First-time grant-maker gets a look at what makes

WWW.FENWAYNEWS.org
july
2013
FREE
photo: Mission Hill Little League Baseball
serving the Fenway, Kenmore Square, upper Back Bay, Prudential, Longwood Area and Mission Hill since 1974 volume 39, number 7 june 29-august 2, 2013
BRA’s Talks with Red Sox Take a Surprise Turn
In May, The Boston Globe reported that the Red Sox and the Boston Redevelopment
Authority had begun talks about renewing the team’s license to control Yawkey Way on
game days and lease air rights above the sidewalk on the south side of Lansdowne Street.
Both deals hinged on the agency’s declaring the areas “blighted,” which allowed it to take
them by eminent domain. Concession sales on Yawkey Way and ticket revenues from Green
Monster seats (built in the air rights) bring in more than $6 million a year, but under the
agreement signed in 2003, the Sox pay less than $200,000 for the BRA license (about $2,300
per game). The story got more interesting last month, when an Everett businessman offered
to take over the concession operation for double the fee to the City. Joseph Marchese, Jr.,
made his offer public after waiting a month for the BRA to respond and hinted he might sue
if the BRA freezes him out of bidding. The current contract ends this fall.
Road to College Runs Through Fenway Park
Police Believe Student Carried Out Mission Hill Assaults
Less than a week after two young women were assaulted in similar early-morning attacks
at the foot of Mission Hill, police announced the arrest of a suspect, Patrick Barry, a
Northeastern student. In both incidents—which occurred in early on June 15—the targets
of attack were grabbed from behind but managed to escape, although not before being
stabbed by the assailant (in both cases, the injury was not significant). A judge set bail at
$20,000 and ordered Barry to stay away from the NEU campus and Mission Hill.
‘Circle the City’ Closes Huntington to Cars on July 14
On Sunday, July 14, you can dance in the streets—or at least in Huntington Ave. from
11am to 4pm. Circle the City will turn Huntington into a multi-block line-up of arts,
fitness, performance, history—and no cars. The Emerald Necklace Conservancy and the
Fenway Alliance joined five other groups to organize the event, which will stretch from
Belvidere Street to Brigham Circle and include activities as varied as chalk painting, a bike
rodeo, concerts, and salsa lessons. Visit http://circlethecityboston.org/ for details.
Newslines on page 5 ☛
Daniel Ruiz (left), from the Mission Hill’s Red Sox Little League team, threw out a
first pitch on June 9 at Fenway Park. Ruiz landed in the pre-game ceremony as one of
the 2013 Red Sox Scholars. Sponsored by the club, the Red Sox Foundation, and Beth
Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the Scholars program addresses the challenge of
getting smart but financially strapped 7th graders from Boston Public Schools into
college—and beyond. Each of the 10 Scholars receives a $10,000 college scholarship,
mentoring, tutoring, and after-school and summer enrichment activities.
AFter successful ‘Picturing’ event, old photos will find new home online
A
photo: Steve Wolf
s long-gone Yankee Brahmins
looked on sternly, State Rep.
(and historian) Byron Rushing
addressed about 60 people at
“Picturing the Fenway,” a benefit for
The Fenway News held June 20 at the
Massachusetts Historical Society.
The event marked the debut of newly
digitized images of the neighborhood,
collected by former East Fens resident
Bernie Kramer.
The Fenway News board wishes to
recognize the outstanding work of its
dedicated and tireless event committee;
the support of the Mission Hill Fenway
Neighborhood Trust, which underwrote
the digitization project; the honorary
committee of Boston cultural, academic
and medical leaders; the gracious
assistance of Massachusetts Historical
Society; and our generous sponsors and
in-kind contributors.
We are especially grateful to Byron
Rushing, who chaired the honorary
committee (and regaled us with Bernie
anecdotes), and to Roz Kramer, Bernie
and Barbara’s daughter, whose gift of
the slides made the evening possible.
If you missed the event, we plan to run
some of the photos in the paper over the
next months and give them a permanent
home on our website later this year.
First-Time Grant-Maker Gets a Look at What Makes Neighborhoods Tick
of most of the 22 organizations receiving
grants attended and, as they received their
checks, provided a brief overview of how they
expected to use the grant money. MHFNT
Chairwoman Lauren Dewey-Platt explained to
those assembled that this “quick explanation”
had, in the past, alerted several organizations
to possibilities of collaboration with other
groups in their areas.
The Trust distributed almost $64,000 to
22 organizations in the two neighborhoods.
Grants varied in size from $750 to
$7,465, with most in the $1,500 to $4,000
How’d Your Neighbors Vote?
range. The diverse objectives of those
grants open an interesting window on
Ward/
TOTAL
Precinct VOTES*
GOMEZ* MARKEY*
HEOS*
neighborhood life in the two locations.
When organizations submit grant
4/5
397
69
326
2
proposals to the Trust they are must state
4/6
324
80
242
1
not only how they propose to spend the
4/7
247
36
211
0
funds they request, but also to provide
4/8
246
52
193
1
a profile of their group. While some
applicants have sizeable budgets and
4/10
57
14
43
0
paid staff, most are modest, all-volunteer
5/2
218
33
183
0
operations. The people who “make them
5/2A
158
35
122
0
go” are already volunteering their time,
5/10
321
83
238
0
energy and creativity, and contributing
what they can financially.
21/1
236
42
192
0
It seems reasonable to characterize
Total
2,204
444
1,750
4
these operations, in general, as “works
* Compiled by Helen Cox. The city Elections Department
of love.” They crystallize the efforts of
had not confirmed these totals by press time.
citizens who identify unmet community
By Jamie Thomson
[Note: Jamie recently joined the Mission Hill/
Fenway Neighborhood Trust’s six-member
board, and began actively participating in
Trust activities at the start of the current
round of grant allocations.]
he Mission Hill/Fenway
Neighborhood Trust (MHFNT) held
its annual grant awards meeting on
Thursday evening, June 13, in the
Kennedy Building at MassArt. Representatives
T
needs, and they seem to succeed because
somebody cares enough to:
• Organize support for elderly residents. For
many of these elderly, the organizations’
activities break their isolation and reconnect
them with others—for example, by allowing
them to participate in collective reflection
on health problems they and their peers
encounter (Benjamin Healthcare Center,
ABCD Parker Hill).
• Teach boys and girls how to play softball,
offering ample opportunities in the offseason to “take batting practice” in a noncompetitive environment with supportive
coaching (Boston Pirates Youth Sports).
• Welcome visitors to the Shattuck Emerald
Necklace Visitor Center and orient them
to the sites and activities of the Emerald
Necklace Parks (Emerald Necklace
Conservancy).
• Support resident and student artists and
artist groups (Kaji Aso Studio, Friends of
Fenway Studios, Massachusetts College
of Art and Design Foundation, Mission
Hill Artists Collective, Fenway Education
and Neighborhood Support [FENS] Fund,
Fenway Jazz Jam, Maria Jane Loizou
[soprano] and Friends).
• Organize, accredit and operate a power
wheelchair soccer program (one participant
at the meeting, Jerry Boyd, revealed that,
at age 43, he was having his very first
opportunity to participate in a competitive
sport, something he had long yearned to do)
(Boston Self Help Center).
• Support neighborhood youth and strengthen
families by providing summer programs
for youth and parent-participant camping
plus paid summer employment for youth
counselors (Operation P.E.A.C.E., Phillips
Brooks House Association).
• Organize a foot race, proceeds of which
help finance park improvements (Mission
Hill Neighborhood Housing Services), or
sponsor a Halloween Party (Mission Hill
Youth Collaborative).
• Spruce up a neighborhood (Mission Hill
Main Streets).
• Upgrade and maintain furniture in a neighborhood park (Friends of Ramler Park).
• Care for trees and shrubs and carry out
replacement plantings in an Emerald
Necklace Park (Fenway Civic Association),
or support and publicize the activities
of gardeners from the Victory Gardens
(Fenway Garden Society).
None of these grassroots activities, individually, will change the world; collectively,
however, they the strengthen quality and variety of life in the Fenway and Mission Hill.
Jamie Thomson lives in the West Fens.
2 | FENWAY NEWS | july 2013
Haley House Serves Up Job Training, Community, Culture—and Good Food
aley House Bakery Café offers
employment to convicts recently
released from prison while
simultaneously serving up food and
culture to the Roxbury community.
Haley House began as a South End
soup kitchen 47 years ago. Far from today’s
prosperous neighborhood, the South End in
the mid-1960s was down at the heels and
attracted many people with limited incomes.
Since 1966 the soup kitchen has served more
than 48,000 meals a year.
Haley House has expanded its services
through the years while maintaining the soup
kitchen. It owns and manages 109 units of
low-income housing in the South End. In 1983,
it established an organic farm in Winchendon
Springs that provides produce to the soup
kitchen.
In 1997, Haley House introduced a bakery-training program, but within a decade it
had outgrown the soup kitchen. It moved to its
own location in Roxbury’s Dudley Square and
became the Haley House Bakery Café.
Mass Ave
Lock Co.
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125 St. Botolph Street
Phone 247-9779 • Fax 536-8709
Police Locks • Doors Opened
Mailbox Keys • Master Keys
Systems • Padlocks
Door Closers
Keys Made by Code
After the move, Bing Broderick was
hired as café manager. He is now the business
and marketing director of Haley House.
From the Bakery Café’s first days of
operation, its staff strived to make an impact
on the surrounding community by creating
employment opportunities and offering
“healthy fare to a neighborhood that didn’t
have healthy food,” Broderick said.
The cafe used to employ people
recovering from addiction, refugees, and
victims of abuse. Three years ago, Daniel
Cordon, the cafe’s director of wholesale and
transitional employment, re-envisioned the
employment program, Broderick said.
Haley House Bakery Café now focuses
on hiring men and women recently released
from prison. Broderick thinks that with that
newfound focus, Haley House Bakery Café
“can do a more comprehensive job” of training
employees.
Some former prisoners begin the training
while they are living in halfway houses,
beginning the transition back to society.
Broderick said Haley House has an amiable
relationship with a number of halfway houses.
There are now five trainees in the
transitional employment program, according
to Broderick, and eight of staff members are
former trainees.
The newest trainee is Nate Jonathan
Moore. Moore began working with the
transitional employment program in January,
two months after his release from prison.
Moore said he has been introduced
through the program to people who can help
him reintegrate into society. He has also
learned cooking, computer and other job
skills while working part time at Haley House
Bakery Café.
“It saved me from going back to jail,”
Moore said.
While assisting people like Moore,
Haley House also interacts with the Roxbury
neighborhood through community dinners
and cultural programs. On Saturdays, the
café hosts community dinners, known
as “Community Tables,” where Roxbury
residents pay what they can.
CELEBRATE THE
40 TH A NNIVERSARY
OF THE
FENWAY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
The Fenway Ball
Merriment, Music, Dining and Dancing
WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013
6:00 - 9:30 PM
HOUSE OF BLUES , 15 Lansdowne Street, Boston
Raffle | Silent & Live Auctions
Hosted by Adam Williams, WHDH News
Tickets | Advertising | Sponsorship
$100 General Admission n $75 Fenway CDC members
Sponsorship and advertising opportunities are available.
Visit www.FenwayCDC.org for more information.
Diamond Sponsor
Gold Sponsor
Pomp and Fist Pumps for New Graduates
The Fenway is home to three of Boston’s finest high schools, all of which
celebrated their newly minted graduates in the space of 72 hours. Fenway High
School held graduation on Friday, June 7, at Emmanuel College. The salutatory
address was presented by Andy Gonzalez and the valedictory by Vania Periera
(above, left and right). Seventy-one students received diplomas, including Tajanay
Veiga and Charlise Jones, leaders on the girls’ basketball team that repeated
as Division 4 state champs in March. Boston Latin School held its graduation
on Monday, June 10, at the Bank of America Pavilion on the waterfront, where
Boston Mayor Tom Menino welcomed all. Quynh Nhu Le presented the valedictory
address, and 372 graduates received diplomas. Boston Arts Academy held its
graduation that same day, at the Shubert Theatre downtown. The arts-focused
high school awarded 69 diplomas. —Patrick O’Connor
BRA
The Boston Redevelopment Authority
will host a public meeting regarding
Wentworth Institute of Technology,
500 Huntington Avenue Project
Task Force/Public Meeting
Wentworth Campus, Beatty Hall, Flanagan Campus Center
Creators of So Good (The Boston Song)
Presenting Sponsor
Haley House presents history lectures
and panel discussions led by the Roxbury
Historical Society.
Broderick thinks that Haley House Bakery Café has become “a vital cultural space.”
“We want to create a community,”
Broderick said.
Kelsey Bruun is an undergraduate
student in the Northeastern University
School of Journalism.
Tuesday, July 9th 6:00–7:30 PM
Music by Sweet Tooth and the Sugar Babies,
Special Thanks
“We invite our neighbors,” Broderick said.
Broderick thinks the dinners provide
neighborhood residents a reliable source of
healthy and sustainable food—even if only
once a week—which they might not be able to
afford on a regular basis.
The café also hosts a weekly performance
series titled “Art is Life Itself,” which might
take the form of a poetry workshop or the
screening of a documentary. Less frequently,
photo: patrick o’connor
H
By Kelsey Bruun
In-Kind Sponsors
Project Description: Wentworth Institute of Technology has
submitted a Development Plan for a Planned Development Area at
500 Huntington Avenue (current Sweeney Field) in the Mission Hill
neighborhood to the Boston Redevelopment Authority for review.
The Development Plan describes the Proposed Project including the
development of a mixed-use project with research and
development, office, retail/commercial space, restaurant, laboratory,
cultural, day care, parking, and accessory uses. The Proposed Project
consists of a total of up to 640,000 gross square feet within two
buildings. Building One will be up to six stories high and contain up
to 78,400 gross square feet of leased space to support the
Wentworth Center for Innovation in Engineering and Technology
and up to 15,600 gross square feet of office/ research and
development space. Building Two, which fronts on Huntington
Avenue and Parker Street, will be a combination of a lower element
of up to six stories and a higher element of up to eighteen stories.
CLOSE OF COMMENT PERIOD: AUGUST 8, 2013
MaIL TO:
MS. KATELYN SULLIVAN
BOSTON REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
ONE CITY HALL SQUARE, 9TH FLOOR
BOSTON, MA 02201
Fax:
617.742.7783
PhONE:
617.918.4425
EMaIL:
Katelyn.sullivan.bra@cityofboston.gov
Brian P. Golden
Executive Director/Secretary
FENWAY NEWS | july 2013 | 3
City Thanks 18 Innovators Who Help Boston Cut Greenhouse Emissions
T
fenway news staff
his spring, Mayor Thomas M.
Menino announced the launch of
“Greenovate Boston,” a sustainability
initative intended to reduce the entire
city’s greenhouse-gas emissions by 25 percent
by 2020 and 80 percent in 2050.
The announcement coincided with the
2013 Greenovate Boston Award ceremony,
which recognizes businesses, residents, and
sustainable food leaders for innovative and
environmentally beneficial efforts that help the
city reach its carbon-reduction goals.
“Celebrating these leaders today is the
perfect way to kick off Greenovate Boston,”
Menino said in a statement. “They work every
day to make Boston cleaner, healthier, and
more prosperous for future generations. Now
Tue, July 2
7:10 p.m.
Wed, July 3
7:10 p.m.
Thu July 4
1:35 p.m.
Fri, July 19
7:10 p.m.
Sat, July 20
4:05 p.m.
Sun, July 21
8:05 p.m.
Mon, July 22
7:10 p.m.
Tue, July 23
7:10 p.m.
Wed, July 24
7:10 p.m.
Thu, July 25
7:10 p.m.
Tue, July 30
7:10 p.m.
Wed, July 31
7:10 p.m.
street Cleaning
The city cleans Fenway residential streets
between 12 and 4pm on the first and third
Wednesdays of each month (odd-numbered
side) and the second and fourth Wednesdays (even-numbered sides). More info at
617-635-4900 or www.cityofboston.gov/
publicworks/sweeping. The state cleans
streets along the park on this schedule:
• Second Thursday
The Riverway, 12:00–3:00pm
• Second Friday
The Fenway (includes inside lane),
Charlesgate Extension and Forsyth
Way, 8:00am–12:00pm
our work continues to get all of our residents,
neighborhoods and businesses to join us as
we make Boston the greenest city in United
States.”
Over the next few years, the inaugural
Greenovate Fellows, Charles Zhu and Fenway
resident Benita Hussain, will work with the
community to help meet these goals.
Supported by the Mayor’s Green Ribbon
Commission, Greenovate Boston kicked off
with a citywide ad campaign and a website,
GreenovateBoston.org, that will function as a
one-stop shop for government and community
resources that promote energy efficiency and
sustainability. The ad campaign will raise
the profile of the Greenovate “brand” and
encourage residents to visit the website, where
they can share their personal “greenovation”
stories.
To promote the launch, the Zakim
Bridge, Prudential Tower and Atlantic Wharf
spire were lit green for the week of May 14.
“Greenovate Boston’s engagement goals
will help ensure that the commitment to our
environment and the innovations demonstrated
by today’s award winners become the norm
in Boston,” said Brian Swett, the City’s head
of energy and environment, in a press release.
“We are proud to honor them.”
Three residents, 13 businesses, and two
sustainable-food leaders won Greenovate
Awards in the categories of business,
residential, and sustainable food leadership
categories. Menino presented the awards at
Boston University’s new Center for Student
Services.
For more information, visit www.
GreenovateBoston.org.
Farmer’s Markets
July marks the beginning
of high season for New
England summer crops.
Stone fruits, tomatoes
and the first corn will all
make their debuts. The
Copley Square market
has broadened its roster
of offerings, adding
artisanal products (nut
butters, organic pasta,
Middle Eastern foods,
and cheeses).
Berklee: Outside 7 Haviland Street (former Fenway Health)
Last Wednesday of the month
3:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m.
Copley Square
Tuesday & Friday
11:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Prudential CENTER: 800 Boylston
Thursday
11:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Brigham Circle
Thursday
11:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Jamaica Plain: Bank of America parking lot, Centre Street
Wednesday
12:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.
Saturday
12:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m.
South End: 540 Harrison Avenue (at SoWa arts market)
Sunday
10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
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• Second Friday
8 to 54 The Fenway (includes inside
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12:00pm
> Park Drive, from Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral to Kilmarnock Street
and from the Riverside Line overpass
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Congratulations to the
Congratulations to the Fenway
CDC
Fenway CDC Celebrating 40 years of improving lives and building community
Celebrating 40 years of improving lives and building community Northeastern University Office of City & Community Affairs • 617-373-5810
Northeastern University Office of City & Community Affairs, 617-­‐373-­‐5810 4 | FENWAY NEWS | july 2013
Dukakis Has It Right: Don’t Just Say Something, Do Something
by Jamie Thomson
W
hile the Governor didn’t come out and say so in my
interview on the facing page, it wouldn’t be stretching
a point to summarize his position as “If you see
something, don’t say something. Just pick it up and
dispose of it properly!” You won’t risk any health consequences,
especially if you follow Kitty Dukakis’s advice and wash your hands
afterwards.
In the meantime, if you have a regular route through a Necklace
Park, or if you frequent a particular Emerald, make an effort to
remember where the trash barrels are located. Then, you’ll have a
place in mind where you can dump what you harvest. If you see a
discarded gum wrapper, a napkin, a fast-food sack, a styrofoam cup,
plastic utensils, or food wrappers on the ground or lodged in the low
branches of a bush, make a citizen’s effort to co-produce a great park.
Pick it up!
And remember—this might turn out to be one of the last areas of
citizen privacy: if you don’t broadcast your act with social media, they
won’t know. Do it and enjoy the sense that you’ve done something—a
little something, to be sure, but something—to co-produce a great
park. If you’ve got “skin in the game,” chances are you’ll enjoy your
park more. Those tiny acts of helping to take care of a property that
we all share in common are, as the Governor knows, essential to
making the experience of living in a great city enjoyable.
This is one of those things that government—whether of the city
or the commonwealth—probably can’t do. The cost in taxes to field
teams of litter collectors would be prohibitive. Or, phrased otherwise,
we can probably spend our tax funds on activities more essential to the
welfare of the community. Instead, set yourself a goal: a piece of litter
a day, to keep park degradation away. If each one picks up one, it will
make a difference to our shared public space.
And, if you really want to go all out, when you see someone
littering close by, model your response on the Governor’s and quietly
ask: “Who’s going to pick that up?”
New Laundromat Brings Fenway Residents Sartorial Relief
By Stephen Brophy
W
hat can I say? I'm just lazy. I would rather pay
someone else twice what it would cost if I did my
laundry by myself. Living in the East Fenway my
two laundromat choices are both on Westland Ave. I
tried Commonwealth Laundromat (59 Westland) a couple of times
but then frequented the one under Cappy’s, further down the street.
Unfortunately that one was eliminated by a fire a couple of years
ago, so I was back to Commonwealth. (The Cappy’s one has recently
reopened, but its services are cut back from what they were.)
After the fire I had no choice, and I complained bitterly. My
new choice had limited hours, only accepted cash, and was always
trying to add on special charges. Fortunately for people like me, the
old owners got tired of trying to run a business that they weren't very
good at, and recently sold the space to a new owner—and all I can say
is, Vive la différence!
Now the doors open at 7am and stay that way until midnight.
The old hours were 9am-9pm, but 9am was frequently more like 9:15,
and signs were frequently posted notifying customers of early closing
times. The old owners refused to consider letting their customers use
debit/credit cards for payment, so an ATM stop was almost always
an extra step to getting clean clothes. New owners installed charging
technology as one of their first acts. (The newly reopened Cappy’s
laundromat has ceased the use of plastic, so their convenience factor
has decreased.)
Daylighting May Relieve Flooding, But
Rising Sea Levels Are A Bigger Risk
To the Editor:
Thanks for the June article which ties
increasing flooding to global warming.
Neither the author, Jamie Thomson, nor
Professor Ruth have been
around long enough to know
about the Natural Valley Flood
Storage Plan for the Charles River. This plan
designed by the Army Corps of Engineers
was adopted in the 1970s. The NVWS project
set aside hundreds of acres of wetland in the
middle and upper Charles for water storage
and flood control and has operated to protect
the downstream inhabitants of the watershed
ever since.
This natural systems project was
successfully promoted by a group of suburban
housewives from the League of Women
Voters calling themselves the Charles River
Watershed Group. This was the precursor of
the Charles River Watershed Association that
protects the river environment to this day.
The “daylighting” of the Muddy River
will add to the local flood-storage capacity,
but the biggest risk to our neighborhood is
storm surge from more frequent powerful
hurricanes. A storm surge like Sandy’s would
overtop the Charles River Dam and flood the
Back Bay and Fens.
That prospect is something that should
afflict the comfortable.
Sincerely,
One of the new owners says that she and her husband want “to
make Commonwealth Laundry a safe, clean and updated environment
where people want to come do their laundry.” They hope to “expand
by offering free pick-up and delivery for clients to make life easier for
them.” They have already installed free WiFi and cable TV, and hope
to begin accepting Husky and Berklee cards by September.
The couple got into the laundromat business knowing that they
would need a good manager because “both of us have other jobs and
two young children.” The current manager, Candena Millington,
recently accepted a position in a different business but had extensive
experience from working in a Virginia nursing home run by her great
aunt. She will continue through June 30, and then be immediately
replaced by Kimberly Lizotte, a Rhode Island native who has lived in
Boston for the past five years.
Lizotte is looking forward to working close to her favorite
baseball team and taking advantage of all the “awesome attractions
and people the Fenway offers.” If you”d like to drop your laundry
off to be washed and folded (at $1.30/lb), office hours are 9am-noon
and 4-8pm during the week, 9am-6pm on Saturdays, and 11am-8pm
on Sundays. You can do your own from 7am-midnight. You can also
request ironing on some items; dry cleaning will be sent off site.
Watch for flyers from the store for seasonal specials—currently you
can get 10% off on laundry dropped off for washing on Tuesdays with
a flyer coupon.
Stephen Brophy lives in the East Fens.
the LMA employees, Red Sox employees
and their millions of Red Sox fans that go
by the store every year. I am saddened that
they did not reach out to the City of Boston,
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, its
universities, and the business community for
financial assistance and business
savvy that would have allowed
them to stay in the neighborhood.
I would like Steve Samuels and
John Rosenthal to reach out to Rite Aid and
offer them a new lease in another location
in the West Boylston/Fenway/Kenmore
neighborhood.
Letters
Mary Adelstein, EAST FENS
Rite Aid Just Couldn’t Make Numbers
Work for Boylston Street Store
To the Editor:
This is an email that was sent to me
from Rite Aid that I would like to share with
my neighbors. It is mind-boggling to know
that they did not know just how beloved Rite
Aid was to the neighborhood, its tourists,
lisa fay, West Fens
Dear Ms. Fay, your email to our Chief
Executive Officer, John Standley, has been
referred to me for response. Thank you so
much for your kind words regarding our store
on Boyleston [sic] and for your loyalty as
a customer. Unfortunately this store will
be closing. Regrettably there simply were
not enough loyal customers such as you to
permit us to have a profitable store at this
location. In fact, the store had been losing a
substantial amount of money for a number
of years and we continued to operate it in
an effort to service the community and try
to make it profitable. As the end of the lease
approached, we had to make a very difficult
decision not renew the lease and permit
the Children’s Hospital to take this space.
The Children’s Hospital has in fact signed a
lease for the property and will be taking the
space later this summer. We sincerely regret
any inconvenience this causes you and we
thank you for your patronage.
Sincerely,
Karen Smith, Group Vice President
Real Estate, Rite Aid Corp.
Quality eye care + stylish eye wear
Make an appointment or stop in to shop for eye wear today!
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T
FENWAY NEWS | july 2013 | 5
Mike Dukakis Wants You to See Scooping Up Trash as an Act of Basic Citizenship
M
of participatory citizenship anchored in a
any people in the East and West theory of governance. Reduced to a shorthand
Fens have seen former governor formulation, that theory might take this form:
Michael Dukakis walk his daily governors are essential, but they can’t get the
job done without citizen help.
four miles from his Brookline
“Citizens,” says Dukakis, “have to
home to his job as a Northeastern University
demand good parks.” But they also have
political science professor and back again.
to help “co-produce” them, the Governor
Some have seen him stoop to pick up a piece
of litter. Others have seen him—as this writer believes, by such mundane actions as cleaning
up after a thoughtless individual. He recalled
did in late May—walking with both hands
full of waste papers along the path next to the someone once saying of New York City that
“If every resident picked up one piece of
Muddy River.
litter each day
My immediate
and disposed of it
thought on meeting
properly, the City
him was, “What’s
would be pristine.”
his wife gonna say?”
He clearly thinks
Interviewed two
that’s an approach
weeks later at his
that would work
office at Northeastern,
for the Emerald
Dukakis gave me
Necklace.
the answer. “Kitty
That’s why, at
always tells me “Wash
least 1,000 times
your hands!’” But the
a year, he bends
Governor maintains
down to capture
that he’s never
a piece of litter in
“picked up” anything
the Back Bay Fens.
from the waste he
Though the man
collects, other than
will move into
the odd dollar bill
his ninth decade
or, once, a twenty.
later this year, one
He says that when
wouldn’t guess
he finds redeemable
it from his fluid
bottles and cans, he
“litter-dipping”
sticks them in his
motion. Every
sack and, when he’s
once in a while
accumulated enough
someone comes up
to earn a buck or two,
to him while he’s
turns them in at the
redemption center. But Former Governor Michael Dukakis practices walking and picking litter and says,
really, it’s not about
what he preaches: He collects litter he finds
“Now you’ve got
the money. It’s about
along the Riverway and in the Fens on his
me doing it too!”
the principle.
walk to work.
And that, he says,
In response to a
makes his day.
question about the kind of trash he collects,
The Governor, a life-long resident of
Dukakis said: “I pick up everything but used
Brookline, has unpleasant memories of the
condoms.”
city going downhill in the 1960s. “Policing,”
Quite a few people know Dukakis colobserves Dukakis, is “trying to create a
lects litter; fewer, probably, realize that the
sense of social order in the neighborhood.”
Governor views his litter-collecting as an act
Photo: Jamie Thomson
By Jamie Thomson
URBAN AGRICULTURE
CITY OF BOSTON | MAYOR THOMAS M. MENINO
#UrbanAgBOS
CITYWIDE REZONING FOR URBAN AGRICULTURE
COME JOIN YOUR NEIGHBORS TO TALK ABOUT URBAN FARMING
AND ACCESS TO HEALTHY FOOD!
Through an open public process with the Mayor’s Urban Agriculture Working Group,
the BRA has drafted a new section of the Zoning Code, Article 89, to address the
growing interest in Urban Agriculture.
To create clear guidance, we will be presenting key elements from draft Article 89:
• CommercialFarms,bothGroundLevel
andRooftop
• FarmersMarketsandFarmStands
• Aquaculture,HydroponicsandAquaponics
• FarmComposting
• FarmSoilSafety
• ConditionsfortheBackyardKeeping
ofHensandBees
Please come and provide your feedback at this meeting for Back Bay, South End, Bay
Village, Audobon Circle, Fenway, Kenmore, and Longwood:
WHEN:
Wednesday,July24,2013,6:00-7:45p.m.
WHERE:
CopleyBranchBostonPublicLibrary,RaabHall
700BoylstonStreet,BostonBackBay,MA02166
TSTATION: CopleyStation(GreenLine),BackBayStation(OrangeLine)
Several other neighborhood meetings will take place. You are welcome to attend any meeting.
For their dates and times, and for more information about the Citywide
Urban Agriculture Rezoning Initiative, go to
HTTP://WWW.TINYURL.COM/BRAREZONEURBANAGRICULTURE
For translation and interpretation services, please call: (617) 918-4352
For further information about this upcoming meeting, please contact:
Marie Mercurio, Senior Planner
John (Tad) Read, Senior Planner
marie.mercurio.BRA@cityofboston.gov
john.read.BRA@cityofboston.gov
617.918.4352
617.918.4264
As far as he’s concerned, it works. Former
Police Commissioner Michael Bratton (who
later headed the forces in New York City
and Los Angeles) strove to institutionalize
a zero-tolerance policy. That policy has, in
most parts of those municipalities (excepting
Boston’s Dorchester
neighborhood, the
Governor notes),
produced falling crime
rates for a number of
years. “Formerly, the
Fens was a place to
avoid,” he says, and
“everyone let fear take
over, which denied
people the right and
the ability to enjoy
their community. But the community has
come back strongly.”
Dukakis reminisces: “In 1974, when I
became Governor, Massachusetts had some of
the filthiest highways in the U.S. Graffiti were
everywhere. We were told that things couldn’t
be improved here because “we didn’t have the
money.” But 5,000 individuals were incarcerated in the state penitentiary system. We
thought maybe they’d prefer doing something
useful to sitting in jails. The deal that Massachusetts worked out with inmates was that
three days would be taken off their sentence
for every month they worked.
“So we got inmate crews out to clean
highways, and it didn’t cost us a nickel. Now
we have one or two crews from the Mattapan
pre-release program. They work several days
a week on the Emerald Necklace parks, and
then they have a day in the classroom to learn
about landscaping. They collect leaves, chip
wood for disposal when limbs or trees come
down, and it doesn’t cost anything more than
having a guard with them. This isn’t rocket
science.”
But, the Governor emphasizes, “Getting
citizens engaged in this [co-producing quality
parks] is an essential part of a creating a great
community.” He notes that both he and the
sitting mayor both pick up trash. “I’m in awe
of the city now—Menino has been with us
for 20 years as mayor, he took the city parks
seriously, and it shows!”
Queried about what he does when he sees
someone littering, Dukakis says he quietly
asks, “Who do you think is going to pick that
up?” People become aware of this, he says.
And when a place is
clean, he believes they
tend to litter less.
Individuals—
people like Tom
Morganti, profiled in
one of the first of this
series—make small or
more extensive efforts
to dispose of litter they
find in the parks and
keep them clean; those
efforts cumulate. Beyond those individual
efforts, Dukakis considers the creation of
nonprofit organizations that focus citizens”
attention on a particular element in the Emerald Necklace “very useful.” The Friends of
the Public Garden, Fenway Garden Society,
Friends of Jamaica Pond and a dozen other
civil society organizations whose members
take it upon themselves to co-produce high
quality park facilities throughout the Emerald
Necklace play, he feels, an essential role that
complements government action.
He notes that a civic ethic is gaining
ground in Boston. He is, moreover, impressed
by the much improved management that
individual officials in the public sector now
provide. He mentions agencies in Boston, in
Brookline, in the Patrick administration—and
observes that “They’ve all done terrific jobs.”
He mentions particularly the Commissioners
of the Commonwealth’s Department of Conservation and Recreation, Ed Lambert (former
mayor of Fall River) and his predecessor, Rick
Sullivan. And he finds Mayor Menino’s “pocket park” initiative “very productive.”
But ultimately, the success of their efforts
depends on complementary citizen initiatives,
including co-producing great parks by doing
what local government units can’t afford to do:
picking up litter.
Jamie Thompson lives in the West Fens.
6 | FENWAY NEWS | july 2013
Mixing Berklee, NEC Alums, Afro-Pop Band Kina Zoré Wins Recognition and Success
‘A
by Stephen Brophy
The band has won two important
songwriting competitions: the Peacedriven
Award and the International John Lennon
Songwriting Competition. Tsinine talked
recently with The Fenway News about the
contemporary music. In African music there is
use of traditional instrumentation such as
xylophones, drums, clapping and many
other instruments. Contemporary or popular
music has a different instrumentation such
as guitars, keyboards, etc. The marriage
of the traditional and contemporary
or popular music gives birth to a new style
that is usually hard to describe easily. For
me I would call it Afro Pop because the
fusion of those styles creates a happy and
dance feel to it.”
The band’s name is all wrapped up in
dance also. “Kina” means dance in Ronga,
Tsinine’s native language, and “Zoré”
is the name of a dance from southern
Mozambique. “Together Kina Zoré for me is a
call to celebration,” Tsinine explains.
Asked about the ensemble’s plans,
Tsinine responded enthusiastically. “Ever since
we started to play shows as a group we have
been invited to come back and perform again,
the music heals the audience and us. When we
are on the stage we are possessed, we enjoy
ourselves and the audience.
“I am really grateful to experience
photo: kina zore
revolution without dancing is not
a revolution worth having.” Emma
Goldman, America’s most popular
anarchist, is supposed to have said
something like this when one
of her comrades suggested that
she should demonstrate more
decorum when representing her
cause. And a local Afro-pop
band, Kina Zoré, is doing all it
can to demonstrate that dancing
can be a great introduction to
social change.
Pulled together in 2010 by
Helder Tsinine, a Mozambiquean
Berklee alumnus, the band consists of strings,
percussion, and brass artists from that school
and the New England Conservatory (including
regular Fenway News contributor Michael
Prentky). Every Kina Zoré concert gets its
audience up and moving but also moves them
to consider “the importance of compassion,
and action on behalf of those suffering from
poverty, homelessness, and AIDS,” as they say
on their website.
band’s origins and its future.
“After a few semesters at Berklee, I met
such amazing musicians who love the type of
music I play. Back home I had my own band
that played Mozambican music, and being
in Boston with such diverse musicians from
all over the world, I felt that it was a perfect
time for me to start my own group,” he told us.
Asked to define Afro-pop music, Tsinine
called it “a fusion of African rhythms with
this much love in each town I perform,”
he continued. “It’s been such an incredible
journey for me. I am the first in my family
to graduate from college and have learned so
much from accomplishing this in the United
States. I played professionally back home
and for the Mozambican president at the
inauguration and played other events, which
were also amazing experiences for me, but it’s
a different and inspiring feeling to know that
American people appreciate this music and
want to hear more.”
Kina Zoré is putting the finishing touches
on its first album, and will be playing in
nearby venues in the coming weeks, including
at the Middle East Upstairs in Central Square
on July 4; several venues in Vermont during
the rest of July, and at the Milky Way in
Jamaica Plain on August 9. Along with Tsinine
and Prentky, the band’s members include
Stephanie Wieseler on tenor sax, Galen Willett
on bass, and Dillon Zahner and Ed Emerson
on percussion. Visit the band’s websit, www.
kinazore.com, to learn where you can hear
them and get updates on the album release.
Stephen Brophy lives in the East Fens.
Leaving Flatland: MassArt Exhibit Showcases Alumni Who Work in Three Dimensions
assArt’s annual exhibit, Ellipses: Alumni Works in 3D is making its second
appearance this summer through July 13 in the Sandra and David Bakalar Gallery.
Works presented range in medium from textiles and glasswork to sculpture and
painting. There’s a slightly random feeling between the pieces through their
great variety, but they all seem to come together through their thematically three-dimensional
elements.
Keeping Up Appearances, created by Elizabeth Alexander, BFA sculpture ’04, is a unique
installation in the corner of the room created entirely of wallpaper, glue, and wood; the effect
being decay and a sentimental memory of life. Wooden windows crafted side by side in an
odd, quasi-Victorian-Era shape are filled with delicately cut wallpaper flowing out like lichen.
Nestled between the walls is a beautiful peacock-like carpet assembled on the floor out of small
clippings of wallpaper. Most notably, a chandelier made of the same type of wallpaper lies next
to the carpet, smashed on the floor, its chain visibly severed from its mounting on the ceiling.
☛ MassArt Exhibit on page 7
Artist Alia Pialtos’s
ceramic work “Hone.” On
her website, Pialtos says,
“As a literal intersection
of art and science,
ceramic materials offer
endless possibilities for
metaphorical meaning.
By capitalizing on the
phenomenological qualities
of clay and glaze, I utilize
unique combinations of
reactive materials in order
to affect the regularity of
structural forms.”
photo: alia pialtos
M
By Michael Prentky
NEIGHBORHOOD NIGHTS
ART • MUSIC • FAMILY FUN
FREE to all, with a special invitation to our
neighbors in the Fenway, Mission Hill,
Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, and Dorchester
SELECT THURSDAYS THIS SUMMER
July 11, July 25, and August 8, 5 – 8 pm
Tickets are FREE but limited to Museum capacity, and
can be picked up at the door each free evening.
Neighborhood Nights is generously supported in part by the Josephine and Louise Crane Foundation,
The Caleb C. and Julia W. Dula Educational and Charitable Foundation, the William E. Schrafft &
Bertha E. Schrafft Charitable Trust, and the Yawkey Foundation. The Museum receives operating
support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Photography by Lisa Abitbol, 2012
280 THE FENWAY BOSTON
617 566 1401 GARDNERMUSEUM.ORG
photo: juan barboza-gubo
FENWAY NEWS | july 2013 | 7
☛ MassArt Exhibit from page 6
Walking around the rug and experiencing the paper jumping out from the windows were a good
introduction to the 3D theme.
Around the corner a swing hangs from the ceiling with a hundred little flowers below it,
all made of glass. Artist Caterina Urrata, BFA glass ’12, continues the three-dimensional theme
through her installation Swing. To see an object so associated with the outdoors is surprising
in the gallery. The stillness of the
swing with the flowers delicately
placed below invites feelings of
nostalgia.
Less sentimental is another
installation around the corner,
Meing and Nothingness, by Andy
Zimmerman, MFA ’03. It’s almost
as if a Picasso painting turned into
many three-dimensional, large
square mirrors, each welded to four
legs, all pointing in different angles
and directions. The combination
of mirrors and raw steel feels
Juan Barboza-Gubo’s cast-crystal piece,“Cruor”
like funhouse meets junk yard.
Sprawling across the stairs, this abstract piece didn’t inspire quite the same as the previous two.
Aside from the sculptural installations, the show includes a very interesting variety of
other pieces, such as the hanging textiles, sculptures, or Antony Dodds paint buckets. For
anybody in the Fenway, it’s certainly worth a visit; it’s free and takes around 30 minutes to
properly see. Gallery hours are from 12 to 6 pm Monday through Friday and 12 to 8 pm on
Wednesdays.
Michael Prentky lives on Mission Hill.
After Ten Years, State Fenway Center Its Final OK
As we reported last month, a surprise request in May for more information held up final
state approval of a 99-year lease for developer John Rosenthal’s $500 million Fenway Center
development. On June 19, however, the commonwealth’s Department of Transportation
board of directors voted to accept the lease terms, pushing the project past its last hurdle.
The Boston Globe reports that construction will begin early in 2014. The project will sit
between Brookline Avenue and Beacon Street just west of Kenmore Square and include 500
apartments; 260,000 square feet of office and retail space; nearly 1,300 parking spaces; and
a solar-powered Yawkey Station on the MBTA’s Framingham Line. The commonwealth will
net a cumulative $227 million over the course of the lease.
NEU Begins to Flesh Out Community Benefits After Filing IMP
With the university’s ten-year institutional master plan now filed with the BRA, Fenway
residents are keeping close watch as Northeastern University begins to flesh out proposed
benefits that will have highest impact on the neighborhood—notably, an affordable
housing development and a jobs plan that will employ residents in the communities that
surround NEU. Other specific programs that have emerged as the year-long process winds
down include a small-business lending and technical assistance program, encouraged by
Council Tito Jackson; a community information center on Tremont Street; a neighborhood
council; and more access to NEU resources for neighbors. A comment period will end
August 14, and a BRA board decision is expected in mid-September. The full master plan is
available for review at the Copley branch of the Boston Public Library or on Northeastern’s
website, http://www.northeastern.edu/masterplan/documents/
NEU Invites Community Members to July 31 Job Fair
Northeastern University will host a Community Job Fair from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, July 31, in the Curry Student Center ballroom on Huntington Avenue. Along with
Northeastern, several major firms will have representatives at the fair, including Allied
Barton, Chartwells, Collegiate Press, Pitney Bowes Management Services, Turner Construction, Barnes & Noble College Bookstores, Coca Cola, Staples and Vanguard Services.
Huntington Cuts Prices For Low-Income Theater-Goers
The Huntington Theatre Company has launched an initiative, the Community Membership
Program, designed to remove cost as a barrier to attending live theatre for people on limited
incomes and to diversify the company’s audience. Members can purchase tickets to any
performance without restriction for just $15; membership is free and available through the
Huntington website at www.huntingtontheatre.org.
First Night is Dead ; Long Live First Night
Citing a dramatic decline in sponsor funding, First Night Boston’s board of directors
announced last month that it would close its doors at the end of June. The board of the longrunning New Year’s Eve celebration (a model for at least 260 other cities) issued a statement
saying it hoped to transfer the First Night trademark to the City of Boston. Mayor Thomas
Menino confirmed to WBUR that the City would attempt to maintain the event, although
likely at a smaller scale than in years past, where as many as 1 million participants thronged
the streets of the Back Bay and downtown. Organized by artists, First Night began in 1975.
Rental Registration
& Inspection Program
The Rental Registration & Inspection Program requires the annual
registration of all private rental units and the inspection for all non-exempt rental
units to be conducted every five years. This year the registration period begins
on May 1, 2013 and ends on August 1, 2013. The initial registration fee is $25/unit.
Failure to register will result in fines and further enforcement actions.
Benefits:
• Educate owners on State and local housing codes.
• Provides owners with a written record of the conditions of the property.
• Ensures rental units meet minimum Housing Code Requirements
Promoting Safe, Sanitary & Healthy Housing
For more information or to register go to
www.cityofboston.gov/isd/housing,
email: rentalprogram@cityofboston.gov or call 617-635-1010
8 | FENWAY NEWS | july 2013
+
Best of summer: free BACK-TO-BACK ARTS FESTIVALS!
Call it karmic payback for our losses in April, but July brings two stellar arts
festivals to the heart of Boston. Neither takes place in the Fenway (generally
Calendar’s preference), but both promise to deliver uncommon perspectives on
our city and its arts and culture. Either of these events by itself would merit special
attention. But to have two—barely a week apart and entirely free—feels like a gift.
• Sat, July 13–Sun, July 21: OUtside the Box festival
The ambition of this first-time festival is breathtaking: More than 200 artists and
performers spread over 9 days among 10 venues (six on Boston Common, with
two stages at City Hall Plaza and the trusty Hatch Shell). Performances run on
weekdays as well as weekends and sprinkle nationally known acts (Augustana,
Boys Like Girls, The Lemonheads, Taj Mahal Trio) among an imposing roster
of local artists, including groups from Boston Arts Academy and Berklee,
Prometheus Dance, Boston Banghra, and some of the city’s best-known chefs
(Jody Adams, Ming Tsai, Lydia Shire). Although our examples tilt toward music,
Outside the Box features theater, family entertainment, dance, “spectacle
art” and a culinary track). The excellent website is a bit of a show in and of
itself, but it has full details on every performer and a detailed schedule. http://
outsidetheboxboston.org/
+
•Fri, July 26–Sun, July 28: Boston Summer Arts Weekend
The musical lineup for this weekend, which The Boston Globe launched last
year, looks remarkable. It stretches from blues to jazz to world music to
classical music, and includes Angélique Kidjo, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band,
Alison Kraus, local favorites Della Mae, Handel & Haydn Society, and “ukelele
wunderkind” Jason Shimabukuro. And that’s a partial list. See more artists and a
full schedule at www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/summer_arts_weekend/2013/.
All performances take place in Copley Square.
+
Through Wed, July 17: Northeastern’s
College of Arts, Media and Design
presents “Swiss Style Reboot,” an exhibit
that introduces an influential school of
20th-century graphic design—known for
clarity, simplicity, and sophistication—and
examines what applications it has
for information designers today.
+
Tue, Jul 2: Ward 4 Democratic Committee
meets at the South End Library, 685 Tremont St. at 6:30pm. For more info, contact
Janet at 617-267-0231 or slovinj@aol.com
Wed, Jul 3: Fenway CDC Civic Engagement
Committee. Find ways to make your voice
heard on affordable housing and the issues
you care about 6pm, 70 Burbank St., lower
level. For more info, contact Sarah at shorsley@fenwaycdc.org or 617-267-4637 x19.
Thu, Jul 4: Rep. Michael Capuano’s liaison
office hours, 11:30–2:30pm at Fenway
Health, 1340 Boylston. Call 617-621-6208
with concerns if you can’t make that time.
Tue, Jul 9: Sen. Will Brownsberger office
hours, 7-8pm at Thornton’s Fenway Grille,
100 Peterborough St. Contact William.
brownsberger@masenate.gov with concerns if you can’t make that time.
Wed, Jul 10: Fenway Liaison for Mayor’s Of-
fice of Neighborhood Services, office hours
3:30–5:30pm at the YMCA, 316 Huntington
Ave. Contact Shaina Auberg at shaina.
aubourg@cityofboston.gov, if you have a
concern and can’t make this time.
Thu Jul 11: Mission Hill/Fenway Neighborhood Trust Annual Meeting at MassArt’s
Kennedy Building, 625 Huntington Avenue,
meeting room 280A/B, second floor. 6pm.
Sat, Jul 13: Boston Prime Timers, an educational and social support network for older
gay/bisexual men meets at Harriet Tubman
House, corner of Mass. and Columbus Aves.
Refreshments 2:30, program 3:30; $2 donation requested at the door. Visit www.bostonprimetimers.org or email bostonprimetimers@uses.org or call 617-447-2344.
Tue, Jul 16: Audubon Circle Neighborhood
Association board meets at 6:30pm in
Room 3C, Annex, Harvard Vanguard, 133
Brookline Ave. Call 617-262-0657 for more
information.
Tue, Jul 16
•Northeastern University Task Force,
6-8pm, Raytheon Amphitheater, Egan
Hall.
Gallery 360, Ell Hall of the Curry Center,
360 Huntington Avenue. M-F, 10am-7pm;
Sat, 12-5pm. More information at www.
northeastern.edu/northeasterncreates/
gallery360/currentexhibit.html. FREE.
Sat, July 6: African Festival of Boston show-
cases New England’s lively African cultural
scene with crafts, food, and more than a
dozen music and dance acts representing
countries from across the continent. 11am
to 6pm, at City Hall Plaza. www.africanfestivalofboston.org. FREE.
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•Symphony Neighborhood Task Force
Meeting at 6pm. Location to be decided.
Contact Johanna.sena@cityofboston.gov
for details.
•East Fenway Police/Community Meeting,
6pm. Morville House, 100 Norway St,
•Senator Will Brownsberger Sen. Will
Brownsberger office hours at Starbucks,
755 Boylston St. Contact william.
brownsberger@masenate.gov if you have
concerns but can’t make that time.
•Congressman Michael Capuano’s liaison
office hours, 10–11am atJPLicks in
Brigham Circle, 1618 Tremont. Call 617621-6208 if you have concerns but can’t
make that time.
Wed, Jul 17: West Fens Police/Community
meeting, 5pm, Landmark Center, 401 Park
Drive.
Thu, July 18: Fenway CDC Community
and Open Space Working Group Meeting.
What kinds of things do you want for
community space and community
programming in the Fenway? Come share
your ideas and come up with action steps
so we can have access to all of the resources
the Fenway has to offer! 70 Burbank Street,
lower level, 6pm.
Mon, Jul 22: The Longwood Medical Area
(LMA) Forum, co-sponsored by the BRA
and MASCO, for community review of
development projects (Article 80 projects).
Meets every fourth Monday of the month,
if necessary, at 6:30pm, location to be
determined. Contact Rachel at rminto@
masco.harvard.edu for details or to be
added to the notification list.
Tue, Jul 23: Fenway CDC Urban Village
Committee. Help monitor development in
the Fenway and advocate for the kind of
neighborhood you want. 70 Burbank St.,
lower level. 6 p.m. For info, contact Lilly
Jacobson at ljacobson@fenwaycdc.org or
cat 617-267-4637x16.
For BRA meetings and hearings, check
www.bostonredevelopmentauthority.org/
calendar/calendar.asp
Sat, July 6: Bartlett Yards just outside of
Dudley Square bills itself as a community
art and cultural series set in an old MBTA
bus yard that will be demolished for redevelopment next year. Weekends in July
promise, among other delights, performances by Berklee students, African dance,
a community work day, a lobster bake, and
a Caribbean steel-pan performance. We
recommend poking around the Yards’
website, http://bartlettevents.org/
FREE.
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MOn, July 8: Berklee presents the Monterey
Jazz Festival Next Generation Jazz
Orchestra, top high-school jazz musicians
from around the US playing as part of a
Big Band jazz ensemble. 8:15pm, Berklee
Performance Center, 136 Mass Ave. Tickets
$12 general public from the box office or
www.berklee.edu/events/monterey-jazzfestival-next-generation-jazz-orchestra
Wed, July 10: Burlington, Vermont-based
Cats Under the Stars brings their Tribute
to Jerry Garcia Band to Church in the West
Fens. 8pm. More information at www.
churchofboston.com. FREE.
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Fri, July 12: Entry to the Museum of Fine
Arts is free all day (10am–9:45pm) thanks
to the Highland Foundation, which repeats
its “Free Fun Fridays” over ten weeks
this year, with six different arts/cultural
institutions opening their doors for free all
summer. Visit http://highlandstreet.org/
freefunfridays/july12.html for the full
schedule. FREE
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This symbol indicates a free
event. For even more listings,
visit www.fenwaynews.org
FRI, July 12: Join 2,000 giddy francophiles
on Marlborough Street (b/t Berkeley and
Clarendon) for the French Cultural Center’s
rowdy Bastille Day party, a Boston tradition.
Tasty food for sale (a la franÇaise, of course)
and rousing music from Afro-Mediterranean Atlas Soul and Quebec country rockers Madame Moustache. 6–11pm. Tickets
$25 advance, $30 day of (if available) from
World Music online or by visiting or calling
the Cultural Center (617-912-0400). Details
at www.frenchculturalcenter.org.
Wed, July 17: The Boston Landmarks
Orchestra opens its 2013 season at the
Hatch Shell, where it performs Wednesdays
at 7pm through August 28. Tonight’s
program includes music by Strauss,
Beethoven, and Vaughn Williams. For
details, visit http://landmarksorchestra.
org/home.html. FREE.
Wed, July 24: When you spot that grizzly
in Alaska or you’re chasing tornadoes in
Oklahoma, you’ll be glad you took the
Outdoor Photography Basics class at REI
Boston, 401 Park Drive. Bring your film/
digital camera and its owner’s manual. All
skill levels welcome. $30 for REI members,
$50 for nonmembers. 6:30pm. More details
at www.rei.com/stores/boston.html
Thu, July 25: Suzzy Roche (of the eponymous
sisters) and her mother Lucy Wainwright
Roche perform at 8pm in support of their
first joint album at Berklee’s Cafe 939 at 939
Boylston St. Tickets $17 advance, $20 dayof. Tickets and details at www.berklee.edu/
events/all/1036838.
THU, jul 11
All events take place at the Peterborough
Senior Center, two blocks from Boylston
between 100 and 108 Jersey St. (Walk
down the alley and look left.) For more
information, call 617-536-7154.
RECURRING
Mondays
6pm—Movie at Boston Public Library
TUESDAYS
•9:30am—Coffee Hour
•10am—English with Richard
•11am—Exercise with Mahmoud
WEDNESDAYS
•9:30am—Coffee Hour
•9:45am—Yoga with Carmen
•10am—Blood pressure screening
THURSDAYS
•9:30am—Coffee Hour
•11am—Berklee Singalong
SPECIAL EVENTS
TUE, jul 2: 11am—Task Force meeting
WED, jun 3:
• noon—Current events with Suzanne
• noon—Watercolors with Bill
• 1:00pm—Taxi coupons with Meaghan
THU, jul 4 : Center closed
•noon—Book Club discussion: I Feel Bad
About My Neck by Nora Ephron
•All day—Book swap: Bring 1, Take 1
TUE, jul 16:
•11am—Task Force meeting
• noon—Picnic in Gerry’s Garden, pot luck
lunch. Sign up at the center.
WED, jul 17:
•10:30am—Special nutrition presentation
with Amy Boyce, nutritionist
• noon—Meet the Candidates: Martin
Walsh, candidate for mayor. Lunch served.
Sign up at the center.
THU, jul 18: noon—Movie: Dr. Zhivago
wed, jul 24:
•10:30am—Special nutrition presentation
with Amy Boyce, nutritionist
• noon—Meet the Candidates: Charlotte
Golar Richie, candidate for mayor. Lunch
served. Sign up at the center.
THU, jul 25: noon—Movie: O Brother, Where
Art Thou?
TUE, jul 30: noon—Annual Cookout
WED, jul 31:
•10:30am—Special nutrition presentation
with Amy Boyce, nutritionist
Thu, Aug 1: noon—June & July Birthdays!
Potluck lunch with poetry. Sign up at center.
Best of summer: Free Outdoor movies!
We love summer in Boston for lots of reasons, but free outdoor movies surely rank
as one of the cheapest and most reliable thrills in town. Three film series begin or
continue this month:
• The Prudential Family Film Festival starts Saturday, July 6, with “The Lorax”
and runs through August. The South Garden opens at 6; the films begin at
sundown. The Pru wants you to buy dinner at the food court, but you can bring
your own. Giftcards will be given away to promote Pru Center stores. Raindate
is the following Wednesday. See the full schedule at www.magic1067.com/
FamilyFilmFest/index.aspx
• Over at the Hatch Shell, WBZ-TV sponsors a slightly more sophisticated selection
of films (although “Wreck-It Ralph” appears on both bills) every Friday from July
12 through August 23, starting with 2011’s charming “Despicable Me.” Movies
begin at sundown. See the full schedule at http://boston.cbslocal.com/flicks/
• On the waterfront, the Boston Harbor Hotel also begins its films at sundown,
following live acoustic music. The seating area, overlooking the harbor, can
get crowded (come early), and it’s unyielding concrete (bring a cushion or lawn
chair). Cater your own picnic or order food or drinks from the hotel’s outdoor
cafe. July films begin on the 5th with “E.T.: The Extraterrestrial,” and include
“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” and “Bye-Bye, Birdie.” See the schedule at www.
celebrateboston.com/events/harbor-hotel-movies-by-moonlight.htm.
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