Beyond Wellesley: the Woods Hole Film Festival on Cape Cod, Massachusetts

July 30, 2019 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

The 28th Woods Hole Film Festival, running through Saturday, August 3, presents 170 independent films from around the world in the fun village of Woods Hole, and Falmouth. The festival came to our attention because of a Wellesley connection, of course. The feature-length film Path of the Daff, a documentary about the unshakeable Boston spirit after the 2013 Marathon bombing, made its world premier in the historic Woods Hole Firehouse. We were told that Wellesley had a cameo appearance in the movie. Were we interested in catching the film about hope and inspiration after the devastation of the 2013 events? asked organizers. Of course we were.

Harbor, Woods Hole — Just another hard day covering the Woods Hole Film Festival. Woods Hole harbor. Photo credit: Bob Brown

Path of the Daff in part covers the events that occurred on April 15, 2013. On that day, the Boylston Street finish line of the Boston Marathon was transformed by two bombs from a place of joy to a place of terror. Two homemade pressure cooker bombs detonated 12 seconds and 210 yards apart at 2:49pm, near the finish line of the race, killing three people and injuring several hundred others, including 16 who lost limbs.

After tragedy, there are always certain people who look around and figure out how to bring positivity. Charlestown resident and urban horticulturalist Diane Valle is one of those people. She had a vision of hope and rebirth for the Boston, and that vision included daffodils. Her goal: to line the Boston Marathon route with a sea of daffodils that would bloom for Marathon Day and symbolize that idea of hope. I spoke to her at the festival and Valle said, “This movie and the daffodils are all about hope and looking forward. I think the world is a better place with flowers in it.”

In under six months, Valle found a way to source tens of thousands of daffodil bulbs in time to get them in the ground in Fall 2013 so that they would be in bloom for the Spring 2014 Marathon. When I heard about the project, I got in touch with Valle and asked if she needed a couple of garden clubs in Wellesley to help with the efforts. That fall, between the efforts of the Town of Wellesley, the Wellesley Gardeners’ Guild, the Hills Garden Club of Wellesley, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and many others, thousands of bulbs were planted in Wellesley.

These are some of the daffodils that were planted in Wellesley along the Boston Marathon route, Fall 2013, Wellesley Hills Library. Thanks to Wellesley Gardeners’ Guild for their efforts in planting so many daffs along the route. Also thanks to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society for storing the bulbs at their 800 Washington St. headquarters.

Valle got in touch with other garden clubs in the towns along the Marathon route to plant daffodils, and all answered the call to send a message of resilience and strength. The film focuses on the efforts in Boston, where volunteers place thousands of the cheerful yellow flowers in pots labeled “Boston Strong” all over the Copley Square area. The movie traces the path of the bulbs from Holland to Boston, and all the teamwork it takes to make the simple message of hope happen. The movie was created and financed as a labor of love by executive producer Matthew Piscitelli and his brother and director Michael Piscitelli. They own Olson’s Greenhouses in Raynam, MA, where the daffs are delivered and are processed after their trip from the Netherlands.

Wellesley Hills Clock Tower, daffodils — Some of the Boston Marathon daffodils in bloom at the Wellesley Hills Clock Tower, Spring 2014. Thanks to the Town of Wellesley and the Hills Garden Club of Wellesley for their efforts in planting the bulbs.

Matthew was on hand at the Woods Hole premier. “We do it not for any money. We don’t get money for this. Any donations go to charities such as A Leg Forever. We do it because we love Boston and the Boston Marathon.”

Shout-out to Noelle Kaelblein, whose running progress in the film, including through Wellesley (our cameo appearance!) , was charted during her first marathon ever. Her efforts raised major funds for A Leg Forever, a charity established by Elizabeth Norden in honor of her two sons JP and Paul Norden, who each lost a leg in the Boston Marathon bombings. The foundation’s mission is to pay it forward and assist other amputees in their time of need just as JP and Paul were helped with overwhelming support following the marathon bombings.

whff posters woods hole — Woods Hole Film Festival posters. Photo: Bob Brown

There’s still time to attend the Woods Hole Film Festival

My co-editor Bob Brown and I had a great time in the busy village well known for its ferry service to Martha’s Vineyard and as the ending point of the Shining Sea Bike Path. As a sandwich board in front of one of the restaurants says, “Woods Hole is ferry, ferry fun.” While in the village, we caught six full-length films, five shorts, and wandered in and out of shops and restaurants. It was a great way to spend a summer weekend.

drawbridge woods hole — The drawbridge at Woods Hole is a big attraction for kids. We loved it, too.

We had dinner our first night at Landfall Restaurant (2 Luscombe Ave.), where we downed oysters at a waterfront table. Attached to the back of the restaurant was a small deck where boaters backed up, tied up their crafts, and piled out to relax on wooden benches with a drink or two. It was a fun summer party atmosphere from stem to stern at Landfall.

Landfall, Woods Hole — Landfall Restaurant, Woods Hole

The next night we tried out Shuckers (91A Water St.) which was still going strong at 9pm when we showed up for dinner. Once again, we scored a waterfront table, this time on Eel’s Pond. A band had the crowd singing along, and everyone was loud and cheerful. The fish sandwich and the Caesar Salad with shrimp were big hits with us. Also on the menu: raw bar, crab cakes, fried whole belly clams, steamed lobster, and more.

Thanks to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute

Most of the films are shown in Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution lecture halls, and it was cool to have the opportunity to go into those buildings. Best of all we enjoyed the films in air conditioned comfort, and the lecture hall style seating meant no obstructed views and cushy seating.

We saw six movies and multiple shorts at the festival. Here are reviews of some of our favorites — Pizza, A Love Story (New Haven pizza finally gets its due); Nose to Tail (a really hard day in the life of a high-end chef); and Float (F1D flying machines, competition).

The fun is far from over. Also below, an update on encore screenings on films that sold out and info about the awards ceremony at Captain Kidd
Restaurant featuring music by singer-songwriter Sam Woolf, who finished in American Idol’s top five in 2014.

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Fire devastates downtown Natick

July 22, 2019 by Deborah Brown 7 Comments

Wellesley firefighters were among first responders from more than a dozen neighboring communities that headed to downtown Natick overnight to battle an 8-alarm fire that left a firefighter injured and wrecked a handful of businesses, according to news crews on the scene.

I’ve been in Natick Center all morning taking pictures and videos, and talking with business owners and residents. about the fire that has destroyed at least eight businesses. Among the ruined storefronts are King Wok Chinese restaurant, which has been a fixture on that block since at least 1997. The basement of that restaurant apparently is where the fire began. One firefighter has been taken to the hospital with reported minor injuries.

Natick fire, near Wellesley — Wellesley Fire Rescue team sprays the roof of Natick Center Graphics, located at the corner of Main and West Central Streets.

That block, which dates from 1900, also has seen the loss of the much-loved Iron Horse, a yarn and fiber arts supply shop that also offered classes and workshops. Owner Deborah Lynne Smith in a Facebook post said, “This morning at 1:22 Natick Fire was notified of smoke coming out of the front side of the building (Rt 27) our store was in (the side) building. By 4:26 the fire went to 7 alarm. Our life dream has been destroyed. Thankfully none of our wonderful staff or customers were in there!”

The Christian Science Reading Room is also ruined, its plate-glass windows smashed in by firefighters, all its literature a total loss.

Nancy Kelley Dance Studio also suffered heavy damages, as has Clip and Dip Dog Grooming. Natick Center Graphics, located on the same side of the complex as King Wok, also is wrecked. At least four other businesses are seriously affected. Just across the street, Common Kitchen & Cafe was closed, as it always is on Mondays, and unscathed. Crowds gathered at the edge of the Natick Commons to watch as smoke, at times acrid and black, poured out of the flat-roofed, one-story building affected by the disaster.

The owner of the 9,479 square foot building on 0.29 acres of land is One South Main St. LLC in Cambridge, Massachusetts. According to the Natick Assessor’s records, the company bought the property in August 2018 for $2 million.

One spot that escaped damage: Robjets d’ Art, which earlier this month moved from its spot adjacent to King Wok to nearby Natick Center location at 5 S. Main Street. Luckiest move ever for the funky shop that carries a collection of cool vintage jewelry, books, music, curios and art.

Some of the towns who sent emergency crews: Wellesley, Hudson, Leicester, Wayland, Sudbury, Acton, Marlborough, Southborough, Milford, Sherborn and Hopkinton. The Salvation Army was on hand, as were Eversource, Boston Sparks Association support services, Massachusetts Department of Fire Services Special Operations, and more.

Cosmos Chiropractic Care at 12 West Central Street for 24 years, owned by Doc Cosmos, also lucked out. The 12 West Central Street building did not suffer damage. Cosmos, the self-described “mayor of Natick and proud townie,” said, “I’m from Natick, grew up here, and this is kind of a lot. But we are townies here, and we stick together. I’m glad business owners and customers weren’t hurt. This is bad, but the town will rally and come together.”

Another shot from the second floor of the Morse Institute.

The flames seem to be relentless and are still shooting up, from a strip of businesses along South Main in #Natick. We’re told AT LEAST 8 businesses are being impacted by this fire, that started overnight inside King Wok chinese restaurant. I’m live on @wbz, with the latest. pic.twitter.com/3NrhLGDkOV

— MichelleReneeFisher (@Michelle_WBZ) July 22, 2019

A little Natick fire history

This isn’t the first time Natick center has been ravaged by fire. Back on January 13, 1874 the town hub saw an inferno reduce 35 buildings to rubble, in which a Natick firefighter was killed. The town’s newspaper, The Natick Bulletin, lost its headquarters to the fire, as did the Congregational Church, a concert hall, the fire station, a grocers, a dry goods store, clothing stores, and more.

Natick Fire, 1874. Photo credit: Morse Institute Library Special Collections.

Despite the loss of its offices in 1874, The Natick Bulletin continued to publish. Under a sub-headline “Natick Will Rise Again” the town’s news source reported, “The business portion of our beautiful town lies in ashes. The fire demon has laid its withering hand upon the home of nearly our whole mercantile, religious, and professional interests, and it is vanished from sight. It is almost too terrible to realize. But though we have suffered fearfully…there is no despondency. The enterprise of our people will overcome the difficulties of the present situation…The burnt district will be rebuilt.”

In a 2009 Boston Globe story that looked back at the fire, Megan McKee wrote that fire “got its start at about 3am, when it was discovered on the second floor of a building at Summer and Main Streets.”

McKee’s story goes on to say that wind helped the fire jump across Summer Street to J.P. Wolcott’s one-year old, three-story shoe factory and into the rest of the commercial district.

The Morse Institute Library at 14 East Central Street, from where I wrote this post, survived the 1874 fire, and now the 2019 fire, despite its close proximity to both. The library, which opened on January 1, 1874, just under two weeks before the devastating fire, escaped with only a slightly damaged roof. Today it never even ceased service, despite the nearby scene of destruction.

Thanks to Natick librarian Karol Bartlett for supplying me with historical documents and pictures from the 1874 fire.

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Beyond Wellesley: Peabody Essex Museum’s Carolyn & Peter Lynch exhibit

June 25, 2019 by Deborah Brown 2 Comments

Carolyn and Peter Lynch — Marblehead residents, travelers, philanthropists, and powerhouse American art collectors — lived among historic and beautiful objects every day, antiques they went on the hunt for together, brought home, then used and enjoyed. The couple, their three daughters (Mary, Annie, and Elizabeth), and family and friends ate meals around the vast Sam Maloof dining room table, glanced at their reflections in the Girandole mirror, and moved among paintings by Winslow Homer and Georgia O’Keeffe.

Welcome to the Peabody Essex Museum. For many years Carolyn Lynch served as PEM Trustee and Overseer. She also helped fund the museum’s American Decorative Arts Committee.

The furniture, paintings, ceramics, and textiles the Lynches’ collected are outward expressions of a life well lived, and that life is currently on display at the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) through December 1, 2019. The exhibit, titled “A Passion for American Art: Selections from the Carolyn and Peter Lynch Collection,” is so much more than just its 120 works of decorative art; 76 pieces of furniture; 35 paintings and sculptures; and 10 Native American artworks. The show is an intimate look at how the Lynches visually mixed and lived with three centuries of creative works. The mediums they collected vary, but the message is the same: American art matters and has an important place in the world.

The Lynches’ had their separate interests, to be sure. He ran a little mutual fund at Fidelity called Magellan (just the best performing mutual fund in the world), she won a couple of bridge tournaments here and there (the Grand Life Master bridge player was a five-time national gold medal world champion). Carolyn died in October 2015 at age 69 from acute myeloid leukemia, leaving Peter, their daughters, and six grandchildren. This exhibit is something of a labor of love as Peter not only helped the PEM put it together, but donated three major artworks to the museum, all on display now, in his late wife’s name.

If you want to know how to collect and decorate like a financial genius and a bridge maven, here’s how it’s done, folks.

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Beyond Wellesley: Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge in Rhode Island

June 13, 2019 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

It was a late-spring Saturday, warm enough for an outdoor adventure. The forecast called for overcast skies, a bit of a breeze, and temperatures in the mid-70s. So not quite a classic a beach day. Still, after a long winter we wanted to remind ourselves what the ocean looked like. A hike, we thought, less than two hours from Wellesley. A place that offered a few miles of trails, plenty of ocean views, and nature galore.

We found what we were looking for at Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge in Middletown, Rhode Island. About 50 miles from Wellesley, the drive clocked in at about one hour, fifty minutes to the national park run by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. There, nature lovers can park for free in the large lot while they roam the 242 acre penisula that sits between the Sakonnet River and Rhode Island Sound.

From the mid-1600s to the early 1900s, Sachuest Point was used for farming and sheep grazing. During World War II, the U.S. Navy used the site for a rifle range and communications center. In 1970, a 70-acre donation from the Audubon Society of Rhode Island led to the establishment of Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge. Later land transfers from the Navy brought the refuge’s acreage to its current 242 acres, ensuring the preservation of an important stopover and wintering area for migratory birds.

Sachuest point national wildlife refuge

Nearby the Refuge are the popular Second and Third beaches. Just don’t try to leave your car in the Refuge lot and walk over. It’s not allowed, and a ranger is on duty to make sure you don’t go rogue. When we first got there, we saw a woman park her car, put her surfboard under her arm, get on her skateboard, and mosey down the easygoing hill leading to Second Beach. She looked so cool and surfer-girl, with her sun-streaked hair and her flaunting of the parking rules. Within ten minutes a ranger was stationed outside to prevent more scofflaws. Looks like summer is here, and the parking is not going to be easy, even if you are a free-spirited wave rider.

Just a few miles away is Newport, with plenty of lunch and shopping options, if you’re inclined to go in that direction. We had a nice day trip to this corner of Rhode Island and recommend Sachuest Point for those looking for a relaxed outdoor experience just a bit beyond Wellesley.

Beyond Wellesley: The hidden gardens of Beacon Hill

Beyond Wellesley: The Magnolia Trees of Back Bay

Beyond Wellesley: New Bedford Whaling Museum and lunch

Beyond Swellesley: Boston Pride Parade

June 9, 2019 by bbrown Leave a Comment

The Boston Pride Parade, which attracted thousands of marchers from a slew of educational, arts and political organizations and thousands more lining the streets, lived up to its colorful reputation on Saturday. Lots of sparkles, rainbows and unicorns, some poignant signs recalling those lost to hate incidents, and drag queens galore. It was way longer and elaborate than it used to be when it cruised down Charles Street past my post-college apartment back in the day.

The MBTA predictably botched its logistics, resulting in uncomfortably crammed standing room only on its commuter rail trains that stopped in Wellesley to pick up parade watchers and Red Sox fans. But we eventually got in, and I found a good spot to watch the parade near Carrie Nation, the place where my office usually goes to bid farewell to colleagues. The pub was having its usual Drag Me to Brunch event and pumped out what seemed like endless Lady Gaga tunes through its open windows.

I recognized a few Wellesley faces in the crowd, and then there was Dana Hall School, which had a bunch of marchers who hustled along behind me to catch the train back to Wellesley when the parade was nearly finished.