little harsh. But wine number two was very smooth.”

Then the next person adds, “ Yes, I agree that number two was harsh, but it was also bitter. I too prefer wine number one.” And it goes on and all the tasters have a better feel about the wines they taste.

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As much as I have studied and judged wines, I almost always find that someone will detect an anomaly or characteristic that I missed. So I listen carefully, and always, always, save a little wine so I can see if I can detect the unique character that I may have missed.

So you learn a lot about a wine when you get a lot of other opinions. You do not have to agree, as everyone’s taste is different.

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Wine tastings are fun, and, they are educational; you may discover wines that will become a favorite in your own cellar. It’s a great way to entertain friends and justify your own explorations of one of the most pleasant hobbies in the world.

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The South Coast Insider / August 2012

35

BUSINESS BUZZ

Launching a successful business

by Sherri Mahoney-Battles

The success of your business is dependent on the foundation it’s built upon, and a business owner who takes the time to lay down a strong foundation will avoid future pitfalls.

Surely, the baby steps involved in opening a new business are exciting: the grand opening, the first sale, the new sign, the first signed contract; all of these things are great to behold. No doubt some of the other more tedious tasks are a little less awe-inspiring.

They are, nonetheless, an intrinsic part of starting a new business, and a business whose owner neglects those tasks will be hindered from the get go.

Licensing One of the first steps in starting a business is to explore licensing and reporting requirements. Typically, states and towns require businesses to be licensed within their jurisdiction, and most trades have licensing requirements. In many situations there may be a lengthy licensing process so start the process well ahead of your anticipated launch date. Day care providers, for example, are required to be licensed and inspected prior to opening.

Businesses which produce food items typically need to be inspected by a state health department official.

Most types of businesses are regulated and licensed in order to protect consumers, and the fines for operating outside these requirements are usually quite steep.

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Taxes Businesses with employees must withhold payroll taxes and file payroll tax returns.

The penalties levied at employers who fail to properly withhold or pay these taxes are exceptionally high, and I always recommend that companies work with a reputable payroll company to help meet the filing requirements.

A company selling taxable merchandise or food items is required to collect and submit sales tax on a regular basis, and register with the state taxing authority in order to submit sales or meals reports.

Follow the money A crucial element in starting a business is to establishing a bookkeeping system. Businesses usually start to incur expenses even before opening their doors, so you will want to have a method of tracking income and expenses early on.

Setup a separate checking account for your business so you can easily separate business and personal items.

In the event of a tax audit it’s much easier to support business deductions when they are paid through a separate business account versus being

August 2012 / The South Coast Insider

lumped in with personal expenses.

As you pay business expenses start to think in terms of expense accounts for such things as advertising, office supplies, repairs and maintenance, dues and publications, materials, postage, and telephone. A business’ general ledger includes income and expense accounts tailored to meet the business’ specific tracking needs.

For example, some businesses might elect to have separate accounts for different types of advertising such as print, radio or television while another business might choose to have one total for all of their advertising expense.

Paper or software?

Many small business owners elect to use software such as QuickBooks to do their bookkeeping while others use more manual systems. In our office we still have clients who use green ledger sheets or folders labeled with expense accounts. Any method you use must be able to provide totals by income and expense categories for preparing tax returns.

Choose your team With all those considerations in mind, assemble a team of professionals who can help facilitate the growth and success of your business.

If tracking income and expenses isn’t part of your skill-set, you may want to find a reputable bookkeeping service.

A tax professional who specializes in small business development can help educate you about tax issues and

point you towards the bookkeeping solution which best coordinates with your abilities.

your ID number Certain businesses are required to obtain an employer identification number (EIN) from the IRS; this allows the IRS to track wages and other payments. Businesses which operate as LLC’s, and sole-proprietorships, corporations, or partnerships are required to have EIN’s.

An EIN is helpful in establishing a business bank account, separate from your personal bank account, and some organizations you do business with may require your business to have an EIN. Additionally, companies which have income reporting requirements (1099 Forms) will request an identification number for your business.

Your social security number will meet this requirement, however, I recommend you safeguard your social security number and obtain an EIN instead.

Be very wary in distributing your social security number!

The IRS offers a free service on their website, www.irs.gov/businesses, where the EIN application can be completed quickly and easily.

Corp or LLC or...

Another important consideration is the type of entity your business elects to operate under. Most small singleowner businesses operate as soleproprietorships, but many businesses operate as corporations, partnerships or LLC’s.

Your attorney and accountant can help advise you in this area, and the entity you chose will impact your tax filings, insurance needs, banking, and bookkeeping. So, if you know you will be operating your business as a corporation it would be wise to establish the corporation early in the startup process.

Starting a new business can be exciting and terrifying at the same time, and the list of things that need to be is far too lengthy to address in one article.

Every business should have a business and marketing plan. Some businesses will require a logo, location, signage, press releases, marketing materials, business cards, stationary, computers, vehicles, equipment, operating systems, financing etc.

The list of things to consider can seem endless, but in helping clients with their small business development needs I have always found that those who did a little more legwork early in the start-up process spent less time running around putting out fires later.

Certainly, not every situation or event can be predetermined and addressed, but a little bit of groundwork and planning can help to level out a few of the bumps in the road ahead.

starting a new business can be exciting and terrifying at the same time.

Insurance A phone call to your insurance agent can help you determine your insurance requirements. If you have employees you must have workers compensation insurance. Most probably you will need business owner’s liability, professional and/or property business insurance, before you commence operations.

Sherri F. Mahoney-Battles, founder of Taxing Matters, is an Enrolled Agent, licensed by the U.S. Treasury to represent clients in cases of audit, collections, and appeals.

She conducts small business seminars regarding financial issues, writes for periodicals, and maintains offices in Orleans and Westport. Contact information: www. taxingmatters.com, email Sherilyn@taxingmatters.com or call her at 508-636-9829.

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37

business buzz

The bridge to nowhere Jay Pateakos

Perhaps Rod Serling said it best: “This highway leads to the shadowy tip of reality: you’re on a through route to the land of the different, the bizarre, the unexplainable…Ladies and Gentlemen, you’re entering…the Twilight Zone.”

It’s a case of “you can’t get here from there.”

I’ll be the first to admit I had never heard of the Brightman Street Bridge until I started working in Fall River in 2004. My friends in Fall River laugh about that to this day.

But many people like me who grew up in New Bedford or the surrounding towns only knew of one way to cross the Taunton River: The Charles M. Braga Jr. Bridge. If you think about it, even places in Somerset or Swansea which we may need to know, like the Venus for instance, we can easily get to off the Braga.

opened to traffic in September and October of 2011. But like any rerouting of traffic, there is good, and there is bad.

At first, there were no signs indicating that crossing the bridge from the west would take you to Fall River. Even now, the lack of clear signs continues to create a nowhere zone.

A road less taken

Casualties

Once I started working in Fall River, it didn’t take long to learn how antiquated the old Brightman bridge was, and that, after many decades of promises, there would finally be a new bridge.

While many people welcomed the new bridge, for it more than doubled the original span and created far less traffic jams because it didn’t have to open as often, many businesses were concerned about the ramifications of a bridge closing and a major traffic span in Route 6 being moved.

They were right to be concerned.

The new Veterans Memorial Bridge

The struggles of Brightman Poultry, which had been open for more than six decades, were well documented when traffic was routed away from their store.

They closed for good in December of 2011.

On the Somerset side, a once vibrant part of Route 6 just over the old Brightman Street Bridge is now a ghost town with half the businesses closed and the other half struggling to find a way to bring people back.

The only access to the former Route 6 location is through Brayton Avenue, and for businesses that relied on

38

August 2012 / The South Coast Insider

passerby traffic, well, let’s just say with a “not a thru way” sign up ahead, there’s not much traffic going in either direction.

“We have our regular customers, but as for new clients, we are getting less than half of the walk-ins we used to get,” said Steve Angell, owner of A-Tech Computers, which builds and repairs computers, and is “located” at 140 Slades Ferry Avenue, though it faces the old Route 6.

Hit hard “I moved in a year ago so I knew the bridge was going to close, but I never expected it to be this bad. I started mailing coupons just to get people in here.”

Since moving in, Angell has seen his neighbor, the New York Buffet restaurant, leave, and then the Webster Bank across the street. He said the town’s economic development committee was supposed to assist businesses affected by the bridge’s closure, but he

has not seen anything yet.

“If they’re not driving by, there’s no impulse to shop,” added Angell. “I suppose I’m just going to have to tough it out. We’ll see how it goes. I don’t want to go through the expense of moving.”

No signs, no help Kevin Macedo, bartender at the Gridiron Sports Bar & Grill at 150 Slades Ferry Ave. said something that would help his business and others is signs pointing people to where they are located now that it’s much more difficult to get to that part of the old Route 6.

“We still get our regular customers but we don’t get those passerby customers anymore,” said Macedo.

“Customers don’t stop in because they don’t know how to get here anymore or they aren’t driving by here at all now that the bridge is closed. We just don’t get those random people.”

Amelia’s Flower Garden owner Joyce Souza, who has been at her location for three years now, said she’s been told that businesses in the area are going to have their taxes reassessed since the bridge has closed, something she hopes will help her cash-strapped business.

“Thank God for our regular customers or I don’t know where we’d be. The profit margin for this business is very small and we’re competing against big box stores like Home Depot and WalMart,” said Souza.

“An increase in the volume of business would certainly bring that profit up, but we haven’t had that. Just the opposite, actually.”

Like Angell, Souza has thrown her hat into the advertising ring, creating coupons and advertisements to let people know Amelia’s is still open, but she saw none of those coupons get handed in.

Souza said part of the problem is that with the rerouting of traffic, many motorists don’t know how to get to her place, even if they wanted to.

Rumors and inaction “For many of these people coming from Swansea or parts of Somerset, if they don’t take that right at Brayton Avenue, they are already over the bridge and then it’s too late,” said Souza.

“There’s nothing on County Street to show people how to get here.”

Souza hopes to eventually see signs like they have in other towns pointing people in the right direction, to the former Route 6 businesses. The town has been known to be wary on signs popping up just anywhere, but she hopes that they will help these businesses that make up a part of Route 6 now located in the Twilight Zone.

“We have to put something over where people come off the new bridge to tell people where we are and how to get here,” said Souza, who hopes to get the upper portion of her property open for another driveway that will allow easier access for motorists.

“We’ve done everything from Facebook announcements to advertisements and nothing is helping. I don’t really know where any of us can go from here now.”

In addition to the businesses we interviewed, there are still plenty of places open for business along this strip of the former Route 6 that need customers to get by. Places like Pizza Hut and IZ Schwartz Appliance which have been in this location for years and would take on considerable expense to move.

Let’s hope something comes about, whether it’s easier access to the road or signs at numerous spots to remind people that these local businesses are still open.

“We have to put something over where people come off the new bridge to tell people where we are and how to get here”

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39

BUSINESS BUZZ

Navigating the Octopus

by Lilia Cabral

If you live in the New Bedford area, you are familiar with The Octopus.

“The Octopus” is the well-deserved nickname for the intersection of Route 6, Mill Street, Kempton Street, Pleasant Street and Sixth Street in downtown New Bedford. It is referred to as the Octopus since this is exactly what it looks like when viewed from above.

The Octopus has seven separate legs or ‘tentacles’ that extend out to Fairhaven to the east and Dartmouth to the west and to both north and south ends of the city.

As most drivers and pedestrians are probably aware, this focal point of 40

vehicular and foot traffic in downtown New Bedford experiences significant traffic delays, especially during the early evening rush hour.

Cars and boats The situation only worsens with the regular

August 2012 / The South Coast Insider

closings and re-openings of the New Bedford-Fairhaven Bridge that provides access to the harbor for the fishing fleet and other vessels.

The long lines of vehicles overwhelm the westbound approach to the “Octopus” intersection when the bridge re-opens and traffic flow resumes. In other words, the boat traffic only worsens the car traffic.

Congestion and safety This convoluted intersection experiences more than its share of rear-end crashes, side-swipe crashes and lane departure crashes.

In addition to these, since 2008 there have been 3 pedestrian crashes here, and tragically, one of these was a fatality.

At the request of the city of New Bedford, SRPEDD is conducting an extensive study of this intersection in an effort to identify contributing factors and offer potential solutions.

Short term recommendations of the SRPEDD study include the optimization of signal timings and pedestrian phases, which require the replacement of the present traffic signal equipment in conjunction with

updated pavement markings and signage.

These recommendations also include extensive upgrades for pedestrian and bicycle accommodations, improvements will optimize the operation of the intersection, thus shortening the delay experienced by users, as well as improving the safety of motorists and pedestrians alike.

Impatience and risk During a broad public outreach effort initiated by SRPEDD, including several public meetings, both motorists and pedestrians expressed impatience with the operation of the intersection, especially the delays

and as efficiently as its users allow.

Pedestrians should always use pedestrian signals when available and motorists should always come to a complete stop at a red light. Unfortunately, educating motorists is most often directed at new or teenage drivers and educating pedestrians is most often directed at school aged children, but everyone should know and obey the rules of the road.

Increasing awareness SRPEDD is planning a pedestrian education outreach program that is adapted for the rest of us, starting with efforts in the Octopus

The average delay at this intersection was 64 seconds for a motorist and the maximum delay was 2 minutes for a pedestrian. experienced while using it.

This impatience is apparently leading to motorists taking prohibited “RightTurn-On-Reds� and leading to pedestrians crossing without using the pedestrian signals available.

SRPEDD determined the average delay at this intersection was 64 seconds for a motorist and the maximum delay was 2 minutes for a pedestrian.

When waiting for a light, one or two minutes may seem like a great length of time, but when considering the possible consequences, it is no time at all.

Unfortunately, a signal system only functions as safely

neighborhood, especially the surrounding housing complexes with residents who walk through the intersection regularly.

Improvements to the intersection, and the pedestrian education outreach efforts, will ease congestion and improve safety for all users of the Octopus, but these efforts will only go so far.

All drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists‌ all of us, need to do our part as well, and not just at this intersection. It is our responsibility to be alert and to obey all traffic rules. We can all help to keep us all moving and, hopefully, keep us all safe.

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41

MUSICAL SOUTH COAST

The power of music by dAVid PrENtiss

there is no better example of the power of music than the dartmouth Public schools: their national championship marching band and color guard and their award-winning indoor percussion ensemble bring home justly deserved accolades on a regular basis.

The district also boasts a concert band, stage band and jazz band, plus choruses at the elementary, middle school and high school levels, and a very impressive orchestra program.

Orchestra Directors Heather Church and Charlene Monte (grades 5-12), and String Specialist Susan Bouley (grades 6-8), have their hands full. The string program has over 200 students in grades five through twelve.

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Every year the program presents a number of concerts, including a combined middle school and high school themed concert. A year ago they focused on the music of Beethoven, Mozart, Strauss and other classical composers. This year they delved into the world of musicals, with the students dressing as their favorite characters at the concert.

August 2012 / The South Coast Insider

Enjoying excellence Making music and having fun go hand in hand, but so does musical excellence and professionalism. The high school chamber orchestra won first prize this year at the World Strides Heritage Performance Festival in New York City and was invited to audition to perform at Carnegie Hall. The high school string orchestra earned a silver medal.

The academic results of string program students are also impressive.

All seventeen seniors are going on to college.

When not performing in Dartmouth or New York, the orchestra heads over to Europe; last year the group traveled to Austria and Germany to present

concerts in the land of Beethoven and Mozart.

While there, the students visited Salzburg, the birthplace of Mozart, and toured Vienna’s historic Staatsoper —the State Opera House. They went hiking along the Danube River and performed at the Esterhazy Palace in Eisenstadt where Haydn once conducted concerts.

The impact these experiences have on young people is immense. Heather Church knows this firsthand. “I am passionate about keeping music in our schools. I not only witness the importance of it on a daily basis with our students, but I myself would not have started playing music without the opportunity offered in the Dartmouth public schools twenty years ago when I was a student.

“I am very grateful that the school district continues to support our music programs and I feel lucky to be a part of it. Music is not only a meaningful and creative experience for children, it also teaches them the skills they need in life: how to treat people with respect and appreciation, how to work hard and collaborate with others, and how to be more patient, considerate and tolerant toward others.”

She adds, “We spend so much time working individually and together, relying on each other and rehearsing for months to prepare for a concert. And then I see the pride the students feel after a performance and think, what could be more important this this!”

Essential education The Dartmouth school string program and the school district’s overall music program are striking examples of the power of music, the impact it has on our lives. All the benefits that music programs bring to children—from personal enrichment to academic success to building critical life skills—make it clear that music programs are an essential part of children’s education.

Do you have your own “power of music” stories? I’d love to hear them and share them with other readers.

Please send them to info@nbsymphony.org.

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43

BOOK PICKS

By Magoo Gelehrter Courtesy of Baker Books – www.bakerbooks.net David Allen Wehr

For sunny summer reads, nothing beats a mix of sports and new fiction from fresh authors.

Take any one of these into the hammock for an afternoon and enjoy a flight of fancy without having to leave your own backyard.

BORN TO RUN

by Christopher McDougall Random House $15.95 paperback

BOOK OF JONAS

by Stephen Dau Penguin $24.95 hardcover

This is an epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? In search of an answer, Christopher McDougall sets off to find a tribe of the world’s greatest distance runners and learn their secrets, and shows us that everything we thought we knew about running is wrong.

The reclusive Tarahumara Indians of Mexico’s deadly Copper Canyons practice ancient techniques that allow them to run hundreds of miles without rest and chase down any speedy target while enjoying every mile. And they are immune to the diseases and strife that plague modern existence.

McDougall uncovers the secrets of the Tarahumara and finds his own inner ultra-athlete, as he trains for a fifty-mile race through the heart of Tarahumara country.

With a sharp wit and wild exuberance, McDougall takes us from the high-tech science labs at Harvard to the sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks where ultrarunners push their bodies to the limit. Born to Run will engage your mind and inspire your body when you realize that the secret to happiness is right at your feet, and that all of us were born to run.

This exceptional debut novel is about a young Muslim war orphan whose family is killed and the American soldier to whom his survival is bound.

Jonas is fifteen when his family is killed during an errant U.S. military operation. With the help of an international relief organization, he is sent to America, where he struggles to assimilate. Eventually, he tells a court-mandated counselor and therapist about a U.S. soldier, Christopher Henderson, responsible for saving his life. Christopher’s mother, Rose, has dedicated her life to finding out what really happened to her son, who disappeared after the raid in which Jonas’ village was destroyed.

When Jonas meets Rose, a shocking and painful secret gradually surfaces and builds to a shattering conclusion. he Book of Jonas is about memory, about terrible choices made during war, and about what happens when foreign disaster appears at our own doorstep. It is a rare and virtuosic novel from an exciting new writer.

44

August 2012 / The South Coast Insider

Tigers in Red Weather

by Liza Klaussmann Little, Brown & Company Hardcover $25.99 Liza Klaussmann, great-great-great granddaughter of Herman Melville, is earning comparisons to Ernest Hemingway and Henry Miller with her riveting, Gatsby-esque debut novel about a murder that disrupts a family’s life in mid-century Martha’s Vineyard.

The author grew up spending her summers on the Vineyard and those memories helped knit together the setting, tastes, smells, and sounds that create the almost tangible beauty that permeates Tigers in Red Weather.

AMERICAN DERVISH

by Ayad Akhtar Little Brown $24.99 hardcover Hayat Shah is a young American in love for the first time; his normal life of school, baseball, and video games distinguished only by his Pakistani heritage. Then Mina arrives from Pakistan, independent, beautiful and intelligent, bringing his family’s Muslim faith to life. Hayat feels an entirely new purpose mingled with a growing infatuation for his teacher.

When Mina meets and begins dating a man, Hayat feels betrayed, and questions all all that he believes is true.

Just as Mina finds happiness, Hayat is compelled to act but with devastating consequences for all those he loves.

American Dervish is a brilliantly written, forceful look inside the interplay of religion and modern life.

Akhtar shows readers vividly the powerful forces at work on young men and women growing up Muslim in America. This is an intimate, personal first novel.

THE ORPHAN MASTER’S SON

by Adam Johnson Random House $26 hardcover The Orphan Master’s Son follows a young man’s journey through the icy waters, dark tunnels, and eerie spy chambers of the world’s most mysterious dictatorship, North Korea.

Pak Jun Do is the haunted son of a lost mother and an influential father who runs a work camp for orphans.

There the boy is given his first taste of power, picking which orphans eat first and which will be lent out for manual labor. Jun Do comes to the attention of superiors in the state, rises in the ranks, and starts on a road from which there will be no return.

Considering himself “a humble citizen of the greatest nation in the world,” Jun Do becomes a professional kidnapper who must navigate the baffling demands of his Korean overlords in order to stay alive. Driven to the absolute limit of what any human being could endure, he boldly takes on the treacherous role of rival to Kim Jong Il in an attempt to save the woman he loves.

Part breathless thriller, part story of innocence lost, part romance, The Orphan Master’s Son is a portrait of a hidden world, a North Korea rife with hunger, corruption, and casual cruelty but also camaraderie, stolen moments of beauty, and love.

BASKETBALL JUNKIE

by Chris Herren St. Martin’s Griffin $14.99 paperback At basketball-crazy Durfee High School in Fall River, Chris Herren carried his family’s and the city’s dreams on his skinny frame. Part of a family of sports legends, he was the last best hope for a career beyond the shuttered mills. Herren was heavily recruited by major universities, chosen as a McDonald’s All-American, featured in a SI cover story, and at just seventeen became the central figure in Fall River Dreams, an acclaimed book about the 1994 Durfee team’s quest for the state championship.

Herren starred on Jerry Tarkanian’s Fresno State Bulldogs, which included future NBA players and future convicted felons. His gritty, tattooed, hiphop persona drew the ire of rival fans, Rolling Stone profiled him, 60 Minutes interviewed him, and the Denver Nuggets drafted him.

When the Boston Celtics acquired his contract, he lived his dream, but off the court he was secretly crumbling, his alcohol and drug use out of control.

Twenty years later, his basketball career over, Chris Herren was married to his high-school sweetheart, the father of three young children, and a heroin junkie; he had no job, no skills, and was a sadly familiar figure to those in Fall River who remembered him as a boy, now prowling the streets looking for a fix. And then he almost died.

In his own words, Herren tells how he nearly lost everything and everyone he loved, and how he found a way back. This is a remarkable memoir, harrowing in its descent, and heartening in its return.

MARIAH MAKES A FRIEND

By Laura C. Monteiro $10 Mariah is new to the Habitat for Cats sanctuary and is sad that she doesn’t have any friends to play with. She’s afraid that she’ll never fit in until she meets Speckles—a fun kitty that introduces her to the rest of the gang. Mariah is nervous at first, but soon finds out that she isn’t the only one who is shy around other cats. Will Mariah be able to overcome her fear and fit in with the group?

This book is a fundraiser for Habitat for Cats, a non-profit organization in Southeastern Massachusetts that strives to reduce the number of homeless cats by implementing trap/neuter/return programs. Habitat for Cats also has an adoption program for socialized cats and a private sanctuary where older cats can live in a safe environment. Every cat featured in the book is a resident of the sanctuary. The book can be purchased online at www.habitatforcats.org.

Monteiro, 33, is a resident of Fall River and graduate of Bristol Community College. Illustrator Evan Turick, 16, resides in Westport and hopes to major in engineering and art after graduating from Westport High School. Both are volunteers at the Sanctuary.

The South Coast Insider / August 2012

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Our Mission

Your Recovery Regaining functionality following an illness, accident, hospitalization, or surgery is the focus of the rehab services we provide. Our rehab team is dedicated to helping you achieve superior results and a safe return home. ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡

Physical Therapy Occupational Therapy Speech/Language Therapy Respiratory Therapy

TAROT-SCOPES

by The Celtic Cricket

We use the tarot to predict your horoscope. If you’d like more in depth and personal information, stop by our shop—The Silver Willow in Rehoboth, MA for a private tarot reading.

Aries – Confidence will get you everywhere this month. Good decisions that you make pertaining to your family/personal and finances will be positive for you.

Taurus – Try a new approach when it comes to dealing with the same routine. Every small change that is being made will bring great results this month.

Gemini – Focus on being more spontaneous. It is okay to do things last minute once in a while. So make that call into work and call out sick and go to the park.

Catholic Memorial Home, Fall River

catholicmemorialhome.org ¡ 508.679.0011 A Member of the Diocesan Health Facilities

The doctor is always in.

Meeting your heart surgeon is one thing.

Getting to know him is quite another.

Before, during and after their surgery, Southcoast heart patients and their families are delighted with the expert care and personal service available close to home. Learn about our outstanding quality at www.southcoast.org/heart.

Heart Surgery at Southcoast.

Big city heart care.

Without the hassle.

SOUTHCOAST HOSPITALS CHARLTON • ST. LUKE’S • TOBEY

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August 2012 / The South Coast Insider

Welcome Dr. Coury

Cancer – You win some and then you lose some. So keep in mind not everything will go your way; but things are going your way this month. So remember the wins and forget about the losses.

Leo – Sometimes the better person needs to walk away in silence when needed to. So, this is a good time to be the one to make the silent move and move away from what upsets you.

Virgo – When was the last time you did something for yourself? Like take a vacation or go to the spa? Solitude is a good thing for you this month. So take advantage of it.

Libra – Stop trying to do everything at once because you are running around in circles and not getting anything done. You need to stop and focus on you and your priorities.

Scorpio – Try to avoid giving your opinions and stop the gossiping this month. A creative solution will be your best friend and don’t advertise it.

Sagittarius – Pay more attention to your finances because it will bring much more security your way. As will a new budget will put a smile on your face. (But, no splurging!)

P

rime Medical Associates is pleased to announce that Dr. Pamela Coury will be joining their staff. She is taking new patients at this time. Dr. Coury has focused on Women’s Health and specializes in Family Practice. Please contact her at our 54 Brigham Street, New Bedford office at 508-979-1100 or visit our website at www.primemedicalassociatesllc.com

Capricorn – Romance and excitement is all around you this month. But don’t be too eager; let them seek you out and you will be happy with the outcome.

Aquarius – Reconnecting with your past may just pay off for you this time around.

So, consider thinking of an ex or former employer, but do it carefully.

Pisces – Now that you disconnected from what makes you insecure you need to try to avoid these situations. If you keep playing with fire you will burn yourself. Letting go of the past is your best asset this month.

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SIZZLIN’ SUMMER SALE

Don’t forget OPEN PROJECT NIGHT Every Wednesday 1160 County St. • Somerset, MA (Rt 138 next door to MaRaffa’s)

508-679-9301

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The South Coast Insider / August 2012

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REUSE

Tue., Wed., Thu., Sat. 10am-5:30pm Fri. 11am-7pm, Sun. 1-4pm • Closed Monday

Sewing Machine Repair/Service Fabric Consignment & Sewing Classes Quality Used Sewing Machines for sale

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Offering a great opportunity to recycle your quality used home furnishings.

REPURPOSE

The Westport River Watershed Alliance is gearing up for of their coastal ecology summer program for ages 7-16. There is currently still space available for Coastal Explorers (ages 7-9), July 30-August 3 and Watershed Explorers (ages 12-16), July 23-27. Your child will discover the wildlife in our coastal waters in this hands-on, science day program. We’ll use a seine net to catch critters, complete scavenger hunts, hike through the dunes, play some fun games on the beach, and create crafts from natural objects!

Watershed Explorers participants will also spend 3 days kayaking and paddle boarding with Osprey Sea Kayak Adventures along the Westport River.

Space is limited so register early! Look forward to seeing you there; call (508) 636-3016 or visit our website www. westportwatershed.org for more information and registration forms.

H RECYCLE

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REPURPOSE

Fine Furnishings • Home Goods Kitchen Equipment

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Fairhaven fitness yoga and summer bootcamp Cushman Park, on Green Street in Fairhaven, is the location for classes in yoga and summer fitness, both free to the public.

Yoga in the Park will be led by Juliet Loranger every Tuesday through August, from 8 to 9am. Loranger is the founder of New Bedford’s Yoga on Union, and a certified Krpialu Yoga teacher.

Certified personal trainer Jeff Costa guides participants in core strengthening and flexibility drills each Thursday this month from 8 to 9am.

Costa has been the trainer for stars like Carmen Electra and Christina Applegate.

508-678-7801

www.AlbaneseMonuments.com

— HOURS — Mon. & Tue. 8:30-4:30pm Wed. & Sat. 8:30-12 Noon Thu. 8:30-5pm • Fri 8:30-6pm

The classes are appropriate for persons of every level of physical activity, including beginners.

Participants should bring a mat for Yoga and a mat plus set of weights for Bootcamp.

Fitness in Cushman Park is presented free to the public thanks to the generous support of many local businesses.

Classes will take place weather permitting.

For more information call 508-2872482 or visit Fitness in Cushman Park’s facebook page.

Health System’s Farmers’ Markets southcoast Health system will offer public farmers’ markets this summer at each of the three Southcoast Hospitals sites—Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford and Tobey Hospital in Wareham — and at the South Coast Business Center in Fairhaven.

“We know from research that a large percentage of people on the South Coast do not have the benefit of regular access to fresh, locally-grown fruits and vegetables,” said Kerry Mello, Community Benefits Manager for Southcoast Health System. “This 48

August 2012 / The South Coast Insider

summer’s farmers’ markets are the kick-off to a range of Southcoast programs that provide our employees and our communities with easy access to healthy, locally grown food.”

For more information on Southcoast farmers’ markets, please contact Kate Miller at 508-961-5079 or visit www. southcoast.org/farmersmarket.

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Recognized again for making your safety our top priority.

Rated in the top 5% in the U.S. for patient safety by the country’s trusted source for information and quality ratings on hospitals and physicians.

Patient safety is always the top priority at Southcoast Hospitals.

It’s the job of all 7,000 people who work here — to make sure that preventable harms are actually prevented. And our outcomes show that we’re doing our job really well.

For the third year in a row, we have received an elite national award for patient safety from HealthGrades® — one of the most reputable providers of quality ratings in the country.

Only 12 hospitals in Massachusetts rank in the top 5% in the U.S. for patient safety. You can be proud that your community hospital — Southcoast Hospitals Group — is the only hospital in the South Coast of Massachusetts and East Bay Rhode Island to have earned a place amongst this select group of health care providers. It’s one more reason you can feel confident in the care we provide every day.

To learn more, visit www.southcoast.org/quality

2011

www.southcoast.org

2010

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