6 minute read
Adoption Option
ADOPTION OPTION
MEET TOONIE!
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Handsome Toonie came to WARL as a local stray. He is an outgoing boy, loves petting and people, but he is not a fan of other cats, and should probably go to a cat only home where he can look out lots of windows and chatter at birds and squirrels. As a young, rambunctious and very smart boy, he will need lots of playtime and stimulation. We think he may have been taught that hands are toys, so we recommend toy play, and, if he gets too wound up, walk away and give him time to settle down. Given his slightly rough play style we do not recommend him with young children. Older cat-savvy teens will be fine. To meet Toonie or to learn more about him, contact the shelter at info@worcesterarl.org.
Adoption Option is a partnership with the Worcester Animal Rescue League highlighting their adoptable pets. Check this space often to meet all of the great pets at WARL in need of homes. WARL is open seven days a week, noon-4 p.m., 139 Holden St. Check them out online at Worcesterarl.org, or call at (508) 853-0030.
COVID-19 Protocols: The Worcester Animal Rescue League remains closed to walk-in visits with the animals and appointments must be made, in advance, to meet with any of the animals. Masks are required. Visit https://worcesterarl.org/ for more information.
Toonie is available for adoption through WARL. SUBMITTED
CONNELL SANDERS
Can Worcester be ‘up-and-coming’ with zero sense of style?
Sarah Connell Sanders
Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK
How did Rihanna manage to usher child-bearing and low rise jeans into the fashionverse at the precise moment I needed them? The Queen of Barbados works in mysterious ways.
In case you missed it, last month, Bad-Gal-RiRi revealed her pregnancy in a vintage Chanel puffer coat, unbuttoned to her bare belly, but for a dangling jeweled crucifix. Since then, we’ve seen cob webby crop tops and shoelace thin blouses, all of which managed to preserve Ms. Fenty’s characteristic defiance and unflappable composure.
Sophie Turner followed suit, parading across the Golden State in her bikini with a “power bump” on full display. Soon after, Turner and husband Joe Jonas stepped out in coordinated knits, her lime green micro-dress hugging a radiant midsection. Pregnancy has become more than just charming on superstars like Sansa Stark and Rihanna — it’s on-trend.
There are plenty of expectations for pregnant women when it comes to getting dressed, but not a lot of options. Most of the maternity looks presented by retailers attempt to conceal my current weight and state in billowing bolts of pastel fabric. The problem is, I’m tired of keeping secrets. Entering my sixth month of pregnancy, the last thing I want to do is hide. I believe I’ve earned the right to celebrate out in the open. My recent fashion plight is a microcosm of a bigger problem: the quashing of personal style in a conservatively dressed city like Worcester.
We can’t talk about rethinking motherhood esthetics without mentioning Beyoncé, whose Botticelli-esque reveal of her 2017 pregnancy rendered the most liked photo in the history of Instagram up to that point. In nothing but a veil and lingerie, Bey showed us how beautiful and confident her growing body could and should make her feel.
Worcester is not Hollywood or Paris or New York, and I am not Rihanna. There’s no use belaboring the fact that despite our Beyoncé-level “renaissance,” we suffer from a major inferiority complex as a city. Keeping this in mind, I propose a small change; it starts with style.
Although social media and fast fashion have made it far more manageable to keep up with the trends than back in the days of my youth, I’m still not so sure how I would fare walking down Main Street in nothing but a blazer and crop top during my third trimester. (I suppose there’s only one way to find out …) To watch something as familiar as my own body changing every day makes me feel like a work of art. I’ve decided I won’t let a polo shirt and chinos kindof-city rob me of this moment.
May I urge you to join me on my journey? You don’t need to be pregnant and you certainly don’t need to follow me into the delivery room. All I’m asking is for you to wear something that brings you joy this week, regardless of whether it conforms to popular fashion. I’m not saying you have to sport your lime green beret to the board room — maybe just to the grocery store or the post office.
It’s time Worcester stops playing style safe and starts dressing like we love ourselves. I’m giving you permission to set your insecurities aside. See you out there, belly and all.
Did you wear your lemon squeeze yellow leather pants to the drugstore? Your pistachio platforms to pick up takeout from Blue Jeans? I want to know. Find me on Instagram at @sarah_connell.
Rihanna arrives at the Gucci show during Milan Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2022-23 on Feb. 25 in Milan, Italy, a few weeks after revealing her
pregnancy. VITTORIO ZUNINO CELOTTO/GETTY IMAGES
Clones
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selves. Growers also participate in swaps, where they trade clones that have different genetics with one another, with some dedicated growers driving all over the country to chase down particular strains.
Overall, there’s plenty of places for growers with connections in the tight knit homegrow community to obtain the particular cannabis genetics they’re seeking, leaving dispensaries an unlikely place for most to go to seek clones.
There’s plenty of dispensaries in California that have successfully sold clones for a number of years, proving that there is a marketplace for clone sales where cannabis businesses are able to truly connect with the homegrow community. Unlike California though, our cannabis industry has been rather corporate from the beginning, and a wide gap still exists between the industry and homegrowers.
As long as cannabis companies do not make a significant effort to meaningfully engage with the local homegrow community and prove that their cannabis genetics are worth buying, this gap between the homegrowers and corporate cannabis is likely to remain.
5 things
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St. Patrick’s Parade is back
Marching bands, floats and Shriners will be some of the sights and sounds as the first Worcester County St. Patrick’s Parade in Worcester since 2019 steps out at noon, March 13, from the corner of Park Avenue and Mill Street. The parade will make its way along Park Avenue before finishing at Highland Street. Thousands of spectators are expected to line the route. Dr. Michael P. Hirsh, the city’s medical director, and City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr. are the 2022 grand marshals. The parade is dedicated to essential workers. What: Worcester County St. Patrick’s Parade When/Where: noon, March 13, at the corner of Park Avenue and Mill Street and proceeds along Park Avenue How much: Free Park Avenue will once again be filled with marchers, and its sidewalks filled with parade-goers, when the Worcester Country St. Patrick's Parade is held on Sunday. TELEGRAPH & This Week’s Answer
