Ice sculptor shares experience and talent as part of Boston’s holiday tradition

Looking at a perfectly clear, pristine block of ice, sculptor Don Chapelle, 59, can envision a 3D shape inside. He uses an assortment of tools—sometimes a chainsaw but more often a chisel—to create a figure, a colorized corporate logo, or almost anything else that he can imagine.

Thanks to Jordan’s Furniture CEO, New England still has the Enchanted Village

As a child, Eliot Tatelman remembers traveling from his home in Newton to visit the Enchanted Village at the department store Jordan Marsh’s Boston Downtown Crossing location. A quaint recreation of a Victorian-era village during the Christmas season, the exhibit was a favorite of generations for decades.

Truck driver becomes Santa to bring joy to children

Framingham - His name is Santa Claus, and he only comes once a year. But one Framingham Santa drove tractor trailers for 43 years before donning the persona of the most beloved icons in American culture.

New stamp to help raise funds for Alzheimer’s research

Region - The U.S. Postal Service recently previewed the image of the Alzheimer’s Semipostal fundraising stamp.

Hudson runner turns fitness goal into near 10-year ‘run streak’

Hudson - John Devereaux logs his daily runs in notebooks which he keeps in his Hudson home. Those notebooks, some almost a decade old, now form a large collection chronicling over 3,500 runs through Hudson.

Directing over a decade of growth for Boston arts school

Boston – Abigail Norman drew upon her lifetime of experience with community-based arts to boost growth for the Eliot School of Fine & Applied Arts in Boston’s Jamaica Plain (JP) neighborhood, where she has served as director since 2007. There, over 1,500 students of all ages currently study arts and crafts. Additionally, over 2,000 children attend its classes through partnerships with Boston public schools, libraries, housing developments and community centers.

Music, marvelous meals – and museums

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Mardi Gras World By Victor Block Quick quiz: Think jazz and blues played in music clubs and by street musicians outside. If you guess that describes...

Gloucester artist cherishes the light

Gloucester - Award-winning artist Melody Phaneuf, 63, seems to have found the perfect place to live. She came to Gloucester to paint during the summer of 1988, and ended up staying. She lives in a beautiful Queen Ann Victorian home near the outer harbor. Three years ago, she added a carriage house-like studio next door.

Local drummer recalls playing for popular R&B group Tavares

As a drummer, Natick resident Bert Syms has worked alongside Michael Jackson, Chaka Kahn, Smokey Robinson and other celebrity musicians and singers. He also played for many years in the band for the R&B group The Tavares Brothers, one of the most popular singing groups from the ‘70s and ‘80s.

Arlington woman continues to relish life as artist, athlete and advocate

Arlington - At age 86, Lillian Christmas is, as she says, “an artist, athlete and advocate.” She has run in numerous road races, including marathons in Boston and Montreal, even though she did not start serious training until she was in her late 40s. She is also an artist who tries to work at her craft every day if possible. And it is through those two passions that she helps others.