~ The Wood of Broad Street:"Brotherhood Elm" lives on by Holly Finigan
~ Photo Album: Small Friends Hometown Hoedown
by Laurie Richards
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Wendy Rouillard's
Hopeful Television Debut:
Cast your Vote for The Jo B & G. Raff Show!
By Marie-Claire Rochat
Wendy Rouillard
and her beloved Barnaby Bear are familiar faces around here. If things go the way she hopes they will, Jo B. and G. Raff - the two original characters she has helped to create and develop for a new TV show - will soon share the spotlight.
For the last eight years, Rouillard and
Josh Selig , founder of Little Airplane Productions, have been at work on a new series for preschool-aged children. The Jo B. & G. Raff Show was picked up by Amazon Studios, which has produced a single pilot episode. That episode is available for viewing - and voting - on the Amazon site.
Yes, voting: if The Jo B. & G. Raff Show gets more favorable reviews than the competing pilot for the same age group, it will be produced as a complete series on Amazon Prime. But viewers only have a few weeks to give the thumbs up: the episodes are being aired for 30 days (and we're down to 24) - after which one of them will be developed and other will be dropped. . .this "American-Idol" way of narrowing down the pool seems cutthroat to me, but, as Rouillard told me, it is the new way of testing the market.
This is an understandably thrilling, nerve-racking, exciting time for Rouillard, who was on her way back from New York after a productive round of meetings with Selig when we spoke. So much hinges on those reviews.
"They (Amazon Studios) test the shows for one month," said Rouillard. "If our show gets more and better reviews, it will go into production. I need the community's support in the sense that every review counts."
Wendy Rouillard
Photo by Illya Kagan
I watched the pilot and, while it is about 12 years too young for the TV viewers in my household, I have to say that it is has undeniable appeal: it is charming and just precious. Jo B. (a bear) and his sidekick G. Raff (you guessed it - a giraffe) are adorable (the puppet animation gives them that stuffed animal look), the songs are simple, sweet and very sing-songy (super appropriate for the two to five year old set) and the program steers its young audience on a journey uncomplicated enough to allow the message (a lesson about compromising) to shine through loud and clear. I emailed my feedback and the skimmed some of the reviews. All positive and upbeat. One parent said:
Compromise is a hard thing to learn, but I think that this show handled it very well. You give a little and I'll give a little, we can meet in the middle! My 2 and 5 year olds really enjoyed this, as well as my 8yo (she may not admit it, but her eyes were glued, as well as her smile). They thought this was a fun show, one comment my 5yo made was that she liked how they look soft. There are a lot of different textures which helps make this cute show very engaging, not to mention adorable! They like the 'kid voices', and I liked the music, it wasn't annoying the way some kids' shows can be. It was a nice calm show that didn't wind the kids up too much, and it kept them entertained the whole show. I would definitely recommend this to other parents, and we hope to see more!
I was curious as to how Rouillard connected with Josh Selig in the first place.
A well-known industry professional, Selig is the creator and Executive Producer for the Emmy Award-winning series, "The Wonder Pets!" and received 10 Emmy Awards for his work as a writer on "Sesame Street," to name just a few of his accomplishments. Rouillard knew of his work and loved it. She arranged a meeting to talk about some of the ideas she had for a television project and the two quickly realized that they would be a good team. "Our styles just matched," said Rouillard.
She calls their partnership a "collaboration of her characters and Selig's vision." While there was some back and forth early on (i.e. what two animals to use, etc.), it was agreed from the start that the show would have an educational component and a life lesson that would be consistent in every episode.
The educational piece is the places that the two friends visit. In the pilot, they are under the sea. Future episodes - if given the go - may include trips to the moon, Mount Everest and the Great Wall of China, said Rouillard. As the show winds down, Jo B. and G. Raff are back home, a comforting, reassuring and calming ending for preschoolers.
Wendy and Barnaby at the 2013 County Fair
Photo by Gene Mahon
If the news is good for Rouillard and Selig, they will jump into production and hope to launch The Jo B. & G. Raff Show this fall on Amazon's Prime Instant Video.
For Rouillard, it will mean a very busy six months: in June, she is coming out with the 13th book in her Barnaby series, Barnaby Loves You, and will celebrate the character's 20th anniversary. If The Jo B. & G. Raff Show is a hit, it will mean merchandise design and development and other creative projects related to the series in the next year. She's in an exciting place, to be sure.
I think it would be super if Nantucketers supported Rouillard's efforts. Take a few minutes, watch the short pilot and send in your comments. Her talent shines through: five stars all the way.
When you have watched the show, look for the "Send us Feedback" link on the bottom right of the banner where you pushed the "Watch Now" button.
Marie-Claire Rochat is a Nantucket-based, freelance writer who has contributed to N Magazine,
New England Home, Cape and Islands Home, Antiques and Fine Arts magazine, to name a few. She also works as a public relations consultant, copywriter and real estate agent on the island. Rochat loves to write about art and design, fashion and style, food, theatre - and, most of all, people who have an interesting story to tell. She spends any free time keeping up with her busy children, Mia and Stefan, and gets to New York City as often as possible. She welcomes comments, story ideas, etc and can be reached at [email protected]. Her column, Just Curious, is a regular feature on Mahon about Town.
The Wood of Broad Street
"Brotherhood Elm" lives on
by Holly Finigan
"Once there was a tree. . . " whose canopy shaded much of a sidewalk, and whose long limbs stretched far and wide into the Broad Street it lived on. When in full bloom, this tree made for cooling moments for thankful patrons who stood under it waiting for a table at the crowded Brotherhood. And when all its leaves had fallen, this tree truly showed its grandeur and life, with hundreds of branches in various directions, reaching up into the sky.
But this tree had had its day in the sun. Many of them actually. Spending 165 years on Broad Street, this tree had fallen prey to old age while root rot had made it unstable. It began to lean, to the point that people thought twice about parking their SUV's under its massive shadow. After much deliberation, the Nantucket DPW declared that it posed a threat to humans and property, and plans for removal were underway last month.
But this wasn't your everyday run of the mill "timber" moment. This American Elm, planted in 1848, had grown to be 65 feet tall, had a trunk circumference of thirteen feet, and took two weeks to fully bring down. With dozens of decades of standing tall on Broad Street, this "Brotherhood Elm," as it was affectionately called, left a big stamp in the minds and hearts of visitors and locals alike. When it was confirmed the the Broho Elm was to be cut down, there was a outpouring of sadness and melancholy for the inevitable passing.
The "Boo!. . ." "No! . . ." and sad faces abounded in social media with the announcement, as well as speculations and rumors of what was to become of the tree after it was no longer.
Like so often in a small town, "the word on the street" was misconstrued, which is when I received a call to clarify that not only would this beloved Broho Elm's legend continue, but that it would also be giving bACK to the community. And how, you may wonder? Thanks to a few born and raised Nantucketers who wanted to make sure that even though the tree was out of sight, it was not out of mind.
Continued after this message...
The Wood of Broad Street, continued
Brothers Nate and Beau Barber and Sam Myers have been best friends for years. They went from grade school playmates, to high school buddies, to local island business owners with a love for trees and working with wood. Beau and Nate own Barber Brothers Furniture, where they hand make furniture and cabinetry. Sam owns and operates the tree service Nantucket Yard Guard, and is an arborist on ACK. When the men learned that the DPW was cutting down the Broad Street Elm, and that its fate was to be brought to the Dump and buried, they stepped in and saved the Broho Elm from an unmarked grave in Madaket. They decided to take the tree into their own hands (literally), and make something out of it. They came together on a table, thinking it would be a fitting design thanks
to the big cut of the trunk that they would take. They are
now in the process of planning the construction.
But the best part? When the table is finished, the guys will put it up for auction and donate the entire proceeds to the "Town Tree Fund," which will be spent on planting, preservation and tree maintenance on Nantucket.
So the million dollar question: How long will it be before that Broho Elm turns into a beautiful table by the Barber Boys and Sam Myers? You're going to have to just wait and see. Nate explained that the process is pretty time comsuming. It started on February 7th. Once the tree was cut down, the boys had a front loader put the trunk on a trailer and they took it to their work studio in Shimmo. From there, it took seven hours and all three of them to "debark" the tree - scraping the tree to get rid of all beetles that could be living in it, and checking for Dutch Elm Disease. Thankfully the tree showed no signs of either.)
Now comes the hard part: cutting the tree. Nate stressed that as they only get one opportunity to cut it, a lot of planning and inspecting goes comes first. Once the tree is cut, it then has to dry out, which is why the boys built a shed to house the tree at a specific temperature and shielded from excessive humidity. This "dry out" will take months before any construction on the table can begin.
Time is now the great mystery to all of us, but what you can be sure of is that the Broho Elm will truly live on. Thanks to their dedication to this tree and the community, Nate, Beau and Sam are creating an extraordinary slice of history, one that quite possibly may be the most highly sought after piece of furniture to hit the Nantucket market in long, long time.
When I look at the stump that remains, I can't help but think "...and the tree was happy," as these three local boys give us our very own Nantucket version of
"The Broad Street Giving Tree."
For more information on the Barber Brothers, check out their Facebook Page HERE and for any further inquiries or questions, email[email protected].
Holly Finigan has been living and writing on Nantucket for the past ten years. She began her popular blog, "the blACKbook," in 2007, when Mahon About Town was the first publication to feature it. A veteran bartender, she can be found at DUNE on the weekends in the off season and in "Holly's House" at VENTUNO from May until December. She also runs a website called "The Nantucket blACKbook", an online guide to all things hip + fresh on Nantucket. You can email her at [email protected].
The Small Friends Hometown Hoedown took place on Saturday, February 8, 2014 at the Chicken Box, with live music by Dalton and the Sheriffs, silent auction, Chinese auction and Sweetheart Raffle, and Best Dressed award. Photos by Laurie Richards of Pixel Perfect. More at MahonAboutTown.com.
2014 Contributors to Mahon About Town
Gene Mahon
Editor, Photographer, Writer
Allen Reinhard
Contributor
Candy Bearman
Writer
Deborah Feingold
"Behind the Photograph" Photographer and Writer
Jack Fritsch
Writer
Jaime Michele Connelly
Photographer
Josh Gray
Writer: Music and Features
Holly Finigan
Writer and Photographer
Kerry Hallam
Writer
Kenneth Turner Blackshaw
Writer: Birds Around Us
Kit Noble
Photographer
Kristen Kellogg
Videographer
Laurie Richards
Photographer
Lisa Frey
Photographer
Marie-Claire Rochat
"Just Curious" - Writer
Paula Korn
Writer
Peter Brace
Writer and Photographer: "Island Evolving"
Peter Sutters
Writer
Sara Boyce
Writer
Terry Pommett
Photographer and Writer
Vladimir Kagan
Writer
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