Warning: Flash Mob outbreak in Wellesley

By bbrown | Published: December 4, 2013

Just when you thought flash mobs had outlived whatever endearing qualities they ever had, they’ve begun springing up again in Wellesley.

Sure, kids on the local college scene and elsewhere in town have been flashing and mobbing ever since the advent of good smartphone cameras ready to capture their fancy footsteps and viral vocals. But we feel it’s our public duty to warn you that a new outbreak has taken hold of Wellesley, with parishioners at Village Church and Wellesley High Teachers among the most recent entertainers.

Here’s a look at the Village Churchers bopping along to a song called “Brave.” We don’t have video for the teachers’ recent pep rally performance yet (of Katy Perry’s “Roar” perhaps?),  so we’ll settle for now for some still photos included in The Bradford’s Thanksgiving Week photo gallery.

Posted in Music, religion, Wellesley High School | Leave a comment

First Look: Popping by the Wellesley Haberdashery

By Deborah Brown | Published: December 4, 2013

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The Haberdashery, the European men’s and women’s sportswear shop that we mentioned over the weekend is setting up shop at 22 Church St., in downtown Wellesley where The Triangle Shop used to be.  It isn’t officially open yet, but the door was ajar, and I’m not shy, so I smiled pretty and they let me in on Tuesday afternoon.  The owners hope to open ASAP for just plain anybody, smiling or not, and plan to do so initially under the name of HOP, an acronym for Haberdashery Off Price.

That means that the $1,300 blazer that would look so nice on my husband would cost a mere $675.  So look at the price, slash it in half, and walk out with your bargain.  Alas, I was there as a mere tire-kicking journalist, but soon, an actual customer came in and started talking labels and Euro-style with the best of them.  Perhaps she walked out with that waffle-weave bag she was admiring.  Although not really open for business, it didn’t look like business was being turned away.

Here’s the thing:  they need staff who can engage customers in such discussions.  So when your college student is home on break or your fashion-loving friend with even a modicum of retail experience is looking for employment, send him or her over to talk job possibilities.

For the first few months, the store will be known as HOP.  That will be the time to get your bargains while the getting is good, because in March they will close for 3-4 weeks to seriously spruce up the interior.  After it gets its face lift, the store will reopen as The Haberdashery, in all its full-price splendor.

The Haberdashery also has locations in Nantucket, Osterville (on Martha’s Vineyard), and Palm Beach.

 

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Free mental health screening offered in Wellesley

By admin | Published: December 3, 2013

From the Wellesley Health Department and Wellesley ACTS:

The holiday season is supposed to be one of the most joyous times of the year, but a calendar filled with social engagements, shopping for presents, and endless errands can leave even the most holiday spirited individual emotionally drained.

If you are overwhelmed by the holidays and have not been feeling like your normal self, take a free anonymous mental health or alcohol screening online by visiting: http://www.mentalhealthscreening.org/screening/wellesleyacts.

You will receive immediate customized feedback, as well as the opportunity to schedule an appointment for further evaluation if necessary.

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Rebuilding Wellesley one LEGO brick at a time

By bbrown | Published: December 3, 2013

lego town hallSome Wellesley landmarks are so special that master LEGO builder Nick Tatar feels compelled to recreate them with the little plastic bricks he so artfully pieces together.

Tatar, assistant dean of student life at Olin College in Needham, has already assembled this miniature version of the Sprague Memorial Clock Tower (guess we won’t be able to go inside this one like with did with the real one over the summer).

Photo by Michael Maloney

Photo by Michael Maloney

And now he’s working on a model of Wellesley Town Hall, which is none too simple of course with its mix of colors and intricate architecture. In fact, Tatar wouldn’t mind finding an organization to sponsor this project, which he’d happily hand over for display (contact him here).

As of early November, Tatar had used about 3,000 pieces on the Town Hall model and wasn’t quite sure what the total would need to be. He took a brief walk-through of the building recently to get the basic layout down, though could use old pictures of the interior to further educate himself. His plan for the model is show a cut-away of the building: The outside visible on one side, the inside visible on the other.

According to Tatar’s college alumni website, he picked up LEGOs as an adult in recent years when his young sons started playing with them. Since then, Tatar’s work has been showcased on LEGO bloggers and he’s been written up in local newspapers, like the Needham Times, which covered his 15,000-piece Needham Town Hall project during the town’s 300th anniversary year of 2011.

Needham’s 300 committee sponsored that project, which found a home in the library, where an I Spy game was added to it to help engage kids in town history (the project cost about $3,500, including for a display cover… all funding went to the cost of the materials). You can see more of Tatar’s masterpieces, including a working cuckoo clock, here on Flickr.

Tatar is looking to unveil what’s been done so far on his Wellesley Town Hall model when he appears at Wellesley Free Public Library with his LEGO winter village layout on Dec. 13 & 14. For fun, he’ll run some LEGO trains around the winter village during that window too: Friday from 10am-12pm and 2-6pm and on Saturday from 10am-12pm and 1-4pm

Posted in art, history | Leave a comment

Wellesley School Superintendent Lussier profiled

By bbrown | Published: December 3, 2013

winter1314cvr_wwmWellesleyWeston Magazine’s main feature in its winter issue is a profile of Wellesley Public School superintendent David Lussier, which covers his career history, including his work on the education front for the Clinton and Bush administrations.  Lussier says coming into the Wellesley job allowed him to get closer to school kids than he was in some previous jobs.

Among his efforts here: helping to develop staff to become administrators; improving teacher evaluation processes; figuring out the role of technology in teaching; and earning trust that had eroded in the previous administration.

Lussier, who grew up in Dracut, Mass., says his job “isn’t to make everybody happy. I think it is to be very clear about the reasons we’re making certain choices” (though he acknowledges there are some personnel decisions — such as an unpopular one to re-assign the head of the Wellesley Middle School and High School orchestras — that don’t quite pass the public transparency test). Lussier also emphasizes an approach to prepping students for success, regardless of the career path they might take.

Other pieces in the magazine include profiles of two of Wellesley’s most ubiquitous residents: Sox fan Lynne Smith and Wellesley Wives author Suzy Duffy.

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Wellesley interior design business Shafer O’Neil moves on

By bbrown | Published: December 2, 2013

Interior design business Shafer O’Neil has vacated its space at 544 Washington St., in Wellesley, bidding farewell with moving sales and going away events over the past couple of months.

Owner Judy O’Neil Labins says she has been traveling a lot for work, consulting in product development in gifts and houseware (including 15 days in China recently). She says the travel was making it tough to given the retail side of her business the attention it needed in Wellesley. The move gives her more flexibility in light of her current business endeavors.

We wish her well on the move…

And meanwhile, look for a very high-end evening-wear business owned by a Newton woman to be moving in to the 544 Washington St., spot.

 

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Wellesley filmmaker’s latest documentary coming to Bloomberg TV

By bbrown | Published: December 2, 2013

Wellesley filmmaker Mary Mazzio says her latest work, a documentary titled Contrarian that chronicles the life of philanthropist and investor John Templeton, is set to make its national debut later this month on Bloomberg TV. We posted about the film being in the works at the start of this year.

Templeton, one of the all-time great mutual fund managers as well as an entrepreneurial sort, “attributed his success to the lessons learned in his youth: think differently, live frugally, and be willing to bet against conventional thinking,” according to the press release on the film.

Director Mary Mazzio and fellow Wellesleyite, director of photography Richard Klug. Photo by Richard Schultz

Director Mary Mazzio and fellow Wellesleyite, director of photography Richard Klug. Photo by Richard Schultz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Contrarian premieres on Thursday, Dec. 26, at 9 pm ET/PT on Bloomberg Television with encore presentations on Friday, Dec. 27 & Saturday, Dec. 28 at 9 pm ET/PT.  The film will then be available on Bloomberg.com for a limited time. Here’s a link to the trailer: www.tennesseecontrarian.com

Contrarian was independently produced by Mazzio for the John Templeton Foundation to commemorate Templeton’s 100th birthday.

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