At 12.30PM on Friday February 19th, join Kim Foley MacKinnon, author of Boston Baby, and local parents for a baby-friendly matinee at the Coolidge Corner Theatre's Box Office Babies. Featuring first run films, ample parking for strollers, and Koala changing tables in the bathroom, the Coolidge is a treat for new parents who can't find (or quite yet stomach) a sitter!
Kim will be on hand in the lobby to answer all your Boston Baby questions. And books will be for sale if you decide to buy a few extra copies for all the mommies and daddies in your life!
Bragging rights in office buildings and classrooms all around Boston will be on the line starting Monday when the men of Boston College, Boston University, Harvard, and Northeastern take to the ice for the 2010 edition of the Beanpot. The four schools and their fans prove the old adage that familiarity breeds contempt. With no campus more than four miles from another, these schools are like kissing cousins.
The Beanpot is almost a season unto itself, and even a team having an otherwise terrible season can turn it all around with just two victories. Harvard, Boston University, and Northeastern are having sub-par years so far, so a Beanpot title might end up being the highlight of the season for those teams.
Terriers fans have dubbed the Beanpot the “BU Invitational,” since their team has captured twenty-nine pots of beans since the tournament’s inception—more than the other three schools combined. Boston College has captured fourteen Beanpot trophies, Harvard has won ten, and Northeastern, the perennial underdog, has only four.
As hard as it is to believe today, the Beanpot certainly wasn’t an overnight sensation. The tournament was originally born as a way to fill open dates at the Boston Arena (Matthews Arena today). The first New England Invitational Hockey Tournament, as it was known then, was won by Harvard and played on the two nights after Christmas in 1952. For the next edition of the Beanpot, the event moved to Boston Garden, but only 711 fans turned out for the first game.
It wasn’t until the sixth year of the tournament that the current schedule of the first two Mondays in February was adopted. The first sellout wouldn’t occur until 1961, but they quickly became a common occurrence. In fact, the Beanpot was such a draw that even during the great blizzard of 1978, more than eleven thousand fans showed up at Boston Garden. Many stayed to the end, by which point they were trapped inside and condemned to spend the night eating lukewarm hot dogs on stale buns.
This year’s schedule calls for BC to take on Harvard and Northeastern to battle BU in the opening round with the winners skating off against each other on Monday, February 8. Tickets can be found on the secondary market, and you may want to keep checking with the participating schools and TD Garden box office to see if any tickets have been released. It will be easier to get tickets to the finals as fans of the two schools in the consolation game will likely be amenable to unloading tickets.
The women also skate in their own Beanpot. The women’s Beanpot, one of the longest-running women’s collegiate tournaments in all of sports, is rotated among the campus rinks of the four teams and will be held this year at Harvard. The women skate the first Tuesdays in February. The 2010 schedule calls for BU to play Northeastern and BC to take on Harvard on February 2 with the winners battling on February 9. Tickets are $8, click here to purchase.
BPL Branches
As soon as my daughter could write her name in big, blocky toddler letters, she clamored for her very own library card. There was good reason for this. I hang out at the library like other people hang out in their living rooms. I’ve toted Sadie to branches all over the city since she was a baby, attending story hours, magic shows, picking up free tickets to museums, and of course, borrowing books.
Needless to say, I am thrilled to be speaking at the Honan-Allston Library on February 2 and 5 after story hour. While every library has a variety of programs, I wanted to share some of the more unique upcoming events in the area.
On Thursday, January 21 at 6:30pm, kids can meet Mike the Boston Bubble Guy and enjoy an interactive science show at the Uphams Corner branch. On Monday, January 25 at 6:30pm, join in the fun at Family Pajama Story Time at the Connolly branch. The whole family can spend some quality time in their PJs and gather 'round for winter stories, songs, cookies, and juice.
A bunch of branches offer children’s films every Friday, often in the morning. With the dearth of kids movies out there, this is a great option for cold winter days. Stop by the East Boston, Lower Mills, and Codman Square screenings in the upcoming weeks. And if a matinee works better for your schedule, Grove Hall has movies after school on Fridays at 3pm (in the winter).
And speaking of movies, don’t forget that you can borrow movies from any local branch for free. Anyone trying to cut costs should keep that in mind, along with using the free museum passes made available to patrons.
Visit www.bpl.org to find more events and programs around town.
There may not be a better place in the city to escape the heat and humidity than the Boston Harbor Islands national park area. While Bostonians can only dream of T-shirts and flip-flops right now, the islands are still fascinating places to explore, even in the dead of winter.
If you're used to seeing the islands covered with lush greens, it's striking to now see them under a fresh blanket of snow. And you might catch a new cast of characters who aren't commonly found around the islands the summer months, such as white and brown seals.
The Island Alliance is sponsoring a rare wintertime chance to get out among the Boston Harbor Islands this Saturday, January 16. A winter wildlife watch cruise aboard the Voyager III will take visitors around the outer islands, Hingham Bay, and Weir River estuary. Park rangers and experienced birders will lead the tour. The boat has both heated, enclosed areas and a deck for viewing.
The boat departs from the Quincy Shipyard at 10:15 AM and Boston's Long Wharf at 11 AM. The cost is $14 per person. Reservations are strongly encouraged. For tickets, call Boston's Best Cruises at 617-770-0040 or click here. The Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands are also selling tickets. If you can't make this date, there will be a cruise to Spectacle Island on February 20.
If you need a traveling companion for the cruise with information on all the islands, check out Discovering the Boston Harbor Islands.
