PUBLISHED by The Cambridge Chronicle
Cambridge--Banning plastic water bottles, offering mortgages based on energy efficiency, and charging for trash pickup by the volume were only a few of the suggestions Cambridge residents made for reducing the city’s carbon footprint at the Cambridge Climate Conference on Saturday.
A group of concerned citizens proposed the idea for the conference to Mayor Denise Simmons last month, and the mayor’s office selected 100 delegates from a pool of diverse applicants to participate in the discussion this past weekend. City staff volunteers led and recorded brainstorming sessions in small groups between lectures about global warming.
“When we had a meeting several months ago about the climate emergency, we looked around the room and saw the same people that are at every meeting,” said Simmons. “In order to sustain the movement, we need to grow it out.”
The city chose delegates from various organizations and demographics not only to expand the range of voices in the conversation about climate change, but also to foster an educational environment, said Simmons. She said she hopes delegates will share what they have learned with their organizations, families and neighborhoods.
In one group, delegates included a climate expert, a Harvard student, an active churchgoer, a senior citizen, a high school student and other concerned citizens. Together, the group proposed goals such as finding a credible way to regularly measure politicians’ goals, along with looking to make “black carbon” one of the greenhouse gasses included in the national reduction targets.
Black carbon, which appears in the form of black smoke, can cause global warming by blanketing glaciers and causing them to melt, explained Milton Bevington, a senior adviser to Social Entrepreneurs and former director of the William J. Clinton Foundation. Other group members expressed shock that the gas was not a part of the national reduction goal.
“I’m just dumbfounded because I thought I knew stuff,” said Laurie Leyshon of the Massachusetts Green Jobs Coalition. “I’m from coal country in Pennsylvania where there’s black soot everywhere.”
The groups discussed topics by answering questions delivered by a moderator, moving from sharing personal thoughts about the climate problems to making specific recommendations to the city. The city plans to compile all suggestions and send them out to the delegates, who will review the list and reconvene on Jan. 23 to agree on specific recommendations to the city council.
Though Simmons expressed confidence that the Council is eager to implement the Congress’ recommendations in 2010, some delegates cited areas in which city lawmakers themselves could easily improve its energy efficiency.
“If they’re setting examples for the city, they should be required to walk to work,” said Lara Gordon, a Realtor and resident of the Area 4 neighborhood.
Before making her closing remarks, Simmons passed off a stack of 100 handwritten cards with delegates’ suggestions to Councilor Henrietta Davis just before she left for the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen last Saturday afternoon. Davis will be in Copenhagen for the week, meeting with leaders of other major cities.
“Cities are the core of the changes made so far concerning the climate problem. We’ll help each other and share our best practices,” said Davis. “What better preparation [for the conference] could I possibly have?”
Showing posts with label The Cambridge Chronicle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Cambridge Chronicle. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Cambridge volunteers recognize worldwide climate protest with 'barn raising,' other events
PUBLISHED by The Cambridge Chronicle
Cambridge volunteers celebrated the International Day of Climate Action with a “barn raising,” caulking holes, sealing fireplaces, resetting thermostats and replacing light bulbs to make The Women’s Center more energy efficient.
The worldwide movement advocates limiting carbon emissions to safe levels: 350 parts per million. Locally, 34 women helped weatherize the center with a project sponsored by the Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET) and the Cambridge Energy Alliance.
The all-female event focused on not only saving energy and money at the center’s aging building but also teaching women efficiency they can bring to their own homes, said Susan Noonan-Forster, co-chair of the center’s Board of Trustees.
Nine women who have participated in HEET’s barn raisings before led teams in tackling different energy leakages throughout the house, including drafty doors and loose windows.
Minka van Beuzekom, a Cambridge City Council candidate, was the “window magic” leader, helping to replace latches and seal shaky window frames. She has participated in all but the first of HEET’s 17 barn raisings in the past year and a half.
“We’re going to have to do a lot of magic!” said van Beuzekom, clad in ripped jeans, sneakers and her campaign sticker instead of a name tag as she examined a loose top floor window.
Ellie Kobeck, co-coordinated the location and pushed for the all-female aspect. She has found that men usually dominated the barn raisings she has attended, and women were discouraged from learning and using tools.
“We need to do the opposite of what capitalism makes us do,” said Kobeck. “The climate emergency is kind of because we’re an unhappy, industrial society that seeks comfort in material things, so we want to support each other.”
Some volunteers echoed Kobeck’s statement about male dominance. Newbie to the center Julia Golomb, 23, said she has done similar work in Greece building retreat centers according to energy efficient standards.
“It’s wonderful that it’s all women,” Golomb, of Somerville, said. “I’ve been in this situation with mostly men where women take the backseat and just change the thermostats.”
Carolyn Mikkal, 63, makes her own electricity from solar panels she installed in her Jamaica Plain home a year ago, and fixing up the Women’s Center has given her a chance to learn about treating her windows.
“It’s really nice not to have men doing their critical, macho put downs, asking ‘Can you run and get me this?’” said Mikkal as she installs a new latch on a third-floor window. “They treat you like you’ve got nothing between your ears.”
HEET and the Cambridge Energy Alliance also hosted a barn raising at the Wendell Street co-op the same day, where 39 co-ed volunteers performed similar tasks. Nine volunteers distributed energy-efficient compact florescent light bulbs to homes in Area 4, between the Central and Kendall T stops.
With all three projects, volunteers installed or exchanged 346 light bulbs, saving 29,000 pounds of carbon per year for ten years, HEET said. After the barn raising, some of the volunteers headed over to the Boston Under Water Rally, a gathering meant to pressure the government to take action this December at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.
“Policy changes are the only way were going to save this planet, but we can start in the home,” said Audrey Schulman of HEET. “If people do things in the home and feel they can have an effect, perhaps they’ll be more likely to vote and demonstrate like they should.”
Cambridge volunteers celebrated the International Day of Climate Action with a “barn raising,” caulking holes, sealing fireplaces, resetting thermostats and replacing light bulbs to make The Women’s Center more energy efficient.
The worldwide movement advocates limiting carbon emissions to safe levels: 350 parts per million. Locally, 34 women helped weatherize the center with a project sponsored by the Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET) and the Cambridge Energy Alliance.
The all-female event focused on not only saving energy and money at the center’s aging building but also teaching women efficiency they can bring to their own homes, said Susan Noonan-Forster, co-chair of the center’s Board of Trustees.
Nine women who have participated in HEET’s barn raisings before led teams in tackling different energy leakages throughout the house, including drafty doors and loose windows.
Minka van Beuzekom, a Cambridge City Council candidate, was the “window magic” leader, helping to replace latches and seal shaky window frames. She has participated in all but the first of HEET’s 17 barn raisings in the past year and a half.
“We’re going to have to do a lot of magic!” said van Beuzekom, clad in ripped jeans, sneakers and her campaign sticker instead of a name tag as she examined a loose top floor window.
Ellie Kobeck, co-coordinated the location and pushed for the all-female aspect. She has found that men usually dominated the barn raisings she has attended, and women were discouraged from learning and using tools.
“We need to do the opposite of what capitalism makes us do,” said Kobeck. “The climate emergency is kind of because we’re an unhappy, industrial society that seeks comfort in material things, so we want to support each other.”
Some volunteers echoed Kobeck’s statement about male dominance. Newbie to the center Julia Golomb, 23, said she has done similar work in Greece building retreat centers according to energy efficient standards.
“It’s wonderful that it’s all women,” Golomb, of Somerville, said. “I’ve been in this situation with mostly men where women take the backseat and just change the thermostats.”
Carolyn Mikkal, 63, makes her own electricity from solar panels she installed in her Jamaica Plain home a year ago, and fixing up the Women’s Center has given her a chance to learn about treating her windows.
“It’s really nice not to have men doing their critical, macho put downs, asking ‘Can you run and get me this?’” said Mikkal as she installs a new latch on a third-floor window. “They treat you like you’ve got nothing between your ears.”
HEET and the Cambridge Energy Alliance also hosted a barn raising at the Wendell Street co-op the same day, where 39 co-ed volunteers performed similar tasks. Nine volunteers distributed energy-efficient compact florescent light bulbs to homes in Area 4, between the Central and Kendall T stops.
With all three projects, volunteers installed or exchanged 346 light bulbs, saving 29,000 pounds of carbon per year for ten years, HEET said. After the barn raising, some of the volunteers headed over to the Boston Under Water Rally, a gathering meant to pressure the government to take action this December at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.
“Policy changes are the only way were going to save this planet, but we can start in the home,” said Audrey Schulman of HEET. “If people do things in the home and feel they can have an effect, perhaps they’ll be more likely to vote and demonstrate like they should.”
Monday, April 20, 2009
All tied up over knotweed: Cambridge art gallery holds its own version of 'Iron Chef'
PUBLISHED by The Cambridge Chronicle
Cambridge —If you have a backyard, you’ve probably pulled annoying, bamboo-like weeds out of the soil before, but you may not know those weeds can make a tasty meal.
This past weekend, Gallery 263 held an Iron “Forage” Chef cook-off to showcase original recipes featuring this antioxidant-rich weed called knotgrass. The point? To celebrate the spirit of “foraging,” or searching for wild edible plants, said David Craft, Gallery 263 co-director.
Japanese knotgrass, possibly brought to America by Frederick Olmsted, is an abundant plant in New England that tastes crunchy and sour, like rhubarb, said Craft. Despite Cambridge’s efforts to kill this plant with pesticides, it grows plentifully along the Charles River and the Minuteman bike trail, he said.
“I love foraging this particular plant,” said Craft. “I was hoping to create a little of a buzz … I would like to see some creative people see different ways to make it.”
Craft said he usually stir-fries knotgrass, and there are few recipes for the plant on the Internet. Knotgrass can be harvested for about two more weeks before it gets too big to eat—the plant can grow to be eight feel tall in one summer, he said.
Craft would like to hold a contest each month featuring different plants, such as milkweed, he said.
Craft, who is a vegan, found out about foraging from a course offered at the Cambridge Center of Adult Education last year, he said. He did not take the course but wanted to find out more, so he began reading foraging books and learning to identify edible plants.
“It’s a lot of fun,” said Craft. “It puts you directly in touch with the earth, something modern man is not too attached to.”
People may not like the idea of foraging in a city because of surrounding pollution or other contaminants, but common sense shows which plants are wild and untouched by pesticides, Craft said. Cities are a good place to begin foraging because they have fewer species to distinguish than a forest, he said.
Contestants picked up their knotgrass from the gallery at 263 Pearl St. on Saturday between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. They had until 5 p.m. Sunday to create a recipe and enter the contest, which will be judged by Craft and the gallery’s co-director Annie Newbold.
“One of our missions find creative ways to get people into the art space,” said Craft. “Music, art and film are obvious choices. This is a little bit of a stretch, but creativity includes cooking. It’s a big passion of mine.”
The winner of the first Iron “Forage” Chef? Eli Saltzman, an 11-year-old from the neighborhood. His recipe was Japanese knotweed puff pastries.
Cambridge —If you have a backyard, you’ve probably pulled annoying, bamboo-like weeds out of the soil before, but you may not know those weeds can make a tasty meal.
This past weekend, Gallery 263 held an Iron “Forage” Chef cook-off to showcase original recipes featuring this antioxidant-rich weed called knotgrass. The point? To celebrate the spirit of “foraging,” or searching for wild edible plants, said David Craft, Gallery 263 co-director.
Japanese knotgrass, possibly brought to America by Frederick Olmsted, is an abundant plant in New England that tastes crunchy and sour, like rhubarb, said Craft. Despite Cambridge’s efforts to kill this plant with pesticides, it grows plentifully along the Charles River and the Minuteman bike trail, he said.
“I love foraging this particular plant,” said Craft. “I was hoping to create a little of a buzz … I would like to see some creative people see different ways to make it.”
Craft said he usually stir-fries knotgrass, and there are few recipes for the plant on the Internet. Knotgrass can be harvested for about two more weeks before it gets too big to eat—the plant can grow to be eight feel tall in one summer, he said.
Craft would like to hold a contest each month featuring different plants, such as milkweed, he said.
Craft, who is a vegan, found out about foraging from a course offered at the Cambridge Center of Adult Education last year, he said. He did not take the course but wanted to find out more, so he began reading foraging books and learning to identify edible plants.
“It’s a lot of fun,” said Craft. “It puts you directly in touch with the earth, something modern man is not too attached to.”
People may not like the idea of foraging in a city because of surrounding pollution or other contaminants, but common sense shows which plants are wild and untouched by pesticides, Craft said. Cities are a good place to begin foraging because they have fewer species to distinguish than a forest, he said.
Contestants picked up their knotgrass from the gallery at 263 Pearl St. on Saturday between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. They had until 5 p.m. Sunday to create a recipe and enter the contest, which will be judged by Craft and the gallery’s co-director Annie Newbold.
“One of our missions find creative ways to get people into the art space,” said Craft. “Music, art and film are obvious choices. This is a little bit of a stretch, but creativity includes cooking. It’s a big passion of mine.”
The winner of the first Iron “Forage” Chef? Eli Saltzman, an 11-year-old from the neighborhood. His recipe was Japanese knotweed puff pastries.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Cambridge’s Paul Solet finds ‘Grace’ in horror
PUBLISHED by The Cambridge Chronicle
Cambridge —
Paul Solet’s first feature film got the best reaction a horror writer and director could hope for: two audience members fainted at its Sundance premiere. The Cambridge native and Emerson College graduate said he is excited to bring his film “Grace” to the Brattle Theater in Harvard Square. The thriller will screen once on April 25 at 11:59 p.m. for the Independent Film Festival of Boston.
The Chronicle’s Katrina Ballard spoke with Solet by phone earlier this week.
What is “Grace” about?
The film is about a woman who is eight months pregnant and determined to have a natural birth, and she loses her child in an accident. She makes the decision to carry the baby to term anyway, and when she delivers the baby it is miraculously reconstituted, not without sinister consequences.
Why did you decide to make this movie?
The idea came from a conversation I was having where it came up that there is actual medical science that if you’re pregnant and you lose your child, some of the time if labor isn’t induced, you’ll carry the baby to term. Instead of having labor induced, some women will carry it to term. To me, as a man, that’s such a potent horror, and the script wrote itself from there.
As a horror fan, I’m always looking to get shaken up, like I was when I was a kid. This really gets under my skin; the material seems to shake me up. What’s so exciting about horror is you can take an otherwise mundane idea and put it into the genre and blow it open … with no limitations except your imagination. The genre is this wonderful playground.
If you make a theme that’s already interesting, like the uncanny bond between mother and child, you can’t not have an intense personal reaction to it. That’s a large part of why the film has been so successful. It really reaches a very broad audience because we’re dealing with universally accessible scenes. This film gets an audience every time.
I heard two of your audience members passed out—is that the kind of reaction you were looking for?
That happened at the Sundance premiere. I wasn’t sure what to think. Luckily, everyone was OK, and the ambulance came. There’s nothing more flattering to a genre filmmaker to know the genre is unnerving enough for people to lose consciousness. It’s a great compliment. It was the first time in the history of Sundance that two people passed out. It happened before during “Reservoir Dogs,” but it was only one [person].
What are you looking for people to take away from the film?
I’m a story guy … I’m not interested in getting a political or social message across. My job is to get you thinking and get you talking, to reach you on not just surface level. So many genre films abuse shock and suspense to distract you from a lack of substance and distract you from the fact that you’ve got no story. My main goal is to entertain you. I want to move you.
What are you afraid of?
As far as things you’ll see in a movie, very few things are still getting under my skin. What still threw me is body horror. The ideas of losing control over your own health and your own well being—horror from within—that ’s the ultimate terrestrial horror.
When did you first start watching horror films?
My parents did a pretty good job; they did their best to keep me from watching inappropriate stuff. But if you want to find horror, you will find horror. I went to friends’ houses renting movie after movie, and Eli Roth [writer and director of “Hostel”] was my camp counselor. He became my mentor in more obscure horror films. I was the only kid running around camp with a horror magazine.
Is there anything scary about Cambridge?
Cambridge is a pretty good, safe place. I pretty much feel pretty damn safe in Cambridge. It’s hard to come up with something that is scary in Cambridge. I don’t know that my own environment could inspire my films directly; [it’s] something I draw on for creating a real universe. Horror is either in your blood or it’s not. In a horror film, you take any situation and fuse it with terror.
How do you feel about the film’s success so far?
It’s been an amazing, awesome ride. I’m just sort of overflowing with constant gratitude for the film’s reception. This film is definitely an underdog story. We shot the film very fast; we shot 192 scenes in 17 nine-and-a-half hour days in Regina, Saskatchewan. The film looks and feels like it cost a great deal more than it did.
What are you looking to do next?
I have a number of projects. I’m always writing. One project in particular looks like it’s about to go, but I’m not allowed to talk about it.
I’m hugely thrilled to be bringing the movie back to Cambridge. It is just as magical to bring the film home to the Brattle as it is to premiere the film at the Sundance Theater. I grew up going to it, my parents are still members of the theater and I have all kinds of memories there.
Cambridge —
Paul Solet’s first feature film got the best reaction a horror writer and director could hope for: two audience members fainted at its Sundance premiere. The Cambridge native and Emerson College graduate said he is excited to bring his film “Grace” to the Brattle Theater in Harvard Square. The thriller will screen once on April 25 at 11:59 p.m. for the Independent Film Festival of Boston.
The Chronicle’s Katrina Ballard spoke with Solet by phone earlier this week.
What is “Grace” about?
The film is about a woman who is eight months pregnant and determined to have a natural birth, and she loses her child in an accident. She makes the decision to carry the baby to term anyway, and when she delivers the baby it is miraculously reconstituted, not without sinister consequences.
Why did you decide to make this movie?
The idea came from a conversation I was having where it came up that there is actual medical science that if you’re pregnant and you lose your child, some of the time if labor isn’t induced, you’ll carry the baby to term. Instead of having labor induced, some women will carry it to term. To me, as a man, that’s such a potent horror, and the script wrote itself from there.
As a horror fan, I’m always looking to get shaken up, like I was when I was a kid. This really gets under my skin; the material seems to shake me up. What’s so exciting about horror is you can take an otherwise mundane idea and put it into the genre and blow it open … with no limitations except your imagination. The genre is this wonderful playground.
If you make a theme that’s already interesting, like the uncanny bond between mother and child, you can’t not have an intense personal reaction to it. That’s a large part of why the film has been so successful. It really reaches a very broad audience because we’re dealing with universally accessible scenes. This film gets an audience every time.
I heard two of your audience members passed out—is that the kind of reaction you were looking for?
That happened at the Sundance premiere. I wasn’t sure what to think. Luckily, everyone was OK, and the ambulance came. There’s nothing more flattering to a genre filmmaker to know the genre is unnerving enough for people to lose consciousness. It’s a great compliment. It was the first time in the history of Sundance that two people passed out. It happened before during “Reservoir Dogs,” but it was only one [person].
What are you looking for people to take away from the film?
I’m a story guy … I’m not interested in getting a political or social message across. My job is to get you thinking and get you talking, to reach you on not just surface level. So many genre films abuse shock and suspense to distract you from a lack of substance and distract you from the fact that you’ve got no story. My main goal is to entertain you. I want to move you.
What are you afraid of?
As far as things you’ll see in a movie, very few things are still getting under my skin. What still threw me is body horror. The ideas of losing control over your own health and your own well being—horror from within—that ’s the ultimate terrestrial horror.
When did you first start watching horror films?
My parents did a pretty good job; they did their best to keep me from watching inappropriate stuff. But if you want to find horror, you will find horror. I went to friends’ houses renting movie after movie, and Eli Roth [writer and director of “Hostel”] was my camp counselor. He became my mentor in more obscure horror films. I was the only kid running around camp with a horror magazine.
Is there anything scary about Cambridge?
Cambridge is a pretty good, safe place. I pretty much feel pretty damn safe in Cambridge. It’s hard to come up with something that is scary in Cambridge. I don’t know that my own environment could inspire my films directly; [it’s] something I draw on for creating a real universe. Horror is either in your blood or it’s not. In a horror film, you take any situation and fuse it with terror.
How do you feel about the film’s success so far?
It’s been an amazing, awesome ride. I’m just sort of overflowing with constant gratitude for the film’s reception. This film is definitely an underdog story. We shot the film very fast; we shot 192 scenes in 17 nine-and-a-half hour days in Regina, Saskatchewan. The film looks and feels like it cost a great deal more than it did.
What are you looking to do next?
I have a number of projects. I’m always writing. One project in particular looks like it’s about to go, but I’m not allowed to talk about it.
I’m hugely thrilled to be bringing the movie back to Cambridge. It is just as magical to bring the film home to the Brattle as it is to premiere the film at the Sundance Theater. I grew up going to it, my parents are still members of the theater and I have all kinds of memories there.
A fresh look at Fresh Pond: New book explores raw beauty of Cambridge landscape
PUBLISHED by The Cambridge Chronicle
Cambridge —
Fresh Pond means many things for Cambridge: a source of beauty, a playground, a water supply, an escape. For U.K. native Jill Sinclair, the pond meant a graduate studies thesis.
Sinclair’s new book, “Fresh Pond: The History of a Cambridge Landscape,” grew out of her work at Harvard University Landscape Institute in 2001 and is the first book chronicling the pond’s noteworthy history. She is currently working on a master’s degree in Paris about managing historic gardens more sustainably, but she arrived back in the U.S. last week.
Sinclair recently talked with Katrina Ballard in an e-mail interview.
How did you come to know Fresh Pond?
I lived for 4 years in a little historic carriage house on Brattle Street — we came over from the UK when my husband was posted to the British consulate in Boston. I used to visit Fresh Pond with my baby daughter to walk around the paths and later to go sledding.
Why did you write this book?
I studied landscape history at Harvard's Landscape Institute, and Fresh Pond was originally the topic of my academic thesis. It's a landscape that interests me for all sorts of reasons; Fresh Pond has such a rich past but this is the first book to be written about it.
Why is Fresh Pond such an important landmark?
As landscape architect Charles Eliot said, it is "the largest open space that Cambridge can ever hope to possess." Its size in such a tightly packed city makes it a special place. And then, its history is remarkable.
Two things I would particularly highlight are the pond's role in the 19th century natural ice industry. Local businessmen and women made fortunes cutting ice from the pond and shipping it around the world for sale. At its peak, the industry spread to many lakes in New England and beyond, but Fresh Pond was really the first site of commercial ice cutting, and remained the heart of the industry for decades.
The second thing is the 1897 park design by landscape architecture firm Olmsted, Olmsted and Eliot. This was such an important firm — and all three partners were heavily involved in the work at Fresh Pond. And of course it has been the source of the city's water supply for almost 150 years.
How did you conduct your research and find all the photos? How long did it take?
The original thesis took seven months of fairly intensive research. I spent a lot of time digging around in archives, libraries, historical societies, reading old journals and newspapers, finding books that were long out of print.... Turning the thesis into a book took about another 18 months.
What is your favorite memory of Fresh Pond?
Enjoying the leafy shade on Kingsley Park, imagining some of the things that have happened there — working out where the resort hotel stood for most of the 1800s, imagining the fruit trees that once grew there, walking on the paths designed by the Olmsted firm.
What is your favorite part of the pond's history?
As a Brit, I found the ice industry an extraordinary episode. But there are other elements that proved fascinating: the First World War soldiers who dug trenches and practiced trench warfare on the northern shores of the pond; the Catholic schoolgirls who for a time were educated on Kingsley Park. All the memoirs of Harvard students, for whom Fresh Pond was a major source of recreation in the 1700s and 1800s. There are great stories of the students feasting, swimming and skating at the pond.
What do you see for Fresh Pond's future? How should it be used?
The city produced a master plan in partnership with local people in the year 2000 which planned for the future management of the pond. Lots of work has gone on to implement the plan, and I hope that continues. It's great to see the landscape being considered as a whole.
What is the central message you wanted to get across to your readers?
I think that learning about the past helps us better imagine the future; and hope that people will find some of the pond's stories fascinating and inspirational.
Why do Cambridge residents love Fresh Pond?
I think because of its size… it offers such opportunities to people, for sport, for enjoying nature in the city, for escaping some of the pressures of city life.
Cambridge —
Fresh Pond means many things for Cambridge: a source of beauty, a playground, a water supply, an escape. For U.K. native Jill Sinclair, the pond meant a graduate studies thesis.
Sinclair’s new book, “Fresh Pond: The History of a Cambridge Landscape,” grew out of her work at Harvard University Landscape Institute in 2001 and is the first book chronicling the pond’s noteworthy history. She is currently working on a master’s degree in Paris about managing historic gardens more sustainably, but she arrived back in the U.S. last week.
Sinclair recently talked with Katrina Ballard in an e-mail interview.
How did you come to know Fresh Pond?
I lived for 4 years in a little historic carriage house on Brattle Street — we came over from the UK when my husband was posted to the British consulate in Boston. I used to visit Fresh Pond with my baby daughter to walk around the paths and later to go sledding.
Why did you write this book?
I studied landscape history at Harvard's Landscape Institute, and Fresh Pond was originally the topic of my academic thesis. It's a landscape that interests me for all sorts of reasons; Fresh Pond has such a rich past but this is the first book to be written about it.
Why is Fresh Pond such an important landmark?
As landscape architect Charles Eliot said, it is "the largest open space that Cambridge can ever hope to possess." Its size in such a tightly packed city makes it a special place. And then, its history is remarkable.
Two things I would particularly highlight are the pond's role in the 19th century natural ice industry. Local businessmen and women made fortunes cutting ice from the pond and shipping it around the world for sale. At its peak, the industry spread to many lakes in New England and beyond, but Fresh Pond was really the first site of commercial ice cutting, and remained the heart of the industry for decades.
The second thing is the 1897 park design by landscape architecture firm Olmsted, Olmsted and Eliot. This was such an important firm — and all three partners were heavily involved in the work at Fresh Pond. And of course it has been the source of the city's water supply for almost 150 years.
How did you conduct your research and find all the photos? How long did it take?
The original thesis took seven months of fairly intensive research. I spent a lot of time digging around in archives, libraries, historical societies, reading old journals and newspapers, finding books that were long out of print.... Turning the thesis into a book took about another 18 months.
What is your favorite memory of Fresh Pond?
Enjoying the leafy shade on Kingsley Park, imagining some of the things that have happened there — working out where the resort hotel stood for most of the 1800s, imagining the fruit trees that once grew there, walking on the paths designed by the Olmsted firm.
What is your favorite part of the pond's history?
As a Brit, I found the ice industry an extraordinary episode. But there are other elements that proved fascinating: the First World War soldiers who dug trenches and practiced trench warfare on the northern shores of the pond; the Catholic schoolgirls who for a time were educated on Kingsley Park. All the memoirs of Harvard students, for whom Fresh Pond was a major source of recreation in the 1700s and 1800s. There are great stories of the students feasting, swimming and skating at the pond.
What do you see for Fresh Pond's future? How should it be used?
The city produced a master plan in partnership with local people in the year 2000 which planned for the future management of the pond. Lots of work has gone on to implement the plan, and I hope that continues. It's great to see the landscape being considered as a whole.
What is the central message you wanted to get across to your readers?
I think that learning about the past helps us better imagine the future; and hope that people will find some of the pond's stories fascinating and inspirational.
Why do Cambridge residents love Fresh Pond?
I think because of its size… it offers such opportunities to people, for sport, for enjoying nature in the city, for escaping some of the pressures of city life.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Cambridge opens up for the arts
PUBLISHED by The Cambridge Chronicle
Cambridge —More than 100 artists in Cambridge will open their homes or studios to their neighbors at the first Cambridge Open Studios at the end of this month.
Previously, Cambridgeport Artists Open Studios and North Cambridge All Arts Open Studios provided artists living or working in certain areas a forum for displaying their work every fall and spring. Last year, the Cambridge Arts Council began working with CAOS and NoCa to include artists everywhere in Cambridge, said Julie Madden, Cambridge Arts Council director of community arts.
“It’s absolutely vital to artists in Cambridge to have a support network from the city,” said Madden. “And it’s all-encompassing. There’s not a sense of elitism or people being left out — not to say NoCa or CAOS were elite in any way, but the perception was you had to be in the area to participate.”
The smaller open studios of the past had about 40 to 60 participants each, and Cambridge Open Studios will host about 140 artists this year, said Madden. Artists will display their work, ranging from paintings to wire sculptures to jewelry, in their homes or in a shared studio space donated by local vendors, she said.
Catherine Ezell, who will display her paintings in her home at 4 Bellis Circle in North Cambridge, said she has participated in NoCa’s open studios for the past 11 years. Her “fingers are crossed” that the success of Cambridge Open Studios matches NoCa’s success, she said.
“It’s easier for us, but it probably will take time to get off the ground,” said Ezell. “We’re hoping we get as many people this year as we had in the past … people can only go to so many open studios.”
Open studios in Cambridge are unique because they are held in artists’ homes rather than a large shared studio, so people attending can explore the neighborhood at the same time.
“Artists are not good at doing their own publicity because they want to spend time doing their own artwork, so it’s a chance to be before the public and hope to sell their work,” said Ezell.
Porter Square Books will host a day of poetry and a play on April 25 from noon-4 p.m. as part of the program, said Madden. The whole event spans three weekends from noon-6 p.m. each day, on April 25 and 26 in the north and west; May 9 and 10 in central Cambridge; and May 30 and 31 in the east. A map of all locations and an artist listing is available on the Cambridge Arts Council Web site, www.cambridgeartscouncil.org.
Cambridge —More than 100 artists in Cambridge will open their homes or studios to their neighbors at the first Cambridge Open Studios at the end of this month.
Previously, Cambridgeport Artists Open Studios and North Cambridge All Arts Open Studios provided artists living or working in certain areas a forum for displaying their work every fall and spring. Last year, the Cambridge Arts Council began working with CAOS and NoCa to include artists everywhere in Cambridge, said Julie Madden, Cambridge Arts Council director of community arts.
“It’s absolutely vital to artists in Cambridge to have a support network from the city,” said Madden. “And it’s all-encompassing. There’s not a sense of elitism or people being left out — not to say NoCa or CAOS were elite in any way, but the perception was you had to be in the area to participate.”
The smaller open studios of the past had about 40 to 60 participants each, and Cambridge Open Studios will host about 140 artists this year, said Madden. Artists will display their work, ranging from paintings to wire sculptures to jewelry, in their homes or in a shared studio space donated by local vendors, she said.
Catherine Ezell, who will display her paintings in her home at 4 Bellis Circle in North Cambridge, said she has participated in NoCa’s open studios for the past 11 years. Her “fingers are crossed” that the success of Cambridge Open Studios matches NoCa’s success, she said.
“It’s easier for us, but it probably will take time to get off the ground,” said Ezell. “We’re hoping we get as many people this year as we had in the past … people can only go to so many open studios.”
Open studios in Cambridge are unique because they are held in artists’ homes rather than a large shared studio, so people attending can explore the neighborhood at the same time.
“Artists are not good at doing their own publicity because they want to spend time doing their own artwork, so it’s a chance to be before the public and hope to sell their work,” said Ezell.
Porter Square Books will host a day of poetry and a play on April 25 from noon-4 p.m. as part of the program, said Madden. The whole event spans three weekends from noon-6 p.m. each day, on April 25 and 26 in the north and west; May 9 and 10 in central Cambridge; and May 30 and 31 in the east. A map of all locations and an artist listing is available on the Cambridge Arts Council Web site, www.cambridgeartscouncil.org.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
‘Mayor of Central Square’ marks 50 years at the Y
PUBLISHED by The Cambridge Chronicle
Cambridge —Jim Shannon was 22 years old when he first moved to the Central House at the YMCA, and now, at 71, he is known to some as the house weatherman, the mayor of Central Square and the longest resident there.
Shannon has lived at the housing facility at the Central Square YMCA for 50 years. The Cambridge City Council celebrated his anniversary at the meeting on Monday, though the official date was on Sunday.
“We’re known as transitional housing,” said Derek Kilduf, Central House resident services coordinator. “We have just a few [residents] like Jim.”
Shannon said he was living with his uncle in Canton until his uncle decided to retire to Florida and brought him to Central House. The rent was only $9 per week then, and Shannon was working as an oil serviceman in Kendall Square, he said. The rent now? $510 per month.
Since then, Shannon has befriended almost the whole community, including the YMCA residents and staff, local politicians and homeless people on the street.
After his usual morning visit to the Cambridge Senior Center next door to the Y, Shannon might buy a meal from Mass Chicken and share the leftovers with the homeless, who call him “the mayor.” Shannon said he also likes to help the owner of the new restaurant advertise by sitting outside and telling everyone to buy the rotisserie.
Shannon checks the paper every day for City Council, Zoning Board and Historical Committee meetings held at the Senior Center. He said because the politicians like him, they sometimes treat him like a committee member, asking for his opinion and allowing him to stay after the official meeting is adjourned.
“He’s very active in the community,” said Kilduf. “He’s probably on a first-name basis with the mayor.”
Shannon used to come to the Community Development Planning Board meetings when they were held at the Senior Center five years ago, said Liza Paden, associate planner forCambridge Community Development. When the meetings moved to 344 Broadway, Shannon said it was too far for him to walk because some meetings are late at night.
“He was always very interested in what was happening,” said Paden. “He liked and enjoyed the process.”
Toni LaRosa, Central House property manager, said Shannon is the only resident to give a donation to the Y every Christmas. He also always includes a note to LaRosa with his rent, counting down the days until warm weather, she said.
Shannon said he chose to stay at the Central House while he worked various jobs because it was convenient and affordable. He worked for the employee kitchen at New England Mutual Life Insurance for 30 years, ordering the food supplies needed each week. After serving 1,800 people in an hour and a half, Shannon just needed a room to come back to and relax, he said.
When Shannon retired in 1992, rents were high because they were no longer controlled by the city, so he never considered moving, he said.
Before Shannon’s problems with arthritis and diabetes slowed him down, he liked to travel around the country, fishing and taking photographs in places such as Martha’s Vineyard, Canada and Virginia.
His room at the Central House looks like a museum, with many framed photographs adorning the walls. Some are even hanging on the hallways of the other floors.
Photography had to take a backseat when Shannon injured his shoulder at his job a year before he retired, when he fell near the truck loading docks, he said.
Though Shannon has attended physical therapy at two different rehabilitation centers, he continues to take care of his own health and chooses not to enter a nursing home.
“I was thinking about going to a nursing home, but I changed my mind because you’re not doing anything. It’s the end of your life,” he said. “I can’t go on vacations like I used to, but maybe soon I can go on the day trips with the seniors, if I can get on the bus again.”
Cambridge —Jim Shannon was 22 years old when he first moved to the Central House at the YMCA, and now, at 71, he is known to some as the house weatherman, the mayor of Central Square and the longest resident there.
Shannon has lived at the housing facility at the Central Square YMCA for 50 years. The Cambridge City Council celebrated his anniversary at the meeting on Monday, though the official date was on Sunday.
“We’re known as transitional housing,” said Derek Kilduf, Central House resident services coordinator. “We have just a few [residents] like Jim.”
Shannon said he was living with his uncle in Canton until his uncle decided to retire to Florida and brought him to Central House. The rent was only $9 per week then, and Shannon was working as an oil serviceman in Kendall Square, he said. The rent now? $510 per month.
Since then, Shannon has befriended almost the whole community, including the YMCA residents and staff, local politicians and homeless people on the street.
After his usual morning visit to the Cambridge Senior Center next door to the Y, Shannon might buy a meal from Mass Chicken and share the leftovers with the homeless, who call him “the mayor.” Shannon said he also likes to help the owner of the new restaurant advertise by sitting outside and telling everyone to buy the rotisserie.
Shannon checks the paper every day for City Council, Zoning Board and Historical Committee meetings held at the Senior Center. He said because the politicians like him, they sometimes treat him like a committee member, asking for his opinion and allowing him to stay after the official meeting is adjourned.
“He’s very active in the community,” said Kilduf. “He’s probably on a first-name basis with the mayor.”
Shannon used to come to the Community Development Planning Board meetings when they were held at the Senior Center five years ago, said Liza Paden, associate planner forCambridge Community Development. When the meetings moved to 344 Broadway, Shannon said it was too far for him to walk because some meetings are late at night.
“He was always very interested in what was happening,” said Paden. “He liked and enjoyed the process.”
Toni LaRosa, Central House property manager, said Shannon is the only resident to give a donation to the Y every Christmas. He also always includes a note to LaRosa with his rent, counting down the days until warm weather, she said.
Shannon said he chose to stay at the Central House while he worked various jobs because it was convenient and affordable. He worked for the employee kitchen at New England Mutual Life Insurance for 30 years, ordering the food supplies needed each week. After serving 1,800 people in an hour and a half, Shannon just needed a room to come back to and relax, he said.
When Shannon retired in 1992, rents were high because they were no longer controlled by the city, so he never considered moving, he said.
Before Shannon’s problems with arthritis and diabetes slowed him down, he liked to travel around the country, fishing and taking photographs in places such as Martha’s Vineyard, Canada and Virginia.
His room at the Central House looks like a museum, with many framed photographs adorning the walls. Some are even hanging on the hallways of the other floors.
Photography had to take a backseat when Shannon injured his shoulder at his job a year before he retired, when he fell near the truck loading docks, he said.
Though Shannon has attended physical therapy at two different rehabilitation centers, he continues to take care of his own health and chooses not to enter a nursing home.
“I was thinking about going to a nursing home, but I changed my mind because you’re not doing anything. It’s the end of your life,” he said. “I can’t go on vacations like I used to, but maybe soon I can go on the day trips with the seniors, if I can get on the bus again.”
Cambridge non-profit celebrates 30 years of rehabbing abusers
PUBLISHED by The Cambridge Chronicle
Cambridge —In a room papered in handwritten posters listing goals and discussion topics, a Cambridge non-profit program has facilitated 30 years’ worth of intervention for abusive men in Cambridge.
Emerge, the nation’s first batterers’ intervention program, recently celebrated its 30th anniversary with a benefit. The program was the first in the country to begin holding abusive men accountable for their behavior and motivating them to change, said Susan Cayouette, co-director.
Participants are educated for eight weeks and then encouraged to talk about their actions and give feedback during group sessions of around eight to ten participants for 32 weeks.
“They are all different people with different levels of education, from people with disabilities … to lawyers,” said Cayouette. “It surprises people, because they have stereotypes of what a batterer is.”
Over the years, Emerge has kept the same practices of asking men to accept responsibility for their actions and contacting the victims to keep them informed, said Cayouette. Although it is impossible for Emerge to know if participants alter their behavior, contact with the victims and observation of the men’s progress during sessions help indicate the programs’ success.
“They were effective in helping me learn something and change an attitude and a behavior,” said Paul, a 49-year-old graduate of the program who declined to give his full name for privacy reasons. “It was challenging to adopt a more responsible mentality.”
Paul was ordered by a judge to enter the program in 2006. He said was living in Cambridge at the time and felt he did not need to attend Emerge because he had read books about anger management.
Paul said he found the weekly reflections and presentations helpful and important. By the end of the course, Paul said he learned that blaming his behavior on the actions of the woman was “infantile,” and he was glad to have attended the sessions.
“I somehow thought if she annoys me enough and is unsupportive enough, it’s OK to use my superior masculine body to hurt her, but I no longer think that,” said Paul.
Emerge was founded by a group of men in 1977, said Cayouette, who was one of the first women to begin leading group discussions. Her co-director, David Adams, is the last founder still remaining at Emerge today.
The program involves men anywhere from 19 to 78 years old, the majority ranging from 25 to 50, said Cayouette. Local colleges have increasingly been referring students in the past ten years, however, including Boston University. Cayouette said she thinks colleges are paying closer attention to on-campus violence after events such as the murder of a female Virginia Commonwealth University freshman in 2005.
Although 60 percent of participants are mandated to attend sessions by courts, the number of voluntary referrals from abusers' ministers, bosses or counselors are growing, Cayouette said. Women especially are more often asking their partners to enter the program.
The media, which contributes to abuse as a learned behavior, is increasingly encouraging women to be more independent, said Cayouette. Therefore, more women are taking action against their abusive partners, but more defensive women may lead to more or greater violence as men feel threatened to stay in control, she said.
The growing economic crisis is also a growing strain in relationships, said Cayouette. Men should understand they control their own actions, but rising unemployment or underemployment is a factor in tension between partners and may be used as an excuse for abuse.
Cayouette said many participants have been losing their jobs in the past four to five months, especially those employed in construction or high-tech fields. Because Emerge’s participation fee is based on the person’s income, the number of people participating for free is growing. The fee funds about a fourth of the program’s budget, so layoffs are placing an “economic burden” on Emerge.
In addition, Emerge training programs, which began about ten years after the program was established, is a shrinking source of income as the economy declines, said Ted German, director of training. Emerge trains people of many different professions nationwide and in over 20 countries around the world, particularly Asia, where batterers’ intervention is a developing field.
“Training, in an economy that is coming apart at the seams … is cut from the budget first,” said German.
Emerge receives a federal grant, accounting for half of its funds, by training law enforcement officials through a special federal program for the Department of Justice called National Danger Assessment, said Adams, co-director.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health funds about a fifth of Emerge’s budget and oversees its operations, Adams said. Emerge helped to develop the DPH’s guidelines for batterers’ intervention programs, to which all 15 programs in Massachusetts currently adhere.
The last fourth of Emerge’s funds are from foundation grants and donations from about 100 regular donors each year, Adams said.
Cambridge —In a room papered in handwritten posters listing goals and discussion topics, a Cambridge non-profit program has facilitated 30 years’ worth of intervention for abusive men in Cambridge.
Emerge, the nation’s first batterers’ intervention program, recently celebrated its 30th anniversary with a benefit. The program was the first in the country to begin holding abusive men accountable for their behavior and motivating them to change, said Susan Cayouette, co-director.
Participants are educated for eight weeks and then encouraged to talk about their actions and give feedback during group sessions of around eight to ten participants for 32 weeks.
“They are all different people with different levels of education, from people with disabilities … to lawyers,” said Cayouette. “It surprises people, because they have stereotypes of what a batterer is.”
Over the years, Emerge has kept the same practices of asking men to accept responsibility for their actions and contacting the victims to keep them informed, said Cayouette. Although it is impossible for Emerge to know if participants alter their behavior, contact with the victims and observation of the men’s progress during sessions help indicate the programs’ success.
“They were effective in helping me learn something and change an attitude and a behavior,” said Paul, a 49-year-old graduate of the program who declined to give his full name for privacy reasons. “It was challenging to adopt a more responsible mentality.”
Paul was ordered by a judge to enter the program in 2006. He said was living in Cambridge at the time and felt he did not need to attend Emerge because he had read books about anger management.
Paul said he found the weekly reflections and presentations helpful and important. By the end of the course, Paul said he learned that blaming his behavior on the actions of the woman was “infantile,” and he was glad to have attended the sessions.
“I somehow thought if she annoys me enough and is unsupportive enough, it’s OK to use my superior masculine body to hurt her, but I no longer think that,” said Paul.
Emerge was founded by a group of men in 1977, said Cayouette, who was one of the first women to begin leading group discussions. Her co-director, David Adams, is the last founder still remaining at Emerge today.
The program involves men anywhere from 19 to 78 years old, the majority ranging from 25 to 50, said Cayouette. Local colleges have increasingly been referring students in the past ten years, however, including Boston University. Cayouette said she thinks colleges are paying closer attention to on-campus violence after events such as the murder of a female Virginia Commonwealth University freshman in 2005.
Although 60 percent of participants are mandated to attend sessions by courts, the number of voluntary referrals from abusers' ministers, bosses or counselors are growing, Cayouette said. Women especially are more often asking their partners to enter the program.
The media, which contributes to abuse as a learned behavior, is increasingly encouraging women to be more independent, said Cayouette. Therefore, more women are taking action against their abusive partners, but more defensive women may lead to more or greater violence as men feel threatened to stay in control, she said.
The growing economic crisis is also a growing strain in relationships, said Cayouette. Men should understand they control their own actions, but rising unemployment or underemployment is a factor in tension between partners and may be used as an excuse for abuse.
Cayouette said many participants have been losing their jobs in the past four to five months, especially those employed in construction or high-tech fields. Because Emerge’s participation fee is based on the person’s income, the number of people participating for free is growing. The fee funds about a fourth of the program’s budget, so layoffs are placing an “economic burden” on Emerge.
In addition, Emerge training programs, which began about ten years after the program was established, is a shrinking source of income as the economy declines, said Ted German, director of training. Emerge trains people of many different professions nationwide and in over 20 countries around the world, particularly Asia, where batterers’ intervention is a developing field.
“Training, in an economy that is coming apart at the seams … is cut from the budget first,” said German.
Emerge receives a federal grant, accounting for half of its funds, by training law enforcement officials through a special federal program for the Department of Justice called National Danger Assessment, said Adams, co-director.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health funds about a fifth of Emerge’s budget and oversees its operations, Adams said. Emerge helped to develop the DPH’s guidelines for batterers’ intervention programs, to which all 15 programs in Massachusetts currently adhere.
The last fourth of Emerge’s funds are from foundation grants and donations from about 100 regular donors each year, Adams said.
Porter Square post office early closing riles customer
PUBLISHED by The Cambridge Chronicle
Cambridge —Phyllis Pounall was angry Thursday night.
When Pounall arrived at the Porter Square post office at 6:51 p.m., she saw one customer was inside, one worker was inside and the door was locked.
She waited for the customer to come out and when she tried to enter, the postal worker told her even though it wasn’t closing time — 7 p.m. — yet, it was for him.
She and another customer who was also waiting outside convinced the worker to take their letters, but he snatched them out of their hands.
At 6:55 p.m., another customer rushed up to the door and tried to mail a letter, but the worker would not accept it. Then, as Pounall, a 57-year-old Rindgefield Street resident, puts it, the woman was in tears.
“I was so pissed off … the guy was very nasty,” said Pounall, who works as a photographer’s business manager.
The clerk admitted to closing the post office five minutes early, said Shawn Pitts, the manager of Porter Square post office. The worker was not authorized to close the building early, and he will face disciplinary action following an investigation next week, Pitts said.
“I apologize to the customers outside,” Pitts said. “Especially for someone that’s responsible for closing at 7, you can’t just arbitrarily pick a time to close. This is very serious.”
Cambridge —Phyllis Pounall was angry Thursday night.
When Pounall arrived at the Porter Square post office at 6:51 p.m., she saw one customer was inside, one worker was inside and the door was locked.
She waited for the customer to come out and when she tried to enter, the postal worker told her even though it wasn’t closing time — 7 p.m. — yet, it was for him.
She and another customer who was also waiting outside convinced the worker to take their letters, but he snatched them out of their hands.
At 6:55 p.m., another customer rushed up to the door and tried to mail a letter, but the worker would not accept it. Then, as Pounall, a 57-year-old Rindgefield Street resident, puts it, the woman was in tears.
“I was so pissed off … the guy was very nasty,” said Pounall, who works as a photographer’s business manager.
The clerk admitted to closing the post office five minutes early, said Shawn Pitts, the manager of Porter Square post office. The worker was not authorized to close the building early, and he will face disciplinary action following an investigation next week, Pitts said.
“I apologize to the customers outside,” Pitts said. “Especially for someone that’s responsible for closing at 7, you can’t just arbitrarily pick a time to close. This is very serious.”
Monday, April 13, 2009
The Dish: Shabu Square and Shabuya
PUBLISHED by The Cambridge Chronicle
Cambridge —Harvard Square is full of food from all over the globe, but until recently, shabu shabu restaurants were missing. Now, the square has two spots for hot pot cuisine: Shabu Square and Shabuya. The restaurants opened within a month of each other last winter, offering the interactive Asian dining experience that is gaining popularity in Asia and the US.
Panja Lymswan, a Quincy resident and owner of Shabu Square at 97 Winthrop St., also owns two Thai restaurants in Harvard Square, Spice Thai and 9 Taste, but he wanted to bring shabu shabu to the area.
Kwanghyun Yoon, who owns Shabuya at 57 JFK St. with his wife, also owns Shilla, a Korean restaurant in the basement of the same building. Yoon said shabu shabu is “the future of cuisine.”
What is the weirdest thing customers have done when they don’t know how to eat shabu shabu?
Panja Lymswan, owner of Shabu Square: Not turn on the water, so it’s not hot, and try to eat it fresh and raw. People like food already cooked. [Shabu shabu] is convenient, but when people see it they say what is this? What do I do with this?
Can large groups order different kinds of shabu shabu?
PL: Four to five people order different meat and vegetables and mix it together. When you share, what is best to do it pick the food out and put it on your plate so it isn’t involved with the other food. The American custom is that they don’t like to eat from the same bowl.
What can customers learn from shabu shabu?
PL: Most food Americans consume has oil. If you get the French fries, if you go with the stir fry with noodles, it all has oil. [Shabu shabu] is all healthy; it boils the fat out of the beef. It has less calories.
What do you do when customers don’t know what shabu shabu is?
Kwanghyun Yoon, co-owner of Shabuya: They ask, and the wait staff is very good at explaining, and sometimes they show them how to eat it. There’s no definite way to have shabu shabu. I usually show them the best way to enjoy it.
It’s so colorful in here.
My slogan here is “be happy.” When you come in, it’s happy. When you have shabu shabu and sushi, you feel happy because it makes you full, but it’s light. When we designed this place, we asked our designers to make it happy. The theme is vegetables and meat: the green is the vegetables, the pink is the meat and the hanging beads are the noodles. The lights are different shapes and heights because when you cook it, bubbles come out.
Is it especially important to be happy these days?
KY: When you go out, you want a different feeling other than at home. I kept the price down so everyone can enjoy it. Dinner starts at $11.95, lunch is way down at $7.95. You get vegetables, meat, broth and happiness, which is the most important, for $7.95.
Watch the video!
Cambridge —Harvard Square is full of food from all over the globe, but until recently, shabu shabu restaurants were missing. Now, the square has two spots for hot pot cuisine: Shabu Square and Shabuya. The restaurants opened within a month of each other last winter, offering the interactive Asian dining experience that is gaining popularity in Asia and the US.
Panja Lymswan, a Quincy resident and owner of Shabu Square at 97 Winthrop St., also owns two Thai restaurants in Harvard Square, Spice Thai and 9 Taste, but he wanted to bring shabu shabu to the area.
Kwanghyun Yoon, who owns Shabuya at 57 JFK St. with his wife, also owns Shilla, a Korean restaurant in the basement of the same building. Yoon said shabu shabu is “the future of cuisine.”
What is the weirdest thing customers have done when they don’t know how to eat shabu shabu?
Panja Lymswan, owner of Shabu Square: Not turn on the water, so it’s not hot, and try to eat it fresh and raw. People like food already cooked. [Shabu shabu] is convenient, but when people see it they say what is this? What do I do with this?
Can large groups order different kinds of shabu shabu?
PL: Four to five people order different meat and vegetables and mix it together. When you share, what is best to do it pick the food out and put it on your plate so it isn’t involved with the other food. The American custom is that they don’t like to eat from the same bowl.
What can customers learn from shabu shabu?
PL: Most food Americans consume has oil. If you get the French fries, if you go with the stir fry with noodles, it all has oil. [Shabu shabu] is all healthy; it boils the fat out of the beef. It has less calories.
What do you do when customers don’t know what shabu shabu is?
Kwanghyun Yoon, co-owner of Shabuya: They ask, and the wait staff is very good at explaining, and sometimes they show them how to eat it. There’s no definite way to have shabu shabu. I usually show them the best way to enjoy it.
It’s so colorful in here.
My slogan here is “be happy.” When you come in, it’s happy. When you have shabu shabu and sushi, you feel happy because it makes you full, but it’s light. When we designed this place, we asked our designers to make it happy. The theme is vegetables and meat: the green is the vegetables, the pink is the meat and the hanging beads are the noodles. The lights are different shapes and heights because when you cook it, bubbles come out.
Is it especially important to be happy these days?
KY: When you go out, you want a different feeling other than at home. I kept the price down so everyone can enjoy it. Dinner starts at $11.95, lunch is way down at $7.95. You get vegetables, meat, broth and happiness, which is the most important, for $7.95.
Watch the video!
Red Sox brings couple together in Harvard Square wedding ceremony
PUBLISHED by The Cambridge Chronicle
Cambridge —The torrential rain that canceled the Red Sox opening day game was no deterrent for Sox fans Dennis Coveney and Kelly Dugas, who were married in front of Cardullo’s in Harvard Square Monday afternoon.
Coveney, 47, and Dugas, 33, met when Dugas joined Cardullo’s “chair club,” an informal sitting area set up in front of the gourmet shop to allow passersby to watch Red Sox games on the flat screen in the shop window. Coveney, chairman of the club, promoted Dugas to “first lady” when they began dating two and a half years ago.
“I needed something to do, a place to watch the Red Sox games,” said Dugas, who was clad in her white wedding dress and hot pink rain boots for the special day. “He cares so much about me … I was coming out of a bad relationship when I started coming down to the chair club.”
Coveney, originally from Somerville, proposed to Dugas in front of the shop while they were watching a Red Sox game in September, said Dugas, who is from Waltham and worked at the Harvard COOP. They had planned the wedding for St. Patrick’s Day, but postponed the ceremony when Frances Cardullo, the shop’s late owner, became ill.
“I first came here with the chairs all lined up, and [chair club member] Bob Marshall gave me Dennis’ chair, and [Dennis] ran away,” said Dugas. “Frances walked up to the sidewalk with her big purse in hand and told him to go back. Frances would be proud of Francesca [Cardullo] putting this wedding on.”
The couple’s wedding was dedicated to Frances Cardullo’s memory, said Coveney. After the ceremony, the couple toasted to Cardullo with Red Sox champagne glasses.
“Dennis has touched a lot of people’s lives. He’s been around for years and years,” said Francesca Cardullo, the store owner. “They’re a wonderful couple and would help anybody.”
Coveney knows everyone in Harvard Square. He works at Cardullo’s washing windows and started the chair club in 2005, watching the games in front of the shop by himself until more and more people joined him.
“We get along good, watching the games,” said Coveney about Dugas. “She lets me go fishing on Sundays. We just work and live our ordinary lives.”
Two weeks ago, he told the Harvard Square Business Association about the ceremony, and over a dozen businesses sent gifts to contribute to the ceremony, from flowers and desserts to a honeymoon suite, said Denise Jillson, HSBA executive director.
“Dennis has been a friend of Harvard Square for a very long time … the whole wedding was planned in a week and a half,” said Jillson. “It’s wonderful that even on a rainy day, everyone in the community came out.”
Coveney helps the business association plan festivals each year. He also works for Petali Flower Shop, making deliveries by foot, bike and public transportation across the entire state, said owner John Selletto.
“He knows the streets in and out like you know your name,” said Selletto.
Coveney was also a volunteer for ten years and is a current staff member for the Harvard Square Churches Meal Program, said Laurie Howell, 58, the program’s volunteer coordinator.
“He helped us off and on when we needed him; that’s what Dennis does. One day, he’s delivering flowers, another day he’s doing something else,” said Howell. “I’ve watched him grow in the past 20 years into a real adult and take on real responsibility.”
The Rev. Patricia Zifcak, vocational deacon for Harvard Christ Church, conducted the ceremony.
“In a time when everyone feels so discouraged, Dennis and Kelly choose marriage,” said Zifcak. “It’s a wonderful sign of hope; they’ve given us a gift.”
Coveney’s best man, John Beath of East Boston, said he met the groom as a patron of the old Tasty restaurant, where Coveney used to work.
“They’re the best Red Sox fans I know, which is the best thing I can say,” said Beath.
Coveney said the gifts and guests that turned up at the ceremony were “overwhelming” and “unbelievable,” and he is excited to see all his family and friends. The couple said they would still watch the Red Sox game scheduled for the next day at 4 p.m.
“Nothing will change,” said Coveney. “We’ll still be out here watching the games.”
Watch the video!
Cambridge —The torrential rain that canceled the Red Sox opening day game was no deterrent for Sox fans Dennis Coveney and Kelly Dugas, who were married in front of Cardullo’s in Harvard Square Monday afternoon.
Coveney, 47, and Dugas, 33, met when Dugas joined Cardullo’s “chair club,” an informal sitting area set up in front of the gourmet shop to allow passersby to watch Red Sox games on the flat screen in the shop window. Coveney, chairman of the club, promoted Dugas to “first lady” when they began dating two and a half years ago.
“I needed something to do, a place to watch the Red Sox games,” said Dugas, who was clad in her white wedding dress and hot pink rain boots for the special day. “He cares so much about me … I was coming out of a bad relationship when I started coming down to the chair club.”
Coveney, originally from Somerville, proposed to Dugas in front of the shop while they were watching a Red Sox game in September, said Dugas, who is from Waltham and worked at the Harvard COOP. They had planned the wedding for St. Patrick’s Day, but postponed the ceremony when Frances Cardullo, the shop’s late owner, became ill.
“I first came here with the chairs all lined up, and [chair club member] Bob Marshall gave me Dennis’ chair, and [Dennis] ran away,” said Dugas. “Frances walked up to the sidewalk with her big purse in hand and told him to go back. Frances would be proud of Francesca [Cardullo] putting this wedding on.”
The couple’s wedding was dedicated to Frances Cardullo’s memory, said Coveney. After the ceremony, the couple toasted to Cardullo with Red Sox champagne glasses.
“Dennis has touched a lot of people’s lives. He’s been around for years and years,” said Francesca Cardullo, the store owner. “They’re a wonderful couple and would help anybody.”
Coveney knows everyone in Harvard Square. He works at Cardullo’s washing windows and started the chair club in 2005, watching the games in front of the shop by himself until more and more people joined him.
“We get along good, watching the games,” said Coveney about Dugas. “She lets me go fishing on Sundays. We just work and live our ordinary lives.”
Two weeks ago, he told the Harvard Square Business Association about the ceremony, and over a dozen businesses sent gifts to contribute to the ceremony, from flowers and desserts to a honeymoon suite, said Denise Jillson, HSBA executive director.
“Dennis has been a friend of Harvard Square for a very long time … the whole wedding was planned in a week and a half,” said Jillson. “It’s wonderful that even on a rainy day, everyone in the community came out.”
Coveney helps the business association plan festivals each year. He also works for Petali Flower Shop, making deliveries by foot, bike and public transportation across the entire state, said owner John Selletto.
“He knows the streets in and out like you know your name,” said Selletto.
Coveney was also a volunteer for ten years and is a current staff member for the Harvard Square Churches Meal Program, said Laurie Howell, 58, the program’s volunteer coordinator.
“He helped us off and on when we needed him; that’s what Dennis does. One day, he’s delivering flowers, another day he’s doing something else,” said Howell. “I’ve watched him grow in the past 20 years into a real adult and take on real responsibility.”
The Rev. Patricia Zifcak, vocational deacon for Harvard Christ Church, conducted the ceremony.
“In a time when everyone feels so discouraged, Dennis and Kelly choose marriage,” said Zifcak. “It’s a wonderful sign of hope; they’ve given us a gift.”
Coveney’s best man, John Beath of East Boston, said he met the groom as a patron of the old Tasty restaurant, where Coveney used to work.
“They’re the best Red Sox fans I know, which is the best thing I can say,” said Beath.
Coveney said the gifts and guests that turned up at the ceremony were “overwhelming” and “unbelievable,” and he is excited to see all his family and friends. The couple said they would still watch the Red Sox game scheduled for the next day at 4 p.m.
“Nothing will change,” said Coveney. “We’ll still be out here watching the games.”
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Two new principals set to join Cambridge Public Schools
PUBLISHED by The Cambridge Chronicle
Cambridge —Two new principals will officially start their jobs in Cambridge Public Schools this summer.
Gerald Yung, who will be the new principal for the MLK School, and Sarah Fiarman, the current interim principal at the Graham and Parks Alternative School, were hired this month because they bring complementary strengths to the district, said Superintendent Carolyn Turk.
Graham and Park principal Barbara Boyle is retiring after 30 years, said Justin Martin, Cambridge Public School spokesman. Carole Learned-Miller, principal of the MLK School, went on maternity leave in November and decided to become a stay-at-home mother, Martin said.
Yung, who is half-Chinese and lived in Cambridge as a teenager, is currently the principal for the Seven Hills Public Charter School in Worcester. He said the MLK School impressed him with its Chinese language program, extended hours and passionate community.
“Cambridge is my second home. I love the diversity,” said Yung. “When I looked at the King School, I saw the diverse population.”
Yung wants to return to Cambridge, where his father still lives, to raise his one month-old son. He said he hopes to work with the city’s museums and universities to build a strong academic background and define everything the school has to offer.
Fiarman taught grades three through six at Cambridge during the 1990s. Turk said Fiarman worked with Harvard University and Cambridge Public Schools to establish instructional rounds, a program used to facilitate reflection amongst teachers and principals about their work.
“She has this high energy and passion about school that is infectious,” Turk said. “It’s good to mix it up a bit and be able to bring things in you have learned from other places.”
Fiarman, a National Board-certified teacher, has done extensive research and contributed to several books on education. She is an advanced doctoral student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a recipient of the Cambridge Peace and Justice Award in 2000.
Fiarman also has a master’s degree in elementary education from Antioch New England Graduate School and a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University. She is also a master teacher with the Massachusetts Department of Education.
“What I’m trying to do is … we want people who will complement each other and match up with the different schools and bring different strengths,” said Turk.
Yung graduated from the Harvard Graduate School of Education School Leadership Program, and he also has a master’s degree from Lesley University and a bachelor’s degree from Emory University in Atlanta. He said his experiences volunteering at an Atlanta middle school prompted him to enter the education field.
“Working with kids, being able to build relationships and help kids set high goals and try to achieve their dreams—that really appealed to me,” he said.
Cambridge —Two new principals will officially start their jobs in Cambridge Public Schools this summer.
Gerald Yung, who will be the new principal for the MLK School, and Sarah Fiarman, the current interim principal at the Graham and Parks Alternative School, were hired this month because they bring complementary strengths to the district, said Superintendent Carolyn Turk.
Graham and Park principal Barbara Boyle is retiring after 30 years, said Justin Martin, Cambridge Public School spokesman. Carole Learned-Miller, principal of the MLK School, went on maternity leave in November and decided to become a stay-at-home mother, Martin said.
Yung, who is half-Chinese and lived in Cambridge as a teenager, is currently the principal for the Seven Hills Public Charter School in Worcester. He said the MLK School impressed him with its Chinese language program, extended hours and passionate community.
“Cambridge is my second home. I love the diversity,” said Yung. “When I looked at the King School, I saw the diverse population.”
Yung wants to return to Cambridge, where his father still lives, to raise his one month-old son. He said he hopes to work with the city’s museums and universities to build a strong academic background and define everything the school has to offer.
Fiarman taught grades three through six at Cambridge during the 1990s. Turk said Fiarman worked with Harvard University and Cambridge Public Schools to establish instructional rounds, a program used to facilitate reflection amongst teachers and principals about their work.
“She has this high energy and passion about school that is infectious,” Turk said. “It’s good to mix it up a bit and be able to bring things in you have learned from other places.”
Fiarman, a National Board-certified teacher, has done extensive research and contributed to several books on education. She is an advanced doctoral student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a recipient of the Cambridge Peace and Justice Award in 2000.
Fiarman also has a master’s degree in elementary education from Antioch New England Graduate School and a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University. She is also a master teacher with the Massachusetts Department of Education.
“What I’m trying to do is … we want people who will complement each other and match up with the different schools and bring different strengths,” said Turk.
Yung graduated from the Harvard Graduate School of Education School Leadership Program, and he also has a master’s degree from Lesley University and a bachelor’s degree from Emory University in Atlanta. He said his experiences volunteering at an Atlanta middle school prompted him to enter the education field.
“Working with kids, being able to build relationships and help kids set high goals and try to achieve their dreams—that really appealed to me,” he said.
Cambridge school aims to be greenest in Boston area
PUBLISHED by The Cambridge Chronicle
Cambridge —Cafeteria lunches are getting greener at the King Open School with a new composting program that grew out of the hard work of a few young students.
The school kicked off “Food to Flowers” early in March with a school-wide assembly, educating students about composting, said Randi Mail, recycling director of the Cambridge Department of Public Works. The DPW worked closely with the school to set up the program.
So far, the lunch staff and students have been composting successfully, remembering to separate food, liquid and trash, said Lena James, family liaison for King Open. The lunch staff oversees the program to make corrections when students forget.
“Everybody came on board, sustaining it to keep that momentum going,” said James. “It has been going very, very good.”
The school composted 200 pounds of waste the first three days, and it is projected to compost about six tons for the year, Mail said. The weight kept out of the trash cuts down on collection costs, which may offset any costs of the program itself.
Composting is an one way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions because decomposing food waste in landfills are a significant generator of methane gasses, which have 20 times the effects of carbon dioxide on the atmosphere, Mail said.
King Open is the first school in greater Boston to begin a composting program, said Ann McGovern, a coordinator for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. The DEP provides the King Open School with educational materials, explaining the process and importance of composting.
The resources available in Cambridge, such as a Save That Stuff hauler route already established for private businesses, made it possible for such a small generator of food waste to create a program, McGovern said.
A group of seven students from the King Open School took the initiative two years ago in asking the school board to replace Styrofoam lunch trays with biodegradable trays, said Eliza Klein, now a sixth-grader at the school.
The students, called Sprouts of Hope, collected 200 signatures petitioning the school to change the trays and spoke in front of the school board twice, pressuring them to take action, Klein said. A school committee researched biodegradable trays and finally decided to introduce composting instead, because environmentally friendly trays are too expensive.
“At first, the adults didn’t really listen. They weren’t that helpful, but when we kept trying, it worked,” Klein said. “It feels really good.”
If the program continues its success at King Open, composting may begin at the other schools in the Cambridge district, she said. After the program reaches all the schools, the school board will revisit the Styrofoam tray issue, which is still the Sprouts of Hope’s ultimate focus.
“Be really into it, and don’t give up because they’ll think kids will do something not for any reason. They’ll sort of pretend to listen,” said Klein, giving advice to other students who may start a similar program. “Show adults you can actually make a difference.”
Klein said she and her friends decided they wanted to take action at their school because they wanted to see change in their own community and make personal connections. Students outside the Sprouts of Hope, science teachers, custodians and the lunch staff have all put in effort to support the program, she said.
“Seeing other kids appreciate what you’ve done is really cool,” said Klein. “It’s the ripple effect.”
Cambridge —Cafeteria lunches are getting greener at the King Open School with a new composting program that grew out of the hard work of a few young students.
The school kicked off “Food to Flowers” early in March with a school-wide assembly, educating students about composting, said Randi Mail, recycling director of the Cambridge Department of Public Works. The DPW worked closely with the school to set up the program.
So far, the lunch staff and students have been composting successfully, remembering to separate food, liquid and trash, said Lena James, family liaison for King Open. The lunch staff oversees the program to make corrections when students forget.
“Everybody came on board, sustaining it to keep that momentum going,” said James. “It has been going very, very good.”
The school composted 200 pounds of waste the first three days, and it is projected to compost about six tons for the year, Mail said. The weight kept out of the trash cuts down on collection costs, which may offset any costs of the program itself.
Composting is an one way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions because decomposing food waste in landfills are a significant generator of methane gasses, which have 20 times the effects of carbon dioxide on the atmosphere, Mail said.
King Open is the first school in greater Boston to begin a composting program, said Ann McGovern, a coordinator for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. The DEP provides the King Open School with educational materials, explaining the process and importance of composting.
The resources available in Cambridge, such as a Save That Stuff hauler route already established for private businesses, made it possible for such a small generator of food waste to create a program, McGovern said.
A group of seven students from the King Open School took the initiative two years ago in asking the school board to replace Styrofoam lunch trays with biodegradable trays, said Eliza Klein, now a sixth-grader at the school.
The students, called Sprouts of Hope, collected 200 signatures petitioning the school to change the trays and spoke in front of the school board twice, pressuring them to take action, Klein said. A school committee researched biodegradable trays and finally decided to introduce composting instead, because environmentally friendly trays are too expensive.
“At first, the adults didn’t really listen. They weren’t that helpful, but when we kept trying, it worked,” Klein said. “It feels really good.”
If the program continues its success at King Open, composting may begin at the other schools in the Cambridge district, she said. After the program reaches all the schools, the school board will revisit the Styrofoam tray issue, which is still the Sprouts of Hope’s ultimate focus.
“Be really into it, and don’t give up because they’ll think kids will do something not for any reason. They’ll sort of pretend to listen,” said Klein, giving advice to other students who may start a similar program. “Show adults you can actually make a difference.”
Klein said she and her friends decided they wanted to take action at their school because they wanted to see change in their own community and make personal connections. Students outside the Sprouts of Hope, science teachers, custodians and the lunch staff have all put in effort to support the program, she said.
“Seeing other kids appreciate what you’ve done is really cool,” said Klein. “It’s the ripple effect.”
Cambridge-based Swiss consulate melds science, art in exhibit
PUBLISHED by The Cambridge Chronicle
Cambridge —The Consulate of Switzerland will unveil an exhibit Monday at Logan International Airport in Boston to celebrate the arrival of 25 Swiss scientists and the life of a researcher in the 21st century.
The Cambridge-based consulate, known as swissnex Boston, is inviting a delegation of diplomats and educators from Switzerland to visit the opening of the new second floor of their building, said Thomas Buehler, a swissnex spokesman.
The day ends in the opening of SCIENCEsuisse, a collection of photographs profiling Swiss scientists at the top of their field, emphasizing the partnership between Switzerland and Boston in the science and technology field.
“If you are top scientist, there is no way you don’t have a connection to the Boston area,” said Buehler. “We’re really here to bridge the scientific worlds of Switzerland and Boston.”
The researchers will give several lectures while they are in Cambridge at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said Buehler. The lectures will address the career and life of a scientist and why students should stay on the research path.
The Science Club for Girls, a group based in Cambridge that will help unveil the event, are some of the students the consulate is hoping to influence, said Buehler.
“Our girls’ presence demonstrates that young people from an early age are interested in science, and one day they can look to become one of these scientists who can help solve the world’s problems,” said Connie Chow, executive director of the Science Club for Girls.
The Consulate has also donated money to the Science Club for a video project addressing stereotypes of engineers and scientists, showing that their work affects all parts of society, said Chow.
Logan Airport has previously featured the work of Swiss visitors for two other swissnex Boston exhibits about human rights and architecture. Buehler said swissnex Boston is likely to hold more events in the future because Terminal E allows a large audience of international visitors, such as businesspeople and professors.
The exhibit is free and available until June 1.
Cambridge —The Consulate of Switzerland will unveil an exhibit Monday at Logan International Airport in Boston to celebrate the arrival of 25 Swiss scientists and the life of a researcher in the 21st century.
The Cambridge-based consulate, known as swissnex Boston, is inviting a delegation of diplomats and educators from Switzerland to visit the opening of the new second floor of their building, said Thomas Buehler, a swissnex spokesman.
The day ends in the opening of SCIENCEsuisse, a collection of photographs profiling Swiss scientists at the top of their field, emphasizing the partnership between Switzerland and Boston in the science and technology field.
“If you are top scientist, there is no way you don’t have a connection to the Boston area,” said Buehler. “We’re really here to bridge the scientific worlds of Switzerland and Boston.”
The researchers will give several lectures while they are in Cambridge at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said Buehler. The lectures will address the career and life of a scientist and why students should stay on the research path.
The Science Club for Girls, a group based in Cambridge that will help unveil the event, are some of the students the consulate is hoping to influence, said Buehler.
“Our girls’ presence demonstrates that young people from an early age are interested in science, and one day they can look to become one of these scientists who can help solve the world’s problems,” said Connie Chow, executive director of the Science Club for Girls.
The Consulate has also donated money to the Science Club for a video project addressing stereotypes of engineers and scientists, showing that their work affects all parts of society, said Chow.
Logan Airport has previously featured the work of Swiss visitors for two other swissnex Boston exhibits about human rights and architecture. Buehler said swissnex Boston is likely to hold more events in the future because Terminal E allows a large audience of international visitors, such as businesspeople and professors.
The exhibit is free and available until June 1.
New Cambridge gym is an evolution in fitness
PUBLISHED by The Cambridge Chronicle
Cambridge —With a glass-encased waterfall in the lobby, earth-toned decor and marble countertops, Evolve Fitness looks more like a spa than a gym.
The new facility in Alewife, which opened last Monday Feb. 16 with close to 700 members, is designed and run to cater to customers’ tastes, making it different from a typical gym, Evolve’s owners said.
“We want people to come here and feel glad that they did,” said Lucio Paolini, a co-owner from Woburn. “We want it to be the best part of their day every day.”
The 21,000-square-foot, two-level facility at 52 New St. houses the latest in fitness technology, including touch-screen cardio machines that are iPod compatible and kettlebell free weights, said co-owner Mark Rozman. Members also have the option of creating workouts online and plugging them into the machines.
A video wall with nine television monitors play music in front of the rows of cardio machines, and special flooring absorbs the banging sounds of heavy weights. The waterfall in the lobby will soon be part of a “little oasis” with lounge chairs and free Wi-Fi, Rozman said.
Members will also enjoy a smoothie bar, a tanning bed, saunas in the wood-paneled locker rooms and marble-tiled showers. When the weather warms up, Evolve will host outdoor boot camps and marathons, and on Mondays, friends are welcome for free.
Rozman, a physical therapist who lives in Ashland, said he and Paolini started Evolve Fitness in Nov. 2005 when they bought a gym in Framingham, which now has 3,800 members. The Alewife location is their first expansion, and they are interested in looking for more new locations, Rozman said.
“It’s convenient for people. It’s a highly traveled area,” he said. “There’s a lot of gyms in the area, but we’re different.”
Evolve’s new location is bringing the company in the green direction, Paolini, a physical trainer, said. The floors are made from recycled rubber and carpet and bamboo paneling, while the paint contains milk, making it less toxic than regular paint, he said.
Keeping consistent with the spa atmosphere, the gym’s lighting is full-spectrum lighting, which is more natural lighting that helps reduce Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), Paolini said.
Assistant manager Dafna Hayman said the gym is donating 5 percent of each member’s initiation fee to local charities, such as the New England Center for Children and the Floating Hospital for Children.
“It’s really about making this not just a gym where you go and work out but being part of a community that stands for something,” she said.
Evolve looks to help customers that may be intimidated by working out, Hayman said. For example, the Alewife location was built with a woman’s weight room upstairs because many female customers said they preferred to lift weights separately.
Dominic Ricci, general manager, said that many people are insecure about their bodies and working out, and Evolve looks to make the process of working out as enjoyable and as easy as possible.
“Our motto is ‘A passion for fitness and changing lives,’” he said.
To reduce hassle for members, plans for Evolve are flexible and do not include a contract or long-term commitment, Ricci said. Membership rates start at $19 per month, but they vary, he said. The initiation fee depends on the member’s chosen payment plan.
Many members working out at Evolve on Monday said they had signed up months in advance. Zakia Paschal, 28, said the club’s low rate and close proximity to her apartment convinced her to sign up in November.
“I tried the Boston Sports Club, but it was so cold in there, and everyone was doing their own thing,” she said. “Nobody was chit-chatting, and I didn’t know how to do anything. This one, they tell you.”
Aviva Costello, 25, said she signed up two months ago when she saw the billboard out front. She said Evolve was cheaper than the gym she belonged to before, and she lives right around the corner.
Dan Finkle, 32, of Belmont said his wife suggested he sign up for Evolve a month and a half ago.
“We were members at another gym not nearly as nice, and the cost was the same,” Finkle said. “I figured, for the same price, I’d go for the nicer, furnished gym.”
Evolve is currently offering a free, three-day guest pass to try out the facility before joining.
“It’s what makes us different—no pressure,” Paolini said. “The product sells itself. We’re pretty confident. When people walk in, they’ll see the facility and how they’re treated.”
Evolve Fitness facts
Location: 52 New St. in Alewife
Size: 21,000 sq. ft.
Owners: Lucio Paolini from Woburn, a physical trainer, and Mark Rozman, a physical therapist from Ashland
The new Evolve Fitness facility was renovated from an old warehouse.
The owners invested upwards of $1.5 million in the project.
Cambridge —With a glass-encased waterfall in the lobby, earth-toned decor and marble countertops, Evolve Fitness looks more like a spa than a gym.
The new facility in Alewife, which opened last Monday Feb. 16 with close to 700 members, is designed and run to cater to customers’ tastes, making it different from a typical gym, Evolve’s owners said.
“We want people to come here and feel glad that they did,” said Lucio Paolini, a co-owner from Woburn. “We want it to be the best part of their day every day.”
The 21,000-square-foot, two-level facility at 52 New St. houses the latest in fitness technology, including touch-screen cardio machines that are iPod compatible and kettlebell free weights, said co-owner Mark Rozman. Members also have the option of creating workouts online and plugging them into the machines.
A video wall with nine television monitors play music in front of the rows of cardio machines, and special flooring absorbs the banging sounds of heavy weights. The waterfall in the lobby will soon be part of a “little oasis” with lounge chairs and free Wi-Fi, Rozman said.
Members will also enjoy a smoothie bar, a tanning bed, saunas in the wood-paneled locker rooms and marble-tiled showers. When the weather warms up, Evolve will host outdoor boot camps and marathons, and on Mondays, friends are welcome for free.
Rozman, a physical therapist who lives in Ashland, said he and Paolini started Evolve Fitness in Nov. 2005 when they bought a gym in Framingham, which now has 3,800 members. The Alewife location is their first expansion, and they are interested in looking for more new locations, Rozman said.
“It’s convenient for people. It’s a highly traveled area,” he said. “There’s a lot of gyms in the area, but we’re different.”
Evolve’s new location is bringing the company in the green direction, Paolini, a physical trainer, said. The floors are made from recycled rubber and carpet and bamboo paneling, while the paint contains milk, making it less toxic than regular paint, he said.
Keeping consistent with the spa atmosphere, the gym’s lighting is full-spectrum lighting, which is more natural lighting that helps reduce Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), Paolini said.
Assistant manager Dafna Hayman said the gym is donating 5 percent of each member’s initiation fee to local charities, such as the New England Center for Children and the Floating Hospital for Children.
“It’s really about making this not just a gym where you go and work out but being part of a community that stands for something,” she said.
Evolve looks to help customers that may be intimidated by working out, Hayman said. For example, the Alewife location was built with a woman’s weight room upstairs because many female customers said they preferred to lift weights separately.
Dominic Ricci, general manager, said that many people are insecure about their bodies and working out, and Evolve looks to make the process of working out as enjoyable and as easy as possible.
“Our motto is ‘A passion for fitness and changing lives,’” he said.
To reduce hassle for members, plans for Evolve are flexible and do not include a contract or long-term commitment, Ricci said. Membership rates start at $19 per month, but they vary, he said. The initiation fee depends on the member’s chosen payment plan.
Many members working out at Evolve on Monday said they had signed up months in advance. Zakia Paschal, 28, said the club’s low rate and close proximity to her apartment convinced her to sign up in November.
“I tried the Boston Sports Club, but it was so cold in there, and everyone was doing their own thing,” she said. “Nobody was chit-chatting, and I didn’t know how to do anything. This one, they tell you.”
Aviva Costello, 25, said she signed up two months ago when she saw the billboard out front. She said Evolve was cheaper than the gym she belonged to before, and she lives right around the corner.
Dan Finkle, 32, of Belmont said his wife suggested he sign up for Evolve a month and a half ago.
“We were members at another gym not nearly as nice, and the cost was the same,” Finkle said. “I figured, for the same price, I’d go for the nicer, furnished gym.”
Evolve is currently offering a free, three-day guest pass to try out the facility before joining.
“It’s what makes us different—no pressure,” Paolini said. “The product sells itself. We’re pretty confident. When people walk in, they’ll see the facility and how they’re treated.”
Evolve Fitness facts
Location: 52 New St. in Alewife
Size: 21,000 sq. ft.
Owners: Lucio Paolini from Woburn, a physical trainer, and Mark Rozman, a physical therapist from Ashland
The new Evolve Fitness facility was renovated from an old warehouse.
The owners invested upwards of $1.5 million in the project.
Cambridge begins pilot study on car pollution
PUBLISHED by The Cambridge Chronicle
Cambridge —Recent nationwide studies showing a correlation between proximity to major highways and higher health risks has prompted the Cambridge Public Health Department to begin a small study of its own, public health officials said.
Starting this week, the department will begin training volunteers for the pilot phase of community-based study on ultrafine particles — very small air pollution particles found near major highways — conducted in Central Square throughout the rest of March, said Sam Lipson, the department’s director of environmental health.
“My primary goal over the long term is to get a picture of the community,” Lipson said. “We can compare Cambridge to other communities, and put it on scale somewhere … should we feel OK about where we are right now, or are we worse off than we thought?”
The purpose of the program is to work out any “kinks” in the procedure, and a more long-term set of data will be needed to make assessments, Lipson said. If the pilot program goes smoothly, the department hopes to duplicate the study in the summer to correct for weather interferences.
About 20 people have already volunteered, a few of them atmospheric scientists, but anyone can participate in the study, he said. After volunteers are trained, they are assigned to a three-hour walking route to take over 30 samples at different locations.
The department already owns or is borrowing the equipment used to measure the amount of air pollution in a given location. The only additional costs for the study are, at most, $7,000 in consultation and analysis fees, Lipson said.
The Harvard School of Public Health and the Cambridge Climate Protection Action Committee are also contributing volunteers, he said.
The Public Health Department is also working with the Museum of Science to host a forum on May 3 at 7 p.m. to discuss potential policy implications of the data.
“We may get some insight provided about, ‘What are the promising areas of policy that generate support?’” Lipson said.
Lipson said the reliability of the data is too uncertain at the pilot stage of the study to begin considering the policy consequences, unlike past studies conducted in Somerville that have supported demands for better public transportation. He said he hopes the study can be conducted over 10 to 15 years in different parts of Cambridge to detect changes or patterns in air quality.
The relationship between living close to a highway and developing high risks of cardiac and respiratory diseases has been a focus of several studies in the past few years, Lipson said. The findings have culminated in the biggest research breakthrough on the effects of air pollution from automobile emissions in the last ten years, he said.
The study’s impact may be limited without a large enough time commitment by volunteers, because the pilot phase must be conducted before winter ends in the next few weeks, Lipson said. Consultants have recommended collecting data for a cold and warm weather period, three times each day, to control the interfering factors, he said.
“We’d like to build a solid foundation to look back on a few years from now,” Lipson said. “It would be fun to look back and say we have good data in the city that’s useful for people looking at an urban environment.”
Cambridge —Recent nationwide studies showing a correlation between proximity to major highways and higher health risks has prompted the Cambridge Public Health Department to begin a small study of its own, public health officials said.
Starting this week, the department will begin training volunteers for the pilot phase of community-based study on ultrafine particles — very small air pollution particles found near major highways — conducted in Central Square throughout the rest of March, said Sam Lipson, the department’s director of environmental health.
“My primary goal over the long term is to get a picture of the community,” Lipson said. “We can compare Cambridge to other communities, and put it on scale somewhere … should we feel OK about where we are right now, or are we worse off than we thought?”
The purpose of the program is to work out any “kinks” in the procedure, and a more long-term set of data will be needed to make assessments, Lipson said. If the pilot program goes smoothly, the department hopes to duplicate the study in the summer to correct for weather interferences.
About 20 people have already volunteered, a few of them atmospheric scientists, but anyone can participate in the study, he said. After volunteers are trained, they are assigned to a three-hour walking route to take over 30 samples at different locations.
The department already owns or is borrowing the equipment used to measure the amount of air pollution in a given location. The only additional costs for the study are, at most, $7,000 in consultation and analysis fees, Lipson said.
The Harvard School of Public Health and the Cambridge Climate Protection Action Committee are also contributing volunteers, he said.
The Public Health Department is also working with the Museum of Science to host a forum on May 3 at 7 p.m. to discuss potential policy implications of the data.
“We may get some insight provided about, ‘What are the promising areas of policy that generate support?’” Lipson said.
Lipson said the reliability of the data is too uncertain at the pilot stage of the study to begin considering the policy consequences, unlike past studies conducted in Somerville that have supported demands for better public transportation. He said he hopes the study can be conducted over 10 to 15 years in different parts of Cambridge to detect changes or patterns in air quality.
The relationship between living close to a highway and developing high risks of cardiac and respiratory diseases has been a focus of several studies in the past few years, Lipson said. The findings have culminated in the biggest research breakthrough on the effects of air pollution from automobile emissions in the last ten years, he said.
The study’s impact may be limited without a large enough time commitment by volunteers, because the pilot phase must be conducted before winter ends in the next few weeks, Lipson said. Consultants have recommended collecting data for a cold and warm weather period, three times each day, to control the interfering factors, he said.
“We’d like to build a solid foundation to look back on a few years from now,” Lipson said. “It would be fun to look back and say we have good data in the city that’s useful for people looking at an urban environment.”
Sunny, warm today... now for the cold
PUBLISHED by The Cambridge Chronicle
Cambridge —Even though spring isn't here yet, it felt like it Friday as temperatures rose into the 50s in Cambridge. But don't get in the mood for spring for too long. Snow's expected Saturday night into Sunday. So winter's still here.
Cambridge —Even though spring isn't here yet, it felt like it Friday as temperatures rose into the 50s in Cambridge. But don't get in the mood for spring for too long. Snow's expected Saturday night into Sunday. So winter's still here.
Harvard student Julie Kim, 22, about to jog around the sunlit square
Brattle Square Florist opens its doors to sunlight
Harvard students Peter Ganong, 22, and Johan Hong, 20, jog down Massachusetts Avenue
Rick Wayshville of Watertown, 29, enjoys an iced coffee while walking his dogs around Harvard Square
Members of the Marist College swimming and diving team, Meredith Michl, 18, and Connor Cyrus, 22, went shopping at the Harvard COOP.
Sofie Allen, 8, dances to street performers in front of the Harvard T station
Mixed reaction to March Nor'easter in Cambridge
PUBLISHED by The Cambridge Chronicle
Cambridge —Will Roseliep said he enjoyed a spontaneous frolic in the Nor’easter that hit on Sunday night.
“It was fun and relaxing,” said Roseliep, a 27-year-old originally from Iowa who works at the Harvard Square Starbucks. “I was running and sliding when people weren’t looking.”
Not all Cambridge residents were as happy about the storm that blanketed the Northeast on Monday. Some said the weather dashed their optimism that spring is on its way.
“Everybody’s miserable,” said Cambridge Police Officer Eddie Gillett. “It’s just compounded the problems people are already having.”
Gillett said he was snow blowing his driveway Monday morning when he slipped on a patch of ice, and the blower hit his daughter’s car and scratched it. He said she was already in a bad mood from being in the house all day, and her temper was worse than usual.
Gillett, who is going on vacation to Florida in a few weeksto escape the winter, said he has noticed that people are much happier in warmer weather. Last Friday, with temperatures soaring into the 50s, passersby were smiling and waving all day, he said.
Raffi Bezjian, manager of Leo’s Place in Harvard Square, said he tries to cheer up all his customers by telling them the extra snow will prevent a water shortage in the coming months.
“They all have one thing in common: they complain about the snow,” Bezjian said. “They say March comes in with a bang, and I say February is going out with a bang. It adds spice to their day.”
One of Bezjian’s customers, Danielle Ogles of Boston, said getting up in the morning was harder for her in such snowy weather. Ogles, who works as a medical assistant in Arlington, said she left her car home and took the T to work because of the storm.
For those not used to New England weather, the storm wasn’t so bad.
Adam Smith, 28, of Arlington said he does not mind “one last hurrah” before winter ends. He said he plans to go skiing in New Hampshire next weekend, and he prefers snow when the weather is cold.
“Because I’m new to Boston, I just moved here a couple years ago, I’m not completely bitter about the snow yet,” said Smith, who works at Mass. General Hospital.
Brent Refsland, 27, of Jamaica Plain said he is also new to Boston, but he used to live in Minnesota, where snow is part of daily life. He said he expected a couple more storms to hit the area in March.
“I’m trying to stay positive, standing out here and enjoying my coffee,” said Refsland, a photographer. “Everyone’s always complaining.”
Cambridge —Will Roseliep said he enjoyed a spontaneous frolic in the Nor’easter that hit on Sunday night.
“It was fun and relaxing,” said Roseliep, a 27-year-old originally from Iowa who works at the Harvard Square Starbucks. “I was running and sliding when people weren’t looking.”
Not all Cambridge residents were as happy about the storm that blanketed the Northeast on Monday. Some said the weather dashed their optimism that spring is on its way.
“Everybody’s miserable,” said Cambridge Police Officer Eddie Gillett. “It’s just compounded the problems people are already having.”
Gillett said he was snow blowing his driveway Monday morning when he slipped on a patch of ice, and the blower hit his daughter’s car and scratched it. He said she was already in a bad mood from being in the house all day, and her temper was worse than usual.
Gillett, who is going on vacation to Florida in a few weeksto escape the winter, said he has noticed that people are much happier in warmer weather. Last Friday, with temperatures soaring into the 50s, passersby were smiling and waving all day, he said.
Raffi Bezjian, manager of Leo’s Place in Harvard Square, said he tries to cheer up all his customers by telling them the extra snow will prevent a water shortage in the coming months.
“They all have one thing in common: they complain about the snow,” Bezjian said. “They say March comes in with a bang, and I say February is going out with a bang. It adds spice to their day.”
One of Bezjian’s customers, Danielle Ogles of Boston, said getting up in the morning was harder for her in such snowy weather. Ogles, who works as a medical assistant in Arlington, said she left her car home and took the T to work because of the storm.
For those not used to New England weather, the storm wasn’t so bad.
Adam Smith, 28, of Arlington said he does not mind “one last hurrah” before winter ends. He said he plans to go skiing in New Hampshire next weekend, and he prefers snow when the weather is cold.
“Because I’m new to Boston, I just moved here a couple years ago, I’m not completely bitter about the snow yet,” said Smith, who works at Mass. General Hospital.
Brent Refsland, 27, of Jamaica Plain said he is also new to Boston, but he used to live in Minnesota, where snow is part of daily life. He said he expected a couple more storms to hit the area in March.
“I’m trying to stay positive, standing out here and enjoying my coffee,” said Refsland, a photographer. “Everyone’s always complaining.”
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