Worcester Magazine Nov. 21 - 28, 2018

Heroes

NOVEMBER 21 - 28, 2018 WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

2018

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in this issue N O V E M B E R 21 - 28, 2018 • V O L U M E 44 I S S U E 13

the cover

Hometown Heroes Story on page 13 Photos by Elizabeth Brooks, Design by Kimberly Vasseur

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news History: Cultivate in Leicester starts selling pot J BILL SHANER

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ust a town over from Worcester, pot is officially on the menu. In Leicester, the doors are officially open at Cultivate, a medical dispensary that got the OK to sell recreational cannabis to anyone 21 or older.

As the clock struck 8 Tuesday morning, doors opened and a line of cars wrapped both ways along an access road off Leicester’s Main Street as police shuttled customers to the store. Some braver patrons opted to take the cold, rainy walk instead.

Business, at least in that first morning, was booming.

Gregory Green of Milford, one of the first customers out the door at 8:15 a.m., bought some potent hybrid flower.

“It feels pretty weird, considering all my life it’s been this bad thing, it’s been illegal and a lot of people have been arrested for it,” Green said. “So to come here, with all these people and just buy weed, bring it onto the street and drive it home, it’s pretty amazing.

Stephen Chevalier, of Providence, R.I., waited in line on the wet, dreary morning. He said

he plans to buy waxes and oils, products that aren’t as easy to get as flower.

“I wouldn’t miss this opportunity to come out on a historic day,” said Chevalier, “The ending of the pretty absurd prohibition on a plant.”

Almost two years after Massachusetts voters approved the ballot measure, Cultivate and New England Treatment Access in Northampton are the first two full recreational shops to open in the state. After testing facilities were approved earlier this month and several cultivation centers licensed, it’s expected more shops will get

Above, police used an access road off Main Street to loop cars around into a shuttle parking lot. Thousands of cars filled the road Tuesday morning. Left, Gregory Green of Milford with his purchased cannabis.

BILL SHANER

the go ahead from the Cannabis Control Commission soon. In Worcester, up to 15 shops could get the go-ahead, but as of this week, the city had not approved any. For now, Leicester and Northampton will see all the recreational cannabis business in the state.

Expecting a huge draw, Leicester officials put together a traffic plan.

They anticipated at least 1,000 customers, and likely surpassed that number. Whether by highway or by back road, pretty much any way of getting there involved Route 9, and officials anticipated slow going.

“Our focus on this really is just making sure that people can get in, get out and have a good experience while they’re in town,” Town Administrator David Genereux said.

“This is unprecedented. I don’t think there’s any successful way to

gauge how many people are going to arrive.”

For Cultivate, the day was an exciting one – the culmination of months of planning and preparation. But when the store opened, Cultivate staff felt they had the responsibility of demonstrating how purchasing legal cannabis ought to go.

“We’re very excited, but we’re also honored and understand our responsibility is to educate the public about the law,” Spokeswoman France Wade said.

Cultivate staff plans on stressing aspects of the law like the 21-yearold requirement, and that product cannot be consumed in public or while driving.

A possible issue as retail sales get underway could be enough C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 6

news

Annual tax rate battle looms in Worcester BILL SHANER

that residences pay. The Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce has actively pushed ne of the most significant and most con- the proposal, arguing a lower commercial rate would foster growth and allow the commercial tentious actions the City Council takes every year is just around the corner, and tax base to expand.

But on the other side, a coalition of more while the city does not yet even have the conservative-leaning councilors and a tax policy information it needs to provide for debate, the group called AWARE advocate every year for the battle lines are being drawn.

As councilors await certified valuations, infor- lowest-possible residential tax rate. They argue taxes are already too high, and won’t support mation necessary to set residential and commercial property tax rates for the city, groups on any action that raises them for homeowners.

The push and pull of the two sides has, in past both sides of the issue have started their tax rate years, led to some of the more contentious and campaigns. closest votes of the year for City Council.

The city has a split tax rate, meaning busiLast year, the vote was 6-4 to raise the comnesses and residential properties pay separate mercial rate and lower the residential rate, by rates for property taxes. Like in most cities that $1.10 and 31 cents, respectively. Councilors Moe adopt a split rate, businesses pay a higher rate Bergman, Khrystian King, Konnie Lukes, Candy than residential property owners. In Worcester, Mero-Carlson, Gary Rosen and George Russell the difference is $18.91 per $1,000 valuation for voted for the rate, while Mayor Joe Petty and residential and $34.03 for commercial.

Councilors Sarai Rivera, Tony Economou, and This year, the tax certification information is Kate Toomey voted for a rate that lowered comexpected to head to City Council for the Nov. mercial and raised residential, bringing the city 27 meeting and the hearing is expected to take closer to a residential rate. place Dec. 11.

This year, Economou, who represented Over the past several years, some have pushed District 1, is gone from the Council, having not to bring the city toward a single tax rate, lowering the rate businesses pay while raising the rate C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 7

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supply to meet demand, as only so many cultivation centers and testing facilities are licensed and up and running.

At Cultivate, Wade said staff are anticipating a high demand and have done what they can to prepare adequate stock. Still, she said, “There’s no guarantee that we will have product completely available to meet demand.”

The relationship between the town and the business has been a positive one, Wade said. The business, especially, since it is one of the two first in the state to open, could have positive a spinoff effect for the town, as patrons from around the state descend on Leicester.

“Not only are we bringing consumers to Cultivate, we’re bringing tourists to the town of Leicester,” she said. “We hope they patronize restaurant, coffee shops and really put Leicester on the map.”

The Cannabis Control Commission gave the go-ahead to Cultivate and NETA to open Tuesday after months of licensing. Now, the

CCC said in a statement, it’s up to customers to know the law and imbibe safely.

“This signal to open retail marijuana establishments marks a major milestone for voters who approved legal, adult-use cannabis in our state,” said Commission Chairman Steve Hoffman. “To get here, licensees underwent thorough background checks, passed multiple inspections, and had their products tested, all to ensure public health and safety as this new industry gets up and running. As patrons look forward to visiting Massachusetts stores, we hope they will do their part by first familiarizing themselves with the law and understanding what is require of responsible consumers.”

The commission is advising consumers to refrain from using while operating a vehicle, in a public place, or carry product across state lines. The commission is directing consumers to moreaboutmj.org, a state website with more information about cannabis and the state law.

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mercial tax rates in Worcester. To compare Worcester to surrounding towns is a mistake, the group argues.

“We will never be an Auburn, Boylston, Grafton, Leicester, Millbury, Oxford, Shrewsbury or Sutton and we don’t want to be,” the group wrote. “Worcester is unique and when figuring what its tax rate should be every year, it is not feasible and it should not be based

on surrounding communities that have a much smaller population, higher incomes, fewer tax-exempt colleges and university and fewer service agencies.”

The median income in Worcester has dropped 6 percent this year, the group notes, and that should be considered in any talk of raising the residential rate.

“The citizens of Worcester are what makes Worcester a desirable

and unique place to open a business,” the group said. “Worcester can’t afford to keep increasing the residential tax rate and make Worcester unaffordable for the majority our great citizens who reside and call Worcester home.”

Bill Shaner can be reached at 508-767-9535 or at wshaner@ worcestermag.com. Follow him on Twitter @Bill_Shaner.

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sought re-election in 2017. In his place is Sean Rose, who earlier this week, appearing on The Worcester Magazine Radio Hour on Unity Radio, indicated he was leaning toward a lower tax rate for businesses, while reserving the right to change his mind pending final figures.

The other newest councilor, District 5’s Matt Wally, who took over for Rosen when the latter ran at-large last year, will also be taking part in his first tax classification hearing. Wally has spoken of a need to decrease the tax rate gap between commercial and residential rates.

This year, the Chamber of Commerce and the AWARE group have already sent out statements urging the council to lower the gap and widen it, respectively.

The Chamber of Commerce calls the Council out for raising the commercial tax rate the past three years. The move “increasingly pushed the burden onto commercial and industrial property owners.

“The Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce has, and continues to argue, that reducing the gap between commercial/industrial tax rates and residential tax rates will lead to a fair and equitable tax system in the city. Moreover, it will continue to grow the commercial/ industrial workforce and tax base,” the statement read.

The Chamber makes the case that other local communities have moved from a split rate to a single rate. Earlier this month, Auburn made plans to return the tax rate to a single rate, following Fitchburg last month. Webster is expected to vote to close the gap later this month as well, the Chamber said.

“As we continue to see surrounding towns and cities help their businesses grow by moving to have both the businesses and residents shoulder the tax burden equally, Worcester has unfairly voted to increase it since 2015,” said Alex Guardiola, director of government affairs and public policy for the Chamber. “This is bad economic development policy at a time when the city is seeing a resurgence of companies interested in making Worcester their future business home.”

The Chamber’s stance is supported by the Worcester Regional Research Bureau, which last year put out a report advocating for a

long-term plan to bring the city toward a single tax rate incrementally.

The AWARE group, however, sees the situation differently. The group makes the case that Worcester is a gateway city, and only one of the 26 gateway cities in Massachusetts—Leominster—does not adopt a split rate.

Further, AWARE argues only five gateway cities have a smaller gap between residential and com-

news

worcesteria

ALL’S QUIET ON THE LAWSUIT FRONT: The Worcester School Com-

mittee passed a resolution late last week, joining 14 other communities, urging the state for more education funding and a fix to the formula that hurts big urban districts like Worcester. The resolution calls for a new school funding budget by next may. Now, resolutions like this area all well and good, but whatever happened to the lawsuit Worcester was planning to enter with Brockton? It’s been very quiet on that front.

WHO’S RUNNIN’: We’re at the moment in the political season where people thinking about running for a city office are getting their campaigns together. I hope the increased involvement we saw heading into the midterms would translate into more activity for the 2019 city elections, for the sake of civic health and for selfish reasons – contested races are much more fun to cover than uncontested races. So far, things have been pretty quiet. But there is one name to surface. Etel Haxhiaj, a community organizer and one-time Citizen Advisory Council member, has incorporated a City Council campaign with the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance. As for School Committee, not even a whisper of a potential candidate. As for the incumbents, the fundraising games have already begun. School Committee member Dante Comparetto (Nov. 28) and City Councilor Khrystian King (Nov. 29) have booked kick-off events already. If you’re thinking about running, there’s still months and months of time to get a campaign together.

SORT OF A GOOD TIME: Had the great pleasure of being a guest on the

Sort of Late Show with Sean Connolly over the weekend, along with our Lifestyle columnist Sarah Connell. What a good time! The show is very fun and if you don’t know about it, check it out. Maybe I’ll be on again sometime to say some more incendiary things about Worcester politicos. Just kidding. If anyone tells you something I said about you on the show, they’re lying to you and I obviously didn’t say it. If there are video or audio recordings, they’ve been doctored.

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HIGH TIMES: The way I’d like to cover the roll-out of recreational can-

nabis in the Worcester area and the way my editor, Walter Bird, Jr., would like us to, are different, to say the least. Here is a list of pitches my esteemed editor rejected earlier this week: a Facebook Live video of myself and Culture Editor Josh Lyford on a blunt cruise through Worcester; an explainer piece on how to best roll joints and blunts; an experiential essay on the folly of buying legal weed to resell it illegally; a PSA about the dangers of eating more edibles while the edibles you already ate kick in.

All day Monday, I pitched these great ideas to my editor, who systematically and ruthlessly shot them down.

BIG UPS, BULLY: The Boulevard Diner deserves a little shout out here

for what they got planned on Thanksgiving. The famously 24/7 establishment is closing up at 11 a.m. on Thanksgiving to reopen from 3–5 p.m. to serve Thanksgiving dinner to the homeless, less fortunate and, as they put it on Facebook “anyone with no place to go for the holidays.” The Boulevard is reopening to its usual eggs and bacon at 8 p.m.

THERE’S ALWAYS A WORCESTER CONNECTION: I have a hunch many

of my readers will appreciate this – if, of course, they’ve been as lost in the immersive 1899 wild west world of Red Dead Redemption II for the past couple weeks. Someone online found a very cool Worcester connection tucked in a gun catalog that your character can open and manually read through (I know, it’s that detailed). The description for the Cattleman Revolver includes this line: “It is manufactured at a factory we own and control in Worcester, Mass. It is made by skilled laborers who work tireless hours each week and on the weekends for little pay in order to bring you the finest revolver in the field.” OK, that last bit feels a little self-referential.

But what really makes the Worcester nod interesting is that every other city/state in the Bill Shaner, reporter game is given a ficwshaner@worcestermag.com tional name, ’cept us.

Twitter: @Bill_Shaner

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the beat

Seven members of the Worcester Fire Department were honored at Mechanics Hall earlier this week for acts of heroism and bravery. The annual Firefighter of the Year awards took place Tuesday, and the Worcester department members honored are as follows: Lt. Timothy Ridick Ridick find him on page 16 as one of our Hometown Heroes), Lt. Christopher Kelly, Captain Adam Roche, Firefighter Blake Perron, Lt. Patrick Moran, Firefighter Matthew Kane and Firefighter John Callahan.

Dr. Charles Steinberg of the Pawtucket Red Sox spoke at the Senior Center last week, sharing stories of of the community benefit of baseball. City Manager Ed Augustus Jr. also spoke about the opportunity that Polar Park presents the city.

A groundbreaking for the renovation of the South Worcester Playground scheduled for Monday was postponed due to the rain. A new

date has not yet been set.

The third public meeting held by the state Department of Transportation to go over possible

changes to Kelley Square was rescheduled last week due to snow. The meeting will take place Wednesday, Dec. 5 at 6 p.m. at the Worcester Academy Performance Center, at 14 Marion Ave. The meeting is expected to review four proposed redesigns, including various combinations of lights and roundabouts, with comments from the last meeting held earlier this month.

The Worcester Memorial Auditorium was the site of a bank robbery early this week –well, a Hollywood bank robbery. Film crews for

An aide to Spencer state Sen. Anne Gobi was charged with drunk driving on election night. Tyler Wolanin, a 26-year-old Barre resident, was pulled over after apparently failing to stop at a stop sign around 1 a.m.

The Planning Board in Charlton held a fifth public hearing for the proposed cannabis farm at the Charlton Orchards site. The $100-mil-

Worcester’s South High School is set to compete on WGBH’s High School Quiz Show. Students from the

school will compete for the second year in a row along with 15 other high schools from around the state. The first round will be taped in January.

An $11-million renovation project to the main branch of the Worcester Public Library is expected to start in February, and take

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about 18 months to complete. The project will open a new door, facing the City Hall Common on Franklin Street, along with other renovations.

The work is expected to take a year and a half.

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lion project has met resistance from neighbors and residents, and is the subject of a lawsuit filed by Charlton residents. A sixth hearing is scheduled for next month.

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the upcoming movie “Honest Thief ” converted the first floor of the Aud into a bank scene, where Liam Neeson was set to break into the bank vault.

opinion editorial

Giving thanks - and more

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t can be hard, with the everyday hustle and bustle of life pulling us this way and that, to slow down sometimes and be thankful for what we have. Heck, it may be hard to realize all we have to be thankful for.

In the last year alone, so much has shaken our way of life – from acts of violence, to hateful rhetoric, never mind the day-to-day issues that challenge all of us. Jobs, illness and other demands on our time and attention can leave us feeling like we are on a roller coaster, zipping and zooming up and down, around hard curves, whipping us this way and that.

In many ways, life is indeed a roller coaster. But roller coasters come to a stop, we get off, and other people shuffle on board. Life’s roller coaster continues. It is incumbent upon us to grab the level every so often and pull the brakes. You may not be able to grind it to a halt, but if you can slow down, even for a moment or two during the day, the things we have to be thankful for can come into crystal-clear focus.

Thanksgiving comes about as close as it can to slowing life down to a crawl, but even then there may be road trips to a relative’s house, or long

72 Shrewsbury St. Worcester, MA 01604 worcestermag.com Editorial 508.767.9527 editor@worcestermag.com Sales 508.767.9530 sales@worcestermag.com President Paul M. Provost Publisher Kathleen Real-Benoit Editor Walter Bird Jr.

hours in the kitchen preparing the meal. When, finally, we are able to sit around the table — or maybe you prefer the living room, or going out to a restaurant — we can pull that level all the way back and give pause.

And give thanks.

What is it in your life you are most thankful for? Loved ones, of course. What else? Perhaps this year saw you achieve something special in your personal or professional life.

Maybe you overcame a struggle you’d long been dealing with. Maybe it’s less personal.

Perhaps you are thankful for the Red Sox winning the World Series.

Big or small, it is important to give thanks, to acknowledge that, for all of life’s chores, all of its peaks and valleys, joys and miseries – we are blessed to share it. The key word there is “share.” No matter the color of our skin, our sexual persuasion, our political stripes, our religious views, our level of education – whether we earn our living in the boardroom of a big city skyscraper or we beg for change on a street corner – we all share this life. While it would be ideal to acknowledge that every day, the reality is many of us don’t. Thanksgiving, then, is a time to look up from

our plates — or if we don’t have a plate in front of us, to simply look up — and know that we are all in this together. There is a purpose, even if we do not see it so clearly.

But we don’t have to let it end with thanks. We can turn it into action. And it can start with that one, simple acknowledgment: we are all in this together.

Culture Editor Joshua Lyford Reporter Bill Shaner Photographer Elizabeth Brooks Contributing Writers Stephanie Campbell, Sarah Connell, Janice Harvey, Jim Keogh, Jim Perry, Kristina Reardon, Corlyn Voorhees Director of Creative Services Don Cloutier Creative Director Kimberly Vasseur Multi Media Sales Executives Diane Galipeau, Helen Linnehan Media Coordinator Madison Friend WORCESTER MAGAZINE is an independent news weekly covering Central Massachusetts. We accept no responsibility for unsolicited manu-

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opinion Confessions of a thankful ingrate JANICE HARVEY

He’s one of eight kids. His job back in 1965 was to stand behind the TV and adjust the aluminum here do the calendar foil on the rabbit ears while his pages go? Time once again for Americans to dad watched the evening news.

No one ever gave him $8.85 for reflect and fill in the doing this. blank: I’m grateful for________.

I could do without Chris MatWe’re not very good at this, by thews yelling over every guest the way; we don’t really put a lot booked on “Hardball.” Why ask of thought into it. We always say we’re grateful for the food on our a question if you aren’t going to table, the people we love, the roof wait two seconds to hear the answer? Why bother saying: over our heads. Yada yada. Let’s be honest: there’s a few things we “Your thoughts?” when your thoughts are the only ones we could do without quite nicely. A can hear? While I’m at it, I could few things that come to mind: do without ever again hearing I could do without vague the phrase “Madisonian checks billing statements. Like the one and balances” from Joe Scarborfrom Spectrum that lists “other charges.” Why is this acceptable? ough, or Ari Melber making a rap reference. I’m a regular viewer of And $8.85 for … what? Does this MSNBC and generally approve fee pay for the monster makeup of the network’s reporting, but a used in their admittedly witty ads? And what is a “broadcast TV little of a good thing goes a long way. Enough already. surcharge”? Recently, a childI could do without scams. I hood friend and I were discussing television viewing, then and now. recently opened mail addressed

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to “Janice Bottcher”—a name I haven’t had since 1991—warning me the factory warranty on my vehicle will expire if I don’t contact the Vehicle Notification Department of AutoAssure in Plano, Texas. It reads: “Year/ Make/Model: Call to Verify.” I thought about this. The car I was driving when my last name was Bottcher was a 1981 Dodge Aries K I bought for 700 bucks. I think I drove it to the courthouse for my divorce hearing. According to this notice, I will extend the warranty for the K car until 2023 if I call now. I decided to call the 1-800 number provided and inquire. A robovoice asked for pertinent information from me, but my only response was “What vehicle?”

Three times I repeated “What vehicle?”until I was mysteriously disconnected. I’m concerned about the warranty on that K car, even though I’m pretty sure it rests deep, deep, deep in the

rusty graveyard of Linder’s Auto.

I’m calling back today, because otherwise my file will be deleted.

It says so on my notification, in a bold font that makes me nervous.

This is only a partial list of “do withouts.” However, I cannot do without and am grateful for the following:: The wisdom of presidential historian Jon Meacham. He knows his stuff.

The Sunday New York Times.

Say what you will about the Gray Lady, The NYT is still the most reliable source of information at our fingertips. It still offers the best op-eds and supplements that keep a reader busy from Sunday to Sunday.

Robert Mueller. No explanation needed—I hope.

My grandkids’ goofy behavior.

They make me forget, if only for a few moments, the reason why I am grateful for Robert Mueller.

The opportunity to teach. Not a

day goes by when I’m not amazed by the resilience of students to overcome dysfunction and personal upheaval, of their resolve to earn a diploma—often as the first member of their family to do so.

I watch them make their way to class taking two buses, or walking in the rain, sometimes after working until midnight, or getting younger siblings to school, or pacing the floor with their own crying children. And yes, I’m thankful for the chance to be part of helping them succeed.

But I am worried about that K car.

Janice Harvey contributing writer

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feature

Heroes 2018

HOME TO W N

PHOTOS BY ELIZABETH BROOKS

PRESENTED BY WORCESTER MAGAZINE

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hey couldn’t be more different. A Vietnamese refugee whose family was airlifted off the U.S. Embassy during the fall of Saigon.

An off-duty firefighter who didn’t think twice before rushing into a burning building to save the residents inside. A mom who has faced her own health issues as she watches over a young son with congenital heart disease, while trying to fulfill her dream of earning her college degree.

Two young activists who helped guide thousands through the streets of Worcester during the March For Our Lives rally earlier this year. A community leader who is ready to retire after more than 40 years helping to better the lives of area residents.

They all have one common thread, however: Each has been named a 2018 Worcester Magazine Hometown Hero. Here are their stories, as told by Walter Bird Jr. and Bill Shaner.

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SPONSORED BY

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feature

Ron Charette

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fter more than 40 years with the South Worcester Neighborhood Improvement Corporation, Ron Charette believes it is time to pass the baton. In his words, “It’s time to shake this place up.”

The 65-year-old Charette plans to retire June 30. He doesn’t know who will take over, but it should be someone who can be “more diplomatic,” he acknowledged recently as he sat behind a slightly-scuffed up desk in the rear of the SWNIC at 47 Camp St. “The board of directors, who are great neighborhood people, at first were reluctant,” Charette said of the 21-member panel’s initial reaction to his retirement plans. “I said it’s time to bring in ideas that are outside of the box, less controversial sometimes, less combative.”

Charette, born and raised in the heart of South Worcester on Douglas Street, a stone’s throw from the Camp Street building, doesn’t always see eye to eye with politicians, although he did serve two terms as a selectman in Charlton. Controversies? He has known a few.

“My training was under Saul Alinsky’s ‘Rules for Radicals,’ beating people up and then apologizing later,” Charette said with a laugh. “I’m not good with politicians. You get elected to serve the people, not to serve yourself and your ego. Over 45 years, there’s been some good ones and some not so good ones. You gotta learn to be good with the not so good ones, and I’m not. I tell them, ‘I don’t like you and I don’t think you’re doing a good job,’ and they don’t like that.”

Charette who served on the SWNIC board in the ‘60s as a youth representative, joined them permanently in 1975 as director of employment. In his second year, he was named assistant director. In 1977, he became executive director.

The SWNIC, which was originally founded by the College of the Holy Cross, St. Matthews Church and Sacred Heart Church, wasn’t always on Camp Street, relocating there in the ’80s. The organization provides lunch to families every day, with a food pantry downstairs, and offers a litany of other services, including job searches and accessing healthcare. In the last fiscal year, according to Charette, the SWNIC served 3,800 individuals.

In a nutshell, the SWNIC helps people.

“You come in with whatever your issue or problem is and we try to fix it,” said Charette, whose staff includes himself at threequarters time and one other part-timer. “But I’ve got an army of wonderful volunteers, so dedicated.”

Primarily, he said, people come to the SWNIC for food, about 35-50 families a day, but Charette said he is interested in the why behind the problem.

“What’s bringing them here for the food and how can we fix that?” he said, noting partnerships with the Worcester County Food Bank, area churches and others that help the SWNIC meet the needs of families. “We have resources, but I want to know, what brings you here? A lot of times it’s not a very good-paying job, or it’s not applying resources very wisely.”

Rising rents are part of the problem, Charette said. Healthcare costs also are an issue. Throw in the needs of children, and families often must make sacrifices.

“One of the first things really sacrificed in a household budget is food,” Charette said.

The SWNIC also helps those in need resolve credit and budget issues, and work toward home ownership.

“If we can get folks owning homes and living in this community,” Charette said, “what a win that is. There are so many programs available.”

Healthcare is a particular area of concern.

The SWNIC, he said, may well be the busiest site in the city for the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile. The service helps connect families to medical and dental care, helps with insurance and lends an ear to their concerns.

The mobile visits on Wednesdays and welcomes 45-50 people throughout the day, according to Charette.

In addition, South Worcester Sports, which is now part of the organization, provides free sports, including baseball, basketball and soccer, to area youth.

Of all the SWNIC does, Charette said he is most happy that South Worcester has “really come out of the shadows of Main South.” He attributes that to two things.

First, he said, when there was talk of running an access road to Worcester Regional Airport by way of Cambridge Street, “People were like, ‘We have a neighborhood here?’ That created the opportunity to do a neighborhood plan.” The community rallied in opposition to the access road, which was never built.

The development of the nearby South Worcester Industrial Park was another turning point.

Previously nothing more than vacant property, it is now fully occupied, most recently by Table Talk Pies.

As he readies to leave the place he has worked the last four-plus decades, Charette offered some reflection.

“I haven’t really worked a day in 45 years. This is not work,” he said. “I had a person in here who has custody of her grandkids. She was all upset that she couldn’t get them Christmas gifts. I said, ‘You come in, we’ll take care of it.’ She starts bawling away. So she went out [to the other room] and told them. All my volunteers were crying. I told them, ‘People, we do this. This is what we do.’”

Charette will retire as executive director, but he sees himself as something different.

“A coach,” he said when asked to describe his role. “I know what the play is, I know how to get there. If you follow the directions, you’ll get there.”

– Walter Bird Jr.

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DeneziaFahie PapeePaye

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her senior year of high school. Now she’s a freshman at Brandeis University, where she studies politics, social justice, social issues and education.

She first became involved in activism via the YWCA’s Girls Choice program, where she served as a peer mentor, when she was in seventh grade. The experience, she said, ignited a fiery passion in women’s rights issues. Her next major experience in activism would come when she was 15, working as a peer mentor for sexual health issues at Planned Parenthood.

“With the help of Planned Parenthood, I began to develop my activism, I guess my identity as an activist. I consistently became more educated on marginalized identities, reproductive rights, women’s rights and equality, but it’s definitely transformed into everything else,” she said.

Since then, she has been involved in many demonstrations, both in Worcester and at the Statehouse. But the March For Our Lives rally was a high point of her young career.

The march motivated her peers, she said, and turned people on to actually doing something about society’s ills.

“When I look at my identity of being a woman of color, coming from an impoverished neighborhood, I think that there is so much wrong with the system,” she said. “Just taking a look around and getting some perspective, I see how so many of my people are disenfranchised and I see how that mentality has prohibited so many of my peers from being successful.”

Paye is a senior and varsity basketball player at South High. He became involved in local politics and activism via the Youth Council and the Worcester Youth Movement. His first demonstration was a rally at the Statehouse for better pay for youth workers. There, he said, he realized he had a knack for leading demonstrations.

At the March For Our Lives demonstration, Paye served as a clear march leader, steering a crowd of thousands down Worcester’s Main Street, around Lincoln Square and back around Major Taylor Boulevard. His favorite part of the role, as he sees it, is getting people hype.

“I like to just have everybody marching for the same thing, they

all agree on something. Like, that’s hard, for a lot of people to agree on one thing,” said Paye. “So it’s just like bringing people together and fighting for what’s right and what they believe in. That’s what I like about it most: people coming together, being a unit, working together.”

The nation’s gun problem isn’t an abstract problem for Paye, who was bothered by seeing his peers get their hands on guns.

“Why are kids my age getting ahold of these illegal weapons? This is happening in real life and I see it happening,” he said.

“Why can’t we put a stop [to] selling these kids these guns, how they’re actually getting these guns and stuff like that?”

Like Fahie, Paye is dismayed with the inaction since the nationwide March For Our Lives demonstrations.

“I feel like guns have more rights than humans,” he said. “We’re the humans using these guns to kill each other and they don’t want to put a stop to that.”

Still–and this is perhaps the largest impact of the demonstration–Paye said his peers are much more motivated to get involved, and it showed itself in the midterm elections earlier this month.

“I feel like they got more into it because they feel their lives are being affected,” he said.

— Bill Shaner N O V E M B E R 21 - 28, 2018 WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

n a cold afternoon in March, thousands upon thousands of people descended on Worcester City Hall for what was one of the largest demonstrations in the history of Worcester. The subject: gun violence in the wake of a school shooting in Parkland, Fla. that left 17 dead. The March for Our Lives demonstrations sweeped the country, bringing millions into the streets of hundreds of cities demanding Congress take action on gun reform laws. And, like so many of those demonstrations, this one was organized by a group of high school kids who saw the bloodshed in Parkland and thought ‘this could have been us.’

Of all the organizers, and there were many, two that stood out were Worcester Public Schools students Denezia Fahie, then a senior at North High School, and Papee Paye, a junior at South High School.

They served as MCs for the rally and led the thousands of marchers on a spirited walk down Main Street, calling for something– anything–to end the nation’s gun violence epidemic. As the march took off from City Hall North on Main Street, it was Paye and Fahie at the head, shouting back at the crowd with megaphone, as their peers carried a 10-foot-long March For Our Lives Worcester banner behind them.

“What do we march for?” Fahie screamed into the megaphone. Paye led the crowd in the response to Fahie’s call: “Nonviolence.”

From Fahie’s perspective, the success of the day, and the fact it was spearheaded by young people, shows the city’s youth deserve a seat at the table.

“I think that experience for me reaffirmed or heightened my idea that young people are capable and able of achieving astounding things when given the opportunity,” she said. “This movement wasn’t orchestrated by adults; rather, the adults assisted in the facilitation of the event. So for me it was like young people put this on, young people organized and developed this idea and achieved something tangibly astounding.”

Fahie, 18, grew up in Main South, then Plumley Village, then back in Main South for

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Lt. TimRidick

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N O V E M B E R 21 - 28, 2018

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he way he sees it, Worcester Fire Lt. Tim Ridick made the decision more than 14 years ago.

When he ran into a burning building at 92 Hamilton St. on Feb. 28, there was no decision to be made. It was, he said, the result of years of training and doing a job he was probably born to do.

Ridick, a 42-year-old lifelong Worcester resident, and a lieutenant at the Tatnuck Fire Station on Pleasant Street, had finished working detail at the funeral of retired Firefighter Gerald Vuona.

He decided to grab a beer at The Cosmopolitan Club on Hamilton Street.

Ridick joined the Worcester Fire Department in 2004; in all his years on the job, he hadn’t yet made a save during a fire.

That was about to change.

“As I’m getting out on Hamilton Street, I hear the chirping we hear all the time, the fire alarm,” Ridick recalled. “It’s nonsense. We spend half our nights chasing these stupid alarms.

[Most] of the time it’s absolutely nothing.”

This alarm was for 92 Hamilton St., right next door to the Cosmo at 96 Hamilton.

“Due diligence, I kind of walked over to the building,” said Ridick, whose father and grandfather were firefighters and whose wife’s brother is also on the job. “As I come around the building, it’s blowing smoke out of the second floor, hitting the Cosmo. I didn’t expect to see that.”

The building was a triple decker with residents inside. Ridick was wearing his dress uniform from the funeral, but did not miss a beat. Looking around, he saw no one in the area.

“It’s getting fully developed. No one’s evacuating, no one’s on the phone, no one’s videotaping,” he said.

“I knew people were in the building. I ran through the front door up the stairs.”

Armed with no breathing apparatus or other equipment, Ridick said he crawled underneath thick smoke into a living room. The building layout, he said, was different than what he was used to.

“This was a weird three-decker. I’d never seen anything like it,” he said. “The floor plan in my head was not working out the way I think it’s supposed to be.”

“I don’t want to say I’m panicking,” Ridick continued, “but the kitchen’s in the middle, the bedrooms are back here, the living room’s up here. If they’re in their bedroom, I’m not getting them that way. I started down the hallway, screaming at the top of my lungs, this guttural screaming.

“Finally, I see two [pairs of] legs. They hit the wall, they hit each other, running around frantically. One ducks down, the other ducks down and they don’t

know what’s going on. I say, ‘Your house is on fire.’ They get out.”

Ridick, a married father of two, said he heard another noise in the building, thinking it was a person. It turned out to be a dog.

“I get out, then I make the call,” he said of reporting the fire to 911. “I made the call, went around back and tried to get upstairs. Luckily, everyone got out. Unfortunately, the dog died, but everyone else got out. I was a little panicked, because you don’t know if it’s a kid in the closet.”

The other residents, Ridick said, probably escaped down the back stairway. By the time they had gotten out, fire crews had arrived on scene. Ridick did not stick around.

“I got in my car and went home,” he said, shaking his head to suggestions that he had done something heroic.

After all, he said, he grew up surrounded by it.

“This is the only job I’ve ever wanted,” he said. “I had a plan since fifth grade. Go to [Worcester] Voke, become an electrician, become a firefighter, and do that on the side. But my parents said you have to go to college. I did mutual funds and delivered Chinese food. I went to UMass two years and finished up at Worcester State University.”

Firefighting, he said is in his blood.

“It sticks in my mind, I would wake up in the morning and I would get this, it didn’t smell like coffee, but that smell of smoke,” Ridick said. “Back then, they had fires all the time and [his father] was down in Central. He’d have three fires the night before, he’d be in the kitchen, and you stink after these things. That’s the romance of it.

“Then you look at the schedule … He was gone for a couple nights, home all the time, gone for a couple days, home all the time. Then you get older, you go to the station and see the guys, and they’re doing nothing but having a good time down there. The older I got, the more and more I realized I wanted this job.”

Ridick is admittedly not comfortable with being named a Hometown Hero, although he acknowledges the rarity of actually saving a life in a fire, although as first responders, they save lives every day in other situations, such as drug overdoses.

“That’s what everyone wants, but it’s just opportunity,” he said. “I know guys that have done it. It’s a big deal.”

Even with that notch on his belt, Ridick wants no part of the hero talk. And while he was off duty that fateful February night, which might elevate his actions somewhat, he still doesn’t see what he did as extraordinary.

“I made the decision back in 2004,” he continued. “I was just doing what I was trained to do that night. I’ve been training for 15 years. That’s what I do. It’s almost kind of instinct. What am I going to do, sit there and watch someone die in that apartment? I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”

– Walter Bird Jr.

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Joannie Roman

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thing that might set you back,” Roman said.

She made the decision to wait until January 2014 to start school.

“And then,” she said, “my whole life came crumbling down.”

Roman’s son, Galvin, was born Nov. 18, 2014. At first, he appeared to be perfectly healthy. Three weeks later, however, Roman brought him to the hospital when he was having difficulty breathing. Initial tests did not determine a cause and Galvin was kept overnight. The next day, his mother was told he had been born with congenital heart disease and was in heart failure.

“Never in a million years did I think when that doctor came through those doors he was going to give me that bad news,” Roman said. “Maybe he had pneumonia, something small. It was hard. I remember going blank when the doctor came in.”

Roman said her son was at UMass Medical Center for a week before being released Dec. 18. He was readmitted Dec. 23, two days before Christmas, for what Roman said was failure to thrive.

“He wasn’t eating, losing weight, having issues again with breathing,” she said.

Released again late Christmas Day, Galvin ended up being transferred to Boston Children’s Hospital Jan. 5, 2015, where Roman said he spent a week before being released. On

Jan. 26, he was back in the hospital, she said, once more for failure to thrive. He had lost 7 ounces and was not feeding properly.

“The decision was made on Feb. 10 he would have his first open heart surgery,” Roman said.

Galvin, his mother said, had holes in the upper and lower chambers of his heart. The surgery would close the hole in the upper chamber, with the hole in the lower chamber closing on its own, she said.

He returned home Feb. 23, with the family hoping one surgery would be enough.

“That wasn’t the case,” Roman said, adding they were told Galvin would require another open heart surgery.

Three years later, however, Galvin, now 4, is still waiting for that procedure, which Roman said would address his parachute mitral valve, which causes mild mitral valve regurgitation. He has an upcoming doctor’s appointment, where the surgery will be discussed.

Galvin was also diagnosed with hypoglycemia and asthma, and has had to see a gastroenterologist and a neurologist.

On top of that, when Galvin was diagnosed with CHD, Roman was also found to also have a hole in her heart.

“At that point,” she said, “it was time for me to test all my children.”

The tests led to finding out her youngest daughter, Arianna, 3 at the time, also had CHD, although not as severe as her brother.

Her other children, 9-year-old Andrea and 7-year-old John, are healthy, she said.

Roman said doctors told her Galvin doesn’t need a heart transplant, that he can live with his CHD, even if he needs additional surgery. That does not make it easier for his mother.

“They always reassure me that Galvin’s going to have a normal life and he’s going to live,” she said. “But then you have these doubts because there’s kids that have less defects and haven’t come out of it. I try to take the positive, but every time I see another child lose his battle that comes on me. Will [Galvin] be next?”

In the meantime, Roman is focused again on her own future. She works as a crossing guard at Midland Street School, where her children attend. And, in September last year, she finally started at QCC. Her plan is to transfer to MCPHS University in Worcester, where she wants to focus on echocardiography.

“My son led me to that,” she said, adding she also works to raise awareness of CHD. “My children, they’re so excited I’m back in school. They’re my cheerleaders. If I do anything, it’s for them. I messed up the chance I had at the beginning, but it’s never too late for a new beginning. It’s all for Galvin.”

– Walter Bird Jr.

N O V E M B E R 21 - 28, 2018

oannie Roman dropped out of high school when she was 17. She knew it wasn’t the best choice, but had decided to move on. Life, as it turned out, would take Roman on quite the ride, one she could not have possibly known then may well have set her up for what she was truly meant to do.

That was 1999. By 2014, Roman had three children, had worked several jobs and had a benign pituitary tumor removed from her head. She had been a nanny to three kids for a family that, when she had her own kids, allowed her to bring them to their house. Having taken on another job as a nanny for a Shrewsbury family, she had also righted the wrong of not having finished high school, earning her diploma online through Penn Foster.

“I decided I was going to start doing my degree,” Roman said, adding she completed the work in one year, from March 2013 to March 2014. “I said, I got it.”

Next up was college.

“It’s never too late,” Roman remembered thinking at the time. “It’s my chance to do this now.”

She said she had been approved to start classes at Quinsigamond Community College in the fall 2014. In April that year, she found out she was pregnant with her fourth child, who was due in November.

“I sat down with someone [at QCC] and they said if you do start school, you’re going to have to stop, and with finals and every-

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

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Anh VuSawyer

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N O V E M B E R 21 - 28, 2018

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nh Vu Sawyer had been in the mountains on the northern tip of Vietnam in 2012 when she found out about a job in a place she had never heard of. She and her husband had been helping women banished from China make goods to sell in the villages at the foot of the mountain. But she was away from her family and had been traveling a lot.

She wanted to be back with her children. So she said she’d go take a look.

The job would have her working with refugees in Worcester.

“I’d never heard of Worcester,” said the 64-year-old Sawyer, who serves as the executive director of the Southeast Asian Coalition.

“I couldn’t even say ‘Worcester’ properly,” she said, adding with a laugh, “‘Worchester.’”

The day she met with the board of directors it was raining hard and terribly cold, she recalled.

“The board wanted me to take the job, but the place was just so depressing,” she recalled. “I drove around and saw a lot of buildings being boarded up, but I thought, ‘I’m going to have to go see the museum.’

If any city has a good library and a good museum, that city has a wonderful chance to thrive and I want to be a part of that.

“I went into Worcester Art Museum and the public library, and I emailed the board, and I said, ‘I’m in.’ These two places showed me the city cares enough for the arts, cares enough for reading and knowledge. The main library and Worcester Art Museum are so incredible. It’s such a treasure.”

Gone, but never forgotten, is Sawyer’s childhood growing up on the outskirts of Saigon. Her family was among those airlifted from the American Embassy in April 1975 at the end of the Vietnam War. She ultimately ended up in Chicago, went to Wheaton College and earned a full scholarship to Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich. She married her husband, Philip, whom she met in 1976, not long after arriving in the U.S., after college, despite her parents’ initial protestations over not marrying a Vietnamese man.

The two moved to Boston, and Sawyer became a buyer for Lord & Taylor, but Sawyer was driven by something else.

“Freedom is so important here,” she said. “I used to dream about being American because American people seemed to be all over the world.”

Then she learned of a company called People Express Airlines in New Jersey, providing low-cost flights to passengers.

“I thought, this is where I want to go to work for,” Sawyer said, “because their philosophy is they’re going to

provide low fares so low-income people, young people, can travel.”

The company ultimately merged with Continental Airlines, which later merged with United Airlines. Sawyer stayed on the job about 10 years.

By then, she was 35 and wanted to start a family (she now has three children). She took an early retirement and the family ended up in Colorado. There, Sawyer wrote a memoir, “Song of Saigon,” helped start an international baccalaureate program and started a nonprofit working with ethnic minorities.

Through it all, her thirst for freedom—and helping others achieve it—remained.

“All my life,” she said, “that hunger for freedom is so important, social justice, social good. Everything I do has that thread to it.”

That passion drove her to the highlands of North Vietnam to help women who had been kicked out of their villages in China because of the country’s one child policy. It is where, around 2010, Sawyer and her husband ultimately went to help them learn to make goods they could sell in the marketplaces at the foot of the mountain.

With the Southeast Asian Coalition, Sawyer and others help immigrants and refugees from all over—including Vietnam, Japan, Burma and other countries—with translation services, starting new businesses and much more.

She is, for example, quite proud of the group helping to increase the number of area Asian-Americans who voted in the 2016 presidential election. The work is done, she said, while helping immigrants and refugees maintain their cultural heritage.

The Coalition fields at least 12,000 visits per year, and reaches another 5,000 through outreach, Sawyer said.

She points to the Coalition’s youth program, which has about 150 registered youth and features a popular lion dance program she says has helped build confidence and boost the academic performance of its members.

According to Sawyer, 100 percent of the Coalitions youth members have graduated high school over the past six years, 100 percent going on to higher education.

Other initiatives include the annual Asian Festival and the Moon Festival in September. Sawyer also helped establish an exchange program with Worcester Art Museum and the Indochina Arts Partnership for two Vietnamese artists.

Sawyer remains enamored with the American way of life and the belief that people can and should be free to pursue their dreams. She draws on her early experiences for that.

“For Vietnamese,” she said, “fear controlled us. For Americans, they controlled fate. They lived life to their vest. I think that is the most luxurious, most decadent, most rich way to live your life. Not afraid. You live your life to the fullest at that very moment, not for yourself, but for all of us.”

– Walter Bird Jr.

culture

N O V E M B E R 21 - 28, 2018 ELIZABETH BROOKS

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

Glass works by Supercooled. Artists Tomo Sakai and Eric Cruse will be taking part in the Worcester Center for Crafts Holiday Festival of Crafts.

Read more on page 20.

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culture

Worcester Center for Crafts celebrates 50 years of Holiday Festival of Crafts JOSHUA LYFORD

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he Worcester Center for Crafts, 25 Sagamore Road, has long been a home for artists, crafters and makers. This year, the team celebrates 50 years of its annual Holiday Festival of Crafts, Friday-Sunday, Nov. 23-25, bringing area craft and art enthusiasts together for an alternative to post-Thanksgiving holiday buying.

“We did some looking back in our archives and the fairs and festivals that the center has produced over the last 50 years have all had the same purpose,” Worcester Center for Crafts Executive Director Honee Hess said. “That is to give people a chance to buy hand-crafted American work through an intensive several day experience, where they can meet the makers as well as choose through their inventory of handmade goods. Some of them have been outside, some have been under tents, and we’ve kind of brought it through all of that to having it in the craft center the day after Thanksgiving so that we’re actually populating all of our own spaces, which are makerspaces, with the product of these craft artists.”

While the events certainly bring attention to the craft center and its

Honee Hess, the executive director of the Worcester Center for Crafts, looks at scrapbook clippings of shows from the past.

ELIZABETH BROOKS

mission, it is the access to handmade goods and the individuals that create them that Hess and her team find most important.

“I think it adds value to the objects that people purchase to be able to ask questions about them and to have any insight into the reasons that they are still making by hand,” said Hess. “It gives them insight into the artist aesthetic, which if a person is interested in an an object, that means that they are drawn by that aesthetic. The other thing is that artists often are solitary, and so if you visited their studio, it might take you days and days and days going cross country to find the artist. We, in a sense, provide that public service of bringing all the artists here, so people within driving distance to Worcester can access 60 artists at a time simply by coming to the craft center.”

The center’s missions statement includes commitments to quality craft education, giving artists and artisans the ability to gain visibility, supporting entrepreneurship in the arts and promoting an appreciation for fine craft and handmade objects.

According to Hess, the annual fair is in direct support of this mission.

“This is very akin to our mission,” she said. “We want to inspire and build a creative community and this is our way of letting people on the outside know that community, participate in that community and find out what a real joy it is to appreciate and own handcraft.

The day after Thanksgiving, commonly known as Black Friday,

culture begins the yearly sales buildup to holiday gift purchases. The timing and nature of the Holiday Festival of Crafts provides area shoppers and enthusiasts an alternative to more traditional large-scale outlets.

“We see ourselves as the alternative, or the antidote, if you want to call it that, to the big box madness,” said Hess. “On Friday morning, we’ll have a line because people are anxious to get here. Then it’s at your own pace. We have a cafe on sight, we have free parking. It’s a really different way to shop.”

This year, the Craft Center will be packed with artists and makers, and according to Hess, should easily provide something for everyone.

“We have 60 artists,” she said.

“They range in what they do, from the guy who makes beeswax candles, to people who make wearable art to ceramic artists, to jewelers, to people who hand craft in paper and make frames and cards and all sorts of things. There really is something for everyone.”

Planning for the annual event is intensive and takes the entire year to map out. Artists and crafters are discovered largely through the cen-

ter’s own network, though they also use a website application.

“It is a whole year gear-up,” said Hess. “We usually have all the artists in place by late spring. We have an application on our website and we get a few people who just discover it but mostly it’s a network of talking to people, following up with artists.”

With so many artists, artisans and makers representing a vast umbrella of the arts, Hess said there aren’t any groups of people that won’t find something to enjoy in the Holiday Festival of Crafts.

“Every year that I’ve been here, I’m always surprised by how wide a swathe our audience is for the festival,” said Hess. “There are people who come every year. There are people where it’s a tradition with their mother, aunts, uncles. There are people who see the sign and think it’s interesting and just drop in.”

The Worcester Center for Crafts is located at 25 Sagamore Road. The Holiday Festival of Crafts runs Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m. 4 p.m. There is a $5 admission fee.

N O V E M B E R 21 - 28, 2018 WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

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culture Lyford Files JOSHUA LYFORD

GIVING THANKS: Why even mix up the subhead like that? Well, it was lazy, sure, but it seemed even lazier to just write “Thanksgiving,” no?

Whatever, in spite of the fact that the concept of Thanksgiving can give me fits if I think about it for too long, the actual day is one of my favorites of the year. Everyone has their own traditions and in my family, we drive up to New Hampshire to stuff our faces at my aunt and uncle’s house. In keeping with this column’s tradition, we’re going to do a little list here of some of my favorite family Thanksgiving traditions.

PLATE MANAGEMENT: This one is probably going to make

my family look like lunatics, but you know what? That’s fine. If you’ve met me, then you probably understand what I’m talking about. Something that is a big deal in my family and a huge topic of discussion every year is plate management. What does that mean, you ask? It’s how much food you can stack on your plate while maintaining a level of neatness. The goal is to stack food as high as you can while keeping everything separate. I am obviously a professional at this and my Uncle Mike is generally pretty impressed.

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N O V E M B E R 21 - 28, 2018

GUINNESS: This doesn’t just apply to Thanksgiving, but my uncle has Guinness on tap in his basement and I always get pumped up to pour a pint or four. There is a tiny yard just outside his little bar setup, and we like to slowly sip the delicious drink while making fun of the supremely-massive squirrels stealing bird seed from atop the snow. Ah, so nice.

VEGGIE FOOD: I’ve mentioned it in this column before, but I’ve been a vegetarian the vast majority of my life. When I was young, this was a great source of frustration and confusion for my family at Thanksgiving time. Not anymore, though. We’ve gotten into a nice rhythm and luckily there are always several pounds of mashed potatoes with my name on them. I also love green bean casserole and they always make me special stuffing. I’ve made a Tofurkey before, but my oven doesn’t work currently, so that’s out this year.

I’ll survive on potatoes, casserole, cranberry sauce, buns, roasted vegetables and whatever other delicious and enticing food I can’t currently think of.

POLITICS: Generally, I am not in favor of discussing politics at family events. I’ve known these people my entire lives and we all know where we stand and we are all stubborn as hell. On Thanksgiving, though, it’s totally different. It’s a relatively even split between conservatives and liberals which evens the playing field and the dining room is always insanely loud anyways, so rather than a dreary (and usually depressing) conversation, it’s more like a collection of carnival barkers shouting each other down over glasses of wine. Plus, there is an art form in interjecting your own opinion as soon as someone takes a mouthful of turkey and can’t defend their point of view. Mwahahaha, time those bites well ladies and gentlemen.

FALLING ASLEEP IN THE BASEMENT: Ah, the final

touch. For years I have eaten so many mashed potatoes, I inevitably fall asleep in the basement. It’s grown into a family joke and I love it. Finish food, help pick up, slink downstairs and throw a bunch of blankets over myself until someone wakes me up because they either need help with something, want to decry the press (I’m looking at you conservative family members) or it’s time to go home.

I tell ya what, I’m looking Joshua Lyford forward to it.

Culture editor @Joshachusetts

culture Lifestyle SARAH CONNELL

Potluck Fodder

Happy Thanksgiving! In honor of the holiday season, Jonathan Demoga of MamaRoux is sharing his popular Peanut Butter Pie recipe with Worcester Magazine’s readers.

Ingredients: 1 pre-baked chocolate cookie pie crust, homemade or store bought Filling: 1 cup creamy peanut butter 1 8-ounce package of cream cheese, cut into 8 pieces 1 cup of confectioners sugar 1 cup of heavy cream 1 tsp. salt 3 tbsp. molasses (Demoga uses Brer Rabbit brand) 1 tsp. vanilla Garnishes: Whipped Cream, homemade or store bought ¼ cup toasted, chopped, and sifted peanuts Thick chocolate syrup, homemade or store bought Dark chocolate bar

It’s a Miracle

Essentials

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It seems like every yoga girl I know is hyping that essential oil life. I sat down with Jane Grant of doTERRA this week to find out what it was all about. My first question was, “What exactly do you do with them, anyways?” Turns out, with proper instruction, you can diffuse them, ingest them, rub them on your skin, sniff them, or even bathe in them. Grant explained that a lot of doTERRA enthusiasts use essential oils to manage important aspects of their their physical and mental health. If you’re hoping to hop on those oils, you can visit mydoterra.com/janeSarah Connell grant. contributing writer

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

For the second year in a row, The Citizen will transform into a Christmasthemed pop-up bar draped in yuletide décor complete with wintry cocktails served in holiday glassware. ‘Miracle at the Citizen!’ will open daily at 4:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 23 to Monday, Dec. 31.

N O V E M B E R 21 - 28, 2018

MamaRoux’s Preparation: If you have a stand mixer, this is a great time to use it; if not, no worries, you can get away with a hand mixer or quite a bit of elbow grease and determination. Using the whisk attachment for the stand mixer, beat cream to STIFF peaks. Transfer to another larger bowl and set aside. Alternately, whip cream using hand mixer or wire whisk until same result is achieved. Now, fit the mixer with the paddle attachment.

Add peanut butter, cream cheese, confectioners sugar, salt, molasses and vanilla to the bowl. Beat this mixture until smooth and well combined for about three minutes on medium speed. If you are not using a stand mixer, you can do this with an electric hand mixer or with a wooden spoon and lots of fervor. (Expect your hand to go numb at least once.) Now, you should have one bowl of whipped cream and one bowl of peanut butter-cream cheese.

Take the peanut butter mixture out of the stand and add it to a large regularshaped bowl. Using a rubber spatula, take about one-third of the whipped cream and fold it into the peanut butter mixture. I like to use one hand to rotate the bowl about 90 degrees while using the spatula to fold up and under. Do this until all the cream is incorporated and no more white streaks remain. Do not overmix or your pie won’t be light and silky. Pour mixture evenly into chocolate cookie crust and refrigerate overnight. Top pie with whipped cream, chocolate sauce, toasted peanuts and chocolate shavings formed by taking a vegetable peeler to that dark chocolate bar. Serves six to eight.

culture Mezcal Does Volume 30 Major Taylor Blvd., Worcester • 508-926-8308 • mezcalcantina.com SANDRA RAIN

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M

ezcal Tequila Cantina is not the place you go to find age-old family recipes for Mexican cuisine.

But it’s not bad, either.

The restaurant is conveniently located on the ground floor of a parking lot, and it looks that way. Deep booths and concrete floors swallow up the enormous Mezcal Cantina’s guacamole space, flanked by blue and flights are made to order. white glass orbs that dangle overhead. Caged fixtures cast a bright light on diners sprawled out on the floral printed upholstery. It is not uncommon to see a bridal party stumbling in from a nearby venue. A post-concert rush is inevitable if there’s an event at the DCU. Conference goers flock from the hotel across the street when the evening keynote lets out. If Liam Neeson showed up after a long day of shooting, I wouldn’t feel sheepish about what Mezcal has going on. There’s a mutual understanding that Mezcal is built for volume.

Drinks arrive in heavy, angular glassware, some of which hang precariously overhead at the bar. The bar itself wraps around to a rear kitchen entryway with doors on either side. Portraits of two lucha libre wrestlers grace both vestibules, causing confusion about whether or not it is a restroom. The staff keeps a playful tally of how many customers attempt to barge into the back of house each evening. Most nights, they estimate, it’s around 30.

Guacamole flights are prepared fresh to order in a variety of styles (three for $14.50). The “Mediterranean” is my favorite, made with sun-dried tomatoes, feta, kalamata olives, fresh herbs, garlic and olive oil. The “rooster” contains candied pineapple that I find too sweet, but I relish the toasted coconut, black beans and Sriracha sauce that come along with it. “Crunchy” is also a winner, packed with pepitas, smoked almonds, diced jicama and fried corn nuts. And, while I’ve never felt moved to order the Almond Joy guacamole, there could come a day.

If you aren’t a guacarino, there’s always the queso fundido with bacon ($10.50), in which case a platter of baked Mexican cheeses will arrive with grilled tortillas and housemade chips in a variety of eye-popping colors.

The queso isn’t liquified as one might expect; think of it as a deconstructed quesadilla complete with roasted tomatoes and jalapenos. Your server will ask for a preference of corn or flour. The corn tortillas are best.

Tacos are varied and should be mixed and matched. The grilled octopus ($7) is never chewy, served with charred poblano salsa, potato sticks and a paprika aioli that is as smoky as it is tangy. The chili verde pork ($5) is the best bang for your buck, in my opinion, served with refried beans, pickled onions and a cilantro crema. The fried haddock ($4.50) is forgettable, made with a spicy habañero slaw, preserved lemon tartar and fresh cilantro. The chef ’s special changes regularly, and it’s always worth inquiring about. Right now, it comes with chewy bits of shaved steak, shiitake mushrooms and plantains.

Carnitas tostadas ($14) are a pleasant surprise on the list of house specialties, served with crispy pork carnitas, poblano, refried beans, mole Amarillo, apple green chili salsa, queso mixto and chili crema. There’s a certain pop of sweetness hidden in the heat that renders this dish distinctly memorable.

I’ll be the first to say Mezcal’s two greatest assets are the margs ($8 house) and the validated parking. I will be back again and again on account of Mezcal’s reliable service, convenience and predictability.

On my last visit with three friends, our total came to $111.82.

Explanation of Stars: Ratings are from zero to five. Zero is not recommended.

One is poor. Two is fair. Three is satisfactory. Four is good. Five is excellent.

Food: HHH Ambience: HHH Service: HHHH Value: HHH

culture Thanks for Gaga, Grinch and Mookie

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t’s Thanksgiving, time to take stock. So let’s cut to the chase.

I’m thankful …

That the fictional Ron Howard-directed war movie depicted in NBC’s “This Is Us” isn’t an actual movie, because it looks terrible.

That Ken Olin is an executive producer on “This is Us.” Olin, who starred as the perpetually unhappy ad exec/husband/dad in the late 1980s series “thirtysomething,” knows his way around upper-middle-class angst like he constructed the concept in his personal workshop. Yeah, TIU can get sloppy, but I suspect Olin dabs at the edges with a terry cloth rag before the show drowns in its own sentimentality.

That I have a week for my hair to fill in before attending my grammar school reunion. I was just on the receiving end of a haircut that … well … let’s just say my former classmates from St. Matthew’s Elementary will be amazed to learn they once attended school with Tintin.

That someone in this universe — OK, it’s Bradley Cooper — is cool enough to piss down his leg at the Grammys and still have Lady Gaga pine for him. Cooper pulled off the feat in “A Star is Born.” I’m not sure anyone else circa 2018 gets it done.

That as a singer-turned-actress, Gaga is more Barbra Streisand than Madonna.

That “Bohemian Rhapsody” is driving audiences to check out Queen’s legendary 1985 set at Live Aid. The YouTube video I recently watched (there are several) of their performance has clocked in at 91-plus million views.

That the $110-plus million domestic box office for “Bohemian Rhapsody,” despite tepid reviews, proves film critics are irrelevant creatures whose opinions are routinely ignored. Nah, just kidding. We are critical components for a smoothly functioning society.

That Showcase Cinemas Worcester North persists. While the theaters in White City, Webster Square, Lincoln Plaza and downtown were shuttered, Showcase North keeps plugging as the only Cineplex in the city. As with movie theaters everywhere, attendance has diminished thanks to competing digital platforms supplying enough home-entertainment content to choke Godzilla. But it’s clean, the staff are friendly, and I’ve seen hundreds of movies there. It’s my neighborhood cinema.

That Mookie Betts won the American League MVP trophy. In my lifetime, the three players for whom I would never leave the room while they batted: Yaz, Ortiz, Betts.

That my mother’s assisted-living facility is charging residents’ family members $18 apiece for Thanksgiving dinner, because I don’t have enough to bitch about.

That letters to the editor aren’t much of a thing anymore, so I don’t have to read the bitter complaints of Worcester residents whose leaves weren’t collected before the first snowfall.

That the popular success of “Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch” proves yet again the good doctor’s signature creation only works in animation (sorry, Jim Carrey). The original 1966 version, of course, is unassailable. The decision to have Boris Karloff narrate the story was brilliant, and will be forever.

That every time an unemployed actor who would be an embarrassment in a community theater production of “Our Town” lands the starring role in a Hallmark Christmas movie, an angel gets its wings.

That the season presents me with another opportunity to revisit Ebenezer Scrooge. I don’t even care who’s playing him — Alastair Sim, George C. Jim Keogh Scott, or Mr. Magoo. contributing writer

culture

Adoption option

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W O R C E S T E R M A G A Z I N E . C O M N O V E M B E R 21 - 28, 2018

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.

Ah, calicos – such beautiful markings and such cat-itude. They know they’re beautiful and expect to be worshipped. A woman found Smudge on the street, took her home, and Smudge immediately tried to persuade the woman to keep her and give away her toddler.

Calicos and torties usually want to be your only pet, so they can have your full attention, and they don’t appreciate you spending too much time taking care of young kids. Smudge likes being with people.

She’s not a fan of being picked up without her permission, but she tolerates being scooped up with one hand and moved to a new spot.

Smudge wants to be near you and likes food and toys. She’s fine with older kids, because they can read her expressions. If you’re looking for a companion more than a lap cat, come meet Smudge. Smudge is 1-2 years old and her adoption fee is $145.

calendar Wednesday, Nov. 21 Brown Bag Concert: The Laszlo Gardony Trio

Mechanics Hall, 321 Main St. The internationally-acclaimed jazz pianist and composer, Laszlo Gardony, performs at Mechanics Hall.

Wednesday, Nov. 21 A Wormtown Thanksgiving feat.

Zach Deputy & The Yankees The Palladium, 261 Main St. This all-ages show kicks off at 8 p.m. and features Zach Deputy & The Yankees.

Friday-Sunday, Nov. 23-25 Holiday Festival of Crafts 2018

Worcester Center for Crafts, 25 Sagamore Road Three days of crafts, art and makers at the Worcester Center for Crafts. Read more in this week’s story.

Friday-Sunday, Nov. 23-25 The Nutcracker

The Hanover Theatre, 2 Southbridge St. The beloved Nutcracker ballet heads to the Hanover Theatre. This is the only Massachusetts Nutcracker outside of Boston to feature a full orchestra.

American Antiquarian Society, 185 Salisbury St. A lecture by Christine DeLucia revisiting Native American and colonial encounters in the 17th-century Northeast.

The Score

Round-Up

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The Massachusetts Pirates have signed former Oklahoma defensive lineman Charles Walker and come to terms with fullback Quayvon Hicks, formerly of the Columbus Lions, for the 2019 season.

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

Worcester Railers: Wednesday, Nov. 14 The Railers (4-8-1-0), playing at home in front of a crowd of more than 6,000 in a special morning game for school kids, beat the Reading Royals, 3-2, in a shootout.

Thursday, Nov. 15 The Railers improved to 5-8-1-0 on the season with their second straight shootout win, this time a 2-1 victory over the Adirondack Thunder (10-40-1) at home.

Saturday, Nov 17 The Railers (6-8-1-0) won their third straight, 5-1, knocking off the visiting Orlando Solar Bears.

Sunday, Nov. 18 The Railers’ (6-8-2-0)modest three-game wins streak came to an end in a 4-3 overtime loss at home against the Solar Bears.

(Upcoming: The Railers finish off a fivegame homestand against the Manchester Monarchs Friday, then head out on the road to take on the Brampton Beast Sun-

day, Nov. 25 and Tuesday, Nov. 27.)

Worcester Blades: Saturday, Nov. 17 The Blades fell to the Montreal Les Canadiennes, 5-0, at the DCU Center.

Sunday, Nov. 18 Playing at home at Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center, the Railers fell again to Les Canadiennes, this time 9-0.

Worcester 78’s: Sunday, Nov. 11 The 78’s (2-0) dethroned the Elite Kings on the road, 133-123.

Saturday, Nov. 17 On the road again, the 78’s (2-1) came up short against the Bronx Flames, 121-108.

(Upcoming: The 78’s battle the ATC Cardinals on the road Saturday, Nov. 24.)

N O V E M B E R 21 - 28, 2018

Tuesday, Nov. 27 Landscapes of Resistance and Resilience after King Philip’s War

games “Cast of Characters”--all with the help of one person.

by Matt Jones

J O N E S I N’ Across 1 4 7 10 13 14 15 16 17 19 20 21 22

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25 27 28 30 31 32 34 35 39 40 42 43 45 46 47 48 50 51 54 56 58 61 62 63 65 66 67

Celebrity news site “___ the season” Site for some trivia events “So frustrating ...”

Sugarloaf Mountain locale Coach Parseghian Make up stuff Mauna ___ (Hawaiian volcano) Character co-created by 63-Across Abbr. on toothpaste boxes ___-Wan Kenobi Sasha’s older sister Character co-created by 63-Across “Here, I’ll get that” Auguries “Canterbury Tales” site Great Lake name Borrow (forever) Starts to drop off Dir. of this clue “Incorrect” Group of characters cocreated by 63-Across With “The,” character cocreated by 63-Across Character co-created by 63-Across Mexican blanketlike shawl Round fig.

Recording Quit being serious Open a little Important Colorado resort town Create cartoons Character co-created by 63-Across Hands out hands He did Solo work Bird bill Late comics maven whose career spanned eight decades “Foucault’s Pendulum” author Umberto Sport ___ (4x4) Cassis-and-white wine cocktail

68 69 70 71 72

December 31, e.g.

Court partition It gets steamrollered Magic 8-Ball response Liquor flavored with juniper

Down 1 Quick haircut 2 Actress Sorvino 3 Ben Stiller character with signature looks 4 Dish served in cornhusks 5 Glass on the radio 6 Sub, e.g.

7 Lean on the horn 8 Assistant 9 Digital data display 10 Mitt 11 ABC host Roberts 12 Train tracks 18 Zero, in rugby 23 Patriotic memorabilia 24 Former Cowboy Smith 26 Emulated Cicero 28 “Need You Tonight” group 29 1890s gold rush city 31 Two-letter pair 33 Moved sinuously 36 Get going 37 “I don’t want that”

38 “The Book of Mormon” co-creator Parker 41 Ballet great Vaslav 44 Pesto ingredient 49 Detection methods 51 Beyond pale 52 First word of a “Star Trek” opener 53 Wine variety 54 “Late Night with Seth Meyers” writer/performer Ruffin 55 Pin in the back 57 EGOT winner Moreno 59 Jeans maker Strauss 60 Noticed 64 Knot up

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!

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Last week's solution

Call 978-728-4302 or email sales@centralmassclass.com today to place your ad here! ©2018 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com) Reference puzzle #911

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Sudoku Answers

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION HIGHWAY DIVISION NOTICE OF A PUBLIC INFORMATIONAL MEETING Project File No. 609226 A Public Informational Meeting will be held by MassDOT to discuss the proposed Kelley Square Improvement Project in Worcester, MA. WHERE: Worcester Academy Performance Center 14 Marion Avenue Worcester, MA 01604 WHEN: Wednesday, December 5, 2018 @ 6:00 pm (snow date December 6, 2018) PURPOSE: The purpose of this meeting is to provide the public with the opportunity to become fully acquainted with the proposed Kelley Square Improvement Project. All views and comments made at the meeting will be reviewed and considered to the maximum extent possible.

PROPOSAL: Kelley Square poses a number of safety risks for pedestrians, bicyclists, and motor vehicles. There were 403 reported crashes between January 2013 and December 2016, including 1 fatality. Twenty-one of these crashes involved pedestrians and five involved bicyclists. This project will address the safety and operational deficiencies faced by all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists, while also supporting the local businesses and residents who call Kelley Square their home.

A secure right-of-way is necessary for this project. Acquisitions in fee and permanent or temporary easements may be required. The City is responsible for acquiring all needed rights in private or public lands. MassDOT’s policy concerning land acquisitions will be discussed at this meeting.

Written views received by MassDOT subsequent to the date of this notice and up to five (5) days prior to the date of the meeting shall be displayed for public inspection and copying at the time and date listed above. Plans will be on display one-half hour before the meeting begins, with an engineer in attendance to answer questions regarding this project. A project handout will be made available on the MassDOT website listed below.

Written statements and other exhibits in place of, or in addition to, oral statements made at the Public Informational Meeting regarding the proposed undertaking are to be submitted to Patricia A. Leavenworth, P.E., Chief Engineer, MassDOT, 10 Park Plaza, Boston, MA 02116, Attention: Roadway Project Management, Project File No. 609226. Such submissions will also be accepted at the meeting. Mailed statements and exhibits intended for inclusion in the public meeting transcript must be postmarked within ten (10) business days of this Public Informational Meeting. Project inquiries may be emailed to kelleysqproj.worcester@dot.state.ma.us This location is accessible to people with disabilities. MassDOT provides reasonable accommodations and/or language assistance free of charge upon request (including but not limited to interpreters in American Sign Language and languages other than English, open or closed captioning for videos, assistive listening devices and alternate material formats, such as audio tapes, Braille and large print), as available. For accommodation or language assistance, please contact MassDOT’s Chief Diversity and Civil Rights Officer by phone (857-368-8580), fax (857-368-0602), TTD/TTY (857368-0603) or by email (MassDOT.CivilRights@dot.state.ma.us). Requests should be made as soon as possible prior to the meeting, and for more difficult to arrange services including sign-language, CART or language translation or interpretation, requests should be made at least ten (10) business days before the meeting.

In case of inclement weather, meeting cancellation announcements will be posted on the internet at http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/Highway/ JONATHAN GULLIVER PATRICIA A. LEAVENWORTH, P.E. HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATOR CHIEF ENGINEER

last call

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Wayne Haddad auto detailer W ayne Haddad can see it now. You’re driving to grandma’s house with a 20-pound Thanksgiving turkey buckled into the front seat of your car when you get stuck slamming on the breaks. The bird lurches forward, spattering stuffing all over the windshield.

The interior of your vehicle soaks up every last drop of gravy. But all hope is not lost. Haddad Auto Detail is at your beck and call on Harding Street in Worcester.

Haddad has been in business well over 30 years. In that time, he has become the local authority on automotive detailing and the resident expert on cosmetic care and maintenance when it comes to motor vehicles. He takes particular pride in servicing family cars.

This year, Haddad is working tirelessly to bring his business into the digital age by elevating his social media presence. You can follow Haddad Auto Detail on Facebook for future updates and promotions.

What was the detailing business like back then? I rented three or four garages beginning in ’78. We started with mostly dealer cars. A wholesaler would bring us 10 trade-ins every week, we’d clean them, he’d take them to the auction on Fridays. This is a relatively unknown business.

People still don’t understand what it’s about. They say, “Oh yeah, it’s just vacuuming.” Then when they come back, they say, “I can’t believe it’s the same car.” We fix the little rust spots. We buff out scratches. People are amazed.

You can see it. Some people are just flabbergasted.

Have things changed a lot? It’s hard to get the money that we deserve now because there are so many other little guys out there.

They don’t have insurance. They don’t have the $30,000 drains required to protect the environment. Most people think that anybody can get a vacuum and a buffer and a bucket and detail a car. There are people doing this with no training. Nobody knows how to do it like me.

How do people end up at your shop? There are a lot of accidenHow did your business get tal reasons people end up here. started? I always liked cleaning In the cold weather, people come and making things look good. in when mice get into their cars; My brother got me into cars, he Are there other common misit’s common for them to get into was older than me. When I was conceptions about what you do? the heating system. People come 10, he was 19, driving Corvettes.

A lot of people think automobile before turning in their lease when I had mini-bikes growing up and detailing means pinstripes and they don’t want to get charged for I was always riding in the woods. initials on the door, but it has cleaning or dents and scratches.

School was a struggle from kinvery little to do with adding We get guys going out on dates. dergarten all the way up through things onto your car. This is deep We hear from people when their college. I’ve always been hands cleaning. I think the newer genboss is coming to town and on. I managed to finish my assoeration finally understands. wants to go for a ride along. This ciate’s degree and I worked for my morning, a woman was driving brother at a body shop for eight Is your car really clean? It’s her son to school and he opened months. A couple of guys cleaned decent. a soda and it went all over the cars in his garage. Back in the interior. Most people can’t clean day, you kept a car for three years What’s the next step for this cloth seats. The minute you spill and got rid of it. Now, people keep business? Every city should have a drink, it goes into the foam. cars longer and run them up to a shop like this.

That whole soda or whatever 200,000 miles. you spilled gets sucked up like a sponge.

How often should people have their cars detailed? It’s best if you stay on top of it and bring your car in every two to three months for maintenance. Otherwise, It’s like waiting three years to clean your house. People don’t mind spending money to get their houses cleaned. This is just as important.

ELIZABETH BROOKS

spare tire and when we looked down, we could see beet juice leaking behind the seat, under the back seat, and under the back carpet all the way up to the front of the vehicle. We had to take the whole interior out, wash everything and replace things. We put it all back together.

What is the best part about your job? I just love watching Have you done any interesting people’s faces when they see their jobs lately? We had one guy put cars. something in the back of his vehicle, a tractor tire. Tractor tires — Sarah Connell have liquid in them to make them heavy. It’s actually beet juice they put in the tires because it doesn’t freeze. Something broke the stem.

So four gallons of that beet juice was leaking out. They thought it was just in the cargo area. I popped out the inside by the

There’s clean, and then there’s ENTERPRISE clean.

Specializing in Commercial and Residential Emergency Cleaning.

FLOOD

It’s very important to act quickly after a flood occurs. The environment of a flooded area is the perfect breeding ground for bacteria and mold. There are a variety of reasons which cause flooding, and it can strike at any time. We’ll be here 24/7, with certified technicians ready to assist you. Contact us, and we’ll be able to efficiently restore your property.

FIRE RESTORATION

A fire can be unexpected and devastating to your home or business. Your property will most likely suffer fire and smoke damage, sometimes water damage may even be present. By quickly contacting us, you can prevent further damage. With our certified technicians, we’ll take care of restoring your property to its pre-fire condition.

MOLD REMEDIATION

Mold can grow anywhere with moisture, high humidity, and low ventilation. Mold oftentimes goes undetected. If an extremely high level of mold is present, health problems such as allergic reactions, headaches, and difficulty in breathing may occur. If you suspect your property is affected by mold, contact us and our certified technicians will be able to assess your property for mold.

Lead poisoning can be a serious and damaging issue, sometimes leading to death. Even though lead paint hasn’t been used since 1978, properties built before then may still harbor lead. If you suspect your property contains lead paint, be sure to contact us as soon as possible. We’ll test your property and be sure to remove any lead detected.

Cleaning and Restoration Corporation

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370 Main St, Worcester | 508-890-1000 | enterprisecleaningcorp.com

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LEAD REMOVAL

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