Worcester Magazine July 2 - 8, 2020

JULY 2 - 8, 2020 WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

CULTURE • ARTS • DINING • VOICES

FREE

SPARE CHANGE

Worcester’s panhandlers tell their own stories

2

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

J U LY 2 - 8 , 2 0 2 0

IN THIS ISSUE

J U LY 2 - 8, 2020 • V O L U M E 45 I S S U E 45 Find us on Facebook.com/worcestermag Twitter @worcestermag Instagram: Worcestermag

Note To Readers

100 Front St., Fifth Floor Worcester, MA 01608 worcestermag.com Editorial (508) 767.9535 WMeditor@gatehousemedia.com Sales (508) 767.9530 WMSales@gatehousemedia.com President Paul M. Provost VP, Sales & Strategy Andrew Chernoff Sales Manager Jeremy Wardwell Executive Editor David Nordman Editor Nancy Campbell Content Editor Victor D. Infante Reporters Richard Duckett, Craig S. Semon Contributing Writers Sam Bonacci, Stephanie Campbell, Sarah Connell Sanders, Gari De Ramos, Robert Duguay, Jason Greenough, Janice Harvey, Barbara Houle, Jim Keogh, Jim Perry, Steve Siddle, Matthew Tota Creative Director Kimberly Vasseur Multi Media Sales Executives Deirdre Baldwin, Debbie Bilodeau, Kate Carr, Laura Cryan, Diane Galipeau, Sammi Iacovone, Bob Kusz, Kathy Puffer, Jody Ryan, Regina Stillings, Randy Weissman Sales Support Jackie Buck, Yanet Ramirez Senior Operations Manager Gary Barth Operations Manager John Cofske WORCESTER MAGAZINE is a news weekly covering Central Massachusetts. We accept no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts.

The Publisher has the right to refuse any advertisement.

17 Featured ......................................................................................4 City Voices...................................................................................8 Cover Story ...............................................................................10 Artist Spotlight .......................................................................15 Lifestyle......................................................................................16 Listen Up....................................................................................16 Table Hoppin’ ..........................................................................17 Film .............................................................................................18 The Next Draft..........................................................................19 Adoption Option ....................................................................20 Games .........................................................................................21 Classifieds .................................................................................22 Last Call .....................................................................................23

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 Gannett. All contents copyright 2020 by Gannett. All rights reserved.

Worcester Magazine is not liable for typographical errors in advertisements.

18

23

the cover Panhandlers tell their own stories Story on page 10 Photo by Rick Cinclair Design by Kimberly Vasseur

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

Distribution Worcester Magazine is inserted into the Telegram & Gazette on Thursdays and is also available for free at more than 400 locations in the Worcester area. Unauthorized bulk removal of Worcester Magazine from any public location, or any other tampering with Worcester Magazine’s distribution including unauthorized inserts, is a criminal offense and may be prosecuted under the law.

J U LY 2 - 8 , 2 0 2 0

Legals/Public Notices Please call 888-254-3466, email classifieds@gatehousemedia.com, or mail to Central Mass Classifieds, 100 Front St., 5th Floor, Worcester, MA 01608

Subscriptions First class mail, $156 for one year.

Send orders and subscription correspondence to GateHouse Media, 100 Front St., Worcester, MA 01608.

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

3

FEATURED

Latin American Festival to skip a year, but CENTRO’s mission continues RICHARD DUCKET T

W

orcester lost one of its biggest outdoor cultural events of the year when what would have been the 30th Latin American Festival Aug. 15 was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The festival draws 10,000 to 15,000 people to City Hall Plaza during the course of the day and evening every year for live musical performances and dance, arts and crafts, food and more.

However, under current circumstances, “It would have been unmanageable,” said Juan A. Gomez, president and CEO of CENTRO, a

multiservice nonprofit organization that has put on the festival since 1991.

The decision was made in cooperation with the City of Worcester. “We believe that it is the right decision to keep our community safe,” Gomez said. “The pandemic has wreaked havoc. In our community we’ve had a lot of people affected.”

The festival gives CENTRO great visibility and reflects its longtime commitment to the arts, which has also included an annual film festival.

Still, it is the day-to-day services CENTRO provides that represent its central focus and mission. June 24 saw another important anniversary — 43 years since CENTRO was founded in 1977.

“Forty-three years seeing our community through good times, bad times, and we look forward to being here another 43 years,” Gomez said.

Formerly Centro Las Americas and based at 11 Sycamore St., it is the largest minority led, community based, multiservice, multicultural, multilingual, nonprofit organization in Central Massachusetts. CENTRO’s

Juan Gomez, President and CEO of CENTRO

4

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

J U LY 2 - 8, 2020

CHRISTINE PETERSON

FEATURED

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

5

people can call CENTRO to request assistance with these enrollments, according to the organization’s website. Meanwhile, CENTRO has helped hundreds of families with emergency food provisions. While not holding inperson gatherings, CENTRO’s Latino Elder Program members have been contacted individually. In CENTRO’s OneHealth Division, “our nurses, clinicians and case managers have remained in direct contact with all clients. Meetings have taken place inperson, according to their prescribed individual service plans, and where appropriate remotely utilizing telehealth technology, virtual meetings and telephone calls,” CENTRO says.

CENTRO has 72 employees — 58 full time, 14 part time, Gomez said.

“We have been able to keep up, we’ve actually hired during this period of time. We continue to meet the needs of the community and the only way to do that is with the right staff,” Gomez said.

Still, “I pray that things will get back to normal, or somewhat normal anyway,” Gomez said.

The Latin American Festival is always held the third Saturday in August, and that will be the plan for next year, Gomez said.

“We are thankful to God that we know better times will come and thankful to our supporters when, God willing, we plan for 2021,” he said.

From a relatively modest beginning when the first festival was held in 1991, a move to the Worcester Common in 1992 drew a bigger attendance and audiences grew each year.

For many years the festival was successfully overseen by Carmen “Dolly” Vazquez, who retired in 2015.

“We are extremely thankful for Dolly,” Gomez said.

The festival had continued to do well, and has also has come to be recognized as one of the largest events of its kind in New England.

Stars such as Mexican mariachi singer Veronica Robles, “La Mera Mera,” have been returnees.

“I’m honored to be here again. I love bringing my music to the people of Worcester,” Robles said last year.

“While across New England, different communities have had to suspend their festivals because of lack of support and poor management, (in our case) it took a pandemic,” Gomez said.

March saw another anniversary of importance to Gomez and CENTRO — his 13th anniversary as CEO. “I thank God for the opportunity, thank my board, employees and the community that supports what we do. It’s a blessing,” Gomez said.

For more information about CENTRO, visit www.centroinc.org.

J U LY 2 - 8, 2020

primary purpose is to assist individuals and families striving to reach self-sufficiency while promoting social responsibility, fostering cultural identity, and encouraging families to be significant contributors to the community as a whole. Programs range from two food pantries (at 11 Sycamore St. and Great Brook Valley) to behavioral health services.

CENTRO has a Family Services Division, a OneHealth Division, Community Support Department, and a Latino Elder Program, among other services. Its stated goal is to “provide a fully-integrated multi-cultural, multi-linguistic health and human services delivery system, while developing long-term economic strength and sustainability.”

“We serve 8,700 families every year.

We serve a very diverse population,” Gomez said.

Sixty percent of its clients are Latino, “but we have families from the Middle East, Asia, Eastern Europe … and obviously Latin America and the Caribbean. We’re multi-culture, multi-linguistic,” Gomez said.

With that, “the majority are poor and low-income families, low-income individuals, working poor.”

Gomez has had experience working in both the private and nonprofit sectors, and was an at-large Worcester City Councilor from 2000 to 2005, with two yeas as vice chairman.

COVID-19 has affected CENTRO’s clients in many different ways.

“Oh yes, we have had some families that have lost family members.

Family members are sick with the virus. Family members lost jobs.

It’s been tough on a lot of families,” Gomez said.

“The lack of ability of kids to go out and burn energy. The stress level of parents when kids are not able to go to school — the stress level is through the roof. Parents having to cope with kids with special needs. Every day there have been challenges.”

CENTRO has been up for the challenges, Gomez said. “We’re doing well, thank God … From day one we were able to deploy staff to work from home remotely, immediately. Nurse care managers and social workers — we were able to have uninterrupted service from the beginning. We put in place some very rigorous protocols to make sure our staff are protected even more and our clients are not exposed. The Commonwealth and MassHealth and the city allowed us to provide critical services to our community,” Gomez said.

Among its activities, CENTRO’s Community Support department has remotely processed the area surge in requests for MassHealth and SNAP enrollment applications, and

FEATURED

A rock ‘n’ roll romance 20 years later, ‘nice guy, punk legend’ Billy Zoom & Worcester native Kerry Kindell still going strong CRAIG S. SEMON

6

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

J U LY 2 - 8, 2020

R

oughly 20 years ago, Billy Zoom, the lead guitarist of the influential Los Angeles punk group X, married a Worcester girl.

Kerry Ann Mulroy (now Kerry Kindell) is the girl who won over the heart of one of the coolest guitarists in rock ‘n’ roll.

Not only is she a Worcester native, Kerry’s father, John R. Mulroy, taught history and coached football at Worcester Academy from 1956 to 1964, and the family lived in the basement apartment in Dexter Hall.

That makes her pretty Worcester.

“Rumor had it that my room was haunted. Dexter Hall was built on the site of a Civil War hospital, The Dale General Hospital,” Kindell said.

“The story goes that there was a soldier who had his leg amputated and he haunted my room looking for his phantom leg, and his spirit could be heard saying, ‘I want my leg.’ We had an older woman who would babysit us and she would not enter my room.”

Her mother, Eleanor Higgins, who is now 88, had four kids in five years, all born in Worcester.

“My mother, God bless her, was overwhelmed and unprepared to deal with four kids ... Her mother (Kindell’s grandmother) said that it was like we were being raised by a stray cat,” Kindell recalled. “Back then, it was different. You could

walk around at midnight. You had total free rein. You could came and go when you pleased, make a dirty bologna sandwich and you’re back outside. So when I tell my kids (boy and girl twins) the story of my upbringing, they say, ‘Wow! That sounds great.’”

Kindell has two older sisters, Leslie and Lee Ann, and a younger brother, Richard, who passed away in 1989.

“When I was born, my father was coaching a football game,” Kindell said. “So my mother gave birth alone and when it was announced back at the game that he had his third girl, the team booed. (Kindell laughs) You know, he’s the football coach. It’s a bunch of boys. You got a third girl.

I’m sure they were all rooting for a boy.”

Kindell said she and her siblings would also have student babysitters until some of the boys started asking her older sister, who was about 7 at the time, to go into “Daddy’s Office” and bring back test answers.

Kindell said Worcester was a truly idyllic place to grow up.

“The campus was beautiful and we could roam about freely,” she recalled. “We would tell our mother that we were going to run away from home, and she would say, ‘OK,’ would pack us a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and told us ‘Not to leave the campus’ and off we went.”

On Halloween, Kindell and her sisters would trick or treat in the

Above, Worcester native Kerry Kindell and her husband, X guitarist Billy Zoom.

Below, Worcester Academy Football Coach John Mulroy (aka the future father-in-law to Billy Zoom), top right. Also in the picture wearing number 22 (third from the bottom right) is Mark Slade, future star of “The High Chaparral.”

PHOTOS SUBMIT TED

upstairs dorm hallways.

“Some of the boys would pelt us with candy as we walked by and we didn’t care,” she said. “We’d scramble to get the candy off the floor. Some of them would throw pretty hard and, the harder they threw, the harder they laughed.”

Kindell also fondly remembers New England winters.

“I remember having to dig up and out from the basement apartment when we were snowed in,” Kindell said. “We had to bring shovels into the apartment to dig ourselves out.

We would then have huge piles of snow to play in just outside our front door.”

After Worcester, Kerry’s family moved to Cleveland where her father became the head of the history department at the Hawken School, a private day school in

Gates Mills, Ohio.

When people meet Kindell, she said they’re are surprised that she isn’t covered with tattoos.

“One of our early conversations, Billy asked me if I had any piercings or tattoos? And, I thought that was a strange question. ‘Other than my ear piercings, no,’” Kindell said.

“Years ago, I met a woman that got a ladybug tattoo on her stomach for her father and over the years it morphed into looking like a fly. So, for me, to be a 40-year-old woman (back in 2000 when the couple met) and having tattoos, that would tell something about my history. So, I guess the fact that I didn’t, Billy just wanted a nice midwestern girl.”

In the early ‘80s, while living in Cleveland, Kindell saw X for the first time.

“Billy had that typical, wide stance

FEATURED

X guitarist Billy Zoom married Worcester native Kerry Mulroy on Nov. 4, 2000, in Savannah, Georgia.

SUBMITTED

impression. I think I talked about her for the rest of the tour.”

While living in Chicago, Kindell caught X at the House of Blues.

“I ended up going by myself because I didn’t know anyone else who was a fan,” she said. “At that point, I was single and living my life, like Plan B. So, if I never got married and have kids, I’m going to travel the world and I’m just going to do everything, which I did.”

“February 22 and 23, 2000, we played two nights,” Zoom said. “I could tell she had blue eyes when she

a lot of character,” Zoom said of his future wife. “She’s also very smart and very, very sarcastic around people, which I like. We got along on that level too.”

Kindell said she was surprised how soft-spoken and shy but steady and determined Billy was to win her heart.

“Billy really pursued me, and I was used to boyfriends looking over my shoulders for the next thing. So it was a little overwhelming,” Kindell recalled. “We talked on the phone for hours. So that had a lot to do with it, the fact that we could talk for that length of time … It was a little crazy to meet and marry and move across Billy Zoom, center, and the country but I jumped in.”

On Nov. 4, 2000, the two were mar- Kerry Kindell with Doors ried in Savannah, Georgia. keyboardist Ray Manzarek.

Kindell’s father met Billy for the SUBMIT TED first time at the rehearsal dinner.

Although Zoom played with Etta “Billy has a good heart. He has James for only a week, Kindell’s dad, T-shirts printed up saying, ‘Nice guy, a jazz fan, was more impressed with Punk legend,’” Kindell said. “Billy will that than Zoom’s accolades and acsay that he’s an open book but I still complishments with X. find him to be somewhat enigmatic.

“He was nice. We didn’t spend a And, after 20 years of marriage, I’m lot of time talking or anything,” Zoom still perplexed at times.” said. “There were a lot of people to meet. Her whole family was there. Her For an interview with Billy Zoom on mom was there and her sisters were his current musical career and X’s new there and her sisters’ husbands and album, visit Worcestermag.com. kids. They were all very nice to me.”

J U LY 2 - 8, 2020

and he just stared out into the audience and he was so cool,” Kindell recalled. “I thought that I’d just break his cool. I was giving myself rabbit ears. I was dancing in front of him.

I was trying to catch his attention.

And he wasn’t having any part of it.

And, it was like, I know you see me.

And then, at the end of the show, he leaned down and gave me a guitar pick.”

“She was right front of the stage and we flirted a lot then but I never got to talk to her, but I do remember her,” Zoom insisted. “She left quite an

walked into the back of the room.

There was a lot of flirting and banter going back and forth between us the whole show.”

“I just pushed my way to the front and caught his eye. I wasn’t planning on doing anything,” Kindell added.

“But, the area in front of Exene (Cervenka) was so crowded. And I just happened to go left and there was Billy.”

Zoom tried to approach Kerry after the show but got mobbed by fans and got dragged to the band’s merch booth.

“I was signing autographs back there and she patiently waited in line to get an autograph,” Zoom said.

“And she gave me her phone number instead.”

“I wrote my number in lip liner on a piece of paper,” Kindell added. “Billy kept that in his wallet for years.”

On the next night, Kindell went to see X again by herself.

“Billy handed me a backstage pass from the stage,” Kindell said. “I really didn’t think I would hear from him afterward. I just thought that he’s going back to California and I will just continue with my life.”

Zoom said he was crazy about the future Mrs. Kindell from the beginning.

“She was beautiful and just had

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

7

CITY VOICES

FIRST PERSON

The Library of Disposable Art: The video cassette box

The Way Things Were (Pleasant Street)

T

ARIEL POTTER

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

J U LY 2 - 8 , 2 0 2 0

DAVID MACPHERSON

8

POETRY TOWN

the praises of this movie as art?

It is art of the hard sell. Plop your three bucks down to rent me, he last VCR was manufacbuddy. tured in 2016. That means I remember, when I was a kid there are still VCRs out and the land was lousy with video there ready to take care of stores, it was sometimes more all your video cassette needs. But fun looking at the covers then it there is a finite number out there. was to actually watch the one that The amount of VCRs will only was picked. I could go to the cult diminish. movie section and be amused by But what is the good of them the cover art and the desperate tag now that they have crashed right lines. I could be holding the video into the wall of obsolescence? tape box for “Class of Nuke Em For the most part, you will not High” and know that this piece of be able to watch the videos that folded hard cardboard had more you have in a box in the closet. artistic validity then the movie If you want to watch “Die Hard,” it encased. Best just to hold the then you can watch it on DVD or boxes and imagine what wonders whatever streaming service has the movie might entail. And that it. I do know that some rare cult cinematic day dream is what good movies are only available on VHS and some serious lovers of obscure art tries to do.

I remember going into the old horror films will spend some good money for such a treasure. But that Starship Video on Park Avenue and just wander and stop and stare and is not the usual route. wander some more. That was the You can still buy them at That’s Entertainment. At Jelly’s. At Savers. same type of walk I would do in an art museum. Instead of museum They do not take pride of place at guards asking me to not lean in the Salvation Army anymore, but so close, there would be annoyed they are for the picking. A dollar. cashiers wondering if I was I going Maybe 50 cents. This is not high to rent any movie or not. end shopping, but they are given I am sure there is someone who space in the stores, so that means collects these boxes. Maybe colsomeone is buying them. lapse them into two dimensions But I still get stuck on the issue that hardly anyone I know can play and place them in Mylar sleeves, to protect their value. No one can the things. It has gone the way of harm your mint copy of the box for the BetaMax, the Super 8 home movie, photographic slides and the “Maniac Cop II.” I had a book a while back that passenger pigeon. So what is there celebrated the joy of video cassette to do with the VHS cassette? box art. The book was “The PorI went to That’s Entertainment a while back to look at such things table Grindhouse: The Lost Art of the VHS Box.” I bought it maybe 10 as video tapes. They had a small box underneath a table laden with years ago at That’s Entertainment comic books. There was a variety of (a local epicenter for disposable art). One page was the front of a movies that most of us would not horror movie box from the ‘80s. be able to watch. “Rebel Rousers.”

Turning the page, you will see the “The Godfather.” “The Day of the back of the box, where all the huckDaleks.” “The Mummy’s Tomb.” ster prose lingered to sell you on “Gone With the Wind.” “Planet of this one, this great horror. the Spiders.” “The Hunchback of I wish I could go into greater Notre Dame.” “The Terror.” “The Evil detail on the lurid joys found in of Frankenstein.” “Faulty Towers.” that book, but I don’t have it any“Once Upon a Time in China.” more. A few years after I picked it “Doctor Who: Robot.” “Hoosiers.” up, I found out an old school friend They are not something I can was sick. Tommy and I spent days watch. But I can look at them as and weeks and years of our youth art. Why shouldn’t we think of the haunting video stores looking for covers and the back copy singing

the best horror movies. Then we would go to one of our apartments and stay up all night watching these transvestites. We knew even then that the covers were always better than the reality when you pressed play.

When I heard of his cancer, I sent him the book with a note reminding him of all the videos we survived. He got back to me to thank me. He loved being reminded of these old movies, these old friends.

When he passed away I was unable to make it down to New York for the funeral. I don’t know what happened to that book I sent him.

Who knows. Things get lost. Things get donated or tossed out. All those things get in the way of moving on.

In his honor, on the day of his funeral, I stayed up through the night watching lame, awful horror movies. The only thing that was wrong with that tribute was that none of the movies were on VHS. None were wrapped in their colorful jacket of cardboard.

David Macpherson is a poet who lives and works in the Worcester area.

I miss the usual goings on of my neighborhood: People in two’s and three’s walking, kids trailing behind.

The diner sign flicking on at 6, ready to serve eggs and coffee.

The man who shouts curse words uncontrollably As he makes his way down Sever Street.

He speaks for all of us, with his verbal upheavals, Protesting what seems like an ordinary day.

Ariel Potter is a poet living in the Pleasant Street area in Worcester.

CITY VOICES

WORCESTERIA

Replace Columbus with Abbie Hoffman VICTOR D. INFANTE

‘STEAL THIS STATUE’: The fight over the dark side of Christopher Columbus’ legacy re-emerged in Worcester with the recent vandalizing of the explorer/colonizer’s statue outside of Union Station, followed

by Councilor Sarai Rivera’s push to have the statue removed. It’s a thorny issue, and as America likes to have comedians — such as Trevor Noah, John Oliver, Samantha Bee and Hasan Minhaj — solve its toughest problems, we figured we could do the same on a local level. So we posed local comedians with the question: “What should replace the statue of Columbus?”

There were, as you might expect, many calls for variations of Turtle Boy, including something called the “Reverse Turtle Boy.” Comedian Lou Ramos suggested something similar with Worcester comedy legend Denis Leary. Wootenany co-founder Shaun Connolly suggested the same basic Turtle Boy concept, “but it’s Twister riding Scratch.” He also suggested, “a working Bellagio Style fountain of Polar Seltzer.” Wootenany co-founder Bryan O’Donnell suggested George’s Coney Island Hot Dogs owner Kathy Tsandikos, “because she is legitimately my hero.” It was a surprisingly sweet sentiment, considering most of his other suggestions were unprintable. Comedian/chanteuse Niki Luparelli had a definite winner with, “Abbie Hoffman, and the plaque says ‘Steal This Statue.’” Connolly, though, outdid himself suggesting an “animatronic band, a la Chuck E Cheese, but it’s the City Council singing the ‘Cops’ TV theme.” Bad boys, bad boys, what you gonna do …

Of course, any attempt at satire was neutralized when Councilor Donna Colorio posted a “simple poll” online asking “Should the City of Worcester Remove the Christopher Columbus Statue?” The options were “No, save Italian Heritage,” and “Yes, tear down history.” Naturally, the winner was “Yes, tear down history,” with 93% of more than 1,700 votes, according to screenshots that many, many people made before Colorio took the post down. Truly, we’re living in a world where parody is redundant.

LETTER

WoMag a corporate cheerleader for the establishment

I

remember how excited I was about Worcester Magazine’s launch in 1976. I was a junior at Burncoat Sr. High and I thought “Finally … an alternative to the entrenched white West Side T&G.” As my insurance career moved me around the country, family members would send me a month’s worth every month, so I could keep up with the happenings of my beloved Worcester.

Despite the occasional poorly written and horrendously edited stories, WoMag still informed.

The purchase by Gatehouse Media, the wholesale release of staff and finally Bill Shaner’s exit have convinced me of what I know to be true … Gatehouse Media has turned WoMag into the corporate cheerleader of the Worcester establishment. I will no longer support a single one of your advertisers and will encourage others to do the same. Please reconsider and make WoMag a trusted alternative news source.

Pamela Jordan

FOLLOW WORCESTER MAGAZINE ON

LET’S TAKE THIS OUTSIDE: After last week’s cantankerous City Council

9

Tom Petty cover band Zach Innis & The Honeybees — has started up a new, subscriber-based newsletter called “Worcester Sucks And I Love It.,” online at https://billshaner.substack.com. It’s caustic, wonky and a little nihilistic, and Shaner seems set to do great things, if he doesn’t get arrested for political arson first.

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

REQUIRED READING: Bill Shaner — best known as a guitarist for the

J U LY 2 - 8 , 2 0 2 0

meeting, Steve Quist — who runs the Worcester Politics 101 Facebook community — suggested a solution to the frustrations that have gripped members of the community forced to observe meetings online or to protest outside, out of sight of elected representatives. Quist — vocally not a fan of the “defund the police” movement — wrote, “The time is at hand to start holding City Council and School Committee meetings outside in public. There is no longer a need to do these meetings solely online. Foley Stadium would be an ideal location, as would outside City Hall on the Common.”

As of this writing, Mayor Joseph M. Petty hasn’t responded to a query asking his thoughts on this idea, but activist Em Quiles, one of the organizers of the “defund” protest outside last week’s meeting, thinks the idea has a lot of merit.

“I think its easy for them to ‘face the public’ inside their chambers under their control,” says Quiles. “That’s not allowing fair public participation. Especially now that it’s virtual. They can mute and unmute people as they please and not look anyone in the face when they’re making decisions that will have a negative impact on that same person and/or others that are from the same background. It is super easy to get out and engage the community when they need to be supported. It is more difficult to publicly face your constituents when they disagree with you. And we as their constituents should be given the space to hold them accountable.

“A lot of people often have things they want to express about what our Council is doing, but the process and the setup can be intimidating and therefore dissuading. Having an outdoor meeting gives it more of a fair ground for both sides, leveling the conversation and opening it to dialogue, as it should be.”

COVER STORY

In their own words Worcester’s panhandlers tell their own stories CRAIG S. SEMON

10

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

J U LY 2 - 8 , 2 0 2 0

T

he COVID-19 pandemic has stopped many things dead in its tracks, but not panhandling.

Panhandling is alive and well on the city streets of Worcester and there are no signs of slowing down. Then again, anyone who has driven on Belmont Street, Burncoat Street, Chandler Street, Lake Avenue, Lincoln Street, Lincoln Square, Park Avenue or Vernon Street already knows that.

In fact, many who panhandle in Worcester have accepted their current fate and even look forward to social exchanges with “the regulars,” those who regularly give them a few bucks and/or greatly appreciated “care packages” of toiletries.

On their own admission, some of the city’s panhandlers have health issues. Some are wrestling with drug addiction. Some have mental issues. Some have done jail time. Some never finished high school. Some have done things they regret.

Over two days last week, I talked to 12 panhandlers.

For the most part, they seemed to momentarily enjoy that someone was interested in who they were and what they had to say. They are people with hard luck stories that no one would wish for. Although I took everyone I spoke to at their word, none of them had anything to gain by making up stories than many would be too embarrassed or depressed to talk about.

These are people who laugh and cry and hurt, but through their struggles, they have hopes that they will live to see another day and, just maybe, find themselves clean of toxins in their systems, reunited with estranged family members, securing steady work or having a roof over their head.

Anthony LaRose, 34, of Worcester Panhandling location: Lincoln Street (island across from McDonald’s and Lincoln Plaza) LaRose, who said he has been homeless, off and on, all his life, has been panhandling seven days a week for the last few weeks.

“I only do it (panhandling) because I have a broken ankle,” LaRose said. “I broke it running from cops for living in the woods two weeks ago.”

LaRose said people are often generous due to his leg

cast. He said $100 constitutes a good day for a 14-hour day of panhandling.

“I sleep in my wheelchair, wherever I park it,” LaRose said. “The chair, I’ve only had for a couple of weeks but I usually sleep in the woods when I don’t have my chair.”

LaRose, who said he suffers from ADHD and bipolar, said the reason why he lives on the streets is he didn’t want to be abused anymore.

If he could have one wish, LaRose said it would be for a better life.

Luis Walker, 41, of Worcester

Panhandling location: Belmont Street and Lake Avenue Walker said he was a patient care assistant 13 years ago at UMass Memorial Medical Center but he was let go due to layoffs. He also has worked in the restaurant business. Walker said he has been out of work since 2016.

“I did not finish high school,” Walker said. “I never went past the fourth grade but I do have my GED and I do have an associate’s degree in medical assisting.

I also have a certificate of completion as an EMT.” Walker did secure housing from a homeless shelter a few years ago.

“It’s not a luxury but it’s a roof over my head,” Walker said. “It’s a rooming house, so I share a bathroom and kitchen with other residents but I have my own bedroom and my own little area for myself.”

Walker said he suffers from congenital heart disease and congenital COPD. He has also had multiple heart surgeries and has a pacemaker. He also suffers from depression, anxiety, PTSD and bipolar II. He’s on medication, but stresses he never had a problem with drugs.

“With panhandlers, not everyone is a drug addict and not everyone is homeless,” Walker said.

For the most part, Walker said motorists are very generous. He said collecting anywhere from $30 to $50 is a good day.

“I have anywhere between seven to 10 different regulars. They make sure that I either get money, food or a big care package,” Walker said. “I know their names.

They know my name. They say prayers for me too.”

If Walker could have one wish, he said it would be earning a bachelor’s degree in nursing.

COVER STORY

RICK CINCLAIR

J U LY 2 - 8, 2020

Ken says he has Hepatitis C and is a heroin addict. He has been out of work since 2015 and is homeless.

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

11

COVER STORY

Ken (no last name given), 45, of Lynn

12

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

J U LY 2 - 8 , 2 0 2 0

Panhandling location: I-290 off-ramp at Belmont Street Ken has been panhandling, on and off, for four years. He usually does three or four days a week.

“I got out of state (prison) and there was a program (in Worcester) and, I thought, the location would be better,” Ken said. “So I came into Worcester with all good intentions.

I took a slip. I’ve been clean for four years now. But, on the streets, it’s really hard.”

Ken graduated from high school and calls himself a “jack of all trades,” having worked in the past as a customer service rep, laborer, carpenter, and putting up aluminum siding.

“If I get work, I’ll work in between (panhandling),” Ken said. “I like to work. Obviously, work is better but it’s kind of iffy right now.”

Ken has Hepatitis C and is a heroin addict. He has been out of work since 2015 and is homeless.

“All I have to blame is myself, all of the choices I made to get here that led me here,” Ken said.

As for panhandling, Ken said

there are a lot of great people out there with big hearts.

“If I get a $10 dollar bill I’m done for the day,” Ken said. “It’s more difficult. Everybody is strapped down. I think there’s going to be a lot signs being held.”

As for his one wish, Ken utters one word — housing.

Sarah Rivera, 36, of Millbury

become homeless. She also said Panhandling location: Exit 13 she had mental health issues and drug issues in the past but, she on I-290, Vernon Street.

Rivera has been panhandling for insists, she’s clean now.

“I don’t ask anybody for anyfour years, seven days a week. thing. I just walk by with my sign,” “You can stand out here for 10 Rivera said. “There are those who hours and make two dollars or be yell at me. And I just tell them, out here for 10 minutes and make ‘Give me the job. Give me the $20,” Rivera said. “It used to be a chance. Give me the chance to good day, all day long, $200-$300, work. I will.’ I’d rather work than to but now you will be lucky if you be out here. There’s a guarantee at could make $50-$100.”

She said she finished high school the end. There’s no guarantee out here.” and earned her certified medical When asked what she wishes assistant degree from the Salter for in life, Rivera bursts into tears School but it has been 10 years and said, “Just get my family back.” since she’s done anything in the Gaining her composure, Rivera said medical profession. she has three boys (ages 19, 14 and Rivera blames having fibromy12) and a husband who, she claims, algia and an abusive ex-husband that made her lose everything and is in jail for something that he didn’t do. Her father has the cus-

tody of her two youngest and her oldest attends Vermont Technical College in Randolph, Vermont.

“I gave them the life they deserved, that I couldn’t give them,” Rivera said. “And they’re not mad at me. They worry about me. And I don’t want them to worry about me. They got everything they could ask for, except me.”

Holly Boyce, 48, of Worcester

Panhandling location: Melrose and Lincoln streets.

Boyce has been panhandler five to six days a week, off and on, for the last two years.

“It helps with the daily, getting food, stuff like that,” Boyce said.

“Also, it might sounds weird but I

or anything like that. Sometimes I get clothes from donation bins.

They might look nice but someone threw them in there,” Boyce said. “I can’t remember the last time I actually had money to go into a Walmart or somewhere and go shopping. God forbid you have something that looks new on. People get mad at you. I don’t understand.”

If she could have just one wish, Boyce said just for a place for her and her son to stay.

“I’m 48 and I got my health issues but my son, I just feel bad that he doesn’t have a roof over his head,” Boyce said. “He should be able to come back and watch TV and relax, not stay up half the night because he’s scared that someone will come over to us and bother us.”

Chris Rowe, 61, of Lynn

feel comfortable coming up here.

The people are so understanding and respectful and nice. And some just want to talk. And I’m OK with that. If you don’t have money, you don’t have money. It’s your option to give.”

Boyce said she has a degenerative bone disease, a bad heart valve, and a blood clotting disease and needs the aid of a walker. Although she said she sometimes gets depressed, Boyce said she doesn’t suffer from any mental illness, nor has she ever had a drug problem.

Boyce is homeless. Sometimes she stays at her sister’s but oftentimes she and her son stay in a “wooded area” nearby.

“I’ve been on disability for a while but I don’t make enough to eat and rent a room because it’s too expensive,” Boyce said. “What I need is a roommate. But everybody I know doesn’t work and they are mostly panhandlers too.”

Before the coronavirus pandemic, Boyce said, she could make $80-$90 panhandling. Now, she’s lucky to make less than half of that.

Sometimes she has a couple of motorists that yell at her and call her names.

“Biggest issue is if you’re wearing something new, like new shoes

Panhandling location: I-290 and Lincoln Street.

Rowe has been living in Worcester for 20 years and panhandling, off and on, for 10 years.

“Before I was an active heroin addict, so I was doing it (panhandling) every day. The last two years, infrequently,” Rowe said. “I have an apartment. I have a place to live and eat but, after I pay my bills, basically, I don’t have anything left.”

Rowe’s been out of work for 13 years and was homeless for seven years before getting a roof over his head two years ago.

“I was in the automobile industry for my whole life,” Rowe said. “I wrote service, ran garages and I was a car salesman up to my mid-30s. Then I switched over to service.”

In the late ’90s, Rowe needed surgery for tumors on his spine due to spinal bifida.

“I had told them at that time, because I had been sober from alcohol seven years, that I didn’t want any addictive drugs,” Rowe said. “The big thing they were

COVER STORY

selling then was oxycodone. ‘It’s not addictive,’ which isn’t true, obviously.”

Rowe had the bottom part of his right leg amputated. Once he lost the leg, it really made it difficult to work.

“I got MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and it went into the bones and the medication that gets rid of it, I am allergic to,” Rowe said. “I had a simple choice. Lose my leg or my life.”

On average, Rowe said he gets between $50 and $100 panhandling but, lately, he said, that number has been way down.

If he could have one wish, Rowe said it is not ever having surgery on his back and getting introduced to oxycodone.

“If there was one moment in time that totally changed the direction of my life that was it,” Rowe said, “I wouldn’t have gotten the MRSA because I was in jail when I got that, directly related to drugs. It was only a six-months sentence but it doesn’t matter.”

Joe (no last name given), 35, of Grafton

Wayne Bell, 33, of Grafton

Panhandling location: Park Avenue and Chandler Street A former factory worker out of work for two years, Bell has been panhandling seven days a week and is homeless.

“During the winter, I have a tent set up. During the summer, I just lay anywhere. I lay on the sidewalk,” Bell said. “If I’m homeless, I am on drugs.”

Bell said he has no health and mental issues to speak of but he does have a drug problem.

“I started drugs when I was a young teen. I got wicked depressed.

I swallowed a bunch of Concerta (methylphenidate) and it didn’t do anything except get me high. I

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

13

instantly loved it,” Bell said. “But, this time, my friends were doing heroin. I sniffed it. I liked it. They were shooting it. I shot it. I loved it.

Love it! … It has a hold on me like a ball and chain and I can’t break it. It stole my life.”

Bell said people are either wicked nice or look down on you like you have a disease or are the coronavirus itself.

“It hurts. I say sometimes, ‘Come

J U LY 2 - 8, 2020

Panhandling location: N Service Road and Burncoat Street (across from I-290) A former landscaper, Joe has been homeless for two years and panhandling seven days a week, for the last few years.

“Nothing’s wrong with me,” Joe said. “I’m able to work. I’ve gotten work out here from people. I’m willing to work. Oh, hell ya.”

Joe has a problem with drugs.

After an ATV accident, a doctor prescribed him oxycodone, got addicted and then started taking heroin.

“Me and my wife had been five years cleaned and we fell off and we’re back out here again,” Joe said.

“We’re trying to get clean but it’s hard.”

Joe said a good day panhandling is over $100 in a couple of hours.

Lately, panhandling has been a little harder, he said.

“People are ruder now I would say, just yelling, ‘Get a job, you (expletive) bum!’” Joe said. “I could be breaking into somebody’s house but I’m standing here. I don’t think I’m doing anything wrong … I have no criminal record, nothing. I’m just hard up.”

Joe usually panhandles with his wife, Jessica.

“I feel bad having my wife out here,” Joe said. “Guys are trying to pick her up. There’s one guy that asks her all the time, ‘I will give you money. I want to get naked. I just want you to watch me get naked.’

And he asked her, ‘Can you help me take a shower and I’ll pay you?’”

Joe said his wife also suffers from drug addiction, mainly because of him.

“We grew up in Grafton together,” he said. “She moved away. Then she moved back and we’ve been together for 10 years. We stuck it out. Love is hard but it’s easier with two people.”

If he had one wish, Joe said, “Just to start over, just to start clean, never do drugs.”

COVER STORY

on, where are your morals? Were you raised to spit in my face?” he said. “I don’t want to ask people for money. I don’t have any respect for myself now because of panhandling. It’s not fun.”

Bell said he would like to be clean and have his 5-year-old son back.

Lee Harris, 33, originally from Germany, formerly of Georgia

Panhandling location: Park Avenue and Chandler Street

14

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

J U LY 2 - 8 , 2 0 2 0

“I met a girl right after she graduated from Emory University in Atlanta and she (was) from here (Worcester) originally and I moved back here with her,” Harris recalled.

“We were together for three years

and then we broke up.”

The girl who Harris moved up here with got him started on Percocet (oxycodone and acetaminophen) and then heroin, he said.

Harris is homeless. He said he has no health or mental issues. He said he usually works for a temp agency but work has been slow due to the coronavirus.

“This is my third time panhandling. I haven’t been very successful at it. In the three times I’ve done it, I probably made a total of $20,” Harris said. “For the most part, they (the motorists) ignore you.

They don’t want to have anything to do with you. It’s nice when somebody even just waves back.

You can’t expect people to just hand over money. It’s embarrassing, shameful enough to do this, to beg for money. It sucks when they roll the window up on you or turn away from you. You don’t have to do all that.”

If he could have one wish, Harris said he would like peace and stability once in his life.

Lee (he goes by Lee but that’s his last

name), 32, of Rhode Island

Panhandling location: Park Avenue and Chandler Street “I’m here seven days a week, rain or shine, hot or cold,” Lee said. “I’ve been here every day for the last seven and half months. No joke.

Not one day off.”

Lee has been out of work since January. His previous work includes driving a forklift for UPS for four and a half years. He also spent 10 and a half months in jail for stealing $7 worth of food, Lee said.

“The thing about it was I was on probation for the same thing. I got caught stealing before and they gave me a year probation for food,” Lee said. “I could be out here eight hours and only make six bucks.

Trust me, I have had that happen.

And that’s not enough. I can’t even get a bottle of soda and loaf of bread with that.”

Lee pays a guy $25 a night to sleep on his living room floor and to use his shower. He said his best day panhandling he made $100 and that happened twice.

He has a minor case of cerebral palsy and is in recovery for heroin.

“I’ve been on opiates every day since I was four years old. I have CP so I have had corrective surgery five times,” Lee said. “When I was 21, they took my pills away and I couldn’t stop, just physical sickness. So the cheapest thing and the closest thing is the heroin.”

Lee said all he wants is a job.

“Don’t judge me for what you think you see on the outside. Why don’t you open my book and read it because if you looked at my resume it (expletive) shines,” Mr. Lee said. “If they gave me an opportunity, I probably make them a million dollars.”

Joshua Roy, 28, and Tiffany Lacroix, 31, both of Spencer

Panhandling location: Park Avenue and Chandler Street Lacroix has been panhandling for six days of week, for three months. Roy said he doesn’t really panhandle. He just sits and keeps his girlfriend company.

“I’m a licensed plumber,” Roy said. “I’m usually working six days a week but I had to take a couple weeks off.”

Both finished high school. Both are homeless. At night, both sleep at Beaver Brook Park.

Roy has multiple sclerosis, while Lacroix has a fake hip and also suffers from lumbar and cervical spondylitis. Both suffer from PTSD and she also suffers from anxiety, depression and being bipolar. They both are also trying to clean up on heroin.

Anything over $30 constitutes a good day panhandling but those

days are now few and far between, she said.

“There were a couple of days when the coronavirus thing first started that I only made a dollar or two dollars for being out here for eight hours. And we really needed money for that day,” Lacroix said.

“Just because we’re cleaning up our act and we’re addicts doesn’t mean we spend our money on drugs. We spend it on things that we need … If you need a pair of shoes, you get the shoes. If you need food, get food. If you need clothes, get clothes. And then if there’s anything left over, then you can do whatever you want.”

Lacroix said a lot of motorists are really rude.

“They spit at you out the window or throw food at you,” she said. “I had a pie thrown at me, a strawberry pie.”

If she could wish for one thing, Lacroix said, “I’d wish for me and him to have a place. I don’t care if we have no furniture, no food in the fridge, nothing, no electricity, just as long as we have a place that’s safe. It would be a blessing.”

“I think she hit the nail on the head,” Roy interjected.

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

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

J U LY 2 - 8 , 2 0 2 0 WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

Deborah Piselli has been passionate about art for as long as she can remember. She went to photography school and then worked for the very prestigious world renown “ Bachrach Photographers” in their Watertown lab retouching photographs and negatives. When they closed the lab, she then went onto Hilton photography as a supervisor in the art department, retouching and restorations and photo manipulations and also assisted the photographers for weddings and proms. When she became a stay at home mom, she started a home based custom cake and cookie business (12 years ago) using her artistic abilities painting on — and sculpting with — fondant. She is very detailed person, and it was clear that pets and wild life were her niche. After years of not really painting on paper/canvas, she immediately fell right back into it and started drawing and painting every chance she got – particularly pastels and acrylic. Art is her passion and she takes pride in every piece she creates. Although currently focusing on commission pet portraits, she also does wildlife using her own reference photos. See more of her work at facebook.com/Deb-Piselli-Art and etsy.com/shop/thelifeofartstudio

15

CITY LIFE

LIFESTYLE

How to feel beautiful during a pandemic SARAH CONNELL SANDERS

P

rofessor Laurie Santos teaches the most popular course at Yale: “Psychology and the Good Life.” Santos also puts out one of my favorite podcasts, “The Happiness Lab.” Her findings are simple — humans feel happier when they’re solving problems, helping others, concentrating on their own emotions and sleeping enough.

If COVID’s got you down, here are some simple ways to pick you back up.

For Social Media Addicts

Our devices have been a window to the world over the last few months. It’s easier than ever to add flattering filters and airbrush away our own imperfections, but I find the edits don’t make me appreciate myself anymore than I already do. The absence of “quick fixes” during quarantine got me thinking — “If I can retain my self-worth in the real world without dye jobs, facials, brow waxes and manicures, can my virtual self do the same?” The answer is most

certainly yes. I feel better when I post unedited photos. I feel honest. I’m not saying we should drop facetune altogether, but I think it’s important to post the real me more often than not. Give it a try. I’ll bet you even get more likes than usual.

sibility of cosmetic services means more than an inconvenience. Many women undergoing cancer treatment rely on providers such as the Women’s Image Center in order to feel like their best selves. Mary Walsh-Aframe has been operating the Center for two decades and she never dreamed of navigating For Quarantine a global pandemic. Her Worcester Couples location at Vernon Medical Center Have you been holed up with your is a healthcare boutique that carries partner for more than a hundred custom breast prosthesis, breast days and erased all sense of mystery forms, post-mastectomy bras, postin your relationship? Me too. It’s time surgical camisoles, wigs, hats and to make some new memories. Dress headscarves. “Because it’s a very up. I’m talking about your over the up close and personal business, as top, vibrant, eccentric, back of the far as our fitting appointments go, closet, “I never thought I’d find an oc- we’ve had to modify using techcasion to wear this!” outfits. Let’s get nology like Facetime and Zoom,” weird. The fact that you don’t have Walsh-Aframe said. For the past few to put on airs with each other does months, she’s been mailing out kits not mean your wardrobe has been with measuring tapes and fitting relegated to sweatpants and old Tinstructions. Virtual services will still shirts. It means you can shamelessly be available, but starting this week, rock a bedazzled bridesmaid dress in-person consultations are back. while eating a sloppy Joe. Please take Walsh-Aframe will wear a mask and pictures and share them with me. a face shield in addition to taking the necessary precautions to protect her For Women Facing immunocompromised guests while Multiple Pandemics helping them look and feel beautiful.

For a lot of people, the inacces-

Mary Walsh-Aframe founded the Women’s Image Center to help look and feel their best as they navigate a cancer diagnosis.

For the Emotionally Burned

One of Santos’ most important points about finding happiness has to do with compassion. Helping others doesn’t just feel good, it actually protects us from experiencing emotional burnout. Telling another

SUBMIT TED PHOTO

woman that she looks beautiful (and smart and strong and ethical, of course) will raise your own self esteem. Even the act of making a small donation can have this effect. Start by following @thewomensimagecenter on Instagram and see where it takes you.

16

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

J U LY 2 - 8 , 2 0 2 0

LISTEN UP

Tobin Harding presents understated ‘You Don’t Have to Walk Alone’ VICTOR D. INFANTE

L

ocal singer-songwriter and LoZRecords producer Tobin Harding is an unpredictable sort, with each project he puts forth sounding radically different than what came before. Perhaps that’s what makes his newest effort, “You Don’t Have to Walk Alone,” such an oddity: It’s a really straightforward, basically cheerful bit of rock ‘n’ roll. The album’s stripped-down pretty much to its bones, utterly unpretentious and affable.

This makes for a pleasant listening experience, if not a particularly ambitious one. There’s really nothing artistically or thematically challenging here. Really, it sounds like Harding and drummer Daniel Lapensee

Tobin Harding SUBMITTED

pulling up their instruments at a party, and just playing. It’s charming, though, and well-played, so perhaps not everything needs to be musically complex and emotionally wrought.

Maybe there’s still room for a few bits of breezy, garage-flavored rock.

It’s not that this is a shallow album — it’s not — but it’s a subtle one, and it doesn’t traffic in melodrama.

The album — which is available now on Spotify, with physical copies available July 10 — kicks off with “She Dares To,” which is a remarkably cheery song about not being jealous: “She does what she wants to do/But that’s OK because I blew my chance with her.” It’s kind of a unique concept, this low-key acceptance of “no meaning no,” with the persona not getting worked up when she pur-

sues someone else. All told, the lack of drama is kind of refreshing.

By that same token, the next track, “Hey You,” is an understated little love song. “And clocks don’t seem to exist,” sings Harding, “I haven’t seen one in years/And life is like a dream/When we come together as a team.” It’s sweetly earnest, and oddly unsentimental.

The song’s positivity bleeds into the lightly inspirational “Kiss the Stars,” before there’s a slight tonal change with “Snow Falls.”

“Snow Falls” shows off Harding’s guitar skill with a nice little groove that contrasts well against his strong, clear vocals. This is also the point where the album’s lightly held theme of being alone — not neces-

C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 19

CITY LIFE

TABLE HOPPIN’

George’s Bakery launches site at Worcester Public Market BARBARA M. HOULE

from 8 a.m. to noon on July 4 for Lobsterbake meal kit pickup orders as well as any butcher shop orders from One Eleven Chop House.

FYI: A Lobsterbake meal kit includes a Maine lobster, steamer clams, mussels and a corn on the cob. Customers choose either a 1¼-pound Lobsterbake, $35, or a 2-pound Lobsterbake, $47. Order by noon July 3.

One Eleven’s “butcher shop to go” offers hand cut steaks that are individually Croyvac packaged: 8-ounce Wagyu flat iron steak; 12- and 16-ounce prime New York strip steaks; 16-ounce veal rib chop; 16-ounce prime boneless rib eye; Australian Wagyu bone-in rib eye.

Visit https://www.thesole.com/ lobsterbake, or visit 111 Chop House on Facebook to learn about the signature chops.

A

***** Sonoma Restaurant at the Beechwood Hotel in Worcester is accepting reservations for outdoor dining. Call (508) 754-2000. The restaurant offers “chef-inspired, farmto-table food.”

Owner Andre Elhoussan at George’s Middle Eastern Bakery booth at the Worcester Public Market.

*****

local businesses and the food community. At George’s Bakery, we’re all about healthy food, and I like telling people about it,” he said pointing to his face mask bearing the business logo.

The Worcester Public Market at Kelley Square will move to opening Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., beginning July 7. Hours July 2 and July 3 are from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The market will be closed July 4.

The public market requires customers to wear masks and maintain social distancing. All staff and vendors wear masks and gloves. Hand washing stations with soap, sanitizer and paper towels are located throughout the market. Outdoor dining is available on Harding Street, and the capacity inside the market is 80 people.

Wachusett Brewery at the public market is open and serves beer to

News from the Worcester Restaurant Group

The Sole Proprietor, VIA Italian Table and One Eleven Chop House, all in Worcester, will be closed to dining on July 4 and July 5.

The Sole Proprietor will be open

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

17

The public market location is a good beginning, according to Andre Elhoussan, who said, “We’ll see how it all goes. We like the concept.”

George Elhoussan said he would like to see his son run the business when he retires. No immediate plans for his retirement, he said.

Andre Elhoussan is a “foodie who enjoys different cuisines” and likes the diversity at the Worcester Public Market. “I’ve tasted food from all the vendors,” said Elhoussan. “It’s all great.”

Despite having a biology degree from Becker College in Worcester, Elhoussan said he never ventured away from the family business. His two adult siblings have their own careers, he said.

“I’m a people person, and I love talking about food,” said Elhoussan.

“It sometimes still surprises me what people know and don’t know about

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

The Wayland Summer Farmers Market at Russell’s Garden Cendiners seated at outside tables on ter, 397 Boston Post Road, (Route Harding Street.

20) Wayland, is open from noon to 4 Other new vendors at the public p.m. Wednesdays through Oct. 7. market include Sabrosa Venezula, Many of the vendors offer online Akra African Fusion Cuisine, ordering, with pickup at the market Crate & Bowl and Girly Girl Soaps. entrance.

George’s Middle Eastern Bakery at Visit https://www.russellsgardenWorcester Public Market will soon center.com/html/farmersmarket. have a new website, with menu, etc. html for more information about The award-winning George’s Bakery, participants and products.

308 Grafton St., Worcester, is open Monday through Saturday; closed ***** Sundays. Call (508) 752-0762 for hours.

Happy and safe Fourth of July!

CHRISTINE PETERSON

J U LY 2 - 8 , 2 0 2 0

ndre Elhoussan grew up in the family business, George’s Bakery on Grafton Street in Worcester, and continues the family legacy at Worcester Public Market, serving fresh, authentic homemade Lebanese cuisine.

George’s Middle Eastern Bakery is one of the new vendors at the market, which reopened June 18, having closed in March as a result of COVID-19. The market’s grand opening celebration was held in February.

There’s a lot of excitement surrounding the market’s reopening, especially for vendors who really haven’t had the opportunity to showcase their products, said Elhoussan, who looked forward to the day when he again could greet old friends and welcome new ones.

Unlike George’s Bakery in the Grafton Street neighborhood, the public market bakery doesn’t stock Middle Eastern grocery items. “We only sell our homemade food,” said Elhoussan, who explained that the bakery’s popular items such as spinach pies, stuffed grape leaves, hummus, pita bread and other home-cooked meals are made at Grafton Street and delivered to the new location. “Our space isn’t large enough for us to install proper ventilation for cooking food here at the public market,” he said.

The new site has a few surprises.

Customers can enjoy homemade chicken shawarma and falafel sandwiches, not available at the Grafton Street store. Elhoussan uses halal meat in the made-to-order sandwiches and also has vegan food on his menu. FYI: By customer request, the bakery sells mini size spinach pies by the half dozen.

Elhoussan said he was about 8 years old when he began “helping out” in the family business, owned and operated by his parents, George and Christine Elhoussan, who purchased the property in 1989 from the original owner, George Salloum. The couple work full time in the business. George Elhoussan bakes the pita, which is sold retail and wholesale; Christine Elhoussan is “the cook.”

The Elhoussans talk about franchising their business one day.

CITY LIFE

FILM

Will Ferrell sticks to the shtick in ‘Eurovision’ JIM KEOGH

E

arly in the 1999 comedy “Dick,” about two ditzy girls who help bring down Richard Nixon, Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, played by Will Ferrell and Bruce McCullough, are being interviewed on a news show. They start bickering, then slap at each other, and before they fall off camera in mid-grapple Ferrell shouts, “You smell like cabbage!”

The moment was quintessential Ferrell, especially if you recall “Elf,” when Ferrell sniffed at a department store Santa and informed him, “You smell like beef and cheese.”

In the newly streaming Netflix movie “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga,” Ferrell plays Lars Ericksson, who with his partner, Sigrit (Rachel McAdams), sets his sights on representing Iceland in the world’s biggest music competition.

At their audition, Lars is locked out of the arena, and finally makes his way to the stage by sidling between

tightly packed rows, pushing his padded crotch into close proximity of disgusted audience members’ faces.

This might sound familiar to anyone who’s seen another icy Ferrell comedy, “Blades of Glory.” In that one, Ferrell’s figure skater has trouble accessing the rink for his final competition, and slides down a guy wire, trampling on the heads and shoulders of the audience in his quest to reach the ice.

Ferrell has his shtick, and he’s shticking to it.

I’m a Ferrell fan, and have been since his “Saturday Night Live” days where he honed the man-child persona that he carried with him into a successful 20-plus-year movie career.

Only Adam Sandler has earned as much mileage playing guys who can never quite pull together a fullfledged adulthood. Who else can boast Ferrell’s memorable roster of fools: Frank the Tank (“Old School”), Buddy (“Elf ”), Chazz(1) (“Blades of Glory”), “Chazz(2) (“Wedding Crashers”), and perhaps the most Peter Pan-ish character in movie history

Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams star in “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga.”

NETFLIX

aside from the flying boy himself, Brennan from “Step Brothers.”

A word about “Step Brothers.” I know all the movie’s lines and all its absurdities, and I contend Adam Scott, as Brennan’s evil brother, Derek, and Kathryn Hahn as Derek’s long-suffering wife, Alice, deliver two

of the most criminally underrated comic performances in modern times. Their family singalong of “Sweet Child O’ Mine” remains horrifying and hilarious. “Step Brothers” is on TV all the time. All the time. And it never fails me.

But, and you knew a “but” was

coming, Ferrell has hit a strange moment in his acting career. “Eurovision” exemplifies for me how completely he’s outgrown the ability to be the man-child. His Lars is a buffoon, eager to please a disapproving father, oblivious to the desires of Sigrit, and cursed with an inflated opinion of his talents — an act that has moved beyond familiar to exhausted.

Watching Ferrell in this one is like watching an aging fastball pitcher who believes he can still strike out batters by overpowering them, only to get rocked.

Ferrell loves to sing — his operatic finale in “Step Brothers” shattered an ice sculpture and melted Derek’s heart — and I don’t begrudge him his desire to do a lot of it in a movie.

I had wished “Eurovision” would be a better vehicle for his signature brand of goofiness, and, more acutely, that it would signal an upswing for Ferrell following the twin disasters of “Holmes & Watson” and “Downhill.”

It doesn’t. I’m not saying the movie reeks of desperation, but it does smell like cabbage.

ON DVD

‘The Etruscan Smile’ a toothless tale

18

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

J U LY 2 - 8 , 2 0 2 0

KATIE FORAN - MCHALE TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

The Etruscan smile, as Claudia explains while she and Rory marvel at an ancient Italian sculpture, is one of happiness in death. It’s a shame that the film leaves more of a puzzled frown.

A

fish out of water from across the pond attempts to make amends in the new DVD releases for the week of June 30.

“The Etruscan Smile”: After a dispute with his longtime rival, Scotsman Rory MacNeil (Brian Cox) collapses and is urged to stay with family and seek medical help elsewhere. Begrudgingly, he heads to San Francisco to stay with his estranged son, Ian (JJ Feild), Ian’s wife, Emily (Thora Birch), and their baby. Tensions boil as Rory takes his grandson on an afternoon sausage-eating jaunt without alerting the family, among other culture clashes, while chef Ian receives an unexpected gift from Emily’s rich but controlling father that becomes a burden. As Rory acclimates to the hilly city, his rival, his health and his relationships make predictable turns and hit all the beats of a good oldfashioned family drama.

But a 74-year-old Scottish man with a centuries-long feud isn’t the

Brian Cox stars in “The Etruscan Smile.”

LIGHTYEAR ENTERTAINMENT

thing that makes the film feel dated.

In a nostalgic turn, the sometimes quirky, always lush orchestral score by Haim Frank Ilfman gives a late-’90s movie feel to moments like Rory discovering the great American traditions of helicopter parenting, molecular gastronomy and Segway tours. More uncomfortably dated are the one-dimensional roles written for the two women characters, type-A wife/mom Emily (Thora Birch) and the initially prickly love interest Claudia (Rosanna

Arquette), by screenwriters Michael McGowan, Michal Lali Kagan and Sarah Bellwood, based on the 1985 novel “The Etruscan Smile” by Jose Luis Sampedro. The cast does impressive work with the material, but something doesn’t add up with Claudia’s repulsion to Rory’s toxic masculinity quickly disappearing into being charmed by it for no discernable reason, let alone Rory’s sudden transformation to Good Dad/Grandpa without a convincing catalyst for change.

ALSO NEW ON DVD JUNE 30 “Brooklyn Nine-Nine – Season 7”: The sitcom starring Andy Samberg as a cop in a New York police precinct was picked up by NBC after being canceled by Fox. “Evil: Season One”: A psychologist, contractor and priest in training search for answers to church mysteries in this CBS drama.

“Force of Nature”: A cop attempts to evacuate a building during a hurricane while thieves plan to rob it. Emile Hirsch, Kate Bosworth and Mel Gibson star.

“Four Kids and It”: Kids on vacation in England encounter a magical being.

“Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears”: Phryne Fisher (Essie Davis) rescues an unfairly imprisoned girl and discovers a multifaceted mystery.

“Redcon-1”: A team of soldiers

must breach a quarantined area to find a scientist who could save the world from a deadly virus.

“The Sinner Season 3”: The USA Network drama’s third season follows Detective Harry Ambrose (Bill Pullman) as he discovers a disturbing secret while investigating a car accident.

“The Short History of the Long Road”: A teenager (Sabrina Carpenter) is forced to examine her RV lifestyle after losing her father.

OUT ON DIGITAL HD JUNE 30 “Viena and the Fantomes”: A young woman (Dakota Fanning) crosses the country with an ’80s punk band.

OUT ON DIGITAL HD JULY 1 “Big Dogs”: An underworld emerges out of an alternative reality of New York City in this series.

OUT ON DIGITAL HD JULY 3 “Black Magic for White Boys”: A man sells a book of spells in a dilapidated theater. Teisha Hickman and Franck Raharinosy star.

CITY LIFE

THE NEXT DRAFT

Only 2%!?

The first beer to carry the 2% Beer Initiative label – a pilsner at a paltry 2.4% ABV – turned heads at Jack’s Abby.

SUBMITTED

Jack’s Abby is rethinking low-alcohol beers MATTHEW TOTA

I

your pain, too/watching your lips turn blue.” There’s a sense of both loss and of never having had, of thwarted intentions and the negative space

earlier this year after a patron was allegedly involved in a fatal drunken driving incident. In the chorus, Harding sings, “Like this you can’t work, can’t drive, can’t play the game,” but it’s unclear whom he’s talking to: The friend who took a punch for him, or the persona himself, who is admonished by his friend earlier in the song: “You’re always taking steps away, away from your life.”

It’s an affecting song, but it’s not clear that it really needs to be 13 minutes long. The effect of the guitar interludes fades a bit in repetition.

Still, for all that, it’s colorful and

emotionally evocative, and that drama informs the album’s penultimate song, “You Don’t have to Walk Alone,” where Harding’s persona reaches out to someone wrestling with a demon of some sort. On its own, the song’s a bit thin, but in context it packs a punch. The album ends with a reflective instrumental, “Water Bends Light,” which closes it out on a nice, even keel, letting the listener flow out of the narrative in which Harding’s kept them drifting, a satisfying end to a light-handed musical journey.

19

sarily always lonely — becomes most overt, with lyrics such as “People only understand you/as far as they know themselves” hearkening back to lines in “She Dares To” such as, “I could never feel what’s inside of you/ and I know this is true.” We never really know what’s going on inside each other’s heads and hearts. That’s a place where we’re always truly alone. Thankfully, Harding handles the theme lightly.

That said, things do get a tad heavier with “I’ve Seen You Fly,” with a mournful tone and ominous lyrics such as, “Reaching out to you/feeling

of a tragedy: You never get a clear look at exactly what happened, but the song’s sense of heartache has a muted feel, but is somehow still palpable. The next song, “Part of Your Scene,” takes a step back into the outside observer role, but here the persona wears the ache a bit more openly.

The songs “Time Is Easy,” “Take Your Advice” and “You’re Not Included” flesh out these themes a bit, but the album gets its only real shakeup with the 13-minute long “Unwritten Book.” Here, Harding’s persona tells the tale of a friend taking a punch for him in a fight outside the Blarney Stone, which lost its liquor license

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

LISTEN UP

C O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 16

me he has developed some unique mashing recipes to intensify the malt character of his beer.

Next up in the 2% Beer Initiative will be a Belgian-style table beer, then another batch of the pilsner, and, down the line, a hazy IPA. While they are low in alcohol, Hendler will not be referring to his 2% Beer Initiative brews using one of craft beer’s most prominent buzz words: “sessionable.” Session beers, loosely defined as beers that carry an ABV below 5%, have been among the industry’s trendiest categories in recent years.

Hendler assured me the 2% Beer Initiative is not a play to capitalize on the popularity of session beers.

“Everyone has a different definition about what a session beer is, even among brewery and industry people.

There is no definition: It’s sort of a made-up marketing term,” he said. “It’s confusing on one level, it doesn’t define quality, and it’s only theoretical that you can drink a bunch of them. I understand the concept, I enjoy drinking beers that are sessionable, but I think it hurts more than helps from a branding and marketing perspective.”

J U LY 2 - 8 , 2 0 2 0

have always had a vision of Jack Hendler as a mad scientist in lederhosen. The co-founder of Jack’s Abby comes across at once as this tremendously level-headed brewer who hews to traditional German brewing techniques, yet continually finds ways to turn the industry on its head.

Remember the clear IPA? It typified Hendler’s classic, yet slightly subversive approach to brewing. In 2018 he collaborated with brewers from Kentucky’s Against the Grain on “Any IPA,” which, on the surface, poked fun at the notion of dividing IPAs into two substyles based on color and clarity — the hazy New England style versus the brighter West Coast version. More than that, Hendler and the other brewers set out to challenge the status quo through experimentation, producing an IPA that pours clear, but somehow has the same volume of hops as a New England IPA. Now, Hendler is back in the lab working on a new game-changing project, the “2% Beer Initiative,” brewing low-alcohol versions of classic styles. As the name suggests, the beers will hover around 2% alcohol by volume (ABV), only without sacrificing any of the characteristics that have made them timeless.

The first beer to carry the 2% Beer Initiative label — a pilsner at a paltry 2.4% ABV — has left the minds of even the most learned craft beer drinkers twisted like the pretzels at Jack’s Abby.

After trying the pilsner for the first time, Redemption Rock’s co-founder and head brewer Greg Carlson took to Twitter to question everything he thought he knew about brewing.

“It’s changing games I was not prepared to have changed,” Carlson tweeted, adding in another tweet, “50% the strength and 85-90% the flavor?

Buddy.”

For now, Hendler will keep his 2% Beer Initiative inside the brewhouse and beer hall with small batches on his pilot brew system (the first was an English-style dark mild, but it did not carry the 2% Beer Initiative label). He sees enormous potential in expanding it to the market, though.

“When you talk about 2% beers in the market, they are generally light beers, or some sort of low-calorie beers, designed to just be light, and not with full flavor and quality of the product,” he said. “They are designed for a different market. But I think there are people concerned about their alcohol intake who want to make sure they are drinking beer that tastes as great as your average 5% beer.”

Low alcohol beers have obvious appeal to Hendler, who frequently tastes beer as part of his profession. While a 2% beer is still considered alcoholic, you could feasibly drink more than one without worrying about finding a designated driver or waking up the next morning groggy.

Although he did not set out to brew a lowcalorie beer, Hendler said his 2% beers have far fewer calories than the standard versions. A vast majority of the calories in beer comes from the alcohol level. Jack’s Abby’s 2% pilsner has 93 calories, while most pilsners have around 100.

But creating a 2% pilsner that still tastes like a pilsner was not easy.

“When we went to pilsner, we started to see the challenges of brewing a full-flavored beer at 2%,” Hendler said. “Even at the 5% threshold, you have to really work hard to reintroduce body, reintroduce mouth feel, reintroduce that balance of malt and hops. We are using brewing techniques that are potentially unique to us, and some are proprietary.”

A lot of the work comes during mashing, the first step in the brew that produces the wort, or sugary liquid foundation of beer. Hendler told

CITY LIFE

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.

20

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

J U LY 2 - 8 , 2 0 2 0

EAST DOUGLAS PHOTOGRAPHY

Meet Sage! Sage had a good life with his owner un-

til more cats joined the household. He is prone to urinary crystals; the other cats increased his stress. Fortunately, he doesn’t require prescription food; an over-the-counter urinary food regulates him. Sage likes men more than women. Above all, Sage just wants to be your only pet. His owner said he’s a sweetheart once he gets to know you.

Sage qualifies for our Senior for senior program.

GAMES

J O N E S I N’

“Gilded Age” – theme answers surrounded by gold.

By Matt Jones

Across

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!

12 15 18 22 25 27 29 30 31 32 33 34

35 36 41 44 45

47 Gourd used in some Thai curries 49 “Blackadder Goes Forth” star Atkinson 50 Space shuttle letters 53 “Loveroot” author Jong 54 Boca ___, Florida 55 Gobsmacks 56 Metal for old skillets 57 Kelly of “Live! With Kelly and Ryan” 59 Prefix before “distant” 60 Currency introduced in 1999 61 Before times, so to speak 64 Forest fire output 66 “Back to the Future” costar Thompson

Last week's solution

©2020 Matt Jones (jonesincrosswords@gmail.com) Reference puzzle #995

21

1 Be of assistance 2 “Polo” preceder

8 9 10 11

Agree to participate Dakar’s domain Bearded grassland grazer Pushes the engine “Voulez-vous coucher ___ moi ce soir?”

Jeff Bridges’s brother “Black-ish” father Newark resident, slangily “Enchanted” Anne Hathaway role Turned green to gold?

Early 1980s craze creator Type of exam Chemistry class model Poetry competition Advanced deg. for musicians Bumbling “Bonne ___!” (“Happy New Year!” in French) Home of my Oregon alma mater Slobbery dog of the comics Software buyer “La Dolce ___” (Fellini film) Symbol of immunity, on “Survivor” Spears on the table Play before the main act One in a deck Hits with a laser

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

Down

3 4 5 6 7

J U LY 2 - 8, 2020

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

1 “Abnormally Attracted to Sin” singer Tori 5 Interest 9 Helped out at a rave, e.g.

13 Draw from a pen 14 “___ a dull moment” 16 Bank 17 Turn-of-the-century style 19 ___ Stanley Gardner (author whose Perry Mason character inspired the 2020 HBO series) 20 Comparatively chilly 21 Activity with tanks 23 Lamentable 24 Vowel sounds in “naysay” 26 “I identify with that GIF” 28 Romantic duet in “The Phantom of the Opera” 34 Drugstore container 37 Actress Kendrick 38 Eighth day of Christmas figures 39 Age verifiers 40 Edison’s ___ Park 42 One-all, for one 43 Hitchcock film named for a gem 46 Tiniest of noises 47 Jury member 48 Where to order individual items 51 Take back 52 They help you get a handle 56 Glass of “This American Life” 58 Take up broom?

62 Jack of kids’ rhymes 63 Latvian capital 65 Super Mario World 2 character that pops up from underwater 67 Important work 68 Profession deserving of nightly applause (at a minimum) 69 Clickable pic 70 Part of CSNY 71 Slightest bit 72 Grandmotherly nicknames

CLASSIFIEDS

HELP WANTED

SERVICE DIRECTORY PROFESSIONALS needed by Saint-Gobain Abrasives, Inc. to work in Worcester, MA. BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE FUNCTIONAL ANALYST to provide business intelligence (BI) & reporting capabilities as part of Global BI team & use BI tools/platforms, such as MicroStrategy Analytics, Microsoft SQL Server (SSIS, T-SQL or similar), to collect & mine data, identify business reqmts & gather background info. Travel reqd w/in the U.S. up to 20% of the time; LEAD BUYER to purchase key commodities for all company-owned locations w/in North America using SAP Demand Planning, Materials Mgmt & similar modules & negotiate, execute & manage contractual arrangements w/ external suppliers.

Incidental travel (up to 5%) w/in North America.

Interested candidates should send resumes to HR Director (LEL), Saint-Gobain Abrasives, 1 New Bond St, Worcester, MA 01615, & ref the relevant job title in the application.

EMBEDDED SOFTWARE ENGINEERS Johnson Controls Fire Protection LP seeks Embedded Software Engineers for its Westminster, MA location to design & develop software for new products & supporting legacy products in highly regulated fire alarm system industry, including TCP/IP networking, routing, & Linux in a distributed monitoring & control environment, audio communications systems, & notifications. To apply, mail resume to: Global Mobility/JCI, 5757 N Green Bay Ave, X62, Milwaukee, WI 53209. Must reference job code: ESE-RP. EEO.

DRUPAL EXPERT LEAD needed by Saint-Gobain Abrasives, Inc. to work in Worcester, MA. Dvlp complex Drupal features to ensure system functions as expected & maintain/troubleshoot issues using front-end technologies, such as JavaScript, jQuery, Angular, HTML, CSS, & SQL servers. Local, national & int’l travel reqd up to 10% of the time. Interested candidates should send resumes to HR Director (LEL), Saint-Gobain Abrasives, 1 New Bond St, Worcester, MA 01615, & ref the relevant job title in the application.

Place your ad here!

Call 888-254-3466 or email classifieds@ gatehousemedia.com

Where do I find such cool stuff and helpful services?

22

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

J U LY 2 - 8, 2020

My secret is CLASSIFIEDS!

Over 90,000 Readers!

Call 888-254-3466 or email classifieds@ gatehousemedia.com Sudoku Answers

classifieds@gatehousemedia.com • 888-254-3466

LAST CALL

Ashley Wonder spoken word artist A

DYLAN AZARI

shley Wonder is a Worcester-based educator and spoken word artist whose work focuses on racial injustice and police brutality. Wonder performed the following poem at the Say Her Name rally in Worcester on June 13.

Has COVID-19 impacted the way you guys are performing or have things been on hold completely?

A lot of my friends are putting on virtual open mics. I’ll watch friends from New York or California doing things virtually, but I haven’t done it myself. It’s just

a weird environment. I need the crowd. I feed off their energy. No one is snapping or cheering you on when you are performing from your house or your car. It’s hard to navigate the low energy. I’m actually working on something for the school system, trying to organize a virtual open mic for kids of color in our city. That’s going to happen on July 17. It will be my first time testing out the online experience to see how it works in the new world we live in.

You have been writing about the senseless killing of Black people for a very long time.

When did you decide to use poetry as a tool for activism?

I grew up writing in church. I used to perform at all the Black churches in our city. That changed

at the time Michael Brown got murdered. Then, I wrote a poem about my cousin, who got killed in Boston. That’s how my writing changed from focusing on Jesus to spreading more awareness about Black men and women getting killed, and deaf people as well.

As an educator, how do you feel about this particular moment in history for your students?

What is your hope for the next generation and how can poetry be a part of that?

This new generation definitely gives me hope because they’re more aware and skilled at advocating for themselves. That makes me happy. The young folks that I know make me feel like a proud mama, so to speak, to know that when it’s my time to hang it up,

the poetry world is going to be in good hands with kids that are not afraid to speak. They possess the right language to hold themselves and others accountable.

What message do you have for young poets?

Just to keep fighting — even with the pandemic going on. As an artist, you don’t always have to feel pressure to constantly create.

Right? Because you’ve got to pay attention to mental health and self care for yourself so that you can recharge and use your gifts. As a writer, it’s good to keep getting the words out, but self care is always number one.

– Sarah Connell Sanders

23

When did you get involved with slam poetry?

I used to watch “Def Poetry Jam” on HBO and seeing that made me think I could try it out. Back then, I didn’t know what slam was about. It’s not like an open mic.

It’s a whole competition with time limits and it’s overwhelming and fun all at the same time. I participated as a judge for a women of color slam we had in Worcester

back in 2014. I had no idea what I was walking into. But, after being emotionally moved by poets Janae Johnson and Porsha Olayiwola, I was inspired. When they started House Slam, located in Roxbury at Haley House Café, I began slamming there. I was just thrown in there and that’s how I started out in the Boston area. I made the Seven Hills slam team for the 2015 and 2016 National Poetry Slam Finals.

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

What made you decide to stay in the city where you grew up?

I was born and raised here in Worcester. People always say it’s like a black hole, but I didn’t really learn to love or appreciate my city until after my dad passed. I stay here because of work and family, but I’m hoping to eventually change that.

J U LY 2 - 8 , 2 0 2 0

When a Black Woman screams her last breath who mourns with her?

With them?

Why has it taken the ghosts of us to now Stand Up? Or why haven’t I shattered myself for all these beautiful black humans?

Is it Enough? Is it too exhausting?

To be black and alive changing the world b/c to be black and women is to hold the Universe in our eyes?

Changing environments with just a look or sharpness in Tongue.

Maybe that’s their excuse. Have us Silent by Death. Murder. Missing.

We be too Loud, or raising our children, loving our spouses.

We carry mountains in our chests and prayers on our Lips.

To be black and women is a Revolution, the most sacred to protect.

We laugh loud with those we most comfortable.

Speak truth to make Them Uncomfortable.

The names are endless. Their Lives Mattered, and I haven’t cried enough for them.

The tragedy, we all could be the next hashtag, movement..

Love us while we’re Here! Before we’re Not. Before our Time.

Who will hear our screams in the night, while we Sleep.. Traffic stops By trigger happy cops..

How will they be Honored?

Maybe this is a Start....

Your Car Search COMMAND CENTER awaits...

BestRide is your car search Command Center. From BestRide.com you can browse over 6 million new and pre-owned vehicles, create shopping lists of your potential purchases, track price changes, and keep up to date with new listings. When you are ready to purchase, BestRide.com connects you with trusted automotive dealers in your hometown.

24

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

J U LY 2 - 8 , 2 0 2 0

We make it simple for you to find your BestRide.

THE SMARTEST, EASIEST WAY TO FIND A CAR.