AUGUST 6 - 12, 2020 WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM
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A U G U S T 6 - 12, 2020
IN THIS ISSUE
A U G U S T 6 - 12, 2020 • V O L U M E 45 I S S U E 50 Find us on Facebook.com/worcestermag Twitter @worcestermag Instagram: Worcestermag
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Concerts return in New Hampshire with Drive-In Live RICHARD DUCKET T
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A U G U S T 6 - 12, 2020
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eople honking the horns of their cars, flashing high beams ... what does it mean? If you’re a band performing at Drive-In Live at the Cheshire Fairgrounds in Swanzey, N.H., it means they like you. “Obviously that’s been a bit different,” said Mike Chadinha, director of operations for Drive-In Live, of audience reaction. Drive-In Live bills itself as “New England’s largest live music series” in this unusual 2020 summer concert season. The bands are liking it. “They’re just happy to be bands at work. Everyone’s been happy to be back at work of some sort. Same with our crew members,” Chadinha said. Drive-In Live opened July 12 and will take place every Friday and Saturday through to Oct. 10 in the south parking lot of the Cheshire Fairgrounds, adhering to the state guidelines for drive-in movie theaters as it brings in a varied array of live music acts including blues, tribute bands, country and rock. Attendees purchase one ticket per mid-sized vehicle for up to five people, and tickets must be purchased in advance online — www.drive-in-live. com. Tickets can range between $60 and $159 per vehicle. Cars have 10 feet of space between them and will be parked in a staggered fashion for unobstructed sight lines. People will be able to bring lawn chairs and sit in the empty spot to the left of their vehicle. Aaron Lewis probably got the horns honking and high beams flashing for his show July 25 as the former lead vocalist of the alternative metal band Staind turned country soloist performed the first sold-out show of the Drive-In Live series. Upcoming shows include a Fireworks Fest by Atlas Fireworks and Grateful Jam from 8 to 10 p.m. Aug. 7; Fireworks Fest and Tom Petty Tribute 8 p.m. Aug. 8; G. Love and Special Sauce 8 to 10 p.m. Aug. 14; Guster, 3 and 8 p.m. Aug. 15; Badfish, 8 p.m. Aug. 21; Allman Betts Band 3 and 8 p.m. Aug. 22; and Martin Sexton, 8 to 10 p.m. Aug. 28. “We’re adding as we’re going along,” said Chadinha. “Our goal is to bring something for everyone. We try to mix it up as much as possible.” Music fans seem to be liking it.
“I think people are glad to get out of the house and have some comfortable entertainment, Chadinha said. The site is located just over the Massachusetts border, so a good number of those fans are from Worcester and Central Massachusetts. “We are getting people from Central Massachusetts because we’re not that far away,”Chadinha said. People are coming to Drive-In Live from a general radius of 50 miles. “They’re coming from Worcester. It’s a pretty easy day trip. There’s not much else as far as this neck of the woods. I would drive two hours for a show anyway, but now even more so.” Drive-In Live is produced by M.E. Productions (owned by Seth McNally), which has been presenting national level concerts for two decades in various New England venues. As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded shutting down most live music venues indoors and outdoors,
one response to the situation was drive-ins, which first started popping up across the ocean for music shows even though drive-ins in the most traditional sense are considered uniquely American. “We saw it happening in Europe. We thought it was a unique pivot to keep entertainment going,” Chadinha said. The idea began to pop up Stateside as well, and Live Nation has set up several Live From the Drive-In venues around the country, but Drive-In Live is not associated with them, Chadinha said. When New Hampshire allowed its drive-ins to open, “We worked on it to make it happen,” Chadinha said. After looking at several sites, the
Right, Mike Chadinha, director of operations for Drive-In Live. BRETT WITTEN
Blue Oyster Cult, performing July 18 at Drive-In Live at the Cheshire Fairgrounds in Swanzey, N.H. NATHAN EKIS
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Upcoming showing include, from top, G. Love and Special Sauce on Aug. 14, Guster on Aug. 15, and The Allman Betts Band on Aug. 22.
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Then came Almost Queen (Queen tribute), and the sold out Aaron Lewis show. Asked what’s surprised him so far in this version of the new normal, Chadinha replied “One the biggest surprises is the parking. It’s really important they go into a specific spot. It takes time. It’s not something that people are used to.” The technical side of putting on concerts has been fairly straightforward. “We’ve done shows. Everything’s gone well. It’s really the parking that’s been the biggest challenge, but it’s gotten better and better each time,” Chadinha said. The crew have to wear masks at all times. “It’s pretty easy to keep social distance when they’re doing their job,” Chadinha said. The band has its own green room. “We’re hyper-vigilant,” Chadinha said, and the green room gets disinfected after each visit. “We try to get the musicians to bring their own microphones,” he added. Chadinha knows what it’s like from the musician’s side of things. He was a touring drummer with Roots of Creation and had stints with Badfish. He has recorded with Stephen Marley, Melvin Seals, Marlon Asher and G Love, and worked with Bob Marley producer Errol Brown. He is also the executive director of Uplift Music Festival, a community driven non-profit that raises money for various local charities. “I did it for a very long time. I really do feel for them. Their lifestyle before all this was hard. It’s hard enough. Never mind that the music these days is playing live concerts, it’s not records. To have it crashing down, I really feel for them,” Chadinha said. Will there be a Drive-In Live in 2021? What will it mean if there is still a need for one? “Next year I don’t know. I do wonder if this drive-in concept is here to stay,” Chadinha said. “I don’t know how comfortable people are going to be going shoulder to shoulder again. This idea of being able to tailgate with your friends, for me that’s preferable. Who knows where it’s gonna go?”
A U G U S T 6 - 12, 2020
PHOTOS SUBMITTED
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Cheshire Fairgrounds seemed the most promising. “We wanted to find a way to bring back live music with national level artists to New England but we also needed to make sure we were providing a safe environment for all attendees, staff and artists,” Chadinha said. “With permission from the town of Swanzey, we are ecstatic to be able to bring live events to Cheshire Fairgrounds during these challenging times.” There is a big fair there every year, but the 2020 edition was cancelled because of the pandemic. “It’s a big piece of property. For us we just needed a parking lot,” Chadinha said. The south parking lot of the fairground can accommodate about 1,000 cars under normal circumstances. To meet social distancing and other requirements Drive-In Live takes a maximum of 430. “We could do 450, but there would be sight line issues. Every space is a double space — with a little private tailgating area. Parking places are staggered so you’re not surrounded by other people’s groups,” Chadinha said. In terms of facilities, there are no concession stands, “to alleviate any over-mingling.” There are restrooms and hand washing stations. People don’t have to wear face masks in their designated space but if they leave the space they must put masks on. Food and beverages are permitted, but no alcohol is allowed (and no pets). “We just want a safe environment,” Chadinha said. Audience members can expect a full concert experience with festival sound, lights and video. The band is live on stage — people won’t be watching a virtual performance on a screen, although there are screens to the right and left of the stage for extra viewing, Chadinha said. There is an FM transmitter if people want to listen in their cars Drive-In Live was supposed to open July 10, but poor weather delayed matters to July 12 when Echoes of Floyd, a Pink Floyd tribute, took the stage. “It went well. It was such a quick thing. We announced the show two weeks earlier. We announced the series two weeks earlier. It wasn’t sold out, but it went really well,” Chadinha said. “The following weekend we had the Ghost of Paul Revere (Portland folk trio) the 17th, and Blue Oyster Cult (classic rock icons) the 18th. They went great, each show having more attendance and more and more great feedback.”
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Caitlin McCarthy film ‘Wonder Drug’ set to be made by Rhino Films RICHARD DUCKET T
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A U G U S T 6 - 12, 2020
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fter plenty of persistence and patience, Caitlin McCarthy of Worcester, a school teacher by day and a screenplay writer by night, is going to see her “passion project” come to life. McCarthy’s screenplay “Wonder Drug” will be made into a movie by Rhino Films, the acclaimed independent film company, with Stephen Nemeth the producer and Tom Gilroy directing. Shooting may begin in February, Nemeth said. “Wonder Drug” is one of several screenplays that McCarthy, who teaches English at Worcester Technical High School, has written and won awards for. It will be the first to generate the words “Lights, camera, action.” “It’s been a long road. I’m excited,” McCarthy said. “She is going to be a force to be reckoned with as a screenplay writer. I just have this intense admiration for her, her work ethic, and her art,” said Nemeth. Nemeth formed and heads up Rhino Films which originated as a division of iconoclastic record label Rhino Records. He has produced and executive produced dozens of films including “The Sessions” (Sundance 2012 Audience Award, 2013 Academy Award nomination for Helen Hunt). He became a mentor for McCarthy when they were both at the 2013 Squaw Valley Screenwriters Conference. “I read the script. I told her I would do anything I could for her,” Nemeth said. Gilroy, a writer/director/producer/actor from New York, has also been a mentor to McCarthy since “Wonder Drug” was an Alfred P. Foundation script at the Hamptons Screenwriters Lab in 2007. Gilroy went on to direct two live staged readings of “Wonder Drug” at the Hamptons International Film Festival, starring Steve Guttenberg and Alysia Reiner, and at the Manhattan Theatre Club, starring Alysia Reiner and David Alan Basche. “Wonder Drug” is described as “a scientific drama about the DES (diethylstilbestrol) drug disaster.” From about the 1940s to the early ’70s, DES, initially regarded as a groundbreaking form of synthetic estrogen,
was given to pregnant women to prevent miscarriages. However, it has since been found to cause cancer and fertility problems in daughters and mothers who took it. “It’s a passion project. I’m a DES daughter,” McCarthy said of the screenplay and story. McCarthy worked closely with the offices of former U.S. Senators John Kerry and Scott Brown on securing an apology from the FDA for the DES drug disaster. Thanks to this campaign, the FDA finally acknowledged DES as a “tragedy” in 2011, after 40 years of silence. McCarthy’s DES activism earned her two nominations (in 2011 and 2012) for a Presidential Citizens Medal; a Human and Civil Rights Award from the Massachusetts Teachers Association, and the “Service to Community” Alumni Award from Regis College in
Weston, MA. In 2013 Caitlin and and her mother, Ann McCarthy, appeared on WBZTV and WCVB-TV during the DES breast cancer trial in Boston. Ann McCarthy died last year. The death was not DES-related, but she had spoken about being a DES mother. She was unaware of the damage DES posed when she took it, like all mothers involved, but not many have been willing to talk about it. “My mother was very brave,” Caitlin McCarthy said at the time. Caitlin McCarthy was was born in Tampa, Florida, (her father, Albert, was in the Air Force) but raised in Worcester, where her parents had deep roots. She graduated from Worcester Academy, Regis College with a degree in English, and earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from Emerson College
in Boston. Teaching is in the blood. McCarthy’s mother was a special education teacher at what is now Worcester Technical High School. Also last year, McCarthy entered “Wonder Drug” in the prestigious Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition. The competition is administered by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — home of the Oscars. The screenplay was a Top 50 script/Top 10 female writer ( for McCarthy). “Of anybody I’ve ever known, she’s earned the right to get this movie made,” Nemeth said of McCarthy. “She’s a super teacher and her heart is in it. She’s got a big heart, she cares ... This particularly hideous situation (DES) and cover up is finally getting some attention,” Nemeth said. Over the past two or three
months, Nemeth said “We had this conversation. I went to her and said ‘I think I’m of added value. Let’s go make it for whatever we can ... If you don’t object, I would like to be the person.’ “ McCarthy said, “He’s been mentoring me about my overall screenplay writing career. When ‘Wonder Drug’ did very well in the competition, Stephen (Nemeth) said ‘You know we should do this.’ The conversation became more specific.” She suggested Gilroy as the director. His directorial credits include “Spring Forward” starring Liev Schreiber, Ned Beatty, and Campbell Scott, and “The Cold Lands” starring Lili Taylor, Peter Scanavino, and Silas Yelich. That was fine with Nemeth. “The director has earned the right to direct this movie. He’s been men-
Caitlin McCarthy is the writer of “Wonder Drug.” PHOTO/PURE STYLE PHOTOGRAPHY
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toring her. He’s made it clear to her that this is something he’d like to direct. This particular director deserves it. He’s good,” Nemeth said. So McCarthy has two mentors for “Wonder Drug,” and it feels “fated” for an additional reason. “In another example of fate, I first met Stephen (Nemeth) at Game 2 of the 1984 NBA Playoffs between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles
agents. Nemeth said that from September to November “we can probably put our cast together, ideally prep in December and January, and start shooting in February.” The film is likely to be made in New York City. “He’s just such a great person. That’s just who he is. I completely trust him with it,” McCarthy said of Nemeth. With Nemeth and Gilroy, “I really
From left, Tom Gilroy, Caitlin McCarthy and Steve Guttenberg after the live staged reading of “Wonder Drug” at the Hamptons International Film Festival PHOTO COURTESY OF CAITLIN MCCARTHY
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do feel that we are part of a team and very respectful of each other. I’m very comfortable. It’s going to be a beautiful film when it’s done.” McCarthy’s other screenwriting includes “Resistance,” a featurelength historical drama; “Pass/Fail,” intended as a TV drama co-written with Jim Forbes; “Free Skate,” a onehour TV dramedy/series; “Virtual Vida,” a half-hour TV dramedy; and “Cape Cod Light,” a one-hour TV dramedy. In February she won the Best Feature Screenplay award at the 2020 George Lindsey UNA Film Festival for her thriller “A Native Land.” McCarthy said she has spent the last few months writing/creating a TV pilot called “Gaels” with Scottish writer Lynsey Murdoch via Zoom sessions. But none of these numerous endeavors had received the coveted green light until now. “We all would like things to happen faster than they do, but I feel this is an example of it happening when it should happen,” McCarthy said. “I’m still a teacher by day, screenwriter by night. It’s real. It’s happening. It happened here from Worcester.”
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Lakers – only I thought Stephen was Andy Gibb at the time,” McCarthy said. “I was an eighth grader and totally convinced that the rock star and his friend, Timothy Hutton, were sitting down the row from me. I was right about Tim being the Oscarwinning actor; he kindly autographed my program. And you could say I was right about Stephen. He is a rock star in his own right, as a producer, mentor, and feminist gentleman.” When McCarthy mentioned to Nemeth in 2018 about the time she met Hutton and the friend, Nemeth remembered what had happened. But his reasons for shooting “Wonder Drug” are down to Earth. “In the movie business most movies are (expletive), they just are,” he said. “Our intentions are fabulous, but you must start with a great piece of material. This (‘Wonder Drug’), is a particularly good piece of material ... It’s meaningful. The script has a reason to be made. Which is my kind of litmus test.” “Wonder Drug” has three intersecting story lines over three decades and they’re all connected, McCarthy said. “It’s structured to be made in the age of COVID,” said Nemeth. “It’s fairly compartmentalized with three different stories.” The script is currently with actors’
CITY VOICES
HARVEY
Farewell to my first teacher, my brother
Thoughts on statues and other symbols
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have recently thought about the symbols we respect and revere more seriously. Flags, statues, monuments, and the police. Recently, here in Worcester, the statue of Christopher Columbus at Union Station was defaced. This has created an outcry in two directions … take the statue down and “How dare you desecrate this statue?” For many years now, I have tried to think about what our symbols stand for — the ideal behind them and the reality that occurs. But, like all of us, I have ignored or just taken for granted that a flag (think the Massachusetts state flag) or statues/monuments we have erected are around. The BLM movement has helped me to refocus and pay attention to what these symbols are and what they represent. I applaud people around the world focusing on flags, statuary and the police to show that there are other voices that need to be heard. Flags stand for what is important to a community … a state … a nation … a cause.
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A U G U S T 6 - 12, 2020
JANICE HARVEY
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FIRST PERSON
e came into this world fighting to be here, and he went out fighting to stay. My brother Kevin was born on an icy January day in 1948, three months before he was due to appear. 72 years ago, the odds were against a child surviving such a premature birth. I find it ironic that he exited earlier than planned, just as he arrived. He was my first teacher. I was his first student, though thousands like me would follow. He saw in me some spark of curiosity, despite the nine-year age gap between us. He handed me books to read. When my friends were still reading Trixie Belden, I was reading the plays of Tennessee Williams and novels by Thomas Mann. I gobbled up Kurt Vonnegut by eighth grade because Kevin said: “Read this.” By ninth grade, I’d read his copy of Ken Kesey’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” so many times, the binding was shot. In his room, his sacred room, I would wander when he wasn’t home and run my fingers over the spines of his books. I couldn’t decipher his system. Sometimes, the works of one author were clumped together, but a random volume might be elsewhere in the bookcase. His former wife Nancy once told me that he placed them where they would be “comfortable,” where they would like being neighbors to certain books by other authors. He was crafting a peaceful, happy world within his shelves. In that room there stood a table that held an old Smith-Corona surrounded by what he was reading currently, and a stack of clean white paper. This too I touched gingerly, as if he might dust for fingerprints. I sneaked from his albums music I wanted to play in my room – his eclectic collection was already extraordinary, since every cent he made working Denholm’s receiving docks went into the cash register of Arnold’s record shop. I left the Elvis albums untouched; this obsession we didn’t share. But from his room I first pilfered the Beatles and eventually Crosby,
Stills, Nash & Young. I smuggled Todd Rundgren and Randy Newman. With T. Rex, I banged an imaginary gong when he was out with friends, and slipped the records back into their slots before he arrived. If he noticed, he never spoke of it. Kevin was Paul McCartney’s doppelganger, and I heard it ad nauseam from starry-eyed girls who fell madly in love with him. Sometimes, they would boldly attempt to befriend me and my sister Lyn to learn more about him, to get closer. We’d roll our eyes. He’d bat his baby blues, and smirk. What he was thinking was a mystery if it was personal, but he’d pontificate endlessly about everything else from sports, to music to politics. He once described himself laughingly as “the aloof icon.” Lest Kevin sound like an egghead, he certainly had an affinity for junkier things. He insisted that the French were right about Jerry Lewis “unappreciated” genius, and forced on me like a homework assignment a set of the comic’s “gems.” He owned all of Elvis Presley’s movies on DVD and more than a few “Godzillas” and “Beach Blanket Bingos.” He was what we call “well-rounded.” He firmly believed that truly awful art, if done right, is as enjoyable as any masterpiece. Kevin was devastatingly funny – much funnier than Jerry Lewis. For 30 years Kevin was a professor of English literature at New England College in Henniker, New Hampshire, and an authority on the life and works of author Henry James. He often wrote music reviews for Muddy Water magazine. He was a novelist and a playwright who lived to see his one-act play “Albert” about jazz composer Sun Ra and saxophonist Albert Ayler performed in New York. An aggressive lymphoma beyond the miracles of Dana Farber finally took him from us last week. I watched in awe as his son Ellery and his daughter Kate cradled him and massaged the wispy limbs of their father. They murmured words of love as they wiped his brow and offered water-soaked sponges for
his parched lips. I held his hand in mine and whispered an apology. “I love you, and I’m really sorry for sneaking your albums out of your room when you weren’t home. I know my crappy little stereo with the worn needle probably ruined the surface,” I said. He was beyond answering but his eyes fluttered. I think he always knew. My first teacher was the reason I am a teacher, the reason I am a writer. To the end I looked for his approval of columns and cover stories I penned for Worcester Magazine. I will always try to regard my own work through those baby blues. Kevin was never one for displays of affection, and as I stroked his arm, I recalled a scene from one of the many wonderful books he gave me to read. In the last pages of “To Kill a Mockingbird” Scout brings Boo Radley in to see a sedated Jem. “You can pet him, Mr. Arthur, he’s asleep,” Scout says. “You couldn’t if he was awake, though, he wouldn’t let you…” And so I kissed his hand because I could, and because I loved him.
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LEE O’DONNELL
Statuary indicates who and what events, we, want to commemorate and revere. The police signify what our society enforces and who gets treated well, fairly or not. Let us start with flags. Recently, Mississippi took steps to rethink their state flag. I was glad to read the news … the Confederate battle flag in the upper left corner of the flag had to go! So, now the Native Americans residing in our own state have reignited a controversy (they have been pursuing a change in the flag since the 1980s) with our own state flag … the broad sword hanging over the head of the “Indian.” I can remember seeing that when I was younger and wondering about that symbolism. But I did not really think about it too much. The Native Americans have a simple solution for changing the flag … remove the arm with the broad sword and replace it with a pine tree. Next, statues and monuments need to be addressed. Who do we commemorate … want to remember? What kind of event do we to honor? We erect monuments to the C O N T I N U E D O N N E XT PA G E
CITY VOICES
WORCESTERIA
Of scavenger hunts, hunger and police accountability ... VICTOR D. INFANTE
WHAT IS GISH?: Does anyone have a zamphone I can borrow? I’m serious. I need brief use of
one to complete a challenge in the The Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen, which I’m playing in this week, at the urging of my friend, art instructor Kim Napoleone. Kim well knows my fondness for scavenger hunts, some of which I’ve designed myself, and escape rooms. She accompanied my wife and myself when we participated in Jason Eastty’s citywide “Find the Spy” game, which we placed somewhere near the bottom, but still had a great time exploring unknown-to-us corners of the city. If nothing else, it seemed like a good idea at the time. But while I’m a sucker for a good scavenger hunt – the weirder the better – this one really sold me when I discovered that every registration provides 15 meals to kids in need through Random Acts & No Kid Hungry. In this economic environment, with rampant unemployment, food insecurity is a paramount concern. Here in Worcester, organizations such as the Worcester County Food Bank, the Mustard Seed soup kitchen and St. John’s Food Pantry, which is set to receive a Smile Award at this year’s Harvey Ball, do amazing work, but food instability is still a serious issue. According to the Worcester Food Policy Council, 99,796 people received assistance from the Worcester County Food Bank in 2012, and 27,800 children in Worcester County who live in food insecure households, as do 33.5% the percentage of households with a disabled member. One imagines those numbers have not improved over the course of the pandemic. In 2018, 37 million Americans struggled with food insecurity, and while current numbers aren’t yet available, the organization Feeding America expects, at current unemployment levels, that number to raise by as much as 17.1 million. If having to track down a strange musical instrument helps make a small dent in those staggering numbers, well, that hardly seems like unreasonable pain and suffering.
STARING INTO THE SUN: Political reporter Peter Lucas raised eye-
fallen in wars. Every place I have lived has monuments to war. But, here in Worcester, there has been a controversy with who is remembered. A plaque commemorating fallen African-American soldiers that had been visible at Holy Cross College had been removed and “lost” was only recently located and placed in a viewable space. As far as Christopher Columbus goes, there are a lot of people who have had a problem with his accomplishments. He is revered in the Italian-American community but not so much in other parts of the community. Finally, in Boston, there are statues to artists, statesmen, and reformers as well as Christopher Columbus (who was beheaded recently) and monuments to war. Unfortunately, the monument to the Mass. 54th was defaced by people who resented the contribution of African-Americans from Massachusetts in the Civil War maybe. And, finally, the police need to be looked at. For way too long, it has been accepted that if you are young (I remember being unnecessarily hassled then), black, brown, a woman, LGBTQA, homeless or mentally ill (weird) that it is OK to harass you or even hurt you … maybe even kill you and get away with it. I am no longer in any category which the police feel they can
harass me, but I have not forgotten what it was like. I remember starting out 2-3 hours early to be on time for doctor’s appointments because I might be stopped in the vehicle, I was in was stopped for no good reason. It happened more often than I like to remember. I am fortunate that I no longer must worry about that but there are too many people who must worry and cope with this all their lives. The police must be reformed in a drastic way. We need to have a reasoned, broad, and informed conversation … discussion … about all our symbols and their impact on the community. I am glad these symbols are be reexamined or maybe examined for the first time. We need to question what we hold dear and why. We also need to listen to everyone in the community and respect their point of view. Then we can have our symbols mean something real and project the ideals we want to promote. I would like to see us discuss, in a reasonable and measured way, what a flag, statue, monument and yes…how our police (all of them) really stands for and how they work. Lee O’Donnell reflects on recent events in Worcester.
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brows with a recent editorial in the Lowell Sun sporting the headline, “It’s not the cops that need oversight, it’s the press.” Writes Lucas, “On a given day, the left wing progressive ‘newsmen’ in broadcast and print commit more ‘crimes’ than the cops. But while the cops are, and will be, held accountable for bad behavior — fired, sued or jailed, sometimes all three — reporters get Pulitzer prizes.” The entire column is, as our soonto-be president is fond of saying, “malarkey.” Lucas is basically using shock jock language to take a swipe at the Mueller Report, while pouring salt in cultural wounds that have emerged in the wake of the deaths of unarmed African-Americans, including George Floyd, who died after a police officer pressed his knee to his throat for 8 minutes, and Breonna Taylor, who was shot by a police officer while sleeping in her own bed. In the former case, the officers involved were fired and are facing charges. In the latter, only one of three involved officers has been fired, and no charges have been pressed. These results constitute the bare minimum of accountability in the two most high-profile such cases in the country, and history gives us every reason to expect that there will be no convictions in either case. To even get that far took nearly unprecedented levels of public protest and press attention. What happens when police accountability isn’t as high profile? Usually, nothing but suffering. Police are armed, enjoy an immense insulation from the negative effects of their actions and, in Worcester, constitute most of the City’s 100 top-paid employees. When a police officer dies, they are quite rightly usually put on the front page of the local newspaper, and eulogized in glowing terms. Indeed, the overwhelming amount of press the police receive – and I say this as someone who’s worked in news for more than 20 years – is overwhelmingly positive. They have a difficult, dangerous job – everybody understands that – but accountability is not the same thing as victimization, and holding public servants accountable is the reason why the press is the only private institution directly protected by the U.S. Constitution. The very fact that Lucas is given a forum to spout his bile is a refutation of his very premise. In unrelated news, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette is still pursuing a 2018 lawsuit against the Worcester Police Department for access to disciplinary records.
FIRST PERSON
C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 8
COVER STORY
R A D I D V I O O C
Local stations strategize how to be socially distant while staying socially relevant CRAIG S. SEMON
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ho can forget Elvis Costello’s “Radio, Radio,” R.E.M.’s “Radio Free Europe,” The Clash’s “This Is Radio Clash,” Rush’s “The Spirit of Radio,” Rage Against the Machine’s “Guerrilla Radio,” Queen’s “Radio Ga Ga,” Wall of Voodoo’s “Mexican Radio,” the Ramones’ “Do You Remember Rock ‘n’ Roll Radio,” Bruce Springsteen’s “Radio Nowhere,” Donna Summer’s “On the Radio,” as well a Golden Earring’s “Radar Love,” The Velvet Underground’s “Rock & Roll,” and Jonathan Richmond’s “Roadrunner”? Whether it’s an AM or FM station playing some forgotten song that offers rock ‘n’ roll salvation or the corporate machine being chastised for trying to anesthetize the way that you feel, there has been some great and not so great songs that have celebrated and eviscerated radio in the annals of pop culture. But that was all before what I like to term COVID Radio, radio in the age of the coronavirus.
Yes, like everything else, radio, the staple of the morning commute, your number one place for last-minute snow cancellations and the first thing many sleepy heads hear when their clock radio goes off, has been affected by the recent pandemic. For instance, Howard Stern has been broadcasting his popular Sirius Satellite radio show since March 23 from remote ISDN lines from his home. And, if you have ever listened to his coronavirus pandemic broadcasts, it doesn’t sound like the 66-year-old shock jock, whose five-year contact lapses at the end of 2020, wants to go back to the studio, due to his fear of catching the coronavirus and his constant criticism of the alleged lack of cleanliness of some of his staffers. Closer to home, Bob Goodell, the regional vice president of Cumulus Media (which includes WXLO 104.5 FM, and it’s sister stations The Pike 100 FM and NASH Icon 98.9 FM) said the radio world changed around the Ides of March.
COVER STORY
“We were all told in 48 hours, our company was going to give us a way so we all could work remotely, including the DJs, which is something that had never been done before,” Goodell said. “And, me, being naïve at the time, I thought, oh, we’ll do this for a few weeks and we’ll be back. This will be over. Well, it’s been a lot longer than a few weeks.” As of this week, Goodell’s radio personalities and sales staff for the three stations are still out of the Commercial Street office in Downtown Worcester indefinitely, with no return date in mind. Around mid-March, Apple’s public mobility trends showed about 60 percent of the people living in the Worcester Metro area weren’t driving their cars anymore. “Radio, as a medium, it’s mostly consumed in the car. People mostly listen to radio in the car,” Goodell explained. “Basically, we know from the middle of March until the second or third week in May, there were a lot less people that were in their cars. Subsequently, we saw a 30 percent jump in online listening.” Currently, Goodell said Worcester is actually above pre-COVID levels of travel, according to Apple, which is good news for the radio station.
Even better news, XLO had a nice spring ratings book, during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Released last week, the Nielsen Radio Summery for Worcester Metro ( from March 26 to June 17) found WXLO number one with adults 25-54 from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, with a 7.4 average share. The station’s closest competitor Country 102.5 WKLBFM earned a 6.6 average share. Also, XLO’s sister station, The Pike, finished with a 4.1 average share on the radio summery. WXLO’s popular morning show, “Jen and Frank in the Morning,” featuring Jen Carter and Frank Foley, has been broadcasting live, remotely and respectively, from the radio personalities’ Worcester and Charlton homes. So how do Jen and Frank, the stars of morning radio, like working remotely from home and being away from the studio? “I don’t like it,” Foley said. “You lose some of the energy. It’s so much nicer when we’re in the same room together. We’ve been together for so long that we obviously enjoy each other’s company. I would much rather, 100 percent, prefer to be back in the studio.” Carter agrees with her morning cohost.
WXLO morning show producer Kyra Losora with Jen Carter on her phone screen via FaceTime July 29 at the studio. CHRISTINE PETERSON
“There’s an energy that comes from doing morning radio. There’s an energy being with other people that gets lost over FaceTime,” Carter said. “Because of the chem-
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FILE PHOTO/STEVE LANAVA
and see how this feels and see if I can still squeeze in there,” Carter confessed. “I can still button them up but they’re snug.” Foley feels he has overstayed his welcome in his own house. “If you want to hear from a person who can’t wait for me to get out of my kitchen, you can call my wife,” Foley insisted. “And that’s exactly what she’ll say.” Carter has three children, including a six-year-old daughter, which sometimes makes broadcasting at home rather interesting. “There were many times I see her little face pop in at the door at the kitchen, like, ‘Can you make me a waffle?’” Carter said. Not only do the two like working together, they like working together at the station. But, at the same time, they have proven that they can work effectively at home. “We’re just really, really lucky that we have had the relationship that we have,” Foley said. “We can do this a lot easier than most people. And, we’re also fortunate to work for a company that gave us all the tools we needed to do it. We got top of the line equipment to do it from home, where other radio stations and people we know who do our job don’t have that advantage.”
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Ernest C. Floyd is the executive producer of Unity Radio – WUTY 97.9 FM
istry in our relationship and how long we have known each other, that there are times when there’s a technical glitch or we need to go on the air quickly, then I can just look at him and we read each other very well at this point in our lives.” Carter and Foley do agree that there are some perks about working from home. “You can empty your dishwasher in the morning. You can throw in a load of laundry,” Carter said. “I do everything quietly because when I’m set up, I’m in the mudroom of my house. It keeps it far away from my kids. So they’re upstairs sleeping because we start so early. I’ll be in the kitchen taking dishes out.” “I’m in the kitchen. I’m not going to lie to you,” Foley confessed. “I’ve made bacon and eggs before, during a commercial break.” Before the pandemic, the two popular radio personalities would wake up around 4:30 and make it a point to meet up at the station, 15 minutes before the show’s 5:30 a.m. airtime. Now, sometimes, they roll out of bed with only a few minutes to spare. “At some point, I was wearing yoga pants and sweat pants every morning and there was a break when I was like, all right I got to put on a real pair of pants here
COVER STORY
While Foley is very fond of Carter (and the feelings are mutual), Foley is not too fond of Carter’s cats, especially during a live morning show remote. “The most irritating thing for Frank is my cats will climb all over me if I open the door,” Carter said. “I can’t see her,” Foley said. “I’m looking at a cat’s ass.” “The cats jump off and Frank will always get nervous and be like, ‘Get those cats away from that equip-
XLO’s “Awesome ‘80s Prom,” a sold event annually held in April at Mechanics Hall; Nash Icon’s “Rock the Dock” held Wednesdays (mid-May to mid –September) at Waterfront Mary in Webster; and The Pike’s “Rock the Dock” various times during the summer at Indian Ranch in Webster. Right now, the always sold-out XLO’s “Acoustic Xmas,” which had multi-platinum-selling artists Adam Lambert last year and the
Troy Tyre is the executive director of WCUW 91.3 FM.
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ment,’” Carter added. In the Commercial Street studio, the morning show producer Kyra Lasora, all by herself, mixes the show together and takes care of it live. A Comrex unit, an audio IP codec, feeds the remote audio from Carter and Foley back to Lasora at the station where she plots it up on her board. In addition, all the music is still physically at the station loaded on computer with fidelitybased “wave files.” “That woman has kept that radio station on the air. She has been unbelievable. She has the hardest job of the three of us,” Foley said of Lasora. “When it comes to production and making sure commercials are running, that woman has done more than her share.” In addition to radio personalities and disc-jockeys doing their job from home, the three radio stations under Goodell’s leadership had to cancel many events and promotional appearances, including 104.5
Goo Goo Dolls in 2018, is not looking too good, Goodell said. Goodell said producing commercials have also been a challenge, especially when you can’t allow clients to come in the studio to be recorded for radio spots. But they found a solution. In addition to his duties as a disc-jockey, Zip Zipfel (of Bob and Zip fame) has been doing remote commercial production, recording clients, producing the spot and sending them to the studio. “All of our staff had a one-week furlough for three weeks over a 14 weeks period,” Goodell said, “I took a pay cut for that period of time because I couldn’t be furloughed. But we’re now through the furloughs. No one has lost their job. We’re back to 100 percent staff level. And I’m really proud of that.” Goodell sees the disc jockeys coming back to the station and broadcasting from the booths. If all the disc jockeys from the three stations were giving the
COVER STORY
Bob Goodell is the regional Vice President of Cumulus Media, which includes WXLO 104.5 FM, and it’s sister stations The Pike 100 FM and NASH Icon 98.9 FM. CHRISTINE PETERSON
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we realized what Zoom could do, person to person, at home, then we said well how can we transfer that into radio? So, we started doing Zoom interviews on the radio.” Now, Unity Radio is doing some interviews in its Waldo Street studio. “We continue to wipe microphones and computer desk tops and the desks and people come in with masks and we separate them,” Floyd said. “We feel as though we’re getting our rhythm back and we’re starting to get good underwriters. We’re starting to get recommended for grants now. And people are reaching out to us to support the station.” Slowly but surely, Unity Radio’s 15 radio personalities and disc jockeys started coming back around three weeks ago. Only a few are still broadcasting from home, Floyd said. “When COVID hit, and we had that three to six week layoff. Then, we started being creative and innovative with Zoom and then we learned TeamViewer,” Floyd said. “We learned how to edit and then we learned how to come up with a format to insert the shows on MP3 from remotely or our producer would come in by himself and just lay the schedule out. Now, we’re able to do a live show with our guest sitting six feet apart. And, then, we have people call in Zoom and we’re able to pop them up on the screen. We’re able to talk to them. So it’s pretty cool.” WCUW 91.3 FM were mailing
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choice, Goodell thinks 90 percent of them (including Carter and Foley) would prefer to come back to the studio to broadcast, rather than do it remotely from home. Goodell said social distancing won’t be an issue at the station. “We already had a pretty wide space for the number of people that we have. And, most people have their own offices,” Goodell said. “The sales office all have 10-by-10 (as in feet) cubicles and, the way they’re seated, they’re not even next to each other.” Commercial radio stations WXLO, The Pike and Nash Icon are not the only local stations strategizing how to be socially distant while staying socially relevant. Ernest “Ernie” C. Floyd is the executive producer of Unity Radio – WUTY 97.9 FM and host of his own evening listening program, “Smooth Grooves.” “Initially, it affected us because we had a routine where people were coming in on a regular basis and we were rotating the hosts, rotating the guests, and we were just getting our rhythm, as far as getting exposure in the community,” Floyd said. “All of a sudden COVID comes in. It shut everything down for a good number of weeks.” Only on the air for three years, Unity Radio started playing repeat programs, as they tried to figure out its next move. “The coronavirus forced us to get technical and when we got technical we got into the Zoom like everybody else, Floyd said. “When
COVER STORY
out its spring fundraising letters when the pandemic hit, Troy Tyree, the station’s executive director, said. “The day that they shut us down, we were going into our spring fundraising drive with nobody in the station to actually do fundraising,” Tyree said. “We used program recordings from this time (in March) last year which was also the start of our fundraising drive. So the programming was on air. So we had a little bit of good fortune in that way.” One of the major ways the coronavirus affected the 910 Main St. location is performance-wise.
have an indoor performance to an empty room that they can broadcast live and will be ecstatic when they can do a live show with an audience of 15-20 socially distant patrons. Currently, WCUW has four programmers that are broadcasting remotely, while 35 have returned to the station in the last few weeks, Tyree said. “We have it set up, so there’s a time gap between programming,” Tyree said. “We wash our mikes and screens. Everybody has to wear gloves. Everybody has to wear masks. So there’s good distance between each programmer. So we’re
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WXLO morning show producer, Kyra Losora with radio personality Jen Carter on her phone screen via FaceTime. CHRISTINE PETERSON
“We were partnering with Cinema 320 and, in doing that, we rebuilt our stage,” Tyree said. “We got a nice, semi-plush performance stage and a black curtain. We installed a screen. We were literally ready to open that week with Cinema 320. The very first movie was going to be “WBCN and The American Revolution (which is now available online with the portion of the proceeds to benefit the WCUW) and then the coronavirus hit.” Tyree said they had a rather robust schedule of performances, and, due to COVID-19, they lost a huge chuck of money because of it. “We were calculating anywhere from 35 to 50 people per show,” Tyree said. “For our standards, that’s a good turnout.” Tyree said he is looking forward to the day when we can, at least,
trying our best to keep it safe.” Tyree said WCUW gained 10 to 15 percent new listeners during the coronavirus outbreak. And, only time will tell if these new listeners will translate to long-term donors, he said. “We’re totally independent,” Tyree said. “We have no federal or state funding. We not part of Clark University. We own our building. We have a tenant (Fantastic Pizza & Cafe). We get some support from the Great Worcester Community Foundation. And, between a bit of underwriting, the memberships and our tenant, somehow we are still here.”
CITY LIFE If you are an artist, or know of a local artist, email WMeditor@gatehousemedia.com. Fair warning, in order to publish your work, you’ll need to provide a small bio and high resolution digital copies of some of your art. We reserve the right to choose what will run, based on resolution and what will reproduce best on newsprint.
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
A U G U S T 6 - 12, 2020 WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM
Sarah Forde runs AdorkaBows and has been vending at comic & anime conventions since 2010, previously under the name Sarah’s Plush N Stuff. She has been published twice for book illustration in the Barrett Sensory Series, educational therapy books for kidsand has been providing Creative Commons pose references for artists online as SenshiStock since 2007. Her passion lies in my one-of-a-kind, handmade bows, making hair bows for adults and babies, as well as bowties for people and pets. See more of her work at adorkabows.com.
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CITY LIFE
LIFESTYLE
I bought a longboard to help put the ‘alt’ back in ‘alt-weekly. It did not go well.
SARAH CONNELL SANDERS
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fter just 48-hours as the proud new owner of a longboard, I managed a miraculous wipe out on a small hill. I dragged my sad broken butt home and queued up a video chat with my college roommates to assess the damage. They were not impressed. “DON’T GO TO SLEEP,” my friend Kat instructed — her new-mom energy was showing. Luckily, I’ve been perfecting the art of French braiding for months, a hearty hairstyle that spared my skull from splitting open on the gently sloping pavement. I could nevertheless see that my face was turning the color of a rhinoceros as I whimpered into the phone, “I’m too old for this.” I vowed to wear a helmet on future rides. “SARAH, WALK US THROUGH YOUR MOTIVATION FOR PURCHASING A LONGBOARD DURING A PANDEMIC,” scolded Kat, then in a whisper, “Try to help us understand ...” I could tell she was not pleased. My fixation started with “Betty,” a show on HBO about young women navigating the male-dominated skateboarding scene in New York City. I told my confidants as much. “The important thing to emulate
about ‘Betty’ is not the skateboarding, it’s dressing like a Betty,” my chic friend Cait chimed in, “Lesson learned, Sarah.” But, it wasn’t that simple. There was also the matter of the song “Betty” on Taylor Swift’s new “folklore” album in which her alter-ego ‘James’ (because Taylor was named for James Taylor, duh) sings: “Betty, one time I was riding on my skateboard/ When I passed your house/It’s like I couldn’t breathe.” I considered it a sign from the skate gods. To make matters worse, I’ve been sensitive about all the talk that Worcester Magazine’s alt-weekly authenticity is waning. Apparently, to be a true alt-weekly, your writers are meant to be grungy bellyaching men with a fondness for conspiracy theories. How insufferable. (Love you, Bill.) I found myself asking, “Am I ‘alt’ enough?” And nothing, my friends, is more ‘alt’ than a girl on a longboard. Lastly, I’ve always wanted an edgy older brother to take after. Ever since I got married, my brother-in-law has fallen into step. There’s an epic photo of him as a surly teen that ran in the newspaper years ago. In the shot, he is skateboarding in a shirt that says, “DIE YUPPIE SCUM.” It hangs on his refrigerator.
The doctor gave me a sling, which it has been pointed out, I’ve been wearing backward for the last week. SUBMIT TED PHOTO
When the board arrived on my doorstep, I messed around for hours riding up and down my dead-end street. In my last life, I did a lot of water skiing and I found longboarding similar—cutting and carving—with one distinct difference. When you eat dirt, nothing breaks your fall. I grew
bolder and bolder until it was too late. I hit the ground hard. Twenty-four hours later, my husband persuaded me to get an X-ray and the doctor pointed out a fracture in my elbow. He gave me a sling, which it has been pointed out, I’ve been wearing backward for the last
week. Please see the photo attached. Riding a longboard didn’t render me a respectable writer or any less of a yuppy scum. Worse, Taylor Swift didn’t even ask me to join her skate squad. I don’t feel any more “alt” than a week ago, but I hurt like hell (my ego, mostly.)
LISTEN UP
Hayward Williams delivers smouldering ‘Every Color Blue’
VICTOR D. INFANTE
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inger-songwriter Hayward Williams might be from Wisconsin, but his newest album, “Every Color Blue,” has a pretty rich New England streak, featuring as it does songs penned by regional favorites Kris Delmhorst and Jeffrey Foucault, and featuring Worcesterarea artists Jeremy Moses Curtis, who also engineered and produced the album, on bass, and Brooks Milgate on keyboard. Let’s just call Milwaukee the Worcester of the Midwest and move on, because this is, at its heart, a beautifully wrought and soulful album, wherever its creators are from. The album will be released Aug. 21, but is available for
preorder now. According to Curtis, the album – originally intended to be recorded in a studio in Chicago – was instead put together remotely, because of the pandemic. That wouldn’t be apparent if one didn’t already know. There’s a crispness about the production that makes individual musical parts shine, especially apparent on the opening number. “Coffee & Bourbon,” as Williams’s guitar leisurely appears, joined soon by the first delicate notes of Milgate’s keyboard, then the first beats by Chicago drummer Charlie Koltak, which gives the song a sense of propulsion. The interaction is so easy to get caught up in, that it’s easy to lose sight of just how indelibly sad the song is: “Still better with you
than on my own,” sings Williams Easy letting go, when you’re barely hanging on.” Therein lies the narrative that’s at this album’s heart: A struggle against impending loneliness and palpable absence, a state heartrendingly crystallized in the subsequent song, “If You Want Me to Beg.” “Come on back tonight my darling, be my soldier at the gate,” sings Williams in a clear, warm voice that’s accented beautifully by Milgate’s keyboard. “Take this armor I’ve been praying on, be brave my brother don’t hesitate.” There’s always a tendency to listen to songs like these and view them through a lens of romance lost – and Williams uses a lot of that diction – but a closer listen reveals it’s deeper
than that. The slow, plaintive quality of “Put Down the Fight” and the honkytonk groove of the J. Hardin-penned “Run Jackie Run,” an ode to barriershattering baseball player Jackie Robinson, speak to the sense of unease in the world right now, the violence and racial unrest that leaves all but the least empathetic feeling uneasy and at sea. It’s that feeling of alienation that Williams conveys, deepening the mood with the slow-burning “Oh What You Must Think of Me.” “The blood of every fear comes alive when you draw near,” sings Williams, in voice that cracks with heartbreak. “If you ever ask me to stay, I’d walk away - oh what you must think of me.” The sense of alienation comes to
a head with the Foucault-penned “Passerines.” Foucault is an immensely poetic lyricist, and in a handful of lines, he ties together the strands of loneliness, heartbreak and a desire for a sort of ineffable freedom that have unfolded across the album: “Everyone knows/No one knows/A Winter night/A hundred crows/Flying down the valley,” sings Williams, “Everyone dreams - No one dreams - The ghosts of wolves - And passerines - Crying down the valley.” The song’s held together by Curtis’ surprisingly light bass line. Much the same is true of the subsequent “Fades Away,” except the bass becomes more weighted, adding a sense of sinking that enhances the C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 19
CITY LIFE
THE NEXT DRAFT
Tree House will reopen taproom, bar ... soon Brewery shows prudence in measured approach to reopening
Tree House Brewing in Charlton will open when it’s good and ready. FILE PHOTO/CHRISTINE PETERSON
MATTHEW TOTA
Draft Notes
The Boston Celtics last week announced their latest roster signing: a 9-year-old brewery out of Framingham. Jack’s Abby and the Celtics have entered into a unique four-year partnership that will include a new beer collaboration. It’s the first time a major Boston sports team has worked directly with a small brewery, including allowing use of the Celtics’ official team logo. (I don’t count the Boston Beer Co.-Red Sox partnership). Jack’s Abby will brew a hoppy lager dubbed “Pride and Parquet” in honor of the Boston Garden’s famous floor. The cans will come in two colors, white and green, for the Celtics’ home and away jerseys. Pride and Parquet will be released at the start of next season.
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Jack’s Abby will release a new beer in collaboration with the Boston Celtics, Pride and Parquet.
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reopen amid the uncertainty of the pandemic. Imagine the line with social distancing? It would snake down the hill into Route 20. From the start of the outbreak, Tree House has been extremely cautious and willing to change up in the name of safety. Well before breweries, bars and restaurants were ordered closed, Tree House took extreme steps to mitigate any potential for the virus to spread, erecting makeshift barriers for can sales and asking customers to bring their own pens to fill in their can orders. Rohan, Lanier, and Goudreau have treated their employees as family members. The brewery closed indefinitely on March 15, but they pledged to continue paying all 125 members of their staff and forgo their own paychecks. In announcing the closure, Lanier wrote a letter to customers, thanking them and laying out in detail the brewery’s reasons for shutting down. “The pain of having a cooler full of the most excellent beer we have ever made and a production team that is singing as it has never sung before — a team that has worked
Until then, we can take heart in the brewery’s relentless efforts to churn out fresh, stellar beer and how its founders have always thought globally and passionately about their next move. “We miss you dearly but please know we are laying low at the moment and finding new vigor & inspiration in our work,” Lanier wrote in one of Tree House’s latest tweets. “We believe these efforts are showing, especially in our core beers & classic styles.”
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fter some exhaustive reporting, I have determined when Tree House Brewing Co. will resume draft pours and dust off its fleet of cozy Adirondack chairs. Get ready. Charlton’s brewery on a hill will reopen its bar and outdoor oasis to the public when … founders Dean Rohan, Nate Lanier, and Damien Goudreau deem it safe enough to do so, for their thousands of customers and 125 employees. If this wasn’t the earthshattering reveal you hoped for, I apologize. I intended for my column this week to offer valuable insight into Tree House’s plans for reopening to the public. The unfortunate truth is I’ve never had much luck reaching Tree House for comment. I’m not sure why I assumed this time would be different, especially when inquiring about one of the most important updates it has ever given, perhaps second only to when it announced plans for the Charlton brewery.
I get it, though. Tree House’s founders want complete control over its story and don’t want to worry about some local beer scribe botching the narrative’s crucial details. I’m not mad. Actually, I’ve always respected Tree House’s leaders for how they immerse themselves in every aspect of their phenomenal brewery, even the most menial things, like Lanier taking all the photos for their website and social media accounts or when Rohan used to man the cash register in Monson and ring a cow bell every time you left a tip. That’s a big reason why Tree House is among the greatest breweries in the world. And I’m not here to whine over missing out on another Tree House exclusive; it’s probably karma because I took home a growler of Good Morning on my first visit to Monson. I also won’t bore you with speculation on when Tree House will return to usual can and draft sales. Instead, I want to praise Tree House’s founders for their reservation and prudence, for understanding that they operate one of the most popular beer destinations in the country and for not rushing to
virtually unabated for eight straight years, at time padding the greatest depths of the human spirit to arrive at this point — makes this decision immensely difficult in a way that is beyond articulation,” he wrote. “We know many people reading this are facing the same decision — one we never expected to face — and our hearts are with you. We find solace in knowing wholeheartedly that we are doing the right thing and at the right moment.” We next heard from Tree House when it launched its contactless pick-up system, which it has been refining and expanding ever since. The brewery has never struggled to sell beer, so there was little doubt that it could run an overwhelmingly successful online can shop. Tree House could likely keep its taproom closed forever and thrive from online sales alone. As I said before, I know nothing of Rohan, Lanier, and Goudreau’s plans. Still, I’m confident they would dismiss that scenario out of hand. They care more about the Tree House community than they do the brewery’s bottom line. And I bet they feel a profound hurt every time they see the bar and pavilion empty. We’ll be back at Tree House sooner than later, with a stamp on one hand and a plastic cup of peach Haze or that tantalizing Oreo version of I Will Not Be Afraid or some other exclusive draft pour.
CITY LIFE
FILM
Some insomnia-induced viewing choices JIM KEOGH
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ast week I underwent surgery for a torn meniscus in my knee. I was tempted to play this up as though I’d narrowly averted a full amputation, but the reality is I had the procedure done in the morning and was doing work stuff by the afternoon. The pain was so minimal I didn’t even need Tylenol. There’s something a little sad about this, actually. Modern medical technology has so advanced the healing process that it robs us of an excuse to take a mini-vacation. Prior to my surgery, a coworker, anticipating an extended couch-potato recovery for me, asked if I’d put together my Netflix playlist. Fat chance. But ... the lingering anesthesia in my system mixed with my unsettled sleep schedule did allow me to indulge in a limited amount of off-hours viewing. Here are capsule reviews of what I managed to watch as the rest of the world slumbered. “Fear City: New York vs. the Mafia” – This three-part docuseries
on Netflix chronicles the federal government’s valiant quest to take down the five Mafia families who controlled the city in the 1970s and ’80s. In fact, “controlled” is too mild. The wiseguys dominated New York, squeezing billions of dollars (when a billion really meant something) out of every major operation in the boroughs, from the construction of skyscrapers to the collection of trash — no builder could pour concrete on a project valued at over $2 million without paying tribute. The men and women who infiltrated this closed and bloody society are humble heroes; some of them even acknowledge a grudging respect for their criminal counterparts as worthy adversaries. Want to hear a chilling story? Try the one about the FBI wiretapper who posed as a phone repairman to install a bug in a mafioso’s phone while the guy hovered over his shoulder watching his every move. “The Go-Go’s” — Showtime’s documentary is an often raucous and sometimes moving account of one of the most successful all-female rock
Tippi Hedren stars in “The Birds.” UNIVERSAL PICTURES
bands in history, from their riotous punk roots to their multi-platinum success to their contentious breakup. There’s an obvious “Behind the Music” vibe to their trajectory, yet the particular details of the band’s story make for compelling viewing:
the heroin addiction that threatened to derail guitarist Charlotte Caffey, disputes about unequal pay (the band’s songwriters earned far more than even lead singer Belinda Carlisle), and the momentous decision to abandon their punk origins and
embrace pop superstardom (the vote to do so was not unanimous). The bandmates are forthright, thoughtful, and, at least for now, reconciled. “The Birds” – I’ve seen Alfred Hitchcock’s avian-invasion classic probably five or six times, but it has a hypnotic quality that makes channel-surfing past it almost impossible. This is still a fun watch (and the 1963-era effects hold up), made more so by the fact the residents of the seaside village of Bodega Bay are sweet, stupid people prone to illogical behavior. A flock of murderous crows perches on the playground equipment outside the local school, so the teacher played by Suzanne Pleshette urges her young students to bolt from the safety of the building and try to outrun their winged attackers. It doesn’t go well. A man flicks a lit match into a river of gasoline pooling around his feet. That goes even less well. And why does Tippi Hedren enter the bedroom where the birds are waiting to peck her to pieces? Because Hitchcock told her to.
NEW ON DVD
‘Swallow’ takes deep dive into homebound malaise
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spellbinding feminist horror film tops new DVD releases for the week of Aug. 4. “Swallow”: Seemingly effervescent Hunter (the brilliant Haley Bennett) is swept out of working retail and into a comfortable life with a wealthy family via husband Richie (Austin Stowell). It quickly becomes evident that he and his boundary-free parents (Elizabeth Marvel and David Rasche) see her as less of a human being and more of a prop, while she’s largely stuck at home with domestic tasks and ennui. So when mom Katherine gives Hunter a self-help book, “A Talent for Joy,” after Hunter becomes pregnant, Hunter reads a tip about doing something unexpected every day and turns to props of her own. It starts as a compulsion: She swallows a marble. Then onto a thumbtack, a battery, each new object compounding the risk.
Bennett is mesmerizing, her facial expressions so masterfully exposing the addiction cycle: the boredom, the initial compulsion, the fight against temptation, succumbing to it, then shame but ultimately private joy, her secret, the one thing that’s all hers. The dreamy score by Nathan Halpern and pristine production design by Erin Magill compellingly add to the battle between mental numbness and order disguising more complicated layers underneath. It’s an entrancing, gripping excavation of trauma, one that’s distressingly relevant in the quarantine era. ALSO NEW ON DVD AUG. 4 “Dead Ringer”: A cover band lead singer (Tom Sizemore) takes over a spot in a famous boy band in this modern take on “The Prince and the Pauper.” “Dispatches From Elsewhere, Season 1”: AMC anthology series follows a group of strangers who get swept into a mysterious game. Stars Sally Field, Richard E. Grant, Andre
Benjamin and Eve Lindley. “His Dark Materials: First Season”: BBC One series tackles the popular book trilogy by Philip Pullman as Lyra (Dafne Keen) attempts to rescue her generation from an oppressive system that attempts to limit their magical qualities. “NCIS: Los Angeles: The Eleventh Season”: Picking up from the previous season of the CBS series, Callen (Chris O’Donnell) and Sam (LL Cool J) remain on the USS Allegiance, seeking out spies onboard. “The Good Doctor”: The hit ABC series follows the challenges and unique abilities of a young surgeon with autism (Freddie Highmore). “The Resistance Fighter”: The film follows Poland’s uprising against the Nazis near the end of World War II. In Polish and English. “Satan’s Slaves”: A woman (Tara Bascro) fights to protect her brothers from their mother’s ghost. In Indonesian. “Shanghai Triad”: A digitally restored version of the 1995 classic in
Haley Bennett stars in “Swallow.” IFC FILM
which a teenager is recruited into his family’s criminal ties. In Mandarin. “The Soul Collector”: A man whose job it is to collect souls (Tshamano Sebe) asks for forgiveness. “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan – Season Two”: The Amazon Prime Video series starring John Krasinski as the Tom Clancy hero continues with political war in Venezuela.
OUT ON DIGITAL HD AUG. 4 “Ballbuster”: A suspended basketball star (Jerry O’Connell) embarks on a wild tour with a charity league. Look for it on DVD and Blu-ray Sept. 8. “CRSHD”: A college freshman (Isabelle Barbier) and her two best friends (Deeksha Ketkar, Sadie Scott)
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options for what they are, but still, finding them tempting. “When you’re caught up in the smoke and booze,” sings Williams, “they’ll hide your clothes and steal your shoes/oh now don’t lose yourself down there/In the mire and the moss without a prayer.” The album leaves the listener hungry, with a desire for some sort of unnamed change, and if it’s not exactly satisfying, the emptiness rings with a sort of truth that smoulders in its unsentimental honesty.
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“Star Light”: A teen (Cameron C O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 18 Johnson) runs away with a pop singer who has a terrible secret attempt to score invites to an ex(Scout Taylor-Compton). clusive party that would aid in her “The Swan Princess: A Royal quest to lose her virginity. Wedding”: Princess Odette and “House of Hummingbird”: A Prince Derek head to a royal wedteenager (Ji-hu Park) meanders ding amid evil plots brewing. around Seoul with hopes of roOUT ON DIGITAL HD AUG. 7 mance the summer of the Seongsu “Alejandro Jodorowsky’s PsychoBridge collapse. In Korean. magic, A Healing Art”: Documen“Red Penguins”: Documentary tary explores director’s approach to follows the Pittsburgh Penguins’ treating trauma. team-up with the Russian national “River City Drumbeat”: Docuhockey team. mentary follows history of African “Ride Your Wave”: Japanese American drum corps in Louisville, animated film follows romance that Kentucky. unfolds between a firefighter and a “The Secret Garden”: An orphan surfer. In Japanese. (Dixie Egerickx) comes upon a “The Stand: How One Gesture magical garden. Also stars Colin Shook the World”: Documentary Firth and Julie Waters. follows the 1968 Mexico City Olym- OUT ON DIGITAL HD AUG. 8 pics Black Power salute of runners “Invasion Earth”: A group of peoTommie Smith and John Carlos ple with addiction issues attempt to protesting racism. get help amid an Alien invasion.
Your Car Search COMMAND CENTER A U G U S T 6 - 12, 2020
song’s sense of loss and abandonment. The album takes a turn with the title song, “Every Color Blue,” a blues number which finds the album’s persona finding things to value, rather than simply mourn: “Every color blue/Every stone a pearl/ When you’re looking through/The eyes of a little girl.” the tonal shift is almost jarring, but it lends a sense of importance to the subsequent song, “Just Like a Man,” which finds the persona mulling a painful falling out: “Everything was changing, so you swung at the air,” sings Williams. “I could only watch you standing there, crying that it wasn’t fair.” the song sings with a truth that burns brighter as the music spirals and crescendos at the song’s end: Every relationship that means anything to us can ultimately break our heart. It’s a thought that echoes into the Delmhorst-penned “If Not for Love”: “If not for love,” signs Williams, “what are you for?” The album closes with the John Statz-written “With Some Horses,” and “Paradise Springs,” written by Williams and J. Hardin. The first bespeaks an urge to settle down
someplace quiet, even as the song explicitly makes clear why that’s improbable. The latter, despite it’s idyllic title, is a warning against wasting away in idleness, and somewhere between these two songs is a strange sort of synthesis: A desire for movement, of recognizing false
CITY LIFE
ADOPTION OPTION Welcome to Adoption Option, a partnership with the Worcester Animal Rescue League highlighting their adoptable pets. Check this space often to meet all of the great pets at WARL in need of homes.WARL is open seven days a week, noon-4 p.m., 139 Holden St. Check them out online at Worcesterarl.org, or call at (508) 853-0030.
EAST DOUGLAS PHOTOGRAPHY
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Meet Ash and Muffin! Ash (left) and Muffin have been to WARL a few times. Initially, Ash was surrendered to WARL when his owner lost her home. He was very good with the woman’s 5-year-old child. Ash was adopted by another woman who had Muffin, a grumpy cat 10-year-old cat. The cats bonded quickly then their owner died. When we reunited the cats in an office, Muffin buried herself under a blanket while Ash sat next to her to keep her company. They were adopted together by a disabled woman a year ago. Unfortunately, her health deteriorated, and she had to return the cats. Ash is a laid-back cat; nothing bothers him, which makes him the perfect match for Muffin. She needs time to adjust to your home. She is a complainer who above all does not want to be picked up. She will come to you when she wants something. Ash and Muffin must be adopted together for a fee of $200 for both cats..
WARL COVID-19 Procedures As of March 25, 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• DONATIONS: We will not be accepting linens of any kind or used, stuffed dog toys. While we are grateful for your thoughtfulness, we will not accept these donations if brought to the shelter.
• 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... finding homes for animals in need.
• Pet food, cat litter, and other shelter supplies will be essential in continuing to provide for our animals and to assist community members in need. To avoid unnecessary travel and exposure, items can be purchased online from our Amazon Wishlist - https://www.amazon.com/gp/ registry/wishlist/3AX342JIL73M0
• Weekly training classes are suspended until further notice. • 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.
Thank you for your continued FURiendship and support.
GAMES
J O N E S I N’
“Getting Free K” – reaching #1000! I say 28 Across! By Matt Jones
Across
10 11 12 13 14 22 23 24 25 26
29
31
32 Samuel L. Jackson movie that Roger Ebert called the best film of 1997 34 Adherence to mystic doctrines 39 Wisconsin city known for kids’ overalls 45 Yiddish gossip 46 “I gotta go feed the ___” 47 Hitch in haste 49 ___-chef 52 1-800-CALL-___ (bygone collect call service) 53 “What ___ know?” 54 DeLuise in many outtakes with Burt Reynolds 55 Get by, with “out” 56 ___ EFX (“Mic Checka” hip-hop group)
Last week's solution
©2020 Matt Jones (jonesincrosswords@gmail.com) Reference puzzle #1000
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1 Harness part 2 Nation where kreyòl ayisyen is spoken
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Bush or Clinton, informally Game for NFL all-stars Daughter of Loki One of the saisons Dirty groove? “The 5,000 Fingers of ___” (1953 Dr. Seuss film) ___-Caps (movie candy brand) Increases in difficulty, like a hike Vowel-rich cookie Category for Styx and (arguably) the Stones “Wow, that was rude!” Cereal on “The Simpsons” where Bart ingested some jagged metal Small-screen movie, quaintly One in charge Admire excessively Told, as a secret ___ Bachika (“Gurren Lagann” anime character who I just found out is a human and not a cat) ___ De Spell (“DuckTales” character voiced by Catherine Tate in the 2017 reboot) Place for neighborly gossip
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Fun By The Numbers Like puzzles? Then you’ll love sudoku. This mind-bending puzzle will have you hooked from the moment you square off, so sharpen your pencil and put your sudoku savvy to the test! Here’s How It Works: Sudoku puzzles are formatted as a 9x9 grid, broken down into nine 3x3 boxes. To solve sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each row, column and box. Each number can appear only once in each row, column and box. You can figure out the order in which the numbers will appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes. The more numbers you name, the easier it gets to solve the puzzle!
1 They’re out to pasture 10 Words before “your mother” or “your father” 15 Prepared statement 16 Slip 17 Verdi opera originally titled “La maledizione” (“The Curse”) 18 ___ Selänne, highestscoring Finn in NHL history 19 Short gamut 20 Measures of loudness 21 Change direction sharply 23 Does a dairy duty 27 “Them!” creature 28 Cry of accomplishment 30 WWE wrestler ___ Mysterio 31 Iconic “Lady and the Tramp” song whose title means “Beautiful Night” 33 Elemento numero 79 34 CLE player 35 Middle of a French Revolution motto 36 Pharmacy chain with unusually long receipts 37 Card seen in skat 38 Risky purchase 40 Places for Whoppers, briefly 41 Frigid ocean areas that can be seasonal or permanent 42 Site for mil. planes 43 Record producer Mike ___, or actress ___ Kaye 44 Go with the flow, maybe? 48 Minimal 50 Hull backbone 51 Rod Stewart’s “Lost ___” 52 Extended 57 Make grime pay? 58 Moved forward, perhaps 59 River through France and Belgium 60 Vacation purchase with a possibly aggressive sales pitch
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LAST CALL
Christina Liberty-Grimm Former Bar Manager A
fter the publication of my recent cover story, “Coronavirus leaves restaurant workers in limbo,” I received some feedback from local bartender Christina Liberty-Grimm. She told me she wished I had focused more on the humans in the hospitality industry and less on the dollar amounts and statistics. I agreed with her wholeheartedly, but I shared that it had proved very difficult to find workers willing to speak on the record. LibertyGrimm kindly agreed to share her own story as a longtime bartender for Niche Hospitality Group. Why do you think I found restaurant workers so guarded when it came to discussing unemployment? We have to worry whether we are going to say the right thing or accidentally insult our employers and say something that will jeopardize our chances of going back to work. This is the scariest time for everyone who is out of work and has no idea when or to what capacity we will return to our jobs.
the doors are locked and the bars are empty. We can’t disregard the number of people who have been put on the back burner. Thankfully changes are happening for restaurants after four months of waiting. To-go cocktails are a blessing. I’m interested to see whether or not that will generate a couple more shifts for people. Hopefully, to-go cocktails will be a catalyst for business at bars and restaurants and will spark a change of things for the better — much like I hope this article does for an industry struggling to survive. We are not numbers, we are people, and we deserve to be acknowledged.
– Sarah Connell Sanders
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there are millions of us and I feel like we were forgotten. Deciding whether or not we want to stay in the hospitality industry is scary. When I go back, is it going to be the same hours and wages? Is it going to be in the same capacity? I can imagine everyone feels similarly. Now that so many places are closing, there are even more people that are out for the same jobs. Some of those candidates are bound to be more talented than you and some have more qualifications than you. There is no guarantee a bigger fish won’t get your old Friday night shift. Beyond bartenders, servers, cooks and hostesses and management, there are all the sales representatives and brand ambassadors. I know these people and they suffer too. They can’t sell product when
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What was the biggest shift when dining restrictions were put in place? I don’t know if every company is the same, but we were asked to come back and sign a waiver. If you didn’t sign right away, they couldn’t guarantee that your job
that we are mothers and fathers. We have husbands and wives. We have bills just like everyone else. And while we’re so grateful to everyone, because guests are responsible for paying most of our What do you think the future salary through tips, not all of them looks like for you? It’s the hardest question to answer. recognize that we’re people with We are all kind of sitting down do- families at home. Our employers did absolutely everything that ing some soul searching. My husband, Derek Grimm was in charge they could for us, but they can’t make occupancy changes and of Still & Stir, which may not they can’t give us the shifts that reopen its doors. We are not the we need and they cannot pay us only couple this has happened to. $20 an hour to help us make ends We’ve been sitting here trying to meet. The United States Bartendfigure out what the best route for ers’ Guild had millions donated on our family is. I think every single our behalf. The Greg Hill Foundafamily is probably sitting around doing the exact same thing. People tion provided assistance and even Guy Fieri set up a fund. But, there come into restaurants and see us are too many of us. Not everyone as bartenders, servers, cooks, or saw some of the money. That’s my management. They don’t realize major problem with everything;
DYLAN AZARI
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How long have you been a bartender? I have been in the service industry since I was 18 years old and I’ve done every position from hostess to server to bartender. before COVID-19, I was lucky enough to be responsible for the bar program at The Fix Burger Bar. I spent 17 years trying to develop who I was in this industry and make a career for myself rather than just treating it as a job to pay the bills. One of my greatest accomplishments was creating my own cocktail menu, but now all those accomplishments mean nothing.
was going to still be available down the line. It was a promise of, “We’re going to do our best for everyone.” I can’t work full-time right now. I have a seven-yearold who also had her life turned upside down. I have a grandmother and a father who are both immunocompromised. Even when I was able to offer my availability for a few shifts, it was difficult. I would be able to work on a Tuesday and then we wouldn’t be able to see my parents again until Monday. There are people out there who aren’t even that lucky. In my case, my priority was to keep some semblance of normalcy for my child and to protect those I love. Preference is granted to people who are able to give their all, which is exactly how it should be. I know a lot of the people who went back are really grateful for their shifts. Do I wish I could be back full time? Absolutely. I miss my job. I miss the people. What a lot of people don’t realize is how this impacted our social lives as well. Many bartenders work from four o’clock at night until two o’clock in the morning, four to five days a week. We’re spending 40 to 50 hours with the same people every week. Our coworkers and our regulars in this industry often become people we care about the most. It was all taken away. Not having the opportunity to be with these people that I care about is incredibly difficult.
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