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Boston Globe
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Fun things to do Fourth of July weekend in and around Boston
BOSTON HARBORFEST United States Navy Band Northeast played as part of Boston Harborfest last July. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff I'll start with the largest animal in the room: Boston's epic, jam-packed days-long, decades-old Independence Day Weekend tradition. The 43rd Boston Harborfest runs July 2-4, and a full list of what's happening could fill a phonebook. (Google it, kids. It had a lot of pages.) Full schedule at Advertisement Historical tours: They're not just for tourists. If you've never taken one, this year — with the 250th anniversary of the start of the Revolutionary War, and Boston history a main subject of Relax in a beer garden on Summer Street Plaza from 2-7:30 p.m. July 3. Live music throughout the day. Boston's Fourth of July Procession steps off July 4 at 9 a.m. from Boston City Hall, stops to lay wreaths at Granary Burial Ground, and concludes with a reading of the Declaration of Independence at the Old State House. BOSTON POPS FIREWORKS SPECTACULAR Get Love Letters: The Newsletter A weekly dispatch with all the best relationship content and commentary – plus exclusive content for fans of Love Letters, Dinner With Cupid, weddings, therapy talk, and more. Enter Email Sign Up LeAnn Rimes headlines the 2025 Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular. Courtesy It's a whole thing, as the kids say. The Details: . Andrea Dacosta danced with her son Jeremias, 4, during the 2024 Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular at the Hatch Memorial Shell on July 4, 2024. Erin Clark/Globe Staff MORE OOHS AND AAHS Outside Boston, find dozens of fireworks displays from A-Z. Well, A-W — Andover to Worcester. The state has compiled a list of displays through Sept. 20. Some 60 towns and cities are blasting off from July 3-5. Find more in North Andover July 6, Groton on July 7, and many more July 11 and 12. Full list at Advertisement SOUTHIE SLINGS AND SWINGS The new outdoor venue Park City is open in Southie. Sinna Studios This is not a drill, people: an Go for the cornhole, 'Southie Slings,' (rum, coconut water, pineapple, lime), and cocktails that look like adult Capri Suns. Stay for the hand-cut tallow fries, live music, Maine lobster rolls, fish tacos, and Dot Ave hot dogs. Canines can order off the 'Bark City' menu. I'll be the one balancing my 'Adult Lunchable' — local charcuterie, artisan cheese, grissini breadsticks, seasonal fruit, jam, honey — 411 Dorchester Ave. 50 FOURTHS OF FRIGHT The Larsen family has fun interacting with Bruce, a replica of the shark featured in the film "Jaws" during the Jaws 50th anniversary festival held at the Martha's Vineyard Museum on June 22. This replica was originally created for the 2005 Jaws Fest. Heather Diehl for The Boston Globe ' … Ahem. Sorry, just me hiding under the bed here. Yup, as you Advertisement If you dare, hop a ferry to Martha's Vineyard — the real Amity Island — to see Martha's Vineyard Museum's ' A dult $21; ages 7-17 $7, 6 and under free. 151 Lagoon Pond Road, Vineyard Haven. DRIVE-IN SEASON The Mendon Twin Drive-in will screen two new thrillers July 3 and 4. Mendon Twin Drive-in Facebook You have all winter to watch movies on your laptop. Summer means Milk Duds at the drive-in. Grab your crew — up to six per carload — for old-school vibes and blockbuster fun at $37 per car, rain or shine. Box office opens 7 p.m. 35 Milford St., Mendon. If you're planning to drive to the Cape — and my thoughts and prayers go out to you for the traffic — catch 'Jaws' and ' $15. Kids 4-11 $10. 3-and-under free. 51 State Highway, Wellfleet. WE'RE SCREAMING... Ice cream treats at the Crescent Ridge Dairy Bar in Sharon. Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff No, not because of the sharks, dinosaurs, and Cape traffic. We scream for ice cream, baby. July is National Ice Cream Month — as if we needed an extra reason to order a cone of peanut butter fudge — and the Fourth of July calls for true indulgence. Some ideas: Advertisement At 407 Bay Road. At Cambridge's 1702 Massachusetts Ave., 899 Main St. and 159 First St., Cambridge. You've seen 'em all over 119 Seaport Blvd., Boston. GO FOURTH AND EXPLORE Ptolemy, one of the pygmy hippos at Boston's Franklin Park Zoo. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff Soak up art with a summer breeze at the ICA. It's free admission from 5-9 p.m. on July 3, closed for the Fourth proper, free on Saturday for Bank of America cardholders. Pro Tip: The first two Sundays of each month — July 6 and 13 this month — are KEEP CALM AND FOLK ON Matt and Shannon Heaton are among the performers at Passim's Summer Boston Celtic Music Festival on July 6. handout Cap the long weekend with live music. Passim hosts their $28. 47 Palmer St., Cambridge. Lauren Daley can be reached at
Boston Globe
25-06-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
Locals looking for ways to protect Lake Winnipesaukee from harmful bacteria
In 2024, Winnipesaukee saw 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 For some, the high levels served as a wake-up call about water quality issues threatening New Hampshire's largest lake, a beloved destination for locals and visitors alike and home to summer camps that families have attended for generations. Advertisement 'This lake is the center of this region. It is the reason that people come here from all over the world,' said Manley, an owner of Bob Manley of Meredith, N.H., is rowing across Lake Winnipesaukee in June to raise money for environmental conservation efforts. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff Lake Winnipesaukee contributes about $17 billion to the state's economy each year, according to Advertisement 'I don't think you could stress enough how important it is for us to save this body of water,' said Manley. He is rowing to raise money for the The organization has been tracking water quality at Winnipesaukee since the early 1980s. In that time, it has seen the levels of phosphorus increase and, with it, record-high levels of cyanobacteria blooms, according to Bree Rossiter, conservation program manager. A view of Lake Winnipesaukee in Meredith. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff Cyanobacteria is a naturally occurring algae-like bacteria found in low levels in all of New Hampshire's lakes and ponds. It's one of the oldest living organisms on Earth, but when it grows quickly, it can be toxic, causing skin rashes, respiratory and gastrointestinal distress, and in rare cases, death to people 'In 2024, we had the most amount of cyanobacteria blooms that we've ever seen on Winni,' including in parts of the lake that typically don't harbor the potentially toxic blooms, Rossiter said. Ice coverage on the lake has lessened in recent years, said Rossiter, noting that 2023 saw the shortest period of coverage since the 1800s. That has allowed sunlight, which helps cyanobacteria grow, to penetrate the lake earlier in the season. Intense rainstorms have created runoff flowing from lawns into the lake and bringing along nutrients that fuel the cyanobacteria's growth. Leavitt Beach on Lake Winnipesaukee, which had been closed in 2024 for pollution. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff Thanks to climate change, the region is Advertisement 'It's just kind of a recipe for disaster,' she said. Meanwhile, phosphorus levels in the lake are about 300 percent higher now than they were prior to European settlement, according to the alliance's data. There's been an uptick over the past 10 years, Rossiter said, and phosphorus levels in the lake's water have grown to about six parts per billion. The more phosphorus in the water, the more algae and other plants can grow, often leading to murkier water. Andrea LaMoreaux, president and policy advocate at NH Lakes, a nonprofit that works on lake preservation and restoration, warns that Lake Winnipesaukee is not alone in water quality issues. Around the state, she said, increased algae levels, decreased transparency, and large cyanobacteria blooms are signs that lakes are approaching a tipping point, where conditions could get much worse – and remediation could be significantly more difficult. A gull on a dock piling at Lake Winnipesaukee. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff As lakes age, they naturally start filling in thanks in part to materials carried in by streams. The amount of plants growing in the water increases, and clear water becomes murkier. Over time, lakes turn into ponds, then marsh, until eventually they become meadows and, finally, dry land. But people are accelerating that process by adding more nutrients to lake water from sources like agriculture, fertilized lawns, and stormwater runoff, according to the Since the 2000s, LaMoreaux said, cyanobacteria bloom sightings have been on the rise, a trend that's been accelerating in recent years. 'What's new is that last summer, Lake Winnipesaukee bloomed almost lakewide two times,' she said. 'I think that's what caught people's attention. . . . The big pristine lake all of a sudden is having cyanobacteria.' Advertisement Amanda McQuaid, director of the University of New Hampshire Lakes Lay Monitoring Program, said the tipping point for more algal growth and cyanobacteria typically happens when there's about 10 parts per billion of phosphorus in the water. 'Unfortunately, a lot of our lakes kind of dip in and out of that range,' she said. (The Lake Winnipesaukee Alliance is trying to limit phosphorus to no more than eight parts per billion in that lake.) McQuaid said human development around lakes can contribute to the problem, pointing to the flurry of development after the COVID-19 pandemic. Impervious surfaces like roofs, parking lots, and driveways deflect water instead of allowing it to be absorbed into the ground, and the runoff carries nutrients into the water, feeding algae, bacteria, and plants. Leaky lakeside septic systems are another culprit. Winnipesaukee is a highly developed lake, with private properties dotting much of the shoreline. That limits where the Lake Winnipesaukee Alliance can conduct mitigation projects. Bob Manley rowed in Lake Winnipesaukee. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff But the alliance also works with property owners to provide recommendations about how to be more lake friendly, like getting their septic system pumped, avoiding fertilizers, or adding a buffer of native plants to their shoreline to filter polluted storm water runoff. Still, the uptick in cyanobacteria blooms last summer disrupted small business on and around the lake. Peggy Ames is the fifth generation innkeeper at Ames Farm Inn in Gilford, N.H. Last summer she had to explain to her guests why they couldn't swim in the lake. Advertisement She said that if the blooms continue, visitors could go elsewhere. 'People don't want to come up here and not be able to enjoy the water,' said Ames. But, she said, the blooms caught people's attention, and it could push them to take action. 'It woke people up to knowing that this is a resource we do need to protect,' she said. Amanda Gokee can be reached at
Boston Globe
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Is Gloucester ready for Bunker Hill?
Ready or not, Gloucester is about to find out, because on Saturday and Sunday, the city's Stage Fort Park will play host to An aerial view of the Bunker Hill monument in Charlestown in 2021. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff Advertisement Picture a thousand reenactors portraying Colonists and British soldiers. Three schooners, standing in for the British Navy, firing cannons from Gloucester Harbor. And perhaps tens of thousands of visitors who are expected to flood the city for the event. The rebels lost at Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775, in the first major battle of the Revolutionary War, but proved their mettle against a trained, British army. The reenactment is part of a wider celebration this year of the beginning of the American Revolution. Related : 'While we would love to host this event on the original ground, we just don't have that kind of space in Charlestown, and the goal is to do it justice on a larger scale than that piece of land would allow,' said Tom Dietzel, president of the 10th Massachusetts Regiment and one of the organizers of the event. Advertisement 'It's a dream come true to be able to pull off something with this scope,' he said, noting that you'd have to go back to the Bicentennial celebrations in 1976 to find a Massachusetts reenactment that approaches this scale. Still, many locals are unaware, or confused about why the event is taking place at Visitors climbed the steps on the seawall at Cressy's Beach at Stage Fort Park in Gloucester May 22, 2020. John Blanding/Globe Staff/The Boston Globe And while there is certainly some buzz in Gloucester for the battle reenactment — which will be performed over two days to break up the anticipated crowds — it has stiff competition. That's because the following week is Related : 'All anyone's talking about is Fiesta,' said Horgan, a 31-year-old Gloucesterman who will be walking the greasy pole for the ninth time this year. 'That's all Gloucester thinks about this time of year, but it sounds like we need to start thinking about Bunker Hill before all these people show up.' Advertisement And it could be easy to get people excited, for America's oldest seaport loves its ships. And never has anyone seen what's about to happen in the harbor. 'Very rarely do we in the reenactment community have a chance to involve a naval presence,' said Steve Cole, the captain of the It's going to be big. It's going to be loud,' Cole said. 'And come Saturday, it's going to take over the city, whether the locals know it or not. Billy Baker can be reached at
Boston Globe
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
The sweet (but not too sweet) story of how Mary Alisa's chocolate cake went from family favorite to famous
Get Winter Soup Club A six-week series featuring soup recipes and cozy vibes, plus side dishes and toppings, to get us all through the winter. Enter Email Sign Up More than 1,300 cakes later, Sherman is as happy making the chocolate confections as she was when the restaurant opened in the fall of 2021. 'I L-O-V-E it!' she says. 'I can be corny, but I feel like I'm living in a Christmas Hallmark movie. I love making people happy with it. Advertisement To maintain quality, Sherman makes each cake individually. The ingredients are: King Arthur flour, high-quality cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, Kosher salt, oil, whole milk, pricey Nielsen-Massey vanilla, and white eggs. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff 'The best time is in the restaurant — people don't know who I am — I will see someone eating it or sharing it, and they have smiles on their faces.' Before it made the menu, Sherman's cake was vetted by Cosmo Goss, The Winsor House's executive chef. It was never meant to be a permanent menu item. Advertisement 'I frankly thought it was a special thing we could do for the opening,' says Chris Sherman. 'My biggest fear was that people wouldn't like it. Then we started reading reviews and online comments where people said, 'You have to try the cake.' After four years, it's still a hit.' The cakes are prepared at The Winsor House kitchen well before the restaurant opens. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff Sherman is becoming known around this historic shipbuilding town as the 'Cake Lady.' 'My only claim to fame is I've made a few whole cakes for Steve Carrell,' she says. 'I've never met him, but he has a house on the South Shore and he orders around Christmas.' (Attempts to reach the A-List actor for his take on the cake were unsuccessful.) The cakes are prepared at The Winsor House kitchen well before the restaurant opens. Sherman makes at least 4 cakes every week — and up to 8, depending on demand. Summertime, when folks head to ICO's nearby outdoor raw bar for its famous oysters, often brings more customers to the restaurant. (The cake is not sold at the Island Creek Raw Bar in In the kitchen of The Winsor House restaurant, Mary Alisa Sherman bakes the layers of her chocolate cake. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff To maintain quality, Sherman makes each cake individually. The ingredients are: King Arthur flour, high-quality cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, Kosher salt, oil, whole milk, pricey Nielsen-Massey vanilla, and white eggs. 'It's easier to find egg shells in batter with white eggs,' she says. (The cake also includes a secret ingredient that can't be divulged.) The frosting consists of sifted powdered sugar, cream cheese, Land O'Lakes unsalted butter, and the aforementioned vanilla. Sherman buys her own ingredients (stocking up at area grocery stores when items go on sale and relying on Amazon) and brings them in Tupperware containers to The Winsor House for mixing. Advertisement The cake layers are baked for one hour and 15 minutes. After cooling, Sherman assembles the cake and gives it a Cake pans cool in The Winsor House kitchen. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff Sherman's daughters are delighted at this new stage in their mom's life. 'I love how my mom can now share this piece of our childhood with her community,' says Elise Sherman. Adds Devon Daley, Elise's twin: 'It was a sacrifice for my mom to stay home with us. It was meaningful, but it's nice to see when people can pursue roles they're passionate about. Second lives can happen organically.' Sherman grew up in Connecticut, moving to Duxbury in the '80s. Her professional career included a stint at a software company and a graduate degree in education and certification to teach Spanish. She's an active volunteer Duxbury history guide for schoolchildren and local assisted-living residents. Mary Alisa Sherman frosts her chocolate cake. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff For 20 years, she was a South Shore representative for the Friendly Towns arm of The Fresh Air Fund, a nonprofit that paired underserved New York City children with families during the summer. (The fund this year began placing kids only in camps.) She and her 'crazy, supportive high school-sweetheart' husband, Chris senior, regularly hosted a child in their home. Advertisement Now it's Chris junior who's her boss and who signs Sherman's paycheck. He always includes a message in the memo spot: 'Hey Mom, Hope you're having fun!' Mary Alisa's Dank Chocolate Cake, $13 per slice, available at The Winsor House at Island Creek Oyster Farm, 390 Washington St., Duxbury, 781-934-0991. Peggy Hernandez can be reached at . Follow her on Instagram @peggy_hernandez Mary Alisa Sherman decorates her chocolate cake. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff
Boston Globe
16-06-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Want to understand why the Massachusetts housing market is broken? Look at this chart.
In other words, housing costs in Massachusetts have grown much faster than incomes, creating a financial gap that, to many, can feel insurmountable. 'The gap between what people make and what homes cost is completely outrageous,' said Albert Saiz, an associate professor of urban economics and real estate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 'And this data does not even represent the situation for working-class families who are making minimum wage. A large portion of the state's population cannot afford to buy a home here, which is not how a housing market is supposed to function.' Economists consider the ratio of home prices to incomes to be a reliable indicator of the state of a housing market. Typically, a house-price-to-income ratio of three — a median household income of $100,000 and median home price of $300,000, for instance — is seen as healthy. Related : Advertisement In Greater Boston in 2023, that ratio was 6.3, according to Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies, more than double that healthy rate. Advertisement It wasn't always this way. In the 1980s, the region's house-price-to-income ratio hovered around three, before beginning a slow ascent leading up to the 2000s, when it began to climb rapidly. An apartment building under construction in Revere in 2023. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff The last time the price-to-income ratio here was this high was in the mid-2000s, in the lead-up to the housing market crash that spurred the Great Recession. The force behind the growing gap between incomes and prices is The rise in home prices is not just about how many homes the state builds each year, said Keren Horn, an associate professor of economics at UMass Boston. It is also about the kind of homes developers build. For decades, builders here built smaller, relatively affordable 'starter homes' in the suburbs of Boston. Today, most single-family homes that are built are larger 'McMansions,' in many cases on the lots of older starter homes that are torn down to make way. That trend is partially related to the high cost of land, especially in Greater Boston, but it contributes to rising house prices nonetheless. 'We're seeing decades and decades of bad housing policy catching up to us,' Horn said. 'Housing is supposed to be affordable to the people who need it. We can't expect to have a healthy region if the current price trajectory continues.' The soaring price tags for homes wouldn't matter quite as much if incomes were keeping pace, but they haven't. From 1987 through 2022, the median income in Massachusetts grew by roughly 190 percent, while the price for the typical single-family home grew by close to 300 percent. Advertisement Housing has always been expensive in Massachusetts, by national standards. But Massachusetts, especially Greater Boston, also has higher incomes than most of the rest of the country. Still, now, to afford the typical house here, a household needs to earn roughly $217,000 a year, according to Harvard's housing center. Related : What the yawning gap between house prices and incomes amounts to is, effectively, a change in who can hope to own a home here. In the 1980s and before, when incomes and home prices were in sync, homebuying was an accessible tool of wealth-building for the working and middle classes. Many families who bought in those days have seen their home values double, triple, or even quadruple, becoming an asset for younger generations. That same pathway to generational wealth is now far more difficult to access. That leaves many average earners in younger generations two options: rent, seemingly forever, or leave the state. 'We are going to witness a huge generational divide, in terms of access to wealth,' Saiz said. 'Or people are just going to find somewhere else to live.' Andrew Brinker can be reached at
