While many visitors to Newbury Street during the winter months believe the holiday lights that adorn its trees are the work of the city, the annual program is, in fact, an initiative of the Newbury Street League.
“When those lights go on, people come out and celebrate,” said Joyce Hampers, president of the nonprofit business association and owner of two Newbury Street businesses, GNO Spa & Salon and Emerge Spa and Salon. “It puts people in the mood for buying.”
Established in 1972, the Newbury Street League was the brainchild of local merchant Faye Rotenberg, who sought to unite and promote the unique mix of businesses found on the street. (Her son, Jon Rotenberg, currently serves as the organization’s chairman emeritus, and her daughter, Judi Rotenberg, as a member at-large). Today, the Newbury Street League counts approximately 230 members, including shops, galleries and neighborhood attorneys, among others.
As for Hampers, she joined the organization sometime around 1994 at the request of acting Executive Director Joan Jolley soon after Hampers opened the Giuliano Day Spa on Newbury Street. Hampers said after becoming president approximately two years ago, she was committed to adopting Jolley’s approach, which focused largely on the holiday lights program.
Hampers added coordinating the holiday lights is no easy or inexpensive task, since at a cost of approximately $25,000 annually (excluding a paid police detail), the organization can only decorate between 70 and 75 of the roughly 120 trees on the street.
And with the economic downturn last year, the program faced additional challenges until the city agreed to cover the cost of the police detail. This year, the Boston Parks and Recreation Department has also agreed to lend its services.
“[The city] is beginning to appreciate this really is the economic hub of the city. We call it ‘the jewel of Boston,’” Hampers said. “If we don’t survive, it’s going to be a real problem because this street is known worldwide.”
In response to the current state of the economy, the Newbury Street League is taking a more modest approach to the 26th annual Newbury Street League Auction Gala, its annual fundraising event held every fall to support the holiday lights program. Last year, the event was held at the Boston Park Hotel, and tickets cost $250 each.
This year, however, Hampers said the gala is tentatively scheduled to take place on the top floor of 4-6 Newbury St., a former garage located across the Taj Boston Hotel that is being converted into retail and office space. She hopes local restaurants will donate carving stations, instead of the more lavish food offerings in past years. Ticket cost will be reduced to $75 a piece as a result.
Under Hampers’ guidance, the Newbury Street League recently launched a new initiative in which businesses would purchase a metal railing for the trees outside their businesses.
“We hope it will become an example of a charitable contribution that businesses can make to the City of Boston,” she said. “We have commitments for 10 trees so far and expect to have them all done by May.”
The Newbury Street League has also formed several committees to help address various issues facing business owners, including one for traffic and transportation, another that organizes semi-annual neighborhood cleanups and a security group led by John Glover, a League member and CEO of Newbury Street-based Metropolitan Protective Service Inc., that teaches business owners how to better protect themselves against theft and other crimes. A marketing committee also works to gain members discounts on marketing and advertising.
Unbeknownst to many in the neighborhood, Hampers said the Newbury Street League also works closely with Mayor Thomas M. Menino and City Council Mike Ross to promote the interest of local businesses. League Vice President Tom Brennan is also currently serving on a commission to finalize bylines for the Back Bay Architectural Commission. “We’re kind of unsung heroes,” she added.
In staying true to its mission of “representing the interests of its members on Newbury Street and in the Back Bay as both a commercial district and a community,” the Newbury Street League also sponsors monthly block parties on each block of the street. Members and non-members are welcome, with a different business serving as the location each time. “There is a lot of business done at these events,” Hampers said.
And with annual dues at $200, Hampers believes membership to the Newbury Street League is a relative bargain.
“We work tirelessly for you,” Hampers said. “You get a lot of value for your buck.”
For more information on the Newbury Street League, contact Michele Messino, chief administrator, at 617-267-2224 or via e-mail at NewburyStreetUSA@aol.com.

While Sarni Cleaners now operates 10 stores in Boston, Everett, Lynnfield and Marblehead and has spanned three generations, it began as a modest home business 80 years ago.
James Sarni Sr. was delivering milk for HP Hood in 1929 when he conceived the then-novel idea of offering laundry pickup and delivery via horse and buggy. He would transport the dirty clothing and linens to his home in the North End, where his wife, Mary, would clean them in the basement, using gasoline.
As the business grew, the Sarnis were able to open a dry cleaning and tailoring shop, with a cleaning plant in the basement, next to the famed Locke-Ober Restaurant at 2 Winter Place. Soon afterwards, they were approached by Dupont Chemical, which had invented perchloroethylene, an odorless cleaning solvent that greatly reduced the processing time for dry cleaning. The Sarnis agreed to test the new agent for the chemical company, which proved to be highly effective and gave them a distinct edge in the marketplace.
By the 1950s, the Sarnis’ three sons, Ralph, Jack and James Jr., had returned from serving their country in World War II and joined the family business, ushering in a time when Sarni Cleaners grew to its height of 24 retail stores in Boston and the suburbs. The company also opened several cleaning plants to handle the increased demand.
In 1990, Ken Sarni, James Jr.’s son, graduated from Merrimack College in North Andover, and became the third generation to work for the company. Ralph and Jack both retired within five years, and Ken was soon named CEO of the company.
As for Sarni’s longevity, Ken Sarni said, “A lot of dry cleaners cut corners. I think we’ve survived 80 years in the business because we put our customers first and deliver a quality product.”
Today, Sarni processes the dry cleaning for all of its stores at a modern production facility in Everett and has expanded its pick-up and delivery service to the North Shore. Ken Sarni also tries to offer service with a personal touch by taking customer calls on his private cell phone.
“Customers appreciate being able to get hold of the owner,” Ken Sarni said. “This business is all about customer service.”
Ken Sarni also credits the strong customer service skills of his employees, including Amelia DeMobilia, manager of the Charles River Park store for the past four years. “A lot of our customers are now also friends of Amelia,” he said.
To commemorate the 80th anniversary of Sarni Cleaners, all 10 stores are offering a new program that offers customers a coupon good for 10 percent back if they spend $100 or more.
“It’s our way of showing our appreciation and our gratitude,” Ken Sarni said.
For Sarni Cleaners locations, visit www.sarnidrycleaners.com or call 800-SARNI-75.

The Boston Ward 5 Democratic Committee and the Boston Ward 4 Democratic Committee jointly sponsored a Candidates Forum for those Democratic candidates running for Massachusetts state representative from the Third Suffolk District. The forum occurred Tuesday, April 21, at the Community Church of Boston, 565 Boylston Street, Copley Plaza (located over the Globe Bar and Restaurant), lasted about 90 minutes, and was open to the candidates running in the Democratic primary.
The following candidates appeared: Aaron Michlewitz, Susan Passoni, Lucy Rivera, and Brian Ross. Rob Whitney, chair of the Boston Ward 5 Democratic Committee, was the moderator. Each candidate answered eight questions, some of which concerned job creation, MBTA funding, the new state budget, casino gambling, and his/her priorities if elected to office. More than 60 people from many of the neighborhoods that make up the Third Suffolk District attended the event.
Immediately after the forum, the members of the Boston Ward 5 Democratic Committee held an endorsement vote, which Aaron Michlewitz obtained by a two-thirds vote.
The Boston Ward 4 Democratic Committee didn’t endorse any candidate that evening.

Let’s hope it will be quieter

This weekend’s weather should have left no doubt that summer is on the way.
After a winter of being sealed up, windows in many homes were wide open.
These open windows let us hear the usual sounds, such as shopping carriages being dragged through the streets in the middle of the night or the din of people leaving the restaurants after the final call.
In recent years, there has been the added sound of motorcycles racing up Beacon Street or down Hanover Street, with their exhaust systems illegally altered by their owners.
This makes for a terrible loud and grating noise.
There can be no doubt after hearing these motorcycles revving up why motorcyclists usually go deaf.
We shouldn’t have to pay the price of listening to their bikes making as loud a noise as possible just to satisfy some primal need of these riders.
Fortunately, thanks to Councilor Sal LaMattina, there is an ordinance on the city books to give the police the right to fine heavily the owner of any motorcycle that has been illegally altered by removing the silencing part from the exhaust system.
The rationale for this ordinance is simply that the part is needed to pass inspection. Therefore, it shouldn’t be removed after the sticker has been obtained.
We would like to see the ordinance go further.
It is too bad that if these altered motorcycles are stopped and the noise reduction part has been removed, then they should be towed. What a sight that would be- a motorcycle being taken away on a flatbed and the leather bound rider with the appropriate accompanying chains forced to take the MBTA.
Maybe then these free spirits would realize that no one has the right to intentionally and illegally inconvenience anyone else.
We are a civilized society.