The South Coast Insider - February 2023

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Inside derr

FEBRUARY 2023 Vol. 27 / No. 2

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Shop small, shop local!

Why risk your health (and sanity) at crowded malls on Black Friday? Take advantage of incredible offerings in your own neighborhood on Small Business Saturday, November 28, throughout the South Coast. Check out sbsshopri. com for shop-and-stroll events in Rhode Island. For that special gift, support local craftsmen and artists by heading over to the Waterfire Arts Center in Providence 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 Farm in Warren with “Girls Night Out” on November 6, 7 and 8 – buy your holiday trees, greenery, and gifts there, too (frerichsfarm.com). Then mark your calendar for the Newport Block Party & Holiday Stroll at Bowen’s Wharf on November 27 – you can watch the Illuminated Boat Parade while you shop and enjoy Caribbean music (bowenswharf.com).

February 2023 | Vol. 27 | No. 2 Published by Coastal Communications Corp.

Saturday, November 28, 2020 Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Ljiljana Vasiljevic

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CONTENTS A Family Tradition Since 1928

FEBRUARY 2023

COVER STORY

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Higher education

By Sean McCarthy

Finger-lickin’ chicken

By Shauna Ferry

THINGS TO DO

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Enjoy a fabulous February!

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A park apart

By Elizabeth Morse Read

By Sean McCarthy

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ON MY MIND

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Where am I?

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Inside derr

FEBRUARY 2023 Vol. 27 / No. 2

Halls of UMass Dartmouth learning is touted as the academic STAY COOL crown jewel of FRESH AIR the South Coast.

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THINGS TO DO

Enjoy a

Fabulous February!

Plan ahead for the Annual Newport Winter Festival on February 17-26 (newportwinterfestival.com), including the Bowen’s Wharf Winter Sale, with in-store events and restaurant promotions (bowenswharf.com)!

by Elizabeth Morse Read

February may be the shortest month of the year in the dead of winter, but it sure is long on festivities! Gather together with family and friends to enjoy Groundhog Day (February 2), Super Bowl Sunday (February 12), Valentine’s Day (February 14), Mardi Gras (February 21) and Black History Month! Take advantage of school vacation week to enjoy the many outdoor activities on the South Coast this month, too. And don’t despair – spring’s just around the corner!

Bundle up and get outdoors!

Register now for the 6th Annual Mardi Gras Madness 5K in Plymouth, starting at the Tavern on the Wharf on February 18 (southshorerace.com).

Sharpen your ice skates (or rent them) at indoor skating rinks in Southeastern Massachusetts (fmcicesports.com/ rinks), or the huge outdoor rink (and bumper cars!) in Providence (theprovidencerink.com).

Discover Buzzards Bay offers an online portal with information about more than 100 public places to walk, bird-watch, kayak/canoe, fish, snowshoe or cross-country ski (savebuzzardsbay.org/discover). You can find other outdoor recreation spots along the South Coast at thetrustees. org and massaudubon.org, asri.org, riparks.com, or stateparks.com/ rhode_island.

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Get in touch with nature at the Norman Bird Sanctuary in Middletown! Go on an Owl Prowl on February 1, learn about Cupid & Constellations February 10, take a shorebird stroll February 18 (normanbirdsanctuary.org)!

Go on a guided Seal Watch boat tour with Save The Bay, departing from Bowen’s Ferry Landing in Newport through April (savebay.org/seals)!

Get a glimpse of snowy owls and other migratory birds at the Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge in Middletown (fws.gov/sachuestpoint)!

Classical acts

Enjoy Symphony on Tap at Kilburn Mill in New Bedford on February 18, with the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra performing in a casual nightclub setting (nbsymphony.org)!

Relax and listen to the performance of the Tri-County Symphonic Band along with the Our Lady of Light

February 2023 | The South Coast Insider

Band on February 5 at Our Lady of Light Banquet Hall in Fall River (tricountysymphonicband.org)!

Don’t miss “Travelogue: A Planetary Tour” on February 25 at St. Gabriel’s Church in Marion, or on February 26 at St. Peter’s Church in Dartmouth, performed by the South Coast Chamber Music series (nbsymphony. org/southcoast-chamber-musicseries).

Celebrate the return of Arts in the Village, Rehoboth’s chamber music series at Goff Memorial Hall! Don’t miss violin/piano duo Altschuler and Tokuno February 18 (rehobothantiquarian.org)!

Just in time for Valentine’s Day! Don’t miss “Love Songs in the Living Room,” performed by the Encore Opera Ensemble, at Blithewold Mansion and Gardens on February 12 (blithewold. org).

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Head for the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River to hear Colby James & the Ramblers February 4, Club D’Elf February 10, Tom Rush 2/18, Sunny War on February 19 at Westport’s Concerts at the Point (concertsatthepoint.org).

Watch the Festival Ballet Providence’s performance of “Up Close on Hope” at the Black Box Theatre February 10-19 (festivalballetprovidence.org)!

Don’t miss the Fall River Symphony Orchestra’s winter concert “Winter Dreams” on February 19 at Bristol Community College’s Jackson Theatre (fallriversymphonyorchestra.org).

Listen to “Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto” performed by the Rhode Island Philharmonic on February 24 & 25 at The VETS in Providence (riphil. org).

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Take the family to the monthly Open Farm Days at Round The Bend Farm in Dartmouth! Grass-fed meats, seasonal produce, honey, maple syrup, botanicals and family-friendly farm tours (roundthebendfarm.org).

Head for Memorial Hall in Plymouth on February 4 for the South Shore Food and Wine Expo (memorialhall.com)!

Show up hungry on February 4 & 5 for “VegFest RI” at the WaterFire Arts Center in Providence! Learn about a plant-based lifestyle, try the food, meet the vendors, chefs, authors – and more (rivegfest.com)!

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Find out what’s on stage at the Little Theatre in Fall River! Don’t miss “Our Town” February 2-5, 9-12 (littletheatre.net).

CONTINUED ON FROM 7 Eat Fresh – Eat Local! Fill your baskets with seasonal produce, baked goods and dairy products! To find a farm, vineyard or winter farmers market near you, visit semaponline.org, coastalfoodshed.org, farmfreshri.org, or localharvest.org.

On the silver screen

Enjoy the Providence Children’s Film Festival on February 17-26 at various venues throughout the city (providencechildrensfilmfestival.org).

Enjoy the Jack Nicholson film series at the Newport Public Library on February 10 & 24 (newportlibraryri.org).

Head for the Zeiterion in downtown New Bedford to watch “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” February 14, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” February 26 (zeiterion.org).

Fun for the whole family!

Enjoy free family fun and entertainment on the second Thursday of every month at New Bedford’s AHA Nights – celebrate “Sheroes and Heroes” on

February 10, as well as Black History Month (ahanewbedford.org)!

Take the kids to see Monster Jam on February 3-5 at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence (dunkindonutscenter.com)!

Buy your tickets online for the indoor planetarium shows on weekends year-round, and daily during school vacations at the Museum of Natural History and Planetarium in Roger Williams Park in Providence (providenceri.gov/museum)!

Try something completely different!

Sign up for a workshop in Shibori, the Japanese art of dyeing, on February 18 at the New Bedford Art Museum/ Artworks (newbedfordart.org)!

Head for Memorial Hall in Plymouth on February 11 for the Cornhole Tournament (memorialhall.com)!

Learn how to line dance at the New Bedford’s Kilburn Mills (facebook.com/ aandmdanceacademy.com).

Quench your thirst for learning and beer) at the free monthly New Bedford Science Café lectures and discussions

Celebrate Black History Month by checking out the special events scheduled by the New Bedford Historical Society, like the Frederick Douglass Community Read-a-thon

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February 2023 | The South Coast Insider

at The Last Round Bar & Grille (nbsciencecafe.com)!

Try your hand at pickleball at Fairhaven’s indoor Southcoast Pickleball arena (southcoastpickleball.com).

Celebrate Black History Month by checking out the special events scheduled by the New Bedford Historical Society, like the Frederick Douglass Community Read-a-thon (nbhistoricalsociety.org).

Listen to the music!

Head for the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River to hear Colby James & the Ramblers February 4, Club D’Elf February 10, Tom Rush 2/18, Sunny War February 25 (narrowscenter.org).

Listen to live music performed at the Newport Public Library! Don’t miss the Atwater-Donnelly Duo on February 18 (newportlibraryri.org).

Enjoy a Valentine’s Concert with Austin Burns and Michelle Gordon on February 12 at the whaling-era RotchJones-Duff House in New Bedford (rjdmuseum.org)!

Head for Running Brook Vineyards in Dartmouth for free live music

Mark your calendar for the performances of “By the Queen” through February 12 at Trinity Rep in Providence (trinityrep.com)

every weekend year-round (runningbrookwine.com)!

Find out who’s on stage at The District Center for the Arts in Taunton! There’s Boyz Gone Wild February 10, ABBA Valentine’s Day Dance February 11, Ultimate 80s Party: Saints in the City February 17, Young Americans February 25 (thedistrictcenterforarts.com)!

McGovern’s Family Restaurant Find out who’s on stage at the Spire 310 Shove Street, Fall River Center for the Performing Arts of 508-679-5010 Greater Plymouth! There’s Say Darling mcgovernsonthewater.com February 9, The Balloon Thieves This well-known restaurant and banFebruary 10, Moondance February 11, quet facility overlooking Laurel Talisk February 17, Eric LindellLake February usually packs them in for a large buffet 25 (spirecenter.org). on Thanksgiving Day. The menu typicalHead for the Zeiterion in downtown ly includes traditional turkey dinner with New Bedford to enjoy Salsa for Lovers: Paul’s butternut squash, prime Valentine’s Day Special on February rib, ham, and much more. The restaurant 6 & 13, Mandy Patinkin February 9 has been offering dine-in and takeout, (zeiterion.org). including its locally famous corned beef and cabbage, for 50 years. Here’s a protip: if you can’t wait until Thanksgiving for miss Jeff Dunham’s “Still Not aDon’t roast turkey dinner, you don’t have to – Canceled Tour” on February 25 at the it’s on the regular menu.

Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence (dunkindonutscenter.com)!

Merrills Waterfront Discoveron thethe Barker Playhouse in 36 Homers Wharf, New Bedford Providence, the oldest continuously508-997-7010 running little theatre in America! Don’t merrillswaterfront.com miss “The Normal Heart” February 3-5 This favorite restaurant and function (playersri.org) facility sits on the waterfront overlooking Head for The VETS in Providence port. But if isn’t your the busy to watch “Menopause: The Musical” thing on traditional turkey day, be sure February 9, Chris D’Elia February 17, to keep watch for their holiday offerings.

Bored Teachers Comedy Tour February Last year, Merrill’s served up turkey and 18, (vmari.com)! prime rib, all the sides like apple sage and sweet corn and polenta ravioli, plus pies galore.

The shows must go on!

The Pasta House

Check out what’s playing at The Wilbury Group in Providence! Don’t miss “A. Dick. Ted” February 24 to March 4 (thewilburygroup.org)!

Find out what’s on stage at the Providence Performing Arts Center!

There’s “Annie” through February 5, “Come from Away” February 21-26, “Paw Patrol Live!” February 18-19 (ppacri.org).

1955 on the historic wharf that dates to the 1700s, isn’t all about summer.

Last year they served up a feast of turkey, roast prime rib, sausage and more. The restaurant currently offers dine-in and takeout, including some oven-ready dishes like seafood casserole Don’t forget to change your and stuffed lobster. clocks forward on March 12!

Get ready for the 8th annual White’s of Westport Shamrock Stampede 5k through 66 State Road, Westport Plymouth (and the tavern!) on 508-675-7185 shop.lafrancehospitality.com March 18 (southshorerace.com)!

Don’t miss “The Crucible” March White’s has been offering family-style 3-5,and 10-12 at Yourmeals Theatre in New takeout curbside pickup for Bedford (yourtheatre.org)! months, so when Turkey Day comes around, it’s aout good bet they’ll have a hanCheck what’s happening dle (or a drumstick) on that too. at rather the Marion Art Center!

Don’t Currently, theperformances restaurant is offering meal miss the of Oscar packages and platters like its “Taste of Wilde’s “The Importance of Being NewEarnest” England”March that comes chow10-12,with 17-19, der, 24-25 quahogs and clam cakes or its Italian (marionartcenter.org)! package of salad, meatballs and Register nowlasagna, for the New breadsticks.

Both meals serve six. Also Bedford Half Marathon on available are dinner-for-two meal March 19, sponsored by the packs like and chips, lobster rolls, bourbon Friendly Sons of St. Patrick beef tips, and even kid-sized pasta and (newbedfordhalfmarathon.org)! meatballs for two. With more than 60 years in the hospitality industry, White’s is accustomed to cooking for a crowd.

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THINGS TO DO

Kate Sheridan, Artist in Residence April through June 2022 gives a thumbs up in front of a park sign that reads "The Artist is IN! Explore the MakerSpace!"

apart

A PARK

by Sean McCarthy

Great art often tells a story, and New Bedford has a lot of stories

S

ince 2018, New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park has used its Artists in Residence program to support the work of artists who are telling the myriad tales of New Bedford through an expansive array of mediums.

From comic books and children’s books to films, music, photography, sculpture, and more, New Bedford’s people, culture, and industries have made for unique creative opportunities for artistic minds from throughout America. Each year, the park’s AIR program funds four three-month opportunities for artists to portray the city in a manner that is limited only by their imaginations.

This year the program promises to be filled with artistic ingenuity in a variety of forms, including work from artists

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from Providence, Boston, Texas, and a couple that has hopscotched throughout the country and the world.

Artists who are new to the area are finding themselves smitten with the richness of the region, while local their surroundings with refreshing depth.

“This is a unique way to share the histories and tell the stories of New Bedford,” says Lindsay Compton, a parks ranger and director of the AIR program. “Artists have been able to use the city as a source of inspiration.”

Last year, New Bedford “sound sculptor” Scott Bishop was able to use a residence to create the album “NBWaves,” a recording of six songs that were written around sound samples he used from throughout the city, including the Buttonwood Park Zoo, New Bedford Harbor, the

February 2023 | The South Coast Insider

Whaling Museum, and Play Arcade.

He combined the samples with music that ranges from punk to dream pop to ambient and electronic instrumentals.

The six-song album can be enjoyed on all of the major streaming services under Bishop’s alias, Scapeghost.

“The park gave me the opportunity to create a project that was a lot more community oriented, and they gave me the tools to fulfill it,” Bishop says. “I feel like Lindsay empowered me to just let it fly and see what worked. Because I was recording inside of businesses and institutions, I got to meet people I wouldn’t have otherwise met, learn about them, and see how many of them worked. And coming out of this project, I’ve got a few more things I can reach for in my musical toolbox.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

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Echoes of history

Another New Bedford artist to benefit from the Park’s AIR program was Candida Rose, who last year used her residence to work on multiple projects.

Rose was able to continue research and create the capstone project for her Master’s Degree at UMass Boston, in Transnational Cultural Community Studies. The project included how Cape Verdean immigrants were able to keep their heritage alive through music and culture. Among her work was the digitizing of vinyl records and cassettes made by Cape Verdean immigrants in America during the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.

Rose was also able to finish editing work for the documentary film, Candida, a 45-minute film detailing her relationship with her ancestral homeland.

Last summer, the park’s AIR program also enabled Rose to host presentations to local school children about Cape Verdean music and culture at the “Something’s Fishy” summer camp in New Bedford.

Other recent projects with the park’s AIR include a children’s book set in New Bedford by Fairhaven’s Margo Connolly-Masson, and a comic book of historical fiction by Kate Sheridan of Louisville, KY, that tells a horror-fantasy story about a whaling expedition to the arctic that takes a dramatic turn.

The upcoming year for the Park’s AIR participants is vast in styles, and many of the artists from outside of the region are finding great inspiration from the area.

From October through December, Texas artist Taylor Hickey will be offering her talents in multiple mediums for the AIR project. Hickey recently moved to New Bedford after recieving her Master’s Degree from UMass Dartmouth’s College of Visual and Performing Arts.

“New Bedford is a beautiful place to be,” Hickey says. “I plan on staying here for a while – I’ve grown really attached to it. It embodies something

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Whale illustration by Kate Sheridan, for their upcoming comic "Whalebones."

“Being near the ocean, there is so much to discover.

There are a variety of different ecosystems that are very interesting. There are many bird cultures and communities that can create a patchwork of sounds as they communicate. There’s a lot of natural history here and I’ve enjoyed the people I’ve met.” that is really influential for my work: the idea of the sublime. I get the feeling that the sky is closer here. I feel like when I’m driving here I’m on the edge of the world. I’m inspired by the feelings I get from the sea and the beautiful landscapes.”

From April to June, Providence’s Matt Steinke, a “sound artist,” will be creating sound sculpture inspired by different flora and fauna from throughout the New Bedford area.

A Texas native, Steinke will be making interactive and autonomous instruments.

“Being near the ocean, there is so much to discover,” Steinke says.

“There are a variety of different ecosystems that are very interesting.

There are many bird cultures and communities that can create a patchwork of sounds as they communicate. There’s a lot of natural history here and I’ve enjoyed the people I’ve met.”

New perspectives

The current AIR participants are

February 2023 | The South Coast Insider

Beatrice and Elaine Alder, who are telling the stories of Queer people from the area. The couple are using their AIR opportunity to relocate to New Bedford after recently residing in Washington, Georgia, and Lithuania.

Their mediums include textiles, ceramics, and the written word.

“There’s a popular narrative that Queerness is a recent trend, which just isn’t true,” Beatrice says. “This is a great opportunity for us to help dispel that. We’re reclaiming Queer history in New Bedford, stories unspoken and untold that have been forgotten or lost. Our art will honor the stories of ourselves and others – what they were like and how they lived. We want to educate people. ”Queer history has very deep roots.

We’ve always been here and we will always be here.”

From July to September, Boston’s Calder Sell will use his abstract photography to interpret the city.

“I am excited for an opportunity to show ‘the city that lit the world’ that, actually, there is a light that we all

“With this residency program we’re aiming to go beyond that – to have people see the city uniquely and share it with others.”

CONTI

guaran week a The p consu receiv can re ue to g “No sh says B All pr directl gnarly

share that comes from somewhere far away from any of us and that we can use it as a way to share stories with each other and the other living beings around us,” Sell says. “I hope to establish regular photo walks around New Bedford and to establish a community engaged in the process of looking. Making a photograph does not need to be as singular as it is often made out to be.”

Funding for the Park’s AIR has traditionally been from their own federal budget, but this year they will receive support from the Whaling History Alliance, a local nonprofit. Each artist involved in the program will receive a stipend of $2,500 for their three-month residency. There are AIR’s at over 50 national parks throughout America.

Artists are selected by a three-person board which sifts through applications made online from spring through the end of summer. Applications are accepted, during open calls, at anyartist.org.

Compton is well-suited to run the program. Not only has she been the director for similar programs in South Carolina and Texas, but she also studied Art, Parks & Recreation Management, as well as Education during her undergraduate and graduate studies.

She has been with the New Bedford location since August of 2019.

“This residence is a wonderful opportunity,” Hickey says. “It provides me with the time and effort to make something of my own and helps with the balance between making art for myself rather than doing art for a living.”

“When people think of art, they mostly think of paintings,” Compton says. “With this residency program we’re aiming to go beyond that – to have people see the city uniquely and share it with others.”

To learn more about the AIR program contact the park at nps.gov/nebe.

Grow

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November 2020 | The South Coast2023 Insider February | The South Coast Insider

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The B the So their re Farm M learne tainab their g new ba Due t Farm’s fered t Now the Tiv tion, w overgr nate th focusi Thank living i the op shieldi As m selves harsh moder For o manag tion of always efficie But e leave o The fa studen in orde to help “It ca says. “ use te quality That first bi

BUSINESS BUZZ

Finding

harmony

Story and photo by Rona Trachtenberg

Fairhaven Frets, a music store and instrument repair shop located at 105 Sconticut Neck Road in Fairhaven, opened for business on January 13, 2020

T

he timing couldn’t have been worse, because two months later, COVID-19 hit and mandatory business closings were instituted. However, during this hiatus, owner Bryon Knight learned about the generosity and compassion of Fairhaven's musical community.

“Customers kept knocking on my door with instruments in hand, telling me, ‘I dug this from under my bed… you must need some work!’” says

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Knight. “This town showed me so much grace and kindness by standing outside my shop to purchase strings, straps, and other accessories. As the lockdown dragged on, people began asking for instruments, amplifiers, and suggestions for virtual lessons. Once we all began to get vaccinated and things began to get closer to normal, I wanted to do something to say thank you to the community that had supported my little business.”

That is where patron Dave Medeiros entered the scene.

In his youth, Medeiros taught himself guitar and enjoyed performing in the 60s with his high school friends in a group they called the Michaum Trio.

In his adult life, he taught English and Journalism at Fairhaven High School for 34 years.

Thirteen years ago, Medeiros created a weekly Tuesday night guitar circle with some of his high school classmates. Since then, perhaps more than 100 different performers have come and gone and jammed together

February 2023 | The South Coast Insider

at the Northeast Maritime Institute in Fairhaven. During the pandemic, the group had to cease meeting at the school site. They picked it up again in the summer of 2020 at various players’ homes and businesses around town.

Medeiros was an early patron of Fairhaven Frets, even before COVID. He would come in every few days to see the progress of the little shop.

Medeiros invited Knight and his family to participate in the “Tuesday circles” on occasion, and Medeiros thought, “Why not ask Bryon to host the circle?”

At the time, Knight didn't have the room in his 450-square-foot space to host more than six people. So, he decided to renovate his musical instrument repair and retail shop. He brought a little bit of his Arkansas hometown style to Fairhaven when he designed his expansion to include a replica of an entrance to a Southern shack, affectionately referred to as “The Pickin’ Porch,” complete with a butter churn, a turn-of-the-century

The open mic participants are made up of professional and non-professional performers. We have retired school teachers, banking professionals, kids taking guitar lessons, local music pros and touring acts. clothes wringer, several washboards, and sign that reads “Life is better on the porch.” Today, the music circle meets at Knight’s store every Tuesday night. It is free and open to anyone who wants to attend, although space is still limited.

“We arrange the chairs in a circle,” explained Medeiros, “and we go around as each person performs. What a win-win situation this is. Many of us are re-discovering our musical roots.

Bryon’s place is fantastic, and he is a wonderful host.”

Open mic, full heart

In March 2022, Knight expanded his community outreach to start a monthly open mic night, which takes place on the first Wednesday of each month at 6 p.m.

“The open mic participants are made up of professional and nonprofessional performers. We have retired school teachers, banking professionals, kids taking guitar lessons, local music pros and touring acts. There are no auditions. If a budding songwriter wants to present a song that they just wrote, great! If someone wants to perform a dramatic reading of a Bob Dylan song, have at it! I only ask that the performance time is limited to around 10 minutes.

The performers are selected at random by audience members, who pick a numbered ball from an old ukulele.”

Knight boasts, “There has been no shortage of performers. I cap the number at 15 acts per night.

The signup sheet is at the door at 5 p.m. for a 6 p.m. start. We have a lot of repeat performances but with different material. There was a 15-year-old singer and a 91-yearold saxophone player. We’ve had Portuguese Fado singers, classical guitarists, English renaissance performers and theatrical numbers performed on that little porch. We regularly record performers for their personal use. With permission, we may publish videos later.”

I had the pleasure of attending the January 4 open mic night and found the setting to be cozy, intimate, and very entertaining.

There were approximately 25 people in attendance, with 11 of them performing. There were story songs, original songs, and cover songs.

There were solos, duets, and trios.

One woman played her electric wind instrument (EWI), which was a unique experience for us all.

Medeiros played his guitar and told a story about where the song came from, in the vein of Pete Seeger, the storytelling folk singer. He explained, “This is a non-judgment zone. All kinds of magic happens here!” Indeed, as evidence, I got up the courage to sing my favorite sea shanty, Aboard The Spray, by Dillon Bustin. It was a fun, free night for everyone.

Knight continued, “The audience consists of my shop customers, music circle participants, friends of musicians and local community members who just wondered why the parking lot was so full! Since my shop

is not designated as a performance venue and I can only seat 30 people, I don’t advertise. However, it is open to the public on a first come, first serve seating basis.”

Knight has had such a tremendous amount of positive feedback from his monthly open mic events and in the spirit of giving back to the community he has created a nonprofit organization called The Shepherd Center for Performing Arts. If all goes as planned, the center will be housed in the vacant church of the Good Shepherd property located at 357 Main Street in Fairhaven.

Knight explained that “The Center’s mission is to benefit the community with a large educational focus on the Performing Arts to include music, dance, theater, and cinema. You’ll be able to attend clinics on anything from jazz guitar to ballroom dancing and master classes on filmmaking, acting, and stagecraft. There will be an auditorium, but most of the performers will be local.” Knight continued, “We will have occasional touring acts as fundraising events but this facility is for the residents of Fairhaven and the surrounding areas.”

The open mic nights are free to anyone who would like to attend or perform thanks to the sponsorship of The Shepherd Center. Knight passes a little coffee can around to collect donations.

“Once again, the community has been very supportive. I feel so blessed!” he says.

February 2023 | The South Coast Insider

15

COVER STORY

Higher

by Sean McCarthy

Learning

UMassD undergraduate students engage in research alongside faculty, like Professor Robert Fisher and Physics student McKenzie Ferrari discussing the mysteries of the cosmos.

UMass Dartmouth touts itself as a place where people can go to achieve their dreams, and they’re making good on that notion.

I

n addition to being a significant economic catalyst for the South Coast, UMass Dartmouth is a college with a growing national footprint.

UMass’s contributions to the region in the forms of employment and scientific study are virtually unrivaled, while at the same time this research university is producing knowledge that benefits and affects the nation and the world. UMass has an impact of $550 Million on the South Coast economy, while 70 percent of its students are from the region.

The school is ranked second in the state for social mobility, and 69th in the nation in that category, which means they connect their students to great jobs. Ninety-seven percent of UMassD

16

graduates are employed or in graduate school within six months of finishing their degrees. Many students graduate with competitive salaries starting at $50,000 a year while some graduates enter the work force at six figures.

“We pay a great deal of attention to preparing students for the upcoming economy,” says Dr. Mark A. Fuller, Chancellor of UMass Dartmouth. “Our curriculum focuses on new emerging areas.”

Among UMass’s program offerings include traditional fields like engineering, computer science, nursing, medical lab sciences, business, law, and visual and performing arts. The school is also on the progressive cusp with specialties

February 2023 | The South Coast Insider

such as cybersecurity, data science, business and analytics, game design, and internships for students interested in the offshore wind industry.

Applications are continuing to rise, and UMass is seeing growing success thanks in part to being a smaller-sized research university.

“Our size allows us to be a much more closely connected campus, our class sizes are more intimate,” Dr. Fuller says. “We have a high level of faculty involvement with students, which prepares our students to graduate with sought-after skills that allow them to earn competitive salaries. It’s one of the main factors in our success.”

“We’re preparing people for great

Chancellor Fuller with students about to move into the campus’s new residence halls

jobs with an unparalleled student experience.”

UMass’s graduate and undergraduate enrollment is approximately 7,000 students, which makes it the smallest school in the UMass system, and one of the state’s smaller research universities compared to Harvard, Boston University, and UMass Amherst.

“Most research universities have 30,000 to 40,000 students, so we’re able to do particular things in a different and unique way,” Dr. Fuller says. “Most of our students are from South Coast communities who return

to work in South Coast communities.

We’re the knowledge capital of the South Coast – the heart and soul of the region.”

Fifty percent of UMass students are first-generation. Forty percent are Pell-eligible who have limited financial resources, and 37 percent are students of color. About half of students live on campus, with new first-year residence halls opened last year and hundreds of student clubs and extracurricular activities like athletics.

Considered the “maritime campus” in the UMass system, the university

contributes to the area with studies taking place in regional topics such as political science, sustainable fisheries, autonomous underwater vehicles and economics. They also tackle national topics such as viral spreading in closed spaces, a subject that increased in urgency during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We will continue to have a profound impact on the South Coast and have a growing reputation nationally,” Dr. Fuller says. “We’re going to become a jewel of an educational institution in the northeast.”

For more information visit umassd.edu.

Professor Kevin Stokesbury and students explore the balance between increased sustainability in the marine environment and ocean-based renewable energy sources

February 2023 | The South Coast Insider

17

BUSINESS BUZZ

Gil’s Appliances of Bristol

Area Rug Expert

HOUSE

Custom Closet Geeks of New Bedford.

TO HOME

by Sean McCarthy

One of the positives to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic was that a lot of people discovered how much they enjoy spending time at home.

S

o with the desire to improve their at-home experience, many people are making investments in their domestic surroundings.

Whether you’re looking for more space for your belongings, a cleaner environment, or improvements to your dining experience, there are local independent businesses that can assist with your home improvement wishes. And they can do it in a style that separates them from larger

18

box stores – a benefit for you and the local economy.

If preparing meals is a priority for your family, Gil’s Appliances of Bristol has a wide variety of cooking options for both indoor and outdoor food preparation, as well as the customer service to help you decide what is best for your situation.

In addition to grills of many sizes and styles, Gil’s also offers outdoor options such as griddles and burners for preparing sides such as sweet corn, fried onions,

February 2023 | The South Coast Insider

eggs, and BBQ sauce. They also sell sinks and faucets, as well as a selection of refrigeration that includes a beverage center/mini bar and an ice maker. You can cook outdoors from spring through fall with features such as infrared heaters which can be installed by the staff at Gil’s.

If you prefer to cook indoors, you have the options of air frying, steam ovens, and induction ranges among other choices.

“There are a lot of

great options,” says Lisa Sienkiewicz of Gil’s. “People are looking for highperformance products to improve their kitchens and we can help them find what they need.”

Storage and style

Area rugs have become more popular over the past two decades thanks to the advent of new flooring approaches such as click flooring – an evolution that requires homes to have their rugs cleaned every year or

Whether you’re looking for more space for your belongings, a cleaner environment, or improvements to your dining experience, there are local independent businesses that can assist with your home improvement wishes.

two. The expertise of Area Rug Expert in New Bedford has a long history of keeping people’s rugs clean with a top-notch process that makes the experience quick and reliable.

“People don’t realize how dirty their rugs can get, but you don’t have to live with a dirty rug,” says Randy Santerre, owner of Area Rug Expert. Santerre has more than 30 years in the industry. “With construction trends of the last 20 years people are installing more hard-surface floors. As a result, there are less wall-towall carpets and people are using a lot more area rugs.

With today’s technology we can take out most any stains.”

Open six days a week, Area Rug Expert will pick up, clean, and deliver your rugs, usually within three days.

Their scope of business stretches from Jamestown, RI, to Rochester, MA. “A lot of our clients are pet owners,” Santerre says. “If your dog or cat pees on the rug you can’t vacuum it away, and sooner or later you’re going to smell it. People

also don’t realize that dirt is an abrasive, so when fine dirt and sand sink into the bottom of the carpet it rubs together like a saw and it breaks down the carpet fiber. So it’s good for us to flush all of that away.”

But the potential for rug and floor cleaning goes beyond area rugs. Their service also includes on-site cleaning of wall-towall carpets, upholstery cleaning, and tile cleaning.

“It feels good to have a clean surface in your home,” Santerre says. “Most of our customers are repeat customers. We want to take care of every person who does business with us, our customer service separates us from the box stores.

We’ll be with our customers from beginning to end.”

The personal touch of a local independent business is also a priority at Custom Closet Geeks of New Bedford.

With a staff of professional employees, this company will work with you from start to finish on your project.

While most people envision a closet company to work with just clothing closets, Custom Closet Geeks can help you with much more. They can customize pantries, office systems, mudrooms, and garages just to name a few.

Custom Closet Geeks offers a free in-home consultation. A designer will come to your home and design a space to your needs. They design in-person on a computer that shows you the renderings in 3-D. The company also has a very quick turnaround time. The average project is designed, manufactured, and installed in two to four weeks.

Have you ever thought to design the ring of your dreams? Now is the time!

Layaway and interest free financing is available.

Our mission is to deliver on Our Promise and with a zealous commitment to provide the highest quality client experience with a sense of warmth and friendliness. We have a learning-based culture that is dedicated to giving back to our clients and the community.

We commit to supporting our local business partners. Friendships before transactions are what we believe in!

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allsouthcoasthomes.com February 2023 | The South Coast Insider

19

COVER STORY

' n i k c i l r e g Fin

CHICKEN

by Shauna Ferry

February is an underrated month. Some people feel it's just depressing – it’s cold, the holidays are over, New Year's resolutions have already gone out the window, and Valentine’s Day is overrated and just another “all about the money” holiday.

I

personally love February.

As a dairy farmer, this is the quietest and most relaxing month we have in the whole year. February is the month in which everyone should self-reflect and try new things! For my part, I’m reading new books and continuing to make new meals with as many locally made items as possible. It really makes dinner fun and I’ve become conscious of looking at labels to find out where my food is coming from.

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For my part, I’m reading new books and continuing to make new meals with as many locally made items as possible.

My husband, Andrew, chose one of the meals of the week we took on.

It was a delicious, but a feel-good, football Sunday kind of meal: southern-style fried chicken sandwiches.

Andrew is constantly finding

February 2023 | The South Coast Insider

recipes that consist of some type of deep fried anything – chicken, turkey, okra, broccoli. He loves following different people on TikTok who make all these creative deep-fried recipes, so this was a meal he has been

wanting to try for a long time.

This recipe was basic, so I didn’t use a whole lot of local ingredients, but I did my best to use what I could.

Firstly, I needed chicken breast. I haven’t found any local farms that sell chicken breast, but I did go to a local meat shop, Gene’s Meat Market in Westport. I always have good experiences with Gene’s. Their meat is fresh and the pricing is always great. Another thing about Gene’s is the

The recipe was strictly for the chicken, but we did want to make chicken sandwiches, so the add-ons of bread, spicy mayo, and pickles were all influenced from other random southern-style recipes we had come across, and we weren’t disappointed with their inclusion! service. I find meat buying intimidating, but they’re always helpful and answer any questions I have. The flour and seasonings that went into the seasoning mixture I already had in my pantry, but I did make the buttermilk because I didn’t have any on hand. I used our vat-pasteurized milk from Westport Dairy with store-bought apple cider vinegar. I never realized how easy it was to make buttermilk until I read this recipe! The egg that I added into the buttermilk was just from a local friend who has chickens. (They don’t sell their chicken eggs, but they should with how crazy the egg prices are right now!) After coating each pounded-out chicken breast, we deep-fried them until golden brown.

toasting the bulkie roll and placing one of the chicken breasts on it, it was time to add the finishing touches.

The sauce we used was a spicy mayo – just a drizzle on the bread. I could not find any locally made spicy mayo (and I did look far and wide), so I had to use Lee Kum Kee Siracha Mayo. This product is manufactured out of California. While I was disappointed to not find a local product, it did have great flavor and was a good stand-in until I can find something made a little closer.

Last was the pickle on top, brought to us by Grillo’s.

Grillo’s is out of Boston and they have a pretty cool backstory. The owner, Travis, lost a job opportunity and decided to try making and selling pickles using an old family recipe with cucumbers right out of his garden. After selling out of the trunk of his car, then pickle carts, he quickly moved into Whole Foods, Fenway Park, and other larger stores like Target. Sometimes in dark times, you just have to get creative and find your inspiration. After adding one slice of their “pickle sandwich makers'' pickles,

the sandwich was finally complete.

The verdict? The sandwich was absolutely delicious, and I was highly impressed.

The one change I would make would be to put half the seasonings called for in the recipe directly on the chicken as well as into the flour mix, just to give it a little extra flavor. I will be making this recipe again – I think as sliders for my next get-together.

For the full recipe, visit thesoulfoodpot.com/ soul-food-southern-friedchicken/ Bon appetit!

FRIED CHICKEN SANDWICH

The recipe was strictly for the chicken, but we did want to make chicken sandwiches, so the add-ons of bread, spicy mayo, and pickles were all influenced from other random southern-style recipes we had come across, and we weren’t disappointed with their inclusion!

For our bread, I used Calise bulkie rolls. Calise Bakery is out of Rhode Island and has been around for over 100 years – they’re the only bulkie rolls we buy. After

After adding one slice of their “pickle sandwich makers'' pickles, the sandwich was finally complete.

February 2023 | The South Coast Insider

21

ON MY MIND

Where am I?

by Paul Kandarian

I was reading an article about some successful person the other day and they were asked a question successful people are often asked: “How did you get to where you are today?

T

hen something hit me: where I am today is not where I was yesterday, nor where I will be tomorrow.

In fact, where I am today might change by tomorrow, or an hour or minute or second from now. I could scratch off a million-dollar lottery ticket and on my

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happy way to cash it, step outside and get hit by a bus.

Life is fluid and fleeting and fickle. Life changes day by day, second by second. The only certainty is that nothing is certain.

I’m not sure why it triggered this philosophical tsunami in me, but it did. It’s not like

February 2023 | The South Coast Insider

I find the question of how anyone got where they are today offensive. I mean, I get it. Humans like order because without order there is chaos.

And that order almost mandates we categorize people and places and things.

George Washington was our first President. Paris is in France. My keys are on the usual spot on the counter. We like things to fit.

But there is a sense of hierarchy inherent in questions like, “How did you get where you are today?”

We ask people who we think are rich or powerful or somehow elevated in our eyes that question, as if whatever their answer is will somehow magically

transform our life if we do whatever they did. We want to know and hopefully emulate the secret of their success. We buy self-help books with that theme all the time.

You’d never ask someone sleeping under a pile of dirty clothes on a slab of filthy cardboard over a heating grate “How did you get where you are today?” because we don’t care about the answer. Or more likely, it’s not entertaining enough, it’s nothing we’d want to copy, it’s not an answer that’ll make us smile.

I actually did that a couple times, though. One time in Pittsburgh, an affable homeless guy walked up to

me and asked if I had some money to spare. So I did something some may think is exploitive: I told him I’d give him five bucks if he’d sit down with me and tell me about his life, which was my way of asking “How did you get where you are today?”

He said something vague, maybe his life took a bad turn, I can’t remember the details. I don’t think he was offended, but his affability waned as he hemmed and hawed trying to find an answer. But his smile returned when I gave him the fiver, shook his hand and wished him well.

Another time in Seattle, a homeless man approached me outside my hotel and said he was sleeping under a bridge somewhere, and could use a few bucks. I asked politely what brought him to this, and he spoke either the truth or a lie or maybe a delicate blend of both when he said “I’m a veteran…I’d rather not talk about it.”

So I gave him a few bucks.

He thanked me and went on his way, and I on mine.

“How did you get where you are today?” is one of those somewhat rhetorical questions I think that could be up there with “How are you?” as far as it being useful. When someone asks that question, it’s perfunctory. The person asking doesn’t require a long-winded answer about how you are and the person answering isn’t required to give one. But often they do, and the asker then spends the next moments looking over the askee’s shoulder to be rescued by recognizing someone else they suddenly need to talk to or spotting a shrimp at the raw bar with their name on it.

Another rather empty question, often asked at a party, totally open ended given the range of possibilities: “So, what do you do?” is an obvious intention is to find out what people do when they get up every day to earn money to pay for the place they woke up in, the car they drive to and from it, the food they put in their belly.

My cocky answer to “What do you do?” is often “About what?” or “Now? I’m talking to you.” My unspoken answer is “Well, it’s a long story,” unspoken because virtually no one asking that wants to waste a lot of time listening to what would likely be a lengthy answer when they could be attacking the shrimp at the raw bar.

So I’ll play along and say, “I’m an actor,” and they’ll be intrigued, raise both eyebrows and ask, “Oh, that’s cool! Have I seen you in anything?” My short answer is always “Probably not,” because if I dive into a longer one, they’ll quickly look over my shoulder hoping to find someone with a much shorter one.

I guess the bottom line of this ramble is this: where you are today matters.

To you. But to others, it’s usually just a polite way of making conversation, perhaps feigning interest in the answer, and moving on to the next social obligation hoping for something more entertaining. And that’s fine.

It makes our world go around in an orderly fashion.

But be advised: should you see me at a party and ask “How did you get to where you are today?” I just may say, “A Honda Civic. Thanks for asking.” And then head for the raw bar for that shrimp with my name on it.

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Clifton

REHABILITATIVE NURSING CENTER

Certified Post Acute Care  Short-Term Rehab  Post Acute Care  Transitional Care  Long-Term Care

Clifton is the first facility in Bristol County to earn this Post Acute Care Certification by the Joint Commission, and one of only a few organizations statewide.

The Joint Commission Gold Seal of Approval® is a national symbol of quality that reflects an organization’s commitment to providing safe and effective patient and resident care. The Joint Commission is an independent, not-for-profit organization for the accreditation of health care organizations.

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