South Coast Insider - January 2010

January 2010 / Vol. 14 / No. 1

coastalmags.com

Happy, Healthy New Year!

Moms make a difference

Trainers work with youth

Make final

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JANUARY 2010

CONTENTS IN EVERY ISSUE

5

From the publisher

6

On my mind: Evolution and more

by Paul Kandarian

32

Book Picks: Sample summer selections

8

Moms take action

by Stacie Charbonneau Hess

12

It’s SAD time

16

Tarot-Scopes

by The Celtic Cricket and Duir Kell

38

Last word

by Mike Vieira

28

30

Learn from England

by Steve Smith

Social media in business

Planning for death

THINGS TO DO

by H.B. Ussach

20

Train your youth

BUSINESS

by Elizabeth Morse Read

by Magoo Gelehrter

36

COVER STORY

by Cara Connelly Pimental

37

by H.B. Ussach

Happenings: Chill out with cool things to do

Bordertowns

24

Wander to Warren

by Paul Kandarian

WINE NOTES

26

Head to the Expo

by Alton Long

REGIONAL NEWS

34

A new bank for New Bedford and a benefit for the KBEP

What’s Happening?

Send your events to: editor@coastalmags.com or post them online at: www.TheSouthCoastInsider.com Please limit your announcement to no more than 30 words.

2

January 2010 / The South Coast Insider

On the cover Take time to play in 2010. Isabella Jerbi from Middletown, RI takes her doll for a spin at the Sovereign Bank Family Skating Center at the Newport Yachting Center, located in downtown Newport, RI. Visit skatenewport. com for more information. Photo by Jamie Schapiro.

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January 2010 / The South Coast Insider

FROM THE PUBLISHER December 2010 / Vol. 14 / No. 1 Published by

Coastal Communications Corp.

Publisher and Editor-in-Chief

Ljiljana Vasiljevic Editors

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

Celtic Cricket, Magoo Gelehrter, Stacie Charbonneau Hess, Paul Kandarian, Duir Kell, Alson Long, Tom Lopes, Elizabeth Morse Read, Harven Burt Ussach, Steve Smith and Michael J. Vieira 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.

As much as the lights, music, and fire may bring December’s magic, the dark, quiet, and cold make January special too.

They force us inside—inside our homes and our selves.

Stacie Charbonneau Hess tells the tale of two mothers who transform the pain and fear of a child’s death into amazing transformative work. Got the Blues? Elizabeth Morse Read reveals the details of Seasonal Affective Disorder.

For those approaching the winter of life, we offer tips on funeral pre-planning—and for the young, Cara Connelly Pimental shares the story of two trainers dedicating to helping young people get healthy.

Once again, Paul Kandarian brings a Bordertown to life with his visit to Warren, and

All contents copyright ©2010 Coastal Communications Corp.

Deadline

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.

Circulation

30,000

our intrepid Al Long offers tips to make the trip to a Wine Expo tasteful and rewarding.

Plus there’s business news, great Happenings and lots of local spots to discover thanks to our advertisers.

If you haven’t already signed up for weekly updates, go to www.coastalmags.com. It’s a great resource to help you discover things made in the South Coast, or to voice your opinion and share your thoughts—and don’t forget www.SouthCoastGo.com, our free online classified service.

Have a happy, healthy, prosperous New Year!

Subscriptions

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

Ljiljana Vasiljevic Publisher and Editor-in-Chief

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Receive weekly events by email Subscribe online: www.TheSouthCoastInsider.com The South Coast Insider / January 2010

5

ON MY MIND

Living

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January 2010 / The South Coast Insider

I’m pretty sure I know how we humans got to the top of the food chain: Evolution. But how we’ve stayed there is beyond me. Ever see a chunky cheetah pound down a 99-cent bag of pork rinds and then huff after a gazelle only to drop dead of cardiac arrest?

We’ve lost our place, people, long after we started walking upright and just around the time we discovered the magic of mass food production.

We’re a fat country. That’s simple, irrefutable. Nearly every American state has an obesity rate of 20 percent, some as high as 25, and then there’s Mississippi (“Tough to Spell, Easy to Fatten Up In!”) with a country-leading 32.5 percent, and more sadly, the highest childhood obesity rate of more than 44 percent, thus ensuring for generations to come that the state’s name won’t always be the biggest thing about it.

What to do about it? That’s simple, too: make better, healthier food at cheaper prices. Will that happen? Can you say “Over our fat, artery-clogged, cheap-food-bloated bodies if the billion-dollar food industry lobbyists have anything to say about it, and they have plenty to say about it, usually accompanied by massive campaign contributions?”

So, no, it won’t happen. At least not any time soon.

The eating habits of this country make no sense but are understandable.

The food industry, always looking for a way to make more money, cranks out crappy food cheap, meaning it appeals to the masses, as it contributes to their asses. Now look, big business making

money isn’t a crime. But making money at the expense of the health of the citizenry? Considering that crappy food kills in the long run, yeah, it’s criminal.

At least morally.

Money rules. The less you have, the worse your eating habits. People of means who are smart enough to know the difference between good and bad food tend to set their nutritional sights higher and are willing to pay for it.

Those who don’t have as much, fork over what little money they have for crappy food because it’s cheap and filling. OK, for that, and for smokes and lottery tickets, which is maddening and totally not understandable, the idiots.

But obesity, that’s more than a little the food industry’s fault. They could make better, healthier food cheaper—if they made more of it. But they don’t because better, healthier food is more expensive and if not enough people are eating it, it’s not cost efficient to make more and hence, cheaper. It’s a stupid, vicious and lethal cycle, when you come to think of it, a deadly Catch 22.

But it makes no long-range sense: Let the food industry fatten us up with cheap, crappy but readily abundant food with all the nutritional value of the plastic it comes in and then let the health care industry pick up the billions-of-dollar tab when all that cheap, crappy but readily abundant food clogs our pipes like molasses sucked up a straw.

You’d think the food industry and the health care industry would be talking more about this stuff, how to solve this problem as efficiently as possible for

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the benefit of the people they serve.

Yeah, you’d think that. But pre-9/11, you’d think the CIA and FBI would have been talking more about what each knew about terrorism and thus possibly saving thousands of American lives, too.

Never let it be said that big business or government was ever a slave to doing the right thing. At least not if there was no money in it. Sigh.

I have celiac disease, which isn’t as bad as it sounds, at least for me— many have it much, much worse. I can’t, or shouldn’t, eat food with gluten in it, which is in wheat, barley and rye.

If I avoid those foods, I’m fine, stomach churns along healthily, nicely. If I sway from my gluten-free diet—and I often do—I pay the price of, to put it politely, raging digestive issues. Then I go back on my diet, and I’m fine.

Others with this aren’t so lucky. They must adhere to their diet to the point of not being able to use the same toaster as others in their house for fear that a crumb—a single crumb!—will push their systems to a bad place. They lose weight, are often skinny, sickly.

So how do we celiac-disease people avoid that? Buying really healthy, really nutritional and really, really

expensive gluten-free food. A regular loaf of unhealthy, bleached-flour bread at Shaw’s? About a buck. A loaf of healthy, rice or corn flour bread at Shaw’s? About five bucks. And it’s a much, much smaller loaf.

See why it’s hard to stick to a healthy, nutritional diet? Crap food is cheap food and cheap food is what the industry is forcing down our collective throats because they don’t care about us as people, only us as things with wallets or food stamps.

Want to read a great book and see a great movie? The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and “Food, Inc.” both of which have to do with the deplorable state of the United States food industry and how little they give a crap about the crap they feed us—and the government’s complete lack of caring about it as well. But why should they? The current annual pay of a rank-and-file House or Senate member in America is $174,000. You could buy lots of glutenfree bread with that kinda dough.

Technically, we may still be atop the food chain, but it’s bending under our collective weight. And down below, the cheetah is smacking his lips, waiting for us to fall.

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The South Coast Insider / January 2010

7

COVER STory

Moms make a difference

By Stacie Charbonneau Hess

And somewhere between the time you arrive, and the time you go, may lie a reason you were alive but you’ll never know —Jackson Browne Grief and fear are emotions we’d rather shy away from, but certain people don’t have this luxury.

Two South Coast mothers, Gretchan Pyne and Kelly Weglowski, have lived the emotions so close to their homes and hearts that they both admit the same thing: they aren’t the same people they were before their children were born.

What’s different is that along with broken-hearted grief and fear, enters compassion and courage. Both of these moms have transformed their fears into something amazing, useful and inspiring for children they may never even know.

Lulu’s Story When Olivia Lynn Pyne, known as “Lulu” to all who loved her, was born twelve years ago, her family rejoiced. She spent four years making everybody laugh, loving her mom, dad and older twin brothers, four years dancing and twirling and even teaching her parents how to pause and enjoy the little miracles in each day. On the picture perfect summer day when Lulu’s life was snatched from her in an accident, her parents’ hearts were wrenched from them. They felt victimized by grief.

Seven years later, Gretchan Pyne, Lulu’s mom, says this, “No matter what happens to you, you have a choice.” When she speaks, she sounds passionate, open-hearted, and strong. “You don’t have to stay a victim.”

These days, Gretchan Pyne speaks with fervor to audiences throughout the eastern United States, sharing Lulu’s vision of hope and love. Her cause has picked up momentum, and is now directly impacting hundreds of children each day at a New Bedford elementary school. She speaks as if Lulu is right here with her, instructing her and guiding her in her decisions. Gretchan also credits Lulu for the wondrous things she has been able to accomplish.

Of all her accomplishments, the most well known and far-reaching so far is Gretchan’s self-published book, Lulu’s Rose-Colored Glasses. In the true story, Lulu teaches her mother a heart-warming lesson about seeing the world in a new, “rosy” way, 8

reminding her mom that she gets to choose the way she views everything: from the weather to a tragedy.

The book became more than just a local success.

Pope John Paul received the story in 2005, and sent an acknowledgement letter to the Pyne family along with a rosary blessed by his Holiness. The second book, Lulu Decorates Daddy, likewise instructs its audience, in a funny and endearing way, to never lose a precious moment to a gray and soggy mood.

Lulu’s Lovely Dress That’s Too Small, book number three authored by Pyne, will be released next year in the early spring. This story was inspired by another real life event, one that moms of preschoolers can especially appreciate. Young Lulu had outgrown her “most favoritest dress,” recalls her mother.

She insisted on wearing it to school.

“She was dancing and twirling. Just so happy, happy. So what was I going to do? I grabbed a pair of shorts out of the laundry and let her wear them under the dress. I felt like I was a bad mother!”

Gretchan jokes.

The teachers giggled when Lulu came into school that morning, because, as her mother discovered— it was picture day! Looking back Gretchan muses, “Of course I should have realized!”

These days she looks at the picture and hardly notices the outfit at all—all she can see is her daughter’s “magical grin.” The story ends with Lulu finally agreeing to give the dress away for some other little girl to wear.

In this generous spirit, the book release will also feature a clothing drive. Donated clothing will be

Continued on page 10

Gretchan with Jack Canfield co-author of “Chicken Soup for the Soul” and other titles as well as motivational speaker.

January 2010 / The South Coast Insider

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www.SunriseSeniorLiving.com The South Coast Insider / January 2010

9

Continued from page 8

given to the non-profit agency Gifts to Give in New Bedford, an organization that redistributes “previously-loved” clothing to people in need. The drive is purposefully planned just before Easter, so clients can have something beautiful to wear for the holiday. Gretchan also hopes that the effort will encourage children to donate—and in turn let them know that although they are little, they have power, because they have something to give. “A gift of love is never too small,” says Gretchan.

Though Lulu was small, the celebration of her life is still growing. 100% of the proceeds from the sale of all Lulu books goes directly to the Olivia “Lulu” Pyne Foundation. This foundation helps fund family and child-centered programs, such as the one most recently introduced by Gretchan and embraced by the Alfred Gomes Elementary School in New Bedford: Project Dream, Believe, Do.

I am the Rainbow

Now accepting applications

Project Dream, Believe, Do was inspired by a profound dream Gretchan Pyne experienced, one in which Lulu and she were dancing a world of “utter bliss”—a rainbow world. The message for the project is “I am the rainbow and so are you,” and its purpose is to create a positive learning environment for children, to raise self-esteem, and to teach children to value themselves. The project-based learning program celebrates the creativity in children by putting art back in the schools, a goal that resonates with other groups in our South Coast community. The pilot project at Gomes will hopefully be a model other schools can easily replicate and use.

Gretchan’s work has drawn people from throughout our community and beyond, looking for some way to share their gifts. The Rhythm Room, a phenomenal Assistance With Personal Care drumming group headed by Rick Morin, will play at a fundraiser on April 9th at Keith Middle School’s new Daily Activities state-of-the-art auditorium.

Medication Management Local healer Kendra Bond shows kids at Gomes Daily Mass how to move from a low frequency to a high Three Nutritious Meals frequency state, and improve their outlook, energy and test scores. The Boston-based media company, Scheduled Transportation Fablevision, is taking Lulu’s stories to the next level Weekly Housekeeping & Laundry by creating short animated films which will be used to promote Project Dream, Believe, Do. Fablevision Independent & Assisted Living is based in the Boston Children’s museum and has 400 Columbia Street created positive, quality entertainment for children in Fall River, MA 02721 association with well-known entities such as WGBH and the Jim Henson Company.

To learn more about Lulu, attend the upcoming www.landmarkseniorliving.com book signings and clothing drives: March 13, 2010 Christina Sporer at Best Friends Preschool in Wareham at 1 p.m., Marketing Director For a brief tour of the South Coast’s military history and a chance to Baker Books in Dartmouth on March 20, at 1 p.m., csporer@landmarkseniorliving.com see an amazing granite landmark, visit Fort Taber at Clark’s Point. and The Old Company Store on March 27th at 1 p.m.

(508) 324-7960

10

January 2010 / The South Coast Insider

Visit the website to learn more about Project: Dream, Believe, Do and for more events and inspiration: www.lulubellebooks.com.

Brady’s story Four-year-old Brady Weglowski will usually make a guest appearance at the annual Healing Little Hearts fundraiser at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, this year on March 6th. In fact, he will be the guest of honor.

Brady’s mom, Kelly, is currently planning the third annual event, to benefit pediatric cardiac research at Children’s Hospital in Boston. The event has been so successful that hundreds of thousands of dollars have already been donated to further the research, which has the potential to greatly minimize the number of hospitalizations and surgeries a child with heart defects must endure.

When Brady was born, Kelly knew little about heart defects, and even less about how common they are.

“It’s the most common birth defect,” she says. “One in a hundred babies are born with some form of heart defect. More babies die worldwide of heart defects than any other birth-related defect.” Although Brady is only four years old, he has already undergone 30 hospitalizations and seven surgeries. “It wasn’t supposed to be that many,” says his mother.

But like Gretchan Pyne, Kelly Weglowski was not content to feel the victim of her son’s condition.

She had known what it was to lose him at two days old, when the staff at Children’s Hospital “called the code when I was sitting six feet away from him.”

He had ceased breathing on his own, and spent several days on life support. No one knew what the outcome would be.

“It was awful, horrendous. It was two of the longest days of my life,” says Kelly. “He fought his way back.”

As a mother, Kelly wanted to find out everything she could about her son’s heart condition. She asked his doctor John E. Mayer about his research to develop a heart valve that grows with a child, eliminating the need for repeat open heart surgeries.

Although research has been persistent for the past nine years, Dr. Mayer said, “funding was difficult,” she remembers. I told my husband, “I want to help.” Kelly owned her own real estate business at the time, with five employees.

She realized when Brady was born that her energy and attention would need to be elsewhere, so she channeled it into creating Healing Little Hearts, the organization that is currently tied to Children’s Hospital. Her business and marketing experience gleaned from the real estate business helped launch the first fundraising efforts.

“We have the area’s top caterers, great entertainment, and everything is donated. People are so generous when they hear it’s for Children’s (Hospital),

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they almost always say yes.”

The first black tie event at the Whaling Museum three years ago was a huge success. “What I’ve learned is that people are just amazing. Amazing,” she says, with the same sort of unrestrained passion I heard in Gretchan Pyne’s voice, that passion of the pure of heart.

Now is the time for sound and practical advice from people who know their business.

Healing a Little Heart “It just blows me away. When people hear Brady’s story, and I tell them about Children’s Hospital, it seems like everyone has a connection (with the facility).” And when people see the kids in various states of recovery, it humbles and softens even the hardest heart.

Brady sees the event as a “Fun-raiser.” During the gala, guests can often spot Brady by the chocolate fountain, or hear him make a short speech at the microphone.

“He’s totally into it,” says his mom. He knows the auction items are not for him, but last year he asked his dad to “high bid, often” on an item that really caught his eye.

And yet, even now, Brady’s heart valve is leaking.

He will be getting a lung scan soon, which will determine how far away Brady is from his next open-heart surgery. Kelly of course hopes it is later rather than sooner. She is inspired by her son’s courage. “He is a champion,” she says. “All the kids are.”

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The third annual Healing Little Hearts Gala will take place on March 6, 2010 at the New Bedford Whaling Museum. Black tie. Join sponsors such as Baby Blanket Suncare, Marion Pediatrics and Atlantic Cape Fisheries, and donate to the Weglowski’s cause. It will benefit babies all around the world; look for details on the website: www.healinglittlehearts.com

The South Coast Insider / January 2010

11

COVER STory

Blues? blahs? or SAD?

by Elizabeth Morse Read

It’s not unusual for folks to feel out-of-sorts at holiday time, but if those feelings of sadness and listlessness persist throughout the winter months, year after year, then that person may be suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.), triggered by the body’s biochemical response to shorter days and longer nights.

A variant of depression recognized by the medical/scientific community, S.A.D. is a complicated disorder that can be treated with light (photo-) therapy, diet/lifestyle changes, medication/supplements and psychotherapy. An estimated half million people suffer S.A.D. annually, but a conclusive diagnosis and treatment plan cannot be made until the symptoms have recurred for three years.

SAD causes Although many factors contribute to S.A.D., the key factor seems to be the disruption of a body’s circadian rhythm (internal body-clock), when waning sunlight hours and lengthening nighttime hours throw off the body’s production of Vitamin D, melatonin and serotonin, the last two brain chemicals controlling sleep and mood patterns.

Think of your internal body clock (your circadian rhythm) as a solar-powered chemical calculator that regulates production of nutrients and hormones according to

12

predictable cycles of sunlight and darkness.

When that schedule is thrown a-kilter, your body and brain chemistry is thrown a-kilter, too.

Think “jet lag”—a ‘red-eye flight’ from west to east over several time zones will leave you miserable and muddled for several days. S.A.D. is like a near-terminal case of jet-lag, with sleep disturbances, mood swings and behavioral changes that persist for months during winter.

While rates of S.A.D. usually increase the farther away you live from the equator, there are other factors involved. Some populations, such as Icelanders, may have developed a genetic resistance to S.A.D. over the centuries, which protects even those who emigrate to more southerly latitudes.

Other cultural groups (e.g., Norwegians living above the Arctic Circle) consider “winter blues” to be a normal and natural event, part of the cycle of the seasons. (By the same token, a daily spoonful of cod liver oil, rich in omega-3 fatty acids, is standard folk-medicine in northern latitudes.) And

January 2010 / The South Coast Insider

in other cultures (e.g., Chinese, Nigerian, Japanese), the language doesn’t even have words to describe depression-related feelings and behavior, no matter the latitude.

So, attitude, not just latitude, influences diagnosis and treatment.

Symptoms S.A.D. seems to be triggered by decreasing exposure to natural sunlight (including ultraviolet [UV] rays) starting in the Fall.

Symptoms may worsen during winter months and then gradually lessen when Spring brings longer days. Symptoms may include: Depression, anxiety, mood swings

n

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Loss of energy, interest in daily pursuits Oversleeping, excessive napping

Weight gain, craving sweets and starchy foods

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Irritability, difficulty concentrating

Who’s at risk As exposure to sunlight is a key factor in S.A.D., populations living far from the equator, whether in the northern or the southern hemisphere, are at higher risk. Statistically, women are more susceptible than are men, younger adults more than older adults; people with dark skin (pigmentation) are more vulnerable than people with fair skin; urban-dwellers. vs. country cousins; breastfed babies vs. formula-fed babies; and

anyone with a family history of depression/ mood disorders.

Sunshine and health If deprived of sunshine, the body cannot produce the correct balance of key nutrients and hormones like Vitamin D (therefore calcium), melatonin and serotonin. Vitamin D is present in inactive form in skin cells, and cannot convert to the necessary active form unless stimulated by sunlight. Vitamin D is necessary for physical health and mental stability.

Calcium needed for proper organ function, healthy nerves and bone health cannot be activated without Vitamin D in the bloodstream. Urban myth notwithstanding, we need a certain amount of daily exposure to unfiltered sunlight year-round throughout our lives.

When our location and lifestyle prevent that, we can supplement our body’s natural production of Vitamin D with simple changes in our diets, daily routines and by discussing alternative remedies such as light therapy or psychotherapy with our doctor.

Sunshine and health Daily, limited exposure to special “sunlight” lamps can help alleviate symptoms of S.A.D. (and has even been proved effective in treating bipolar disorder, PMS or its extreme form PMDD [premenstrual dysphoric disorder]) and certain skin diseases such as psoriasis and eczema). But don’t run out and buy one until you’ve consulted with your doctor and fully understand the lamp’s proper use.

Your eyes must be protected from UV rays if you sit before a sun-therapy lamp, and too much exposure can be just as harmful as too little. Although these lamps can be bought without a prescription, they are not cosmetic gadgets to be used indiscriminately. But when used properly, these lamps (even fluorescent) mimic the full spectrum of natural light and will stimulate the body’s natural production and balance of Vitamin D and other biochemicals the body needs.

Other treatments In addition to phototherapy, diet/lifestyle changes and, when needed, professional counseling, sufferers can investigate dietary/nutritional supplements such as

daily doses of cod liver oil, vitamins or even antidepressant medications prescribed by a doctor.

Stress-relieving activities such as exercise, yoga, meditation or even acupuncture may bring some relief. But no matter what path you choose, do so under the advisement of an understanding medical professional and keep a journal of your activities, remedies and reactions.[see sidebar 3].

Because it is linked to proper production and utilization of calcium, a deficiency in Vitamin D in children can lead to rickets, a bone malformation notable for its bowed shape of leg and arm bones.

Insufficient Vitamin D has also been linked to osteoporosis, arthritis, type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, cardio-vascular disease, and many other age-related/autoimmune disorders, even certain cancers. Nutritional deficiencies [see sidebar 2] are frequently responsible for many diseases and disabilities worldwide and can be treated through better nutrition and public health efforts.

Reverse SAD It’s common knowledge that overexposure to sunlight over extended periods can cause skin cancer. But few people know that shifting seasonal patterns of sunlight/darkness can cause severe emotional problems during Spring and summer, too. Longer periods of sunlight disrupts the body’s production of melatonin and serotonin, which regulate sleep and moods.

Sleep disorders, manic behavior and impulsivity increases. And so, too, does the rate of suicides, especially in latitudes far from the equator—the “lands of the midnight sun.” Different studies have shown that the majority of suicides annually in places as diverse as Australia and Greenland and northern Montana occur in the summer months, not during the gloomy, dark winter months.

Conversely, some studies indicate that cancer patients undergoing treatment or surgery during summer months have a higher survival rate than those treated during winter months.

Clearly, our specie’s physical and mental health is inextricably linked to our environment and the seasons. Hakuna matata.

Continued on page 15 The South Coast Insider / January 2010

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Continued from page 13

Blues-busters You might not be able to catch any rays on gloomy winter days, but you can eat to beat the winter blues: n Oily cold/salt-water fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids (salmon, tuna, mackerel, herring, sardines)—fresh is best, but canned or frozen is fine

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Eggs, walnuts, flax, soy or canola oils, beef liver

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n

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Fortified dairy or grain products UV-irradiated vegetables, such as mushrooms

Calcium-rich foods such as fortified dairy and juice products, tofu, fruits (especially citrus), dark-green vegetables, cabbage, beans and nuts

n

Exposing your face to sunlight on a winter morning by taking a brisk walk with (or without) your dog can do wonders for your mood.

Throw open the curtains and draperies—although UV rays cannot penetrate window glass, the cheeriness of a sunny room can lighten your mood.

Light candles everywhere (hugely popular in Scandinavia during the winter months). Invite family and friends over for a Friday fish/chowder dinner. Avoid napping during the day. Stay mentally, physically and socially active. If you use light therapy, don’t use it late in the day, as that could trigger insomnia or hypomania/manic episodes.

You are what you don’t eat Vitamin D deficiency is no longer common in the U.S. and developed nations, although it was a serious public health problem at the start of the Industrial Revolution, when country dwellers migrated to the smoggy cities to work indoors in factories.

Tenement living, poor nutrition, and lack of exposure to sunlight produced a plague of disorders such as rickets, and lessened a sick person’s chance of surviving and recovering from infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and pneumonia. For decades now, commercial foods such as dairy products, breads and cereals and infant formula fortified with added vitamins and minerals, have helped keep the general population healthy.

Ever wonder why a slang nickname for a British sailor is “a limey”?

Because an observant officer of the 18 c. British navy (and many a sea captain) noticed that sailors on long journeys frequently fell ill with “scurvy,” a debilitating disorder due to lack of Vitamin C. So, the captains stocked up on citrus fruit, particularly limes, as part of the daily diet for the crews, and brought aboard fresh fruits and vegetables whenever possible.

And who can ever forget the photographs of hollow-eyed, swollenbellied children of Biafra suffering from kwashiorkor, severe protein deficiency/starvation, during the Nigerian civil war in the late 1960’s? A global humanitarian response to this modern nutritional crisis resulted in the formation of Medecins sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders) in 1971.

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The South Coast Insider / January 2010

15

COVER STory

Families find comfort in funeral prearrangement

by H.B. Ussach

A pregnant daughter snaps at her ill father: “How can you upset me like this. Can’t you just keep it to yourself.”

She turns and walks away in this scene from the popular AMC drama series Mad Men, set in the early sixties.

Her father is taken aback. Forward thinking for his time [1963], he wants to tell her of his will and funeral arrangements to protect her from an industry he sees as dishonest, that preys on family grief.

Times have changed The stereotype of a smiling funeral director whispering “we understand your grief” but not caring, is gone, replaced by a well-trained professional who not only empathizes with relatives’ sorrow but works them through a difficult time.

Funeral directors tend now to be counselors, licensed insurance agents, and workshop sponsors who instruct consumers in financial prearrangement, long term tax issues, burial and cremation options, and who help to facilitate family dialogue and cooperation during funeral planning.

More choices While more families prearrange a loved one’s funeral for peace of mind and to avoid the last minute stress of locating important documents and family details, some also opt to cover expensive administrative and transportation costs incurred when a loved one dies while traveling. This might be a good place to start discussing funeral planning, since people travel larger distances now to see relatives, and because people live longer and travel more in retirement.

One such policy, Away from Home Protection, will for a one-time fee of $425 offer life long benefits to a policy holder should “death occur 75 miles or more away from your legal residence,” says their brochure. As part of 24-hour, year-round protection, the policy covers preparing the body, transport, and all administrative and shipping costs.

“It cuts through a lot of red tape,” said Kimberly J. Smith, director of advance planning at Waring-Sullivan Funeral Homes. Till recently, she explained, nobody thought about death and funerals until later in life, but now they talk about it in their forties and fifties.

Communication is key It is important to bring children into this discussion. Communication is crucial between children and parents, she added.

William “BT” Hathaway agrees that having conversation with children “is one of the biggest challenges” and that it is “an interesting business that way.”

Children are such an important part now of the funeral process, that the Dignity Memorial Network (of U.S. and Canadian funeral homes, cemeteries and crematoriums), of which Waring-Sullivan Funeral Homes is a member, offers a Child/Grandchild Protection Program.

It specifies that if a young family member age 0-21 dies while a preplanned Dignity Memorial Plan is in effect, a service provider will “provide complete funeral services, free of charge, up to the level of service you originally selected.”

Where to start?

Thinking about funeral prearrangement might logically begin with a visit to the web sites of each funeral home. They all have home pages with links to topics like grief help, help with obituaries, on line registration, services and pre-planning. The last link, for instance, on the Hathaway Family Funeral Homes website says that in the past prearrangement “meant a brief verbal agreement between an individual and a funeral director. Today, a pre-arranged funeral (or Pre-need) means written documentation placed on file at the funeral home.”

Pre-arrangement begins typically with an initial consultation and family brainstorming of burial options. The funeral home will typically “gather vital statistics, biographical data, pictures and photos” to keep Continued on page 18 16

January 2010 / The South Coast Insider

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Continued from page 16 on file, said Hathaway.

His funeral home distributes a Funeral Planning Guide, so that relatives can leisurely record data such as personal information: name and address, education, military record, and employment; legal arrangements: insurance policies and power of attorney; business matters: property ownership and investments; family and friends: names of children and descendants; and funeral service instructions: casket, pallbearers, visitation, clothing, jewelry, flowers, clergy, method of disposition, obituary notices, and any other important notes.

Also available at this time is a Buyer’s Guide to Pre-Need Funeral Contracts, which must by Massachusetts law be given to every person or group discussing pre-arrangement “with a funeral establishment (a registered licensed or registered certified funeral director).

The Guide discusses pre-payment, types of funding available, income tax consequences, Medicaid issues, and cancellation and relocation matters.

Help with the details Relocation and transferability is such an important issue to highly mobile families, that a Fall River funeral home stresses this concern in a recent television ad, and Hathaway for its part says in its website that any prearrangement made in Massachusetts “should remain portable to any other place in the country; pre-need insurance will pay a claim to whichever funeral home provides the services anywhere in the country.”

It alerts consumers to three vital points, however; first, that trust accounts bearing the pre-arranged funds fall under special rules, “though you should always have the right to transfer funds to another funeral home as you see fit; second, “if such transfers are handled improperly your Medicaid eligibility can be interrupted;” and third, in order to qualify for Medicaid benefits, a pre-arrangement must have the “irrevocable” option checked on the pre-need funeral contract, meaning legally that any money placed in a pre-need fund may not be withdrawn for any reason, “except to pay for the actual funeral at time of death.”

Consumers often ask what happens to their funds if a home changes hands. Hathaway, for one, assures them that money remains “safe and independent of the funeral home itself.” Third parties such as Massachusetts Funeral Trust, and the New England Funeral Trust, oversee and manage pre-need funds under the auspices of a trust bank, or in an insurance policy specializing in funerals.

Nevertheless, customers need to have full disclosure, BT advises, that transferability can be “limited,” depending on state and Medicaid provisions. While consumers receive an annual 1099 tax form, they need to know all the laws.

Planning smart Another time pre-payment becomes a viable option is when families “must spend down their assets, when they have to do it, so that the state does not get their money,” explains Oliver Cabral, owner of New Bedford’s Cabral-Baylies Square Funeral Home and the CabralLamoureux Funeral Home.

Often older persons will put funds into a bank trust, while younger persons opt for an insurance company annuity, which offers a bit more interest. Cabral offers to fund funeral planning through policies with Forethought Life Insurance Company.

Kimberly Smith also said that a majority of consumers use an insurance vehicle for several reasons. It carries no tax implication like a trust fund, it is transportable, allows the carrier to be changed, locks in the funeral price, and importantly, if payments are incomplete, final payments will be made by the carrier. Families can pre-arrange insurance payment over time. Most common is a single lump sum, or over three to five years, or up to 20 years. In a trust, funds are put in and kept safe, but that is all, with few if any benefits. The downside of insurance policies is that they are not protected against inflation.

Professional help It was previously alluded to that funeral directors are trained professionals. All funeral directors who offer insurance annuities must be licensed insurance agents, said Cabral. Certification must be renewed annually, as is annual licensing by the New Bedford Board of Health.

A funeral director license must be renewed every three years.

Cabral’s Forethought policy holders put two particular pre-need matters in writing: funeral services, such as professional, embalming, visitation, and transportation; and funeral merchandise, such as a casket, outer vault container, and associated items. The priority, Oliver Cabral explained, is to encourage family discussion regarding who will make the arrangements, where funds will come from, the cost of the funeral and, says a Forethought brochure, to assure, “there will be no family disputes—your loved ones won’t need to ask: Did we do the right thing? Did we spend too much or too little? Is it what he or she wanted?

These are difficult questions for families, and even though funeral directors are trained to answer them, sometimes consumers need much more background information before they engage in the prearrangement negotiations encouraged by attorneys, accountants and financial counselors. Waring-Sullivan, for instance, sponsors annual consumer workshop seminars that feature nationally known speakers, such as Alan Wolfelt, who created the Picking up the Pieces series dealing with care giving, working through grief, and care for someone dying. Earl Grollman has also spoken to frontline care givers such as nurses, educators and clergy.

Waring-Sullivan’s Kimberly Smith also explained that local sessions are held as often as possible, maybe every other month, called Planning Ahead for all the right reasons. These workshops aim to foster better communication among family members and especially between children and adults.

Burial or cremation?

Up till now, the topic has been funeral pre-planning with passing reference to casket needs. That begs the question, though, whether 18

January 2010 / The South Coast Insider

traditional burial or cremation will be performed. Someone might be tempted to take a perceived easy and inexpensive way out and opt for organ and body donation. The state requires informing families of the choice of organ donation, but medical schools and other pathology facilities might have no space for cadavers, and so plans are needed for the bodily remains.

Oliver Cabral’s two New Bedford funeral homes have a 90 percent Portuguese immigrant customer base. They generally wake a family member, then conduct a traditional burial in a metal or hardwood casket. Cremation, now accepted by Catholics, accounts for only 10 percent of his funeral services.

He explained that cremation services are strictly regulated by the state. In fact, he said Massachusetts is generally “very strict” about funeral home operation. For instance, unlike in Rhode Island and Florida where a crematorium is at the funeral home for “one-stop” convenience, Massachusetts for anti-monopoly and perhaps forensic reasons, require crematoriums to be in cemeteries.

“BT” Hathaway reported the cremation rate percentage rising into the high 30s, with parts of Maine and New Hampshire seeing it in the 70s. Kimberly Smith agreed that it is rising in Maine and on Cape Cod as high as the 70s. Reasons for this cremation option is partly cost; partly ecological sense, though not so much in southeastern Massachusetts—Smith pointed out that all the cemetery land in the U.S. would not equal the land area of Rhode Island.

Those who choose cremation still must select a service with the body present and cremation afterwards; no body present; with or without an urn—more options for the uncertain consumer who is aided by a well trained Massachusetts funeral director who is also a dual licensed embalmer. They require two years of schooling in funeral services, two years as an apprentice, and then need to pass national and state certification boards.

Cremation is “often more complex than burial,” said Smith. Hathaway agreed that it is complex. Massachusetts law requires a 48-hour waiting period before cremation, in case of hidden criminal evidence. Then a medical examiner signs off on the cremation process, he said.

Other cremation decisions are choice of a rigid combustible container, whether ones ashes will be buried with another person’s body or ashes, and dispersal procedure. Relatives often assume full responsibility for scattering ashes, though Waring-Sullivan and other funeral homes will contract for boat services to scatter ashes at sea (outside the three-mile limit).

When all is prepared, said and done, all that remains is for relatives to feel at ease at the memorial service, and funeral homes strive to assure their comfort in many ways. Chapel sizes vary from intimate to large, where chairs can still be repositioned for conversational groups.

Many offer a children’s room with small work tables for reading and coloring, though Kimberly Smith encourages children not to be set apart but allowed to take part in a family’s bereavement.

Families set up photo displays of the deceased; some families, like mine, set up a slide projector. Some of the newer chapels have ceiling installed projectors.Waring-Sullivan features a lobby designed according to feng shui decorating principles, complete with waterfall and hearth to represent the soothing sights and sounds of nature.

Funeral planning, like many things now in life, is time-consuming, challenging, and stressful. More consumers are pre-planning and prepaying funerals for peace of mind. A lot of options and legalities are involved, which are dealt with by increasingly more professional funeral directors who understand human relations, grief, insurance and financial matters. They encourage consumers to call, visit their establishments, and log on to their web sites to see what they offer.

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8 Schoolhouse Road Warren, RI 401-245-4999 www.celebratewithsmith.com The South Coast Insider / January 2010

19

COVER STORY

New Year health for local youth

by Cara Connelly Pimental

Imagine the New Year approaching and not having to make resolutions that include anything health related.

Imagine a generation that makes total health of both body and mind a way of life. That’s what a local organization strives to do.

This unique youth organization meets the physical, mental, nutritional and academic conditioning of the whole child. Southeastern Massachusetts Athletic Training (SMAT) strives to educate children ages 8 to 18 in how to properly attain their goals.

SMAT is owned and operated by two local long time youth coaches. They saw a need to help the youth of the area on and off the field. The young people train with educated coaches who provide the guidance necessary for young athletes to maximize their potential.

The two men have coached collectively for over 15 years and are dedicated to local communities as well both boys and girls

Prospect Street entrance to Southcoast Center for Cancer Care

20

January 2010 / The South Coast Insider

sports. SMAT also utilizes the services of qualified volunteers.

Lance Martin Martin was a highly regarded running back for Dartmouth High School in the late 70’s and still holds many of the school’s records. His talent, dedication to the game of football, and the effort he put into training earned him a full scholarship to Syracuse University, a Division 1 football school.

It has been 30 years since Dartmouth High School has seen an accomplished athlete earn such a distinction. Last year, Jordan Toddman earned the same distinction and is now playing for UConn.

Martin feels it was too many years between accomplishments and insists that more athletes can attain success in the form of athletic scholarships with the right training.

Free initial consultation Please call for appointment

Jim Parnell For the last 9 years, Parnell has coached football, soccer, baseball, softball and basketball in both Dartmouth and New Bedford. He has been involved in both boys and girls leagues. His belief is that the SMAT program is necessary to not only help area youth develop proper training techniques but to “provide kids with the opportunity to have the opportunity,” he said.

Both coaches are focused individuals who understand what it takes to succeed at such a high level of competition. They are motivated by young athletes who are willing to listen, learn, work hard and apply those learned techniques on the field and in the classroom.

SMAT began early in 2009, initially offering programs that first condition the athlete.

The program soon realized that promoting good physical health also meant educating its participates about the importance of a balanced, healthy diet. A dietician was brought in to teach the kids about proper nutrition. The kids soon realized the importance of putting down the soda and the sugar laced energy drinks for water, and incorporating more fruits and vegetables into their daily food choices.

They began paying attention to nutrition labels and understanding what they put in their bodies needed to be good fuel in order for their bodies to work to their full potential. The results were much smarter food choices and much healthier kids.

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The program’s participants quickly learn the importance of structure, repetitiveness, discipline and the role those qualities takes not just in athletics but with nutrition and health, and with their academic lives.

Program participants come to learn group drills, the proper technique to lift weights and stretching. Kids who complete a 4 week cycle program often come back for more with their shoulders held higher and wanting to push themselves to the next level of drills or weights.

Continued on page 23

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Continued from page 21 Each session consists of two 1½ hours of instruction weekly. Exercises are done in stations that are manned by educated personnel. Drills consist of at least a 20 minute warm up and techniques in relaxation and the correct form for running. Additional drills include ballistic training, plyometrics, weight loaded sprinting using a medicine ball, correct sprint form for speed and endurance as well as weight lifting.

Reaching the inner reality SMAT doesn’t just cater to the more accomplished athlete. According to Parnell, “lots of different kinds of kids come for different reasons.” This program is not just for the competitive athlete, it is for children who need to exercise, who need to learn about nutrition, who need to take part in something that will motivate them to work hard, be responsible and understand that “you get what you give,” says Parnell.

Some less aggressive athletes come just to stay in shape between seasonal sports.

“I would trade a mountain of talent for a tablespoon of desire,” he says.

Currently, there are very few programs that enable children to work towards a goal to better themselves physically. Martin feels the program is important to the community.

“SMAT is unique because our goal is to reach out to the children in our community, to ask them to take pride in themselves, to ask them to work for what they want.

“We look at our program as a character building process. We demand from our members discipline, respect and responsibility.”

The coaching style of the SMAT team pushes the youngsters to reach their potential, builds confidence, and teaches responsibility in a safe atmosphere.

According to Martin, “The kids cheer one another on and really are happy for their accomplishments and the accomplishments of their peers.” He is a proud coach, adding, “There is no quit in our kids.”

Martin and Parnell say their love of sports brings out their enthusiasm, but teaching and coaching to the whole child, reaching kids of all ages is what keeps them returning to the field year after year and season after season.

SMAT is an affordable alternative to area gym costs or costly weekly camps.

Members are required to pay $80/month.

There’s a family discount of $25 off for additional siblings. Personal training is offered as an extra service. January session information is available online. For more information, visit www.mysmat.com

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The South Coast Insider / January 2010

23

BORDERTOWNS

Welcome to Warren

by Paul Kandarian

Warren isn’t a very big town; it’s about 9 square miles small, with around 12,000 people. But, as is usually the case with towns of colonial heritage near the water, it’s a town rich with history, gorgeous old homes and buildings, and all manner of natural beauty.

It’s a place you often cut through from point A to point B, and that would be a shame, so slow down, check things out.

I know, I did that a lot when I was living in Seekonk and commuting to Roger Williams in Bristol, zipping through a town I scarcely paid attention to, noting things like the huge American Tourister—a Rhode Island company begun in the 1930s—where a couple buddies of mine pulled third-shift duties as security guards.

A town of firsts Warren was the original home of Brown University, thank you very much, founded in 1764 as the College of Rhode Island.

The school registered students beginning in 1765, and when it became Brown was the Baptist answer to Congregationalist Yale and Harvard, Presbyterian Princeton and Episcopalian Penn. and Columbia.

24

Then it was the only one of those schools to take students of all religious beliefs, rather fitting in that it followed Roger Williams’ example, the man who founded Rhode Island in 1636 on that very principle.

In fact, in 1636, Williams fled to Sowams— the Indian village that was the site of what is now Warren—when he got the boot from Salem. Warren has always been a welcoming place, it seems; here, Williams was sheltered by Massasoit until he settled at Providence.

Another first is the First United Methodist Church of Warren and Bristol on the aptly named Church Street. Established in 1789, it is the first Methodist church in the state, its Georgian spires rising 160 feet into the sky. It is said sailors used the light from those spires to navigate the nearby part of Narragansett Bay.

January 2010 / The South Coast Insider

Cool hot-stuff The Warren Fire Museum, housed in the hold Narragansett Steam Fire Company Station Number 3. Here it is proven that even in 1802, firefighters were heroes. At the museum, which is housed in the town’s first fire station and has been open since 1981, there is the first piece of fire-fighting apparatus ever used in Warren: an 1802, hand-cranked tub that was dubbed the “Hero,” the name emblazoned on its sides.

The tub was hauled around by men using ropes in those firefighting days gone by and still sees duty in parades. All manner of other firefighting gear may be found here as well, including a display of old sprinkler heads, pewter horns that officers at the scenes of fires used to shout directions, a piece of pigskin from a drum that was beaten around town to announce the end of World War I, heavy wool uniforms used years ago along with thick rubber coats.

A history of hard work The town derives its name from a British naval hero, Admiral Sir Peter Warren. The town had been part of Barrington until it separated in 1770. In the mid 1700s, Warren was a whaling port of note and a shipbuilding site, but the town’s commercial

prosperity took a hit during the Revolutionary War due to British raids. But shipbuilding prospered again until the 19th century, when manufacturing took over.

Though long thought a hard-scrabble, blue-collar kind of town, Warren is home to some of the state’s finest culture in the form of theater and art galleries. In fact, Warren has one of Rhode Island’s Tax-Free Arts Districts, providing incentive to artists to live and work within a district. For the consumer it means sales from artwork is free of tax, no small chunk of change if you’re spending hundreds or thousands on quality art.

Arts, beauty and more Also in Warren is one of the state’s most well-regarded performing-arts venues, 2nd Story Theatre, located in the former Cercle Jacques Cartier building in the Warren Voluntary Historic District. The shows show on the second story, and downstairs is a café that serves such delightfully theatrically named dishes as The Mamet, The Pinter and The Moliere. 2nd Story also holds a variety of acting classes and workshops.

Natural beauty abounds in town as well, such as at the 66-acre Touisset Marsh, an example of salt marks and bordering upland field habitat, a trail from Touisset Fire Station leading through fields to the Kickemuit River.

Farms and farm stands are in abundance in Warren, in season of course, and one of the best and most fun is Frerichs Farm and Greenhouses. In fall, the place explodes with color—mostly orange, in that they have an amazing assortment of pumpkin-flavored events, including weighing of massive tonand-a-half-plus pumpkins that have in years past been the world’s heaviest. They also do a pumpkin toss here that can’t be missed, if you’re into large, heavy, wet vegetables exploding on the ground…and really, who isn’t.

Restaurants are too many to mention, so I’ll go with two of my all-time faves: Jack’s Family Restaurant, which started in 1963, which was the time we started going there, making me realize there was such a thing as ethnic food. Me, I’m Italian, and I thought that’s all there was, but here Portuguese food is huge, and insanely good. Ditto for the chow at Wharf Tavern, where many a lobster has been eaten looking out over the water.

Warren’s got a lot going for it besides being the connection from Barrington to Bristol. Slow down, stop, and see why.

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25

WINE NOTES

Doing the Wine Expo a golden opportunity awaits

by Alton Long

Attending a Wine Expo can provide a unique opportunity to learn about and actually taste several dozen different wines. But without planning ahead and exercising some good judgment, this golden opportunity can result in nothing more than just another party, enjoying a lot of wines but not really learning anything.

Proper planning and some discretion can prepare you to make your visit into a serious yet very pleasant wine experience.

How to prepare?

Think about what kind of wines you really like and would want to learn more about.

Perhaps you have a favorite country that is known for their wines. Most likely there will be some purveyors of that country’s wines at the expo.

Your job then would be the search out those booths that are offering your wines of interest or representing the wines of the country that you want to learn more about.

If its not crowded at that booth then this is a good time to ask a question or two.

Let’s look at what some of the old timers do. Every year some experienced attendees select one, or two, or even three grape varieties they want to concentrate on.

For example, they may be on a quest to find the best Sauvignon Blanc wines that are at reasonable prices and at the same time want to discover who produces a Pinot Noir at a modest price that come close to the classic but rather expensive red Burgundies.

They may want to concentrate on a couple

26

of regions that they have heard about but have never visited, like the new wines of the Pacific North West or the northeastern corner of Spain, checking out the incredible new wines made from grapes form ancient vines.

But they can’t be too specific as there may be very few wineries present that are offering the unique wine or region being sought.

Some years an Expo may have a special gathering, sometimes called a pavilion, of many new wineries for a single area or country. One can get years worth of tasting in a couple of hours in one day with such an arrangement and it would be definitely worth checking out.

Follow this rule Now for any one who goes to an Expo or any wine festival or event that offers a large number of wines to sample, there is one golden rule you must follow. When you are given a wine sample, usually an ounce or less, you look at the wine, and swirl the glass to increase the aroma.

January 2010 / The South Coast Insider

Then you sniff the aroma, sip and swish the wine in your mouth to experience the body, balance and flavor. Then you SPIT it out.

Do not swallow it. If you swallow very much, you will soon shut down your tasting senses, even after a few dozen tiny sips. Unless you spit most of the wine out, you will quickly lose your discriminating skills, the whole reason of going to an Expo.

An opportunity One golden opportunity to try these ideas out is taking place in Boston at the Seaport World Trade Center and Seaport Hotel on January 23 and 24, 2010. The 19th Annual Boston Wine Expo is one of the largest the largest such events in the U.S. This year they will feature over 450 wineries and be offering over 1,800 wines to sample.

They also feature over two dozen continuous wine seminars with topics for both beginners as well as the experienced connoisseur.

In addition to the wines, there are many food vendors, and demonstrations and seminars with over a dozen celebrity chefs in action on two stages where you can taste complimentary food samples and collect recipes from scores of providers. And you can view live cooking demonstrations on two big stages (1st come, 1st seated) .

Learn from the experts Then there are a number of outstanding seminars (reservations required). These have a fee ranging fro $25 to $75. Scheduled

speakers include notables like Tim Mondavi co-founder, proprietor and winemaker of Continuum Estate; Leonardo LoCascio, President, CEO and Founder of Winebow, Inc.; Paul Hobbs, owner/winemaker at Paul Hobbs Winery and Vina Cobos; Bernard Retornaz, President of Louis Latour Inc. Plus, one of my favorites who is both very knowledgeable as well as entertaining: Kevin Zraly, of Windows on the World Wine School.

The list goes on with over a dozen presenters covering as many topics. They are listed online; and if you are interested, check them out quickly as some of the special ones may be filled up quickly.

It will be difficult to pick and chose which seminar you want to attend. But attending one or two of these seminars makes the whole Expo worthwhile. This is a chance to learn from the experts and sit down, to take a break from the marathon tasting.

More info The best way to see what is available and to make the reservation is to go on line (see contact information below.) There is also one real secret that I will share; the grand tasting doesn’t began until 1 p.m. But if you buy into one of the early seminars you can usually stay in and get a little head start.

The prices for this wine lovers extravaganza are $85 for Saturday and $75 for Sunday until January 16; after that they go up $10. For this you receive a souvenir glass and the opportunity to taste 100s of wines, a four-color glossy magazine outlining all the exhibitors that are present and where to locate them, plus schedules for the winemaker “meet & greets,” celebrity chef demos, and guided tastings/seminars along with other show facts. And there are pages for making notes on the wines that you taste at the Expo.

For the serious wine aficionados there are many special opportunities. You can sign up for the ultra-special Grand Cru Wine Lounge.

The Lounge is located in a private setting away from the main tasting area; here you can sample the best of the best and relax in an intimate area.

Hope to see you there; I would never miss it.

19th Annual Boston Wine Expo Seaport World Trade Center and Seaport Hotel One Seaport Lane, Boston, Massachusetts January 23 - 24, 2010 Grand tasting hours: 1:00 - 5:00 pm Phone: 1-877-946-3976 wine-expos.com/wine/boston/tasting-wine/

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27

BUSINESS

Lessons from England

by Steve Smith

In early October of this year, I found myself in an English queue to order two pints of local ale. Maria and I were at the Masons Arms pub in the Lakes Region in northwest England.

The scene was worthy of a timeless BBC television show—chilly evening, glowing fire, and dozens of patrons thoroughly enjoying themselves with a pint and an order of fish and chips or steak and ale pie.

28

January 2010 / The South Coast Insider

The pub was loud with collegial chatter among a multi-generational clientele of locals and tourists.

The warmth of the place was complemented by low beamed ceilings, rustic woodwork, a friendly bartender (from Nova Scotia) and a recent improvement— a smoke free atmosphere.

We had enjoyed this pub so much on Monday that we were back on Wednesday for dinner. We were in the midst of a two week whirlwind tour of the country and were trying to put a finger on why we enjoyed England so much.

Given our ambitious itinerary of cathedrals, castles, museums, historic sites, country hikes and beautiful scenery (not to mention

driving on the left and backwards around countless roundabouts), there had been little time to reflect upon our experience. But as we a sat in the pub among the locals of Cartmell Fell, an overheard remark from a local patron helped crystallize our thoughts.

“I lived in America for two years” the man behind me said to his mate, “and this is what I missed the most.”

Whether he was talking about the Masons Arms, the pub scene, or the whole country we will never know, but it hardly matters. What he was unmistakably referring to was the sense of community that we had seen and felt throughout the country during our fortnight there.

What’s seducing us?

Was it simple fascination with a foreign country? Was it the fact that we were on vacation and away from the pressures of work? Did we have a subconscious bias about the place? Maybe, maybe and maybe. But there was no denying a basic fact—that we both sensed a greater sense of community during our fortnight there, in spite of the reserve that the British are so well known for.

In addition to the pubs, we had noticed it among the tweedy ladies chatting on High Street in Chipping Campden. We had seen it on the many public footpaths that cross private land. We had felt it among the school children taking their field trips to the very same sites we were visiting. In everyday settings and situations, the English just seemed to exhibit a tangible sense of community and belonging.

There is no mistaking where you are when you are in England, at least compared to the U.S. Everyone lives fairly compactly in cities, towns and villages that are surrounded by rolling countryside and farm and pasture land. There’s not much in between. Unless you’re a country squire, you live close to and among your neighbors. Most housing is attached, clustered or on very compact lots. People do not have their private domains on one and two acres.

They co-exist with their neighbors whether they like it or not.

Sharing with neighbors When they want open space, they walk to the edge

of town and hike on a public footpath that crosses private property. We never saw the word “trespassing” in England.

When they want to socialize, they “pop in” to the local pub or go to the “bring and buy” sale at the local community hall.

Over time, England has made choices that are different from the ones we’ve made in America. They have sacrificed privacy for community. They have chosen open countryside over large front and back yards. They have favored trains over cars. They have supported agriculture at the expense of converting that land to new development.

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On our side of the pond, we have made our choices and encoded them in property laws, individual rights laws, and local zoning bylaws and ordinances that for the most part are designed to protect our privacy, selfsufficiency and individuality.

But we seem to have an all or nothing mentality, ignoring something essential to human nature, blind to the social benefits that a sense of real community provides.

We should borrow some good ideas from the English.

We need to permit some clustered development, allow mixed uses in our residential areas (pubs?), give a higher priority to transit projects, and save our farms.

In short, we need to provide a little more for “us” at the expense of “me.” With small changes, we can have the best of both worlds.

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More companies see the benefits of social media to their business/marketing strategy, say University of Massachusetts Dartmouth researchers at the Center for Marketing Research.

Supervised by Dr. Nora Ganim Barnes, Center director, and Eric Mattson, twenty students collected data in late September and early October, randomly surveying the 2009 Inc. 500, a list of the fastest-growing private U.S. companies compiled annually

by Inc. magazine.

Forty-three percent of Inc. 500 companies reported that social media was “very important,” while 91 percent are using at least one social media tool in 2009, up from 77 percent in 2008.

The researchers called this an “in-depth and statistically significant study” that builds on the Center’s study of Inc. 500 social media usage for the third consecutive year, making this a “valuable and rare longitudinal study of corporate use of these new technologies.”

Increasing use This year, 30 percent (148) of the Inc. 500 participated, making survey results

30

January 2010 / The South Coast Insider

valid at +/- 7%. The companies include five of the top 10, 12 of the top 25, and 38 of the top 100 companies from the list.

Respondents were asked about their familiarity with six prominent social media tools: blogging, podcasting, online video, social networking, message boards and wiki. This included the microblogging service Twitter and other social networking sites like Linkedin, Facebook and MySpace.

Most familiar to the Inc. 500 is social networking with 75 percent of 2009 respondents claiming to be “very familiar with it,” compared to 57 percent in 2008.

Respondents were also asked about their usage, level of success, and their intention to adopt the social media technologies they were not currently using. Results indicate that social networking and blogging have enjoyed growth in actual adoption.

According to Dr. Barnes, companies like social networking because it is substantive and says more about users. Companies like

blogs for the same reason and “monitor it closely.”

Plus they like Twitter because it is instant, draws customers in to company websites, and “lets companies respond quickly to customers.” This year’s survey shows that 62 percent of executives reported being familiar with Twitter and 52 percent are already using this tool.

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“They hope to find nothing,” says Dr. Barnes; they will look for anything negative to “avoid being embarrassed later and having to apologize” for something.

Used less often or experiencing decline is the use of message boards and online video. “Message boards is an older technology, not collaborative or interactive” and less useful to companies, says the UMass Dartmouth researcher. Similarly, most companies already have online video but find the technology and the employees needed to maintain it expensive, she explains.

In 2007, the Center’s first study of the Inc. 500’s use of social media revealed that the Inc. 500 was “outpacing the more traditional and larger Fortune 500 companies in their use of social media.” For example, some research showed that eight percent of the Fortune 500 was blogging compared to 19 percent of the Inc. 500. In 2008, the discrepancy was 16 percent vs. 39 percent.

In 2009, the Inc. 500 is blogging at the rate of 45 percent.

Do these survey results bode well for South Coast? One might conclude that if the new technology is being embraced and readily used by fast-growing private companies, the type being incubated and nurtured in New Bedford and Fall River start up labs, then they too will use it to grow their business, thereby getting ahead of older, more traditional competitors.

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31

BOOK PICKS BY BAKER

by Magoo Gelehrter Courtesy of Baker Books www.bakerbooks.net

If you are relieved that it is winter time because you want to cover up the extra pounds you’ve put on, here are some books that will make you look forward to the unveiling of a new and healthy you long before springtime arrives. Fad diets are well known for keeping dieters going up and down with their weight like a yo-yo, but the pragmatic routines laid out for you in the following books will put you on the right track and keep you going strong.

The UltraSimple Diet

Instinct Diet

by Mark Hyman Simon & Schuster paperback $12.99

by Susan B. Roberts & Betty Sargent Workman Publishing hardcover $24.95

If you need to lose weight fast but don’t want to damage your health and are tired of hearing people tell you to just eat less and exercise more, you need The Ultra Simple Diet.

Mark Hyman, M.D., the medical expert whose groundbreaking UltraMetabolism was a smash New York Times bestseller, now reveals an accelerated plan for quick, safe, and healthy weight loss— as much as 10 pounds in one week. His plan lays out the information you need to succeed, including a simple 7-day weight loss plan to revitalize your health,boost energy, and lose weight. Dr. Hyman provides detailed instructions for exactly what to do each day—no thinking, guessing, testing, or wondering—all straight forward and something anyone can do with the precise instructions for what foods to eat, what foods to avoid, recipes, supplements, and stress reduction—exercise is optional! He reveals the solution to the #1 problem most dieters have, which is how to keep the weight off for good. There are plenty of exercise routines to suit even the busiest schedule and the book includes pages for journal entries and checklists.

The UltraSimple Diet is grounded in 21st century science and medically proven through years of testing on thousands of Dr. Hyman’s patients. Seven days from now, you could weigh up to ten pounds less, have revitalized energy and health, and both feel and look fantastic, all by simply trying The UltraSimple Diet.

Satisfying our hardwired instincts has been critical to our survival for as long as we have been human.

That’s why we eat when food is available, choose the most calorie-dense foods, and hate the feeling of hunger. Today, these same drives are leading millions down the path of obesity. But Dr. Susan B. Roberts, an internationally recognized nutrition researcher at Tufts University, shows how to turn our food instincts into an engine for permanent, healthy weight loss.

The Instinct Diet—the “I” diet — is a pleasure to follow: a diet based on impeccable research, a diet where the dieter never goes hungry, a diet that’s unequivocally healthy, thoroughly grounded in the metabolic, genetic, and psychological workings of the human body. Essentially, it shows how you can control the controls. Through its focus on delicious, deeply satisfying dishes like Orange Crumbed French Toast, Pork and Lemongrass Soup, Watercress and Citrus Salad with Parmesan Toast, and Chocolate Bread Pudding, plus proven behavioral modifications (Dr. Roberts is a professor of nutrition and professor of psychiatry), the diet is a fat-burning marvel. At Tufts, 85 percent of participants in Dr. Roberts’ research program lost 10 to 50 pounds in the first six months, and 90 percent of them kept the weight off for at least a year.

Instinct Diet shares everything learned by Dr. Roberts over 17 years and more: better ways to lose weight whatever you eat; also

32

January 2010 / The South Coast Insider

a three-stage diet plan; over 100 recipes; eight weeks of menus (with vegetarian and “non-cook” options throughout); and dozens of ideas and strategies for how to retrain our bodies—how to combat the “Gulping Syndrome,” use the “Sandwich Technique,” why tapping your forehead is an emergency measure to reduce food cravings, and more.

Cancer Prevention Diet

by Michio Kushi St. Martins Press paperback $22.99 Since its original publication a quartercentury ago, Cancer Prevention Diet has been one of the most popular guides to the prevention and relief of society’s most feared disease. Drawing on the most up-to-date cancer research, Michio Kushi and Alex Jack present a dietary program that can be implemented safely and simply at home, at a fraction of the cost of usual meals and medical care.

This completely revised and updated twenty-fifth anniversary edition includes broader dietary guidelines and new recipes and is updated with new research on the twenty most frequent types of cancer.

There are new ways to combine macrobiotics with chemotherapy, radiation, and more, along with the latest statisitics, studies, and treatments.

Body at Home

by Jorge Cruise Random House hardcover $26.99 Jorge Cruise struggled with his weight for years.

Today, he is one of America’s leading fitness experts and the author of three consecutive New York Times bestsellers. In Body at Home he will show you how to save money and get fit. His book is women and men, and guarantees results in just two weeks with no fancy equipment, gym

membership, or serious time commitment.

Fitness expert Cruise has designed a series of exercises that rev up your metabolism— without running up your credit card bill—no matter what your age.

Cruise’s exercises are designed to help you build and maintain lean muscle mass– the key to keeping your metabolism revved twenty-four hours a day. He shares his eating right plan–complete with easy, delicious recipes. But best of all, he reveals his breakthrough method for gender and age customization: The Priority Solution™. This strategy will ignite your personal motivation to make permanent changes in your life.

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Ten-Minute Total Body Breakthrough

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Incorporating the latest research in exercise physiology, The 10-Minute Total Body Breakthrough is an ingenious program of interval, circuit, aerobic, and resistance training that accrues the benefits of hours at the gym in daily 10-minute workouts. And these are workouts that can be done anywhere, any time—home, office, hotel room, the park, and, of course, the local health club.

Created by Sean Foy, an exercise physiologist and behavioral coach, The 10-Minute Total Body Breakthrough counters the #1 reason people don’t exercise—not enough time—with a scientifically proven, clinically tested 4-3-2-1 program: 4 minutes of high-energy cardio, 3 minutes of resistance, 2 minutes of core, and 1 minute of stretching and deep breathing. The step-by-step illustrated exercises are simplicity itself—air boxing, wall push-ups, chair jogging, stationary high-knee marching—and are presented in three levels geared to the reader’s fitness, with four weeks of routines per level.

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REGIONAL NEWS

BCSB: A new bank for New Bedford Bristol County Savings Bank (BCSB) recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for its eleventh banking office and its first in the City of New Bedford. Local dignitaries met at Ashley Boulevard and Tacoma Street for the ceremony.

The 3,500 square-foot branch will feature a modern, wood clapboard exterior similar to its Dartmouth office, two drive-through lanes, a drive-through ATM, a cafe and its trademark exterior standing clock.

The BCSB New Bedford banking office will bring more than 200 construction jobs to the area and create approximately eight permanent positions. The bank’s headquarters are in Taunton.

Paula Freitas, Assistant Vice President, Bristol County Savings Bank (BCSB); Linda Morad, New Bedford City Councilor; Ines GoncalvesDrolet, Office Manager, Congressman Barney Frank’s New Bedford Office; Jim Burgess, Manager and Member, The Ashley Boulevard Place, LLC; Scott Lang, Mayor of New Bedford; E. Dennis Kelly, Jr., President & Chief Executive Officer, BCSB; Leonard Sullivan, Executive Vice President & Senior Loan Officer, BCSB; and Patrick Murray, Jr., Executive Vice President, Treasurer & Chief Operating Officer, BCSB.

Larkin & Wheeler in concert to benefit Katie Brown Program

At the opening of the new location at 10 Purchase Street, Fall River. (l to r): Donald Quattrucci, Director KBEP, Michael Martins, Director KBEP, Malcolm Borden, Friend, John Clifford, Director, Margaret Borden, Friend, Sue Jenkinson, Director & Clerk KBEP, Dr. Jay Schachne, Chair of the Board KBEP, Andrea Schachne, Director KBEP, Jay Kay, Director & President KBEP

34

January 2010 / The South Coast Insider

Nationally known recording artists Patty Larkin & Cheryl Wheeler will perform at a benefit for the Katie Brown Educational Program on Saturday, February 6. Both women are well-respected musiciansm whose songs have appeared on many of their own and other artists recordings.

The Katie Brown Educational Program (KBEP) was founded in early 2001 in response to the murder of Brown, 20-year-old woman from Barrington, Rhode Island who was killed by the young man she had dated off and on since high school.

To memorialize and honor Katie’s life, KBEP is dedicated to the recognition and prevention of relationship violence through innovative, interactive educational initiatives. KBEP promotes respectful relationships and provides alternatives to violent behaviors.

The concert will begin with a cocktail reception at 6:30 at The Eagle Performing Arts Center located at 24 North Main Street in Fall River. For more information and to order concert tickets, go to www.kbep.org/events.htm If you or someone you know is currently involved in an abusive relationship, please contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline for information on how to get help in your community. Their telephone number is 1-800-799-SAFE (1-800-799-7233) or 1-800-787-3224 TTY. If you are in immediate danger, please call 911 right away.

Together, we’ll get through this.

In these difficult times, dependability is hard to come by. At Bank of Fall River, our safe and strong performance has always been based on simple values.

This is why we’ve always avoided risky ideas like subprime mortgages. It’s also why our depositors have never lost a cent of their hard-earned savings, since the day we began.

We welcome the opportunity to assist you with any present or future needs– just as we have since 1888.

B A N K O F FA L L R I V E R ___________________________ C H A RT E R E D 18 8 8

The relationship you’ve been looking for.

508.678.7655

www.bankoffallriver.com Fall River • Dighton/Taunton • Fairhaven Member FDIC

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35

Independent Warwick, Johnston TAROT-SCOPES Me Magazine

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

Rehoboth Rep Aries – Now is a time to be strong, take control of your own life but do not fight battles you know you will not win. Around the end of the RI Home, Living De month things that were of importance no longer will be as new things will be starting for you.

So. Coast Insider Taurus – Now is a good time to change some things in your life. The sooner you do it the better the outcome will be. YouSo. Coast Prime Tim are a person that knows what you want and now is the time to go for it. This month many things that seemed unreachable are finally SRI within your reach.

Traveler Gemini – New relationships will be prosperous for you this month.

Now is the time to tell that someone how you feel. As the month Valley Breeze comes to an end it is a good time to take stock in what you have in your life and cherish it.

What’s Up Cancer – There is someone in your life that is not to be trusted.

Unfortunately they are not as easy to get rid of as you would hope.

Your Smithfield They have a habit of sneaking back into your life every time the door

trinity repertory company

a comedy by William Shakespeare Jan. 29 – March 7

Tickets start at $10!

season sponsor

STephen berenSon

trinityrep.com (401) 351-4242 201 WASHinGton St. proViDence • ri

PORTSMOUTH ABBEY SUMMER PROGRAM excellence and enrichment

closes. You are going to be faced with a decision that needs to be made, but there is no win-win solution here; in order for you to move in the right directions you need to stop carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders.

Leo – Your caring heart is going to get you hurt if you are not carful.

Someone in your life is trying to take advantage of you, but it is not too late to stop this from happening. You just need to make the right decision and get them out of your life.

Virgo – Let things calm down, let small disputes and disagreements fall to the wayside. This is a good time to enjoy romance and the simplicity of silence. Enjoy being content as it does not happen often.

Libra – It is not in your best interest to revisit any ties you have severed in business or romance. New friends and relationships are quite possible near the end of the month.

Scorpio – Try not to be the dominant one in your relationships at this time. You can not do everything on your own. Always compliment those that help you. You have a habit of spreading yourself to thin, be careful not to let that happen this month.

Sagittarius – Know your place within employment and relationships, do not rock the boat. There is some changes happening around you and you will be fine as long as you keep your head about things.

Now is a time to maintain things, especially anything tied to finances.

dates: sunday, june 27 – saturday, july 24, 2010 for: rising 7th through 10th graders

For more program details, as well as scholarship information, contact Peter o’connor, director of the summer Program, at summer @ portsmouthabbey.org or call 401-643-1225.

portsmou th a bbe y school N e w eN g l a N d ’ s co - ed c at h o l i c B eN ed i c t i N e B oa r d i N g s c h o o l

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January 2010 / The South Coast Insider

Capricorn – It is time to get your head out of the clouds and put your nose to the stone. Hard work will pay off but you have to put the effort into it. Do not listen to everyone around you. Listen only to yourself as you know what is best for you this month.

Aquarius – This month is a time for growth in every aspect of your life. Now is a time to strengthen teamwork and your relationships with others. Business gains are coming your way come mid month.

Your flirty nature will get much done both at home and at work.

Pisces – Now is a time to be careful with your finances. Things will be getting better before the month is over but pay close attention to what is coming and going in the beginning of the month. Comfort will be found in unusual places when you need it most.

HAPPENINGS January 1 – New Year’s Day Antiques Show and Sale. 11am-4pm. Fee. Venus de Milo Rest., Rt.6, Swansea.

January 1 - 31st Annual New Year’s Day Polar Bear Plunge, Newport. 12:00pm. Easton’s Beach, Memorial Boulevard. Call 401-8460028, or visit the A Wish Come True website for more information.

January 7 - A Night of Rhode Island Mystery, Providence. 7pm–8:30pm. Providence Public Library, 150 Empire St. Call 401-455-8090, email tmason@provlib.org, or visit the Providence Public Library website for more information.

COLD?

Warm up with some steaming hot, healthy, homemade soup!

Many different varieties available.

Call us for daily flavors.

January 9 – Ellis Paul, 8pm. 16 Anawan Street, Fall River. 508-324-1926. www.ncfta.org

January 15 – Eilen Jewell Band. 8pm. 16 Anawan Street, Fall River. 508-324-1926. www. ncfta.org January 16 – Gregg Allman. 8pm. 684 Purchase Street, New Bedford. 508-994-2900. www.zeiterion.org January 22-February 21 - Comic Potential at 2nd Story Theatre, 28 Market St., Warren. For tickets, visit the Box Office, call 401-247-4200 or www.2ndStoryTheatre.com January 22 – Ralph Stanley and his Clinch Mountain Boys. 8pm. 16 Anawan Street, Fall River. 508-324-1926. www.ncfta.org January 24 – South Coast Chamber Music Society Concert. 3pm. Fee. Grace Church. 422 County Street, New Bedford. www.southcoastchambermusic.org January 30 – Band of the Irish Guards and Royal Scot Regiment. 8pm. 684 Purchase Street, New Bedford. 508-994-2900. www. zeiterion.org Ongoing – The Cliff Walk along the eastern shore of Newport is world famous as a public access walk that combines the natural beauty of the Newport shoreline with the architectural history of Newport’s gilded age. To learn more visit www.cliffwalk.com

Volunteer for Adult Literacy Our students have asked for your help!

Volunteer to help an adult learner with basic language, reading, writing, math, or computer skills.

New volunteers are welcome at any time.

Through January 10 - Wicked at PPAC. www. ppacri.org January 14 - F.A.M.E.’s 3rd Annual Coffeehouse hosted by the Fairhaven Association for Music Education. 7pm. First Congregational Church, Babbitt Hall, 34 Center Street, Fairhaven. Fee. 508-992-4852 or email MarcMary@comcast. net

Resolve to make a difference in someone’s life…

865 Main Road, Westport, MA 508-636-2572 Daily 9:30-5:00 www.partnersvillagestore.com

Island Creations

Come in, Hang out and Play!

Create a pair of earrings or a bracelet for under $10.

Don’t know what you are doing?

Ask us; we will get you started and do the finish work for $1.

— CLASSES — One-on-One: $20/hour 2 or more: $25 for two-hour classes $35 for three hour classes Check schedule on our website www.islandcreations-online.com

Call 508-997-9800 info@islandcreations-online.com

For more information call Dr. Michael Gauthier, Volunteer Facilitator

(508)997-4511 x2419

The Second

Half

lifelong learning institute

Rekindle your enthusiasm for learning, meet like-minded people, and enjoy classes at the Second Half – Lifelong Learning Institute.

Open HOuse Wednesday, January 20 139 South Main St., Fall River 1-3pm (snow date: January, 27) • Learn about the classes we offer and meet the course facilitators.

• no books, tests, or grades — just stimulating learning in a relaxed, accessible atmosphere.

Register by February 5 Spring classes begin February 22 For information call Director, Beverly Stevens at 508.677.4694 email secondhalf@umassd.edu

www.umassd.edu/secondhalf

The South Coast Insider / January 2010

37

LAST WORD

Time to Learn

By Michael J. Vieira

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under the sun.

—Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 A college pal and current colleague likes to point out that the weather should be appropriate for the season. In other words, it should be cold in winter…just like it should be hot in summer. And the activities should match the season: ski in the winter…swim in the summer.

In other words, “to everything there is a season” The Bible writer penned the words, Pete Seeger added music, and the Byrds made it a hit (Turn! Turn! Turn!). And most of us accept the hard truth that there is a time to be born, and a time to die…a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance, etc.

But is there a time to learn? Some say it should happen every day of your life.

Lifelong learning “Commit yourself to lifelong learning. The most valuable asset you’ll ever have is your mind and what you put into it,” said Brian Tracy, a self-help author and presenter said.

In this economy, his message rings true.

There are many studies that point out that advanced degrees equal higher pay. More education opens more doors. And if you lose your job, they can take away money and benefits, but not what you know. In fact, there’s usually a good lesson learned from failing companies and fired employees.

The South Coast is fortunate to be located in an area surrounded by educational opportunities. As an employee of Bristol Community College and a graduate of Bridgewater State College, I can attest to their value and importance in my life and in the life of many of my friends, family and neighbors.

Whether you’re starting a career—or looking for a new one—they are great places to start, as are the many other institutions, private and public, in the region.

Public education has always been the great equalizer, and even with rising costs 38

(and dropping support), it’s still a bargain.

The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth has brought the Commonwealth’s excellent flagship to the region—and its efforts to provide a public law school are to be commended, and supported.

September may be the official “Back to School” month, but all of our area colleges and universities have a Spring Semester that starts in January. Okay, so calling January “spring” is a stretch, but you get the point. There’s still time to enroll in a class, be it credit or non-credit.

It’s also time to work on applications, financial aid forms, and other paperwork in anticipation of a traditional fall start. Take time during the cold winter months to talk to people, visit campuses, and fill out those fun forms. Make an informed decision.

The educated person At BCC and other colleges, there is often talk about the “Educated Person.” This is where the “Ivory Tower” and the “Yellow Brick Road” sometimes meet. An educated person has amassed a wide range of knowledge in the traditional liberal arts and sciences, so he or she knows about literature, history, math, music, and more—but that person should also be comfortable with technology and the trades, arts and crafts, theatre and more.

But does that take a degree? It helps, but there are many people who have never been able to go to college and yet have gained great knowledge and insight. For some, that information came from someplace like “The People’s University” as the inscription above the Fall River Public Library entrance proclaims—or the proverbial school of “hard knocks.”

In this wired world, there is much to learn from cable offerings like the History channel and from Internet resources. Plug in your

January 2010 / The South Coast Insider

iPod or iPhone and head over to the iTunesU where you can download MIT classes and many other educational lectures for free. It’s a great place to hear things you missed like President Barack Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech. The Internet also has an amazing collection of historical documents and other media.

Many communities offer low-cost or free classes for seniors and for young people alike. Pick up your local daily newspaper (that’s a wealth of information itself) or visit the web sites of local media. There are many lectures, tours, presentations, and other educational events that can help provide knowledge and information.

It’s time Instead of complaining about the weather, appreciate that it offers opportunities to stay inside. Read a good book. Take a virtual tour of an art museum on line. Download a great speech, symphony, or song. Look, listen, and learn.

Plan your next educational move. Do you need a GED? A degree? An advanced degree? Explore online and print resources or call your local college for help. No matter where you are, start the journey. Did you know that very few people finish an associate’s degree in two years? Not many complete a bachelor’s in four years any more either. Don’t worry about how long it will take, just take that first step.

If you have a degree, there’s always something to learn. Maybe it’s time to get your hands dirty and take a pottery class, or drag out some potting soil and start some seeds.

There are musical instruments to play, novels or memoirs to write, and research to be done.

For everything there is a season? January is a great time to learn.

Quality, customized home rehabilitation and health care services

Season Producer:

SATURDAY, JANUARY 16 AT 8PM

GREGG ALLMAN

Rehab at Home, a division of Therapy Resources Management, LLC, is a licensed, full-service home health agency devoted to taking a personalized approach to health care.

with SPecial gueSt Kevin hammond

As a locally owned, full-service agency, Rehab at Home provides:

• Nurses • Certified Home Health Aides • Physical Therapists

• Occupational Therapists • Speech and Language Pathologists • Translators • Licensed Social Workers

Zeiterion Performing Arts Center online Box Office by phone 10am–5pm TUES–FRI in person 10am–3pm SAT! FREE PARKING in adjacent garage

Rehab at Home referral line

www.zeiterion.org 508-994-2900 684 Purchase St. NEW BEDFORD

(508) 673-5500 Medicare Certified • Joint Commission Accredited • Licensed

Here’s Looking at you, kid!

Commercial Property 2307 So. Main Street (Rt. 138 S) Fall River, Massachusetts Suitable for retail and professional use

Just because it’s winter, doesn’t mean you have to say goodbye to the Animals.

We’re open 10AM-5PM, 361 days a year!

Easily dividable into smaller offices

Call 508-677-1353 for private showing The South Coast Insider / January 2010

39

UNDERWOOD FARM

Tiverton – New listing. Stately 4 bedroom, 4.5 bath Colonial on highland road situated on nearly 2 acres of manicured grounds offering hardwood floors, mahogany paneled dining room & library, formal living room, central air, fireplace, 3 stall garage plus loft. Close to area beaches and coastal attractions. $915,000. Call 508-679-3998.

Westport – Exceptional 4,200 sf Colonial w/ 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths on 1.6 acre lot offering private living quarters perfect for au pair or in-law setup. Upgrades include irrigation, electric fence, custom closets, home theatre, security system, and stamped concrete patio, stonewalls and perennial gardens. Offered at $649,000. Call 508-679-3998.

South tiverton – New listing. Beautifully maintained 3,700 sf Colonial offering 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, master suite, hardwood floors, formal living & dining rooms, fireplace, custom built-ins, finished walk out basement, office, 2 stall garage, central air, stonewalls, privately located on over 4 acres. $525,000. Call 508-679-3998.

Westport – NEW LISTING – RARE OPPORTUNITY! 15.7 Acre estate with 536 Ft of frontage offering multi-level 3Bdrm, 3.5Bath home PLUS 40x80 brick 4-bay garage w/office PLUS 4-stall horse barn w/plumbing & electric. Previously used as a home business(Mixed Use). Beautiful manicured grounds w/plenty of room for a corral. SUBDIVIDABLE! Outstanding location – THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS!

Up to 70% Off Holiday Sale!

We Pay Top Dollar Cash for Unwanted Gold & Diamonds!

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Tired of high heating costs?

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We’re seeing Portsmouth from a different angle.

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Newport Hospital is bringing to Portsmouth the highest quality medical imaging technologies and

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board-certified radiologists, for the clearest images and most accurate results possible.

Our Portsmouth Imaging Center offers early and late

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hours, plenty of free parking, and a friendly staff. The Turnpike Avenue location is close by and has fast

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Call 401-683-7410, or stop by to see the new facility, and schedule your appointment while you’re there.

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T O

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A Continuum of Quality Care 8 SPECIALIZED HOSPITALS, 44 SKILLED NURSING CENTERS, 2 ASSISTED LIVING RESIDENCES

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For more information about our services, please call 800.500.5715 (hospital) or 888.836.8877 (skilled nursing centers).

LONG-TERM ACUTE CARE HOSPITAL Kindred Hospital Northeast - Stoughton Stoughton, Massachusetts 781.297.8200

Crawford Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center Fall River, Massachusetts 508.679.4866

Kindred Hospital Northeast - Braintree Braintree, Massachusetts 781.848.2600

Highlander Rehabilitation and Nursing Center Fall River, Massachusetts 508.730.1070

MASSACHUSETTS SOUTHSHORE SKILLED NURSING CENTERS Blue Hills Alzheimer's Care Center Stoughton, Massachusetts 781.344.7300 Goddard Rehabilitation and Nursing Center Stoughton, Massachusetts 781.297.8411 Embassy House Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center Brockton, Massachusetts 508.588.8550 Colony House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center Abington, Massachusetts 781.871.0200 Sachem Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center East Bridgewater, Massachusetts 508.378.7227 Country Gardens Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center Swansea, Massachusetts 508.379.9700

Hallmark Nursing and Rehabilitation Center New Bedford, Massachusetts 508.997.7448 Forestview Nursing Home of Wareham Wareham, Massachusetts 508.295.6264 Eagle Pond Rehabilitation and Living Center South Dennis, Massachusetts 508.385.6034 RHODE ISLAND SKILLED NURSING CENTERS Kindred Heights Nursing and Rehabilitation Center East Providence, Rhode Island 401.438.4275 Oak Hill Nursing and Rehabilitation Center Pawtucket, Rhode Island 401.725.8888

Kindred Healthcare is the largest provider of postacute care in Massachusetts.

Our integrated network includes long-term acute care (LTAC) hospitals, nursing centers and assisted living residences – qualityfocused facilities that share a sense of community and compassion.

Our nationwide network of LTAC hospitals provides care to medically complex patients who require prolonged treatment plans and extended recovery time. Our nursing centers provide a full range of medical services to treat the residents who live with us and the patients who come to our facilities for shortterm or rehabilitative care. Our assisted living residences offer a full range of services, from housekeeping to restaurantquality dining.

Healthcare

COPYRIGHT Š 2006 Kindred Healthcare Operating, Inc. CSR55343

Clifton

ASSISTED LIVING COMMUNITY

The fireplace in the Library at the “Inn” at Clifton is just one of the places our residents stay warm during our cold New England winters.......

Winter at the “Inn”.......

Brrrrrr.......Winter is here!! The winter season is upon us and snow is on its way in South Coast New England.

Here at the “Inn” at Clifton we deal with the challenges brought on by severe winter weather.

We do all of the shoveling. We clean off the frozen windows of your car. Your mail and newspapers are delivered inside. We face the bitter cold outside…while our residents can sit around the fireplaces in the Dining Room, the Parlor and the Library. With family, good friends, a cup of Hot Cider, Cocoa or Coffee, they can capture the special cozy, warm feeling that is unique to the traditional inns of New England.

Corporate vs. Family.......

There is a corporate model of healthcare and there is a more traditional family model of care.

“Clifton” is a fourth generation local family organization that, since 1954, has been providing the highest quality of healthcare services to your community which is also our community.

CLIFTON HEALTHCARE CAMPUS

CLIFTON ASSISTED LIVING COMMUNITY

444 Wilbur Avenue, Somerset, MA, 02725

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508-324-0200

Proud to be celebrating over 50 years of dedication to excellence.