Worcester Magazine April 15 - 21, 2021

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | APRIL 15 - 21, 2021 | CULTURE § ARTS § DINING § VOICES

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IN THIS ISSUE

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FEATURED

WPI team helps Audio Journal connect with app Richard Duckett Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

A small team of Worcester Polytechnic Institute students, guided by their academic advisers and advice from the community, has developed the fi rst iOS phone app for Audio Journal.

It’s got people talking, and listening.

The Worcester-based nonprofi t Audio Journal is a radio service for the blind, visually impaired, or individuals otherwise unable to read print or visual materials — as well as people who may just like its programming.

“Wonderful,” said Mary Frandsen, Audio Journal executive director, about the response to the app. When people who had been testing the new app for the Audio Journal were asked if they would use it again, 100 percent said yes. Access time to broadcasts using the app has been cut from fi ve minutes to one minute. It is now available to anyone at no cost on Apple’s app store.

With the app, listeners can listen live, listen to archived programming, identify favorite programs, and view the program schedule. Features are a simple screen design, dynamic type, the ability to search for programs by voice, and help menus.

“It’s kind of great seeing it come to fruition,” said WPI student and Audio Journal app team member Ryan Doyle.

“Seeing the app come out,

and seeing it in the app store, it’s a great feeling. Doing it for such a great organization as Audio Journal, this is defi nitely my highlight of my time at WPI,” Doyle said.

Relying on volunteers, Audio Journal’s programs range from the reading of local newspapers to topical and cultural broadcasts, many of them locally produced and presented. One, “Speaking Volumes,” a book discussion program, has been featured in The Oprah Magazine. Audio Journal also shares programing with other radio reading services so that it is on the air 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from its offi ce and recording production studio at 799 West Boylston St. However, Frandsen was interested in improving access for listeners, including Audio Journal’s broadcast and archive programs. Most listeners either tune into Audio Journal on its website (www.audiojournal.org ), a special receiver, smart speaker or via local public access cable TV channels.

Frandsen said she had heard of WPI working with nonprofi t organizations, and got in touch with the university in May 2019.

WPI has a Community Project Program, and its academic program includes having students work on projects.

Frandsen spoke with Laura Roberts, director of the Worcester Community Project Center at WPI. For their Interactive Qualifying Project, students Doyle, See APP, Page 8D

A small team of WPI students, guided by their academic advisers and advice from the community, has developed the fi rst iOS phone app for Audio Journal. SUBMITTED PHOTO

8 | APRIL 15 - 21, 2021 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

App Continued from Page 7D

Irakli Grigolia and Brendan Marion decided to work as a team with the Audio Journal. Frandsen gave them a tour of the facility, and in January 2020, they started on the project.

Besides Frandsen, among others they talked with was David Dunham assistive technology coordinator for the the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired. The team also did a survey.

“This was the fi rst iteration of the project. At this point, we didn’t know we were working on an app. We were looking for access for the blind and visually impaired,” Doyle said.

Surveying blind and visually impaired participants, the team learned “most of them use smart phones,” Doyle said. The team started developing a prototype of what would be best for an app.

“Audio Journal would not have the resources to hire a commercial app developer, and we are so grateful to WPI for their work in the community,” said Mary Frandsen, executive director of Audio Journal. ASHLEY GREEN/T&G FILE

Features on the Audio Journal app are a simple screen design, dynamic type, voice search option, and help menus.

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Dunham, who is visually impaired, said some important points were to keep the app simple, and make the buttons and text easy to see.

“The simpler you make it the better it’s gonna be, not just for the blind and visually impaired but for everyone else,” Dunham said.

Doyle said that the team determined that an “iPhone app would be the best platform.” The app could utilize some helpful features for the project that are already built into iPhones, such as VoiceOver, which gives audible descriptions of what’s on the screen.

That concluded work on the Interactive Qualifying Project in March 2020, but Doyle said he felt “I’d love to continue on.”

Doyle and Grigolia met with Rodica Neamtu, associate teaching professor/ associate professor of computer science, to discuss actually creating a workable Audio Journal app for their Major Qualifying Project.

“Ryan (Doyle) came to me and I checked it out and actually got really excited to help them continue on this journey that they had started on,” Neamtu said.

But as might be suggested by the title

“Major Quality Project,” this was going to be a major project for Doyle and Grigolia.

“I thought it was going to be a little more work than two people could handle,” Neamtu said. So Neamtu asked student Kyria Nelson if she would be interested in getting involved with the project. Neamtu also asked WPI assistant professor of computer science Lane Harrison to join her as an advisor.

“I realized that this was going to be something bigger than creating a nice app,” Neamtu said.

“I met Mary (Frandsen), and she was very excited to know we were taking this on. She provided invaluable feedback for us through the entire project,” Neamtu said.

Frandsen gave Nelson a tour of Audio Journal, although by this time the pandemic was underway.

“For me, I would say I was aware I was making an app for Audio Journal, but I don’t think it really hit me until I safely visited Audio Journal. This is an ongoing organization helping people every day,” Nelson said.

Frandsen said Doyle, Grigolia and Nelson’s enthusiasm was such that they got on the project in the summer of 2020 before WPI had resumed classes. Grigo-

lia and Nelson are computer science majors, while Doyle is a major in interactive media and game development technology.

“It’s people from diff erent disciplines working together for one team,” Doyle said. Furthermore, “Working with people outside the group like Mary (Frandsen) was really an eye-opening experience.”

Meanwhile, Dunham helped with having people test the app as it was being developed and give feedback.

“Accessibility is a more important topic in the past few years. What does a particular organization need?” said Harrison.

Testing out the app “led to a decent amount of insight and underscores the importance of listening to end users and engaging them in the design process,” he said.

“To get feedback and take that into account with the app — it was a great luxury to have that testing,” Doyle said.

The project normally have been undertaken face-to-face, Neamtu noted.

“The fact that the project was developed remotely, it’s really a testament to the hard work and drive. This had been See APP, Page 9D

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | APRIL 15 - 21, 2021 | 9

FEATURED

App Continued from Page 8D

harder than it would normally have been because of the circumstances,” she said.

Doyle said the goal was to create an app that was simple, intuitive and usable.

The app has buttons for “Listen Live,” “Archival Programs,” “Resume Last Broadcast, “Favorite Programs, “Program Schedule,” and “Help.” There is also a color palate changer so people can adjust colors to what would be preferable to them.

Complementing VoiceOver, the team developed a voice control feature allowing the user to say the name of the program they want to listen to along with other applications.

“It’s very user-friendly. It works very well,” Dunham said.

“Some of the feedback was make sure the layout of the buttons was consistent and the app was simple.

You need a simple set of categories and a simple search — ‘search for newspaper reading,’ ‘listen to audio book,’” Dunham said.

In a Zoom teleconference/interview, Dunham told the team, “This is a very concise app that works very well.

It’s easy to see. It jumps out at you. I love it. I think you did a great job.”

The project itself was no simple matter. “There were a lot of bugs to With the app, Audio fi x,” Doyle said.

Journal listeners can But on March 12 the app was sublisten live, listen to mitted to the App Store for approval, archived programming, and it was approved less than two identify favorite days later. programs, and view the “It feels real good,” said Grigolia. program schedule.

Doyle, Nelson and Grigolia are on SUBMITTED PHOTO schedule to graduate from WPI in May. “It worked out well. I got a lot of experience. At WPI I learned to be adaptable,” Doyle said.

“Audio Journal would not have the resources to hire a commercial app developer, and we are so grateful to WPI for their work in the community,” Frandsen said. “The app will help move Audio Journal into the future. People typically lose their sight as they age so new and future Audio Journal listeners will be comfortable with technology and wanting to listen with their smart phones. The students created something tangible and practical. This is one of a few WPI projects that result in something concrete that everyone can use — sighted or not.”

Work is not fi nished. Neamtu said a new student team will look to work on the app further, including developing it as a template that other organizations can use.

Frandsen said, “My aspiration is that the app will become a template for radio reading services nationwide.”

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FEATURED

Kong set to bring its brand of funk to Electric Haze live show Robert Duguay Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

The rates of cases are going down, which means that COVID-19 regulations are easing up in Massachusetts. This means that venues that have the means to do so can reopen and have live music at a reduced capacity to coincide with social distancing. Since this became reality last month, Electric Haze has been putting on an assortment of events at 26 Millbury St. These kinds of shows have featured DJs, art gallery showings, live bands and even a thing called “Magic Male XXL,” which we’ll leave up to the imagination. At 8 p.m. April 16, Kong will be coming to the stage from Boston to perform the music they refer to as “thunderfunk”.

The upcoming show is the band’s fi rst time playing in front of an actual audience in a little more than a year. During that time between gigs they’ve done a couple of live streams while teaching music lessons and working their day jobs.

“We did do a live stream concert back in October because we used to have a residency at Bull McCabe’s in Somerville before the place had to close due to the pandemic,” bassist Rich Lynch says on what Kong has been up to. “We were one of several bands that were part of a virtual benefi t to raise money to off set the costs for that bar having to close. We also did another live stream back in June and other than that, the last time we played an actual live show was back in February of last year. Some of us in the band teach so we’ve been doing online lessons while doing more gigs along the lines of live streaming during the lockdown. Everyone has been doing their own sort of thing while working remotely from home, which I’ve been doing through the Berklee College Of Music.

“I have a regular nine to fi ve so I’ve been able to stay busy and still make some money,” he adds. “Generally speaking, most of the group are teachers and they give lessons anyways so they’re still able to do that without the benefi t of actually playing gigs.”

With it being such a long time since they returned to the stage, the band just plans on bringing their signature sound like they always do. They do plan on things being a bit diff erent due to the current protocols being in place.

“We still plan on bringing our patented ‘thunderfunk’ that Kong does, but it’s going to be a bit diff erent because of the protocols for good reason,” Lynch says

Kong performs April 16 at Electric Haze in Worcester. SUBMITTED PHOTO

on what to expect from the upcoming show. “We’re mostly instrumental, we’ll sing a song here or there with a guest vocalist but that isn’t out of the ordinary for us. We do have a horn section and the protocols give a little wrinkle to that eff ect where we have to pay attention to the spacing, but as far as anything special goes, that’s really it. There’s these protocols that we have to abide by but it’s the same old ‘thunderfunk’ and we’re going to bring it.”

For the coming months toward the summer, Kong plans on working on new music while also seeking out more gigs. They hope that the current trend of low case numbers and increased vaccination provides a path

toward some normalcy.

“We plan on continuing to write some new music,” Lynch says. “Musically we have a lot of covers but we have a lot of originals, too, so we’re going to continue to write. Anything booked for the spring and summer as of now is just this gig coming up at Electric Haze so we’re looking to book more. There’s nothing on the calendar yet but we’re certainly looking to get back out there the more it gets nice out and the more things look like they’re heading in the right direction. Hopefully this is all encouraging for things to return to some sense of normal in the future.”

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | APRIL 15 - 21, 2021 | 11

CITY VOICES DON LANDGREN CARTOON

FIRST PERSON

Search for new hobby goes into uncharted territory Joe Fusco Jr. Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

When you retire during a pandemic, you need to fi nd ‘hobbies.’

One of my retired friends is learning to play guitar through You Tube lessons. Another is re-reading every book in her home-library alphabetically.

Still another just stays on See FIRST, Page 12D

WORCESTERIA

Some pandemic hobbies are more suitable than others ... PEXELS

Sam James talks ‘Voice,’ Tik Tok, Hanover show Victor D. Infante Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

“VOICE” LESSONS: Worcester musician Sam James fully admits he doesn’t watch “The Voice” much anymore, even though he was on the show in 2012, but he has caught the most recent local “Voice” competitor, Ryleigh Modig of Spencer, on another platform: TikTok. “I think she’s so (expletive) talented,” says James, in a recent phone conversation. James said he had discovered her when she came up in his “Recommended For You” feed, and that when he discovers an artist he likes there, he follows them and then follows their Instagram, which is when he discovered she was local. “I had no idea she was on ‘The Voice,’” he says. “I think she’s so herself … she is an original. sometimes

you hear people and they’ve got it. She’s not trying to be someone she’s not. She’s not copying anyone, she’s doing interesting fl ips on songs.

She’s going to go so far.” James admires that sense of authenticity, admitting that a lot of his time spent on “The Voice” and later “Songland,” he was spending too much time worrying what other people were thinking, and that letting go of that and just being himself is what’s allowed him to have some measure of success in his post-”Voice” career, both as a songwriter whose work has been song by the likes of Dolly Parton and Bebe Rexha, and as a performer whose been going viral on Tik Tok with somewhat surprising material: Acoustic guitar covers of hip-hop songs.

GOING VIRAL: Covering See JAMES, Page 12D

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James

noted that these aren’t novelty covers, they’re just adapted to his own style, and James thinks that might be the key to their success. “It’s really cool,”

says James. “I love that I can go and write a country song for some big artist, and then do my own thing online.” James says his recent cover of Brockhamp-

ton has over a million views.

“It’s an interesting platform,” he says, of Tik Tok. “It’s kind of fi ckle. Shorter videos kind of win, but it can’t be too short.

The algorithm likes videos that get played all the way through, and which people comment and like on … It’s all the algorithm. There’s no human sitting at Tik Tok saying, ‘I want to put this on everybody’s “For You” page.’” James says Tik Tok is a great platform for breaking new music, but it can also be frustrating: “You can post 10, 11 videos over two or three weeks, and they’ll get 5,000, 6,000 views, and then one – you can tell right away … it’s never a slow-burn on Tik Tok – you have 25,000 views in the fi rst couple seconds. I don’t think there’s any rhyme or reason to it. Sometimes the videos go, sometimes they don’t.”

BACK TO REALITY: As the

manent 5 o’clock shadow that Ben Affl eck and Tom Brady model. Like 62% of men surveyed, I manscape below the belt.

I’m also considering ‘Scrotox.’ Scrotox is a Botox injection into the testicles. Supposedly, it decreases sweating, reduces wrinkles, and makes your junk look larger and hang lower.

“It improves aesthetic ap-

pearance and enhances sexual activity by increasing self-confi dence” according to Dr. Krem Bortecen, a proponent of the enhancement.

Scrotox takes about four minutes and is an out-patient procedure. You can go to the gym or senior center the same day!

Each injection cost $500 and should be done quarterly so

there goes my stimulus money!

During my 50-year career in the supermarket business, a few bosses proclaimed that I had really ‘big balls’ to question their decisions. How prophetic of them.

One of my daughters who is a professional photographer does boudoir shoots. I mentioned that Scrotox plus my other grooming fi xations might open

Continued from Page 11D

hip-hop songs isn’t actually new for James. “When I was doing fi ve or six nights a week playing in bars, I’d throw in a hip-hop song once in a while,” he says. “It just kind of clicked.

A friend said, ‘You should put this stuff up on Instagram,’ and I did, and it started blowing up … I said, ‘I guess I’ll stick with this and keep going.’ I have a raspy, twangy voice … I guess what people conceived as a country dude in a weird hat and a fl annel shirt playing a Drake song, that resonated with people.” In addition to Drake, James has posted covers of songs by YNW Melly, DaBaby, Nicki Minaj, Brockhampton, Megan Thee Stallion and The Notorious B.I.G. It should be

First Continued from Page 11D

Facebook all day and rants politically.

I’m into Senior Grooming!

My hair is longer and curls around my ears that I pluck nightly. My feet enjoy a monthly pedicure. I strive for that per-

Sam James of Worcester performs on NBC’s “Songland” in 2019.

FILE PHOTO/NBC

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pandemic winds down, James admits he’s looking forward to live music again, even if he’s spending more time in recording studios than he is on stages.

One show he’s defi nitely set for – COVID-19 restrictions willing – is opening for his fellow Worcester “Voice” alum, Ricky Duran, Sept. 18 at The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, a show that has been rescheduled four times because of the pandemic. Tickets are currently available on the Hanover’s website. James says he’s “going to play all my new stuff , and it’s going to be really diff erent. It’s a lot of energy, a lot of hip-hop in there.” He admits that he’s not sure what people who used to go see him play Worcester bars are going to think of it, but that’s where he’s at now. As with the Tik Tok videos, “I’m just being myself.”

some Senior Dudeoir possibilities for me. She disagreed quite emphatically.

My wife of 34 years who has seen me dabble in yoga, voiceovers, competitive eating and ballroom dancing over the years has only one piece of advice on my search for a new "hobby."

“Try woodworking.”

Joe Fusco Jr. is a poet and humorist living in Worcester.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Climate change a threat to our survival Climate change is arguably the greatest threat to our survival. Top scientists are in agreement that we only have until the end of the decade to act to prevent the worst impacts of climate change from becoming reality. Aside from Massachusetts already seeing the impacts, with coastal erosion causing the rapid disappearance of North Shore beaches, I come from Connecticut, which experienced the impacts of Tropical Storm Isaias last summer, and I saw fi rsthand what it did to my community: downing trees and leaving people in my hometown without power for up to a week. In addition, it caused similar damage to Massa-

chusetts residents. Knowing what we do about the impacts of climate change, the Massachusetts state legislature must pass the 100% Clean Act, which would transition the state to 100% clean electricity by 2035, and to 100% clean heating and transportation by 2045.

Transitioning off fossil fuels is the only path forward to save our communities from the most devastating impacts of climate change, and to protect the younger generations, as well as future ones. The state can lead on this issue, but only if we choose to act before it is too late.

— Alex Kawa is a student at Clark University in Worcester.

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | APRIL 15 - 21, 2021 | 13

POETRY TOWN

‘Shining City On A Hill’ Tony Brown

It is as broken as Troy or Fukushima.

As crumbled as numberless cities still unfound and unnamed.

No beauty to it now as if it were Atlantis still thriving under pressure and without light. If it is even real, it is no longer within our reach if it ever was.

Do you hate this lament for it? I do.

I longed for it as we all did.

Embarrassed now to say that I once sang of how it could be found, entered, made into a home, but it was bait. It was only lure, only decoy. While I chased it it slipped away and something diff erent rose on its site that stank of whitened bones and old massacres. I looked for it on a hill while they built it

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in a charnel trench. They knew me well enough to know how I could be fooled, and I was so fooled. My song for the city became a scream, a death metal horn of rage. My angle on the angles of the buildings and roads turned sharp and bloody. It became impossible to inhabit my body and say it belonged there.

It’s just a nowhere form. It’s a frame for loss.

They keep building their city, marketing Troy, tell us to keep praying to the ghosts of Fukushima.

They insist Atlantis will reveal itself, rise from the nuclear waves if I will just wait.

That city I see them drawing up from the waves?

Not Atlantis, but R’lyeh, and yes, they always knew.

Tony Brown is a Worcester poet and the frontman of the Duende Project.

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14 | APRIL 15 - 21, 2021 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

COVER STORY

Unlike the continent of Antarctica, the North Pole is made up of islands locked in sea ice.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF JACK MCCLINTOCK

THE ENDS OF THE EARTH Arctic journey reveals beauty, climate change reality

C

all me, Ishmael. In the summer of 2006 a research vessel named Akademik Ioff e cruised the High Arctic gathering oceanographic information about the Polar Ocean fl oor. It was a fast double-hulled Russian spy ship that had been sold to a commercial enterprise after the fall of the Soviet Union. My wife and I took a berth aboard the Ioff e to pursue my dream of exploring territory in that legendary part of the world. We drove north out of Worcester for seven hours to the capital city of Ottawa in the province of Ontario, Canada; then took a seven-hour jet fl ight due north to Resolute Island in the province of Nunavut. A small barren bit of land, Resolute was named to commemorate heroic exploration related to the search for a

Jack McClintock Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

Akademik Ioffa deploying Zodiacs.

North West Passage in the frozen wastes above North America. Barely a dot on the map, it lies nearly 1,000 miles above Hudson Bay and occupies some of the most inhospitable real estate on Earth.

After reaching the island’s tiny municipal airport, we boarded our ship by Zodiac in Resolute Bay and traveled north once more, this time for seven days. At the height of our trip we’d reached as far as you can go without dogsleds: 78 degrees latitude by 72 degrees longitude. Close enough to what geographers call Absolute North to shake hands with Santa Claus.

During the two weeks we spent in the Arctic we made landfall at places that never before felt the presence of humans. Unlike the continent of Antarctica, See EARTH, Page 15D

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | APRIL 15 - 21, 2021 | 15

Earth Continued from Page 14D

the North Pole is made up of islands locked in sea ice.

The temperature remained at 32 degrees Fahrenheit, and the sun never left the heavens. The ocean was perpetually calm, the weather invariably fair. Our surroundings were usually cloudless, and fog or snow squalls, when they did occur, typically burned away by mid-morning.

Whales, porpoises, narwhals and seals regularly explored us as we explored inlets, islands coastlines and reefs. The sky was brilliant azure, the sea a deep cerulean blue, and at some point nearly every day they would merge imperceptibly along the horizon giving the sense that the vast ocean fl owed into the sky, or the vaulted canopy overhead curved to slide noiselessly into the sea. This was a pristine crystalline world of indescribable beauty where you could see hundreds of feet into the depths, and the sun sat like an all-seeing eye that warmed and illuminated everything from the tips of your toes to the deepest reaches of your soul.

The water there is cold enough to kill a man in 10 minutes, a fact that posed no threat to the polar bears we saw hunting seals along the way. In late August we met the southern face of the Arctic ice shelf as it retreated between Ellesmere Island and Greenland. Our coordinates left the ship’s crew and the scientists aboard incredulous, because those coordinates were the highest ever sailed by any surface vessel in history.

The captain ordered the ship to a full stop and everyone gathered on deck to witness the event. During the silence which accompanied realization of where we were, all of us — sojourners and sailors, adventurers and recreational explorers — recognized that we were in a part of the ocean never before open to navigation.

We were witnessing the reality of global climate change and at that precise moment, in that most unlikely location, something happened to explain what we were seeing. Like a symbol of man’s impact on the planet, an emissary of progress came fl uttering by in the light breeze. There at the very top of the world, we

Bears need ice to catch their main food source, seals. PHOTOS COURTESY OF JACK MCCLINTOCK

See EARTH, Page 16D

Plaque commemorating Captain McClintock.

The increasing presence of people who wish to experience the primordial beauty of untrammeled nature is understandable, as are the desires of those who would exploit it.

16 | APRIL 15 - 21, 2021 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

Beluga Whales approach along the shore of an island.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JACK MCCLINTOCK

Earth Continued from Page 15D

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watched as a solitary four-quart plastic shopping bag blew slowly across the water less than a hundred feet off the bow. Arctic vessels aren’t allowed to carry such things and so it hadn’t come from our ship. But there it was, as if waiting to greet us since the beginning of time.

The small plastic obscenity repeatedly fi lled in the breeze like some tiny white sail as it skipped away into the unknown, unexplored, uninhabitable reaches. In the absence of warmth, manmade materials such as plastic don’t degrade. Encountering such a thing in so remote a place was shocking. It was as if Mary Shelley’s monster had come alive, paid us a brief visit, and then slowly ambled back into the frozen wilderness from which it came.

I’d wanted to explore the ends of our Earth since I studied geography in grade school. My family name is unusual and the poles are the only places where it’s used to designate location. A British admiral named Sir Francis McClintock once scoured the Arctic searching for the vanished ships and crew of the legendary Franklin expedition. I’ve always been curious about that, and the fact that there’s a Mount McClintock in the Britannia Range of Antarctica.

My intrigue with the poles increased through the years as I learned about legendary explorers like Shackleton, Byrd, Amundsen and Peary. Doctor Paul Siple, an alumnus of Clark University here in Worcester, developed the concept of wind chill during scientifi c expeditions to Antarctica, and named the Clark Range of mountains there after our alma-mater.

You don’t have to climb mountains, trek across deserts, explore virgin caves, or traverse far away oceans to appreciate the breathtaking beauty of nature, but if you’ve ever visited places like that it’s easier to grasp the fundamental nature that links you to our planet. If you’ve ever visited truly wild places, the last thing you expect to see are signs of the presence of other humans. So, when we got to the North Pole I was fi rst struck by the awesome beauty of the place, then appalled to see plastic refuse amid what I took See EARTH, Page 17D

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WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | APRIL 15 - 21, 2021 | 17

Landfall at Starnes Fjordon Ellsmere Island.

Earth Continued from Page 16D

to be the most pristine place left on Earth.

Mankind has been exploring the planet for centuries, but so far as I know there aren’t any plastic bags at the South Pole; something I’m sure the creatures who live there are happy about. Santa Claus doesn’t live there either, but on Christmas Eve 2013 a research vessel, the MV Akademik Shokalskiy, was stranded in Antarctic pack ice. After ice cutters from China, France and Australia failed to rescue the ship, its passengers were evacuated, leaving the Shokalskiy at risk of the same fate another ship (the Explorer) suff ered when it sank off Antarctica in November 2007. This prompted me to share details of the trip my wife and I made.

The Shokalskiy, like the Ioff e, belongs to the Akademik Shuleykin class of vessels, all of which were built in Finland specifi cally for service in polar seas. Despite the delicacy of their instrumentation, the ships themselves are rugged and have sophisticated stabilization and trimming systems built into their ice-strengthened hulls. When coupled with their superior speed those features are ideal for ocean voyaging. However, recreational activity is something the Polar Regions are not suited to, and ice-strengthened does not mean ice-proof.

The increasing presence of people who wish to experience the primordial beauty of untrammeled nature is understandable, as are the desires of those who would exploit it. And the inevitability of those activities compels action to stop it now before irrevocable harm is done. A surprising number of nations have See EARTH, Page 18D

Jack McClintock and his wife, Kathleen McClintock, on their journey to the Arctic.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF JACK MCCLINTOCK

18 | APRIL 15 - 21, 2021 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

Earth Continued from Page 17D

claims to areas of both the Arctic and Antarctic. There is ever increasing urgency to establishing some way of controlling access to those regions, as well as the uses they can be put to.

All land, internal waters, and territorial seas in the Arctic are under the jurisdiction of only eight coastal states: Canada, Denmark (via Greenland), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States.

Antarctica is loosely regulated by the terms of an agreement known as the Antarctic Treaty. There are currently 47 parties that have signed on to the treaty, but it amounts to little more than a simple declaration with no regulatory teeth to it. Only seven sovereign nations hold territorial claims in Antarctica, but many others have established communities there and are sure to pursue

"My explorations took me to the edge of the northern ice shelf and enabled me to see with my own eyes the reality of man’s impact on his world." PHOTO COURTESY OF JACK MCCLINTOCK

those interests. Though most of the continent remains unclaimed, that will change dramatically as competition for resources increases. More than a

dozen nations operate facilities that can easily become staging areas for commercial enterprise.

Because of this, it makes

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sense to look at alternatives to simple treaties regulating voluntary compliance of nations active in those areas of our world. The only entity that might be capable of providing equitable governance of both Polar Regions is the United Nations. Having one global organization with authority to govern would ensure uniformity of the laws and policies needed to regulate use, and revenues from that could help defray operational cost for the U.N. My explorations took me to the edge of the northern ice shelf and enabled me to see with my own eyes the reality of man’s impact on his world.

Whether symbol or metaphor, the plastic shopping bag I found at the top of our world

was an indisputable testament to man’s cleverness and carelessness, his intrepid spirit and foolish disregard for consequence.

I’m unsure of how to fi x any of what I believe is coming, but see the need to try, and thought to tell the tale of what I’ve seen to those who may be able to do something. With plans already underway to utilize a Northwest Passage, and the recent discovery of diamonds in Antarctica, it shouldn’t be long before entrepreneurs aboard ships like the Shokalskiy introduce plastic bags to the South Pole too. We are all crew members aboard a majestic blue ship called Earth. It’s everyone’s job to keep her from the fate of Melville’s fabled whaler, Pequod.

You don’t have to climb mountains, trek across deserts, explore virgin caves, or traverse far away oceans to appreciate the breathtaking beauty of nature, but if you’ve ever visited places like that it’s easier to grasp the fundamental nature that links you to our planet.

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | APRIL 15 - 21, 2021 | 19

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

The photography of Scarlett Hoey traces themes of womanhood Jori Dudzikowski Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

Scarlett Hoey’s collection of photographs unites themes of womanhood, domesticity, and personal identity. Through portraiture we are introduced to the powerful women of her family, the artist herself, and the spaces these women occupy. We are invited to observe quiet moments behind closed doors, to contemplate the historic responsibility and pressure women have faced, and refl ect on our personal experiences as Hoey passes the torch and pays homage to a long line of artistic female predecessors.

Hoey’s body of work ranges from select pieces from her series “Australiana,” taken in 2019, to a few more recent works from 2020. Through portraiture that suggests the narratives of her family’s generations, her work transforms the weight of womanhood.

Though her practice is analog photography, Hoey’s process begins with research.

Whether it be cemetery ambling, reading, or studying paintings in museums, she is an artist in constant conversation with the past. Her photographic techniques and tools connect her to the history that inspires her. For example, Hoey has the unique ability to paint with fi lm: through dramatic lighting, framing, temperature adjustments, and subject staging, she is able to manipulate an environment to become a suspended and expressive moment in time. Although her pieces are shown digitally in this exhibition, the physical scale and framing she utilizes in a real-world gallery harkens back to the elaborate and grand presentation of Baroque painting. Her pieces are large

“Masked Pomona,” digital inkjet print, 2020.

enough to confront the viewer and assist them in entering into the worlds she creates.

Hoey’s two portraits, titled “Gran In the Brew Shop” and “Gran on the Verandah,” depict her grandmother proudly working in domestic settings in Australia. Propped with a broom and hanging laundry to dry, these two pieces harken back to tradition while also reclaiming these laborious moments as precious and personal. From Gran’s bold fl oral print shirts we get a sense of her personality and the pride she takes in her appearance as she is working. Her warm smile contrasts the cool tones and mysterious landscape of the brew shop. Compositionally, Gran is set back in the space and appears smaller than her task at hand. Hoey’s use of heavy shadows is painterly and creates an atmosphere of isolation and loneliness. While she has a sense of dignity as she works, there is also a heavy weight within these pieces, stressing her responsibilities within these environments.

These are unthanked tasks, unglamorous, but necessary. Both of these images comment on

“Gran in the Brew Shop,” digital inkjet print, 2019

how the hard work of women can be forgotten or taken for granted. By photographing these instances it forces us to look within our own lives and appreciate what the women in our homes do for us, even if it’s behind closed doors and has been historically expected of them.

One of Hoey’s more recent pieces, “Masked Pomona,” continues the emotion of isolation.

She uses the absence of color to evoke a sense of distance between the viewer and the subject, and across time. The blurred background channels a gap in reality; a once vibrant experience, of looking into the eyes of your mother, is turned achromatic and far away. The lack of color makes this experience of mother and child feel as though time is fl eeting and that it could exist somewhere in the past. This photograph off ers a new perspective on modern portraiture during the pandemic. It challenges the audience to read emotion and body language through eyes alone, and channels the diffi culty of engaging with a close-up portrait when we are urged to keep our

“Gran on the Verandah,” digital inkjet print, 2014.

PHOTOS BY SCARLETT HOEY/ARTSWORCESTER

distance from strangers. This image also explores a feeling of longing we have now all experienced — of being close to your loved ones but not close enough to touch them. A sort of duality is present in her mother’s eyes: a feeling of joy, a squinted eye of what could perhaps be a smile underneath her mask, and a sense of uncertainty. This portrait helps capture the history of our unprecedented times, our new familial interactions, and the bittersweetness that follows them.

Scarlett Hoey’s work expresses feminine power not through a stereotypical lens.

There is a sense of power we get from hardship, from vulnerability, from fear. There is a strength to being alone, to dwelling in and adorning our

spaces, from the way we dress, to the way we work, to the decisions we are faced with: this collection is a representation of humanity.

“Art History 201: Art, the Public, and Worcester’s Cultural Institutions,” at Clark University gives students the opportunity to work closely with regional contemporary artists.

With individual artists from ArtsWorcester’s gallery programs, the students hone their visual and critical skills by producing short essays positioning the artists’ work within contemporary art history. This year, the students also curated small selections of their artist’s work for these online spotlights. This collaboration was funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

20 | APRIL 15 - 21, 2021 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

FOOD TABLE HOPPIN’

THE NEXT DRAFT

Getting beer fridge of news ready for a busy spring, summer Matthew Tota Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

A lemon blueberry cheesecake from Who Cut the Cheesecake. ASHLEY GREEN/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

Online cheesecake business takes off Barbara M. Houle

Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

David Silva began making cheesecakes when he was in high school, intrigued by a classic recipe he found in a cookbook his uncle gave him. He has gone from dreaming up original recipes to watching celebrity chefs like Emeril Lagasse teach TV audiences how to create the ultimate smooth, creamy cheesecake. Silva even has shared his own tips on making cheesecake on YouTube.

A paramedic for 14 years and an employee of Worcester EMS, Silva started the online business, Who Cut The Cheesecake, several months ago after demand for his cheesecakes skyrocketed. He currently works out of the kitchen at St. Bernard’s Church of Our Lady of Providence Parish, 228 Lincoln St., Worcester,

posting cheesecake fl avors and ordering information on Facebook.

Silva said he never intended to go into business and still can’t believe how things took off so quickly.

“I made cheesecakes for family and friends for holidays, no big deal,” said Silva. “A local fi refi ghter saw my video and asked me to bake a cheesecake for him and right after I started to get calls from people who wanted to order one. It was all word of mouth, really.

It still is.”

With the help of friends John Wojcik, Shannon Horan and Shawna Grout, Silva bakes at least 50 cakes weekly to fi ll preorders. Easter weekend, the number jumped to 70, he said.

Silva considers the business as uplifting, giving him and his friends a chance to slow down a bit. “The See HOPPIN’, Page 24D

In anticipation of a spring and summer fi lled with many more brewery visits than last year, I have started working furiously over the last few weeks to clean out my beer fridge.

Rough task, I’ll tell you: shoehorning in that extra beer or two during dinner. Then there have been the challenging, life-defi ning decisions of which older purchases to pour down the drain.

But like the news, the beer never stops fl owing, so it’s time to get to the stories — and brews — that would have gotten lost behind the new stuff .

Adaptation, not devastation defi nes craft beer industry in 2020 In 2020, breweries brushed aside the uncertainty of a worsening pandemic, pivoted and stayed alive by keeping the beer fl owing out of their taprooms in bottles, cans and growlers, new data from the U.S. Brewers Association show.

See DRAFT, Page 23D

Time to clean out the beer fridge of news ...

KYLE LOONEY/REVIEWED

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | APRIL 15 - 21, 2021 | 21

LISTEN UP

Stevie Subrizi delves into bitterness with ‘Nightstands’ Victor D. Infante Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

With “Nightstands,” genderqueer Boston-area singersongwriter and poet Stevie Subrizi off ers up a raw, low-fi and, ultimately, engaging little EP, one which captures a snapshot of disaff ection and loss in a world in with which they feel out of step. Throughout the brief EP, Subrizi feels used, struggles with loss and tries to transform bitterness into acceptance, eventually widening the lens to see that they’re not the only one that feels that way.

Indeed, while some of Subrizi’s subject matter seems to be unique to them at fi rst glance, a deeper inspection reveals a universality.

The album starts with “Queer Fascination,” a song about being seen as a novelty by a romantic partner. “Queer fascination,” sings Subrizi, “she was playing with a diff erent sex/but it was just a queer fascination/she saw their gender as a special eff ect.” Subrizi has a slightly off -kilter singing style – warm and vulnerable, but also conveying a sense of unraveling. Subrizi’s personas often feel like they’re hanging by their last thread, whether it be here, or in the sense of being used – and of leaning into being used – in the song “Use Me Up before You Throw Me Out.” The EP radiates disaff ection, and Subrizi doesn’t attempt to prettify the wounds, imploring their partner, in the latter song, “don’t waste me, ruin me//use me up and ride me raw before you ride away.”

It’s not a happy portrait, and it deepens with the third song, “It’s Too Late to Wish You Were Here,” a love-lost song which

Home & Garden Stevie Subrizi’s most recent album is “Nightstands.”

PROMOTIONAL IMAGE

fi nds Subrizi’s persona ruminating on a dead relationship.

“I know it’s too late to wish you were here,” they sing, “but you could pour a splash of wine/ and think of when our stars aligned.”

This isn’t, by any means, a complicated album. It’s all simply arranged and played, with just vocals and guitar, but the perspective changes a bit with “Cops, Bosses and Landlords,” wherein Subrizi looks outside of their own travails and into the plight of others: “I could love anyone except for cops, bosses, and landlords,” they sing, “when I see what they do to my neighbors/when I see what they do to my queer neighbors/when I see what they do to all my black and brown neighbors/I just can’t see one good reason why.”

It’s a modest bit of rabblerousing, but it’s carried by earnestness and empathy. It also has the broadest energy of the album, which plays a nice contrast against the EP’s closer, “Sanctuary.”

See SUBRIZI, Page 24D

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22 | APRIL 15 - 21, 2021 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

CONNELL SANDERS

‘They Travel Together’ is a beacon of female friendship Sarah Connell Sanders Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

I love parsing depictions of female friendship from pop culture. Issa and Molly on “Insecure.” Anne and Leslie on “Parks and Rec.” Taylor Swift and the Haim sisters on “nobody, no crime.” In a society designed to pit women against one another, love, appreciation and understanding persist.

Imagine my excitement when Juliet Feibel, executive director of ArtsWorcester, told me about “They Travel Together” — an exhibit consisting of the work of three old

pals examining our contrasting relationships of fear and love with animals. Their drawings and sculptures function on two planes, embodying the cruelty and kindness with which we treat the world’s creatures and also one another. The show is tight. Together, Mary Kenny, Andrea Scofi eld Olmstead and Leslie Schomp strike an eerily cohesive balance with clay and cloth. “it’s really rare that a group of diff erent artists will propose an exhibition in which all three of their artwork needs to be seen together,” Feibel told me. “And each of their artwork is improved and advanced by seeing each other; the combi-

nation of the three diff erent artists’ approaches makes for a whole that is greater than the individual.”

I made an appointment to visit the show at the Davis Art Gallery last week with one of my best friends. You can do the same by reserving a 90minute slot on the ArtsWorcester website. The space is stark and white, so rare shimmers of color throughout the room drew my eyes toward them like twinkles in the night sky. I was immediately taken with a little girl in a pink party dress perched on the forehead of a porcelain piglet. We fawned over a tidy stone woman clutching an enormous felt

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Sarah Connell Sanders and Molly O’Connor visit ArtsWorcester to reflect on the cohesive work of three artists in “They Travel Together.” MICHAEL HENDRICKSON

rabbit who seemed to be wiggling free from her grasp. A pregnant woman’s belly mirrored the protrusion of a whale bust, mounted nearby on the gallery wall. “Five Heads (Man, Moose, Shark, Walrus)” reminded me of Richard Connell’s classic short story, “The Most Dangerous Game.”

Feibel sees transformation emerging as a common theme among the three artists.

“Whether it’s a psychological transformation like Andrea Scofi eld’s ‘The Procession,’ in which a female fi gure is leading a pack of wolves over a bridge, or Leslie Schomp’s fi gures in which she is becoming an animal herself — there’s a magic about change and transformation that runs through all of these works,” Feibel observed. “And Mary Kenny’s human fi gures appear to transform into animals; you see them as creatures relating to the animals that are surrounding them in each piece.”

Finding women who elevate me creatively and emotionally hasn’t always come easily. I am prone to compet-

itiveness in a way that has proved productive at times and has led to the collapse of friendships at others. For this reason, “They Travel Together” moved and uplifted me.

Kenny, Schofi eld and Olmstead intensify one another with the same fear and love and longing I feel when I look at their work. Maintaining a proper friendship is like the stoneware woman in Olmstead’s sculpture, “Ascendancy” in which she grips her children tight while intertwined with a scaly crocodile. It’s hard to tell where her trust ends and her terror begins, but there’s no denying that the scene is magnifi cent. If cruelty and kindness are inextricably linked, then it is our duty to challenge and protect our most beloved friends without losing ourselves in the process.

“They Travel Together” is on view at ArtsWorcester at the Davis Art Gallery and online until Sunday June 13. An artist talk will take place at 11 a.m. on April 23, streamed live on Facebook.

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | APRIL 15 - 21, 2021 | 23

Draft Continued from Page 20D

Just 346 craft breweries of the more than 8,700 in the country shuttered last year, the nonprofi t trade association said last week, even as overall craft beer production fell to 23.1 million barrels, a 9% decline from 2019 and the fi rst drop in 40 years.

Yet we never saw that dramatic spike in closings so many feared.

Instead, breweries evolved their businesses to meet the problems of the pandemic. And while restaurants were devastated, breweries had a lower closing rate thanks in large part to to-go sales, according to Bart Watson, the BA’s chief economist.

“We saw that pivot brewers were able to make be successful,” Watson said. “A lot of it was trading on-site drinks over the bar to to-go, taking the beer you would have sold as draft, putting it in a package and selling it to customers out of your breweries.”

Government support in the form of PPP loans also helped, he said, with brewers receiving more than $420 million.

“It meant staying in business for some breweries,” he said. “Maybe it didn’t turn their business positive or fi ll in all the gaps, but it helped them keep the lights on.”

Meanwhile, 716 breweries opened in 2020, bringing the total number in the U.S. to a record high of 8,764. The number of new openings fell by 30%, Watson said, but they had been trending down before the pandemic, due mostly to market competition and maturity.

The BA’s data show the huge shift from on-premise consumption — at restaurants and taprooms — to off -premise sales that played out in the early months of the pandemic.

From March to May the fl ow of all beer – not just from craft breweries – to on-premise was reduced by some 600,000 bar-

rels. At the same time, the BA saw a more than 25% spike in beer going off -premise, or roughly a million barrels. That change kept production volume positive, as the off -premise gains off set the on-premise losses, Watson said.

Still, the sudden switch from on-premise to off -premise hit craft brewers the hardest early on, he said. “Fewer of them sell beer to big package stores, grocery stores, chain retailers, so the loss in on-premise sales was a much bigger blow, and we saw much less fl ow into the off -premise from craft brewing,” he explained.

Craft brewers lost over 100,000 barrels of on-premise volume from March to May and could not make up the losses through off -premise. As a result, craft beer’s share of the overall beer market dropped to 12.3%, down from 13.6% in 2019.

Craft beer drinkers were there to support their favorite breweries in March and April, according to the BA, spending nearly $40 per check compared to $20 in 2019. As expected, visitors were down during that same period, but revenue held steady.

Some of the more surprising data from the BA showed that 2020 was not a big drinking year. The number of alcoholic beverages people had per week in 2020 was about 11, virtually the same as 2019.

Not surprising: IPAs were still the best-selling beer style by far in 2020, with lagers coming in second.

after paying fair market value, determined by a panel of arbitrators. Before, brewers were eff ectively locked into a lifetime contract, having to fi ght often costly, lengthy court battles to try to prove specifi cally how the distributor wronged them.

Now, under so-called franchise law reform, brewers don’t need to have a reason to leave.

Calling the law unconstitutional, Atlantic has tried to deny Jack’s Abby’s legal right, fi rst fi ling a lawsuit with the state’s Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, then a civil complaint in Suff olk County Superior Court requesting an injunction to stop arbitration.

But last week, Suff olk Superior Court Justice Karen Green denied Atlantic’s preliminary injunction, saying essentially that the distributor has no chance to win its case.

Now, arbitration hearings will continue until April 23, after which the arbitrators have 30 days to issue a decision on the fair market value Jack’s Abby must pay Atlantic.

Green’s ruling sends a clear message to Atlantic and other distributors in the state: Franchise law reform is here to stay.

Redemption Rock supporting Greater Worcester Land Trust this month Worcester’s only B-Corp brewery Redemption Rock Brewing Co. is celebrating Earth Day this month by donating all of its tips to The Greater Worcester Land Trust, a nonprofi t promoting the protection, stewardship and appreciation of open space in Worcester and the region.

Redemption Rock still will also spend the month high-

lighting their favorite local parks and green spaces, starting with Green Hill Park in Worcester.

“Of course, Green Hill Park needs no introduction; it’s the largest park and one of the most impressive spaces in Worcester,” the brewery wrote on Facebook. “Featuring hiking trails, war memorials, a large lake, a zoo and farm, athletic fi elds, and plenty of views, the park has a ton to off er!”

To fi nd out how other Massachusetts breweries are celebrating Earth Day, check out ecofriendlybeer.com, operated

by Rob Vandenabeele, one-half of the famous Mass. Brew Bros.

Aside from regularly visiting every brewery in the state and documenting new openings and beers, Vandenabeele keeps track of how breweries are working to become more sustainable businesses.

I TRIED MAKING MY FAMOUS CHICKEN RECIPE, BUT CONFUSED THE STEPS.

Jack’s Abby closer to breaking ties with distributor Last month, I wrote about Framingham brewer Jack’s Abby’s battle to terminate its distribution agreement with its longtime distributor, Atlantic Beverage Distributors of Holliston.

A new law in the state now allows brewers that produce fewer than 250,000 barrels a year to leave their distributor

KNOW WHERE ALZHEIMER’S AND ALL DEMENTIA HIDE. Difficulty planning and completing familiar tasks are warning signs of Alzheimer’s.

Learn more at alz.org/10signs

24/7 HELPLINE 800.272.3900 WM-0000463444-02

24 | APRIL 15 - 21, 2021 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

Hoppin’

weeks.

Froze Zone open for season

Continued from Page 20D

last year has been brutal for fi rst responders and healthcare personnel as a result of the pandemic,” said Silva. “I enjoy baking and I love that my desserts put a smile on people’s faces. It makes me happy. Baking is calming and gives us something to look forward to.”

Wojcik, a dispatcher, Horan, a former EMT, and Grout, an EMT, help Silva whenever they can, usually baking cheesecakes on Thursdays, with pickup outside of St. Bernard’s on Fridays.

Business is so brisk that there are only a few ordering spots left this month, according to Silva, who will post new fl avors the fi rst week in May. He expects to sell out for Mother’s Day. Order early!

Silva said there are no secret ingredients in his cakes. “We just use good quality ingredients,” he said. The baker has reinvented the American favorite to include a variety of fl avors including Irish cream, strawberry caramel, lemon blueberry, the ultimate red velvet and banana cream. He regularly adds new fl avors with seasonal fruit toppings and whipped cream, and diff erent kinds of crust off er a nice change of pace from traditional graham cracker crust.

It’s a split between lemon blueberry and banana cream when it comes to the most popular cheesecake. Banana cream is a fan favorite and gets a thumbs up from the baking team.

Silva and his wife, a teacher, and their two children live in Rhode Island.

He has no formal training as a baker but took culinary classes before becoming a paramedic. Silva admits he’s “not really a sweets guy” and that his children aren’t really fans of cheesecake. He’s the fi rst one to taste test all his recipes, he said.

Silva early on took a break from making cheesecake, to the disappointment of one of his biggest fans, his mother.

“She always has loved pumpkin cheese-

Subrizi Continued from Page 21D

“I attended services,” sings Subrizi, “about a month after you left/they were singing that song I once heard you sing

The Froze Zone, 184 W. Boylston St., West Boylston, has reopened for the season.

Gelato, sorbet and Italian ice are made in house daily. Frozen yogurt also is available. Current posted hours: 2 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 2 to 9:30 p.m. Friday; noon to 9:30 p.m. Saturday; noon to 9 p.m. Sunday. Call (774) 261-4411 or visit froze-zone.com.

Froze Zone also has a spot at the Worcester Public Market. Check website for more information.

Go wild with breakfast

Shannon Horan, David Silva, owner of Who Cut the Cheesecake in Worcester, and John Wojcik. ASHLEY GREEN/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

cake, especially around the holiday season,” he said, “and she didn’t like the idea I went on strike.” The update is that pumpkin cheesecake is back on the menu.

Silva’s use of social media has undoubtedly been a successful marketing tool, grabbing people’s attention. Ten West Market, a specialty grocery store in Paxton, now sells Who Cut The Cheesecake by the slice. Several restaurants also have shown interest.

The existing business needs extra kitchen space as result of increased sales, according to Silva, who considers relocating to another spot.

We can report that Who Cut the Cheesecake could be located in the city’s Canal District in the next few

months, if lease agreements work out.

Good news is that parking shouldn’t be a problem for this take-out business.

Stay tuned!

about a sanctuary/I wept uncontrollably/needless to say/I was thinking about you singing about being a sanctuary.”

Subrizi is probably referencing the gospel song, “Sanctuary,” written by John W. Thompson and Randy Scruggs, and it’s telling how, in the depths of the

loss expressed in this song, Subrizi’s persona echoes the gospel, particularly the refrain, “oh, prepare me to be a sanctuary,” adding soon after, “but it’s not a song about loss/or wanting some love back/it’s a song about the love you give when you make yourself a sanctuary.”

This is an evolution from the place

Samuel Slater’s offering takeout, delivery Samuel Slater’s, 200 Gore Road, Webster, is off ering a limited menu with new barbecue items and a several favorite dishes for takeout and delivery only.

The business reopened for takeout earlier this week.

Hours are from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Visit https:// www.samuelslaters.com for more information. The restaurant expects to reopen for dine-in service in coming

This month, Zoo New England has scheduled fun events and activities, both in-person and virtually, for guests of all ages. Get the snacks ready!

“Run Wild” Virtual 5K is for people who want to take a walk on the wild side. Zoo New England hosts its fi rst ever Run Wild virtual that allows registrants to “join the pack” and set out for a run, walk or stroll on a route of their choosing.

Virtual Animal Breakfasts will take place through April 25. Zoom with wild friends and experts from the Zoo New England Education team for this adventure.

ZOOcation Week goes through April 23, with virtual animal encounters and educator-led crafts and activities, live from both Franklin Park Zoo and Stone Zoo. For more information, visit www.zoonewengland.org.

T. Rex Adventure at Stone Park is open through Sept. 6. Guests can take a prehistoric journey through time and walk among the giants. T. Rex Adventure is included with general Zoo admission.

If you have a tidbit for the column, call (508) 868-5282. Send email to bhoulefood@gmail.com.

the EP starts, moving beyond the bitterness and loneliness to recognizing the importance of holding love in one’s heart, of being there for others when it’s needed. It’s a hard-earned lesson, and Subrizi sings it with a tenderness that puts the album’s earlier sense of discord into stark relief.

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | APRIL 15 - 21, 2021 | 25

MOVIES SCREEN TIME

A casual approach to this year’s Oscars Jim Keogh Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

I don’t know who will win this year’s Academy Awards, and the fact that I don’t isn’t exactly eating me alive. Oh, at one time it would have. I’d move Heaven and Earth to get to the theater to see all the nominated movies and performances before making my Oscar predictions — every critic in America did the same thing.

Eventually, I came to realize

you don’t actually have to see the movies to accurately predict the winners. Most years, the favorites were locks — they had all the buzz, all the momentum. The last time I was truly surprised was when Eddie Redmayne beat out Michael Keaton for Best Actor in 2014 for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking in “The Theory of Everything.”

Keaton was surprised, too. Just as Redmayne’s name was called, Keaton could be seen pulling his acceptance speech from his pocket before quickly

NEW ON DVD

Cage battles in ‘Willy’s Wonderland’ Topping the new releases for the week of April 13 is Nicolas Cage in “Willy’s Wonderland,” where he stars as the unnamed janitor of the titular theme park, now condemned.

A drifter tricked into taking the job, Cage’s ho-hum custodial work takes a deadly turn when the amusement park’s animatronics come to life. Also starring Emily Tosta and Beth Grant.

Also new on DVD for April 13 “Ancient Aliens: Season 13”: The long-running History Channel program explores theories that aliens visited the planet in ancient times and helped spur human civilization at various crucial moments.

New on demand for April 13 “The Last Animals”: This documentary fi lm explores the

stuffi ng it back in.

I’d predicted a Keaton victory for his performance as the confl icted actor in “Birdman” even though doing so pulled against every instinct in my lizard-critic brain. Hollywood adores the Theatre of the Stricken, as attested by the wins of Daniel Day-Lewis in “My Left Foot” (his character lived with cerebral palsy), Jamie Foxx in “Ray” (blindness), Julianne Moore in “Still Alice” See TIME, Page 27D

Viola Davis stars in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” DAVID LEE/NETFLIX

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26 | APRIL 15 - 21, 2021 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

FIVE THINGS TO DO

The Janitor with Stamina, ‘Ladies for the Night’ and more as the pair interview boxer Jamaine Ortiz, a lightweight who recovered from what was probably an early case of COVID-19 to maintain his undefeated record against Luis Ronaldo Castillo of Mexico on Feb. 28, 2020 at the Palladium and retain his World Boxing Council World Youth Lightweight championship. Not enough? The next guests, coming up April 29, will be members of the WooSox. (VI) Who: “Unsupervised Sports” with Boxer Jermaine Ortiz When: 6 p.m. April 15 Where: Worcester Public Market, 160 Green St, Worcester, as well as broadcasting on Unity Radio, 97.9 FM. How much: Free

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

Long Live the Queens!

The hottest ticket in town? Right now, it’s for the 2nd night of the twonight engagement for Ladies For the Night, featuring four extraordinary local drag performers: the smartmouthed, quick-witted Lady Sabrina; the dancing queen, Boots; the comedy stylings of Edwina Typhoon; and acclaimed “RuPaul’s Drag Race” competitor and recent WoMag cover model Joslyn Fox. That’s a fun combination by any standard, but right now, excitement for this show is so high that the fi rst night has sold out, and maybe by the time we’ve published this, they’ll have added a third. (VI) What: Ladies for the Night When: 7-10 p.m. April 16 (sold out) and 7-10 p.m. April 17 Where: Rascals, 70 James St., Worcester How much: $20, visit https:// www.rascalsworcester.com/ for tickets.

Dramatic Flashback

An ‘Outsider’ View “Sisters Outsider” April 21 will be an evening of Black women creating poetry presented by the Worcester Public Library. The title of the program is inspired by “Sister Outsider,” a collection of essays and speeches by the late Audre Lorde who wrote from her identity as a Black woman, poet, activist, cancer survivor, mother and feminist writer. Expect great verse and conversation with Rush Frazier, Tina E. Gaff ney, Amina Mohammed, Xaulanda Thorpe and Ashley Wonder.(RD) What: “Sisters Outsider” When: 7 p.m. April 21 Where: Online at https:// mywpl.assabetinteractive.com/calendar/sisters-outsider-a-virtual-panelof-black-women-creating-poetry/ How much: Free, preregistration required at the above URL

Comedian Jimmy Cash will perform at the Comedy Attic in Worcester.

PHOTO BY DYLAN AZARI

A Knockout Start Joe Paskalis and Taylor Mack, hosts of the Unity Radio show “Unsuper-

vised Sports,” will be doing a series of live broadcasts with local sports favorites from the Worcester Public Market.

The series will start with a knock-out

The Stratton Players of Fitchburg will bring some famous Fitchburg artists, writers, musicians and actors from the past back to life with “Artists and Ancestors – A Dramatic Re-enactment and Walking Tour” outdoors at Forest Hill Cemetery with performances April 17 and 18. Written and directed by Sally Cragin, “Artists and Ancestors” will feature 12 cast members portraying a variety of fascinating local fi gures from the 19th and 20th centuries. “For the past year, the performing arts have literally slumbered while the lockdown proceeded,” said Cragin.

“Creating a theater piece which showcases the brilliant people in Fitchburg who created lasting art and cultural institutions is pure joy.” The performances are being presented in collaboration with the the Fitchburg Historical Society. People portrayed include Cyrus Thurston, overseer of the poor and beloved “Music Master” of Fitchburg (played by Joel Arnold), Eleanor Norcross, artist and founder of Fitchburg Art Museum (Alia Qasim), and Helen Stratton (Carolyn Salter) and Fay Crocker (Carol Allard Vancil), founders of the Amateur Work Shop which later became Stratton Players.

See TO DO, Page 27D

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | APRIL 15 - 21, 2021 | 27

To do Continued from Page 26D

The Stratton Players are beginning their 97th season. (RD) What: “Artists and Ancestors — A Dramatic Re-Enactment and Walking Tour When: 2 and 3:30 p.m. April 17 and 18 (rain or shine) Where: Forest Hill Cemetery, Fitchburg. Enter Forest Hill at the Mt. Elam Street entrance. Audience members are required to wear masks and social distance.

How much: Free, but reservations are required. Email Strattonplayers@gmail.com or visit www.strattonplayers.com to make a reservation.

Jamaine Ortiz STEVE LANAVA/T&G FILE

Clean-up Man! OK, the events of the past year have been no joking matter, but MAN, does a dose of stand-up comedy sound like a tonic to all the existential dread, and who better to kick off the return to live laughter than the Janitor with Stamina, Jimmy Cash! Cash has been a presence online over the last year, most notably his “Janitor’s Parade,” where he distributed toilet paper rolls to students of the school where he works,

Joslyn Fox will be one of the performers at “Ladies for the Night” at Rascals.

ASHLEY GREEN/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

Helen Stratton c. 1901 SUBMITTED PHOTO

and a “Master Class” where showed people how to mop, but Cash’s dry wit is best experienced live.(VI)

Who: Comedian Jimmy Cash When: 8 p.m. April 16 and 5 & 8 p.m.

April 17 Where: The Comedy Attic at Park Grill, 257 Park Ave., Worcester How much: $20, visit https://thecomedyattic.club/ for tickets.

Time Continued from Page 25D

(Alzheimer’s disease) and a host of other actors and actresses who have battled all manner of affl ictions onscreen. The moment Redmayne curled himself into the wheelchair, the Oscar was his.

I’m also less jazzed about the Oscar process because, to paraphrase Gloria Swanson in “Sunset Boulevard,” the pictures got small. Yeah, we can see every movie on our devices thanks to streaming services, but please remember the greatest attribute of streaming is that it’s convenient. Be still my movie-lover’s heart! I will watch “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” before the April 25 Academy Awards show, though I expect I’ll regret not experiencing it on a big screen, in a big theater, with a big tub of popcorn on my lap.

One piece of good news is the producers of the Academy Awards broad-

Riz Ahmed stars in “Sound of Metal.” AMAZON STUDIOS

cast are planning a live, rather than virtual (no Zoom!), ceremony for the nominees, presenters, and their guests.

Clearly, they witnessed the Golden Globes Hindenburg and vowed, “Not on our watch.” I’m hoping the unusually small number of attendees and tightened COVID-19 restrictions will mean

fewer lavish musical numbers — if there is a God — and that the muted cheers and applause from inside the room will inspire the winners to keep their acceptance speeches to a reasonable length.

In the meantime, I’m catching up on the Oscar nominees. As I write this, I have to wonder how any actress these

A note on COVID restrictions: All live events are subject to state COVID-19 restrictions, which in many cases will put limits on the occupancy allowed and how shows are staged.

Call ahead or check the individual venue’s websites for more information.

days stands a chance against Frances McDormand at any awards ceremony.

In “Nomadland” she so completely inhabits the skin of an economically untethered but spiritually grounded woman that she seems as true a nomad as any of the real-life wanderers who costar in the fi lm. (I’ll refrain from any prediction until I see Viola Davis in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Davis is never to be underestimated.)

This past weekend I caught up with “Sound of Metal,” about a heavy metal drummer whose hearing loss upends his world. Riz Ahmed is tremendous as the drummer, and well-deserving of his Best Actor nomination, but I’m especially pumped about the Best Supporting Actor nom for Paul Raci as the musician’s compassionate, no-nonsense mentor. His is a quiet, measured and powerful presence that I’m happy didn’t escape the Academy’s notice. Stumbling onto performances like Raci’s makes pre-Oscar research less of a chore and more of an adventure.

28 | APRIL 15 - 21, 2021 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

WARL ADOPTION OPTION

Meet Aries 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.

This beautiful little bully is Aries. For all of you who follow zodiac and astrology signs, Aries is exactly like her sign. Motivated and confi dent with a cheerful disposition. Aries was surrendered to the shelter after her owner was no longer able to care for her. She is looking for an experienced owner with no other animals and no children at home. Aries is a stocky meatball who has won over the hearts of staff with her snorty adorable face and personality.

She is strong, active and always on the go. She can be aloof with people when getting to know

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them and prefers you stay a bit hands off until you’re offi cially friends. She loves to play with all kinds of toys and she also loves to go swimming. With summer coming up, Aries will be looking for somewhere to lay pool or lakeside. When she was being examined by our vet before her spay, there was an audible clicking noise in her knee.

Our veterinarian feels her meniscus may have been injured at some point and that is the noise you hear. Her activity level and health are not aff ected by this and no treatment is needed at this time. Her new owners will need to be aware that this could cause knee issues in the future and require treatment as she ages. If you would like more information about this beauty or you would like to make an appointment to meet her, please contact the shelter.

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

BY APPOINTMENT ONLY. If you are interested in adoption, please visit our website worcesterarl.org/ adopt/ to learn more about our available animals then call us at (508) 853-0030 ext.0 or email us at info@worcesterarl. org to schedule an appointment. h CASUAL VISITS TO THE SHELTER are prohibited. We will strictly enforce this in order to keep our animal care team protected while still maintaining the most essential function of our operation ... fi nding homes for animals in need. h ANIMAL SURRENDERS:

Aries is available for adoption through WARL. PHOTO COURTESY SARA MCCLURE

Our business practice for surrendering a pet remains the same. All pet owners must contact WARL in advance of surrendering a pet. Please call (508) 853-0030. h SPAY/NEUTER CLINICS: All scheduled appointments will be honored. If you have a scheduled appointment, we will be contacting you to discuss changes to our drop off / pick up procedures. h DONATIONS ACCEPTED except for open bags of food. h Pet food, cat litter, and other shelter supplies will be

essential in continuing to provide for our animals and to assist community members in need. To avoid unnecessary travel and exposure, items can be purchased online from our Amazon Wishlist - https:// www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/3AX342JIL73M0 h Weekly training classes are going on for adopters. h The WARL Volunteer Program is temporarily suspended. All regular volunteer shifts are on hold. We look forward to welcoming you back as soon as we can. We have many

animals in our care who depend on us to stay healthy and well. The above measures help to protect our staff and community from the spread of COVID - 19 by minimizing face-toface interactions while continuing to operate only core essential services. Please continue to follow our Facebook page for additional updates.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact the shelter at (508) 853-0030 or info@ worcesterarl.org.

PONDENT rson To nd all othetition has of DevelMA in the alleging n need of that Vic(or some appointed out Surety asks the the Re, that the is necesed Guardition is on ay contain ecific auto object wish to do must file a court on he return ay is NOT dline date the writect to the he written date, acis matter ou. In adn appearmust file he specifour objeche return The outmay limit he abovemake deciairs or fihe aboveht to ask make this e aboveve-named wyer, one expense. amy, First : April 05,

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Commonwealth ofof Commonwealth Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Trial Court Massachusetts The Trial Court Massachusetts The Trial Court Probate and Family Court Probate and Family Court Probate and Family Court Docket No. Docket No. WO21P1177GD WO21P1110GD Docket No. WO21P1110GD Worcester Probate and Family Worcester Probate and Family Worcester Probate and Family Court 225 Main St.St. Court 225 Main Court 225 Main St. Worcester, MA 01608 Worcester, MA 01608 Worcester, MA 01608 CITATION GIVING NOTICE OFOF PECITATION GIVING NOTICE PE- CITATION GIVING NOTICE OF PETITION FOR APPOINTMENT OFOF TITION FOR APPOINTMENT OF TITION FOR APPOINTMENT GUARDIAN FOR INCAPACITATGUARDIAN FOR INCAPACITAT- GUARDIAN FOR INCAPACITATED PURSUANT TOTO G.L. EDPERSON PERSON PURSUANT G.L. ED PERSON PURSUANT TO G.L. c.c.

190B, §5-304 190B, §5-304 c. 190B, §5-304 InInthe of: John C Horne thematter matter of: John In the matter of: John Horne Mathieson Of: Worcester, MA RESPONDENT Of: Worcester, MA RESPONDENT Alleged Incapacitated Person To Alleged Incapacitated Person To Of: Worcester, MA RESPONDENT the named Respondent and all To oth- the named Respondent and all othAlleged Incapacitated Person er named interested persons, and a petition has er interested persons, a petition has the Respondent all othfiled by Department of Develerbeen interested persons, a petition has been filed by Department of Developmental of of Worcester, been filed byServices Department Devel- opmental Services of Worcester, MA in the captioned opmental of above Worcester, MA inmatter the MA in the above captioned matter above captioned alleging alleging that Johnmatter Horne is in need alleging that John Horne is in need that C Mathieson is in need of of John a Guardian and requesting that of a Guardian and requesting that a Victor Guardian and requesting thatMA Vic-(or Victor T Sloan of Sudbury, MA (or T Sloan of Sudbury, tor Sloan of Sudbury, (or some some other suitable MA person) be ap- some other suitable person) be apother suitable person) be appointed pointed as Guardian to serve With- pointed as Guardian to serve Withasout Guardian to on serve Surety Surety theWithout bond. The peti- out Surety on the bond. The petiontion the asks bond.the Thecourt petition the tion asks the court to determine to asks determine court to determine the Re- that the Respondent is incapacitatthat the Respondentthat is incapacitatspondent incapacitated, that the ed, thatis the appointment of a ed, that the appointment of a appointment a Guardian is necesGuardian is of necessary, and that the Guardian is necessary, and that the sary, and that the proposed Guardi- proposed Guardian is appropriate. proposed Guardian is appropriate. anThe is appropriate. on The petition is on file with this court petition is onThe filepetition with thisis court file with thiscontain court and may contain and may a request for cer- and may contain a request for cera tain request for authority. certain specific au- tain specific authority. You have specific You have thority.

You have the right object the right to object totothis pro- the right to object to this protoceeding. this proceeding.

If youtowish to do If you wish do so, you ceeding. If you wish to do so, you so, your attorney must file a or your attorney must file a written oryou yourorattorney must file a written written appearance this court appearance at thisatcourt on oron be- appearance at this court on or beorfore before 10:00 on the return 10:00 A.M.A.M. on the return date fore 10:00 A.M. on the return date date of 05/04/2021.This This day day is is NOT NOT a of 05/04/2021. This day is NOT a of 05/04/2021. a hearing hearing date, date, but but aadeadline deadlinedate dateby hearing date, but a deadline date by bywhich whichyou youhave havetotofile file the the written writ- which you have to file the written ten appearance if you object to the appearance if you object to the peti- appearance if you object to the petipetition.

If you the written tion. If you failfail toto filefile the written ap- tion. If you fail to file the written apappearance bythe thereturn returndate, date,action ac- pearance by the return date, action pearance by tion be taken this matter maymay be taken in thisinmatter without may be taken in this matter without without In ad-to further notice to you. In addition to furtherfurther notice notice to you.toInyou. addition dition the appearance written appearfiling to thefiling written you or filing the written appearance you or ance or your attorney fileaf- your attorney must file a written afyouryou attorney must file a must written a fidavit writtenstating affidavit stating thefacts specifthe specific and fidavit stating the specific facts and icgrounds facts and of yourwithin objec-30 grounds of your objection within 30 of grounds your objection tion within after the IMPORreturn days after the return date. IMPORdays after30 thedays return date. date.

IMPORTANT NOTICE The of outTANT NOTICE The outcome this TANT NOTICE The outcome of this come of this may proceeding limit proceeding may limit or completely proceeding limit or may completely ortake completely take above-named away the aboveaway the per- take away the above-named pernamed right to make decison’s person’s right to make decisions about son’s right to make decisions about sions aboutaffairs personal affairs oraffairs fi- personal affairs or financial affairs personal or financial nancial affairs both. The aboveor both.

The or above-named person or both. The above-named person named person the right ask has the right to ask for a lawyer. has the right has to ask for atolawyer. for a lawyer.

Anyone thison Anyone may make this request on Anyone may make may this make request request onthe behalf of the abovebehalf of above-named person. behalf of the above-named person. named If the above-named If the person. above-named person cannot If the above-named person cannot person afford a lawyer, oneap- afford a lawyer, one may be apafford cannot a lawyer, one may be may be appointed State expense. pointed at State at expense.

WITNESS, pointed at State expense. WITNESS, WITNESS, Hon. A First Keamy, First of Hon. Leilah A Keamy, First Justice of Hon. Leilah A Leilah Keamy, Justice Justice of this Court.

Date: April 05, this Court. Date: April 02, 2021 this Court.

Date: April 02, 2021 2021 Stephanie K. Fattman, Register of Stephanie K. Fattman, Register of Stephanie Register WM of Probate Probate K. Fattman, 04/15/2021 04/15/2021 WM Probate 04/15/2021 WM

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J O N E S I N’

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

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Across 1 “We’re calling with an urgent message about your car’s warranty,” e.g.

5 Creator of Pudd’nhead Wilson 10 “Right now” 13 Care Bear ___ 14 “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” band 15 Debtor’s letters 16 Hotel heiress who popularized “That’s hot” 18 Hurricane heading, sometimes 19 Affirmative vote 20 It may be doffed 21 Bad movie rating 23 Actress Seehorn of “Better Call Saul” 25 Torn ___ (athlete’s knee injury) 27 Crafty 28 Gear seen frequently in 1980s court matches 33 Districts 34 Organization 35 Australian outlaw Kelly 36 Satirical “Prize” given by the Annals of Improbable Research 39 Patty Hearst’s kidnappers, for short 42 Californie et Colorado 43 Septet plus one 45 He plays Thor 49 French islands 50 Truth, in Chinese philosophy 51 39-Down, for one 52 Roommate of Frylock and Master Shake on “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” 56 John’s “The Office” character 58 “Groove Is in the Heart” DJ/producer Towa ___ 59 Bud 60 Title for the Pope or the Dalai Lama 63 Rhinitis-treating M.D. 64 “Damn Yankees” composer Richard 65 Big name in thesauruses

“Well, Sorta”--partway there.

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66 Suffix meaning “sorta” (found in the theme answers) 67 Conditions’ partner 68 English horn’s cousin Down 1 “Don’t move” 2 Lurched and swerved 3 Former White House press secretary Fleischer 4 Fit snugly 5 Ninja’s platform 6 Actor/blogger Wheaton 7 Choral voice range 8 Graphic representation 9 Not a bit 10 Cobbler’s container 11 Scrooge’s nephew 12 Search engine input 13 Austere 17 “Witness” actor Lukas 22 Bartering result 24 “SNL” alum Gasteyer 26 Millennium Falcon in 7,500 pieces, e.g.

29 “Lord, ___?” (Last Supper question) 30 NYSE trader 31 Anonymous Jane 32 Claus von ___ (“Reversal of Fortune” character)

37 Station’s supply 38 To the ___ degree 39 It’s played on a 10x10 board 40 “Hmmm ...”

41 One beyond belief?

42 Lead-in to “while” 44 Gear component 45 Disinfects 46 Wellness 47 University focuses 48 Garden store supply 49 Louvre Pyramid architect 53 “Beg pardon?”

54 Delegation member 55 High-end camera type 57 Artist Joan 61 Bottom of a pant leg 62 San Francisco’s ___ Hill

Last week's solution

©2021 Matt Jones (jonesincrosswords@gmail.com) Reference puzzle #1036

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | APRIL 15 - 21, 2021 | 31

LAST CALL

Last Call with Eric Swedberg of Artistic Soapstone Incorporated Sarah Connell Sanders Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

Eric Swedberg is a beloved local public school teacher and baseball coach with a passion for soapstone. Swedberg began creating handmade artisan sinks and countertops over a decade ago as a hobby.

Today, his business, Artistic Soapstone Incorporated, keeps him in high demand.

How did you fi rst get into stonework?

We bought a house on May Street and it had a soapstone sink in the basement. It was ready to rip the plumbing out of the wall because the wooden base was rotted. So, I had to take the sink off the wall and get it up the stairs. This was 18 years ago and I remember just staring at it for a while. Then, my wife said, “Hey, Martha Stewart just put soapstone counters in one of her houses.” And I said, “That’s cool; I think that old sink from the cellar is soapstone.” I researched it and cut it up to make our fi rst kitchen counter out of soapstone. Two years passed and we had babies and stuff .

We had bottles everywhere and my wife says, “Hey, you know, it’d be great to have an island with a dishwasher in the middle of the kitchen.” So I said, “Great, let me try to make a soapstone top for it.” I go on Craigslist that night. At the time, people were giving them away. People don’t give them away anymore. Next thing you know, we have six soapstone sinks in my driveway. I made the island and then I started to restore them, just hand sanding them down. I’ve learned a lot since then, but I sold a couple on Craigslist, and soon I had people calling me to ask, “Can you make one for me?” From there, I did a few little pieces of countertop. Next thing you know, I’m buying full slabs and doing a full kitchen install. Probably about fi ve years ago, I got to the point where I said, “The liability is becoming a little too much.” I needed to incorporate, so I could have insurance to cover all our personal assets and turn it into a real niche type of boutique business.

Are you still teaching?

Oh yeah. Initially, I booked a lot of kitchen stuff during the summer. Now, it’s expanded to year-round. A lot of teachers have second jobs.

What resources did you use to teach yourself how to work with soapstone and marble?

A lot of trial and error. I don’t know anyone else who actually grades basins by hand. In other words, any other place that you get a sink from, it’s made with a machine. I’ve sort of just worked on that skill over the last 12 years or so. I have a fabrication crew and an install crew. They’re really, really knowledgeable about stone. I ask them questions, but for the most part, I

Eric Swedberg, owner of Artistic Soapstone Inc., holds a soapstone sink outside his Auburn home where he fabricates a variety of custom natural stone pieces. PHOTO BY DYLAN AZARI

learned to do things my own way. It’s funny because when you learn things your own way, you realize things that guys in the business don’t know either. Especially with soapstone, I’ve developed all kinds of tricks to ensure that fi ssures aren’t going to break on me. I’ve fi gured out how to fi x veins.

What kind of tools do you work with?

I cut with an 18-pound worm-drive wet saw, which is meant to cut rafters. It is used for stonework onsite.

And then, I use a variety of grinders and blades. I use a lot of diamond pads for polishing and sandpaper.

Why would someone choose to work with you over a large contractor?

I am the only person in my offi ce. When you call to book a kitchen with me, you’re actually dealing with me. There’s a very personal aspect to creating a custom space. I think other places are looking to push out

two or three kitchens a day. I’m looking to do maybe one or two a month with people that really care about the process.

Do you have a vision for the future of your business?

I can always take more business on. I never use the B-word, which is “busy.” I certainly could do a lot more.

I think I like where I am right now. I mean, maybe in the future, it’d be nice to open up a shop of my own with a showroom. But, with three kids and teaching, I want to make sure I can service my customers well without pulling my hair out. Right now, what I do is not work. I started to do this because it was a stress relief. It got me in the zone and put me in a fl ow state like any artist.

It’s just nice to have an outlet and it’s a bonus to make a couple of bucks in the process.

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32 | APRIL 15 - 21, 2021 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

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