[Link].

org
FEBRUARY 2010 | free

“Comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable”

covering the Fenway, Kenmore Square, upper Back Bay, Prudential, Longwood Area & Mission Hill since 1974 volume 36, number 2 January 29-FEBRUARY 28, 2010

Hockey Fans Loved It, But Residents, Businesses You Can Help
Disagree on Costs, Benefits of ‘Winter Classic’ Haiti rebuild
Editor’s Note: On Jan 21, the Fenway
Community Development Corporation sent
the following information to its members. We
think that it is important enough to reprint.
The Fenway CDC extends its
deepest sympathy to those affected
by the devastating earthquake in
Haiti. We mourn the lost lives and
suffering. We also join others around
the world in a call for immediate relief
and long-term rebuilding.
If you wish to contribute to
relief and rebuilding efforts in Haiti,
reputable organizations with a
photo: Aidan Siegel

connection to Boston include:

• Partners in Health 617-432-5256 or
[Link].
• Grassroots International 617-524-
1400 or [Link].
The Red Sox’s search for new revenue brought the “Winter Classic” (and a slew of lower-profile side events) to Fenway Park last month. • Oxfam America 877-776-9326 or

W
Do future off-seasons hold more? [Link]
by Lauren Landry the City have not yet acknowledged that the For college hockey players from Boston • Father John Unni of St. Cecilia’s
hen temperatures drop and a disruptions to the neighborhood are real and University, Northeastern University, Boston Church in the Fenway has a
bitter chill engulfs the city, a troublesome, and need to be addressed,” said College and the University of New Hampshire, mission called St. Joseph Home
hush typically falls over the Erica Mattison, a member of the FCA board. playing in Fenway Park was what many call a in Port-au-Prince. 888-802-6452.
Fenway. The sidewalks are She said those disruptions include the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Local contact: Mark Donohoe
cleared of the swarming fans who have retired noise from media helicopters, engines idling, “I think it was a very surreal feeling,” MDonohoe@[Link]
their jerseys for the season, and the sounds of trash from event-goers, and pedestrians said Peter Souris, a spokesman for the Hockey • The Boston Foundation has set
“Sweet Caroline” no longer bellow from the displaced as public streets are privatized for East Association. “The athletes laid it all out up a fund that will get a dollar-
stadium during the seventh inning stretch. ticket holders. on the line. I think it provided them a great for-dollar match up to $1 million
This year, however, a new kind of life “Everyone moved [into the Fenway] experience, to be honest, and I think that’s from the Ansara Foundation. “The
erupted in the neighborhood when the Winter knowing there was a baseball stadium,” said something they will never forget.” Haiti Fund will devote up to 25%
Classic premiered on New Year’s Day in Bill Richardson, president of Fenway Civic. Whether this winter activity, such as the of its resources to immediate
Fenway Park. “The real issue has come from the expanded college hockey games and public skating, will disaster relief. Remaining funds
“Kenmore Square was bursting with use of the stadium.” continue annually is unknown. From a purely will be dedicated to long-term
people during a period of time when the Helicopter noise was the most frequent business aspect, however, some sort of activity efforts including: human rights;
neighborhood is usually void of people,” said complaint, Richardson said, who compared during the cold months would be beneficial. reconstruction; and support for the
Steve Turco, the store manager of Boston the sound to that of someone running a “I hope the college games and Winter Haitian American community
University’s bookstore. “We certainly saw an lawnmower outside his window. Classic, if possible, became an annual event,”
increase in transactions, customer activity, and The Red Sox began informing Fenway Burtons Grill’s Kelly said. “It brought great > Please see HAITI on page 5
interest.” residents of the winter events as far back as > please turn to winter classic on page 2
During a time when the neighborhood June, said Susan Goodenow, vice president
is usually experiencing its annual reprieve of public affairs for the team. In subsequent

What Lies Beneath (Fenway Edition)

from the hubbub of the baseball season, mixed months, public hearings transpired and emails
emotions have stirred over the recent winter were sent out.

M
activity that has taken place in the stadium. “During the week prior to the events,
“I think it’s good for the neighborhood, emails were sent to our neighborhood list with by Galen Gilbert structure with timbers and screw jacks as they
because during the winter is when the Fenway a schedule of events and specific information any Fenway buildings have go. Then they dig down further and cut off the
neighborhood has its time away, its little about amplified music and pyrotechnics had unstable foundations. This rotten sections of the piles to reach the solid
vacation,” said Marco Baldassarre, a member during the rehearsals and on the day of the condition is caused by the wood that remains below the lowered water
of the Fenway Civic Association (FCA). [Winter Classic],” Goodenow said. “Since groundwater’s being too low table. They fit steel columns on top of the
“Businesses probably appreciate the extra the day the Winter Classic was announced, to cover the tops of the wooden piles that newly cut-off piles up to the stone pile caps.
winter revenue.” we have fielded questions over the phone, support a building. Wooden piles are like Then they fill the trench with concrete, and the
For many companies in the Fenway, via email and in person from neighbors and telephone poles rammed into the ground foundation should be as good as new.
business is often slower during the winter. neighborhood businesses about the winter before the building is built. They must be On January 21 the Boston Groundwater
“The Winter Classic and college games events at Fenway.” driven below the water table and must stay Trust held a meeting devoted to discussing
were great for business,” said Bridget Kelly, The Red Sox work in conjunction with submerged. If the water table drops, exposing new data from the Fenway. To study the
general manager at Burtons Grill Boston. “We City Councilor Michael P. Ross’s office, the the top of the pile to air, the pile will rot. seriousness of groundwater depletion, it is
saw a substantial increase in sales over the Goodenow said, as the emails the Red Sox When that happens, the building must either useful to know where building piles were cut
same day last year.” send out are typically forwarded to the City’s be underpinned with new, deeper piles or off when a building was built or underpinned.
But while businesses were booming, neighborhood list by the Councilor’s office. torn down. In Boston, many building owners This can then be compared against the water
residents had to contend with the side effects “My office passes all complaints on to cannot afford underpinning, which can cost table level, which the Trust monitors through
of the Winter Classic and Hockey East the Red Sox, and I expect the team to continue tens of thousands of dollars; buildings that a network of observation wells around the
doubleheader games. to work with residents to limit the impact of start to sag often have to be torn down. city. Groundwater is measured relative to
“As new ways to generate more revenue these special events on the neighborhood,” How do you underpin a house? A “Boston City Base,” which is based on sea
from Fenway Park are created, the Red Sox and Ross said in a statement. typical Fenway building foundation consists level. Historically, piles in the Fenway were
of clusters of wood piles in the ground each usually cut off at five feet. Water-table levels
supporting a large stone pile cap. Viewed from range from four to seven feet in the Fenway,
Fenway Voters Favored Coakley 2 to 1 over Brown above, the pile caps line up like islands in the putting many buildings at risk. You can see
ground, and they support arches of brickwork, the observation-well locations and readings at
Fenway voters bucked the statewide trend in last month’s special election to fill the U.S. which rise into the building’s party walls. In [Link].
Senate seat left vacant when Ted Kennedy died in August. The neighborhood’s voting this system, the piles should always be wet From a recent study of old building
results should come as no surprise, given Fenwickians’ traditional support for Democratic from the aquifer, the brick work should always permits undertaken by the staff of the Boston
candidates. Here are unofficial figures from the city’s Elections Department. be dry to protect the mortar, and the stone cap Groundwater Trust, we learned that in the
in between can be wet or dry. Ideally the water 1930s the houses on Clearway Street, then
table should stay at the middle level of the all owned by the Christian Science Church,
stone caps and fluctuate only a few inches. were underpinned when their piles failed.
31.4% If the water table falls below the bottom In the 1960s the Mother Church itself was
67.5% of the pile cap, the tops of the piles can dry underpinned, and a large apartment building
and rot. This can cause the building to sag at the end of Belvedere Street across from the
and settle. The most common repair requires Back Bay Hilton Hotel had to be torn down.
workers to dig a trench next to the piles, Nearby, 175-177 Massachusetts Avenue, now
pumping out the water and shoring up the > please turn to Underpinning on page 5
 | FENWAY NEWS |FEBRUARY 2010

From T-shirts to Traffic Jams: Obama’s

Appearances at Northeastern Draws Crowds
On January 17, President Barack Obama visited our neighborhood again, this time to
urge Massachusetts voters to support Martha Coakley in the special election to replace the
late U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy. The two apeared at Northeastern’s Cabot Hall in front of
a packed audience; two days later Coakley lost the election to State Senator Scott Brown
(although, as you can see in the box on our front page, she carried the Fenway.)
Lines along Huntington Avenue had reached almost to Gainsborough St. by 11:00 a.m.,
although the event didn’t start until 3:00 p.m. Many people hoping to gain entrance didn’t
make it, and by the time the doors opened at 1:00 p.m., the line stretched all the way to
Matthews Arena on St. Botolph St., according to The Huntington News.
For those who didn’t make it into the rally, there was still plenty to do out in the streets.
Several vendors were selling t-hirts, caps, and other memorabilia from carts and the back
of pickup trucks. Amando Cedrone, a Huntington News City Pulse writer, reported that
businesses in the area profited from the extra crowds. She quotes Manager Kate Solcow of
Photo: steve wolf

Espresso Royale Caffe on Gainsborough Street as reporting a large rise in the number of
customers. “Our weekends are pretty hectic as it is,” Solcow stated.
A vendor sells t-shirts out of a truck, while traffic crawls along Huntington Avenue
during Obama’s January 17 appearance at Northeastern.

Gardner Unpacks Piano Design

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum unveiled the design for its new extension at an
Fenway Universities Get Low Marks for Housing Students event on January 21 that included architect Renzo Piano and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.
On January 13, Boston City Council President (and one of our local councilors) Michael The museum plans to erect the new structure behind the museum building on the former site of
Ross released off-campus student housing data for universities in the Fenway and Kenmore a carriage house designed by Gardner herself. Many Fenway and Mission Hill residents opposed
Square neighborhoods. The figures was compiled from the University Accountability reports destruction of that building last July.
that all colleges must file with the City of Boston. The new building will contain a music hall, administrative offices, and the museum’s
• Of universities with total enrolment over 1,000 students, citywide data shows that Berklee cafe. Once construction is complete, visitors will enter through the new building and walk
College of Music houses only 18 percent of its undergrads on-campus, Suffolk houses 23 through a glass-walled corridor to reach the original building.
percent, and Northeastern houses 50 percent.
• The number of off-campus students from Northeastern living in the Fenway has risen, due Farewell to BU Historian Howard Zinn
largely to the university’s commitment to move away from all master-leased housing. As we were going to press, word arrived that Howard Zinn, BU professor emeritus, had
• The number of off-campus students from Berklee has risen in both the Fenway and died. Zinn suffered a heart attache while traveling in California. He had lived into his 88th
Kenmore. year, but not quite completed it.
• The Fenway has the highest population of off-campus students in the city. The Boston Globe included this quote in its preliminary coverage: “‘He’s made an
• The number of BU students living in the Kenmore Square neighborhood decreased by 23 amazing contribution to American intellectual and moral culture,’ Noam Chomsky, the left-
percent between fall 2008 and fall 2009. wing activist and MIT professor, said tonight. ‘He’s changed the conscience of America in a
To understand the impact of students on housing prices, visit [Link] to highly constructive way. I really can’t think of anyone I can compare him to in this respect.’”
read “Students Have Upper Hand in Fenway Housing Market,” from our January issue.
Building Materials Center Receives 2010 Best of Boston Award
Wentworth Architecture Students Zero in on the West Fens The Boston Building Materials Resource Center (BBMRC), a Mission Hill nonprofit
Students in Wentworth Institute’s fourth-year Architecture Studio will take on the retailer of home-improvement supplies, won a 2010 Best of Boston Home award for best
Fenway this spring as part of their class work. Students will analyze the neighborhood and salvaged materials. Boston magazine announced the honor in a special “green” section of its
propose experimental design alternatives for mixede-use projects in the West Fenway. spinoff publication, Boston Home. The magazine cited BBMRC as a place to donate reusable
The goal of the project is to research and document the urban factors that may determine materials removed for home renovations as well as a place to purchase gently used materials.
the future of the neighborhood. Each section of the class will work as a team to define the “The center accepts a surprising variety of goods, from light fixtures to cabinet hardware, and
context and the scope of its work, and each team member will conduct research, provide sells them at minimal cost to low- and middle-income homeowners—meaning you can not only
analysis, and produce original graphic documentation on one of several topics: connectivity and take pride in your own renovation, but also feel good about aiding someone else’s ‘Reduce,
movement; boundaries and land measurement; sociological information; image analysis; surface Reuse, Recycle’ project (while getting a tax write-off in the process).”
and materials; building typology; environmental issues; zoning and building code; and urban “We are honored,” said Matthew St. Onge, BBMRC’s executive director. “Many of
design diagnosis. the materials donated to us are of exceptional quality and in great condition. Some are brand
Students have issued an invitation to Fenway residents to join them for a presentation of new and others are barely used. If the Resource Center did not exist, chances are these valuable
initial findings on Monday, Feb. 22, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m at Wentworth’s Architecture Studios. materials would be thrown in a dumpster.”
The presentation will include scale models of the entire West Fens neighborhood based on the
Urban Village plan, which evolved over nearly 20 years in a series of community workshops Berklee Sings Gloria White-Hammond’s Praises
organized by the Fenway CDC. The completed design project will be presented to the Every year Berklee City Music’s Unsung Heroes Breakfast recognizes people who have
community in May. The studio is taught by professors Manuel Delgado, Herman Zinter, Andy made significant contributions to the community—and the world. This year the organizers chose
Johnston, Philippe Revault, and Quilian Riano. activist and humanitarian Gloria White-Hammond, who also served as keynote speaker at the
event on Saturday, January 23. Dr. White-Hammond—a pediatrician and minister—was honored
for her efforts to abolish modern-day slavery.
> underpinnigs from page 1 slightly so far. The main area of concern is
the site of the Bombay Café and Supreme now Hemenway Street, where groundwater Four Berklee Students Advance in ‘Idol’
Pizza, was underpinned. 125-133 Hemenway levels are lower than the piling cutoff levels. The four recent Berklee students—Ashley Rodriguez, Jess Wolfe, Jennifer Hirsh,
Street, then a New England Conservatory So far BWSC has completed major repairs and Bosa Mora—who have advanced to the next round of American Idol have one thing in
dormitory, was also underpinned. Four in Public Alley 807, which runs between common: they majored in music business/management concentration. Mora served as president
houses owned by Northeastern at the end of Hemenway Street and The Fenway, south of of MEISA, a student organization that focuses on entertainment management, and Wolfe
Hemenway Street near Fencourt Street were the Johnson Gates at Westland Avenue. The directed Berklee’s student-run record label Berklee rather cheekily argues that the four students
torn down in the 1990s (the land is now a storm sewer under this alley was implicated by advanced because of their Berklee training: “These students are headed to Hollywood next
playground for a day care center). On The a dye test conducted on the site of the houses week because they’ve learned how to market and represent themselves, in addition to being elite
Fenway, numbers 8, 60, 66, 90, and 102-104 torn down on Hemenway Street. Not only did performers.”
have been underpinned. 97 St. Stephen Street, BWSC put in a new sewer, but new porous
from the corner of the driveway to the parking pavement over over the sewer will admit
lot was underpinned. In the West Fens, 61 Park rainwater and melting snow to help recharge
Drive and 19 Peterborough were underpinned. the aquifer.
The Boston Groundwater Trust has been
working with the Boston Water and Sewer
Galen Gilbert is a member of the
Groundwater Trust and a longtime the Mission Hill/Fenway
Commission (BWSC) to repair leaky storm
sewers, which has raised groundwater levels
contributor to The Fenway News. He lives on
Fort Hill in Roxbury. Neighborhood Trust, INc.
> winter classic from page 1
energy to the neighborhood. I really did not In the months and years to come, the Red Requests proposals from organizations
see a downside.”
By holding the Winter Classic in Fenway
Sox will need to continue to work with the
City, neighborhood residents and community
seeking funding for projects and programs
Park, a new kind of fan, a Bruins hockey fan, organizations. intended to serve residents of
“The City and the Red Sox need
was introduced to the neighborhood. Pamela
Beale, the owner of Cornwall’s and president to do their part so that neighborhood the Mission Hill and Fenway neighborhoods.
of the Kenmore Business Association, said the residents’ well-being is not further
game brought new people to the area. sacrificed for the enrichment of the Red Sox
enterprise,” Fenway Civic’s Mattison said.
For information and a proposal form,
“We were really lucky to have the Winter
Classic,” Beale said. “With the economy the “Communication is just the beginning. We visit [Link].
way it is, if you can bring people together now need real methods to deal with the ill-
for a very uplifting event, then I think it’s effects.”
wonderful. A lot of money was made for the Lauren Landry is a student in journalism
state and the city.” at Emerson College. deadline for receipt of proposals is 31 march 2010.
 FENWAY NEWS | FEBRUARY 2010 | 

Laderman Heads Back to Afghanistan

Photo: courtesy of marc Laderman

Photo: lois johnston

Fenway News writer and East Fens resident Marc Laderman has returned to
Afghanistan for several months. Laderman, an electrical engineer, is working as Walter Kouyoumjian’s three sons, Leon, David, and Paul, at the memorial gathering in
a consultant on several projects, including a new campus in Drulaman for the Canestaro’s Restaurant on January 16.

Dozens of Friends Turn Out for Walter

American University of Afghanistan. Here he tries on the role of tourist in a visit
to the Shah Jahan Mosque. Marc reports that Shah Jahan (1592-1666) “was the

Kouyoumjian Memorial at Canestaro’s

fifth ruler of the Mughal Empire from 1628 to 1658. He is the builder of the Taj
Mahal in Agra, India.”

O
You can find more pictures and reports from Marc’s trip on his blog, www. by Helen Cox
[Link]/afghanistan/ n a cold January 16 more than 60 friends and relatives of Walter Kouyoumjian crowded
into Canestaro’s Restaurant on Peterborough Street to pay their respects to a man they
☞ f e n wa y h I S T O R Y ☜ knew and cared about and to meet the family he often talked about.
In attendance were his three sons, of whom he was so proud—David from New Jersey,
by Elizabeth Gillis
Leon from California, and Paul from Ayer, Massachuetts—and their wives and mother.
Now how did this happen? Boylston Street was named for someone who was not
Maryanne, the wife of Walter’s younger
born with the Boylston name.
brother, Leon, also attended. Leon died just
Ward Nicholas Hallowell was one of fourteen children. His mother was a Boylston
five weeks before Walter, who had often
and his father was a wealthy officer of the Crown. Ward’s uncle, who lived in London,
joined them for holidays at their home in
had no children, so he asked Ward if he would take the last name of Boylston. In return
Connecticut. Numerous friends and neighbors
his young nephew would inherit his wealth. In 1770 with a royal license signed by King
from the Fenway and beyond also attended.

Photo: lois johnston

George III the deed was done.
Many recounted stories about Walter’s
Since the Hallowells were Loyalists, they fled to England before the American
frequent visits to the Peterborough Senior
Revolution. Ward traveled the world and many years, but later the family returned to
Center, about his love of dancing at the
Boston.
Wonderland Ballroom in Revere or Mosley’s
In 1808 Ward formed the South Market Association to build a public market at
by the Charles in Dedham or at the Senior
the corner of Washington Street and Frog Lane (later called Common Street since it
Center in Peabody. They also reminisced Photos and memorabilia from Walter’s life
ran along one side of Boston Common). The building, designed by the great Charles
about his knowledge of history and
Bulfinch, was three stories high
politics (he was an avid reader and a political progressive), about his contributions—both
and had stalls selling goods
monetarily and as a volunteer—to Dorchester-based Eastern Service Workers, where he
on the first floor, a museum of
helped deliver holiday food baskets to low-income residents around the city.
oddities, and an auditorium for
Others remembered his years on the board of directors and committees of the Fenway
performances on the third. The
Community Development Corporation (Barbara Burnham sent a particularly poignant
Handel & Haydn Society gave
remembrance to the memorial, which is reprinted below).
concerts there. John Quincy
Walter’s love of “bargains” was also celebrated, whether in the outdoor food stalls of
Adams, a Boylston cousin, insisted
Haymarket Square or “found” treasures from the alley behind his building thrown out by
that the building be renamed for
students on moving day.
Ward Boylston, and Ward donated
Much of Walter’s passion in conversations was directed at gross societyal injustices,
a clock for the tower.
and he often regaled against them over coffee at the recently demolished MacDonald’s
Ward was justifiably proud
on Boylston Street. Walter was a teacher and a mechanical engineer by training; he was a
of his maternal uncle Dr. Zabdiel Boylston Street in 1911, courtesy of Wikipedia compassionate human being by nature.
Boylston, who defied public
Regular contributor Helen Cox first moved to the Fenway in 1958. Walter Kouyoumjian,
opposition and introduced inoculation against smallpox in Boston in the 1720s. Ward
who died in December, lived in both the East and West Fens for more than two decades.
became interested in medical issues and donated the Boylston Medical Library to
Harvard. It was one of the first of its kind in the area.
Boylston Street (renamed during Ward’s lifetime) made its way very slowly up (Editor’s note: Barbara Burnham, former executive director of the Fenway CDC, sent this
toward the Fens. It took years—until 1886—to fill in the Back Bay. A six-mile railroad remembrance of Walter Kouyoumjian to the memorial event held on January 16. Burnham now
ran 35-car trains sixteen times a day from Needham with landfill. In 1894, when lives in Washington, DC.)
Boylston Street reached the current intersection with Brookline Avenue, the West Fens
I was so saddened to hear of Walter’s passing and wish I could be with all of you today as
neighborhood was just beginning to emerge.
you remember and celebrate Walter’s life in the Fenway and in Boston.
There is a lot of history on Boylston Street. When part of the Common was dug
I had the honor of being the Executive
up for a subway station, ancient fish weirs were discovered. It is believed that Native
Director of the Fenway Community De-
Americans used thousands of stakes with plant material between to snare fish as early
velopment Corporation from 1991 through
as 2000. B.C. Many of these were found throughout the Back Bay when buildings were
1997. As a board member of the Fenway
erected there.
CDC Walter was one of my bosses. I re-
Now, of course, we have Trinity Church, Old South Church and the Boston Public
member meeting Walter for the first time
Library as part of our heritage.
and feeling somewhat intimidated by him…
Elizabeth Gillis lives in the West Fenway.
he was direct, said what he meant…no
Photo: lois johnston

beating around the bush…he had a robust

voice and did not hesitate to raise it when
the situation required him to do so. As I got
to know Walter and he began to greet me
Why Don’t You Write? with a huge grin and often a big heartfelt
hug (none of my other bosses had ever done
that!) I got a peek inside the wonderful, Remembering Walter Kouyoumjian on
The Fenway News is a community forum, and we want to caring and loving man he was. I remember January 16 were (standing, left to right) Jack
hear from you. Does something tick ou off? Does someone one of those bleak, can-anything-else-go- Mills, Fran Burke, and Olga Goldus.
deserve praise? Get your message out to thousands of wrong kind of days, I ran into Walter on Hemenway Street. The smile, and the hug brought me
to tears for no other reason than I needed a shoulder to cry on for a few minutes. We stood on
readers in the Fenway and Mission Hill (like West Fens the sidewalk, Walter’s arm around my shoulders just listening and soothing me back to equilib-
resident Luis Oscar Cardona did on page 4). rium. I want to remember those few moments with Walter and will keep them in my heart.
In that very small way Walter made a difference in my life, but he also made a difference
in many other’s lives in both small and large ways. He was never afraid of work, never afraid of
Submit letters and opinions at [Link], a challenge and always came down on the side of those in need. He was a loving and good man
or e-mail editor@[Link]. who loved his sons and loved his life.
Rest well, my friend. Your beautiful smile and those great hugs will give you a special
place in heaven. —BARBARA BUrnham
 | FENWAY NEWS | JANUARY 2010

After the 55 Fight, One Resident Sees Fenway in a New Light

S
by Luis Oscar Cardona score some? (OK, the last two questions weren’t really asked, but
ix years ago, I moved to Boston from a faceless Miami frankly, I wished they’d been at the time; the evening needed a light
suburb. I exchanged a bland landscape of shopping malls and note or two).
housing developments for the distinct vibrancy of Boston. I But no light moment came, and in retrospect, none should have. Serving the Fenway, Kenmore Square, Audubon
thrilled at the opportunity to savor a city replete with history, Residents were fraught with increasingly grave concerns. Some feared Circle, upper Back Bay, lower Roxbury, Prudential,
culture, and diversity. Most importantly, I was excited to move to a not being able to make medical appointments they could only reach
Mission Hill, and Longwood since 1974
place brimming with civic pride, as the unincorporated sprawl of via the 55. Others in poor health faced the possibility of having to Fenway News Association
my hometown knew no such virtue. It was a town where municipal navigate icy sidewalks and windy bridges to access the closest subway
Board of Directors
Jon Ball • Steve Chase • Helen Cox, president
dissatisfaction was only ever met with shrugs and resignation, a place stations. After a few minutes, it was soon clear that my reason for Joyce Foster ª Elizabeth Gillis, clerk
where the defense of a community resource was as rare as a Florida attending—preserving the luxury of a straight shot downtown just a Steven Harnish • Ruth Khowais
Panther. few yards from my door—wilted in the face of people facing truly Gloria Platt • Steve Wolf, treasurer
Yet after six years in Boston, I’d enjoyed the results of civic daunting obstacles. Editor: Stephen Brophy
volunteerism without ever taking part in it. For years, I’d suckled at As those concerns were voiced—sometimes loudly—I wondered WEB EDITOR: Jonathan Kim
Boston’s cultural teat, drinking in concerts and cuisine, cannoli and if the meeting would devolve into rancor. But Ms. Horsley conducted Production Designer: Steve Wolf
clarinets—without ever giving back. I regret to say it wasn’t until my it with aplomb, noting key points and advancing discussion. Residents Writers: Jon Ball, Alison Barnet, Luis
rosy existence was threatened that I was moved to act. responded in kind, with the mood remaining positive and hopeful Oscar Cardona, Helen Cox, Tracey Cusick,
That threat was the potential loss of the 55 bus, the West throughout. No one felt resigned to a fate, nor would they endure Lori A. Frankian, Galen Gilbert, Elizabeth
Fenway’s lifeline to the Back Bay and beyond. In 2009, the MBTA one issued by a massive, impersonal, and misinformed government Gillis, Katherine Greenough, Steven Harnish,
announced it was targeting the 55 for possible service cuts or, worse, authority. Instead, these residents gathered to mobilize against such Erin Harper, Kaileigh Higgins, John Kelly,
removal. A flyer screamed danger on neighborhood bulletin boards, a fate—one that had been mentioned by the MBTA as merely a Ruth Khowais, Jonathan Kim, Pamela King,
calling for concerned residents to strategize against the MBTA’s Shirley Kressel, Marc Laderman, Lauren
possibility—not a certainty. The Fens was whipped into a frenzy that

I
Landry, Aqilla Manna, Erica Mattison,
plans. The Fenway CDC was organizing a meeting. It was the first night, and the meeting adjourned with a bevy of new tactics about to Richard Pendleton, Camille Platt, Meena
time I’d ever heard of them. be unleashed on the neighborhood and the MBTA. Ramakrishnan, Mike Ross, Matti Kniva
The night of the session, I walked down Agassiz Road wondering n the weeks that followed, the CDC organized a postcard Spencer, Chuck Turner, Clyde Whalen,
what I’d find at the Hemenway Street co-op. I expected to meet a and letter-writing campaign; it flooded the MBTA with Margaret Witham
handful of codgers, figuring they’d bicker unproductively for an hour correspondence. Flyers were distributed encouraging riders to PhotographerS: Lois Johnston, Patrick
or two before dispersing into the Fenway night, still grumbling. Isn’t send e-mails, too, ensuring the Fenway’s fury would reach the O’Connor, Lauren Dewey Platt, Matti Kniva

U
that what most community meetings were like? Not in the Fenway, I MBTA via multiple fronts. The CDC also worked with the office of Spencer, Steve Wolf
found out. Rep. Byron Rushing, whose staffer Elizabeth Corcoran-Hunt was CALENDAR: Helen Cox, Stephen Brophy,
pon arrival, I walked into a tight, organized operation. instrumental in communicating the neighborhood’s message to the Penina Adelman, Meena Ramakrishnan
The Fenway CDC had gathered a standing room-only Proofreaders: Jon Ball, Tracey Cusick,
transit authority. On January 5, 2010, the MBTA announced it had
Subscription Coordinator: Cathy
all-ages crowd, a polite mob of crossed arms and fretful heard that message loud and clear. A letter from William Mitchell, Jacobowitz
frowns. Voices were low, a sea of lips rehearsing questions Acting General Manager, was sent to the CDC stating the MBTA will BOOKKEEPER: Cathy Jacobowitz
and ideas they’d soon voice. Easels were at the ready, and seats were not make any changes to the 55 route. Across the West Fens, victory Distribution: Jon Ball, Della Gelzer, Keith
being offered to those who most needed them. I expected acrimony, was toasted. Harriel, Aqilla Manna, Lauren Dewey Platt
but found civility. I leaned against a piano at the back of the room, For my part, witnessing this process imbued a deeper,
impressed—but still wary. more profound sense of civic pride than any I’d ever known. The Fenway News is published monthly by the
Fenway News Association, Inc., a community-
Sarah Horsley, Civic Engagement Director for the CDC, It has awakened me to the too-often invisible forces behind a owned corporation dedicated to community
commenced the meeting. Immediately, she was bombarded with the neighborhood’s progress, organizations like the Fenway CDC and all journalism. If you would like to volunteer to
common-sense questions that marked this campaign. How could the the folks willing to lend a hand for the collective good. Finally—and write, edit, photograph, lay out, distribute, or sell
MBTA cut the Fenway’s only bus route? Don’t they know how many most importantly—I concluded that for all the cultural treasures our advertising on commission, please contact us at:
seniors rely upon it? What nincompoop thought it wise to cancel the neighborhood possesses, I found it’s the people of the Fenway that The Fenway News,
only bus connecting Copley Square and Park Street? Finally, what might be its greatest gem. PO Box 230277, Astor Station
Boston, MA 02123
was being smoked down at the MBTA? And if possible, could we Luis Oscar Cardona lives in the West Fenway. 617-266-8790
editor@[Link]
[Link]

letters Subscriptions $24/year ($15 for limited income)

©2009 Fenway News Association, Inc.

FOR A TERRIFIC TIME, Arroyo Thanks voters issues such as Summer Jobs, After-School
DON’T MISS THIS CONCERT for their support Activities, Youth Violence and Substance
to the Editor: To the citizens of the Fenway Abuse.
There’s a great, very affordable music and Mission Hill: • As the Chair of the Special Committee on
One reader blows the whistle
event that takes place every March (this I would like to thank you for allowing the 2010 Census, I will be traveling across
on bank of america
to the editor:
year, Thursday, March 4). It’s the Women me to serve you as one of your Boston City the City working to ensure that everyone
I want to make you aware of that Bank of
Musicians Network annual concert at the Councilors At Large. I am grateful for the in Boston gets counted. An accurate count
America does not honor checks drawn on their
Berklee Performance Center. The concert privilege to serve and I am committed to in the 2010 Census has a direct impact on
own account unless you pay a $6 fee or open
typically consists of about a dozen different continuing to earn your support. federal funding and also determines the
an account with them.
acts, ranging from jazz and blues to fusion, Throughout the campaign I spoke of number of Congressional seats we will have
I did a small job and was paid via
new classical, Middle Eastern, Japanese folk collaborative politics—bringing people in Massachusetts for the next ten years.
a check. I took the check to the Bank of
music...you name it. together to ensure that everyone’s voice There is the possibility that Massachusetts
America to cash it because it was drawn on
The W.M.N. highlights Berklee women is heard. To that end I ask that you please could lose a Congressional seat, so a
that bank. The teller asked if I have an account
students as songwriters, arrangers, performers, stay involved and please use our office as a comprehensive, accurate count of our
there. I said no. She said to cash the check she
and producers. Men aren’t excluded: you resource. You can state’s population is
had to charge me $6, or I can open an account.
may see a jazz quintet with four guys, led email us at felix. crucial.
This is not right to try to bully someone
by a female composer/pianist. Also, Berklee arroyo@cityofboston. • As the Vice
into opening an account or to charge them
professors and alums are often included. gov or call us at 617- Chair of the
$6 to cash a $30 check drawn on their Bank.
Last year, the great vocalist Mili Bermejo 635-4205. Committee on
So I talked to the manager and got hot under
performed with her husband, a very fine I am also proud Environment &
the collar a little. They said they were giving
bassist; world-music band Zili Misik put on a to announce that Health, I will
me options. I refused, went home, and mailed
Photo: patrick O’Connor

great show as well. Council President be able to use

the check to my bank. It was a rainy day and
I’ve brought lots of friends to the W.M.N. Michael P. Ross has my experience
I did not want to go all the way downtown. I
concert in recent years. Without exception, asked me to chair as a health care
am writing about this to the Better Business
they’ve been pleasantly amazed—and both the Committee organizer to work
Bureau and to my elected representatives. Bank
surprised the show wasn’t sold out. Last year, on Labor, Youth on various public
of America is a wrong to do business that way.
a long-time area businesswoman said to me, Affairs & Human health initiatives. It
Valarie Seabrook
“That’s one of the best things I’ve ever seen. Rights and the Felix Arroyo (shown here with another also allows me to
Why isn’t this a famous event? We need to tell Special Committee on new member of the City Council, Ayanna work on the clear
more people!” the 2010 Census. He Pressley) outside of Faneuil Hall. ties between a clean
So, I’m telling all of you who don’t also asked me to serve environment and the > Frequency <
know. Two other things I’ve learned about the as Vice Chair of the Council’s Committee on effects of that on our health. The Fenway News reaches the stands every
Women Musicians Network: they always give Environment and Health. A Boston that works for everybody— 4-5 weeks, usually on the first
some free tickets to the community—Fenway • As the Chair of the Committee on Labor, where we all have opportunities to succeed— or last Friday of the month.
Health, area high schools, etc.—and this Youth Affairs and Human Rights, I can requires that we all work together towards that Our next issue will be appear on
concert lasts less than two hours. utilize my past experience as a labor goal. I look forward to working with you and Friday, FEBRUARY 26.
One of their recent posters read, “This organizer to look at ways that the City for you in the coming year. I am excited by the
> Deadline <
concert will be unforgettable. Unless you Council can be an ally to working families possibilities and grateful for the opportunity.
forget to come.” True enough. Tickets are throughout the City. The Committee Together we can build a better Boston. The deadline for letters, news items, and ads
only $10 for the general public. I go to lots of also allows me to use my experience as Felix G. Arroyo, Boston City is Friday, REBRUARY 19.
concerts, and in my experience, this is always a youth sports coach to work with youth Councilor At Large > Advertising <
one of the best. organizations throughout the City on Contact our business manager at
Sincerely, ads@[Link]
Kirk Etherton
 FENWAY NEWS | JANUARY 2010 | 

The Best Stimulus Package? Spend $250 Billion Fixing Schools

D
espite all the talk about charter 100 times the $112 billion needed in 1998 clear that we can never catch up. office in 2012 that he not only was able to
schools being the an- to provide safe environments An example of the extent of the problem provide a safe, habitable environment for
swer to our educational for our children, teachers, and is presented by a middle school in my every public school child (non-charter) in this
problems, I find it diffi- administrators. Yet, our federal district, the Dearborn. The BPS has invested country while at the same time providing a
cult to believe that our policy mak- government has not invested approximately $5,000,000 in the repair major stimulus for jobs throughout the cities
ers, particularly at the state and one dollar in our public school of the Dearborn during the last ten years. and towns of this country. What better way
federal levels, are truly committed infrastructure during this period. Yet $20,000,000 is needed to complete the could $250 billion of our tax money be spent
to building a public educational To me that is appalling. necessary repairs. The parents have persuaded than on jobs and protecting the health of our
system that works for all. Yet, it’s not surprising. During the school department to apply for state money children? Nationally, we are demanding that
How can we take their the last ten years while investing but given the financial problems at the state, our children meet the standards necessary
rhetoric seriously when they approximately $1 trillion a year in the battle will be formidable. for a productive future. Shouldn’t we in turn
ignore the fact that the public
schools of America are crumbling
before their eyes while they
The Turner defense, our federal government
has only invested an average of
$55 billion in classroom support.
The Menino administration as well as the
mayor himself has worked with the advocates
to improve the situation but it is clear that
demand healthy buildings for them to learn in?
Where can we get the money? Given
the fact that the big bailout banks are giving
talk about the future? Let me
be more specific. In 1999, the
Report At the state level, money for
school infrastructure has dried up,
without help from the federal government our
public schools are literally going to fall apart
the “loans” back in order to maintain their
bonuses and that the administration is
Congressional Budget Office The Fenway resulting in no state investment while the charters look for left-over buildings preparing to take back the rest in special taxes,
estimated that it would cost one News has invited in school district infrastructure that’s have many of the same problems. That’s let’s direct that money to where it is needed—
hundred and twelve billion dollars elected officials during the last three years. why on Wednesday, January 27, I will file the care and protection of our children as they
($112,000,000,000) to bring the who represent the What about Boston? It is a resolution with the Boston City Council attempt to prepare themselves for a productive
public schools of this country into neighborhood to estimated by the Boston Public asking our congressional delegation to demand future. $250 billion is a small price to pay to
good conditions, contribute columns School Department that we need that President Obama work with Congress to create a healthy educational environment for
During the eleven years on issues of $500 million to bring our schools invest the $250 billion it is estimated is now our children.
since that estimate, our federal concern. These will into good condition. Since as a needed to bring our public schools into good City Councilor Chuck Turner
government has spent at least appear on a regular city we only invest $36 million a condition. represents District 7, which includes part of
ten trillion dollars on “defense.” basis in FensViews. year in school infrastructure (over This kind of leadership would enable the Fenway.
This $10 trillion is approximately a third of our capital budget), it is the president to announce as he runs for

Remembering the First Time Billy Died

by Jerry Cooper seldom would he go.
The first time he died was a little shock— The first time he died, I still had my
he was too young. I had seen him through store. Someone came over and said what they
about 25 years—I had seen had to say about his dying,
him bar-tending for an and we at the store pretty
aids benefit that a few of much went into immediate
us had got together at my grief, holding back the tears.
Photo courtesy of lori frankian

old store, and he helped by Then, as the time indicated

selling booze to raise about it was toasting time for Billy,
$2,500 for incarcerated Queensberry liquor was on the
women who had aids, agenda. Within moments we
and children who had had our JohnnyWalker Red or
aids. This might not have Glenfidich and started Billy’s
happened if he didn’t take last party. About two hours later
Mass Ave charge of the bar.
I had seen him through
one of Billy’s buddies came by
and said “He’s not dead I just

Lock Co. the eyes of his sister, calling me at the store to

ask if I had seen him and was he all right, her
voice shaking on the other end.
saw him coming up the alley,” and then there
he was in front of the 7-11 store, his nesting
place for many years. For the next few weeks I
24-HOUR He didn’t want to go to the shelters for the called him “Dead Man Walking” and we both
homeless as so many others. Even in the winter laughed.
EMERGENCY SERVICE he would stay out in the cold—the rain, the He died a few days ago; the
BONDED LOCKSMITH snow, the grey, seeking out a friend—asking circumstances don’t really matter. The second
me for a blanket or something to keep warm. and last time; or maybe not—the next time
For many years I gave him whatever I had. I you hear the the clanging of the wheels of a
125 St. Botolph Street
went through more than 20 sleeping bags. I grocery cart coming down the street filled
Phone 247-9779 • Fax 536-8709 would buy them at yard sales whenever I came with blankets and personal belongings and
Roof Deck across them and when I found clean blankets other treasures found in the alleys, the person
Police Locks • Doors Opened •KENO he would get them. He had spent many nights may be Billy.
Mailbox Keys • Master Keys Now Open sleeping in my truck. The smell was quite Jerry Cooper is the proprietor of the
Systems • Padlocks ESPN Game Day
•Memorial Plan harsh when I got in it to go out and do my
routine of looking for items in the trash in the
King of Records Street Store in the West Fens
As we reported last month, Billy MacRae, a
Door Closers suburbs, but we lived through it. He brought familiar figure in the West Fens, died in late
Keys Made by Code •Draft Specials
to Labor Day! me things to sell that he found in the trash. November 2009.
He had many friends in the Fenway. He
was a part of it for over 25 years. I believe he Update: The Fenway News heard recently
•Great seafood had two or three kids, and the last time I saw from the MacRae family, who told us the
Swing
and on in
steak for
tips him he had to take pictures out of his wallet autopsy report shows that Billy MacRae died
and show them to me—maybe it was his sister of cardiac arrest and was likely already dead
lunch & enjoy Tavern
The First Church of Christ, Scientist •BuzzTime
favorites including
and family. He wasn’t beat up then. I saw
him so many times with a battered face—big
when he fell into the Neponset River, where his
body was found in late November. The family
Sunday Church Services & Sunday School bumps coming out of it where people had wishes to thank the many Fenway residents
10 am and 5 pm (no evening service July & Aug.) interactive
hot dogs for only beaten up on him or kicked him. I was always who loved and supported Billy, and who
trying to get him to go to the hospital, but very reached out to them in their time of sorrow.
LIVE online: [Link]
Wednesday Testimony Meetings
television
$1.50 during Red
12 noon and 7:30 pm Sox Away Games!
> HAITI from page 1 to go to Haiti as soon as travel
in Boston.” Contact: Kate Guedj, krg@ becomes feasible. For information or
[Link] or 617-338-2670 to sign up as a volunteer, visit www.
1270 Boylston Street [Link]/splash/ and follow the link to
• To help Boston families affected by
the Haiti volunteer form.
Boston, MA 02215 the earthquake, Mayor Menino has
established a Haitian family relief • You can find more ways to help
617.867.6526 through the Center for International
fund. Donations can be made to The
Fund for Boston Neighborhoods, Inc., Disaster Information or through
at Boston City Hall or Bank of America USAID.
Near the corner of Huntington & Mass. Ave. branches in Boston. • If you or someone you know is trying
Free Parking at all services. Visit us online at:
T Hynes, Prudential, Symphony, or Mass. Ave. • If you wish to volunteer, SEIU to contact a family member in Haiti,
For further information, call 617.450.3790 call the US State Department at 888-
se in Boston is recruiting medical
or visit [Link]
TheBa [Link] personnel, as it did following Katrina, 407-4747.
 | FENWAY NEWS |FEBRUARY 2010

The Message Still Resonates in Huntington’s ‘All My Sons’

T
by Erin Harper son, Chris, was not planning to propose to recently seen in the Huntington’s A Civil War visit from Ann’s brother, George, who has just
he lessons that can be taken from Steve’s daughter, Ann. Adding fuel to the fire Christmas) brings Kate Keller to life, giving come from visiting their father in jail. George
Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, playing is the fact that Ann was the sweetheart of the a truly scene-stealing performance. The is armed with accusations from Joe’s former
now at the Huntington Theatre business partner that leave the newly engaged
Company, resonate just as much Chris and Ann questioning whether or not
today as they did when the play debuted on Joe has been lying the whole time—whether
Broadway in 1947. Secrets are always bound he’s the one that belongs in jail. The exposing
to come out sooner or later, and hope and faith of these secrets, coupled with Kate’s finally
do not always translate into a happy ending. learning what really happened to Larry, make
Set in the years following World War for some very edge-of-your-seat theater.
II, Boston actor Will Lyman leads the stellar Lee Aaron Rosen and Diane Davis round
cast as family patriarch Joe Keller – a man out the main cast as Chris and Ann. Rosen
desperate to maintain his family’s image after stands out most when conveying the sense of
some trouble with the law and his eldest son’s a son who has lost faith in the father he once
disappearance at war. While Joe has accepted considered a hero, while Davis excels with her
that his son, Larry, won’t be coming home, his character’s energy and unregretful attitude.
wife Kate refuses to give up hope. Director David Esbjornson, who
Throughout the first act of the play, worked with Arthur Miller on Miller’s final
even though it is understood there is more two productions, brings the best out of the
Photo: T. Charles Erickson

to the story, Joe seems like an ideal father actors and does justice to Miller’s script,
and family man. Lyman presents a perfect which established him on Broadway. The
balance of pride mixed with less-judgmental production makes clear why Miller earned
tendencies than those of his wife. awards throughout his career, including four
A respected businessman in town, Tonys (including one for All My Sons) and
Joe’s company had produced engine parts the Pulitzer Prize. While there is nothing
for airplanes during the war. When Joe restrained about the play’s message, it
discovered that a large batch of engine Diane Davis as Ann Deever, Lee Aaron Rosen as Chris Keller, Will Lyman as Joe Keller, resonates with the same tone about poor
cylinder heads was faulty, he sold them to the and Karen MacDonald as Kate Keller in the Huntington’s production of All My Sons, business decisions and the effects of war on
Air Force anyway, triggering the deaths of 21 playing through February 7 at the B.U. Theatre Mainstage. families as it did over 60 years ago.
pilots whose planes went down. Joe’s business Erin Harper, a Northeastern alumna,
partner, Steve Deever, ended up taking the fall missing-in-action Larry, and Kate believes majority of the play is spent wondering what works at the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic
and remains in jail, while Joe was exonerated. Ann should still be waiting for him to return. Kate will do next. Center. All My Sons runs through February
This might have remained a moot point And as the mother refusing to accept The ultimate trigger to the series of 7 at the Boston University Theatre on
within the family if Joe and Kate’s younger the inevitable, Karen MacDonald (most events that eventually ruin the family is a Huntington Avenue. Tickets are $20–$82.50.

Christopher Hogwood. “When Hogwood

He hopes to make ‘Old sound new’ at Handel & Haydn changed the concept in the 1980s, to period

H
orchestra, that was inspired, absolutely
by stephen brophy years before changing back to music. His its own label, Coro Records, in 2001. It has brilliant. What it did was make the old sound
arry Christophers, the new artistic pleasant memories of those days are revived frequently performed with the Academy of new again. I’m hoping that I can continue
director of the Handel and Haydn whenever he visits Boston: “I am always St. Martin in the Fields (a world-renowned his work, but he let the chorus get into the
Society, has had a career that amazed at the numbers of students on the orchestra which Christophers has also background a little bit while building the
seems to have been designed to streets here.” frequently conducted) but now has its own orchestra, and I want to address that.”
put him into that position. British by birth, He became a lay orchestra. Christophers envisions building a
Christophers became a chorister in the vicar (“an antique term Christo- repertory that focuses on the baroque and
Photo: Stu Rosner courtesy Handel & Hayden Society

Canterbury Cathedral at the age of nine. He for a male singer in an phers says that classical catalogs, with some looks back at the
spent the rest of his childhood and part of his abbey choir” is how he he was attracted Renaissance, and at least as far as Beethoven
early adulthood in one choir or another, until defines it) at Westminster to Handel & into the Romantic period. “When you’ve only
he decided that he really wanted more to be a Abbey in London, and Haydn because got one project a month you can’t spread the
conductor. He formed what has become one of had time also to be part of its similari- rep too widely,” he argues.
the worlds best choirs, The Sixteen, in 1979, of the BBC Singers. This ties to The Six- Christophers spoke enthusiastically about
and has been traveling the world with them was when he “realized teen. H&H is the pair of concerts coming up in February.
ever since. He first conducted for the Handel that I didn’t want to sing larger, but has Entitled “Zest for Love,” the events interweave
and Haydn Society in 2006, when it visited so much as conduct.” fewer concerts. music and the spoken word. “It’s a lovely
Esterházy Palace in Vienna, and is now in the About founding The “In England we probram, a nice mix of chamber music, with
midst of his first season in the new job. Sixteen, he asserts that survive on our English madrigal and Montiverdi scaled down
Christophers spoke by phone recently “in that time the attitude concert work; to single voices. We have two actors from the
with The Fenway News about his past, the to early music was sort here patronage Huntington Theatre who will read passages
current season, and his hopes for the future. of cavalier—too many is more in- from Shakespeare—it will be very intimate.
He remembers his days in Canterbury as groups were making a volved.” He also Every season we are planning to have
particularly happy. “It was a very special life, pure noise—just a sound. We were taking the highly appreciates the opportunities to play in something similar.”
and I still have friends from those days. A lot music out of context, from church to concert such acoustically pure houses as Symphony “Zest for Love,” conducted by Laurence
of people look at the cathedral chorister life as hall. I wanted to interpret the music more, to and Jordan halls. Cummings, takes place Friday, Feb. 12, at
precious, but it was really a happy balance of get at what’s behind the words.” The repertory Of his predecessors in the position, 8 p.m. in Jordan Hall and Sunday, Feb. 14,
working hard and playing hard. of The Sixteen stretches from the Renaissance Christophers has the warmest words for at 3 p.m. in Sanders Theatre in Cambridge.
“We had an excellent choir master who to early 20th-century music by Poulenc and Tickets, from $37 to $74, can be purchased at
made that possible—he knew when to let Stravinsky, among others. [Link]
kids run riot, and when to corral them in.” The group has made nearly 100
Christophers read classics at Oxford for two recordings in its 31 years, and established 08
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 FENWAY NEWS | FEBRUARY 2010 | 

Americana Fest Brings a Passel of Roots

Rockers—and a good cause—to Church
Church, the popular Kilmarnock Street club, will host the fourth annual New
England Americana Festival this month, a three-night extravaganza with 31 acts
that will raise funds for Coalition for Courage ([Link] which

    ¯    
supports children in sub-Saharan Africa.
Thursday, February 25, features rising Rhode Island five-piece band, Brown
Bird, who are currently touring Europe, with The Low Anthem; whiskey-soaked

SEASON
country rockers Movers & Shakers; and stark, beautiful chamber folk trio The
Accident That Led Me To The World. Closing the night is Kingsley Flood, a fiddle/
trumpet/guitar-driven quintet with a fierce, raw sound that owes as much to Woody

3EPT¯-AY
Guthrie as to the Clash’s Joe Strummer.
On Friday, February 26, Girls, Guns, and Glory heads the bill. The band’s
smooth, authentic blend of classic country and early rock ‘n’ roll has helped it snag
several Boston Music Awards, the
2008 WBCN Rock-n-Roll Rumble title,
and “Best Local Band of the Decade”
*AMES,EVINECONDUCTOR
honors from the Patriot Ledger. Other CarTEr PrEMIErE %LIZABETH2OWE¾UTE
highlights include Providence eight- FEBTHURPM 3#(5"%242OSAMUNDE/VERTURE
piece outfit Route .44, who have won FEBFRIPM AND%NTR´ACTES
multiple Providence Phoenix and Motif FEBTUEPM #!24%2&LUTE#ONCERTO

MUSICDIRECTOR
Music Awards; Kinks-influenced country !MERICANPREMIERE
rockers Coyote Kolb; and rootsy power-

JAMESLEVINE
"3/CO COMMISSION
poppers The Rationales. Closing the "2!(-33YMPHONY.O
night is Highway Ghosts, a ragged guitar
rock Boston four-piece.
The program for Saturday,
February 27, includes Jimmy Ryan ELIZABETHROWE
and Hayride! with Duke Levine, Billy
Beard, and Andrew Mazzone, a gaggle
*AMES,EVINECONDUCTOR
of local roots-music icons who have
played collectively with Peter Wolf, Mary
FlEMIng SIngS 2ENmE&LEMINGSOPRANO
STrauSS
photo: heads up photography

Chapin Carpenter, Aimee Mann, Mark "%2'4HREE0IECESFOR/RCHESTRA

Sandman, and others; and Three-Day FEBTHURAM 342!533&OUR,AST3ONGS
Threshold, whose high-energy mix of FEBTHURPM -!(,%23YMPHONY.O
country, Celtic, and punk has brought FEBFRIPM
them several Boston Phoenix and Boston FEBSATPM
Music Awards. Other highlights include
the Autumn Hollow Band (the most
recent hosts of this annual event), an
CONDUCTOREMERITUS

up-and-coming Boston quintet with pedal steel, banjo, and hints of early Neil Young
and The Band; Sam Reid & the Riot Act, which features fiery mandolin picking and
BERNARDHAITINK

Appalachian fiddle; The Bee’s Knees, who blend country, ’60s psychedelia, and guitar
heroics; soul/blues five-piece That Old Feelin; and harmonica-driven blues rockers RENmEFLEMING
Big East.
For more information, visit [Link]
BEEThovEn SyMPhonIES
FEBTHURPM *AMES,EVINECONDUCTOR
3YMPHONY.O0ASTORAL
3YMPHONY.O
FEBFRIPM *AMES,EVINECONDUCTOR
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Key of b-flat: in the tub when a lady enters the room? Only 3YMPHONY.O%ROICA
There ain’t nothin’ in creation like a dose if you’re taking a cold shower.
of radiation. This is an undoubtedly thinking
It’ll burn ya’ till you think you’re gonna readership, and I know what you’re thinking,
fry. and the same to you.
Old paint and I been ridin’ In 1941, I was with WBZ on the Clyde
In the mountains we been hidin’ Whalen Show with Rakov, his violin, and JAMESLEVINE
Since we saw the great big mushroom in his orchestra, featuring Wright Briggs, pia-
MUSICDIRECTORLAUREATE

the sky. nist. A year later, I was in the Air Force at

Don’t get caught in the fallout, brother. Westover Field, in Chicopee Falls. I got out of *AMES,EVINECONDUCTOR
Put on your lead underwear. the service in ’46 and worked as a nightclub
Four STrauSSES ,YNN(ARRELLCELLO
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SEIJIOZAWA

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Wall Street is still in business. Would all of ous countries. I wrote for the Citizens Item in 2OSESFROMTHE3OUTH&REE SHOOTER
this have happened if we were still on the Allston-Brighton until 1990, and joined up */3342!533&REEFROM#ARE
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Mary and I started exercising with Curtis Henderson, Chris
an hour a day, every day. Lovett, Adam Boyajy and Rich 6ISITBSOORGSYMPHONYPLUSFOR0RE AND0OST #ONCERT
Now we’ve been doing it for Rosenthal. EVENTSONTHESEDATES-AJORITYFREETOTICKETHOLDERS
six years. This February will Like everyone else, I was OPENREHEARSALSARENOTEDINLIGHTTYPE
start the seventh. To celebrate, surprised by the now-Senator,
Mary had a lung operation
and I reached the age of 90
Scott Brown, a Republican in
Democratic Boston. During my
617-266-1200 s [Link]
and developed a bad back, but years at Westover, I realized that TICKETS: $19 – $115
we’re still operational. people in the western part of the !LLPROGRAMSANDARTISTSSUBJECTTOCHANGE
If your health is state really dislike Boston and PRE CONCERTTALKS0RE CONCERTTALKSAREOFFEREDIN3YMPHONY(ALLPRIORTOALL #ONTRIBUTING0ARTNER
questionable, truck on over area for being Democrats and "3/CONCERTSAND/PEN2EHEARSALS&REETOALLTICKETHOLDERSTHESETALKSBEGINAT
to The Fenway Community consequently voted against them PMPRIORTOEVENINGCONCERTSPMPRIORTO&RIDAYAFTERNOONCONCERTSAND
ONEHOURBEFORETHESTARTOFEACH/PEN2EHEARSAL
Health Center. They’ll tell you on anything important, such as
what to do about it. I’ve been West Fens resident rent control, which caused me to
4HEREISAPERTICKETHANDLINGFEEFORTICKETSORDEREDBYPHONEINTERNET /F½CIAL#OFFEE

told everyone is welcome. Clyde Whalen gives move from Allston, where I had TDDTTY  &ORSERVICESTICKETINGANDINFORMATION

If at first you don’t “The Fenway Report” lived since 1938, to the Fenway. FORPERSONSWITHDISABILITIESCALL  

succeed, try the outfield. every other week My advice is keep your eye on
Remember when the on neighborhood Brown and what he votes for.
MBTA was known as the Network News on Hopefully, he may actually be
“trolley” and students were cable channel 9. the type of person he says he is;
known as “trolley rats”? The otherwise, we’ll be stuck with a 3EASON3PONSOR
fare was a nickel or maybe a dime. Those handsome actor, who has no use for Demo-
were the good old days. crats.
Ladies and gentlemen and the rest of Thanks to Mary, who helps me
you—The definition of an extinct volcano is a even when she’s victimized by a serious
mountain that can’t get its rocks off. lung operation two weeks ago and is still
While wallowing in this particularly recovering. So from both of us, see you next SUPPORTINGPARTNER OFFICIALHOTEL OFFICIALCHAUFFEURED
TRANSPORTATIONPROVIDER
unedifying grammar, is it proper to stand up time, be the good Lord willin’.
 | FENWAY NEWS |FEBRUARY 2010

+
This symbol indicates a free
event. For even more listings,
visit [Link]

From Prehistoric to the Present, Series Focuses on Roxbury’s Rich History

pick of the month

Sun, Jan 31: The Longwood Symphony
Discover Roxbury and Haley House Bakery Café present a available for purchase; arrive early, as space is limited.
Orchestra presents Symphonic Relief For
series of cozy speaking engagements with local historians at • Thursday, February 4: Everything You Wanted to Know
Haiti: A Global Concert to Benefit Partners
café in Dudley About Roxbury
In Health. The orchestra hopes to
Square. The State Rep. Byron Rushing, an accomplished historian,
raise $250,000 for the Boston-based
free series takes kicks off the series with an overview of the past four
nonprofit Partners in Health, which
place on the first centuries. His presentation will cover the richness
has been working in Haiti since 1987.
Thursday of each and diversity of Roxbury’s history, beginning with its
The musicians will play works by
month through founding in 1630, and include its important role during
Bach, Faure, Antonio Carlos Jobim,
May and is part the American Revolution, the different groups that made
and Tchaikovsky, as well as Albert
of the café’s Art Roxbury home, and the activism of the Black community.
Schweitzer Portrait, co-commissioned
is Life Itself pro-
by LSO and the Albert Schweitzer • Future dates and topics: March 4: The Legacy of Elma
gram. Presenta-
Fellowship. At Jordan Hall, 12:30 p.m. Lewis; April 1: In a Time Before the Present (Roxbury’s
tions run from
General admission tickets are $25. history before European contact; May 6: The Black
7:30 p.m. to 9
Mon, Feb 1: At the MFA, performer Beth p.m. Dinner is Community in Roxbury, 1940-1970
Bahia Cohen discusses the history,
repertoire, and playing technique of a
long-necked fiddle known as the rababa, in experiencing this music. Berklee Thu, Feb 18: Edward Saywell, chair of Con- performs for Soul Sessions Live at the
a traditional instrument of Egypt. Cohen Performance Center, 8:15 p.m. $10. temporary Art, leads a tour of Bharat Baseball Tavern on Boylston St.
demonstrates the unique sound of this folk Tue, Feb 9: Boston Pops’ Keith Lockhart Ratna! The Jewels of Modern Indian Art, Mon, Feb 22: Next Stop Wonderland, a lovely
instrument using an example from her discusses “Creating the Past Through which presents outstanding works by some romantic comedy made in Boston in 1998,
own collection, and a nineteenth-century Music” at Mass. Historical Society as part of of India’s most celebrated modern painters. screens in the BPL’s Rabb Lecture Hall.
instrument from the MFA’s collection will the “Creating the Past” Conversation Series. Learn how the generation of artists that Hope Davis and Philip Seymour Hoffman
be on hand for comparison. In the Musical 5:30 p.m. refreshments; 6:00 conversation. emerged following India’s independence in lead an excellent cast (including many
Instruments Gallery, 11 a.m. Free with Reservations requested: education@ 1947 sought to create an identity that could well known local actors) in Brad
museum admission.
Wed, Feb 3: As the coach of NEC’s uncon-
[Link] or 617-646-0560. FREE. define their country’s new nationhood.
Meet in the Sharf Visitor Center, 11 a.m.
+ Anderson’s first directorial effort. 6
p.m. FREE.
Wed, Feb 10: Public historian and writer
ducted Chamber Orchestra, Donald Palma Free with Museum admission.
Alex R. Goldfeld gives an illustrated pre- Wed, Feb 24: In The Fantastically Unreal
isn’t ordinarily seen onstage. Tonight he sentation about Boston’s prerevolutionary Fri, Feb 19: The Boston Conservatory Brass Orient, the MFA’s tyler Ostergaard explores
steps to the podium as guest conductor with African-American community in the North Ensemble, Larry Isaacson, conductor pres- how European images of Middle East from
the NEC Philharmonia. Program includes End. Goldfeld reveals surprising facts drawn ents music by Dukas, Lauridsen, Schuller, the 19th century—supposedly realistic
Haydn’s Symphony No. 98 in B-flat major, from his new book, The North End: A Brief and Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story depictions of non-European cultures that
the Ravel orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pic-
+
History of Boston’s Oldest Neighborhood. Suite. 8 p.m. at NU’s Fenway Center, often contained very significant distortions
tures at an Exhibition, and Verdi’s Overture Gainsborough at St. Stephen streets.

+ to La forza del destino. Jordan Hall, 8

p.m. FREE
+ The Orientation Room of the BPL’s
McKim Building, 6:30 p.m. FREE. FREE.
that actually supported European biases
about non-European cultures. Meet in
WED, Feb 10–Sat Feb 27: BU’s Center for Fri, Feb 19: Singer, songwriter, dancer, the Sharf Visitor Center, 6 p.m. Free with
Thu, Feb 4: “A Prairie Home Companion actress and model Melissa Jane, aka MJ, Museum admission.
American Performance presents Paula Vo-
with Garrison Keillor—LIVE in HD!” will gel’s comic and devastating “How I Learned
be broadcast live at the Regal Fenway 13. to Drive,” winner of the 1998 Pulitzer Prize
The show will feature special guests as well for drama. In the Lane-Comely Studio at
as regular performers, including actors the B.U. Theatre (264 Huntington Avenue— SPECIAL EVENTS
Sue Scott and Tim Russell, sound-effects The following events take place at the
same building as the Huntington Theatre). Tue, Feb 2: Planning meeting, 10 a.m.
wizards Tom Keith and Fred Newman, Weds, Thurs at 7:30; Fri, Sat at 8:00; Sun at Peterborough Senior Center (located
and the “Guy’s All-Star Shoe Band.” 8 p.m. between 100 & 108 Jersey St.; walk down the Wed, Feb 3: Short story discussion—Annie
2:00. Tickets $20 general, $10 for students,
Tickets are $20. alley between the two buildings). The Center Proulx and Jack London
seniors, and BU affiliates. Info and tickets at
Sat, Feb 6: The New Boston Duo—Elizabeth [Link]/cfa/bcap or 617-933-8600. is located two blocks from Boylston Street. Thu, Feb 4: Reiki check-in (21 days)
Burke, violin, and George Little, guitar— For more information, call 617-536-7154.
Wed, Feb 10: Heavy Rotation Records Wed, Feb 10: Haiku workshop: “Winter” with
perform gypsy swing, jazz classics, works by presents its annual Epic Event and Dorm Jeannie Martin, 1 p.m.
Piazzolla and improvisation at the Kaji Aso Sessions 7 CD release concert at the Berklee Recurring Events
Studio, 40 St. Stephen St. 617-247-1719 for Thu, Feb 11: Valentine’s Day celebration—
Performance Center. The showcase features Mondays bring potluck desserts, noon
more info. 7:30 p.m., tickets are $10. artists from Dorm Sessions 7, the new
Mon, Feb 8: Berklee’s second annual compilation CD by Berklee’s student-run
• 11:30 a.m. (NOTE NEW TIME): Film— Tue, Feb 16: Senior Task Force meeting
Feb 1, Do the Right Thing (1989); Feb 8,
Middle Eastern Festival features artist- label Heavy Rotation Records. Performances Wed, Feb 17: Short story discussion—Thomas
Glory (1989); Feb 15, The Power of One
in-residence Husnu Senlendirici and the include a mix of rock, pop, Latin, country, (1992); Feb 22. Death in Venice (1971) Mann’s “Death in Venice,” 11:00 a.m.; pizza
New York Gypsy All-Stars. The festival R&B, hip-hop, and folk performed by lunch ($3 donation)
• 2:15 p.m: Yoga
aims to showcase different styles and students and alumni. Call 617-747-2261 or Thu, Feb 18: Healthy living, a discussion with
genres of Middle Eastern music as well as visit [Link] for more information. Tuesdays
Suzanne
artists, and to bring together students from 8:15 p.m. Your $10 gets you a free copy of • 11 a.m: Exercise with Mahmoud
different musical and cultural backgrounds the CD at the concert. • 12 noon: Documentaries—Feb 2, Jazz Tue, Feb 23: Stephen O’Neill of Beth Israel
(2000), Disk 1; Feb 9, Jazz, Disk 2; Feb 16, A Deaconess Medical Center returns for “Health
Thu, Feb 11: Pianist Victor Rosenbaum Proxies and Living Wills, 11 a.m.
Super Hunger Brunch, Jan 30 & 31 in a recital featuring Haydn’s F-minor Century of Quilts (2006); Feb 23, Jazz, Disk 3
No Fenway restaurants will take part in the Variations, Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 2, No. 3 Wednesdays Wed, Feb 24: Olga Goldus talks about her
terrific Greater Boston Food Bank benefit in C-major, and a selection of Chopin works • 9:30 a.m: Yoga with Julie current art exhibit before it leaves Senior
this year, but there are Back Bay, South including the Ballade No. 3 in A-flat major, Center, 11 a.m.
• 10 a.m.-12 noon: Blood pressure check
End, and Cambridge options. For info, visit Op. 47; the Barcarolle, Op. 60, Mazurkas in with Joyce. Thu, Feb 25: Storytelling with Penina—“When
[Link]/shm/[Link].
+ A-flat major. Jordan Hall at NEC, 8
p.m. FREE. Thursdays
10 a.m: Knitting with Nan
I Got Lost...” Bring your own experiences.
11 a.m.

5:30-8:30 p.m., Fensgate Community Room, Wed, Feb 17: West Fens Police/Community Boston, 3rd fl, 565 Boylston St., Copley Sq.
Wed, Feb 3: Fenway liaison for the Mayor’s 73 Hemenway St., (side entrance/ring meeting, 5 p.m. Landmark Center (Park Mon, Feb 22: Longwood Medical Area)
Office of Neighborhood Services, Will Onu- community room bell). Bring a dish to Drive & Brookline Ave.), 2nd fl, District 4 Forum, 6:30-8 p.m. For location or to verify
oha, meets with community residents from share; children welcome. For more info, call police substation next to security desk. that meeting will be held, email Laura at
3:30to 5:30 p.m. YMCA, 316 Huntington Sarah at 617-267-4637 x19 or email her at lfogerty@[Link].
Thu, Feb 18: Congressman Capuano’s
Ave. No appointment necessary. Repeats on shorsley@[Link]. CDC members
representative holds district office hours 4-5 Tue, Feb 23: Symphony Neighborhood Task
Wed, Feb 17. invited, as well as community residents who
p.m. Fenway Community Health Center, Force, 6 p.m. Location TBD. For more info,
want to learn about the CDC.
Sat, Feb 6: Gigantic used book sale 1340 Boylston St. call Councilor Mike Ross’ office at 617-635-
sponsored by City-Wide Friends of the BPL. Tue, Feb 16: Audubon Circle Neighborhood 4225. Neighborhood residents welcome.
Fri, Feb 19: Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz’s
10-4 p.m. Mezzanine Conference Room, Association board meeting, 6-8 p.m., Har-
representative holds East Fens office Tue, Feb 23: Boston Park Advocates, 6:00-
Boston Public Library, Copley Square. vard Vanguard, 131 Brookline Ave., Annex
hours 9-10 a.m. Espresso Royale Cafe, 44 8:00 p.m. (preceded by pizza at 5:30 p.m.).
Bldg., Rm 3D. For info, call 617-262-0657.
Sat, Feb 6: ACLU of Massachusetts Gainsboro St. For more info, call Stephanie Boston Natural Area Network, 62 Summer
statewide conference, “Secrecy, Surveillance Tue, Feb 16: East Fens Community/Police Everett at 617-722-1673 or email her at St., 2nd floor, in Downtown Crossing.
& Sunlight,” 11:00-5:30 p.m. at the UMass meeting., 6 p.m. Morville House, 100 [Link]@[Link]. Residents’
Norway St. Thu, Feb 25: Christian Science Plaza
Boston Campus Center. Keynote address by questions and concerns welcome.
Revitalization Project CAC meeting., 6-8
Jameel Jaffer, director of ACLU’s National Tue, Feb 16: Ward 5 Democratic Committee Sat, Feb 20: Democratic Ward 5 caucus, p.m. Christian Science Publishing House,
Security Program, and workshops, films. To meeting., 7 p.m., Community Church of to elect slate to represent Ward 5 at the 210 Mass Ave. (use Christian Science
register, visit: [Link]. Open to all. Boston, 565 Boylston St., Copley Square. Democratic State Convention. Only Monitor entrance) For more info, email
Thu, Feb 11: Fenway CDC members’ potluck, Community welcome. registered Democrats in Ward 5 may vote. [Link]@[Link].
9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Community Church of