Worcester Magazine April 1 - 7, 2021

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IN THIS ISSUE 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

Featured ..............................................................................4 City Voices ..........................................................................8 Cover Story.......................................................................10 Artist Spotlight................................................................14 Next Draft .........................................................................15 Screen Time......................................................................16

VP, Sales & Strategy Andrew Chernoff

Adoption Option.............................................................20

Executive Editor David Nordman Editor Nancy Campbell Content Editor Victor D. Infante Reporters Richard Duckett, Veer Mudambi

Games ................................................................................21

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

Classifi eds ........................................................................22 Last Call.............................................................................23

On the cover Tamar Manasseh appears in "They Ain't Ready for Me," screening online beginning April 20 for the Central Mass International Jewish Film Festival.

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FEATURED

Worcester eyes empowering Youth Council leaders with paid positions Veer Mudambi Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

For the last six years, 19 young people have had regular meetings to discuss issues facing Worcester youth. The members of this Youth Council, formed in 2015, are traditionally between the ages of 13 and 19.

These are years fi lled with plenty to worry about as it is, even for those not serving as the offi cial voice of youth in matters of city government, so the level of commitment displayed by these teens is impressive.

This year, the city’s Division of Youth Opportunities is taking the YC’s connection to city government a step further, creating fi ve paid positions of Youth Council Leaders, with each representing a district of Worcester. These leaders will spearhead the YC’s initiatives, meeting more often between the regular monthly meetings and connecting with other city offi cials.

“We thought it’s time to pay our young people for the work that they do,” explained Jacob Folson-Fraster, assistant program coordinator for Recreation Worcester. The funding for the positions comes from the Greater Worcester Community Foundation, specifi cally the Youth for Community Improvement Grant. “The goal of Youth Council has always been to create a process that is youth led,” he said. Adult allies such as Folsom-Fraster and his colleagues will act as liaisons to other city departments, but the aim is for the YC to set its own course.

The goal of the positions is to

A flyer from Facebook calling for candidates for Youth Council leaders DIVISION OF YOUTH OPPORTUNITIES

Samara Fernandes, Youth Council chief of staff and senior at North High

Community engagement specialist Franklin Franco

Jacob Folson-Fraster, assistant program coordinator for Recreation Worcester

SUBMITTED PHOTO

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better empower the YC, said community engagement specialist Franklin Franco, “and make it more self-sustaining with additional structural changes.” Each of the YC leaders will have two other youths working with them, one of whom will take over as YC leader when the current one ages out, creating a pipeline of ready candidates already familiar with the goals of the present council.

With salaried positions, Worcester youth have true representation in city government, as the YC leaders will be able to speak to other departments as fellow city employees. As for what they will use this new sta-

tus for, Franco is hesitant to make a statement. “That’s the beauty of it, we aren’t youth anymore so we don’t know their issues, but they will decide what they do,” he said. In prior years, the YC has pursued initiatives dealing with youth homelessness, or setting aside art spaces.

The YC leaders will not be without guidance, with FolsonFraster and Franco taking on a similar advisory role as with the wider YC. “We’ll discuss what the various pathways are to creating change,” said Folson-Fraster. “We will have structured ways in which they will be engaging their peers and collecting data on the biggest

issues of what young people are facing.” Armed with this information, the group will be able to bring relevant issues before policy-makers, with a direct line to City Hall and the City Council.

While interviews have not started yet, the division of Youth Opportunities has a large candidate pool, drawing from public schools and city youth programs. While the term “youth” for the purposes of YC is considered under 24, ideal candidates will be in junior or senior year of high school. Interviews will be conducted individually but there will also be a group interview, said Franco, since the candidates will be

working together closely, “to see how they react to each other.”

“We defi nitely want someone very committed to social change,” said Samara Fernandes, Youth Council chief of staff and senior at North High, since those who fi ll the position will be serving as an example to others their age. “A lot of time they feel ‘I’m young so there’s not much I can do’ but representation is very important to show them that they can,” she said.

As the name, Youth Council Leader, suggests, leadership qualities are important, but Folson-Fraster admits that can come in diff erent shapes and forms. While being passionate about making connections in their community and bringing See COUNCIL, Page 6D

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | APRIL 1-7, 2021 | 5

WARL works hard to keep pets living happily with families in the pandemic Veer Mudambi Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

For Kristin Mullins of Worcester Animal Rescue League, few situations are as heartbreaking as the case of a family who had to give up their new kitten.

Their pet required emergency surgery beyond the family’s fi nancial means, and they surrendered the kitten to WARL, lacking any other options. Mullins and her team decided to give them some.

Humane societies and rescue leagues have long been in the business of helping animals fi nd homes. Because of the impact of COVID, though, they are now in the business of helping animals keep their homes as well.

Making sure people keep their pets “is the ultimate goal,” said Mullins. “We would rather keep the family intact as long as the animal is safe and healthy.”

Since they could not medically treat an animal they didn't own, WARL accepted the surrender. After surgery, however, the family was invited to re-adopt their kitten.

In August 2020, the ASPCA released data estimating that 4.2 million pets would enter poverty along with their humans as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. They indicated that the total number of animals living in poverty could rise to more than 24.4 million dogs, cats, horses and other animals.

As predicted, Mullins witnessed the rate of surrenders begin to rise last fall, and stayed consistently high. People who have lost jobs and homes and have senior pets with medical issues fi nd it very hard to care for the extra mouths to feed. In some heartbreaking cases, people have taken money out of their own retirement savings to look after their animal companions. To combat this, WARL has been providing needed resources for neighbors in crisis and preventing four-footed companions from being relinquished to shelters as their humans recover from the fallout of the pandemic.

The most common refrain heard at WARL is medical concerns that owners cannot aff ord to address — even rela-

Worcester Animal Rescue League technician Tara Burdette holds Sunshine, who is currently up for adoption.

Sunshine goes for a walk at the Worcester Animal Rescue League, accompanied by technician Tara Burdette. PHOTOS BY ASHLEY GREEN/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

tively manageable ones like diabetes.

Any animal, no matter how hale and hearty, comes with associated fi nancial costs of supplies, food and veterinary care. These only escalate with age and depending on what health issues arise, costs can quickly balloon to unmanageable levels. Housing issues are the sec-

ond most common reason that people surrender dogs and cats to shelters.

When they have to suddenly move to smaller places with dog restrictions, or move in with family where there may not be room, they can face incredibly hard decisions.

WARL does not often see surrenders

of young animals, Mullins said, with most being middle-aged to senior pets.

Most of the cats, for example, over the last several months have been over 10 to 12 years of age, with dogs in the older range as well. “Animals are living longer because of the great care they receive,” said Mullins, both at home and at the vet’s offi ce, “but just like humans, as you get older you get more medical issues.”

This in turn leads to higher veterinary costs.

“The animals that are being turned in to us by owners need signifi cant medical intervention,” said Mullins. This can range from heart surgery to chemotherapy and everywhere in between.

The Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University has “been very gracious” and provided treatment but WARL’s costs have predictably gone up. However, just because a family cannot aff ord a particular treatment that doesn’t always have to mean goodbye.

See PETS, Page 6D

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Pets Continued from Page 5D

Mullins stressed that every situation is unique, but when possible, they always prefer to reunite pets and families separated by the extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic.

To that end, prevention is often the best medicine and goes a long way to maintaining the family-companion animal bond. Keeping pets healthy and cared for on a regular basis comes with its own price tag which is consistent regardless of age, unlike vet bills. In response, WARL and other shelters quickly created pet food pantries at the beginning of the pandemic, providing food at local human food pantries for families in need, to take home.

The goal of a food pantry is to help people in need feed their families, and while that usually means humans, it certainly includes pets. Requests from food pantries for pet food have gone up as much as 75%, according to Second Chance Animal Services, a group that provides similar aid. “If there isn’t pet food available,” said Wendy Hall, animal relocation director at Second Chance, “people will forgo food like tuna and give it to their pets.”

In addition to food pantries, WARL also works with social service agencies such as New Hope, a veterans organization.

“Many of these people are already working with social service agencies so we off er those agencies food to give them

Council Continued from Page 4D

people together is a must, “that doesn’t mean just the very outward, extroverted folks,” he said. “We know there is important work that happens behind the scenes.”

Franco agreed, saying that

Worcester Animal Rescue League technician Tara Burdette holds Sunshine, who is currently up for adoption, on March 25. ASHLEY GREEN/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

rather than having them jump through hoops,” explained Mullins. It eliminates the need for people to make more stops to collect pet food, reducing the amount of gas needed.

Thanks to an outpouring of community support, said Mullins, WARL has a surplus of food that can be donated to community partners such as New Hope. “We never let a bag go to waste.” Food donations have a ripple eff ect beyond sim-

ply feeding shelter animals.

The money the organization saves on pet food can instead go toward medical expenses for the care of the animals. However, if someone wants to help in a more direct fashion, they can donate to WARL’s emergency care fund, where the money is set aside solely for veterinary services.

In addition to food, other preferred donations include basics such as collars, leashes,

crates and, most importantly, cat litter. Due to the number of cats at the shelter, they rapidly burn through litter, placing it permanently near the top of the list, especially in spring and fall, dubbed “kitten season.”

While the name “kitten season” may sound cute, it signals a time of intense work at WARL. It comes about like clockwork when the weather turns springlike and the temperatures fi rst begin to warm

leadership potential was the most important thing, as the position could help build those skills, which can only help in the current political and social climate. While he and his colleagues have been on the lookout for creating new leadership opportunities for young people, this generation is coming of age in unprecedented times, with too few spaces to work through

it. “There’s a sense of urgency to create these spaces to share what they’re going through,” said Franco.

“We have all of these hopes for what they will learn from the program,” said FolsonFraster, “but we know that can only be successful if we create a space where young people feel heard and seen.” A particularly diffi cult goal, considering the

degree of isolation young people are currently experiencing.

“That part feels extra important right now.”

Though the vaccine is rolling out, many are still confi ned at home or limited to a small number of people. A strengthened YC, said Fernandes, could focus its eff orts on helping young people who are facing problems at home. “This gives them

up — owners let their cats out for the fi rst time after winter and lo and behold, they have kittens in about 58 to 68 days.

Unfortunately, most families cannot aff ord to keep the unexpected additions to their families. “We prepare for hundreds and hundreds of kittens,” said Mullins, “A baby shower on a massive scale — food, toys, litter and treats are all needed.”

Another seasonal trend the shelter is bracing for is Easter, and with it, a spike in rabbit surrenders in the weeks following the holiday. These animals are often gifted to young children, and families quickly tire of them after learning how much care they require. “They can make wonderful pets but are not meant to be part of someone’s Easter basket,” Mullins warned.

While a rise in surrenders is never a good thing, there is one aspect of the situation that Mullins fi nds hopeful. Few surrenders, if any, have been pets rehomed during the adoption blitz at the beginning of the crisis. “We have not seen those pets returned,” observed Mullins, “and we’re very pleased to see those results.” At the very beginning of COVID, one of their chief concerns was that people were rescuing animals with only their current shutdown circumstances in mind — not considering how the animal would fi t into their normal lifestyles. In response WARL updated their screening questions to ensure that potential adopters factored in the eventual return to normalcy.

a way to build a safer environment.”

The overall goal of the Leader positions is to strengthen, empower and inspire the YC while taking the diverse group’s work to the next level in making a positive impact. The Worcester Youth Council meets every Wednesday from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | APRIL 1-7, 2021 | 7

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CITY VOICES WORCESTERIA

Hip-hop artist Abbie Cotto performs at a fundraiser March 27 for The Bridge. VIDEO CAPTURE

The situation is changing at The Bridge Victor D. Infante Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

THE PARTY’S OVER?: Saturday night, there was a big fundraiser outside The Bridge to help save the Bridge Academy and Community Center. Musicians including local hip-hop favorite Abbie Cotto performed high-energy sets, the R and R Jerk Chicken food truck, owned

by Trevor Delaparaa, served food and donated its proceeds.

It was, by all accounts, a huge outpouring of support in The Bridge’s eff orts to beat a twoweek countdown to raise $1 million dollars to buy the property, before it’s sold to an undisclosed party who has made an off er on the building. But now it appears that the situation is different than it originally appeared, and the deal has already

been struck. This would seem the end of the road for the eff ort, but John Powers, one of the organizers at The Bridge, sees it diff erently: He thinks it’s just the next chapter in the eff ort to save the beloved community space.

THE NEW FIGHT: Sunday afternoon, Powers was at The Bridge, facilitating a meeting to delegate some of the day-to-day responsibilities at the space to volunteers, so others could step up to the next stage of the fi ght.

According to Powers, The Bridge will be possibly facing a 100-day eviction notice, beginning from when the deed was purchased.

There has been no offi cial eviction notifi cation as of yet. “This is a historic property,” says Powers of the main building. The space also includes additions See BRIDGE, Page 9D

FIRST PERSON

For the love of the game ...

Rev. Anne Gardner

Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

Baseball.

The word rolls off my tongue like a prayer. Reverently. Whispered. And with more than a hint of breathy anticipation. Into the squintworthy sun of Florida’s west coast, Red Sox players, coaches, and fans have made their annual pilgrimage to Fort Myers for the start of Spring Training. For more than a century, the Grapefruit League has played host to this time-honored tradition.

With fi fteen teams scattered across the Sunshine State, a ballpark is always just a stone’s throw away.

Despite its moniker as our “national pastime,” a growing number of sports enthusiasts

have grown disenchanted with my beloved avocation. I can’t say I blame them. The tripartite magic of hit, run, and catch has strained under the weight of baseball’s three-headed hydra; free agency, steroids, and though it pains me to admit it, tedium.

First up in the batter’s box — free agency. In 1976, attorney Marvin Miller successfully argued that southpaw Dave McNally and righthander Andy Messersmith be allowed to shop their wares after playing a full season without a contract. The feeding frenzy that followed gave rise to some of the largest contracts ever signed. For many fans, this tidal wave of cash soured their taste for the game. Owners were painted as penny-pinching millionaires, players as self-centered and overin-

dulged. While there is some truth to both assertions, the real loser in this tug-o-war was the game itself. Free agency rewards big market teams who can aff ord top-tier talent. With only a handful of clubs able to pay top dollar, Major League Baseball has become a collection of haves and have nots.

There is a reason middle America is tired of hearing about the Yankees and Dodgers, and of our own hometown team during better days. Parity is a forgotten word in baseball, much to the fans’ collective chagrin.

Two decades later, it would be steroids that blackened baseball’s eye. In a game where every statistic imaginable is tracked and analyzed, performance enhancing drugs See GAME, Page 10D

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | APRIL 1-7, 2021 | 9

Bridge Continued from Page 8D

which were built in the 1910s and, of course, the iconic Miss Worcester Diner. “You can’t change it from the period architecture,” explains Powers, who also says that the building can’t be demolished without applying for a demolition stay waver.

In addition, the building isn’t zoned for residential use, and the intent of the sale seems to be to put up condos, so that would require wavers, too.

Powers says, “I don’t see a lot of enthusiasm in that part of our city government to work with them on that. I’m pretty sure that once the developer that is buying this building is intimately aware of the nuts and bolts of what they’re trying to buy, and how diffi cult it’s going to be, they’re just going to want to do something else.” Truly, there is no shortage of properties in that neighborhood, many of them owned by the same trust, which could be developed with less hassle.

COMING TOGETHER: The community of activists and artists currently operating out of The Bridge, however, are more than willing to put up with the hassle. Indeed, Powers points to how hard they’ve worked just to get to this point, including renovations which have been paid for out of pocket or donated by licensed contractors. “There had been a lot of outreach from city government, from state government, from members of the philanthropy departments of several of the big companies in the area,” says Powers, of the current wave of support The Bridge has gotten. He says all of these organizations have had ideas and advice on how The Bridge should move forward, and indeed, in one of the many ironies that have plagued the situation, the eff ort has brought together several diff erent segments of the community, which in itself is one of The Bridge’s goals. Indeed, Powers even believes the WooSox

themselves should become invested in The Bridge’s activities, as “a show of good faith.”

Because while he believes the neighborhood is about to be hit by a tsunami of economic activity, none of it directly serves the neighborhood’s underprivileged youth that most benefi t from The Bridge’s activities. “If anybody who has expressed pushback to this,” says Powers, “I don’t feel that they saw the value to this in the past because of the lack of communication between Worcester’s activist community and Worcester’s business community and Worcester’s city government, and I think getting them all on the same page on the program could be a framework to alleviate the harm that was done by that lack of communication.”

THE PLAN: “We have a strategy which we have been building,” says Powers, “which I have been referring to as The Bridge Community Center One Year Build-Out. We’re fi lling in the blanks in all the diff erent parts of this plan, but it starts with fi lling out the space that we have in the parts that we can.” As of this writing, the online campaign has generated roughly $55,000 in just over a week, which is nothing to sneeze at, but a far cry from $1 million. Still, Powers believes they have raised enough to make a down payment on a loan, that would be bolstered by a solid business plan, which he believes that they have.

“What we’re hoping to do is offer to split this space up with the city and other moneyed interests in the city, and work with the retail and hospitality community, and get everything we’re off ering community members here, which is a seat at the table, to sit down with respect and love, to create an incubator for Worcester’s entrepreneurial spirit through troubled youth, because they are at the baseline of what we can lift.

I sure as heck would love to put every kid that walks into this lot on a task to learn and mentor, to become mentor themselves and provide for the common good.”

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POETRY TOWN

‘Climate Change’

Michael Milligan Speaking of everything it’s all been said before. Best to say as little as possible.

Best not to clarify. You will only get stuck and hoisted eventually on your own petard.

All your life feeling left out of the secret everyone else already knows. That’s how they do it, how they get so far ahead — whatever it is they know and won’t share.

Big dogs with gobbets of meat is what they are. Two hunks of meat, one in the mouth and one held on the ground by their paws and not even hungry now, already ate the third hunk of meat, don’t ask where it came from — all that meat I mean, not the dogs, everyone has a dog these days so you can just pick one of your neighbors’. Hottest summer ever and the dog days go on and on and the big dog is still not hungry but won’t ever share.

Michael Milligan has worked as a construction laborer, migrant fruit and grape picker, homestead farmer and graphic arts production manager. He took his MFA in Creative Writing at Bennington College, co-founded Poetry Oasis Worcester and was an editor for the literary journal, Diner.

COVER STORY

Jewish Film Festivals combine to screen 13 fi lms online Many set fi lms to have Q&A discussions with producers, directors or subjects Richard Duckett Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

It was lucky for the 13th Central Mass International Jewish Film Festival in 2020 that the event presented by the Worces-

ter JCC had been traditionally held in January.

The festival started last year on Jan. 17 with a free “encore showing” of “Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me” at the Worcester Senior Center and continued with fi ve more fi lms

(paid admission) including the acclaimed documentary “Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles.”

The fi lms were screened at different locations including The Willows in Worcester, Congregation B’nai Shalom in Westboro, St. John’s High School in

Game Continued from Page 8D

have rendered baseball’s numerical yardstick moot. Record books and Cooperstown’s Hall of Fame, once sacrosanct markers of achievement, are now peppered with asterisks, both proven and conjectured. Some devotees downplay the impact of steroid use, likening it to the eff ect widespread use of amphetamines played in earlier eras. But the facts say otherwise. No other practice has altered the game like PED’s.

You would think the resulting bevy of steroid-fueled home runs would capture the imaginations of would-be fans. But you would be wrong. Counterintuitive though it may be, all of those dingers were a precursor to baseball’s latest and perhaps most infuriating malady.

Baseball is dull. Maddeningly dull. Bleeding to death from papercuts dull.

Once a game of precision, agility, and refl ex, baseball has been rendered impotent by a miniscule strike zone, a fascination with launch angle, and a

Baseball is coming to Polar Park, and some are more excited than others. SCREENGRAB FROM YOUTUBE/WORCESTER PUBLIC SCHOOLS

pace so excruciatingly slow it sucks all the air out of the stadium.

The average length of a nineinning game now tops three hours. In contrast, the measurable action during that same timeframe is a mere fraction. The most generous fi gure I could fi nd was eighteen minutes, cited as “Real Fact #1335” on the underside of a Snapple bottle cap. There’s no need to quibble about the specifi city of this claim. Ask any fan and they will bemoan how much time is spent watching the pitcher and hitter dance their pas de deux in

between pitches. On more than one occasion I too have found myself hollering in desperation, “For the love of God, just throw the BALL!” Not surprisingly, my exhortations have gone unheeded.

Perhaps I have wandered into “get off my lawn” territory here, but I yearn for the drag bunt, the double steal, the hit and run. I revel in singles slapped to the opposite fi eld, delight in the occasional eephus ball, and appreciate a lefthander who can execute a successful pickoff play to fi rst. Let pitchers take their own hacks I

Shrewsbury, and the Worcester JCC Auditorium.

As it turned out, it was probably one of the only fi lm festivals, at least in-person, that happened in the country last See FESTIVALS, Page 11D

say. Beat the shift by hitting the ball into the gap. Buckle the knees of a fastball hitter with a 12-6 curve. Throw behind the runner leaning to second.

After all, small ball is still baseball. Isn’t it?

The analytics folks will tell you that percentages argue for baseball’s current approach.

That homers translate to runs, strikeouts notwithstanding.

But what good will that do when there are no fans left to watch?

Last month Governor Baker announced Fenway Park would once again welcome fans into the stands come Opening Day. I’m crossing my fi ngers I will be among that group. My love for the game remains despite my frustrations. But someday I hope the powers that be will recognize that baseball is a game of chess that plays like a game of checkers. Subtlety and strategy imbue every minute of the game. But in the end, it still comes down to whether you can hit, run, and catch.

Gardner is an Episcopal minister and freelance writer.

Follow her on Twitter @AnneGardner2020, reverendannegardner@gmail.com or via her website, anne-gardner.com.

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | APRIL 1-7, 2021 | 11

Festivals Continued from Page 10D

year, “because it was in the deepest, darkest month of the year in January,” said Nancy Greenberg, organizer of the festival and cultural arts director of the Worcester JCC. “In January it wasn’t really on the radar what was coming,” Greenberg said.

One screening drew 150 people, all sitting next to each other. “It almost seems unimaginable at this point,” she said of such a sight.

Then on March 13 last year, “everything closed down,” Greenberg said. Subsequently, “everyone canceled or postponed. People pivoted.”

For 2021, the Central Mass International Jewish Film Festival has done a pivot of its own.

The JCC of the North Shore in Marblehead will be presenting its 8th International Jewish Film Festival in conjunction with the 14th Central Mass International Jewish Film Festival from April 5 to 25, all online.

The festival will screen 13 fi lms, many of them with a Q&A with the producer, director or subject after the movies have been shown.

The lineup is as follows: April 5 — “Six Minutes to Midnight.” Inspired by true events, this drama is set in the summer of 1939 as infl uential families in Nazi Germany have sent their daughters to a fi nishing school in an English seaside town to learn the language and be ambassadors for National Socialism. A teacher at the school sees what is coming and tries to raise alarm, but the authorities believe he is the problem. Starring Dame Judi Dench and Eddie Izzard.

April 6 — “Shared Legacies.” Documentary examines African-American and JewishAmerican connections and relations.

April 8 —“Adventures of a Mathematician.” Polish-Jewish scientist Stan Ulam struggles with wartime loss and

Tamar Manasseh appears in “They Ain’t Ready for Me,” screening online beginning April 20 for the Central Mass International Jewish Film Festival. PROMOTIONAL IMAGE

prophetic moral dilemmas at the dawn of the nuclear age.

April 10 — “Aulcie.” Aulcie Perry went from the basketball courts of Harlem to fame on the basketball courts of Tel Aviv.

April 11 — “A Starry Sky Above the Roman Ghetto.”

The discovery of a old photograph sparks a student to probe the history of Rome’s Jewish ghetto and the fate of a little girl.

April 13 — “Kiss Me Kosher.” Two families from wildly diff erent cultural backgrounds collide to plan a same-sex wedding in this romantic comedy.

April 15 — “A Lullaby for the Valley.” Filmed over 10 years, this documentary chronicles the work of artist Eli Shamir.

April 16 — “An Irrepressible Woman.” Historical drama and romance in France, 1940, as the Nazis invade.

April 18 — “Code Name Ayalon.” Ayalon was a hidden ammunition factory made to fool the British into thinking it

was a kibbutz during the British Mandate.

April 20 — “They Ain’t Ready for Me.” African-American rabbinical student and mother Tamar Manasseh hits the streets in a grassroots eff ort to curb the senseless killings on the south side of Chicago. Produced and directed by Brad Rothschild.

April 21 — “Here We Are.” Father hits the road with his autistic son in an eff ort to keep the boy from being sent to a specialized home.

April 23 — “Winter Journey.” Jewish-German couple’s pre-World War II romance. Bruno Ganz’s last role.

April 25 — “The Crossing.”

In this drama from Norway, the parents of 10-year-old Gerda and her brother, Otto, are in the Norwegian resistance movement during the Second World War. One day, just before Christmas in 1942, the parents are arrested, leaving the siblings on their own. Following

the arrest, they discover two Jewish children, Sarah and Daniel, hidden in a secret cupboard in their basement at home. The four set out to cross to neutral Sweden.

The fi lms become available on the designated day at 7 p.m.

People will have 72 hours to start watching. Once they begin, they will have 48 hours to fi nish watching. Individual tickets to the online screenings are $15. Passes, off ering discounts, can also be bought in packs of 6, 9 or all 13 fi lms.

Eventive is the box offi ce and virtual screening platform. You must have a (free) Eventive account to purchase tickets and watch the fi lms. For complete information, visit www.jccns.org/fi lm-festival/ “I think it’s exciting for us.

We’re able to off er literally now double the number of fi lms,” Greenberg said of this year’s partnership between the Worcester JCC and the JCC North Shore.

“I think it makes sense for something like this. I think there is strength in numbers. If I had been pioneering on my own it would have been a lot smaller.”

One of the most popular fi lms at the festival may well prove to be be “They Ain’t Ready for Me.” Manasseh is founder of the volunteer group Mothers and Men Against Senseless Killings, or MASK. In 2016, responding to deadly violence in Chicago, Manasseh and MASK began sitting down at an Englewood street corner, at 75th St. and Stewart Ave., hoping that peaceful neighborhood gatherings would deter violence there.

As The Times of Israel observed, “For three years, not a single shooting occurred on this street corner. Community members got together on a regular basis to provide food and a See FESTIVALS, Page 12D

12 | APRIL 1-7, 2021 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

Festivals Continued from Page 11D

safe environment for children.

A vacant lot became a place with a rain shelter and benches, hosting not only Fourth of July cookouts but also celebrations for Sukkot and Passover.

Here, African-American community members learned more about Manasseh’s religion, and she got to use her knowledge from rabbinical studies at Chicago’s historic Beth Shalom B’nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation, a Black Hebrew Israelite synagogue led by Rabbi Capers Funnye.”

Manasseh is a force, but she can also be funny as well as captivating. In “They Ain’t Ready for Me,” Manasseh comments, “I’m a Jew and I’m Black but don’t forget I’m real pretty.”

Producer/director Brad Rothschild is an award-winning fi lmmaker whose work focuses on the role of the individual in society. He produced the documentary “Kinderblock 66: Return to Buchenwald,” and directed the documentaries “African Exodus,” about the plight of Israel’s African refugees, and “Tree Man,” about the people who come to New York City to sell Christmas trees every holiday season.

Rothschild said that when he saw a story in October 2016, that had the headline “Black Rabbinical Student Leads Army of Moms against Gun Violence in Chicago,” it “just struck me that she would make a good subject for a fi lm.”

However, “She was hesitant at fi rst. I tried to connect with her on social media and her organization’s website. It took her a while before she responded to me, and when she did, she said she wasn’t interested in making a fi lm.”

But Rothschild kept in contact, and “the more we talked the more comfortable she became with the idea,” he said.

Filming began in June, 2017.

“It was pretty comfortable.

She’s such an easygoing person. There was no awkward-

“Here We Are” screens beginning April 21 PROMOTIONAL IMAGE

ness at all from the moment we started fi lming. There was no hesitance once we started,” Rothschild said.

“I learned a lot from her. She taught me a lot about the Chicago south side. I have developed a very deep appreciation of life there.”

“They Ain’t Ready for Me” debuted last year. “I talk to her (Manasseh) all the time.

(MASK) has gotten bigger, expanding to diff erent cities. And on that block it’s really expanded as well because of COVID.” Manasseh is an example of how an individual can make a diff erence in the world, Rothschild said.

“That is exactly the message I hope people take away … I definitely gravitate toward these kinds of stories — when systems fail, what people do to step up to the breach.”

The fi lm has been shown online at about 60 screenings. The response has been “very positive,” Rothschild said.

While most screenings have been at Jewish fi lm festivals and events, he said there have also been showings at festivals that “aren’t Jewish specifi cally,” including the Cleveland In-

“The Crossing,” set In Norway during World War II, will screen April 25. PROMOTIONAL IMAGE

ternational Film Festival and the Virginia Film Festival, where it won the audience award.

“People are just so taken by Tamar and her story,” Rothschild said.

A live discussion at the JCC

North Shore/Central Mass International Jewish Film Festival festival is scheduled at 7 p.m. April 22 with Manasseh and Rothschild. Visit the website for more information.

Other Q&A’s have gone well, Rothschild said. “People have

90 minutes falling in love with her and just love to talk with her about what she’s doing.”

Some people have asked how the residents in Tamar’s neighborhood feel about her See FESTIVALS, Page 13D

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | APRIL 1-7, 2021 | 13

Festivals Continued from Page 12D

Judaism, Rothschild said.

“My response is that I think Tamar is the best PR that Judaism can have on the south side of Chicago.”

The Central Mass. International Jewish Film Festival has been presented by the Worcester JCC with the goal of “Celebrating the Jewish experience through fi lm.”

The event grew from three fi lms in the early years to showing six. It was always held held in January because it didn’t clash with much else on the cultural or JCC calendar, Greenberg said.

For 2021 she was faced with a whole set of new challenges for the festival if it was going to its 14th year.

“I was trying to fi gure out what we would do this year.

Worcester is enigmatic. The Worcester Jewish community is small.” The fi lm festival does have a cross-over of fi lm lovers who aren’t necessarily Jewish, “but we’re still a small fi lm festival,” Greenberg said.

With other activities, especially since the pandemic, the Worcester JCC has partnered with similar organizations across the country to share online programs that are off ered for free.

For a fi lm festival, however, there are more intricacies and considerations.

“In the early days of fi lm virtual fi lm festivals you could share a fi lm and it didn’t matter,” Greenberg said.

Now many fi lm distributors have introduced geo-blocking, which can restrict access to content based on the geographical location. That includes having Massachusetts fi lm festivals geo-blocked to anyone outside of Massachusetts.

“Knowing there was geoblocking going on I had to fi nd out who in Massachusetts would want to partner with us,” Greenberg said.

Greenburg knows Sara Ew-

ing, her counterpart at the JCC North Shore, but hadn’t previously done programs with the organization.

This year will be JCC North Shore’s eight International Jewish Film Festival. In 2020 they did pivot to off er an online program of fi lms.

“I asked them if they would consider us as a partner,” Greenberg said. “They came back and thought it was a winwin situation.”

JCC North Shore’s “International Jewish Film Festival” last year proved to be a big success, “which I consider masterful in last year’s climate,” Greenberg said.

“It was not easy but they did it, so their learning curve was not so steep (this year).

My learning curve has been a lot steeper. I got my festival in last year but this year I have a lot to learn so I’m thrilled to be partnering. Particularly since we’re geo-blocked (to Massachusetts only). I’m thrilled to be be able to actually partner with the North Shore JCC.” The Worcester JCC joined up as the JCC North Shore was already selecting fi lms, Greenberg said.

“People are not doing fi lm festivals in their usual time frame. We sort of came in after the half-way mark. They have their own process of selecting fi lms. They have an entire committee. We’re so much smaller. … They rank all the fi lms they watch. It was very impressive to see their discussion on fi lms, why they were lobbying for fi lms or not. The end result everyone is trying to have a balance of fi lms. Always documentaries and feature fi lms. This year they have fi lms from all over the world,” Greenberg said.

For presenting fi lms online, the distributor still requires a fee. In fact, the cost is actually roughly about the same as that for in-person screenings — usually “$500 to $1,000 for one fi lm, one time,” Greenberg said. If a fi lm is about to go on demand, “I’ll get a better price See FESTIVALS, Page 14D

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Festivals Continued from Page 13D

— $350,” she said.

Will people pay? Will they like the platform?

“My audience tends to be 40 on up. I don’t know if younger people will access the fi lms,” Greenberg said.

For anyone who is technically challenged, “I’m preparing to be the helper person.”

A big plus in favor of online screenings is that they open up more possibilities for a live talk or Q&A because the participants don’t physically have to be in Worcester or Marblehead.

“I would occasionally have a speaker. Sometimes we’d do a discussion after a fi lm,” Greenberg said of the in-person festivals.

“In this case because of the virtual, the distributor realized that (having participants) was advantageous. It’s sort of an

Kari Simonson appears in “The Crossing.” PROMOTIONAL IMAGE

equalizer being virtual. We’re able to do what the San Francisco (Jewish) Film Festival is

doing also,” Greenberg said.

Still, she will be keeping a close eye on the Worcester

JCC’s fi rst online cultural event since the pandemic where people have had to pay for a ticket.

As for what the festival might look like next year, “I’m in the process of writing grants for funds, looking at what 202122 will look like. I guess it will be a hybrid of some things. It’s hard to know. In some ways I would love for the old normal.

There is a sense of community.

People chat before the fi lm.

People run into people they haven’t seen in a while. Zoom created connections when you can see other people. I would hope that maybe we could do a combination of both,” Greenberg said.

“There is nothing quite like viewing a fi lm together, seeing something on a big screen as opposed to whatever device you’re watching. That’s the loss part of it. The gain part of it is these 13 fi lms we’re able to show, and (people can) be anywhere. I think it’s going to be hybrid at least for the coming year, and dictated by whatever we’re able to do.”

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

Bushido Bright Bushido Bright Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

Bushido Bright is a 21-year-old African-American multimedia artist. His Instagram profi le is @bushidobright.

Left: “You gonna introduce me to your friends?”

BUSHIDO BRIGHT

Far left: “Doom for hire.”

BUSHIDO BRIGHT

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | APRIL 1-7, 2021 | 15

CONNELL SANDERS

How to trick kids into eating bok choy Sarah Connell Sanders Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

I’ve been a teacher for more than a decade, eight years at the middle school level, and three of the longest years of my life in elementary. Big kids make jokes and let their curiosities soar. Little kids throw up and cry a lot.

It wasn’t all bodily fl uids all the time. My principal was a profound mentor for me while I muddled my way through teaching technology to third-, fourth- and fi fth-graders.

“They’re so little,” I would tell her.

“And so capable,” she would say.

Even though my students usually weren’t deliberately

trying to make me laugh, we rarely made it through class without cracking up. Then, there was the realization that our access to devices didn’t mean we had to stay buried in our screens all day. Our lessons could be mobile. We took the show on the road.

My elementary students brought an intense sense of wonder and nurturing to our outdoor classroom. Come winter, one of the parents who had been particularly supportive of this existential awakening suggested we get into hydroponic farming. The boss gave us her blessing and we set up our fi rst tower garden. Pretty soon, I was reforming picky eaters in the cafeteria left and right.

I was shocked by the swarm of 9-year-olds begging me for a

taste of the leafy green every day. Then, the pregnant music teacher showed them an app on her phone comparing her baby to the size of a bok choy and all hell broke loose.

“Give us the bok choy!” they demanded. I wore gloves and wielded a pair of kitchen shears, snipping away until our bok choy supply ran dry.

Students who wanted to take veggies home were welcome to do so. They couldn’t wait to convince younger siblings to sample fresh herbs like basil and parsley for the fi rst time. I might have been a technology teacher, but I felt like a farmer — adhering to strict schedules, tracking growth and weighing produce.

When I left elementary school behind, my green thumb

went with it. I hadn’t thought about the tower garden in years until my interest was reignited last week by the eclectic crowd that gathered at Worcester’s Boys & Girls Club for the launch of 2Gether We Eat, a youth hydroponic farming program. The organization, led by Charles Luster, goes beyond the mission of alleviating hunger in food deserts by emphasizing job training for adolescents in the hydroponic fi eld.

Congressman Jim McGovern, a longtime champion for food justice, encouraged attendees to join forces. “This is an initiative worth getting behind because we know that it will work. Hunger is a political condition,” he said. “We have the money, the know-how, the infrastructure — we have ev-

erything but the political will and I would like to think that we could all come together.”

Feeding the community is not only a noble goal, it’s a necessary one. The folks behind 2Gether We Eat are stepping up and reminding everyone that eradicating hunger is an achievable goal.

“I’ve seen a lot of heartache in my job over the years, but if you’ve ever seen a hungry child, it literally does break your heart,” closed McGovern, “As a United States Congressman, I’m ashamed of that because we can fi x this.”

Want to get involved? Email info@2getherweeat.org and fi nd out how you can feed Worcester, as their motto goes, “from the land, not the can.”

THE NEXT DRAFT

Wachusett Brewing Co. strengthens bond with Long Island brewer Matthew Tota Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

A black-and-white sketch of a barn on Ned LaFortune’s family farm has long served as the logo for Wachusett Brewing Co., the brewery he and two college mates founded in 1993.

Some days as a kid, LaFortune toiled for hours in the barn haying with his father. Later, he brewed some of Wachusett’s fi rst batches of beer at the Westminster farm.

The barn and LaFortune family farm came to symbolize everything Wachusett the brand stood for: A bucolic, local brewery, passionate, humble, focused on smart growth through sheer mettle and hard work.

But these days, Wachusett’s identity and future seem more

tied to a hamlet on the easternmost end of Long Island than that farm in the shadow of Wachusett Mountain.

Since 2013, Wachusett has had a co-packing, or contract brewing, agreement with Montauk Brewing Co., one of New York’s fastest-growing breweries. That relationship has come to defi ne Wachusett’s recent growth, even as it has led to leadership changes around the brewery.

The deal is simple. Wachusett brews beer for Montauk, which is a registered corporation in Massachusetts, at its Westminster brewery. Montauk pays the taxes on the beer brewed by Wachusett and ships it out of the state via a third-party trucking company for sale on Long Island and New York City.

Quietly, with the help of Wa-

chusett and its other co-packer, Two Roads Brewing Co. in Connecticut, Montauk has become Long Island’s second-largest brewery behind Blue Point Brewing Co. in Patchogue.

Wachusett, in turn, has placed more emphasis on the co-packing side of the brewery, fueling Montauk’s rise in New York. But just how much of Wachusett’s recent success has been tied to Montauk’s?

Two years ago, Wachusett climbed to the 43rd largest brewery in the country, producing more than 73,000 barrels of beer, according to the U.S. Brewers Association. The brewery at the time credited its strength in selling to local accounts around Central Massachusetts.

In fact, more than half of Wachusett’s production — well over 40,000 barrels — was for

Montauk. Not a drop of that beer was sold anywhere in the Bay State.

For 2019, Wachusett reported steady, but modest growth, with production up 5% from 2018; Montauk, though, was one of a handful of breweries to show double-digit growth, with its production up 23%.

Of course, most of that beer came out of tanks in Westminster, not Montauk. And Wachusett’s production for Montauk has not slowed: Today, Wachusett brews roughly 50,000 barrels for Montauk.

“It’s been a very important relationship,” said John May, who is part of an investment group that in September acquired a stake in Wachusett.

“Wachusett has been able to take the money from co-packing and reinvest it in its systems and people. We bought a

brand-new pasteurizer for producing seltzers. We rented a brand-new warehouse, and we continue to expand.”

May and the other new investors have a clear path forward for Wachusett to recover after the pandemic, including expanding its co-packing business. Wachusett’s brewery, one of the most effi cient in the state, is no doubt positioned to brew and package more beer for other breweries. It’s packing team runs like a well-oiled machine. Its canning line can fi ll 450 cans a minute.

“We fully expect to take on some additional co-packers in the area, and we potentially are looking to acquire other brands,” May said.

May works for Brett Williams, who used to run the VerSee BREWER, Page 18D

16 | APRIL 1-7, 2021 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

SCREEN TIME

A few fi lms to warm up for baseball season Jim Keogh

Burt Lancaster, center, stars in “Field of Dreams.”

Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

When relief pitcher Keith Foulke underhanded the ball to fi rst baseman Doug Mientkiewicz to record the fi nal out of the 2004 World Series, the fi rst Red Sox championship in 86 years, my phone rang almost immediately. My father. He was so excited he could barely fi nd the words. It was as though an alien spaceship had landed in his yard, leaving him too overwhelmed to register what he was experiencing. “They did it,” he said. And then he laughed.

“They did do it, didn’t they?”

I know many disbelieving conversations occurred that night among families and friends who had endured dec-

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

ades of frustration waiting for their team to fi nally win a title.

Our unrequited passion was perfectly captured in the movie “Fever Pitch” when the Red Sox-obsessed teacher played

by Jimmy Fallon is challenged by one his students. “You love the Red Sox so much,” the kid muses, “but have the Red Sox ever loved you back?” In 2004, the Red Sox loved us back.

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Major League Baseball’s opening day is Thursday, and it’s obviously not the occasion it once was. Football is king now. We’re heading into April, and all the oxygen on local sports radio is consumed with speculation about the NFL draft and debate over the Patriots’ free agent signings. Today I listened to an extended conversation about Tom Brady’s return to Foxboro with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which won’t happen for another six months.

And I was into it.

But baseball is still special. A former colleague once said that while she doesn’t care much for the sport’s details, she’s inspired by the idea of baseball. It is true that if football is an action movie, then baseball is a poem (consult George Carlin’s classic comparison of the two sports for more metaphors).

I’m trying to reignite my lovin’ feeling for baseball before the fi rst pitch of 2021 is thrown, and I’ve decided one way to do it is by jumping onto YouTube and revisiting some favorite scenes from classic baseball movies. Here’s what I’ve chosen: “Field of Dreams” — No, it’s not Kevin Costner playing catch with his dead father. It’s Burt Lancaster as the ghost of Doc “Moonlight” Graham, who gets one last chance to play ball

with Shoeless Joe Jackson and the dead boys of summer in Costner’s Elysium cornfi eld.

When his time is done, Doc prepares to retreat into the corn.

Then Shoeless Joe calls out to him. “Hey rookie!” he says.

“You were good.”

“The Natural” — Again, not the expected fi nale with Roy Hobbs hitting a (literally) explosive game-winning homerun. I prefer an earlier scene in Chicago, when the slumping Hobbs steps up to the plate in Wrigley Field and his former girlfriend, played by Glenn Close, rises in the stands to silently urge him on. It works.

Roy blasts a homerun that shatters the clock in centerfi eld, and, even better, cues Randy Newman’s triumphal musical score.

“Bull Durham” — Pitcher Ebby “Nuke” LaLoosh (Tim Robbins), he of the million-dollar arm and fi ve-cent head, keeps shaking off the sign for a fastball from catcher Crash Davis (Costner) so he can throw the curve. Exasperated, Crash informs the batter that a curveball is coming, and, so informed, the hitter yanks it out of the park. When he visits the mound, Crash marvels, “Man, that ball got out of here in a hurry.”

“Moneyball” — Mild-mannered player analyst Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) secretly meets with Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) in a parking garage, like baseball’s own Deep Throat, to deliver the bad news that the sport’s traditional methods for evaluating players are all wrong. The conversation between stat geek and exec is intimate but also seismic, ushering in the age of data-overscouting decision-making in baseball.

There, I’ve watched them all, and I’m offi cially good to go.

Play ball!

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | APRIL 1-7, 2021 | 17

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18 | APRIL 1-7, 2021 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

TABLE HOPPIN’

Beirut Bite owner sees risk paying off Barbara M. Houle Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

Rony Zoghby is an independent restaurant owner who braced for the unknown when he opened Beirut Bite, 156 Shrewsbury St., Worcester last spring.

The Worcester resident put his real estate career on hold when he signed a lease in January 2020 for space once occupied by the short-lived C’Mondz international restaurant and before that the popular Meze Greek Tapas Bar & Grill, now Meze Estiatorio lo-

cated at 166 Shrewsbury St. Zoghby’s story is similar to others we have written during the pandemic, especially fi rsttime owners who say they had no choice but to open after signing leases. “The fi rst year in business can leave you feeling overwhelmed under normal circumstances,” said Zoghby.

“Is it crazy to start a business during coronavirus? Most people would say, ‘yes,’ but I believe an owner’s commitment of time and eff ort and hard work pays off in the long run.”

His restaurant refl ects food he grew up with, he said, explaining that his mother taught

him to cook. He uses her recipes in the restaurant. His parents and siblings all live in the Worcester area, he said, and family members help wait tables on busy weekends.

When Zogby decided to open a “Lebanese/Mediterranean” restaurant his real estate experience kicked in, he said.

He looked at vacant spaces in and around the city but liked the current location because it already had been set up as a restaurant. In addition, there are two separate dining areas, one he plans to use for private

ASHLEY GREEN/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

See BITE, Page 19D

Brewer Continued from Page 15D

mont Hard Cider Co., maker of Woodchuck Cider, before he sold it for $305 million in 2012.

Williams invested in Wachusett through Blueberry Ale Inc., a nod to Wachusett’s fl agship ale.

Williams has ties to both Montauk and LaFortune, according to Brewbound, a trade publication that fi rst reported details about Wachusett’s new investors.

Williams invested in Montauk in 2013 and played an infl uential role in arranging the co-packing agreement between Montauk and Wachusett, according to Brewbound.

Williams and LaFortune were also childhood friends, Brewbound reported, both attending the same high school.

May described Williams as most excited about seeing Wachusett’s Worcester taproom, which opened last year, fl ourish. Williams is a Worcester guy, he said, born in a city homeless shelter.

May declined to discuss the

CEO Ned LaFortune of Wachusett Brewing Co. CHRISTINE PETERSON/T&G FILE PHOTO

specifi cs of his group’s stake in Wachusett, noting that LaFortune remains the brewery’s CEO. LaFortune demurred when I asked to speak with him for this column, only saying in an email that the relationship has been a “win-win since the beginning and very important to the success of both companies.”

The new investors are part of a leadership sea change in-

Owner Rony Zoghby with his mom, Laure Zoghby, at Beirut Bite.

side the 27-year-old brewery.

Last September, Christian McMahan stepped down as president of Wachusett and left the company. During his three years as president, McMahan helped Wachusett expand its taproom and distribution off erings; he also was critical in opening Wachusett’s Brew Yard in Worcester. He declined to discuss the details of his departure.

In talking with May, I get the sense that parts of McMahan’s vision for Wachusett will remain, such as the reliance on its three taprooms — in Cambridge, Westminster and Worcester.

“We need to focus on the foundation,” May said. “A high majority of our sales is in Massachusetts. Our goal is to produce the freshest beer out there and focus on our two main taprooms, which is Westminster and Worcester. We really expect that to be a critical part of Wachusett. We really want to be a key partner with the city of Worcester as well.”

At the same time, May said, Wachusett will likely limit the number of new beers it releases into distribution. Under McMahan, Wachusett had a near constant stream of new releases, including the New England IPA “Wally,” the most successful rollout in the history of the brewery.

“In the past we have probably had a few too many SKUs,” May said, using an industry description for new products. “We want to focus on smart innovation. In our taproom at Westminster, we have a rotational

tap line called ‘Rarest of the Rare,’ so as our brewers come up with new beers, we’ll be testing those with our consumers, let the feedback come back, and see if we want to go to market with any of them.”

The last new beer Wachusett released to market was in December 2020.

In the next couple of months, the Brewers Association will reveal last year’s production data. Wachusett’s numbers will show a sharp decline in barrelage. The drop isn’t related to the pandemic, May said, but the brewery parsing out Montauk’s production from its own.

With all the beer Wachusett brews for Montauk, I worry about the Westminster brewer’s own brands dwindling.

There’s still a powerful thirst for its classics, like Country Pale Ale, with its label depicting LaFortune’s bright red barn.

And there’s an expectation that the brewery will continue innovating.

Because no matter how fast and effi cient a brewing operation Wachusett has, it's nothing without a soul.

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | APRIL 1-7, 2021 | 19

Bite Continued from Page 18D

parties. Another plus is Shrewsbury Street business owners are “friendly and helpful.”

In the past several weeks, people seem to be getting back a sense of balance, Zoghby said. He has seen an increase in weekend dining and takeout and delivery at his business and plans outdoor dining by late April, weather permitting.

He also is awaiting a full liquor license.

Zoghby’s the “fi rst in and last to leave the restaurant,” with the business open for breakfast (all day), lunch and dinner. There are other established restaurants in the city with similar menus, he said, but he considers some of his Lebanese cuisine a little diff erent from the others.

Kaack, a traditional Lebanese street bread, is an item that makes Beirut Bite unique, according to Zoghby, who makes the ring-shaped bread from scratch and sells it plain or with added ingredients such as zastar (thyme), labneh, a tangy, thick and creamy yogurt cheese, Kashkavid cheese, Ackawi cheese or chocolate spread. “It doesn’t get any more authentic than Lebanese kaack,” he said.

Other popular Mediterranean food, such as kibbeh, beef shawarma, chicken shawarma, grape leaves, falafel, spicy fi sh, kafta, baba ghanooj and hummus, are included in a variety of other appetizers and lunch and dinner items, some featured as a sandwich, platter or both. Cheese or vegetarian pizza also are available. So are french fries and several desserts. Zoghby emphasized food is made fresh and on premise.

Beirut Bite is open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday. Closed Monday. Connect on social media.

You can fi nd the menu at www.seamless.com, a part of

Grubhub Inc. portfolio of brands. Call (508) 459-9963 for more information about catering, etc.

Shrewsbury Street owners look to the return of streetwide promotions and events such as Taste of Shrewsbury Street, etc., canceled last year as a result of the pandemic. As a fi rst-time participant, Zoghby said he “can’t wait.”

Until then, food lovers continue to enjoy the diversity of cuisine of Shrewsbury Street.

Sonoma taking Easter reservations Sonoma Restaurant at the Beechwood Hotel in Worcester has Easter Dinner reservations available from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

April 4. Call (508) 453-1111 to reserve and for more information.

The restaurant will off er a menu of “Farm to Table” prix fi xe meals, $69.95 per person, not including tax and gratuity; $20 children under 12.

On the menu: Traditional Easter Honey Glazed Ham; Grilled New Zealand Rack of Lamb; Duck a L’Orange; Grilled 15-ounce Ribeye Steak; Grilled Salmon Oscar; Grilled Cajun Dusted Swordfi sh; Grilled Caulifl ower Steak (vegetarian option).

Job fair set for Apex Entertainment Apex Entertainment in Marlboro will hold a job fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 3 at 21 Apex Drive, Marlboro.

Participating businesses hiring on the spot for full- and part-time positions include Apex Entertainment; 110 Grill; Evviva Trattoria; Fairfi eld by Marriott Apex Center; Hyatt Place Apex Center; Townplace Suites Wrentham Plainville; Springhill Suites Wrentham Plainville; Hilton Garden Inn Devens; Springhill Suites Marriott Devens; Devens Common Center; Marriott Residence Inn Nashua.

In person applications for more than 1,000 available positions; no appointments required. Appetizers and refreshments will be available.

See BITE, Page 20D

No crowds? No problem!

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.

Visit localiq.com/Engage to get started.

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20 | APRIL 1-7, 2021 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

WARL ADOPTION OPTION

Sassy is available for adoption at WARL. PHOTO COURTESY OF SARA MCCLURE

Bite Continued from Page 19D

Any person hired during the job fair who works 90 days in his or her new position will be entered for a chance to win a vacation for a family of four, in addition to other prizes.

Grape-Nuts are back!

By now most cereal lovers

have heard the news that Grape-Nuts cereal is offi cially back, shipping at full capacity to stores nationwide, bringing the Great Grape-Nuts Shortage of 2021 to an end.

The brand also announced that it will reimburse fans who paid infl ated prices for GrapeNuts cereal during the pandemic-related shortage.

“It became abundantly clear during the shortage that Grape-

Meet Sassy 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.

Meet Sassy! This girl has been in a couple of homes the past few years and has not found the right fi t yet. Sassy is very puppy-like at her age and enjoys a lot of activity. She would love a family she can go on walks and car rides with.

She is very silly and loves to play with toys, whether they are tennis balls or plush toys, she has no preference she just likes to have fun. Sassy is a strong dog who will need to be walked on a harness and needs to brush up on her basic manners. She loves meeting new people and also does well with children, but does not like other animals. She is a big foodie and sometimes gets a bit overzealous when taking a treat, so she would not be ideal for a home with small children. She has what our vet believes is seasonal allergies, so her new family will need to keep an eye on her skin to make sure she is comfortable during any fl are-ups.

Sassy has a zest for life that will

have your heart smiling and she is sure to make some lucky family very happy! If you would like more information about Sassy or you would like to make an appointment to meet her, please contact the shelter.

WARL COVID-19 Procedures As of Nov. 9, 2020 As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, we want to share with you some changes we have implemented so that we can continue to serve the pets and people of our community while keeping our team protected.

• ADOPTIONS: At this time, adoptions are being held BY APPOINTMENT ONLY. If you are interested in adoption, please visit our website worcesterarl.org/ adopt/ to learn more about our available animals then call us at (508) 853-0030 ext.0 or email us at info@worcesterarl. org to schedule an appointment.

• CASUAL VISITS TO THE SHELTER are prohibited. We will strictly enforce this in order to keep our animal care team protected while still maintaining the most essential function of our operation ... fi nding homes for animals in need.

• ANIMAL SURRENDERS: Our business practice for surrendering a pet remains the same. All pet owners must con-

Nuts fans are ‘Nuts for GrapeNuts,’” said Kristin DeRock, Grape-Nuts brand manager at Post Consumer Brands. “So much so that some of our loyal super fans were willing to pay extreme prices just to ensure they wouldn’t be without their favorite crunchy cereal. As a way to show our appreciation and thank these fans for their dedication, we want to repay the love by reimbursing them.”

Consumers who paid $10 or more for a box of Grape-Nuts Original cereal between Nov. 1, 2020, and March 15, 2021, are eligible to submit a valid retailer or e-retailer receipt for a partial refund of up to $115 to help cover the diff erence between the amount paid and the suggested retail price of the GrapeNuts Original cereal box purchased. Submit receipts between now and April 15. Visit

tact WARL in advance of surrendering a pet. Please call (508) 853-0030.

• SPAY/NEUTER CLINICS: All scheduled appointments will be honored. If you have a scheduled appointment, we will be contacting you to discuss changes to our drop off / pick up procedures.

• DONATIONS ACCEPTED except for open bags of food.

• Pet food, cat litter, and other shelter supplies will be essential in continuing to provide for our animals and to assist community members in need. To avoid unnecessary travel and exposure, items can be purchased online from our Amazon Wishlist - https:// www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/3AX342JIL73M0 • Weekly training classes are going on for adopters.

• The WARL Volunteer Program is temporarily suspended. All regular volunteer shifts are on hold. We look forward to welcoming you back as soon as we can. We have many animals in our care who depend on us to stay healthy and well. The above measures help to protect our staff and community from the spread of COVID - 19 by minimizing face-to-face interactions while continuing to operate only core essential services. Please continue to follow our Facebook page for additional updates. Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact the shelter at (508) 853-0030 or info@ worcesterarl.org.

www.postconsumerbrands.com for more information.

Follow the brand on Facebook and Instagram. Join the GrapeNuts Secret Super Fans Facebook group to engage with other fans of this “nutty, crunchy community.”

If you have a tidbit for the column, call (508) 868-5282.

Send email to bhoulefood@gmail.com.

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | APRIL 1-7, 2021 | 21

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The CANOPY DEMOThe Worcester Worcester Housing HousingAuthority Authorityinvites invitessealed sealedbids bidsforfor CANOPY DEMOLITION, MA12-12 MA12-12BELMONT BELMONTTOWER TOWERAPARTMENTS, APARTMENTS, Belmont Street, LITION, 4040 Belmont Street, Worcester, MA MA 01605-2655; 01605-2655;WHA WHAJob JobNo. No.2019-06, 2019-06,ininaccordance accordance with Worcester, with the documents documents prepared preparedby bythe theArchitect, Architect,DIXON DIXONSALO SALOARCHITECTS, ARCHITECTS, the INC. The The work workisisestimated estimatedtotocost cost$140,000. $140,000.

INC. Project consists consists of of but but isis not notlimited limitedto: to:demolition demolitionofofexisting existing front Project front en-entrance canopy canopy at at Worcester Worcester Housing HousingAuthority’s Authority’sBelmont BelmontTower TowerApartAparttrance ments as as described describedininthe thespecifications specificationsand anddrawings. drawings. ments General Bids Bids will will be bereceived receiveduntil until2:00 2:00p.m. p.m.on onWednesday, Wednesday, April April 21,21, General 2021 at at the the Worcester WorcesterHousing HousingAuthority, Authority,Department DepartmentofofModernization, Modernization, 2021 81 Tacoma Tacoma Street, Street, Worcester, Worcester,MA MA01605 01605atatwhich whichtime timeand and place bids 81 place allall bids will be be opened opened by by the the Awarding AwardingAuthority.

Authority.Please Pleasenote: note:due duetoto ongoing will ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, restrictions,all allbids bidswill willbe beopened openedand andrecorded recorded without public COVID-19 without public attendance. The Theresults resultswill willbe bedistributed distributedshortly shortlythereafter. thereafter. attendance.

Pre-bid Conference Conferencewill willbe beheld heldatat10:00 10:00a.m. a.m.on onWednesday, Wednesday, April April 7, 7, A Pre-bid 2021 at at Belmont Belmont Tower TowerApartments, Apartments,40 40Belmont BelmontStreet, Street,Worcester, Worcester, 2021 MAMA 01605-2655 in in the thefront frontlobby lobbyatatwhich whichtime timebidders bidderswill will invited visit 01605-2655 bebe invited to to visit the project project site site with with aarepresentative representativeofofthe theArchitect Architectand andthe the Worcester the Worcester Housing Authority Authority representative. representative.Failure Failuretotoattend attendororvisit visitthe the premises Housing premises shall be be no no defense defenseininfailure failuretotoperform performcontract contractterms. terms. attendees shall AllAll attendees areare required to to follow followall allCOVID-19 COVID-19State Stateand andLocal LocalGuidelines.

Guidelines. required Bids are are subject subjectto toM.G.L. M.G.L.c149 c149§44A-J §44A-Jand andDavis DavisBacon Bacon wage rates well Bids wage rates asas well as other other applicable applicablelaws. laws. as Bid forms forms and and Contract ContractDocuments Documentswill willbe bemade madeavailable available the WorcesBid onon the Worcesat at nono ter Housing Housing Website Website(http://www.worcesterha.org/currentbids.html) (http://www.worcesterha.org/currentbids.html) ter cost.

2021 atat the Worcescost. Hard Hard copies copieswill willbe bemade madeavailable availableon onMarch March31, 31, 2021 the Worcester ter Housing Housing Authority Authority Department DepartmentofofModernization, Modernization,8181Tacoma TacomaStreet, Street, Worcester, Worcester, MA MA 01605 01605 and and thereafter, thereafter, Monday Mondaythru thruFriday Friday8:00 8:00A.M. A.M. through bebe obtained byby through 4:30 4:30 P.M. P.M. Copies Copiesofofthe theContract ContractDocuments Documentsmay may obtained payable to to thethe depositing depositing $50.00 $50.00 ininthe theform formofofaacompany companycheck, check,made made payable Worcester soso obtained.

Worcester Housing HousingAuthority, Authority,for foreach eachset setofofdocuments documents obtained.

General Asset ManageGeneral Bidders Biddersmust mustbe becertified certifiedby bythe theDivision DivisionofofCapital Capital Asset Management ofof work: GENment and and Maintenance Maintenance(DCAMM) (DCAMM)ininthe thefollowing followingcategory category work: GENERAL ERAL BUILDING BUILDINGCONSTRUCTION. CONSTRUCTION. Questions 7272 hours pri-priQuestions regarding regardingthis thisproject projectshall shallbe besubmitted submittedininwriting writing hours or or to to opening openingand and Referencethe theWHA WHAJob JobNumNumemailed emailed to to Mod-Bids@worcesterha.org.

Mod-Bids@worcesterha.org.Reference ber: 2019-06 2019-06 only onlyin inthe thesubject subjectline. line. ber:

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Richard Sneade Richard Sneade

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Sudoku Answers

22 | APRIL 1-7, 2021 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

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!

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66

-34 4 5 2 8 8 8 cla

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Across 1 Bowling locale 6 Fixes typos 11 Supporter 14 Grasp 15 When to see la luna 16 “Where’s the ___?”

17 It’s got a point to it 19 “Much ___ About Nothing” 20 Oratorio part 21 Sis’s counterpart 22 Frequently 24 “Owner of a Lonely Heart” rock band 25 Astronaut Jemison 26 Not qualified 28 Island country north of New Zealand 33 Singer LaMontagne 34 35mm camera choice 35 “The Parent ___” 36 “Downton ___” 39 “Harper Valley ___” (1968 hit) 40 “Byeeee” 41 “___ all a favor ...”

42 1.5-volt battery size 43 Actor Barinholtz 44 His Secret Service code name is “Celtic” 49 Skulk about 50 “Uh-uh” 51 “Feels great!”

53 Part of PSL 55 “Oh, nasty!”

56 “Tickle Me” doll 57 Brooding music genre 58 Tequila brand since 1886 whose name means “Old Town” 62 Tiny bite 63 First name in cosmetics 64 Let go 65 6-point football scores 66 Beloved ones 67 Paintball mementos

Down 1 Chemistry test 2 “The Elements” satirist Tom 3 Be a go-between 4 Cornell who founded Cornell University

“Sandwiched”--it’s a matter of taste.

by Matt Jones

5 “Uh-huh” 6 Pharmaceutical for rheumatoid arthritis 7 Martial arts facility 8 It may be crushed 9 Active chemical in cannabis 10 Light, as fireworks 11 Reason to pull over 12 Helper 13 Bar sign light 18 1994 Siouxsie and the Banshees single 23 Highest number on a billiard ball 25 ___ Thai (martial art) 26 John Wooden’s team 27 Neither go-with 29 Roll call response 30 “From hell’s heart, ___ at thee” (“Moby-Dick” quote) 31 Director Duplass 32 Bitter drink 36 Modifying wd.

37 Bleachers sound 38 Places to be let on 39 Central or Hyde, e.g.

40 Twist out of shape 42 “The Living Daylights” singers 43 “Famous Potatoes” state 45 Looked slyly

46 English, in Spanish 47 White of “Family Matters” 48 “Roger ___” (1960s cult cartoon hero) 52 They’re raised by mechanics 53 Time to give up?

54 Included with 55 Lyft competitor 56 County Kerry’s isle 59 Manipulate 60 Pilot’s calculation 61 Group for ex-GIs

Last week's solution

©2021 Matt Jones (jonesincrosswords@gmail.com) Reference puzzle #1034

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | APRIL 1-7, 2021 | 23

LAST CALL

Andrea Cameron, Forest Grove teacher and community gardener Sarah Connell Sanders Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

Andrea Cameron spent the last year developing a fl exible curriculum for the Community Teaching Garden and Literacy Project. Woodward Day School has already begun to use elements of the curriculum and Forest Grove Middle School, where Cameron teaches, will launch this project as an afterschool club when COVID-19 protocols allow for it.

How long have you been in Worcester?

I grew up in Worcester over

by St. Peter Marion. Now, I own a house in the Indian Lake neighborhood. I bought it about seven years ago. I work at Forest Grove, which is right down the hill from the lake. I met Carl Gomes two summers ago. He had an end-of-the-summer neighborhood block party.

When I met him, he started talking about his vision for a community garden. I shared with him that I worked at Forest Grove and I loved his idea.

Shortly after, I began working with him on a curriculum that we could use for the garden.

Has your timeline been delayed at all because of COVID? The pandemic has aff ected things. Originally, at the end of last year, we were starting a gardening club at Forest Grove.

It was all set to get started in May. We were recruiting kids.

There was money for resources regarding tools. Even though the garden itself is in the Indian Lake neighborhood, we were going to start using the curriculum and getting kids into gardening at the school. Then, obviously, the school closed down and we never got to fulfi ll that goal. We're all going back to

Andrea Cameron stands on site the Indian Lake Community Association Community Teaching Garden on West Boylston Drive in Worcester. DYLAN AZARI

school in a week and we'll be hybrid. At the end of May, kids might be back full time. I don't know what we're going to be able to do in terms of clubs or if we can even have after-school clubs. I think we're kind of hoping that we can at least start this in the fall when the new school year begins and have kids eventually meeting up in the Indian Lake Community Garden.

What are your objectives moving forward?

The Community Teaching Garden and Literacy Project is a community resource that will help students to learn about food justice, climate change, and encourage environmental stewardship. Students will

learn about topics such as garden safety, plant care, soil, greenhouses, food justice, climate change, and they will even have the opportunity to explore related careers in these areas. The project will incorporate elements of science, social justice, literacy, and even art.

Did you write the curriculum all by yourself?

I worked with Eliza Lawrence, who is the school gardens manager at the Regional Environmental Council.

We’re so lucky to have Eliza in Worcester.

Yes, she’s wonderful and we also worked with Marissa Gallant, the Youth Education Manager at Tower Hill Botanic Garden.

How long have you been a teacher?

This is my 14th year teaching. I went to school for education at Anna Maria College and I started teaching at age 22 at Southbridge High School. After I got my master's degree, I came to Worcester. I taught at North High for four years and I've been at Forest Grove ever since.

Do you have any big asks for the community?

We're actually looking for a garden manager for the community garden. Obviously, kids are going to be working in the garden, but school isn't in session in the summer and some of the garden beds are going to be run by the members of the community. If anyone is inter-

ested in that position, they can contact Carl Gomes. The Indian Lake Community Association is sponsoring the garden.

They're going to be paying for the water and the maintenance. Any donations can be made to them as well if anyone or any companies want to be corporate sponsors.

Have you always been into gardening?

I'm actually new to gardening. I'm an English teacher. I don't have a background in science, so I've been learning a lot about gardening from writing this curriculum. I think what I mostly want my kids to know is that you don't have to be an expert to start a garden. You can learn these things through trial and error and anyone can grow food.

What are your long-term goals for this project?

I know that one of the big visions that Carl has is that he wants to make this garden a place to teach kids how to be global citizens. One of the things that the garden is going to focus on is climate change and food justice. The curriculum is also aiming to be crosscurricular. So, there are elements of science, literacy, and art. I think he wants to really just draw people in, connect people, and teach them about bigger issues that aff ect the globe. He has a relationship with another community garden in Kenya, and he really wants to connect the Indian Lake Community Garden with the one in Kenya and have the kids communicating with each other and learning about how it's diff erent to grow food there versus here. Like, how they get their water versus how we get our water.

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