This Month's Features

Northborough – Fred and Barbara Kohout are no strangers to a ski slope. They have enjoyed the winter sport for most of their lives, and have shared their love of the sport as certified ski instructors at various ski resorts for 20 years. They also have volunteered their time at a number of adaptive ski programs, and have been instrumental in the Waterville Valley Adaptive Sports (WVAS) Learn-to-Ski weekend in New Hampshire, which started three years ago.

Jamaica Plain – Back in 1996 - in this newspaper - Christopher Gussis, 89, first read that there were clinical trials in need of volunteers in the Boston area. He had retired and recently moved from New Jersey to Jamaica Plain with his wife Jane.

Peabody – When singer George Lyons of Peabody began performing in the mid-1970s, his vocal style was frequently compared to the crooning of Frank Sinatra. Since the entertainment legend passed away in 1998, Lyons has kept Sinatra’s memories and music alive on New England stages.

How many people do you know that play the Scottish fiddle? Well, Arlington resident Barbara McOwen plays just that and lots more. With her husband Robert, McOwen moved from California to Massachusetts in 1979 with a B.A. in Music from the University of California, Berkeley.

Ten years after becoming Bentley University’s first female president, Gloria Cordes Larson, 67, is scheduled to step down at the end of this academic year. Her future is unclear, but no doubt it will be as rewarding as her past.

For more than 30 years, Loretta LaRoche, 78, has been helping people see life’s difficulties from a different side — one that’s funnier and less stressful.

Grafton/Scituate – Lennie Peterson began striving to blend his passions for music and visual art when he grew up in Grafton and has continued through his relocation to Scituate. He’s now sharing his experience of working multiple decades as a musician, visual artist and arts educator via public speaking engagements.

Paxton – Artists such as Jen Niles of Paxton are often inspired by a muse. The self-taught artist has been drawing all her life, and for many years concentrated on creating pen and ink illustrations including commissioned house portraits. Craving a change in 2001, she began experimenting with acrylics and found the muse to help develop what has become her signature art style.

Two events occurred around the same time, one momentous to me and one apparently of no consequence to anybody. Were they connected? Who knows what forces operate beneath life’s surface?

“You can steal my money but not my food.”  “If you want things to go exactly as planned, don’t come here.” Those words spoken by my Overseas Adventure Travel tour guide in Sicily, who actually loves his homeland, tell a lot about it.