Merrimack Valley Magazine

Mistral Music Artistic Director Announces Debut Memoir

September 9, 2021 by Kristin Cole

Julie Scolnik, the artistic director of Mistral Music, a chamber music group that performs a regular series in Andover and Brookline, announced that her debut memoir, “Paris Blue,” will be published by Koehler Books on Oct. 5, and is available now for pre-order.

Scolnik is an American flutist who has performed as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral flutist. She founded founding Mistral Music with her husband in 1997, and since the series has been known for its “virtuosic performances, imaginative programming, and the deep personal rapport [Scolnik] establishes with her audiences.” Scolnik currently lives in Boston with her husband, children — who are also musicians — and their two cats.

Visit here to pre-order Scolnik’s new book.

NoteWorthy – 3/7/21

March 7, 2021 by Kristin Cole

AROUND THE VALLEY

Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union Announces Reading with Rowdy Literacy Program

On March 2, National Read Across America Day, Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union (JDCU) partnered with On The Move, Inc. (OTM) and UMass Lowell (UML) to launch Reading with Rowdy, a program that encourages literacy. Division 1 head coaches, politicians, business leaders, and other members of the community have come together to share some of their favorite books in a series of videos with Rowdy the Riverhawk for the children of Lowell.

The goal of this collaboration is to help students achieve reading proficiency by the time they complete the third grade. To help foster children’s love of reading and to help build home libraries, OTM has purchased over 3,000 books to go along with the stories. The students of the Abraham Lincoln and the S. Christa McAuliffe schools, and the Cardinal O’Connelle Early Learning Center in Lowell will each receive an age and reading level appropriate copy of one of the featured books.

The initial books in the series include “Flat Stanley on Ice,” read by Mark Cochran, president and chief executive officer of JDCU, “Unbeatable Betty,” shared by UML and Olympic runner Ruben Sanca, “Dancing Hands,” read by UML field hockey coach Shannon LeBlanc, and “Pete the Cat Construction Destruction,” read by UML women’s basketball head coach Tom Garrick. To view the first in a series of Reading with Rowdy videos visit here.

JDCU is the proud sponsor of the 2021 Merrimack Valley Magazine Awards. Click here to vote for your favorite local businesses.

Trahan, GLFHC Leaders Hail Importance of American Rescue Plan

From left: GLFHC President and CEO John Silva, GLFHC Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer Richard Napolitano, and U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan.

During a tour this week of the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center’s (GLFHC) Lawrence Vaccination Site, U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan joined with the facility’s leadership to applaud President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan and investments in community health centers on the front lines of the vaccination effort.

Community health centers like GLFHC, Lowell Community Health Center, and Community Health Connections will be recipients of considerable federal investments from the American Rescue Plan. The relief package provides $27 billion to address health disparities and protect vulnerable populations for the duration of the pandemic.

That includes $7.6 billion in funding to further support COVID-19 response efforts at community health centers. The GLFHC stands to receive additional American Rescue Plan investments from the $330 million allocated for Teaching Health Centers. The legislation also establishes a national COVID-19 vaccination plan and provides more than $20 billion to improve the administration and distribution of vaccines.

This was the first week of GLFHC’s participation in the program, during which they received a 2,000-dose shipment from the federal government to prioritize low-income individuals in Lawrence and Methuen. Since opening vaccination sites at their Lawrence and Methuen sites, GLFHC has administered more than 4,500 vaccines to eligible patients and individuals.

UML Music Series Embraces the Art of Listening

New virtual music programs for UMass Lowell (UML) students and the public are connecting participants through the art of listening in a shared experience.

UML’s Headphone Series presents sessions during which influential musical works and performances are played for participants, taking them on a sonic journey through history. Each session is led by a UML music faculty member, who then fosters a group discussion about the selections played. Free and open to the public, programs in the series are held via Zoom and are also streamed live on the UML music department’s YouTube channel.

The series was first designed to fill a gap for the dozens of on-campus concerts and recitals that were available to UML music majors before COVID-19 restrictions.

Among the most popular programs last semester was “Five Moments of Musical Joy,” led by music Prof. Alan Williams, coordinator of UML’s music business program and “Jazz in the ’20s,” led by Garrett Michaelsen, assistant professor of musicianship and music theory, which focused on music from the Jazz Age of the 1920s but also music of the 2020s.

For those interested in streaming the concerts, click here for the music department’s YouTube channel to listen to previous programs in the series. Members of the public who would like to participate in upcoming sessions can register here.

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Joshua Stokel Appointed to Director of NECC Police Academy

Stokel, of Portsmouth, N.H., is a retired deputy chief of police with experience teaching criminal justice at the college level. After beginning his career as a patrol officer in Rochester, N.H., in 1996, Stokel joined the North Hampton, N.H., police department in 1999 and retired as deputy chief of police last year. During his career, Stokel served as DARE instructor, forensic interviewer of abused children, hostage negotiator, drug recognition expert, and rape aggression defense instructor. He currently is an adjunct professor at Merrimack College and Southern New Hampshire University.

Baker Appoints NECC Graduate Glennys Sanchez to NECC Board of Trustees

Glennys Sanchez of Lawrence is an Northern Essex Community College (NECC) graduate, community activist, and leader in K-16 education and research. Sanchez is currently a senior associate with the Great Schools Partnership, a nonprofit school support organization working to redesign public education. She also has experience as director of research and knowledge management and as a job coach and advisor for NECC’s Student Success Center in Lawrence. Sanchez is an active member in the Lawrence community, currently serving as a trustee of the Lawrence Public Library, vice president of the Lawrence History Center, and clerk of the board of the Bread and Roses Heritage Committee, of which she is a former president and vice president.

NECC Music Grad Alicia Catalano Selected to Sing at DHE “29 Who Shine” Event

Alicia Catalano will graduate with her associates degree in music this spring and in the fall she will earn another associate’s degree in business. She has released her first single called “Forgive” and she has been selected to perform for the Department of Higher Education’s “29 Who Shine Awards” in May, an event hosted by Gov. Charlie Baker and honoring a top graduate from each community college, state college and university in Massachusetts. When she’s not performing, creating music, or studying, she is busy designing a line of bags called “By Alicia” which she markets online. Catalano says her degrees will help her continue to pursue her passions while figuring out her next step.

Greenwood named Director of the Financial Education Center at Community Teamwork

Bonnie Greenwood comes to Community Teamwork with over 15 years of education experience including teaching in the private and public schools, directing programs and teaching English language learners at the university level, and directing education programs for immigrants and refugees for a nonprofit in downtown Boston.

Touchstone Closing Announces New Partners

Peter E. Smith has been appointed to Touchstone Closing’s partner and brings advocacy for his clients, technical knowledge and outstanding customer service to the firm’s continued growth. Smith has 15 years of experience of residential real estate transactions including building his own successful solo practice. With Smith’s arrival, comes a new retail closing office for the firm on Main Street in Salem, N.H., Smith also donates his legal expertise to the Merrimack Valley Habitat for Humanity, by completing free closings for families in need. Smith and his family reside in Atkinson, N.H.

David Allosso has been promoted to Touchstone Closing partner. Local realtors report using Allosso as their preferred attorney for both their listing clients, and their own personal closings, because he’s known to be involved with the process, detail-orientated, and trustworthy. Allosso counsels clients on purchase and sale agreements, leases, and quieting problem titles. He resides in Billerica, Mass., with his wife and two daughters.

Michelle Beauregard has joined Touchstone Closing as an associate attorney. While in law school at New England Law in Boston, she was awarded an American Jurisprudence in UCC Sales and was named a New England Scholar. During the 2008 economic crash and subsequent housing crisis, Beauregard evolved into the foreclosure field to assist in the sales of REO properties. Today her practice has returned to negotiating purchase and sale agreements, reviewing title examinations, title curative, and assisting real estate agents, buyers and sellers through the entire transaction process. Beauregard lives in Chelmsford, Mass., with her husband and three sons.

Pentucket Bank Welcomes Maureen Meletis as Vice President/Program Manager

Meletis brings over thirty years of banking experience to this position. In her new role with Pentucket Bank, Maureen is responsible for maintaining the Bank’s Program Management Department, tracking statuses, timelines, and financials of all in-flight projects across the Bank. Meletis resides in Derry, N.H., with her family and when not working enjoys gardening and volunteering with the Mass. and N.H. Alzheimer’s Associations, where she is an advocate, volunteer and a past chair of the Central N.H. Walk to End Alzheimer’s.

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Check out the latest episode of The 495 Podcast!

This week on The 495, host Doug Sparks is joined by photographer Karen Jerzyk, whose work was profiled in the January issue of MVM. You can find Jerzyk’s prints at Hive & Forge in Lowell. Click here to listen.

The Fine Art of Browsing

February 17, 2018 by Bonnie Mason Leave a Comment

Indie Bookstores Offer the Human Touch

The best way to find books is not online, according to some bibliophiles. It is to visit an independently owned bookstore. ( Editor’s note: This article was originally published in the Jan/Feb ’18 issue of Merrimack Valley Magazine. )

That is, if you can find one. “We’re a tiny industry today,” admits Susan Little, owner of the Jabberwocky Bookshop in Newburyport’s Tannery Marketplace. Still, independent bookstores offer something online retailers and even large chain stores cannot — a chance to thumb though volumes curated by knowledgeable guides who are part of the community.

Due to an increased reading of e-books and the use of Amazon.com to order books, as well as the economic collapse of 2008 — which affected all retail, according to Little — many indie bookstores have closed, save for a few special outlets that have a large and loyal cadre of long-standing customers.

Left: Buddenbrook’s owner Martin Weinkle travels the world with his wife, Anne, looking to help his clientele develop their collections. Middle: Mary Guerrero of Lawrence’s El Taller sees the store’s role as being about more than books. It is a place for community development, and is a cafe as well as a bookstore. Right: Vera Gorr, a Lawrence teacher, shops for new releases at El Taller. Photos by Kevin Harkins.

Willard Williams is owner of The Toadstool Bookshop in Milford, New Hampshire, the original location of which opened in 1972. Williams says the people who come into his bookstores — he owns three — are not interested in picking out a book by looking at pictures of them on the internet. They want to talk about books with his staff, and they love the idea of being surrounded by a large and colorful assortment of their beloved friends — books they can admire visually as well as touch.

Fortunately for readers in the Merrimack Valley, the following well-established and independently-owned bookstores continue to thrive.

Buddenbrooks

It would be easy to stroll past this jewel of a collectors’ bookshop in downtown Newburyport without knowing the vast treasure of information and wisdom contained inside its handcrafted bookshelf cabinets.

Visitors must ring the outside doorbell to be admitted. Step inside and you might easily imagine having been transported to Europe. The front room is for visitors and casual customers; the back room is for serious collectors. All is quiet, understated elegance. The mood is exemplified by a prominently displayed a cast bronze bust of Sir Richard Francis Burton, a 19th century English explorer, writer, translator, linguist and poet.

You quickly learn from the owner, Martin Weinkle, that this is a place where history, politics and culture intersect. He and his wife, Anne, have traveled the world to find rare and significant volumes in mint condition.

“Collection development and appraisals are our specialty,” Weinkle says. As far as he knows, Buddenbrooks is the only bookstore of its kind in the Newburyport area.

The Toadstool Bookshop

Looking to find books you’ve never seen or heard about? Toadstool Bookshop in Milford, N.H., is the place to do it. That’s the way owner Willard Williams likes it. “It’s a nice place to stumble upon a new book,” he says. “We especially try to pick out books of interest to people in our area.”

Soft classical flute music plays in the background as you peruse the thousands of books, including a large inventory of used volumes. “This is the place where we can offer a good book at a different price,” Williams says. His family started the small bookstore chain, which also has locations in Peterborough and Keene, New Hampshire, because of their great love of books.

Sue Carita, a longtime employee of the Milton shop, sees it as a meeting place. The bookstore itself occupies 3,600 square feet in the Lorden Plaza, and its cafe addition, The Bookside Café, adds a warm and welcoming spot where artists, knitters and sci-fiers can meet and savor baked goodies, soups and sandwiches. Most weeks feature events in which authors come to talk about their craft and share information about their latest works.

Left: Jabberywocky owner Susan Little opened her store 46 years ago. Over time, it has become a favorite for those who like to experience the now-endangered “fine art of browsing.” The store features curated books for her local clientele, as well as big, colorful sections for children and young adults. Right: Jabberywocky is located in Newburyport’s The Tannery Marketplace, a collection of specialty stores, restaurants and businesses in a restored mill building. Photos by Kevin Harkins.

El Taller Cafe & Bookstore

Located in the heart of culturally diverse downtown Lawrence, signs on the outside of El Taller say, “No matter where you’re from, we’re glad you are our neighbor,” and “Read books, drink coffee and be happy.”

Inside, you might see a college professor grading papers, a group of teenagers finishing their homework or an elementary school student browsing a limited but well-curated selection of books. That pleases co-owner Mary Guerrero, a former middle school teacher and writing coach.

Brown butcher paper covers tables for drawing and writing, and pencils fill Mason jars. Old mill spools have been repurposed as stools. The handiwork of local artists is displayed on the walls, and you can see all sorts of carpentry tools nestled together inside benches covered with clear, thick glass.

It’s no surprise that “el taller” means “the workshop” in Spanish. On the day I visited, a comic book group was meeting. The next week, El Taller was hosting a group from a local Episcopal school. Wi-Fi is available. Community meetings take place upstairs. “The point,” Guerrero says, “is for people in the community to be together. When you have a venue, people will come. And that’s what we are — a venue.” When you add great food, both American and Mexican, to that venue, what else could you want?

Jabberwocky Bookshop

According to owner Susan Little, Jabberwocky has customers who drive two hours every six weeks because they can find things at her store that they can’t find anywhere else.

Little chose “Jabberwocky,” the title of a nonsense poem by Lewis Carroll, as the name of her bookstore because she felt it was “utter nonsense” to start out as she did at the age of 22 with only $2,000 to finance the store.

That was 46 years ago. “The times were a-changing then,” she says. At the time, most bookstore owners were men.

She knew that if the store didn’t work out, she at least could take all those books home.

Fortunately for her customers, she didn’t have to. “I find the best books in every category I can and then offer them,” she says. To help introduce readers to new works, the store features a 20 percent discount on hardback best-sellers and 10 percent on best-selling paperbacks.

Jabberwocky is the sort of place that invites serendipity. “Isn’t it fun to be looking for a book in a store and have someone standing nearby chime in with what they love about that book?” Little says.

That’s something that cannot happen with digital books, and Little believes a growing number of people are coming back to what she calls “the fine art of browsing.”

“What you can do here, you cannot do online,” she says.

Buddenbrooks
Newburyport, Mass.
(617) 536-4433
Buddenbrooks.com

The Toadstool Bookshop
Milford, New Hampshire
(603) 673-1734
ToadBooks.com

El Taller Cafe & Bookstore
Lawrence, Mass.
(978) 965-4145
ElTallerArts.com

Jabberwocky Bookshop
Newburyport, Mass.
(978) 465-9359
JabberwockyBookshop.com