PEAKS & VALLEYS
Deck lawn with pink flamingos
By B.J. Roche, 12/21/2003
There is no Christmas tree at the State House in Augusta, Maine, but across the street at Blaine House, the governor's mansion, it's a case of the more the merrier; they were set to light a menorah on Friday, and next up is a Kwanzaa celebration. That's one way to navigate the issue of religious expression in public places this time of year. But when Mayor Stephen P. Laffey of Cranston, R.I., announced that any religion could be displayed on the City Hall lawn (of course, within the bounds of good taste), how could he have known that the Church of the Pink Flamingo would take him up on it? "When the mayor said it was about good taste, the first thing I thought of was pink flamingos," said theater designer Scott Bonelli, who committed a "drive-by flamingoing" one night last week, installing 15 pink flamingos in Santa Claus hats near the Nativity scene, menorah, various Santas, and an angel. The ACLU is, naturally, taking action, but Bonelli is unrepentant. "What makes a church, and who's to say what's in good taste?" Bonelli says. "The world is full of bickering and spite. If you can have one grin as you pass City Hall, then I've done my job."
NO CHASER: The New England region has seen a huge drop in the rate of alcohol-related fatalities since 1982, according to a new National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report. In a study that rated alcohol-related fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles of travel, Maine and Vermont showed some of the lowest rates in the country. New Hampshire and Connecticut saw 75 percent reductions in their fatality rates, while the rate in Massachusetts dropped 63 percent in 20 years.
ELVES WITH SHELVES: One day last summer I ran into Louis Battalen in a coffee shop on his day off from running the Arms Library in Shelburne Falls; when I mentioned that my kid needed a copy of "All Quiet on the Western Front," Battalen pulled out his keys. "Come on," he said, "I'll open up for you. I always open up when a kid wants a book." Now that's service. And it's probably one reason Battalen was among the 27 Librarians of the Year honored by the New York Times last week. (They gave him a free lunch in the city and a $2,500 award.) Other honored New England librarians include Cathy Nelson of Berlin, Conn.; Bridget Quinn-Carey of Essex, Conn.; and Ellen Boyer of Manchester, Vt.
NEXT UP, THE MOVIE PITCH: Former Yankees pitcher Jim Bouton's book about his unsuccessful effort to revive Wahconah Park in Pittsfield is generating as much smoke as the municipal civil war a few years back over whether to replace Wahconah with a new minor league baseball stadium. Bouton and a partner wanted to rehab Wahconah, one of the nation's oldest parks, and bring in a minor league team; this pitted him against the Berkshire Eagle and other parties, who wanted to build a new stadium. Bouton published "Foul Ball: My Life and Hard Times Trying to Save an Old Ballpark" himself after PublicAffairs dropped the book; in an appearance on "Now with Bill Moyers," Bouton claimed the publisher had knuckled under to big media and General Electric. Not so, countered The Eagle, which takes a licking in the Bouton book and has accused Moyers of "bad, biased journalism." While Moyers apologized and clarified, Bouton cranked up the presses for a third printing; he's sold 30,000 copies so far. "This story just keeps getting better," Bouton said. "It's the gift that keeps on giving."
B.J. Roche, who writes from Western Massachusetts, can be reached at peaks@globe.com
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
