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By Richard Campbell Surely one of the most spectacularly staged art events during the holiday season is the annual Craft Boston Holiday Show held at the Hynes Convention Center. Sponsored by the Society of Arts and Crafts, (head quartered in the Seaport District). The lavish presentation was quite an abundant fine art gift collection.  From pottery to woodwork, jewelry and fabric arts, to fashion and household designer furniture, strolling through the vast displays revealed quite a lot of treasure. It is impossible to leave that show without buying something.  The level of artistry displayed by over 100 artists who were selling their works would put most ordinary craft festivals to shame. The majority of this craft show contained heirloom quality art work, and many works [...]

By Richard Campbell This past week the Boston Planning Development Agency approved a new Omni Hotel across from the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.  The hotel has two 21 story towers, 1,054 rooms, and encompasses 788,500 sq. ft.   It is designed by the monster international firm Elkus / Manfredi Architects.  As readers might imagine, this is a massive hotel complex that includes generous 40,000 feet of street facing retail space, parking and landscaped areas.  The land on which the hotel is being built is owned by MassPort, with project development by David Cos. Elkus / Manfredi is known in this district for its many building designs from the Fan Pier gateway to the waterfront including One Marina Park, Fan Pier Boulevard’s Vertex headquarters, Liberty Wharf, [...]

The Children’s Museum on Congress Street in South Boston sets a worldwide example for the learning experiences (and the fun) with their exhibits.  The Museum has embarked upon its year-end school break program called “Snowmazing”.  Stop by from December 26 to December 30.   by Rick Winterson      “Snowmazing”, the winter exhibition at the Children’s Museum is, well, amazing, as is the entire Museum itself, known worldwide as a leader in meeting young peoples’ needs and interests. This writer was conducted on a guided tour of the Museum by Jo-Anne Baxter, Director of Public Relations, last week, starting with “Snowmazing”, which includes some of the most eye-catching, popular exhibits there. Skate with your socks on, at an inside “Snowmazing” skating rink surfaced with slippery, [...]

by Rick Winterson      The 2018 Polar Plunge, perhaps the longest continuous annual custom and event in South Boston, will happen on Monday morning, January 1 (of course), at 9 a.m.  The location – the Curley Community Center (a.k.a. “The L”) on Day Boulevard at the foot of L Street, on the K Street Beach side.    South Boston’s historic Polar Plunge has been a faithfully followed local custom for over 115 years – at least since 1901.  Our hometown’s Plunge is the oldest in the country.  Very possibly, South Boston residents took part in unrecorded Plunges going all the way back to the Civil War.  Soldiers in that years-long conflict learned the value of sanitary habits, including bathing; they brought these health-giving customs [...]

by Rick Winterson   You have surely seen and heard of the “Toys for Tots” program, first founded by Major Bill Hendricks, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, and his wife Diane.  Actually, the idea occurred to Diane, after she had unsuccessfully tried to find a way to get Christmas toys to needy children. Just as a reminder, here are a few remarkable facts and figures describing “Toys for Tots”.  In this Year of Our Lord 2017, “Toys for Tots” has turned 70 – Diane and Bill Hendricks began it in 1947.  If you would like to see a heart-warming sight, take the elevator to the Eighth Floor of South Boston’s Design & Innovation Building at 21 Drydock Avenue by the Flynn Terminal.  You’ll see an entire [...]

by Rick Winterson      “For Now”, located at 68 Seaport Boulevard on the edge of One Seaport’s Courthouse Square, is a retail incubator.  Inside “For Now”, there are thirteen - Lucky 13 - small pop-up shops, which take many forms - racks, steps, shelves, pegboards, tabletops, and mannequins.  Each one of these is really a small business of its own, featuring elegant, enticing crafted goods. It is the concept of the “For Now” proprietors, Katharine ReQua and Kaity Cimo, that small but creative businesses belonging to craftspeople can pilot their wares in a real-life, bricks-and-mortar marketplace at “For Now”.  They can then move on, after one, or two, or three months, to achieve their own independent e-commerce success.  But they are here for, well, [...]