Latest news with #DanielleParhizkaran
Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Fireworks designer Matt Shea orchestrates the skies over the Boston Pops July 4th celebration
Last week, Shea was in Somerville setting up the first of many displays of the season. If Boston's Fourth 'is the matriarch of fireworks shows,' he said, 'think of this as a baby brother.' Advertisement Matt Shea of Pyrotecnico stands in front of one of his barges in Somerville. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff Where to find him : Age : 58 Originally from : Andover Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Lives in : Jaffrey, N.H. Making a living : As Pyrotecnico regional manager, Shea works in sales and oversees some of the more than 200 fireworks displays the company stages in the Northeast this week. Empty mortars wait for firework shells as fireworks company Pyrotecnico prepares for a show. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff How he started : In 1991, Shea helped Steve Pelkey of 'I started doing what a lot of the people who work for me today do,' Shea said. 'They're part-time hobbyists. They get paid. It's a part-time job for them.' In 1998 he joined Pelkey's company. 'Pyromusicals were new, and I started working with clients on their music. Then it became understanding the scripting side,' Shea said. 'I fell into the design part just because I was on the ground floor.' Advertisement Pelkey sold the company to Pyrotecnico in 2022. Becky Plotkin (left) and Josiah Polese, both of Boston, watch the 2024 fireworks show designed by Matt Shea of Pyrotecnico at the Charles River Esplanade. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff What he makes : 'We design oohs and ahhs,' Shea said. Materials : Firework shells are humble-looking paper packages handmade in China. 'A shell is basically a papier-mâché ball,' said Shea. 'Inside of it are what we call stars. They're black powder that's mixed with different metal salts to create the different colors.' 'They're kind of like little Everlasting Gobstoppers,' he said. Shells holding fireworks are loaded into mortars as the fireworks company Pyrotecnico prepares for a show. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff How he works : To prep, Shea revisits last year's show. 'I watch the commands, the cues, the types of fireworks I used, and the sequences,' he said. Then he goes to work on the new one. After about 100hours, 'I submit it to my team. The team builds it, puts it in boxes, packages it, and it sits in our magazine.' In late June, he confirms the music is in place. 'Then I spend probably about eight hours uninterrupted, and I just clean it up, clean it up, clean it up.' This week, the barges go in the water Monday. It takes a couple of days to load shells into mortars, and Shea's team leaves wiggle room. 'We always want to make sure we have the 3rd of July, and we're 100% ready to go,' he said. The finale of the 2024 Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular performance designed by Matt Shea of Pyrotecnico at the Hatch Memorial Shell along the Charles River Esplanade. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff Advice for pyrotechnic designers : Learn the basics. 'Before you can figure out what you're going to put in the sky,' Shea said, 'you have to know what's on the ground that's going to shoot it.'
Boston Globe
7 days ago
- Sport
- Boston Globe
For his football swan song, Swampscott's Henry Beuttler had the South singing victory in the 63rd Agganis All-Star Game
'For the past few months, since the season ended, all I wanted to do was get back to it,' Beuttler said. 'Coming out here today, getting to play, put my all into it, it felt amazing — better than anything. I'm glad I got to experience this one last time.' Related : Beuttler, who earned South MVP honors for his efforts, was a Northeastern Conference All-Star and a Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The South, led by Nashoba Valley Tech coach Danny Kelly, took the lead early in the second quarter on a 12-yard by Triton's Jayden Torres. Lynn English's Jaiden Rosario added a 5-yard TD run in the waning seconds of the quarter, giving the South a 13-6 halftime edge. Advertisement Jeffrey Quigley of St. John's Prep breaks a tackle for the South squad in its Agganis All-Star game victory. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff Kelly, a Medford graduate, relished the chance to coach in the legendary game — a feeling his players shared. 'It was two weeks of 100-degree days, and they wanted to be here every day,' said Kelly, the Advertisement Peabody's Tyler Rappold earned North MVP honors while playing a foreign position. Normally a wide receiver and defensive back, he was thrust into the quarterback role out of necessity late in the week. He threw for 43 yards and the lone North touchdown — a 27-yard strike to Beverly's Liam Timpone late in the first half — and ran for 51 yards. Thrust into playing quarterback by necessity, Peabody wide receiver Tyler Rappold threw for 43 yards and the North's only touchdown, adding 51 yards on the ground. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff 'It's an honor to be picked for the game, let alone play a different position and have fun with kids from all over,' said Rappold, who will play at the University of New England. 'Football is the best experience you'll ever have. You make a bond that lasts a lifetime with a lot of people.' The Agganis Foundation has awarded 1,074 scholarships since 1955, totaling over $2.58 million. Twelve students from the North Shore received scholarships this year. The games, put on by the Agganis Foundation, Methuen's Joshua Kwakye carries the ball for the North squad. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff Malden Catholic's George Rodgers played some quarterback for the South All-Stars. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff Nashoba Valley Tech's Colby Cartterton surveys the field while carrying the ball for the South squad. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff The North's Noah Foy of Waltham (right) celebrates with Beverly's Liam Timpone after his second-quarter touchdown catch. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff Methuen's Joshua Kwakye takes a handoff from Peabody's Tyler Rappold for the North team. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff Mike Puzzanghera can be reached at
Boston Globe
23-06-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Boston Fleet say they'll play four home games, up from two, at Agganis Arena in 2025-26 season
The Fleet played a pair of games at Boston's only larger announced attendance was 6,032 on Feb. 16, Advertisement The Fleet averaged an announced 4,330 fans across their 11 games at Tsongas in 2024-25, and 5,316 for the five played on a weekend (Friday-Sunday). All six of their dates on Tuesday or Wednesday nights drew fewer than 4,000. Tsongas lists a hockey capacity of 6,500, larger than Agganis's 6,221. Related : Those numbers were up from the league's first season, in which PWHL Boston averaged 3,770 fans in 11 games at Tsongas, but put the Fleet fifth in the six-team league behind Toronto (9,059/game), Montreal (9,013), Ottawa (6,888), and Minnesota (6,524). Only New York (2,764), which has missed the playoffs in back-to-back years and played more than half its home games midweek, drew fewer. Advertisement The PWHL announced total attendance of nearly 645,000 in the 2024-25 season, an average of 7,245 buoyed by nine neutral-site Takeover Tour games. Those games averaged nearly 14,000 fans, with two of the sites — Lowell's Tsongas Center will be the Fleet's primary home arena for the third straight season in 2025-26. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff The Fleet are in a state of flux with the annual player draft set for Tuesday night in Ottawa. After Boston has the second pick in each of the draft's six rounds.
Boston Globe
18-06-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Laconia Motorcycle Week: The tradition lives on in New Hampshire
Here's a glimpse of some bikers who braved the rain, including old-timers who've been coming to the rally for decades and newcomers attending for the first time this year. Dave Holland of Delaware poses for a photo next to his bike during Laconia Motorcycle Week at Weirs Beach. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff He's checking another bike rally off his list Advertisement Dave 'Big Foot' Holland, 67, traveled over 400 miles from his home in Delaware on a 2007 Triumph Rocket to attend the Laconia Motorcycle Week for the first time this year. Get N.H. Morning Report A weekday newsletter delivering the N.H. news you need to know right to your inbox. Enter Email Sign Up 'It does get up and go,' he said of the bike. Holland started riding motorcycles when he was 17, with about a 20-year hiatus while he was in the Air Force and married to a woman who disapproved. 'After we got divorced, I got my bike back,' he said. In that time, he's developed certain rules for the road. 'My standard rule is one beer per tire. I have two tires. I can have two beers. Second beer means I have to get something to eat,' he said. 'I want to live a little longer than my body allows.' Advertisement Bikers flock to New Hampshire for the Laconia Motorcycle Week at Weirs Beach on June 17, 2025. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff Kayla Labrie from Concord, N.H., wears heart-shaped glasses under her biker helmet. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff Recent converts dreaming of road trips This was the first year Kayla Labrie, 28, of Concord, N.H., had been to bike week since she was a child. She came this year on a family excursion with her boyfriend, James Stone, 34, his mother Shirley Loranger, and his stepfather, John Loranger. She and Stone were was riding Stone's bike, a 1999 Harley-Davidson Road King that he's had for five years. Stone, a mechanic, said he's made a few updates, like adding hard bags, a radio, 'fat boy' rims, and underglow, lighting that illuminates the underside of the motorcycle. 'Just cosmetic stuff,' he said. Stone estimates he's driven the bike about 130,000 miles, mostly around New Hampshire and Maine. His dream? A long road trip out west on the historic Route 66. This is his fourth year coming to bike week, Stone said: 'Just good vibes, good times, good food.' James Stone stands with his 1999 Harley-Davidson Road King at Laconia Motorcycle Week. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff The longtime bike enthusiast On the first day of her vacation, the rain did not stop Shirley Loranger from traveling from Goffstown, N.H., to Laconia to check out the motorcycle rally on the back of a brilliant blue Harley-Davidson trike motorcycle. 'I love looking at all the different bikes,' she said. 'I enjoy the clubs and the patches and the colors. It's just cool, watching people relax and let loose at the same time.' Loranger, James Stone's mother, said she's been coming to the rally for three years, but her husband, John Loranger, has been coming since 1979. 'I was in a bike club back then, and it was crazy,' he said. 'Up and down Route 3, people camping on the side of the road, (running) their own bars on the side of the road.' Advertisement Since then, he said, the scene has mellowed. 'Now, it's just a place to come and see other people and enjoy the ride and enjoy the weather.' John Loranger said he's been riding bikes since he was 16, and he got his first Harley in 1977, a bike he's held on to but no longer rides because of injuries. Dave Holland of Delaware wears a Big Foot patch in reference to his own nickname while attending the Laconia Motorcycle Week at Weirs Beach on June 17, 2025. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff Phil and Gloria Dussault of Methuen, Mass., pose next to their bike during Laconia Motorcycle Week. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff He traded in two wheels for three Phil Dussault, 68, said he started coming to Laconia Motorcycle Week in 1995, about 20 years after he first began riding motorcycles in 1974. 'I got my motorcycle license before I got my car license,' he said. This year, he traveled from his home in Methuen, Mass., on a 2024 Harley-Davidson Tri Glide Ultra, after trading in his two-wheeler last year. Getting older, he said, the stability of three wheels seemed like a safer way to keep enjoying the sport he loves. 'The breeze in your face and just joy riding around is so much nicer on a motorcycle, even though it's dangerous,' he said. Decorations adorn the thousands of bikes at Laconia Motorcycle Week at Weirs Beach. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff Business owner Thomas Brown sits under an umbrella in front of his store on the main drag of the Laconia Motorcycle Week at Weirs Beach on June 17, 2025. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff Amanda Gokee can be reached at
Boston Globe
16-06-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Bedford boys' tennis turns tables on Weston, snapping its seven-year title run with Division 3 crown
Related : Coach John Geilfuss noted that playing tough opponents in the Dual County League prepared Bedford (16-4) for the postseason. 'It helps to have that competition,' said Geilfuss. 'We're ready to play competitive matches every time out.' Advertisement Logan Cox was the difference at third singles for the Bucs. The senior lost to Weston's Jacob Wu in the regular season, but edged him, 6-2, 6-1, in the final. 'Logan was huge today,' said Geilfuss. 'He played the best match he had played all year.' Bedford's Dillon Brown battled at first singles, but couldn't come up with the win. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff Bedford's 'glue,' per Geilfuss, is senior Spencer Goss, who took his second singles match against Weston's Winston Starrett to a 10-point tiebreaker. Goss emerged the victor, winning 6-1, 4-6, 10-7. Bedford's doubles play was dynamic. Fast feet and big serves led Leo Natalizio and Charles Demeo to a 6-4, 6-0 win over Weston's Nathaniel Ko and Siyang Ding, while Rylan Nichols and Ryan Liu persisted in a 7-6 (7-1), 6-1 finish over Sammy Regelman and Ben Rosenfeld at second doubles. Advertisement Weston's (10-8) lone victory was at first singles, where junior Peter Chen continued his dominance, defeating Dillion Denny-Brown, 6-2, 6-2. At No. 1 singles, Peter Chen Jr. picked up Weston's only win of the day. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff Weston's Winston Starrett Jr. stretches for a backhand. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff Kat Cornetta can be reached at
