One of the most eagerly awaited events of the year, Taste of the Back Bay is an opportunity to sample food from more than 30 of the neighborhood’s most popular restaurants, ranging from the casual seafood fare found at Summer Shack to the fine French cuisine of L’Espalier, along with the opportunity to meet new friends and help those in need.
“It’s really exciting that we get to have an event where we have a sense of community,” said Angela Lanoue, Taste of Back Bay co-chair and president of the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay (NABB), which has sponsored the event since its inception in 1996. “It gets everyone out to have a good time and sample food from some really amazing restaurants. Maybe you’ll try a restaurant you’ve never sampled before, and the proceeds benefit a really worthwhile organization.”
This year, participating restaurants and food and liquor vendors include: Asana, Azure, Bacardi, Bauer Wines, Best Cellars, Blu, Boston Beer Company, Cafeteria, Da Vinci, DeLuca's Market, Eastern Standard, Erbaluce, Great Bay, Harpoon Brewery, Haru Sushi, Jasper White's Summer Shack, Kashmir, KO Prime, La Voile, Legal Sea Foods, L’Espalier, Oak Room, Mantra, Petit Robert Bistro, Sel de la Terre, Smith & Wollensky, Sorellina, Stanhope Grille, Top of the Hub, Turner Fisheries and Vlora Restaurant.
Tom Wilson Band and the Berklee Jazz All Stars, who were recently named the Best University Jazz Band in the U.S. by DownBeat Magazine, will provide music for the occasion.
As for the venue, the April 2nd event takes place at the Prudential Skywalk, which offers panoramic views of the city from the 50th floor of the Prudential Tower.
“The Skywalk offers some of the most breathtaking views of the city, no matter what window you look out,” Lanoue said. “It kind of puts things into perspective.”
Lanoue hopes the event will also attract non-Boston residents.
“It’s not just for people from the Back Bay,” she said. “Everyone belongs.”
Guest will also have an opportunity to learn more about NABB, the 54-year-old, self-described “volunteer organization whose mission is to preserve and enhance the unique beauty and residential character of the neighborhood.” Lanoue said, “We’ll have a membership table where people can learn about our [15 standing] committees.”
Besides raising money for NABB’s many community programs, a portion of this year’s proceeds will benefit Horizons for Homeless Children, a Roxbury-based nonprofit that supports homeless children and their families. Guest can also make contributions at the door for the purchase of diapers, baby wipes and toy blocks for use in play spaces at Horizons’ three sites.
“So many times we forget that in addition to adults having hard times, children are affected as well,” Lanoue said, adding that her Taste of the Back Bay co-chair, Monte Agro, made arrangements with Horizons and handed all publicity for the event.
In addition to Agro, Lanoue credited the hard work of their fellow Taste of the Back Bay committee members Sue Baker, Jack Gregg and Barbra Papesch and Diane Stiles, who single-handedly contacted all of the participating restaurants. Brenda Adams of the Back Bay’s Adams Design designed invitations and print advertisements for the event pro bono, Lanoue added.
And at $85 for advance tickets for non-members of NABB, Lanoue believes Taste of the Back Bay won’t disappoint.
“You actually get a lot for your money,” Lanoue said. “You’ll leave full and happy.”
Taste of the Back Bay takes place at the Prudential Skywalk at the Prudential Center, 800 Boylston St., on Thursday, April 2, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Tickets cost $75 for NABB members, $85 for non-members and $100 at the door, if they’re still available. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.nabbonline.com or call 617-247-3961.

The area’s community of parks protectors lost a strong advocate with the recent passing of Stella Trafford, the Steel Magnolia of Boston, who died of natural causes March 13 at the age of 97 in Boylston Place at Chestnut Hill.
Trafford was a tireless protector of the Commonwealth Avenue Mall, the Public Garden and other area parks. She was able to use her Southern charm and her political background to battle those who would let the Back Bay wilt in the shadow of so-called progress.
Raised in Jackson, Mississippi, she was the daughter of a state senator, William E. Mallett, and her cousin was a congressman. A Democrat, her background in politics gave her skills that came in handy as a volunteer with Planned Parenthood in New York City and the League of Women Voters, and also later in the Back Bay.
“She knew the name of every member of the state Legislature and the name of every county in the state,” said her friend, Luanne Pryor.
When she arrived in Boston with her third husband, William Bradford Trafford, in the 1960s, Stella was shocked at the dying Commonwealth Avenue Mall and its elm trees, and angry at plans to develop the area.
In 1970, Trafford took on major developer Mort Zuckerman, who wanted to construct five skyscrapers near the Public Garden, an idea that was supported by nearly every major player in town, including the mayor and Boston newspapers. But Trafford and Henry Lee formed the Friends of the Public Garden, and for seven years slowly gathered opposition. They eventually won.
Wrote Trafford, "If I were going to point to one thing in which I take the greatest pride, it would be to the blue sky over the south side of the Public Garden, which but for our determination, might be obscured by three 600-foot towers."
Anne Swanson worked with her fellow Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay (NABB) member for decades, fighting to save the elms along Commonwealth Avenue and the Boston Common, which suffered from Dutch elm disease. “She had quite deep feelings for the elms,” said Swanson. “To see them dying of Dutch elm disease… she was probably the whole program.”
Trafford helped launch “The Boston Tree Party,” and with NABB formed the Commonwealth Avenue Mall Committee to attack Dutch elm disease, one of the first such efforts in the nation. They figured out how to use bicycle pumps to insert antifungal liquid into the trees. Trafford then came up with a memorial tree program where neighbors would give money to care for or plant new trees.
She was instrumental in making the Commonwealth Avenue Mall what it is now. She was involved in the Victorian Promenade, where locals in parasols, straw hats and tea gowns strolled the Public Garden, and arranged lighting from nearby rooftops to spotlight Commonwealth Avenue mall statues. The mall gained beautiful magnolias, and Stella, being from the South, helped to care for them. Everyone said magnolias couldn’t be grown up north, but Trafford knew better, and she knew how to care for them.
“In about a month, you’ll see, it’s a sea of pink here,” said Karin Dumbaugh, a Friends of the Public Garden Board member. “When you look at books on Boston, they always feature those magnolias in some way or another in postcards, in the newspapers. I think she made a real difference, visually and otherwise. She organized people around her cause.”
Longtime friend Luanne Pryor first met Stella Trafford in 1991, when the Commonwealth Avenue Mall Pooch Parade was formed.
In conjunction with the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay, 100 dogs and their people paraded up and down the mall for six years, carrying signs that read "Be a Good Neighbor, Pick up after Your Dog”.
“It was a complicated issue for Stella as she didn't like dogs, but she wanted the mall cleaned up,” recalled Pryor, whose dog, Lucky, Stella had considered a “gentleman”.
Stella’s campaign succeeded, although, said Pryor, “The challenge was to keep Stella away from dog owners whom she liked to chastise -- not a good way to go, as they were actually her allies. Somehow, we all survived. Dog owners are a formidable group, and I think they brought Stella to a new understanding of the importance of animals in human existence. Not long afterwards Stella adopted a cat to whom she was devoted.”
Jackie Yessian, a former NABB chair and 30-year Back Bay resident, recalled Trafford’s nearly 40 years of tireless community efforts. “Even through a dizzying succession of parks commissioners over those years, she was steadfast and was able to forge a new partnership and level of trust that allowed her to pursue her single-minded purpose, as she called it. We really have Stella, her patience, her perseverance, and her considerable political skill to thank for the way these parks look today.”
It was her Southern charm and political experience that made her literally a force of nature.
Friends of the Public Garden President Henry Lee said City Hall didn’t know what to make of the sweet-talking Southerner who somehow managed to make them sit up and take notice of the area parks, including the Commonwealth Avenue Mall, that sat neglected for years until she went to battle. Others also recalled Trafford’s ability to turn amusing stories into political currency.
“She always seemed a bit of an anomaly here, being from Mississippi,” said fellow Neighborhood Association of Boston member Anne Swanson. “She’d tell anecdotes -- she’d use that charm in a political way, to wield power and to have influence. Other people would call City Hall and get no response, but then she called and they’d say, ‘Yes, Mrs. Trafford, yes, Mrs. Trafford.’ I think it was just her iron will and her soft southern style that was such a striking combination.”
“Her stories about her mother -- Momma -- were tantalizing and gave credence to the well-brought-up, socially aware woman who took on Boston to save its historic neighborhoods,” said Pryor.
“I admired her grit, charm, and amazing ability to get things done,” said Friends of the Public Garden Board Member Linda Cox. “’Polite persistence is the key,’” she said, and I’ve never forgotten those wise words.”
Dumbaugh described Trafford as “wispy-thin, with an iron will. She’d get her way most of the time - I would say all of the time. She was inspirational. What a role model for all of us. She had a very soft exterior that hid a very steely interior -- like a steel magnolia.”
The Friends of the Public Garden planted a tree for her, a Chinese handkerchief tree that looks like doves floating in the trees, said Dumbaugh. “That’s pretty much what she was like, very feminine, very wispy.”
And very adventurous. Pryor recalled stories of Trafford driving barefoot around Jackson, Mississippi in her father’s car, and she doesn’t think that attitude changed much over the years.
“To drive with Stella at the wheel of her car was not dissimilar to Russian roulette,” she recalled. “One occasion, we packed a gourmet lunch and headed with Lucky [Pryor’s dog] to Mt. Auburn Cemetery, where Stella wanted to tell me about the trees. Before reaching the gate, we were pulled over by a policeman. ‘If I didn't know better,’ he said, ‘I would have assumed the two of you had just come out of the local tavern. You were all over the road.’" Stella was driving a second-hand Lexus that she wasn’t used to driving. She also didn't have her license. “And her spiel about trees didn't gain us any ground,” said Pryor. “I rummaged through the glove compartment and found a Parks Department permit that belonged on the dashboard. It saved us. But once inside Mt. Auburn, we were firmly but nicely thrown out.” Apparently, neither picnics nor dogs were allowed, so they headed back to Trafford’s car. “The siren went off, wailing as we drove out of Mt. Auburn and continuing until someone at a stop sign told us what to do. ‘Lets forget the trees now, Stella,’ I said, knowing full well that she would not.”
Swanson recalled going with Trafford to Crane Beach in Ipswich, and was concerned when her friend proposed swimming so as to be drawn out with the tide and into the ocean. “I remember being rather fearful for her, hearing her description,” said Swanson. “I thought, would I be able to save her? It wasn’t quite that dramatic,” she chuckled.
Stella was also known for her impeccable wardrobe and always-coiffed appearance, even into her 90s. Her stepdaughter said she died with her pearls on.
“Fashionista that she was, Stella was delighted when I invited her to join me in New York at my family's apartment, from which we could take the Fifth Avenue bus to Bryant Park to see the latest fashions,” said Pryor. “The problem was that it was pouring rain. I raided the family coat closet and came up with the most beat-up raincoat imaginable. There was nothing else. Looking at Stella on the bus, I couldn't get over how lovely she looked, in rags. They didn't matter. She was incredibly beautiful.”
Trafford told her that her beauty helped her reach her goals, but her friend disagreed. “Those with whom she worked saw the commitment, will and determination to succeed that lay deep within her.”
Still, she always tried to keep in shape. Dumbaugh recalled, loaning Trafford an exercise bike. “She was 80 years old and actually used it,” she said. She recalled Trafford’s 90th birthday, with her walking down the stairs in a Chanel outfit, making a grand entrance. “She really had style,” said Dumbaugh. “She was always coiffed.”
“The last time I saw Stella in December 2008 she was frail,” said Pryor. “Still so much of her remained -- her interest in politics and people. Not gossip. Stella never gossiped, and that is where she rose so far above so many. I have never known anyone like her. I don't think I would want to - maddening, incorrigible, true to herself, and therefore so forgivable.”
“We were incredibly fortunate to have her as our ally,” said Swanson. “She knew [the beauty of the Back Bay] was why people wanted to come here and never leave again.
“People love it here. Stella Trafford’s impact on this area was quite important. She dedicated many years to community service, and left a really powerful message. She’ll always be here. People like her, their spirits are still coursing through the Back Bay and the mall.”
A three-time widow, Stella married Jerome Yates, a fighter pilot who was lost over the South Pacific in World War II; Rene Champollion, who died of cancer in New Hampshire; and William Bradford Trafford, a lawyer, music composer, and World War II veteran who died in 1983 of a heart attack while cross-country skiing on the Esplanade.
Mrs. Trafford leaves two stepdaughters, Abigail of Washington, D.C., and Vinalhaven, Maine, and Elizabeth of Bridgton, Maine; a stepson, William Jr. of Bridgton; two step-grandchildren and three step-great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be announced in the spring.

Beginning April 1, diners will have a new outdoor option on Newbury Street when Trident Booksellers & Café opens its sidewalk patio.
“Ideally, it will allow that much more foot traffic to know we’re here,” said bookstore manager Michael Lemanski. “It also opens us to a new demographic because we’ll be able to offer outdoor dining to people in nice weather.”
The last independent bookstore in Boston proper, Trident is also a full-service restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner fare, as well as beer and wine. The patio, which will extend from the sidewalk in front of Trident at 338 Newbury St. to the sidewalk in front of the former storefront of The Secret Garden next door, will seat 12 to 14 customers at six tables and offer regular table service. (Trident recently took over the former flower shop space and is converting it to a service area for staff). As for the layout, a black metal railing will enclose the patio and be adorned with hanging plants. Three overhead fixtures will light the area.
Lemanski said Trident has already secured all necessary permits and licenses from the city for the patio and has met with representatives from various neighborhood organizations to discuss its plans for outdoor dining. The establishment completed the final step of this process on March 11, when the Back Bay Architectural Commission (BBAC) voted in favor of the proposal at a public hearing at City Hall.
Sue Prindle, co-chair of the architectural committee of the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay, spoke in favor of the project at the BBAC hearing.
“[Trident] has been a good neighbor for a long time, and we’re looking forward to enjoying the outdoor dining area,” Prindle told the Sun.

The economy may be decimating a lot of local fundraisers, but area schools planning their April fundraisers have the best reason in the world on why area residents are opening up their wallets: their kids’ future.
Still, many fundraisers are noticing a little less coming in this year, since a lot of families have been hurt by the economy, and they are looking to their private schools for financial aid.
As a result, many schools are getting creative.
“We’re definitely doing more with less this year,” said Kingsley Montessori School parent Tony Tjan, who is co-chair of the Kingsley’s April 25’s “Because Childhood Calls Us” gala and scholarship, to be held at the Artists for Humanity EpiCenter in South Boston. The Kingsley event marks a few milestones this year, including the school’s 70th anniversary, the 90th birthday of Lowell Kingsley, son of the founder, and Renee DuChainey-Farkes' 10th anniversary as head of school.
It’s also a year that has them a little worried about raising funds. Tjan said that in anticipation of difficult economic times, Kingsley Montessori School has changed its approach to its fundraising in three ways: doing more with less, seeking contributions earlier, and reminding donors of the purpose of why they need to raise money.
“We have some very generous parents within the school that either have restaurants or access to restaurants,” said Tjan. They’re also planning a simpler menu to stretch dollars while providing a tasty meal, including serving macaroni and cheese with truffle oil. “It’s good and fun and simple, something that everyone will enjoy,” he said, “and it won’t cost as much as what is on a more traditional menu.”
Most schools raise money through a combination of local sponsorships, ticket sales, raffle tickets, and auctioned items donated by parents’ businesses. The bids for auctions and raffles include sports tickets, entertainment offerings, even artwork and baskets of goodies the students and their teachers created.
In past years, many schools were able to trust that most parents would come through with funds, even up to the last minute for tickets and for auctions. No more. Now, gala organizers are trying to get the money before the event occurs, with ticket sales and sponsorships and raffle tickets. “The auctions on the night of the event traditionally make up two-thirds of the proceeds,” said Tjan. “This year, we’re trying hard to flip that around by being prudent, again with the anticipation we may not be able to raise as much the night of the event.” As a result, at Kingsley they are up 20 percent from the same time last year, although they are still below their goal.
“We hope to gross $150,000 this year,” said Tjan. “I think that’s at best a stretch goal. I think a more prudent measure is 20 percent more than last year’s net. If we can reach that, it’ll be like getting a triple, rather than a home run.”
Which is great, compared to many other nonprofits that report net proceeds are down by almost 50 percent lately, said DuChainey-Farkes.
"We are fortunate to have extremely committed and creative chairs in Tony Tjan and Darla Soukas, who have really been able to build upon the successes of last year's chairs, Lee Doyle and Marni Katz," she said.
The other part of the increased push to the donor community is articulating why the money is needed in the first place.
“This is where virtually all of our financial aid comes from,” said Tjan, noting that Kingsley doesn’t have an endowment. “We want to accomplish a great community building event, and tell everyone how critical this is for existing families and incoming ones. Across the board, the need is greater than ever.”
The Commonwealth School reports success in hitting up current families and alumni with its annual fund drive so far, running about even from what they raised this time last year. The annual fund accounts for more than 10 percent of the school’s overall budget.
An anonymous family is also promising to match each donation since January 26 with an additional $100, a challenge that was met by 11 families so far.
With just two months until the June 30 fiscal year closes, they have reached 80 percent of its goal – a whopping $480,000 so far.
“These numbers indicate the strong support we have from all of our constituents, but we need hundreds more gifts at every level to raise the last $120,000,” said school spokesperson Tristan Davies. “In our small community, each contribution makes a significant difference.”
In addition, a student dance-a-thon in February raised about $1,100 for Neighborhood Action, where students prepare meals for the homeless.
The tiny Learning Project on Marlborough Street is hosting an April 4th “April in Paris” themed spring auction at the Benjamin Franklin Institute in the South End. “We’re anticipating a great night,” said Director of School Advancement Andy Gallagher. Their goal is to raise $60,000 for scholarships and operating budget, and so far they’ve raised $50,000. Part of their success is gathering “useful” prizes. “With the tough economy, I think people just aren’t looking to buy extra things, so we’re trying to find what people need or want, like gift certificates to restaurants and vacations - things people will do anyway.”
Attendance numbers are down, 150 this year so far, compared to 170 last year, although they are hoping for a last-minute wave. To earn more, they’re trading the sit-down dinner for appetizers and desserts, catered by Chez Henri in Cambridge, and also with a raw bar donated by parents who own Neptune Oyster.
At the Advent School, one of the parents organizing its March 28th China-themed auction at the Hotel Marlowe is a local business owner who knows how to solicit gift certificates and sponsorships.
Casandra McIntyre, owner of Rugg Road, is in her third year of raising money for the school, where her daughter, second-grader Lillian, has been going since pre-school. McIntyre is co-chair with fellow mom Diane Woolf.
The Advent’s goal is $125,000, up from last year’s $120,000, to raise money for financial aid, faculty travel, special curricular projects and field trips, and other program enhancements.
The event also includes a cocktail hour and live and silent auctions that, in the past, donated auction items have included vacations in Vermont, Disney World, and Colorado, Red Sox tickets, and local gift certificates. One of the more popular auction items are art projects created by students. Organizers were able to secure some donated items, such as Harpoon supplying the event’s beer.
The North End’s St. John School is hosting an April 4 fundraiser, held at the Coast Guard base, free of charge, to help keep costs low for families. Their coffers are strong, so they were able to keep tuition from going up this year. Financial aid for Catholic school students in general is down, according to the Catholic Schools Foundation, while applications for aid are up.
Even parents at public schools are hosting April fundraisers to keep its programs protected from slashed budgets. The Eliot School in the North End will hold an Evening for Education on April 29 at Monica's Restaurant in the North End, a restaurant owned by Jorge Mendoza who has two children who attend the Eliot school. The school is also hosting another fundraiser dinner June 6 at Tecce's. Proceeds will help support its Italian Language program, technology such as white boards, field trips, and a nonprofit data analyst to create academic action plans for students. The school’s Family Council leaders, Denise Clancy and Fred White, aren’t sure what’s going to happen with their budget, but they want to ensure the future of certain programs that make them love what the Eliot is doing for their children.
“The budget is a movable feast at the moment,” said Boston Public Schools spokesperson Chris Horan, who added the superintendent of schools is presenting the budget this Wednesday to the School Committee.

On March 12, City Council President Mike Ross joined the Back Bay Association at a forum that allowed neighborhood business owners to suggest new ways in which City Hall could help them weather the current economic crisis.
“Government and its elected leaders have an opportunity to learn simply by listening to the ideas of those like you who survive every day on the business and economic cycles of our city,” Ross said to a crowd of approximately 100 at The Fairmont Copley Westin. “That’s what inspired me to approach the Back Bay Association about bringing this forum together, and it’s what inspired me to organize the economic summit that we’re holding in two weeks.”
Ross suggested ideas on new measures the city could take to improve business on the Boston Common, including contracting the carousel as a year-round facility, extending permits for vendors and opening a restaurant in one of the existing buildings there.
As for outdoor dining, Ross proposed changing existing variances to allow restaurants to open sidewalk patios during unseasonably warm days during the winter.
“If something as simple as opening up a sidewalk dining area on a warm winter day might create new business activity, we need to look into what zoning codes prevent that, and changes those codes,” he said.
Ross said he was now advocating for more “business-friendly” signage and architectural guidelines in Back Bay. (The city is scheduled to release its revised guidelines later this year).
Meg Mainzer-Cohen, president of the Back Bay Association, applauded Ross for setting a tone that balanced the interests of residents and neighborhood businesses while providing an open forum at which business owners could voice their concerns.
“It was an opportunity for some discussion and brainstorming about what’s happening in today’s business environment, what businesses can do and what the city can do to help them,” Mainzer-Cohen told the Sun.
Among the useful suggestions from business owners that Mainzer-Cohen cited were improving signage off major interstates and highways to direct more people to Back Bay and connecting the neighborhood to South Boston via the MBTA Silver Line.
More than 70 attendees filled out surveys at the forum, the results of which will be reported in a future edition of the Sun.

The Tiffany’s example

For those of you who are Tiffany’s shoppers, the company has reported slightly lower sales and higher expenses which has led to lesser earnings.
In this respect, Tiffany’s is a bellwether for the local economy.
Many local business owners, shopkeepers, and restaurateurs on Beacon Hill and in Back Bay have all noticed a drop-off in sales, but not enough to put a damper on shopping in general on Beacon Hill and in Back Bay.
In other words, 2009 won’t be banner year, but it won’t be the end of the world, either, as the 24/7 media news cycle and everything discussed by news commentators and economists would lead us to believe.
Locally, the economy remains stronger than in the Midwest and far West.
The residents living in our neighborhoods aren’t dependent on large factories.
We are dependent on the hospitals, universities and financial firms, law firms and real estate companies, and to a lesser extent, on the myriad of companies employing hundreds of thousands locally in the growing Internet world, as well as in the world of computers and software and medical research.
So the news that Tiffany’s sales were a bit off doesn’t catch anyone by surprise on Beacon Hill and in Back Bay.
It is, as is so often said lately, a sign of the times.

Pension reform

Governor Deval Patrick’s decision to make pension reform an item on his agenda makes good sense.
It is about time someone in government in this state has stood up to be counted and has shown some leadership in wishing to do so about the greatly abused state pension system.
Those of us who work in the private sector cannot comprehend the abuses in the state system – the dreaded public sector – where the Legislature, in some cases, has given out larger pensions to legislators because they lost their bid for re-election. Some state workers are collecting two pensions. Others can work one day into the new year and receive a pension based on the added year.
All of it is a wasteful, pathetic, frustrating conundrum.
Mostly, it is frustrating to those of us who earn a living and who rely on our own expertise to secure our own retirements to see others working for the state who receive pensions which they clearly didn’t earn and don’t deserve.

Property crimes up

Property crimes locally have increased dramatically since last year.
They are up by 28 percent, according to Boston Police.
Call it a sign of the times, again.
Whatever you do, pay heed to the statistic. Be on the watch for those who don’t live in the neighborhood.
Call the police if you are alarmed.
And do it sooner rather than later.