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Between graduation and now getting ready to send the kid to college, I’ve only been paying passing attention to the Congressional race. However, next Wednesday, July 18, 8:00-10:00 am, will be my chance to hear what the candidates have to say about education, healthcare, housing, the environment and other issues of concern to the non profit community.  The forum is sponsored by the Non Profit Alliance of Greater Lowell and will be held at the UML Center for Family, Work and Community (first floor conference room) at the Wannalancit Mills, 600 Suffolk Street. I’m looking forward to this chance to sort out my views and preferences before the primary (September 4th?) sneaks up on us!

If anyone is interested in attending, please let me know as we need to plan for seating.

Never underestimate what a group of concerned citizens can accomplish together, and last night’s city council meeting proved it on two counts: One was the presentation of a $100,000 check to the city by the Friends of Shedd Park: Kudos to this group of dedicated residents who worked tirelessly to raise funds over the last two years for improvements to the city’s largest green space. The other accomplishment was getting the council’s attention regarding school building maintenance. As a member of the School Committee’s Facilities Subcommittee for the last three years, I can tell you the school department has been beating the drum on this issue for longer than that and with limited success. It was just recently that a group of parents from the Reilly School got fed up with the “deplorable conditions” at the building (including the leaking roof, faulty plumbing and heating problems) and began writing, emailing, and calling councilors for something to be done. Last night’s action, prompted by a motion by Councilor Elliott, was to have the city manager prepare a report on the maintenance needs of city buildings (including schools) and develop a plan to address those needs by priority. I’m not naïve enough to believe it was only because of the spirited actions of some parents that the city finally paid attention to this issue; my colleagues and I have made too many pleas in the past about building maintenance—whether it was lack of heat at the high school or badly leaking roofs—to think a few letters and calls alone turned the tide: timing has also been key. With a new administration that sees the wisdom of taking care of our buildings rather than maintenance by crisis (which inevitably costs more), the actual development of a plan to tackle this issue seems likely. That said, in case they never put that plan into action, I suggest parents be ready, pens and phones in hand, to spring into action again if needed.

It was last Friday night in Lowell and we were at the United Teen Equality Center for a free concert. The event was a farewell to UTEC’s organ which would be played its final time before being dismantled into 1,000 pieces and shipped to a church in Knoxville, Tennessee. Fulbright scholar and renowned organist Steven Ball had flown in from Michigan to play the historic instrument, which was built in 1887, weighs about 10 tons, and is 25 feet tall. Even though the organ has not been fully restored yet, the sounds from this ancient instrument were truly impressive as only a 2,000 pipe organ can be. The music filled the chambers and spilled out the windows onto Hurd Street as we left early for our second event of the night—the farewell performance of the SRO players. 

The Standing Room Only players, led by Michael Lally of the Whistler House, has been entertaining locals for more than 20 years; some of the original members began performing together at Lowell High School three decades ago. It was fitting that their final performance to a packed audience was at the LHS auditorium. And what a show—three hours of best-loved show tunes, dancing, and costume changes. In addition to their wonderful voices, this animated group brings a love of music, an energy, and a connection that transcends mere sound and engages the audience with infectious enthusiasm. Guest solo performances by Lura Smith and Jeanine Graham were also excellent, and the whole show was an entertaining extravaganza. At the risk of being blatantly elitist, I couldn’t help thinking that the talent and range of this local group is reflected today in the many talented students we have at Lowell High School. Thank you to all the SRO players who have entertained us so well these many years. We will miss you. 

It’s summer and who isn’t thinking about what books they will bring to the beach, the mountains or even to the hammock in the backyard?  I am at the lake right now, on our third day of rain and clouds; oh, well!  It’s still peaceful and beautiful, and one can always lie on the couch and read if the beach or hammock are sopping wet.  I always love to hear what others are planning for their summer reading, so I’ll share my list (warning – the rest of the post is rather long): more »

Kerouac’s Last Call by New York journalist and playwright Patrick Fenton was performed as a staged reading last night by Lowell’s Image Theatre. This was the first time the local group that specializes in producing work by local playwright’s has gone out of New England for a play, but given the subject of Fenton’s work and the current excitement surrounding Kerouac’s legacy and the coming to town of the scroll of On the Road, it seems more than fitting.

 Stage set by local artist, Robert Bryan

Patrick Fenton, who was on hand to answer questions and share his thoughts and memories of Kerouac, started writing about Kerouac in 1964, when the author was really down. The fame of On the Road had died away, critics were dismissive of his talents and he had lost contact with the friends of his youth. He was living in Northport, Long Island with his mother and drinking at a bar called Gunther’s, which is where he held a farewell party for himself before moving to Florida. Someone made an audiotape of the evening which was the catalyst for Fenton’s play.  Jerry Bisantz, founder of the Image Theatre, read the part of Kerouac, backed by actors playing characters from the author’s memory, including his parents, best friend Neal Cassady and daughter Jan.  The playwright (and actor Bisantz) did a great job of catching Kerouac’s unique voice in some of the monologues, the way he could string words along rhythmically, riffing like a jazz musician or even as a kind of precursor to rap music. He also captured his end-of-life angst, the voices from his past, his ambivalence at being called “the king of the beats,” his ambivalence over his daughter and other relationships. The best line was when his father tries to get him to get a real job, asking him, “how many famous writers do you know from Lowell?”  At the end, each of the back-up characters tells a bit about Kerouac’s life, ending with the playwright’s claim that Kerouac belongs with America’s greatest authors of this century, with F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway. 

Today I went to the movies with fifth congressional candidate Jamie Eldridge, who had invited a group of us to see Michael Moore’s new film Sicko and discuss it afterwards. Since I wanted to learn more about the healthcare issue, particularly this candidate’s support of a universal single-payer system, I decided to check it out. First off, the film is a must see whether you like Moore or not. It’s thought-provoking, moving, funny, and informative…to a degree. (With Moore, you always get a one-sided argument, but this is a kinder, gentler film, especially in contrast with his movie Farenheit 911 where he seemed determined to offend and shock everyone.) As in his other films, he uses a lot of anecdotal evidence, such as the uninsured man who must choose which finger to have reconnected after an accident because he can’t afford both (ring finger for $12k or middle finger for $60k); Moore emphasizes the horror of this choice by showing us the reaction of a French doctor and his reconstructed-hand patient. There’s a lot in the film to digest and much of it uncomfortable—even disturbing, but when Moore informs us how much campaign money certain members of Congress receive from healthcare lobbyists and power brokers (Hilary Clinton got a chunk, and Bush got about $900k), I actually felt a little sick myself. Later, during the discussion, I asked Jamie Eldridge about his strategy for getting something done when he admits “there are not enough more »

I love fireworks, especially when I can be right under them: the blazing flames seem to shoot right at me, and I can feel the explosive boom in my chest. Without that fireworks experience, the fourth of July isn’t completely satisfying—even if I had a great day with family and friends in Arcadia, at a beach down the Cape, or on a clear, cool lake in New Hampshire. Being close to a really good fireworks display is important to me on Independence Day, and anything short of that is (harsh as it sounds) disappointing. I used to get my fireworks fix by standing on the Longfellow Bridge and watching them shoot over me at the Charles River, accompanied by the sounds of the Boston Pops—an amazing experience. Then I moved to Lowell, and I was hooked for life. Whether it’s at City Hall for Winterfest (cool excitement, further sparked by fear the building will go up in flames) or on the Merrimack River, with sounds from music playing at Sampas Pavilion—Lowell does a very good job with fireworks and the traffic surrounding them. Despite the rain, today was no exception although we only made it to the Rourke Bridge (not as close as I wanted due to guests wary of the rain). From my vantage point, I could see the display from Sampas Pavilion as well as two other displays further down the river—the three of them like a string of bursting flowers lighting the night sky. I was reminded why I love fireworks and how thankful I am to have a home in this city, and how grateful I am to be an American.   

Walking around the Highlands yesterday, I was amazed by this purple clematis:

Then again, if you walk a lot around Lowell, along side of some of the urban blight you might expect, you will also see many beautiful gardens, well-tended yards or even just a striking tree or flowering bush by the side of a busy road.  I seem to recall that the late, great gardening writer, Henry Mitchell (author for 25 years of the “Earthman” columns in the Washington Post),  gardened on a narrow, shady city lot, plagued by poor soil and the roots of maple trees, not to mention all the other slings and arrows which the gardener is heir to.  City gardeners, I applaud you!

Our own Revolving Museum in downtown Lowell will be one of the featured stories on HGTV’s Look What I Did! show, airing tonight at 6 p.m. on channel 32. The program will highlight the newly renovated facility, which if you haven’t seen it, looks terrific, as well as the innovative youth programs offered at the museum. And, in case you haven’t heard, the Revolving Museum is the 2007 Commonwealth Award Winner for the category of “Community” from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Also, don’t forget to experience their ARTventures Public Art Festival this summer too! (If you’ve been driving around downtown, you’ve seen an inkling of what this festival entails.)

I can’t get over my bitterness that members of our legislature, led by Sal DiMasi, caved in to the business community and seem to have squashed the optional hotel/meals tax provision of the Governor’s Municipal Partnership Act (Is it over? I’ve been out of town and, despite much googling, I can’t seem to figure out if it’s completely dead or not).  I think the Corporate Tax Loophole portion of the bill is still alive, but it looks like it may suffer the same fate. 

Even worse is the prognosis by my new favorite columnist, John Edward, who in yesterday’s Lowell Sun gives us more of his refreshing viewpoint on taxes.  Despite numerous studies that show that taxes are not a primary factor when choosing where to locate, politicians continue to resist closing corporate tax loopholes and to advocate for corporate tax incentives to boost job growth.  According to Edward, all the candidates for the 5th Congressional district support the latter notion. Yet, consider this from Edward’s column:

“Surveys that ask business leaders how they choose a location do not identify taxes as a primary motivator.  Statistical analyses of the impact of state tax incentives show very little contribution to the economy.  In fact, the economic benefits of such incentives are less than the lost tax revenue.”

 Finally, Edward points out that Massachusetts has “one of the lowest corporate tax burdens in the country.”  As for the loopholes targeted by the Municipal Partnership Act, Edward exempts emerging industries (such as nanotechnology), but:

“In contrast, the tax loopholes the governor wants to close are unintended benefits that companies have learned to exploit.  They reward clever accounting rather than innovative product development.”