The South Coast Insider - October 2023

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Inside derr

OCTOBER 2023 Vol. 27 / No. 10

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October 2023 | The South Coast Insider

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October 2023 | Vol. 27 | No. 10 Published by Coastal Communications Corp.

Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Ljiljana Vasiljevic Editor Sebastian Clarkin Sales Manager Mari Burns (508) 916-0374 Contributors Lori Bradley, Michael J. DeCicco, Paul Kandarian, Tom Lopes, Sean McCarthy, Elizabeth Morse Read Layout & Design Janelle Medeiros The South Coast Insider is published monthly for visitors and residents of the South Coast area and is distributed free of charge from Mount Hope Bay to Buzzards Bay. All contents copyright ©2022 Coastal Communications Corp.

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CONTENTS

t e your ss t pri. hode local ver to ence rkets st hop , and

OCTOBER 2023

Saturday, November 28, 2020

COVER STORY

10 How art build New Bedford

This Small Business Saturday, Shop Local and Support your community.

ichs t”

By Lori Bradley

18 Raise a voice

By Sean McCarthy

THINGS TO DO

6

ere,

Get ready for October!

By Elizabeth Morse Read

k harf

167 Borden Street Fall River, MA

c

14 Open books

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By Michael J. DeCicco

BUSINESS BUZZ

20 Holistic point of view

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Inside derr

Vol. 27 / No. 10

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OCTOBER 2023

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THINGS TO DO

Get Ready for October!

by Elizabeth Morse Read

It’s time for Oktoberfests, seafood and harvest festivals, and all things Halloween! Get outside to enjoy the foliage, cider, pumpkins and the cooling weather – it’s the lull before the “holiday season” gets into full swing.

All things Halloween

Plan ahead for the fabulous “Jacko-Lantern Spectacular” at Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence (rwpzoo.org)!

Find a haunted house, hay ride, corn maze, scary event or spooky place near you at (mahauntedhouses.com)!

Head for the Narrows Center in Fall River on October 28 for the live multimedia Halloween event “Nosferatu Live” (narrowscenter.com, nosferatuLIVE.com )!

Go on a lantern-led haunted history tour with “Ghosts of Newport” (ghostsofnewport.com).

Woohoo! Explore the 8-acre Corn Maze at Escobar’s Highland Farm in Portsmouth (escobarshighlandfarm. com)!

Don’t miss the Great Townie Pumpkin Festival on October 1 at Crescent 6

Park in East Providence or the Trunk or Treat event on October 15 (crescentparkcarousel.org/events)!

Visit the most famous haunted house on the South Coast – take a tour of the Lizzie Borden B&B Museum in Fall River (or spend the night, if you dare!). Or go on a bundled tour of Salem, Boston and the Lizzie Borden House (lizzie-borden.com). To view photographs and historical artifacts of the infamous double murder, visit the Fall River Historical Society’s Lizzie Borden exhibit (lizzieborden.org)!

Go on a Haunted Boat Tour through the waterways of Providence (providenceriverboat.com) or a lantern-led guided ghost tour of Providence’s historic East Side (providenceghosttour.com)!

Have some slightly-spooky fun at New

October 2023 | The South Coast Insider

When it’s raining outside, take the little ones to the Children’s Museum of Greater Fall River (cmgfr.org)!

Bedford’s Buttonwood Park’s “Boo at the Zoo” in October (bpzoo .org)!

Let the whole family enjoy the Annual Halloween on Main Street in Plymouth on October 31 (seeplymouth.com).

Take a tour of the Fortress of Nightmares at Fort Adams State Park in Newport this month (fortressofnightmares.org).

Don’t miss the annual Halloween Parade at Benoit Square in Fairhaven on October 29 (fairhaventours.com)!

Scare yourself silly at Fall River’s Factory of Terror (mahauntedhouse. com, factoryofterror.com)!

Buy your tickets early for one of the best haunted houses in New England!

Head for Fear Town in Seekonk (fear-town.com).

Take the littlest kids for a not-so-scary Halloween haunted hay ride, corn maze, and make-your-own Scary

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Go on a Haunted Boat Tour through the waterways of Providence (providenceriverboat.com) or a lantern-led guided ghost tour of Providence’s historic East Side (providenceghosttour.com)!

Viva Fall River! Created by Portuguese-based lettering designers Mariana Branco and Emanuel Barreira of Halfstudio, and executed by local artist Gregory Pennisten, a new 40’ by 60’ mural called “Viva Fall River” was unveiled at Fall River’s Kay Building, Sundaes at Simcock Farm in Swansea on October 14-15 for the 32nd Annual owned by Anthony F. Cordeiro and family, a short walk from the Quequechan River (simcockfarm.com)!

Bowen’s Wharf Seafood Festival and Rail(simcockfarm.com) Trail. The mural celebrates Fall Riverites of Portuguese descent.

Family fun!

Enjoy free family funas and The network started AHA! Fall River entertainment on AHA!Foundation Nights in New through the Community of Bedford! TheMA October 12with theme is “Art Southeastern in 2014 a focus on in Tune” (ahanewbedford.org). highlighting the multitude of art, music, Check charity, out thehistorical, free “Movie the Park” theater, andin cultural on October 6 at Crescent Park in East events throughout greater Fall River.

Providence (crescentparkcarousel.org/ Since April 2017, it has been a 501(c) events)!

(3) nonprofit organization with a target Spend some family time at the audience that includes not only residents Fairhaven Kidsfrom Festival onon October but also visitors towns both sides 14the – loads of activities, food, arts of Taunton River andfree Mount Hope Bay, andfrom crafts (fairhaventours.com)! and Boston to Providence.

Whenthree it’s raining outside,under take the “After years working the little label,” ones to theDennis Children’s of AHA Dave said,Museum “we realized Greater Fall River (cmgfr.org)! this model wasn’t compatible with the Headof forFall the Museum Natural needs River, not toof mention the History & Planetarium Providence’s difficulty connecting withinthe AHA name.

Roger Williams Parksince to watch Our financial stability thenthe has planetarium (providence.gov/ allowed us to shows make the decision to move museum)! in a new direction to position ourselves to better meet the needs and demands of a gateway city. In 2017, through research, focus groups, and marketing specialists, we formed Creative Arts Network Inc. Aw shucks! Plan ahead for the 9th (CAN), along with a branding logo, then Annual Ocean State Oyster Festival formed a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizaat River Walk Park in Providence on tion.”

October 7 (oysterfestri.com).

With Covid restrictions this past year, Mark your calendar for October 7’s Dennis said, CAN has pivoted from live Annual Oktoberfest in New Bedford at events to virtual events through its State Pier – craft brews, food vendors, Facebook page and website. Some of the music (southcoastbusinessalliance. creative events started with ArtWeek at org)!

Home in May where it offered a week-long Head for Newport on October 6-9 for virtual event from art lessons, cooking

Food, drink and shopping

the Columbus Day Sidewalk Sale, and

(bowenswharf.com)!

Taste your way through the historic district with New Bedford Food Tours lessons, dance lessons, concerts, and on a 3-hour guided walking tour crafts for kids.

For Valentine’s Dayto it sampledance local foods at art fivelessons, signature offered lessons, restaurants,on a 2-hour “Art and instructions how to set a perfect table, Brunch” tourthat of the city,drink, or a 3-hour how to make special and how “Amake Tastechocolate-covered of Portugal” tourstrawberries. in Fall River to (nbfoodtours.com)!

It has also sponsored two groups of local Go on a Vineyard Voyage with the students from a local Community College Providence Company for their classRiverboat projects. The most recent (providenceriverboat.com) class put together tours for National Sign upWeek, for theMay workshops in White Tourism 2-8. CAN’s other Winerecent Tasting October Red Wine most event was a5,collaboration Tasting andLibrary Bumble with the October Fall River12, Public forBees an & Pollinators October 14 also at Blithewold Earth Day event.

CAN has taken on a Mansion and Gardens in Bristol role in working to have more public policy (blithewold.org)! implemented around art and culture. Over Take the family to the monthly Open the past year we have seen the newly Farm Days at Round the Bend Farm formed Fall River Waterfront Cultural in Dartmouth through December!

District, June 25 has been proclaimed Grass-fed meats, Hydrangea Day, thebotanicals, City Councillocal voted the veggies, honey, farm ornamental tours, and more hydrangea the official flower (roundthebendfarm.org). of the city, and CAN’s current proposal for everything fresh, local isShop for a formal Public Art Policy with the and handmade on Saturdays formation of a Public Art Commission. through October at the Southcoast This summer, Dennis said, CAN hopes to Open Air Market in live Somerset return to small-scale events such as (southcoastopenairmarket.com). an open-air art exhibit, a mural wayfinding Eat Fresh, Eat Local! Fill baskets project, the continuation ofyour the group’s with local produce, dairyprogram, productsand hydrangea beautification and artisanal foods! aTo find aof farm, a festival to highlight variety art and vineyard or farmers market near you, culture activities with a focus on the city’s visit semaponline.org, farmfreshri. restaurants and shops. org, coastalfoodshed.org.

Toget find For or more information on how to

involved go to creativeartsnetwork.org.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

We buy GOLD and DIAMONDS

CELEBRATING 132 133 YEARS! CELEBRATING YEARS!

October June2023 2021 | The South Coast Insider

7 11

through November 10 at Trinity Rep in Providence (trinityrep.org).

Don’t miss “22/16: The Remix of a Global Experiment” during September and October performed

by The Wilbury Group in Providence (thewilburygroup.org).

South Coast sounds

Have some slightly-spooky fun at New Bedford’s Buttonwood Park’s “Boo at the Zoo” in October (bpzoo.org)!

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7

food and wine events, go to farmcoast. com, coastalwinetrail.com, or ediblesouthshore.com.

Festivals and fairs

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! King Richard’s Faire in Carver is open on weekends through October 23 (kingrichardsfaire.net).

Celebrate the season at the South Coast Harvest Festival September 29 to October 1 at the Westport Fairgrounds! Garden talks/demos, tractor parade, autumn foods, live music, pumpkin carving, kids’ “corn”-er, scarecrows (southcoastharvestfestival.com)!

Spend the day at Fairhaven’s legendary Manjiro Festival on October 7 – explores the town’s ties with its sister-city in Japan, enjoy Japanese food, music, Taiko drumming, martial arts, calligraphy, tea ceremony, free bus tour and more (fairhaventours.com, WhitfieldManjiro.org)!

Check out the free Folks on the Farm festival this month at Frerich’s Farm in Warren (frerichsfarm.com).

Celebrate harvest time at the Norman Bird Sanctuary’s 49th Annual Harvest

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Fair September 30 to October 1 in Middletown! Old-fashioned family fun, food trucks, games, competitions, live music (normanbirdsanctuary.org)!

All the world’s a stage

Head for the Providence Performing Arts Center to enjoy Zach Williams October 5, Spider Man: Into the Spiderverse October 14, “Mrs. Doubtfire” October 17-22, Mark Normand October 21, Encanto: The Sing-Along Film Concert October 27, Tower of Power and the RI Philharmonic Orchestra October 28, “The Book of Mormon” October 31 (ppacri.org)!

Don’t miss “Puffs” at Fall River’s Little Theatre on October 12-22 (littletheatre.net)!

Mark your calendar for the Marion Art Center’s production of “The Shining Lives” October 13-14, 20-22, 27-28 (marionartcenter.org)!

Head for the Priscilla Beach Theatre in Plymouth, the oldest barn theatre still in operation in America! “Camelot” will be performed October 6-10 (pbtheatre.org).

Enjoy a performance of “The Good John Proctor” through November 12 and “Becky Nurse of Salem”

October 2023 | The South Coast Insider

The 100-year old Zeiterion Performing Arts Center in New Bedford will undergo an historic restoration and renovation., and will be closed for 12-18 months until completion. But during that time, the great performances the Z is known for will still be scheduled at other venues and stages throughout the South Coast, including performances by the Z’s resident companies, the New Bedford Festival Theatre and the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra.

Plan ahead for Jake Shimabukuro at UMass Dartmouth’s Main Auditorium on October 5, Gisela Joao on October 14 at BCC’s Jackson Arts Center in Fall River, and Ladies Night on October 19 at the Kilburn Mills Event Center in New Bedford (zeiterion.org)!

Find out who’s on stage at the District Center for the Arts in Taunton! There’s Duppy Conquerors October 6, Who Made Who October 7, Stilleto October 14, Best Friends Girl October 20, The Bangos October 21, The Brothers Project October 27 (thedistrictcenterforarts.com).

Don’t miss the RI Bluegrass Festival on October 1 at Frerich’s Farm in Warren (frerichsfarm.com).

Head for Pilgrim Memorial Hall in Plymouth for The Breakers October 7, Amy Grant October 26 (memorialhall. com).

Find out who’s playing at The Rooftop at Kilburn Mill in New Bedford’s South End (kilburnmill.com)!

Bring your picnic basket to Running Brook Vineyard in Dartmouth for free live music every Saturday and Sunday (runningbrookwine.com)!

Check out who’s on stage at the Spire Center for the Performing Arts of Greater Plymouth! Don’t miss Butcher, Baglio & Estes October 7, Mark Erelli October 12, Shamarr Allen October 13, Pousette-Dart Band October 14,

Enjoy a performance of “The Good John Proctor” through November 12 and “Becky Nurse of Salem” through November 10 at Trinity Rep in Providence (trinityrep.org).

Lisa Bastoni October 19, Slaid Cleaves October 20 (spirecenter.org).

Enjoy wine tastings and live jazz on Saturdays at Greenvale Vineyards in Portsmouth (greenvale.com).

Head for The Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River for great music!

Don’t miss Amythyst Kiah October 5, Coco Montoya October 6, Larry McCray October 7, Martin Barre October 12, Amy Helm October 13, Matt Andersen October 26, Paul McGovern’s Family Restaurant Bialtowicz’s “Nosferatu LIVE” October 310 Shove Street, Fall River 28 (narrowscenter.com).

508-679-5010 mcgovernsonthewater.com This well-known restaurant and banDon’t miss Festival Ballet Providence’s quet facility overlooking Lake performance of “DeathLaurel and the usually packs them13-15 in for a Maiden” October atlarge the buffet on Thanksgiving Day. menu typicalWoodman Center inThe Providence ly includes traditional turkey dinner with (festivalballetprovidence.org)!

Paul’s butternut squash, prime The Rhode Island Philharmonic rib, ham, and much more.Jeremy The restaurant Orchestra will present Denk has been offering dine-in and at takeout, Plays Mozart October 13-14 The including its locally famous VETS, Tower of Power andcorned the RI beef and cabbage, for 50 years. Here’s a proPhilharmonic Orchestra October 28 tip: if you can’t wait until Thanksgiving for (riphil.org). a roast turkey dinner, you don’t have to – Listen to the New Bedford Symphony it’s on the regular menu.

Orchestra perform its new season premiere “Three Worlds” at the Merrills on Auditorium the Waterfront Bronspiegel at New 36 Homers Wharf, New Bedford High School onBedford October 14 508-997-7010 (nbsymphony.org). merrillswaterfront.com This favorite restaurant and function facility the waterfront overlooking Checksits outon what’s happening at the port. if isn’t your the busy Lloyd Center for theBut Environment in thing on traditional turkey sure Dartmouth.

The trails areday, freebe and open to watchevery for their offerings. to keep the public dayholiday from dawn to Last year, Merrill’s served up turkey and dusk (lloydcenter.org). prime rib, all the sides like apple sage and sweet corn and polenta ravioli, plus pies galore.

Classical acts

The great outdoors

The Pasta House

Pack a picnic and stroll through the whimsical Green Animals Topiary Gardens in Portsmouth (newportmansions.org)!

Take a leisurely stroll through Blithewold Mansion and Gardens in Bristol (blithewold.org)!

Go on a free Bird Walk or Flower Walk at the Norman Bird Sanctuary in Middletown (normanbirdsanctuary).

Take a stroll through the urban greenspace of the Allen G. Haskell 1955 onGardens the historic wharf that dates Public in New Bedford to the 1700s, isn’t all about summer. (thetrustees.org).

Last year they served up a feast of turkey, roast prime rib, sausage and more.

The restaurant currently offers Bike for clean water! Join in the 16th dine-in and takeout, including some ovAnnual Buzzards Bay Watershed Ride en-ready dishes like seafood casserole on October 2, from Little Compton and stuffed lobster. to Woods Hole through the scenic landscapes of the South Coast White’s of Westport (savebuzzardsbay.org/discover/events)!

66 State Road, Westport Learn about the free virtual classes 508-675-7185 in meditation, laughter yoga, tai shop.lafrancehospitality.com chi, yoga, and smoking-cessation White’s has been offering family-style hypnosis, offered by New Bedford takeout and curbside meals pickup for Wellness Initiative (facebook.com/ months, so when Turkey Day comes NewBedfordWellnessInitiative). around, it’s a good bet they’ll have a hanRegister now for the dle (or rather a drumstick) on that too.

Newport Marathon October 9 Currently, the restaurant is offering meal (newportmarathon.com) Pellof packages and platters likeor itsthe “Taste Bridge Run/Walk on October 16 New England” that comes with chow(pellbridgerun.com). der, quahogs and clam cakes or its Italian Exploreof the waterways Providence package salad, lasagna,ofmeatballs and in a single orBoth tandem kayak breadsticks. meals serve six. Also (providencekayak.com). available are dinner-for-two meal packs Get Healthy!

“Walk Withrolls, a Doc” on like and chips, lobster bourbon Saturdays at Buttonwood Zoo, beef tips, and even kid-sizedPark pasta and meatballs two.

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COVER STORY

How art built NEW BEDFORD

by Lori Bradley

A university business program can help students prepare for future success on their chosen path, but it rarely addresses the challenges by first-time small business owners, especially artistic ones

F

or over two decades, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (UMD) art and design students had a special opportunity to venture off the campus and into the streets of New Bedford to start their own creative businesses.

Many of these ventures 10

still enrich the downtown area. Many have changed hands or been replaced over the years, but all, no matter the length of their existence, helped impart a distinctive character and sense of community to this small city. Now that the UMD art department has been entirely relocated

October 2023 | The South Coast Insider

to suburban Dartmouth it may be more difficult to attract creative students to start their own business ventures. Hopefully, efforts will be made to continue to draw art students downtown because they, and the UMD art faculty, crafted the city of New Bedford over the years with their time and talent.

Twenty years ago, artist and photographer Sheila Oliveira was a member of The Artist’s Cooperative Gallery on Centre Street, one of the earliest galleries opened and operated by UMD students. She was a graduate student in the photography department and went on to teach at the

university and participate in other galleries and artist’s cooperatives downtown.

The Centre Street location was perfect for a gallery built by artists inspired by the sea as the working waterfront with ships masts, brightly colored boats, and shimmering water was visible from the front door.

Oliveira shares, “An area such as New Bedford that has a deep maritime past and present, offers a sense of unique subject matter to work with. My experience reflected this as a member of two art cooperatives. The artwork was often created by graduates, faculty and others connected with the

university and it reflected a combination of art in various media influenced by the environment or a combination of personal interests within that environment.”

“Paintings of seascapes, imagery of seagulls, boats, fish, would be requested by customers as a remembrance of their visit to the area. In a way, both the economy of the city, as well as the sale of art is a perfect combination. At both artist cooperatives I belonged to, shoppers would come into the gallery looking for artwork that was original. They felt comfortable buying from artists who made and sold the inventory and they wanted to talk about how it was made. A true sense of art community has existed in New Bedford for many years within a city history that has been part of the American Maritime conversation in literature and fine arts.”

Oliveira touches on one of the most vexing and intriguing business challenges for small business owners which is how to address and serve a specialized audience. For beginning artists, it can be tough to confront the reality that customers want to purchase a particular subject matter rather than art created from the heart. The small artist-run galleries that grew in New Bedford were the perfect setting in which to deal with this marketplace reality while discussing the business-side of art with fellow student artists.

Urban inspiration

After experiencing the commercial side of art,

some artists decided that direct sales to an audience primarily interested maritime subjects was not for them and found ways to stay involved with art in other ways, sometimes renting studio space in one of the many city’s mill buildings, pursuing an educational career, or developing multiple bodies of work, both personal and commercial. Others listened to audience feedback and developed work tailored to a coastal audience. Most important overall was the experience of making and selling work made possible by an abundance of affordable shop spaces. In this way, New Bedford became a welcoming environment for the arts and a live learning lab for creative businesses.

Through these businesses, many artists discovered how to deal with taxes and accounting, city policies, public relations, landlords, and building effective group governing structures for small businesses – necessities not always taught in school. Many UMD artists moved into the nonprofit business sector and developed organizations that continue to enrich the city and pull visitors in from the suburbs, the state, and from other parts of the country.

Interested in starting a non-profit arts gallery, graduates of the UMD Art Department precursor, the Swain College of Art and Design, founded the venerable Gallery X that now owns a renovated church gallery at the top of William Street. Ever since, arts graduates and CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

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affiliates have been active in a plethora of creative non-profits. ArtWorks! was another institution instrumental in building the downtown arts scene and grew out of a program hosted at the old UMD Purchase Street arts campus.

Twenty years later, the UMD downtown galleries in the Star Store, expertly and passionately curated by Viera Levitt, brought nationally

12

October 2023 | The South Coast Insider

recognized artists to New Bedford through her active association with the successful AHA! New Bedford’s non-profit organization promoting Arts, History and Architecture. New Bedford’s annual Seaport Art Walk was founded in 2013 by artist and former UMD student Jessica Bregoli, bringing beauty to the waterfront each summer through sculpture and murals strategically placed along New Bedford’s working waterfront.

A TRABALHAR One of the newest non-profits to enter the New Bedford arts scene is the Massachusetts Design Art & Technology Institute (DATMA.) As stated on their website, “DATMA is committed to bringing world-renowned art, design, and technology exhibitions, programs, and initiatives to the visitors and citizens of New Bedford and the region, identified as one of the Commonwealth’s most creative economies by the Massachusetts Cultural Council.” DATMA’s Executive Director is a former UMD artisanry graduate student, Lindsay Mis. DATMA’s mission statement reflects the dream of attracting artists to downtown New Bedford for two decades. Here artists have the opportunity to buy-in to an accessible arts economy and then to grow and build-up to a larger, perhaps global, audience within a nurturing scalable urban culture.

Importantly, New Bedford has multiple, distinct cultural influences that interconnect within a relatively small physical footprint.

The longing for a sense of place is obvious as Sheila Oliveira describes her migration from a student at the UMD downtown campus to urban entrepreneur, “It was a natural progression for me to graduate from the university and continue my art career in New Bedford for logistical reasons, as well as creatively inspired ones. If I could boil it down, the attraction was the combination of locally created artwork of high

quality that has a sense of presence and place. Often, cultural influences were a factor such as artwork created in a Cape Verdean or Azorean aesthetic.

Downtown New Bedford overall has a longstanding respected art community to which visitors are attracted. With several art galleries, eateries, cafes, and architecture, not to mention a beautiful waterfront, it is a winning combination. These factors combine to create an urban art oasis that exists in larger cities such as Boston and New York City.”

Logistically, with the loss of the UMD Star Store, it will now be more difficult to attract UMD students into downtown New Bedford from the suburban campus, but with effort it can be done, and hopefully interested parties will keep the spirit of the New Bedford art adventure alive. Author Sue Monk Kidd writes, “Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die, we can't remember who we are or why we’re here.”

Creatives who will continue to populate downtown New Bedford need to keep sharing their art and their stories along with their experiences of developing an artist-run business in a small coastal city. They need to share these stories with current art students who are now working in the suburbs, only a few miles away. Hopefully, if kept alive, these stories about a small city that became an arts business incubator will keep New Bedford from becoming “just anywhere” in the future.

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THINGS TO DO Educating children about the planet and showing them the joys and virtues of being exposed to nature has benefits that will last a lifetime.

Open books Visit your local library this fall – it’s where you’ll find a surprising amount of things to do and important renovations and innovations to experience

D

artmouth has a nearly brandnew library building with unique features and a new Director of Libraries.

Dina St. Pierre, a New Bedford native, came to the Dartmouth position only months ago after eight years as the Library Director in Acushnet, and before that as a Youth Services Librarian for the New York Public Library system. The other newcomer

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by Michael J. DeCicco to town is the North Branch Library, at 211 Cross Road, which St. Pierre manages along with the Southworth Library at 732 Dartmouth Street.

The North Branch opened in January 2020, only to close six weeks later for many months because of the COVID pandemic shut down. That's why, she said, the facility "still smells like a new library."

No wonder this branch boasts many features that sets it apart from Southworth and even other area libraries. The branch's newest technological features include three bar-code-activated self-checkout stations and power tables where patrons can plug in their own laptop computers or other devices using USB and electrical outlets embedded in the tabletop. Across from the circulation desk sits a large children's

October 2023 | The South Coast Insider

room connected to an enclosed children's activities room. At the far end of the bookcases in the main room sits a dedicated Young Adult book room with comfortable swivel seats. Outside the back door a patio is ready for comfortable outdoor seating in the spring and summer.

It faces a walking path on the lawn that reaches halfway to the Potter Elementary School next door.

The new facility also features two quiet study rooms (available on a first-come, first-served basis) and a document scanning service.

Program-wise, St. Pierre is proud to note the North Branch recently helped to host the Whaling Museum's Common Ground Program, which seeks to collect oral histories from the South Coast.

It made a mobile recording booth

The library system's Strategic Plan, created in 2018, is set to expire, St. Pierre said, and she is working to get the public involved with creating a new plan, with focus groups and a public meeting

Turn the page

Kyle DeCicco-Carey, Director of Fairhaven’s Millicent Library (and a relation by marriage), boasts that the circa-1893 facility's newest feature this fall is its-easier-to-use website, with a better design and organization.

“The design had not been updated in a long time,” he said. “The library has had a website since 1995. It needed easier access to information.”

But the Millicent Library is having a good fall program-wise too. It was able to host its first ever outdoor concert on September 9 (featuring the jazz, funk, and soul music of Nina Ott's Organic Quartet), and it has started a South Coast Cinemaniacs Club in September, featuring older films to attract local film buffs to CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

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for this project available to the public until September 21. Also, the town's Children's Librarian will bring storytime to North Branch this fall.

Meanwhile, St. Pierre is also working on the Dartmouth library's longerrange plans. The library system's Strategic Plan, created in 2018, is set to expire, she said, and she is working to get the public involved with creating a new plan, with focus groups and a public meeting or two.

"We will keep moving forward," she said.

She asks people seeking more information on any of the above to visit DPLMA.org.

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On October 7, the Millicent Library will be part of the 18th annual Manijiro Festival, a Japanese-American festival commemorating Manjiro Nakahama, the first Japanese person to live in America and the town's Sister City connection with Tosashimizu, Japan, established in 1987

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15

enjoy these free movies together. No membership registration is required.

Patrons, DeCicco-Carey said, will also note a new archivist and a new Head of Circulation, as well as a repaired chimney. The library recently received a $136,360 grant from the town's Community Preservation Committee for the work needed to fix leaks in one of the three chimneys of a building the town opened on January 30, 1893, the birth anniversary of Millicent G. Rogers (who died in 1890 at age 17), the facility's namesake and daughter of Henry Huttleston Rogers, the library's chief benefactor. In honor of it being 130 years since that opening, the library has put together an anniversary display featuring the first book ever checked out and other items from the library's origins.

On October 7, the Millicent Library will be part of the 18th annual 16

Dartmouth Children's Librarian will bring storytime to North Branch this fall.

Manijiro Festival, a JapaneseAmerican festival commemorating Manjiro Nakahama, the first Japanese person to live in America and the town's Sister City connection with Tosashimizu, Japan, established in 1987. This will be the first to be held since the COVID shutdowns, and the library's own Manijiro display will be a big part of the festival.

The library will also be co-hosting its third annual "Kids Fest" in conjunction with the Fairhaven Visiting Center (to take place at the Center) on October 14, featuring face painting and costumes and other kid-friendly games. For more information, visit the new website, Milicentlibrary.org.

All kinds of art

A big attraction at the main branch of the New Bedford Free Public Library, 613 Pleasant Street, this fall and any time of year is the third

October 2023 | The South Coast Insider

floor Art Room, which has been in its present form as a gallery for 15 years and is open to visitors 40 hours a week.

The Library's art curator, Allie Copeland, said she is actively seeking new additions to the library's collections. She recently acquired three new pieces, a painting called "The Demolition of the Cannon St. Station" by contemporary New Bedford artist Milton Brightman, and two fiber art pieces from the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park's artists in residence Beatrice and Elaine Alder. Plus, she just acquired older prints (1950-1970) from noted artist Leonard Baskin.

Copeland estimates the library owns and displays around 300 paintings, 1,800 prints and over two dozen sculptures. The collections include works by such nationally and internationally noted artists as Albert Bierstadt, John James Audubon,

William Bradford, R. Swain Gifford, William Allen Wall, Walton Ricketson, Bela Pratt, and Clifford Ashley. They are on public view throughout the main library as well as in changing exhibits mounted in the third floor gallery cases.

Additionally, she is proud to note the New Bedford Free Public Library has partnered with the New Bedford Art Museum for an exhibit currently at the museum titled "Under the Sheltering Sky" (until October 29) featuring a selection of prints from a first edition set of John J. Audubon's "Birds of America") and it is planning another partnering exhibit in December.

Library Director Olivia Melo enthusiastically agrees that the library's art collection is its most unique feature compared to other area libraries. She said the aforementioned partnership with the New Bedford Art Museum has been ongoing for more than 10

years. There's a City Gallery alcove at the museum that on a rotating basis displays city art at least twice a year. "If you want to see more of the collection, come to the library," she said.

Under other fall highlights, Melo said that by the end of the year the library system is hoping to be in receipt of an Outreach Vehicle which is smaller than the current bookmobile. This new vehicle will replace the 2005 vehicle which requires a CDL driver to navigate it around the congested city streets.

Melo is particularly enthused about this innovation because the smaller vehicle, she said, will be driven by the Outreach Librarian who will provide library services to community agencies and events as well as provide homebound services to patrons not within walking distance of neighborhood libraries.

For more information, visit newbedford-ma.gov/library.

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Melo said that by the end of the year the library system is hoping to be in receipt of an Outreach Vehicle which is smaller than the current bookmobile. This new vehicle will replace the 2005 vehicle which requires a CDL driver to navigate it around the congested city streets.new vehicle will replace the 2005 vehicle which requires a CDL driver to navigate it around the congested city streets.

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October 2023 | The South Coast Insider

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COVER STORY

voice RAISE A

by Sean McCarthy

Your voice is an instrument like any other

S

o whether your goal is karaoke or Madison Square Garden, auditioning for a high school production or making it to Broadway, you would be wise to invest some time studying how to improve and care for your voice while becoming a better performer.

As she approaches the 20th anniversary of the Vocal Development Studio, Debra Perry has established a reputation of excellence for people of all ages in an array of fields and genres. There’s a lot more to successful singing than many people realize, but it’s an endeavor that is open to almost anyone who possesses the motivation.

“Vocal lessons are positive – there’s nothing to fear,” Perry says.

“Increasing your knowledge will increase the health of your voice.

Understanding your instrument and 18

how to care for it is how we keep it sounding its’ best. It’s just like learning how to tune your guitar or change the strings. It will add to the longevity of your career.”

Located at 138 River Road in the North End of New Bedford, the Vocal Development Studio specializes in singing lessons, but also offers piano and guitar lessons. They feature spacious sound-deadened practice rooms with state-of-the-art acoustic ceiling tiles for an optimal experience, in addition to a main room with a professional-caliber stage and sound system.

A unique component of the studio is the classes and workshops they offer in areas of performance technique that help students hone their craft.

The main room is large enough to hold an audience of 50.

“Just about anyone can learn to sing,”

October 2023 | The South Coast Insider

Perry says. “It’s all about working on correct breathing technique and vocal exercises to develop the voice through eliminating muscle tension and developing precision of muscle movement. Then we apply that to songs. Singing is a physical activity so stress will affect your voice. The approach I use is all based on how the body works for sound production.”

Perry says that the number of lessons an individual takes is based on their goals.

“Some people come in for a very short period of time, maybe looking to do something new and fun. It’s one of their bucket list goals. But some people are looking to do this as a career, and I can help. If you continue to work with your voice, doing the exercises and keeping the voice healthy with vocal hygiene on a regular basis, you can sing well into older age. Vocal lessons are a way to protect your voice.

“Everything is predicated on how

“ We’ve created a very supportive atmosphere for each other – it ’s very friendly and family-oriented" much you practice. You should see results within the first month. After that you can decide how much further you want to continue.”

Choral community

Among Perry’s most notable students are Devin Lima of the pop group LFO, Shawn Gallagher of the heavy metal band Beyond The Embrace, and Irish folk singer Aoife Clancy.

Perry also provides vocal rehabilitation classes, working with medical professionals who recommend clients to her. The studio also offers Zoom lessons. Open Tuesday through Saturday, students have the option of weekly half-hour or full-hour lessons.

Perry’s resume is rich. Singing since the age of nine, and professionally since the age of 18, she studied Classical Voice at UMass-Dartmouth with Jacqueline Colbert. She also did a pair of apprenticeships in Music Education – studying jazz and pop with Katie Tetzel in New Bedford, as well as working with the late Jeannie Deva at the Voice Studio in Boston.

During her three-and-a- half years with Deva, Perry led a satellite vocal studio on Cape Cod, The Voice Studio at the Musician’s Development Institute that gave her the opportunity to work with Denny Dias of Steely Dan and Dinky Dawson, soundman for Fleetwood Mac. Perry has performed with a variety of general business bands as well as contemporary Christian bands, and The Saints & Singers Chorus. She has performed throughout New England, as well as at Carnegie Hall in New York City, in the Soviet Union and Hungary.

She has sung in church folk groups and choirs since the age of 18 and is currently the Cantor at St. Mary’s church in Fairhaven.

Perry began her teaching career a year after her graduation from UMass, at the Music Center in New Bedford.

Her roster of students grew quickly, but she always aimed to give people a greater experience that studios in the area didn’t offer. So in September 2003, she opened the Vocal Development Studio.

“I always wanted my own place where I could do a variety of things, but I didn’t have enough room to do it,” she recalls. “I wanted to put on shows and do workshops that weren’t available around here and teach people about performing and helping them overcome stage fright.”

For 15 years, the Vocal Development Studio has put on a concert showcase by and for students and their families, known as the Student Vocal Showcase. The concert is a confidence booster for the singers.

Their last show, prior to COVID-19, was held at Rick’s Music World in Raynham and attracted a sold-out audience of 125 people.

“We’ve created a very supportive atmosphere for each other – it’s very friendly and family-oriented,” Perry says. “A lot of people have made friendships with one another with a lot of good networking opportunities.

People are always happy to see each other and they become connected outside of the studio on Facebook and Instagram.

“Our shows are pretty lively. We encourage each other,” Perry says.

“There’s a lot of clapping and hollering for each other. Our studio has a lot of plants and it always smells like Pumpkin Spice candles.”

But this year is special. Perry wants to celebrate her second decade of the Vocal Development Studio with a 20th Anniversary Show – a concert for charity that will include past and present students. Plans for the event are soon to be announced.

You can contact the Vocal Development Studio at vocaldevelopmentstudio.com, by calling (508) 998-9550, and through Facebook.

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BUSINESS BUZZ

Holistic point of view

by Sean McCarthy

Leah Doroch of Westport is a holistic medicine success story

W

hile in her early 30s, the mother of two young children suffered a near-death accident while riding a horse. Her recovery would include an introduction to holistic medical approaches that would inspire her to reach out to others, perpetuating the success she had experienced in her own life.

Today, as a board-certified holistic practitioner focused on stress and anxiety management coaching, along with experience-dependent neuroplasticity training, Doroch uses her education and experience to benefit people dealing with a variety of situations.

“When I had my accident, I went on an eye-opening healing journey

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Medications that are now known to be highly addictive and dangerous today. I learned first hand that holistic treatments like breathwork practices, dietary changes, yoga and meditation work would change my life and thought, more people need to know about this. to treat my post-traumatic stress and anxiety. I became a student of holistic practices,” Doroch says. “I needed to do something to help people and I knew there were ways to manage these types of conditions other than the medications that were being prescribed to me at the time – Medications that are now known to be highly addictive and dangerous

October 2023 | The South Coast Insider

today. I learned first hand that holistic treatments like breathwork practices, dietary changes, yoga and meditation work would change my life and thought, more people need to know about this.”

As the owner and CEO of Professional Care Match, she spearheads a company that integrates holistic approaches to homecare for the elderly,

Over the last 15 years, I have developed the tools to enhance a patient’s physical and emotional well-being, enlivening the nourishing connection between mind, body, and spirit, bringing balance and healing into their lives using in-depth and personalized care planning for each individual patient and we also take into consideration the self-care that is needed for everyone involved. specifically, those challenged with dementia illnesses and chronic health conditions that cause safety concerns for those living alone and end-of-life patients. Professional Care Match provides both live-in and hourly caregivers that are well trained and experienced CNAs, HHAs, and PCAs and have also had in-depth training in Doroch’s specialized holistic approach to at-home care and the complexities that come along with Alzheimer’s Disease and other forms of dementia.

“Professional Care Match’s holistic approach to in-home senior care involves not only providing traditional home care services to elderly patients like

bathing, dressing, medication reminders, safety monitoring, meal preparation, purposeful engagement, and housekeeping, but also offers support to the family members that are working to keep their loved ones safely living at home,” Doroch says.

“Over the last 15 years, I have developed the tools to enhance a patient’s physical and emotional wellbeing, enlivening the nourishing connection between mind, body, and spirit, and bringing balance and healing into their lives using in-depth and personalized care planning for each individual patient.

We also take into consideration the self-care that is needed for everyone involved,” she says.

Doroch also offers an array of programs based on her Ayurvedic studies, caregiver self-care workshops, stress management coaching, holistic chronic pain management, life coaching for coping with difficult diagnoses, overcoming PTSD, and meditation for overall well being.

“The content that I share in my workshops and my approach to coaching clients give long-term solutions to revitalizing our lives, providing balance, self-care, and personal growth,” Doroch says.

“It’s based on a 5,000-year-old healing system of medicine mixed with some of the discoveries that scientists are making today.”

Doroch was inspired to start Professional Care Match in part due to her experiences with her grandfather, which is where her passion for the care of those challenged with Alzheimer’s disease stems from.

“When I was eight years old, my grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. It was really challenging for our family because there wasn’t a lot of education and understanding at that time,” she says. “People were put into an institution and heavily medicated.

Behaviors weren’t managed in positive ways and that severely affected the quality of life for those suffering with this debilitating disease.

“Today there are wonderful, innovative ways to manage the disease process and the challenges that people with dementia have.

It’s really about diving deep into honoring who they were before the disease began while providing them supportive care. With our company, we look at the whole person and work with their family members and other medical providers to develop a quality-of-life plan.”

To learn more about Professional Care Match’s live-in or hourly home care services, holistic education workshops, and individual coaching programs, contact 1-833-PCMATCH (1-833-726-2824) or visit professionalcarematch.com.

October 2023 | The South Coast Insider

21

ON MY MIND

Withholding judgment

by Paul Kandarian

Admit it: you hear of a malpractice case where something went horribly wrong with a patient whose life is ruined, if not ended, and you immediately side with the plaintiff because there for the grace of whatever go us.

I

was the same, figuring health care in this country is a hot mess (and it is), mostly due to the lack of universal coverage and the insanely complex billing system.

Then one of the most interesting acting jobs I’ve ever had happened.

I was to portray a plaintiff about my age for a mock trial. He (I) had undergone a simple prostate biopsy for an elevated PSA test that his (my) urologist

22

thought necessary. My character trusted his doc and went along with it. The odds were squarely in his favor that the procedure would go smoothly and he’d be found to be cancer free.

He was cancer free – but the odds of the procedure going smoothly were horribly not in his favor.

I don’t know what the numbers are, but what happened to this poor guy was horrific and

October 2023 | The South Coast Insider

odds-defying. You know how doctors have to tell you all the stuff that could happen, including the bad, even though the odds are slim something terrible would happen? That’s what happened to this guy I played. He got a systemic infection, nearly died and as a result, lost toes and fingertips to gangrene and the ability to move freely or sing or play the guitar or travel or bicycle – all the things he loved.

He was this close to retirement and he and his wife, both around 70, would see the world.

But now his world was drastically reduced to day to day survival.

Mock trials are used in the legal system to test a case out. In this one, I read the case, the deposition, everything to get familiar with it. I also had to memorize a dozen or so pages of dialogue that I’d

use when a lawyer in the mock trial questioned me.

In this case, they were testing it before a jury who thought this was a real case being tried to see what their defendant’s chances would be, which would mean either fighting it or settling.

Going in, I figured that this doctor who did the prostate biopsy must be the epitome of evil. Then after my stint was done, I was alone in a room with him for several minutes and realized – he’s just like me, you, everyone, a guy doing a job he loved that went terribly wrong one day for whatever reason that was unintentional, a 40-something guy likely with a wife, kids, a house in the ‘burbs, a guy who went through all those rugged years of medical school and training to see it all go away on the back of the odds this would ever happen.

The facts of the case made me come away realizing this thing may not have been this guy’s fault – it could’ve just been crappy odds going against his patient, could be a case of all those horrible side effects they have to tell you are possible if remotely come to fruition. It was hardly a slam dunk after all, and I felt for the guy as we quietly chatted.

“This must have been your dream job, to study, work hard, become a doctor,” I told the young man, who was out of his element in a faux courtroom and not a real operating room.

He smiled sadly and

sighed. He told me that despite the crushing debt of expensive malpractice insurance, it only covers a ridiculously low amount insurance and then the doc is on the hook for the rest if the case doesn’t go in his favor.

“This is why a lot of people don’t go into medicine,” he said quietly.

I chatted a bit more, looking at him for what he was: a professional with a great job and promising future. He had so much potential. He is one of us. And now, due to a tremendous stroke of misfortune for the man who suffered and this man before me said to have caused it, he is to many, the embodiment of evil.

I didn’t see that. I just saw this young doctor with a career ahead of him now facing the biggest challenge of it, not intending for an instant to do harm. And I guess the upshot is that in this life where we think we learn all we need to know from TV or newspapers or the savage frontier of social media, we don’t know squat. If you truly want to know a person, you have to meet the person or do the research and do what humanity thrives on and has lost: connection and truth.

We don’t know what we don’t know and ignorance isn’t bliss, it’s damaging when it’s blindly judgmental. We need to remember that we are all on this planet together doing our best, and to cut others some slack if we don’t know all the facts.

I only hope to remember that myself.

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October 2023 | The South Coast Insider

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