the DNB Year in Review - Downtown New Bedford, Inc.

The Year in Review
Here is a very brief recap of our activities in the past year:
• Downtown New Bedford, Inc. continues to serve as a collaborative voice
with city government, The Economic Development Corp. and many of the
non-profit and cultural entities regarding downtown projects, events,
problems and concerns. We understand this need as many of us have the
same common goal of improving the quality of our work and experience in
the City and Downtown.
• We are a resource for communicating information relevant to all
downtowners. The Downtown Beat continues to spread the word about
what DNB, Inc, is doing and what is going on locally with our many
partners and members on a monthly basis along with the weekly e-mails,
and the listing of activities on Facebook.
• We print and distribute 26,000 copies of our Visitors Guide brochure
listing and locating 90 participants to visitors. Many hours go into the
collection and verification of the listings, and then we place it in the
talented hands at mediumstudio who pull it together for us. As well as the
e-blasts, web-site updates, Facebook postings and much more. Thank you
to our great partners at the Small Business Development Center and
Tammi Jacobsen who facilitates our Marketing workshops.
• We sponsor major events bringing thousands of residents and visitors into
our downtown. These events include two food festivals, Taste of
Southcoast, with thanks to lead sponsor Pier Fish Company and the
New Bedford Seaport Chowder Festival, just held a couple of weeks
ago, with thanks to lead sponsor BayCoast Bank.
Thank you to Events Planning Committee: Richard Poyant, Kevin Pelland ,
Ross Moran, Jill White, Mudd Levesque, Dan Berry, David Medeiros and Jeff
Pontiff, for all they do to promote and pull these events together. Thank you to
the City of New Bedford whose services are invaluable as well as the support of
our partners in the National Park and the many financial sponsors and
volunteers who make these festivals happen.
• For the fifth year, we will coordinate the Downtown Holiday Stroll on
December 1 and 2. The full schedule is in the works now and will be out
in mid November. This event is a wonderful opportunity to showcase
downtown and promote the “shop local” campaign.

• Good news! We have raised the funds for the traditional fresh laurel and
red bows on the lamp posts in the historic district. Marianne will be
recruiting decorating volunteers soon, and we will get the job done on
November 27th, decorating 190 poles beginning 8 am in Custom House
Square.
Let us know if you would like to help. With enough help, we can transform the
downtown with festive holiday garb in a couple of hours.
For the second year, look for more than a thousand Santas running around
downtown December 8 for the Santa Sightings 5k fun run.
http://www.newbedfordguide.com/2012-new-bedford-santa-fun-run/2012/09/12
• For the fourth year, we organized the Downtown Run held in March in
conjunction with the New Bedford Half Marathon.
http://newbedfordhalfmarathon.com/
This collaboration with downtown merchants, the Race Committee, and the city
has proved to be a vibrant and inviting experience to the attendees and people
in our own community who have re-discovered downtown. Race participants
appreciate a welcoming community.
• Our annual Spring Social is an important fund raiser for the organization,
and we thank you for your support and the sponsorship by D F Pray Co.
This Social, along with this Annual meeting, provides us with a formal
opportunity to show appreciation to supporters who go above and beyond
the call of duty. Thank you to Bristol County Savings Bank for sponsoring
this event.
• Thank you to Arthur Bennett for all his work in meeting with the Police and
keeping us updated on safety-related issues, compiling the Weekly
Update with upcoming events, the Street Scene and reports on the
progress and traffic changes for the Route 18 project. Arthur chairs the
Weekly Update Committee on Monday mornings at 9 am held in our
office. They are free and open to the public.
Thank you to our 200 members, our many partners and supporters, and the
entire downtown community. With your continued support we look forward to an
even more productive year ahead.
Awards Presentations

After the recap, DBN, Inc. honored Richard Lafrance as its Person of the Year.
“We honor Richard Lafrance today because we are sitting here today,” Diane
said.
“On May 27th, 2010, the Lafrance company held a
grand opening and ceremony for this, the first hotel
development in the City of New Bedford, in the last
40 years. This project provided a key stimulus for
our City to showcase its waterfront and downtown
historic attractions. Adjoining this hotel, Lafrance
Hospitality Company opened this beautiful
Waypoint Event Center, in a refurbished whalingera
building. This center keeps pieces of history
alive with its original stone walls and original
whaling ship wood that was used in the
development of the bar.”
Christian Lafrance accepted the award on behalf of
his father.
In May 2007, when Richard Lafrance first proposed building a hotel to replace
Finicky Cat Food, he encountered considerable skepticism. “Who would want to
stay here?” people asked. Christian described his father as a determined person
not likely to be deterred by others’ skepticism. The groundbreaking ceremony
was held in the summer of 2009.
Besides building the hotel, Richard Lafrance has consistently supported DNB,
Inc. by participating in both of our Festivals, Taste of South Coast and the
Chowder Festival serving up samples from White's, Rachel's, Bittersweet and
most recently Ten Cousins Brick Oven in Westport– as the family grows. They
are part of our annual publication of the Downtown Visitors Guide.
The organizations Richard belongs to and supports are too numerous to
mention and would take the rest of this meeting to note. I think we counted
eleven Boards of Directors including the Community Foundation and Bristol
Community College. He is a strong supporter of the United Way, his Church,
professional organizations and scholarship programs.
Richard lives in Westport, with his wife, Muriel. Together, they have four children
– Rachel, Chris, Sean and Eric and ten grandchildren. Their son-in-law Charlie

Fellows is very active in the business, as well as their three sons.
Stella Xifaras-Piva then joined Diane at the podium
for the presentation of the “Business of the Year” to
The Bedford Merchant and Moby Dick Gift Shops.
Stella credited her employees for the success of their
businesses.
The Bedford Merchant Gift Store was started by Paul
Piva in 1979.
Paul purchased the building from his Dad and filled
the store with antiques, antique reproductions and a
variety of country items. The store has evolved
throughout the years and is presently filled with a
variety of unique items for all ages and occasions
including collectibles, jewelry, women's clothing and
accessories and much, much more. Stella Xifaras-Piva manages the business
with her husband Paul.
Christmas is a favorite time at the Bedford Merchant as the store is filled with
trees, ornaments and candles. Customers who shop there throughout the year
make special trips during the holidays. The Bedford Merchant has been in the
same building for 33 years showing a true commitment to our Downtown.
The Moby Dick Gift Shop, across William Street, was started in 1959 by the late
Joseph and Glennie Piva. It was there for 53 years!! After retiring from fishing,
Joseph began another career traveling the world looking for antique and general
nautical items. He purchased the Corson Building to set up shop and employed
many relatives including son Paul, daughter and son-in-law Gail and Billy Florek
and grandchildren.
In 1997, most of the Corson Building burned down. Gail and Paul then agreed
to donate the building to Whale to restore for the benefit of the National Park
and the citizens of New Bedford. The Moby Dick Store has since leased part of
the first floor where it is today.
In addition to the favorites of shells and sea glass, there is still a wide variety of
nautical items as well as merchandise by local artists and New Bedford souvenir
items including New Bedford’s famous whalemen bookends .

Many relatives and friends of Joseph Piva still work at the stores, from his 86
year young Aunt Lillian Souza to his grandchildren.
Armand Marchand and George Charbonneau then joined Diane for the
presentation of the “Cultural Arts Recognition” award to the New Bedford
Festival Theater. This summer marks the 30 th year that George Charbonneau
and Armand Marchand have presented musical productions at the Zeiterion
Performing Arts Center.
“We did pretty damn well,” said Armand. “It’s always been a pleasure.” He said
they had many more musicals to produce. George added that more than
250,000 people have seen their musicals and that they have been a catalyst for
local business. This summer’s production will be “Singing in the Rain.”
They are soon to receive a prestigious Moss Harte award for the best production
in New England in 2012.
The Festival Theater began in 1983.
After presenting a much-talked-about
production of Jesus Christ Superstar
at New Bedford High School,
Charbonneau and Marchand were
approached by the then Chairman of
the Zeiterion Board to present the
production at the Zeiterion Theatre
for three performances. The run was
practically sold out and Summer
Theatre became firmly established in
downtown New Bedford. The success of the summer of 1984 only proved that
the area can and would support professional summer musical productions.
In 1990, the Z revised its programming and curtailed summer musicals. The
New Bedford Festival Theatre was born. Under the vision and guidance of
Armand Marchand as Executive Producer, and George Charbonneau as Artistic
Director, the Festival Theatre has offered the area’s audiences over thirty fullscale,
professional productions, many of them award winning and nationally
recognized, using the finest of talents from the local area, Boston, New York,
and the nation. George and Armand are well known in our community to many
a New Bedford High School graduate as they were both high school English and
Drama teachers for 35 years until retiring in 2001.

Speakers’ Program
Diane introduced the guest speaker, a new face to many,
Jeffrey D. Stieb, Executive Director, New Bedford Harbor
Development Commission. Jeff grew up in Albany Georgia
after his father retired there following a career in the U.S.
Marine Corps. Both his mother and father were Marines.
He found his way North when he attended the U.S. Coast
Guard Academy in Connecticut. After Graduation he had a
24 year career in the Coast Guard. Following the Coast
Guard, Jeff worked for the Massachusetts Port Authority as
their Senior Maritime Counsel, and he presently serves on
the Board of Directors for the Seaman's Friend Society in
Boston.
Six weeks on the job, Jeff thanked Kristen Decas, his predecessor, for her
monumental work. “New Bedford is open for business,” he said. He spoke of
the momentous work of harbor cleanup and the economic impact it has on the
community. He spoke of the dockmasters and their importance as
ambassadors, since they are among the first people boaters greet. He is
looking for ideas to improve.
Diane then welcomed another new face to us, Dr. Divina
Grossman, Chancellor – University of Massachusetts,
Dartmouth. Dr. Grossman, has held two deanships, has
taught and has a significant research record. She grew up
in the Philippines as the daughter and granddaughter of
teachers, and can now lead the University in achieving its
aspirations of future growth in research, innovative
academic programs, and regional and global engagement.
Dr. Grossman promised to shop at Bedford Merchant and
Moby Dick Retail and said the Festival Theater’s
production of Hairspray last summer had been superior to
the New York performance. She said New Bedford is a creative and enterprising
city and that we are doing a terrific job downtown. She said UMass is proud to
be a partner and that being an intellectual catalyst is a responsibility of public
institutions.
UMass students contribute thousands in service hours to the community in
volunteer activities, with an economic impact in the millions. She encouraged
local businesses to provide high quality internships and private sector leaders to

promote the value of public education. UMass is expanding, even in the face of
declining state support, she said, and she is hopeful and optimistic about the
future.
Kevin then closed the meeting by acknowledging and thanking all who support
this organization. He again thanked Bristol County Savings Bank for their
sponsorship of today's meeting, the entire Downtown New Bedford, Inc.
membership. A heartfelt thanks also to the Board of Director's who donate their
time and energy to all we do, Committee members for their work and to
BayCoast Bank, who allows him to devote the time and energy needed to serve
at President of our Board.
With that the packed schedule concluded on time.