A fabulous turnout of customers and friends helped celebrate Tesorino’s first successful year on Charles Street.
The shop has also recently partnered with Iris Gallery of Great Barrington. Seen here are owner Laura Littlechild and her sister Sarah Littlechild.

Red Sox Nation

A lot of Red Sox watching has been going on in most Beacon Hill households recently.

Some of you have actually watched at least one of the games at Fenway Park itself.

It’s a curious community that exists in the stands, but a community nevertheless. It’s a lot like Beacon Hill, in fact.

The fans are packed into the stands just as we are densely packed into this neighborhood. Parking is hard to find and expensive. A lot of fans, especially season ticket holders, know some of the people who sit near them or know where friends’ seats are in the same way that neighbors here know neighbors, and they chat — sometimes barely watching the game — just as neighbors do on Charles Street, barely watching the traffic or what else is going on around them. When the fans sing Sweet Caroline or do the wave, it is as predictable as clean-up days or the Winter Dance.

But it is also different. Everyone in the stands agrees: they want the Red Sox to win. On Beacon Hill, it sometimes seems as if no one agrees. Students or no students? Many long-timers love the bustle of the students and find their presence a reminder that they themselves were once young. Others can’t stand the disruptive behavior and want no students near the Hill.

Another flashpoint in the neighborhood is the dog situation. Former dog lovers become dog haters quickly when they find dog doo on the sidewalk or plastic bags left in front of their front door or when facing a large unleashed dog that looks as if it is ready to maul the next passer-by. But responsible owners who pick up after their pets and keep their well-behaved pets on the leash feel blamed for the bad behavior of other owners.

Liquor licenses, changes to a building, roof decks — they are all factors that can set neighbors at one another.

It’s easy to get entrenched on one side of an argument and decide that the people on the other side are conspirators out to do no good. But one should hang fire.

On Beacon Hill it should be possible to disagree without being disagreeable or without burning bridges. The next time around you might be on the same side as the neighbor you disagreed with the time before. But we watch neighbors burn bridges all the time over matters that they don’t understand or that are not really important.

That’s why Red Sox Nation seems so appealing as a community. The players have to work hard, but the rest of us don’t. We can just sit there with the rest of the fans, and at each game agree on what we want. It may not be the real world, but it is a relief after living in a neighborhood.

CAPTION: Christopher Popham Smith of Hawthorne Place has decided to run for president.




A neighbor has thrown his hat into the ring in the presidential race.

Christopher Popham Smith, 61, a consultant who lives at Hawthorne Place, said he has been thinking of running for president for some time. In July, he drove 7,000 miles through 22 states in order to meet people and discuss his candidacy. In September he took another trip of 8,200 miles through 28 states, in which he met 250 citizens and interviewed them about their concerns. He said he is running out of a deep love for America and his frustration with the current administration and the current candidates.

“Americans are up to here with the ineptitude and greed,” he said. “God-loving, not God-fearing, Americans are painfully concerned about the direction this country is going in.”

He will found a new party called the USA Party — USA all the way.

Smith said his campaign will be distinguished by a unique method of raising money. He will set up a web site and ask every American to donate a dollar.

If he were to win the election, Smith said he would send out a questionnaire to every citizen asking them to rank the problems he should tackle first.

Credit: Courtesy photo




City Councilor Mike Ross, Boston Fire Commissioner Roderick Fraser, Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Beacon Hill Civic Association President Lori Bate and City Councilor Sal LaMattina joined the kindergarten class of the Beacon Hill Nursery School in celebrating the addition of a parcel of land to their playground that will allow for better handicap accessibility to the building.

At last week’s ceremony the mayor transferred the land from the city to Hill House, Inc, the non-profit owner of the building at 74 Joy — which, along with the school, has been using the land for years under an informal agreement with the Fire Department. The additional space will allow the BHNS to construct a handicap access ramp, allowing better accessibility to the building.

The Beacon Hill Times follows the progress, or lack thereof, on Cambridge Street through direct observation and interviews with the project’s supervisor John Lepore.

Progress during the week of October 15 - 19

Traffic signals: Best Electric is back. They worked all week installing poles and wiring and painting. Will they keep coming?

Street paving: No progress. The street in front the Hurley Building cannot be paved until the trailer is moved. Lepore said he has again been promised that it will go soon.

Damage: A truck took out a new light pole and a trash can at New Chardon Street the weekend before last. A trash can at North Anderson got knocked off its foundation. Ten days and drivers are bouncing off them like a pin ball machine.

Suffolk University is moving toward a plan that would lead to the demolition of the current building at 20 Somerset Street and the construction of an entirely new facility, it was revealed at a task force meeting on Monday night.

Although no decision has been made with certainty, the language of those associated with the project made it clear that rebuilding is the most likely scenario.

Alex Krieger, who is heading the planning project, pointed out several factors that make the building potentially unusable for the university’s tentative purpose: a new home for the New England School of Art and Design (NESAD).

“There are substantial structural limitations with the current building,” said Krieger.

Concerns about the current building’s usefulness center on its floor to ceiling ratios, which are insufficient for use as studio space and for most modern building systems, said Krieger.

Any proposed new structure would have significantly higher ceilings, but Krieger was quick to point out that, no matter what the design of the new structure, it would not exceed the height of the current building. In order to maximize square footage, the new building would most likely have two basement levels below ground, in addition to eight stories above. Krieger said he hopes the building will have about 11,000 square foot per floor, giving the university an additional 110,000 square foot of space.

In addition to increasing the ceiling height, the new building would also likely have a slightly larger footprint, extending further southward and eastward than the current building but not encroaching any further on the Garden of Peace, which lies to the north of the site.

Although NESAD, which currently has about 350 students, remains the primary use envisioned for 20 Somerset Street, a large portion of the building would also be used for general academic space. The university would also work to improve Roemer Plaza as a socializing space for students.

However, university Vice President John Nucci continued to reassure residents that the new building would not significantly increase student presence on Beacon Hill.

“Most of these NESAD students already take classes on Beacon Hill,” said Nucci. “Also, this new structure may slightly reduce student traffic in other university facilities on Temple Street.”

But Hill resident Rob Whitney expressed some concern that Nucci was minimizing the scope of the student influx that would accompany the structure. “You are bringing a new school to the neighborhood,” he said. Nucci admitted that the exact dynamics of the student population reshuffling were hard to predict with certainty but continued to insist that when considering all factors it seemed doubtful that there would be a major increase in student foot traffic in the area.

With a home for NESAD decided upon, the university is currently considering a number of sites, as well as looking into the acquisition of new properties, to accommodate other initiatives, including new gymnasium space and student life facilities. However, there are currently no plans to further increase the university’s presence on the Hill once NESAD is relocated.

“[Everything we do] is with an eye towards minimizing the potential negative effects on the community,” said Krieger.

Suffolk University purchased the 20 Somerset Street building with the intention of using it for dorm space. However, Mayor Thomas Menino nixed the idea earlier this year, saying he would not support additional student residential facilities on Beacon Hill. Suffolk entertained a number of optional uses for the site, including athletic facilities and a student center, before deeming it the future home of NESAD.

The Beacon Hill Civic Association, the Beacon Hill Business Association, and Hill House will join forces to organize this year’s holiday events on the Hill. For the past decade, the BHBA has hosted annual parties to raise money to decorate the neighborhood and sponsor a holiday stroll down Charles Street. This holiday season, the BHCA will cosponsor both events and the Hill House will run a children’s party to go along with the adult fundraiser.

This year’s party will take place at the Hampshire House on November 8. Tickets for adults are $35 in advance and $50 at the door and include two drinks and hors d’oeuvres donated by Tom Kershaw, chairman and CEO of the Hampshire House. “He’s amazingly generous in terms of what he’s given to these events,” said Karen Fabbri, president of the BHBA and owner of Moxie, a women’s shoe and accessory store on Charles Street. A jazz trio will entertain guests.

For the first time, children are invited to attend the event. Upstairs from the adults, Hill House will offer a kid-friendly buffet, letter writing to Santa, and Thanksgiving crafts. Children who register in advance can go for free with a paying adult, and those who show up that day will be charged $10.

The parties will help fund the decorating of lampposts all over the Hill. “There are more than 1,100 poles in the neighborhood, and prices are going up and up on materials,” said Suzanne Besser, executive director of the BHCA. Decorating every pole takes 2,860 yards of laurel garlands and 2,400 red bows, she said. “We didn’t want to leave any streets out, so we’re putting our heads together to raise additional funds.”

Fundraising will also support the Hill’s annual holiday stroll on December 6. As Charles Street shuts down to traffic, neighbors can enjoy music from carolers, horse-drawn carriage rides, and holiday specials from merchants on the street. Hill House will also give children the opportunity to take photos with Santa. Fabbri, who coordinates the stroll, said she would like to extend Santa’s visiting hours longer than they were last year so that all children have a chance to meet with him.

“These family events are great for bringing everyone together,” said Ellen Rooney, executive director of the BHBA. “We think it’s great that we’re all working together. It’s going to be a great holiday season.”