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Search Results for: beth shedd

Wellesley community news round-up: Photographers’ works on display in Wellesley Square; Rep. Liz Miranda addresses Wellesley College grads; Elizabeth Seton dedicates memorial tree; Celtics honor Wellesley resident

June 7, 2021 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

The latest Wellesley, MA community news:

Photographers’ works on display in Wellesley Square

The works of seven area photographers will be on display at 90 Central St. in Wellesley Square from June 5-13, as the Art Wellesley group continues to work with property owners to fill otherwise empty storefronts. The show includes portraits, landscapes, and photo-collage images.

The exhibitors include familiar and maybe not-so-familiar photographers: Eric Barry, Beth Furman, Lisa Neighbors,  Gayatri Pradhan, Frank Schneider, Beth Shedd, and Christina Van Dyke. Exhibitors will staff the show from 12-4pm on Saturday June 12 and Sunday Jume 13.

The other Art Wellesley storefront displays are also set to run through June 13.

Separately, the next round of candidates for electrical box paintings will be reviewed at the June 7 Wellesley Select Board meeting, which starts at 6pm.


Rep. Liz Miranda addresses Wellesley College graduates

Massachusetts State Representative Liz Miranda and Wellesley College alumna addressed the college’s graduating class of 2021 at Wellesley’s 143rd commencement exercises on June 4th. Elected in 2018, Miranda serves as State Representative in the 5th Suffolk District of Roxbury and Dorchester. She currently serves on the Joint Committee(s) on Community Development and Small Businesses, Public Safety and Homeland Security, Veterans and Federal Affairs, and the Joint Committee on the Judiciary.

Wellesley College, Rep. Liz Miranda
Massachusetts State Representative Liz Miranda and Wellesley College alumna addressed the college’s 143rd graduating class.

As Rep. Miranda looked out at graduates, their families, and faculty, she took in the moment and asked attendees to  be present, to breathe, to feel the weight of their accomplishment. “You made it. You deserve this. You earned this. Thank yourself,” she said. “Think of the year that we have survived, together. (I’m so tired of Zooms.) Look around to all who have gathered to celebrate you on one of the most sacred days of your lives.

Let us remember, and never forget, the 3.5 million lives we’ve lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve lost our loved ones, friends, and family members, and complete strangers, including my Avo, my grandmother Maria Andrade Alves Miranda. She was my everything.

Let us never forget the 1,068 Americans that have been murdered by the police since the death of George Floyd. I create space today for far too many Black women and trans women who’ve been brutalized and murdered by the police—Breonna Taylor, Ma’Khia Bryant, Sandra Bland, to say the names of only a few, but we know that only one is too many.”

You can see Miranda’s address in its entirety here.


Elizabeth Seton dedicates memorial tree to those lost to COVID-19

Elizabeth Seton Residences, a Catholic, not-for-profit skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility  in Wellesley, recently held a service to memorialize those who lost their lives to COVID-19 and as a tribute to family members and staff. More than four dozen people attended.

The Wellesley Symphony Orchestra performed at the ceremony, accompanied by Elizabeth Seton staff members, some who sang and some who read.

A memorial tree was dedicated, surrounded by hand-painted stones featuring messages from family member of those who died during the pandemic.

Elizabeth Seton Memorial Tree and Painted Stones

Celtics honor Wellesley resident for fundraising to help kids

paulepsteinHeadshot
Paul Epstein: Hero Among Us

 

Wellesley’s Paul Epstein and Salem, NH’s Steve Picardi were honored as “Heroes among Us” by the Boston Celtics in early May for their efforts over the years to raise millions to help children with neurofibromatosis.

They worked alongside the late Celtics player, coach, and announcer Tommy Heinsohn to help kids through Neurofibromatosis Northeast, an organization dedicated to finding a cure for the neurological genetic condition found in young children.

The funds supported research as well as camp for kids with neurofibromatosis.


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Filed Under: Art

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Delicious gluten-free Italian classics a reality in cookbook co-authored by Wellesley resident

February 7, 2023 by Deborah Brown 2 Comments

You’ve probably heard the old saying, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” The premise is simple—take a sour situation and make the best of it.

But what about when life gives you a gluten intolerance and many of your ancestral Italian favorites are suddenly off limits? Even nonna’s lasagna? For longtime friends and Wellesley resident Cynthia Delia Coddington, and Jo Provenzano Hoppe of Bridgton, Maine, the answer was anything but simple. But it came in time, in the shape of a cookbook co-authored by the pair.

Their book, Senza Glutine: Timeless Italian Dishes for the Gluten Free Palate, released in late December, is currently available for sale at Wellesley Books and other selected local bookstores, and on Amazon. With the completion of Senza Glutine, a health crisis that started out lemons led Cynthia and Jo on a path to la dolce vita.

The project began as a creative outlet during COVID, Cynthia and Jo took a six-week online course on food writing and publishing. Their mission: to take the many recipes handed down to each of them from their Italian relatives and coalesce them into a beautiful cookbook that would keep family culinary traditions alive. Their challenge: to adapt every one of those ancestral recipes to suit a gluten-free lifestyle.

Italian cookbook, Wellesley
Wellesley resident Cynthia Delia Coddington, left, and Jo Provenzano Hoppe of Bridgton, Maine, collaborated on Senza Glutine: Timeless Italian Dishes for the Gluten Free Palate. Photo by Beth Shedd Photography.

Cynthia remembers well the day her doctor told her to cut out gluten, a protein commonly found in breads, pasta, pizza, and cereal. Her incredulous response was, “You don’t get it. I’m Italian. We eat wheat.”

Jo Provenzano Hoppe had a similar reaction when she learned she had celiac disease, also an autoimmune disorder.

Italian cookbook, Wellesley
Roasted eggplant lasagna. Cindy says that often people on gluten free diets replace whole foods with processed foods, and that’s not good. She and Jo wanted to give people go-to gluten free recipes that were well-researched and tested. “We wanted to make our recipes accessible to everyone.”

Since those individual diagnoses over ten years ago, the two became friends more recently when Jo and her husband made a retirement move to Bridgton, Maine, a bucolic area with lakes, a ski resort, and plenty of hiking trails. Cindy and her family had a vacation home nearby. The two soon met and discovered their shared Italian ancestry and love of cooking and eating, as well as their gluten intolerance. Thus began what Cynthia calls, “an unbelievable friendship and an incredible project.”

The book contains over 100 beautifully photographed recipes, illustrated techniques, and information on how to source the best gluten-free products. While all the recipes were developed for those with gluten sensitivities, the end product is really for everybody around your table. Cindy and Jo’s tagline is, “Liberate yourself from the bondage of gluten intolerance.” Take it literally. This book is for any home cook who has been making two meals—one for family members who can eat gluten, and one for family members who can’t. Liberate yourself from the cleaning bondage of cooking with two pots, two skillets, two lasagna pans. You may have six burners on that stove in your fancy Wellesley kitchen, but that doesn’t mean you want to use them all every night. Using the recipes in Senza Glutine, everyone can eat the same thing at mealtimes, with no compromising on taste or texture for anyone.

Italian cookbook, Wellesley
Baked clams oreganata

“The hardest thing to get right was pizza crust,” Cindy said. “Baked goods basically are the hardest because you have to replace the flour. We had to get familiar with what finely ground means, what coarsely ground means, and how the texture will affect the recipe. You never stop learning.”

Wellesley Italian cookbook
Alberobello, Puglia, Italy. Cindy and Jo took a trip last fall to southern Italy, land of their roots. All of the photographs in Senza Glutine (with the exception of the authors’ portrait) are an artistic result of their travels. “The Italians really get gluten-free,” Cindy said. “In restaurants there, it wasn’t a problem at all.”

The seven major chapters of Senza Glutine include The Gluten Free Pantry; Antipasti (appetizers); Primi (first courses); Secondi (main courses); Contorni (sides); Salse (sauces); and Dolci (desserts).

Recipes we’re hoping to try soon—arancini (rice balls); baked clams oreganata; chicken marsala; roasted eggplant lasagna; panna cotta; biscotti; pizza. This list should keep us busy in the kitchen for the rest of the winter.

COOKBOOK: Senza Glutine: Timeless Italian Dishes for the Gluten Free Palate
AUTHORS: Josephine Hoppe and Cynthia Coddington
PAGES: 244
PUBLICATION DATE: December 26, 2022
BUY: Available at Wellesley Books and other selected local bookstores, and on Amazon


Got a unique story to share? Let us know at theswellesleyreport@gmail.com


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Filed Under: Books, Food, Health

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Photogenic fisher cat visits Wellesley yard

September 27, 2022 by Bob Brown 21 Comments

A fisher cat knew what it was doing by roaming around Wellesley resident and photographer Beth Shedd’s yard. Shedd can make anybody look their best on camera, as you can see in this 11 seconds of glory for “Freddy” that she posted on social media this week (and allowed us to share).

https://www.facebook.com/SwellesleyReport/videos/798854021426284

This video is right up there with 2018’s “Otter vs. Eel” seen in Wellesley.

Fisher cats, or more accurately “fishers,” are known for being “elusive”—that’s the word everyone seems to use when describing this member of the weasel family. The only one I’ve seen in the wild skittered across Pond Road in Wellesley at dawn a few years back while I was running. Pretty sure I picked up my pace when I saw it.

Shedd said “this was our first up close and personal, but we’ve seen them under shrubs in the perimeter of our garden years ago.”

Wellesley Animal Control Officer Jenny Smith says the only one she’s seen in town since starting her job in early 2021 was unfortunately hit by a car. “Other than that it has only been reported to me once, a resident hearing one in their neighborhood,” Smith said.

Fun facts from Smith about the animals are that “they remain active year round and do not hibernate. Their preferred habitat is mixed forest with heavy canopy cover, as they tend to avoid traveling in large open areas. They commonly use hollow logs, stonewalls, tree cavities, and brush piles to rest. Fishers are omnivorous. Their primary foods include small rodents, squirrels, rabbits, birds, eggs, fruit, porcupines, and carrion… Although they are proficient climbers, most of their hunting takes place on the ground.”

Lisa Moore, the environmental education, outreach, and compliance coordinator for Wellesley’s Natural Resources Commission, calls them “one of the most misunderstood animals around here.”

She’s learned about them while working for Mass Audubon for the last 10 years, plus has spotted them in her yard on occasion. One of her fun facts is that fishers can climb down a tree headfirst.

“Often called a Fisher Cat, which is a misnomer,” Moore says. “They belong to the weasel family, and are not a cat and don’t fish. This small mammal ranges in size from 4-16 lbs, with females being smaller than males. Males tend to be about three feet long and females about two feet long, in both sexes the tail makes up a third of the body length.”

While I’ve bought into the idea that screaming fishers are among the critters that keep me awake at night, Moore says fishers screaming is a misconception. “Fishers will hiss, growl, and make a chuckle sound, but they do not scream. The grey fox also can climb trees and the female call during mating sounds like a child or woman screaming,” she says.

Mass Audubon says fishers were reintroduced in New England in the 1950s to control porcupines.

Moore says “I do not know if they rebounded or were reintroduced to manage the porcupine population that exploded as the fisher declined. Porcupine can decimate the understory of a forest and kill trees by collaring them, eating the bark and under bark off a tree around the entire trunk killing the tree. Fishers are one of the few animals that will actively hunt and eat porcupine. Really shows the importance of a balanced food chain or food web.”

The state’s MassWildlife agency encourages you not to “let fishers intimidate you: Don’t hesitate to scare or threaten fishers with loud noises, bright lights, or water sprayed from a hose.”

We’re not sure if that latter approach is an allowed use under the town’s outside water restrictions…


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Filed Under: Animals

Taste of Wellesley, Rotary Club

Wellesley Mothers Forum kicks off new membership year

August 5, 2022 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

The Wellesley Mothers Forum is starting its 2022-2023 membership year with over 400 members and 40-plus volunteers from Wellesley and surrounding communities. The forum is being led by new Co-Presidents are Jenny Hughes and Jen Lord, along with a new board.

On tap are social gatherings, kids’ events, couples’ nights, and more, all within a community that supports parents. In-person networking and online subgroups offer moms support on topics such as kids with special needs, expecting a baby, and working parents.

WMF Board '22-'23
Wellesley Mothers Forum board (photo by Beth Shedd)

Please send tips, photos, ideas to theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

Filed Under: Kids, Parenting

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Sign of spring: Wellesley seeks artists to paint four more traffic signal electrical boxes

March 5, 2022 by Deborah Brown 1 Comment

We thought artists had already painted every Wellesley traffic signal box in town, but no. There’s more art to be done. Four boxes in town remain unadorned, a sorry situation that must be remedied. To that end, the Wellesley Public Art Committee, working with the Wellesley Police Department, seeks artists to put in proposals for the Electrical Box At Program to “help make our community even more colorful and enhance the visual experience for Town residents and visitors.”

Electrical box art, Wellesley
Poppies + Dots, by Julia Blake, Washington St. at Wellesley Ave. Photo by Beth Shedd Photography

Program details, eligibility criteria, and comprehensive proposal information are in the Spring 2022 Traffic Box Art application.

All proposals must be received by Friday, April 15 at 4pm to be considered. Proposals may be emailed to wellesleycap@gmail.com or delivered as hardcopies to the Wellesley Police Department, in care of Chief Jack Pilecki.

The program began in late 2020 and is now in its fifth round. Local artists—both amateur and professional —and art and educational institutions are invited to apply to paint boxes this spring.

The locations under consideration for this round of the program are:

  • Central Park – Central Street & Grove Street
  • Cedar Street at River Road and Walnut Street
  • Route 9 East Exit Ramp at Cedar Street
  • Linden Street at Everett Street (2 boxes, additional compensation for this location TBD)*

*This location includes more than one box with varying size dimensions. Please make sure to choose the correct design template; visiting the locations in advance is encouraged.

Selected artists will receive a stipend for their time, transportation, and supplies. Painting must be done between May 2, 2022 and June 30, 2022.

Use this interactive map for a virtual tour of the completed traffic boxes in Wellesley, photos and locations, and artist and sponsor information.

Filed Under: Art

Rick Cram, leader

Nurses get some TLC on Valentine’s Day from the Community Fund for Wellesley

February 14, 2022 by Deborah Brown 3 Comments

Let’s hear it for Wellesley nurses, those front-line COVID workers and carers, the people we go to when we need real information, real fast about healthcare protocols, masking, testing, vaccinations, and how to keep ourselves and the community safe. In a gesture of appreciation, volunteers from the Community Fund for Wellesley put together Valentine’s Day gift bags and hand delivered them to nurses at the town’s seven elementary schools, the middle and high schools, PAWS preschool, and the health department.

Wellesley nurse

The swag bag included notes of appreciation, cookies and a gift card from Quebrada Bakery, and stress balls, all packed with love by volunteers Ellen Gibbs and Wendy Paul. Photographer Beth Shedd swooped in for the delivery side of the effort and took portraits of the recipients, to boot.

“If we can recognize that the nurses in our schools and elsewhere in our community have been working so hard during the pandemic, I think it can go a long way to making them feel appreciated,” Paul said.

“Every single nurse was moved by the gesture and enjoyed sharing about the many challenges, and the current lull, and their universal readiness for vacation week,” Shedd said.

Thanks not only to the Wellesley nurses who work in the public schools and the health department, but to the many other nurses in town. To those who work in private schools, or on the town’s three college campuses, or in doctor’s offices and hospitals in and beyond Wellesley, we see you, and thank you, too.

Wellesley nurse

Wellesley nurse

Wellesley nurse
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Health, Holidays

Thank you Swellesley Report supporters & on to Year 17

February 7, 2022 by Bob Brown 2 Comments

Thanks to all of you who have supported The Swellesley Report over the past year and before that. We reassess our situation annually, and what the heck, we’re doing it again in 2022.

As you may or may not know, we’re a small community-focused operation consisting of residents Deborah and Bob Brown. Deborah works on our Reports (including Natick Report) full time, while Bob squeezes in his writing around his day job. We laugh when people ask if someone from “your staff” can cover an event.

As we try to stress, please keep your expectations in check. We do what we can, but our resources are limited.

We do however thank those who help us do what we do. This includes those of you who:

  • Pass along tips and ideas
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  • Send photos of the darnedest things
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We’ve also loved having students contribute their work, including Athlete of the Week articles.

Thank you as well to the many readers who support us financially, some on a regular basis. This backing means a lot to us and helps cover the cost of everything from web hosting to the software and services that power everything from our newsletters to our events calendar.

Thank you to our advertisers, too. Dozens of organizations and individuals sponsored Swellesley in 2021, enabling us to do what we do. One breakthrough this past year was that the town began running some legal notices in Swellesley, aware that outdated state rules requiring publication in printed newspapers aren’t necessarily getting the word out.

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Once more thank you, and here’s to another great year of local news coverage.

Deborah & Bob

Filed Under: Media

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