March 2010

covering the Fenway, Kenmore Square, upper BacK Bay, prudential, longwood area & miSSion hill Since 1974 volume 36, numBer 3 FeBruary 26-april 1 2010
“Comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable”
MARCH 2010 | fRee
WWW.feNWAYNeWS.oRg
Hawk, the Herald Angel Preens!
After 15 years, Park Drive resident Steve Chase is used to the red-tailed hawk that’s
been perching on the balcony railing outside his window since he moved to the
neighborhood. The bird not only doesn’t mind having its picture taken—it seems
downright curious about what goes on in Chase’s apartment. “It’s completely
unafraid of me so long as we’re separated by the glass,” he says.“I used to tiptoe,
afraid of scaring it away, but s/he’s quite curious and will sit on the balcony less
than three feet from my desk and watch me, sometimes for several hours.”
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On February 22, dozens of students and West Fens residents listened to senior
architecture and planning students at Wentworth Institute of Technology explain
their ideas for a radical redevelopment of the West Fens. Professors X, Y, and Z
gave the assignment as part of a semester-long senior project that focuses on the
neighborhood and gives students a chance to grapple with real-world planning and
design issues. For more on the presentation, see the commentary on page 4.
A Diferent Look for Fens of the Future
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by Stephen brophy
I
t’s tough for a nonproft organization to
select a new leader. The organization
has to gear up for a lengthy process of
soliciting applications, reviewing them,
conducting interviews, and then—toughest of
all—choosing among excellent fnalists.
But many nonprofts also take the point
of transition as an opportunity to reconsider
their make-up, think about how they might
work differently, and consider where they’re
headed—before they post a single want
ad. The Fenway Community Development
Corporation (FCDC) has just gone through
this process, and its energetic new director,
Dharmena Downey, started work on Monday,
February 22.
In announcing Downey’s appointment,
the CDC’s board—residents elected by the
group’s several hundred members at its annual
meeting—offered an impressive list of her
accomplishments: interim executive director
and former chief operating offcer at Asian
CDC in Chinatown; current board chair at
Neighborhood of Affordable Housing, a CDC
in East Boston; former director of housing for
the City of Somerville; and executive director
of the Marblehead Arts Association. She
resides in Gloucester.
Downey began a recent interview with
The Fenway News by stressing that she arrives
knowing a lot about her new employer. “I’ve
known [frst FCDC Executive Director] Mat
Thall for more than 20 years, and [second ED]
Barbara Burnham is one of my closest friends.
Carl [Nagy-Koechlin, the FCDC’s third chief,
who left last summer] and I had a brief overlap
in Somerville.”
Downey grew up in Michigan, outside
of Ann Arbor, the second of six children. “It
was the kind of community in which, if we
misbehaved, our parents would get a call. But
by Stephen brophy
I
t’s been quite a 14-month-ride for Monty
Gold since the building he owns on
Peterborough Street was destroyed by an
electrical fre. The building housed six
very popular restaurants, including Thornton’s
Grill, Sorrento’s, Greek Isles and El Pelon, a
taquería known citywide. Everyone wanted
to know when their favorite food place would
reopen, making Gold—a modest real estate
developer who shuns the spotlight—the center
to already had the Fenway in their sights and
were looking for a way to do something here.
“But the size was an issue for most of
the larger companies. Marriot told us that
they’d be happy to work with us if we gave
them a minimum of 100 rooms, but that’s just
not in the cards. We have had several smaller
companies that say they can make a go of it
with 36, or maybe 48 rooms.” Gold is wary
of the larger size because it would add to the
cost of construction. “Among other things,
we are going to have to sink new pilings to
support the new building, and that would be
more expensive if they had to support the extra
weight of a sixth foor.”
Gold imagines that a small luxury hotel—
even the smaller rooms in his plans are bigger
than those offered by most mid-range hotels—
will attract a diverse clientele. “We will have
people stay here to be close to the hospitals
in Longwood Medical Area. The nearness
of Fenway Park will certainly draw people.
And people could choose to stay here because
it’s in walking distance of the museums and
Symphony Hall.”
Gold also imagines putting the resources
already in the neighborhood to work to
attract customers. “I’d like each foor to have
a different style, and maybe we could have
art work from the local schools on the walls,
art that the hotel customers could buy,” he
enthused.
Response so far has been cautiously
positive. For example, The Boston Courant
reported on Gold’s plans last week and quoted
Fenway Civic Association President Bill
Richardson as saying “If that’s what he feels
is the best use for that property, I’ll go for it....
We’re just anxious to get something going
there.” Gold is scheduled to present his plans
to the Fenway CDC early in March.
still we had room to roam and the freedom to
use it. The world felt much safer then. I didn’t
live in a place where we locked our front doors
until I was 25.”
She got interested in the issue of housing
because her career path led her to see it as
basic to the lives of children—more basic than
what she had been doing. “I studied to be a
media ethicist, focused on the physical and
psychological impact of media on children.
I was a lobbyist for Action for Children’s
Television, but it got really hard to talk about
children and media when I could see that the
biggest issues facing familes were housing and
jobs. And who was having the most success
working on these issues? CDCs.”
Downey brings experience working for
both “the CDC side and the municipal side” to
her new position. As the City of Somerville’s
director of housing, she was concerned with
funding and policy, writing legislation, and
doing whatever it takes to create and preserve
affordable housing. “I learned to ask ‘what
is HUD [U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development Department] looking
for? How do we shape policy from the ground
up to meet policy from the top down?’ I was
learning to play the game from both sides.”
She also asserts that “I’m really glad that
I worked in government because it changed
my ideas about who they are and how they
operate. I know that governments are flled
with people of talent, commitment, and good
will. But I still think that people in their
neighborhoods know best. Even when they
don’t agree with each other.”
Asked what she wants to do frst
in her new position, she says her “frst
order of business is to get grounded in the
organization, assuring that the staff is happy
and that internal needs are being met. I
need to get more familiar with the potential
of a lot of attention.
The attention isn’t going away. Last No-
vember, worried about a lack of movement
toward rebuilding, City Councilor Mike Ross
called Gold and his partners into Ross’s of-
fce, basically sequestering them until they
had resolved their differences and could start
planning for the future. Gold recently told The
Fenway News that he and two of the partners
have since bought out the fourth.
Now he is the center of attention again—
this time because he has fled notice with the
Boston Redevelopment Authority that he plans
to build a small hotel on the site, with space
on the frst two foors for businesses similar to
(ideally, identical with) those that were burnt
out. Gold met with The Fenway News editor
at the Boylston Street Burger King on Febru-
ary 22 to show architectural renderings of the
project and talk about the future. He empha-
sized that this was basically a “frst draft” of
his plan, and that many things could change.
The fve-story building would be roughly
60 feet high, putting it well within the range
of existing zoning for the site. Gold envisions
three foors of hotel rooms atop the restau-
rants, with twelve rooms per foor ranging
from 382 to 661 square feet. The ground foor
would have eight business spaces; Gold hopes
most of the businesses would also rent space
on the second foor. But as a backup to that
plan he envisions two larger restaurants occu-
pying about 2,500 square feet apiece.
“These would not be high-end
restaurants,” Gold said, “but places with prices
within the affordability range of the people
who already live here” in the West Fens. He
believes that the hotel patrons would also
appreciate the range of cuisine available in the
building’s establishments, especially if it as as
varied as what was there before the fre.
He has been in touch with four of the six
original restaurant owners and is guardedly
optimistic that those four will return. When
his plans have frmed up more, he plans to
contact the others.
One of Gold’s partners has been
contacting hotel chains, small and large, to
explore the feasibility of this idea and fnd a
management company willing to take it on.
“We only got one negative comment,” Gold
remembers. “Most of the people we talked
restaurant row owner Sets rebuilding plans in motion
developments that are on the table, and pay
attention to the properties that need to be
remortgaged. We need to do that in such a way
that we preserve affordable housing.”
Down the road she sees that the job will
entail as much effort on preservation as on
new housing production. “I like the art of the
deal,” she says, but “we need to make sure
that our operations are strong and can be
sustained.” She is very enthusiastic about the
special qualities of the Fenway, especially its
concentration of institutions. “We should be
using the arts as a community development
tool,” she opines, “and make sure that the
physical resources of the Fenway are used for
the enjoyment of the people of the Fenway.
“In a few years we will be celebrating the
40th anniversary of the founding of FCDC.
How can we use that celebration to increase
the awareness of our Fenway residents, of the
issues that impinge on their lives? How do
we develop our neighborhood in a way that
insures the thriving of both the institutions
and the residents?” By asking such questions,
Dharmena Downey makes it more likely for
solutions to such conficts to be found.
FCDC Welcomes Its New Director, Dharmena Downey
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BRA WAves HospitAls tHRougH AppRovAl pRocess
Two hospitals in the LMA recently won BRA approval for expansion plans. In the
more straightforward project, Children’s Hospital won approval to add 80,000 square feet
and up to 50 inpatient beds to its main building. Te agency also gave Brigham & Women’s
Hospital a green light for its Institutional Master Plan, buried within which lay a complex
and contested plan to build more than 600,000 square feet of new space on the 2.7-acre
site that housed the Mass. Mental Health Center until 2003. Full redevelopment, phased
in over roughly 12 years, will yield clinics, housing, lab space, ofces, parking, and some
community space. Te plan yokes the hospital to the state’s Department of Mental Health,
which will occupy parts of two buildings erected in the frst phase. With the hospital as
developer, the state avoids outlays but gets the beneft of longterm use of the buildings;
the hospital, in turn, gets a 95-year lease on the state-owned site and gets to develop two
other buildings, one of which will include a signifcant amount of afordable housing and be
operated by the Roxbury Tenants of Harvard. Te project faced opposition from community
groups, including Fenway Civic Assocation, which objected to the size of the later-phase
buildings: they will cast shadows on the Riverway, which lies just west of the development.
Demolition could begin as soon as this spring, according to the website archboston.org.
gRAmmy AWARds RAin doWn on mAss Ave
Tey were doing the musician’s version of those goofy end-zone dances over at Berklee
last month in the wake of the 52nd Grammy awards ceremony, where six of the school’s
alumni/ae walked of with awards. Miles Walker, a 2003 graduate, won a Grammy in the
Best Contemporary R&B Album category for mixing/engineering Beyoncé’s I Am... Sasha
Fierce. Diana Krall ’83 won in the Best Classical Crossover Album category for performing
on Yo-Yo Ma & Friends: Songs of Joy and Peace. Vinnie Colaiuta ’75 won in the Best Jazz
Instrumental Album, Individual Or Group category for her performance on Five Peace
Band—Live, by Chick Corea & John McLaughlin Five Peace Band.
Te late Joe Zawinul ’59 won in the Best Contemporary Jazz Album category for
Te Zawinul Syndicate’s 75. Omar Vivoni, also a 2003 grad, won in the Best Latin Rock,
Alternative Or Urban Album category for engineering Calle 13’s Los De Atras Vienen
Conmigo. And Levon Helm, who attended Berklee for one semester in 1972, won in the Best
Americana Album category for Electric Dirt.
Tese awards bring the total that Berklee alumni have received to 182.
Just down the block, the BSO’s recording of Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloé also won a
Grammy, this one for Orchestral Performance. Te award marks a frst Grammy for a
recording on the BSO Classics label, the orchestra’s home-grown recording initiative. No
word from the BSO press ofce on cumulative Grammy totals; the organization may use
other criteria to measure its worth.
t’s cApitAl plAn offeRs AnotHeR cHAnce to suppoRt tHe #55 Bus
Tere’s still time to weigh in on the MBTA’s fve-year capital spending plan. A
draft version of the plan—called CIP, for Capital Investment Program—is available for
review at www.mbta.com/about_the_mbta/fnancials/?id=1052. It covers spending on
infrastructure and vehicles needed to keep the system running or to upgrade it from 2011
through 2015. Tis isn’t really the place for declaring your undying support for the #55
bus. But you could recommend new buses for the route, or suggest that the T look into
running smaller buses on the #55 and other routes whose passenger counts drop outside
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Congratulations to the Fenway High girls basketball team for winning the Boston
North title. On February 17, the Panthers went up against Burke for the city league
championship, but lost the game 66-62. Under coach Steve Drayton, the Panthers
ended the regular season with a 14-5 record.
Fenway HigH girls reacH city Hoop playoFFs
of rush hour. You can also choose to discuss anything else in the system, from the Green
Line to commuter rail service to Te Ride to the ferries in Boston Harbor. Te T will hold a
public hearing on the CIP at the State Transportation Building on Wednesday, March 3, in
Conference Rooms 2 and 3; it will run from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. You can also submit comments
without going to the hearing (deadline for submitting them is March 5) by e-mailing
[email protected] or writing the MBTA Budget Ofce, 10 Park Plaza, Boston, MA 02116.
RyAn lAndRy mAkes His motHeR cRy
For someone whose career involves faunting rules, grossing out audiences, and
generally thumbing his nose at society, Ryan Landry isn’t the frst person you’d expect to
see snagging a prestigious playwriting award. Yet there he was last month on the list of
Huntington Playwriting Fellows for 2010. Te two-year fellowship brings a modest stipend
and regular meetings with the other fellows to critque work. More to the point, fellows
receive the imprimatur of one of the country’s top regional theatre companies, which can
open doors. Fenway residents have watched Landry open doors (and slam them—there can
be a lot of overwrought door-slamming in a Landry show) ever since he and his theatrical
troupe, the Gold Dust Orphans, set up shop at Machine nightclub underneath the Ramrod
(or, as Landry likes to call it, Te Ramrod Center for the Performing Arts).
Landry’s audience, once almost entirely gay, has grown increasingly mixed over the
last decade as serious theatre fans, Globe critics, and even thrill-seeking suburbanites have
embraced his punnily named shows (on the boards this month: Te Phantom of the Oprah;
see the Calendar listing on page 8). Te Huntington Fellowship seems like the next logical
step in this procession toward downright respectability—although no serious student of
Landry’s oeuvre expects the riotous puns, sexual innuendo, gender-goofng, and over-the-
top costumes to change. (For the record, the Hungtington also named two other fellows:
Patrick Gabbage, a Brookline resident who is also a novelist, playwright, and co-founder
of Rhombus Playwrights group; and Martha Kaufmann of Jamaica Plain, who has written
plays, created performance pieces, and choreographed dances.)
stAte Rep. fox celeBRAtes Adoption And fosteR cARe
State Representative Gloria Fox, who represents parts of the Fenway, will welcome fami-
lies to a Multi-Cultural Adoption Party at the Blue Hill Boys & Girls Club, 15 Talbot Ave.,
Dorchester on Sunday, February 28, at 3:00 pm. Organized by the Massachusetts Adoption
Resource Exchange and the state’s Department of Children & Families, the event is designed
to help adults learn about adopting children beign raised in state foster care. Rep. Fox was
herself raised as a foster child and has been a high-profle advocate on family issues.
fenWAy student eARns Bc HigH scHool HonoRs
Francisco Salas ’11 of the Fenway achieved honors for the second quarter at Boston
College High School. To make honors a student must have at least a 3.2 QPA and all grades
must be a “C-” or higher. Founded in 1863, the boys-only college-prep school enrolls
approximately 1,500 students from more than 100 communities in eastern Massachusetts.
WAnt to Be A fiRefigHteR WHen you gRoW up?
If so, you’ll have to take a written exam, and the deadline to sign up for it is March
16. Candidates are encouraged to apply online at www.cityofboston.gov/fre. For more
information contact Michelle McCourt, the Human Resource Manager of the Boston Fire
Department, at 617-343-3024, or [email protected].
Berklee dedicated its newly refurbished building at 9 Haviland Street on February
25. Te building formerly housed the Fenway Community Health Center, which is
completing its frst year in its new home at 1340 Boylston Street in the West Fens.
Berklee adds a Building
FENWAY NEWS | MARCH 2010 |
the Mission hill/Fenway
neighborhood trust, inc.
Requests proposals from organizations
seeking funding for projects and programs
intended to serve residents of
the Mission Hill and Fenway neighborhoods.
For information and a proposal form,
visit www.missionhillfenwaynt.org.
deadline for receipt of proposals is 31 march 2010.
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From Adobe Walls to the North End Mall
t
hey traveled by covered wagon. The young couple had come from a safe home
in England, crossed the ocean and gone across America to a desolate place in
Utah. They were following their new Mormon faith.
Thomas and Jane Dallin had nine children who grew up in a log cabin.
Their tiny settlement was surrounded by a high adobe wall, which apparently was
supposed to provide protection from the nearby Ute Indians.
Cyrus, the second Dallin child, was sometimes afraid of the local cowboys but
played with the Native American boys and visited their
wigwams. The children often made small objects from clay.
When Cyrus was eighteen years old, two of the fgures he had
shaped were shown at a local fair.
Two men who recognized the talent of their young
neighbor offered to pay his fare to Boston where he could
study sculpture. Cyrus rode on a train with Crow Indians who
were going East to see the “Great White Father,” President
rutherford b. hayes.
Boston in 1880 must have seemed a strange place to the
young student. Dallin studied here and later in Paris. Much of
his work related to his experiences with the Native Americans
he had known. He said, “I witnessed a peace pow-wow
between the Indian chiefs and the United States Army offcers. I shall never forget those
splendid-looking Indians arrayed in their gorgeous headdresses.”
One of Dallin’s most famous works is “The Appeal to the Great Spirit” which
expresses the frustration of Indians who had been mistreated by the white man. On
horseback a fgure with outstretched arms seeks help from the spiritual world. This
sculpture was installed in front of the Museum of Fine Arts on Huntington Avenue in
1913.
It took more than 40 years for Dallin’s famed equestrian statue of Paul Revere to be
installed in the North End. The sculptor himself fnally paid some of the expenses when
the city did not fulfll its promises.
There is a small Dallin Museum in Arlington, where he had made his home for
many years. Some of his more than 260 sculptures can be seen there.
Elizabeth Gillis lives in the West Fenway.
☞ fenway hI S TORy ☜
set on a stoop or patio. Guerilla gardeners
might start a miniature street side garden in
the bare earthen patches where sidewalk trees
have died, or in untended land adjacent to
apartment buildings. Ambitious city gardeners
can also acquire a community garden plot in
one of Boston’s community garden locations.
The Fenway Garden Society has tended
the seven-acre community gardens in the
Back Bay Fens since 1942, when the land
was marked for “Victory Gardens” based on
President Roosevelt’s call for Americans to
grow their own food to support the war effort.
Since the end of World war II the Fenway
Garden Society has adopted an offcial charter
and incorporated as a nonproft group. Its
next general meeting is Saturday, April 10, at
the Fenway Community Health Center, 1340
Boylston Street at 10 a.m., and the public is
invited.
Those wishing to apply for a garden
plot at the Fenway Victory Gardens can get
an application online from the website http://
fenwayvictorygardens.com/. If you wish to
apply for a garden, do it soon because the wait
list is growing!
Victoria Stock is vice president of the
Fenway Garden Society and in the East Fens.
By VICTORIA STOCK
Cold, snowy days are a great time to plan
for the upcoming garden season.
During winter months those with the
garden bug can scan garden books for tips and
ideas, and scour seed catalogs for little packets
of springtime joy. Seed Savers is a nonproft
organization in Iowa that produces and sells
rare, heirloom, and organic seed varieties,
some of which are quite unique and beautiful.
Seeds and starts are offered for sale online at
http://seedsavers.org.
Eggplant and pepper seeds can be
sprouted indoors where it’s warm starting in
February. Tomatoes can be started in March,
and will grow nicely with the peppers and
eggplants on a warm, sunny window sill. Once
the warm weather starts in May and June,
these seedlings can be planted outside.
Cool-weather crops like lettuce, spinach,
and peas can be sewn directly into the
soil in March or when the ground thaws.
Summertime favorites like sunfowers, pole
beans, and cucumbers can be sewn directly
into garden soil in early May; they will sprout
and grow when the soil conditions are right.
Anyone can start a little garden in a
window box on a sill, or in a fve-gallon bucket
Gardeners, Get an Early Start on Spring
Landscape Designer Position
Available in Boston frm. Position requires M.S.
in Architecture and Landscape Architecture with
at least 6 months experience in Urban Design.
The ideal candidate should be able to draft
master plans on urban planning scale; draft
detailed construction documents; create 3D
models and digital renderings; price and budget
projects; evaluate feasibility of architectural
structural elements; interact with both clients
and consultants; prepare and present frm
qualifcations to potential clients; and negotiate
on scope of services and project fees, provide
project construction administration.
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ASSAUlt At StoRe oN HAvilAND StReet
On Feb. 13, police responded to an
assault and battery call at Buried Treasures,
located at 28 Haviland St. The victim said the
clerk pushed him out of the store causing him
to hit his head against a hard object. The clerk
told police he asked the victim and his friends
to leave because some were under age 18 and
many were acting disrespectfully. According
to the store employee, when the group refused
to leave, the victim put his hands on the clerk,
which is why he pushed him out of the store.
No medical attention was needed and police
advised both parties to stay away from each
other.
CAB fARe tiff tURNS iNto ASSAUlt
A Top Cab vehicle picked up a man and
his girlfriend at 890 Boylston St. on Feb. 14
at about 2:23 p.m. Arriving at 120 Hemenway
St., the couple attempted to pay the cab fare
using a credit card, but the machine was
unable to read the card. When the cab driver
asked to use the card on his machine in the
front of the cab the couple refused.
According to the victims, the driver
drove at a high speed, causing the man to hit
his head on the partition. Fearing for their
safety, the victims said they attempted to get
out of the vehicle but were unable to because
the driver locked the doors. The male victim
reached through the partition, grabbed the
driver’s shirt causing it to rip and eventually
the cabbie stopped the car and called police.
According to the driver, after both vic-
tims refused to pay with their credit cards
at the front-seat machine, the male victim
reached through the petition and grabbed his
shirt and neck. The disputed $8.90 cab fare
was not paid at the time of the police report.
lARCeNY oN BRookliNe AveNUe
On Feb. 2, police responded to a larceny
report at 180 Brookline Ave. Police spoke with
a building resident who said at about 3:00 a.m.
three unknown suspects entered the building
and stole a 52-inch television—valued at
$4,000—from the second-foor common area.
The building’s security cameras recorded two
suspects carrying the television and walking
toward the building’s Boylston Street exit.
Security cameras captured no facial images
but the witness said he believes one of the
suspects is a former employee already under
investigation for a previous incident in the
building.
MAN foUND DeAD iN pARk DRive
ApARtMeNt
Police responded to a radio call for a
well-being check at 223 Park Drive at 6:25
p.m. on Feb. 5. Upon arrival, Offcer McManus
knocked on the apartment door but received
no response. Offcers then used force to gain
entry to the apartment where they discovered
the resident (70-year-old, white, male) lying
unresponsively on his bedroom foor. The
Health and Hospitals Ambulance pronounced
the victim dead at 7:04 p.m. Police reports did
not mention a cause of death.
tRoUBle oN eDgeRlY RoAD
On Jan. 4, police received a call from a
woman who said two unknown individuals
threatened her over a parking space on Edgerly
Road. The victim said as she drove down the
road looking for a parking spot she noticed
a car without a resident parking sticker and
asked if they could move their vehicle. The
victim said they refused to move and when she
asked them again they started screaming at
her. She said they were yelling profanities and
stated, “you will see.” The victim described
the pair as a Caucasian male and female, 18-20
years old. The male is about 5’10”, thin build
and brown hair while the female is about 5’5”,
thin and also with brown hair.
StUDeNt RoBBeD oN HeMeNWAY StReet
On Jan. 25 at approximately 5:30 p.m.,
while walking down Hemenway Street, a
student (male, 19 years of age) was approached
by fve white males. According to the victim,
the unknown persons surrounded him and
demanded he hand over his money and watch.
The victim described one of the persons as
being 5’10”, in his early twenties, with facial
hair on his chin and dressed in a black hoodie
and puffy coat. The victim handed over $240
and a watch valued at $200. According to the
victim, no weapon was present during the
incident. After taking the money and watch
the suspects ran toward the Fens.
Police Blotter compiled by Joanna Arpie
by Stephen brophy
Every year Fenway Health holds a couple
of popular fundraisers for gay and lesbian
donors and their friends—one primarily
for women and one for men. This year the
Women’s Dinner Party takes place March 13,
and U.S. Rep Tammy Baldwin will be honored
by receiving the Susan M. Love Award. (The
Men’s Event on April 10 will honor Dan Choi.)
Popular comedian Kate Clinton, in her guise
as Lady HaHa, will keep the proceedings in
order on both evenings.
The frst open lesbian elected to the
House of Representatives, Baldwin represents
Wisconsin’s Second District. She is a leading
coverage to all Americans. She introduced the
Ending Health Disparities for LGBT Ameri-
cans Act to fund research and improve the
health of LGBT Americans and their families
and is working to see it included in any health
care reform legislation. Rep. Baldwin has
sponsored legislation providing cancer screen-
ing to low-income and uninsured women and
helped lead efforts in Congress to repeal fed-
eral restrictions on stem cell research.
A graduate of Smith College and the
University of Wisconsin Law School, Baldwin
advocate for universal health care, for civil
rights, and for those in our society whose voic-
es often go unheard. Baldwin led the House
campaign to pass the Matthew Shepard Hate
Crimes Act, and as co-founder and co-chair
of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus,
she leads efforts to advance the Employment
Non-Discrimination Act and other civil rights
initiatives. She is the lead author of legislation
to extend benefts to same-sex partners of fed-
eral employees.
Baldwin advocates extending health care
lives in Madison with her partner, Lauren
Azar.
Each year, the Dr. Susan M. Love Award
is given to celebrate a woman and/or organiza-
tion that has made a signifcant contribution
to the feld of women’s health. It is named for
its initial recipient, Dr. Susan M. Love, a pio-
neer in the felds of women’s health and breast
cancer. For more information about the even,
entertainment and Rep. Baldwin, visit www.
womensdinnerparty.org. Information on the
Men’s Event is at www.mensevent.org.
Fenway health honorS u.S. rep. tammy Baldwin at march 13 FundraiSer
meeting and became a greater part of the
community he lives in—a rarity these days.
I myself have been living in the West
Fens for the past 35 years and must say that
it’s a tightknit community, where people
know each other quite well, are committed to
meetings and events that may affect their lives,
and will fght tooth and nail when it comes
to issues that affect them and the community
they live in. I too was at the meeting Mr.
Cardona attended. I am one of those people
committed to making the Fenway a safe place
for all to live in.
I too believe that people in the West
Fens are united and know how to not only
take action on issues of importance but to
get positive results. It’s hard work but as the
saying goes, “there’s strength in numbers.”
Welcome to our world, Mr. Cardona, and I
hope to see you at many future meetings. We
need more people like you to show interest in
their community. your presence and voice are
very important in helping bridge the Fenway
gaps and to ensure “a bright light” at the end
of the tunnel.
MATTI KNIVA SPENCER
Matti Kniva Spencer has been writing for
The Fenway News for the past 20 years and
lives in the West Fens.
Sen. tolman weighs in on Bank of
america’s check-cashing dispute
This letter was sent to Valarie Seabrook
in response to a letter we printed in the
February Fenway News:
Thank you for contacting Senator
Tolman’s offce regarding your concern about
your recent interaction with Bank of America.
The Senator read your letter and asked me to
respond to it.
The Senator is very concerned about
the issue you raised and has forwarded your
e-mail to the Massachusetts Division of
Banks for further action. The idea that a bank
would charge you a fee, or force you to open
an account, in order to cash a check drawn
on an account with their bank is ridiculous.
For decades banks have allowed customers
to cash checks drawn on accounts at their
banks without charging them a fee, even if the
recipient of the check does not maintain an
account at their bank. To change this policy
letters
| FENWAY NEWS | MARCH 2010
Serving the Fenway, Kenmore Square, Audubon
Circle, upper Back Bay, lower Roxbury, Prudential,
Mission Hill, and Longwood since 1974
Fenway news association
Board oF directors
Jon Ball • Steve Chase • Helen Cox, president
Joyce Foster ª Elizabeth Gillis, clerk
Steven Harnish • Ruth Khowais
Gloria Platt • Steve Wolf, treasurer
editor: Stephen brophy
weB editor: Jonathan Kim
Production designer: Steve Wolf
writers: Joanna Arpie, Jon Ball, Luis
Oscar Cardona, Helen Cox, Tracey Cusick,
Lori A. Frankian, Joyce Foster, Galen Gilbert,
Elizabeth Gillis, Katherine Greenough,
Steven Harnish, Erin Harper, Kaileigh
Higgins, John Kelly, Ruth Khowais, Jonathan
Kim, Pamela King, Shirley Kressel, Marc
Laderman, Lauren Landry, Aqilla Manna,
Erica Mattison, Richard Pendleton, Camille
Platt, Meena Ramakrishnan, Mike Ross,
Matti Kniva Spencer, Chuck Turner, Clyde
Whalen, Margaret Witham
PhotograPhers: Lois Johnston, Patrick
O’Connor, Matti Kniva Spencer, Steve Wolf
caLendar: Helen Cox, Stephen Brophy,
Penina Adelman, Meena Ramakrishnan
ProoFreaders: Jon Ball, Tracey Cusick,
suBscriPtion coordinator: Cathy
Jacobowitz
BooKKeePer: Cathy Jacobowitz
distriBution: Jon Ball, Della Gelzer, Keith
Harriel, Aqilla Manna, Lauren Dewey Platt
Te Fenway News is published monthly by the
Fenway News Association, Inc., a community-
owned corporation dedicated to community
journalism. If you would like to volunteer to
write, edit, photograph, lay out, distribute, or sell
advertising on commission, please contact us at:
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©2010 FENWAY NEWS ASSOCIATION, INC.
now residents have to put up
with Sox crowds in winter?
TO THE EDITOR,
City government and the Red Sox did
not behave responsibly toward the Fenway
during the years my family and I lived there.
(We moved to Brookline three years ago.) The
impression they gave was there was simply
too much money and prestige involved to give
thought to residents—that the team and its fans
were the true “owners” of the neighborhood.
Enforcement of residential parking, for
example, was indifferent, and even particularly
harsh practices by fans—such as claiming
handicapped spots—could be overlooked. A
couple times when I called for enforcement
by the police, they suggested that if I didn’t
like the situation I should move. I repeatedly
contacted the Mayor’s neighborhood liaison by
phone and e-mail regarding Red Sox issues—
begging her to return my messages—and
did not get a response. I later heard she had
received a promotion.
We still love the Fenway and I was
saddened to read in the February Fenway
News of the “Winter Classic” and other events
happening at Fenway Park. Winter used to be
when residents got their neighborhood back.
Unless there have been important policy and
attitudinal changes by city government and
the Red Sox, then these activities are an unjust
imposition on this precious neighborhood.
SINCERELy,
DAVE SMITH
Fenway needs more luis carndonas
TO THE EDITOR:
I want to acknowledge an article that
was written by Luis Oscar Cardona ( “After
The 55 Fight, One Resident Sees Fenway In
A New Light”), that appeared in the February
issue of The Fenway News. I want to state
how refreshing this article was and I must
commend Mr. Cardona for his thoughtful, well
thought out piece heralding his praise for the
people who live in the West Fens who attended
a meeting dealing with the possible cut of the
# 55 bus.
This is what a person’s civic duty is all
about. Mr. Cardona didn’t just go around
complaining about the possible cut of the bus
service. Instead, he attended an important
now is ridiculous.
Thank you for contacting our offce
regarding your recent problems with Bank of
America. If you have any further questions,
please do not hesitate to contact the offce.
Sincerely,
BEN FRANCO
BUDGET AND COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR
OFFICE OF SENATOR STEVEN A. TOLMAN
Is Security Guard Racial-Profling?
East Fens resident Kenneth Williams sent
this letter was to the management of Whole
Foods at Symphony:
Hello—I am a person of color. Last
month I was confronted by a security guard at
the Whole Foods store in the Fenway. Many
times while shopping there I’ve noticed this
same guard suddenly appear in whatever aisle
I seem to be shopping. I’m not the only person
of color who has noticed this.
When I asked the guard why he keeps
following me he let loose with a diatribe
saying “if you don’t like me doing my job,
shop someplace else” among other choice
comments. Is doing his job following people
of color around the store?
Does Whole Foods condone his actions?
I talked to management about this and was
told he would be spoken to, but what needs to
be answered is if this policy is Whole Foods’
or this particular security guard? Since this
incident I have not shopped at Whole Foods,
feeling as long as this guard is there I’ll always
be looking over my shoulder.
Thank you, I look foward to hearing from
someone from you staff.
KENNETH WILLIAMS
rebate madness is unfair
TO THE EDITOR:
I think stores are going crazy with
rebates. I am fed up with it. Last night I was at
my local Stapes copy shop in Newton Center
and I needed to buy four loose-leaf binders. I
saw what I wanted and underneath was a price
label that said in big easily readable numbers
that they were $2.50 cents each. I took the
binders over to the cashier and he rang them
up. I was shocked when he told me the total
for the four binders was $19.13. I said there has
to be some mistake. These binders are clearly
marked as being only $2.50 each.
Then he told me that price was after
the rebate and I had to either mail in the
receipt to somewhere in Texas or go on line
to have the rebate mailed to me. I had no idea
buying these binders was going to be such a
complicated affair. I was fooled by the price
which clearly stated the binders cost $2.50.
The sales associate pointed to a tiny line of
type that supposedly said something about
having to get a rebate but it was in 4-point
type and there was no way I could have read it
or noticed it. Could you?
I feel the way these binders were
displayed on the shelf with a price of $2.50
was very deceptive to me the consumer. I just
wanted to make a simple purchase. It’s very
aggravating to have to do the work to get the
rebate when all I wanted was four simple
loose-leaf binders.
I wish to protest this ever-increasing
trend in retailing. I felt ripped off by them.
This rebate with small purchases is becoming
a common retail practice. It gives Staples a lot
of the customer’s money to play around with
until they actually send out the rebate checks,
which I was told can take four to six weeks.
What does Staples do with all this money? I
think I should get interest on it after the hassle
I have to go through to get my rebate.
yours for a better and saner retail world,
MARIA TERMINI
The author, an artist, frequently displays
her work in neighborhood galleries.
> Frequency <
Te Fenway News reaches the stands every
4-5 weeks, usually on the frst
or last Friday of the month.
Our next issue will be appear on
Friday, aPriL 2.
> deadline <
Te deadline for letters, news items, and ads
is Friday, March 26.
> advertising <
Contact our business manager at
[email protected]
By STEVE WOLF
L
ate last month, a group of students from Wentworth Institute
of Technology showed off the future of the West Fens—or,
rather, several possible futures. Two- and three-member teams
drawn from the school’s senior-level architecture and planning
classes had been assigned to study the neighborhood and dream up
plans for rebuilding it over
20 years. Wielding models,
photos, sketches rough and
polished, and PowerPoint
presentations, the teams
laid their ideas before an
audience that included about
two-dozen Fenwickians.
Most intriguingly,
almost every team saw
great opportunity in a place
that most residents don’t normally give much thought to—the alleys
and parking lots behind the buildings that line Peterborough and
Queensberry streets. Every plan proposed moving parking elsewhere
(some of the schemes sounded pretty practical) and transforming the
freed-up land into common open spaces with landscaped paths, small
parks, private gardens, and restaurant patios.
Some teams saw a chance to forge stronger connections between
the neighborhood and the Back Bay Fens. Others thought a hidden
network of paths and plazas could build a special sense of place
in the West Fens. One team discovered that our back alleys yield
postcard-worthy views of the Back Bay skyline, lining up with the Pru
as cleanly as Stonehenge aligns with the path of the sun at summer
solstice. They wanted to use the paths to frame that vista and remind
us of the city that surrounds the nine peaceful blocks of the West Fens.
The teams cooked up appealing ideas about transportation, too.
How about a Boylston Street with dedicated bus lanes down the center
and sidewalk extensions reaching into the street at bus stops? The
extensions, slightly raised, would function as speed bumps to slow
traffc and telegraph an idea that residents have championed for years:
giving transit and walking clear priority over the cars. How about a
bi-level sidewalk along Boylston (like the new sidewalk in the East
Fens)? On its upper level, faneurs could stroll in front of residents and
visitors lolling at tables in outdoor restaurants—a little bit of Paris in
the West Fens. Next to the street, the lower level would function as an
express lane for more goal-oriented pedestrians. Or maybe you’d like
to see elevated walkways above Jersey Street
and the street closed to traffc much of the
day.
I’ve attended more than my fair share of
public meetings about this neighborhood, but
the ideas on display last month seemed fresh,
even startling. And they gave me some ideas
of my own. First—and talk about startling—
they reminded this cynic that our institutional
neighbors have the capacity to improve rather
than degrade the neighborhood we share. More collaborations like this
one, with residents actively advising young designers and planners,
would make a good start. How about parachuting a class of Wentworth
architects or Northeastern engineers into the Duck House planning
that Fenway Civic has been trying to get off the ground?
Second, the clarity with which the Wentworth students saw
beyond the potholes and cracked asphalt to a network of parks
and paths ought to remind us older and (supposedly) wiser folks
not to let fxed ideas blind us to what our neighborhood could be.
These students dove into this assignment with little regard for the
constraints that everyone else—developers, the BRA, elected offcials,
beleaguered residents—takes for granted. (They will, it turns out, look
more closely at that later in the semester.) But maybe the fact that the
rest of us start out assuming that nothing good can be done explains
why this city and this neighborhood get, if not the worst, then much
that’s mediocre and so little that’s inspiring.
The Wentworth students’ message: Think again.
Steve Wolf, our production designer, lives in the West Fens. The
same student teams will make fnal presentations on April 30, and
we’ll have the details at FenwayNews.org and in our April issue.
West Fens 2.0: Neighborhood—and Neighbors—Rethought
and the Duck House. The Parks Department
has already received two serious requests
for information from
businesses interested in
bringing a restaurant to
the Common structure,
including a proposal
from the owners of New
york City’s popular
Shake Shack. The
news is also good for
the Duck House: two
bids have come from
businesses looking to
rent bikes to people
who want to enjoy the
Fens.
We will continue
to champion this issue.
In 2007, the Herald ran
a front-page picture of a
man who had overdosed
in the Common. Shortly
after that, a bullet fred
from the Common
hit a window of the
governor’s offce. The Fens experienced a
wave of crime and vandalism last summer.
Establishing destinations in our parks attracts
visitors and residents alike, creating positive
activity and deterring crime. Our city is home
to America’s oldest park; we must continue
to fnd innovative ways to improve our green
spaces so we are known for being home to
America’s greatest parks, too.
Mike Ross represents District 8, which
includes the Fenway, on the Boston City
Council. He is also president of the council.
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For further information, call 617.450.3790
or visit www.ChristianScience.com
Sunday Church Services & Sunday School
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The Ross
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the fenway
News has invited
elected offcials
who represent the
neighborhood to
contribute columns
on issues of
concern. these will
appear on a regular
basis in fensviews.
L
ate last month, the Boston Conservation
Commission voted to allow long-term
leases on abandoned structures on both
the Boston Common and in the Back Bay Fens.
The Boston Parks Commission followed suit,
sending it to the City Council for a fnal vote.
At both meetings, members of the
community both supported the idea and
voiced concerns about long-term leases
on public spaces. Some who testifed were
concerned about the length of the lease.
Currently, the Parks Department only allows
3-year leases to food vendors in our parks.
Joyce Foster, who recently joined The
Fenway News board, returned in February
from a month in southern Mexico. Here are
some pages from her travel journal.
By JOyCE FOSTER
M
y way to the market for fruit
and vegetables takes me past
cages of squawking roosters
and chickens piled up on the
side walk . Every day the shopkeeper and I
nod and smile, with an occasional buenos
dias passing between us. But when a Spanish-
speaking friend came to visit I got a glimpse
of an unsuspected world. Looking at the
caged roosters in full view of the pedestrians
she asked “Are these for a cock fght?” The
answer was “yes—not here though—out in the
country.”
“But I thought that cock fghting was
illegal in Mexico,” she replied. “Ah—yes.
These cocks are clandestino.”
As an aside, we came across a cock fght
in progress while visiting a small village. An
ugly business! And rightly illegal, despite the
persistence of an event with obviously strong
ties to rural Mexican culture. We did watch
for a little while—repelled but fascinated. Like
boxing, a rooster can be alive but literally
down for the count. We saw the referee count
to 25 over one poor bird—and exactly at the
end of the count, it sprang to life. Nobody
could tell us how it knew.
At the fsh market the same day we
searched around for pulpo—octopus—a treat
when it shows up as one of the botanos—
tapas-like snacks—that Mexican barkeeps
lavish on beer-drinking patrons. (With a few
friends, it is easy to put away a whole lunch
feast for the cost of a bottle of beer. ) At one
booth, the vendor pulled a very dead, very
pathetic little octopus from an ice bin—and
dangled it in front of us.
There may be little as sad as a dead
octopus. The droopy gray tentacles hanging
from all sides of the domed head inspire both
pity and revulsion. yet how delicious—when
served in little bits, sauced in its own ink.
This little fellow had been captured just off
the beach, on a pyramid apparatus that the
fshermen set up as traps. Now, I have eaten
octopus at all times in the winter. But during
the conversation with the fsh vendor, it
developed that the “season” is over at the end
of December. So farewell, February pulpo.
…
Boredom sets in here after a while.
Enough with the sun, the palm trees and the
books from the English library! To pep things
up a bit, I
trekked into
Merida and
caught a bus
to explore
Motul, a
smaller
colonial city
an hour away
known for its
crumbling
16th-century -
cathedral and
huevos Motul,
a breakfast
dish of black
beans and
fried egg. Like
other cathedrals built by the conquerors, this
was constructed by demolishing the temple at
the center of the Mayan city of Zacmotul and
pirating the blocks of limestone
(At Dzibilchaltun—where one can swim
in a delightful pool from the underwater rivers
that break through the limestone here and
there in the yucatan, and browse a scholarly
museum of ancient artifacts—it is possible
to just make out a bit of ghostly blue paint in
a crevice of the church that was built from
that Mayan temple. The Maya decorated their
temples vividly, as archeologists have recently
learned.)
A
s we pulled into what appeared
to be a small satellite bus station,
many, but not all the passengers
disembarked, and on the
assumption that the next stop would be the real
Motul station, I stayed on with the few who
kept their seats. I should have realized that we
were in for a long haul when vendors came
through with trays
of sandwiches and
drinks on their heads.
not long after
we pulled out, a high-
way began to unspool
ahead of us, utterly
barren on both sides,
except for a big sign
for Tizimin, 100 kilo-
meters away. yikes!
I had missed Motul
completely and was
on my way into the
unknown. When the
bus made a stop in a
tiny pueblo, I fgured
I had nothing to lose by
hopping off and taking my chances.
In Progreso it is not impossible to fnd
someone with a little English. Not here. The
bus let me off at a little snack shop, where
several locals and I conspired to fgure out
how to get back to Motul. Much consultation
among the Spanish speakers. Everybody
deeply into solving the problem of the gringa
who for all intents and purposes fell from the
sky. Not much success until we were able to
come to some non-verbal understanding that a
village plaza was not far away.
I avoid the noon sun, so proximity
seemed like a good thing. And sure enough,
three blocks up the street was a small plaza,
with shade trees, benches, a bus stop sign and
two old women who were also going to Motul,
who took me under their wings. A happy
outcome all around.
Motul, on the other hand, introduced me
to tripe, a dish I have studiously avoided all
my life. I had hoped to fnd a restaurant on
the Plaza for a nice lunch and a beer, but with
zero tourists in Motul, none such existed. Why
would the residents of a poor community have
a restaurant, when grandmothers and aunties
are great cooks, and no one has much money
to spend on non-essentials. However, as in all
towns of any size at all, there was a thriving
mercado, with several loncharia and cocinas
(kitchens) economicas for hungry shoppers
and shopkeepers.
The one I chose had a menu with mostly
unfamiliar dishes, and in any event they
were out of the few that I did recognize. I
managed to communicate that I would like the
proprietor to make the choice for me. Soon
a truly delicious bowl of rich broth arrived,
in which foated some rubbery, somewhat
forbidding bits. I thought they might be pork
rinds, ubiquitous in Mexico, that had been
softened by the broth, and asked if that’s what
they were.
“No puerco. Es mondongo.” The
proprietor wrote the name in my notebook so
I could get it right and look it up. But try that
in a phrasebook! Fortunately, I was saved from
learning that I had eaten tripe until I got back
to my laptop and could translate the word.
Joyce Foster lives in the East Fenway.
We had to create a longer lease to allow the
businesses that invest in these spaces to recoup
their money. The City will not offer—nor
would I support—100-year leases, which
would practically give the structure away.
The public testimony did lead to changes
in the law. The initial wording stated the law
would “not be limited to” the structures on
the Boston Common and in the Fens. This
language has been removed, so the law will
apply only to the two spaces currently being
discussed. In the future, should we wish to add
a structure, we would repeat this process.
I see only good things for both the
abandoned structure on the Boston Common
Bringing liFe to old parK BuildingS BringS liFe to parKS
South of the Border: Cock Fights, Bus Rides, and Octopi
The Most Common form of transportation in Motul
| FENWAY NEWS | MARCH 2010
Stars of Boston Jazz
vocals
JOHN
MINNOCK
Renato Malavasi
Cliff Lyons
Steve Heck
Gillian DeLear
Sean Farias
piano/vocals
drums
sax
guest drummer
bass
Saturday, March 13
8pm to 10:30pm
Howard Johnson Fenway
1271 Boylston St.
- near Fenway Park
www.johnminnock.com
myspace.com/tikihideaway
Free Parking
No Cover
By BARBARA BROOK SIMONS
Although the hero (or anti-hero) of
Don Giovanni is far from perfect, Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart’s opera
is often called “virtually
fawless.” The operatic Don
Juan leaves behind a trail
of broken hearts, hysterical
sopranos, and at least one dead
body, yet the brilliant libretto
by Lorenzo da Ponte combines
comedy, tragedy, and terror
into a perfect whole. The opera
premiered in Prague in 1787,
conducted by Mozart himself.
On March 12, 13, and 14,
New England Conservatory’s
opera studies department pres-
ents a fully staged production
of Mozart’s fawless work at
the Cutler Majestic Theatre.
John Greer, director of opera
studies at NEC, conducts the
all-student cast and orchestra. Guest director
Marciem Bazell—an assistant professor and
director of opera at the University of Missouri/
Kansas City Conservatory—conceived the
staging, with an emphasis on what motivates
the complex title character.
Two outstanding young baritones will
share the title role. On Friday and Sunday,
audiences will hear Dong Won Kim, a South
Korean native who has taken leading roles
in opera houses in Korea and Italy. Kim
is the frst student admitted to NEC’s new
Artist Diploma in Opera program, created
in conjunction with Opera Boston. He is
recipient of the Wendy Shattuck Presidential
Scholarship in Vocal Studies.
On Saturday night, Jean-Bernard Cerin
will sing the title role. Cerin, a native of Haiti,
had a featured role in the January 31 “Stand
with Haiti” beneft concert copresented by
By MATTI KNIVA SPENCER
t
he work of an emerging new artist will soon adorn the walls
of the Muddy River Gallery in Boston’s West Fens. Alyssa
Barry—an 18-year-old photographer from Watertown soon
to be studying photography at the New England School of
Photography (NESP) in Kenmore Square—will display her photos for
the frst time at the gallery. Barry specializes in fne arts and enjoys
capturing bridges, fowers, people, landscapes, wildlife, whatever
catches her fnely tuned eye.
States Barry, “I have been studying photography for the past two
years now and plan to make a career out of it. In the future, my goal
is to specialize in weddings and make a living taking photos, making
myself available for other occasions as well.” Ms. Barry has always
enjoyed photography and was inspired to develop a greater interest in
this feld by her high school teacher and another close friend, Kevin
Dillon, who admired her work and told her she should pursue this for a
living. She works with a 7.2 megapixel digital Sony camera as well as
NEC and the Longwood Symphony Orchestra.
Cerin studies at NEC under the Helen Haxton
Stare Presidential Scholarship in Voice.
Performances take place
Friday, March 12, and Saturday,
March 13, at 8:00 p.m., and
Sunday, March 14, at 3:00 p.m.
The opera will be performed in
Italian with English supertitles.
Tickets are $20 for the general
public; $16 for students and
seniors; and free with NEC
identifcation. WGBH members
receive a 10% discount. Order
tickets at www.telecharge.com or
purchase them in person at the
Cutler Majestic box offce, 219
Tremont Street, Monday-Saturday,
10:00 a.m.–6 p.m. or by phone at
800-233-3123.
Barbara Brook Simons lives
in the East Fens.
with a 38-millemeter Canon.
When not running around the city taking photos, Alyssa
volunteers at the Franciscan Food Pantry in downtown Boston and
works at the concession stand at the Wang Center. In addition, she
volunteers with the Bread On The Common Program, which provides
street ministry to the homeless in the area. Her biggest challenge at
the moment is developing her skills as a photographer and learning
everything she can about the techniques of developing her own
photos... all of which she will learn at NESP.
An opening reception for her show will take place on Sunday,
March 28, from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m., and the show will run for the
entire month of April. The Muddy River Gallery, is located at the
Peterborough Senior Center behind 42 Peterborough Street (to enter
go to alleyway between 100 and 108 Jersey Street) in the West Fens.
Gallery hours are Monday-Thursday, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Call
the gallery frst at 617-536-7154 to fnd out the best viewing times.
Matti Kniva Spencer lives in the West Fenway.
young photographer hangs her Show at Senior center
Tenor Dong Won Kim
NEC Showcases Two Top Tenors in
March Production of ‘Don Giovanni’
Spotlight ShineS on BerKlee’S women
By KALEIGH HIGGINS
F
or the past few months, Lucy Holsteadt has done little but prepare and plan with
her students of the Women Musicians Network, working to produce a concert
showcasing the talent of women.
Holsteadt, a professor at Berklee College of Music, founded the Women
Musicians Network and will direct its 13th annual concert on March 4. The concert
features 12 pieces written, arranged, performed and led by women students at Berklee.
This year’s show, at the Berklee Performance Center, will feature all kinds of musical
styles from all around the world from jazz to gospel, classical to Middle Eastern rock
and just about everything in between.
When asked about what she’s most excited about Holsteadt responds, “Is it ok to
say the whole thing? It only happens once a year; we’ve been working on it since last
fall, and rehearsing since January.”
The Network was created 13 years ago to give the women of Berklee an opportunity
to show off their talents. Because there were so few women at the school, many just
didn’t have the opportunity to perform. “Women even now are a minority at Berklee,”
said Holsteadt. “When we started, it was even smaller. Women were having trouble
having their own work produced.”
The Network and concert have grown over the years. Now there are hundreds of
submissions by students hoping to perform their own pieces at the show. “It started out
with a few students who just wanted a place to play with their bands,” said Holsteadt.
“Now there is a big submission process open to all women students and we get about
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HugH Wolff
Narek HakHNazaryaN
SympHoNy Hall
New England Conservatory
presents
NEC Philharmonia
conducted by
featuring Artist Diploma Cellist
Calderwood
Director of Orchestras
Wednesday, April 7 at 8 pm
Barber Adagio for Strings
Schumann Cello Concerto
Shostakovich Symphony No.10
Tickets: $25 /$10. WGBH members: 2 for 1 with ID.
bso.org,1-888-266-1200, or the Symphony Hall box office.
ask about our NeC community discount.
necmusic.edu/symphony
NEC_Wolff/FenwayAd.indd 1 2/24/10 2:54:57 PM
> please see NetWoRk on the facing page
FENWAY NEWS | MARCH 2010 |
West Fens resident
Clyde Whalen gives
“The Fenway Report”
every other week
on neighborhood
Network News on
cable channel 9.
I
f you keep an eye on Channel 9
television, you’re aware that they have
a big deal brewing. Since its inception
25 years ago, Channel 9 has made some
great moves. For example, they brought about
neighborhood television, which meant that
people who up till then had been audiences
for other stations, in some instances became
neighborhood performers.
In the early 1990s, I had a show for
a couple of years that went on about eight
o’clock every week on Thursdays and attracted
many viewers, some of whom went on to
become performers. The show, The Clyde
Whalen Experience, featured
politicians, performers, and
almost anybody who had the
urge to appear on television.
This is the happy 25th
birthday of Channel 9 and
some great new things are
happening, one of which is a
concerted effort to give a voice
to old folks, who have a story
to tell, to be shown in the near
future. In the meantime, things
are humming right along and
progress is being made at the
new headquarters of Channel
9, located in its own building
at 3025 Washington Street,
Roxbury.
Radio was always easier
on the performer, because all
he or she had to worry about
was their voice and how they
projected. Television is much tougher to live
up to because you have to think about how you
look to the public.
For example, if you’re performing for the
frst time, and speaking off the top of your
head, your hands take over for no reason,
without connection to anything you’re talking
about. This is a habit many people have.
They aren’t even aware of it until they watch
themselves on their frst replay.
Another problem is what we used to call
hemming and hawing, which means your brain
runs out of information and for seconds you’re
SUPPORTING PARTNER OFFICIAL HOTEL OFFICIAL CHAUFFEURED
TRANSPORTATION PROVIDER
OPENREHEARSALSARENOTEDINLIGHTTYPE
617-266-1200
s
bso.org TICKETS: $19 – $115
AII programs and artists subject to change.
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events on these dates. Majority free to ticket hoIders.
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searching for what to say. When this takes
over, you want to make some kind of sound
for fear that silence will let someone else take
over, which causes the newcomer to make
sounds just to stay in touch, like “um” or “uh”.
These are some of the drawbacks that
occur on all channels and hopefully Channel
9, under the guidance of general manager
Curtis Henderson, will overcome them—as he
has already done in many instances.
In another direction, Mary and I have
come up with an exercise program designed
for people of all ages. It is targeted for those
who have lost control of their balance, but is
benefcial to anyone of any age.
The exercises are done while sitting
in a chair and moving only the
arms, the legs, and the body. We
have close to 100 exercises, and
Mary and I have each lost over
fve pounds in the last month, most
times losing a half a pound after
each exercise program, which takes
about 50 minutes to an hour.
If you’re interested in keeping
ft, I’m looking for suggestions as to
a time and place for this to happen.
Mary and I do these exercises at
5:30 a.m., but we could adjust to a
time which would be better for you.
We have been exercising for seven
years, and I feel these exercises
have kept us very ft and healthy: I
am 90, and both Mary and I have
dealt with cancer in the past and
are still exercising every day. To
get in touch with me, please write to Clyde
Whalen, 108 Kilmarnock Street, Apt. 108,
Boston, Ma. 02215.
Excuse me for not joking as usual, but
this program and this new Channel 9 are so
important to the health of Boston people. It
would be bad taste to crack jokes when talking
about health and happy living.
Hopefully, in the near future, we may
get the go-ahead to have a program, featuring
exercise, at least one day a week. With best
regards, see you next month, hopefully for
something to laugh about.
120 different songs of all different styles, and we have to pick a dozen to develop for the
show.”
Students from the Network help produce and run the show. “What’s exciting
for me,” said Holsteadt, “is to see the students using the skills of managing bands,
promoting themselves, and even guiding them through the selection process.”
The concert has become a launching pad for up-and-coming acts around Boston:
It helped Zili Misik, the renowned world music group, when they were just starting out
four years ago. Since then they’ve been named Boston’s Best World Music Band two
years running by the Boston Phoenix. Holsteadt remembers the wild fnale they put on
during last year’s concert.
“There were 12 big congas on stage,” said Holsteadt. “There were a bunch of
Berklee students who were dancing and singing and drumming on stage and in the
aisles.” Determined to have as much excitement as last year, Holsteadt promises “We’re
going to have a big fnale with lots of singing and dancing. The fnale act this year will be
performed by the vocal group Women of the World, directed by Ayumi Ueda. The group,
which has performed at the United Nations, is a bit like a mini-UN, made up of women
from 20 different countries across the globe.
other acts this year include Ann Driscoll and her band Mrs. Danvers. Holsteadt
describes Driscoll as the “ffth Beatle” because of her incredible songwriting skills.
Also in the program is Berklee City Music, which provides free music instruction to
talented Boston-area students, an opportunity to attend a fve-week summer program,
and the chance at full scholarships to the college.“I think that the thing that I’m most
excited about is including City Music,” said Holsteadt. “It’s including Berklee students
who aren’t yet students. We’re reaching out in both directions, and it’s a microcosm of
what our network is.”
And, yes, there will be some men involved in. Evan Veenstra will perform with Julgi
kang and is very excited to be a part of the Network. “Guys in the show are really there
to support the women,” said Holsteadt. “Evan is so proud to be in the show, he’s proud
of his musical partner. He brought his whole family from Canada last year to see it, and
they’re all coming again this year.”
The Women Musicians Network also works to bring the community to its concerts.
They’ve been busy giving away tickets at places like Fenway Health, assisted-living
communities, Somerville High School, and to underprivileged women, many who are
victims of domestic abuse.
Holsteadt is most proud of the cooperation among all parties involved in the
production of the concert. “It really is an excellent collaboration. We couldn’t have done
it without everyone’s help and cooperation.”
Holsteadt hopes that her and her students’ work will pay off. “I’ve put so much time
into this you may not think I have another job,” she says. “I really believe in it, and there
are really no other shows like it.”
The Women Musicians Network’s Concert takes place March 4 at 8:15 pm at the
Berklee Performance Center. Tickets are available for $10 at the BPC Box Offce (617)
747-2261 or at www.berkleebpc.com
Kaileigh Higgins is an undergraduate at Northeastern University’s School of
Journalism.
> NetWoRk from previous page
| FENWAY NEWS | MARCH 2010
MoN, MAR 1-SAt, MAR 13: Selections 10,
a show of works by 25 MassArt faculty
members working in just about every
medium imaginable, from jewelry to video
to “kinetic light works.” Bakalar and Paine
galleries (South Building, near the corner of
Huntington and Longwood avenues). Mon-
Sat, noon-6 p.m., except Wednesdays,
noon-8 p.m.
tHU, MAR 4: Gunther Schuller conducts
the U.S. premiere of his reworking
of Prokofev’s Peter and the Wolf
for jazz orchestra in Jordan Hall.
Schuller, a former president of NEC,
will also ofer a retrospective of jazz
orchestra repertory from early swing to
modernism in the frst half of the
concert. 8 p.m. FREE
fRi, MAR 5 tHRoUgH SUN, MAR 28: When
underground impresario Ryan Landry
goes up against Oprah Winfrey, only one
diva comes out alive—and since Landry
wrote Te Phantom of the Oprah, we’re
betting on him. Tis show also stars New
York’s remarkable Varla Jean Merman in
an unusual collaboration with Landry’s
Gold Dust Orphans troupe. Fridays &
Saturdays at 8:00; Sundays at 5:00. Tickets
$35-45 through www.brownpapertickets.
com. Performances at Machine (underneath
the Ramrod, 1254 Boylston Street); plan to
arrive early. For information, call 617-265-
6222 or visit www.golddustorphans.com.
fRi, MAR 5: Opening night for Becky Shaw, a
“wickedly funny black comedy about a blind
date gone bad,” at the Huntington Teatre.
Te play also “inaugurates a multi-year look
at American comedy that will explore the
history and future of the form.” Note that
this is the frst of several previews; ofcial
opening night is Mar 10. 8 p.m. Tickets $20-
$82.50. Visit huntingtontheatre.org or call
617-266-0800 for more information.
SAt, MAR 6: If you’re as crazy for klezmer
music as we are, you’ll make a beeline for
this reunion of the Klezmer Conservatory
Band, a Berklee group that helped put this
world music form on the map in the 1980s.
Sometimes mournful, sometimes joyous,
the merger of jazz, fok tunes, and, later,
swing spun out of Jewish communities in
Eastern Europe in the early 20th century.
Tis concert reunites star KCB soloists Don
Byron (clarinet) and Judy Bressler (vocals).
Tickets $18-54, with $90 tickets that include
admission to a reception for the frst Boston
Jewish Music Festival. Concert information
and tickets at www.berkleepc.com or
through Tickemaster.
SUN, MAR 7: Violinist Irina Muresanu joins
the Boston Civic Symphony for a program
that includes works by Rossini, Tchaikovsky,
Paganini, and the world premiere of
at 617-482-6661 or www.celebrityseries.org.
SUN, MAR 7: “Ending Childhood Poverty,” a
tribute to Sen Ted Kennedy, with featured
speaker Marian Wright Edelman. 2:00 p.m.,
JFK Library & Museum, Columbia Point. To
reserve (stongly recommended), call
617-514-1643. Free.
WeD, MAR 10: Mass Historical Society
presents Kirstin Downey, speaking about
her recent biography, Te Woman Behind
the New Deal: Te Life of Frances Perkins.
Perkins served as Franklin Roosevelt’s
Secretary of Labor and was the frst woman
appointed to a cabinet post in the U.S. 6:00
p.m., 1154 Boylston Street. Registration is
required; visit www.MassHist.org or
call 617-646-0560. Free.
WeD, MAR 10: Harvard professor Moshik
Temkin discusses the international
cause célèbre surrounding the Sacco and
Vanzetti trial. Te local trial fared into an
international scandal, and decades later,
some critics still call the trial a travesty and
the men’s executions political murder. Did
worldwide protests of the verdict actually
doom them to execution? 6:30–8pm in the
Orientation Room of the Boston
Public Library, Main Branch. FREE
WeD, MAR 10–SUN, ApRil 4: Intimate and
inventive, the Actors Shakespeare Project
has arrived at Othello in its transit of Shake-
This symbol indicates a free
event. For even more listings,
visit www.fenwaynews.org
+
+
a concerto written for her by Boston
composer Tomas Oboe Lee. 2:00 p.m. at
Jordan Hall. Tickets $27-32 at the box ofce,
or check www.goldstar.com for half-price
seats up to 48 hours before the show.
SUN MAR 7: Internationally acclaimed violin-
ist Itzhak Perlman joins pianist Rohan De
Silva for a Celebrity Series recital at Sym-
phony Hall. 3 p.m. Info and tickets ($38-87)
writer Maya angelou may
be best known for her book I
Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
and fve other books about her
upbringing, but she has also
written poetry, worked with
Martin Luther King, served
on presidential commissions,
acted in movies and on stage,
and composed music. she’ll
bring that daunting resume
to northeastern’s Blackman
auditorium on Friday, March
26, and the school’s center for
the arts promises that she “will
captivate her audience lyrically
with vigor and fre.” tickets
$10-$25; for more information
or to purchase tickets call
617-373-4700 or visit www.
centerforthearts.neu.edu.
Northeastern Lures an Uncaged Bird
p
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Te following events take place at the
Peterborough Senior Center (located
between 100 & 108 Jersey St.; walk down the
alley between the two buildings). Te Center
is located two blocks from Boylston Street.
For more information, call 617-536-7154.
ReCURRiNg eveNtS
MoNDAYS
• 11:30 a.m. (NOTE NEW TIME):
Film—Mar 1, Saturday Night Fever (1977);
Mar 8, Mystic River (2003); Mar 15, Slums
of Beverly Hills (1998); Mar 22, Kite Runner
(2007); Mar 29, Te Departed (2006)
• 2:15 p.m: Yoga
tUeSDAYS
• 11 a.m: Exercise with Mahmoud
• 12 noon: Documentaries—Mar 2,
Moment in Time: Legends and Leaders—
American Women; Mar 9, Tree Ballets
By Tchaikovsky; Mar 16, Jazz: Disc 3; Mar
23, Jazz: Disc 4; Mar 30, John and Abigail
Adams” 2005
WeDNeSDAYS
• 9:30 a.m: yoga with Julie
• 10 a.m.-12 noon: Blood pressure check
with Joyce.
tHURSDAYS
10 a.m: Knitting with Nan
SpeCiAl eveNtS
MAR 3: Short story discussion: stories by
Mary Freeman and Ring Lardner. 11 a.m.
MAR 4: Ellen Budnich-Gross of DEAF, Inc.
talks about new devices to aid hearing. 11
a.m.
tUe, MAR 9: Planning Committee, 10 a.m.
WeD, MAR 10:
• History of Witchcraft: Persecution from
Europe to Salem, with Penina. 11 a.m.
• Taxi coupons—1 p.m.
tHU, MAR 11: Te Creative Process—panel
discussion with Fenway artists 11 a.m.
tUe, MAR 16: Senior Task Force meeting.
10 a.m.
WeD, MAR 17:
• 11 a.m.—Short story discussion—stories
by Anton Chekhov and Sarah Orne Jewett.
• 12 p.m.—PIZZA LUNCH ($3 contribution)
• 1 p.m.—Haiku
tHU, MAR 18: Current events discussion with
Suzanne. 11 a.m.
speare’s work. At Villa Victoria Center for
the Arts, 85 West Newton St. in the South
End. Turs & Fri 7:30 p.m.; Sat at 3:00 and
8:00 p.m., Sun at 3:00 p.m. Also Wed, Mar
10. Tickets $38-47; $34-44 (seniors); $25-
40 (students) through www.actorsshake-
speareproject.org or 866-811-4111.
tHU, MAR 11: Lunch-time concert at Berklee’s
Café 939 (actually, it’s part of a series of
change. 6 p.m. Boston Public Library,
Central Branch, Rabb Lecture Hall.
fRi, MAR 26: Elton John’s Aida Showcase
turns the spotlight on the understudies
for the production of Aida that comes to
Berklee Performance Center in April.
4 p.m., David Friend Recital Hall,
921 Boylston Street. FREE.
SAt, MAR 27: Te Boston Conservatory
Orchestra performs Stravinsky’s
Pulcinella and Brahms’ Serenade #1 at
the Fenway Center, at Gainsborough
and St. Stephen streets. 8:00 p.m.
FREE. More information at www.
bostonconservatory.edu.
tUe, MAR 30: Continuing a tradition Isabella
Stewart Gardner started in 1904, the Gard-
ner Museum welcomes spring with a special
courtyard installation of 20-foot-long nas-
turtium vines, their bright orange blossom
cascading from the third-foor balconies.
Te display will remain on view through the
middle of the month. Free with Museum
admission.
tUe, MAR 30: Andrés Cárdenes, concertmas-
ter of the Pittsburgh Symphony and a past
winner of the Tchaikovsky International
Violin Competition, performs at Boston
Conservatory’s Seully Center, 8 Te Fenway.
Tickets $7–$12. Information and tickets at
www.bostonconservatory.edu, or call 617-
912-9222, Mon-Fri, noon-6 p.m.
concerts) featuring Berklee-based bluegrass
quintet Chasing Blue. Bring your lunch or
order from the café menu. 1-2 p.m. at
939 Boylston Street. FREE.
fRi, MAR 12: Sweet Plantain String Quartet
performs at Northeastern’s Fenway Center,
77 St. Stephen St. Te group’s contemporary,
urban, Latin sound fuses Latin, classical,
jazz and improvisational forms. Tickets $5-
$20; www.centerforthearts.neu.edu or 617-
373-4700 for more information.
SAt, MAR 13: Te Longwood Symphony
Orchestra’s partnership with the Food
Project, to raise awareness of hunger relief,
sustainable food sources, and healthy nutri-
tion, culminates in a concert that includes
Samuel Barber’s beloved Violin Concerto,
Debussy’s La Mer, and Ginastera’s Ollantay.
For information about the collaboration and
the concert, visit www.longwoodsymphony.
org. Jordan Hall, 8 p.m. Tickets $20-$40.
tHU, MAR 18: Samina Quraeshi, artist, author
and educator raised in Pakistan, examines
cultural complexity in a talk at the BPL’s
Central Branch (Copley Square) sponsored
by the Boston Society of Architects. 6 p.m.
in Rabb Lecture Hall. FREE
tUe, MAR 23: Dirt!—Te Movie, looks at
how industrial farming, mining and urban
development have led to cataclysmic
droughts, starvation, foods and climate
WeD, MAR 3: Fenway liaison for Mayor’s
Ofce of Neighborhood Services, William
Onuoha, holds ofce hours 3:30-5:30
p.m. YMCA, 316 Huntington Ave. No
appointment necessary.
fRi, MAR 5: 13th Boston International
Women’s Day Breakfast, 7:30-9:30 a.m. $5
donation includes continental breakfast.
For information or to RSVP, email dianne.
[email protected] or call 617-521-2480
tUe, MAR 16: Audubon Circle Neighborhood
Assn. board meeting 6-8 p.m., Harvard
Vanguard, 131 Brookline Ave., Annex Bldg.,
Rm 3D. For more info, call 617-262-0657.
tUe, MAR 16: East Fens Community/Police
meeting., 6 p.m. Morville House, 100
Norway St.
tUe, MAR 16: Ward 5 Democratic Committee
meeting, 7 p.m., Community Church of
Boston, 565 Boylston St., Copley Square.
WeD, MAR 17: Fenway liaison for Mayor’s
Ofce of Neighborhood Services, William
Onuoha, holds ofce hours 3:30-5:30
p.m. YMCA, 316 Huntington Ave. No
appointment necessary.
WeD, MAR 17: West Fens Police/Community
meeting, 5 p.m. Landmark Center (corner
Park Drive & Brookline Ave.), 2nd foor
police substation (next to security desk).
tHU, MAR 18: Congressman Capuano’s
representative holds ofce hours 4-5 p.m.
Fenway Community Health Center, 1340
Boylston. Residents welcome.
fRi, MAR 19: Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz’s
representative holds East Fens ofce
hours: 9-10 a.m. Espresso Royale Cafe, 44
Gainsboro St., For more info call Stephanie
Everett at 617-722-1673 or email stephanie.
[email protected]. Community residents’
questions and concerns welcome.
SAt, MAR 20: Meeting of Boston Prime
Timers, for mature gay and bisexual
men. Featured speaker: Rudy Kikel, West
Fens resident and former arts editor of
Bay Windows, discussing his 81-poem
autobiographical book, Talks in the
Blue. USES Harriet Tubman House, 566
Columbus Ave (corner of Mass Ave.).
For information, call 617-447-2344,
visit bostonprimetimers.org, or email
[email protected].
MoN., MAR 22: Longwood Medical Area
Forum, 6:30-8 p.m. For location or to verify
that meeting will be held, email Laura at
[email protected].
tUe, MAR 23: Symphony Neighborhood Task
Force, 6 p.m. Location TBD. For more info
call Councilor Mike Ross’s ofce at 617-635-
4225. Neighborhood residents welcome.
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