Worcester Magazine July 23-29, 2021 by Worcester Magazine

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | JULY 23 - 29, 2021 | CULTURE § ARTS § DINING § VOICES

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IN THIS ISSUE

Worcester Magazine 100 Front St., Fifth Floor Worcester, MA 01608 worcestermag.com Editorial (508) 767.9535 WMeditor@gatehousemedia.com Sales (508) 767.9530 WMSales@gatehousemedia.com VP, Sales & Strategy Andrew Chernoff Executive Editor David Nordman Editor Nancy Campbell Content Editor Victor D. Infante Reporters Richard Duckett, Veer Mudambi Contributing Writers Stephanie Campbell, Sarah Connell Sanders, Gari De Ramos, Robert Duguay, Liz Fay, Jason Greenough, Janice Harvey, Barbara Houle, Jim Keogh, Jim Perry, Craig S. Semon, Matthew Tota Multi Media Sales Executives Deirdre Baldwin, Debbie Bilodeau, Kate Carr, Diane Galipeau, Sammi Iacovone, Kathy Puffer, Jody Ryan, Regina Stillings Sales Support Jackie Buck, Yanet Ramirez 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. 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 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. Subscriptions First class mail, $156 for one year. Send orders and subscription correspondence to GateHouse Media, 100 Front St., Worcester, MA 01608. Advertising To place an order for display advertising or to inquire, please call (508) 767.9530. Worcester Magazine (ISSN 0191-4960) is a weekly publication of Gannett. All contents copyright 2021 by Gannett. All rights reserved. Worcester Magazine is not liable for typographical errors in advertisements.

Featured ..............................................................................4 City Voices ........................................................................10 Cover Story.......................................................................13 Artist Spotlight................................................................19 Next Draft .........................................................................20 New On DVD.....................................................................27 Adoption Option.............................................................28 Games................................................................................30 Classiﬁ eds ........................................................................29 Last Call .............................................................................31

On the cover One of Dan Dudley’s prize center piece units — a horned demon carefully constructed and painted. PHOTO BY VEER MUDAMBI

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FEATURED

Jam-band favorites Leon Trout coming to Electric Haze Robert Duguay Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

For anyone who enjoys scintillating guitar riff s and improvised progressions, then Boston’s Leon Trout is exactly the new band you've been looking for. Lead vocalist and guitarist Aaron Cram, guitarist and backing vocalist Jimmy Geikie, bassist Sam Slotnick and drummer Roger Dumaine have been ripping up the jam scene in New England and beyond for the past few years, but they’re not your typical jam band. They have a wide range of infl uences — from metal to funk to reggae — that they incorporate into an original sound. On July 23, folks will get to see what these guys are all about when they take the stage at Electric Haze located on 23 Millbury St. in Worcester. Northboro rock 'n' roll act Way Up South will be opening things up at 8 p.m. “It started back in college when I was going to Keene State in Keene, New Hampshire,” Dumaine says on the origins of the band. “We started playing house parties on the weekends and Sam and I are kind of the only original members of the band. We’ve had multiple changes throughout the past seven years or so, and Sam and I have known each other since back in college when he was going to Franklin Pierce in Rindge, New Hampshire. After we graduated we said to ourselves, ‘Hey, let's keep doing this’ and we moved down to Boston back in 2015 in pursuit of playing music. We went through multiple diff erent guitarists, and Aaron is good friends with Sam from going to Franklin Pierce together so that’s how we got him into the band, and through friends

The band Leon Trout will perform at Electric Haze. PROMOTIONAL IMAGE

of friends we met Jimmy a couple of years ago and fi t perfectly for what we were looking for in our sound.” The band’s most recent album is a live record titled, "Trout Tapes Vol. 1," that came out last April and was recorded at The Acoustic in Bridgeport, Connecticut. They plan on having it be the fi rst installment of a live album series that’ll be recorded at diff erent venues. “Before we started playing a show at The Acoustic, the sound guy down there told us that he could get a recording of us through his board and do some mixing to get it to be album quality, and we were totally down for it,” Dumaine says of the making of the live album. “That’s when we came up with the name ‘Trout Tapes’ so we

can continue putting out live albums and more volumes. It’s not a generic name but it’s easy to remember and we don’t have to worry about what we’re going to name every live album we put out. It’s kind of inspired by 'Dick’s Picks Volume 1' from the Grateful Dead, in the sense that it’s easily expandable and we’re able to continue it.” After the show at Electric Haze, Leon Trout will be hosting its own music festival called TroutStock. It’ll be happening at the Magic Forest Farm in the New York hamlet of Coeymans Hollow on Aug. 7 and 8 with acts such as Bella’s Bartok, The Stupid Robots, The Cosmic Factory, The Quins and The Trichomes taking part, among others. “We’ve been in the festival

circuit for four or ﬁ ve years now and we’ve always kind jokingly said that we should throw our own festival and organize it,” Dumaine said. “This year we ﬁ gured, with everyone coming back from the COVID-19 pandemic, that people are just craving for live music and they need it in their lives so we decided to do it. Things started coming together really quickly in an unbelievable way. We had a couple ups and downs when it came to establishing a location but the Magic Forest Farm is a bigger upgrade than what we originally had. It’s a larger stage and it’s a beautiful venue located at a private organic farm on top of a mountain near the Hudson River Valley. The stage overlooks the valley and the sun sets directly in the dis-

tance, we’re going to have vendors of all diff erent sorts ranging from jewelry, clothing and all that type of stuff .” “We’ll also have food vendors,” he adds. “It’s going to be a full festival set up with music all day on Saturday and half the day on Sunday. We fi gured that we’d start small and then work our way up from there. We want to keep it a small, local festival vibe, we don’t want to blow it up as a huge festival. But next year we’ll have more days, more bands and more music. It’s going to be a lot of fun.” To pre-order tickets or for more information, visit Electric Haze’s website at thehaze.com/ electric. For more info on Leon Trout and TroutStock, visit leontroutmusic.com.

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Local theaters, music venues move into action as live performances return Richard Duckett Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

For the ﬁ rst time since February 2020, Vanilla Box Productions is back on stage at its longtime performance space at the Burke Performing Arts Center, St. Paul Diocesan Junior-Senior High School, 144 Granite St. Worcester. Vanilla Box Productions led the way locally with online shows through much of the pandemic but now is putting on live-in person theater again with two plays this summer: “Alice in Wonderland, Down the Rabbit Hole” July 23 and 24, and “Cannibals of the Heart/Or Louisa Adams Writes a Play” Aug. 6 and 7. “It’s amazing and wonderful and scary. It’s like starting all over again. It’s about getting back into a rhythm, a routine. But it’s exciting at the same time,” said Christine C. Seger, who with husband Joel D. Seger are the co-founders and coowners of Vanilla Box Productions. “It’s great, but I found myself sweating through my shirt by the end of the night,” said Joel Seger about conducting the ﬁ rst rehearsal back. He’s directing both shows with Christine as the assistant director. “We’re having a blast. It’s nice to talk to people in person,” Joel Seger said. At the time of the interview, however, there had been something to sweat about. The early July-lost-to-rain weather had led to a water leak. Water had been “pouring into the back of the stage,” Christine Seger said. “They shut down electricity in that corner of the building.” Run through sessions of “Alice in Wonderland” and “Cannibals of the Heart” had to be canceled for

Christine C. Seger, who with husband Joel D. Seger are the co-founders and co-owners of Vanilla Box Productions. PHOTO BY TAJONN NICKELSON

the day. Christine Seger was taking it in good stride. “So there’s always a little monkey wrench in live theater,” she said. But welcome back to live inperson performances, as concert and theater venues and theater and other performing groups start to open doors and put on shows and concerts again after well over a year of lockdown. The shows not only must go on, they will go on with all the attendant trials and tribulations and triumphs. While the common denominator among presenting and performing groups is that they are indeed very happy to back, each has their own unique liveperformance concerns. Some are normal, some are part of the new normal — whether it’s rain leaking through, deep cleaning,

or keeping an eye on ticket sales to see if audiences share their enthusiasm about returning together in-person. For several weeks, after being closed for a number of months, The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts, 2 Southbridge St., Worcester, has been hosting smaller shows such as dance recitals and productions from its youth programs. There was also Miss Massachusetts last week, and July 25 will see gospel singers Trey McLaughlin & The Sounds of Zamar presented by Music Worcester. “I’m excited about that one,” said Troy Siebels, president and CEO of The Hanover Theatre. That show has social distancing voluntarily accommodated by The Hanover Theatre in cooperation with Music Worcester. Masks have also

been required to be worn by the audience at shows at The Hanover Theatre. Earlier, indoor venues had to deal with state regulations and severe capacity restrictions imposed because of the pandemic that seemed ever changing. Now there are no state restrictions, Siebels said. Starting with Ricky Duran’s long-awaited show on Sept. 18, The Hanover Theatre will have no seating limitations, with the venue able to be at full capacity (2,300 seats). Also, only people not fully vaccinated will be required to wear masks. Upcoming is a diverse lineup of shows. The Hanover Theatre’s popular Broadway Series begins its 2021-2022 season with “Escape to Margaritaville” Oct. 21-24. Other shows this fall include “An Evening with David Sedaris,” Sept. 27; Masters of Il-

lusion, Oct. 3; Gordon Lightfoot, Oct. 19; Get the Led Out, Nov. 6; Brian Regan, Nov. 17; Sarah Brightman, Dec. 1; and Boston Pops, Dec. 3. For more information, visit www.thehanovertheatre.org. “It’s such a breath of air,” Siebels said. “This past year has been so challenging. Being closed this past year been heartbreaking. To have everybody back now it feels great. I’m just happy to have light at the end of the tunnel.” At Mechanics Hall, 321 Main St., Worcester, the ﬁ rst live performance with an audience since March 2020 is coming up shortly. Mechanics Hall executive director Kathleen M. Gagne has 7:30 p.m. Aug. 5 as the date for a free concert titled “Carusiana” commemorating the centenary of the death of Enrico Caruso, whom many still consider to be the most famous operatic tenor of all time. The performers will be pianist Leonard Ciampa (recently named the ﬁ rst Mechanics Hall composer in residence) and Neopolitan tenor Giovanni Formisano. At the time of writing this story, however, there was the possibility of a slightly earlier concert, but details were still being sorted out. “It’s a gradual reopening,” Gagne said. “Right now I’m playing it by ear and bit by bit. We have a lot of exciting things in the works. I hesitate to announce until we’re 100 percent certain when we can move forward,” she said. “Our fall schedule looks very healthy. It won’t be as full as other seasons, but I’m very happy how healthy it looks.” Calliope Productions in Boylston distributed an audience survey in March to identify and See RETURN, Page 6

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clarify “our audience members’ needs and concerns about returning to live theater performances,” said Dave Ludt, artistic director. The survey was also distributed by several other local theater companies to a total of 1,000 local theater-goers. They survey found that until herd immunity from COVID-19 is reached, certain conditions are required before the majority of respondents will return to indoor live performances. As a result, Calliope Productions has implemented a number of measures, Ludt said: Calliope’s facilities are being thoroughly cleaned and also sanitized with an electrostatic sprayer before every rehearsal and performance. Air purifi ers with HEPA fi lters have been placed in the restrooms, and MERV13 fi lters have been installed in the building’s air circulation systems. Hand sanitizers have been placed throughout the building — including backstage and in dressing rooms. Face masks are required for all performers, staff and audience members who have not been fully vaccinated. July and October productions will have no intermissions, and patrons will not be allowed to congregate in the lobby before or after performances. Audience seating will be in reserved seats, with tickets purchased through TicketStage.com in order to eliminate physical handling of money/credit cards and to facilitate contact tracing. Seating in the theater has been reconfi gured to allow for better ventilation, and the seating capacity has been reduced from 155 to 125 people. Calliope is currently refurbishing and upgrading its ventilation and air circulation systems to meet CDC recommendations of four air exchanges per hour for live theater facilities. The expected completion of this project is early September.

Lasha Khozashvili and Ekaterine Chubinidze appear in “Awakenings,” ﬁ lmed at Mechanics Hall. Mechanics Hall has had no live in-person performances since March 2020, and the onset of the pandemic, but its facilities have been used for livestream events and recordings. ERNESTO GALEN/COURTESY OF BOSTON BALLET

“Our hope is that these changes and improvements will be welcomed and appreciated by our audiences,” Ludt said. After having canceled all operations during the pandemic shutdown, Calliope restarted its annual Summer Youth Theatre program in June and was scheduled to present a teen production of “Beauty and the Beast, Jr.” July 13-17, and a pre-teen production of “Willy Wonka, Jr.” July 27-30. At the time of writing, in the days before the July 13 opening, Ludt said tickets seemed to be tracking at about 60% of what they were for the 2019 teen show. For more information about Calliope Productions, visit www.calliopeproductions.org. Mechanics Hall has been quite busy notwithstanding no live-person concerts in front of audiences in the world-famous 1857 concert hall. Gagne said a scene for a movie was being shot there (reportedly “Spirited,” a musical reimagining of the Charles Dickens classic “A Christmas Carol” starring Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell). The Great Hall is known for its great acoustics, as well as its

Tenor Giovanni Formisano is set to perform at Mechanics Hall. PROMOTIONAL PHOTO

iconic visual interiors. “We had an amazing year of recordings … We’ve booked recording sessions well into next year,” Gagne said. Concerts were also livestreamed from Mechanics Hall last season, and the Boston Ballet ﬁ lmed a newly choreographed piece there titled “Awakening” set to Richard Wagner’s “Siegfried Idyll.” “My gosh it was beautiful. They (Boston Ballet) are hoping to do more work with us in the

future,” Gagne said. However, the cost of losing in-person events has been big. “We still have some staﬀ on furlough,” Gagne said. The federal Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program has helped Mechanics Hall, she said. Siebels has also praised the program. Among events to be announced at Mechanics Hall could be a concert series in its smaller Washburn Hall. Meanwhile, “The Music

Worcester schedule is still not confi rmed. We also have other performances on hold. It’s just a matter of time.” “Carusiana” (reservations encouraged at www.mechanicshall.org) will have cabaret seating on the main fl oor but not social distancing, Gagne said. The only caution is that people not vaccinated are advised to wear a mask. Still, “if people want to seat at a distance there will be opportunities for that,” she said. And while there are now no state restrictions, Mechanics Hall could implement some of its own. “We have taken a hard look at our capacity and may be making some changes in that regard,” Gagne said. Siebels said that touring shows at The Hanover Theatre have to be unrestricted in terms of seating limits “to make it work fi nancially.” Touring shows also require lead time to get on the road again, which is why the schedule won’t really be fi nalized until the fall. That allows people time to get used to the new arrangements, Siebels said. “It’s been interesting to feel the evolving attitude of the audience,” he noted. The Hanover Theatre has been requiring masks. “Now we get some push back: ‘Why do we have to wear masks?’” Still, asking non-vaccinated patrons to wear masks in the fall will be following the science, Siebels said. “If you follow the science, the risk (of not wearing a mask) is to the non-vaccinated folks.” The goal of The Hanover Theatre is to keep everybody safe, Siebels said. “All our staff and volunteers are vaccinated.” Another lesson from the pandemic is the importance of deep cleaning, he said. That doesn’t mean The Hanover Theatre wasn’t keeping the theater clean before the pandemic, but fi ghting COVID included “making sure spaces are disinfected and cleaned regularly,” something that will conSee RETURN, Page 7

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tinue, Siebels said. “Deep cleaning, wipe down all the seats, keeping air circulating in the building,” Christine Seger said of the behind-thescenes work of putting on shows at the Burke Performing Arts Center. It feels just like home. Vanilla Box Productions is in its 15th season. The theater at the Buke Performing Arts Center has been the company’s home base for shows since 2013, but it also has a deep personal connection for the Segers. Christine Seger is a graduate of Holy Name High School (the name of the school prior to becoming St. Paul Diocesan High School), and she and her husband were both in the cast in a 1992 Holy Name Summer Theater production of “The Sound of Music.” Holy Name Summer Theater and later Booth Productions was run by Richard A. Booth Sr. at Holy Name for many years, and the Segers were regularly involved with shows there. “It’s home. It’s deﬁ nitely home. When we’re there it’s just who we are, we grew up on that stage,” Christine Seger said. “Alice in Wonderland, Down the Rabbit Hole” is a contemporary adaptation by Mark Landon Smith that will run 7:30 p.m. July 23 and 2 and 7:30 p.m. July 24. “Cannibals of the Heart/OR Louisa Adams Writes a Play” at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 6 and 7 sees Vanilla Box Productions working on the development phase of a new play by Mark Dunn (”Belles”) by putting it on a stage for the ﬁ rst time. As the alternative title suggests, Dunn imagines Adams writing a play about her life and a cast in rehearsal for it in 1837. “Cannibals of the Heart” will also be live-streamed Aug. 6 and 7. Face mask requirements for the audience were still to be determined pending consulting with the school and its regulations on the matter. For tickets

Ricky Duran is set to perform at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts. ASHLEY GREEN/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

and more information, visit www.vanillaboxproductions.org. For “Alice in Wonderland, Down the Rabbit Hole,” “We have a great cast of youngsters for the show,” Christine Seger said. Among the adults, Regina Stillings plays the Queen of Hearts and Peter Russo is the King of Hearts. “They’re just so funny,” Christine Seger said of Stillings and Russo. “And a pleasure to work with.” The show also has a lot of new faces, she said. That is true of “Cannibals of the Heart” as well. “More than half the cast is new to us and they’re so very talented.” The cast includes Heather Crabbe, Libbey Stearns, Jim Douglas, Rosie Joubert, Christian Flannery, Mitchell Kiliulis, Robin Shropshire and John Leslie. Last year online, Vanilla Box Productions put on Dunn’s “Belles” and “Belles, the Reunion,” about an eccentric clan of sisters. Dunn had evidently been impressed and gave the theater company quite a compliment.. “He said, ‘Would you like a shot at it (’Cannibals of the Heart’)?’” Christine Seger said. Louisa Adams was the London-born wife of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States. “It’s historical ﬁ ction,” Joel Seger said of “Cannibals of the

Heart.” In real life, Louisa Adams was apparently depressed and unhappy as ﬁ rst lady and wrote poetry and what has been described as “a series of bitter, sardonic plays, often skewering her husband.” In “Cannibals of the Heart,” Adams’ play is going to be un-

ﬂ inchingly autobiographical. Dunn has the play unfolding during a rehearsal of actors at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. “I think overall it’s a very light-hearted story, but it does touch on some events in Louisa Adams’ life that were not so nice,” Joel Seger said. “Joel has been giving it blocking and costumes and a vision for him (Dunn). It’s a beautiful story. It comes with nothing. It’s just a script. He (Dunn) handed it to us. Joel wanted to show what it could possibly look like. It’s a blank canvass he gets to create from,” Christine Seger said. The Burke Center theater can seat 500 people, but with social distancing in place, the shows per the school the maximum would likely be around 300 people. For Vanilla Box Productions, half of that, 150, would be good, Joel Seger said. “We’ll sell every other row and a buﬀ er seat between each group.” Vanilla Box Productions is

best known for its presentations of musicals. “Alice in Wonderland” and “Cannibals of the Heart” are plays. “Our audience is accustomed to musicals. For this summer we decided we were just not ready,” Christine Seger said. The plays chosen also involve limited cast contact for a sort of social distancing on stage with no hugging or kissing. “‘Alice in Wonderland’ isn’t a love story. ‘Cannibals of the Heart’ is people rehearsing,” Christine Seger said. Exactly what ticket sales would be like was something up in the air as the couple were being interviewed. “We will see. It’s deﬁ nitely a concern,” Joel Seger said. “Hopefully people will come back and see a play.” “It’s tough, but we’re just so thankful, grateful, that we’ll be able to do something and that people can come out and support these shows,” Christine Seger said.

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Jafet Muzic oﬀ ers hip-hop, life lessons at Worcester school Veer Mudambi Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

On the heels of his new album, “The Art of Embracing Damage,” local artist Jafet Muzic just released another single, this time for a very special audience. Over the last three weeks, the hip-hop singer-songwriter has been going back to school — as a teacher. The new song is a gift to his students. From July 7 to 21, Muzic was teaching a community outreach course as part of a summer program at The Nativity School of Worcester, an allboys Jesuit school. For the classes of ﬁ fth- to seventhgrade boys, Muzic drew on his experience in life and music — to not only teach kids how to rap or make hip-hip but also teach them bigger life lessons that encourage them to stick to their guns and be true to themselves. “I want to help kids ground themselves,” said Muzic, “Build yourself up to be who you want to become and don’t let outside forces deter you from that journey.” It’s that same message he works to convey in his music, which is an aspect of the genre that he feels has been lost with increased commercialization. The mainstream perception of hip-hop and rap that supposedly gloriﬁ es drugs, sex and violence is only one aspect of it, and does not provide a full picture of the wider community, which has been pushed largely underground and out of the public eye. Originally, hip-hop was a way for marginalized communities of the inner city to make themselves heard, giving them a voice on social issues. “I was fortunate enough to be a student of hip-hop in the ‘90s, when socially conscious hip-hop was still on the radio,” he explained. It’s from here that Muzic draws his inspiration, and what he hopes to

Jafet Muzik, pictured with Professor Megan Ross, is teaching a community outreach class this summer at Nativity School to 5th and 7th graders. ASHLEY GREEN/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

bring back. Megan Ross, a visiting assistant professor of music at the College of the Holy Cross, shares a similar goal — but speciﬁ cally dealing with hip-hop’s relationship with the city of Worcester. “I want to help create a stronger narrative of hip-hop’s contribution to the culture of Worcester,” said Ross. “Artists have been actively contributing to the positive culture, and more emphasis needs to be put on that.” A core theme of hip-hop is authenticity, or “about keeping it real,” something that Ross saw embodied in Muzic. The

“I want to help create a stronger narrative of hip-hop’s contribution to the culture of Worcester. Artists have been actively contributing to the positive culture, and more emphasis needs to be put on that.” Megan Ross

Visiting assistant professor of music at the College of the Holy Cross

two of them had worked together before, when Ross was a visiting professor at Clark University, and had him come speak to students in her HipHop and Social Identity course. It was a perfect ﬁ t, seeing as Muzic’s work has a strong focus on retaining one’s self-identity

in the face of outside pressure. “I was really excited for students to learn about him as an artist and a person,” said Ross. While Muzic had to adjust a few things for elementary and middle school students, the core message stayed the same — “self love, to care about your-

self and hold yourself accountable.” Muzic’s artistic direction is a direct result of his life experience, growing up in the housing projects in Great Brook Valley. “Coming from that environment as a child, you’re blinded to [social issues] and just part of the environment,” he said. As he grew older, he said, he began to grow more conscious of his surroundings, and see what he wanted to change. Hip-hop had always been important to him, but it wasn’t until he was 18 that he started recording his own music, and See HIP-HOP, Page 9

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�� ASHLEY GREEN/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

“I want to help kids ground themselves. Build yourself up to be who you want to become and don’t let outside forces deter you from that journey.” Jafet Muzic

Hip-hop Continued from Page 8

began using that as an avenue of social change. “The music and culture dictated the lifestyle people would live,” he said. He wanted to challenge that thought process with his own work, “to see if I could play devil’s advocate to my people.” It’s more than a hypothetical argument, his goal is to inspire people to take their own journey of growth. The Worcester Hip-Hop Congress, a coalition of teachers such as Ross, artists, and community leaders, formed earlier this year, is looking for people just like Muzic. “We want to bring about positive social change through hip-hop,” said Ross. One way to do this is through programming at the local schools such as Nativity, which she calls communitybased learning projects. Muzic’s new single is his part of an end-of-term project. “I wanted to give something to the students that would challenge them,” he said, and tasked them with using what they’d learned of self expres-

sion with him, to express their feelings about their time in the program. The assignment could take the form of music, writing or visual expression and the broad scope was part of the challenge. Of course, fair’s fair, and Muzic explained that he didn’t feel right giving them an assignment without giving one to himself. So he wrote a song dedicated to the students and the whole experience — he turned it in at the end of the program to the students in exchange for their work. Muzic is keenly aware that the students he will be inﬂ uencing have had innumerable hard knocks. “Coming where I’m coming from, so many outside forces wanting to knock you oﬀ your square” so it is critically important to him that they believe in themselves. “Been rapping since I was seven years old,” said Muzic. He recalled discovering the genre at an age that was a turning point in his own life, vividly illustrating the power of music. When his sister died, at the age of 9, he heard a song that deeply resonated with him. “I fell in love with hip-hop at that time. It opened up a whole new way of life for me.”

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CITY VOICES DON LANDGREN THE NEXT HOLLYWOO BLOCKBUSTER? POLICE BODY CAMS!

FIRST PERSON

The Library of Disposable Art — Miniature Liquor Bottles David Macpherson Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

WORCESTERIA

Worcester Community United forges bonds between grass-roots progressive groups Victor D. Infante Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

Perhaps it was ﬁ tting that the last event held at the Bridge on Southbridge Street was an act of building bridges among several disparate grassroots activist groups, representing disparate parts of the progressive community. That's exactly what happened July 15 at the Worcester Community United event, co-organized by Massachusetts Jobs For Justice's Central Mass. Regional organizer, Nelly Medina. The event drew more than 60 participants.

“The purpose of this gathering is to bring everybody who's doing the work within the grassroots community together,” says Medina, who is also the lead organizer for the Parents Union of Massachusetts and the mother of a 5year-old. “There's a lot of division within the community, we want to change that. We're doing a lot of good work, but we're doing it separately. Some organizations don't get the support or the spotlight that they deserve.” Medina says that sometimes progressive organizaSee BONDS, Page 12

Last time I was in Vermont, I went into a junk shop. Here is a question: When did we stop calling stores with an accumulation of stuff , “junk shops”? Now they are antique malls. Or vintage emporiums. When did we stop calling them junk shops? Now, I am not denigrating the things found in such places. I mean, some of my best friends are junk. Whatever you need to call it, this place was a packed and over-teeming cornucopia of junk, and I loved it. I was wandering about, with no intention to buy anything. My wife really is done with me buying useless things to clutter the house with. She says, I clutter the house well enough just by my very presence. No need to bring anything else into the mix. But then, near the register, there was a large box that said, “Old bottles. One dollar each.” These were not just old bottles. They were miniature old bottles. They were miniature old liquor bottles. You know. Nips. Those shrunken vessels found in hotel mini-bars and in the rolling beverage carts of airplanes. Or you might fi nd them stuff ed inside a piñata. (This is true. A friend told me that for her partner’s 30th birthday, they had a piñata fi lled with nips. Though that was not a great idea what with them being hit with a bat and then falling on the ground, they did tend to break all over

Miniature liquor bottles PHOTO COURTESY DAVID MACPHERSON

the place.) I rummaged through the box and found the three most interesting shaped bottles. The guy at the counter was amused I was buying them. “You know, some of them still have some of their booze in them.” As if this was an enticing selling point. I just smiled at him and handed over my three bucks. I couldn’t explain to him that these three old bottles were wonderful examples of disposable art. Nothing is more disposable then a nip bottle. They are not meant to hang about. They are to be carried in a

pocket and quickly consumed and then tossed away. Next time you walk through the neighborhood, look down at the gutter and you will see nips tossed here, there and the next place. Conceptual art of the quick buzz. The detritus of thirst shrunk down to its smallest dividend. I can’t conceive of anyone keeping these bottles. Each one is at least twenty-ﬁ ve years old. Why would anyone keep them? But someone did. Looking on eBay, I found that See BOTTLES, Page 12

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | JULY 23 - 29, 2021 | 11

HARVEY

Long-delayed trip to Washington, D.C., an emotional experience Janice Harvey Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

The train ride home from Washington, D.C., gave me plenty of time to refl ect on what I’d seen during my fi ve-day stay in the nation’s capital. I’d crossed one big item off my todo list fi nally, after canceling the trip booked for April 2020. COVID-19 was raging unchecked and America was in lockdown when the original vacation plans were trashed. A year later, standing across the street from the Jersey barriers and fences that surrounded the Capitol and the White House, I felt a deep sadness, knowing that the country is experiencing a very diff erent lockdown — one brought on not only by an insidious virus, but by domestic terrorism. I soon realized that visiting D.C. is not the same as taking a vacation. It’s a fi eld trip, no matter how old you might be, a learning experience no American should wiggle out of. I didn’t know that I would spend a good deal of it fi ghting back tears. A year ago, I was able to arrange a tour of the Capitol with Congressman Jim McGovern. A year ago, I was able to book a visit to the White House. Neither was possible in June of 2021. Yet, I wanted to come to Washington, while democracy is still a thing. We took the train out of Providence, since only one train a day connects Worcester to D.C. (That’s a topic for another day.) Along the way, my friend Rick and I saw much graffi ti, and bleak scenes of boarded-up shells that were once homes and businesses. I sensed that this sobering glimpse of the cities we traveled through might set the tone for our visit. Through Baltimore, Philadelphia, Newark and New York, the scenery created a sad postcard we’d hesi-

tate to send home. Our fi rst night in D.C. was spent walking in the soupiest air this side of the Everglades. Rick acted as my tour guide, having visited several times before. (I have no problem tagging along like a puppy in a situation like this. I have a poor sense of direction, and without him I would still be standing in front of the Metro route map doing my best Tucker Carlson.) Now, I may be a jaded dame, as many have suggested, but I will freely admit that I was overwhelmed as I stood at the base of Abraham Lincoln’s likeness. This would be the fi rst of many moments during this trip when tears fi lled my eyes. Would I have felt this way before January 6th? I don’t know. I do know that we never really appreciate anything till it either slips away or is taken from us. I would weep again while visiting Arlington Cemetery, and yet again as I walked through the American Indian Museum, but it was inside the haunting, heartbreaking Holocaust Museum where I felt the full weight of history. Having taught the literature of war and particularly that of World War II, I fancied myself fairly knowledgeable. Nothing prepares a visitor for the stark, horrible truths on display. No amount of reading, no viewing of “Schindler’s List” can match the emotions evoked as one stands inside a cattle car used to transport Jews to their doom. The African-American Museum was solidly booked, so we were unable to get in, but diff erent tears would fall when I stood by the statue of Martin Luther King Jr. as a busload of visiting middle-schoolers stood jostling one another while posing for a group photo beneath the slain civil rights

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12 | JULY 23 - 29, 2021 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

Bonds

Bottles

Continued from Page 10

tions let themselves get segregated by race, class or other factors, and sometimes by separate ideologies: “They all want justice,” says Medina, “but they feel they have to go about it in a certain way, and that division isn't serving any of us. If the Tenant Housing Association of Worcester is having an event, and they're the only ones who show up, then we're not really winning, right? … We have to trust each other and we're going to support each other. I think that's what people are forgetting, that you don't have to be in competition over ideals and ideologies.” Certainly, the event drew representatives from numerous organizations, including Movimiento Cosecha, the Socialist Alternative, Worcester Democratic Socialists of America, Defund WPD, Tenant and Housing Alliance of Worcester, The People's Party, Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts' youth outreach program, OurStory Edutainment and the Village Worcester. There was a general agreement that it was the fi rst time that representatives from so many grassroots organizations had met together. The use of holding the event outside the Bridge — the home to several arts and at-risk youth nonprofi t programs which was recently sold to a developer — was defi nitely not a coincidence, according to coorganizer Joshua Alba, the workers' rights organizer for Massachusetts Jobs for Justice. “We thought about using this space,” said Alba, speaking on a microphone as a the group formed a circle around him, “because there's a lot of beautiful work being done in Worcester.” He also made it clear that, while they all had serious causes, the event was about, “just chilling and sharing information.” That was important to Parlee Jones, who was repre-

some of these bottles are for sale for over ten dollars. No one is saying that the seller will get such a fortune, but they are trying. They are dirty things, this trio. In the bottle of Guest House Port Wine there is a dark purple crust on the bottom from the dried wine. The Sabra Chocolate Orange Liquor bottle (a ﬁ ne Israeli product, that is now no longer made in Israel) also has the dried remnants of its elixir caked on the inside of the bottle. Someone didn’t drink every drop. It is impossible to clean them. If you wash them out, you will ruin the paper label. So you are stuck with a dusty old bottle with a few drops of bad port wine. (That friend who had the Nip Piñata was shocked that I was not going to taste the few remaining drops of port wine. She felt I was a poor columnist for not tasting what I am writing about. Well, anyone who has ever read this column knows what a poor columnist I am, so why ruin my

Nelly Medina was a co-organizer of the Worcester Community United event. PHOTO COURTESY SAM BISHOP

senting OurStory Edutainment and the Village Worcester. “It's a call for activism,” said Jones, “for people doing that work in the community. It's a chance to see what's happening in our city, who's working on what, so we can join forces, make sure that we're not duplicating work, because that's the most frustrating thing. There's so many things that we need to work on, and many hands make light work. We've got to put all our little diff erences to the side and come together for the cause.” But make no mistake, the issues that each participant championed were serious. Amparo Volpe of Movimiento Cosecha spoke of getting driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants, a cause that can lead to families being torn apart when an immigrant is subjected to a routine traffi c stop. Andy Jonathan of the Tenant and Housing Alliance of Worcester spoke about the eviction crisis, which looms even larger as pandemic protections erode and expire. Leah Hall, a youth organizer for Planned Parenthood, is looking for high school students for a team to help educate teens about issues of sexuality and gender identifi cation, disease prevention, and relationships and consent. Ariel Banks of the local chapter of the Worcester DSA spoke about increasing turnout for local

elections. The causes were numerous, and the need readily apparent, almost overwhelming. But Medina isn't daunted by the task of bringing together so many disparate goals and agendas under one umbrella. Indeed, the event's organizers facilitated the event by making sure childcare was available, as well as translation services. There was also food provided by R&R Jerk Chicken. Medina says that access to these things are often the biggest impediments to civic involvement. “It went amazingly well,” says Medina, There was a lot of positive feedback. My vision for community unity is to draw city and state attention to the premeditated gentriﬁ cation and institutional racism in Worcester … we're in the middle of a class struggle." Planning is underway for future meetings, as well as a rally and march to support the St. Vincent's nurses strike from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. July 31, beginning at Worcester City Hall and continuing on to the main strike site near the hospital's Summer Street entrance. Medina says she's “inspired by the community coming together under one umbrella, understanding that we're in a war, and the only way we can overcome it is by walking together in love.”

Harvey Continued from Page 11

leader’s marble image. If MLK himself had chosen representation of his dream, he couldn’t do better: African-American and Asian students stood giggling and embracing their white and Muslim classmates, all behaving like kids — just kids. Carved into the wall that wraps around the exhibit were quotes from MLK’s speeches. One tugged at me more than others with its powerful simplicity: “I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.”

taste buds?) I bought the last ancient nip bottle for its name. Camus Cognac. I do love a bottle of booze named after 20th-century French Existentialists. If you need to understand the Myth of Sissyphus, just have a few sips of this, and it will all make sense. We are pack rats. We keep everything. We even keep the glass that held the booze we drank too quickly the night before. Hangovers are transitory. The glass that gave us that pain can stay with us as long as we have shelf space. I picked the bottles because they were a nice shape. According to my research, the Sabra bottle is based on an ancient Phoenician decanter. See. Fancy. The Guest House Port Wine is three sided. Two of the sides have indentations, probably to aide in tipping that bad boy back and having the drink slide right down the throat. My wife saw them and mused that they looked like perfume bottles. I am sure there were many people given scent from these bottles. Looking at them on shelf, what joy of art will you fi nd? What absence will you feel? I listened to the laughter of children as I read it. Could anyone argue with those words? In fi ve days I’d felt a fl ood of emotions from awe to outrage, from pride to sadness and everything in between. On the train ride home, the graffi ti suddenly seemed joyous and impressive to me, and the old men sitting in lawn chairs on sagging porches made me smile behind my mask. I promised myself to return to this place, now that D.C.’s fences are slowly coming down. I can’t shake the feeling that we’re losing pieces of America’s soul with every passing day. I considered as we sped past city skylines that I still have much more to learn about history and about my country, the one I so fi ercely love. I’m working on it — now, while democracy is still a thing.

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | JULY 23 - 29, 2021 | 13

COVER STORY

As pandemic ebbs, popularity of tabletop games is on the rise Veer Mudambi Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

With the prevalence of massive multiplayer online video games and the ability to create and control everything from small bands of heroes to vast armies in the digital realm, one would be forgiven for assuming that physical models and inperson games were essentially obsolete. Why spend money and time to build and paint each new character when you can make a one-time purchase and have it all at your fi ngertips? And that’s not even including traveling to meet your gaming group. At the very least, video games are fairly pandemic-proof. But looking beyond the surface, the eff ort is what makes it special, as demonstrated by the Worcester Wargaming Group — the local tabletop gaming community. Dan Dudley, tabletop hobbyist, feels these games have teachable moments where one can learn life lessons about winning, losing, teamwork, friendship and sportsmanship. “Games are meant to be fun but also learning experiences so when you are fl oored by the game you are in, where you’ve spent all your eff ort, your paint, your time — learning to deal with that is pretty important for growth and being a decent human being.” Dudley and his friends play a specifi c game — "Warhammer: Age of Sigmar" — where players construct Tolkien-esque armies of fantastical creatures to do battle over a tabletop battle-

Christopher Clofft and his son Michael started the hobby together. Here they’re setting up their respective armies. VEER MUDAMBI

fi eld. Its science fi ction spinoff , "Warhammer 40K," has also proved phenomenally popular with its armies of Space Marines, war machines and vicious alien hordes. There are

other such games, but the experiences of WWG, which focuses on AoS, clearly reﬂ ect the feeling of isolation and disconnect of the wider tabletop community during and after the

pandemic. Miniature wargaming is a complex pastime and one can spend years playing but barely scratch the surface, due to the combinations of models and

strategies. In addition to the games themselves, there is a modeling and artistic aspect which is a craft unto itself. The See GAMES, Page 14

14 | JULY 23 - 29, 2021 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

Games Continued from Page 13

unpainted models come in pieces, leaving it to the players to assemble and bring them to life through painting — each piece is an addition to one’s collection and an element of strategy. What’s more, the depth of the games and the time investment requires a community to play with, layering in a social element. Buying and painting pieces is as much fun as it is surprising your gaming group with new strategies or paint jobs according to Dudley. WWG grew out of this need to create a community of committed members who share a love of the hobby and game. Peter Morand, tabletop hobbyist, said that it’s diffi cult to fi nd more people who specifi cally play this game in Massachusetts, let alone in-store events. This makes a group like WWG a key hub for players. “I think what draws me to the game fi rst and foremost is the community,” said Morand. “It’s a fantastic group of people and it’s what keeps me coming back as often as I can.” Camille Fowley, tabletop specialist and assistant HR manager at the Worcester branch of That’s Entertainment, emphasized that what draws people to tabletop games is the community, and what they missed most during COVID. “The gaming people all know each other and play every week so they come to see their friends.” While That's Entertainment was closed for about a month after lockdown, it then opened for curbside pick up with an occasional delivery. “But,” she said, “the second people could start coming in, they did.” Dudley agreed that showing up at the meetups has resulted in a number of valuable friendships. He stresses that he is far more interested in what he calls “the social contract” among players. It’s going to be fun, he

Dan Dudley, right, does battle with John St. Sauveur. VEER MUDAMBI PHOTOS

feels, no matter whether you win or lose. “There’s even an excitement of losing or watching someone shred half of my army,” he said, adding that he's the ﬁ rst one to say, "well done, sir." Given that there are few to no hobby shops that host Warhammer games, WWG organizes its meetings outside of store events. Morand found WWG “probably a little over two years ago now,” through Dudley, who is an old friend. “Dan is a very outgoing adventurous guy,” said Morand. “I’m a more stayat-home sort of guy.” He looks forward to WWG meet-ups, See GAMES, Page 15

A small warband of undead, brought by Ian Varney. These miniatures are part of a Warhammer board game set.

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | JULY 23 - 29, 2021 | 15

Similar miniatures can be painted and constructed differently to reflect a hobbyist’s individual style and preferences. VEER MUDAMBI PHOTOS

Games Continued from Page 14

and he's “very excited since I haven't been able to attend meet-ups since summer 2020 and almost couldn’t go this weekend since it is my girlfriend’s birthday, but she said no, go.” The ﬁ rst tabletop game for Morand was only 10 years ago and mostly borne out of an interest in Dungeons & Dragons, a collaborative storytelling game with a narrator and a cast of main characters. “I’ve been reading the lore of the [Warhammer] franchise for a long time and knowing where it came from, I wanted to get into it. The painting started oﬀ as an artistic creative outlet.”

“During the lockdown, I was disappointed about not being able to play "Age of Sigmar,'” said Morand, “but I am ﬁ rst and foremost in love with the hobby, so I put the time I had to use by painting up my ﬁ rst full army. I also got some projects done that had been sitting on my hobby table.” The group began tentatively meeting up around September of last year. “Our group agreed to not share dice, or touch the models of the opponents, keep socially distanced while playing, and keep our masks on," he said. "The size of the function hall and the table allowed us to keep a good distance from each other, but I would say that now that I have been fully vaccinated, I am at as many meet-ups as I can possibly make.” Ian Varney followed a simi-

Peter “PJ” Morand prepares for battle.

lar entry route to the game — starting as a hobbyist painter drawn by the detailed models. Visiting England with his family, he came across a Games Workshop (the UK-based company behind the Warhammer franchise) store. “I thought, oh

that sounds cool, so I went in and walked out with a dragon.” Soon after, he was motivated to start building a viable army in order to give his artfully crafted miniatures a purpose other than display pieces. “The game makes it so it’s not just a static

thing that sits there on your shelf,” said Varney. The laborious process of painting armies has always been a monumental yet attractive challenge to gamers but See GAMES, Page 16

16 | JULY 23 - 29, 2021 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

Games Continued from Page 15

most people actually never fi nish the project. The number of choices is confusing and as a new painter, it is easy to get bogged down and frustrated. The three-dimensional fi gures of tiny metal and plastic models, measured in millimeters, require assembly with glue and precision painting with delicate brushes. It appeals to those with an inclination for detail and an ability to persist at a painstaking task. It's not cheap. Starter kits of about 50 fi gures may run between $50 and $80, and one could fi nd oneself spending a few hundred dollars a month, if one gets infected with the lust for military might. Games Workshop’s sales methods are old-fashioned; it generally uses no advertising, relying on word of mouth and approximately 400 stores worldwide (about 160 in the United States, in several cities) and a few thousand independent games retailers that carry Warhammer to lure new customers. The warring aspect does not seem to bother parents whose teens get into it, mostly because it is creative and it can get them off computers — make the models, paint them, turn up with the models and meet people who are not smoking, doing drugs or drinking. Morand is working on getting into competitive painting and trying to improve in preparation. Stores like That’s Entertainment hold contests and players vie for the coveted “Golden Demon” from Games Workshop, awarded to the best painted piece. He said of his method, “I approach my painting in a very analytical way — plan out exactly how my models will look, know what colors to use but it does depend on inspiration at the time. You kind of start creating your own little story in your head of what the character is and draw inspira-

Cloftt’s son, Michael, makes his play. Rulebooks and print-outs must always be on hand for reference, especially when starting a new edition of the game, where the company has likely added a slew of changes and updates. VEER MUDAMBI PHOTOS

tion from fantasy authors like Tolkien, Lovecraft, Salvatore. Got a plan in my head and just a matter of converting it to the actual model itself.” But he did admit, he will “sit there with paint pots for hours just looking at the colors and go with themes like ‘creepy glowing blue’ for example to contrast with colors like orange, which draws the eye to a section of the model and makes it pop.” Sorana Gatej, marketing manager at That’s Entertainment, often just called That’s E, agreed that model miniature See GAMES, Page 17

Morand’s dwarf warriors are not fully painted yet but he wanted to test them out in a game. Working from the bottom up, the assembly-line style reflects his analytical and methodical approach to painting.

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | JULY 23 - 29, 2021 | 17

Games Continued from Page 16

painting was a popular pastime during the lockdown. Thanks to a customer base built over 40 years, their sales during the pandemic actually went up, ”because people were stuck at home with nothing to do, so they wanted comics, games and especially models.” As stores closed, new people called from farther away looking for a new gaming shop, and That’s E was very fortunate to ﬁ nd ways to adapt — as a mostly brick and mortar store, it couldn’t switch to online ordering easily, so customers ordered over the phone. The tabletop gaming section at That’s E oﬀ ers a variety of

board games, card games and roleplaying games for all ages, in all categories. The store did see a rise in two-player board game sales since people couldn’t get together in larger groups, and models in particular “fl ew off the shelf.” But restocking was slow since delivery from Japan was delayed due to the pandemic. The rising costs of shipping containers are refl ected in prices of certain imported products, an eff ect that is expected to linger until about 2022. Fowley indicated that instore events are back by popular demand like Magic the Gathering and D&D. “We just got back to hosting MTG at the beginning of July with a cap of 24, and the D&D crawl classic See GAMES, Page 18

Morand’s dwarves engage an undead army VEER MUDAMBI PHOTOS

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One of Dudley’s prize center piece units — a horned demon carefully constructed and painted. Games can go for hours — so refreshment is a necessity.

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Games Continued from Page 17

before that on June 26 was the fi rst actual in-person event.” The store still requires masks for in-person events regardless of vaccination along with table spacing and a participant cap. Gatej also confi rmed that the demand was through the roof for in-store gaming and they made the decision when ”email after email, it was clear that folks were starved for in-store gaming.” They will also be bringing back the monthly in-store board game demonstrations where multiple games are set up in the event room for people to try out for free — it helps “create community.” Other events going beyond the store include the annual “Creature Double Feature” at the Elm DraftHouse in Millbury, sponsored by That’s Entertainment. Gatej always sees a lot of store patrons there, and the loyalty of the customer base never fails to amaze her. “I can see 13 years of customers there,” she chuckled, and besides, “all employees were customers before they were hired,” proving the tremendous appeal of tabletop gaming. Saturday, July 17, the WWG meet-up was the fi rst game night after a long hiatus for not only Morand but the entire group. Members were, naturally, ready and willing so the line of cars stretched around the block and predictably, the game stretched for a number of hours. Tables were transformed into terrain with Styrofoam pieces and cut-outs and people arrived with cases of exquisitely painted armies to arrange on the battlefi eld. In the past, when a few members had small, distanced meetups, they had been tense with pandemic restrictions in place. This time, there was a palpable buzz of enthusiasm, but not the loud, chatty variety — instead the quiet intensity of people doing something for

Above: Morand refers to a rule from the new edition of the General’s Handbook. Right: Cloft’s army moves to engage his son’s ogre warriors. VEER MUDAMBI PHOTOS

which they had been waiting a long time. With more than a dozen attendees, WWG felt this was more like the meetups of old. Members were in excited discussion of the technicalities of the game and complimented each other on the craftsmanship of their miniatures. And the game itself was played with a deep earnest concentration, the players becoming self-contained theaters of tabletop warfare, as players resumed old campaigns or started whole new ones.

It’s easy to write oﬀ tabletop wargames with their miniatures, model kits, codex books, hobby paints, brushes, glue and scenery kits as a time and money sink. But really, that could be applied to almost any other hobby or interest. Everything takes time and money — it’s what you get for that investment that keeps you coming back. Artistic expression through painting, fun through gaming, and a close-knit community are, unsurprisingly, more than enough for many people.

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | JULY 23 - 29, 2021 | 19

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

“Fragmented Thoughts” 2021 11x14 acrylic on canvas

“The Witness” 2019 24x36 Acrylic on Canvas

“Reflections of the Mind’s Eyes” 2021 24x20 acrylic, gouache and watercolour on paper PHOTOS BY RYAN MARKLEY

Finding mental wellness through abstract art Ryan Markley Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

Ryan Markley is a queer, self-taught, abstract intuitive artist, single mother and Peer Specialist. “As a person with lived experience of severe trauma,” says Markley, “my art evolved through struggling to make meaning and purpose in my life, beginning at a time I consider to be my ‘dark night of the soul.’ I love bold, bright, and energizing colors ﬁ lled with vibrancy. The process for me is always more important

than the product, as I work out many of my problems on the canvas, fi nding solutions, while allowing the natural fl ow of consciousness through my creative space. This provides me with my own realizations, epiphanies, and insightful answers to the diffi cult issues in my life and in the world around me, facilitating change, closure and integration. Every piece I do includes eyes that represent myself witnessing my experiences as a human. Some eyes appear frightened, angry, or ambivalent. Some are resilient and

strong, having made much post-traumatic growth. I am the artist seeing myself as a witness to my life, to the trauma and pain, but also to the love, hope and beauty in my life. I ﬁ nd much fulﬁ llment in my work as an artist, mental health advocate and mother. I use my creative endeavors to facilitate change in the mental health system and inspire hope in those I support by holding space in art-centered peer support groups and classes for people struggling with their own trauma and mental wellness.”

“The Great Realization” 2021 8.5x11.5 pen on paper

20 | JULY 23 - 29, 2021 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

CITY LIVING THE NEXT DRAFT

Greater Good’s moose is new face of hump day at Hyland Orchard Matthew Tota Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

STURBRIDGE – Greater Good Imperial Brewing Co. and Hyland Orchard have given all of Fiskdale a reason to look forward to hump day. For the past several Wednesdays, the orchard here on Arnold Road has hosted the Worcester brewery for “Hyland Hump Day,” a night of live music under its 100-foot-long wooden pavilion. Greater Good provides the brews, food trucks the grub and, weather permitting, a roaring bonﬁ re for ambiance. The idea to hold the event at Hyland came via Greater Good founder Paul Wengender, a Sturbridge resident who has been bringing his family to the orchard for years. But the connections between Hyland and Greater Good don’t end there. Greater Good’s former head brewer, Shaun Radzuik, used to oversee brewing operations for Rapscallion Brewery, which up until this year had called the orchard home. Many of Greater Good’s existing employees live in the area, too, such as beer and brand evangelist J.T. Ethier. “I’m from Spencer. Our head brewer lives in East Brookﬁ eld,” Ethier said. “We grew up going to Hyland. My mother got married here two years ago.” You might think Greater Good and Hyland picked Wednesday for the event as part of a savvy marketing strat-

Visitors line up at the bar during “Hump Day,” hosted by Greater Good Brewing Co. at Hyland Orchard. Hump Day will run every Wednesday through Sept. 1. ASHLEY GREEN/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

egy. No — it was the only day of the week Chris Damon, the orchard’s manager, could make work given how hectic his schedule is during wedding season.

Damon has run similar events at the orchard over the years; partnering with a single brewery is a new wrinkle, though. “It was an easy decision: I

like the guys from Greater Good. I like the beer. And we don’t have a brewery operating here now,” he said. It is the ﬁ rst time in 24 years that Hyland has not had an ac-

tive brewery on its property. For a while, Hyland’s ﬁ rst brewery was critical to the orchard’s revival. Damon’s brothSee MOOSE, Page 22

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | JULY 23 - 29, 2021 | 21

TABLE HOPPIN’

Worcester Restaurant Week returns for ﬁ rst time post-pandemic Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

The 2021 summer edition of Worcester Restaurant Week returns for the fi rst time since the COVID-19 pandemic as the Worcester dining scene continues its comeback. Worcester Restaurant Week will take place from Aug. 2 through Aug. 14 with more than 35 restaurants off ering threecourse meals for $25.21, exclusive of tax and tip. Get a taste of some of the best cuisine created by chefs and chef/owners representing both well-established and newly opened businesses in and out of the city. Restaurants have upped their game, off ering not only indoor dining, but alfresco dining under tents, or on newly renovated patios and decks complete with fl owers, greenery and string lights. The semi-annual Worcester Restaurant Week (winter and summer) is “much anticipated by local foodies,” according to Paul Giorgio of Pulse magazine, which produces the event. The message on the website (www.worcesterrestaurantweek.com): “Summer 2021 Edition brings back old fan favorites along with new locations, all eager and ready to reunite with the patrons they have so dearly missed.” Among eateries new to the summer edition are Chashu Ramen + Izakaya, One Eyed Jack’s Tiki Bar & Grille, and ‘Olo Pizza Restaurant, all in Worcester and Oli’s Italian Eatery in West Boylston, said Giorgio. Sponsors are Atlas Distributing; Pepsi; Rockland Trust Bank; Discover Central Massachusetts; Mercadante Funeral Home; Worcester’s Mayor Joseph M. Petty; and Percy’s TV and Appliance. Worcester restaurant participants: Armsby Abbey, 144

Main St.; Worcester Beer Garden, 64 Franklin St.; Beirut Bite, 156 Shrewsbury St.; Boardroom Kitchen and Bar, 139 Water St.; Bocado Tapas Wine Bar, 82 Winter St.; Brew City Grill & Brew House, 104 Shrewsbury St.; Chashu Ramen + Izakaya, 38 Franklin St.; the Compass Tavern, 90 Harding St.; Flying Rhino Café, 278 Shrewsbury St.; Joey’s Bar and Grill, 344 Chandler St.; Leo’s Ristorante, 11 Leo Turo Way; Lock 50, 50 Water St., Meze Estiatorio, 166 Shrewsbury St.; Nuovo Restaurant, 92 Shrewsbury St.; O’Connor’s Restaurant & Bar, 1160 W. Boylston St. Also ‘Olo Pizza & Restaurant, 40 Millbrook St.; One Eyed Jack’s Tiki Bar and Grill, 433 Park Ave.; Peppercorn’s Grille & Tavern, 455 Park Ave.;

Piccolo’s Restaurant, 157 Shrewsbury St.; Red Crab Juicy Seafood, 1269 Main St.; Russo Italian Restaurant, 65 Water St.; The Sole Proprietor, 118 Highland St.; VIA Italian Table, 89 Shrewsbury St.; Vintage Grille, 346 Shrewsbury St.; West Side Steak & BBQ, 2 Richmond Ave.; 110 Grill, 123 Front St.; 111 Chop House, 111 Shrewsbury St. Restaurants outside the city are Brickstone Kitchen, 4 Worcester-Providence Turnpike, Sutton; Amici Trattoria, 582 Main St., Shrewsbury; Willy’s Steakhouse Grill & Sushi Bar, 2 Grafton St., Shrewsbury; Chuck’s Steak House/ Margarita Grill, 10 Prospect St., Auburn; Cyprian’s Restaurant (Cyprian Keyes Golf Club), 284 E. Temple St., Boylston;

Draught House Bar & Grill, 42 W. Boylston St., West Boylston; The Mill 185 Restaurant, 185 W. Boylston St., West Boylston; NOLA Cajun Kitchen, 340 W. Boylston St., West Boylston; Oli’s Italian Eatery, 339 W. Boylston St., West Boylston;. A.J. Tomaiolo’s Restaurant, 411 W. Main St., Northboro; and Black & White Grille, 206 N. Spencer Road, Spencer. Book a table and celebrate the local restaurant scene.

Livia’s Dish plans birthday bash Livia’s Dish, 1394 Main St., Worcester, observes its 9th anniversary in business on July 24. The celebration festivities will include the Boston-based

90+ Cellars wine truck parked from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. near the restaurant. In addition to being able to purchase wine and bubbly from the bright pink colored truck, guests also will be able to enjoy mimosas on the restaurant deck. FYI: Petfriendly event. The husband-and-wife team of Executive Chef Enton Mehillaj and Oriola Koci are the restaurant power couple that own and operate Livia’s Dish and Altea’s Eatery, 259 Park Ave., Worcester, both restaurants named after their daughSee RESTAURANT, Page 23

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22 | JULY 23 - 29, 2021 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

Don Boutin pours a cold beer during the “Hump Day” at Hyland Orchard. PHOTOS BY ASHLEY GREEN/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

Moose Continued from Page 20

er, Don, started it in 1997 with a friend, Bill Peterson. The Damon family originally founded the orchard in 1945. Chris and Don’s parents, Eugene and Sarah Damon, ran it until 1980, when a developer took over. The family regained ownership in 1991, but the once-beautiful farm and orchard had been neglected for over a decade. They worked for years after to restore the grounds, which now total some 150 acres and around 1,500 apple trees. Despite the brewery’s initial success, Chris Damon always felt drawn more to the orchard and its apple trees than to the brewhouse and its fermenters. “I have to be honest: When my brother, myself and my brother-in-law started this business, my focus was always on replanting the orchard,” Damon said. “Way back then, I had envisioned the kind of site we have today. But I couldn’t do that if I was working on the beer end. Other than helping with the deliveries, l always focused on the grounds.” Damon was relieved, then, when his brother decided to sell the brewery in 2004 to Pioneer

Brewing. In 2013, Rapscallion moved in. In its eight years at Hyland, the brewery grew and deﬁ ned its brand, building a community around its taproom mug club and annual beer festivals. In January, Rapscallion said goodbye to Hyland, leaving to open a taproom above Homeﬁ eld Kitchen & Brewery, just down the hill. Rapscallion also has a new production brewery and taproom in Spencer. Meanwhile, Hyland has shifted to more of a wedding and event space, no longer relying on the brewing business. “Rapscallion was great,” Damon said. “They worked hard and ran decent events. They did a better job than others. Our business has grown a lot. Their business grew a lot. And the businesses aren’t too dissimilar. We’re both serving beer. We both had live music. It got to be maybe they outgrew the space, especially the parking end of it.” Only faded Rapscallion stickers on the locked doors of its former taproom remain as evidence of its time at the orchard. A green banner with the Greater Good moose logo now adorns the side of the old brewhouse, promoting Hyland Hump Day. The obvious question for Greater Good has been whether

Josh and Kristie Bell of Quincy, with their dog Whitney, enjoy a cold beer on a hot day during the “Hyland Hump Day” event hosted by Greater Good Brewing Co. at Hyland Orchard July 14.

it plans to move into the vacant taproom and brewery. But that would only complicate an entirely uncomplicated relationship, said Ethier. “I don’t think we’re at the point where we even need to look at that taproom because Paul knows it so well; he was likely a mug club member here at one point,” Ethier said. “I think we’ve found a happy medium right now, though, a sweet spot where Greater Good and Hyland can both benefi t out of this relationship without too much stress.” Damon, for his part, would love to have Greater Good become Hyland’s fourth brewery in two decades. “But the brewery will stay vacant if it’s not the right person moving in,” he said. “It’s got to be a symbiotic relationship, which is what we have with Greater Good. If we can’t fi nd the right person, it’s fi ne the way it is. I don’t see any interest in renting it for the sake of renting it. We’re at the point where

Blue rides in style with owners Lee and Mark Cauley of Charlton.

we can pick and choose if we want someone in there and organize it better.” For now, Greater Good will continue improving our opinions of hump day by keeping the beer ﬂ owing every Wednesday through Sept. 1.

Hyland Hump Days run from 5 to 10 p.m. every Wednesday at Hyland Orchard & Pavilion, 199 Arnold Road. For more information on the event, visit www.facebook.com/ greatergoodimperials.

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | JULY 23 - 29, 2021 | 23

Restaurant Continued from Page 21

ters. Enjoy food and wine paired with a party theme!

New flavor for Punch Pops Punch Pops, the alcohol-infused ice pop company based in Worcester, recently announced the brand’s new Pineapple Coconut fl avor. It joins the original lineup that includes Lemon Ice (the fi rst out) and Raspberry fl avors. The company co-founded by Nassim Aoude and Michael Melkonian in Worcester in 2018 fi rst distributed the Lemon Ice fl avor in Florida and then New England. “Punch Pops’ new release comes as the brand continues to make waves in the highly popular alcohol infused popsicle category,” according to a company press release. Reportedly, “Punch pops remains #1 in the Northeast and continues to expand its presence.” There’s more good news. Two new major venues also now carry Punch Pops, including Foxwoods and the new Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater in Bridgeport, Conn. Visit https://drinkpunchpops.com or social media for more product information!

Vin Bin announces hours

pick-your-own blueberries, in addition to a calendar of culinary and agricultural events on its website, www.mass.gov/guides/ pick-your-own-farms. If you can’t get out to pick berries, some farms oﬀ er them for sale in their retail stores. For example, Tougas Family Farm in Northboro last weekend not only sold boxed blueberries, but also fresh blueberry cider donuts and scones. The farm reported a “bumper crop of blueberries” on www.tougasfamilyfarm.com. It’s a good idea to call ahead for pick-your-own updates as farms close to allow the fruit to ripen and soggy ﬁ elds to dry out. There’s no shortage of blueberry recipes, whether a family favorite or new post on social media. Blueberry Cobbler is courtesy of the Food Network Kitchen. If you have a tidbit for the column, call (508) 868-5282. Send email to bhoulefood@gmail.com.

JULY 29TH

AUGUST 5TH

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FRANKIE VALLI & THE FOUR SEASONS

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Blueberry cobbler

Blueberries are ripe and local Blueberries are ripe and ready for picking, despite the rain. The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources lists 80-plus farms that oﬀ er

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JULY 29TH – 31ST

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24 | JULY 23 - 29, 2021 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

CONNELL SANDERS

On Saturday, Aug. 7, the Worcester Red Sox will partner with Kennedy Community Health for their ﬁ rst ever 5K walk and run at Polar Park. PHOTO BY WORCESTER RED SOX

The Kennedy Community Health Annual 5K Walk & Run is set for Polar Park Sarah Connell Sanders Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

I have a feeling the Kennedy Community Health Annual 5K Walk & Run will mark a lot of fi rsts for Worcester. Aside from being the inaugural 5K at Polar Park, it is also the fi rst in-person race for many of Worcester’s runners who have been confi ned to virtual events over the last 16 months. Add a large crop of freshly minted pandemic runners into the mix and what we have is a party. Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center has been dedicated to helping the people of Worcester live healthier lives since it was founded in 1972 by seven women living in Great Brook Valley. Founders sought regular, preventative and primary care services for their families who had long relied on hospital emergency rooms for care. Today, Kennedy Community Health serves nearly

29,000 patients annually across 90 communities, including six school-based health centers. On Saturday, Aug. 7, the Worcester Red Sox will partner with Kennedy Community Health for their fi rst ever 5K walk and run at Polar Park. Runners will take off on a tour of the Canal District at 9 a.m. and cross the fi nish line inside the stadium. Walkers will embark on a one-mile lap at 9:15 a.m. — a perfect opportunity for families with young children to participate in the day’s festivities alongside the Woo Sox’s beloved mascot, Smiley Ball. Registration fees are lower than I’ve seen for a local race in a very long time; walkers pay just $5 and runners pay $10 for an offi cial number and race results courtesy of Central Mass Striders. Registration also includes a limited edition T-shirt.

President and CEO Stephen J. Kerrigan began his career as a trusted advisor and senior aide to the organization’s namesake, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, before taking on the roles of chief executive offi cer of both the 2012 Democratic National Convention Committee and the 2013 Presidential Inaugural Committee, in addition to serving as chief of staff for President Obama’s 2009 Presidential Inaugural Committee. Kerrigan is thrilled about the evolution of Kennedy Community Health’s annual road race and the opportunity to collaborate with Polar Park’s talented team of event organizers. “What began as a neighborhood walk through Great Brook Valley in 2015 has evolved into a 5K event that brings the community together for a healthy and family-friendly activity,” Kerrigan said. “We are excited about partnering this year with the WooSox and hope to make it an annual Polar Park tradition.” Many of Worcester’s favorite 5Ks also plan to host live events in the coming months including Canal Diggers Road Race. Follow free local fi tness groups like November Project Worcester and Cupcakes Anonymous on social media to learn about more upcoming races.

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | JULY 23 - 29, 2021 | 25

LISTEN UP

Endation intense on new album, ‘Ultra Chromatic Bitter Bliss’ Victor D. Infante Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

“Ultra Chromatic Bitter Bliss,” the long-awaited new album by Boston-Worcester rock duo Endation, is an intense, almost overwhelming aff air, a solid and blistering assault of music that captures a spark of agony and fans it into a wildfi re. It’s an album that leaves the listener very little textural respite, but is nonetheless captivating and, ultimately, deeply rewarding. The album begins with “Burn Away,” a song which builds a pyre around the duo’s strengths: Penelope Alizarin Conley’s expressive, emotive vocals and thick, gritty guitar lines and Matt Graber’s elaborate and thunderous percussion. It’s fi tting that the album starts with a process of razing the persona to ash – “burn away my heart and fears tonight,” sings Conley, but the fi re the song sets seems more consuming than that, creating a sense of self-immolation which blazes into the subsequent song, “Rex Pharm,” which – as the title implies – fi nds the persona on medication, “after you give them all you got.” There’s a sense of the persona being reduced to ash and being rebuilt, but somehow that scream from the album’s start still echoes in the absence. When the album pushes on to “White Flag/Half Staff ” – a title which implies both surrender and death – it’s no wonder the persona is looking for messages and signs: They are, eff ectively, a ghost, trying to communicate but unheard. It’s a painful revelation, but it pales before the sheer heartbreak of “Nobody Ever Loved You.” The song steps up the tempo into a rock ‘n’ roll

The newest album by Endation is “Ultra Chromatic Bitter Bliss.” PROMOTIONAL IMAGE

whirlwind, drums and guitar, but when it cuts out to quiet, almost understated sung vocals – “There is something that I’d like to say/And hope that you will see my way/There is something that I need you to understand/ Nobody ever loved you” – the effect is brutal. It’s clear the persona is addressing themselves, which makes the sense of drowning in the loose and discordant “Swim” even more

poignant. The arson that dominates the ﬁ rst half of the album doesn’t subside with “Severed Son” – which moves a more delicate guitar line underneath the heavy grinding of metallic sounds – but the perspective of the ﬁ re changes. Conley sings, “And your whole wide world will leave you dry, leave you dying leave buried in the sand,” but somehow it doesn’t feel quite as

nihilistic. The shift is ephemeral, but there’s a notable change in tone: The persona is actually looking for ways to fi ght back, and that’s new. It’s a subtle shift, but a shift nonetheless. Still, the sense of desperation and privation comes with the songs “Only One” and “Abattoir,” the latter song particularly refl ecting a descent into madness. When the persona fi nally emerges out the other side of

that madness, in “Culling,” they’re forced into self-refl ection: “And your perfect plans have come undone/And your perfect plans gave just become/ What I’ve become.” Conley and Graber build this transition with remarkable delicacy for such a loud and intense album, leaving the listener small touchstones underneath the cacophony. In a lot of ways, it’s sort of a dare for the listener, to not turn away from the maelstrom. It’s a remarkably eff ective tactic, as revealed in “No Sweet Anatolia,” which fi nds the persona taking stock of their life. Much of the song is barbed, but the most telling verse fi nds the persona more refl ective: “In the sweet hereafter/ Colorful bright spring/Embracing the disaster/Will I ever live again.” There’s a sense of selfacceptance that creeps forward from song to song, becoming more overt in tiny, incremental stages. It’s never a straight line, though. “Deeper Echoes” fi nds the persona struggling with not backsliding, and “Check My Resource” fi nds the persona manic, mistaking despair for acceptance: “If I run out of time, then I run out of time.” The album returns the persona to the fi re with “The Hart,” and while it’s easy to read this as a fi nal defeat – “Glowing in fi re. Growing/Going to expire choking down” – one should also remember that a hart is often a symbol of beginnings. Is that what’s happening here? Is there more road ahead after everything is ash? Conley sings, “the terrible fi ght will always be mine,” but that doesn’t denote a fi nal ending. That implies that there’s more road on the other side of the pyre. It’s a small, almost infi nitesimal ember of hope, but it burns nonetheless.

26 | JULY 23 - 29, 2021 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

5 THINGS TO DO

Ryleigh Modig, Umphrey’s McGee and more Richard Duckett, Veer Mudambi and Victor D. Infante Worcester Magazine | USA TODAY NETWORK

Toward Space will perform at Ralph’s Rock Diner. PROMOTIONAL IMAGE

Umphrey’s McGee will perform at Northlands. PROMOTIONAL IMAGE

Having Some Fun “You Walked Up Shaking In Your Boots But You Stood Tall And Left A Raging Bull.” Got that? That’s the title of Umphrey’s McGee’s new album consisting of music that was used as a pre-recorded introduction as the band took the stage at live shows. The songs, including lead single “Leave Me Las Vegas,” have “gotten the full-studio treatment.” The jam band, originally formed by members when they were students at Notre Dame University, likes to have fun with album titles (as well its own name). Its first album in 1998 was “Greatest Hits Vol. III.” Fans who like the band’s musically stand-up and diverse live shows can catch Umphrey’s McGee in its only currently scheduled New England appearances this summer July 23 and 24 at Northlands. (RD) What: Umphrey’s McGee When: 6:30 p.m. July 23 and 24 Where: Northlands, Cheshire Fairground, 247 Monadnock Highway, Swanzey, New Hampshire How much: Single tickets available for this show. One pod purchase for five people is $39-$45 per person. www.northlandslive.com.

Spaced Out

Using her ‘Voice’ for a cause

Richmond, Virginia, rockers Toward Space have a sort of deliciously old-school sense of rock ‘n’ roll debauchery in their songs, the kind that drags the listener through the grime of sex, drugs, etc. with a sort of raw, garage rock panache. The songs might be down-and-dirty, but the musicianship, particularly Seyla Hossain’s vocals, makes the trip entirely worthwhile. (VDI)

Pets and music, what’s not to love? This Sunday, Spencer resident Ryleigh Modig, who was a judge favorite on “The Voice,” will be hosting a benefit concert to raise money for Second Chance Animal Shelter. Modig and Second Chance go “Voice” way back — she contestant started volunRyleigh Modig teering there at at Second just 5 years old Chance Animal when she accomServices. panied her mothSUBMITTED PHOTO er. On the 20th season of “The Voice,” Modig was even able to earn a triple steal before she was eliminated. Tickets are now available online at www.secondchanceanimals.org/ ryleigh-modig-concert. (VM)

What: Toward Space with Superjerk, Bad Larrys and Scare City When: 8:30 p.m. July 24 Where: Ralph’s Rock Diner, 148 Grove St., Worcester How much: $7

A Musical Theater classic The farmer and the cowman should be friends. Just listen to the song in Rogers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!” and you’ll be friends, too. The Hanover Theatre Youth Summer Program presents the classic 1943 American musical July 23 to Aug. 14. Set in a Western territory just after the turn of the 20th century, a high-spirited rivalry between local farmers and cowboys provides the background as Curly, a charming cowboy, and Laurey, a feisty farm girl, play out their love story to a wonderful sound track of numbers destined for the Great American Songbook. (RD) What: The Hanover Theatre Youth Summer Program presents Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!” When: 7 p.m. July 23; 2 and 7:p.m. July 24; 7 p.m. Aug. 13; 2 and 7 p.m. Aug. 14 Where: The Hanover Theatre and Conser-

The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts. THE HANOVER THEATRE

vatory for the Performing Arts, 2 Southbridge St., Worcester How much: Tickets are $25. Seating is general admission. The Hanover Theatre currently requires all audience members to wear masks. Please contact the box office at (877) 571-7469 for more information.

What: Benefit Concert for Pets in Need with Ryleigh Modig When: 1 to 4 p.m. July 25 Where: Quarter Keg Pub, 443 Worcester Road, Charlton How much: Multiple seating options, starting at $10 for court seating (bring your own chair), $60 for five tickets with seating in the beer garden, $80 for four tickets on the deck, $100 for five tickets on the deck, and $120 for six tickets on the deck.

Down, But Not Out

Another One Down! will perform at the Palladium. PROMOTIONAL IMAGE

“Stuck in the Wake,” the song Rhode Island pop-punk outfit Another One Down! put out late last year, really demonstrates the band’s handle on the genre, taking full, melodic vocals and tying them to a sort of emotional vulnerability that somehow nestles naturally in explosions of full-scale rock ‘n’ roll. It’s fun, cathartic and extremely catchy and really, who needs more than that? (VDI)

What: Another One Down! with Good Sleepy, SPC, Luv Mason and Moss Tongue When: 7 p.m. July 24 Where: The Palladium (upstairs), 261 Main St., Worcester How much: $12

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | JULY 23 - 29, 2021 | 27

NEW ON DVD

‘Saw’ franchise beginning to ‘Spiral’ Tribune News Service

The reboot of an aughts horror series known for going heavy on gore tops the DVD releases for the week of July 20. “Spiral”: This latest entry in the “Saw” franchise features Chris Rock as a police detective investigating a grisly set of murders by a Jigsaw copycat killer. Also starring Samuel L. Jackson and Max Minghella. “The original torture porn trend was a product of the political climate of the time, as the ‘War on Terror’ manifested ‘enhanced interrogation techniques,’ Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, CIA torture reports,” writes Tribune News Service critic Katie Walsh in her review. However, she noted, “‘Spiral’ exists in a very diff erent cultural moment, and the fi lmmakers attempt to speak to it, with a killer using torture as a means of exerting bloody justice on corrupt cops. But they try too hard to avoid stepping on too many toes, resulting in a fi lm that’s muddled and messy on many levels.”

Also new on DVD July 20 “Dream Horse”: Based on a remarkable true story, Tony Collette stars as a Welsh village bartender who convinces her friends and neighbors to pool their money and buy a colt, thus entering the dizzying world of high-stakes horse racing. “Jakob’s Wife”: After a chance encounter with “The Master,” a woman dissatisﬁ ed with her marriage to a smalltown minister discovers a new sense of power and boldness. As she does so, however, the body count mounts in this hor-

ror fl ick. “Die In A Gunfi ght”: A modern update on “Romeo and Juliet” with a dash of “Succession” mixed in, this fi lm features Diego Boneta and Alexandra Daddario as star-crossed lovers from powerful rival families in present-day New York City. “Feral State”: A grifter uses his charisma to attract a gang of followers made up of runaway and orphaned children, and before long they are wreaking havoc on the swamps and trailer parks of Florida. “Gangs of London: Season 1”: The murder of London’s most powerful crime boss sets off a violent power struggle to fi ll the underworld void in this British TV drama. “Initiation”: A university’s pledge week takes a sinister turn when a star athlete is murdered, setting off a spree of social media slayings that drives a group of students to discover the school’s dark secrets. “Shameless: The Eleventh and Final Season”: The Showtime favorite, set on Chicago’s South Side, calls it quits after a decade, but not before one last ride with William H. Macy and the Gallagher crew. “Star Trek Discovery: Season Three”: After traveling through a wormhole in the season two fi nale, the crew must navigate an unknown future far from the home they knew. “The Spanish Princess”: This historical drama series from Starz follows the royal intrigues of Catherine of Aragon, the fi rst wife of England’s Henry VIII. “The Walking Dead: Season 10”: AMC’s hit show returns, with season 10 marking the fi nal one battling zombies for Danai Gurira’s Michonne

Chris Rock in “Spiral.” BROOKE PALMER

character. “32 Malasana Street”: A Spanish family leaves their village and buys an old apartment in Madrid, but their dream purchase quickly turns into a nightmare when they discover they aren’t alone in the unit. “Rock Paper Scissors”: Two friends enter the world of underground rock, paper, scissors competitions in this coming-of-age comedy. “Gully”: The explosive and timely story of three childhood friends surviving an upbringing in Los Angeles’ roughest neighborhoods. “Bordertown: Season 3 (Blu-ray)”: The Nordic noir that takes full advantage of Finland’s stark beauty returns for its third season. “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” and “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” (Blu-ray): Ahead of the

new movie “Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins” comes the release of these prior ﬁ lms on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray for the ﬁ rst time.

Out on digital HD July 20 “Fire”: Firefi ghters try to save a village from a forest fi re in this Russian action fi lm. “House of Quarantine”: Nine people are locked down together while trying to fi lm a movie, but unbeknownst to them one of their number is infected with COVID-19. “Hydra”: A retired assassin living a quite life is recruited for one last job he can’t refuse in this Japanese movie. “Room 9”: Forty years after a gruesome double murder at a small-town inn, the town is once again terrorized by a string of killings.

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28 | JULY 23 - 29, 2021 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

ADOPTION OPTION

Cat Emma Moto is a candidate for WARL’s Senior for Senior Program

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. Emma Moto was adopted from WARL years ago when she was a kitten named Jelly Bean. She had a wonderful life with her family until grandchildren, other pets and her owners traveling more frequently became too much for this old girl. Emma wants a quiet life with one or two people who don’t have kids or pets. For the last two years, Emma lived comfortably with a senior woman until Emma became ill with gastrointestinal issues. We found a prescription food that eased her symptoms. It’s a dry food called Proplan E/N. Emma only eats that food; she will not eat canned food. Emma qualifi es for our Senior for Senior Program. WARL COVID-19 Procedures As of Nov. 9, 2020 As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, we want to share with you some changes we have implemented so that we can continue to serve the pets and people of our community while keeping our team protected. • ADOPTIONS: At this time, adoptions are being held BY APPOINTMENT ONLY. If you are interested in adoption, please visit our website worcesterarl.org/ adopt/ to learn more about our available animals then call us at (508) 853-0030 ext.0 or email us at info@worcesterarl. org to schedule an appointment. • CASUAL VISITS TO THE SHELTER are prohibited. We will strictly enforce this in order to keep our animal care team protected while still maintaining the most essential function of our operation ... fi nding homes for animals in need. • ANIMAL SURRENDERS: Our business practice for surrendering a pet remains the same. All pet owners must contact WARL in advance of surrendering a pet. Please call (508) 853-0030. • SPAY/NEUTER CLINICS: All scheduled appointments will be honored. If you have a scheduled appointment, we will be contacting you to discuss changes to our drop off /pick up procedures. • DONATIONS ACCEPTED except for open bags of food. • Pet food, cat litter, and other shelter supplies will be essential in continuing to provide for our animals and to assist community members in need. To avoid unnecessary travel and exposure, items can be purchased online from our Amazon Wishlist —

Emma Moto is available for adoption through WARL. PHOTO BY JENNY NICOLL

https:// www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/3AX342JIL73M0 • Weekly training classes are going on for adopters. • The WARL Volunteer Program is temporarily suspended. All regular volunteer shifts are on hold. We look forward to welcoming you back as soon as we can. We have many animals in our care who depend on us

to stay healthy and well. The above measures help to protect our staﬀ and community from the spread of COVID - 19 by minimizing face-to-face interactions while continuing to operate only core essential services. Please continue to follow our Facebook page for additional updates. Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact the shelter at (508) 853-0030 or info@ worcesterarl.org.

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WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | JULY 23 - 29, 2021 | 31

LAST CALL

Lisa Moon, owner of Sparetime talks business’ growth Veer Mudambi Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

Lisa Moon didn’t want to own a bowling alley. When her husband, Mark Moon, suggested buying Sparetime bowling alley back in 2019, she was initially skeptical. That changed when it soon became clear the business was on a roll (no pun intended), going from a bowling alley to a full-on entertainment venue including standup comedy, karaoke and an arcade. Then COVID hit. Now, as businesses focus on recovering from the pandemic, Sparetime Recreation is once again gathering momentum, but isn’t quite back to pre-pandemic levels. Lisa Moon sat down with Last Call to talk about where things go from here. How did this get started? My husband and I have been in town for 34 years and the former owner approached my husband about taking over and buying the bowling alley. We had no experience whatsoever — we hadn’t bowled in 30 years. I said, “Eh, I don’t think so,” but we ended up buying the alley and I’m so glad we did. Why did the owner approach you? We own the Summit Lounge in Worcester so my husband was talking to the former owner about buying the smoke eaters for Summit, so they kind of became friends before he suggested selling. Our partners heard about this and said, “Oh my god, you have to do this.” Has it been tough managing two businesses? My three children along with my husband and I all co-own the Summit Lounge. My oldest is actually the general manager of the Summit Lounge, so my husband and I have kind of stepped back. Why were your partners so keen?

Lisa Moon, owner of the Sparetime Recreation Bowling Center, 117 Church St., Whitinsville. PHOTO BY STEVE LANAVA

Our attorney said it sounded like a gold mine! We have to do it. But I said, “I don’t want to own a bowling alley, I don’t want to spray people’s shoes … ” My husband kind of coaxed me saying we could take the concept and run with it. Comedy shows, painting classes, trivia nights — so many things above and beyond. To change the concept from a bowling alley to an entertainment venue — that was the turning point for me and got me intrigued. We still had to do a lot of renovating to bring it into the 21st

century. We were killing it — just got our liquor license and then … the pandemic hit and put the brakes on. It was very frustrating to open up a brand new business and then have to close. So how did you weather the pandemic? In the beginning, it was very rough. We made the best of it and did some more remodeling. When did you reopen? We opened as soon as the governor said we could on July 6. People started trickling in and we started getting busier

and busier. So I think we fared very well, I’m happy to say. Are there any practices that you picked up that you’ll keep? Oh of course — the cleaning. Someone said during karaoke that he couldn’t believe how clean this is — some places that he goes to have just let it go now, and I said that’s not Spare Time. I was fanatic about cleaning, even before the pandemic. Have you been able to replenish your staﬀ ? Still not busy enough to

bring everyone back. Right now it’s just the three of us — my husband and I and one staff member. We can’t aff ord anyone else yet. Plans for the future? Right now we have been continuing with live stand-up comedy and karaoke. In the fall, we have plans that we want to put into motion — trivia and adding more leagues beyond bowling. We want to bring in billiards leagues — we have four pool tables just hankering for leagues — and dart leagues. And — who knew — but we also want to bring in pinball leagues. A number of people gravitate towards the pinball machines and we learned that there’s a pinball league out there. We also have a virtual reality and a video gaming room. I heard there’s a place in Marlboro that did VR and they recently closed, so we got some of that foot traffi c this past weekend. We even started to put in an axe-throwing alley but the liability insurance was too expensive in relation to our foot traffi c. Maybe that could come back in the fall as well. Sounds like bowling is just one of many things you can do there? There’s just so much more than just bowling. If you have some spare time, come to Spare Time. Who would think you would get a live comedy show at a bowling alley, like what the heck, right? I think people still have a stigma of why would I go to a bowling alley for a comedy show or karaoke but we’re doing it and it’s fun. Hoping for a food license — to open up a mini restaurant down the line — but we’re holding steady until we can purchase the building, which we lease right now. For more information about Sparetime Recreation, 117 Church St., Whitinsville, visit https://bowlsparetime.com/

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