do you need some reasons to come to Lawrence this weekend?

Lawrence City Hall

Labor Day weekend has long been a weekend of celebration in Lawrence. This weekend marks the 96th Feast of the Three Saints, the 45th Mahrajan at Saint Anthony's Maronite Church, and the 35th  Bread and Roses Heritage Festival. The whole city becomes a celebration, bringing together labor history, immigrant history and culture, music, and food in a vibrant city still very much the Immigrant City. You can celebrate Italian culture, Lebanese culture, and labor history from Friday evening through Monday. Celebrating in a city that actually celebrates labor on Labor Day is reason enough to be here, but in case you need more reasons, here are a few.

Feast of the Three Saints

 

From from Friday evening through Sunday, the feast celebrates three Catholic saints — St. Alfio, St. Filadelfo and St. Cirino, brothers who were martyred for their faith almost 1,800 years ago. They have been commemorated with a feast in Trescastagni, Sicily for centuries and Italian immigrants who came to Lawrence to work in the mills brought the tradition with them. Come feel the Lawrence history as you enjoy food, music, and the procession.

The Main Stage at Feast of the Three Saints

Come for the most famous Sicilian treat: crispelli. These perfect little dough balls, plain or filled with ricotta or anchovy continue to be a big draw even after the tradition of making them has been passed from the beloved Italian Kitchen to Crispelli USA. My brother-in-law, who grew up in Lawrence, swears by the anchovy ones. I prefer the plain ones with sugar on them.  Crispelli USA also serves up the delicious arancini (rice balls) and multiple flavors of Italian sausage. And don't forget to grab some cannoli from the tent in the parking lot of the Holy Rosary Church and check out the food vendors along Common Street before or after you take in the music on the main stage or the Tripoli stage.

Friday night, Saturday afternoon and evening/night, and Sunday afternoon all feature entertainment on both stages. I'm most looking forward to hearing Mike Girard's Big Swinging Thing. This band is enough reason to come to Lawrence even if you don't live right next door. Seriously folks, you do not want to miss a rock and roll big band with lots of horns put together by the legendary Mike Girard and featuring a couple of other members of one of the greater Boston area's most beloved bands: The Fools! Yes, I'm told they will do some Fools classics as well as covering many rock and roll standards. Speaking of The Fools, they're doing a show with the Stompers at Boarding House Park in Lowell on Saturday night (8/31)  and that's not all that far from Lawrence.

Bread and Roses Heritage Festival

Come learn about and celebrate the history and legacy of the 1912 strike that changed labor history. Take a trolley tour or a walking tour of the historic sites and check out the Lawrence History Live! tent for discussions of labor, industrial heritage, education, and community issues with historians, writers, union representatives, and community activists. The discussions range from the role of the Lawrence Lithuanian community in the 1919 textile strike (yup, that other significant Lawrence strike) with Lithuanian folklorist and weaver/artist Jonas Stundzia to lessons from the Puerto Rico protests with singer/songwriter and activist Ani Cordero. And that's just the history tent! Cordero will also be performing her music on the Bernstein stage.

The music line-up for this year's festival looks great with lots of different traditions: folk-pop, rock and roll, Peruvian Andean music, neo-ranchera, Klezmer and lots more. Just take a look at the schedule and you're sure to find something that catches your interest. Besides Ani Cordero, I'm also looking forward to hearing Julie Rhodes belt out some roots music.

The Crowd on Campagnone Common for Bread and Roses

On Labor Day from 11:30 AM - 6:00PM Campagnone Common hosts an amazing array of activities:

• Three stages featuring music, storytelling, and even magic and juggling
• Bread and Puppet Theater taking on the nature of reality through giant puppets 
• Pony rides, face painting, reptiles, the KidzZone (creative stuff for kids), and other kid-friendly activities
• Getting your portrait drawn by noted illustrator Ed Bray
• The food court featuring foods of many cultures

If that's not enough to do, you'll also find community organizations, political candidates, and labor organizations tabling along with various vendors. The common becomes a microcosm of Lawrence and the world.

Lebanese Mahrajan Festival

 

Fresh Homemade Felafel

Who can resist mammoul, graybeh, or baklava? Who can resist felafel? There's plenty of time to get a taste of Lebanese culture at St. Anthony's Maronite Church.  With three days of music, dancing, games, hookah, Arabic coffee, raffles, and even dancing and cooking lessons,  Saint Anthony's church parking lot turns into a wonderland. The food is all homemade and delicious, the pastry tent is up to three tables long, the music is great, and the parishioners are friendly. You'll feel right at home partaking in this great Merrimack Valley tradition. Stop by  Friday 6PM-Midnight,  Saturday 5PM- Midnight, and Sunday Noon-Midnight.

Just the Ordinary Extraordinary Coolness of Lawrence

 

Besides the festivals, there's plenty of stuff to do and see in Lawrence this weekend. Here are just a few of the cool things you can do:

You might want to check out poster collector Stephen Lewis' exhibit of international labor posters at the Lawrence Heritage State Park Visitor Center. It's on exhibit through September 28.

There's always a reason to grab a coffee, enjoy some good food, check out the current art exhibit, and maybe buy some books at El Taller, a buzzing hub of community in downtown Lawrence.

Speaking of eating good food, I've heard that Chef Antonio at Cafe Azteca is cooking up a new special this weekend: chicken and shrimp in salsa de cacahuate. That salsa sounds amazing: roasted tomatoes, onions, garlic, morita, and peanuts.  (Hope I got that right.) 

Take a walk in search of some of the gorgeous murals painted by the Elevated Thought Foundation and local artists.

Just come to Lawrence and enjoy the city during its most festive weekend!

Recap: EforAll Lowell Lawrence Change the World Pitch Contest

On Thursday, August 22, Lowell's Kerouac Park hosted an EforAll Lowell-Lawrence pitch contest. What gorgeous night for an outdoor pitch contest! Mother Nature cooperated with comfortable temperatures and no more thunderstorms.

Perfect Night for a Pitch Contest

The theme for this contest was Change the World and it attracted a wide variety of ideas from mitigating climate change with Biochar to gourmet African hot sauce and everything in between. There was a decent-sized and lively crowd of entrepreneurs and their supporters. I checked out the tables, cast my table favorite votes, took photos, grabbed some delicious food from Empanada Dada (an EforAll Lowell-Lawrence Accelerator alum), and spent some time just enjoying the beautiful evening in the park.

Swan Patisserie Table

Another EforAll Lowell-Lawrence Accelerator alum,  Swan Patisserie, LLC, had a table selling their delicious pastry treats, but I was so full of tasty empanadas I had no room left for pastry.

Assertiv Table

Assertiv is a consulting service that helps people in business, government and education improve their public speaking skills through coaching, workshops and an app.  I enjoyed talking with Nathalie and practicing her PREP method of presenting a point. Once I made the rounds of the tables, I went back to make sure I gave her a vote to present. I was happy to see that she won the Table Favorite vote and got to present and that she won second prize.

Biochar Table

Urban Biochar is a new take on improving soil health and stormwater filtration with a type of carbonized biomass that differs from charcoal in the way it's created and in its filtering properties. The production process and the incorporation into the soil combine to make it carbon negative, which is definitely something we need. Do check out the link.

Weather Hazard Planning Workshop Table

Jerry is a weather strategist  who was pitching his weather hazard planning workshop. I think a lot of people were aware of needing a weather hazard plan after Wednesday's multiple tornado warnings. I was full of weather questions and enjoyed talking with him. We're going to need a lot more weather hazard planning around here as the climate changes and sea level rises.

A Couple of the Judges Checking out the UNIFIT Table

UNiFIT makes creative use of augmented reality to make it a whole lot easier to order clothes online that actually fit you.

Grass is Greener Table

Grass is Greener  is a YouTube vlog with a positive outlook. Chris was selling merch with the cool Grass is Greener logo to raise funds to support the vlogging effort. We chatted a bit about cameras before I took his picture.

USe Cart Table -- Part of the USe Cart Team

USe Cart pitched a smart shopping cart that takes self-checkout to new level -- not just reducing the long checkout lines but eliminating them -- and makes it work for small businesses too (not just the Amazons of the world). USe Cart, a UML DifferenceMaker, won the 2019 Rist Innovative Technology prize and was enormously popular at the pitch contest. It was no surprise that they won the Fan Favorite voting.

ArcLive Table

ArcLive  gives you access to research archives -- even stuff that's not digitized -- so you don't have to travel to do your historical or genealogical research.  I love the idea of reducing travel cost for scholars while making archives available.

Afro Gourmet Table

Afro Gourmet Specialist aims to bring the taste of Africa to your table. Tried some and loved it! Check her Facebook page (TroPical Spoon) to find where you can buy it. I hope to see it available in more places soon.

Sporvo Table

Sporvo is a mentorship program for former student athletes to mentor current student athletes in high school and middle school.

Needle Net Table

Needle Net keeps the area under and around the Christmas Tree neat and makes cleanup easy and environmentally friendly.  You attach it to the trunk of your real tree before it goes into the tree stand. It turns into a tree skirt and lets you just bag it up while the tree is still in the stand, and dispose of the shed needles and the skirt when you dispose of the tree.

Waist Beads Table

Waist Beads are a traditional African accessory that consist of small glass beads on a string or wire worn around the waist or hips. They can help you with body awareness and they just look cool.  Rita Ofori-Frimpong had a table full of gorgeous waist beads in different colors and shapes.

Revolutionary Creatives Table

Revolutionary Creatives is on a mission to nurture and connect the creative community.

The Judges

The judges for the evening were:

• Howard Amidon, Vice President for Philanthropy at Greater Lowell Community Foundation 
• Kesiah Bascom, Founder of OffBeet Compost 
• Jonathan Berk, Director of Patronicity 
• Portia Blunt, Director of Apparel Operations at New Balance 
• Nancy Donahue, Lowell Philanthropist

Mayor Bill Samaras welcomed us all to Lowell with a short speech to kick off the presentations.

Mayor Bill Samaras

Our EforAll Lowell-Lawrence masters of ceremonies were (as usual :-) ) Lianna Kushi and Joey Banh.

Lianna and Joy Introducing the Pitchers

The scheduled pitchers were ArcLive, Sporvo, UNiFIT, Afro Gourmet Specialist, Revolutionary Creatives, and USe Cart. Assertiv won the Table Favorite slot and Biochar got the wild card. There was an additional pitch from guest entrepreneur Caitlin McNamara, a rising entrepreneur at Lowell High, who pitched her Spritz Away stress-relieving scented spray.

Caitlin Pitching Spritz Away

The winners for the night were:

• 1st Place: Afro Gourmet Specialist
• 2nd Place: Assertiv
• Third Place: Sporvo
• Fan Favorite: Difference Maker Team: USe Cart

The Winners with their Huge Cardboard Checks

miniMIN

The first ever mini Mass Innovation Nights event (miniMIN) took place on Thursday night at Staples Studio in Danvers, the latest thing in coworking space. So, what's a miniMIN? A smaller, quieter version of MIN. The event featured only 5 products instead of the usual 10 (or sometimes more) so everyone got to do a presentation and there was plenty of time to check out every table.

Staples Studio

Part of the Coworking Space

CareAline aims to change the standard of care for patients with implanted vascular access lines. This  story is a great example of innovation that came out of the founder's response to a real and personal need. Founder Kezia Fitzgerald encountered a need to make line management safer and more comfortable when her daughter was diagnosed with cancer and had to have vascular access lines for chemo. The CareAline sleeves and wraps keep the access lines covered and off the skin while still being fully accessible for treatment. Both the sleeve and the central wrap are FDA registered. Since presenting at MIN 106 they've become integrated into more hospitals. This innovation just makes so much sense! Hope it continues to be adopted more widely.

CareAline

Lawn Serv's Do-it-Yourself lawn care subscription box is customized for your lawn's particular needs. You provide a soil sample and Lawn Serv selects the right mix of lawn care supplies for you based on the soil analysis. Their  monthly box provides all the supplies you need for your lawn for each season.  Even though I don't have a lawn, I enjoyed talking with them. Especially since when they showcased at MIN118, their table was so busy I couldn't get near it. If I did have a lawn, I think I would subscribe.

Lawn Serv

It was great to see Karen from Keysie again after meeting her at MIN123 in Lawrence. The Keysie Key Wallet a whole new kind of accessory that holds your keys and credit cards and hooks right onto your purse or your belt. Who hasn't had the "where are my keys?" experience? Keysie keeps you from misplacing your keys in the first place. Best of all, you don't have to unhook it to put the key in the lock. No digging in purse or pocket. No fumbling around trying to unlock your door. Keys, frequently used credit cards, and your ID all within easy reach. All that and it is extremely cool-looking too.  It got my vote for Audience Favorite and not surprisingly it won!

Keysie

Atomic Coffee Roasters, a popular North Shore roastery (and Beverly coffee shop) that supplies a number of cafes and restaurants in the area, has recently put more of their focus on wholesale and on cold brew. They have a facility for cold brew and nitro cold brew in Danvers and are selling these beverages to grocery stores and cafe chains. They are also available for business offices to purchase. Imagine your office coffee room having carefully crafted cold brew ... mmm mmm good. They were distributing samples and I drank a delicious bottle of plain black cold brew (I'm not big on the sweetened and milky coffees). It was very smooth and full-flavored and I really enjoyed it. I can see how this would be a hit in offices and coworking spaces.

Atomic Coffee Roasters

AliGo Mobile is a mobile orthodontic office specializing in Invisalign treatment and whitening services. I spotted their elegant-looking Airstream (hitched to an orange pickup truck) in the parking lot as soon as I pulled in. They partner with businesses and office parks to provide on-site Invisalign consultation, care, and management (and whitening service too). I took a look inside and it is indeed a well-appointed orthodontic office. With the way commutes are going in the Boston area these days, it's getting harder and harder to get to and from an appointment during the work day.  AliGo Mobile makes it worthwhile for companies to provide access to high-quality orthodontic care as an employee benefit that saves employees both time and money while helping them look and feel their best. And, yes, they do serve companies in the Seaport District. Ask your HR department about AliGo Mobile.

AliGo

Inside AliGo

This being a mini MIN, there were only two prize winners. The prizes from Staples Studio went to AliGo Mobile, which won the online voting, and to Keysie, which won the Audience Choice voting.

Prize Winners AliGo and Keysie

The Expert Corner featured marketing/social media/PR phenomenon  Bobbie Carlton, founder of Carlton PR and Marketing and Innovation Nights, Ken Perlow from Staples Studio, and Carol Costello from Staples. For the traditional Experts Looking Expert shot it seems perfect to feature BobbieC and one of her MINions launching the miniMIN concept.

Experts Looking Expert and Offering Fabulous Prizes for Tweeting

The next Mass Innovation Nights event, #MIN125, is a full-sized MIN on Tuesday, August 13 at District Hall in Boston's Seaport District.  Register, check out the products, and vote for the 4 you want to hear.