South Coast Prime Times - May/June

March is Colon Cancer Awareness Month Endoscopy Center

Schedule a colonoscopy test today! The earlier you find and treat Colorectal Cancer through screening, the better your chance for survival. As Colorectal Cancer is the third leading cause of cancer deaths, this is a screening everyone should have, even if they do not have symptoms. Check with your primary doctor to see what age you should get your test, and which test is best for you.

Prima CARE’s board-certified gastroenterology team is proud to offer colonoscopy and upper GI endoscopy services to patients in the Fall River community and surrounding areas. Our GI doctors and nurse practitioners are highly experienced in the diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal conditions. Our state-of-the-art, nationallyaccredited facility is conveniently located on the main Prima CARE campus.

We are by your side every step of the way. Don’t delay your screening.

Endoscopy Center

277 Pleasant Street Suite 240 Fall River, MA

prima-care.com

Gastroenterology

289 Pleasant Street Suite 501 Fall River, MA

(508) 679-6611

David Maddock, MD

Sidney Olefson, MD

Hamzeh Saraireh, MD

Karen Susskind, MD

Donald Sutherland, DO

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June 3 - Wareham Celebrates Pride

June 17 - Kayak Poker Run at Shell Point

June 28 - August 30 Onset Summer of Love

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Celebrate in May!

elebrate Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, Father’s Day, Juneteenth, and Pride Month in the great outdoors amidst all the flowers, café seating, food festivals, cultural events and music! We’re heading into another spectacular Summer on the South Coast –so, get out there and join in the fun!

To market, to market

Take the family to the Spring Crafts Fair & Food Truck Event on May 7 at Fall River’s Liberal Club (vivafallriver)!

The Fairhaven Farmers Market on Alden Road opens for the season on June 18, and the Huttleston Market on the high school grounds opens on May 20 (fairhaventours. com).

Let your family wander through the free May Day Market at the WaterFire Arts Center in Providence May 6-7 – arts, crafts

Cand all things home and garden (finefurnishingshows.com)!

Don’t miss the June opening of Fall River’s open-air Farmers and Artisan Market on the corner of Columbia and Canal Streets (vivafallriver.com)!

Make a trip to Somerset on Saturdays to saunter through the South Coast Open Air Market to purchase all things local, handmade, and fresh (southcoastopenairmarket.com)!

Take the family to the monthly Open Farm Days at Round The Bend Farm in Dartmouth! Grass-fed meats, seasonal produce, honey, maple syrup, botanicals, and family-friendly farm tours (roundthebendfarm.org).

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

Celebrate Juneteenth! Don’t miss the BuyBlackNB Pop-Up Vendor Market on June 17 at the Rotch-Jones-Duff Mansion in New Bedford – music, community-

building, curated selection of local Black-owned businesses (rjdmuseum.org).

Art and artists

Calling all artists! Sign up now for the annual Cuttyhunk Plein Air Festival on June 17, departing from Pier 3 in New Bedford and sponsored by the Marion Art Center (marionartcenter.org/cuttyhunk)!

Check out all the free creative arts and cultural events scheduled in May from Fall River to Wareham, part of the South Coast Spring Arts Festival (southcoastspringarts. org/2023)!

Take a free tour of 30+ artist and artisan studios during Tour the Fall River Open Studios on May 12-13, part of the South Coast Arts Spring Festival (vivafallriver. com) (southcoastspringarts.org/2023)!

Check out “Art in Bloom” June 23-25 at the Marion Art Center – learn about edible flowers and herbs, floral watercolors, flower pressing, biophilic design (marionarttcenter.org)!

Visit the artists and artisans in their creative work-spaces on Hatch Street in

Everyone’s eager for the return of trademark events and early summer activities throughout the region!

e lizabeth Morse r ead

New Bedford May 6-7 during the Spring Open Studio Tours (hatchstreetstudios. com) (southcoastspringarts.org/2023)!

Lectures, exhibits and special events

Visit the Whaling Museum in New Bedford through May 7 for the special exhibit exploring the Arctic world of polar bears (whalingmuseum.org)!

Enjoy free walking tours on AHA! Nights in New Bedford, May through September, led by the New Bedford Preservation Society – “Walkways: Exploring the People and Places of Historical New Bedford” (nbpreservationsociety.org).

Sign up for a series of six lectures on “The Gilded Age Years: Transforming America” through June 15 at The Breakers in Newport – attend in person or via Zoom (newportmansions.org).

Enjoy a lunchtime solo concert of music, songs and stories with Irish harpist Aine Minogue on May 22 at the Marion Council on Aging (marionma.gov)!

Register now for the Thursday classes on Yoga & Breathwork for Seniors on May 11, 18, 25, and June 1 at the Rotch-Jones-Duff Museum in New Bedford (rjdmuseum.org)!

Learn more about the free virtual classes and video library in meditation, laughter yoga, tai chi, yoga, nutrition and smokingcessation hypnosis offered by the New Bedford Wellness Initiative (facebook. com/newbedfordwellnessinitiative)!

Buy your tickets early for the annual fundraiser “Garden Party: Nothing But Trouble,” a speakeasy event in the gardens of the Rotch-Jones-Duff Manson in New Bedford on June 9 – cocktails, period music, hors d’oeuvres, open bar (rjdmuseum.org)!

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

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

“All in the family” activities

Take the family on an immersive adventure back to prehistoric times at “Dinosaurs Among Us!” at Roger Williams Park in Providence through August 13, walking

amidst sixty life-sized animatronic and interactive dinosaurs (rwpzoo.org)!

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

On rainy days Wednesdays-Sundays, take the little ones to the Children’s Museum of Greater Fall River (cmgfr.org)!

Buy your tickets online for the planetarium shows on weekends and school vacations at the Museum of Natural History & Planetarium at Roger Williams Park in Providence (providence.gov/ museum).

There’s always something going on at the Norman Bird Sanctuary in Middletown! Enjoy a family campout under the stars during the Flower Moon Sleepover Party May 5-6 (normanbirdsanctuary.org)!

Register early for the Mother’s Day Tea on May 13 in the gardens of the RotchJones-Duff Museum in New Bedford (rjdmuseum.org)!

Food, fairs, and festivals!

Save the date! Don’t miss Coastal Wine Trail’s 10th Annual Wine, Cheese and Chocolate Festival on June 17 at the Westport Fairgrounds (coastalwinetrail. com)!

Get ready for the Buttonwood Park Zoo’s annual “Red, White and Brew” beer- and wine-tasting festival on May 19 in New Bedford (bpzoo.org)!

Don’t miss the free Community Block Party on May 20 at 45 Rock Street in Fall River! Food, music, games, family fun and more (gfrREC.org)!

Taste your way through the historic district of New Bedford with New Bedford Food Tours on a 3-hour guided walking tour to sample local foods at five signature restaurants (nbbfoodtours.com)!

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

Don’t miss the 34th Annual Strawberry Festival in Assonet on June 18 (tuesdayclubofassonet.org)!

Mark your calendar for the Greyhound Pets of America Crafts Fair on June 4 on Middleborough’s Town Hall Lawn – free admission and parking (discovermiddleborough.com).

Bring the whole family to Fairhaven’s

Music on the greens

Groovy! The free Summer of Love Concerts at the Onset Bandshell start June 28 (onsetbay.org)!

Pack a picnic or enjoy the food trucks when you head for Soule Homestead in Middleborough for the start of their Summer Concert Series on May 13 or their Folk Festival on June 24 at the outdoor pavilion (soulehomestead.org)!

Buy your tickets in advance online for the Westport Rivers Sunset Music Series starting in May (westportrivers.com)!

Bring your picnic basket to Running Brook Vineyard in Dartmouth for free live music every Saturday and Sunday year-round (runningbrookwine.com)!

Bring a blanket to the Summer Concerts at Independence Park in Bristol June 20-July 4 (july4thbristolri.com)!

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7

annual Homecoming Day Fair on June 24 (fairhaventours.com)!

Buy your tickets early for the 2023 Asparagus Fest on May 7 at Four Town Farm in Seekonk (farmfreshri.org/ asparagus)!

Check out the Cherry Blossom Festival at the Whitfield-Manjiro Friendship House in Fairhaven on May 7 (fairhaventours.com).

Take the family to the third annual We HeART Fall River Festival on May 13 at Government Center, a free celebration of art, culture and community (vivafallriver.com)!

Plan ahead for the seventh annual Newport Oyster and Chowder Festival at Bowen’s Wharf in Newport on May 20-21 (bowenswharf.com).

Classical acts

Enjoy the free annual Concert in the Garden at the Rotch-Jones-Duff Mansion in New Bedford on May 16, performed by New Bedford High School studentmusicians – jazz, classical, strings, and steel band (rjdmuseum.org)!

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

Listen to the Fall River Symphony Orchestra’s “Spring Concert” with the South Coast Community Chorale on May 7 at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Fall River, performing Mozart’s Requiem and The

Pines of Rome (fallriversymphonyorchestra.org).

Don’t miss the Greater New Bedford Choral Society’s Spring Concert on May 7 at Grace Episcopal Church in New Bedford (gnbcs.org)!

Stop by the Four Corners Art Center in Tiverton to listen to chamber music performed by The Newport String Project on May 14 or to Americana music performed by The Whelks on May 20 (fourcornerarts.org)!

Head for the Zeiterion in downtown New Bedford to hear Konstantia Plays the “Emperor,” presented by the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra on May 20 (zeiterion.org).

Buy your tickets early for the Tri-County Symphonic Band’s 20th Annual Pops Concert “Shall We Dance?” on June 11 under the tent at Tabor Academy in Marion (tricountysymphonicband.org).

On the move again!

Register for the Cinco de Mayo 5K in Wareham on May 7 (southshorerace.com)! Get Healthy! “Walk With a Doc” on Saturdays at Buttonwood Park Zoo, part of the New Bedford Wellness Initiative (nbewell.com).

Sign up now for the 30th Annual Buzzards Bay Swim on June 24 (savebuzzardsbay.org/discover/events)!

Register early for the June 24 Independence Rhode Race/Half Marathon in Bristol (info@rhoderaces.us) (july4thbristolri.com)!

Get ready for Fairhaven’s Annual Father’s

Day 10K and 5K Road Race on June 18 (fairhaventours.com)!

Cheer on the 2023 Harvest Triathlon in Wareham on June 11 (maxperformanceonline.com)!

Sounds of the South Coast

Head for Plymouth’s Pilgrim Memorial Hall to hear One Night of Queen May 5, The Righteous Brothers May 12, Lewis Black: Off the Rails May 13, Come Together: Music of the Beatles May 20-21, Cage Titans 59 May 27, Celebrating Billy Joel: America’s Piano Man June 1, Cold Chocolate June 22, John Jorgenson June 30 (memorialhall.com).

Head for the Zeiterion in downtown New Bedford to hear New Bedford Festival Theatre’s “The Wiz” through May 6, It’s Okay to Be Different May 7, Dori Rubbico May 11, Tavares: Coming Home May 12 & 14, One Funny Mother May 13, New Bedford Symphony Orchestra’s Konstantia Plays “The Emperor” May 20, With Love From Portugal June 3, Alan Cumming & Ari Shapiro June 24, Bernadette Peters June 29 (zeiterion.org).

Head for The VETS in Providence to hear The Temptations & The Four Tops May 19, Heather McMahan May 20, Natalie Merchant June 28 (thevetsri. com)!

Check out who’s performing in The Vault at the Greasy Luck Brew Pub in downtown New Bedford (vaultnb.com)!

Head for the Providence Performing

Arts Center for the International Portuguese Music Awards on May 20, The Avett Brothers May 23, Celebrating Billy Joel: America’s Piano Man June 9, John Mellencamp June 11, The Rocketman Show June 16 (ppaccri.org)!

Find out who’s on stage at the Spire Center for the Arts of Greater Plymouth ! Don’t miss Roomful of Blues May 6, Christine Hurley May 12, Hayley

Sabella May 18, The Fat City Band

May 19, The The Band Band May 20, Popa Chubby May 26, Sugar Ray & the Bluetones June 3, Mark Hammel Band

June 9 (spirecenter.org).

Don’t miss Deaf Leopard May 5, Devoted 2 You May 6, Panorama May 12, Heartless May 13, 60’s Pirate Radio Ship May 19, Beastie Ballz May 20, Wildside May 26, Echoes of Floyd May 27, LoVe

SeXy May 28 at The District Center for the Arts in Taunton (thedistrictcenterforarts.com)!

Head to the Narrows Center in Fall River to hear Alejandro Escovedo May 2, Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams

May 4, Davy Knowles May 5, Masters of the Telecaster May 6, A Tale of Two May 11, Trinity May 13, The Iguanas

May 18, Dark Desert Eagles May 19, Ana Popovic May 20, Bill Frisell Trio

June 1, Jadice Venson June 15, Jorma Kaukonen June 22, Eilen Jewell June 30 (narrowscenter.com)!

Viva Portugal!

Head for the Providence Performing Arts Center for the International Portuguese Music Awards on May 20 (ppaccri.org)!

Mark your calendar for the 46th Annual Day of Portugal celebrations in Providence on June 10-11 (ridayofportugal.org)!

Enjoy a night of fado “With Love From Portugal” on June 3, with Helder Moutinho and Maria Emilia, at the Zeiterion in New Bedford (zeiterion.org).

Head for the City Gates of Fall River June 8-11 for the Day of Portugal Weekend (facebook.com/DOPFR2023)!

It’s festa time! The three-day 2023 Day of Portugal in New Bedford will take place in June (nb-dayofportugal.com) (facebook. com/dayofportugalofnewbedford)!

The shows must go on!

Show your support for the student-actors at the Greater New Bedford Vocational Technical High School by attending their performance of “9-5: The Musical” May 5-7 (newbedfordlight.com)!

Find out what’s playing at The Little Theatre in Fall River! Don’t miss “The Lion King Jr.” June 1-4 or “Fun Home” June 15-25 (littletheatre.net)!

Head for the Priscilla Beach Theatre in Plymouth, one of the oldest barn summer stock theatres in America!

Celebrate Armed Forces Day and travel back to the sounds of WWII USO clubs for “Stars & Stripes: A Musical Salute to the Troops” performed by The Seaglass Theatre on May 20 at the First Congregational Church in Fairhaven (newbedfordcreative.org)!

Mark your calendar to see “Picasso at the Lapin Agile” May 12-14, 19-21 at Your Theatre in New Bedford (yourtheatre.org)!

Enjoy dinner with your drama at the Newport Playhouse! Don’t miss “Run for Your Wife” through May 24, “Spreading It Around” May 31 to June 28 (newportplayhouse.com)!

Buy your tickets early to see “Sweeney Todd” May 25 to June 25 at Trinity Rep in Providence (trinityrep.com).

Head for the Zeiterion in downtown New Bedford to watch the New Bedford Festival Theatre’s production of “The Wiz” through May 6 (zeiterion.org).

Hours: Monday-Friday 4pm-9pm Saturday 8:45am -2pm Open Workouts!! Fridays 7:45-8:45 Sunday-Open for special events

Museum-minded

ew Bedford has a rich and diverse history and the museums of the city enable the community to better understand itself. They are also an opportunity for visitors to appreciate what built this unique historical destination.

The New Bedford experience goes beyond just whaling and fishing, and the city’s museums provide a vital window to the different chapters that tell the story of this 236-year-old city. They are an enjoyable resource for defining who we were, who we are, and who we may become.

There are an array of museums in New Bedford, with many going beyond the traditional offerings to include special events and public programming.

“Museums are places of exploration that encourage everyone to be curious,” says Jennifer Zanolli, Director of Museum

Experience and Community Engagement at the New Bedford Whaling Museum. “Whether you spend an hour or an entire day, it can be a place of discovery.”

“Museums are absolutely essential because of the role they play in creating a social identity for people,” says Timothy D. Walker, a Professor of History at UMass-Dartmouth and a Guest

Researcher at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. “They’re an education and an experience you can’t get in a classroom.”

“Museums are a place that you can go on your own, or it can be a social experience. You can go with family and friends,” says Suzanne de Vegh, Executive Director of the New Bedford Art Museum/Art Works! “You can have this engaging experience that gives you something to think about long after you’ve left. It’s a place where you can feel comfortable and at home and you can’t wait to go back.”

The New Bedford Whaling Museum offers a vast lineup of events and exhibits that go beyond just whaling. They include permanent and rotating galleries aimed at enabling visitors to explore and discover what is to be found in this vibrant region.

Guests may marvel at the five massive whale skeletons and step onto the model of the spectacular whaling ship Lagoda. There are permanent exhibits that are devoted to whales, scrimshaw, Cabo Verde, the extraordinary life of Capt. Paul Cuffe, and more.

Fishing is a vital part of the region’s economy and the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center offers an archive of documents, photographs, and logbooks that preserve the vital history of this industry. They also offer free and low-cost programming such as documentary films, concerts, and educational classes relating to the fishing industry.

“So many people in the city have direct connections to the fishing community, including many school kids,” says Laura Orleans, Executive Director of the Center. “We want to tell the stories of the past, present, and future. It’s important to know where your food comes from and who is getting it from the ocean – the risks they take and the skills and knowledge they have. This is a group of hardworking, resourceful, and resilient people. It’s a huge part of our culture and economy. People have come from all over the world to find work here.”

The New Bedford Art Museum/Art Works! offers more than just a gallery. In addition to the contemporary art that

We love to look back. And looking back is important.

sea N MCC arthy

NThere are so many different and wonderful experiences that people can have with art. For me, visiting a museum is about engaging intellectually and emotionally.

Ne W bedford f ire MuseuM

adorns their walls, they have socially engaging programming that features film, dance, poetry, date nights, and live music.

“There are so many different and wonderful experiences that people can have with art,” de Vegh says. “For me, visiting a museum is about engaging intellectually and emotionally. I want to see something that gets my attention, makes me think, engages my senses, and gives me a new perspective on the world.”

Through the looking glass

The Rotch-Jones-Duff House & Garden Museum, a location that was the home of three wealthy families from 1834 to 1936, is a treat for those interested in local history,

Beginning with William Rotch, Jr., who was considered the “Rockefeller of Whaling,” the house was also owned by Edward Coffin Jones and Mark Duff, who resided there with their families. The house contains preserved rooms such as sleeping chambers, a dining room, a kitchen, and bathrooms. Visitors can see how the families lived with items such as cooking utensils and grooming implements, along with the dolls and toys owned by the children of the families, their writings, and their artworks.

The acre of property also includes a garden with 27 varieties of roses, heritage trees, boxwoods, and a historic green house.

The House & Garden Museum is open seven days a week. From May through October, it offers a wide range of programming for the public, including plays, concerts, yoga, children’s events, lectures and discussions, and more.

Considered the only museum of its kind in New England, the New Bedford Glass Museum offers events such as lectures and curated tours for groups and clubs, including children and college students. The collection features more than 7,000 pieces, from ancient times to the present day, specializing in decorative cut glass, Victorian art glass, window panes, and bottles – high-end artistic glass that is celebrated around the world.

The history of the Underground Railroad and the Abolitionist Movement in New Bedford can be explored at the New Bedford Historical Museum. Located at the Nathan and Polly Johnson House on 21 Seventh Street downtown, guests can visit the first home of the freed slave, orator, and abolitionist Frederick Douglass and his wife Anna Douglass.

The museum focuses on the history and culture of African-Americans, Native Americans, Cape Verdeans, and West Indians in the greater New Bedford area. Tours of the house are available by appointment.

Expanding exhibits

The New Bedford Fire Museum is dedicated to the development of urban firefighting technology, equipment, and organizations. Open from July to September, Monday through Friday, the collection features preserved antique equipment and memorabilia at the station that was built in 1867, and is considered to be the oldest active fire station in the state of Massachusetts.

The Fort Taber-Fort Rodman Military Museum opened in August 2004 and attracts more than 8,500 visitors a year. The venue showcases artifacts from the Revolutionary War through the modern-day battles in Iraq and Afganistan, a tribute to the veterans and servicemembers that includes artifacts, photos, and biographies of local soldiers and veterans.

The Museum of Madeiran Heritage opened in 1999, founded by Joe Sousa out of love for Madeiran culture. Located at the Club of the Blessed Sacrament, the site offers a variety of items that includes embroidery and needlepoint creations, books, pictures, musical instruments, and other souvenirs that have been passed along for generations. The museum is open during the annual Feast of the Blessed Sacrament celebration, and guided tours are available to be booked online.

The New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park has been described as “the appetizer to the entrée of all of the wonderful museums in New Bedford,” a starting point for visitors before they stop at any of the other local museums. The Visitor’s Center offers a 20-minute introductory film which orients guests to the city’s 19th century whaling history and other exhibits. Guests are able to procure a map to get guidance on the sites in the area. In the summer, rangerguided tours are available.

“If you want to understand the community and cultures of New Bedford you should engage in its museums,” Walker says.

sea N MCCarthy has been a freelance journalist for 35 years. He lives in New Bedford.

AnniversAry sAle

STORE HOURS TUES 10-3, WED 12-8, THURS & FRI 12-5, SAT 10-4

2023 season opening on Tuesday 5/9

HOURS: Mon. thru Sat. 10 - 4, Sunday 12 - 4, Closed Wednesday

t he y M akes a b ig splash

eginning in May, the addition of the Splashpad will provide members and guests with the chance to enjoy a fun outdoor experience that includes a variety of aquatic frolics such as sprinklers, a slide, and a bucket dump.

The Splashpad project is an example of the combined forces of a dedicated Y staff and a community that is supportive of the organization’s mission and goals. When the Swansea Y opened in 2015, there was the intention of constructing a world-class indoor pool. But during the initial planning phases, the project – like much of the world – was put on hold due to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Two years later, the project is back on track, working with volunteers in the community to construct the opening of the first phase of the Aquatics facility: the Splashpad.

BWe’re showing the community that we can raise funds and we need their support in order to get to that ultimate goal. We do not have a date but we do have a lot of momentum especially now that the Splashpad is in full swing.

“The splashpad is an initial step towards the long-term goal of an indoor pool,” says Stephanie Mancini, Senior Executive Director of YMCA South Coast Swansea/ Fall River. “We’re showing the community that we can raise funds and we need their support in order to get to that ultimate goal. We do not have a date but we do have a lot of momentum especially now that the Splashpad is in full swing.”

The entire Splashpad project is estimated to cost $600,000, 75 percent of which has

already been raised. Multiple fundraising opportunities are available at the Swansea Y. For $150, donors can purchase a brick that contains the name of the person or their family to be included in the patio that accompanies the Splashpad. Additional donation levels start at $1,000 and go as high as $25,000 and include other unique naming opportunities.

The Swansea Y is aware of the enjoyment that comes with a Splashpad. These installations have proven popular at the Hockomock Y in Franklin and the Attleboro Y in Norton.

Splashpads are environments that encourage interaction, giving families an exciting place to gather and meet, where parents can socialize and enjoy the outdoors while kids are playing and enjoying the water. Splashpads have universal accessibility for all types of physical abilities.

“I am beyond excited to see the Splashpad project come to life,” says Vanessa Levrault, Associate Executive Director for the Swansea Y. “This will be great for not

With the opening of their new Splashpad attraction, the Swansea YMCA is offering families and kids a cool opportunity on a hot summer’s day.

Located on 36 beautiful acres, the Swansea Y offers a multitude of indoor and outdoor activities, including an adventure course, sports fields, archery, and specialty camps for dance, cheer, acro, and more! The brand-new Splashpad is the first step towards even more aquatic fun.

only Swansea camp kids but Fall River as well. A Splashpad is an all-inclusive water playground that any age or ability can enjoy and cool off with. The Splashpad committee has worked really hard to raise the money for this project and I know it is something we are all proud of.”

And fun in the water is only one of the summertime offerings at the Swansea Y. Each summer, their day camp, Camp Weetamoe, serves 120 children with fun activities like archery, along with a full adventure course that includes zip lines, a rock-climbing wall, and high and low rope courses. The campers also enjoy indoor activities such as arts and crafts.

The Swansea Y offers a variety of youth programs such as volleyball and basketball, as well as a Home School Gym Class which gives young people an opportunity to get their physical education in the company of other children.

The Swansea YMCA is home to the AXEL Dance Academy that includes 120 dancers five days a week, with a full recital at the end of the year along with performances in local competitions.

Located on 36 acres of beautiful land.

The Swansea Y Wellness Center offers top-of-the-line cardio and strength training equipment, and more than 30 free group fitness classes a week including Zumba, Yoga, and Body Pump. They have an indoor walking track, and a ¾ of a mile outdoor track, a full-sized basketball court, high and low rope adventure courses and outdoor state-of-the-art sports fields to play baseball, softball, soccer and beach volleyball. In addition to adult basketball leagues, they offer programming for school-aged youth along with a Kid’s Adventure Area and a playground, birthday parties, dance and sports opportunities.

South Coast YMCAs have volunteer opportunities in a variety of capacities such as After School Care as a mentor or tutor, Preschool Child Care, Coaching opportunities in sports such as basketball, flag football and swimming, and their Full Plate Project where volunteers help to sort, pack and distribute food to those in need.

YMCA Southcoast was founded in 1867 with the establishment of the New Bedford YMCA. The association has since grown to encompass six branches serving 18 communities throughout the South Coast. In addition to Swansea and New Bedford, there are locations in Fall River, Dartmouth, Wareham, and Mattapoisett. For more information, visit YMCASC.org.

sea N MCCarthy has been a freelance journalist for 35 years. He lives in New Bedford.

We do rehab

Updating the COA

Spring is a time of rejuvenation, and that seems to be the idea behind the recent switching of senior center priorities by the New Bedford Council On Aging.

As of March 6, the Buttonwood Senior Center has been repurposed as an adult social day program. Meanwhile, at the Brooklawn Community Center, the opposite has happened – it has been repurposed from an adult social day center to a senior center, and the former adult social day program at Rosemary Tierney Community Center, Hazelwood Park, is now also a senior center.

“The reasoning for this is because attendance was down at the Buttonwood Senior Center, the largest of the three centers,” COA Director Debra Lee said.

But Lee emphasizes how this change will benefit

the city’s seniors. There are approximately 80 people who attend day care at this point, she said, not all on the same day but spread throughout the week. Some people come two days per week, some three, and some as many as five, while there are a few who attend once weekly as well. Meanwhile, since 2016, average daily attendance at the Buttonwood Senior Center has declined 70 percent as seniors increasingly have pursued activities elsewhere. The current attendance levels do not require the larger space available at Buttonwood.

The consolidated Buttonwood adult social day facility

MiChael J. deCiCCo

will raise the program’s capacity from 55 to about 80 participants, Lee said, and the reopening of the Rosemary Tierney and Brooklawn sites as traditional senior centers will allow for the expanded and more frequent offerings of the seniors most sought-after programming.

“Due to the increasing demand for adult social daycare slots and declining participation at the Buttonwood Senior Center, the New Bedford Council on Aging decided to turn the Buttonwood Senior Center into a consolidated adult social day care Center,” she explained. “Brooklawn Community Center and Rosemary Tierney Community Center, the current sites for the City’s adult social day care programs, once again have become traditional senior centers.”

New Bedford’s senior centers feature exercise programs such as strength and conditioning, zumba, and chair yoga. The latter is being offered in three classes on different days, one at each of the new repurposed centers and now one at the Andrea McCoy gymnasium. Lee notes with pride that city residents are able to take these class for free. The city pays the cost of the instructors who teach these classes and other similar offerings.

“By bringing the centers back to the neighborhoods, we are able to offer nearly two times the desired exercise classes we currently were

offering at Buttonwood,” she added. “We are also utilizing space in the Andrea McCoy Recreational Center in order to accommodate even larger classes.”

She assures New Bedford seniors that these moves are meant to improve the city’s services to them. “The COA’s mission and charge is to enhance and update services as the needs arise, and the change speaks to and responds directly to that,” she said. “Both the adult social day programs were treated to a moving party at the Fort Taber Community Center on Friday the third of March. The move ensured no interruption to the ongoing services that are so desperately needed and sought after. Monday, March 6, was the first official day in the new repurposed site of the adult social day care and Buttonwood, and both of the senior centers were also open that day giving folks a chance to stop in and let the staff know what kind of activities were of the most interest to them.”

To find out more about the city’s programs for seniors, go to newbedford-ma.gov/ community-services/divisions/council-aging.

M i C hael J. d e C i CC o has worked as a writer for over 30 years. He is also the author of two award-winning young adult novels, Kaurlin’s Disciples and The Kid Mobster. He lives with his wife Cynthia in New Bedford.

Playtime

t 54 years old, this New Bedford resident is in the midst of a middle-age existence split between being a devoted stay-at-home dad and a valuable contributor to the area’s music scene.

Whether he’s creating his own music, booking and supporting other local performers, or caring for his wife and daughters, Bishop is finding happiness with his two distinct roles – artistic and domestic.

“When I go into my basement, one half has all of my music gear where the magic happens, and the other half is where the laundry happens,” he says. “That’s my life, and it’s great.”

In the last three years, Bishop has been prolific with his music projects, releasing four albums of original music under the name Scapeghost. The most recent recording is “NBWaves,” a unique project done in conjunction with the New Bedford Whaling National Historic

Park’s “Artist in Residence” program. The six-song album is based around sound samples he took from various New Bedford locations and then manipulated with a sampler, effects, and virtual amps that were then crafted with original music. The album showcases Bishop’s eclectic musical interests, including punk, pop, electronic, and ambient. Some of the samples used on the record include those taken from the Buttonwood Park Zoo, Play Arcade, Moby Dick Brewery, the Whaling City Exploration Tour Boat, and others. The album was released in CD form this past November with a CD Release Concert performed during

an AHA! Night. All of Scapeghost’s music can be found online, including Bandcamp.com.

“With ‘NBWaves’ I wanted to do different things with my guitar, to use different effects,” he says. “I was bored with the same sounds and song structures. I wanted to go off on tangents and create sounds from all over the map, I was restless. Fortunately, I started this project at a time when there were all of these virtual tools available – amps and synthesizers on my laptop. Suddenly I had access to a lot of cheap guitar effects without having to spend a lot of money. I had all these weird sounds coming out of my guitar. I had a few hundred tools rather than a dozen. It changed how I saw the guitar and writing songs.”

From April 13th to June 4th, “NBWaves” will be included as part of the New Bedford Art Museum’s “Sound in Space, Sound in Place” exhibit, a presentation devoted to contemporary sound art. This year Bishop launched another creative endeavor, a project dubbed “The Scapeghost Singles Club.” Each month he will release two songs of new or older

Scott Bishop is leading the creative life he always wished he could.

Athe albuM shoWCases bishop’s eCleC tiC MusiCal iNterests, iNCludiNg puNk, pop, eleC troNiC, a Nd a MbieNt

material he has written in more than three decades as a songwriter.

Since the onset of COVID-19, Bishop has found himself contributing to the local music community in another way – booking music performances for local artists at a variety of area venues.

With “Unexpected Music,” Bishop is using a grant from the New Bedford Local Cultural Council to book local musicians in New Bedford establishments that aren’t traditionally used for listening to music. In the last year he has put artists in locations such as Interwoven and the wooden cat at Hatch Street Studios.

As COVID began taking hold, Bishop was contacted by AHA! Night Executive Director Lee Heald to begin tapping into the local music community by streaming virtual concerts when the public was unable to attend open-air events. These house concerts, named Virtual AHA! Nights, were incredibly popular, attracting more than 1,000 visitors a month. In 2022, Bishop hosted 33 musical acts in 14 different spaces. Beginning this February, the concert series was rebranded as the Seaport Sessions.

Bishop’s most recent booking foray is the First FriYAYs concert series, held at the New Bedford Art Museum/Art Works! in downtown. The events invite people to peruse the gallery’s exhibitions while listening to the music, in addition to the availability of snacks and a cash bar.

Bishop is also using his artistic insights

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as a contributor to “The Artists Index,” an online catalog of interviews with local artists. In addition to interviewing local musicians, Bishop is also conversing with local dancers, theatricians, and filmmakers.

A native of New Hampshire and a graduate of the Savannah College of Art & Design in Georgia with a degree in Illustration, Bishop worked in Boston for 21 years, purchasing medical supplies for research laboratories before being laid off in 2017. In 2018, he moved to New Bedford with his wife, Margo Saulnier, and their daughters, Perri, 15, and Dezzi, 12. Saulnier is the Creative Director for the City of New Bedford, working with the New Bedford Economic Development Council.

“This is much more enjoyable than buying a bunch of antibodies for whomever,” Bishop says. “Now I’m building a career from doing a lot of disparate creative things. In the last few years, while being a stay-at-home dad, I’ve been able to bring together all of these different creative enterprises as well as doing some video editing and graphic design – things I love doing. All of these things are in place to help me have this whole other career, and at the same time I can be there for my family and get things done at home so we can keep the ship moving. It’s exciting.”

sea N MCCarthy has been a freelance journalist for 35 years. He lives in New Bedford.

kitten season Spring

March finds spring-starved people doing eager searches for early flowers tucked away beneath shrubs and porches

rotected from late snow and freezing temperatures, buds survive in covered spaces. So do other forms of life, like baby mammals, including the millions of kittens born outdoors in the United States every spring. Outdoor cats, when abandoned by humans, revert to their wilder instincts. Like other wildlife, warming temperatures inspire an urge to breed in felines not spayed or neutered. In urban and suburban areas especially, it is not unusual to discover a cluster of tiny kittens bundled together for warmth and waiting for their mother to return after feeding herself.

The first instinct for most people on seeing a group of vulnerable kittens outdoors in frigid weather is to gather them up and bring them into a warm space at home. But often kittens grow best with their natural

Pmothers and if the kittens are in good physical shape, it is likely their mother is actively caring for them.

Operation Catnip, Inc., a subsection of the national Best Friends animal welfare organization, offers helpful guidance on their website for assessing the condition of kittens found outdoors (bestfriends. org). If the babies are clean, quiet, and dry, and have plump bellies and soft, thick fur, they are likely being well-cared for by their mother. On the other hand, if kittens have crusty eyes, are thin, restless, and crying, they may have been abandoned by their mother, or something has happened to her so she can’t return to her family.

Having concern for seemingly healthy outdoor cat families is never inappropriate. Outdoor cats are threatened by many forces, including the rapidly changing weather of spring, disease and predators, and maltreatment from humans. No matter the outward appearance of health of a cat family, it’s always best for

compassionate people to call in an expert animal rescuer to help save homeless cats and kittens.

kitteN resCue resourCes

Southern and southwestern states have the most challenging feral and outdoor cat overpopulation problems, but South Coast animal shelters are also inundated with kittens in the spring. Forever Paws Animal Shelter in Fall River receives homeless outdoor kittens and cats found by Animal Control in New Bedford and Westport (foreverpaws.com). They recently put out a call for foster volunteers for the increasing number of spring kitten rescues.

Fostering is a rewarding experience that requires a big commitment in time and love, although fostering can be a way for people to experience the joys of caring for a pet without the long-term commitment. This spring, Forever Paws needs foster homes for pregnant mother cats and their kittens. Once the kittens are born, this

is a two-to-four-month commitment. Nursing mothers and kittens require a four-to-five-week commitment, and if the foster parent opts to keep the kittens until they are of adoptable age, another month of loving care is required.

Newborn orphaned kittens need foster parents with experience and time to commit to becoming a substitute mother to socialize the babies so they can grow up into well-adjusted happy cats. Abandoned kittens need to be bottle fed, weaned, and housed until they weigh about two pounds. This is a three-to-six-week commitment. For a less arduous experience, juvenile kittens too young to be in shelter but not big enough to be adopted need foster homes for about a month. And Forever Paws needs foster homes year-round for puppies, senior dogs, and special needs animals.

stress aNd re Wards

Kathryn Kulpa operates Miri’s House Cat and Kitten Rescue in Somerset, which cares for outdoor cat families with kittens that are waiting to be weaned and adopted at the appropriate age (facebook.com/ mirishouse). The mother cats and kittens are fully vetted and spayed and neutered before being placed in caring adoptive homes.

Many shelters and rescues in the South Coast share the burden of spring kitten season. One of the early homeless cat families cared for at Miri’s House originally came from the C.A.R.E Southcoast shelter and rescue in Acushnet during spring overcrowding. The mother cat was initially nursing her kittens then began to abandon them during the stress of captivity.

Kulpa relates the challenges and joys she experienced: “It was one challenging and scary moment – taking a run to the emergency vet and I never had any bottle babies, except when Molly was new in foster care and seemed to be rejecting her babies. I was having a hard time getting them to accept bottle feeding, but fortunately, Molly was just freaked out from the adjustment. Once she relaxed, she let them nurse again. It was scary getting the equipment, worrying that they would decline if Molly wasn’t able to feed them.”

Fostering kittens can be an emotionally and physically taxing experience. Kulpa continues, “Other challenging moments were when kittens were stillborn or died soon after birth. That happened with Emily with the smallest one of her litters, and I think that was what made

her get so bitey, because she hadn’t been aggressive up until then. After that she bit everybody! I had to wear boots to go in and take care of her. But we kept sitting quietly with her and gradually she calmed down, and then once she was fixed, she became a total sweetheart.”

a groWiNg threat to Wildlife

Whether still domesticated and living outdoors or feral, cat populations are placing stress on wildlife populations worldwide. Being natural predators, outdoor cats kill a wide range of small animals including birds, rodents, reptiles, and amphibians. Estimates by wildlife protection organizations range from millions to billions of annual bird and mammal deaths due to cat predation in the United States alone.

Feral cats also carry and transmit diseases to wildlife and domesticated cats including feline leukemia virus, feline immunodeficiency virus, and toxoplasmosis. Human degradation of wildlife habitats makes the spread of these diseases even more devastating to wildlife populations. Feral cats compete with native predators for food and can disrupt natural ecosystems with devastating outcomes.

Clearly, one of the greatest services animal shelters and rescuers provide is protecting endangered wildlife populations from outdoor cats. Rescues like Miri’s House provide a warm home setting to prepare homeless cats for future adoption. C.A.R.E. Southcoast has many compassionate volunteers dedicated to maintaining and caring for feral outdoor cats that are unadoptable but still deserving of a life free from disease and unnecessary suffering (caresouthcoast.com).

Feral cats are humanely trapped, neutered, or spayed, then released (TNR) back to their outdoor settings. Feral cats are unable to reproduce, yet live out their natural lives cared for medically, fed, and sheltered from the harshest weather conditions. Over time, cat colonies shrink naturally, becoming less of a threat to native wildlife. The TNR strategy is viewed by most domestic animal rescuers as the most humane solution to outdoor cat overpopulation. After all, the tragedy of the abandoned domestic pet crisis is ultimately a human problem.

lori bradley is an artist, writer and educator. She lives in New Bedford with her husband and pack of rescued dogs and has a studio at the Hatch Street Studios in the north end.

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Goal tender

It’s not exactly the dissolution of a halfcentury marriage, even if all 50 years were mostly happy. But it still hurts, because you spend so much time loving something and when it’s gone, there’s an aching void that can never be filled. Thing is… I’ve quit hockey. For good. Sorry for the drama, but honestly, when you do something that long that you thoroughly enjoy, and when your body betrays you and time not only marches on, it stomps the hell out of you, it really makes you sad.

paul k a Ndaria N

I’ve been an ice hockey goalie for the vast majority of those 50 years, starting at age 19. I played on and off, mostly on – save for the years when family and work pre-empted hockey fun. And for the last 25 years, I was playing every Friday morning, sometimes more, with a core group of guys in Hingham.

It amazes me to think I started there when I was 44. Looking back, I realize it really was the prime of my life (physically, anyway). For 25 years, I’d get up before 5 a.m., drag myself out of bed, pound down coffee and, depending on the period of my life, smoke up to three or more cigarettes on the 45-minute ride to the rink (I quit again six years ago, hopefully for good), where I’d slap on 40 pounds of exceptionally stinky hockey gear and have at it. Seriously, ask any hockey player (or hockey mom). The gear has a ripeness all its own. It’s indescribable and painfully acute, but only to non-hockey players. We tend to get used to it.

But for the last couple of years, arthritis was doing a number on me that at various times left my knees and shoulders feeling like an alligator was inside my ravaged joints gnawing its way out, only to go back in and start over.

Arthritis is brutal and unavoidable, especially when you’ve led an active life, which luckily I have – from football in high school to skiing tons in my youth, to

a half century of flopping around a frozen surface wearing the “Tools of Ignorance” as the late Hall-of-Famer Gump Worsley called them. I’ve enjoyed every moment, but the second I hit 65, still feeling fit and young, my body said, “Not so fast there, Skippy. We’d like a word.”

And that word is “pain.” Things hurt like hell and unlike our younger days, didn’t go away in a day or two. Pain as one approaches 70 tends to linger and remind you of the abuse you’ve put your one and only body through for the past several decades.

I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: we as a species were not meant to live this long. Not terribly far into our past, we were born and if we lived past puberty, we’d have children, see them to early adulthood and then die, job done and left to our kin to keep things going.

But over the last century, and mostly since the mid-20th, scientific advancements have led to us living much, much longer than our bodies were designed for. And unable to keep up, evolution has left many of us crippled and old and broken to the point that if we were a horse, they’d shoot us.

So in January, I’d called out of my usual Friday hour because of work, not paid. I’d gotten acting jobs two weeks in a row and the guy running the hour, who always got annoyed when I did that because the goalie slot is notoriously hard to fill on short notice, got really angry this time.

“Maybe it’s time to retire,” he said in a text. I thought long and hard about it. Actually, all of about three seconds. I texted back: “You’re right. I’m done.” And that was that. After 50 years of doing something I love so much – something that’s right near the top of a long list of things I love that includes family, acting, cooking, travel, photography, all the good stuff – it was time to let the ice melt from under me and call it quits. It wasn’t as hard as I thought, really. I the hell out of the joking around in the locker room before and after the game, on the ice, at the coffee table of morning hockey

later. I miss it all, going way back to college hockey, when in our first year of NCAA Div. 3 status at then Southeastern Massachusetts University (now UMass-Dartmouth), we got our collective ass kicked wherever we went and I rode the bench as backup goalie until we were so far behind it couldn’t hurt to finally put me in.

After that, I played all through the 70s, into the 80s, three, four, five or more times a week, league play all over the South Coast and beyond. I played sporadically when family came along, and not at all for a few years, but then got back into it. I played less in later years, but religiously for the last 25 with the boys up in Hingham once a week, sometimes more.

And now it’s gone. Hockey is one of those sports that when you put it to rest, you can’t fill with anything else – because nothing else is like hockey. Nothing else is having the game in your hands and either winning it and being the hero or coughing up a softie and being the chump.

But after the game, always, there was laughter and friendship and talk of how great the game was. And that included telling each other how great we never were back in the day, and not believing any of it but believing it with all your heart.

Hockey is a great game, one of the rare sports that not a lot of people can do. And now, for me, it’s done. I’m facing replacement surgery on both shoulders and quite likely both knees and even if that all goes well, it’ll take a few years and I’m not screwing it up by playing hockey again. It’s time to go.

But it still has a tight hold on me. It always will. I will always wish to still be playing and miss it terribly. Because the thing is: you spend a half century gripping a hockey stick and it turns out it was the other way around the whole time.

paul k a N daria N is a lifelong area resident and, since 1982, has been a profession writer, columnist, and contributor in national magazines, websites, and other publications.