Family Outings For Thanksgiving in Massachusetts

Sometimes we forget it, but having kids can remind us: Thanksgiving is more than just stuffing yourself with turkey and pie and loosening your belt while watching football. In actual fact, it’s pretty easy to teach your children the meaning of Thanksgiving when you live in New England (whether you take that to be a historical lesson or a spiritual/religious one). How lucky we are to live in this part of the country where there are historical sites that bring our heritage to life, as well as beautiful outdoor spaces where you can connect with your family and the natural world.

Here are a few options, then, for different ways to introduce your family to Thanksgiving, past and present. Some of them can even take place while you’re waiting for the turkey to cook!  In an effort to please your entire family, we’ve also included some ideas for high school football outings–which is an equally great way to get out of the house and introduce the wee ones to aspects of the Thanksgiving tradition. Let us know if you have any ideas or comments—we’ll be happy to include them for other readers!

Points North

For those who don’t want to drive from the North Shore to the South Shore to get their historical reenactment fix on Thanksgiving day, bring the kids to the Parson Capen House in Topsfield!  The Topsfield Historical Society invites one and all to the annual Thanksgiving Open House at Parson Capen House in Topsfield, MA from 10 am to noon on Thanksgiving day, where your family can meet the Barretts. The Barretts will greet guests in period dress, roast a turkey in the open fireplace, and generously offer hot and cold cider and popcorn as refreshments. Admission is free; donations are accepted. The Parson Capen House is one of the finest surviving example of Elizabethan architecture in America. For more information: Boston Central.

Ward Reservation courtesy The Trustees of Reservations

There’s no better way to say Thanks then to take your family on a walk in the great outdoors. For Dana Rousmaniere, author of our upcoming title North Shore Baby, coming up with fantastic possibilities on Boston’s North Shore was a no-brainer. Her picks for Thanksgiving day would include Ward Reservation in Andover.

What makes the Ward Reservation a special place? Well, you and your family can climb a hill for great views extending from the surrounding Merrimack Valley to the Boston skyline or explore the sprawling landscape along almost 10 miles of trails. Trails link three major hills – Shrub, Boston, and Holt. The “Solstice Stones” mark the grassy summit of Holt Hill, the highest point in Essex County. This compass-like arrangement of stones indicates the cardinal points on the compass, the points of the summer and winter solstices, and the points of the spring and autumnal equinoxes. 

At the base of Holt Hill, step onto a boardwalk that leads to Pine Hole Pond to walk across a rare quaking bog, comprised of concentric rings of floating vegetation. Keep in mind that with almost 10 miles of trails, many are considered easy-to-moderate hiking, and described as strenuous in places. Ward Reservation is open year-round, 8am to sunset. Give yourself a minimum of 2 hours to explore—plenty of time while the turkey cooks! For more information, visit the Ward Reservation Website.

Points South

The English Village at Plimoth Plantation

There’s probably no better place to celebrate America’s most beloved holiday than at our very own Plimoth Plantation and Mayflower II. It’s like going to the North Pole on Christmas. This is a favorite for Kim Foley MacKinnon, author of Boston Baby, who says that the museum is alive with energy on Thanksgiving. Join visitors from all around the world make the pilgrimage to the site of the first holiday! For more information, visit the Plimoth Plantation website.

For an outdoor excursion that’s still close to the city, look no further than the Blue Hills Reservation. Located only minutes from the bustle of downtown Boston, the DCR Blue Hills Reservation stretches for 7,000 acres across Quincy to Dedham, Milton to Randolph. Rising above the horizon, Great Blue Hill reaches a height of 635 feet, the highest of the 22 hills in the Blue Hills chain. From the rocky summit visitors can see over the entire metropolitan area.  The Blue Hills were named by early European explorers who, while sailing along the coastline, noticed the bluish hue on the slopes. More than ten thousand years before those Europeans arrived, Native Americans made their home in the hills. The Natives referred to themselves as Massachusett, or “people of the great hills”. Eventually the Europeans began settling in this region. The colonists built houses and barns, cleared fields for crops and livestock and logged the hillsides for lumber.

The heritage of the Reservation seems to make this a perfect place for a family traipse on Thanksgiving day—but the trails aren’t so shabby either. There are plenty of options for a variety of abilities in your home. Families with pee-wee hikers will want to stick to the yellow dot trails, which tend to be shorter loops. No matter what, download a copy of the trail map before you go. The Visitor Center will be closed on Thanksgiving, but with a map you should have no problem locating the proper trailhead into your chosen path. For more information, visit the Blue Hills Website.

Points West

Courtesy Old Sturbridge Village

Having Thanksgiving west of Boston? Go back in time at the historic Sturbridge Village, where you and your family can experience the traditions of an early 19th century New England Thanksgiving. Visit village households for the mouth-watering aroma of Thanksgiving feasts in preparation and discover Native American foodways and their own unique Thanksgiving connections. Also, make sure you visit the Indian Doctress, who will be sharing Native Traditions of giving thanks. For  more information, visit the Old Sturbridge Village Website.

Although the nature center will be closed on Thanksgiving day as well as Friday, 11/25, the trails at Wachusett Meadow will remain open. (Located just a short drive from the Wachusett Mountain Resort.) Work up an appetite as you traverse over twelve miles of trails that will take you through vast meadows, woodlands, and wetlands. Brown Hill Summit, South Wachusett Brook, and Glacial Boulder are highlights among many other features. For more information, visit the Wachusett Meadow Sanctuary website.

And… Football!

Of course, if a transcendental experience on Thanksgiving morning is a hard sell for the football and parade loving members of your family–do as Christopher Klein, author of the Die-Hard Sports Fan’s Guide to Boston does: check out some of the most storied Turkey Day matchups. Some of Klein’s favorites include: Boston Latin v. Boston English–a rivalry dating back to November 25, 1887 where the two teams played on Boston Common. Another fierce fight is between Wellesley and Needham, first waged in 1882, making it the oldest public school contest in the nation. For more great high school football rivalries see Chris’s post from Thanksgiving 2010.

 

NBA Lockout Alternatives for Hoops Fans

Jonesing for some basketball? Hungry for hoops?

Well, NBA action…it’s fantastic!

Well, maybe not.

With the NBA in a lockout and the TD Garden’s parquet floor locked up in storage, basketball fans (those who love the game like Rodney!) are going to have to be a little creative to get their fix, at least until college hoops starts up in a few weeks. Here are some ideas for Boston basketball fans:

Visit the game’s birthplace. Get that Fastlane pass out and head west on the Mass Pike out to Springfield, where Dr. Naismith invented hoops and where you can visit the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The Celtics certainly have their fair share of enshrinees. You could spend hours looking at the artifacts in the galleries, including Naismith’s original rules of the game, confined to two simple typewritten pages. Afterwards, you can shoot some hoops on the hall’s regulation court. While in Springfield, check out the new monument at the location of the first basketball game and the statue of Dr. Naismith with his peach basket at Springfield College.

Head to the Sports Museum. Closer to home, you can explore the history of the Celtics and New England basketball, at the Sports Museum. There are lots of exhibits on the Celtics dynasty years, including Larry Bird’s locker, as well as an interesting exhibit on the evolution of women’s basketball. Check out the gowns worn by the college players in the 1890s. Not exactly form fitting. Added bonus: the museum is located in the TD Garden, so you can peek inside and see the Celtics banners hanging from the rafters.

Get your Chuck Taylors on. Right around the corner from the Garden is Basketball City. Inside you’ll find six full-length basketball courts with glass backboards and electronic scoreboards that are available for rental. You can also register for clinics and leagues.

Crack open a book. I’ve got a whole host of basketball books in my library that I still need to dig into: A Season on the Brink, A March to Madness, A Season Inside. But if you have felt that you haven’t had time to dig into Bill Simmons’ 752-page tome, The Book of Basketball, well, here’s your chance.

Get your passport out. That’s what some NBA players are doing. Rather than eating fried chicken and biscuits like Red Sox pitchers, they’re staying in shape by playing in Europe. The Euroleague Basketball season kicked off October 17 with the blockbuster you’ve all been waiting for: Zalgiris vs. CSKA Moscow. Not inspired to buy a plane ticket to Russia? Then you can get a season pass to watch online for $93.

Get the popcorn out. How about a great basketball flick? No, not Teen Wolf. (Sorry, Boof.) Hoosiers! Hoosiers! Hoosiers!  Man, I love that movie. I could watch Hickory run the picket fence all day long. “Now boys, don’t get caught watching the paint dry!”

Go old-school. Get those short shorts out. With the lockout, the NBA Network can’t put on any programming with current players in it. So, in between showings of Teen Wolf (seriously, Boof) you’re going to find plenty of Larry and the rest of the ’80s Celtics. As I write this, the NBA Network is showing Bird v. Jordan in the ’86 playoffs. And tonight: 6 PM Larry Bird’s 50 Greatest Moments; 7 PM Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals; 9 PM Lakers/Celtics from the 1984 Finals. Oh, you’re going to be out tonight? No problem, it all repeats starting at 11 PM. I’m sure you won’t wait long for Teen Wolf to follow.

Chris Klein is a sports fanatic and the author of The Die-Hard Sports Fan’s Guide to Boston, a comprehensive guide to the incredible range of of spectator sporing events in and around Boston. 

Christopher Klein on the Callie Crossley Show

We are delighted to share this clip from the Callie Crossley Show (WGBH radio), where Union Park Press author Christopher Klein was a featured guest on Monday.  Chris recently published an article on the subject in the Boston Globe, where he focused on the local history of the term “gerrymandering”. Callie invited Chris on to the show to discuss the timely topic of political redistricting.

Click on this link to hear Chris and Callie’s lively conservation about this fascinating subject. Congrats, Chris!

Christopher Klein is a Boston-based author and freelance writer specializing in travel, sports, and history subjects. His most recent book is The Die-Hard Sports Fan’s Guide to Boston , the ultimate handbook to spectator sporting events in and around Boston. He is also the author of Discovering the Boston Harbor Islands: A Guide to the City’s Hidden Shores.

Where To Watch College Football, the Patriots, and NFL Football In Boston

It was touch-and-go for a little bit with the lockout this past summer, but the NFL season is finally ready to kick off this weekend, right on schedule. And not a minute too soon!

Pats fans are going to have to wait just a little bit longer this year to see the Patriots as they take on the Miami Dolphins Monday night. The good news is it frees up the rest of the weekend to get off the couch, get out of the house, and enjoy the great indoors (the outdoors can wait until after the Super Bowl) of some of Boston’s sports bars, surrounded by HD televisions, chicken wings, and other pigskin fans. (The Die-Hard Sports Fan’s Guide to Boston profiles 15 of the best sports bars in Boston.)

Pats fans can’t go wrong catching the game at any Hub watering hole, from dive bars to martini lounges. But if your team of choice (college or pro) happens to reside out of town, you’ll still find spots around Boston where you can cheer on your favorite pigskin squad with some kindred spirits. Here are a listing of some Boston-area bars that host out-of-town fan bases:

The Banshee Bar, 934 Dorchester Avenue, Dorchester, MA, 02125. 617-436-9747; www.bansheeboston.com. NFL team: Green Bay Packers

The Baseball Tavern, 1270 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02215. 617-867-6526; www.thebaseballtavern.com. College teams: Cal Golden Bears, LSU Tigers, Oklahoma Sooners, Oregon Ducks, Wisconsin Badgers.

Conor Larkin’s, 329 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115. 617-867-0084. NFL team: Cleveland Browns

Game On!, 82 Lansdowne Street, Boston, MA 02215. 617-351-7001; www.gameonboston.com. NFL teams: Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles. College teams: Northwestern Wildcats, Ohio State Buckeyes, USC Trojans, Wisconsin Badgers.

The Greatest Bar, 262 Friend Street, Boston, MA 02114. 617-367-0544; www.thegreatestbar.com. College teams: Arkansas Razorbacks, Kansas Jayhawks, Michigan State Spartans, Penn State Nittany Lions, Tennessee Volunteers. NFL teams: Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants

The Harp, 85 Causeway Street, Boston, MA 02114. 617-742-1010; www.harpboston.com. NFL team: Buffalo Bills.

Mass Ave Tavern, 94 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, MA 02115. 617-927-4900; College team: Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

McFadden’s, 148 State Street, Boston, MA 02109. 617-227-5100; www.mcfaddensboston.com. College team: Florida Gators.

The Place, 2 Broad Street, Boston, MA 02109. 617-523-2081; www.theplaceboston.com. College teams: Michigan Wolverines, UCLA Bruins, USC Trojans.

Roggie’s Brew & Grille, 356 Chestnut Hill Avenue, Brighton, MA 02135. 617-566-1880; www.roggies.com. NFL team: Pittsburgh Steelers.

Sports Grille Boston, 32 Canal Street, Boston, MA 02114. 617-367-9302; www.sportsgrilleboston.com. College teams: Colorado Buffaloes, North Carolina State Wolfpack, UCLA Bruins, USC Trojans, Virginia Tech Hokies.

Tavern in the Square, 1815 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139. 617-354-7766 ; www.taverninthesquare.com. College team: Michigan Wolverines.

Can’t find your team on the list? Check out Meetup and search to see if there is a fans’ group in the Boston area. You might be surprised to find kindred spirits right around the corner!

Tips for Going to 2011 New England Patriots Training Camp

Patriots Training Camp, photograph by Christopher Klein

Call it a Punxsutawney Phil moment. A sure sign that a barren season is finally behind us and better days have arrived. As I was driving around my neighborhood yesterday, I saw a 70-year-old woman shuffling away from her mailbox. She was wearing a gray T-shirt with some lettering on the front and back. As I drove closer I saw that the front said “I Hate Peyton Manning.” The back: “Eli Sucks Too”.

The new football season is here! The new football season is here!

At times, it looked like the NFL lockout could jeopardize part or all of the season, but with the new deal now signed and sealed, the players are back on the gridiron. The New England Patriots will open their public training camp on Thursday, and fans will notice some changes this year due to the new agreement between the players and the owners:

Don’t expect to see much hitting during the first few days of camp. Players have hopefully kept in shape during the off-season, but they will still take a little longer than normal to get back into the swing of things. The Patriots have announced that “initial practices will likely be scaled back a bit while the players continue to work toward playing shape.” So if you’re going to make one trip down to Foxborough, plan to do it towards the end of training camp.

Expect to see more walk-throughs and drills this year. One of the changes under the new agreement is that there are no more two-a-day sessions in full pads. The Patriots have usually held training camp sessions in both the morning and afternoon. Full-pad practices are usually more interesting to watch. Particularly on hot days, it might be a better bet to see padded practices in the morning sessions. (The Patriots have already announced that the first two days of camp will be unpadded.)

Training camp rosters are bigger. Under the new agreement, training camp rosters expand from 80 players to 90, so there’s even more reason to get a roster sheet.

Here are some more tips for fans going to New England Patriots Training Camp:

Where: Patriots training camp is held on the practice fields next to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough.

Schedule: The tentative schedule calls for two-a-day practices for the opening days of training camp with practices from 9:30 to 11:30 AM and 3:30 to 5:30 PM on July 28 and July 29. The schedule is always tentative based on the desires of the coaching staff and oftentimes the weather. Practice times will be announced on the Patriots web site and you can double-check it by calling the team’s hot line at 508-549-0001.

Parking: The practice is free to attend, and the parking is free as well. (Yes, I said it, “Free.”) Parking is along the west side of the stadium, and it’s a short walk over to the fields. From US 1, enter the parking lots at P8 from the south and P6 from the north. Lots open an hour before each practice.

Seating: There are bleachers along the side of one practice field on which to sit. Another popular spot is on the hillside that lies behind the end zones of the practice fields and in front of the stadium. Wherever you sit, you’re pretty close to the action. If you have a camera with a good zoom lens, you should get some good shots.

Food and Drink: There are concession stands that sell food and drinks. Be prepared to pay normal stadium prices for food and beverages, however, if you buy it there. Adjoining Patriot Place has plenty of restaurants and bars where you can get a meal, too. (For a good, cheap meal, I highly recommend Five Guys Burgers at Patriot Place.)

For the Kids: Along the west side of the stadium during Training Camp is the Patriots Experience, filled with interactive games that allow young fans to test their kicking, passing, and tackling skills on a variety of obstacle courses, football tosses, and other similar challenges. It’s a popular draw for families. (All fans participating in Patriots Experience must sign a waiver form, available at training camp. It’s usually online as well at the Patriots web site.) Note that the hours for the Patriots Experience are not the same as the practice schedule; so check the web site. (In general, the hours are usually 11-4.) Kids will also enjoy all the interactive exhibits at the Hall at Patriot Place. Even if you don’t have kids, a visit to this museum dedicated to the Patriots franchise is an absolute must for Pats fans.

Tom Brady signs autographs at training camp. Photo by Michael Dwyer of the Associated Press

Scoring Autographs: The players enter and leave the field near the hillside, so it’s a good spot to get autographs, and a designated group of players, which rotates from practice to practice, will often sign along the front row of the bleachers when practice is over.

With as many as 90 players on the field, plenty of new faces (particularly this year as the feeding frenzy on free agents begins), and uniforms without names on the back, it may be tough knowing who you are watching, so print out a roster from the Patriots web site before you go or pick up a complimentary roster from the Patriots Football Weekly tent.

For more tips on enhancing your experience at Patriots Training Camp–and for all the information you’d ever want to know about spectator sports around Boston–check out The Die-Hard Sports Fan’s Guide to Boston.

Cape Cod League Baseball: An Introduction

I experienced a New England rite of passage this past weekend: catching a Cape Cod League baseball game.  I popped into a game earlier this spring, watching about ten chilly minutes of a Harwich Mariners vs the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox game. After just a few moments on the wet and cold bleachers, I finally begged my way out of that pinnacle baseball moment and back into the warm car.

This past Friday night featured sunny skies and temperatures in the comfortable 70s. The Chatham Anglers were scheduled to play the Harwich Mariners at home, the intimate Veteran’s Field in Chatham.  It was perfect conditions for a baseball game and there was no way out of this one.

The game was everything that my baseball-loving, Cape Cod-worshipping husband had promised.  The game itself was interesting, the crowd was engaged, and the concession stand was all that I had hoped for (great hot dogs). I was particularly fascinated by the scouts positioned behind the backstop, scribbling notes and taking photos of prospects. The little leaguers flagging fly balls were pretty entertaining as well.

Pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed myself, I returned to work and turned to Christopher Klein’s The Die Hard Sports Fan’s Guide to Boston, knowing that he would fill in some of the gaps of my Cape Cod League knowledge.

Sure enough, Chris Klein had all sorts of good facts for me.

Did you know:

• That at any given game, fans are likely to see six future major leaguers?
• That one out of seven major league players are alumni of the Cape Cod League?
• That two big Red Sox greats—Nomar Garciaparra and Jason Varitek—played in this invitation-only amateur league?
• That players are required to play with wooden bats (as opposed to aluminum like they do in college) so that they hit as they do in the Majors?
• That the players live with area families and hold summer jobs at local businesses?

If you’re a “baseball purist” who is put off by “superstar egos and out-of-control player salaries,” as Chris states in his book, then the Cape league just might be your version of baseball heaven.

For more information, including stats and schedules, check the Cape Cod League Website.

Want to know more about the Cape Cod League and all things related to baseball in the greater Boston area? Pick up The Die-Hard Sports Fan’s Guide to Boston by Christopher Klein, available in bookstores and online.

 

Where to Watch: Women’s World Cup & Revolution VS Manchester United in Boston

US Women's Soccer Team Celebrates their win agains Brazil. Photo by Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images

Tomorrow doesn’t get much bigger for Boston soccer fans. At noontime, the U.S. women’s soccer team, fresh off their amazing victory over Brazil, will square off against France in the Women’s World Cup in Germany. Tomorrow night, global power Manchester United will be at Gillette Stadium to face the New England Revolution.

So, here’s a great itinerary for Boston soccer fans tomorrow:

1. Watch the Women’s World Cup at one of Boston’s great soccer pubs. Fans usually crowd these venues to catch the EPL, Serie A, and other European club teams, but tomorrow they should run red, white, and blue.

Phoenix Landing, 512 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge. 617-576-6260

Caffe dello Sport, 308 Hanover Street, North End. 617-523-5063

Caffe Paradiso, 255 Hanover Street, North End. 617-742-1768

Caffe Graffiti, 64 Cross Street, North End. 617-367-3016

The Green Briar, 304 Washington Street, Brighton. 617-789-4100

The Banshee, 934 Dorchester Avenue, Dorchester. 617-436-9747

McGann’s, 197 Portland Street, Boston. 617-227-4059

PJ Ryan’s, 239 Holland Street, Somerville. 617-625-8200

2. Get yourself a ticket to the Revs-ManU match. Tickets on Ticketmaster ranged from $60 to $121 and were still available this morning. Stubhub, Craiglist, and other reselling venues will have plenty of tickets as well. Parking lots open four hours before the 8 PM start time. Be prepared to pay $40 for parking. The MBTA is also running a special train from South Station with a stop in Dedham. Click here for more information.

When the Women’s World Cup is over, be sure to check out the Boston Breakers women’s soccer team. Lauren Cheney, Amy LePeilbet, and Rachel Buehler are among the Breakers on the national team. Next home match at Harvard Stadium is July 24.

Editor’s Note: Want to know more about the New England Revolution, the Boston Breakers and all things related to soccer in the greater Boston area? Pick up The Die-Hard Sports Fan’s Guide to Boston by Christopher Klein, available in bookstores and online.

A Brief History of Harambee Park

It’s been an awful week for Harambee Park’s neighbors; a four-year-old boy was shot there on June 27. He has woken from his coma, and wants to go home, poor kid; may he recover quickly and completely. In the meantime, the Boston Globe has published a map of violent crimes committed around Harambee Park since 2008.

It isn’t always like this.

Franklin Field in 1925, photo courtesy of the Boston Public Library

Harambee Park was once Franklin Field, an adjunct to Franklin Park at the border of Dorchester and Mattapan. Both were named after Benjamin Franklin (yes, that Benjamin Franklin) in anticipation of a bequest that never arrived, thanks to lawsuits over Franklin’s estate. Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer of several of Boston’s Emerald Necklace Parks, persuaded the City of Boston to buy 45.6-acre Franklin Field in 1894 because he wanted to keep certain unsavory activities out of Franklin Park, like… tennis. And baseball.

Olmsted had envisioned Franklin Park as a place where Bostonians could soothe their battered nerves, stretched taut by the endless stress of urban living, by strolling through quiet pastoral scenery. Grazing sheep were in; sports were out. Unfortunately, Boston’s nervous, stressed residents actually liked sports, and Olmsted couldn’t ignore them altogether. Franklin Field was the compromise solution. Bostonians could play their games, but they had to have them in the Field, not in Franklin Park itself.

Cyanotype of a Cricket Match in Franklin Field, courtesy of the Dorchester Historical Society (Dorchester Athenaeum)

As a consequence, Franklin Field became very, very popular after it opened in 1898. But mere baseball was not enough for the sport-starved Bostonians. By 1909, the Bay State Monthly praised Franklin Field:

“We will first stop at Franklin Field, the University playground of Boston…with its speedway, tennis courts, bowling green, and spaces for ball games it is said to be the largest and most complete field of the kind extant. It is well termed the University Playground for those players who have done team work in lesser grounds come here to compete with one another in large games. Thirty acres of this field are flooded for skating and other ice sports in the winter so that throughout the entire year it is patronized by people of varying ages from every part of greater Boston.”

Speedway at Franklin Field in 1914, courtesy of Dorchester Historical Society (Dorchester Athenaeum)

The Dorchester Gentlemen’s Driving Club built the Franklin Field Speedway. The Speedway served as a racing oval where single-seat horse carriage drivers (what, you expected NASCAR in 1911?) raced until 1920. The Driving Club’s records state that more than 15,000 people attended a single day of races there in 1912. I don’t know if that attendance was driven by appreciation for the skill displayed by the brave, strong drivers, or the opportunity to gamble.

From the 20’s and through the 1940’s and 50’s, Franklin Field served as a place for an unusual mix of local residents to meet and mingle. According to the Rappaport Institute’s “Heart of the City” site:

“In particular, the wall at Franklin Field was the place where disparate parts of the neighborhood connected, including Hasidic Jews, prostitutes, and adolescent boys. In the 1940s and 1950s, thousands of Jews gathered during Jewish holidays at a wall around Franklin Field.”

“Connections” between Hasidic Jews, prostitutes, and adolescent boys? It all sounds like something out of a Philip Roth novel.

The neighborhood around Franklin Field changed over the next forty years. The story of how Boston’s Jewish community was coerced out of Dorchester—and African-Americans moved in—via despicable real estate practices like redlining, blockbusting, and discriminatory banking has been widely documented. In the early 1980’s, according to the Heart of the City, a consortium of residents led by the Franklin Field Corporation persuaded the City to rename the field Harambee Park; the Swahili word harambee means “pull together.”

Boundless Playground at Harambee Park

Today, Harambee Park is chock full of recreation fields, according to the City of Boston: a softball field, a Little League field, a field for football, lacrosse, or rugby, five basketball courts, five tennis courts (where the Sportsmen’s Tennis Club, the first African-American tennis club in the U.S., gives lessons and court space to more than 3,000 players a year), a street hockey rink, and a brand new “boundless playground” accessible to children of all physical abilities to play together; you can get to the high places via ramps, without climbing ladders or steps. Overhead lights allow for night games.

…which is all to say that Harambee Park is a vital community center, serving thousands of Bostonians the way that Frederick Law Olmsted envisioned: as a place for Bostonians to get exercise and have fun. No, it’s not enough to soothe the battered nerves of young gang members who are hot, who don’t have a job and have no way of getting one, whose neighborhoods have been ravaged by sub-prime mortgages, foreclosures, and other contemporary despicable real estate practices.

Contrary to Frederick Law Olmsted’s beliefs, there are some things parks can’t do. Alas.

Grass Court Tennis in New England

Crowds watching tennis at the Newport Casino (photo courtesy of the Library of Congress)

The sport of tennis—lawn tennis—was born on nature’s green turf. But these days, if you sneeze, you’ll miss the pro circuit’s grass court season. It lasts only five weeks, with the current fortnight of Wimbledon being the supreme highlight.

If the action from the big W has you in the mood for some grass (tennis that is), New England is the place to be. Along with the weather, the region has something else in common with old England: a cherishing of the tradition of grass court tennis.

Nahant, Massachusetts lays claim to being the site of the first tennis match in the United States. On a seaside estate just north of Boston in 1874, James Dwight and Fred Sears, a couple of bluebloods on the green lawns, opened up a boxed tennis set newly imported from London, staked out a court, and began to swat the rubber ball with their spoon-shaped racquets. Drive down Swallow Cave Road in Nahant today, and you’ll find a small wooden sign just a short lob from Massachusetts Bay that reads: “The first game of lawn tennis in the United States was played at this site in August of 1874.”

International Tennis Hall of Fame, Newport, RI (photo courtesy of http://www.tennisfame.com)

These days, there is only one grass court tournament left in America: the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, Rhode Island. (This year’s tournament is July 4-10.) The tourney is held at the Newport Casino, the home of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, where the highlight of the week is not the final on Sunday, but semifinal day on Saturday, which coincides with the annual induction of new members of the Hall of Fame. This year’s inductees include Andre Agassi, such a popular draw that a live simulcast is being offered. Agassi will also pick up a racquet on July 10 in an exhibition against Todd Martin.

If you’re inspired to try out the same grass courts the pros play on, you actually can at the Tennis Hall of Fame. The courts are available for rental. How cool is that?

Weekend hackers in the Boston area may also be interested in knowing that the Sportsmen’s Tennis Club is hosting a women’s challenger event through June 26, and on July 5 the Boston Lobsters return to World Team Tennis action.

Editor’s Note: Want to know more about the duo that brought lawn tennis to the United States, Newport’s International Tennis Hall of Fame, and the Boston Lobsters? Pick up The Die-Hard Sports Fan’s Guide to Boston by Christopher Klein, available in bookstores and online.

Ten Years Later, Boston Bruins Fans Get Celebration They Deserve

Ray Bourque, 2001. Credit: Associated Press

June 13, 2001.

To me, it was the nadir of Boston sports.

Thousands of Boston sports fans flocked to City Hall Plaza to watch Bruins legend Ray Bourque lift high the Stanley Cup. Tens of thousands watched on television. Stymied in his quest for championship glory in Boston, Bourque had finally gotten to drink from Lord Stanley’s chalice as a member of the Colorado Avalanche. Just days after the pinnacle of his career, Bourque brought the Cup to Boston to share with Bruins fans, who had just suffered through a second playoff-less season.

It was a gracious act, but honestly it was absolutely embarrassing as a Boston sports fan to watch the reaction. City Hall Plaza had been the gathering spot for the city to celebrate its Bruins and Celtics championships in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Now we were latching on to another team’s glory. This felt like table scraps being fed to a fan base starving for a championship. It had been nearly 30 years since the last Bruins championship, 15 since the last Celtics title, 83 since the last Sox crown. The Patriots? Please.

To me, the thousands who had turned out to see #77 bring the Stanley Cup to town seemed like an admission that this town would not see championship glory ever again.

But, oh what a difference a decade makes. Nearly 10 years to the day after the most pathetic moment in Boston sports, the city has hit the Grand Slam. Seven titles by all four teams. Duck Boat parade after Duck Boat parade. The longest title drought in town now belongs to the Patriots. Wow.

Ten years ago when the Stanley Cup stopped by Boston for a cup of coffee, it was “Look, but don’t touch.” But today, Bruins fans can not only look, not only touch, but embrace it with all of their might. Saturday, Bruins fans will get the party in downtown Boston that they really deserve.