PHOTO CAPTION: Zume’s Coffee Shop co-manager Debra Ball.

By now, many of you have experienced Zume's (pronounced zoomies), the quintessential new coffeehouse at 223 Main St. It's the kind of place many of us dream of waking up to, not to mentioning owning. Leave it to John Doherty of Doherty Flowers to make it real.
Doherty's irrepressible energy and creative spunk have made his flower-shop-slash-art-gallery the convivial destination that it is. Directly next door, Zume's shows every indication of following suit and giving the chains and franchises a run for their money.
But Doherty doesn't act alone. His new co-manager and long-time girlfriend and muse, Debra Ball, has her fingerprints all over his latest venture.
Ball's involvement began innocently enough. She set out with Doherty and co-manager Eddie Oddo to do the grueling homework necessary: muffins had to be tasted; coffee had to be sampled.
"I'm really into the specialty baked goods," Ball said. "Someone told us about the scones at Sherman's Café in Union Square. So we bought some samples, then approached the owner, Karen, about wholesale. But she didn't have space in her small kitchen. We all agreed we have to do whatever it takes to get a scone out of her. So we bought a convection oven and convinced her to sell us the dough. Now, twice a week, we pick up discs of dough and bake them off ourselves. They're unbelievable!"
Other vendors include Lulu’s Bake Shoppe in the North End, Danish Pastry House in Medford, Carberry’s of Cambridge and Petsi’s Pie’s in Somerville.
"We try to keep a variety and an ever-changing selection," Ball added. And you'll find signage alongside every item in the case touting who made it and where to go for more.
Word of mouth advertising, so to speak, is precisely the team's gracious, understated nature. They're not big on self-promotion. They wouldn't even agree to an interview until now — four months after its opening.
For Ball, co-managing a coffeehouse is neither a dream, nor a segue from the corporate existence she left behind for an apron and 4 a.m. wake-up calls.
“I never imagined that this would interest me," she said. As a graphic designer for 22 years, Ball most recently worked in-house at Putnam Investments, where she had weekends off and "regular" hours. Now, she calls 8 p.m. bedtime and said she works on her days off just because "there's so much I want to do there."
“Fortunately, I was in the planning process with John and Eddie,” Ball said. “When we opened, I took a week off to help get things off the ground. When Monday came, I didn't want to go back to my corporate job."
Next thing you know, Ball was working at Zume's before work and after her "real" job…not to mention weekends.
"And I didn't care." This place is so cool. I'd hang out there," she said.
So when Doherty asked her to co-manage, the decision came easily. And her professional skills were anything but lost in the transition.
"I bring a whole different element to [Zume's] with my graphic design background — the logo, John and I worked on together,” Ball said. “We work really well as a team. He told me what he wanted, and I put it on paper, then applied it to coffee clutches, T-shirts and hats.”
As for the success of Zume's, Ball confessed, "I'm shocked, but not surprised at how well it's going. The line is out the door on Saturday and Sunday. John doesn't want people to wait, but they wait. Once in a while, I walk out with free samples to make the wait a little more pleasant."
But coffee isn't the only draw. Zume's hosts community events, including a Halloween-time carved pumpkin contest, a Sunday Story Time for kids and an upcoming informal talk by Zume's "loose leaf tea guy."
"We want to give back to the community," Ball said, " and give them something different to do, bring them out in the evening for dessert, to play a game or meet with a friend."
Ball concluded, "It's a different type of life. When things settle down, I plan to work yoga and pottery back into my life. For now, Eddie and I are here to help make John's dream come true."
In the process, she said, "I can't believe how much coffee we're selling."

CAPTION: Sgt. Donald Twomey of the U.S. Army.

This Thanksgiving will be a somewhat bittersweet occasion for the Twomey family.
One day after the family enjoys a turkey dinner with all the fixings at their Bartlett Street home, Sgt. Donald Twomey of the U.S. Army will leave his parents, two brothers and sister to return to Iraq.
“It will obviously be difficult because it’s a goodbye dinner as well,” Twomey, 23, said. “I’m kind of dreading when I have to leave.”
Twomey returned from Iraq Nov. 7 for 15-day furlough, and while he admits returning home was a difficult readjustment at first, he has enjoyed catching up with his family and friends. “Just to be in your own house and driving your own car is fun,” he added.
Since June, Twomey has been stationed at LSA Anaconda, a high-security air base located 40 miles north of Baghdad in Balad. (Because of the sensitive nature of Twomey’s work with the Army, he can’t divulge any information about his responsibilities).
Twomey joined the Army several months after graduating from Medford’s St. Clement High School in 2003, He completed basic training at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri and was then assigned to the 719 MCB (Movement Control Battalion) in South Boston. On April 13, his battalion was deployed to Fort Bragg in North Carolina for additional training before shipping off to Iraq.
After Twomey finishes his military service next April, he plans to return to the Gould Construction Institute in Burlington to finish his training as an electrician. He also hopes to join the Boston Fire Department.
Twomey credits the major decisions he has made, including joining the military and training as an electrician, to the example set by his father, John Twomey. The elder Twomey is a retired Suffolk County House of Correction superintendent who now works as an electrician.
And while Twomey might not be looking forward to returning to Iraq, he is happy he will be spending Thanksgiving with his loved ones.“At least it’s another chance for the family to be together,” he said.

This week marks the launch of the Charlestown Sports Collaborative newsletter, which provides up-to-date schedule, volunteer and contact information for all youth sports programs.
The newsletter, which will be published three or four times each year, was sponsored by a grant from the Boston Center for Youth & Families and is the latest endeavor for the Sports Collaborative, a coalition consisting of the heads of local athletic programs that was launched earlier this year with the goal of getting more kids involved in sports.
As for distribution of the newsletter, it will be mailed to the homes of current participants in sports programs, posted on the Web sites for Charlestown Against Drugs-Charlestown Substance Abuse Coalition and the various programs and sent electronically to all Charlestown Mothers Association members. Hard copies will also be available at the Charlestown Boys & Girls Club and at other locations throughout the town.
“The goal is to reach every kid who wants to get involved in sports,” said Eric Lavoie, an Emmanuel College student and marketing intern for the Charlestown Lacrosse & Learning Center who is overseeing the newsletter. “It’s also a good opportunity for kids who are involved in one sport to find out about another sport for the next season.”
Charlestown Lacrosse Executive Director Bob Cutler added that the newsletter also aims to recruit more volunteers for sports programs.
“The idea is to get new and old residents and students interested in volunteering because all the sports programs need volunteers,” Cutler said.
Next, Cutler said the Sports Collaborative hopes to launch a phone system, which would provide recorded information about the programs and allow residents to leave messages for league officials.

PHOTO CAPTION: “Charlestown Live” co-hosts Peter Looney and Kathy Giordano.

“Charlestown Live” — the half-hour television program devoted exclusively to the neighborhood — will move to a new studio in Roxbury’s Egleston Square next month, but viewers can expect more of the same quality programming they’ve enjoyed over the last six months.
The program, which is best described as a news magazine in the vein of WCVB-TV’s “Chronicle,” is co-hosted by Charlestown residents Peter Looney and Kathy Giordano. It has been broadcasted live from the State Transportation Building in Park Plaza since debuting on May 3 and airs locally on all but the second Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m. on the Boston Neighborhood Network, Comcast Channel 9. (“Charlestown Live” is also rerun during the week following its original airdate on Fridays at 10:30 a.m. and on Saturdays at 8 p.m.).
Giordano said the response to the program so far has been overwhelming and viewership extends beyond the neighborhood itself. In addition to Charlestown residents, viewers are tuning in from the North End, South Boston, East Boston and West Roxbury, she said.
One group of Mt. Vernon Street seniors even gets together to watch the program each week and discuss it afterwards.
While the program doesn’t receive many on-air calls from viewers, Looney said many have told him that they wanted to pick up the phone but didn’t want to risk missing the show.
Looney and Giordano also have difficulty narrowing down the programs highlights so far.
Past programs have included an appearance by Fr. Daniel Mahoney of St. Francis de Sales Church, who talked about his work as chaplain of the Boston Fire Department, and a discussion on the inner-workings of the Charlestown Neighborhood Council with CNC Chairman Tom Cunha.
“We haven’t had a bad show yet,” Giordano said.
In upcoming episodes, the co-hosts hope to feature City Councilor Sal LaMattina and Congressman Mike Capuano as guests and continue to highlight community organizations, including Friends of the Charlestown Navy Yard and the Charlestown Preservation Society.
Although the hosts have no plans to change the program’s current format, Looney said they are exploring the possibility of airing taped segments filmed at various locales around Charlestown.
Meanwhile, Giordano said she and Looney only hope that “Charlestown Live” continues to highlight good news in the community.
“We’re not going for Emmys,” Giordano said. “We’re just promoting Charlestown. That’s our only goal.”
The next new episode of “Charlestown Live” airs on Dec. 6. If anyone is interested in suggesting a topic for an upcoming episode, Peter Looney can be reached via email at plooney40@verizon.net.

The Third Annual Holiday Fair, sponsored by the Charlestown Business Association, took place Sunday at the Warren-Prescott School. The event featured 20 local merchants, businesses and crafts people; theme baskets, Taste of the Town raffles; door prizes; and a white elephant table. All proceeds benefit the school.

PHOTO 1 CAPTION: Second-grader Niki Fara shows off his new purchase, an ornament.

PHOTO 2 CAPTION: Fifth-grader Joe Evers is seen trying to sell some raffle tickets.

PHOTO 3 CAPTION: The Warren-Prescott chorus entices people into the fair with Christmas carols.

PHOTO 4 CAPTION: Olga St Clair, owner of 4 Little Fish children's clothing company, with her 3-month-old son Henrik modeling one of the festive designs for sale at the fair.

Former Charlestown attorney Barnett “Ben” Mazow was in his mid 90s when he died on Oct. 28, but his exact date of birth still remains a mystery.
For most of his life, Barnett claimed he was the first child born in New York City in 1911 – a distinction that he said earned his mother a cash prize – but a replacement birth certificate obtained several years ago listed his birth date as Dec. 30, 1910. His son Richard wrote the State of New York a letter three months ago inquiring about the uncertainty surrounding the elder Mazow’s past, which instead begged further questions. Since Ben didn’t know the borough in which he was born, the state could not locate his birth certificate for either 1910 or 1911.
Mazow’s family moved from New York to Roxbury when he was a young child before they eventually settled in Chelsea. He entered Suffolk Law School after graduating from Chelsea High School. (An undergraduate degree wasn’t a prerequisite for law school at the time). Soon after earning his degree from Suffolk in 1932, Mazow married his high school sweetheart, Lillian Becker, and set up a small law office in the rear of Mazow Supply, a toy and dry goods store founded by his father and located at 73 Main St. in Charlestown.
In the mid 1930s, Mazow filed his first tax return at the request of a client and soon became one of the few attorneys who specialized in tax preparation in the state. In the mid ‘50s, Mazow’s mother, Rose, sold the building and the store to local businessman Connie McCarthy, who converted the space into an appliance store.
Left without a business or an office, Mazow moved across the street to One Monument Avenue, a small space adjacent to Donovan and Fallon Drug Store and opened Barnett Mazow Attorney at Law. About the same time, Mazow obtained is insurance license and started selling automobile and house insurance. Richard joined his father’s practice upon graduating from Boston College Law School in 1965 and the law office was renamed Mazow & Mazow Attorneys at Law. What Richard recalls most clearly about this time is the grueling hours he and his father worked during tax season. At the time, all returns were manually prepared and 14-hour days were not uncommon.
When Mazow announced his plans to retire in 1975, one of his clients, Donald Weikel, was determined not to let Mazow’s 43 years of service go unnoticed. In October of that year, Weikel organized an event to honor Mazow at the Knights of Columbus Hall that drew several hundred guests.
“One of the few times I saw my dad cry was when he gathered his possessions from his office the following month,” Richard said. “When you develop relationships with people over 40 years, you don’t walk away easily.”
Soon afterwards, Ben and Lillian Mazow began traveling extensively and relocated to Miami. But Mazow always looked back on his time in Charlestown fondly. “His greatest joy was talking about his former clients,” Richard Mazow said.
In 1995, Ben and Lillian returned to Massachusetts after Lillian fell ill and had to be placed in a nursing home.
“He cared for her until he couldn’t do it anymore,” Richard said of his father. “He developed a second life at this time.”
With his wife in a nursing home until her death in 2000, Mazow found new ways to fill the void in his life. He picked up bridge, began volunteering at the Jewish Community Center in Marblehead and joined two libraries, as well as several book clubs. Even after he moved into the Peabody’s Woodbridge Assisted Living Facility in 2003, Mazow maintained his independence and would drive to the library regularly until he gave up his license last year.
In the first week of October, Mazow cut his arm after a fall but managed to bandage the injury himself. He fell again the next day, resulting in eight stitches. The following day, he fell once more and broke his nose.
On Oct. 8, Mazow was transferred to a full-service nursing home, the Jewish Rehabilitation Center in Marblehead. Less than three weeks later, he developed pneumonia and died at the facility.
“He did not accept aging well,” Richard Mazow said. “His mind was very active, but his body didn’t keep up with his mind.”