Thursday, March 31, 2011 at the House of Blues, Boston
Purchase tickets now for the American Cancer Society sixth annual Key Gala beginning at 6pm, Thursday, March 31, 2011 at Boston’s hottest entertainment venue, the House of Blues. Proceeds from the event benefit the AstraZeneca Hope Lodge Center in Boston, a program of the American Cancer Society. Or join us for a Late Night Party beginning at 9pm for a special price, perfect for Boston area young professionals interested in supporting the cause and enjoying an evening of live entertainment. American Cancer Society Daffodil Days Honorary Chair, Joyce Kulhawik, a three time cancer survivor and Arts and Entertainment Critic will emcee the event.
Tickets to the gala are $300 per person; tickets to the Late Night Party are $50 per person/$85 per couple in advance and $65/$100 at the door.
Opened in 2008, the Lodge, located at 125 South Huntington Avenue in Jamaica Plain, has provided free temporary residence to nearly 1,000 cancer patients and family members who have traveled to Boston from 40 states and 10 countries for cancer treatments not available at home. Thanks to generous financial contributions from donors, organizations, foundations, and events such as the Key Gala, guests and caregivers have received 25,000 nights of free lodging and 5,000 rides to and from treatment appointments, saving them more than $4.2 million in hotel and travel expenses. Presenting sponsor of the 2011 Key Gala is AstraZeneca.
To purchase tickets, contact Melanie Barton at 508.270.4651 or Melanie.Barton@cancer.org. For more information visit cancer.org/bostonkeygala or call 1-800-227-2345.
We visited some of our favorite friends at Bobbles and Lace and like the rest of the town the store was full of customers Christmas shopping. Live music and free wine kept everyone’s mind off the stress that comes with this time of the year and one of the owners, Lindsay Rando was in high spirits as well as she watched her store flourish.
Fueled up with new tunes, the rockin’ a cappella of Tuckermans at 9 (tuckermansat9.com) returns for a third year running to First Night Wolfeboro on December 31. The two-set performance at Brewster Academy’s Pinckney Boathouse begins at 6pm.
This could be the answer to all your shopping needs and it’s all under one roof…..just plug your GPS in and follow directions to 21 Andersen Drive in Boxford, Mass. You’ll find handmade pottery, Seasonal Wreaths and swags, Sparkling Jewelry, Handcrafted Wooden Bowls, Hand Blown Glass, Candles, Photography, Dog Treats, Hats, American Girl Dollclothes, Painted Furniture, Antiques, Artist Paintings and of course. Lots of Artist Bears, you never know just what you might find at the Barn. Bring a friend and enjoy the beautiful country setting away from the hustle and bustle of the Malls!
Chilly Dog Sweaters
Beausoleil Eyewear 
We Are The Gift Idea Specialists
A Refreshing Antidote To Wardrobe Boredom
Give the Gift that’s always a winner! Ski 3 Days (no blackouts!) at Shawnee Peak Ski Area in Bridgton, Maine for just $135! Your Closest Maine Mountain - just 2 1/2 hours from the North Shore. Shawnee Peak is Classic New England Skiing with Hometown hospitality. Mention this ad when ordering! Shawnee Peak, Mountain Road, Bridgton, Maine, 207-647-8444, 
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A gallery of unique fine and functional art from North Shore’s premiere artists adorn the walls. The distinctive fine crafts range from pottery, carved birds, jewelry, fiber art, photography, unusual carved gourds, blown glass, and sculpture. MixtMedia, 40 Essex Road, Ipswich, 978-356-0115, 
Yes… They Are…HOCKEY STICKS AND PUCKS!
Chocolates & Sweets
Turning Art Into Fashion
Guarantee Student Success…With ClubZ! In-Home Tutoring.
Conveniently located in Wakefield, Gone to the Dogs specializes in fashionable, fun, practical, and delicious products for dogs and those who love them. Shop with us and you will find great holiday gifts, scrumptious treats, thoughtfully selected toys, coats, food, and more! All perfect for the dog and the dog lover on your list! Gift cards are available! Gone to the Dogs, 55 Albion Street, Wakefield, 781-245-6787
Gifts That Glow!
Gift Sets
Nothing Average About It
Hooray For The Holidays!
Lovelinks
BareMinerals by BareEscentuals…
Delight Your Senses
Mud Puddle Toys
Not Your Average Consignment Shop!
Timeless Interiors
At The Beauty Cafe in Melrose center you’re sure to find the perfect gift for everyone on your holiday shopping list. From the must-have Big Buddha bags and the hard to find celeb faves like Kai and Apothia fragrances, the gorgeous Tolani scarves and the newest holiday collections by Smashbox, Butter London, Stila and Bare Escentuals. The Beauty Cafe, 515 Main Street, Melrose, 781-665-6650, 
turesque slopeside hideaways. By Judy Koutsky
Hanson Financial Group offers comprehensive financial planning and investment management services with a focus on personal financial planning for retirees, and surviving and divorced partners. We work within our clients’ existing financial plans and work with other professional advisors clients may have to help navigate a clear path for their financial future.
Thomas T. Riquier, CFP®, CLU, is president of The Retirement Financial Center, a local CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professional and a member of Ed Slott’s Master Elite IRA Advisor Group™. Tom constantly evaluates economic trends and recommends appropriate portfolio changes. In September 2008, Tom made the tough recommendation to his clients to liquidate all securities. At nearly the bottom of the market in early March 2009, Tom advised his clients to reenter the market by investing 40% of the portfolio. In June 2009, he followed with the remaining 60%. Recently, he again recommended a cautious reallocation. Tom believes “your financial success is not only determined by how much you make when the markets go up, it is also determined by how much you don’t lose when they go down.”
No group felt the impact of the 2009 recession more than those nearing or just entering retirement. As the financial markets gradually show signs of recovery, new questions and challenges arise: Will you need to work longer than planned? Do you need to increase savings or adjust spending? What can you do now to better protect your assets and your lifestyle in retirement?
Planning for retirement, putting together a savings plan for your children’s college education or just looking for better options to make your money work harder for you, Infinex Financial Group, located at The First National Bank of Ipswich, can help you create a plan to meet your long-term goals – at a level of risk that you’re comfortable with. Your First National Bank of Ipswich executive and Infinex Financial Group Representative, Tim Goland, will walk you through the financial planning process; establishing a supportive, helpful relationship with you that will continue to grow and evolve over time. Identify Your Goals and Implement Your Individual Plan
Investments doing poorly? Retirement on the horizon and you feel like your running out of time? Wondering what your options are? There are options. Perhaps your not talking to the right people? Maybe it’s time to talk to the retirementman™? We specialize in retirement planning. Over 30 years of experience, a degree in Accounting & Finance from Bentley College and we’re licensed and registered for all the investments you may need to get your investments back on track. I think you might agree, experience, experience, experience is probably what your investments need right about now. We are a full service financial services firm focusing on what you need to retire and how to do it most “tax efficiently”. Our motto is “it’s not what you earn that counts, it’s what you keep”. IRA’s, 401k’s, pension plans, 403b’s, annuities, insurance, all have important features and should be used properly for you to reach your goal in retirement.
After serving the Boston area as Investment Advisors since 1976, we decided to open our new suburban office at Unicorn Park in Woburn.
available for private party functions and customizes party platters for any occasion. For more information about Pellino’s Ristorante and Bar or to make a reservation, call 781-631-3344 or visit them online at 
“I feel at home, man,” Matt Chewning says, smiling and taking in the hot North Shore summer air, the afternoon traffic in downtown Beverly rolling by. The 28-year-old is a long way from North Carolina, from where he moved with his wife and kids to start a new venture. It wasn’t a job transfer, though. It was the call of God. Chewning has traveled a long road in his 28 years, from a humble upbringing as a self-described “Jersey punk” to a Southern corporate climber to an impassioned leader of an Evangelical church he is planting on Massachusetts’s not-so-religious North Shore. “Out here, you get all these preconceived notions,” Chewning says, his relaxed Southern drawl contrasting with the rushed, Boston-accented conversations around him. “Christians shouldn’t have sex, Christians shouldn’t drink, or do this or that. Nah, that’s not it. People know what the churches are against, but what are the churches for? So we came here thinking we should let people know what we’re for.”
His relationship with Jesus wasn’t the only meaningful one Chewning found in college. It was at Eastern Nazarene that he also met a girl, Beth, who would become his wife. Beth was from Warwick, New York, a New York City suburb not unlike the New Jersey town in which Chewning was raised. Beth grew up just 30 minutes away from where Chewning’s father lived, and they were introduced by mutual friends. Matt was a freshman and Beth was a sophomore. But all was not blissful at first. Beth was not all that impressed with Matt or his personality.
Planting a church is not to be done haphazardly; about 80 percent of new churches fail in their first year. So Chewning planned carefully and used his corporate networking skills in his new quest. He joined a church-planting network out of Seattle called Acts 29, which specializes in training pastors and assessing their ability to start churches. They tested him in theology, doctrine, and leadership ability and examined the strength and virtue of his marriage. Eventually, Acts 29 suggested he serve as an intern with an existing church to become more adept at ministry. So Matt served as an intern at 1.21 Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, an Evangelical church referencing first-century teachings in 21st-century life.
wouldn’t be an easy road, though. Finding housing proved to be a nightmare. They spent months looking for a home they could afford. After seeing a Craigslist ad for a house to rent, Matt drove up to the North Shore to check it out, but another tenant beat the Chewnings to it. The only other house, on Pierce Street in Beverly, was in deplorable condition.
If you like a good laugh, look no further than Hamilton’s own Bo Burnham. Born Robert Burnham in August of 1990, Bo has taken his inherent talent to perform, along with a weekend passion for crafting clever online videos, and turned them into a satirically raw and successful comedic career.
Gail and David Vastola enter their Rockport home via a domed rotunda, which creates an acoustic effect in which even a whisper can travel clearly to the other side of the soaring space. Surrounded by Corinthian columns and graced with an Italian-marble mosaic floor, the rotunda leads into a bow-fronted living/dining room that overlooks Main Street and the harbor beyond. When they sit here, the Vastolas are in an area that once housed library stacks. Their bedroom, down the hall on the opposite side of the rotunda, was once the reading room.
Built in 1906, Rockport’s granite Classical Revival library is one of 2,509 libraries constructed throughout the English-speaking world between 1881 and 1917 with the support of $56 million in funding from Andrew Carnegie. The steel magnate and philanthropist had a lifelong belief that free public libraries provided a means of self-education to everyone. Typically simple and formal, Carnegie libraries welcomed patrons to enter through a prominent doorway that was nearly always accessed via a staircase. The entry staircase symbolized a person’s elevation by learning. Similarly, outside nearly every library was a lamppost or lantern to symbolize enlightenment.
In addition to the obstacles of mold, wax, and overwhelming shrubbery, David and Gail were hampered by stringent restrictions dictated by the building’s listing on the National Register of Historic Places. They could not alter any structural elements or remove parts of the building, and all replacement materials had to replicate the original. When Gail wanted to raise the bottom of the windows to match the level of her new kitchen counters, for example, federal guidelines did not allow it. The windows were original to the building and thus could not be altered. The resourceful homeowner directed her contractor to cut niches into the granite counter to accommodate the windows.
“Cape Ann granite is distinctive,” David explains. “It looks different and it’s the hardest granite in the world.”
Gail’s effortless interior utilizes Classic furnishings against a backdrop of soft, neutral colors. The white marble living room fireplace surround is original; cleaned and repaired, it serves as the focal point for one end of the large room. The homeowner faced more than the usual design issues of space and proportion. The granite of what originally was the exterior wall dominates the master bedroom; Gail coordinated wood and fabric colors with the assertive hues of the stone. The master bath features Biedermeier antique commodes repurposed as sink vanities. Guest bedrooms and bathrooms, which derive drama from the architecture, are historically minded, but not museum-like. Hardwood flooring replicating the original looks as stylish today as it did 100 years ago.
Want to put some excitement back into that same-old, carved-in-stone, been-eating-it-since-the-Ice-Age traditional holiday dinner? Simple. Invite nine North Shore A-list chefs to your house and ask each one to bring a dish to share. Not only would dinner be a breeze, but you’re guaranteed a mind-bending spread of tasty, imaginative interpretations of the well-worn but immortal classics. However, just in case the chefs can’t make it, here’s the next best thing: their recipes. Most of these will produce leftovers, another must-have for every holiday dinner. Dig in!
Chef Stephen Ryan, The Grand Café at Emerson Inn By The Sea, Rockport
Serves 8
Corn Bread & Sausage Stuffing 
Spanish-Style Haricot Vert 
Dubbed “The Yachting Capital of the World” as well as the “Birthplace of the American Navy” under Colonel John Glover and General George Washington, Marblehead has always been a magnet for ocean lovers and beachgoers. Today, more of a resort destination than a working fishing village, Marblehead beckons with chilly waters that sparkle during the town’s century-old mid-summer Race Week, with its historic and modern sailboats also enjoyed by landlubbers from high perches in Chandler Hovey Park, Fort Sewall, and Crocker Park. Come winter, the town becomes a New England postcard, with a month-long Christmas celebration that entices both residents and visitors.
Salem might get dibs on Halloween, but Marblehead is all about Christmas. Tens of thousands of people flock to the town to share in the magic of Marblehead’s winter arts festival and Christmas events. Kicked off by a holiday shopping preview party to motivate residents to stay local for shopping, the Marblehead Christmas Walk event is officially christened on Friday night by the tree lighting and caroling at Abbot Hall. The next morning, Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive at State Street Landing in a lobster boat painted red (of course).
With a traditional New England village green, white church spires rising above Victorian storefronts, and covered bridges spanning the Quechee River, Woodstock, Vermont looks like it was conjured up by Currier and Ives. But the town has a lot more going for it than its postcard-perfect looks. Arts and crafts thrive here, and the great outdoors beckons with top-notch hiking, biking, skiing, and golf—all less than a three-hour drive from the North Shore.
Bodiscience, a holistic spa in Beverly specializing in treatments drawn from Ayurvedic and ancient Chinese philosophies, is making the most of the holiday season by reaching out to an often-overlooked segment of the spa-going population: soldiers and their families.
The project has the support of Brig. Gen. James Cook, creator of a non-profit community-based initiative called the Warrior Water Center Project that offers help to returning soldiers and their families. Cook is lobbying for funds to subsidize the wellness treatments, but for now, BodiScience is picking up the costs. To help defray the expense, Tardif and her partners are asking other practitioners to join the project with free or discounted treatments or memberships.
The superb mushroom-and-goat cheese tartlet appetizer is built of house-made pastry dough that is filled with cheese and roasted mushrooms and finished with truffle oil. The entrée of fresh, artisanal rigatoni is dressed with an intensely umami sauce of lamb, veal, pork, and San Marzano tomatoes, the legendary Italian sauce tomato renowned for its exquisite flavor and exorbitant (but worthwhile) cost.
And then, just when we thought crème brulée was getting boring, along comes Nine Elm’s version, with its gently sweetened, silken custard and extra-thick crisp caramel top that shatters into crunchy candy.
Winter is upon us, which means a fire in the fireplace, snow on the lawn, and, with a little luck, the occasional day off from work or school. More importantly, it also means a whole new crop of substantial winter brews to choose from at local markets, bars, breweries, and pubs.
Where she works: A small space rented from Timothy S. Hopkins Catering in Essex. Why cookies: “It was really a fluke. I was more or less retired from my career in corporate marketing and wasn’t looking for anything else to do when [my daughter] Nicole started making these rich, spicy chocolate cookies. I brought them to a little gourmet shop one day and asked if they would consider selling them. Those cookies later became our award-winning Cha-Chas, though we went through four different names first.”
“I love telling stories in which I’m the star and that make people laugh,” says Phoebe Potts. She also loves drawing, the incomparable light of her adopted Gloucester, and the gutsy way stand-up comedians bare their souls.
and-white comic strip images, Potts takes on far more. She deftly addresses the education of American women in 2010; the nourishing, exasperating, ever-changing, never-changing nature of family ties; the crippling darkness of depression; making art versus holding down a “soul-shrinking, all-for-the-benefits job”; the discovery of religious faith and community; and the fragility of self-esteem. Lovingly, she honors the primary importance of friends, therapists, hairdressers, a friendly local coffee shop, a supportive husband, and a cat with an inner life and an outsized personality.
Boott Cotton Mills Museum
The Bennett E. Merry Train Gallery runs nine model trains in various gauges by push button. Curator Rob Flanagan will show you how to set up a model train, create scenery, and keep the trains running. Through February 20, the Train Time exhibit fills the museum with train models, including the New England Limited passenger train of 1891, which was nicknamed the Ghost Train for its white cars and high speeds as it traveled the twilight route between Boston and New York.
The Addison reopened in September after a two-year renovation and expansion project. A new 13,000-square-foot education center funded by Andover alum Sidney R. Knafel has a library, a classroom, storage, offices, a loading dock, and the first green roof in Andover, carpeted in sedum and “Black Niijima Floats” by glass artist Dale Chihuly. The graceful rotunda has been restored, and Paul Manship’s Venus fountain now gurgles water. All the galleries have been restored but otherwise unaltered. “We weren’t going to change the small, intimate feel of the gracious and welcoming galleries,” says museum director Brian Allen. “People can very easily take ownership of the spaces and we don’t want to tamper with that.”
Mark Mcdonough is perched at the edge of a couch at Latitude 43 Restaurant and Bar in Gloucester, excitedly flipping through a binder filled with charts and graphs about the sustainability of Gloucester fishing. Yes, he’s a 70-hour-a-week restaurateur at the helm of Serenitee Restaurant Group. Yes, he has degrees in business, family therapy, and philosophy and religion from MIT, Antioch New England, and Vassar. But the way he expounds passionately about biodiversity and dragger nets makes you think that Gloucester fishing is in his blood.
By 2010, McDonough and Cala had indeed done it again and again, opening not only Alchemy and Cala’s, but Hale Street Tavern, Sushi and Oyster Bar in Beverly Farms; Latitude 43 in Gloucester; 15 Walnut in South Hamilton; and most recently, Backstage Bistro at the North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly.
But when the economy tanked, both Cala and McDonough had to relearn what it meant to run a restaurant. As McDonough says, all of their restaurants “failed” because people stopped going out to eat. “We had to reinvent ourselves and our restaurants, fast,” Cala says. “Because nobody was going to Boston for high-end foods, and they sure as hell weren’t going to high-end restaurants on the North Shore.”
That’s not to say the food’s not important. According to Cala, a lot of their vendors are former chefs or sommeliers who really know their food. Cala keeps up with trends, not just in the United States, but also around the world. They have a commercial fishing license, which allows them to buy right off the docks. And just because food is local and familiar doesn’t mean that it’s boring. “People want it authentic; they want it simple, but they don’t want it made with Hellman’s the way mom did,” McDonough says. “They want aioli.”
That lifestyle is one that’s based on community and bringing people together, and it’s what McDonough has been trying to achieve for most of his career. In addition to once working as a family therapist, he also built the website and was a major funder for TimeBanks.org, an organization that facilitates a barter economy by encouraging people to do things for others in their community. He’s a co-founder of 
From that unforgettable scene in the 1983 classic A Christmas Story to events as recent as Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan’s confirmation hearing (YouTube.com search: “Elena Kagan Chinese food”), Chinese cuisine has been woven into the cultural fabric of the American holiday season for decades. One of the North Shore’s most notable restaurants and a classic in its own right, Kowloon offers not only delicious and festive Chinese fare, but an extensive menu of more than 500 Szechuan, Cantonese, Thai, and sushi dishes, plus a constant shuffle of entertainment. Kowloon’s head chef, Stanley Lem, has manned the kitchen at the Saugus restaurant for 52 years, while the eatery itself celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2010.
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