Category Archives: Events

Blizzard ’13

Posted on by under Events, Misc.

The New England Blizzard of 2013 – nicknamed “Nemo” for some odd reason – has come and gone, and it was a doozie! We got about two feet of snow in Franklin and many of the surrounding communities were gifted with as much as 30-35 inches. I heard that one town in CT got 40″ – Crazy.

Massachusetts has a travel ban in place while they clean up the roads, so there’s not much to do besides relax and watching movies. And oh yah, shovel, which is as much fun as a root canal.

Here’s what two feet of snow looks like:

Blizzard Nemo

New England Blizzard

A little snow even managed to sneak inside the house over night.

Blizzard Nemo Massachusetts

The backyard just disappeared. You know. Pretty standard.

Nemo Blizzard Massachusetts

Nemo Blizzard February 2013

The back’s a little sore from digging out the car, but the Patagonia Pom Pomp hat did me well once again.

Patagonia pom pom hat

The best part of being snowed in? Snacking. And it’s even better when you have a wife that enjoys baking deliciousness. Today’s treat was chocolate peanut butter cookies. Very, very good.

chocolate peanut butter cookies

Stay warm!

A Blue Hills Day

Posted on by under Events, Hikes

A few months ago, I helped to organize the 2nd Annual “Hiking Boots and Brews” event at the Blue Hills Reservation in Massachusetts – a really fun event co-sponsored by the Friends of the Blue Hills (FBH) and The Blue Hills Brewery.

The event consisted of a 3-4 mile hike through the Blue Hills, followed by a private beer tasting at a local brewery. It cost only $5 to participate and it was designed to attract young professionals in the Boston area to the park to meet fellow hikers and beer fanatics! As a member of the Friends of the Blue Hills Board of Trustees, it was also a great opportunity for me to introduce others to the good work of the organization. Fortunately, we had a great turnout – over 30 people showed up!

There was lots of activity going on at the Reservation that morning, including a trail maintenance event sponsored by FBH and REI. There were some volunteer t-shirt left over from the trail work event, so REI generously offered them to our group! They also snapped this wonderful picture of us before we hit the trail.

We set off for the Skyline Trail – our main path for the day. The Skyline Trail is a popular trail within the park, but it’s also very scenic, offering great views of Boston and the seacoast in the distance.

It can be difficult to lead 30+ hikers on a moderate to strenuous hike; however, this group was amazing. While their hiking experience ranged from novice to seasoned veterans, everyone was a good sport about “taking it slow” and just enjoying the day. Though most people were locals, I was surprised how many of them had never been to the Blue Hills. Although, I guess they’ve never been enticed with beer before either!

Our destination for the hike the Eliot Tower situated atop Great Blue Hill. When we got there, we stopped for a bit to enjoy lunch and took some more fun pictures. I told you this group was awesome…

We finished the hiking portion of the event around 1pm and then it was off to the brewery! The Blue Hills Brewery, located in Canton, MA,  has been around since 2008 and sells a variety of delicious microbrews. My favorite is the Wampatuck Wheat – but all are good. The guys who work there are great guys and are always willing to support the Friends of the Blue Hills and collaborate on events such as this. If you’re interested in sampling their beer, they offer free tastings on Wednesday, Fridays and Saturdays.

The brewer who assisted our group let us sample seven of their beers and gave us a quick tour of the facility.

I think its fair to say that everyone had a good time!

Special thanks to the Blue Hills Brewery and REI for making this day special for our participants. Also, thanks to the Canton Journal for writing up this terrific article about the event.

For more information about Friends of the Blue Hills, visit their website. And to see more pictures from this great event, click here.

A Great Day To Be Alive!

Posted on by under Events

Saturday was the 14th Annual “Run For Someone Else’s Life” Samaritans 5K in Brighton, MA. It was also my 5th year organizing the event – hard to believe!

It rained the entire night before and was still drizzling during set-up, but when registration opened at 8am, the rain stopped, and people came out in record numbers.  We had more teams, more runners, more walkers and the greatest community spirit ever!  It was so inspirational to see Artesani Park awash in the colors of team t-shirts, as individuals and teams walked or ran in memory of their loved ones lost to suicide.

Over 2,500 people flocked to the park for the event. Many participated in the 5K, which was the “main event” of the day!

Our 5K Teams are really the life-blood of the event, raising hundreds-of-thousands of dollars for suicide prevention and rallying their family members and friends to support their efforts. All groups received a team sign to run or walk with during the event…

…and each team posed for a team photo! (Christian’s Team looking good below, as always!)

There were all kinds of activities for families and kids throughout the day, including face painting, t-shit tie-dye, and fun games donated by the Boston Red Sox. Everyone was smiling!

Great music was played from the stage all day too! A couple of our live performers – Peter Parchek and Brian Potts – pictured here.

We were thrilled with the turnout – especially for a rainy day! As aforementioned, over 2,500 participated in the event, and thousands more donated to our passionate fundraisers. It’s amazing to see how much this event has grown in recent years. In fact, it’s even gotten the attention of the Mayor of Boston – Thomas Menino! We are grateful that he stopped by!

Thanks to everyone who supported the 5K this year, and thank you for continuing to raise awareness about this important cause. Remember – you are not alone!

More pictures from the event here.

Boston Marathon 2012

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Running 26.2 miles – otherwise known as a marathon – is no easy task. It requires months of training, hard work and dedication. Running a marathon in even the most favorable of conditions (temperatures in the mid 50s and overcast, I am told…) is extremely hard and takes every fiber of your being to finish, especially for non-experienced runners. So when you add 90 degree temperatures and abundant sunshine into the mix, an already difficult undertaking becomes the (almost scary) challenge of a lifetime. This is exactly what happened for the running of the 116th Boston Marathon.

At Samaritans, I’m the lucky one who gets to manage our Marathon Team each year. This year, we had a record 15 runners and together they raised over $110,000 for suicide prevention. They were an amazing and inspiring group of individuals to work with and I felt honored to support each and everyone one of them as they prepared for the big race. But understandably, nerves of excitement became nerves of anxiety for our runners as the weather forecast started to predict hot temps for Marathon Monday.

However, I am happy to report that all of the Samaritans marathon runners who started the  marathon finished the race! The took their time and struggled to stay hydrated, but their hard work paid off. Usually I cheer for our team near the midway point in Newton, MA, but this year Lisa and I were treated to some special seats right at the finish line. The view of the action was terrific!

We were able to see the Samaritans runners right before finish line. Needless to say, they were PUMPED to be so close to the end (and excited to see me, right Andy?!)

Our runners did great. Like seriously, running that far in 90 degree weather is insane. How are they still smiling!?1?

We had lots of volunteers out on the course cheering for our team! Green shirts from Hopkinton to Boston.

After the race, our team and their families enjoyed a post-marathon bash at the Westin Hotel. A great day for all involved. So proud of our team!

 

Blue Hills Winter Fest

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In addition to serving on the “Friends of the Blue Hills” Board of Trustees, I have really enjoyed participating on their Program/Special Events Committee. Great people doing great (and fun!) things for the organization.

The committee’s first big event of 2012 was Winter Fest which happened on Tuesday evening at the Blue Hills Ski Area. And what a turnout! Over 100 people came to the inaugural event, which included a chili cook-off featuring local restaurants, delicious beer from Blue Hills Brewery, live music and discounted skiing. We had a hell-of-a-time!

The brewery guys came early and stayed late. Did I say their beer was delicious?

Thanks to some great local restaurants and foodies – The Hyde in Boston, Seema’s in Norwood, and Dane Tullock of Cooking in the Great Outdoors – everyone feasted on an abundance of chili throughout the night.

The band was rocking – they had the crowd clapping and dancing until the end of the event.

We saw lots of smiles, and everyone kept asking “This is an annual event, right?”.

It is now!

Another Round, Please!

Posted on by under Events, Hikes

On March 3rd, I’ll be leading my second “Hiking Boots and Brews” group hike in cooperation with “Friends of the Blue Hills”. Here is the event listing:

Hiking Boots and Brews, Round Two!
Saturday, March 3rd: Hiking 10am-12:30pm, Beer Tasting 1-2pm
This is the second hike in our on-going “Hiking Boots and Brews” series! The group is designed for young adults who would like to explore the Blue Hills Reservation, met other members and sample some delicious beers! After a 2-3 hour hike along popular Blue Hills trails, hiker who are 21 years and older will have the opportunity to visit nearby Blue Hills Brewery for a private beer sampling and tour of the facility. Cost is $5. Email group leader Garrett Owen (me!) if interested – gowen603@yahoo.com. Group will meet in Houghton Pond parking lot at 9:30am. If snow is on the ground, participants are expected to bring their own snowshoes/traction. Group size is limited to 25. Heavy rain cancels.

Our first Boots and Brews hike last summer was a hit! We had 20+ people attend, and had a great time. A local newspaper – The Canton Journal – even ran a wonderful article about the event! Here are some pics:

This upcoming event is a great way to meet other young, outdoorsy people in the Boston area, and is a good opportunity to explore the Blue Hills Reservation and learn more about “The Friends of the Blue Hills” – which is a fantastic organization! I’ve been involved with FBH for three years (on their Board of Trustees for two) and I love every minute of my involvement!

If you live in the area and would like to join us for this fun event, please let me know! Blue Hills is a really special place…and the Blue Hills Brewery make some terrific craft beer…come experience both on March 3rd!

Head of the Charles 2011

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People ask me why I go to the Head of the Charles Regatta every year. Honestly, I never have a really good answer for them….other than the fact that it’s just become a tradition with my friends, and that it’s always a fun day.

The real story is that some of our knucklehead friends who went to Bentley College during our college years (aka the Glory Days) started going to the Regatta to watch the free concerts and drink. When we were sophomores, they invited a bunch of us Providence guys to come up for the day. We had a blast, and we’ve just decided to keep going every year since.

Anyways, this year’s event was as fun as it usually is. We had a good turnout – 25 or so of our friends stopped by at some point. Got some good pics too.

Samaritans 5K…Another Great Year

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The 13th Annual Samaritans 5K Run/Walk was held on Saturday, October 1st – it was the 4th 5K that I’ve managed. Despite the drizzle and cloudy skies, it was another wonderful event for the Samartans community.Over 2,000 people were there, including 140 5K Teams, who are the real heart and soul of the event.

Here are some great photos from “Run for Someone Else’s Life” 2011.

Some of our runners about to cross the finish line. Almost there!

Wally was there to cheer on our runners and walkers. Looking happy as always! I’m trying to get him to run next year…

One of our great 5K Teams. I’m a big fan of the personalized team shirts!

The little kids loved the new Red Sox “Fun Zone” games this year.

Peace!