Worcester Magazine April 4 - 10, 2019

APRIL 4 - 10, 2019 WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

NEWS • ARTS • DINING • NIGHTLIFE

FREE

H W SEX ED REALLY DIED What went on behind the scenes in Worcester

2019

Summer Guide A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019 WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

2

Reach more than 200,000 consumers — looking to have a

Fun-Filled Summer!

Features* may include, but are not limited to:

Outdoor Dining and Drinks Indoor Fun Road Races Recreational Parks & Trails Local Breweries and Wineries Ice Cream and Frozen Yogurt Beaches! - Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island Fresh and Local - Farmers’ Markets Golf Courses Local Arts Fairs and Festivals Sounds of Summer Summer Theater

Contact your media consultant today!

508-767-9574 or via email at WMSales@gatehousemedia.com

*subject to change without notice

COMING JUNE 13, 2019 • SPACE RESERVATIONS CLOSE MAY 15, 2019

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 A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019 • V O L U M E 44 I S S U E 32

the cover

How Sex Ed Really Died Story on page 12 Design by Kimberly Vasseur

23 19

17 A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019 WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

Find us on Facebook.com/worcestermag Twitter @worcestermag Instagram: Worcestermag

3

news Coalition claims Worcester schools failing students of color Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story first appeared on line at worcestermag.com.

A

schools. According to the group, formed by Worcester Interfaith, which is comprised of local clergy and community members, English learners have the highest dropout rate (5 percent) of all students, followed by Latinos (3.4 percent). Latino students, they noted, have the highest chronic absenteeism and disciplinary exclusion rates (19.9 and 11.5 percent, respectively).

“These data, among others,” the

4

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019

local group is saying the city’s public schools are failing its students of color, and is calling for the School Committee not to renew the contract of School Superintendent Maureen Binienda and to remove School Safety Liaison Rob Pezzella

from his post.

In response Mayor Joe Petty has proposed several steps he said must be taken “immediately.”

In particular, according to the Worcester Coalition for Education Equity, the school district is failing Latino students, citing numbers from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education showing they make up 42.9 percent of the students in the city’s public

Maureen Binienda FILE PHOTO

Coalition wrote in a news release earlier this week, “highlight the inevitable conclusion that our public schools are failing our students of color, particularly our Latino students.

What they want: • Local accountability around student performance. The group cited a new report by the nonpartisan Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth, also known as MassINC., they say emphasizes the idea of local accountability for Gateway Cities. Worcester is among Massachusetts’ Gateway Cities.

• Hiring a chief diversity officer, who would be responsible for working with school personnel and district leadership “to create environments that support diversity and inclusion among staff and students.”

• Recruiting and hiring qualified staff reflecting the student body. According to the Coalition, of 3,412 full-time staff, fewer than 10 percent (9.6) are Latino. An “overwhelming” 84.3 percent of full-time staff, meanwhile, is white.

The school district, the group continued, must deliver high-quality education and allocate money to support English learners.

• An end to the “disproportionate disciplinary removals of students of color” as well as to stop “criminalizing our students, our families, our schools and our communities.” “Worcester,” the group wrote, “knows but has not addressed racially-disproportionate school discipline that disparately excludes students of colors from the neighborhood schools.”

• Non-renewal of Binienda’s contract and removal of Pezzella as school safety liaison. The Coalition

said it is time to “hold accountable people who have perpetuated our failures,” which they said includes the superintendent and school safety liaison, the latter of whom they said “continues to discipline minority and low-income students at higher rates than their counterparts ...” That practice, they said, is unacceptable.

One of the representatives of Worcester Interfaith, Rev. Jose Encarnacion, said the group is not asking for either Binienda of Pezzella to be fired. He stressed the word “removed.”

“Our issue is not so much with [Pezzella] is not so much with him as an individual, but the manner in which the post itself has been given the authority to handle discipline issues in the schools,” Encarnacion said. “The reality is, he’s not an educator, number one. We see it as problematic. I also understand, to give him the benefit of the doubt, I know he’s been there many years, and it’s a practice empowered to him by many past superintendents.

I do know he was not given the authority he has now when [ former School Superintendent Melinda] Boone was in her post.”

While he did not say Worcester teachers are racist, Encarnacion said, “What we’re saying is there is structural racism in place within the school system. There’s no question about it. The reality, I think, is we have a professional, ethical and moral imperative to expose injustice. The adverse impact in disciplinary practices on students of color in the Worcester Public Schools is screaming structural racism.”

There is, he said, “entrenched disparity.”

“We have even School Commit-

news

Councilor’s ‘crafty’ resolution on resource officers fails

BILL SHANER

and brought it to roll call. Only At-Large Councilor Moe Bergman voted with Lukes, though earlier he resolution put on the City said he would support a motion to Council agenda this week file, saying the item didn’t need to

by At-Large Councilor be before the Council.

Konnie Lukes to support The resolution reads, in full, school resource officers and police “That the Worcester City Council officers in public buildings failed, 9-2, after councilors called it poorly does hereby endorse the use of school resources officers/police written, an overstep of authority officers in public buildings by the and crafty. city administration as necessary to “My position on that is that it’s preserve public safety.” crafty, Mr. Chairman,” said CounIt comes several weeks after Discilor Khrystian King. “Crafty. C. R. trict 4 Councilor Sarai Rivera took A. F. T. Y.” a public stand against the addiKing and several others moved tion of a full-time school resource to file the order. Others moved to officer at Claremont Academy, push it to a Finance Committee a school in her district, saying it meeting. Mayor Joe Petty insisted was unpopular in the community it was against Council rules to file and the money would be better or delay a vote on the resolution

A

spent on other things. In the weeks since, Lukes has filed several items related to school resource officers, including a request for a legal opinion on what jurisdiction the Council has in dictating relationships between the police department and schools.

On Tuesday, before the vote took place, Lukes said she would support the petition going to Finance Committee, but she issued a warning.

“To vote no is sending a message I don’t think we should send,” said Lukes.

Rivera said Lukes’ warning was unfair.

“This is kind of like, ‘Hey, aha, got you,’” she said, “and that’s not something I want to be a part of.”

Konnie Lukes FILE PHOTO

Rivera was one of several to say the issue of school resource officers should be taken up at budget time. She said the requests coming from the police department are

significant, and she would rather see funding go toward programs like the police community C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 7

A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019 WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

5

news

6

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019

tee members that somehow thing in an urban district, the second largest city in New England, that somehow structural racism is nonexistent and we’re crazy to even think that. But I think the data speaks to a whole different story.

When you have students of color being suspended at different rates than their counterparts, then one has to wonder what exactly is it?”

Pezzella did not return a phone call seeking comment, but Binienda released the following statement this week: “Worcester, like many urban districts, is challenged by persistent disparities in school discipline, which impact Latino students, students with disabilities and other groups. This is unacceptable to me as Worcester’s Superintendent, and I have been working diligently to reduce these disparities.

“Our schools are engaged in supporting equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives through work such as focused training on discipline laws/practices, district participation in community meetings such as the Mayor’s Commission on Latino Education, and regular review of discipline data with principals and district leaders. We have explored restorative discipline strategies, in which our schools use

Mayor Joe Petty

School Committee member John Monfredo called any suggestion of racism among Worcester teachers “ludicrous.”

“We do a disservice to the city of Worcester and to the dedicated teachers and administrators in Worcester Public School stating they’re racist,” Monfredo said.

- Rev. Jose Encarnacion, Worcester Interfaith “There are rules, and one doesn’t consider race of the students when pline outcomes for all students. I methods other than suspension plete compliance with the law and one breaks the rules.”

He cited the statistics menlook forward to working with the and expulsion. As a result of these make any necessary changes to its city of Worcester’s Diversity Officer policies and procedures; Worcester tioned by Binienda as evidence of efforts, our in-school and outstrides being made in the area of to develop additional strategies to of-school suspension rates have State University to re-engage with suspensions. He also noted chronic support our efforts. significantly declined in the past the school department in order to “I acknowledge the critical work refresh and update the 2014 report, absenteeism, which he said is highschool year. In-house suspensions est among Latino students, at 19.3 needed to strengthen our practices “Suspension in Worcester: A are down 40.8 percent, out-ofand to improve our outcomes so school suspensions 31.4 percent Continuing Conversation”; training percent.

“Who are you blaming that that every student feels safe, supand long-term suspensions are practices focused on understandon?”

Monfredo asked. “The school ported and valued in our school down 18.8 percent from one year ing cultural differences, uncondepartment?” community.” ago. I continue to focus on this scious bias, and trauma informed Pressed on whether he does not On Tuesday, Petty released work as a priority.” care; public and private college think there are any issues regarding his own statement in which he “The School Committee and I partners to work on strategies for are working on meeting the school outlined seven steps he said the a focused recruitment and support students of color and their treatment in schools, Monfredo said, “I School Committee should emdistrict strategic plan, which effort of the diverse WPS student can’t say that. There’s issues with brace. includes explicit goals related to body for Education Preparation everyone.”

Petty called for the school deimproving equity and diversity Programs; and the Mayor’s Com“Everybody needs to be openpartment to provide the necessary, mission on Latino Education and and eliminating unconscious bias student-sensitive data needed to in our discipline practices as core Advancement, to finish their work minded about what we’re talking about,” he added. “The important do a thorough review of the susobjectives,” the superintendent and submit a report no later than this is, can we sit down and look pension rates in Worcester Public continued. “I continue to work Aug. 15.

Schools; the hiring of a diversity collaboratively with all stakehold“I know that we need to act and at what needs to be done and not play the blame game. I think we’ve and equal opportunity officer; a re- we need to act now,” Petty said. ers, including community groups, got a fantastic system. You look at parents, students and educators to view of the state’s school discipline “This is an ambitious plan, but I other Gateway Cities, they can’t strengthen and improve our disci- statute to ensure the city is in com- urge my colleagues on the school committee to embrace these initia- compare to us.

“The blame is, if you’re looktives and move this plan forward.” ing for a blame, the groups that The Coalition’s statement this need to get together and work as week came at a time of deep division among the School Committee, a team. We have brought down which appeared during the discus- chronic absenteeism and lessened the suspension rate. But it can’t be sion of sex education curriculum. done by the schools alone. Where Most recently, School Committee have [other groups] been in trying member Dante Comparetto, who had championed the Making Proud to resolve those issues?”

They’ve been there all along, acChoices sex ed model, said “crazy cording to Encarnacion. amounts of racism” were happen“We’ve always been working ing in Worcester Public Schools.

His statement drew criticism from together,” he said. “The problem is [Monfredo] probably isn’t aware some, who accused him of calling who is in this group. He’s assumWorcester teachers racist. Others supported him, saying Comparetto ing it’s just a group that decided to get together and rebel. This is not was pointing to institutional racthe work of some activist group ism. that is angry. This is the work of an The agenda for tonight’s School invested group of moral authority Committee meeting includes consideration of a communication figures in the community that felt our role as clergy members is not from Education Association of Worcester President Roger Nugent to be relegated to churches and not “relative to racist comments made be heard in the community. These are individuals that have invested

by Dante Comparetto, School Committee member, against EAW time and energy on working on education equity for years in this members.” city.”

Comparetto did not return a phone call seeking comment for FILE PHOTO this story.

Reached by phone this week,

“The adverse impact in disciplinary practices on students of color in the Worcester Public Schools is screaming structural racism.”

news RESOLUTION

C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 5

W

Sam Harnois is a senior studying communication and Spanish at Worcester State University. Harnois uses his camera and Photoshop to bring the impossible to reality.

Harnois seeks to provide “an escape from the immediate world we live in,” and his work “places a spin on the laws of the physical world and replaces them with endless possibilities of dreams.” While some of his imagery appears upbeat and happy, he hopes they will force the viewer to continue thinking about them as time goes on. Harnois currently has a photo on display in the downtown Worcester Windows exhibit, “Rebirth,” and has shown in several ArtsWorcester shows. You can find more of the artist’s work online at Samharnois.com.

A P R I L 5 - 11, 2018

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

25

Let us feature your artwork in Worcester Magazine’s Artist spotlight! Contact Joshua Lyford at jlyford@gatehousemedia.com for more information!

wanted

7

hile the resolution was a source of consternation, the Council spoke generally in favor of District 5 Councilor Matt Wally’s proposal to create a rental registry for non-owner occupied residential properties.

Wally requested the Commissioner of Inspectional Services

culture

Artist spotlight

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

RENTAL REGISTRY

artists A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019

dialogues held at the Main South CDC than an expansion in school resource officers. The program is popular among her constituency, she said.

King, who first motioned to file the resolution, agreed with Rivera that budget time was the best time for school resource officers.

Others who voted against the measure made sure to point out they would never, under any circumstance, say no to a request from the police department.

District 3 Councilor George Russell said he hasn’t voted against a request made by the department in seven years. Bergman said he would continue to support the department’s recommendation on resource officers. Kate Toomey, chairwoman of the public safety subcommittee, said whatever Police Chief Steven Sargent suggests on the issue, she is going to support.

The conversation came just a few minutes after two orders filed

by Lukes on the issue of school resource officers. One asked about the liability in interfering with the school district’s decisions; the other asked how much the school district’s school resources officers cost. During those discussions councilors, including the mayor, doubled down on Petty’s assertion several weeks ago that agenda items related to the schools should be filed as petitions to the School Committee.

During the conversation about Lukes’ resolution, At-Large Councilor Gary Rosen called back to the earlier discussion, saying the Council had just talked about minding its own business.

“Let’s continue for at least 15 minutes to mind our own business,” he said.

develop a rental registry for all properties except owner-occupied. The registry, he said, would help the fire department, for which code violations can be very dangerous, and crack down on the issue of absentee landlords failing to take care of properties. The registry, he said, would help lead to more inspections.

The order comes a week after the city realized one of the first suggestions Wally made as a councilor: creating a searchable database of building permits, allowing landlords, tenants and neighbors to look up whether properties are out compliance on permits.

Though most councilors spoke in favor, Russell urged the city to bring in local realtor and landlord associations to work with them on something that isn’t too burdensome.

The order went to the City Manager’s office unanimously.

news

worcesteria

DANTE V ROGER: One of the weirdest-reading petitions I’ve ever read

8

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019

is headed for the School Committee meeting tonight. Roger Nugent, president of the Education Association of Worcester teachers union, filed a petition requesting a conversation “relative to racist comments by Dante Comparetto, school committee member, against EAW members.”

Nugent, of course, is referring to what I maintain is the non-story of Comparetto saying in an email to supporters that there’s a “crazy amount of racism” in Worcester public schools. There is, and we have to accept that.

And that does not mean that every individual teacher is racist. Those are separate conversations. Anyway. I took the rare step of actually calling someone before writing a Worcesteria item about them, and here the situation got even weirder. Apparently, according to Nugent, the petition as he wanted it to read did not make it onto the agenda, and he maintains it was not the EAW’s fault. He told me he wanted to discuss Comparetto’s comments about racism, not Comparetto’s racist comments. So somewhere along the lines there was a little swap of the syntax, which made the whole thing so much more inflammatory. He said he asked for a correction and as of Tuesday night it had not been corrected. Still, Nugent maintains, unfortunately in my opinion, that Comparetto’s comment is an affront to teachers in the school district. “Our members are infuriated at the thought of anyone referring to them as racist,” he said to me. When I said that Comparetto, in that private email to supporters, was almost certainly referring to structural racism – the kind that leads to disparities in nearly every measurable category, from suspension rates to test scores, between white students and students of color – he called that “backpedaling.” He said he took Comparetto’s statement as saying “the majority of the teachers are racist.”

APPLES NOT ORANGES: A new front opened Tuesday night in the cosmic struggle between the City Council and the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce over the city’s dual tax rate. To catch the uninitiated up, the Chamber wants a single rate, and they’ve been able to convince three to four councilors a year to move in that direction. The majority of the Council, however, continues to vote to either keep the same or widen the split between residential and commercial property, which is something like $18 per $1,000 assessed valuation to the commercial rate of $34. But the numbers are not important to this story and I’m not going to check to get the right ones. On Tuesday, District 2 City Councilor Candy Carlson took an early shot across the bow, asking the city to compare its split tax rate to other Gateway Cities in Massachusetts. The motion was supported by At-Large Councilors Khrystian King and Moe Bergman, and other councilors who typically do not side with the chamber. Might seem innocuous, but take into consideration the fact that every year, the Chamber applies pressure on Worcester by saying its neighbors, not its peers in size and demographics, have gone toward a single rate. “Auburn has, why can’t you?” the Chamber will undoubtedly ask. Carlson and Co. are getting out ahead of that early. Bergman consolidated his side’s position into the best line, I feel: “I think we need to be comparing apples to apples, not apples to oranges,” he said. If the city is going to have the discussion of comparing it to others, he said, the only honest discussion is where we compare to other Gateway Cities. Now, let’s wait and see if the Chamber continues to harp on the “surrounding communities” line or if they switch it up.

WHAT ABOUT THE ORH: Have to keep it quick, but shouts out to Mary Burke on Twitter for pointing out that in some official communications the College of the Holy Cross does not list Worcester Regional Airport as a way to get to the school. Just Logan and the one in Warwick, R.I. Maybe they would if there was a direct flight to some suburb in New Jersey called Twill Hollow or Flemingsborough.

Bill Shaner, reporter Twitter: @Bill_Shaner

news

the beat Leicester-based pot shop Cultivate, among the first in the state to open, has received approval for an expansion. Town

officials gave the OK to a 50,000-squarefoot expansion at a second location at a meeting this week, according to the Telegram & Gazette. The business has quickly outgrown its location, according to company representatives. When it first opened, the business caused major traffic delays as people from around the east coast came to purchase legal cannabis for the first time.

Worcester St. Patrick’s Day Parade organizers are considering a change of date for the parade for future years, given the need for

a two-week delay this year due to winter weather and poor weather in other recent years. The 37-year-old parade is typically held on the second Sunday of March. Given the nice weather last week, organizers may make the permanent switch to the fourth Sunday of the month.

Longtime Holy Cross women’s basketball coach Bill Gibbons will not return from a suspension headed into its third month. Holy

Cross officials announced last week that Gibbons has been let go and an interim coach has been hired. The suspension came as a result of an internal investigation of a personnel matter, but the university has released no other details about the situation.

Become a part of our successful multi-media sales team!

Full Time Sales Position Available Immediate opening for a self-motivated, confident sales person with strong organizational skills and a positive attitude.

The ideal candidate will be an active listener and a strong communicator who is willing to seek out new business while also fostering and growing existing relationships.

Comprehensive training provided.

The Landmark • Leominster Champion The Millbury-Sutton Chronicle • The Grafton News Worcester Magazine • The Item The Telegram & Gazette • baystateparent

If it wasn’t the WooSox, it’d been the Bravehearts. Worcester

A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019

the backup plan,” said Peterson.

Bravehearst General Manager Dave Peterson told Worcester Magazine last week that had negotiations with the PawSox fallen apart, the team had talked to the city about developing the Wyman Gordon lot with the Bravehearts instead. The Bravehearts went as far as to hire an architect to look at the lot. “We were

Meanwhile, Wyamn Gordon is making room for the WooSox, per the Worcester Business Journal. The company is planning two new

The state Attorney General’s Office announced earlier this week the owner of a Worcester automotive business has been indicted on charges related to a vehicle fraud scheme. Adam Haddad, of

Shrewsbury, is charged with more than 30 counts and theft of $170,000 in the case. The AG’s office believes Haddad would further damage cars brought in for repair with hammers. Haddad owns Accurate Collisions on Millbury Street. The AG alleges he stole the money from insurance companies.

The Canadian Women’s Hockey League has folded. That spells the

end, at least for now, of the Worcester Blades, who just finished their first season in the city, playing at the Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Centre.

The team was winless this year.

9

Send cover letter and resume to: Jeremy Wardwell, Sales Manager jwardwell@gatehousemedia.com

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

buildings to consolidate operations at the Wyman Gordon site. The company, which produces aerospace components, had not released full plans for the consolidation, as of press time.

opinion editorial

A boiling point in Worcester Public Schools

10

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019

G

iven it is an election season, it is hardly surprising that some rancor has built up on the School Committee, particularly with so many potential candidates — 13, by last count, including every incumbent — lining up.

It’s not just election-year combat in Worcester, however. What is going on right now on School Committee and within the community didn’t start with the pulling of nomination papers. It has been festering for years. Politics may be prompting it to spring to the surface now, but it has always been there. How could it not be?

The student body in Worcester Public Schools is roughly 70 percent of color. It’s full-time staff is largely white. If anyone doesn’t think there haven’t been issues as a result of that, they are burying their heads in the sand.

The administration can point to numbers showing progress being made: long-term suspensions on the decline, in-house suspensions and progress being made with chronic absenteeism. Within those numbers, however, are troubling signs for students of color, particularly Latinos, who have a high rate (19.9 percent) of chronic absenteeism.

These and other issues have led some to say racism is alive and well in Worcester Public Schools. School Committee member Dante Comparetto mentioned “a crazy amount of racism.” Others,

including Rev. Jose Encarnacion of Worcester Interfaith, say there is “no question” structural racism exists in the school system.

The reaction from the school administration and some School Committee members was predictable. Witness the initial response

by School Superintendent Maureen Binienda to a statement from the Worcester Coalition for Economic Equity, which was convened by Worcester Interfaith and alleged great disparities between students of color and their white counterparts. The group called for the School Committee not to renew Binienda’s contract and to remove School Safety Liaison Rob Pezzella from his position.

As quoted by the Telegram & Gazette’s Clive McFarlane, Binienda said, “They are not well informed.”

Perhaps understandably, she went on the defensive and cited efforts from her administration to address issues affecting Latino students.

In a later statement, the superintendent appeared less defensive, acknowledging challenges exist for Latino students.

“Worcester, like many urban districts,” Binienda said, “is challenged by persistent disparities in school discipline, which impact Latino students, students with disabilities and other groups. This is unacceptable to me as Worcester’s Superintendent, and I have been working diligently to reduce these disparities.”

Closing her statement, she said, “I acknowledge the critical work needed to strengthen our practices and to improve our outcomes so that every student feels safe, supported and valued in our school community.”

Problems are best solved when those with a vested interest can come together and find commonalities that lead to solutions. Passion oftentimes leads to actions and responses that may be tempered with the passage of time

Culture Editor Joshua Lyford Reporter Bill Shaner

100 Front St., Fifth Floor Worcester, MA 01608 worcestermag.com Editorial 508.767.9527 WMeditor@gatehousemedia.com Sales 508.767.9530 WMSales@gatehousemedia.com President Paul M. Provost Publisher Kathleen Real-Benoit Editor Walter Bird Jr.

Contributing Writers Stephanie Campbell, Sarah Connell, Janice Harvey, Jim Keogh, Jim Perry, Kristina Reardon Director of Creative Services Don Cloutier Creative Director Kimberly Vasseur Multi Media Sales Executives Diane Galipeau, Helen Linnehan WORCESTER MAGAZINE is an independent news weekly covering Central Massachusetts. We accept no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts. The Publisher has the right to refuse

and the benefit of some reflection.

Issues have been raised, many which have long existed, but now have found a loud voice, and they should be addressed.

It may sting to hear accusations of racism in the schools, but it does not mean everyone within the system is racist. It also does not strip from students and their families the responsibility of showing up to school and acting in a manner that is respectful to their classmates, teachers and

any advertisement.

Legals/Public Notices Please call 978.728.4302, email cmaclassifieds@gatehousemedia.com, or mail to Central Mass Classifieds, 100 Front St., 5th Floor, Worcester, MA 01608 Distribution WORCESTER MAGAZINE is available free of charge at more than 400 locations, limited to one copy per reader. 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 of-

others. It is, however, worth a hard look at the system in place to ensure it is best equipped to deal with all students. It is hard to imagine there are not areas to be addressed and problems to be resolved, even some that may be difficult to acknowledge. Not acknowledging them, however, will only widen divides and potentially hurt the students who most need help.

fense and may be prosecuted under the law.

Subscriptions First class mail, $156 for one year. Send orders and subscription correspondence to GateHouse Media, 100 Front St., Worcester, MA 01608.

Advertising To place an order for display advertising or to inquire, please call 508.767.9530. WORCESTER MAGAZINE (ISSN 0191-4960) is a weekly publication of GateHouse Media. All contents copyright 2019 by GateHouse Media. All rights reserved.

WORCESTER MAGAZINE is not liable for typographical errors in advertisements.

opinion

letters

Be a hero in Agreement Worcester Heart Walk would State recognize working only union on food workers insecurity

munity College. Five local students are now living on the Worcester State campus, with the state underwriting the bill for their housing and food.

Here’s to taking action to make sure our peers are worrying about next week’s exam or term paper, not where their next meal is coming from.

Jaymi-Lyn Souza Chair, Student Senate Worcester State University, Class of 2021

Letters to the Editor Policy

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

Letters to the editor are a great way to share your thoughts and opinions with thousands of readers and online viewers each week.

There is no word limit, but we reserve the right to edit for length. If handwritten, write legibly - if we cannot read it, we are not running it. A full name and town or city of residence are required.

Please include an email address or phone number for verification purposes only.

That information will not be published. Make sure your letter makes it into Worcester Magazine in a timely fashion — send it in by the Monday of the next issue. Please note that letters will run as space allows. Send them to Worcester Magazine, 100 Front St., 5th Floor, Worcester, MA 01608 or by email to WMeditor@ gatehousemedia.com.

A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019

11

Hunger Outreach Team, SGA and the Urban Studies Club, came together to address food insecurity on campus and launched Thea’s Pantry this past February. It is named after one of our alumni, To the Editor: Thea Aschkenase, who was also a Holocaust survivor and dediAlmost 16 years ago, on April 4, cated her life to addressing hunger.

I had a stroke. A healthy lifestyle “Thea’s” is accessible to the entire is our best weapon against heart WSU community, and is now a disease and stroke – the No. 1 and partner agency of the Worcester No. 5 killers in the United States, County Food Bank. respectively. That’s why I have been To the Editor: The university also has a Hunger To the Editor: participating in the Central MasOutreach Team (HOT). This team In a recent “Your Turn” op-ed sachusetts Heart and Stroke Walk meets weekly for a class, also entitled “Project Labor Agreement Across town at Worcester State for the past 11 years. known as the “SNAP Practicum,” University, we hear exactly what Needed in Worcester Red Sox Deal” I’m now 46 years old and I where they learn how to help othMonica Sager is saying about food (March 14, Worcester Magazine), continue to work as an elementary ers apply for the SNAP benefits. insecurity on college campuses school teacher in Worcester Public Massachusetts Building Trades Some students have begun to (“Food insecurity real for many colPresident Frank Callahan makes Schools. I had my stroke and relege students,” Your Turn, Worces- coordinate efforts to see whether some very good points about the ceived care in Worcester. I walk to a meal swipe donation program ter Magazine, March 21). raise awareness in our community. value of the construction workmight be viable to further aid I write to note that our friends at force, but he omits one key fact: A stroke can happen to anyone at the type of agreement he is calling Clark are not alone in this struggle. students in need. This program any age. would be an extension of the I just returned from Washington, for recognizes only unionized It’s time to fight heart disease SGA-advocated Student EmerD.C., where 13 of my WSU peers construction workers, not all local and stroke, it’s time to Move More. gency Fund, which is maintained and I spent our spring break April is Move More Month, and the Worcester-area workers. by our Student Affairs division for meeting with the Massachusetts According to the most recent American Heart Association is urgstudents with emergency financial U.S. government data, compiled by Congressional Delegation about ing Bay Staters to get the recomneeds. one of the very problems Ms. Sager unionstats.com, a full 84 percent of mended 150 minutes of physical In 2017, 682 graduate and mentioned: that many food inseconstruction workers in the region activity a week. You don’t have to undergraduate Worcester State cure college students are ineligible that includes Worcester choose run marathons, just Move More! students (10 percent of the student for the Supplemental Nutrition not to join a union.

At the Central MA Heart and body) were surveyed about food Assistance Program (SNAP) due to So yes, let’s make sure the Stroke Walk, we are walking to security. We found that 34 percent the 20-hour-a-week work requireWorcester Red Sox project raise awareness of the signs and of students were food insecure and ment. includes fair wages and strong symptoms of heart disease and 27 percent were unable to afford The Massachusetts delegation, safety measures, as Callahan sugstroke. Small steps — both the a balanced meal within the past especially U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, gests, but let’s also ensure that it’s kind we take and the kind we month. That means that more than D-Worcester, was overwhelmlegitimately open to all workers, make — lead to big gains. We will one in three of our peers doesn’t ingly supportive of our request to be creating healthier communities union and non-union alike. Furalways have enough to eat – an expand SNAP eligibility to full-time and supporting lifesaving research thermore, let’s grow the number astounding figure by any measure, college students.

And we know of qualified bidders so the project by putting one foot in front of the and consistent with the national that this issue isn’t just a federal maximizes value for the developer other and walking. The walk will average. We also learned that 15 concern.

Recently, I traveled with and Worcester-area residents by be held May 11 at Quinsigamond percent of our fellow students were many of the same students and a providing the best quality at the State Park in Worcester. housing insecure, and 3 percent few of my fellow Student Governlowest possible cost. Requiring Not all heroes wear capes. Be a were homeless. ment Association (SGA) members workers to become a part of a parHeart Walk hero and join us for the To address housing insecuto the State House to advocate for Central MA Heart and Stroke Walk. ticular organization to participate rity, Gov. Charlie Baker recently another possible solution: to make in the building of Worcester’s new For more information, please visit announced a pilot program with public higher education more afstadium is not the way to launch centralmaheartwalk.org. several of the state universities fordable. During those meetings, this exciting new era for city. and community colleges to pay we also found out state Rep. Dan Rachel S. Henry for room and a meal plan for a few Donahue, D-16th Worcester, has Greg Beeman Worcester students who were considered to been championing SNAP expanMalden be “housing insecure.” While this sion.

President, Associated Builders program is still in its early stages, it At Worcester State, we also and Contractors, Massachusetts has been an immense help to not knew we couldn’t wait for othChapter only some of my own WSU peers, ers to take action. Many different students and organizations across but to our fellow Worcester college students at Quinsigamond Comcampus, including Enactus, The

feature

H W SEX ED REALLY DIED BILL SHANER

12

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019

T

he debate over sex education in Worcester came to a head in February, at a meeting that saw nearly two hours of public comment. On one side, advocates pushed for the committee to adopt a sex education curriculum that teaches consent and is inclusive of LGBTQ lifestyles – one in line with educational best practices and backed up by data. On the other, people protested the frank talk about sex with city youth and cast comprehensive sex education as a cause of moral decay.

But here’s the thing: the former had already won the battle months before that February meeting took place.

Records provided to Worcester Magazine show how private meetings and conversations with both the superintendent and the mayor, and a hold on a key subcommittee, kept a comprehensive sex education proposal called Making Proud Choices from seeing the light of a single public meeting, let alone a vote. After Making Proud Choices died, the superintendent offered a compromise curriculum so unpopular the mayor

pulled it from consideration days before it was set for a vote.

And so the mayor and the School Committee, after that heated meeting in February, decided to do nothing for the time being. Instead, they’ll wait for new guidelines supposedly forthcoming from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education while a working group put together by the mayor works on the issue.

While state guidelines could change, the forces that blocked comprehensive sex education from implementation are still in place. Emails between School

Committee members, Mayor Joe Petty and Superintendent Maureen Binienda show a small and politically-powerful group of religious conservatives have sway over the administration of the Worcester Public Schools.

Meanwhile, the teen birth rate, especially among students of color, is much higher than the state average, and rates of STIs like gonorrhea and chlamydia are on the rise among Worcester youth. While comprehensive, evidence-based sex ed has been shown in academic studies and surveys to curb unprotected sex and delay the time youth start

Left to right, School Committee members Dante Comparetto, Brian O’Connell, Molly McCullough and John Monfredo. They and others were central figures in the discussion of a sex ed curriculum in Worcester.

FILE PHOTOS/ELIZABETH BROOKS

feature having sex, such a curriculum is unlikely to pass the Worcester School Committee in its current form, based on the way Making Proud Choices was handled.

Former School Committee member Mary Mullaney, one of the key figures involved, is among those with both political influence and a moral opposition to comprehensive sex education. In an email to Binienda last September, Mullaney diagnosed what she saw as the real problem with what she called “urban kids.”

“Five years from now the situation will be the same or worse because what is lacking here is strong families, good moral upbringing, fathers in homes, faith in a higher power. We put bandaids on huge problems and feel good that we

HIV, pregnancy, condom use and consent considered standard in most school districts in the state.

THE DEATH OF MPC

B

are ‘trying,’” Mullaney wrote to Binienda. “You know better than anyone in Worcester — because you are the REAL thing when it comes to urban kids — that these children are spiritually and psychologically impoverished, neglected, abused. They need love, guidance, support, alternatives to the crap they see around them. Condoms will not save their souls. I am not sure if they will even help their

bodies as they are too young to use them well, but I know for sure that condoms will not heal their soul or solve the loneliness in their hearts.”

In Worcester — often billed as progressive by city leaders — Mullaney’s is the view that won out on sex education last fall, and Worcester students will continue to enter the adult world without a consistent, medically-accurate and comprehensive education on STIs,

inienda decided last September to pull Making Proud Choices, a curriculum offered by the WISH task force after a year-and-a-half evaluation process of a dozen sex ed curriculums. The Worcester Impact on Sexual Health task force, or WISH, is comprised of members from 14 groups: Center for Health Impact, City Hall, Dynamy Youth Academy, the Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center, Girls Inc. of Worcester, Pathways for Change, Safe Homes, Community Builders, the Unitarian Universalist Church, the Worcester Division of Public Health, Worcester Public

Schools, Worcester State University, the YWCA and, importantly for those opposed, the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts.

Though the WISH task force was comprised of many local groups, and engaged in surveying that found comprehensive sex ed to be popular among Worcester parents and students, the process, among some of those opposed, was given a shorthand: Planned Parenthood Boston is forcing a curriculum on Worcester. As Mullaney put it in one email to Binienda last December, “...since Boston Planned Parenthood is gearing up to influence our city schools, we citizens of Worcester will want to have our say as well.”

Binienda withdrew it, at first to re-examine, and then for good, under pressure applied privately

by Mullaney and others. Records show a flurry of emails sent to both the mayor and superintendent, as well as the circulation of a scathing four-page memo on the curriculum

by School Committee member

A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019 WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

13

feature “I hope this can all be resolved quietly,” she said.

On the same day, she emailed School Committee member John Monfredo – a member, along with O’Connell and Molly McCullough, of the Standing Committee on Teaching, Learning and Student Supports. She warned of a “potential firestorm brewing.”

“Fortunately,” she wrote, “this

14

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019

Brian O’Connell, precipitated Binienda’s decision to withdraw the curriculum two days before a Sept. 12 meeting of the Standing Committee on Teaching, Learning and Student Supports, which O’Connell chairs, to address it.

In an email sent to Binienda on Sept. 8, Mullaney cast the MPC curriculum as an affront to religious families, both Christian

The rates of sexually transmitted infections such as gonorrhea and chlamydia are among reasons some advocated for a comprehensive new sex ed program in Worcester Public Schools. and Islamic. She also downplayed the teen birth rate issue, saying it is low across the state without mentioning that in Worcester it is nearly twice as high, and more than five times as high for Latina teens in Worcester. She also asked for discretion.

hasn’t leaked to the media, so I hope the subcommittee can quell this potential problem.”

The next day, Mullaney wrote to Petty, calling the program “morally abhorrent” and saying she felt the mayor would not want his children receiving sex education in

feature

to thank Binienda for withdrawing the curriculum. She urged Binienda to resist political pressure from the mayor.

“I realize my passion for this issue may not be the same as yours, but I am sure we share the belief that a public, bloody battle serves no one,” she wrote.

Later in the email, she said

and Comparetto in turn said the same of O’Connell’s handling of the curriculum.

School Committee member Jack Foley said in a recent interview he felt the subcommittee skirted the proper process. The curriculum, he said, should have gone to the full committee, then to the subcommittee for public hearings and debate, then back to the committee for a vote.

“This didn’t follow that pattern, and that creates more controversy and more tension,” he said. “All of a sudden it was yanked by the administration or by the chair or by both. That violates our process.”

Reached for comment, Mullaney said her issue was that the WISH Taskforce (Worcester Impact on Sexual Health), which proposed the Making Proud Choices curriculum did not include input from religious conservatives, so it was not a transparent process involving the whole community.

O’Connell, reached for comment, defended Binienda’s decision to pull the curriculum, saying it’s her prerogative to put forth a curriculum she supports.

“I have never voted to impose on her a curriculum which she either opposed, or chose to withdraw from consideration. In fact, I believe the School Committee would exceed its authority under law if it were to do so,” he said. “When the superintendent proposes and supports another sex education curriculum, I hope it will be

15

6, 7 and 8 of the Worcester Public Schools is ‘Extraordinarily Graphic, Amoral, Culturally insensitive, Potentially Offensive to Certain Ethnic/Religious and Minority Populations and Inappropriate’ for elementary and middle school students.”

Both his and Mullaney’s opposition drew heavily on the fact

In a long email response, Mullaney thanked Binienda and shed some light on her views.

“It is one thing to identify societal problems and it is another to have a utopian view that all problems can be solved – especially in schools,” she wrote. “Perhaps there is an ‘epidemic’ of STDs and pregnancies – that has not been verified to my satisfaction. But how to address this is the issue, and whether schools are the fora to do so.”

At the end of the email, she addressed a running theme through many of the emails between opponents of comprehensive sex education reviewed by Worcester magazine.

“Organizations like PP (Planned Parenthood) offer easy solutions … Have an abortion, easy. But who is there for that girl in the months and years to come? Who holds her hand when she bleeds and cries?” she wrote.

Though advocates would continue to press for Making Proud Choices, the curriculum would never see a public meeting – a fact some School Committee members have loudly criticized.

At a meeting several weeks ago, with specialties related to sexual School Committee member Dante health.

Comparetto accused O’Connell of Binienda responded to the deliberately holding back subcomemail, saying health teachers and the department head had reviewed mittee meetings on Making Proud Choices. The accusation led to an the curriculum, but, she said, “I on-the-floor argument with the think it is a better idea to meet again and review what we want the mayor, in which Petty called Comparetto’s accusation “disgraceful,” message to be.” she “sees nothing wrong with the status quo” and that she does “not care what Somerville is doing. I would not live there.” She derided the program as an invention of Planned Parenthood, and requested the school department write an in-house curriculum instead of buying one from Planned Parenthood or “like-minded organizations.”

Making Proud Choices is published by Advanced Health Equity and co-authored by four doctors

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

that some devout Muslim families may find the curriculum offensive, and they gathered the support of several local religious leaders in the local Islamic community. In a separate email sent months later to a local attorney active in the fight against sex ed, O’Connell said, “I hope, though, that the support of the Islamic community will help more than hurt here, especially as Islam is a religion of significant minority populations that some who otherwise support PP (Planned Parenthood) may be reluctant to offend.”

On Sept. 10, two days before the curriculum was set for its first subcommittee review, Binienda pulled it, and it was never brought back.

An email from School Committee clerk Helen Friel to O’Connell sealed the curriculum’s fate.

“I wanted to let you know that the Superintendent has asked me to pull the item back regarding the Sexual Education Unit for further review,” Friel wrote to O’Connell, chairman of the committee.

O’Connell forwarded the email on the same day to four people, including Mullaney and two local Catholic priests.

“I believe this situation remains very volatile, and warrants close monitoring in the days ahead.

Once I talk with Maureen, I will update you as well,” he said.

Mullaney wrote later in the week

A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019

middle school.

“If it’s not good enough for your children, or mine, then why is it being considered?” she wrote.

“To think that ‘minority’ students ‘need’ this is condescending, elitist, and yes, racist. Please help avoid the debacle and the divisiveness this curriculum will cause in our community by pulling it from consideration and going for something which reflects Worcester values.”

She later forwarded the email to O’Connell, who thanked her for “an excellent and incisive letter.”

Mullaney also emailed McCullough before the subcommittee meeting, invoking the tenure of McCullough’s mother as an educator.

“I would be interested in the opinion of middle school educators, like your mother, as to the effect such a curriculum would have on the climate of their buildings,” she wrote.

McCullough said in response she called the superintendent to express concern about the curriculum.

Meanwhile, both Mullaney and O’Connell reached out among religious communities to build a coalition.

In several emails ahead of the subcommittee meeting, O’Connell circulated a four-page memo on the program he wrote, entitled “Sex Education Proposed For Grades

feature thoroughly presented in a public meeting, and considered in detail.”

DECEMBER

16

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019

A

t the time, in September, the maneuvering to pull Making Proud Choices stayed, for the most part, out of public scrutiny. However, when Binienda rolled out a compromise curriculum in December, the debate intensified and the same players behind the death of Making Proud Choices sought to consolidate support around the compromise solution – a curriculum called the Michigan Model for Health, which is an abstinenceonly curriculum with an added option of discussing condoms, which technically makes the curriculum “abstinence-based.”

Much has been written about the poor results of abstinencebased sex education curriculum, ground covered in Worcester Magazine’s first cover story on the issue (“The long, winding road to sex ed in Worcester,” Feb. 14).

Many advocates said as much, calling the curriculum a shame-based, harsh curriculum which will cause more harm than good. But for the religious right, the curriculum was seen as a worthy compromise.

Leading up to key meetings on the issue in December, January and February, Mullaney, O’Connell and others worked to secure four votes to pass the Michigan Model.

In a Dec. 18 email to O’Connell, Mullaney said she sent committee member Dianna Biancheria “a pretty blunt email and almost threatened to run again for SC if she isn’t with us.” In the email, she told Biancheria, “I would like to think that we can count on your support to uphold the decency which has always been the backbone of Worcester people.”

On Dec. 28, Mullaney requested O’Connell do what he can to prevent the Michigan Model from going to discussion at a full School Committee meeting, as she said the mayor was planning to do.

“That could easily turn into a circus, if boatloads of people come,” she said. “So I’m asking you all to shepherd this procedurally to

avoid a debacle.”

Mullaney also secured a meeting with Petty, in which he promised — at least according to her retelling — that Making Proud Choices was no longer being considered.

ANTI-PLANNED PARENTHOOD

T

hroughout many of the correspondences between Mullaney, O’Connell, Monfredo and others, there existed a running theme of demonizing Planned Parenthood, an organization tangentially responsible for creating the curriculum and moving it forward in Worcester.

In December, the group worked actively to block a meeting at Friendly House for sex ed organizers and activists. On Dec. 17, Mullaney attempted to apply pressure on Dottie Hargrove, sister of Gordon Hargrove, owner of Friendly House.

“Dottie, can you please ask Gordon why Boston Planned Parenthood was meeting at Friendly House to discuss WPS sex education?” she wrote. “The curriculum they promote is condom-based for middle schoolers and is so graphic that the community rose up to oppose it. We are fighting back. Hopefully, Gordon didn’t know that Friendly House hosted these people whose agenda is so left wing and against Worcester values.”

The attempt was unsuccessful.

“I do not understand why Planned Parenthood could not meet at Friendly House,” Dottie wrote in response. “The agency is a place for everyone and open to all … I believe anyone who has been bothering him with complaints should reconsider their values.”

In the hundreds of emails between O’Connell, Monfredo and Mullaney, Planned Parenthood was cast as an evil force pushing a curriculum with bad intentions.

On Jan. 24, Mullaney connected the fight to national issues.

“The world is a stupid, stupid place,” she said. “Look at what hap-

Mayor Joe Petty made comprehensive sex education a key policy goal of his current term.

FILE PHOTO

pened in the NY Senate yesterday re: abortion. Covington Catholic.

Brett Kavanaugh – all these things go back to abortion and the infiltration by the left of the American nuclear family.”

O’Connell agreed.

“Like you, I worry more with each passing year about truly frightening developments like the proposed New York legislation, Covington Catholic and so much of the deliberation surrounding the confirmation of Justice Kavanaugh,” he said. “Catholic antidefamation initiatives truly need to highlight implicit or explicit anti-Catholic bias when it occurs, calling it what it is.”

TOWARD THE FUTURE

O

n Feb. 7, Binienda’s compromise proposal, the Michigan Model, fell to the chopping block as Mayor Petty had announced he

would pull the curriculum while waiting for state standards.

The next day, Mullaney sent a follow-up email to both Petty and Binienda warning that too “radical” a sex education proposal will cause people to flee the city.

“People will leave the city, leave the schools,” she said. “You have to maintain a balance or you will have the kind of flight to the suburbs which those other cities [Springfield and Boston] know only too well.”

She also suggested her husband be appointed to the newly-formed study committee on sex education curricula, among several others.

In a separate email, she lobbied Binienda to consider making sex ed a voluntary after-school program, and Binienda thanked her for the suggestion.

Now Binienda has come under fire from the Worcester Interfaith Coalition. Her administration, they say, has not adequately addressed racial disparities in punishment, absenteeism and dropout rates.

The coalition is calling for Binien-

da’s contract not to be renewed, and for School Safety Director Rob Pezzella to be removed from his position.

While not mentioned in the statement, the teen birth rate is a glaring disparity in Worcester. The rate for white teens is 13 per 1,000 people. The rate for Latino girls is 50 per 1,000.

When Petty made comprehensive sex education a key policy goal of his term last January, he did so acknowledging the problem.

“I will not allow a young woman to forego her future because we did not give her the tools to exceed,” he said.

With an election season coming into focus, and a School Committee deeply divided on a path toward sex education, it remains to be seen whether he can make good on the promise.

culture

A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019

JON WASHER

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

Lufisto vs. Trixie Tash

17

culture

Beyond Wrestling enters Uncharted Territory JOSHUA LYFORD

18

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019

B

eyond Wrestling has become an independent wrestling power house since its 2009 inception, and while owneroperator Drew Cordeiro has never shied away from taking on new challenges, Beyond’s latest venture may once again change the game.

Since hosting their first event at Electric Haze back in 2016, Worcester has become a focal point of the independent wrestling organization.

This week, Beyond begins weekly live shows at Electric Haze every Wednesday evening at 8 p.m.

“Long-term, if people know you have to go to Electric Haze every Wednesday night because they’re going to have professional wrestling there, then whether people know Beyond Wrestling, or individual wrestlers, whatever the case may be, hopefully, they’d be willing to check it out,” said Cordeiro.

This is just the latest step Cordeiro and his team have taken toward bettering their own product, while extending their reach and allowing for more exposure for more wrestlers. While Cordeiro’s roots may be in th the backyard wrestling leagues he ran back in his Rhode Island home town, these days Beyond

Above, Mick Moretti vs. Coach Mammone.

Right, Silver vs. Kris JON WASHER

is a beloved wrestling institution on the independent wrestling scene.

While area wrestling fans are likely excited for weekly live events located centrally in Massachusetts, those shows will also be streamed live via an online streaming platform and available to subscribers all over the world.

“It’s called Uncharted Territory,” said Cordeiro. “Nobody else in wrestling has ever attempted a venture like this, aside from WWE. Their fo-

cus is on cable television. They have a new deal with Fox. So, broadcast television, on an independent level, there are organizations coming about that are pursuing television, but the component they are missing in all of this is the live component.”

That live component is Beyond Wrestling’s opportunity to shine.

The atmosphere inside Electric Haze is a unique one, particularly under the lens of independent wrestling.

The bar and concert venue pairs

well with the wrestling organization and is a locale fans are unlikely to forget.

“To me, rather than going for a television presentation with something that’s tape delayed, I’d rather go for an independent presentation of something that is live,” explained Cordeiro. “That was the thought process.”

Beyond teamed up with Independent Wrestling TV in order to C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 20

culture

Student Art Criticism: My Klausmeyer: Variations in Blue FRANCESCA ARMSTRONG

express herself through her markmaking, printing, and ongoing collection of advertising and magazine Editor’s Note: This student art criticism is published by Worcester Maga- ephemera.

With these materials, Klauszine in partnership with ArtsWorcester and Clark University and is made meyer calls upon the heritage of artists such as Pablo Picasso and possible by a grant from the Mellon George Braque, who first began Foundation. popularizing collage in the early 20th century. Often made with dab of her tongue to her magazine clippings and objects thumb and a page flips. such as ribbons and buttons, collage Amy Klausmeyer’s creative seeks to give art a deeper dimension process starts by leafing and to defy flatness with different through vintage books and magazines. Once a color or a particularly mediums. Earlier movements such as Surrealism (1920-30) and Dadaquirky image catches her eye, she ism (1916-23) drew from absurdist scans it and keeps it for later use.

She amasses these ephemeral pieces combinations of images taken from advertising. Klausmeyer shares an that were never meant to last, and affinity with such works, and she then transforms them in her colenjoys pieces by Doug Stapleton lages. Klausmeyer has always loved which use this approach to create art and has integrated her mastery absurdist collages through classical of printmaking into her collage series. She gives new meaning to the art and narratives.

In an era of ever-changing convintage clippings by reworking them sometimes in comic ways, even add- tent uploaded and edited online, Klausmeyer’s work emanates ing images of seashells, birds and nostalgia for the concreteness other naturally designed wonders. that was present in the pre-digital Klausmeyer’s piece Stay on world. Her work is not electroniTarget is fun and quirky. A glamorous woman with seashells over one cally dominated by Photoshop, but instead focuses on the beauty of eye and on her head watches us, as printmaking and painting. In print, targets spread across the surface. she takes her pieces from multiple In keeping with the theme of the sources and manipulates them to exhibition Variations in Blue, the be free for creative liberty. Images deep blue swirls and a map of the from magazines ranging from the ocean guide the viewer around the 1920s-60s are frequently featured in piece. Klausmeyer’s Stay on Target her work, but often as photocopies invokes a feeling of playfulness as she spreads the targets purposefully to preserve them. Next, she cuts the images and arranges them together, throughout the work, some even adding paint and sometimes objects mostly out of frame. The form suggests her work is ever changing and to create layers. Earlier in Klausmeyer’s career, she recalls feeling as always evolving in new directions. if she had won the lottery when she Klausmeyer’s professional life is dual in nature. She holds bachelor’s was given old wallpaper samples.

She remains a passionate collector degrees in Fine Arts and Nursof objects she can bring to life in her ing, allowing her to find a balance between her work as a school nurse work.

Once serious images meant to and as an artist. Forever learning and honing new skills, Klausmeyer sell a product, these pieces are taken out of context by Klausmeyer, uses art as an escape into her own and allowed to be open for others world of vivid colors and oldto interpret. Some viewers may see fashioned images. Although not her full-time job, Klausmeyer finds a critique of a happy homemaker, while others may simply see the art to be the outlet she needs to

A

A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019

own creativity. This quality gives Klausmeyer’s work a refreshing feeling, despite the careful planning and craft behind each piece. Each movement of a brush or placement of a print has allowed her to play with humor and construct witty pieces that create their own kind of beauty.

19

allowing the viewer to create their own narrative through her humor and thoughtful titles. Nostalgia mixed with stability gives an escape from our digitally altered reality.

Klausmeyer invites us into her personal world crafted with seashells and vintage magazine ads, allowing the viewer to mold their own interpretation and awaken their

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

beauty of color. There is no right or wrong answer necessarily, but several valid interpretations emerge.

With provocative titles and witty wordplay, Klausmeyer’s work possesses a comedic element and can make a once-serious image the lively source of a possible story.

The atmosphere of Klausmeyer’s work is natural and free-flowing,

culture WRESTLING

C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 18

20

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019

get their live product in front of as many eyes as possible. Cordeiro said he didn’t “think any of this

would be possible without their full support.”

Beyond is no stranger to streaming wrestling content and has had success in that realm before, having initially been a part of YouTube’s now-defunct premium subscription service.

“All of our content landed there, but YouTube did away with that,” recalled Cordeiro. “We were left without a home, but we didn’t want to put up all of our premium content for free. When [Independent Wrestling TV] came along, not only will we have a monthly subscription service for Beyond Wrestling, but we’re going to try and incorporate different independent wrestling organizations throughout the country.

Now we’re sharing viewers.”

The wrestling ecosystem has changed in recent years, with WWE going on something of a signing spree, leaving what Cordeiro calls a void between the independent companies and the major promotions like WWE and Ring of Honor. That void can manifest itself in wrestlers having less development time.

“A number of our wrestlers have gotten signed by WWE,” said Cordeiro. “It’s a good problem to have. It’s cool they are scouting our shows, but the hope now is that we

can accomplish in three months what used to take a year. We should be able to identify certain talents, get them enough repetition in front of our audience where we’ll be able to figure out if this is a guy we’re going to run with in a shorter period of time. Hopefully, that live component will bring more people tuning in.”

While it is easy for a casual fan to draw parallels between the independent wrestling organizations, Beyond’s plans for weekly events and the WWE’s “Monday Night Raw”for example, Cordeiro is clear this is very much a Beyond show. By starting weekly events, storytelling and character development will be enhanced.

“Right now, the storytelling is very bell-to-bell,” he said. “I want to be very clear, we aren’t trying to pursue what our version of what’ Monday Night Raw’ would be, but I think there are different storytelling components we’ll be able to incorporate on top of what we are already doing.”

You can find more information on Beyond Wrestling online at Beyondwrestlingonline.com, or by heading to Electric Haze, 26 Millbury St., every Wednesday night.

culture

Adoption option

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.

WARL’s Kitten Shower helps prepare for the upcoming kitten season. During the event you can learn about becoming a foster parent, try your luck at the raffle, meet the purrfect felines waiting to be adopted, and maybe even meet some kittens currently in foster care!

Bring a gift to the shower and enter to win a door prize! Don’t be too disappointed if you don’t see kittens at the Kitten Shower. Just like a baby shower, we need the supplies before the kittens arrive!

Admission: Please donate a kitten related item.

Currently we are in need of: • Kitten Milk Replacement (KMR) dry formula (not premixed cans) • Meat-flavored baby food • 3-7 pound bags of dry Purina Kitten Food • Beds, blankets and towels •Non-clumping Kitty Litter • Paper towels • “he” Laundry detergent

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

If you can’t make it to the Shower, or don’t want to do any heavy lifting, send a donation from our Amazon Wish List. Monetary donations always appreciated! Prior to adoption, each kitten receives a minimum of three vaccines, parasite treatment and prevention, veterinary exams, spay/neuter surgery, antibiotics and whatever else they may need.

A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019

Preview of the raffle prizes: • Two tickets Boston Red Sox v. Detroit Tigers on Monday, 4/22 at 7:10 pm (Donated by AIS (Affordable Interior Systems) • Two tickets to opening night of Tap Dogs at The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts on Thursday, 4/11 at 7:30pm (Donated by The Hanover Theatre) • Four tickets for Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical at The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts on Saturday, 5/4 at 8pm (Donated by The Hanover Theatre) •Various baskets, gifts and more!

21

culture Lyford Files JOSHUA LYFORD

SPRING HAS SPRUNG: Which means I am finally free and oh, dear Lord, is it nice. The winter is cool. I like pond hockey and snowboarding, so it’s not a complete wash, but seriously, I am ready to get back outside proper. So far, I have followed my yearly tradition of getting up into the White Mountains for a nice hike and then immediately separating my shoulder upon returning to Worcester. I can’t keep track of how many times I’ve separated these grotesque things, but boy does it not get any more fun. So, I’m typing this whole thing with my left hand. Luckily, you aren’t seeing my left hand chicken scratch and, I assume, you are reading this in newspaper form.

You lucky so-and-so. All of this is to say that, yeah, I look like a gargoyle when my shirt is off (I like to pretend that those mini bone wings springing from my shoulders make it look like I’m a bodybuilder if I wear a mesh t-shirt) and go easy on me. Using a mouse with your left hand is hard as hell. So, uh, I’m gonna come up with the rest of this thing on the fly. Here we go.

TOOK BACK THE VERNON: If you are a newcomer to

Worcester ( first of all, thanks for the rising rent prices you bastard), then you probably wouldn’t be aware of the fact that the Hotel Vernon was without a doubt THE spot for heavy music and hangtime. These days, Ralph’s Diner has that title, but it wasn’t always that way. Dollar beers were certainly a part of the charm, then Ralph’s swings in with $1.50 Genesee. Apparently sub-two dollars is the cutoff for a certain crowd (don’t be offended, I am most certainly in that crowd). With that said, damn, did it feel good to be back. High Command, Mountain Man, Facepaint, Eaten, Marrow, Moss Folk and a fun Against Me! cover set were the perfect way to remember the good times with our pal Joe. A resurgence in awesome Vernon shows would not be a bad thing.

A PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF WORCESTER, MA: MARCH 28 - APRIL 3, 2019 WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

NEWS • ARTS • DINING • NIGHTLIFE

FREE

Robert Goddard, father of modern rocketry

Did anybody read that cover I wrote about Robert Goddard? It doesn’t seem like it. If you don’t know anything about Goddard, go back and check it out. I found it fascinating, if you read it and hated it, well, thank you for your restraint.

22

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019

OFF THE RAILS: So,

listen. There comes a time when we all have to look around and see reality for what it is. The Worcester Railers not going to make the playF R O M W O R C E S T E R are offs. There, I said it. As of the time of this writing, the Railers have four games left to play.

This means that technically, they have not been mathematically eliminated, but let’s be real. They have to win three of the four games, while simultaneously hoping that everyone else drops the ball. Those four matchups include the North Division’s first-place Newfoundland Growlers, second-place Adirondack Thunder, thirdplace Manchester Monarchs and, well, the Maine Mariners. It is what it is. At least this will offer up more time to get drunk watching the Boston Bruins’ playoff games at Breen’s. And finally, if I end up being wrong and the Railers somehow squeak out a spot in a miracle scenario, well, you’re welcome for firing y’all up.

T O T H E

M O O N

NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: I

got back into Worcester in a whirlwind Saturday evening, so I’d like to toss a special shout out to one Mr. Louie Despres and his “It’s Pronounced Day-Pray” exhibition at the Sprinkler Factory opening. It was fantastic and you should make it a point to Joshua Lyford go see it for yourself.

Culture editor @Joshachusetts

culture Lifestyle SARAH CONNELL

Worcester’s Top Chef Comes Home

Author and Top Chef alumna Katzie Guy-Hamilton was in town last week promoting her debut cookbook “Clean Enough.” The book appears on Oprah’s “Best Celebrity Cookbooks” and preaches personal empowerment with nutrition. Guy-Hamilton may be the director of food and beverage for Equinox Fitness, but she hasn’t forgotten her high school years spent stocking the shelves of Ed Hyder’s Mediterranean Marketplace. Hyder’s welcomed Guy-Hamilton home with a festive natural wine tasting event.

#United4Good

Author and Top Chef alumna Katzie Guy-Hamilton was in town last week promoting her debut cookbook “Clean Enough” at Ed Hyder’s.

United Way wants to see you doing wonders for the community. The #UnitCOURTESY PHOTO ed4Good photo contest will take place during the first two weeks of April. You are encouraged to use the hashtag with one photo each day on Facebook for a chance to win a donation of $100 to the charity of your choice. The United Way will pick four finalists at the Annual Meeting on May 9 for a grand prize donation of $1,000.

Find Your Balance

Zero Gravity will team up with The Fix on April 9 for a special beer dinner that strives for balance. The Fix is looking forward to showcasing beef from Walnut Lane Farm in Dudley, where Jim and Krissanne Keobke raise 100 percent grass-fed beef, chicken, eggs and compost. The menu pairs a New York strip loin roast with Zero Gravity’s Green State Lager. The event begins at 7 p.m. and costs $65 per person, all inclusive of tax and gratuity.

Standing Tall

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

23

Sarah Connell contributing writer

A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019

I want to begin using this column as a space to share stories of local women who are crushing it in male-dominated industries. Dawn Melamed has worked in food service for over 22 years. Melamed fell in love with composing dishes in her high school home-economics course. As a senior, she was accepted to Johnson & Wales, but received no financial aid and knew she would not be able to cover the cost of knives and uniforms. “I decided to work my way into this world as a dishwasher at a restaurant because I couldn’t afford the tuition,” Melamed explains. “There were plenty of men in the kitchen who would laugh when I said I wanted to cook. They tried to convince me to be a waitress.” She landed a job on expo at an Applebee’s and soon rose to prep-cook. “I learned a lot while I was there. I’m only 4-feet-11-inches, but I had plenty of speed,” she says. Her first day on expo, the cooks told her, “We give you a week before you quit and we guarantee you’re going to cry.” They were wrong. Melamed transitioned to a corporate dining company where she became the garde manger. “I had my eye on the pastry chef position and within a couple of years I achieved that goal,” says Melamed, adding, “We had an entire room just for desserts.” Soon, she began taking on trainees from Johnson & Wales, which she found ironic. “I continued to inquire about how I could take classes at Johnson & Wales, but then I learned my position was in jeopardy,” she remembers. “They replaced the dessert area with a smoothie bar and a flatbread station.” She was upset when a former colleague told her men make better managers than women. She wanted to be in charge of her own accounts. After two decades in the industry, Melamed is studying business at University of Phoenix and working for Eurest, a $1.75-billion food and vending organization.

culture J. Anthony’s Embodies Auburn 917 Southbridge St., Auburn 508-832-9705 janthonysgrill.com

such as Elton John, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. No less than 10 television monitors populate the room.

Service is superb. The staff offers recommendations and broad smiles.

SANDRA RAIN When our bartender dropped the check she said, “Let’s do this again wedding at J. Anthony’s Italsoon.” I think she meant it. ian Grill is every Auburn girl’s The food is simple. Stuffed mushdream. I am not an Auburn rooms ($9.99) feature a special blend girl, but I get it. The garden of red peppers, onions, butter and court banquet center boasts affordsmushed-up Ritz crackers. It’s wedable elegance and enough room ding food, which is what J. Anthony’s to invite every one of your third is at its core – a wedding venue. The cousins. chicken broccoli artisan flatbread It’s easy to mistake J. Anthony’s ($10) is a pestilent dairy bomb, for a church or a humble feudal swimming in housemade alfredo and castle from the outside because of its melty mozzarella.

The sandwiches are a strength, aside from the frozen French fries. Ask for the chicken caesar wrap ($9.50) with the cajun rub for the ultimate J. Anthony’s experience. The large wrap will arrive with properlydressed romaine lettuce, shredded parmesan and grilled chicken J. Anthony’s chicken Caesar wrap that smacks of with fries. bold paprika.

SANDRA RAIN J. Anthony’s has moved beyond its infamous history distinctive steeple. The address lands of the Periwinkle’s lobster fraud, guests in Auburn, but J. Anthony’s when 11,000 pounds of live lobsters sits right on the edge of town. Techand fish spilled out onto I-395. Unnically speaking, the banquet room der new ownership, J. Anthony’s is a is in Oxford and the bar is in Auburn, wholesome display of a community although they both live under one watering hole and a seasoned event roof. venue. It remains ideal for afterHead for the bar side. There’s a work drinks, baby showers and 50th frost rail on the wire-brushed bar birthday parties if you live in Auburn that sticks to the base of your glass or Oxford. J. Anthony’s greatest asset and an inverted bottle of Dr. McGilis its darling staff. licuddy’s chilling in an ice bucket in On my last visit for dinner and wait. Stacked slate comes to your drinks with a friend, our total came hip on the external frame and towers to $55.99. above your head to form two strong pillars at either corner of the bar. A Explanation of Stars: Ratings are from mysterious seal in the middle of the zero to five. Zero is not recommended. floor indicates a Da Vinci Code-level One is poor. Two is fair. Three is satisclue in need of deciphering. factory. Four is good. Five is excellent.

There’s something cavelike about the space due to the ornate ceiling Food: HHH tiles that bridge the bar area and the Ambience: HHH buffet. It’s not a dingy cave – more of Service: HHHH a lair. The walls feature vinyl CricutValue: HHH cut quotes from white male artists

A

artists

24

W O R C E S T E R M A G A Z I N E . C O M A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019

culture

ight

Artist spotl

Let us feature your artwork in Worcester Magazine’s Artist spotligh! Contact Joshua Lyford at jlyford@gatehousemedia.com for more information! tion ing communica

r study uses his nois is a senio rsity. Harnois Sam Har to reality. ester State Unive impossible ish at Worc

diate and Span to bring the Photoshop from the imme camera and to provide “an escape a spin on the laws of biliHarnois seeksin,” and his work “places endless possi ces them with appears upbeat world we live ery world and repla the physical ” While some of his imag viewer to continue s. ntly has ties of dream hopes they will force the curre ois Harn he ows and happy, t them as time goes on.

Worcester Wind ter abou town ing down orces think display in the shown in several ArtsW e at a photo on rth,” and has ’s work onlin exhibit, “Rebi find more of the artist can shows. You .

Samharnois.com

wanted - 11, 201 8 APRIL 5

WORCE

STERMA

GAZINE

.COM

25

culture

Needy, weedy and a little seedy JIM KEOGH

I

n 1993’s “Dazed and Confused,” Matthew McConaughey’s stoner, Wooderson, asks a high school freshman if he’s got a joint. The kid says no. “It’d be a lot cooler if you did,” Wooderson purrs, a smile creasing his face.

Twenty-six years later, McConaughey is still bumming tokes.

His character in “The Beach Bum,” a Key West poet of slight renown named Moondog, exists on a steady diet of mutantsized doobies, Pabst Blue Ribbon and sex with whoever is willing to risk an STD. He’s Wooderson at midlife, a guy floating on a cannabis

cloud of bliss, still getting older while his girlfriends stay the same age.

He’s also that annoying guest who wants the party to go on forever.

Thankfully, we’re limited to 95 minutes with him.

We follow Moondog to Miami, were he reunites with his wife, Minnie (Isla Fisher), for their daughter’s wedding. Moondog greets Minnie with a session of oral sex while she’s receiving a pedicure. He also will be forced into rehab, then break out with the assistance of a sociopath played

by Zac Efron; watch charter boat operator Captain Whack (Martin Lawrence) swim with the sharks; and spar with his agent, played by

Jonah Hill with a near-lethal level of Southern effeteness so that he could be auditioning for a community theater production of “A Streetcar Named Desire” – as Blanche. Jimmy Buffet shows up, too. Of course he does.

My God, is this movie a bore. Sitting through it is like showing up at a party stone sober when everyone else has been slamming shots for two hours. The sloppy jokes earning their sloppy laughter just seem wretched and futile, and you want out. I endured flashbacks to the desolate stretch of McConaughey’s career when he always seemed to be doing the slacker thing, often on a beach (“Fool’s Gold,” “Surfer, Dude”), before he realized keeping his shirt on might alter his career trajectory.

Writer-director Harmony Korine became a sensation at the age of 19 when he wrote “Kids,” a landmark tale of teen disaffection in the age of AIDS. We’ve lived with him ever since. I’m not sure of his goal with “The Beach Bum.” Korine clearly has affection for Moondog/Mc-

Conaughey, and has given the actor great leeway to indulge his goofiest instincts. In fact, everyone in this movie keeps one foot on the eccentricity accelerator.

(Except for Snoop Dogg, who plays Minnie’s sometime boyfriend.

He’s just Snoop Dogg.)

Like Moondog himself, the film rambles and shambles like it’s traveling on broken flip-flops. How can a movie about someone so high bring you so low? *** While surfing Netflix for something worthwhile, I landed on the 2018 film “A Futile and Stupid Gesture,” about the origins of National Lampoon and the short troubled life of its brilliant co-founder Doug Kenney (Will Forte). If you want the blow-by-blow of the Lampoon story, start with the 2015 documentary

“Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead” then move on to this lightly fictionalized version. “Gesture” is a strangelyfascinating piece of moviemaking, especially in its presentation of familiar people.

Joel McHale does a passable job as Chevy Chase (whose coke problem was legendary), but I couldn’t tell if I was mesmerized or appalled

by Jon Daly’s impression of Bill Murray. And as the great John Belushi, John Gemberling delivers a decent “Food fight!” then gets out of the way. Anything less is a losing battle.

Jim Keogh contributing writer

A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019 WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

25

calendar Through Sunday, April 7 Rodin: Truth, Form, Life

Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery, College of the Holy Cross, 1 College St. Auguste Rodin’s sculptures return to Holy Cross.

Pictured: “Mask of the Man with a Broken Nose, 1863-64

Thursday, April 4 The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show

26

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019

Hanover Theatre, 2 Southbridge St. Eric Carle’s classic children’s tale comes to life at the Hanover Theatre, with 75 puppets.

Friday, April 5 Hatebreed

The Palladium, 261 Main St. The Connecticut hardcore legends return to the Palladium with Obituary, Cro-Mags, Terror and Fit for an Autopsy.

calendar Saturday, April 6 Sijo Afternoon

simjang, 72 Shrewsbury St. Korean literature professor Dave McCann hosts a free, public event highlighting Korean literature with local poets and more.

Friday, April 5 French New Wave Series Film #2: Jules and Jim Acoustic Java Roastery, 6 Brussels St. Presented by cinema-worcester, part two of the four part French New Wave series heads to Acoustic Java Roastery with “Jules et Jim,” the 1962 smash.

Saturday, April 6 The Legacy of Otto Piene

Fitchburg Art Museum, 185 Elm St. A performance of Otto Piene’s Light Robots by artist John Powell, with a panel discussion and a poetic reflection by poet and artist Elizabeth Goldring, Piene’s widow.

Saturday, April 6 Baroness & Deafheaven

The Palladium, 261 Main St. Metal acts Baroness and Deafheaven perform at the Palladium with special guests Zeal & Ardor.

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

Mechanics Hall, 321 Main St. Music Worcester presents the world-renowned cellist with “Culture, Understanding and Survival.”

A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019

Sunday, April 7 Yo-Yo Ma

27

sports p For Railers fan Matt Mullaney, heckling all in good fun WALTER BIRD JR.

A big grin flashed across Mullaney’s face.

“I’m getting heckled,” he said, att Mullaney doesn’t laughing. remember exactly why he To be sure, sometimes Mullaney started heckling, but he annoys nearby fans. He even upset knows who it all started an usher once who found his inceswith: No. 97, David Vallorani, a left sant yelling annoying. Generally, winger with the Brampton Beast. however, Mullaney’s verbal taunts It was near the start of this season, generate laughter among the second for the those around him.

Worcester Railers in Sometimes, it’s different, the ECHL. Mullaney, particular when fans of a diehard hockey fan the opposing team are who was around for sitting near Mullaney. the former Worcester “I have received some Ice Cats and Sharks pushback from people of the AHL, and who around me,” he said, has a full season noting when he is in his membership for the regular seats, farther Railers, went to a away from the players, game at the DCU he tends not to start Center, the Railers’ yelling. “At the last game home ice, with some against Maine, one of friends. their fans was heckling “This guy, No. 97, me, chirping me. That Vallorani, I don’t even just kind of spirals into remember why it something fun. At the started, I just started end of the day, that’s all giving him the busiit is. We’re just out there ness,” the 27-yearfor a good time.” old Mullaney, who The Railers organizaresides in Worcester, tion is well aware, and said of yelling at the Worcester Railers fan Matt Mullaney heckles an generally supportive, of opposing player. “A opposing player during a recent game at the Mullaney’s antics. He lot of people behind DCU Center. deals with a ticket rep me really liked it. A WALTER BIRD JR. who moves him to seats lot of my buddies behind the opponent’s really liked it. I kept it sharp, although they went on to lose bench when they’re available. going with other teams. Sometimes, in stunning fashion. With it just may There are, Mullaney acknowlyou get a really good reaction out of have gone their playoff hopes, but edged, limitations to heckling at a players.”

Railers game. The team tailors its fun Mullaney is easily identifiable, and Mullaney did his part to give the team a boost. He was back behind toward families, and Mullaney must easily heard, when he is heckling at the visiting team’s bench, a few rows be mindful.

Railers games. Typically wearing a up in section 123. This time, it wasn’t “I talked to one of the ticket reps medium-blue Railers jersey bearing Vallorani on the receiving end of about it,” he said. “They thought [the the last name of their star goalie, heckling] was pretty funny. They Mitch Gillam, on the back, Mullaney the taunts. Instead, No. 14, defenseman Chris Martenet was the target, expressed that they want [the DCU is a big guy with a beard and glasses although Mullaney got in a few shots Center] to be a tough place to play.

- and bigger voice. His season seats at Vallorani, too.

At the same time, we have to rememare for Row G in section 123, but “Hey, No. 97!” he yelled. “Even your ber it’s a family event. We have to oftentimes he moves down to just a parents don’t buy your jersey!” keep it clean, but we want this to be few rows behind the visiting team’s From somewhere nearby in the a place where teams come in and say bench. stands, came a shout directed at everything’s tough about playing in That’s when the fun begins.

Mullaney. that place.”

As a heckler, Mullaney wants to “Hey, No. 35! You’ve got a big Mullaney is well known to Railers get inside the heads of opposing mouth!” officials, and President Mike Myers

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019

M

28

players. Sometimes, he gets inside the heads of their fans. Take Sunday, for example, with the Railers having put up a stinker at home the night before in a 7-0 loss to the Brampton Beast, a team they are chasing for a playoff berth. They were back at home, hosting the Beast again. For two periods, the Railers were looking

said the team appreciates how fans choose to express themselves.

“I hear him,” he said of Mullaney with a smile and a nod. “At different games he’s louder than others. He likes to get under the skin of some of the opposing teams.”

Asked whether he thinks heckling helps the home team, Myers said, “For me, you go to any sporting event, it takes all types of fans to cheer on a team. When we lose and take criticism from fans, it just makes me happy we have fans that are that much to, you know, throw some barbs on social media, or even in person. If there was apathy, that would bother me more.

“To have someone that cares enough to get involved, maybe research a player on another team, as long as it’s above board and done tastefully, and not detracting from anyone’s fan-watching experience, you know, we encourage our fans to express themselves, whether it’s chants, or waves or cowbells.”

Mullaney does take the time to look up players and learn a bit about them in deciding who to heckle.

Sometimes, however, the material just presents itself.

Last season, defenseman Justin Agosta was with the rival Manchester Monarchs. The Railers ended up trading Ashton Rome for Agosta, who never reported to Worcester.

“He just never showed up,” Mullaney said. “He would rather not play hockey than play with Worcester. After his contract was over with Worcester, he re-signed with Manchester. One of his first games back with them, he was playing in Worcester. Every 10 seconds I would yell at the top of my lungs, ‘Agosta!

Welcome to Worcester! How’s the ice?’ That one was a lot of fun.”

Even Agosta’s friends on the bench turned to him and laugh, Mullaney said.

“That one,” he said, “was my favorite.”

In the end, said Mullaney, heckling is all about having fun, while supporting the team and engaging in some good-natured back-and-forth

with opposing players.

“You’ve got to be clever and you’ve got to be funny,” he said. “You’ve got to find the line between hurting somebody’s feelings, offending somebody, to getting somebody to listen to what you’re saying, and find that soft spot where you can poke them a little bit.

“I’m not trying to upset anybody.

I just want the player’s attention to be pulled off the game and onto me.

I’m a pretty big-sized guy. Whenever you’ve got a guy like that behind you yelling, you’re going to hear him.”

The Score Worcester Railers Saturday, March 30 The Railers (30-27-6-4) put up a dud in a 7-0 loss at home to the Brampton Beast. The loss left them four points behind the Beast for the fourth and final playoff spot in the North Division with five games remaining.

Sunday, March 31 The Railers (30-28-6-4) took a devastating blow to their playoff hopes, blowing a 4-2 lead and falling, 7-4, to the Beast at home. That left them six points behind Brampton for the final playoff spot in the North Division with four games remaining.

(Upcoming: The Railers hosted the Manchester Monarchs Wednesday, April 3 after this paper went to press. The Railers then go on the road Friday, April 5 against the Maine Mariners, before returning home Saturday, April 6 to host the Newfoundland Growlers. They close out the regular season on the road Sunday, April 7 against the Adirondack Thunder.)

Round-Up The Massachusetts Pirates have hired Pierre Chatman as their defensive line coach. Chatman is a veteran of 12 seasons, having played at West Virginia State, Warner University and for several area football teams.

The Railers Sports Tavern, at 90 Commercial St. behind the DCU Center, will serve as the official site for the Pirates’ pre-game tailgate parties.

games J O N E S I N’

“Fly Free” – another freestyle for everyone.

by Matt Jones

Across

1 11 15 16 17 18 19 20 22 23

Down 1 Speaks too proudly 2 Cream-filled pastry 3 Individual beings

43 Archive format 45 Old Scottish towns (as opposed to towns elsewhere?)

47 La Brea attraction 48 Nick follower on cable TV 49 Ruling 50 Reprimands 56 Classic canvas shoe brand 57 Pres. Eisenhower’s alma mater 59 Petri dish medium 62 Plop down

Last week's solution

29

©2019 Jonesin’ Crosswords (jonesincrosswords@gmail.com) Reference puzzle #930

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

Call 978-728-4302 or email cmaclassifieds@ gatehousemedia.com today to place your ad here!

4 ___ Modern (London art gallery) 5 Nearby 6 Gives substance to, with “out” 7 Tipsy 8 Fathom or foot 9 Swimming pools, a la “The Beverly Hillbillies” 10 Krispy ___ (some doughnuts) 11 Key with no flats or sharps, for short 12 Editing a program, say 13 Single-file 14 Wearing some Victorian garb 21 PGA’s Calvin 24 Explorative phrase in kids’ science shows, maybe 30 Yule symbol 32 Ambient music producer Brian 34 Requisite 35 “Fine, I give up” 36 Pork roast flavorer 37 Suffix after habit or sex 38 Rhombus, e.g.

A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019

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!

Wish for success Nemesis for Hook It stops at ports of call “You leave ___ choice” Nonstop Lenovo competitor PC menu command Short-term positions 20-20, e.g.

Gp. with a Seattle team come 2021 25 Maiden name lead-in 26 Turn green, perhaps 27 Pre-grads 28 Kool Moe ___ 29 “The Hollow Men” poet 31 Instruction segment 33 British heavyweight?

34 Word before operandi 39 ___-Caps (concession stand candy) 40 Pushed, with “on” 41 Home of California’s Mendocino College 42 TV character who jumped the shark, with “the” 44 Course outlines 46 Short Morse code bit 48 Break stuff?

51 Ohio airport code 52 Dad joke, often 53 Upscale hotel offering 54 Noir investigator, slangily 55 Bob Mould’s band before Sugar 58 He played Wiseau 60 “Just ___ bit more” 61 Drama with a title character voiced by Kristen Bell 63 Contested 64 Embarrassed 65 Parts of loaves 66 Buckeye and others

classifieds

Call 978-728-4302 or email cmaclassifieds@gatehousemedia.com to place your ad today!

30

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019

SERVICE DIRECTORY

Call 978-728-4302 or email cmaclassifieds@ gatehousemedia.com today to place your ad here!

LEGAL Holden Housing Authority The Holden Housing Authority’s 5 Year Agency Plan will be available for review and public comment at its main administrative offices located at 9 Flagler Drive, Holden MA 01520 during regular business hours of 8:30AM to 3:30PM Monday through Thursday beginning on April 1, 2019.

A public hearing will take place relative to the 5 Year Agency Plan on May 15, 2019 at 10AM at the above described location.

Sudoku Answers

last call REaCT Fitness Team Martial Arts Instructors ,

J

ship position in the club itself. I was president for all four of my years at WPI. That experience has evolved into the three of us working together.

ohn Ryan, Alex Hackathorn and Halsey Vandenberg are the partners behind REaCT Fitness Club, a multi-style martial arts and fitness organization on Grove Street. REaCT is a mixed martial arts system with three phases of training: stand up, takedowns and grappling. The REaCT team is dedicated to helping their students find individual physical and mental success by improving strength, endurance, and mobility, and cultivating positive mental habits. You can follow them on instagram @react.nation.

Tell me your Worcester origin stories.

JR: I grew up in Connecticut and Massachusetts. After high school, I moved to the nearest city and that was Worcester. That was back in ‘97 and I’ve been here ever since.

HV: I went to WPI and decided to stay here because of martial arts.

AH: I grew up in Northbridge, then I went to Worcester State and never left the area.

– Sarah Connell

31

With a growing program and a growing business, it makes sense that you need more manDYLAN AZARI power—and womanpower.”

JR: I’m personally really proud of of WPI’s martial arts program. We martial arts whatsoever when I the impact women have made on just finished our eighth year there. first started. I found out about the this program. We recently did a martial arts club at WPI through Throwback Thursday post and I Were you both beginners when the student activities fair and that posted something from six years you started training with John? introduced me to REaCT and to ago. We love everybody who’s in AH: I had a little bit of experience Capoeira, an African-Brazilian the picture, but there’s something with Kenpo. It turned out I didn’t martial art that incorporates in the picture that cannot and know anything that would really acrobatics, dance, music and should not ever exist anymore, be applicable to what we do here. songs. I got hooked on martial which is the male students trainHV: I had no experience in arts and then moved into a leader- ing with their shirts off. We were

From left, Halsey Vandenberg, John Ryan and Alex Hackathorn.

How are you working to build community?

AH: It’s amazing how our students have taken it upon themselves to self reinforce that everyone is worthy of physical health and mental growth. There isn’t a class that goes by at WPI when a big group of students don’t leave to go get dinner together.

JR: Everyone who comes in will at some point be responsible for someone else, because this isn’t a solo thing. We like having beginner and intermediate students work together. Yeah, you can stand or you can throw air punches and kicks. But when you start talking about takedowns and grappling and wrestling, you can’t do that with a shadow. It requires putting hands on another person and the first step is understanding not only discipline, but also personal respect and boundaries.

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

How did the three of you come together?

JR: In 2012, I met Alex. Halsey was a freshman at WPI at that time.

I had opened up a tiny space just across the bridge in Shrewsbury.

It wasn’t much and it didn’t work out, but that’s where Alex started.

He stuck around after that spot closed and became an assistant coach for me. The only program we continued to offer was at WPI, but it was limited to students.

As things progressed, it became obvious that I needed more people to help, not just with the WPI program, but also with students who wanted to fight and move beyond a class experience. That became one of Alex’s major projects at the time. Now he is the chapter coach

I took a class with the three of you when I was working at a bar because I wanted to feel safer walking to my car late at night. Are you still offering classes like that?

JR: Yes, we hosted another self defense workshop a few weeks ago. We will do more in the future.

HV: We’ve also participated in some assault prevention events at WPI like Take Back the Night.

A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019

Is this the sort of sport people often learn later in life?

JR: When people think of MMA, they often think of UFC fighters.

They don’t think of little 8-yearolds running around and having a good time playing tag. But in all honesty, that’s what it often is at that age level. There’s no heavy contact. It’s the same situation with traditional martial arts.

You can put the gear on, but if you choose to punch someone in the face, that shows a lack of discipline and it is an opportunity to teach a life lesson. That’s the stigma we fight against. Our intro class is free with no obligations.

We have divisions for students of all ages.

AH: So many of our students at WPI come in and they’re like, “I don’t think I can do this. I’m really nervous.” It’s always amazing, after the first class they completely change their mindset and say, “This is not what I expected. I had a great time.” Halsey has been a big help at WPI because trying to do everything myself would be ridiculous.

just a casual training program at first and then everybody liked it, enjoyed it, and more structure made it more popular. The more seriously we took ourselves, the more seriously people took us.

At that point, I was unwilling to do anything that would prevent women from coming in and feeling included. And it took years.

Now we see our program blossoming among women.

32

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

A P R I L 4 - 10, 2019