Worcester Magazine March 4 - 10, 2022

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | MARCH 4 - 10, 2022 | CULTURE § ARTS § DINING § VOICES

FREE WORCESTER

MAGAZINE

Hollywood Dreams

‘Nightmares’ PAGE 14

2 | MARCH 4 - 10, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | MARCH 4 - 10, 2022 | 3

IN THIS ISSUE

6

Worcester Magazine 100 Front St., Fifth Floor Worcester, MA 01608 worcestermag.com Editorial (508) 767.9535 WMeditor@gatehousemedia.com Sales (508) 767.9530 WMSales@gatehousemedia.com VP, Sales & Strategy Andrew Chernoff Executive Editor David Nordman Editor Nancy Campbell Content Editor Victor D. Infante Reporters Richard Duckett, Veer Mudambi Contributing Writers Stephanie Campbell, Sarah Connell Sanders, Gari De Ramos, Robert Duguay, Liz Fay, Jason Greenough, Janice Harvey, Barbara Houle, Jim Keogh, Jim Perry, Craig S. Semon, Matthew Tota Multi Media Sales Executives Deirdre Baldwin, Debbie Bilodeau, Kate Carr, Diane Galipeau, Sammi Iacovone, Kathy Puffer, Jody Ryan, Regina Stillings Sales Support Jackie Buck, Yanet Ramirez Senior Operations Manager Gary Barth Operations Manager John Cofske Worcester Magazine is a news weekly covering Central Massachusetts. We accept no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts. The Publisher has the right to refuse any advertisement.

Legals/Public Notices please call 888-254-3466, email classifieds@gatehousemedia.com, or mail to Central Mass Classifieds, 100 Front St., 5th Floor, Worcester, MA 01608 Distribution Worcester Magazine is inserted into the Telegram & Gazette on Fridays and is also available for free at more than 400 locations in the Worcester area. Unauthorized bulk removal of Worcester Magazine from any public location, or any other tampering with Worcester Magazine’s distribution including unauthorized inserts, is a criminal offense and may be prosecuted under the law.

Subscriptions First class mail, $156 for one year.

Send orders and subscription correspondence to GateHouse Media, 100 Front St., Worcester, MA 01608.

Advertising To place an order for display advertising or to inquire, please call (508) 767.9530. Worcester Magazine (ISSN 0191-4960) is a weekly publication of Gannett. All contents copyright 2021 by Gannett.

All rights reserved.

Worcester Magazine is not liable for typographical errors in advertisements.

Featured ..............................................................................4 City Voices ........................................................................10 Artist Spotlight................................................................13 Cover Story.......................................................................14 Next Draft .........................................................................21 Listen Up...........................................................................22 Classifi eds ........................................................................25 Games................................................................................26 Last Call.............................................................................27

On the cover Worcester native Helen Walker had a tumultuous career in Hollywood.

PHOTO: 20TH CENTURY FOX. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY DANI CHERCHIO/USA TODAY NETWORK, GETTY IMAGES

4

4 | MARCH 4 - 10, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

FEATURED

Business of Art helps artists learn to both create and profi t Richard Duckett Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

Worcester artist BrujaTheVillain, says “it took me 25 years to develop my style.”

As such, Bruja has had an independent outlook as a selftaught interdisciplinary artist, activist and mentor who works in fi lm, visual arts and spoken word poetry. Their works of art and live performances have been featured and received honors from numerous venues and art galleries across New England and New York. An exhibition last summer at the Worcester PopUp, “Baggage Check,” proved to be a success, they said.

“I’d say I’ve paid my dues.”

Still, “I do have to sit down and look at my bills and budget how I am going to survive the month,” they said.

So Bruja decided to participate in the fi rst Business of Art Cohort funded by the Greater Worcester Community Foundation’s Creative Worcester Initiative in partnership with the Barr Foundation.

“I’m not really the kind of person that goes out and seeks help, but a lot has changed.

Some friends encouraged me to try it, and lo and behold, I’m a member of the cohort,” Bruja said.

Twelve artists are taking part in the fi nancial wellness and sustainability program for Worcester artists of color who identify as low-to-moderate income. Facilitated with the help of MASS MoCA’s Assets for Artists, the “capacity-building

“Witch Magic” by BrujaTheVillain

Worcester artist BrujaTheVillain BRUJATHEVILLAIN PHOTOS

program” pairs $1,000 minigrants with one-on-one coaching, artist community-building, and a series of online fi nancial and business resiliency workshops specifi cally focused on navigating a post-COVID cultural sector. All program components are linked through a core commitment to racial equity.

“I believe I am getting a lot out of being a member of the cohort,” Bruja said. “We’re becoming more of a team. More like an art collective. Even if it’s just basic information, we have each other — support from other like-minded artists like myself.”

Assets for Artists has off ered similar programs in other communities, but this is the fi rst Business of Art Cohort in Worcester, said Lindiana Semidei, GWCF Creative Worcester Initiative program offi cer.

Twelve artists were chosen out of 18 applicants, and after orientation in December, workshops got underway in January.

Semidei has seen what Bruja was talking of concerning the artists becoming their own team.

“I have been attending the workshops. To see the artists get to know each other — I could see these collaborations forming. It’s interesting to see

these connections happen. It’s just been this wonderful organic thing that happens when you put talented artists with diff erent abilities in one space with each other. And it’s a virtual space. Imagine what it would be like in an actual space,” Semidei said.

One artist might comment that they need a head and shoulders photograph. Another artist will say they’re a photographer and off er to help, Semidei noted.

Bruja “is such a fascinating artist and truly shows up to all the workshops and contributes in such amazing ways,” she said.

Besides Bruja, the Business of Art Cohort artists are: George Annan, a documentary lifestyle photographer who specializes in editorial and environmental portraits along with photojournalism Christine Brown, a multidisciplinary artist who works with textiles, paint, and digital/ graphic media Vanessa Calixto, a visual artist who focuses on illustration work using mixed media and is also the founder and creative director of El Salón Emmanuel Carboo/Q Demi god, a self-taught artist and clothing designer Julian Cintrón-Pabón, a multidisciplinary artist William Gardiner, a professional portrait photographer who also engages with the world through his photography See ART, Page 5

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | MARCH 4 - 10, 2022 | 5

Art Continued from Page 4

Yasmin Goris, a mixed media and abstract artist whose work focuses on bold patterns and fl uid images inspired by nature and landscapes Geoff rey Killebrew, a musician, entrepreneur and community organizer dedicated to showcasing Worcester’s diversity and creativity Jenkins Macedo, a selftaught abstract artist who paints vivid works in acrylic and oil and is the founder of Ava’s Artistry Studio John Vo, a working artist who paints to connect to people, and who aims to make art accessible Grhimm Xavier, a selftaught multi-disciplinary artist focusing on digital illustrations, graphic design, traditional painting, event curation, mural design and installation.

At least some — if not all — of the names will likely be familiar to people who follow the arts scene here.

The one-on-one coaching in the Business of Art Cohort is to “develop a business plan or launch some kind of program,” Semidei said.

The online workshops have also been open to other artists, but members of the Business of Art Cohort have priority. Workshop topics have included marketing, business strategies, taxes and fostering relationships with galleries and museums.

“Individual artists and creatives are natural entrepreneurs, and they play a vital role in Worcester’s arts and culture ecosystem,” said Semidei.

“However, many artists aren’t given the proper tools and resources to learn how to produce a business for profi t from their creative ideas through traditional entrepreneurship programs. We also know that Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) are under-served in the arts com-

Christine Brown George Annan

Vanessa Calixto SUBMITTED PHOTOS

Geoffrey Killebrew

Worcester Artist John Vo

Grhimm Xavier

munity. Through GWCF’s The Business of Art cohort, we plan to invest in and support the amazing work that’s already happening in the creative community and give artists the building blocks for economic self-suffi ciency,” Semidei said.

Julian Cintrón-Pabón grew up in Main South and said he received a scholarship from the Greater Worcester Community Foundation when he was a student. He earned his BFA in animation and interrelated media from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. “My work juggles a few diff erent mediums,” he said. He is also a member of the Worcester skateboarding community.

About eight years on from his GWCF scholarship, “I have done a lot of focus on the creative work, now it’s time to delve into the business side

and make it sustainable,” he said of his participation in the GWCF Business of Art Cohort.

The taxes workshop had valuable information, “because I consider myself fi nancially illiterate still.” The mini-grant was also helpful, he said.

“It’s been going well so far.

It’s really great to have this opportunity in my emerging still young art career.”

Cintrón-Pabón’s business plan is to grow a design house.

“The workshops have been amazing. We’re able to talk about things in a structured but open way. Once you’re there you feel really great because there are people you know. It makes my city feel smaller in a really good way,” he said.

Cintrón-Pabón said he’s watched as “Worcester has been a budding city. Now I want to be part of that.”

John Vo said the last couple of years “things went on a standstill” with COVID. “The cohort has been connecting us to more community.

It’s been going really well.

Speaking to other artists who have sustainability and oneon-one time to ask questions,” Vo said.

Vo, whose parents are Vietnamese refugees, went on a Fulbright fellowship to Vietnam and also lived in Boston before returning to Worcester in 2015.

“I am a working artist. I make my living off of doing art,” they said.

With that, subjects in workshops such as taxes and relationships with museums were “a lot of things I had bits and pieces of but it was clearer speaking to someone who is a part of that world,” Vo said.

Vo is developing a two-year

plan that includes completing a graphic novel, touring with the novel, and having more of a studio space in Worcester.

With the current art scene in Worcester, “What excites me is there’s much more community involvement and engagement.

It gives more space for younger artists to come in, so I am hopeful,” Vo said.

Bruja is originally from Puerto Rico and lived in New Jersey before coming to Worcester.

“I’m actually a downtown Worcester kid,” they said.

“When I was a kid there was no place to go.”

Now the art scene here is “defi nitely better. I feel like art has saved the city in my opinion,” they said.

By the same token, “I am a full-time artist. I do ask to get paid with every job I do.”

Meanwhile, “I feel like COVID has humbled us in many ways. The business aspect is not as uptight as before. It’s caused people to be appreciative of each other more,” they said.

In the Business of Art Cohort, “it just feels good to work with people on the same level with you.”

As an artist in Worcester these days, “it feels great to step out and see the murals. I think it’s fantastic. For me its a dream come true.”

The Business of Art Cohort workshops have been fi nishing up, but artists can have up to two years to fi nish their business plans with continued support from their one-on-one coach, Semidei said.

Bruja said the artists in the cohort will be staying closely connected with each other.

“I think it’s gonna end up continuing with a professional relationship with other members of the cohort. So for me, I don’t see an end,” they said.

The artists will have some new potential colleagues.

There will be a second GWCF Business of Art Cohort for 2022, Semidei said.

For more information on GWCF and its programs visit www.greaterworcester.org.

6 | MARCH 4 - 10, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

DJ Patrick Allen headlines upcoming ‘gaymer night’ at All Systems Go Veer Mudambi Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

Video games, alcohol and pizza in a basement family room have always gone together. With the rise of e-sports, however, this trinity has not been confi ned to basements or man caves for quite some time.

It was only a matter of time before someone in Worcester capitalized on it by opening an establishment where patrons could come get all three in a social setting — the eSports bar.

All Systems Go, located on Shrewsbury Street, aims to be that place for Worcester gamers, by providing the three main ingredients. A massive screen dominates one wall, making it easy to keep an eye on whatever game is happening at the time, in the same vein as the standard sports bar counterparts. The LED wall can take footage from a gaming computer and show multiple images at once, including point-of-view cameras to capture the reactions of gamers.

Players can use their own accounts to play popular online games at ASG. More than 50 PCs arranged in small clusters fi ll the center with high-quality swivel chairs and keyboards, making each set-up likely better than many home gaming rigs. Esports fans and players are part of a community that doesn’t usually have a place to go, like a sports bar, with the exception of a few eSports bars and cafes sprinkled across the country. And the profi le of e-sports players is usually young, male and affl uent.

However, despite the seemingly specialized appeal, locations such as ASG are attracting an increasingly wider audi-

Employees Eric La and Lily Spero at All Systems Go, an eSports bar at 225 Shrewsbury St. CHRISTINE PETERSON/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

DJ Patrick Allen CHRISTINE HOCHKEPPEL/TELEGRAPH & GAZETTE

ence by targeting segments of the Worcester community and hosting Anime or Pokémon events along with themed birthday events.

“Now it’s cool to be a nerd,” said Patrick Allen, a Worcester resident and freelance DJ. “People get attached to games the way we used to get attached to television shows — it becomes a part of our routine.”

Allen may be better known by his drag persona of Joslyn Fox, who appeared on the show, “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” and is scheduled to DJ at ASG on March 4 and double as the host for a special event that evening — ASG’s fi rst Gaymer

night, catering to gamers in the LGBTQ community.

“We are always thinking of new ideas for events,” said owner Devin LaPlume. “We like to scope around the Worcester area for diff erent groups to see what events would be possible for our venue.” LaPlume explained that Allen came to ASG’s attention while doing drag bingo as Joslyn Fox, and they reached out about the possibility of hosting an event.

Allen immediately saw the opportunity — “gears were turning,” he said. “[ASG] could tap into the demographic and really fi ll the house.” More and more members of the queer

community are assuming the label of gaymer, often congregating online via platforms like Discord or Facebook. Events like the Gaymer night at ASG could provide spaces for inperson meetings to further grow the fl edgling subculture.

Promotion took the form of a fl yer depicting a very muscular version of the iconic Nintendo character Mario — unleashed through both Allen and ASG’s social media channels but also a more specifi c platform. “I shared it over a few dating apps too,” said Allen with a laugh.

“The response has been wild.”

While he doesn’t personally consider himself a gaymer, Al-

len enjoys matching Worcester establishments with patrons. “I would feel guilty if I didn’t share it with the people, I know who would enjoy it — think it’s going to be a big hit,” he said.

Allen is on a mission to help the city of Worcester continue to grow and share what it has to off er.

“I always felt like I was a big fi sh in a little pond,” said Allen, “and my goal was to venture out — I moved to New York, lived in Los Angeles.” Having spent time in two major cities, he is often asked why he came back to Worcester and chose to stay.

“The older I got the more I wanted to make Worcester a thing. I say, ‘give it fi ve years’ and Worcester can be great,” he said. Five years since Allen fi rst made that statement, his prophecy seems to be coming true, with the completion of Polar Park and new businesses opening in the wake of the pandemic.

In fact, Worcester has changed so much that Allen will occasionally forget he is still in Worcester, “I visit cerSee ALLEN, Page 7

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | MARCH 4 - 10, 2022 | 7

Allen Continued from Page 6

tain places in the city and will catch myself halfway and realize I’m still in Worcester.” The city is improving, and he quickly chuckled, “now I don’t say it with a negative connotation.”

He grew up in Auburn but has

always been a big fan of Worcester, so much so that he left his full-time job in October 2019 with the idea that he would have enough drag gigs to get by, but COVID severely impacted that.

Gaymer night will be one of Allen’s fi rst major gigs since the COVID-19 drought, which he hopes signifi es a comeback of his own.

All Systems Go also offers cocktails and pizza to gamers.

More than 50 PCs arranged in small clusters fi ll the center of All Systems Go, with high quality swivel chairs and keyboards, making each set-up likely better than many home gaming rigs.

CHRISTINE PETERSON PHOTOS/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

8 | MARCH 4 - 10, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

Copywrite rings in 20th anniversary of his debut album at Electric Haze Robert Duguay Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

In 2002, the artist Copywrite of Columbus, Ohio, made his entry into the underground hip-hop scene with his debut, “The High Exhaulted.” Soon after its release, the rapper gained a cult following and it launched his career to new heights. Twenty years later, Copywrite is embarking on a tour to celebrate the album’s anniversary. One of the stops is going to be March 11 at Electric Haze, 26 Millbury St., Worcester. A stacked bill featuring Aqmni, Danny Fantom, Konfl ik, K. Burns and Lingo with Grind Mode Cypher among many others will be opening up the evening.

To refl ect, Copywrite views his debut to be very formative and very important for his hiphop career. It was his fi rst time putting the rhymes in head on canvas and even though he didn’t initially realize it, the positive feedback he’s gotten about the album over the years has opened his eyes on where the record stands.

“Not only is it like my baby as far as albums go because it’s my debut, it’s got rhymes that I had been toting around for the better part of my MC career once I started getting good,” he says about the album. “It’s about a lot of (expletive) that’s near and dear to me but it also helped me. It defi nitely was very important and a staple in me having a career now, it was well received at the time and it was more well received than I actually realized. I really didn’t think people felt the way they felt about it until much later when fans would tell me while I’d be touring and (expletive) but it’s very important to me

Ohio hip-hop artist Copywrite SUBMITTED

because it laid down the foundation for the rest of my career.

If I were to do some (expletive) that people all the way weren’t with, like fans who have been there from the beginning, they may have given me a pass because of ‘The High Exhaulted.’”

The album kicked off a steady series of collaborations with fellow Columbus artist RJD2, who is also a fellow member of the hip-hop group MHz Legacy. Copywrite loves how RJD2 has perfected his craft over time through hard

work and dedication. He also knows that when he gets a beat from him that it’ll be inventive and fun to rap over.

“He just puts in so much work and he comes from a musical background, his parents are musicians,” he says of RJD2. “Before he was in hiphop, he was in a band that he would travel with around the world and perform with. I think his ability in music really benefi ted him when it came down to sitting down with an MPC. When we fi rst met RJ, Camu

Tao and I had a DJ who backed out of a show and he just happened to be there so he fi lled in for us. We ended up clicking off that night and his fi rst couple of beats were really impressive, he was doing really innovative (expletive).

“The fi rst beat he ever made was a solo beat for Tage Future from MHz and the song was called ‘Contagion’,” Copywrite says. “In the middle of the beat, the actual sample slowed down and then the pitch that it stopped at continued which led

into another beat with the sample having that same exact tone. He never put this out, it’s like one of his fi rst beats and it had no low end so that was the only complaint about it. He was so early in the game but he was doing crazy, innovative (expletive) off the jump. When he would bring in these early beats that he made, he had these wild sequences already done because he spent a lot of time on his (expletive) and he really perfected his craft.”

On Copywrite’s Twitter page, it says for people to expect a sequel to his debut titled “The High Exhaulted 2.” It turns out that the album is all set and ready to be put out with the release date due to be announced in the coming weeks. ”We’re just doing a proper rollout for it and it’s going to drop after this current tour,” he says. “I don’t want too much stuff going on at once so I don’t want anything to overlap but during this tour we’re going to release the fi rst single. I got even the next album basically done. I’m in the mastering stages of that and I got a bunch of side projects done, including one with Niko Is who is a super dope MC. I got a lot in the works and ‘High Exhaulted 2’ is crazy, man. I knew I couldn’t do it without the (expletive) being really outstanding when using that title so I’m personally blown away from it.

“If I’m impressed, my fans are going to be impressed and I don’t give myself a pass on anything, I’m the one who makes myself do a million takes,” Copywrite adds. “I couldn’t be more proud of this album, it’s the best (expletive) I’ve ever done and I can’t wait for people to hear it. It’s gonna drop really soon, we’re just rolling it out correctly.”

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | MARCH 4 - 10, 2022 | 9

CITY VOICES WORCESTERIA

Poets of color react to Shrewsbury poem confl ict Victor D. Infante Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

It started simply enough: A teenager read a poem for Black History Month at a school assembly at Shrewsbury High School. The poem was, according to a statement from Shrewsbury High School principal Todd Bazydlo, written by a student from the perspective of George Floyd's mother and, "imagined the devastation felt at her son’s life being taken by a police offi cer."

George Floyd was, for anyone who needs reminding, a Black man who was murdered by police offi cer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis in 2020, sparking protests round the world. The poem, however, sparked a diff erent sort of protest, one led by Jeff rey Sossa-Paquette, a Republican candidate for Congress who said the poem bashed police and was an example of Critical Race Theory being taught in Shrewsbury schools, and that Shrewsbury students were being taught that police offi cers offi cers are "predators."

While Bazydlo and others have disputed that accusation, somehow, the poet and the poem have been entirely sidelined from the discussion, a fact which hasn't been lost on Worcester native Rush Frazier.

“How much courage must the kid have to even read it,” says Frazier, who should know. Once upon a time, the activist and community organizer who currently lives in Providence was a standout teen poet on the Worcester scene, and one of very few poets of color in the local public eye at the time. “Every kid that reads something like that in a school atmosphere, you're going to deal with retaliatory behavior, and not just in your English class, your gym or your homeroom.”

Frazier — who has, as an adult, held leadership positions at numerous Worcester poetry organizations — points out that while this confl ict has been framed as an argument between

Worcester’s current Poet Laureate Juan Matos and former Youth Poet Laureate Amina Mohammed. RICK CINCLAIR/TELEGRAPH & GAZETTE

Rush Frazier ASHLEY GREEN/T&G

Sossa-Paquette and the Shrewsbury school system, the brunt of its impact has really landed on the teen poet, whose identity has not been released to the press.

“There's so much more at risk for young people,” says Frazier. “When you're in high school, your world is so very small … They're not in it for that one teenager, it's never just the intended target, it's everybody else who was even thinking about standing up for themselves, anyway who was trying to make a diff erence in their community. That's what we're seeing. They defi nitely had a rally.”

They did — a “Back the Blue” rally was held on the Shrewsbury Common in response to the teenager's poem. Frazier's not the only one concerned that political and social power is being leveled at a lone teenager. Worcester Poet Laureate Juan Matos, a longtime teacher, is afraid the incident will have a chilling eff ect on students' self-expression See POETS, Page 11

LAKESIDE There’s always time for 308.

Nothing better when it’s with family & friend time.

Reservations required

Comfort Meal Menu Now Available

Casual Waterfront Dining on Lake Lashaway 308 East Main Street, East BrookField 774-449-8333 308lakeside.com

Free Valet Parking Friday & Saturday Nights Closed on Mondays

WM-28961809

10 | MARCH 4 - 10, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

LANDGREN HOW TO HAVE A DINNER AND A

BAD ADVICE

MOVIE DATE IN WORCESTER

A van is towed on Leavitt Street in Brockton because of a winter parking ban during a nor’easter that dropped over a foot of snow in the area in December. MARC VASCONCELLOS/THE ENTERPRISE

Move over Spotify, here’s ... the library?

Neighbor hasn’t moved car in six months

Veer Mudambi

Shaun Connolly

Worcester Magazine

Special to Worcester Magazine

USA TODAY NETWORK

USA TODAY NETWORK

When I was a kid, I remember picking up music — mostly CDs but also the odd cassette tape — from my local library.

Free music has always been as much a part of modern library off erings as books and movies.

When the Worcester Public Library launched the Freegal music streaming service in early February, it was the natural progression of things — from vinyl to cassettes to CDs to streaming.

The pandemic certainly spurred things as they fi gured out how to meet their patron’s needs during the shutdown.

Freegal is a service for libraries worldwide providing digital access to an expansive collection of music and audiobooks — 15 million songs with no commercials or skip limits. So library patrons can choose a song they want to listen to and listen to it now. I know I have a bunch of stuff to catch up on!

DEAR SHAUN: Our neighbors have had their car parked across the street for six months without moving it once and there’s no indication that it will ever be moved in the future.

This arrangement eff ectively makes our street a one-way street, especially during snowstorms. I don’t think this is fair — why should we only get one way when we are paying for two ways? I waved at these neighbors once, so I feel like we’ve established a rapport, but I don’t know that I feel comfortable confronting them directly. How can I (tactfully) remedy this situation? — One Way DEAR ONE WAY: Great job establishing rapport. It seems like you are best friends now because of this. That’s good.

When you are friends you can do things that may not be good for the relationship, but you have some leeway because

WORCESTERIA

The Worcester Public Library is offering Freegal, a service for libraries that provides digital access to an expansive collection of music and audiobooks. GETTY IMAGES

Libraries provide access to materials that individuals may not have, a varied choice which is curated to give a window into worlds that could remain closed due to many reasons. Among those materials are physical music collections.

Jason Homer, director of the WPL, said the decision was See LIBRARY, Page 12

friends forgive their friends. In this case, your friend across the street has their car parked on the street and they have had that car out there for six months without moving it.

This car is a metaphor for your relationship. This car is the immovable rock that is your neighborly bond. And you know what friends do to other friends? They pull pranks.

Who is the defi nition of friendship in America? No, not the show, “Friends,” but the crew of “Jackass.” “Jackass” has warmed the heart of our country for the last two decades pulling pranks, doing stunts and laughing at each other’s misery. You, after waving that one time, are just as close to your neighbor as Johnny Knoxville is to Steve-O. A series of pranks to your neighbor and their car is just what this relationship needs. You can start small. The fi rst prank can be subtle. Maybe just write “wash me” with your fi nger in the dirt on the car (that always gets ‘em). Then maybe after that

you can set a fi rework off on top of the car. Make sure to run all the way back in the house before it goes off so the neighbor can run out and be all, “what the heck, who was that?” And you can giggle in your house. Finally to the coup de grace, is to enroll in the automotive program at Quinsigamond Community College.

Then, once you learn all of the ins and outs of motor vehicles you can slowly, piece by piece, take the car apart, until, one day there is nothing left and you have rebuilt the car in their backyard. Your neighbor will think it is so funny, they’ll make a Tik Tok about it and it will go viral and then you two will be guests on the “Today” show talking about your amazing friendship. As I write this, I am jealous of how close you two are. Friendship is just so important.

Worcester comedian Shaun Connolly provides readers bad advice in his weekly column.

Send your questions to woocomedyweek@gmail.com.

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | MARCH 4 - 10, 2022 | 11

Poets Continued from Page 9

and freedom of speech.

“I've been in front of (teenagers) in classrooms and audiences of public readings," he says, “and they are thirsty.

They feel, 'I need something.'”

He believes that many of them are waiting for the moment they can “fi nally present their thoughts publicly, and this whole thing may aff ect other kids, and keep them in the shadows, because of the level of intimidation, instead of opening more spaces for their voices.”

Matos notes that the young poets he's worked with over the years often respond to the events around them, and that he's seen students write in the past about such things as the Cold Storage Warehouse fi re and the death of Offi cer Manny Familia, saying that poetry is a natural way for young people to process the complex emotions stirred by traumatic events, both locally and globally.

“Kids at home watch the news,” he says, “they discuss the news with their parents, and may develop their own mind on what the topic is.”

Another factor that bears some discussion in the matter is that it was a poem that triggered the backlash from SossaPaquette and his supporters.

Amina Mohammed, Worcester's former Youth Poet Laureate, doesn't fi nd that surprising.

“When it comes to people of color, there was a class I was in this semester, and someone mentioned we (Black people) rage out our anger through hiphop … I don't know what he was trying to get at, but fi rst off , poetry, music, art in general … We don't use that as a place to express our anger. It's a place to tell our side of the story. So we can get through to people to be heard. Poetry, rap, song … it seems that's the only time people do care about the voice of a colored girl or a Black man.”

Kofi Dadzie COURTESY OF YOUTHSPEAKS

It should be noted that the name and racial identity of the poet has not been publicly revealed. The Sossa-Paquette campaign released a video featuring an audio recording of the poem, with its words transcribed, but as that poem was not published by the author, its contents cannot be posted here, as the recording is possibly illegal. Amusingly, as it's being used as a campaign video, the text of the poem is replaced at the end by a video of Sossa-Paquette, saying that he “approves this message.”

Mohammed has listened to the poem, and says she can understand why some of the diction might have gotten under some people's skin, but, “At the end of the day, that's her feelings.” She feels that there's a tendency for people to shut down perspectives that make people uncomfortable, which she sees as a mistake. “The answer isn't shutting her down.

The answer is, 'Why don't I give her an open ear?' This is a reality of millions of people just like her. There are youth out there that really believe this, who live these sorts of lives, hoping they're not at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Matos agrees, saying, “No one should stop this young lady from expressing what she feels about the whole situation,” adding that it's hard to see how a teenage poet could NOT be affected by, “A video of a human being dying under the knee of another person.”

Young poet Kofi Dadzie — who as a student in Westborough won numerous slam poetry competitions in high school and who is now pursuing a hiphop career — says he doesn't believe that the poem held any malice toward police, but rather it's the depiction of what's for many people a dire lived experience that's spurring the anger.

“Black kids in high school out here deal with all sort of weird things around here,” he says, discussing microaggressions such as being the only Black kid in a history class and all eyes turning toward him when they studied the Civil Rights movement. He says that, in the more educated, affl uent Northeast, “Racism is more covert and subtle.” He says that, “When someone criticizes the police … There's a lot of escalating that happens, especially in towns like this when there is a cultural gap … How do you expect us to grow as a people if you don't want people to learn about this stuff .”

Refl ecting on his success as a teen poet, Dadzie says that a lot of the people who liked his poems, “didn't understand the full scope of what I was saying.

They just liked the delivery.”

Dadzie says he has written about his own hassles with the police before, including a poem

from the point of view of a nightstick. “If you don't like it because it's making you uncomfortable,” he says, “then it's very clear you're part of the problem.”

Indeed, he says he nearly abandoned poetry at one point, because he tired of “making my trauma pretty.” Likewise, Frazier sees clearly that the words of poets of color, particularly young writers, aren't centered in discussions. “Often,” they say, “they want Black poets, young people to just be a prop.

They don't want our words, they want us to be props for their grant deliverables. They want our spaces and they want our label … so much of our lived experience is in direct opposition to the pictures they paint of ourselves. The narrative that they tell each other, again and again.”

Mohammed agrees with that sentiment, saying the only way forward through division is not to shut down discussion, but rather for people to listen: “Sit down, keep quiet,” she says, “We're not having an argument. Let me just explain to you the life I had to live because of all these factors — not because of you, necessarily, but because of a system built on all these injustices and oppressions, centered on one group of people having a better life than another. And once people do sit down, we can have some sort of genuine dynamic, where we can both express our feelings, both talk things out, and not worry that one person is going to take off ense, of this, that and the third. It's a lot of people going back and forth, yelling and screaming at one another, and nobody is truly listening.”

For Matos, “The principle thing here is a freedom of expression … All we can do is continue to encourage young people to get involved in social issues, to read and research about the cultures of all these divisions, and to eventually debate it. Why not? … If we're going to start censoring the expression of young authors, where are we going to end?”

12 | MARCH 4 - 10, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Worcester has a rat problem William S. Coleman III Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

Worcester has a Rat infestation problem, and no, I am not talking about our well paid hands in your pocket elected and appointed political leaders who welcome a freebie to any event.

I am speaking about the rodents roaming our city streets going through our trash and eating through the yellow bags seeking the leftovers from dinner to feed their overpopulating families.

As a city we need to look at other municipal communities who have addressed the problem with trash barrels.

The barrels will be owned by the city and will eliminate the need for residents to pay for trash bags plus the trash barrels are handled by a one truck pick up operation.

The Recycling operation has a separate barrel too.

It is my observation that with more home delivery options people are getting more stuff delivered to their homes.

The public health concerns of Rats in our city must have a human approach that includes an ongoing community education program and a willingness for our government leaders to look at the health impact on our city.

The Rat problem in our city must be addressed, I believe it is truly a major health concern.

William S. Coleman III lives in Worcester.

FIRST PERSON

POETRY TOWN

Body art runs in the family!

Joe Fusco Jr. Special to Worcester Magazine

Dimitri Suriel

USA TODAY NETWORK

Tired of penciling in her eyebrows every morning, my wife had them micro-bladed.

Her brows are very dark right now and she greets me each morning with a cigar and Groucho Marx rejoinder: “I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don’t know!”

Cyndi’s facial transformation made me curious about my immediate family’s body art. So, I texted them an inquiry: My daughter Heather has a heart tattoo and an inscription in honor of one of her grandfathers that says, "Until I see you again."

Her husband Anthony has the Mandarin symbol for Strength or the image of an eggroll on his right shoulder.

He’s not sure.

My daughter Amanda has an arrow because “an arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward. When life is dragging you back, the arrow launches you into something great. So, just focus and keep aiming!”

Her husband Rich has an arm sleeve with roses and Amanda’s real name, "Jacqueline Evangeline Alexandria." Ouch!

Library Continued from Page 10

easy once they saw the possibilities. With so many things going online and the success of streaming platforms, which can be unaff ordable for some, the WPL is always looking for avenues to provide ser-

‘Elm Park in Winter’ Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

The pond is frozen, like our memories of a youth are frozen in time.

Though an empty playground sitting on a swing is the younger me waving, happy to know who he would one day be.

I wave back, proud of the happy child I once was.

Tattoos are more popular in Joe Fusco Jr.’s family than he realized. PIXABAY

My daughter Sami, the forensic psychologist, has a yellow rubber-duck named “Bubbles” on her left thigh.

Her husband Timmy has the New York Yankees’ insignia etched on his posterior, or so I’ve been told.

My son JoJo and his wife Bre are tattoo-less but do collect Funkos.

I’m not a body-art devotee. Some of the designs are stunning but I’m just not into pain that’s self-infl icted. Until I found out that my hero Joe Exotic has a penis piercing.

It’s the Prince Albert de-

vices to people who might not be able to aff ord them but still have the same level of access.

Three songs a week can be downloaded to a device. “Taking the money we were using for physical music collection and moving it to streaming services — fewer CDs to buy lately and rather than move that money somewhere else, we’re keeping it under the

sign where they insert a barbell or other jewelry through the urethra and out the underside behind the penishead.

I asked the counterperson at Zales if I could get mine in 18-karat gold with a Seniorcitizen discount but they just called security.

So, I’m saving my monthly checks and looking forward to the day that I’ll be the Tiger King of Central Massachusetts.

Roar!

Joe Fusco Jr. is a poet and humorist who lives in Worcester.

music umbrella,” said Homer of their juggling act. “Just very excited to make music more available to patrons.” It is common knowledge that numerous artists are releasing more singles on streaming and making fewer albums so Freegal is adding new stuff the whole time and the more users they get the more songs they will have on their plat-

Dimitri Suriel is a Puerto Rican/Dominican-American raised in Worcester, where a lot of his work is in searching for identity, while embracing the cultures and identities he holds.

A couple walks through Elm Park in January.

CHRISTINE PETERSON/T&G

form. Users can create work from home playlists, workout playlist and share them.

The Freegal music app can be downloaded on mobile devices or computers — just choose WPL and enter library number and PIN. So, the next time you read the “Song to Get You Through the Week” column, go ahead and listen to it right away.

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | MARCH 4 - 10, 2022 | 13

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

��th Annual

WINTER

Wine Sale

James Dye James Dye Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

James Dye of Worcester was the fourth place winner of the sixth annual juried show Arts Connect at Catamount Arts in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. The award was announced in January. Juried by Katherine French, Catamount Arts Gallery Director Emerita, the exhibition is open through April 10, and showcases outstanding work by more than 70 emerging and established member artists. Dye is a graduate of the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University.

Dye uses mythic narrative archetypes as a foundation for works that explore the ritual nature of art and the symbiosis of image and story.

20% OFF

*

*750ml

only February 1st-march 13th No further discount on sale items apply.

“Citadel of the Roach Queen” JAMES DYE

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION

Jim and Chrisoula, owners of O’Hara’s Wines & Liquors “I taste & purchase only the finest wines. We are here to offer you expertise, selection & service.”

OHARASWINES.COM jimmy@oharaswines.com

O’HARA’S Wines & Liquors We have the finest wines available

No crowds? No problem!

Hours: Monday-Saturday 9:00am-11:00pm; Sunday 10:00am-8:00pm

Visit LOCALiQ.com/Engage to get started.

402 West Boyston St. Worcester 508-853-1919

We’re experts at bringing people together, even while 6 feet apart.

Ask us how our unique digital marketing solutions can help keep your customers engaged from anywhere.

WM-28984226

Curbside Service Available

867 Grafton St. Worcester (in the plaza) 508-792-1011

14 | MARCH 4 - 10, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

COVER STORY Tyrone Power and Worcester native Helen Walker in a scene from 1947’s “Nightmare Alley.”

20TH CENTURY FOX

‘Return to Nightmare Alley’ The tumultuous life of Worcester starlet Helen Walker Craig S. Semon Worcester Magazine | USA TODAY NETWORK

Not only does Guillermo del Toro’s “Nightmare Alley” live up to its name, this uncompromising fi lm also has a strong connection to Worcester. h One of the most unusual movies to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, “Nightmare Alley” is a remake of 1947 fi lm noir classic of the same name, starring swashbuckling matinee idol Tyrone Power acting against type. h In the new version of “Nightmare Alley,” Bradley Cooper takes over the Tyrone Power role of Stanton Carlisle, an unscrupulous but ambitious carnival worker who reinvents himself as “The Great Stanton,” a successful but fraudulent “mentalist” selling out shows in swanky clubs and hobnobbing with the social elite. h Cate Blanchett plays Dr. Lilith Ridder, an amoral psychologist who becomes fascinated by The Great Stanton’s act. The two forge an uneasy and unethical partnership and, with the aid of sound recordings from her private therapy sessions, swindle some of her very rich and very troubled clients. See WALKER, Page 15

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | MARCH 4 - 10, 2022 | 15

Walker Continued from Page 14

In the 1947 original, Dr. Ridder was played by Helen Walker. Not only did she star in “Nightmare Alley,” Walker lived it.

Once a promising young Hollywood starlet, Walker’s real-life story unfolds like one of the low-budget fi lm noir movies that were her bread and butter in the latter part of her career.

In Tinsel Town, Walker reportedly fell in love with the bottle, had two failed marriages, derailed her fi lm career in a high-speed wreck on a California highway that left one dead, watched her Hollywood home (and a lot of her worldly possessions) go up in fl ames and lost a courageous and very tough, nine-year battle with cancer.

Despite her beauty and poise on the silver screen, her life turned out to be more tragic than prestigious, more ugly than elegant, more nightmarish than magical in the end.

And, Helen Walker’s heartbreaking story all started here in Worcester.

Being from “ the very far side of the railroad tracks,” Walker was born on July 17, 1920, and lived with her parents and two sisters, Shirley and Beverly (Helen was born in the middle), at 63 Austin St. “I came up the hard way, since we never had a dime when I was a child,” Helen was once quoted as saying in 1943. “My family was always poor. You’d say we didn’t have a biscuit.”

Kathleen Mulligan, a professor of theater arts at Ithaca College in New York, is the niece of Helen Walker. Kathleen’s mother, Beverly, was Helen’s baby sister.

Helen’s father, Russell Walker, who was a manager at the local A&P grocery store, died suddenly one night when Helen was only 6 years old, Mulligan said. According to the death certifi cate, he died of “acute onset paralysis.”

“My grandmother (Helen’s mother) fi nally convinced him (Helen’s father Russell) to take a vacation and they went to Newport, Rhode Island, because his family was from there,” Mulligan said. “And, he wasn’t feeling well and she was saying, ‘Oh, wouldn’t you know.

We fi nally go on a vacation and he says he’s not feeling well,’ And, by that night, he was dead.”

After her father’s death, Helen’s mother, Irene, began working in a de-

The Walker sisters of 63 Austin St., Worcester, circa 1931. From left are Helen, 11; Beverly “Bev,” 7; and Shirley, 12. Helen, wearing the hat, would grow up to become a Hollywood movie star best known for the original “Nightmare Alley,” which came out in 1947.

SUBMITTED

partment store.

“My mother, who raised the family all by herself, is a wonderful woman,” Helen once said. “She worked hard to raise us properly, to give us good educations.

She has always accepted fate, and has never counted on anything, so she had never been disappointed.”

“My grandmother (Helen’s mother) had three little girls. The Depression was just about upon us. And they were really, really, really poor,” Mulligan added. “I don’t want to say anything bad about my grandfather’s family but they really, pretty much, turned their backs on my grandmother after he died.”

Helen, who grew up a tomboy, escaped her troubles through acting. Her initial acting experience came from performing school plays at Commerce High School.

A former clerk at Worcester City Hall, Helen Walker fi rst played the lead role of “Jane Eyre” in summer stock at the Boylston Town Hall and later with the Louise Galloway Players at the Red Barn Theatre, located at the intersection of Routes 9 and 30, in Westborough.

“My mother would say that when Helen came home from fi nishing school See WALKER, Page 16

The lobby card for 1947’s “Nightmare Alley” starring Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell, Coleen Gray and Worcester native Helen Walker (seen under the “N” in “Nightmare and next to the “A” in “Alley”). 20TH CENTURY FOX

16 | MARCH 4 - 10, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

Tyrone Power and Worcester native Helen Walker appear in “NIghtmare Alley,” which was the apex of Walker’s fi lm career. 20TH CENTURY FOX

Cate Blanchett and Bradley Cooper in 2021’s “Nightmare Alley.”

SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES

Walker Continued from Page 15

or drama school, if my mother used incorrect grammar my Aunt Helen would slap her across the face and correct her,” Mulligan said. “My Aunt Helen was also quite dramatic. In fact, growing up, anytime I got emotional, my mother would say, ‘Oh, you’re just like Helen.’”

Receiving positive reviews for the Broadway production of Samson Raphaelson’s “Jason,” a 22-year-old Walker caught the eye of a talent scout from Paramount Studios, who signed her to a contract.

In Hollywood, Walker made her fi lm debut opposite Alan Ladd, in his fi rst starring role (and 11 years before “Shane”), in 1942’s “Lucky Jordan,” a comedy about a gangster (Ladd) who ends up getting drafted in the Army (and Walker’s character reports him AWOL).

According to The New York Times, the fi lm broke the house record at New York’s Rialto cinema in its fi rst year of release. Walker had offi cially arrived, and Hollywood was her oyster.

After a few forgettable fl icks, Walker hit her stride in 1945, with four movies released that year: the science-fi ction romantic melodrama “The Man in Half Moon Street,” about a brilliant scientist (Nils Asther) who retains his youth by conducting unethical experiments; the zany comedy “Brewster’s Millions,” about a World War II vet (Dennis O’Keefe) who inherits $8 million from his rich uncle with only one stipulation — he has to spend one million in two months or he’ll get nothing; the black comedy “Murder, He Says,” about a hapless pollster (Fred MacMurray of “Double Indemnity” fame) who gets entangled with the nutty and murderous Fleagle family as he hunts for a cache of money; and “Duff y’s Tavern,” a starstudded musical featuring fellow Worcester native and acclaimed humorist Robert Benchley, William Bendix, Eddie Bracken, Joan Caulfi eld, Bing Crosby, William Demarest, Brian Donlevy, Paulette Goddard, Betty Hutton, Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Dorothy Lamour, Gail Russell and Helen Walker, all starring as themselves.

In addition to being a promising See WALKER, Page 17

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | MARCH 4 - 10, 2022 | 17

Walker Continued from Page 16

young actress, Walker quickly earned a reputation as a fun-loving party girl who was often captured by the paparazzi and plastered on dime store movie magazines partying to the wee hours of the night.

Born in 1941, J. David Johnson of Putnam, Conn., remembers his Aunt Helen better than his younger sister, Kathleen.

“Aunt Helen used to tell me about those parties she had at Ciro’s (a popular nightspot for celebrities in the ‘40s on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood),” Johnson said, recalling a conversation he had with Walker when he was a teenager. “I said, ‘I see you’re going to parties all the time.’ She said, ‘Believe me, David. I’m not going to any parties, not when you have to get up at 5 o’clock for a make-up call. What they would do is hook us up with some upand-coming star and we would go in the front and out the kitchen and go home.’”

Johnson said his Aunt Helen was very good friends with Lucille Ball.

“Aunt Helen told me that Lucy’s husband (Desi Arnaz) was a hound dog and driving Lucy crazy all the time,” Johnson said. “He was always out there chasing those skirts.”

And, Walker had a bitter rivalry with June Haver, an actress who came up during the same time as Walker and was groomed by 20th Century Fox to be “the next Betty Grable,” Johnson shared.

“They didn’t get along too good,” Johnson said of Walker and Haver.

“They used to get into catfi ghts, say bad things about each other.”

Whenever she came back home to Worcester to see her mother, which she did frequently, Walker would stay at her sister Shirley’s house (“Because she had a big house,” Johnson said) and liked to hang out at the El Morocco.

“She was always Aunt Helen,” Johnson said. “She didn’t put on any airs, anything like that.”

In 1946’s comedy of British manners “Cluny Brown,” Walker plays the Honorable Betty Cream, who is the presumptive fi ancée of the heir of the family fortune (played by Peter Lawford). Although Walker got billing after Charles Boyer, Jennifer Jones and Lawford, the movie was hailed as a “delectable and sprightly lampoon” and “among the year’s most delightful comedies” by The New York Times and “a satire on British

A charcoal drawing of Worcester native and Hollywood actress Helen Walker drawn by David MacIntosh in the 1940s for The Boston Post.

SUBMITTED

Jimmy Stewart and Helen Walker in a scene from “Call Northside 777.”

20TH CENTURY FOX

Buy Now! Tickets start at just $29.

Worcester native Helen Walker on the lobby card for 1947’s “Nightmare Alley.” 20TH CENTURY FOX

manners, with bite and relish” by Variety.

Walker was on a roll. She was also on a collision course with disaster, which all came to a head on New Year’s Eve, 1946, while Walker was driving a convertible coupe from Palm Springs to Hollywood on U.S. Route 99 (now Interstate 10). It was this night that her life and career changed forever.

The evening started innocently enough when the actress picked up three hitchhikers during two separate stops. It ended with one soldier dead and three others (including Walker) in the hospital.

Walker picked up Pfc. Robert E. Lee, a soldier, fi rst, followed by 18-year-old student Philip Mercado and his friend Joseph Montaldo.

See WALKER, Page 18

sponsored by UniBank

Sat, March 12 TheHanoverTheatre.org

18 | MARCH 4 - 10, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

Walker Continued from Page 17

Sometime after midnight, Walker’s vehicle hit a dividing island in the roadway on the eastern outskirts of Redlands.

The car fl ipped over six times.

All four passengers were ejected from the vehicle, which continued rolling and skidding 600 feet before coming to a dead stop.

Lee, sitting in the front passenger seat, was killed as his head struck the pavement.

Mercado and Montaldo, riding in the back seat, were also seriously injured but both survived.

Walker — who suff ered a fractured pelvis, a broken collarbone and several broken toes — spent two months recovering in the hospital.

The police estimated that Walker had been speeding in excess of 80 mph, while Mercado and Montaldo said she may have been drinking and was driving 90 miles an hour at the time of the accident.

Walker claimed that she was only going 45 miles per hour.

She also denied that she had been drinking.

In February 1947, Mercado, who had been thrown nearly 80 feet from the car, sued Walker for $150,000, claiming that Walker was driving “like a fool,” ignored his requests to slow down and diverted her attention from the road to ask for a cigarette just before the accident.

Montaldo also fi led a $100,000 civil suit against the actress.

In April of 1947, Walker was cleared of criminal charges, including drunken driving and manslaughter, when all charges were dismissed for “insuffi cient and uncertain evidence.”

“The accident was pretty scandalous,” Mulligan said.

“That kind of destroyed her career, as far as being big time,” Johnson added.

At the time of the accident,

Worcester native Helen Walker in 1947’s “Nightmare Alley.”

20TH CENTURY FOX

Walker was working on the fi lm “Heaven Only Knows.” It cost United Artist over $100,000 to reshoot her scenes with Marjorie Reynolds.

Despite being absolved of all guilt in the tragic accident, Walker reportedly sank into a deep depression and retreated to her old friend the bottle.

Walker was considered damaged goods despite her best movie, “Nightmare Alley,”

being released a few months later.

In “Nightmare Alley,” Walker was perfectly cast as a classic fi lm noir femme-fatale.

A sophisticated blond with striking good looks and sultry voice, Walker is an absolute stunner who you can’t take your eyes off of, and she turns out to be the worst thing to ever happen to our antihero Stan (Power).

Mulligan, who saw “Nightmare Alley” at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, ranks it as her favorite of her Aunt Helen’s movies. “’It was the only one of Aunt Helen’s movies I saw on the big screen,” Mulligan said. “I was with a bunch of my friends and they kept saying, ‘Well, where’s your aunt? Where’s your aunt?’

Then, suddenly, the whole screen was my aunt’s face and that was pretty cool.”

Her brother David, who saw many of his aunt’s pictures at the old Fox-Poli Palace Theatre (where the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts now stands), agrees.

“I really liked that ‘Nightmare Alley,’” Johnson said. “I was always a fan of Tyrone Power. I always liked him.”

Despite the scandalous tabloid fodder of her fatal crash, Walker made a few more notable fi lms but her best days were clearly behind her.

In 1948’s “Call Northside 777,” James Stewart plays a reporter trying to uncover the truth in a conviction of cop killer, while Walker plays his wife, who urges him to continue investigating the case despite his initial skepticism.

In 1949’s “Impact,” Walker plays a scheming murderous wife of a millionaire industrialist husband (Brian Donlevy, who is best known for playing Sgt. Markoff in “Beau Geste”).

In real life, Walker played both the heartbreaker and the heartbroken.

In the fall of ’42, she married Paramount Pictures executive Robert F. Blumofe in Tijuana, Mexico. The marriage ended in divorce four years later.

“He (Blumofe) became like my surrogate uncle when I got older,” Mulligan said. “He came back from the army and the marriage was over. And he was heartbroken. He was such a nice man and Aunt Helen broke his heart.”

In 1950, Walker married a furrier named Edward du Domaine. That marriage went belly up in two years.

“If I remember right, my

aunt followed him one morning and saw that when he would leave her house, he would then go to his girlfriend,” Mulligan said.

After the 1955 fi lm noir, “The Big Combo,” Walker’s movie career ended.

In 1960, Walker made her last television appearance. In the same year, she lost everything she owned in a devastating house fi re.

Some of her old colleagues from her fi lm days, including Dinah Shore, Hugh O’Brien, Ruth Roman and Vivian Blaine, staged a benefi t to help her but it wasn’t enough.

An actress herself, Mulligan said she has been thinking about writing and performing a one-woman show on Aunt Helen’s story, focusing on the crash that derailed her career.

When Mulligan met her Aunt Helen, she was very young and her aunt was sick, so her memories are sad ones.

Still, Mulligan — who proudly wears every Valentine’s Day a gold heart (with the inscription “Love Bruce 2.14.47”) that director H. Bruce “Lucky” Humberstone gave to Walker — does have a very special memory of attending an actors’ symposium at grad school which featured guests Fred MacMurray (who ended up marrying Walker’s old rival, June Haver), Cesar Romero and Greer Garson.

“When the symposium was over, I ran down to the stage and I said, ‘Mr. MacMurray, my aunt was Helen Walker.’ And he said, ‘Oooh. She was so beautiful and she was lovely.’ And he called over Cesar Romero who did ‘Dinner At Eight,’ a play with her. And they talked about her and how sad her ending was. It was really sweet.”

After a nine-year battle with cancer, Walker died on March 10, 1968, in North Hollywood, California. She was 47 years old.

Her body was fl own back to Massachusetts and buried at Oak Hill Cemetery, Sterling, Massachusetts, Section A, Lot 40, next to her father.

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | MARCH 4 - 10, 2022 | 19

CONNELL SANDERS

Lessons from a Babymoon Sarah Connell Sanders Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

Start Early: For the fi rst time in my life, I am thriving in the mornings. Dewey skinned.

Energized. Some might even say "glowing." My baby bump feels downright adorable when freshly squeezed orange juice is coursing through my veins. It's not until around 4 p.m. when the witching hour hits and the W's posh pool deck becomes “WET,” a dance club fi lled with beautiful scantily clad 20 somethings clutching Balenciaga bags. No matter how many chapters of “Like a Mother” I internalized earlier in the day, I can't help but feel out of place. I am the pregnant woman at the bar.

Float: You are weightless.

Move with the waves. Plunge into the quiet depths. Exhale every last breath and immerse yourself in a crown of perfect little bubbles. Watch them pop.

Sink to the bottom and then shoot back to the surface like the mystical sea creature you are. When you swim up to the bar to order a Virgin margarita, casually drop into conversation that you are the heir to the Speedo fortune, but say it like, “I am zee heir to zee Speedo fortune.” It's more believable that way. My husband thinks I've been watching too much “Inventing Anna,” but once we started getting free drinks, he changed his tune. After that, I noticed him wearing his Speedo trunks to the pool. It’s only a matter of time before we get in-

vited onto a mega yacht.

Take the perfect picture: I thought it would be a hilarious twist to take the quintessential maternity milk bath photo of my husband with some rose petals fl oating around his handsome face. The last time I checked, it was MY baby moon and I was supposed to get everything I wanted. But, this request, he refused. The whole carton went to waste. He did, however, agree to a more traditional couples shot on the terrace. We couldn't fi nd anyone to take it, so we propped up a phone in a palm tree and tried for self-timer. I made him retake it roughly 203 times. A man started heckling us from the balcony of his suite. I have See BABYMOON, Page 24

Many expectant parents take a “Babymoon,” one last getaway as a couple before the birth of their fi rst child. COURTESY SARAH CONNELL SANDERS

20 | MARCH 4 - 10, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

CITY LIVING CANNABIS CONFIDENTIAL

A few industry big boys putting out quality marijuana fl ower Eric Casey Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

THC. CBD. TAC. RMD. There’s a lot of three letter abbreviations in the cannabis space. In recent years, another one has appeared: MSO, short for Multistate Operator, a cannabis company that operates in multiple states.

When people speak of MSOs, they usually aren’t talking about a small, independently owned chain that happens to operate in more than one territory.

They are more likely referring to large, publicly traded corporations that operate in the retail, cultivation and/or product manufacturing space in the industry.

By establishing operations and brands in a number of markets across the country, MSOs are hoping to obtain an advantage once cannabis is legalized at the federal level by already having an established national presence that can quickly be pushed into emerging markets. The rise of these publicly traded cannabis companies has spawned the hashtag #MSOgang on social media, where retail investors/speculators cheer on their favorite horse in the cannabis stock race while also railing against concepts like allowing small businesses or those who have been harmed in the War on Drugs any signifi cant room in the industry.

Unsurprisingly, the business tactics of MSOs are not exactly winning over a lot of people in the cannabis space.

Many large companies are actively lobbying states to put up as many hurdles as possible for potential local operators and other possible competitors.

As former Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commissioner Shaleen Title pointed out in her recent academic paper, “Bigger is Not Better: Preventing

Cultivate’s fi rst location was in Leicester. A a reliable option on its menu has been Chocolate OG, a pleasant indica with a bit of a nutty taste. ASHLEY GREEN/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

Monopolies in the National Cannabis Market,” some of these companies are openly bragging to shareholders about their monopolist practices in ways that would even make John D. Rockefeller blush.

Enough policy talk though, let’s talk product. As I explained in last week’s column, a lot of MSOs are focusing heavily on manufactured cannabis goods, and therefore don’t have a ton of interest in growing high grade cannabis fl ower.

Sure, pretty much every big company has a line of so-called “premium” fl ower, but this word becomes meaningless

when many of these products simply do not pass the (literal) sniff test.

But instead of using this column to throw mud at the MSOs who are growing schwag, I rather go the classy route and highlight some of the big boys in the industry who are — despite long odds — growing some quality cannabis. You’re bound to run into some MSO weed even if you only shop at locally owned dispensaries, it’s best to understand which brands are worth buying. So here’s my top three: No. 3: Cultivate: Cultivate was one of the two recreational dispensaries to offer sales on the fi rst day that adult use

cannabis went live back in 2017. Last year, they were bought out by multistate company Cresco Labs for a reported price of $158 million dollars.

Since opening their fi rst location in Leicester, a reliable option on their menu has been Chocolate OG, a pleasant indica with a bit of a nutty taste. Cultivate is one of the bigger wholesalers in the state so it shouldn’t be too hard to track down, but I recommend you seek out their “Top Cut” premium brand to maximize your chance of getting good buds.

See CANNABIS, Page 24

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | MARCH 4 - 10, 2022 | 21

THE NEXT DRAFT

Mass Beer Week helps prevent another boring week in March Matthew Tota Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

I know readers of this column would never require some contrived holiday to support the state’s 214 craft breweries, but they can still appreciate seven days of them.

The Massachusetts Brewers Guild opens another Mass Beer Week Saturday, March 5. In its eighth year, this series of small celebrations across the state’s brewing industry — collabs, contests, tap takeovers — makes another bland week in March more palatable.

The message — plea, really — from last year’s Mass Beer Week remains: There has never been a better time to get out and support your local breweries.

Judging by the reactions online, with people using the hashtags #massbeerweek and #drinkmassmadebeer, and how fast the collectable glasses went, they did, vigorously.

“Last year I was struck by the number of consumers who were tagging #massbeerweek,” said MBG executive director Katie Stinchon, “whether at a brewery or showing off their haul from a package store. I also hear how quickly the glassware sells out every year.”

I’ve yet to take home an offi cial Mass Beer Week glass. Don’t cry for me, though. With more than a dozen ways to celebrate on tap for the week, I’ll have more than enough opportunities to snag one. And it’s not only breweries hosting this year, as restaurants, liquor stores and even cigar bars will participate.

Saturday’s kick-off has a packed draft list of events. Timberyard Brewing Co. in East Brookfi eld will pair a selection of its brews with Girl Scout Cookies; Fitchburg’s River Styx Brewing arranged for guided tours of its newly-expanded brewhouse; and Greater Good Imperial Brewing Co. will have music from guitarist Frank Foot. You can fi nd more information about all the Mass Beer Week happenings at

massbrewersguild.org/massbeerweek.

“I encourage people to get out there and go to a brewery they’ve never been to before or go to a brewery that’s just opened," Stinchon said. “Just go out there and explore the great small business owners in our state who create all that good liquid we all love and rally around.”

Redemption Rock signs on with new distributor Worcester’s Redemption Rock Brewing Co. will partner with the wholesaler Craft Collective to distribute its beers across the state.

Redemption Rock has been searching for a new distributor since last fall, after its fi rst wholesaler, Night Shift Distributing, was sold to the Sheehan Family Companies, one of the largest beverage distributors in the country.

Shortly after the sale, Redemption Rock CEO Dani Babineau told me part of the brewery’s search included talking with its retail partners.

“First and foremost, we want to start talking with some of the retail customers in the Boston area about what distributors they like. We want to see who gives these smaller accounts the proper attention,” Babineau said. “We want to make sure our priorities align. We’re a small brewery, so if someone has a 10 pallet a month minimum, we can’t hit that.”

In Craft Collective, founded in 2015, Redemption Rock is getting a wholesaler that like Night Shift, focuses on selling and marketing for smaller breweries.

“We’ve always sought to bring joy to our customers — be it through our mission, our array of beers, or our creative artwork — and we want to bring that joy to more people across Massachusetts,” Babineau said in a press release last week. “Craft Collective has unmatched See DRAFT, Page 24

2022 Mass Beer Week begins Saturday. SUBMITTED

22 | MARCH 4 - 10, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

LISTEN UP

Hellitosis’ new album is “Seshing The TrenchMouth.” SUBMITTED

Hellitosis off ers wild, surprising new album Victor D. Infante Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

Local rockers Hellitosis bill themselves as “The most Distasteable band in the World.”

That's a big claim — after more than 20 years of writing about music, I have seen some things — but I gotta say, the band's new album, “Seshing The TrenchMouth,” isn't "distasteable" at all. Indeed, if you can get through the sludgy opening, it's actually a pretty engaging hardcore album.

The band will be releasing the album, along with a corresponding novella, “Literally Horrible,” with a show from 1 to 5 p.m. March 5 at the Elm Draught House in Millbury. The

event will also feature burlesque performers Mistress Grief and Acacua Sealea, among others. If this all sounds a bit like a random hodgepodge of elements, you're not wrong, but there's something about being immersed in the album that seems like it makes sense, because the album takes you from a sort of muddy, unnerving primal scream of a song, “Trench Mouth,” onto a madcap ride that's at times a tad vulgar, at others shockingly beautifully rendered, and always fastpaced and unpredictable.

“Trench Mouth” gives way to “(Expletive) Witch,” which leans deep into a hard-core sound, continuing the muddy bass line from the fi rst song and escalating the percussion. The

vocals, particularly, are of interest. Sometimes we're well in the wheelhouse of the metal demon scream, whereas on the harmonies they're actually rather clear and lovely. Throw in a spoken word interlude where the song's persona is trying to talk someone into getting over their ex-girlfriend, to off color but hilarious results, and the band shows its ability to switch up sounds and textures, an ability that contributes to making the album extremely listenable.

The album hits top velocity with the bracing rocker, “(Expletive) Destitute,” before diving into the multilayered “HeroOut,” where a breakout guitar line quivers anxiously on the razor's edge between a murky

tone and the heavy pounding of drums. It's a long, intense song, but when it gives way to “To the Hilt,” the change up to more vibrant rock sound provides a needed relief. It's almost an entirely diff erent band: the vocals are rich and dexterous with a wicked tinge, reminding of a young Danny Elfman in the early days of Oingo Boingo. The instrumentation, too, delves more into a garage rock sound, before giving way to hard-core elements. The whole song is totally arresting.

Really, this album is chock full of little musical surprises, such as the off -kilter “Dr. Benfang,” which sets a sort of tightly metered verse to a hard-driving beat, to fascinating results, a trick replicated soon after in,

“The Apple.” In the latter song, though, it's really the instrumentation that shines, with hooks in the melody that create moments of joy amid the cacophony, until it's all overcome by a return to an ominous heavy cloud.

Then, with “Hot Dog,” the song erupts into a breakneck blast of speed metal. It's an extremely enjoyable turn, and it sets up the album's closer, “Imprisonment Tartus,” a more than 8-minute-long magnum opus that seems to touch back on several of the album's earlier themes, only instead of wrapping them up, the album plunges them all into a pit of discord and madness. Which is distasteable, certainly, but it's also pretty cool.

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | MARCH 4 - 10, 2022 | 23

5 THINGS TO DO

DON WHITE, ZERO 9:36 AND MORE ...

Richard Duckett and Victor D. Infante Worcester Magazine | USA TODAY NETWORK

Singing from the Soul

Don White T&G FILE

Birthday celebration!

Award-winning singer/songwriter, comedian, author and storyteller Don White has a new subject to explore. The Lynn native has opened for Arlo Guthrie, Ritchie Havens, Louden Wainwright III and Taj Mahal, and been featured in storytelling festivals around the country. Now “Don White’s 65th Birthday Show” at the Bull Run Restaurant in Shirley March 5 will likely be celebrated with a characteristic mix of humor and powerful songwriting. (RD) What: “Don White’s 65th Birthday Show” When: 8 p.m. March 5. Doors open for dinner and seating at 6 p.m.

Where: The Bull Run Restaurant, 215 Great Road, Shirley How much: $20. www.bullrunrestaurant.com

The Salisbury Singers will reach deep when performing classic and contemporary works in its concert “My Soul Can Reach: Music for Reflection & Renewal” March 5 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Worcester and March 6 at St. Cecelia Church, Leominster.

Themes of loss and resolution will include composer Alice Parker’s setting of texts by poet Emily Dickinson and Vivaldi’s resplendent “Gloria,” as well as choral works

by Marques Garrett, Dan The Salisbury Singers MICHELLE SHEPPARD Forrest and Peter Anglea.

The concert will also feature soloists from Anna Maria College and Worcester Polytechnic Institute and a guest string quartet. The Salisbury Singers will be led by music director Bradford T. Dumont and its new conducting fellow Will Goliger. (RD) What: “My Soul Can Reach: Music for Reflection & Renewal” — Salisbury Singers When/Where: 7 p.m. March 5, Trinity Lutheran Church, 73 Lancaster St., Worcester. 4 p.m.

March 6, St. Cecilia Church, 180 Mechanic St., Leominster.

How much: $25 adults; $20 seniors; $12 students. www.salisburysingers.org

Exploring a ‘Legacy’ Holocaust survivor Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman (1920-2013) became a central figure in the vibrant Yiddish world of the Bronx, New York. Her poetry, songs and artwork were considered invaluable contributions to traditional Jewish folk art. Her creative output spanned seven decades, multiple continents, and numerous media as she dedicated her life to preserving and spreading Yiddish through a community of scholars, artists and Yiddish enthusiasts. The documentary “BEYLE: The Artist and Her Legacy” explores her influence on Yiddish culture through archival recordings and exclusive interviews with Beyle and others. Presented by the Central Massachusetts Jewish Theatre Company. (RD)

Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman SUBMITTED

What: “BEYLE: The Artist and Her Legacy” When: 7:30 p.m. March 10 Where/How much: Online. Free. Go to www.cmjtc.org to register

Zero 9:36 SUBMITTED

Riding High Rapper-singer Zero 9:36 has been a rising star for a bit now, but he’s rolling into Worcester on the heels of a good deal of big news. First off, he’s at the Palladium headlining the Monster Energy Outbreak Tour, which focuses on artists at their breakout moment. Notable alumni of the tour include Kendrick Lamar, Macklemore, The Chainsmokers, Logic, Post Malone and 21 Savage. On top of that, he’s just been nominated for an iHeartRadio Music Award for Best New Rock Artist. Throw in the success of his recent single, “I’m Not,” and there’s every reason to believe that they’ll be a good vibe at the Palladium that night. (VDI) What: Monster Energy Outbreak Tour Presents Zero 9:36 with Fame On Fire and Garzi When: 7 p.m. March 8 Where: The Palladium (Upstairs), 261 Main St., Worcester How much: $18 Continued on next page

24 | MARCH 4 - 10, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

Cannabis Continued from Page 20

Hopefully whoever is responsible for the success of Chocolate OG is being heavily rewarded by their new corporate overlords.

No. 2: The Botanist: When I heard in 2018 that former Speaker of the House and prolifi c crier John Boehner was getting into the cannabis industry by joining the board of Acreage Holdings, I threw up in my mouth a little. This guy didn’t lift a single fi nger to improve cannabis laws in the near quarter of a century that he was in Congress, and now he was jumping on the bandwagon the minute cannabis became undeniably popular and profi table? Gross.

I have to admit though, everyone who I met in my time in the industry who worked at Acreage-owned The Botanist were good people, and when I fi nally sampled some of their wares, I was forced to admit that the product I had been derisively calling “Boehner Weed” was actually quite good. LA Kush Cake, a hybrid that is a regular on

Draft Continued from Page 21

experience and passion for craft beer, and we know our brand is in great hands with them.”

Redemption Rock co-founder Dan Carlson told me signing on with Craft Collective will help the brewery achieve one of its biggest goals for this year: increasing distribution throughout the state.

And while Craft Collective expands Redemption Rock’s footprint east and west of Worcester County, the brewery will continue self-distributing to restaurants, bars and stores around the city.

Spencer monks get marketing help from a Boston university Personal promotion doesn’t fi gure prominently in a cloistered lifestyle, so the monks of Spencer Brewery have accepted the help of Northeastern University students and professors in coming up with new advertising cam-

their menu at both their Worcester and Shrewsbury locations, is a particular strain worth seeking out.

Maybe they use some of John’s famous tears to make sure the PH levels in the soil are just right. In any case, I hope that Mr. Speaker is making sure his cultivation team gets a cut of the massive payday he’s going to receive when Acreage inevitably gets bought out by an even larger corporation.

No. 1: Nature’s Heritage: While this brand of fl ower is produced by a local subsidiary of publicly traded MSO MariMed, you would be forgiven for thinking cannabis was grown by a boutique grower somewhere in the Emerald Triangle.

I’ve been impressed by the smell and taste of every strain I’ve scooped from them, but in particular I recommend you give their Lamb’s Bread a try, as this classic Caribbean sativa can be hard to fi nd here in this latitude. It’s so good, it will have you rushing to LinkedIn to track down Marimed’s executive team, demanding they give their cultivation crew a pay raise and some stock grants.

Babymoon Continued from Page 19

never understood the concept of a hormone monster until that moment. I shouted unspeakable things up at the man and stormed off , throwing open the door to what I thought was an elevator bay, but was in fact an employee entrance. At that point, I felt like I had to commit to the bit so I stomped my way through the maze of industrial halls until I emerged into what can only be described as the upside down world.

A nice bellman on his break directed me to the hotel lobby. Something about the experience snapped me back to reality. When my husband fi nally caught up to me, he showed me the pictures.

They were salvageable.

Bring your partner a beach bag: On our fi rst day, my husband realized he had forgotten to pack one essential item — the beach bag. Worry, not. He cleverly displaced our hotel hair dryer to co-opt the bag it came in. The bag itself wasn't off ensive, a white canvas drawstring satchel, understated, except for big black block letters that spelled “BLOW OUT.” He brought it everywhere. I mean everywhere. To the pool, to the beach, to the Ritz Carlton for lunch, even to WET with all the pulsing beats and the itsy bitsy, Louis Vuitton bikinis. I have a sneaking suspicion he might try to take it home. If we get an outrageous charge to our room for the equivalent of a designer purse, I swear I'm buying another carton of milk and forcing him into that tub. Zee heiress of zee Speedo fortune always gets her way.

Continued from previous page

Ready to Soar

paigns.

According to Northeastern, professors Koen Pauwels and Yakov Bart have been devising marketing strategies for the monks, who run the fi rst certifi ed Trappist brewery in the country.

The assistance has been free through Northeastern’s Digital, Analytics, Technology and Automation Initiative, which the university called “an interdisciplinary team that researches and develops methods to help businesses compete in the data-driven world.”

The team has already tested hundreds of ads for the brewery, Northeastern said, determining that younger consumers prefer high-alcohol brews to lower and rural markets have more interest in Spencer’s regular releases than its seasonal beers.

Northeastern consultants also recommended the brewery use Facebook to promote its brand, taking advantage of the targeting advertising.

Father Isaac Keeley, Spencer’s director, told Northeastern’s marketing website that the brewery will soon launch its fi rst national advertising campaign.

It will be a busy but harmonious couple of days for the Worcester Chamber Music Society as it “takes wing” with shows at the BrickBox Theater March 4 and 6.

First up, the WCMS Spotlight Concert series shines a special light on two of its acclaimed Joshua Gordon, cello, and Randall Hodgkinson, members, Joshua Gorpiano, perform with the Worcester Chamber Music don, cello, and Randall Society. SUBMITTED Hodgkinson, piano, March 4 with a program that includes works by Brahms and 20th-century composers Marti Epstein and George Walker.

And on March 6, WCMS presents its annual Free Family Concert with two performances of Erik Jorgenson’s “Aaponi’s Destiny — The Adventures of a Mayfly.”

Students from Neighborhood Strings will play at the beginning of each performance. Come early and visit the EcoTarium’s insect/mayfly display at the JMAC. Art created by students at CreativeHub Worcester, Gerald Creamer School, and New Citizens Center will also be featured. (RD) What and when: WCMS Spotlight Concert series, 7:30 p.m. March 4 How much: $30-$38 adults; $10 students; $5 EBT/WIC; free youth 17. Livestream and On-Demand: $20 single; $38 household; $5 student; $2 EBT/WIC. Go to www.worcesterchambermusic.org for more information.

What and when: Worcester Chamber Music Society Free Family Concert — “Aaponi’s Destiny — The Adventures of a Mayfly.” 1:30 and 4 p.m. March 6 How much: Admission is free, but tickets are required. For more information, go to www.worcesterchambermusic.org Where: All shows at BrickBox Theater at the JMAC, 20 Franklin St., Worcester

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | MARCH 4 - 10, 2022 | 25

SEARCH RESULTS

These days, information can’t wait.

LOCALiQ’s expert search engine optimization and search marketing solutions ensure your customers can find your business the moment they need you.

Visit LOCALiQ.com/GetFound to start driving more revenue now.

This week’s Answer

26 | MARCH 4 - 10, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

“It’s Getting Dark”--but it’s supposed to do that.

by Matt Jones

J O N E S I N’

Enjoy Fun By The Numbers puzzles? Then you’ll love sudoku. This mind-bending puzzle will have you hooked from the moment you square off, so sharpen your pencil and put your sudoku savvy to the test! Here’s How It Works: Sudoku puzzles are formatted as a 9x9 grid, broken down into nine 3x3 boxes. To solve sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each row, column and box. Each number can appear only once in each row, column and box. You can figure out the order in which the numbers will appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes. The more numbers you name, the easier it gets to solve the puzzle!

If you would like to place your ad in our classifieds please call

800-695-1924 or email classifieds@telegram.com

Across 1. They’re part of the vinyl solution?

4. Young of AC/DC 9. “Guernica” painter Picasso 14. Alley-___ (basketball maneuver) 15. Million-___ odds 16. “I speak for the trees” speaker 17. Win-win deal 19. Still around 20. Conclusion of “Hamilton” 21. Discussion need 23. Grandma, across the Atlantic 24. Seasonal reason to get a shot 26. Quite 28. Not built in a home workshop, perhaps 33. ___ Spaghetti (Detroit restaurant co-owned by Eminem) 36. Bard’s instrument 37. 2021 singer of “Easy On Me” 39. “Xanadu” rockers 40. Film editing technique, or what the edges of the theme answers represent 42. “Bloody ___!”

(Cockney outburst) 43. Florida critter 45. Guitarist Benjamin and hockey player Bobby 46. It may be trapped in a filter 47. Old-timey emergency service provider 50. Go off course 51. Comes along 55. “American Dad!” employer 57. Primary impact 61. Layer discussed in “An Inconvenient Truth” 62. Pull some strings?

64. Maryland home of the U.S. Army Field Band 66. Kitchen range 67. Like Lamb Chop or Shaun 68. Chess’s ___ Lopez opening 69. Hurting more 70. Chimney deposits 71. Refreshing resort Down 1. Like some yogurt, informally

2.

3.

4.

5.

Cook eggs, in a way “In ___ of it all ...”

Leader of the Huns “Conjunction Junction” conjunction 6. First-ballot Hall of Famer, presumably 7. Go back, in a way 8. Move like groundwater 9. It may get colored in at dinner 10. “You’ve got mail!” ISP 11. Where pirate ships sink, poetically 12. Obsidian source 13. “Oregon Trail” creatures 18. Jazz motifs 22. Climbing vine 25. Stanford rival 27. “Excellent” 29. Henry VII or Henry VIII, for instance 30. “SNL” castmate of Ferrell and Gasteyer 31. Company shake-up, for short 32. Self-titled 1969 jazz album 33. Former eBay chief Whitman 34. Current chancellor of Germany Scholz 35. Person who gets you going 38. Street of horror fame 40. Part of a pub concert promotion, perhaps

41. Insurance provider to mil. families 44. Bauxite, e.g.

46. Jump on, as an opportunity 48. “It’s too chilly!”

49. Suffixes that go with stadiums 52. Gets really high 53. Reach a conclusion 54. “Byeeee” 55. Utter some discouraging words 56. Keen on 58. Tabloid craft 59. Porto-___ (capital of Benin) 60. Small music group 63. “___ Been Everywhere” 65. Sticks around for a real blast?

Last week's solution

©2022 Matt Jones (jonesincrosswords@gmail.com) Reference puzzle #1082

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | MARCH 4 - 10, 2022 | 27

LAST CALL

Jeanine Niyonzima-Aroian, founder of JNP Coff ee Veer Mudambi Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

Coff ee is quite literally the fuel that gets us through our day — or at least jumpstarts our engines. But for such an important commodity, most of us don’t give a second thought to where it comes from, how it’s made or who makes it.

Shrewsbury resident Jeanine Niyonzima-Aroian is the founder of JNP Coffee, which produces and trades coff ee from her home country of Burundi and partners directly with the women who grow and process it. In this way, JNP ensures they are paid directly for their work and given the tools to improve not only their own lives but their communities. Coff ee may invigorate us with a shot of much needed caff eine, but for these women, the economic practices invigorate their economies and lead to fi nancial stability and poverty reduction. Niyonzima-Aroian sat down with Last Call to discuss how JNP came about, the challenges of working through the pandemic, and challenging long held gender norms.

How did you get started?

I’ve always believed that if we can make the farmers central to what we do, we can make the industry sustainable.

It’s a cash crop so if the cash is not enough, they’ll grow something else. I was visiting Burundi with board members of my nonprofi t in 2010, when I met a relative by coincidence, who asked me for help getting the coff ee on the world market. Burundi had just gone private in 2008, so a lot of entrepreneurs were coming out. By 2012, I had left telecom and I was in coff ee.

So you came in at a historic point.

Yes, but unfortunately, as of 2019, it’s back in the hands of the government.

How has that development aff ected JNP? After the government took over the mills, we pivoted to help the women build their own. They are our partners and we support them — we do a lot of education to not only help them make high quality coff ee but also in fi nancial literacy. They get all this money but it all goes to immediate needs. By helping them save, we can help them improve their situation.

Jeanine Niyonzima Aroian – founder of JNP Coffee JNP COFFEE

Sounds like you’ve brought change to a deeply rigid institution in terms of gender roles. Has there been any pushback?

If we can empower the women who are doing the work, it’s going to be good not only for the family but the broader community. It is extremely diffi cult even today. When I go to Burundi and try to talk to male workers, they always assume that my client, if they’re male or white, or both, is the decision maker.

They just don’t think that women have any power.

So that kind of attitude must show up with the educational aspect of your work, right?

Yes, there are some places where we

have to let the men in the community come into the classes because they ask ‘what are you going to teach my wife?’

There is that perception that women need to stay home and take care of the family.

We’re creating a change in ownership by giving women power — it is something that is still not accepted but it has to happen. When we go in and start making sure the women are working at the mill and being paid properly, some men defi nitely feel threatened to an extent. But in general, they learn that as women better themselves, it helps the family as a whole.

How did the pandemic aff ect things?

It was very diffi cult for the supply chain. In the countryside, people don’t live very close to each other so in a way it wasn’t as impactful in terms of case numbers as some places in the fi rst world or urban centers. Personally, it limited how much I could travel. I would go to Burundi three times a year — before, during, and after the harvest.

Luckily we have a quality testing lab in Burundi as well as oversight at the mills.

So business was able to continue after a fashion?

Yes, what was harder was the trading — and it still is now — to get coff ee from Burundi to the U.S. It’s a logistical nightmare. Our fi rst container from the 2021 harvest actually only just landed in New York and this is unheard of. The ones sent to California haven’t even arrived yet.

What time of year is the harvest?

During the summer. Typically it’s from March to July as a typical timeframe. The harvest entails multiple parts — picking the cherries from the trees, then processing and drying them for about 30 days before they go to the mill. The harvest is a very long process.

Most of the time, coff ee isn't exported from the country until August or September, though it usually arrives at its destination in the same year. The supply chain is so derailed.

Since you couldn’t travel as much, how has that aff ected your work?

I took advantage of it to pursue another certifi cation. I was already a Qgrader — it’s like a sommelier but for coff ee. Now I’m a Q-processor and gained the knowledge to relate to the farmers on how to better make coff ee.

Coff ee can get processed in many diff erent ways and produce diff erent outcomes or fl avors.

Has this given you any new processing ideas for JNP? Absolutely. JNP is fi rst and foremost known for high quality coff ee. We ensure the quality of the coff ee every step of the way — from picking just the right cherries, that they’re sent to the mill in time and how they’re processed. Now, by taking this course, I was able to say ‘Aha,’ I can suggest new ways, very slight nuances that I got to learn but also very diff erent ways to process new fl avors.

28 | MARCH 4 - 10, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

NORTH AMERICA’S

#

S FORpecia VET l Offe ERA r NS!

1 Selling Walk-In lk-In Tub

Featuring our Exclusive Shower Package

Now you can finally have all of the soothing benefits of a relaxing warm bath, or enjoy a convenient refreshing shower while seated or standing.

Introducing Safe Step Walk-In Tub’s exclusive Shower Package!  First and only walk-in tub available with a customizable shower  Fixed rainfall shower head is adjustable for your height and pivots to offer a seated shower option  Now with 10 Hydro Jets, 16 Air Bubble Jets, and MicroSoothe® Advanced Air Therapy System  High-quality tub complete with a comprehensive lifetime warranty on the entire tub  Top-of-the-line installation and service, all included at one low, affordable price

Now you can have the best of both worlds–there isn’t a better, more affordable walk-in tub!

Call today and receive exclusive savings of

$1600 OFF

Call Toll-Free 774-272-4292

plus a FREE shower package

774-272-4292 WM-28942609

WhySafeStep.com *With purchase of a new Safe Step Walk-In Tub. Not applicable with any previous walk-in tub purchase. Offer available while supplies last. No cash value. Must present offer at time of purchase.

CSLB 983603 F13000002885 13HV08744300

FINANCING AVAILABLE WITH APPROVED CREDIT