The South Coast Insider - March 2021

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MARCH 2021 Vol. 25 / No. 3

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CONTENTS MARCH 2021

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COVER STORY

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Something in the Eire

By Brian J. Lowney

YOUR HEALTH

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Adventure in the Covid era

By Stacie Charbonneau Hess

Recovering from Covid

By Michael J. DeCicco

18

Myths, masks, and mutations

By Elizabeth Morse Read

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Spotlight on Black businesses

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Something in the

Eire

By Brian J. Lowney

hile certainly much has changed during the last year throughout the world, one thing remains the same.

March 17, Saint Patrick’s Day, is a beloved day that most folks love to celebrate whether they hail from the Auld Sod, have a bit of Irish blood in their ancestry, or just wear a little green to enjoy on this special day with their family and friends.

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For the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick, a fraternal organization based in New Bedford, every day is a commitment and dedication of the 200 men who volunteer throughout the year to a variety of causes that benefit the community.

The organization’s current president, Murray Curhan of Mattapoisett, says the group was founded in 1941 and was initially named in honor of Robert Emmet, an Irish patriot who was hung for treason in the early 1800s.

“Our name was changed to the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick of New Bedford in 1955,” Curhan adds, noting that all members must have some Irish heritage, be sponsored by a member in good standing, be voted by the board, and then be approved by the membership.

“We’re holding our own,” he continues, adding that the organization continues to thrive and holds numerous fundraisers and events throughout the year. Although plans are temporarily on hold due to the pandemic, the group has hosted the annual New Bedford Half Marathon, which

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began four decades ago, for the past 10 years, hosts an annual golf tournament, sponsors scholarships for individuals related to organization members as well as to students residing in Greater New Bedford, coordinates food and charity drives, and hosts social events for members and their guests where they celebrate their Irish heritage.

“We also participate in the famous parade in Boston and in the annual Feast of Blessed Sacrament,” Curhan continues.

“It’s a really good group of gentlemen and everyone is passionate about the Friendly Sons. We raise a lot of money that we put back into the community. We are a 100 percent, all-volunteer organization.”

active throughout the year in a variety of charitable endeavors – just not only during March and around St. Patrick’s Day. “It’s very important to give to the local community,” Donnelly continues, adding that last year the Friendly Sons donated $20,000 in scholarships to community residents or members of the organization’s family.

Donnelly says the Friendly Sons are indeed most proud of the Irish monument that was constructed and installed back in 2005. The large Celtic cross was installed

Something in the Eire

Christopher Donnelly, a New Bedford teacher and native of County Derry, Northern Ireland, joined the Friendly Sons in 1990 and presided as the organization’s president for three years.

“Our mission statement is to preserve Irish culture,” he emphasizes, adding that the organization’s members remain

March 2021 | The South Coast Insider

The Friendly Sons erected the Irish monument on E. Rodney French Boulevard in New Bedford

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Support your Last year they served up a feast of turkey, roast prime rib, sausage stuffing, and community.

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Friendly Sons more. The restaurant currently offers $20,000 Thisdonated well-known restaurant and bandine-in and takeout, including some ovquet facility overlooking Laurel Lake in scholarships en-ready dishes like seafood casserole usually packs them in for a large buffet and stuffed lobster. on Thanksgiving Day. The menu typicalto community ly includes traditional turkey dinner with 167 Borden Street 508.676.7169 White’s of Westport Paul’s stuffing, butternut squash, prime residents or 66 State Road, Westport rib, ham, and much more.

The restaurant Fall River, MA jjjewlery.com 508-675-7185 members has been offering dine-inof andthe takeout, shop.lafrancehospitality.com including its locally famous corned beef organization’s and cabbage, for 50 years. Here’s a proWhite’s has been offering family-style tip: if you can’t wait until Thanksgiving for takeout and curbside meals pickup for family. a roast turkey dinner, you don’t have to – months, so when Turkey Day comes

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Merrills on tothe We are sure haveWaterfront the purrfect cat packages and platters like its “Taste of “The display includes an American and 36orHomers Wharf, Newyour Bedford the cutest K-9 to steal heart New England” that comes with chowIrish flag and park benches where people 508-997-7010 so if you are looking for love, der, quahogs and clam cakes or its Italian Stafford & Company Insurance can sit and look out at the harbor,” he merrillswaterfront.com check with us first!! package of salad, lasagna, meatballs and shares.

Donnelly added that John Hume, a This favorite restaurant and function Both meals servefrom six. Also The AARPbreadsticks.

Massachusetts Auto Insurance Program Faxon Animal Carelaureate who was Derry native and Nobel facility sits on the waterfront overlooking Plymouthavailable Rock offers AARP members in Massachusetts special & Adoption Center are dinner-for-two meal packs instrumental in achieving peace not only the busy fishing port. But if fish isn’t your savings inlike fish and chips, lobster rolls, bourbon addition to the everyday benefits that set Plymouth 474 Durfee St., Fall River, MA in Ireland but also inturkey other parts ofsure the thing on traditional day, be Rock apartbeef from its competition.

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In addition his community work, prime rib, allto the sides like apple sage More Than is accustomed to cooking for a crowd.

Donnelly also conducts periodic tours stuffing, and sweet corn and polenta ravioli, plus pies galore. with visits to Derry, to Ireland complete where the Friendly Sons are warmly greeted with cordial Irish hospitality.

Call today for a free, The Pasta House Ryan Donovan, a member of the Friendly obligation 100no Alden Road, Fairhaven Sons for 14 years, shares that auto insurance quote: he began 508-993-9913 30+you’ll years need experience volunteering as a young man with his First to concoct cinnamon thepastahouse.net — HOURS — 508-673-5893 father James, who continues to also be an Pet Mix boarding, owner on ½ premises 24/7 syrup. ½ cup sugar, cup water, If their Pumpkin Patch Old-Fashioned Mon. of & Tue. active member the8:30-4:30pm group. 1000 North Main St. andA/C, a three-inch cinnamon stick in a fenced in yard, outdoor kennels (now on theWed. bar& menu) doesn’t getRiver, you MA 02720 Sat. 8:30-12 Noon Fall “I feel like I can make a difference in the small pan. Bring it just to a boil, turn off inside, nothing will. Luckily, you can find One-on-one training for basic obedience Thu. 8:30-5pm • Fri 8:30-6pm 508-673-5893 community,” Donovan says, adding that the heat and let it cool. Remove the a recipe in the sidebar for this drink and he chairs the group’s Technology Comcinnamon stick and discard or use it to serve it with your Thanksgiving dinner Actual coverage is subject to the language of the policy as issued. AARP membership is required for Program eligibility. Applicants are individually underwritten and some may not qualify 1100 Reed Rd. Dartmouth, MA for auto insurance from Plymouth Rock based on driving history orseveral other factors. Premiums will be basedgarnish on verified information and the coverageNorth choices policy options that you select. mittee in addition to serving in the cocktail ifand you like.

The syrtakeout Plymouth Rock pays royalty fees to AARP for the use of its intellectual property. These fees are used for the general purposes of AARP. AARP does not employ or endorse agents, producers Monday -Saturday 9am-5pm or brokers.

AARP and its affiliates are not insurers. other capacities within theup organization. up will last for three weeks in the fridge.

The Pasta House served a spread To make the cocktail, fill a shakHeyear addsthat thatincluded new members, last turkey provided dinner, ham er halfway with ice. Combine ¼ cup that they meet the established criteria, dinner, fillet mignon, braised short rib, 9 The South Coast Insider | November 2020 pumpkin puree with three ounces are welcome to join and share their talents and more. Currently, pickup and delivery bourbon, two ounces maple syrup, ¼ is available from regular menu, includand ideas as theythe strive to seek to build ounce cinnamon syrup, one ounce orthetheir community. ing apple cider sangria to go. We’ll ange liqueur, and two just have tonotes wait and what they dream Donovan that see among the many Quality Resale forhe’s theenjoyed Whole Family dashes orange bitup for Thanksgiving. social activities that as a ters. Shake well. participant, are his two trips to Ireland, Fill two old fashSchedule your where the members were warmly greeted The Wharf Tavern ioned glasses with withWater Irish hospitality and good cheer.

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March 2021Insider | The South Coast Insider The South Coast | November 2020

7 19

BUSINESS BUZZ

Spotlight

on Black businesses

By Steven Froias

After the nation – and world – witnessed the horrific murder of George Floyd last May, many were galvanized to take to the streets and express their outrage and force America to grapple with its legacy of racial injustice.

Justina Perry, founder of BuyBlackNB.

J

ustina Perry, too, was galvanized into action. The 32-year-old life-long New Bedford resident says the sight of what she saw happening to Black bodies around the nation compelled her to take action.

That determination found expression in a campaign she launched last June called BuyBlackNB – an online platform highlighting the area’s many Black-owned small business and creative endeavors. It was launched as a website that featured over 75 Black-owned businesses. You can find it at buyblacknb.com.

In a release announcing the new venture, Perry stated “In supporting local Black-owned businesses, we are working to close the racial wealth gap, strengthen our local economies, foster job creation, and celebrate Black culture.”

It has certainly done all that. Indeed, it quickly entered the collective consciousness of the region and became widely shared via social media – fulfilling its mission almost from day one and gathering new teammates to the cause.

The impressive BuyBlackNB.com offers viewers an interactive map to help patrons discover the businesses it listed in its directory, and it continued to add new ones over the summer and into the autumn. And, it doesn’t charge any sort of fee to be listed as a Black-owned business on its website or social media platforms.

“The work is a labor of love for people, places, and products that make up the New Bedford community,” the group’s first press release stated, adding that BuyBlackNB would serve as “a source

for resources and action.” It quickly made good on that pledge by conducting a fundraiser consisting of a branded t-shirt and tank tee sale, with all of the proceeds going to the New Bedford branch of the NAACP.

Intersectional justice

This past holiday season, BuyBlackNB introduced the first Black-owned Holiday Gift Directory to the South Coast, ending a satisfying first half-year of life. But far from resting on its laurels, the BuyBlackNB movement is poised for an even bigger 2021.

In February, BuyBlackNB launched “Black in Business” to highlight and support Black entrepreneurs and aspiring business leaders. To do this, they’re partnering with the New Bedford Historical Society to host its first virtual event called, “HERstory: A Celebration of Black Women.”

HERstory events will give participants the opportunity to hear from women entrepreneurs, “drawing from a collective wealth of business experience and a shared passion for supporting women of color businesses,” the introduction states. “With HERstory, we invite everyone to join in celebrating Black Women role models and to enjoy women-led and focused discussions.”

The first HERstory took place on Thursday, February 25th. The speakers included Samia Walker of EforAll; Celia Brito, Tanya Alves, Cynthia Rose of Celia’s Boutique; Lori Gomes of Beauty Union; and Iva Brito, artist, educator and activist. (Be sure to

“The work is a labor of love for people, places, and products that make up the New Bedford community”

8

March 2021 | The South Coast Insider

BRISTOL BRISTOL COUNTY COUNTY PRECAST PRECAST n

Featuring an extensive selection of traditional and natural fibers to meet all your knit and crochet needs

• Thousands of skeins of yarn to fit every budget and project • Large selection of patterns & books • Needles, hooks, notions & accessories • Project help and advice • Finishing services Check Facebook, • All levels of knit & crochet our website, or call classes for current shop hours & class information • Specialty project classes follow website or Facebook.com/BuyBlackNB for future 782the Main Road • Westport, MA • 774-264-9665 online meeting links.) www.woolsisters.com • woolsisters@gmail.com “This dynamic team of women entrepreneurs are drawing from a collective wealth of business experience and a shared passion for supporting women of color businesses. Come listen to their stories of how they have worked towards, successfully navigated, and sustained their own businesses,” event promotion for the series stated. Justina Perry herself, with Rayana Grace of the New Bedford Historical Society, led the first discussion.

That’s not all that BuyBlackNB has on its 2021 agenda. In an effort to continue supporting Black-owned businesses, the group will host an outdoor market in Custom House Square Park, downtown New Bedford this summer. There, all people are invited to come purchase goods and services from BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) Owned Businesses in a safe and inclusive place.

It’s clear that a moment in time has become so much more for BuyBlackNB. It is now an indelible part of the fabric of the South Coast community. As the website states, it is “your go-to source” for supporting Black-owned businesses.

In a list of 2021 New Year’s Resolutions, BuyBlackNB blogger Diogo Fernandes Tavares leads off with this: “If you want to support Black business, put your money up. You must convince your friends and families that Black business is integral to a future where healing and love can take place.”

Fernandes ends – or perhaps begins anew – with this: “Amplify Black voices and spread the word – In 2021 I urge all people, not just Black people, to consider changing your buying habits as a ◆ way to end racism in our country.”

In 2021, that means BuyBlackNB. A grace note delivered to South Coast by Justina Perry, Diogo Fernandes Tavares, and the growing team that is offering all of us a way forward.

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e r u t n ve

YOUR HEALTH

d A

Pictured here are bikes for loan at the author’s favorite vacation destination, Pirate’s Point in Little Cayman. She visited with her family in March 2020 and managed to get home a day before the borders closed to tourists. They remain unopened.

in the Covid era By: Stacie Charbonneau Hess

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”— Mark Twain

I

f you’re like me and most of my friends, you are happier when there are things to look forward to. Birthday parties and barbecues in summer, ski trips and Caribbean vacations in winter. While some of this is still possible, with Covid-era accommodations of course, a lot of our former gallivanting is off-limits. Road trips take precedence over airplanes, sticking close to home over visiting a neighbor. It can all get rather wearisome, really, and here we are coming up on one year of rethinking the way we socialize, and the way we travel.

If you are of retirement age, perhaps you’re extra angry and feel short-changed at having to stay home in chilly New England during the sometimes wretched winter-weather months. To cope, I have compiled a list of ways you can travel – or plan to travel – safely, right now, without waiting another day. If you give yourself over to the planning, with hope and

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anticipation, the brain is even tricked, outwitting winter with dreams of light and warmth.

Think of planning travel and embarking on local, short trips as taking care of your mental health. Instead of focusing on what you cannot do, your mind focuses on creation. Lifestyle writer for the New York Times Melissa Kirsch writes in her article, the “The Importance of Anticipation,” that “We all need things to look forward to.”

She quotes a researcher from The Journal of Experimental Psychology, Christian Waugh who confirms that “[Anticipation] promotes approach thinking, so the feeling that you’re going toward something you want or desire, as opposed to going away from something you fear, which gives a sense of well-being.” In yoga we say this more simply: “What you focus on gets stronger.” This becomes a mantra for creating something anew, something that has not yet materialized for you. Here are a

March 2021 | The South Coast Insider

few ways you can focus your attention on creating something beautiful, something hopeful, something that can get you through the rainiest, sleetiest, windiest, wretched-est of winter days.

Take an “Awe-Walk”

A friend of mine, Josie, is a public health advocate and sent me this awesome new study about Awe Walks. It focused on older adults (60s, 70s, and 80s) in the San Francisco Bay Area. The study showed the difference between people who just walked for “exercise” and those who were given the task of finding “awe” in their everyday walks. The study was performed over eight weeks, with two groups: the control group and the “awe-seekers” who were told by the researchers to try to seek out new places to walk each day, to cultivate a sense of child-like wonder, notice the details – in other words, get out of their own self-focused thought-

patterns which can lead to malaise and worry.

This study took the idea that “exercise is good for you” and added an element of intentionality to the physical part of it. Apparently, the most surprising part of the study was the selfies that participants were asked to take. Researchers noticed that as the weeks progressed, the selfies in the “awe” category became more about the surroundings than the walker herself.

In other words, the awewalkers were outwardly focused, connected to their surroundings and appreciative of them.

I see this study as evidence of a gratitude practice. I am not surprised that the awe-seekers reported feeling a sense of well-being in more instances than the control group. It’s back to that yogi advice: what you focus on grows stronger. It can be really simple, even if you visit the same place day after day. Zero in on something: on my own awe-walks these days, I try to name the types of trees I see.

Try going on your own “awe-walk” wherever you can, for 15 minutes a day.

Throw on a pair of snowshoes if it’s one of those snow days. Get a bit out of your comfort zone. Take some selfies, like the participants in the study did, but otherwise stay off your phone. Be present. See if you feel the magic of nature and your surroundings as they envelop you and invite you to be part of something larger than yourself.

How OLLI works is that by becoming a member – for a very reasonable fee of $225 for the whole year – “students” have access to a huge variety of classes and programs each semester.

Some are one-time presentations, with others running for up to ten weeks.

Think of almost anything you are interested in (Art History, Indian Cuisine, Meteorology) and OLLI will have a workshop or presentation for you. For travel-based opportunities, the Spring 2021 catalog describes classes such as: “Intermediate French Conversation Through Cinema,” “The Art and Architecture of Beautiful Barcelona,” “A Year in Chile,” and “Mestizaje: A Trip on the History of Mexico’s Cuisine.”

These are not fluffy adult learning courses on knitting (though OLLI does host those as well). These are substantive, academic courses that provide historical and cultural education, as well as enhance your social circle. Instructors and presenters are mostly college professors. There is no particular academic background necessary to join. Full members receive a student ID from UMass that allows them to enjoy the same discounts as students.

While I am optimistic that the remainder of 2021 will be about navigating out of this global pandemic, I also hope that we will be navigating ourselves towards that which nurtures us: visiting a faraway relative, watching inspirational television, or taking a class.

I hope that these ideas will spark your own explorations: whether from your sofa or to the long-awaited journey to France that you know will happen someday – maybe this year, maybe not. I hope that through joining a community of travelers, virtually or otherwise, you will continue to focus on the possibilities. What you focus on grows, so plant some seeds today and keep nurturing them until it’s their time to blossom. In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.” May you cultivate it inside, so you see it wherever you go.

See if you feel the magic of nature and your surroundings as they envelop you and invite you to be part of something larger than yourself.

Join a learning community

Josie also introduced me to an organization that serves older adults called Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes (OLLI), with a local chapter, run out of UMass Boston. The mission of the organization is to “foster accessible lifelong learning, individual growth, and social connection for learners age 50+ by providing opportunities to enrich the intellectual, social, and cultural lives of members.”

As I was reading through the catalog of courses and “Brown Bag Presentations” I got really excited! I almost can’t wait to turn 50 so I can join the group!

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March 2021 | The South Coast Insider

11

BUSINESS BUZZ

Timeless shopping

By Michael J. DeCicco

It’s easy to experience a real general store no matter where you live on the South Coast. since the 1950s, in 2008 for its “quaint New England feel by water’s edge,” Rory said. “I always wanted to own a business with a water view.”

The store is now a place for penny candy, homemade donuts (available Thursday through Sunday) and pastries (available seven days a week). It also houses a full Bliss Brothers ice cream creamery, and a full range of Green Mountain and Jim Organic coffees.

“On weekends, I sell out of donuts and pastries by 10 a.m.”

The Head Town Landing Country Store in Westport is smaller and newer than many others like it in the area, but has its own unique design.

It’s a convenience store that features an ice cream stand deck leading to a spacious backyard with ample seating and a view of the Westport River. Owner Rory Couturier said it’s where kayakers can dock at the river shore and walk up to the store’s back deck for ice cream or the interior for coffee, donuts, and muffins, and where cyclists often stop for refreshments in the middle of their rides.

He and his wife Kathy bought the property, which had been a general store

increase remarkably over the summer.

Meanwhile, his donut and pastry treats sell quickly both during the week and the weekend. “On weekends, I sell out of donuts and pastries by 10 a.m.,” he said Frequent customer and longtime Westport resident Estelle Gifford confirms why it’s a popular stop for local people. “I love what they did with the store,” she said.

“It’s no longer dark and dingy. I love the ice cream and the hot dogs. Rory said he’d turn it into a ‘destination’ store. And he did that.”

Little conveniences

Wilbur’s General Store has been an important destination in Little Compton

The deli side of the business offers Dels Lemonade, hot dogs, and sandwiches that are pre-made daily. The convenience store side of the business offers local eggs, milk, honey, and New England syrups.

“I’ve lived in Westport my whole life,” Rory reflects. “For 25 years, I was manager of a big box store in Boston.

Now I’m working seven minutes from this house where locals love to gather.

They can relax by the water. This is such a special place.”

He said local people have always been his biggest customers, and his biggest sellers are his ice creams and his pastries.

He sells ice cream year-round, but sales CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

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March 2021 | The South Coast Insider

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for over 120 years. Established in 1893 by C.R. Wilbur, the store has been not only the shopping hub of this unique village, but also an essential gathering place for catching up with old friends and meeting new ones, said manager Linda Wetzel.

Here too local customers are the key to a general store’s success. “We’re a local store,” Wetzel said. “That’s what makes the store special. It feels like a community.”

Wilbur’s carries hardware, gifts, toys, clothing, groceries, specialty foods, and a great deli counter with restaurantquality meat. Wetzel started there as a bookkeeper in 1999, became manager in 2003, and she and her husband brought it in 2018.

“We carry just about anything you’d need,” Wetzel said. “We pride ourselves on the fact you can get anything you might want. Local people don’t have to leave town to get what they need.”

Among the store’s biggest sellers are its apples, she said. Her husband owns Little Compton’s Old Stone Orchard, so the store sells 12 varieties of apples, from Granny Smith to Red Delicious.

In fact, she said, since the Covid pandemic struck, grocery sales have gone up.

“People want to shop in a small, local shop,” she said.

“Our grocery business has definitely increased. We carry a lot of groceries from steak to frozen vegetables to cereal.

I’ve increased the amount of produce we stock because of our level of business since Covid.”

Also as a result of the pandemic, the store started a delivery service, and in June it started curbside pickup.

But she is proudest of the fact the store is also where “the employees always will try

March 2021 | The South Insider 14 Insider e South Coast | November 2020Coast21

to help the customer, pack their grocery bags, carry them to their car. We’ve built a relationship between us and the customer. Summertime customers came in with a sense of nostalgia, telling their children ‘That’s the same candy shelf where I bought candy here back in the day.’ Generations have come here.”

Central market

The centerpiece of Marion’s village center, the Marion General Store, has been serving the local community for 47 years, but that’s only if you don’t count the total of 224 years the building housed its previous incarnations as a Congregational Church Meeting House and a variety of retail shops.

Three years ago, the town’s Sippican Historical Society assisted owner Jack Cheney, 72, with funding to restore the building exterior and renovate the interior to modernize it and add more space.

As a result, Cheney noted proudly, “We brought in a more diverse selection of products. And we now have call-in orders and have a curbside pickup area on Main Street.”

He credits his daughter, Whitney Cheney Wynne, with running the store’s increased social media presence and coming up with

“We pride ourselves on the fact you can get anything you might want. Local people don’t have to leave town to get what they need.”

to visit the safe outdoor pop-up markets (waterfire.org/art-mart). And on First Thursdays (November 5) you can “shop and dine local” in Barrington, Bristol, and Warren (discovernewport.org).

Kick-off the holiday season at Frerichs many ofWarren the store’s product Farm in withnew “Girls Nightideas Out” that have led to a continuous of local on November 6, 7 and 8 – buyflow your customers of all ages. holiday trees, greenery, and gifts there, Store manager Angela Rossi noted, too (frerichsfarm.com).

Then mark however, that one feature the has your calendar for the Newportstore Block kept since it opened 47 years ago is the Party & Holiday Stroll at Bowen’s Wharf charge register that allows patrons to put on November 27 – you can watch purchases on an ongoing tab. the Illuminated Boat Parade while you shop and enjoy Caribbean music (bowenswharf.com).

the region’s coastal charms. Their new property was a former tomato farm, perfect for supporting the couple’s new hobby: raising chickens.

Fortunately for them, they had a knack for it. Before too long, the Bishops had more eggs than they knew what to do with. They began selling the surplus, and learning about how to expand the farm in a healthy and sustainable way.

To give a sense of how successful this expansionCARD has been,GAMES the farm’s chicken TABLETOP GAMES population has ballooned from the original 20 to BOARD over 3000. GAMES While her husband has kept his IT job, ROLE PLAYING GAMES Ester has been able to commit herself to ANDShe MORE! the farm full-time. prides herself on providing her animals with joyful, stressfree lives. “People should know where Wefood are sure to have the purrfect catreally their comes from – you can or the cutest K-9 to steal your heart taste the difference,” said Bishop. so if you are looking for love, check with usEXPIRES first!! 3/31/21 Green acres

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gift cards to restaurants, shops, vinetions,” Cheneyevent added.

“I see people here yards, special venues, local farms, I’ve known 63websites, years andor their children and e-commerce grocery stores. grandchildren.”

Use mail-order services to deliver flowRossi said not only are local customers ers, sweets, and specialty foods yearstill a big of theyou store’s business, round to part someone want to thankbut or the Covid crisis drawn even more of to express yourhas appreciation. these patrons into the shop.hard Since For those who are always tothe buy pandemic shutdowns started, she a gift for, consider signing them upsaid, for the locals have shoppedtothe General Store an annual subscription a streaming even more forpodcast, their regular groceries. service, app, premier sports/ “Everybody in town comes here,” she movies/cultural channel, magazine, or said. “It’s the heart of the town, close to newspaper. Or make a donation in their the post office, the boatyards, and the name to their favorite charity, educationbeach. Since Covid, many came in here for al institution, or cultural organization. their meat and other groceries. They shop Consider how much it would be apprecihere because it’s small and local and they ated if you upgraded an older relative’s don’t want to chance catching Covid in a digital capabilities with an easy-to-use larger venue.” smartphone, tablet, or notebook – and The store now boasts a full line of grocerthen helped to set up Zoom or Skype. ies, meats, liquors, bakery items from You can keep the holiday spirit alive this Sunshine Bakery in New Bedford and year, even though you may and not all bedeli topastries from a local baker, a full gether to celebrate Thanksgiving.

It just that offersinsured cheeses, soups, Federally by sandwiches, NCUA takes somefor imagination andcrowd. good cheer! and salads the lunchtime And there’s “Patty’s Corner”, where, preCovid, customers could sit at tables, eat their lunch or sip their coffee, and use the store’s WiFi. Cheney said contractors replaced the windows, floor, ceilings, and walls with modern material that resembles the building’s original style, and they added energy-efficient lighting, windows and doors, and installed easier-to-access beverage and milk coolers.

“I’m very satisfied with the work and the changes done here,” he said. “It was first rate.”

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Published by Coastal Communications Corp.

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474 Durfee St., Fall River, MA All contents copyright ©2020 Actual coverage is subject to the language of the policy as issued. AARP membership is required for Program eligibil 67508-676-1061 Huttleston Ave, | 774.202.0441 She ensures all theFairhaven animals are provided Coastal Communications Corp. for auto insurance from Plymouth Rock based on driving history or other factors. Premiums will be based on verified Plymouth Rock pays royalty fees to AARP for the use of its intellectual property. These fees are used for the general p with healthy, organic meals, and that their or brokers.

AARP and its affiliates are not insurers. www.faxonarl.org TheArmouryWargames.com All rights reserved. No part of this publication may waste is repurposed as manure. be reproduced, by any means, without written “You can see how green the grass is permission from the Publisher. All information where the turkeys have been,” Bishop contained herein is believed to be reliable. Coastal says. “That’s because they fertilize the Communications Corp. does not assume any financial responsibility for typographical errors in soil with their manure. Manure is the advertisements, but will reprint that portion of an basis of organic fertilizers. There are no advertisement in which the typographical error chemicals added, or needed, when the Quality Resale for the Whole Family occurs. animals do their job.”

30+ years experience Speaking of animals doing their jobs, Deadline — HOURS — Pet boarding, owner on premises 24/7 20 days prior to publication.

Bishop hasMon. conscripted her goats and & Tue. 8:30-4:30pm * A/C, fenced in yard, outdoor kennels pigs into clearing away swaths Wed. & Sat. 8:30-12 Noonof underCirculation * One-on-one training for basic obedience 3/31/21 Excludes gift certificates, expires 10/ 31/ 20 brush on the the “gnarly vines” Thu.property 8:30-5pm •–Fri 8:30-6pm 20,000 that give the farm its name.

624 270 Huttleston Ave. (Rt. 6) Subscriptions Gnarly Vines coordinates with neigh1100 Reed Rd. MA North Dartmouth, MA Fairhaven, • 508-991-2229 $39 per year boring farms to provide itsNMLS# customers 410816 ww Monday 9am-5pm — Call or visit-Saturday Facebook for weekly hours — with a variety of sustainable and organic Mailing Address products. Angus beef, for instance, will Coastal Communications Corp. sell out almost as soon as it comes into P.O. Box 3493 9 The South Coast Insider | November 2020 Fall River, MA 02722 stock.

But the farm is not bound by terrestrial Phone limitations: the Bishops have partnered (508) 677-3000 with Captain’s Finest and Sakonnet Website Lobster to bring fresh seafood to market. coastalmags.com Bishop is particularly proud of a new ini154 Huttleston Ave., Rt. 6 tiative at the farm: food security commuE-mail We buy used vehicles nity supported agriculture (CSA) plans.

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The South March 2021 | The South Coast Insider 15 Coast In

YOUR COVER HEALTH STORY

Recovering from COVID

by Michael J. DeCicco

Are area health care facilities prepared for the increases in COVID-19 vaccinations, cases, and patients expected throughout 2021?

F

acilities across the South Coast are saying they are indeed ready.

At the time of print, Rhode Island and Massachusetts have progressed to “Phase Two,” vaccinating individuals aged 65+ and those with two certain medical conditions. For the newest updates, visit mass.gov/covid-19-vaccine and covid. ri.gov/vaccination.

We spoke with local medical providers to hear what they had to say about the vaccine rollout and the steps they’re taking to make sure the supply is going to where it can have the greatest impact.

Preparedness

Particularly optimistic about the preparedness around the South Coast, however, are the healthcare institutions overseeing those who will need the most urgent care: nursing facilities.

The long-term acute care facility, Vibra Hospital of Southeastern Massachusetts, at 4499 Acushnet Avenue, New Bedford, is one institution that has gone out of its way to prepare. “We have changed the culture of the hospital by taking all the appropriate steps in protecting our staff and patients during this crisis,” said Edward Leary, Chief Executive Officer.

“We require employees and visitors to wear masks at all times when on the hospital campus. We have created a flexible schedule for employees who are

16

non-clinical to rotate working from home and coming into the hospital.”

He admitted this has limited the number of employees from entering the building

“I believe we should have a national day to honor our healthcare workers and first responders for the incredible work they have performed this year” on a daily basis. But this and other precautions are for a good reason. “We have been testing all staff on a monthly basis and we test the fifth day and sixth day after a holiday,” he said. “This type of surveillance testing assists limiting the exposure to COVID in the building.”

Leary noted that many of the changes Vibra has instituted will stay with the hospital after the pandemic emergency period.

March 2021 | The South Coast Insider

The most important change, he said, has been opening a 14-bed COVID-19 unit in the hospital that is separate from the general patient areas. But it is a new ward that has stayed full during the surge times throughout the year.

The year 2020, Leary said, had been a very difficult one for the hospital and the country in general. But he added, “Our staff have never shined brighter. They have continued to perform at an incredibly high level. Our billboard on Route 140 is not only a statement of ‘thank you’ to our staff but a constant reminder to the community of how important it is to continually appreciate all healthcare workers. I believe we should have a national day to honor our healthcare workers and first responders for the incredible work they have performed this year. Maybe have a day where they can all ‘take a breath’ together.”

Pulling together

Similarly, The Oaks Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation, at 4525 Acushnet Avenue in New Bedford, reports it is working hard to get to the point where COVID-19 restrictions and worries will be a thing of the past.

“As we all deal with the Pandemic,” admissions liaison Bethanne Higgins said, “the staff at the Oaks continue to smile through their N95 masks. Daily routine may be a little bit different with

The Oaks

“Daily routine may be a little bit different with weekly COVID-19 testing, but it’s just part of what Team Oaks does to keep loved ones safe.”

weekly COVID-19 testing, but it’s just part of what Team Oaks does to keep loved ones safe. We are all doing our part so we can welcome visitors back inside in the future.”

She noted that The Oaks also does a full COVID-19 screening every morning of every staff member, including temperature checks and asking the standard COVID questions, as well as regular testing of the patients. And, of course, there’s more hand washing.

Only one door is available for entering now, she said. Even delivery people are fully screened at the front desk. And contract tracing records have been kept since March 12, when the pandemic restrictions began. “So we can make sure everyone here is COVID-free,” she said.

At the Clifton Rehabilitative Nursing Center, at 500 Wilbur Avenue in Somerset, “The COVID pandemic has certainly changed our day-to-day operations,” said Anabel Carreiro, Admissions Coordinator.

“If you had told me a year ago that we would be here right now, I would not have believed you.”

limited to, screening employees every shift, social distancing, and requiring employees to use the appropriate PPE as indicated,” she said. “We have been very fortunate from the beginning to have ample supply of N95s, KN95s, and regular face masks, gowns, face shields, goggles, gloves, and EPA COVID-19 disinfectant.”

She added she is very pleased to be able to say that most Clifton staff and residents have completed their second COVID-19 vaccine administration already.

“The process ran very smoothly,” she said. “We are grateful for the support the wonderful families of the residents and our community have shown to our residents, patients, and our amazing staff.

Since March there has been an outpouring of support from so many individuals.

People have dropped off letters to our residents to brighten their day. We have had iPad donations, pizza for the staff, a local florist delivered flowers to staff and residents, just to name only a few amazing gestures of support and love. All is very much appreciated. At Clifton, we always felt like family before but getting through such a difficult time has truly brought all of us so much closer together.”

A new day

“We always felt like family before but getting through such a difficult time has truly brought all of us so much closer together.”

She said Clifton has been doing ongoing surveillance testing of staff and residents for many months now. “We follow all CMS/ CDC/DPH guidelines, including, but not

Prima Care Fall River’s Chief Medical Officer, Martin A. Fogle, MD, describes the pandemic as having been a learning experience for the country as a whole.

“One of the most important and painful lessons of COVID-19 has been the need for a rapid, robust, and coordinated public health program to handle pandemics,” he said. “Our hope for the future includes immediate nationwide availability of PPE appropriate for the next disease that may appear, and rapidly-deployed control measures, coordinated at federal and state levels. Local and regional hospital systems will hopefully remember these two years of painful lessons so that transition into ‘disaster mode’ will be smoother,

anticipating and satisfying the needs for equipment, staffing, and ICU facilities.”

He pointed out the medical community has learned that telemedicine, although it has been around for years, has become an absolute necessity for evaluating and treating patients who are not able to safely come to the office during the pandemic. It is something that medical practitioners and patients alike are getting better at.

“The technology has improved and everyone’s attitudes about video visits have reassured us that we can deliver good medical care safely, even when we can’t be face-to-face” “The technology has improved and everyone’s attitudes about video visits have reassured us that we can deliver good medical care safely, even when we can’t be face-to-face,” he said. “Of course, we all are anxiously awaiting the time when medicine can be more personal and hands-on, but routine and preventive care is still important and cannot wait.”

He said Prima Care, like every other medical institution, enthusiastically supports the vaccination of everyone as the best strategy to avoid illness and spread of this virus. “The outlook for the immediate future is optimistic, primarily due to the release of vaccines,” he said, “but our optimism is tempered by the time it will take to manufacture and deliver enough doses to vaccinate a majority of the population. The current intensity of efforts, and the impact on the practice of medicine and the economy, will likely continue for many months more as the world gets vaccinated. Through the fatigue of the front-line hospital workers and the immense numbers of support staff), there is a note of hope for the future.”

March 2021 | The South Coast Insider

17

YOUR HEALTH

Myths, Masks, and Mutations

By Elizabeth Morse Read

Just when we all think that the coronavirus crisis has turned the proverbial corner, some new monkey wrench gets thrown into the works. First, we started the new year anxiously waiting for the “grand plan” for vaccine distribution to kick in nationwide – only to find out after the Biden inauguration that there’d been no vaccine distribution plan left behind, grand nor small. Then the states all scrambled to create seat-of-the-pants plans to vaccinate the elderly and front-line workers, only to discover that the federal supplies of the vaccines were going missing (or mislaid) between points A and B. Sign-up websites crashed, appointments were cancelled, elderly people waited hours in long lines for a limited supply of vaccinations. Hospitals and local medical centers initially had the largest supplies of vaccines, but then mass vaccination sites were created. And then came the mutations…

How do we beat the mutations?

It is critical to vaccinate as many people as possible as quickly as possible – even with only a first dose – if we are to avoid the threat of viral mutations. We also need to continue practicing the public health hygiene measures of wearing a mask,

18

keeping social distance, washing hands frequently and avoiding crowds, especially indoors.

Remember – a virus cannot mutate if it cannot find a host (an unprotected person) to infect, so get any vaccine you can as soon as possible. It is especially important that people who have

March 2021 | The South Coast Insider

recovered from a Covid-19 infection get vaccinated, too, as they may be particularly vulnerable to re-infection by a variant strain of the original virus.

As new mutations keep cropping up, it might seem as if we’re fighting a never-ending game of whack-a-mole.

But vaccine manufacturers are already tweaking current vaccines and developing “booster” shots that will specifically address emerging mutations. Perhaps, like the flu vaccine that changes every year, Covid-19 vaccines will need to be administered on an annual basis to everyone around the globe.

Which vaccine is the “best”?

There will soon be five approved vaccines available in the US: Moderna, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson (J&J), Oxford/ AstraZeneca, and Novavax. Not only will having such an arsenal of vaccines save more lives, but it will also relieve the crippling burden on our nation’s healthcare system and frontline medical workers.

New information floods in every day about different vaccines as studies are ongoing, even after a vaccine has been approved by the FDA. For instance, all vaccines will prevent severe illness, but some may also prevent transmission of the virus itself. One vaccine might be very good at evading the UK mutation, but another may

Thinking about selling your home?

Who? What? When? Where? How? For information about your vaccination eligibility and availability anywhere in the US, go to CNN.com/health and scroll down to the subhead “Here’s where to find vaccine info in your state.”

To find out when and where you can make an appointment to get the vaccine in Rhode Island, call 401-222-8022 or go to RIDOH.Covid19Questions@health.ri.gov or covid.ri.gov/vaccination.

In Massachusetts, you can find out when you’ll be eligible for your shot by visiting mass.gov/info-details/when-can-I-get-the-covid-19-vaccination. To locate a vaccination site in your neighborhood or zip code and to schedule an appointment online, go to mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-vaccinations. If you don’t have internet access and want to schedule an appointment, you can call 2-1-1- or 877-211-6277 or contact your local Council on Aging for assistance. not be as effective in fighting the South African mutation.

So far, the J&J vaccine is the only onedose vaccine that requires only normal refrigeration, making it much easier to transport, distribute, and administer in remote or rural locations. J&J is studying the possibility of a second booster shot to raise its 85% effectiveness rate, but people who receive the single J&J shot can always receive a later Moderna or Pfizer booster shot to achieve a higher result. As this crisis is so new, it’s an on-going process figuring out which scenarios are optimal.

But don’t get caught up in the percentages when it’s your turn to get a vaccination. It’s not so important whether a vaccine prevents you from becoming infected as it is that a vaccine prevents you from developing severe illness leading to hospitalization and possibly death. The great majority of people who contract/ test positive for Covid-19 suffer either no symptoms at all (asymptomatic – but still contagious!) or else only minor symptoms that can be managed at home in isolation.

No vaccine (yet) can guarantee that a person will never get infected with a virus or its latest mutation, but all vaccines will do a really good job of keeping you out of the hospital – and that’s what’s important.

Take whatever Covid-19 vaccination is available when your time comes – you can always get a booster shot later on for added protection.

Once I’ve recovered from Covid-19, I’m immune forever, right?

Wrong. Scientists don’t yet know how robust an immune response your body mounts after an infection, nor

do they know how long the immunity lasts. Someone who’s recovered from a Covid-19 infection may be at risk of becoming re-infected with a whole new mutant strain of virus, so it is better to receive a “booster” dose vaccination after recovering. Discuss it with your health care professional.

Do we need to wear masks after being vaccinated?

Yes, you do – your vaccination may protect you against 95% risk of severe infection, but there’s still that 5% chance that you could become an asymptomatic carrier capable of infecting other people.

Mask-wearing is very common year-round in the Far East, considered a common courtesy so as not to spread colds, flus, and other diseases to one’s fellow citizens.

Not surprisingly, mask-wearing as a new phenomenon in the US because of Covid19, resulted in a whopping 98% drop in flu hospitalizations in 2020.

So – is it worth it to get vaccinated?

While it’s still not completely understood whether the vaccines prevent asymptomatic or minor infection with the virus, it’s loud-and-clear that they all prevent severe infections that would lead to hospitalizations and deaths.

It’s true that getting a Covid-19 vaccine can cause minor side effects or even a rare severe allergic reaction, but consider this: of the hundreds of thousands of people who have received the vaccines, whether during clinical trials or since FDA approval, not one of those people has died of Covid-19.

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March 2021 | The South Coast Insider

19

BUSINESS BUZZ

Hills, mills and pork pies

By Barry French

Fall River is famous for its hills, textile mills, an unsolved murder, and pork pies. Specifically, Hartley’s Pork Pies.

T

he city once had more than 120 cotton textile mills, but while the old mills have gone silent, what holds on strong is the British cuisine for those who want to be transported to a time and place of more than a century ago. It’s the handmade British-style pork pies, which can be served hot or cold, as a snack or a meal.

Hartley’s Pork Pies was established by Thomas Hartley, an Englishman who came to the United States in the late 1800s to work in Fall River’s textile mills. Family folklore claims it was Mrs. Hartley’s idea to make the move. With a dislike to work in any mill, Mr. Hartley opened an English fish and chip business on South Main Street in 1900. It did okay, but he added pork pies from a recipe he brought from England.

They were a huge hit right from the start, thus the beginning of Hartley’s Pork Pies over 120 years ago. Their popularity hasn’t slowed a bit for the little bitty pies.

The business was a huge success, as mill workers who were mainly immigrants, including many from the British Isles,

20

would pay a nickel for a pie for lunch or a snack when their shifts ended. The popularity gave rise to a Fall River slogan: “The city of mills, hills, and pork pies.”

Hartley’s pork pies have a blended aroma of pie crust and roast pork. The pie is three inches in diameter, and two to three

March 2021 | The South Coast Insider

inches high. Its flaky crust is imprinted with an “H” from one of the pie presses modified by Mr. Hartley’s son-in-law, Chuck Siegel. The filling is lean ground pork mixed with spices, predominantly salt and pepper. There is a well-kept secret of just exactly how much gravy or broth is added through a slit on top right after the pie comes out of the oven.

Some people would buy them by the dozen for five and seven cents each back 100 years ago when the mills were operating full throttle. Berkshire Hathaway was right across the street.

Pork pies are all but impossible to find in US groceries and are an enormous chore to make at home.

Some people will go to great lengths and distances to get their pies. When visiting her retreat on Martha’s Vineyard, actress Patricia Neal often swung by Fall River to pick up a couple of dozen. The store has supplied parties at the British consulate in Boston and the Kennedy compound in Hyannis.

Mr. Hartley remarried after his first wife died. He had children by both first and second wives, and after his death, the child of one wife took over the Fall River store. The child of the other wife set up three of his children with stores in Somerset, Lincoln, and New Bedford. Eventually, the New Bedford store closed, while the other three were sold to non-family members.

What distinguishes the Fall River store is its claim to history: it is in the same building where Mr. Hartley ran his business.

“We’ve been here more than 100 years,” said owner Allen C. Johnson when interviewed some years ago. “We’ve lasted World War I. We lasted the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, now the war in Iraq. We’ve survived all of these transitions in Fall River’s history.”

Mr. Johnson proudly reveals the secret to its longevity: “It’s the quality of the pies,” Mr. Johnson said. “And they’re unique.”

Mr. Johnson has diversified with salmon pies, chicken pies, and even an occasional pizza pie and numerous more. He also makes family-sized pies which were never on Thomas Hartley’s menu.

“People here have been buying them their whole lives,” said Allen Johnson.

“Then, their children buy them. It keeps going,” Mr. Johnson said.

Remaining at the same 1729 South Main Street location since 1900, it is the oldest food service business in the city, still using much of Mr. Hartley’s original equipment along with a wooden cash register updated in the 1930s. The tins

and the pie presses are from England and most of the kitchen equipment goes back to the days of Mr. Hartley.

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Timeless taste

South Main Street has changed over the decades. But Mr. Johnson, the self proclaimed “grandmaster pie maker,” is only the second owner and along with the help of others including family produce and sell thousands of pies a week.

To keep up with all this, adding French meat pie, chicken pie, chourico pie, salmon pie (Friday and Saturday only), and buffalo chicken pie are Mr. Johnson’s son, Kevin, daughter-in-law, and others.

Much of the groundwork for the day is laid out prior to opening at 7 a.m.

For the bottom crusts, balls of fresh dough are weighed and dropped into the little tins.

Then, a pie press squashes the dough to fill the tin’s bottom and sides.

Next, three ounces of 90-percent lean pork from the Midwest, ground at the premises, are placed in the crust.

Salt and pepper are shaken onto the meat and then the top crust is pressed and crimped into place.

The pies are baked in the circa 1967 oven at 540 degrees for an hour. Once golden brown, the pies are removed from their tins and homemade beef gravy is infused into each pie.

“It’s a very simple recipe,” Mr. Johnson said. “They’re all natural. Everything is done by hand.”

Mr. Johnson has commented that what makes him feel good is that people eating the pies really enjoy them. That comes with a caveat, however. Back in Mr. Hartley’s day, he became aware of a customer who would smother the pie in ketchup. Once learning of this, Mr. Hartley refused to sell him another pie.

Get your own delicious taste of history by visiting Hartley’s Pork Pies yourself at 1729 South Main Street or checking them out online at facebook.com/ HartleysOriginalPorkpiesFallRiver.

The tins and the pie presses are from England and most of the kitchen equipment goes back to the days of Mr. Hartley.

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ON MY MIND

His side of the mountain

By Paul Kandarian

Whenever I am in the blessed company of the great wide open, I feel overpoweringly small, lost in the expanse of nature and nature on the planet and the planet in the universe, we just being specks along for the ride on this blue orb spinning in a dark blanket of uncertainty.

Which is not an unusual way to feel. When we are children, our world is the space and time and people immediately around us, and it all seems immense, vast and measureless. When you’re little, everything is big, our parents, our yards, our streets, everything we know that is familiar is huge.

And of course as we get older and realize our place in the world, the world gets smaller, more manageable, easier to fathom. But even then, when we stand in the midst of a great forest, or on a mountain top, or at the edge of an endless sea, we get very, very small. Because against the measure of everything, we are.

My dad loved the mountains.

He felt at home there, respectful of the power they held to swallow a man whole.

He was, or liked to think

22

of himself, as a mountain man, a Jeremiah Johnson, fancying himself able to care for himself in the wild as that Robert Redford character did.

Whether he could or not was luckily never put to the test.

We had a hunting camp in Maine that he and friends built in the early 1960s that became more of a man cave – a place to escape, be with buddies, drink too much, and do a little bit of hunting. But it was on the side of a mountain in a tremendous expanse of nothing that to him was everything.

I love the mountains now, and there is no doubt at all that that love stemmed from watching my dad transform into the most relaxed I have ever seen him when he was in them.

I also love the feeling of wandering, just getting up and going anywhere, feeling

March 2021 | The South Coast Insider

nomadic and free. I remember clearly times with my family, my dad at the wheel, driving through the mountains with him chomping on a cigar and bellowing “Old Man River” and proclaiming how great and clear his voice was. It wasn’t

try, where the road, any road, might lead him.

To say I am more than proud to follow in his peripatetic footsteps is putting it mildly.

As he drove, I drive, as he saw, I see, him then, me now, both of us always aching to see what is around the next corner, eager to poke our toes into the great unknown, giddy as a schoolchild in the discovery, satisfied by the find and moving on, always moving. Always. Moving.

Always. Moving. Always.

My dad was a wanderer, he had that nomad spirit, in mind and body really. But really, it was. There are memories we cling to that shine with the greatness they so richly deserve.

My dad was a wanderer, he had that nomad spirit, in mind and body. This was a man who couldn’t sit still, always anxious to see what was out there, what things he could

I had the remarkable good fortune this winter to find myself in Utah to do what I love: act in a film. It is a glorious place, Utah specifically and the west in general, where mountains loom on the horizon like gigantic rock-spined beasts, jutting into a crisp blue sky seemingly bound for the moon. I drove

highways there in Salt Lake City next to these mountains and wondered if the people who grew up there ever tire of a landscape painted by the gods, or at least the immensely talented hands of artists like Albert Bierstadt and others who created works of art so pure and realistic you feel like you can walk right into them.

I had a lot of down time so I set out on the open road, as I always do when I’m in a new place, the road and its unending corners the metaphor for my life, as it was for my dad’s. I would stop wherever I could, embraced by the cold and the quiet and welcome the smallness I felt in this tremendous and open

land framed by mountains and sky, happily lost in the expanse of nature and nature on the planet and the planet in the universe, thrilled to be a speck along for the ride.

When I stand in a place like the mountains, especially mountains like those that touched my soul in the West, I feel at once lost in their frozen, wind-swept expanse but embraced by the warmth of my father’s soul reminding me to appreciate what I’ve found and then urging me to go around the next corner.

Always.

And there, in the haunting howl of the wind I always hear “Old Man River,” clear as a mountain stream.

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March 2021 | The South Coast Insider

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