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Fifth Annual Seaport Chowder Festival nearly perfect

Click here to see even more photos of this great event!

They say that practice makes perfect, and it must be true, because the Fifth Annual Seaport Chowder Festival was nearly perfect. Ninety eight percent of the people we reached in our annual Chowder Festival survey rated the event as either good or excellent. Not a single responder said it needed improvement.
 
One person from Rhode Island compared the event to the Newport Chowder Festival on her survey and said: “It’s better than Newport. The chowder is better. The layout is better. The kale soup is a big plus.”
 
Even the weatherman helped by providing enough chill in the air to make us think of soup.
 
The ingredients of a perfect chowder festival include:

• The chowder festival committee which works all year to make sure each year’s event tops the one of the year before.
• The 100 or so volunteers who do every chore imaginable including keeping the trash barrels clean. Many of them are five year Chowder Festival veterans.
• The staff of Downtown New Bedford, Inc. which works year round to bring in top notch restaurants, caterers, judges, bands and then organizes the whole day to turn it into a smoothly flowing event.
• The sponsors whose financial backing allows us to pay for tents, police details, bands and more.
• The judges who take their responsibilities in choosing the best clam chowders, seafood chowders, kale soups and stuffed quahogs very seriously.
• The restaurants and caterers, new and Chowder Festival veterans, who bring their best staff, chowders, soups and stuffed quahogs.  Although no two people make exactly the same kale soup, and seafood chowder is expected to be a little different from one place to another, you might be tempted to think that all New England style clam chowder tastes the same. It doesn’t. It’s amazing how each vendor takes the same core ingredients to come up with its own delicious interpretation of this classic.
• The bands that provide entertainment.
• The beer, wine and ice cream vendors.
• The fickle weatherman who can send thunder showers, searing heat or the just right temperatures of this year.
• An enthusiastic crowd that enjoys itself and spreads the word that the Downtown New Bedford, Inc. has the best chowder festival around.

Thanks to all who helped make this event so successful.

 
Although the goal of the festival is to provide enjoyment to the large crowd, it’s a competition too.
 
This year’s winners are:

Save the Dates!
Downtown New Bedford, Inc.
Annual Meeting
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
11:30 – 2:00

The Waypoint Event Center at Fairfield Inn
Keynote Speakers: Dr. John Sbrega, Bristol Community College;
Gerry Kavanaugh, Kavanaugh Software Innovations
Person of the Year Award: Peter Georgeopoulous, GNB Community Health Center

Downtown New Bedford Holiday Stroll
December 4th & 5th
More info coming soon!

FALL DOWNTOWN HAPPENINGS:
CALICO ANNIVERSARY PARTY,
AHA! CELEBRATES AUTUMN BOUNTY
By LAUREN DALEY

Summer’s over, and fall is bringing plenty of activity to Downtown New Bedford.

Calico will celebrate its Fifth Anniversary with a gala at the New Bedford Whaling Museum on Oct. 15 at 8 p.m.

The party, held in the Jacobs Gallery, will include mini-fashion presentations, catered treats, live DJ sets, and a full cash bar.

Tickets for the event are $10 in advance and $15 at the door, and will be available at Calico, as well as at the Whaling Museum. Event sponsor, Cardoza’s Wine & Spirits, will also sell tickets at their Fairhaven and Dartmouth locations.
“We are thrilled to have such a phenomenal space in the Whaling Museum for our celebration,” said Calico owner, Elissa Paquette.

In the past year, Paquette has launched an online store, as well as a second Calico location in Providence, R.I. She is planning on expanding the store’s new brands and designer labels, as well as bringing in a small selection of beauty products and fragrances, in the coming year.

Calico, which opened its doors in October 2005, is located at 173 Union St. For more information about Calico, or to schedule an interview with owner, Elissa Paquette, please call 508.999.4147 or e-mail info@shopcalico.com

On Oct. 14, in time for the fall farm harvest, AHA! brings us
“The Bounty of the SouthCoast.”

Among the many highlights are:
The New Bedford Whaling Museum and New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park are scheduled to have the official opening of the outdoor sculpture project. The project is called “In the Unequal Cross-Lights: Contemporary Sculptors Responding to the Whaling Museum's Collection.” The exhibition's title is taken from Herman Melville’s “Moby-Dick,” where Ismael enters the Spouter-Inn in New Bedford, and in the “unequal cross-lights” encounters a marvelous painting.

Local historian, writer and long-time friend of the New Bedford Whaling Museum, Bob Maker, will explore a remarkable collection of turn-of-century photographs from an unpublished volume, titled “Photographs of Houses and Public Buildings in New Bedford, Fairhaven, Acushnet, Dartmouth and Westport” at the Whaling Museum at 6:45 p.m.

Rotch-Jones-Duff House partners with Baker Books to welcome author Eric Dolin who will speak about his new book “Fur, Fortune and Empire; The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America.”

There will be pumpkin decorating at the Pilgrim United Church at 5:30 p.m.
For more on AHA!, read on…

AHA! Brings Culture–and Business–to Downtown
According to a 2010 study, AHA! is not only valuable to the arts community—it’s stimulating social and economic activity in New Bedford.

“The arts and culture are good for your soul— and the bottom line of the local economy,” said AHA! Director Lee Heald. “We at AHA! want to work together with our downtown New Bedford businesses to create something beautiful that can benefit us all—culturally and economically.”

According to the annual study conducted by Center for Policy Analysis at UMass-Dartmouth, the estimated total economic impact of AHA! has increased by 137.6 percent in the last decade. AHA’s economic impact for 2009 was $734,719. In addition, AHA! created an additional eight full-time equivalent positions in that period.

These results are made even more crucial than they may first appear because there was almost no economic activity in downtown New Bedford on Thursday nights before AHA!

“The report demonstrates the impact nonprofits are having on the Creative Economy in New Bedford,” said CFSEMA President Craig J. Dutra. “Programs like AHA!, New Bedford Open Studios and Summerfest are helping to drive the city's economic rebirth.

“AHA! is proud to have played such a key role in the remarkable change that has taken place in the City of New Bedford over the past decade,” said Lee Heald, director of AHA! “New Bedford’s partnership with AHA! has established a state-wide standard for community collaborations with the arts. We’ve always been able to see the benefits for our local artists—now we can see the benefits AHA! provides to the City of New Bedford—nearly three-quarters of a million dollars.”

AHA! (Art, History & Architecture) is New Bedford's free Downtown Cultural Night and collaborative cultural organization. The AHA! mission is to be a cooperative venture dedicated to invigorating the downtown New Bedford cultural scene. They do this by:

• Presenting second Thursday FREE cultural  nights  
• Inviting local and regional artists,  cultural groups and educators to present what they do  
• Spearheading cooperative marketing  
• Being a forum for the AHA! Partners to  convene around shared topics  
• Contributing to the City’s Creative Economy  initiatives.
  

“With 40 percent of AHA! attendees from surrounding suburbs, AHA! has helped to connect with suburban audiences and to build a vibrant, urban marketplace while helping New Bedford to reestablish itself as the SouthCoast's cultural and educational center,” said Karie C. Vincent, steering committee chair. AHA! began with 14 partners in 1999 and now has 61 partners in various industry sectors, including museums and attractions, galleries and studios, restaurants, retail shops and cultural organizations.

AHA! takes place the second Thursday of each month from 5 to 9 p.m. in downtown New Bedford and involve over 40 downtown museums, galleries, arts organizations, merchants, restaurants, The New Bedford Whaling Museum, The UMD CVPA Star Store and the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park.
For more information on how to join AHA!, visit www.ahanewbedford.org

Live Keynote Speakers:
Greg Mortenson [Author of Three Cups of Tea], Annie Leonard, Van Jones, and more!

An unforgettable weekend with:
• Live keynote speakers
• Afternoon workshops
• FAMILY programming
• A downlink from Bioneers San Rafael [bioneers.org]
• Youth Initiative program
• Exhibition hall featuring sustainable businesses and organizations
• Farmers' market
• Films and live music
• An open mic night
• Seasonal, local and organic food
• Art installations and more!

A four-day, SOLUTIONS BASED gathering that brings together a diverse audience to create deep and positive change in their communities. Join the movement!

What can Downtown businesses expect during the Connecting for Change Conference:

• Over 2000 attendees throughout the three-day weekend.
  With registrations going very well expect more people than ever!
• Sunday is expected to be the busiest day, especially because there will be a free open to the public event with Greg Mortenson at 3:30pm at the Zeiterion.
• FAMILY programming has been added this year.  This is targeted at families with children between the ages of 6-12, will take place at the YMCA and is FREE and OPEN to the PUBLIC.
• This year includes a film series all weekend at the mediumstudio Garage that will be FREE and OPEN to the PUBLIC.
• The Exhibition Tent on Purchase St is FREE and OPEN to the PUBLIC.
• Think about actively targeting this audience who are very conscience of buying locally made goods, reused goods, recycled goods, local food, handmade goods, anything that is more sustainable.

The Marion Institute Announces Greg Mortenson, Annie Leonard and Van Jones as Keynote Speakers for the Sixth Annual Connecting for Change Conference in Downtown New Bedford

NEW BEDFORD, MA - The Marion Institute announces Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea, Annie Leonard producer of Story of Stuff, Van Jones, award-winning pioneer in human rights and the clean-energy economy, and many more as keynote speakers for the Sixth Annual Connecting for Change: A Bioneers by the Bay Conference in downtown New Bedford, MA, on October 22-24, 2010.

The 6th annual Connecting for Change Conference is a three-day, solutions based gathering that brings together a diverse audience to create deep and positive change in their communities. Join the movement.

"When we get in touch with the fact that we are all connected, and that we all have a critical role to create deep love, justice and sustainability in the world as
well as in our own lives, we see the urgent need to connect for change.  When we build bridges from local leaders - and that's all of us - to other leaders from
 around the world, we inspire each other to do just that" said Desa VanLaarhoven, Executive Director of the Marion Institute.

The Connecting for Change conference is an unforgettable weekend filled with live keynote speakers, afternoon workshops, family programming, a downlink from Bioneers San Rafael [www.bioneers.org], a Youth Initiative program, exhibition hall featuring sustainable businesses and organizations, a farmers' market, films and live music, an open mic night, seasonal, local and organic food, art installations and more.

The keynote speakers scheduled for Friday, October 22 are Van Jones, Diane Wilson, Alan Khazei, and Adeola Oredola; on Saturday, October 23 they are Annie Leonard, Seth Goldman, Antwi Akom, and Michael Ben-Eli; and on Sunday, October 24 the speakers are Anya Kamenetz, David de Rothschild, Nikki Henderson and Greg Mortenson. For a full schedule of workshops and other events and to register, please visit www.connectingforchange.org

Greg Mortenson is the co-founder of nonprofit Central Asia Institute, founder of Pennies For Peace, co-author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Three Cups of Tea, and author of bestseller Stones Into Schools. In 2009, Mortenson received Pakistan's highest civil award, Sitara-e-Pakistan ("Star of Pakistan") for his dedicated and humanitarian effort to promote education and literacy in rural areas for fifteen years. Several bi-partisan U.S. Congressional representatives nominated Mortenson for the Nobel Peace Prize in both 2008 and 2009. The award recipient is chosen by a secret process and announced in October the following year.

Van Jones is a globally recognized, award-winning pioneer in human rights and the clean-energy economy. Van is a co-founder of three successful non-profit organizations: the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Color of Change and Green For All. He is the best-selling author of the definitive book on green jobs: The Green-Collar Economy. He served as the green jobs advisor in the Obama White House in 2009.  

Van is currently a senior fellow at the Center For American Progress. Additionally,
he is a senior policy advisor at Green For All.  Van also holds a joint appointment
at Princeton University, as a distinguished visiting fellow in both the Center for
African American Studies and in the Program in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Annie Leonard is the author and host of The Story of Stuff video and author of The Story of Stuff, the book.  Annie has spent nearly two decades investigating and organizing on environmental health and justice issues. She has traveled to 40 countries, visiting literally hundreds of factories where our stuff is made and dumps where our stuff is dumped. Annie is fiercely dedicated to reclaiming and transforming our industrial and economic systems so they serve, rather than undermine, ecological sustainability and social equity. Annie is currently on the boards of International Forum for Globalization and GAIA and has previously served on the Boards of the Grassroots Recycling Network, the Environmental Health Fund, Global Greengrants India and Greenpeace India. She did her undergraduate studies at Barnard College, Columbia University and graduate work in City and Regional Planning at Cornell, both in New York.

To read more about these and the other keynote speakers and for a full schedule of Connecting for Change conference events visit connectingforchange.org. The Connecting for Change conference is presented by The Marion Institute, which is dedicated to identifying, promoting and incubating programs and projects, both on a global and local level, that seek to enhance life for the Earth and its inhabitants. Learn more at marioninstitute.org.

The Marion Institute is located at 202 Spring Street, Marion, MA 02738. Phone: 508-748-0816.