Four years after the inception of Special Townies, the program for children with special needs and their families has found a permanent home.
“We want parents to feel total comfort. These kids have a place to go,” said Deb Hughes, president and founding member of the organization, in regard to the 336 Main St. site at the Mishawum Park Apartments that was the former home of A Better Place to Be Day Spa.
The origins of Special Townies date back to 2004 when Hughes and the organization’s vice president and fellow lifelong Charlestown resident Karen Scales first met while searching for after-school programs for their autistic sons, Stephen Donovan and John Scales. When they couldn’t find a suitable program for their children, Hughes and Scales were determined to start a program for their kids and others like them. Soon afterwards, they enlisted the help of Special Townies Treasurer Bob “Pots” O’Neil, another lifelong resident and father of an adult son with cerebral palsy.
In 2005, the founders of Special Townies approached the Charlestown Community Center, which granted the fledgling organization free use of the pool at its Medford Street facility for three hours each Saturday. The organization became a recognized 501(c) (3) non-profit entity the following year when it successfully applied for a grant through the Charlestown Neighborhood Council’s mitigation funds program.
Today, Special Townies serves 25 families and has expanded its programming to include art, music and dance, as well as parties and trips to local restaurants. And after signing a one-year lease for its Main Street location at a discounted rate, courtesy of the Mishawum Park Tenants Association, the program will be able to offer these children and their families even more help.
“We want to get kids out of the house with their siblings and families,” Hughes said, adding that the Main Street site will serve as a support-system center for families of children with special needs. “Hopefully, people will be in there all the time.”
The new space consists of six rooms: a kitchen, an office, common and exercise areas and rooms for art and games/music. Besides donations of furniture, exercise equipment, kitchen wares, computers and other electronics, Special Townies is hoping to find individuals or organizations willing to sponsor each room for a donation of between $1,000 and $5,000. “We’re constantly in need of money,” Hughes said.
Hughes is also hoping that the group’s second annual fundraiser slated for March will give the program a much-needed boost. The first benefit, which took place in March of this year at the Knights of Columbus Hall, drew more than 400 and raised approximately $15,000 for Special Townies.
“This has been a dream of mine for a long time, but we need all the help…we can get,” Hughes said. “With the support of the community, this program could really take off.”
For more information or to make a donation, Special Townies can be reached at 617-241-8865 or via e-mail at specialtowniesae@yahoo.com. Donations can also be made to the “Special Townies AE” account at the Cooperative Bank, 201 Main St.

CAPTION: Pictured above are members of Charlestown Lacrosse & Learning Center’s men’s varsity team and Senior Babe Ruth team who have logged more than 100 hours of community service this past year and were rewarded with a “homerun party” at Game On! near Fenway Park. CLLC Executive Director Bob Cutler is seen at far right.

Given the tough economic climate, Bob Cutler, executive director of Charlestown Lacrosse & Learning Center, realizes that his organization and other non-profits are having difficulty raising money. But he also knows that neighborhood kids need his program now more than ever.
“The Charlestown Lacrosse & Learning Center board of directors and staff understand in these economic times making a donation to a grassroots community-program could be stressful for a family,” Cuter said, “but this is a great opportunity for you to have an immediate impact on Charlestown youth.”
Cutler added there is an even better reason to give to the program during the month of December, since all donations received during this time will be matched by an equal contribution from a Charlestown Lacrosse donor. “It’s a great way to make limited dollars go a long way,” Cutler said.
Established in 1997, Charlestown Lacrosse served 60 percent more neighborhood youths this year that in 2007, and Cutler said 2009 is showing signs of having the greatest number of participants in the program’s history. More than 90 percent of participating students live in Charlestown and take part in the program’s athletic and academic offerings.
Also this year, Charlestown Lacrosse participants logged in 500 hours of community service, donating their time at events sponsored by the Charlestown Mothers Association, Charlestown Business Association and the Charlestown Substance Abuse Coalition and by tutoring and helping out at the program’s Green Street location.
But despite the success of Charlestown Lacrosse during the 2007-2008 season, which include reestablishing the varsity lacrosse team and launching ISEE test-preparation and summer-reading programs, Cutler has even loftier goals for the future.
During the 2008-2009 season, the program will conduct varsity practices during the winter months to keep older players engaged and establish a high school summer league, which will make Charlestown Lacrosse the only youth lacrosse program to offer year-round programming in the state.
As for Learning Center offerings, the new Teen Room will serve as the site of year-round education and wellness classes. Gardening classes will be added to the existing nutrition curriculum, and the Extend Advantage Testing program will be expanded to include additional ISEE, SSAT and SAT preparation. The board of directors has also established a scholarship fund for a graduating senior that will help the student cover the cost of his or her books during freshman year.
Cutler is quick to point out, however, that Charlestown Lacrosse does more than bolster its participants’ athletic and academic skills; the program also teaches them other life lessons.
In the 2007-2008 season, 12 Charlestown Lacrosse participants attended overnight camp in Vermont, New Hampshire, New York and Massachusetts, and the program hopes to send 25 students to lacrosse- and educational-themed summer camps during the 2008-2009 season. Another new offering will be weekend getaways to explore new activities, including ski trips, deep-sea fishing and rope courses.
“I’m confident that the Charlestown community can find the resources to take advantage of the current match program to ensure that our 2009 goals are met and that we can meet the expectations friends and neighbors,” Cutler said.
For more information about donating to Charlestown Lacrosse & Learning Center, call 617-242-1813.

PHOTO 1 CAPTION: Secretary Bowles with Jeanne-Marie Boylan, Boston Sand and Gravel treasurer, and James Worden, CEO of Lawrence-based Solectria Renewables LLC.

PHOTO 2 CAPTION: The newly installed solar panels at the Mishawum Park Apartments.

An established Boston company with nearly a century of service supplying construction materials is going green.
Boston Sand & Gravel Company – a 95-year-old Boston firm best known for its flagship plant seen from Interstate 93 and the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge - unveiled a 109 KW photovoltaic (PV) solar system last week on the roof of its Charlestown maintenance facility at the Mishawum Park Apartments. Designed and installed by Nexamp, Inc. of North Andover, a turnkey clean energy solutions company, and financed with help from the state’s Commonwealth Solar initiative, the more than 550- panel PV system covers 22,000 square feet and will produce 75 percent (120,000 KWH) of the power used by the maintenance facility each year.
A cornerstone of the company’s “green plan,” the project is estimated to eliminate over 94 tons of carbon dioxide annually from the environment. Combined with other energy savings initiatives, the solar installation will move the maintenance facility toward becoming energy neutral, and augments an established corporate environmental program that includes a focus on reducing the company’s carbon footprint through fuel conservation and energy reduction.
Completed two weeks ago, Boston Sand & Gravel’s solar project was the first system over 100 KW installed under the Commonwealth solar initiative and is the largest Commonwealth solar-assisted project currently installed.
“The Patrick Administration congratulates Boston Sand & Gravel on completion of its solar energy system, which we were pleased to assist through Commonwealth Solar - a program that has awarded rebates to nearly 400 projects statewide for more than 4 megawatts of clean power capacity since it began last January,” Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles said. “Visible from the Orange Line and the HOV lane of Route 93 South, Boston Sand & Gravel’s solar array is a billboard for renewable energy that will inspire other Massachusetts companies to go solar.”
Established in 1914, Boston Sand & Gravel has literally built a city. The company supplies ready mix concrete, sand, stone and landscape materials throughout eastern Massachusetts and New Hampshire. It has provided the metro Boston region with ready mix concrete for a variety of construction projects including the most demanding public and commercial projects that have changed the city skyline, regional infrastructure, and residential construction. Some of the more notable projects are the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, the Deer Island Waste Treatment Facility, the TD Banknorth Garden and the landmark Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge.
Boston Sand & Gravel Company, a member of the U.S. Green Building Council, is supplying materials to “green” construction projects, i.e. LEED certified buildings such as Genzyme’s World Headquarters, MIT Sloan School, Quincy High School, Harvard Law School and the Cambridge Library. The company has also embarked on a “green plan,” to develop a strategy for environmentally sustainable operations.
Working with contractors and owners, Boston Sand & Gravel designs and supplies recycled products that will increase the sustainable nature of construction projects. The green plan builds on the company’s history of environmental conservation from land reclamation and hydro-seeding in mining facilities to storm-water collection and reuse in ready mix concrete production.
“Boston Sand & Gravel is excited and pleased to complete our solar installation,” Dean Boylan, president of Boston Sand & Gravel said. “It is a cornerstone of our Green Plan through, which we will support our customers with materials for green construction while reducing our energy consumption in the production of those materials. We are proud to be part of the public initiatives for renewable energy – Commonwealth Solar and Solar Boston.”
Boston Sand & Gravel is proud of the solar installation, not only for its environmental value, but also because the design, labor and components all have local origin. Nexamp, the system designer and installer, is a veteran-owned North Andover based company that uses local labor for its turnkey installations. The solar panels were manufactured by Evergreen Solar, Inc., a Marlborough company. PanelClaw of North Andover invented and manufactured the solar panel mounting system.
The photovoltaic inverter, the critical component which converts solar energy to usable electrical power, was assembled by Solectria in Lawrence. Boston Sand & Gravel’s PV solar system is currently awaiting final inspection and approval by the City of Boston and NSTAR and will be fully commissioned by the end of December.

The Boston Ballet’s 41st annual performance of “The Nutcracker,” selects 244 children, including 30 local dancers, to perform as dolls, cavalry, reindeer, lambs, mice, and the role of Clara.
Charlestown girl Adeline Um, 12, is in her first Nutcracker production, as a party boy. “She has a pretty major part,” said her dad, Dr. Stephen Um. “She’s on stage for about 35 minutes. She’s the first child who comes out.”
A seventh-grader at Boston Trinity Academy in Hyde Park, Adeline has been dancing for eight years, four years with the Boston Ballet; last year, she had a small part in Boston Ballet’s “Don Quixote.” With the Northeast Youth Ballet’s version of Nutcracker, Adeline has played Clara, a cookie, and a mouse. This year, the Boston Ballet encouraged her to try out, and she made the A group.
“She’s dancing every day, then we go to the performance,” said Um, who has three kids in private school, the youngest, Charlotte, 14, also studying at the Boston Ballet, and the oldest, Noel, 14, a Boston Ballet veteran now finishing up promoting her role in the new PBS Kids’ “Fetch with Ruff Ruffian.” “It’s been tough.
“Maybe Adeline will become a professional dancer someday? “We really haven’t thought about it,” said Dr. Um. “She has a great amount of prowess and ability, but we’re not sure. I just want her to get a good liberal arts education, and I believe she’ll dance all the way through college. All of our kids have some sort of artistic ability, but … I don’t want them to be doing commercials, I want her to be a scholar. It just kind of happened, it’s not like we had been seeking this. The first thing the (Boston Ballet) asked me when we tried out was, ‘Are you their agent?’ I said, ‘Excuse me, I’m her dad.’ We just want our kids to be normal kids, who know what’s going to happen in the future?”
The annual holiday tradition of Boston Ballet’s “The Nutcracker,” this year back at the restored Opera House, this year runs through Dec. 28. “The Nutcracker,” a classical ballet based on a story by E.T.A. Hoffmann, follows the journey of young Clara, who receives a nutcracker as a gift at a Christmas Eve party. Her nutcracker is ultimately transformed into a handsome young prince who leads her through an enchanted forest and on to the Palace of Sweets, where she meets the Sugar Plum Fairy. Among the ballet’s most famous and memorable moments are a battle between toy soldiers and overgrown mice, a Christmas tree that grows to huge heights, the pas de deux for the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier, and a shimmering snow scene. It’s a must-see for many Boston families, and for many kids an introduction to the performing arts.
Tickets to “The Nutcracker” can be purchased by calling Ticketmaster at 617-931-2787, by visiting www.ticketmaster.com or in person at Boston Ballet, 19 Clarendon St., Boston, Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Locke-Ober is offering free dessert to all children who dine with their families at the restaurant before or after a performance of the Boston Ballet’s Nutcracker this holiday season. To qualify, the child must be 15 and under, and you must present your Nutcracker ticket stub. “I can still recall my first meal at Locke-Ober as a young child,” says its chef Lydia Shire. “My eyes were wide as saucers and just in awe of this beautiful building.”