Dottie Hottie

Ah, the Dottie Hottie does love a good forced rhyme.  Mr. Guy (Harris), children’s librarian at the Adams Street Library, is the best kept secret in entertainment in the ‘hood.  Of course, his cult following is a specific demographic.  They range in age from 0-5 and then from about 20-50 years.  You can see Harris perform for the groupies every Tuesday morning at the BPL branch at 10:30 a.m.  There he’ll present a story hour in theme.  The most recent gig was a veritable pajama jam.  Harris donned his jammies, read several bedtimey tomes, told a story by way of felt/velcro apron attaches, tried his hand at a few puppets, led the groupies in a round of songs to the tune of his banjo (!!!), and closed the hour with a coloring/gluesticking activity that the groupies took home to their refrigerator walls of pride.

We are lucky to have Mr. Harris, a literary advocate and performer all in one.

Adams St. Library

690 Adams Street, Dorchester, MA 02122
617-436-6900

The Dottie Hottie’s greatest fear of going into labor on Patriot’s Day was allayed.  The threat of having to ferret through the crunch of Marathon traffic in order to get to the hospital manifested itself…and the Dottie Hottie considered the feasible ways one might arrive at the hospital (by parachute?  through the MIT tunnels?) but Pee Wee Dottie chose not to appear. Hurrah!  This gave the Dottie Hottie family a chance to check out the excellent puppetry show at the JFK Library, and find a patriotic treat at the Sugar Bowl.

Oh, those DotBikers. They’re just too adorable.

They plan an event, and they don’t say, durrr, like, uhhh, let’s all get on our two wheelers and ride around Dot see if we can pedal faster than the ice cream truck moves down Talbot Ave.

They’re orchestrating something so adorable, it’s called:

“The Shiny Green Dot Ride”

and it’s all going down Saturday April 24th @ 1 p.m.

In celebration of Earth Week (this is the week when Dotties are especially encouraged not to throw their empty cartons of Marlboro lights out the window of their cars — unless they have good aim and can make it into an open wastebin.  But anyway, you shouldn’t be smoking either.  It makes it hard to bike), Dot Bike and Boston Shines are going for a ride around the neighborhood to check out a selection of Dorchester’s many parks and green spaces.

But…there’s more!

BORROW A BIKE -  It’s as literal as Stop n’ Shop.  You can borrow bikes from Boston Bikes!

The fleet has adult, youth and child bikes. Reservations for bikes are required.
To reserve bikes sign up here.

ROUTES

New! Improved! routes with short and long options with pit stops at great green spaces around the ‘hood.

Pace is relaxed so what’ve you got to lose?

Helmets are required and riders under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Email dotbike@bostonbiker.org or call Andy at 781-367-9200 to RSVP or with Q’s.

The Dottie Hottie will be at church, ’cause that’s how the DH family rolls on Saturday, but if the holy sabbath was not being observed, the DH family would surely not be missing out on Shiny Green Dot Ride.

If you love living in Dorchester, then you have at least one valentine to share the day with on Sunday (2/14). The following are just a few Dorchester deals that have come across the Dottie Hottie’s desk. Show the love to your sweetie, or, if nothing else, show the love to your ‘hood.

Dot 2 Dot Cafe’s Jazz Brunch (live music from 12 - 2 p.m.)

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Cedar Grove Gardens is offering the “Great Value Deal“:
- a dozen great NON-RED but premium 30-40cm roses
- delivered in a clear vase
- $35.00 +tax to local addresses
- Deal good thru Friday the 12th

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dbar - 4 Course Prix Fixe Menu all weekend long

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Franklin Park Zoo. Love is in the air (along with the smell of the gorillas wafting through…)
Bring a Valentine to the Zoo or make one there for your favorite animal. The animal who receives the most will be crowned “Zoo Sweetheart 2010.” One lucky winner will be chosen among his or her “valentines” to receive a Behind-the-Scenes tour of the Zoo for the whole family.

The Hahhp and Bahhhd got a facelift. We’re all excited about the new polished look as it elevates Dorchester Ave. to the classy Main Street we all know it is capable of becoming (or restoring once more).

If you haven’t wandered into the new! improved! H&B, let the Dottie Hottie recommend Sunday or Monday evenings for a buffalo wing smorgasbord. The wings - which come in an array of flavors including honey buffalo, buffalo, and barbecue - are a mere $.50/piece on Sunday and Monday nights. They’re not only cheap, but they’re quite meaty and mos def delicious. The Dottie Hottie has been in search of an establishment to offer wings at a reasonable price that would make Buffalo proud. But Boston bars, it seems, are wont to charge much too much for the pint and the poultry. The Harp & Bard gets the recipe just right.

Those with kiddies, here’s a tip - go ’round about 6p on Monday evenings and have the run of the place. If your child is anything like MID (who thinks booths are made for being obnoxious and peeking over at the connecting booth), this time is to your advantage

1099 Dorchester Ave
(between Doris St & Savin Hill Ave)
Dorchester, MA 02125
(617) 265-2893

In a stroke of irony, the Dottie Hottie was registered to get that flu shot everybody’s been hyping about, but was too sick to have it administered. Needless to say, we’re a little behind on updating.

So about that Irish Fest at Adams Corner a couple of weeks back — the Dottie Hottie was there in all verdant splendor as were all the Mickeys and Moes, the bonny Colleens and Sullies to boot. It was a wonderful affair. Beautiful day, completely family-oriented, and aside from the hours of blarney spoken at one of the entertainment stages, there appeared plenty of jigging and music-making at the other stage for your pleasure.

The Dottie Hottie and MID sampled the fare and gave two thumbs up to the pumpkin cookies from Greenhills, and a toot of ye old horn to Gerard’s for its superb beef stew. It was nice to see local vendors like College Hype Sportswear and the Stitch House displaying their fashions and making merry with all the neighbors.

Perhaps the biggest plus of all was that admission was free. The Dottie Hottie isn’t entirely sure how many beers were imbibed to finance the transport of all those Irish entertainers, but much appreciation for the lack of cover fee. It’s good to feel liberated to walk around the middle of Adams St. and the parking lot behind Greenhills on a Sunday afternoon without a care in the world but as to where you can get some more of that terrific beef stew.

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Mad good goodies from Greenhills’ tent o’ confection

Ceili dance for grown-ups

Little Miss Sunshine finds her cap at the Stitch House port-o-shop

Those bizarre bronzed human statue people were there. Of course they’re Irish!

For a long time, the Dottie Hottie was a snob about the Franklin Park Zoo. Having grown up enjoying the Cleveland Metroparks zoo with its mock rainforest (yeah, like with rain and a forest and everything), the Dottie Hottie thought that a tiny zoo without its own rainforest would be somehow inferior. But all that zoopremacist thinking was just silly. Because Franklin Park Zoo ROCKS! It’s totally adorable. All the exhibits are so accessible, and yeah, maybe it’s small, but the animal cages still seemed pretty clean and humane, and small is kind of nice for an urban zoo when you have a rascal toddler likely to get lost easily.

The Dottie Hottie will definitely be purchasing a membership. With all the allegations that the Zoo might be shuttering its doors, the Dottie Hottie cannot help but think it’s just a cheap shot at Governor Patrick to paint him as some kind of animal euthanizer. For now, the chimps and chicks are still doing what they do, and they’re waiting for you, see you at the zoo?

Turtle would be shellshocked if you don’t buy a membership. You pay for it in 4 visits!

The Little Zoo Engine that could…get you to visit.

Come get your goat at Franklin Park Zoo.

The Dottie Hottie made a donation the other day. Offered up to the garbage can god of Malibu Beach was a pair of Crocs; one part plastic, one part fabric. The pair was irrevocably muddy after attempts to traverse the muddy muddy sandy knoll there by yon water. The Dottie Hottie learned an important lesson: Push the Common Sense Button to the ON position before heading off into the quicksands of Malibu Beach at low tide. You might NOT find yourself with the following:

MID was lucky enough to salvage her muddied shoes. Gracious thanks.

The tears were starting to well up in the Dottie Hottie’s eyes this morning, listening to NPR’s coverage of this week’s ceremony changing the name of Dorchester’s Joseph O’Hearn School to the William Henderson School. The story was scored by children singing “Hero” - that Mariah Carey song that the Dottie Hottie otherwise finds irksome. But somehow the sweet voices of the children made it so appropriate.

If you haven’t heard of the remarkable school that is the O’Hearn, with the remarkable man that is its principal Henderson, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? For 20 years, Henderson has been a driving force in making the school a more inclusive, loving place, particularly for differently abled children.

The school will now honor Henderson’s work - which the Dottie Hottie would also recognize as a ministry in public schools - by changing the school’s name. As Henderson plans to retire this year, the administration, teachers, and students all have an incredibly…oh there goes the Dottie Hottie crying again…they have an incredible legacy to continue.

Here’s the Globe’s coverage for more on the Henderson School.

Earlier this month, 19 community relations students at Boston University took some big steps with some small feet. 

They hosted “Small Feet, Big Steps” at Dorchester’s own Roger Clap Elementary School.  The event was intended to motivate the middle schoolers to achieve its Bay State Games’ Kid’s Fitness Challenge.

Asks the Dottie Hottie, how could you NOT be motivated by this program!?!

It  included:

- a motivational lecture from 2010 Australian Olympic Women’s Skeleton Team Head Coach Terry Holland
- dance and sports sessions with BU students and a healthy snack. 
-  a $300 donation to the school

To watch the video:

Small Feet, Big Steps

To them, a big Dottie Hottie huzzah for service in the ‘hood!