City Life

Best day trip without leaving Worcester

Sure, Borders has a better magazine selection (as does Barnes and Noble), and Media Play has bigger music and video selections, but Worcester's own literary superstore, Tatnuck Bookseller and Sons, has the complete package: tons of books (many you don't see elsewhere), great remainder books (especially those breathtaking coffee-table photo books you simply can't afford at the original price), and a restaurant that always tantalizes the senses. If you're looking for the perfect place for a first date, you can't go wrong here: its gourmet supper offerings are usually quite memorable (and in the $10 to $15 range). It's always a thrill to see a famous author or celebrity sitting at the table across from you, just as happy to enjoy a glass of Tatnuck's own root beer or Stewart's Old Fashioned Ginger Beer with a basket of Larry's Chips or West Side Wings. And if that date (or those that followed) was successful, Tatnuck's breakfasts may be the best-kept secret in town. No one ever seems to chew and run -- if you're looking for recent books on Worcester, you'll find them here (and published by offspring Chandler House Press, which printed the most recent guide for area newcomers, Favorite Places of Worcester County); and all New York Times bestsellers are sold at 40 percent off the suggested price. So get out and visit all those other stores -- but remember, home cooking always tastes best.

Tatnuck Bookseller and Sons, 335 Chandler Street, Worcester, 756-7644

Best place to feel Native-American energy

You'd think people would have learned their lesson from the beginning. The earliest 17th-century attempt at forming a colonist settlement by the shores of Lake Quinsigamond -- the first failed downtown development plans -- met a violent end at the hands of virulent Native-American resistance. Train your eyes to look at this landscape differently and you'll understand why the original inhabitants would defend the hills overlooking Lake Quinsigamond to the death. Begin the tour on Route 9, in the vicinity of the Shrewsbury Street intersection, let your eyes peer across the lake at the gentle rolling hills to the east. Wipe out the commercial development that bisects the view and concentrate on the gradual slope of the terrain. Imagine the entire area with abundant wildlife, and a native community living by the lake, using cutout canoes for navigation. Take a right at the corner of Lake Avenue and travel past the rows of homes, shops, apartments, clubs, and restaurants. Just beyond Tivnan Field turn right on Coburn Avenue and park your car. To the right is an opening in the woods that leads to the unusual ledges of Lake Park. Just up the path to the right is a huge boulder cut nearly in half by the earth's forces. Its effect is like Stonehedge: solid, ancient, and mysterious. This is an area where the street names evoke images of an earlier time. Wapati and Umbagog sound like they are from a native tongue. Continuing on Lake Avenue, turn right on Sunderland Road, take another right onto Grafton Street, and pull in behind the new Super Stop and Shop. Here is the newly designed entrance to the Perkins Farm Conservation Area. Follow the trail up the hill and turn right and you'll eventually reach the Lake Quinsigamond overlook that marks the easternmost point of the preserve. Just over 300 years ago, this would have been a perfect spot to survey the lake. Take a moment to relive a time when jet skis, medical waste, and sewage overflows existed only in a shaman's worst vision of the future. Value the treasure that is our urban lake and resolve to protect it from those who would exploit it.

Best indicator of reality in downtown Worcester

No government. No police. No judges. No lock and key? Not likely. Living the anarchist dream in a decidedly non-anarchist society is perhaps the toughest challenge for the politically radical. Take Firecracker Books for example, Franklin Street's home to leftist literature and political idealism. Come closing time, the storefront has to lock up as tight as the nearby federal office building. "We try to be as accommodating, as trustful, and forgiving as possible," says a store volunteer on a recent Saturday while unloading supplies from a free afternoon meal on the Common. "But we're not going to allow ourselves to constantly be burned. We're very watchful of things. It's much easier to stop [problems] before they get out of control. A preventive approach to life rather than interventive." Since Firecracker moved around the corner to the more visible Franklin Street location, many more people visit to read the books and to buy T-shirts, magazines, and literature that comprise the retail end of the store. As home to the Worcester Autonomy Center, Firecracker also distributes free clothes, provides an in-house library, and distributes prophylactics to prevent the spread of HIV. Saturdays are still the day Food Not Bombs offers lunchtime meals behind City Hall, an activity that continues despite past legal problems. We support their efforts.

Firecracker Books, 72 Franklin Street, Worcester, 753-4002

Best neighborhood mystique

Area residents have two options for transporting themselves back to the turn of the century. Pick up a copy of Caleb Carr's The Alienist or walk the block bordered by Woodland, Claremont, Clement, and Silver streets. The trees there are larger, the buildings more unique. Among the unusual surroundings are the crescent moon house on Woodland Street and the old estates of Clement Street. Construction materials change from wood to brick to old stone. Most notable in this architecturally significant area are the Narcoss brothers houses (16-18 Claremont Street), two near-identical buildings constructed in 1878. Like twins separated at birth, the buildings actually mirror each other, creating an unsettling "through the looking glass" effect. Said to be once owned by a religious order, the houses, legend has it, possess a distressed spirit that late at night can be seen absentmindedly walking between the two dwellings. Further down the hill is the Franklin Wesson House (8 Claremont Street), a massive construction built in 1874, which has since been converted into apartments. A barfly known as the "Sage of Webster Square" used to claim that this area has direct ties to the three greatest developments in the 20th century. These are the study of human potential through psychology (Freud's 1909 visit to nearby Clark University); modern rocketry with its ability to achieve instant global communication or global destruction (Clark professor Robert Goddard's earliest research); and the freeing of the Western family from Victorian-era conformity (the development of the birth control pill by Clark scientists).

Best place to see dead folks in stone

Looking for something to do on a lazy fall afternoon? Head over to Hope Cemetery on Webster Avenue. Be mindful of your surroundings and see if you can find the Iver Johnson memorial. This sensitively executed carved-stone monument of a mother and child was made by the O'Connors, Andrew Sr. and Jr., a father and son team with studios in Paxton during the early part of this century. The O'Connors achieved international fame for producing commissioned sculptures of Abraham Lincoln, LaFayette, and Columbus, along with cathedral and courthouse facades across the country. Elsewhere in the cemetery is a more grandiose monument, carved in white limestone, of Gabriel announcing the arrival of Worcester carpet magnate Mathew Whittall. In an ironic twist of fate, Andrew Sr.'s memorial bust was stolen from Hope Cemetery in 1992 and has never been recovered.

Hope Cemetery, Webster Avenue, Worcester

Best person to tell your future

If you want to learn about your past or peer into the future, you should see Jason Friedus, the most respected psychic in town. Jason's family can trace back their psychic ability at least five generations. In Eastern Europe, his grandmother was heralded for her power of telekinesis, the ability to move objects with the mind. Friedus's mother was born with an extra flap of skin -- or caul -- over her face, a sign of the psychic gift. Though he was hesitant at first to take to the radio airwaves because of comparisons with the Psychic Friends Network, Jason has cultivated a devoted following by reading tarot cards on Thursday nights on WCUW (91.3 FM). Though most callers want to know about love, finances, health, and career prospects, Friedus reports an increase in the number of people looking to contact the deceased or channel past-life experiences. He also detects the beginnings of tremendous turmoil and opportunity around the millennium. Fear the future? Let Friedus look into his crystal ball.

Jason Friedus takes appointments Tuesdays through Saturdays at Top It Off, 133 Highland Street, Worcester, 753-9651

Best place for a jog

No exercise route dominates in popularity within Worcester's West Side. Early-morning power walkers lay claim to upper Pleasant Street, high school and college track teams circle a triangular route that goes from June to Chandler to Pleasant streets on many a weekday afternoon, and the occasional brave soul can be seen playing chicken with rush-hour traffic in Tatnuck Square. A lot of different people make use of the West Side's roads for one form of exercise or another, and that fact can be attributed in part to the area's topographical variety. One second, you're thumping down Salisbury Street, sucking down exhaust fumes and dodging Ford Explorers. Take a quick left, and suddenly you're on serene, tree-lined Newton Avenue, a road that serves as a gateway to an extensive residential area rich with winding curves, a few challenging hills, and some beautiful architecture. But not everything here is smooth running. A monster lives in the Tatnuck Square area, going by the name of Wrentham Road. As you pause at its base to adjust your cross-trainers, you can hear its cruel, mocking laughter. The cliff-like street has felled many with its near-vertical eighth-mile rise. Bottom line? Whether you're looking for a soothing, quiet place to jog, an opportunity to enter cardiac arrest, or something in between, chances are you'll find it here.

Best urban hike

Broad Meadow Brook may be the first place that springs to residents' minds when they think of a quality place for a hike. But way over on the opposite side of town lies a lesser-known gem: Cascades/Boynton Park, located on the Paxton, Worcester, and Holden line. There are two entrances to the park, one in Paxton and one in Worcester. The Worcester entrance, located at the end of Cataract Street in the Tatnuck neighborhood, is a bit unofficial. There are no signs, save for an impressive natural landmark: the Cascades, a towering, gently flowing waterfall. For the careful climber, it's an easy hike to the top, where flat-rock formations provide ample and appealing picnic space. The Paxton entrance is located at the beginning of Silver Spring Road, off Mower Street. The road is closed to traffic due to excessive wear, but parking is available next to the mounted park map, and Silver Spring Trail is a short walk away. This trail follows the path of Cascade Brook and wends its way throughout the park, from its westernmost point at the Paxton town line, all the way down to the Cataract entrance. The park is an obvious labor of love, both for its creators and its clientele. A recent hike revealed expertly marked, garbage-free trails and stunning fall foliage. Get out there while it lasts.

Cascades trail maps are available by calling 799-1190

Best bookstore mascot

"Cats have a secret knowledge,'' observes Ben Franklin Bookstore owner Don Reid. "We always consult Sadie on any weighty issues . . . We construe her silence as assent.''

Sadie, Ben Franklin Bookstore with Worcester Antiquarian Book Center, 21 Salem Street, Worcester, 753-8685

Best way to foil lovely Rita

You've been there. The parking ticket flapping in the wind from under your windshield wiper. The white-knuckled, forehead-vein bursting agony that is the Worcester Common Outlets garage after the Hanson concert. The blank, uncaring stare of the lot attendant as you sign over your first-born child. This is the state of parking in downtown Worcester, but only if you want to take it lying down. Sometimes our most powerful allies are the most benign.

The library parking lot at Salem Square is a good example. There is always room at one of its nickel-accepting meters, which generously allow a three-hour time limit. All major points of interest downtown are a short walk away, but the lot's greatest value may be on Centrum nights, where its distance from the arena is actually an asset, allowing easy escape routes to all corners of the city. The north end of Main Street can be a particularly troubling area, especially during working hours. Meters are scarce and are on extremely short timers (never mind the fact that you never, ever get one), and lots are over priced, to say the least. But fear not, for the comforting shadow of the nearby Lutheran Home on Harvard Street holds absolution, in the form of both metered and non-metered parking spaces that are available with near-miraculous regularity.

Best unsubstantiated rumor

It's a tradition among Worcesterites to bombard newcomers with local trivia, legend, and accomplishments -- Harvey Ball's smiley face, the development of the birth control pill, and the first commercially produced valentine. But one eyebrow-raising bit of local lore -- the claim that venerable Elm Park is actually our country's very first park and was designed by Central Park creator Frederick Olmsted -- seemed too good to be true. One would think that such a pedigree would be trumpeted from City Hall's ramparts on a daily basis, but, instead, this information has always assumed a low but persistent profile. Hmmm. A trip to the Worcester Historical Museum provided answers. It turns out that Elm Park is not the country's first park, but instead is the first city-owned public park, having been purchased from the duo of Levi Lincoln and John Hammond in 1854. And Olmsted? Well, almost, but not quite. Renovations on the 52-acre tract of swampland didn't begin until 1870, when Parks Commissioner Edward Lincoln took over the design process, a position he held until his death in 1896. The Olmsted Company was first approached in May of 1909, and merely served as consultants between 1910 to 1918 and 1939 to '41. Oh, and Frederick Olmsted himself had already died in 1903.

Best architectural restoration -- if they ever finish it

In 1909 the sparkling marble and terra cotta Union Station opened for business. It was a showplace on the same level as the major train stations of Europe. Its French Renaissance architectural style was complemented by the expansive stained-glass ceiling, the terrazzo floors, decorative plaster, and polished wood trim. After WWII and well into the 1950s, Union Station was a bustling palace with trains to Maine, Hartford, Albany, Boston, and New Haven. But as autos became the fashion, the station sunk into inexorable decline. By the mid-'60s the twin towers had been removed because they were safety hazards and the interior had been trashed. Each decade since, some entrepreneur has come up with brilliant ideas, such as turning the place into a race track, a sport stadium, a police and fire station, a casino, and so on. The latest effort is to return the place to its original glory, restoring the towers and making Union Station a transportation center for trains, buses, and taxis. Work on the exterior is moving ahead at a steady, if leisurely, pace -- but no decision has been announced as yet regarding the disposition of the interior space. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Union Station, at the Washington Square rotary, Worcester, 799-1190

Best candidate for architectural rebirth, now that Union Station is underway

In 1833, Worcester became home to the first ever large-scale mental institution in the country (prior to that, those deemed insane often were jailed or shared poorhouses). The hospital name changed along with prevailing opinion (first State Lunatic, then Insane, and now Worcester State Hospital), and those walls have likewise concealed the entire history of mental-health therapy in the region (at turns horrific as well as moving). The stunning clock tower and surrounding buildings now stand, 165 years later, as the most beautiful and neglected in the area. A few years ago, arson claimed much of the abandoned main structure -- what remains, however, is one of the most overlooked and interesting group of buildings in the city, surrounded and almost obscured from Route 9 by a hundred years of reforestation on Belmont Hill and now by the Biotech Park buildings. Here's hoping the state, the Massachusetts Biomedical Initiative, and the mental-health and business communities can come together to redevelop this beautiful architectural gem and restore it as a shared development that would benefit the community at large.

Worcester State Hospital can be seen by turning left on Research Drive, the second right on Innovation, up the hill and left on Clocktower Drive

Best attempt to fight the (garbage) man

Hats off to those residents behind the most incredible display of citizen activism in Worcester's recent history, the Green Hill Park Coalition. About 60 people formed the coalition last year to fight a controversial city plan that would have capped the 25-year-old Green Hill landfill with street-sweepings and catch-basin materials. The grassroots group, "a public watchdog to assure Green Hill remain open space," didn't just renew citizen interest in park policy; it forced officials to explain the much-touted plan's merits, and eventually, thwarted the whole deal. In this highly contentious political battle, it was these residents who came out victorious, proving that government can be for, of, and by the people. Because of its GREEN HILL: DUMPED ON LONG ENOUGH campaign, the coalition's now recognized by city officials as the Green Hill advocate -- so much so that officials know exactly who to avoid when there's potential for disagreement. Like with the current vocational high school proposal. The city wants to build a new school -- which it needs to do to maintain accreditation -- on the site of the dilapidated Belmont Home, as well as a 600-car parking lot on 5.8 acres of wooded park land that's across the street. (The plan also calls for demolishing the adjacent Worcester Technical Institute building, then converting the site to green space.) The coalition, not surprisingly, opposes the clearcutting of mature woodlands for a car lot and has made this known at every public opportunity. Although members cannot fathom how such a significant project's advanced through the system at such rapid speed (It went from subcommittee to city council in two weeks, with councilors then voting in favor of it on October 20.), there's no doubt the coalition will once again advocate its position to the end -- even if, members must appeal to the Massachusetts State Legislature.

Best reason to stay in Worcester

When Vincent Hemmeter left Ralph's and purchased the old bar called Pignataro's, it might've seemed like a questionable move. One year later, so many things distinguish Vincent's -- the constantly improving homeyness of the old barroom, antique photos hanging on tongue and groove walls, an old pinball machine and telephone booth in the corner, the best jukebox in the city (The Ink Spots duke it out with the Cramps), and Chris Manzello's exquisite meatballs. What makes people come back, though, is Vincent himself, ever ready with a beer or martini and a joke (even funnier the fourth time), who possesses the uncommon ability to please his customers while apparently still pleasing himself. Bartender, filmmaker, building-restoration enthusiast, and history buff, Vincent -- we're convinced -- can also be traced as the initial point of contact for half of the enduring friendships in the city. He possesses the finest hospitality Worcester has to offer.

Vincent's, 49 Suffolk Street, Worcester, 752-9439

Best recorder studio

You don't really know music until you play it yourself. It can boost self-esteem, provide great comfort, and, best of all, it nearly guarantees results. If you put enough time in, you will get something out of it. It's an intoxicating thing. Worcester's Joy of Music Program is a non-profit community music school that has been running affordable, expertly taught music-education courses for 13 years. The school, which runs out of the First Unitarian Church, offers a range of activities, from adult recorder ensembles to Afro-Caribbean drumming. Courses are taught by some of the best instructors around, hailing from noted schools like Berklee College, the New England Conservatory, and the Hartt School of Music. Tuition varies. For example, a 16-week course in jazz ensembles is $170, a fraction of the cost of private lessons or a university course. Financial aid and payment plans are also available. The JOMP is for everyone: young and old, big and small, novice or expert.

Joy of Music Program can be reached by writing 112 Morningside Road, Worcester 01602, or calling 792-5667

Best place to get the platters playing again

There's nothing sadder than the day you come home to find your phonograph has died. Thankfully, there's still someone around who knows how to save the day. Julia Kay began working in 1958 at Atom Radio, which was opened in 1925 by her late husband. "I get a dozen or more calls a year. It's now a part-time job but not an unbeloved part of my work," Kay says. "Of course, people are getting CDs now. Records are considered a thing of the past, but people who have them need something to play them on." The licensed master technician has heard a lifetime of stories on how a player broke, but one mishap invariably occurred every spring. "Children would bring in a bouquet of flowers for their mother. Sure enough, the contents would eventually spill into the machine, which usually was turned on, and ended up in smoke. We could count on one of those a year." Kay also sells reconditioned turntables, normally for $60 to $70. Cost is tied to the effort for replacement parts for the cabinets. "Getting parts for them now is very difficult." And she loves repairing old radios with tubes in them. "I repair as many of the old units as possible, but no transistors. They're not my thing."

Atom Radio, 5 Fiske Street, Worcester, 755-4880

Best place to run to if you've lost the heel to your shoe

In this era of disposable shoes from disposable chain stores, Central Shoe, owned and operated by the Jeannette family, stands out as a Worcester landmark. "We've hung around; although it's gotten tougher with a lot of cheap shoes on the market, there's lots of imports," explains owner Paul Jeannette Jr., referring to the downtown store that opened in 1908. "We've built up a customer base. We do a lot of instant shoe repairs, a lot of our customers are like that." Most days, his dad, at the bright age of 80, still helps out. "He's worked here since 1930 with his brother, who took over the business. Their father worked here when he came to Worcester from Italy." It's most famous customers come from the Centrum, including Bruce Springsteen, who needed emergency repairs right before the start of his biggest tour. "He gave us a pair of his boots and his manager invited us to a show down in New York with backstage passes." Janet Jackson, Neil Diamond, and Queen benefited from Central Shoe's personal service. "We put on a special sole they use on stage for more traction." Central Shoe has to be creative to attract new customers, implementing a bill-paying service and expanding its back room to include new foot products. "You have to add things to keep pace in a throwaway society."

Central Shoe Service Co., 182 Commercial Street, Worcester, 753-1013

Best place to go when time fries

Without them, life stops. They can be a status symbol or family heirloom. "When inherited from a deceased person, it's more than life itself -- You enjoy getting them going because it means something," says Another Clock Shop repairman Richard Seymour, lifting the eye protection from his face seconds before the half-hour bells chime throughout this Grafton Hill Store. Each piece in the showroom reminds you of clocks you normally see in a museum, and most are for sale, including a French 1879 clock with a base of Belgium marble ("It's a new acquisition, to find it in such wonderful condition is unbelievable") and an old American clock that's at least 100 years old. "This is an 1832 with wooden works powered by weights made by Samuel Terry. This is Americana at its best."

A member of the National Association of Watch and Clocks, Seymour has a hobby -- it's cuckoos, and he's excited to turn the hands to make a marble-adorned clock with nine-hand painted scenes go off at high noon. "The more animation they have, the more I like them. Each one is individual, so they're all works of art as well as a time piece. So some time on your lunch hour, preferably at high noon, visit Another Clock just to listen to the beautiful music.

Another Clock Shop, 290 Grafton Street, Worcester, 798-8202

Best veterinarian

Veterinarian Karen Fine knows that home is where the heartworm is. "I wanted to do something where I could take a little more time with the animals and see them in a home environment where they're a little less stressed. Some of them even do tricks for me!" Fine Veterinary House Calls has accumulated over 200 clients in the first three years of business, covering home visits in a 15-mile radius of Worcester on weekday evenings, although the doctor will make weekend calls on request. Of course, she doesn't have all the options of a clinic when she makes a house call. "I can do vaccines. I usually draw blood for heartworm and laboratory tests, and do general check-ups. What I don't do is anything involving anesthesia, so I don't do surgery or X-rays." When that's required, she'll refer clients to a local clinic. "And I don't do emergencies. If it really is [an emergency], there's not much I can do anyway." Along with numerous dogs and cats, Fine has several ferret patients and one pot-bellied pig, although he's going to be the only one. "It's difficult restraining a pig, I need three people. But this was a special pig." Her "regular" clientele is enough. "It's a different kind of challenge than the ones you face in a clinic, like getting a cat out from under a bed, or the outdoor cat's escapes out the door before I get there -- although they usually come back when I'm on the way out. I've been lucky that way."

Fine Veterinary House Calls, Worcester, 798-3463

Best unheralded columnist

Journalists and music writers tend to be a pretty competitive bunch who hate to get beat on a story; but in a city struggling to establish a music scene, it's good to have comrades like Scott McLennan. Whether it's a million-selling group or a little-known independent artist, he gets the story and the word out. The University of Rochester grad became T&G's entertainment columnist in 1993 at the same time the local music scene came back to life (it's no coincidence). One of his first interviews was with Henry Rollins ("I was intimidated because I was new, but it was a great interview") -- other favorites include Ted Nugent, Ozzy, and Tool on the national level and Uncle, Super Greg and Waterpark, and Bob Jordan locally. The worst? Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson. "Great guitarist, lousy interview." And how does he get those "scoops?" "You keep your ear to the ground and the people doing the [radio] shows. They tend to tell you what's going on. And it's luck, being a fan, and obsessing." And endlessly listening to music. "There's always a tape or CD playing. You don't hear one in the background now because I'm putting my kids to bed." Besides listening to all the music sent to his office, current faves include Bob Dylan's just released live album and Lucinda Williams's Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. "I try not to listen only to next week's required cycles, because I don't want to lose the sense of being a fan."

Best place for a minor league ballpark

We spent the past summer visiting a lot of cities "smaller" than Worcester -- Lynn and Lowell; Pawtucket, Rhode Island; Norwich and New Britain, Connecticut; Nashua, New Hampshire; Portland, Maine; and Oneonta, New York. The attraction? Minor league baseball. Now we realize it's not the caliber of play of the World Baseball League, which the mayor cast our city's fate with a few years back (Oh, that didn't happen? We must have been too busy waiting for our tickets to the opening of Medical City). But a lot of the players we saw managed to make their way to the big leagues by season's end. And a lot of families had a great time, too. It's time to put this Red Sox exclusivity-zone nonsense to rest -- give us a team with a few successful years in the Atlantic or Northeast leagues and watch them figure a way to work things out with Worcester. And we suggest as the perfect location the corner of Gold and Madison Streets, across from the entrance to Wyman-Gordon Company. Can you imagine the MBTA trains pulling into Nick Manzello Station? Crowds flocking from Framingham and Natick to check out the Worcester Worms, playing their home games in Hoover Stadium, with downtown's scenic skyscape in the background? And it would serve as a landmark entrance to the proposed arts and entertainment district. Now if they could only get a fast food restaurant down there!

Hoover Stadium, corner of Gold and Madison Streets, across from the entrance to Wyman-Gordon Company, Worcester, 75-WORMS

Best place to leave temptation behind

Spencer has a secret spot where the 20th century and its values have not reached. The Trappist monks of St. Joseph's Abbey have a home here among some of the most beautiful hills and trees in New England. Visitors are welcome to park their cars and wander through the positive vibes that surround this place. The fall is an excellent time to do so. The gift shop has been expanded, with Gregorian chants wafting through the air, and its own brand of jams and jellies lining the shelves. The abbey's book store is impressive and includes books on Judaism and Hinduism. There are videos (religious and family titles), CDs, statues, and ice-cream toppings. The best part: the Trappist Monks will let you stay overnight if you wish. Sorry, the retreat is for men only (We did say you'd leave temptation behind). Payment of about $80 for a weekend visit is optional, but if you refuse, you may find yourself getting poked with a pitchfork when you die. The Mary House, a few miles away, offers a retreat for women.

St. Joseph's Abbey, 167 N. Spencer Road, Spencer, 885-8700

Best place to learn what WYSIWYG means

Computers are taking over every aspect of your existence. What are you going to do about it? You can't fight, so you might as well join them and learn what these insidious devices can do for you. That's where the Worcester Computer Society comes in. The WCS meets the second Monday of each month, free of charge, to discuss the possibilities (and the headaches) associated with home computers. Questions are answered, topics presented, and door prizes given away (the secret reason a lot of people attend). Recent topics included automating your entire home with your computer, job searching through the Net, and star-gazing with the help of your trusty Mac or PC. Mac users don't have to be ashamed; Larry Ondovic, the president of the organization, is a Mac user, and meetings are usually dual-platform. And once a year they hold a computer auction, after which many people leave with more cheap software than they can carry. By the way, WYSIWYG means "what you see is what you get." If only computers were really like that.

Worcester Computer Society, at the New England Science Center, 222 Harrington Way, Worcester, 792-9400, ext. 8111

Best way to feel good about yourself

One way to do a little more this holiday season is to volunteer time or donate food to the Worcester County Food Bank. The bank needs office workers to answer phones and help with mailings, and warehouse workers to receive and sort food donations. For more information, call 842-3663. Those who wish to simply donate food can do so by stopping by the food bank's office, (731 Hartford Turnpike, Shrewsbury). Or you can get closer to those in need by volunteering your time at the Catholic Charity's annual Bishop's Thanksgiving dinner. The dinner is a long-standing, highly successful tradition in Worcester, and organizers are seeking volunteers to help serve and deliver meals. For more information, call Catholic Charities at 798-0191.

Best cool-as-ice organization

While there are plenty of worthy businesses that freely give of themselves to the community, perhaps none has done more, with as little fanfare, as the Worcester IceCats. Since joining the American Hockey League five years ago, owner Roy Boe and his staff have consistently given back to the area on many levels. With the help of their cooperate partners the Cats engineered 1997's most successful blood drive statewide for the American Red Cross, organized two annual charity games for the Ali Pierce Endowment Fund for the UMASS Cancer Center, and participated with a number of area agencies for a variety of causes. Worcester Food Bank, Aids Project Worcester, Junior Achievement, the United Way, the P.T.A., Kids Fair, and Jeremiah's Inn are just a few causes the IceCats have worked with. It's a pro-Worcester philosophy that permeates the entire organization. Players visit children in area hospitals or participate in Community Reading Day; the Booster Club organize 50/50 raffles for local charities. And their mascot, Scratch, is so busy he requires a personal secretary to organize his public appearances. The IceCats Kids Club, with more than 10,000 members, uses its newsletter to teach kids how to start a bank account and to use their time more effectively. And the front office singles out a different person at home games with the Community Recognition Program. Perhaps the IceCats greatest contribution is that the organization exports Worcester's name all over North America. The team give us a sense of community pride, as well as give us hope for what the downtown area could become again. They have become an important part of the fabric that makes up the city, and we're lucky we can call them our own.

Worcester IceCats, 303 Main Street, Worcester, 752-1000.

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