DNB Newsletter - September 2009

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DON’T MISS FALL IN DOWNTOWN NEW BEDFORD!
This year’s too short summer is giving away to a fall filled with festivals and events that will bring thousands of people to a warmly welcoming downtown New Bedford. It’s a great variety: food, art, education and more.

> 4th annual New Bedford Seaport Chowder Festival
> A Tribute to Ted Kennedy
> 6th Working Waterfront Festival
> Open Studios
> Bioneers by the Bay
> Notes from the Weekly Weeder
> Adopt a Spot
> Downtown Beats

September 13 – noon – Custom House Square
Fall festival season kicks off with DNB, Inc.’s fourth annual New Bedford Seaport Chowder Festival on September 13 at noon in Custom House Square.

For the best price get your tickets early. In advance, adults $10. Children 6-12, $5.00. Children 5 and under free. At the door: Adults $15. Children 6-12. $5.00. Children 5 and under free.
 
Advance tickets are available at these locations:
Downtown New Bedford:  
Citizens Union Savings Bank, Destination Soups, Freestone's City Grill, YMCA, On-A-Roll Sandwich Shop, Elaine's Black Whale, TL6 The Gallery, Downtown New Bedford Inc.
New Bedford: Barry's Wine and Spirits, M & C Café, River's End Café, Fresca Grill
Dartmouth: Cardoza's Wine & Spirits, Cardoza's Food Emporium, Cape Quality Seafood, Miller's Homeport, Healthy Grille
Fairhaven: Cardoza's Wine & Spirits, Mike's Restaurant
Fall River: Cardoza's Wine & Spirits
 
Our discerning tasters demand yearly improvements in this event. This year besides the chowders, kale soup, seafood chowder and stuffed quahogs there are lobster races sponsored by the YMCA, a Yankee auction to benefit the promotion of downtown businesses and free tours of downtown conducted by the National Park volunteers. Elaine’s Black Whale will do shell painting for kids and SMILES will do face painting.
 
Crowd favorite band Shipyard Wreck, which has entertained at every Chowder Festival, will perform again this year. The Relics are new this year. They are a band of thee guys who have been together for over fifteen years and have a dedicated local following.
 
It’s not every chowder festival that features kale soup too, but ours does, and the competition for that prize is as fierce as it is for chowder.
 
Our restaurants include previous winners like Ice Chest Bar & Grille and The Pasta House as well as newcomers like Union City Bar & Grill and Miller’s Homeport. The full list as of press time is:

For more information go to: http://www.downtownnb.org/chowderfest.html

A Tribute to Ted Kennedy by Arthur Bennett Ted Kennedy’s legislative  skills and commitment to his constituents are legendary. I was privileged to  see them at close range back in the 90s as the city sought to obtain National  Park designation for its Waterfront Historic District. It was he at the  beginning who secured the funding which kicked off the process, and it was he  at the end who was responsible for guiding the legislation through the Senate - not an easy accomplishment at a time when his party was in the minority. His commitment to the effort and his affection for the people of New Bedford were  apparent throughout. The country will miss him, the State of Massachusetts  will miss him, and the people of New Bedford will miss him. He was a true  friend.

WORKINGWATERFRONT FESTIVAL SET FOR SEPTEMBER
2009 Theme: Surf and Turf: Fishermen and Farmers Finding Common Ground

Welcome aboard as New Bedford, America's largest commercial fishing port, hosts the 6th Working Waterfront Festival, a celebration of commercial fishing culture.  
 
The Working Waterfront Festival is a project of the Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern MA, a non-profit organization. The FREE festival, a family friendly, educational celebration of New England's commercial fishing industry, features live maritime and ethnic music, fishermen's contests, fresh seafood, vessel tours, author readings, cooking demonstrations, kid's activities and more.  It all takes place in New Bedford, MA, America's #1 fishing port, on the fourth full weekend of September. .

More than simply a celebration, the Working Waterfront Festival is a unique opportunity for the public to get a firsthand look at the culture of fishing and for the commercial fishing community to tell its own story. The event presents all that goes into bringing seafood from the ocean to the table in a way that is hands-on, educational and fun. Visitors are encouraged to listen and watch, but also to taste, touch and converse.  The FREE festival takes place Saturday and Sunday, September 26th and 27th on the working piers and waterfront parks of the Port of New Bedford.  Free parking is available at the City's Elm Street Garage.  Complete information including directions, a festival map and a schedule of events is posted on the festival web site: www.workingwaterfrontfestival.org

Open Studios / www.newbedfordopenstudios.org
Saturday October 3 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
& Sunday October 4 11:00 am – 4:00 pm

Rhonda Fazio

Judith Klein

Downtown New Bedford artists are well represented in Open Studios on October 3 and 4, 2009. During Open Studios artists from the area give demonstrations and open their work areas to the public. Since the downtown artists are close to each other, it would be possible to see all of them and combine it with lunch downtown or a visit to a museum.

The downtown artists are:  
mediumstudio / www.mediumstudio.com
38 Bethel St. / 79 Nrth Water St.
Graphic design for print and web.    

Navio Artisans Collective
65 William Street, 508-558-1922
Seth J. Rainville / Artisan  
 
Crowell's Fine Art - 382 Acushnet Avenue
Alyn Carlson, 508-992-5231 / Watercolor    
John Vliet, 508-992-5231 / Oil, Pastels    

ArtWorks! - 384 Acushnet Avenue   
Artful Sinks (Melissa Danforth), artfulsinks@gmail.com / Hand painted ceramics (mainly sinks, tiles, and accessories)    
Murray Gintis, www.scoastphoto.com / Photographer    
Berta Malhinha, bertastudio@yahoo.com / Watercolor    
Peter Michael Martin, online / Paper cut    
Amy Schusser, online / Ceramics, Mosaics    
Marianne Stebenne, online / One of a kind pottery pieces   
 
Colo Colo Gallery - 25 Centre Street, 508-496-4718  
Nancy Hayes / Ceramic sculpture    

Cummings Building - 96-100 William Street   
Rhonda M. Fazio, online / Textiles, Natural dyes    
Benjamin Suarez, The Second Story Studio and Gallery, 508-264-3152
Painting, Photography, Mixed media, Painted furniture    
Tenacious Lilly Jewelers, online / Sterling silver, 14K gold, Semi-precious gems, Custom designs    
Alison Wells

Judith Klein Gallery - 752 Purchase Street   
Judith Klein, online / Print making, Drawings, Paintings, Textiles

Bioneers by the Bay: Connecting for Change, October 22nd-25th, 2009
Downtown New Bedford

The 5th Annual Bioneers by the Bay: Connecting for Change Conference – presented by the Marion Institute - will be held in historic Downtown New Bedford, MA, on October 22-25, 2009. Bioneers by the Bay provides an opportunity for concerned citizens to meet with environmental, scientific, and social justice innovators to address the Earth’s most pressing challenges. We are planning a rather remarkable three days of live keynote presentations, afternoon workshops, an extensive Youth Initiative program, a downlink of the 20th Annual Bioneers Conference in California [www.bioneers.org], an exhibition hall featuring sustainable businesses and organizations, films, music, art installations, a farmers’ market and local & organic food. If you purchase your three day pass before September 18th, you will receive the early bird rate of only $150. A limited number of scholarships are available as well.  For more information, please visit www.connectingforchange.org or call 508.748.0816.

Notes from the Weekly Weeder
By Sally Spooner

The first day I set out, garbage bag in hand, to pick up trash and pull weeds in our New Bedford streets I had an identity crisis. Like many women, I have often pictured myself as a bag lady in the future, but never once as a trash lady. Without an identifying hat, shirt or badge I didn’t know how to act. Should I keep my head down? Should I avoid eye contact? Would people look at me with contempt? Think I was serving community service for some offence?
 
At the very least I felt I would be invisible as I walked around with my flapping bag.
 
On that first day, a woman with a cute dog in her lap and her car window open was waiting at a stop sign next to where I was weeding. Before I knew it we were talking, and then I took a picture of her dog. It was just as it would have been without the trash bag.
 
Since then I have found weeding and picking up trash to be quite friendly. Some people ignore you. Some people are friendly. The most frequent thing is that people ask for directions. It’s just about like everyday life without trash bags. These days I head out from the office, bag in hand, with a confident swagger in my step.
 
Looking the city at it from the curb level is a completely new experience. The trash isn’t exactly what I expected. Cigarette buts abound, but many pieces of trash are escapees from receptacles and bags. Someone tried to throw them away at least once. There aren’t as many discarded cups and wrappers as I thought there would be.  
 
 
Feathers and flowers

There are feathers. Lots and lots of feathers. I know we have seagulls, but I never thought about where their feathers go. Now I know.
 
The occasional flower pokes through the weeds like the lonely little petunia in the onion patch. The best things about weeding and picking up trash are the peacefulness and the sense of accomplishment. I can work for a half hour at noon time, get something very concrete accomplished, get a little exercise and go back to work mentally refreshed. Maybe that’s a bit of an overstatement, but you get the drift.
 
Do you want to join our downtown troop of spot adopters, cleaners and weeders?
Then call DNB, Inc. at (508) 990-2777 or email dnb@downtownnb.org.
 
Each person who adopts a spot gets a certificate of adoption and will be issued cleaning supplies donated by Milhench Industrial Supply.

Adopt a Spot Volunteers making a difference downtown

In the recent movie Julia and Julie, Julie is moving to a new and perhaps less desirable neighborhood. A piece of airborne trash flies at her as she walks to the new apartment with her boyfriend.
 
It’s just a moment in the film, but a moment is all it takes for trash to create an impression of neglect.
 
Understanding that the city budget is strained and that the city workers are doing their best with even with the cutbacks, Downtown New Bedford, Inc. has partnered with Operation Cleansweep to help keep the downtown area tidy and inviting as we move into the fall festival season that will bring thousands of visitors to the streets. If Julie should come looking for an apartment in downtown New Bedford, we want it to be clean.

The following volunteers have adopted their own spots, but there are plenty more available for adoption.

Call (508) 990-2777 for more information or to sign up. Milhench Industrial Supply has generously donated cleaning equipment which will be issued to you once you have officially signed up.

Downtown Beats

Welcome new member:

Michelle Carr Michelle Carr Photography www.michellecarrphotography.com 36 North Water Street New Bedford, MA 02740 (508) 294-0921

Celtic Coffee House opening on September 4! Another Coming Soon sign will be coming down on September 4 when the Celtic Coffee House on North Water Street opens. It is in a perfect location across from the back of the Whaling Museum. They promise breads, pastries, coffees and authentic Irish bacon sandwiches.

Fifties night a great success Downtown New Bedford was crowded with cars and people on Fifties Night, August 20, organized by Joe Jesus. Poodle skirts and live entertainment add to the atmosphere, but the cars are the stars.                                    Joe Jesus, organizer of 50’s night

Tall ship Amistad Visits New Bedford Harbor The tall ship Amistad berthed next to the Ernestina in New Bedford Harbor waiting for Hurricane Bill to pass

Mayor Scott Lang visits Bristol Community College program Mayor Scott Lang visits summer students at Bristol Community college who were constructing model solar houses.

Shredding Day – September 12 The City will have a shredding truck at the N Sixth St parking lot opposite City Hall on Saturday, September 12, from 9:00 to noon. Downtowners may bring up to two cartons of paper to be shred­ded without charge. Additional cartons will cost $5 each. It’s a great service.  DNB, Inc. recommends that you take advantage of it. "