Worcester Magazine March 26 - April 1, 2020 by Worcester Magazine

MARCH 26 - APRIL 1, 2020 WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

CULTURE • ARTS • DINING • VOICES

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Lights in the darkness Making music, helping the homeless and finding our best selves in the face of the pandemic

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Already dreaming about summer? We. Are. Too.

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Inserted in: Worcester Magazine, The Landmark, Millbury-Sutton Chronicle, Leominster Champion, The Grafton News, The Gardner News, The Item and The Telegram & Gazette

IN THIS ISSUE

M A R C H 26 - A P R I L 1, 2020 • V O L U M E 45 I S S U E 31 Find us on Facebook.com/worcestermag Twitter @worcestermag Instagram: Worcestermag

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on the cover

Photo by Ashley Green; Design by Kimberly Vasseur

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Cantor Mark Mummert’s 60-minute benefit solo concert of organ music was live streamed to help pay performers who lost income due to the postponement of the full-scale presentation of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, which was supposed to be held on April 5. Story on page 8

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Distribution Worcester Magazine is inserted into the Telegram & Gazette on Thursdays 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.

Worcester Magazine has put its calendar section and event recommendations on hold for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, and other standing features may be put on hold or appear more sporadically. Also, considering the pace of news these days, some articles may be updated online as the situation changes. For the most up-to-date versions of articles, visit WorcesterMag.com or Telegram.com.

CITY VOICES

HARVEY

Greetings From Cellblock 12!

JANICE HARVEY

like somebody whose job it is to review restaurants? I can have an entire meal planned, and if hile most of us – the a friend calls and says “Let’s go ones adhering to the to ______________!” I have advice of actual medimy shoes on and my wallet out cal experts, anyway faster than you can say “What are – have been “sheltered in place,” tonight’s specials?” Appetizers, “self-quarantined” or practicing entrees, drinks … my share usually “social distancing” for more than a week, I’ve been livin’ this dream comes out to around 65 bucks. It doesn’t help that Worcester for the better part of a month. I started avoiding humans as much has been seeing a surge in new restaurants. as possible about a week before “We haven’t tried scheduled surgery in late Febru_______________. Let’s go!” ary, hoping to stave off the usual This pandemic has curbed my colds and stomach bugs associalcohol intake, too – there’s no ated with winter. I feel like famed way I would hold a martini glass recluse Howard Hughes, minus in this hand with these nails. the long fingernails and obscene For years, I’ve had a deal with wealth, which brings me to a my friend Rick. He buys the recent discovery I made about musical package at The Hanover my spending habits while being Theatre, and I take us to dinner held captive here in what I call that night. He never picks Coney “Cellblock 12”: Before COVID-19, Island, if you get my drift. With I was blowing threw dough like the theater and eateries closed, a drunken sailor on Cinderella I’m saving at least $150 bucks liberty. a pop, since we always grab a Let’s start with manicures. I’ve nightcap afterward. Again, my been getting them for quite a while. The price has crept up since alcohol intake is down to nothing, since I rarely drink at home alone. I was talked into “The Dip” – a That’s too pathetic, and I won’t manicure that lasts twice as long hold a wine glass in these hands, as a regular mani and costs twice as much. The draw was the lasting even if the only witness is my cat Dutchie. His nails look better than power, but once I started getting mine, and I know he’d silently The Dip, I was stuck with it. You judge me. can’t remove it at home without Retired columnist Dianne Wildynamite. Just before surgery, I had OPI’s “Love is in the Bare” tak- liamson texted me when TJ Maxx closed its doors. She likes to poke en off because I’ve always heard your nails should be polish-free in fun at me for always shopping the operating room so the medical there. “Every time I’m in there, team can monitor your condition. you’re in there!” she marvels, neThis turned out to be a good thing, glecting to see that she wouldn’t know that I’m a frequent flyer if since nail salons are shuttered she wasn’t in there riffling the just like everyone else. I’m saving racks herself. I pass by the store 50 bucks a whack, tip included, on my way home from work – a though after constant rigorous place I haven’t signed into since hand-washing, I now have hands Valentine’s Day - and there’s some that look like they were sewn on strange force that sucks me in. at the wrists by medical expert What’s DW’s excuse? I never go Victor Frankenstein. there without spending at least Let’s talk food. I love to cook and I almost always have a pantry 30 bucks. It doesn’t help that I’ve known the manager Trisha for 40 full of the ingredients needed to years. She points to racks. I buy make a good meal. My freezer stuff. With four grandkids, I’m is loaded with meat. My cabidrawn to the children’s departnets are stocked with essentials. ment like Mike Pence to a prayer There’s a great fish market down the road. So why do I eat out C O N T I N U E D O N N E XT PA G E

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FIRST PERSON

Notes from the corona-bunker JOE FUSCO JR.

1) I’ve become obsessed with Nazis on Netflix and Amazon. Just binged “Hunters,” “World War II in Color,” and “Hitler’s Inner Circle.” Nothing like a large dose of intentional evil to put things in perspective. 2) C’mon America … (Expletive) toilet paper! 3) Last Friday, before dine-in at restaurants was shut down, I encountered a group of 16 senior citizens enjoying the $4.99 breakfast special at Friendly’s. The waitress strongly suggested that they’d be better off at home but the seniors held their ground. Stupid or courageous? Sipped my coffee and thought about General Custer. 4) Just lost $27,000,000 on Fire Amazon slots. 5) UMass Memorial told Cyndi to work from home. I’m semi-retired so this news has created a new dynamic in our 36-year relationship. Every morning, I dress up sexy and flirt with her as she sits at the computer in our den.

Al Pacino, center, stars in “Hunters,” which you can binge watch on Prime Video.

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I bring her a cup of coffee, wink seductively, then pretend to rub her shoulders as she administers to the pulmonary patients. So far, she’s shunned my advances but I think my purple Speedo and see-through nipple shirt are wearing her down!

6) I’m not the political sort, but please … please … gag him! 7) In the supermarket parking lot Monday, a man in a brown coat and winter cap approached me. “Need some T.P.?” he inquired. Out of curiosity and boredom, C O N T I N U E D O N N E XT PA G E

CITY VOICES

H A RV E Y

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Stepping up for food workers BILL SHANER

SHUTDOWN: Well, by the time you’re reading this we’ll have gone into full lockdown – just kidding! Much like his decision to close schools after all the schools closed, Gov. Charlie Baker’s stay-at-home order looks an awful lot like what we’ve already been doing. And snark aside, that is a good thing. So please, just because you can still go to the liquor store, restaurants for takeout and other businesses on the spurious side of essential, it doesn’t mean you should with any sort of frequency. The spirit of the order is to stay home, and that’s what we should all be doing to protect each other. We’re all in this together so stay the hell away from me, capice?

THE WORCESTER RESTAURANT WORKER RELIEF FUND: Elise Audette, a friend of mine and a service worker in the city, is launching a fund for Worcester restaurant workers put out of work by COVID-19. Bartenders and servers, especially, are hit hard by the temporary shutdown, as most of their income is in tips and unemployment checks are junk. Cooks and the rest of support staff, who get straight hourly, their unemployment checks are still junk too, but a more commensurate junk with the

GETTY IMAGES

AD HOC SHELTERS: Kudos to the city for taking the big step of getting

I followed him to the trunk of his car. There sat stacks of Scott single rolls like gold bars at Fort Knox. “I’m OK,” I stuttered, then jotted down a partial license plate as he exited the lot. So, who do I call? ... The Worcester police … the Department of Sanitation … the Charmin bears? We live in “Troubled Times,” my friend. 8) As we walked around our block Tuesday, other walkers greeted

us, an unusual occurrence in our neighborhood. Heads up, keeping their social distance, it was a “Three Musketeers” moment that we found encouraging until I stepped in dog poop. 9) If there is a God, he is in Old Testament mode right now. Another reason to keep us old white guys out of power! Joe Fusco Jr. is a poet and humorist who lives in Worcester.

Want to Write For First Person? Hey, you. Yeah, we’re talking to YOU. You look like you have something to say. So this is your chance: Worcester Magazine is looking for contributors to our weekly First Person column! We’re seeking essays from our readers about whatever facet of Worcester life they want to share. And not just politics: We want to hear about things in this city we might not otherwise ever know: Things that make the city uniquely yours. Tell us your story, and the story of the people around you. To submit for consideration, please send a 750 word essay to WMeditor@gatehousemedia.com with the words “First Person” in the subject line. Let us know what’s on your mind.

ad hoc shelters opened for the homeless at four locations around the city. This population is especially vulnerable to both contracting and getting seriously hurt by the coronavirus for various reasons, which all in their own right serve as a condemnation of our society as uniquely cruel. In general, if there’s one good thing that comes out of this pandemic, it’s that all the forces working against the disenfranchised in this society are being laid bare by the virus.

meeting. Since I can’t visit them, I can’t buy them things that make my kids say: “Ma! stop buying them things!” Hey! I get the max for the minimum there. Multiply that $30 by four and you’ve got ... an embarrassing amount of money spent monthly on everything from Play-Doh to comforters to seasonal wreaths. God, I love that place. You’d think I’d have a fat savings account after one month of abstaining from spending recklessly. Fat chance. All this money can now go toward paying off the hospital bill for services only partially covered by insurance. That’s the statement I was handed just before I was wheeled into the operating room. I’m thinking I should object to paying it since I wasn’t in my right mind when I signed the agreement. Alas, I have one word for the other reason I’m not seeing really big savings during hibernation: Amazon. Stay safe, friends.

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NO EVICTIONS: You may notice some flyers around town and online from the Tenant and Housing Association of Worcester, a new tenants union forming, about evictions in the age of COVID-19. In the flyers, they make clear that the Housing Court is closed until April 21. “In other words, in most cases you cannot legally be evicted during this public health crisis.” Food, medicine and transportation should take priority for people feeling the financial pinch of a global pandemic. Amen.

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junk they were already getting. Anyway, you can donate to the fund via GoFundMe (Worcester-Restaurant-Worker-Relief-Fund), and, if you’re an out-of-work service industry person, you can sign up for relief via a Google Sheets page, which can be found on the Mutual Aid Worcester Facebook page.

FIRST PERSON

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The show must go online

Live streamed performances help salvage scrapped shows RICHARD DUCKET T

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nside an otherwise empty Trinity Lutheran Church in Worcester last Saturday afternoon, the plan called for just Mark Mummert at the church organ while a camera that he had set up would be perched and ready for action. Four days earlier on March 18, Judith Kalaora was alone at her home wearing a historical costume and about to address her camera. It was a first for both, but live streaming of performances in place of performing live in front of an audience is a way artists can still connect with people in the COVID-19 era as well as try to financially survive and/ or support other artists. Mummert, cantor of Trinity Lutheran Church, performed a 60-minute concert of organ music on the 335th birthday of composer J.S. Bach on March 21 that could be watched and heard through a free public Facebook Live feed. Donations were being accepted during the performance (and you can still donate) to help pay performers who lost work and income due to the postponement of Music at Trinity’s scheduled full-scale presentation of Bach’s powerful oratorio St. Matthew Passion on Palm Sunday at the church April 5. The Bach St. Matthew Passion performance has been rescheduled to Easter 2021. “I’ve never performed a concert doing a live stream without an audience present in a room,” Mummert said in an interview before his solo organ recital. “I feel we need to do something now in the arts community to keep people connected, and arts is such a part of our communal life.” Kalaora, founder of the Boston area-based History at Play, or HAP – which since 2010 has presented one-woman and acting ensemble presentations to provide educational entertainment, chronicling the lives of influential and often forgotten women – was getting ready for her first free “HAP ‘n CHAT” social on

Facebook Live, to be held Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. “It’s just me,” she said of the set-up. Just as recently as March 7, History at Play put on its “How Long Must We Wait” performance about the struggle for women’s suffrage before a sold-out audience at the Worcester Historical Museum, one of many programs it has presented in various locations in the Worcester County area. Now the Worcester Historical Museum is closed, and Kalaora estimated that she suddenly lost $12,000 in bookings for what were upcoming live performances. So History at Play is “re-branding.” “Hap n’ CHAT” will feature Kalaora portraying a different historical character each week. The first was Deborah Sampson, known as “America’s first female soldier,” who disguised herself as a man in order to serve in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. Following a 15-minute performance, the character will take questions that people in the Facebook audience can type in. “Facebook is for new viewers to become engaged and informed. Contributions are always accepted,” Kalaora said. She will also discuss how History at Play is doing and its new model of presenting full specific live streamed performances from its repertoire via Zoom Communications that institutions, organizations or any presenter can book and pay for. “I’m not quite sure what’s going to happen,” Kalaora said. “This is literally unchartered territory right now. This is the scariest thing I’ve ever been through in my life. I’m literally coming up with stuff before I’ve come up with it.” The April 5 performance of St. Matthew Passion would have been a major event featuring three choirs, two orchestras and vocal soloists. In all, 80 performers, “probably about half of that we were paying,” Mummert said. “We’re seeking to raise 50 percent of the wages that we promised. The (April 5) performance was going to be our revenue. We have resources but

Cantor Mark Mummert’s 60-minute benefit solo concert of organ music was live streamed to help pay performers who lost income due to the postponement of the fullscale presentation of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, which was supposed to be held on April 5. ASHLEY GREEN

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that can be viewed online Sunday at vimeo.com/trinityworcester. PDF bulletins are emailed to the congregation and posted on the Trinity website so that people can follow and read the words of the sermon, scriptures and prayers, and in the case of the hymns, sing along to them as Mummert plays the organ. The service can also be viewed on several local cable channels during the week. Saturday’s streaming was a success. “It went very well,” Mummert said Monday. He wasn’t totally alone for the first part of the performance, as a photographer for the Telegram & Gazette/Worcester Magazine showed up to take pictures. Online, meanwhile, 3,700 people “at one point or another tuned into the live stream,” he said. The donations were still being tallied, but “it was a very good result,” Mummert said. Mummert can envision participating in other live stream performances. “I’m accumulating skills to enable me to do this in the future. There’s nothing like music live. I do want to use every avenue I can to keep music alive and keep musicians alive. I’m sorry to say that I think it’s really bad (the coronavirus pandemic situation). We might be in this situation for a longer period than anyone can imagine. What’s really sad to me is the Worcester music community has really been blossoming and growing.” It had become possible for musicians to to “survive on a gig workload, especially (if they were) teaching lessons,” Mummert said. Besides the St. Matthew Passion, a number of professional classical musicians were going to perform in the Worcester Chorus performance of Brahms’ German Requiem March 27 in Mechanics Hall presented by Music Worcester “and many other performances this spring that they were looking forward

to,” all of which were canceled. “I’m lucky that I’m a salaried musician at the church,” Mummert said. He’s heard that efforts are underway to compensate musicians hit by the cancellation of a performance of St. Matthew Passion in Chicago and that at some regional opera companies’ singers and orchestra members will get “a portion of their promised pay. But that’s not everywhere and its getting harder.” Kalaora said that over 30 History at Play performances have been postponed or canceled. As she readied to go on Facebook live and worked on the Zoom Communications plan, she said, “I’m excited, but I won’t be able to survive if this doesn’t work, so I’m really scared. I don’t know how long this is going to go and I don’t have savings to last for a couple of years. I’m a performer, I’m an artist, you know? I’ve hustled and now I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m almost paralyzed with fear. I’m a survivor and I will continue to survive, but I need to know that people still want this. And if they want this, I’ll find a way to get it to them. This is trial by fire right now.” Still, she recalled how she started History at Play after working in Boston as a historical interpreter

ASHLEY GREEN

and seeing that people wanted to know more about characters such as Deborah Sampson. “I wrote synopses for shows I actually hadn’t written yet,” Kalaora said. History at Play now has 12 women it features in its regular performances, including West Brookfield native abolitionist and suffragist Lucy Stone. For the Facebook “HAP ‘n CHAT” people can vote each week across History at Play’s forums for which character they want to see on a given Wednesday. The announcement will be made at the start of each session. “You never know who

you are going to see.” Kalaora will be in full costume. For the paid bookings via Zoom Communications, “It’s not me recording it and putting it on a shared site because that negates the need for History at Play to exist,” Kalaora said. Each performance is intended to be a unique, immersive and connecting experience for those watching. “We’ll probably continue to offer it even after the mandated quarantine. I’ve got to offer what I’ve got to offer.” For more information about History at Play, visit www.judithkalaora.com

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we don’t have unlimited resources, and we really are sympathetic to the hosts of musicians that are losing revenue at this time.” The goal is $10,000, and besides the Facebook recital, another way that could be met would be if people who were planning to attend the St. Matthew Passion donated $25, which was the suggested amount people give on April 5. Anyone is still welcome to contact Mummert about making a donation to pay the musicians (mmummert@trinity.org). One of the attractions of live streaming is that it “can can draw people from many countries who may want to watch. That’s one of the things with social media,” Mummert said. A friend of his sent a note to 400 of his friends worldwide about the live streamed recital. “If even a fraction of them watch and even a fraction of them donate, it would help us reach our goals,” Mummert said. “My family lives in Pennsylvania and they don’t have a chance to see me play. This is a great opportunity for my 93-year-old grandmother to tune in and see me play.” March 21 was also going to be the day of a 12-hour “Bach-A-Thon” put on by the Worcester Chapter of the American Guild of Organists at Trinity Lutheran Church to celebrate Bach’s birthday with numerous performances. The event was canceled. “I also couldn’t let Bach’s birthday go by,” he said of the Facebook recital. “If you think of ways to be creative you can find ways.” One of them is “looking into ways the congregation at Trinity Lutheran can worship.” Public gatherings for Sunday worship at Trinity Lutheran have been suspended, including the participation of the choir, but Saturday mornings the church pastor, Rev. Nathan D. Pipho, and Mummert record a service

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Filling the silence

Worcester artists look to web for help as pandemic claims gigs

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Above, Amanda Cote. Botton right, The Promise is Hope, a Worcester husband-and-wife acoustic duo composed of Ashley and Eric L’Esperance. PHOTOS/ASHLEY GREEN

VICTOR D. INFANTE

orcester musician Amanda Cote had been feeling pretty good about her recent show at Vincent’s. She knew all of the big shows had closed down, and that this would likely be one of her last small shows for a while, but she was feeling OK about the way the night was going. “The mood was generally positive,” she says, “and everyone for the most part was being good about not being handsy and giving others space. After my set ended I went outside for a few minutes and came back inside to see a complete stranger with her hands and mouth on my microphone. I was pretty livid. This is unacceptable behavior under normal circumstances, let alone when there is a global pandemic happening. Utterly ridiculous, and potentially dangerous.” Cote is a musician who makes 100% of her income through live performances, so the encounter was something of a shock, one that

crystallized how and why even small shows would soon be drying up. She says she is “fully aware of the possibility that I may be completely, or nearly completely, out of work over the next two weeks to two months. I’m concerned and anxious regarding my income situation, obviously, but my inner science nerd knows this is extremely necessary to slow the spread.” Cote’s plight is one a great many musicians and other artists are facing, as streaming and downloading have made the live performance such a linchpin of their income. It’s a hardship they’re sharing with many others dependent on the gig economy, but with arts – especially in Worcester, where the arts were always at the forefront of the city’s “Renaissance” – the situation is both desperate, and driving novel innovations. But the loss of income is real: Singer-songwriter Cara Brindisi had set up a large show in Grafton to celebrate her birthday, and the day of the event, she knew she had to cancel.

“We all woke up March 12 and noticed that each hour that day brought another level of severity and concern. By 3 p.m., my gut told me that it would be socially irresponsible to continue forward. Also, like everyone, I am feeling a heaviness over this entire situation and did not feel the energy and excitement to give my best performance. Given the time and money to put this show together, it would have been an unfair representation from a performance standpoint. It just wasn’t worth it.” Brindisi refunded all the pre-sold tickets, feeling that, for her, it was the right decision. But money issues are looming heavily over artists as they look ahead. “Over the last couple of days,” says Edrie, of the band Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys, “100% of our income for the next three to five months was just … canceled. And it has left us scrambling to figure out how to have enough money not only to run the band, but to live.” But Edrie has seen rays of hope in the response of the band’s fans, saying, “Over the last few hours, fans have been going to our Bandcamp and snatching up merch and buying music. They’ve been upping their investment in Patreon, they’ve even

been directly supporting us in many other ways. Patreon.com is a website that allows fans to contribute a fixed amount to an artist a month, usually in exchange for exclusive content. Even before the pandemic, it was a steadying force for artists in what is, at best, an unpredictable profession. Now, for many, it’s become essential. “Oh, it’s important,” says poet Tony Brown, of the band the Duende Project, “In any given month, that Patreon income covers at least my car payment and insurance. Can’t get much more critical than that. As shows and other gigs are canceled, it becomes even more important to have that consistent amount coming in.” Ashley L’Esperance of the duo The Promise is Hope agrees, explaining how big of a help the site has been as online sales and streaming have eaten into their CD profits. “Patreon allows us to reach out directly to our fans, giving them the opportunity to make up those lost dollars and giving them special inside access to our lives and work. We have $350 coming in each month from our patrons, which makes up for those 35 CDs that don’t sell at shows anymore.” That’s important, because the band estimates they’re already out

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$1,000 in income for the next two weeks, and potentially $2,500 in gigs in April. Worcester visual artist Scott Holloway says, for a lot of artists, “it’s been a lifesaver. It’s funded projects that they would not have been able to accomplish otherwise. I think it could be a good way to interact with an artist one on one since the pandemic will be keeping people away from gallery receptions.” But Holloway, who at the time of this writing didn’t know if his April gallery showing in Long Beach, California, was still going to happen, believes firmly that, “Selling work is crucial to survive. That’s the number

one goal.” Singer-songwriter James Keyes sees a value in music streaming for sharing awareness – indeed, he’s recently begun putting together a Spotify playlist of “Central Massachusetts All-Stars” to help shine a light on local artists while they’re unable to go out and play, but he’s straightforward as to its value: “Financially, streaming on Spotify doesn’t help an artist worth a damn. It raises their profile, which is good, and maybe if someone hears a song on Spotify they’ll be moved enough to purchase an album on Bandcamp. Spotify just happens to have more local artists than Pandora and better features for

Poet Tony Brown FILE PHOTO/CHRISTINE HOCHKEPPEL

ticularly excelled, suffers from most of the same benefits and problems as online streaming. Rapper Angel Geronimo, who performs as Death Over Simplicity, says, “Videos are very important. With the ocean of music that exists on the internet, it’s difficult to get new listener’s attention without a visual component. While I don’t monetize my videos directly, the attention they bring helps to sell records and garner interest for live shows where I can sell merch. Online streaming does bring C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 14

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CHRISTINE PETERSON

by the Covid-19 pandemic, very possibly including you. To support the Bandcamp community during this challenging time, we’re waiving our revenue share on all sales this Friday, March 20, from midnight to midnight PST, and rallying fans to put some money directly into your pocket.” The move was greeted with much enthusiasm on social media, with many artists and fans sharing links to their own work and also their favorite artists. Online music videos, an area in which the local hip-hop scene par-

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Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys members, from left, Rachel Jayson, Edrie, Walter Sickert, jojo Lazar, Matt Zappa, Mike Leggio, Brother Bones and Mary Widow.

making playlists than Apple Music.” Edrie says, “there is always some value to streaming services, though that money is quite low, it is a little bit of cash. More direct support through our Bandcamp or Patreon or even PayPal is better, but anything helps.” L’Esperance says “Spotify pays artists .003 cents per stream. If an artist were to get 1,000 streams per month, they would make $3. It would take them about two years to make $100. We could make that same amount pretty quickly if 10 people were to just buy our album on Bandcamp (which gives artists a far bigger cut than any music service) or iTunes.” In response to the loss of income, Bandcamp put out a statement saying, “We know many artists and labels have been hit especially hard

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‘This isn’t the best of times’ Chris Robarge delivers ‘COVID-19 protection kits’ to the homeless BILL SHANER

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hris Robarge walked out of the Walgreens CHECK at the corner of Park Avenue and Chandler Street with $10 in ones in his hand – money he would use to entice people panhandling on street corners to take do-ityourself COVID-19 protection kits he has made and disseminated over the past several weeks. “They’re usually more likely to take the kits this way,” he said. I met with Robarge on a recent afternoon to shadow him as he

Robarge went back to his car, pulled out another kit, and took it to another man panhandling on the other side of the street. “God bless,” the man said. “Have a nice day.” As we returned to the car, the first man, who seemed to accept the bag a bit warily at first, had it strapped over his back. We set off to hit some of the more common panhandling locations in the city. “We have populations that we don’t serve very well at the best of times. And this isn’t the best of times,” Robarge told me as we drove

nations he raised – rather quickly, he said – through Mutual Aid Worcester, an online, grassroots group of organizers and volunteers which has emerged to fight back against the pandemic crisis. Through the group he hopes to get more volunteers and donations, and make it a more official effort through a working group. Robarge had already dropped off kits at the Mustard Seed soup kitchen, and the day prior, he hit some of the common panhandling locations on the East Side. Under the Green Street Bridge, Robarge passed out two more bags

around, looking for more of the city’s homeless at common panhandling locations. “And this is the tip of the spear, but it’s not the spear. A lot of other people are going to be put out of work by this. There’s going to be a lot more need than we can even really fully comprehend and anticipate at this point. So we’re going to need all the help we can get.” Inspired by the Western Massachusetts activist group Whose Corner Is It Anyway, Robarge began raising money for and assembling the bags several weeks ago, when the grim reality of the the coronavirus and the damage it may reap became apparent. Most of the money and do-

to a woman panhandling and a man on a bicycle. Robarge barely launched into his short pitch when the woman interrupted him. “Is there hand sanitizer in there?” she asked. When Robarge said there was, she let out a big, happy “yes” with a fist pump. Like most people, Robarge has struggled to find common household items as consumer panic and hoarding has left shelves empty. Robarge has run up against low supply and quantity restrictions in putting together the bags. But he’s used several workarounds. The hand sanitizer is just a household mixture of grain alcohol and water, pieces of flannel have replaced microfiber cloths for

Chris Robarge delivers “do-it-yourself COVID-19 protection kits” to the homeless in Worcester. BILL SHANER

toured the city, passing out kits of water bottles, hand sanitizers, Band-Aids, alcohol pads, cloth for cleaning phones, tissue packages and antibiotic ointment to the city’s most vulnerable residents. The kits came in blue drawstring backpacks with a short information sheet on the use of each item. He had 20 in his car, and they were gone within an hour or so. Before we got in his car, he took a protection kit to a man panhandling right outside Walgreens, on the southbound side of Chandler Street. Robarge passed him a dollar, then offered the kit, explaining quickly how the contents stave off the coronavirus. The man took the kit with a tepid but polite “thank you.”

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The kits include water bottles, hand sanitizers, BandAids, alcohol pads, cloth for cleaning phones, tissue packages and antibiotic ointment. BILL SHANER

Cabin fever? Pick up the April issue of baystateparent for some ideas to stay busy at home — from crafting with items you have around the house to resources for educational fun. And, read some incredible stories of organ donation as we take a look at Donate Life Month. Pick up your FREE copy today!

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day shelter for the homeless – not the library, which has become the ad hoc shelter – where folks could do laundry, rest and get the information they need from case workers. Online press conferences of the kind the city has been doing do not effectively reach the homeless, Robarge said. “The library as a lending and information institution should be closed right now. I think that’s good policy,” he said. “But that only sort of showcases the problem that librarians have been day center social workers for a while now, which is not actually their job. I’m glad they do it, but ...” Robarge trailed off, but as we drove up Main Street to Lincoln Square, we talked about the ways in which a viral outbreak can expose existing deficiencies in a society. Worcester, like everywhere, will find that out in the days and weeks to come as even generous projections conclude that thousands in Massachusetts will fall ill. In the middle of Lincoln Square, one of the city’s hottest panhandling locations, we found a man already preparing himself, with a container of hand sanitizer next to the milk crate on which he sat. Still, he gladly took the kit and thanked us as we crossed the street. That was the last kit. Robarge told me that after he dropped me off, he planned to go home and make more. As we carefully crossed four lanes of traffic on Lincoln Street, a man in a large white pickup truck – MAGA hat on the dashboard – called out to us, having seen what Robarge had done for the panhandler. “Hey, thank you, brother. Thank you,” the man said. “Thank you,” said Robarge with a nod.

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cleaning phones. When we got to the corner of Main and Front streets, we were met by a large group – 11 or so – of the city’s homeless congregating together. When Robarge approached them, asking if they’d like a kit, one man quickly yelled out, asking if there was any water in them. “We don’t have any water,” he said. “We can’t access water.” Indeed, with the library and City Hall both closed, vital access points for water and restrooms in the downtown area have been shut off to the city’s homeless. (After Robarge and I met, the city announced it would open satellite shelters for the homeless at North High School, Worcester Technical High School, Ascension Church on Vernon Street and St. John’s Church on Temple Street.) When we returned to the Robarge’s car, he was obviously frustrated. In a manner too colorful for the pages of this magazine, he remarked that he should return to that corner with more water. For Robarge, the impetus to just get in his car and start doing this sort of work comes from a feeling of restlessness in the face of a massive epidemic, but also a sense that the earlier we protect the most vulnerable in our society, the better off we’ll be. “If you think this is the sort of problem you can ever effectively solve when you’re starting and it’s already a huge problem, you fundamentally misunderstand how these things work,” he said. “If you want to help a population of houseless people through a pandemic, you need to already be helping them before the pandemic.” Imagine, he asked, if we had a real

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some income, but for independent artists, direct online purchases can help more.” Of course, in lieu of those live performances, a number of artists are playing “livestream” concerts on Facebook and other web services. There’s even a Facebook Community

Cara Brindisi

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FILE PHOTO/MAT THEW HEALEY

for it, “The FLIPP Site – Facebook Live Isolated Performance Page,” where musicians all over the country, including many locals, are collaborating to make these “isolated performances” happen. Typically, the artist is in their home or studio, and they list their Venmo (or other money transfer site) account so fans can “tip” them. It’s not exactly big money, but it helps. “It’s very important for those of us who were wondering how to put food on the table for the next three months (much less stock up on anything to prep for quarantine or whatever might come) to be supported like this and we are so so grateful for that support,” says Edrie, of the various ways fans have tried to support her band and other artists. “We’re dependent on the gig economy and though we will be live streaming some performances in the coming days – it’s not the same as being with your fans, in person. We’re hoping to recoup some lost income by asking for donations during the live streams, but even at that – the entire band won’t be able to get together in one place since I’m in a high-risk group and need to be cautious.” Vocalist Helen Sheldon of Helen & the Trash Pandas also believes the format can be used to help others. She and her band, along with Keyes and the band Michael Kane & the Morning Afters, will stream a concert at 8 p.m. March 28 to help raise money to benefit Chip O’Connor, a bartender who was laid off when the bars were ordered to close. “We all love them like family,” she says of the bar staffs who work at the venues where musicians play, “we should take care of them too.” The livestream can be found at any of the artists’ Facebook pages. L’Esperance, likewise, acknowledges that artists aren’t alone in this struggle. “It is absolutely a terrifying time for artists, but we need to remember what a terrifying time it is for so many in our community as well. When they announced the Worcester schools were canceled, we thought about our students’ parents. Single moms and working-class families living paycheck to paycheck without sick time; I am so afraid for them. They work so hard to keep food on the table and now their jobs and income are threatened. How will they afford constant childcare for their kids? How will they afford to be forced to take off three weeks of work? We are currently waiting to hear from organizations in Worcester about how they will be acting for our community during this crisis, and will donate money or resources to those organizations.”

CITY LIFE If you are an artist, or know of a local artist, email WMeditor@gatehousemedia.com. Fair warning, in order to publish your work, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll need to provide a small bio and high resolution digital copies of some of your art. We reserve the right to choose what will run, based on resolution and what will reproduce best on newsprint.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

Kirste Page Rowell, aka

Kippy, has been drawing and painting for as long as she can remember. Her mother was a single mother, who sang and taught herself to play the 12-string guitar â&#x20AC;&#x201C; her love for art was very supportive. She started out as a child drawing teapots and pine forests and grew into painting and eventually even started designing her own clothing. She has recently moved from painting fine art into very colorful abstract and modern art. She enjoys the images that she sees in her art as well as how a painting might speak to another person.

M A R C H 26 - A P R I L 1, 2020 WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

CITY LIFE

LIFESTYLE

Project-based learning from home SARAH CONNELL SANDERS

In one instance, very early in my career, my remedial English class became divided as to whether Wilson n over a decade as a public Rawls’ classic novel “Where the Red school teacher, I have never exFern Grows” drew more pressing atperienced a moment like this. tention to the needs of animals or the Sheer access to technology elderly. In the end, students organized has been shifting what classrooms an unforgettable picnic for both looked like in Massachusetts since rescue dogs and senior citizens in our long before the coronavirus. Now, community. Along with their deep ready or not, all stakeholders have textual engagement, they coordinated been thrust into the digital learning space with the gentle grace of a flail- transportation, formulated a budget, ing belly flop. Welcome to the future. wrote a cookbook, secured donors, stayed after school to prepare culinary As you well know, most content is dishes for our guests of honor and Google-able. Memorizing dates and drafted a press release for the local capital cities bears little relevance for today’s learners. In 2020, job-readiness paper. These efforts went well beyond the demands of my project rubric. means having the critical thinking skills and agile mindsets to solve new Furthermore, growth on the MCAS for this particular cohort of students problems, many of which we cannot predict. Authentic learning spaces are dwarfed that of their peers across the those that integrate boundless digital district and the state. I have continued to structure resources with pressing real-world my class in this way. Students use issues. For higher order thinking to curriculum materials to identify a occur, students must feel ownership problem in the community, research over their chosen obstacles. I have navigated hundreds of small solutions, partner with a local organization, execute a project and failures in executing project-based learning over the years, but never any celebrate the impact. As a result, I’ve watched some of my most chalharmful ones. When young people lenging students revive a neglected determine their own issues of study, arboretum, commission a mural, they are more apt to meet disagreecollect and distribute thousands of ments and shortcomings with crevolumes for children without access ativity as opposed to frustration.

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to books, choreograph a flash mob, design a soccer field for the Worcester Housing Authority, and that’s only the beginning. It is my job to make sure our lessons lead to mastery of the national standards along the way. In this capacity, I have become a facilitator and a coach rather than a “sage on the stage.” Many of these projects naturally incorporate elements of urban planning — an occupation I might have pursued, had I known it existed when I was in middle school. One such endeavour explored the architectural approach to designing Polar Park, the future home of the Worcester Red Sox. Participants imagined the multi-million dollar development as walkable, featuring creative retail, and elevating access to public spaces. The model that students built made use of a variety of recyclable items that you might already have on hand, such as tinfoil, cardboard boxes and paper towel rolls. I should likewise credit The Worcester Red Sox, who celebrated the work of a fifth-grade class at Swanson Road Intermediate School and a seventh-grade class at Burncoat Middle School, both of whom I had the pleasure of completing this project with.

Above, Fifth grade students at Swanson Road Intermediate School created this scaled model of Polar Park using recycled materials as part of a project based STEM unit that you can complete at home. PHOTO/SARAH CONNELL SANDERS

If your child is at all curious about the addition of Polar Park to our city’s landscape, I encourage you to set them loose on this STEM module and share your results with @polarpark2021 on Instagram, twitter or

Facebook. You can access materials at www.tinyurl.com/polarparklessons. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly with questions or for modifications. We’re all teachers now.

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Walter Sickert & the Army of Broken Toys go wicked Western with ‘Cutting Horse’ VICTOR D. INFANTE

f you want to get to the heart of Walter Sickert & the Army of Broken Toys’ new album, “The Cutting Horse,” you can find it in a single verse of the song “Queen of Hell”: “Grab your partner do-si-do/ Draw a pentagram in the snow/ Shake your body to and fro/don’t stop until you explode.” Sickert and company here present a through-the-looking glass horror show by way of Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone. Indeed, in much the same way as trap artist Lil Nas X reinterpreted traditional Western music into a more contemporary context, Sickert here takes the Western sound and extrapolates it

into fever-blistered rock ‘n’ roll, with a Spaghetti Western meets Hammer Horror narrative that sucks the listener into its inescapable gravity. The album centers on the story of Mary J, the Demoness Gunslinger – an otherworldly force for vengeance that recalls Clint Eastwood’s “Pale Rider,” Uma Thurman’s Bride from “Kill Bill” and the Saint of Killers from the “Preacher” comics. Like those others, she’s presented as an inevitability, leaving blood and fire in her wake, and as presented in the opening number, “The Cutting Horse: The Story of Mary J, the Demoness Gunslinger,” her target is nothing short of the Devil himself. What’s fun is how the band fully commits to the theme, the

recognizable soundtrack of myriad shootouts in lawless desert towns, with a rocked-out spin that makes it unmistakably modern, but still feels faithful to its influences. The band – which comprises Sickert on vocals, guitar and piano; Mary Widow on vocals, glockenspiel, mandolin and percussion; Rachel Jayson on viola and piano; Matt Zappa on percussion; Mike Leggio on bass; jojo Lazar on ukulele and flute; Blake Girndt (aka Brother Bones) on guitar; and Edrie on melodica, literal broken toys and vocals – uses its eclectic array of instruments and sheer size to create a cinematically sweeping enveloping sound. After its title track introduction, the album continues with “I’ve Been,”

which gives the vengeful protagonist’s origin story. “I’ve been/I’ve been shot I’ve been stabbed/I’ve been good I’ve been bad/I’ve been covered in blood/for your love,”

sings Sickert, with a sort of reckless abandon. The Western-themed melody moves at a brisk clip, with Jayson’s viola particularly cutting to the fore. “Wanted posters, cheat at poker opium smoker, cattle roper,” continues Sickert, “View the bad lands, through your rose lens/lawless dove how could you love me!/I’m a ghost with desire/don’t you dare call me a liar/as I haunt this world on fire/for your love.” We’re given a horrific Western fairy tale in snapshots, but the impressionistic turn does its job, setting the stage for the Gene Autry-styled murder ballad, “Blood in the Saddle of My Heart,” featuring surprisingly tender harmonies between Sickert and Widow on lines

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Table Hoppin’ will return next week

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Central Mass. breweries adapting to new normal Online beer orders, curb-side pick-up, cans and growlers delivered to your door MATTHEW TOTA

Gunslinger and what appears to be the lover who betrayed her: “Sailor you look like the devil,” sings Sickert, “Sailor you’re sinking like a ship/Sailor you’re floating like the devil.” The blood lust escalates in the twangy and cheery-toned “Blood and Alcohol.” While the perspective switches throughout – sometimes seeming to be the protagonist, sometimes seeming to be an omniscient narrator – it’s actually difficult to say whose perspective the subsequent song, “Living Ghost,” is sung from, but it’s simultaneously chilling and moving, and it lends a sense of sadness to the album that puts the melodrama into stark relief, especially as it gives way

to the campfire song-styled “Queen of the Devils,” which notes that “she already killed the king.” In a lot of ways, the next song, “The Girl Who Was Born in a Seashell,” serves as a sort of caesura. It’s the only song on the album not written by Sickert, but rather by guest Evey, and in a lot of ways, it’s the antithesis of the “Demon Queen” narrative. It’s a charming fairy tale, filled with a sort of wonderful sense of adventure. It’s a nice respite, which fades into the phantasmagoria of “Fire Slide,” again recorded live by Sickert, Leggio and Horn, and the searing rock guitar and sense of social outrage of “Rainbow Bridge.”

Interestingly, two of the preceding songs each obliquely reference mythology – Venus of Greek myth was born in a seashell, and the Rainbow Bridge Bifrost is the way of entry into Asgard, the home of the Norse gods. These don’t feel like entirely intentional direct references, but rather psychic fallout from the album’s journey into Hell and back. (Itself a reference to the Greek myth of Orpheus.) “Rainbow Bridge” screams at hypocrisy and feels grounded in “real world” concerns, but the the Old Gods are always sort of present in any work that invokes mysticism like this one does. That’s the setting for the delicate

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and beautiful “You Saved Us All,” which winds down the album’s proper narrative. There’s something heartbreaking in the song’s delicate vocals and piano, as Sickert sings, “And I watch you fade away/And I love you while you turn to sand/And I love you as you disappear.” There are a handful of other songs after “You Saved Us All,” including the deliriously fun “Run the Pumpkin,” which acts as a sort of upbeat coda, and alternate versions of “Living Ghost and Blood in the Saddle,” but it’s “You Saved Us All” that brings the album to its emotional climax, an end to the nightmare Western that’s equal parts tragedy and triumph.

such as, “There is blood on the saddle on the saddle of my heart/There is blood in the meadow in the meadow where we fell in love.” The album turns with the understated and sinister “Maybe I’ll Dream,” which maintains a slow-burn tempo, marked by a cornucopia of sounds faded into the background, leaving the listener in a state of awareness that borders on panic, a state that informs the live-recorded “Sinking Sailor,” which features Sickert and Leggio, with TJ Horn on percussion. The song features what appears to be a confrontation between the

Fitchburg, too, has helped, supporting small businesses in their request for delayed loan and rent payments. “The city is working to remove all of your overhead as much as possible,” she said. At the state level, breweries are hoping for similar assistance. The Massachusetts Brewers Guild has requested legislators to allow wiggle room on payments for the bevy of taxes on breweries – the mass alcohol excise tax, sale and use tax,

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have joined the packaging process to stay busy. “We’ve been teaching our bartenders how to bottle beer manually,” she said. The early support from their customers has been powerful and humbling. The brewery sent out the hashtag, “Socialize wisely, tip recklessly,” and many of their regulars did just that. “Some have tipped very recklessly; it makes me tear up a little bit,” Cullen said. “The show of support has been amazing.”

Like many breweries in the area, River Styx Brewing in Fitchburg is offering to-go sales. Customers can order beer online and, with proof of age, pick it up in the taproom or even have it brought out to their car.

meals taxes and corporate estimated taxes. “Delayed payment timing on these taxes could save member breweries cash flow and allow them to keeping businesses open and continue to make payroll,” the guild’s executive director, Katie Stinchon, said in an email. The guild has also pressed the Legislature to allow breweries to deliver beer to their customers’ homes. The majority of breweries in the state have what’s known as a farmer brewery license, which only allows them to sell and distribute beer to liquor stores, bars and restaurants or out of their taprooms. Among the three breweries in the state offering home delivery is Wachusett Brewing Co., because it has two unique licenses. Its brewery and Brew Yard are licensed under the manufacturer of wine and malt beverage license. In order to offer beer sales to-go, though, Wachusett had rented space in their building as a separate retail business, which has a retail alcohol license. Under that license, Wachusett can deliver beer to homes. “That store and that license and the person who has the store – everyone believes it’s a part of us, but technically and legally, it’s not, it’s a separate business,” said Wachusett president Christian McMahan. Home delivery started on St. Patrick’s Day, he said, and the orders have not slowed. River Styx is one of many breweries hoping the state will let

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he bar seats have remained empty and the glasses unused at Medusa Brewing Co.’s downtown taproom for more than a week now. An eerie silence has replaced the perpetual buzz. Even with the emptiness, cofounder Keith Sullivan does not find his taproom at all quiet. “It’s a strangeness and an uncertainty that’s just so loud,” Sullivan said. “But everyone is feeling the same thing. You’re trying to act like it’s normal, but we all know it’s not.” I spoke with Sullivan, who is also vice president of the Massachusetts Brewers Guild, minutes after Gov. Charlie Baker ordered the shutdown of all non-essential businesses until April 7, in another step to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Baker’s order came amid a three-week restriction on restaurants and bars already in place. The MBG had been discussing the forced closure of non-essential businesses as a possible scenario. Sullivan said breweries can remain open – restaurants can continue take-out and delivery, while liquor stores are considered essential businesses – as long as they’re using social distancing-friendly methods to get fresh beer in the hands of their customers. And wholesalers can keep shipping beer. Since last week, most breweries have tweaked their hours to keep their taprooms open for beer to-go, while launching online ordering and

curb-side pickup. A few can even deliver beer to your doorstep. The number of online orders Medusa has received so far has been “triple what we thought,” Sullivan said. He expects the orders to slow, though, especially if the restriction on bars and restaurants extends longer than three weeks, which he believe it will. “We’re not going to be able to sell enough beer out of Medusa with just to-go,” Sullivan said. “We’re going to rely on people still going into liquor stores.” Over the last three years, River Styx Brewing has found a tightknit community form around its big taproom in Fitchburg. It’s been difficult for co-founders Jackie and Scott Cullen to see it devoid of the usual warm faces these days, but it has been even harder to find new ways to sell beer. “We’re just trying to figure out how to keep people coming and shopping and supporting the brewery and staff here,” Jackie Cullen said. “For the majority of our staff, this is their only job, so we’re trying to make sure they’re taken care of any way we can.” Like so many other taproom breweries, River Styx has pivoted to to-go sales. Customers can order beer online and, with proof of age, pick it up in the taproom or even have it brought out to their car. The brewhouse has not slowed down, Cullen said. If anything, River Styx is working harder to can and bottle new beer and drum up excitement. Even taproom staff

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FILM

Don't believe every email you're forwarded JIM KEOGH

K, the Dean Koontz thing was a little freaky at first. By now, someone surely has forwarded you the post about the author “predicting” the COVID-19 crisis. Screen shots of two purported pages from his 1981 novel “The Eyes of Darkness” highlight passages that reference a respiratory pandemic known as “Wuhan-400” destined to cripple the world in about the year 2020. Yeesh! I’d already been subjected to wellmeaning emails about Bill Gates’ 2015 TED Talk in which he warned a rogue virus rather than a nuclear hailstorm will be humanity’s ultimate undoing. But Gates has access to the world’s top scientists who were voicing concerns about our lack of readiness for the Big One well before 2015 — he’s repeating well-sourced speculation. The details in Koontz’s writing, on the other hand, seemed

so specific that he comes off as a latter-day Nostradamus. Ah, but those details are devilish. Follow-up reporting by a number of sources revealed that when Koontz’s novel was originally published the contagion was called “Gorki-400,” after the Russian city, and changed to “Wuhan-400” in a later edition. And while the virus in the novel was created in a lab as a biological weapon with a kill rate of 100 percent, COVID-19 is believed to have been transmitted from animals to humans in a live-animal market and is survived by the vast majority of people who contract it. Also, according to Snopes.com, the circulated page of Koontz’s book specifying the year 2020 is not from his novel, yet is in fact from the book “End of Days” by self-proclaimed psychic Sylvia Browne. COVID-19 has evolved into such a surreal circumstance we seem to be grasping at anything to give meaning to its improbable existence.

So an anomaly of nature must be something more, perhaps a dark plot hatched in a Dean Koontz paperback given grim life. Popular culture certainly feeds these fears and theories, though at its best it also does something that actually salves the psyche: It celebrates the heroics of science. My favorite film about a contagion, 1971’s “The Andromeda Strain,” largely takes place in a sprawling secure lab, where a group of scientists feverishly works to halt the spread of a mysterious virus — later proved to be of alien origin — that has wiped out an entire town except for an old man and an infant. They work as a team, even as the stress of their mission, and their competing approaches to it, threatens to splinter them. They are selfless, smart and very human. I appreciate movies about people conducting the important business of science. We are most often unaware of the invisible wars being fought on our behalf in labs every-

‘1917’ stunning World War I story

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KATIE FORAN - MCHALE TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

tuck at home? Take a break from pandemic news and lose yourself in an immersive, Oscar-winning war movie in this week’s top DVD picks. “1917”: Two young British soldiers fighting in World War I, Lance Corporal Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) and Lance Corporal Schofield (George MacKay), are sent on an deathly dangerous mission: to cross behind enemy lines and deliver the message that the Germans, thought to be retreating, will overwhelm 1,600 men planning to attack. Among them is Blake’s brother, and the attack must be stopped. The cast is commanding with Chapman and MacKay at the helm (not to mention great cameos by Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch and Andrew Scott, to name a few). Chapman gives Blake playful charisma and a heartbreaking dedication to his mission and brother, while MacKay instills quiet power in his emotive expressions. And the story is compelling, based on fragments of a real-life war story of writerdirector Sam Mendes’ grandfather. But cinematographer Roger Deakins steals the show with his technical wizardry of making the film appear to be one continuous shot, giving it an immersive, often video gamelike feel (the movie won best cinematography,

visual effects and sound mixing at this year’s Academy Awards). “The film is a stunning feat of cinematography, production design and performance moving seamlessly as one piece,” wrote Tribune News Service Katie Walsh in her review. “The camera is almost a spectral presence, floating across muddy craters filled with bodily decay, circling around characters to reveal their spatial relationship to one another, winding its way through crowds of young soldiers sharing a moment of peace in the woods. At first the camera follows our pair, but in the last act, it tends to lead our young messenger on the journey’s final leg, as he pushes through soldiers lining a white-walled trench and bolts down a battlefield littered with bombs.” ALSO NEW ON DVD MARCH 24 “Clemency”: A prison warden (Alfre Woodard) grapples with the consequences of carrying out executions. “The Grudge”: After a series of killings in a haunted house, a detective (Andrea Riseborough) investigates as the curse continues. “The Song of Names”: Years after his adopted violinist brother disappears, a man encounters a young musician who shares a remarkably similar style. Tim Roth and Clive Owen star. “Treadstone: Season One”: The USA Network drama follows a black ops program in the Jason Bourne universe. OUT ON DIGITAL HD MARCH 24 “Birds of Prey”: Reeling from her break-

up with the Joker, Harley Quinn (Margot Robie) teams up with three women to take down the evil Black Mask, among others. Costars include Rosie Perez, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell and Ewan McGregor. Available on DVD and Blu-ray in May. “Cunningham”: Documentary follows the life of legendary choreographer Merce Cunningham. “Dolittle”: A quirky doctor who talks with animals (Robert Downey Jr.) races to help save Queen Victoria (Jessie Buckley) from a serious illness. Look for it on DVD and Blu-ray April 7. “The Gentlemen”: An expat in London (Matthew McConaughey) faces layers of schemes while attempting to sell off his weed business. “Hunter’s Moon”: A sheriff (Thomas Jane) meets a malevolent force after responding to an attack on a trio of teenage girls. “Just Mercy”: Based on a true story, a young defense attorney (Michael B. Jordan) helps Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx) appeal his murder conviction. OUT ON DIGITAL HD MARCH 27 “Banana Split”: The summer after her high school graduation, a newly single girl (Hannah Marks) befriends her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend (Liana Liberato). “Vivarium”: A young couple get trapped in a maze of a homogeneous suburban development. Imogen Poots and Jesse Eisenberg star.

Paula Kelly and James Olson star in “The Andromeda Strain.” UNIVERSAL

where, so only when we’re facing an existential crisis do we take note of people like my fellow Holy Cross alum Dr. Anthony Fauci. What am I saying, “take note”? In fact, we hang on his every measured word. COVID-19 is altering at rapid speed the ways we relate to our world. Last Sunday I submitted a column in which I expressed thanks

that amid all the shutdowns at least movie theaters were remaining open, albeit with restrictions on audience numbers. Then those numbers changed, and then it didn’t matter anyway. By the time the column published on Thursday, all theaters were shuttered. When will they reopen? Nobody knows. Not Dr. Fauci. Not Nostradamus. Not even Dean Koontz.

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Home delivery would be another source of revenue for breweries to build up cash to weather this shutdown. Many, like River Styx, will need it if they hope to make it through with their business intact and their employees still receiving paychecks. Cullen is confident her brewery

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them deliver beer. “Are they really going to prosecute us for delivering?” Cullen said. “I don’t know.” Lawmakers need to take action and give farmer breweries the right to legally deliver to their customers’

A sign in the River Styx taproom encourages to-go customers to “socialize wisely and tip recklessly.” ASHLEY GREEN

homes without having to search for a loophole in their license. Consider that a farmer winery license permits home delivery, but a farmer brewery does not. That makes little sense.

will survive. “As business, River Styx is strong, and we will make it out of this,” she said. “Our biggest concern is keeping our staff. We are a family.”

CITY LIFE

Local breweries open for grab-and-go MATTHEW TOTA

ere’s a list of Central Massachusetts breweries that remain open for retail sales. This list could change by the day or hour. It will be updated online as often as possible.

M A R C H 26 - A P R I L 1, 2020 WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

WORCESTER 3Cross Fermentation Coop. is open for beer to-go and merchandise. Hours are 3 to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. You can order online at store.3cross.coop. Bay State Brewing Co. is open for retail, food and beer, 4-8 p.m. every day. Visit baystatebrewing.com/tap-roommenu for the full menu. Flying Dreaming Brewing Co. in Worcester and Marlboro is open for can sales. Hours in Worcester: Fridays, 3 to 6 p.m., Saturdays, noon to 6 p.m., Sundays noon to 5 p.m. Hours in Marlboro: Wednesdays and Thursdays, 4 to 7 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays, noon to 7 p.m., Sundays, noon to 5 p.m. Greater Good Imperial Brewing Co. is open for cans and food togo. Online ordering available at greatergoodimperials.com/online-beerordering. Retail hours will be Tuesday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sundays noon to 7 p.m. Kitchen hours for take-out will be Tuesday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturdays, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sundays, noon to 6 p.m. Redemption Rock Brewing Co. is open for retail, coffee and beer to-go, noon to 8 p.m. every day. Redemption Rock is also offering online ordering and curbside pick-up (beer must be picked up between 1 and 8 p.m. Check redemptionrock.beer/beercurbside for what’s available in cans and crowlers. Wormtown Brewery is open in Worcester for beer to-go and curb-side pickup. The brewery is offering online ordering for beer: www.toasttab.com/ wormtownbrewery-worcester/v3. CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS Altruist Brewing Co. is open in Sturbridge for take-out, including cans, growler fills, merchandise and gift cards. Check altruistbrewing.com for its available beers. Temporary hours will be Thursday and Friday, 5 to 8 p.m., Saturday, noon to 6 p.m., Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. Cold Harbor Brewing Co. in Westboro is open for cans to-go and growler fills. The brewery’s temporary hours will be Wednesday and Thursday from 3 to 7 p.m. and Friday through Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. Exhibit ‘A’ Brewing Co. in Framingham is offering can sales to-go only. Temporary hours are: Wednesdays and Thursdays, 3 to 7 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays, noon to 7 p.m. and Sundays, noon to 3 p.m. Jack’s Abby in Framingham is open

for food take-out and beer to-go Wednesday through Sunday from noon to 8 p.m. Online ordering is available at toasttab.com/jacks-abby-craft-lagers/v3. Lost Shoe Brewing & Roasting Co. in Marlboro is open for grab-and-go coffee and beer. Temporary hours will be Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Fridays, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sundays, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Online ordering is now up and running: lost-shoe-brewing-androasting-company.square.site. Medusa Brewing Co. is open in Hudson for can and growler sales – visit medusabrewing.com/to-go for updated hours. Online orders are now available, too: medusabrewing.com/ beer-pickup. Milk Room Brewing is open at Alta Vista Farm in Rutland for retail sales only. You can order growler pick-ups and merchandise online at www. milkroombrewing.com. Check the website for updated hours. Purgatory Beer Co. is open in Northbridge limited hours week to week for can sales only. Temporary retail sale hours will be Fridays, 4:55 to 7 p.m. and Saturdays 1:55 to 4 p.m. Visit Facebook or purgatorybeer.com for can availability. Rapscallion Brewery is open in Sturbridge from noon to 8 p.m. every day for to-go cans. Rapscallion’s restaurant, Table & Tap in Acton, is open for take-out and delivery, as well, from noon to 8 p.m. every day. River Styx Brewing in Fitchburg is open for retail sales Monday through Friday from 3 to 7 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 7 p.m. Online ordering and curb-side pick-up is available: river-styx-brewing.square. site. Walk-in service is available. Stone Cow Brewery is open in Barre for food and cans to-go. Temporary hours are Friday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Check the beer and food available for pick-up at stonecowbrewery.com. Timber Yard Brewing Co. in East Brookfield is open for drive-through can sales on Saturdays from 2-6 p.m. For the list of beers available visit timberyardbrewing.com. Tree House Brewing Co. in Charlton is only offering online ordering for cans. Hours for pick-up will be 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week. Head over to treehouseonthefly.com to read how to pick up your order and see which cans are available. Wachusett Brewing Co.’s retail store is open in Westminster every day from 11 to 8 p.m. for beer to-go, including kegs, and the Brew Yard has food for take away. Wachusett is also one of the few breweries in the state able to offer home delivery for beer. For more information, including the full beer and food menu, visit wachusettbrewingcompany.com.

CITY LIFE

ADOPTION OPTION

SARA MCCLURE

Welcome to Adoption Option, 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.

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M A R C H 26 - A P R I L 1, 2020

Meet Mookie! Mookie came to us all the way from Saint Thomas. He is a sweet boy that is full of energy and a lot of love to give. Mookie is an adult, but he is still very puppy-like. He needs to be the only pet in your home and would do best in a home with older children. Mookie deals with separation anxiety. It would be preferable that Mookie’s potential adopter have experience with dogs with separation anxiety. Please call (508) 853-0030 to make an appointment to meet him!

Worcester Animal Rescue League’s response to the COVID-19 virus WARL is open! We have many animals looking for homes and our programs and services are operating as usual. Please visit the shelter if you are interested in adopting an animal, have a scheduled clinic appointment, or want to drop off a donation. We remain committed to maintaining a safe, clean, and welcoming environment for our staff, volunteers, adopters, and supporters. Here is what that looks like at WARL: • If you or a member of your household are sick with any type of virus or bacterial infection, we ask that you refrain from visiting WARL. Please follow the guidelines outlined by the Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention (CDC), on keeping yourself and your community healthy. For more information please visit www.cdc.gov • If you have had contact with anyone that has or might have Coronavirus, please do not visit the shelter. • If you have recently traveled outside of the country, please follow the CDC’s recommendations on selfquarantine after travel. • Our business practice for surrendering a pet remains the same. All pet owners must contact WARL in advance of surrendering a pet. • Though we generally love the public to visit the animals for social visits, in an effort to minimize risk to our staff, meet and greets with

our animals will only occur for those interested in adoption. • Due to the generosity of the community with blanket and towel donations received during the holidays, we are currently not in need of these donations at this time. • Currently, working from home? What a wonderful time to become a foster parent. In the event the local response to the Coronavirus changes, or the shelter needs to adjust for staffing reasons, having more available foster homes would be critical. If you’re interested in fostering a shelter pet, please fill out an application on our website: https:// www.worcesterarl.org/volunteer/ foster-program/

• On a daily basis our team of staff and volunteers clean and sanitize our animal enclosures as well as all public spaces. Continued cleaning and wiping down of public spaces occurs throughout the day to maintain the highest level of sanitation. • Hand sanitizing dispensers are located in our facility, both in bottles and in wall-mounted dispensers. • WARL uses veterinary strength products and disinfectants. We will continue utilizing best practices to fully disinfect and sanitize all WARL spaces to keep the pets and people in our community safe and healthy. • We recommend everyone prepare by enabling yourselves to quarantine at home for up to 14 days. If you’re a

pet owner, that means having supplies to care for your pets during that same period. As the impact of the Coronavirus evolves, we will continue to assess the situation in our community, follow the recommendations of our local officials, and will update you if our response changes due to situational need. Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact WARL at (508) 853-0030 or info@worcesterarl. org for assistance. Thank you for your cooperation and support.

GAMES

J O N E S I N’

Call 888-254-3466 or email classifieds@gatehousemedia.com today to place your ad here!

41 Field involving coats-of-arms 43 Courvoisier and Hennessy, e.g. 44 Teeniest bit 47 Do a yard job 51 Callender in the frozen food aisle 52 “Well, heck” 53 “Star Wars” series creature 54 Kind of proprietor 55 Attack, like a kitty while you’re trying to work 56 “Look what I did!” 57 Leave out 58 Also-___ (election conceders) 59 Moody music genre 60 Altar words Last week's solution

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Down 1 Garrett of “Everybody Loves Raymond” 2 Loch : Scottish :: ___ : Spanish

3 In ___ (stuck) 4 “... and Bingo was his ___” 5 “Allowed” time to go off a regimen? 6 Number of e’s in Heidelberg? 7 Tried to get hold of 8 “Oh, right!” 9 Butterfly and Bovary, for two 10 “Seven Samurai” director Akira 11 Password typer, maybe 12 Satnav suggestions 13 Inky artwork 21 “I touched your nose!” sound 22 Energetic spirit 25 Assembly of clergy 26 Capital near the Great Sphinx 27 Conclude from evidence 29 “Oil!” author Sinclair 30 Pancakes sometimes served with caviar 31 Inclined 32 Swing dances 33 Nightly streaming offering from the Met 34 Sign up again for an online subscription 39 “It’s Not Unusual” singer

M A R C H 26 - A P R I L 1, 2020

Fun By The Numbers Like 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!

Across 1 “Knives Out” sleuth Benoit 6 1/8 of a fluid ounce 10 MTV mainstay Loder who turns 75 soon 14 Jasmine’s pet tiger in “Aladdin” 15 Tabula ___ (blank slate) 16 Abbr. on egg cartons 17 Best effort, slangily 18 Oklahoma town near Vance AFB 19 Benefit of time off 20 Request that’s asking a lot 23 Prefix with laryngologist 24 Fire starter? 25 Bio., chem., or biochem. 28 Overachieving college student’s quest 35 “___ Can Cook” (former cooking show) 36 Bobbing necessities 37 Film segue, perhaps 38 “Neato!” 40 Carrere who sang in “Wayne’s World” 41 New ___, Conn. (home of Yale) 42 ___ O’s (cookie-based cereal) 43 Britton in season 1 of “American Horror Story” 45 “Able was I ___ I saw Elba” 46 Job for a resident assistant 48 It has teeth but no mouth 49 Do mild exercise 50 Edinburgh cap 52 Something you can’t take up at the mall 59 “Dear ___ Hansen” 61 Military no-show, briefly 62 “CSI” or “NCIS” 63 Seconds, e.g. 64 Jolt, for one 65 Chamillionaire hit parodied by Weird Al 66 Has claim to 67 Bend out of shape 68 “Byzantium” poet

“Indoor Activities” – where everything is in doors. by Matt Jones

CLASSIFIEDS

SERVICE DIRECTORY

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Sudoku Answers

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LAST CALL

Kathy Chapman

president of Pawsitively 4 Pink

ast year, local psychotherapist Michelle Power founded Pawsitively 4 Pink, a nonprofit organization that helps financially supplement women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. The organization grew out of the success of her apparel company, Gosh Doggit, when she realized she could use her profits to help women who were struggling financially to manage missed days of work, medical expenses and transportation issues. Power’s wife, Kathy Chapman, has quickly become an indispensable part of the Pawsitively 4 Pink team. This interview was conducted prior to the issuing of coronavirus restrictions; please visit www.pawsitively4pink.com for updates on the status of events and services.

What is your official title? I’m the president.

Do you have a big fundraiser coming up? We just had a drag queen meat rafﬂe and It was great. We had a lot of fun and we hope to collaborate with our host Joslyn Fox again. We have our second annual

Who have your biggest supporters been during your first year? I think it’s important for the people that have supported us to know how thankful we are to them. Interestingly enough, we don’t know all of our contributors. For example, Country Bank reached out to us because their employees have opportunities throughout the year to pick out a cause to donate to. We have no idea who this employee was,

but someone picked us. We got a call from Country Bank and they donated almost $2,500 by surprise and agreed to sponsor our event. We’re so thankful for that. As a local bank, they have really stepped up. Another one is The Botanist, a medical marijuana and cannabis dispensary. Again, they gave us an unexpected donation and they have continued to support us. – Sarah Connell Sanders

What is your day job? I have three jobs. I have my own real estate company called First Step Realty. I work at the courthouse; I’m the administrator for the district court judges — I’ve been there for 38 years. And, I also do bail commissioning at night. I’m able to help Pawsitively

soiree, which is scheduled for April 4th at Maironis Park. We already have 100 rafﬂe prizes, including trips to Myrtle Beach and a $7,000 diamond bracelet. All the items were donated to us. Following our second annual fundraiser is our second annual golf tournament, which is June 13 at Leicester Country Club. Then we have a “Tatas and Tails 5k” planned for October 3. That will be a dogfriendly event.

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That’s a pretty serious role. When we do events, I act as the day-of coordinator. Michelle is expected to go out and socialize with people and my help enables her to do that. To be honest, I’m kind of a control freak anyway, so it works out perfectly.

Can you speak on the initiatives that Pawsitively 4 Pink is championing? Our mission from the beginning has been to serve women in the community who are financially struggling due to breast cancer. It has been a journey over the last year. We’ve gone through many different board members to find the right fit. We’ve had a lot of transitions. We have a really strong board right now. They’re in it for the long haul. We have identified some very committed people. We’re different from other organizations in that we help lowincome and underserved women regardless of whether they’re doing traditional treatments. Whether it’s radiation, chemotherapy, surgery, traditional medications, or alternative medicine, which includes acupuncture and holistic approaches. We will assist with their financial obligations for any mode of treatment. I don’t believe there is any other organization dealing with this particular cause that helps women six months out of treatment. The majority of nonprofits cease providing assistance when women stop treatment. I just think that’s such a disservice. I mean, their lives are still upside down.

M A R C H 26 - A P R I L 1, 2020

Tell me about your journey and how you ended up a part of this organization. My journey would be one of support for my wife. This is her organization that she has a passion for and we very quickly realized that it’s difficult to be a party of one doing something like this. When things started to take off, I knew I needed to help and in doing that I became more passionate about it myself.

DYLAN AZARI

4 Pink by checking the email and responding to help women access our services. Michelle is directly helping all these women. It’s not a big team of people doing the work. She’s contacting the women, talking to them about what they need, finding out what’s the best fit for them, calling their landlords, trying to negotiate the terms for them. I mean, it’s really hands on. I don’t think people realize how much time she works. She’s working 12-hour days.

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

M A R C H 26 - A P R I L 1, 2020