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Family

Leominster woman uses genealogy to complete family tree

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LEOMINSTER — Being of French-Canadian descent on both sides of the family, Linda Kinsey grew up with many social gatherings — celebrating birthdays, weddings, special occasions — all grateful to have time together with family.

Kinsey was born in 1945 in one of Massachusetts’ mill towns, Lawrence.

“In those days, extended family members lived close by, and we often visited my relatives on my mother’s side, the Roy family and on my father’s side as well, the Fredette family. My cousins and I were remarkably close and my memere Roy lived in the same projects as we did,” Kinsey said. “I personally think that is one of the reasons family is so important to me.”

Kinsey recalls how her mother, Lillian Roy, had casually talked about another brother of hers, named Henri.

“It was very rare actually,” she said, “But when she did talk about him it was with a deep sadness in her voice because he died so young.”

Kinsey said she had always been interested in finding out if she had another uncle, but it was not until her husband sadly passed away this year that she became more interested.

“My oldest Roy cousin had delved into my parents’ genealogical history many years ago, and shared the Roy family history with me,” said Kinsey. “I love history in general and what she found was eye opening — that one of my grandmother’s (Martineau was her birth name) long-ago relatives had been the apothecary to the Queen of France and that Louis Hebert, my ancestor, came over with Samuel de Champlain to settle new France in 1608. That information was so far from anything I could imagine that it woke up my interest in genealogy.”

Ironically, she said, her cousin’s in-depth research never did find their mutual uncle, maybe because his name was Henri, instead of Henry.

“So earlier this year I contacted a family friend and his wife who were genealogists to do a search specifically for Henri Roy,” Kinsey said. “That was five months ago, with no news in between then. Until I received a text from them on Dec. 19 at 4 p.m.”

Kinsey said she cried when she received the text with a photocopy of his death record.

“Tears of joy,” Kinsey said. “I kept reading his name repeatedly, sometimes aloud because it seemed so … well I don’t know the word to use about how I felt when I saw that name — Henri Roy, born April 6, 1919, died of pneumonia March 6, 1920. What a joy!”

Kinsey said her mother was born on May 17, 1920, just a few months after Henri died of pneumonia, possibly since there was no penicillin at that time, and Kinsey said she cannot help but wonder if he may have died from the Spanish flu.

She said she immediately called her cousins to tell them the news, “and now I have a new goal, to go to Manchester, New Hampshire and find where he is buried.”

“I always appreciated having eight Roy aunts and uncles, and knew them well,” Kinsey said. “Knowing they grew up during the [Great] Depression and that they were very poor made their lives even more precious to me, so I was committed to find out for sure if I had an Uncle Henri Roy.”

Kinsey said that she has always been interested in vintage and antique items and finding out the history behind them, “It’s like solving a mystery,” she said. “But when you find out about a member of your family whom you never knew really existed, that’s incredible.”

“There are so many sites and services online,” she said. “I would encourage people to be persistent in pursuing their family’s roots because it is so rewarding.

Sharing that you never know what you might find out, Kinsey said that in her case, at age 77, with no living aunts and uncles or grandparents, she discovered her Uncle Henri.

“Perhaps it had something to do with my husband’s death this year, in the sense that I realized so deeply that life is so precious, every life,” Kinsey said. “I am hopeful that my story will bring joy and hope to others who at this time really need it.”

Empower Children for Success provides Calming Kits and programs in the region

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FITCHBURG — The passion the four women behind Empower Children for Success have for the community focused nonprofit organization they formed together is evident.

Adela Cintron, Angelica Lacourse, Marites MacLean, and Gretchen Rodriguez, all graduates of the Public Education, Children with Special Needs, Mental Health, Childcare, and Financial Stewards programs of NewVue Communities, were inspired to launch ECFS in November with the mission to create more equitable childcare, workforce development, and behavioral health systems in Fitchburg, Worcester County, and the North Central region.

(Left to right) Senator John Cronin, Empower Children for Success President and Founder Marites MacLean, Outreach Coordinator at Allied Rehabilitation Center Beth Robbins, and Representative Michael Kushmerek celebrated nonprofit organization Empower Children for Success getting the Leaders for Equitable Local Economies grant application in January 2022 to create a more equitable child care system to help Fitchburg families get access to high quality child care to find and maintain gainful employment in order to actively participate in the economy. (COURTESY EMPOWER CHILDREN FOR SUCCESS)
Left to right: State Sen. John Cronin, Empower Children for Success President and Founder Marites MacLean, Outreach Coordinator at Allied Rehabilitation Center Beth Robbins, and Representative Michael Kushmerek celebrated nonprofit organization Empower Children for Success getting the Leaders for Equitable Local Economies grant in January 2022 to create a more equitable child care system to help Fitchburg families get access to high quality child care to find and maintain gainful employment in order to actively participate in the economy. (COURTESY EMPOWER CHILDREN FOR SUCCESS)

According to a press release, these four minority women business entrepreneurs saw the need to create an organization that will meet the comprehensive needs of the children and families that they serve. They met several times with Francisco Ramos, director of Community Organizing at NewVue Communities, Inc., for help with the creation of Fitchburg Loves the Children in 2021, now known as ECFS.

They were granted 501(c)(3) nonprofit status for ECFS in October and MacLean said they “appreciate” the organizational and development grant funds received from the Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts that allowed them to hire an accountant and lawyer who worked closely with the ECFS Board of Directors to apply for the application to obtains its nonprofit status.

“We are grateful to the Greater Worcester Community Foundation for awarding us the community grant for general operating support this year,” MacLean added about additional funding.

NewVue Communities and Highland Baptist Church acted as the corporation’s fiscal sponsors in 2021 and 2022, respectively, which enabled MacLean to write grants “to advance its mission of promoting the overall healthy development of children.”

She said ECFS is “creating a more equitable mental health system by implementing its Calming Kit project.” The kits include books, art and drawing supplies, fidget toys, and more.

Empower Children for Success Calming Kits include books, art and drawing supplies, fidget toys, and more. (COURTESY EMPOWER CHILDREN FOR SUCCESS)
Empower Children for Success Calming Kits include books, art and drawing supplies, fidget toys and more. (COURTESY EMPOWER CHILDREN FOR SUCCESS)

Recipients of the 2021 calming kits, which included materials donated by the Fitchburg chapter of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Women’s Association, were family resource centers, family engagement agencies, childcare centers including family childcare programs, and parents. Last year they gifted kits to LUK, Inc. to be distributed to its clinicians in its various programs “to use as a preventive tool to support the social-emotional, mental, and behavioral health of the children and the families that they serve.”

“ECFS strongly believes that obtaining training and having the Calming Kit as a resource should be an essential part of an adult’s everyday tool when dealing with children’s social-emotional needs to promote and or improve health outcomes,” MacLean shared.

Grant funding secured through UMass Memorial HealthAlliance Clinton-Hospital, Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts, and NewVue Communities in 2021 and from Community Health Network of North Central Massachusetts (CHNA9), the Fitchburg Cultural Council, and NewVue Communities in 2022 enabled ECFS to launch and maintain is Calming Kit project to provide a free, “preventive tool to programs and families to help children self-regulate to support their social-emotional, mental, and behavioral health.”

MacLean and the other women partnered with several medical and mental health personnel in the area to provide training for parents and caregivers on how to use the Calming Kits and distribute them in the region. They are also working to address “the need to find a solution to decrease the uptick of children’s and youth’s mental health cases in childcare programs and schools” in the greater region by providing support to a variety of people who work with young people.

“Counselors, teachers, childcare providers, and family resource and engagement counselors report an increase in youth depression, sadness, suicide ideation, bullying and despair,” MacLean said. “There is a wait for an appointment for students to see a mental health professional and many institutions lack a mental health professional in the buildings.”

In addition, ECFS is “increasing access to culturally responsive quality early childhood and out of school programs” through its Child Care Entrepreneur Stewards Training Program.

Graduates of the spring 2022 Child Care Entrepreneur Steward 8-week training session through Empower Children for Success Child. (COURTESY EMPOWER CHILDREN FOR SUCCESS)
Graduates of the spring 2022 Empower Children for Success Child Care Entrepreneur Stewards Training Program. (COURTESY EMPOWER CHILDREN FOR SUCCESS)

“There is an urgent need in Fitchburg and other parts of the North Central region and Worcester County,” MacLean said of the idea behind the program created to increase admission to childcare for the Latino community.

She secured grant funding last year from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, United Way of North Central Massachusetts, and the Greater Worcester Foundation to fund and launch its Child Care Entrepreneur Stewards Training Program “to help women especially in the minority groups to open a family child care business.”

“The participants are trained to promote children’s healthy overall development in a more culturally and linguistically appropriate ways,” MacLean said of the child care training program.

ECFS has been able to successfully expand its reach and enroll 46 minority-women participants in its Child Care Entrepreneur Stewards Training Program in the first three cohorts, 32 educators in its Trauma Informed Care Training program, and distribute more than 250 Calming Kits to children and families.

MacLean teamed up with Liz Murphy, Executive Director of Community Development & Planning in the city, secure $40,000 from Community Development Block Grant funds to provide a $3,500 grant to the each of the graduates of the Child Care Entrepreneur Stewards Training Program who live in Fitchburg and obtained their family child care license from the Department of Early Education and Care.

Estefania German is one of the recipients of the grant from the city and Nicole Young of Ashburnham is the recipient of a $3,500 grant from United Way, which will assist them in paying for the startup cost of running their family childcare businesses.

Volunteers pack Fitchburg nonprofit organization Empower Children for Success Calming Kits. (COURTESY EMPOWER CHILDREN FOR SUCCESS)
Volunteers pack Fitchburg nonprofit organization Empower Children for Success Calming Kits. (COURTESY EMPOWER CHILDREN FOR SUCCESS)

MacLean said graduates of the program are referred to Ray Belanger, Director of Small Business Assistance at NewVue Communities, “to get access to small business assistance programs to grow and maintain their businesses to become part of the small business ecosystem and to be recognized for their importance in building and boosting the local economies.”

“Empower Children for Success plans on scaling up the Child Care Entrepreneur Stewards Training Program statewide to increase the supply of culturally responsive high-quality childcare programs, especially family childcare programs to ensure that our children are being taken care of by caregivers who represent their cultural and linguistic background,” she said.

MacLean said she and her partners are determined to do what they can to serve children and families in the area and beyond with their programs.

“ECFS applies a community voice approach by amplifying the voice of the children and the families who are enrolled in the Head Start programs, childcare programs that receive state subsidies, and family resource centers and other agencies that serve the target population in the area,” she said. “ECFS includes the voices of the community most affected by the problem by asking families and stakeholders to get involved in the planning process like creating goals or defining the problem. We actively solicit their support to volunteer in the implementation of our projects, fundraising efforts, attend public events, and serve on our committees that focus on promoting health and wellbeing, family support, increase family’s wealth, and establishment of high-quality early childhood and out of school care.”

She said that it has truly been a collaborative community effort and wants to “extend gratitude” to Highland Baptist Church, Leominster United Methodist Church, IC Federal Credit Union, Enterprise Bank, Workers Credit Union, Rivers Brothers, Bin There Dump That, the ECFS Board of Directors, “and all the individuals that donated money to support and advance the important work of the organization.”

Empower Children for Success is looking for partners from financial institutions, local businesses, and other organizations that are community-minded helping to advance its mission to make greater impacts on the lives of the people it serves. Those interested can email Marites MacLean at empowerchildrenforsuccess@gmail.com or call her at 978-348-2416, and for more information follow Empower Children for Success on Facebook and visit empowerchildrenforsuccess.org.

Local author explores Christ’s birth from different perspective

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The story of Jesus Christ’s birth is one of the most well-known in the world, but few have heard it from the perspective of a piece of hay in the manger.

“Herbie the Hay” was written by Catt B. Aubuchon, a Westminster resident who was born in Gardner and moved to Fitchburg at a young age. She attended Catholic schools from kindergarten through twelfth grade.

The children’s book “Herbie the Hay” was a long time coming — Aubuchon came up with it in middle school.

“In seventh grade, my assignment was to write about a non-living thing during the Great Happening of Jesus’s birth,” she said. “I pictured the manger in my mind while I was writing and decided on a piece of hay to come to life and take us through this storybook journey.”

The reading of Aubuchon’s story became a family Christmas tradition for her parents, Norman and Carol Boudreau, and her two older sisters, Jacqueline and Nancy.

Aubuchon’s dad was “a big fan of the book” and showed it to a local Catholic priest, the Rev. Rich Lewandowski. She said “he was enamored by it” and had it printed locally, asking her in 1999 to do a guest reading at Christmas Eve Mass in St. Camillus Church in Fitchburg.

Her Catholic community and extended family’s enduring love for her story made her want to have it published in modern times for new generations, leading to “Herbie the Hay” coming out as a half storybook, half coloring book hardcover in August.

The story goes that Herbie the Hay was placed in a manger, sad and alone, because all the other hay made fun of him. However, deep down he knew he had an extremely important job to do. Three days later, a very special baby was born in his stables and placed in the manger for Herbie to keep safe and warm. Herbie traveled with Mary and Joseph, continuing to be attached to Jesus’s blanket, until his love for the child causes him to become part of the family home.

Ultimately, the message of the book is that all believers in Jesus are special and important, and that Christ is the savior, which Aubuchon said is a great Christmas message for children of all ages and the young at heart.

Aubuchon is a wife, mother of two, and grandmother of three. All of her children also attended Catholic schools, and so do her grandchildren.

Her faith in Christianity is a huge part of her life. “At such a young age I was taught the values of morals, discipline, respect, and being accountable for my actions which gave me a solid foundation,” Aubuchon said.

She has high hopes for the future of “Herbie the Hay.”

Aubuchon said, “I have realized that being a published author is a tough but rewarding feat. This is the first but maybe not the last book about Herbie and his adventures. Herbie The Hay could someday become a franchise and even a movie!”  She plans to write a sequel or “another adventure for Herbie the Hay” soon.

“My dream is that Herbie turns into a New York Times bestseller but reality tells me to just have fun promoting it locally,” she added.

After interviewing a few publishers, Aubuchon settled on Dorrance Publishing of Pittsburgh. Authors pay Dorrance Publishing to produce, print, promote, and distribute.

Her brother-in-law Jeff B. Aubuchon, a professional artist, drew the illustrations and the publisher added the color — in the first half of the book which is the story.

The second half of the pages is a coloring book of the illustrations in the first half.  Aubuchon said that she made that choice for “Herbie the Hay” to be unique and interactive.

Aubuchon believes art, and writing, are important.

She does paintings and portraits “for my own pleasure”, although she said that people have asked to purchase some of them.

“I truly believe and want to inspire that anyone can be an author and artist,” she said.

Aubuchon moved her young family from their “hometown of Fitchburg” to Westminster in 1999 because they outgrew their home and had a lot of extended family there. “It’s a quaint little town; we love it here”, she said.

But she’s still in Fitchburg on an almost daily basis — her day job is as a preschool paraprofessional in the Fitchburg public school system.

Aubuchon recently did a book signing at Notown Gifts in Sterling and will be doing one soon at The Velvet Goose in Gardner. “Herbie the Hay” can be purchased at both and can also be bought at the St. Joseph Parish Christmas Fair in Fitchburg, MA on Dec. 3, on Amazon, and directly from Dorrance Publishing.

Murder Mystery cystic fibrosis fundraiser set for Oct. 1

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FITCHBURG — Murder is the name of the game, but instead of mayhem it’s all in the name of good clean fun in honor of an 11-year-old New Hampshire boy who has been battling cystic fibrosis since he was born.

J.J.’s Helping Hands Network founder Cheryl Cucchiara is organizing a Murder Mystery Dinner & Show on Saturday, Oct. 1 at the British American Club through her nonprofit, with all proceeds benefiting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in her nephew Lionel West II’s name.

Lionel West II, the nephew of Fitchburg resident Cheryl Cucchiara, who is organizing a Murder Mystery Dinner & Show on Oct. 1 at the British American Club through her nonprofit J.J.'s Helping Hands Network. All proceeds will benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the disease the now 11-year-old has dealt with since birth. (COURTESY CHERYL CUCCHIARA)
Lionel West II, the nephew of Fitchburg resident Cheryl Cucchiara, who is organizing a Murder Mystery Dinner & Show on Oct. 1 at the British American Club through her nonprofit J.J.’s Helping Hands Network. All proceeds will benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the disease the now 11-year-old has dealt with since birth. (COURTESY CHERYL CUCCHIARA)

“The campaign hits home for my family,” the longtime city resident said of her personal connection to the important cause. “He has gone through so terribly much in his 11 young years.”

Cystic fibrosis, or CF, is a progressive genetic condition that affects a protein in the body. People who have cystic fibrosis have a faulty protein that affects the body’s cells, tissues, and the glands that make mucus and sweat, which causes these fluids to become thick and sticky. They then plug up tubes, ducts, and passageways, which in turn can cause severe damage to the lungs, digestive system, and other organs.

Upon waking up each morning, Lionel “has to be fitted with an inflatable therapy vest that uses high-frequency airwaves to force the mucus that’s deep in his tiny little lungs to come up towards his upper airways so he can cough it up,” Cucchiara said. “This is a ritual he endures each morning and evening, never mind the many hospital stays he has had over the years and the feeding tube to help get nourishment into his tiny body.”

Lionel West II, the nephew of Fitchburg resident Cheryl Cucchiara, who is organizing a Murder Mystery Dinner & Show on Oct. 1 at the British American Club through her nonprofit J.J.'s Helping Hands Network. All proceeds will benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the disease the now 11-year-old has dealt with since birth. (COURTESY CHERYL CUCCHIARA)
Lionel West II, the nephew of Fitchburg resident Cheryl Cucchiara, who is organizing a Murder Mystery Dinner & Show on Oct. 1 at the British American Club through her nonprofit J.J.’s Helping Hands Network. All proceeds will benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the disease the now 11-year-old has dealt with since birth. (COURTESY CHERYL CUCCHIARA)

She said it’s important to her to be an advocate and bring more awareness to CF.

“We are planning this event in order to help with more research involving cures, treatments, and to extend longer life expectancy for children like my nephew,” she said.

The fundraiser will feature a spaghetti dinner with meatballs, salad, bread and butter, and dessert after the doors open at 5 p.m. There will be raffles including a 50/50, a Chinese auction, and the Boston Murder Mystery Company show will start promptly at 7 p.m.

The occasion is part of J.J.’s Helping Hands’ long history of community outreach, the nonprofit dedicated to helping those less fortunate that Cucchiara founded four years ago in memory of her son Jesse Jarvis, who passed away on Mother’s Day in 2018.

“Feel free to vent if you are missing a loved one on J.J.’s Helping Hands Network as we know what you are going through, or if you’d like to share your experience and how you handled your grief or even yet volunteer to help with our mission,” she said. “It’s a safe place to be who you are, voice your frustrations, and give and receive support.”

Over the years J.J.’s has held diaper drives for young mothers, food and clothing collections, comedy shows and dinners, among many other events.

“We’ve worked with Coats for Kids alongside with the Knights and recently the Teddies & Blankets Campaign for Needy Children, and what a campaign it was, it was terrifically huge,” Cucchiara said, with their latest efforts the Murder Mystery Dinner & Show event.

Fitchburg resident Sheila Tines has been tapped as the spokesperson for the Oct. 1 Murder Mystery Dinner & Show at the British American Club, a fundraiser to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the disease she lives with. (COURTESY SHEILA TINES)
Fitchburg resident Sheila Tines has been tapped as the spokesperson for the Oct. 1 Murder Mystery Dinner & Show at the British American Club, a fundraiser to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the disease she lives with. (COURTESY SHEILA TINES)

Cucchiara said they are “very excited” to have signed on Sheila Tines as their CF spokesperson for the Murder Mystery fundraiser, a fellow Fitchburg resident who lives with CF firsthand.

“Unfortunately, she will not be able to attend as planned but we are working on doing a Zoom interview from her hospital bed,” Cucchiara said of Tines. “She will talk about what most patients endure through their life such as ‘cleaning out’ every six months and will explain much more about cystic fibrosis and answer any questions people may have.”

Tines, whom Cucchiara calls “an inspiration to many of those suffering from this horrible disease,” occasionally speaks about her own experience with CF at various events. At the age of 54, Tines is way over the life expectancy for a person with CF.

“I’m happy to be one of the more mature patients raising that bar every day,” Tines said from her bed at Massachusetts General Hospital, adding that life expectancy for CF is now up to 44. “It means I’m doing something right!”

She said that while she was slated to speak in person at the Oct. 1 fundraising event, she “had to improvise to make my appearance virtual.”

“Life with CF can change rather quickly, which is evident by my hospital admission, which sadly, will have me here during the event,” Tines shared.

She said she can relate to Lionel’s experience as a person constantly dealing with CF.

“I have been sick my whole life and I lived a rather unconventional childhood by being homeschooled by a private tutor up until seventh grade simply because I was too sick or too compromised to be around other kids,” Tines recalled. “In the lungs, which is my main area of manifestation, the mucus clogs the airways and traps germs, like bacteria, leading to infections, inflammation, respiratory failure, and other complications. For this reason, avoiding germs is a top concern for people with CF, hence the unconventional childhood.”

Although there is no cure for cystic fibrosis, a range of treatments can help control the symptoms, prevent or reduce complications, and make the condition easier to live with, therefore improving quality of life. Regular doctor appointments to monitor the condition are needed and a care plan is set up based on the person’s needs.

Fitchburg resident Sheila Tines has been tapped as the spokesperson for the Oct. 1 Murder Mystery Dinner & Show at the British American Club, a fundraiser to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the disease she lives with. (COURTESY SHEILA TINES)
Fitchburg resident Sheila Tines has been tapped as the spokesperson for the Oct. 1 Murder Mystery Dinner & Show at the British American Club, a fundraiser to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the disease she lives with. (COURTESY SHEILA TINES)

“As a person ages with CF, the condition progresses so it is important to remain disciplined in our daily meds and treatments which includes nebulized meds, pills, airway clearance, physical activity and exercise, rest and being cautious of who we are around, always,” Tines said. “It is a full-time job with no holidays or vacation. It is a difficult life to live, and even though many of the people you meet with cystic fibrosis will make it look easy trust me, it is not.”

Despite her personal battle with the disease, Tines has managed to stay positive in the face of immense difficulties and struggles.

“I am proud to still be fighting the CF fight at my age, every birthday is a trophy or another stripe on my uniform,” she said. “It shows my strength, my courage and my determination to beat this as long as I can.”

Tickets for the Murder Mystery Dinner & Show are $30 per person and can be purchased at the British American Club, 1 Simonds Rd. Fitchburg any time after noon or by calling Cheryl Cucchiara at 978-855-1712.

For more information including volunteering email jjshelpinghands@yahoo.com. To donate, make checks out to Cheryl Cucchiara and mail to 16 Clearview Ave., Fitchburg, Mass., 01420.

Sentinel & Enterprise Correspondent Cheryl A. Cuddahy contributed to this report. 

Local author to share the magic of Mister Rogers with new book

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LUNENBURG — If you had asked Amanda (Moeckel) Calatzis as a child what her favorite show was, she would have easily said “Mister Rogers.” So, of course, she jumped at the chance to make a book about him … one of her longest-running heroes.

Now a talented author and illustrator, Calatzis is excited to announce two events to introduce the community to her newest endeavor “Mister Rogers’ Gift of Music.”

A book signing will be held from noon until 4 p.m., with story times at 1 p.m., 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24, at Barnes and Noble, 120 Watertower Plaza, in Leominster. She will also celebrate her book at a special story time at 11 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 26, at the Lunenburg Public Library, 1023 Massachusetts Ave.

Calatzis grew up in Lunenburg near the former Whalom Park, then spent a couple of decades as a city-dweller in D.C., San Francisco, and New York City. Now she calls New York’s Hudson Valley home, along with her husband, two children, and three senior dogs.

“One thing I loved about growing up in this area is my exposure to the arts,” Calatzis said. “As a child, my parents sent me to classes at the Fitchburg Art Museum. As an older child, I joined the Guild Dancers in Lunenburg. I took guitar lessons in the music shops of Leominster and Fitchburg.”

Calatzis believes her strong drive to create books for children, came from the Lunenburg Public Library when it was Ritter Memorial Library.

“One of my grandmother’s favorite places to take me as a child,” she said. “She would let me pull out as many books as I wanted and read them all. I remember sitting in the back corner of the old library building, with a pile of ‘Edith the Lonely Doll’, ‘Clifford the Big Red Dog’, ‘Harry the Dirty Dog’, ‘Curious George’, and so many others. I think she thought she was merely teaching me how to read, but she was doing so much more.”

By the time she left home, Calatzis says she had a whole box of tools to navigate life’s ups and downs, creative ways to work through whatever emotions arose.

Calatzis was approached to illustrate this book by her publisher, Page Street Kids, in 2020.

“The author, Donna Cangelosi, and I were already acquainted through our shared agent, Charlotte Boudreau at Prospect Agency,” said Calatzis. “I could feel Donna’s love for Mister Rogers through her beautiful manuscript. She is a psychologist who specializes in children, so I very much respect her knowledge about the kinds of stories that are meaningful for them.”

Calatzis holds an MFA in Illustration from the School of Visual Arts. She is also the author-illustrator of “Khalida and the Most Beautiful Song”.

Her work has been featured on “The Children’s Book Podcast,” “Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast,” and other popular kid’s literature blogs.

“Mister Rogers’ Gift of Music” has been accepted into the prestigious Society of Illustrators’ Original Art Show 2022 in New York City, the biggest children’s book art show in the United States, where Calatzis’ original work from the book will be on display alongside all the best published work of 2022.

“The thing I’m most proud of, in this book, is the further development of my illustration style,” said Calatzis. “I had my daughter right when I signed onto this project, so much of my time was spent with a newborn as I was making these illustrations. I had no time to second-guess myself, so what came through in the drawings feels pure, not over-worked.”

Calatzis explains that illustrating makes her feel full and satisfied.

“When I get a long stretch of time in the studio, it’s like having eaten a nice big dinner, but without that feeling of being over-stuffed,” she said. “A big dinner with a nice coffee afterward. Just satisfied and energized.”

Mister Rogers’ greatest gift was making children feel seen, understood, and special, Calatzis believes.

“This book focuses on the way his music helped him do that,” she said. “He wrote songs about being happy, sad, lonely, angry, and everything in between. He would pour his emotions into his music, in a way that spoke to children, and helped them put their own feelings into words.”

He [Mister Rogers] has said that, in front of the camera, he would pretend he was speaking to just one child, even though he had an audience of hundreds of thousands.

“I certainly thought he was speaking only to me, when I sat, frog-legged, on the floor in front of the TV before school every day,” Calatzis said with a smile.

Debbie Laffond, Head of Children’s Services at the Lunenburg Public Library, says she is thrilled to have Calatzis read her new book to the children in the area.

“I have known Amanda since she was a little girl, dancing her magic with all her heart,” said Laffond. “She is now sharing her ‘magic’ in another way, through story and art that again comes from her heart. We are so fortunate to have her visiting the library to share this wonderful story about our beloved Mr. Rogers.”

Laffond sincerely hopes that readers of all ages will stop by to hear Calatzis’ story and to say hello.

“Children’s books are made of warmth, coziness, self-exploration, validation and the connection between child and grown-up,” said Calatzis. “I can’t imagine a happier place to spend my time.”

For information on her upcoming events, call Barnes & Noble at 978-537-6009 or the Lunenburg Public Library at 978-582-4140. For more information on Amanda (Moeckel) Calatzis, visit amandamoeckel.com.