Author: Ruyuan Li

Ruyuan Li

If you pass by Coletti-Magni Park in Nonantum during December, you’ll see an 18-foot-tall Santa Claus statue waving toward the street. The neighborhood’s Santa tradition dates back to the 1950s, and this is Nonantum’s third Santa, replacing earlier ones that served the community over the past 70 years.

Each Christmas, the Nonantum Children’s Christmas Party Association decorates the park with lights and holiday displays. This year’s Christmas lighting ceremony was on Sunday. Dan Fontaine, an Elvis Presley tribute artist, will perform a Vegas Christmas show Dec. 19, and the Nonantum Christmas Parade will roll through the village Dec. 21.

In addition to the Christmas celebrations it hosts, the association provides help to local charities such as the John M. Barry Boys & Girls Club and Newton Athletes Unlimited, and contributes floats for the Memorial Day parade.

“We’re always there at anybody’s beck and call,” said association chairman Anthony Pellegrini Jr. “So if anybody needs something, they can come to us. That’s what my father used to do, so our goal is to keep it going so if someone in need is out there we can help them out.”

The Nonantum Children’s Christmas Party Association was founded in 1954 by his father, Anthony “Fat” Pellegrini Sr., and a group of friends. After Pellegrini Sr. died in 2004, his children took over. Today, Anthony Jr. (people call him “Fatty” or “Uncle Fatty”), his sister Linda Anderson and the third generation carry on the family tradition.

Every December, the association gives out gift cards and food baskets to families in need. “My father had a list, and I’m still going by the list,” Pellegrini said. “So we give out a couple hundred gift baskets, and we have a list from not just Nonantum, but from Watertown, Newton Corner, the (Newton) Falls, throughout the area.”

Preparations for the season begin right after Halloween, from purchasing supplies to organizing activities. Arrianna Proia, 24, a Nonantum native who was recently elected to the School Committee, has been involved with this association her whole life, helping “Uncle Fatty” decorate the park.

“It’s a good way for us to connect with our neighbors and also honor the traditions that have been going on for over 50 years,” she said. “This is a tradition we love to keep on doing.”

Seeing hundreds of kids gathered at the park and watching the lights turn on really brings the community together, Proia said.

“My grandparents grew up in this neighborhood, and being able to come back now as an adult and help out with people who have done this their whole lives, and get to know everyone on a different level is really special as well,” said Rebecca Torcasio, friend of the Pellegrini family.

Although it’s called Nonantum Children’s Christmas Party Association, the party tradition ended in 1992, after Pellegrini Sr. got lung cancer. Pellegrini said his father was “the cog in the wheel”—no one was able to pull off a party like him.

Pellegrini, 68, remembers when a family’s house burned down in Roxbury, and his father gathered people together and supplied the household with everything they needed. When a young person died, the association would step in to pay for the funeral. He recalls his father always brought a basket and a radio to visit people in local hospitals.

“My father’s benevolence was unsurpassed by anybody. He solicited money and he gave it out,” Pellegrini said. “He kept the neighborhood together.”

These collective Christmas celebrations in Nonantum might date back to 1899, Pellegrini said. One day he found a newspaper from Christmas 1965, marking the event as the 66th annual Christmas celebration.

Nonantum is Newton’s most densely populated village, and it’s known as the Italian village with Italian immigrants and blue-collar roots. Locals call their neighborhood “The Lake,” even though the actual lake—Silver Lake—was landfilled a long time ago.

The older generation can talk in “Lake Lingo,” which is a slang that originated from Romani language. “Friends” star and Nonantum native Matt LeBlanc once showed his Lake Lingo on a talk show.

Pellegrini said “a passing of the torch is coming”—he hopes his nephews can keep the traditions going.

One of his nephews, Daniel Anderson, said the association depends on support from families, local businesses, and the police and fire departments.

“Without the donations and the dedication from the community, this would not happen,” Anderson said. 

This story is part of a partnership between the Newton Beacon and the Boston University Department of Journalism.

Ruyuan Li

Nine years, 55 countries. Half their time on land, half on cruise ships.

That’s the life rhythm of pianist Ivan Danylets and vocalist Arjana Vizulis Danylets. The two met 11 years ago while performing with a rock band on a cruise ship, and they’ve built a jazz career alternating between Brooklyn, N.Y., and cruise ship performances.

The couple formed a jazz duo in 2017 and started The Gingersnap Band in 2019 with other rotating members. On Saturday, the band will bring a jazz concert to The Allen Center in Newton, Arjana’s hometown.

Arjana and Ivan describe their music as eclectic—drawing from many genres and incorporating many improvisations.

“Sometimes we’ll take a rock song and we’ll make it into a jazz ballad, because we feel that song showcases the message in a way that resonates with us,” Ivan said in an interview from their cabin on the Royal Caribbean Star of the Seas, one of the largest cruise ships in the world. The band began their three-and-a-half-month cruise performance run at the end of July.

On their second album, “Caribbean Manhattan,” they adapted Bon Jovi’s rock classic “Livin’ on a Prayer” and the Jason Mraz pop hit “I’m Yours” into jazz-style arrangements, giving them fresh takes.

Arjana said they always try to add curiosity and playfulness into their music. “Both within the lyrics and the music itself—there are stories, and there are interpretations of those stories that are new for us every time we play.”

The couple released their debut album, “Us Now,” as a duo in 2017. “One day Arjana woke up and said, ‘Hey, how about next winter we fly to Puerto Rico and record an album for two months?’ And I said, OK,’” Ivan said.

“I think we both bring different ingredients that we care about to the music,” Arjana said. “An ingredient for me absolutely comes from my love of storytelling.”

Arjana studied musical theater at New York University. Before becoming an independent musician, she was on the road for a couple of years with a national tour of the musical “Hairspray.”

The storytelling in musical theater has always had a place in her heart, but she also loves “being able to be in the driver’s seat of our own music and interpret it the way that feels sensitive and organic.”

Growing up in Newton, Arjana was surrounded by music. Both of her parents, Andris and Becky Vizulis, played violin in Newton Symphony Orchestra. She grew up going to her parents’ rehearsals, learning violin at New England Conservatory Prep, and singing in chorus and music camps.

“I can see how privileged I was with my artistic education growing up in Newton,” Arjana said. “I see it as a golden childhood experience to build an artistic framework for me.”

Music has been a central part of Ivan’s life from an early age. Born and raised in Ukraine, he began taking piano lessons and music theory classes, and participating in choir and orchestra at the age of 8. He went on to study at the Kyiv Institute of Music in Ukraine and earned a master’s in jazz performance at William Paterson University in New Jersey.

“These classes in Ukraine were all government subsidized,” Ivan said. “Now I’m realizing it was actually very special, how much access to music and to music education I actually had back in Ukraine.”

Music has brought the two together across continents and carried them to stages around the world. From performing at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Osaka, Japan, to Bora Bora, Arjana and Ivan embrace a life that balances land and sea.

As a 42-year-old female musician, Arjana finally found the authentic artistic message she wanted to convey. 

“I feel very grateful and lucky and proud that I’m still kicking,” Arjana said. “It has been a journey and an evolution of what I feel like as an artist, and I want to get stronger with time, get funkier with time, and gain my own confidence and continue to grow. I want to try to encourage and hold the hands of other artists who are trying to find their footing in an industry that is incredibly difficult.”

Usman Salahuddin, The Gingersnap Band’s drummer, said working with Arjana and Ivan is easy and joyful. 

“They’re consummate pros,” he said. “They’ve been doing this for a long time, so they’ve really cultivated and sharpened a band-leading style that works.”

Salahuddin played one gig with the duo in Manhattan this spring and soon signed on to play with The Gingersnap Band on cruise ships. Saturday’s concert will be his first in the Boston area.

“I’m just excited to perform,” he said, “to bring this product that we’ve been sharpening, cultivating and developing night in and night out to the audience.”

Playing in Newton with a six-piece-band feels like a homecoming for Arjana. Her mother, Becky Vizulis, a teacher at Dover-Sherborn High School, died in March.

“It feels like coming home, doing what I am proud to be doing with my husband, and in kind of what feels like the beginning of a new chapter,” Arjana said.

Ruyuan Li

Walking into The Paper Mouse feels like stepping into another world, a quiet haven for those who love the art of handwriting.

Stationery and other items from around the world are neatly arranged on wooden shelves, whether it’s a carnation-shaped pen or cards handcrafted by artisans in Nepal—items hard to find in big chain bookstores.

“A lot of people describe our shop as an oasis, that they can escape all the troubles,” said Jenny Zhang, co-owner of The Paper Mouse. “So that’s what we want to create—a space that they feel comfortable and peaceful.”

Located at 1274 Washington St. in West Newton, The Paper Mouse is ranked the No. 1 stationery store in the Boston area on Yelp. This November marks the store’s 10th anniversary, a milestone for the shop founded by the husband-and-wife team of Victor Lee and Jenny Zhang.

“I had always wished, even when I was young, to have my own business,” said Lee, 48, who was born and raised in Newton. Both Lee’s grandfather and father had owned businesses in Newton. “I thought it’d be great to kind of continue that, almost like a tradition.”

The story of the store dates back to 2015, when Lee and Zhang married. Zhang has always loved writing letters, while Lee, after working in the tech industry for nearly 20 years, was eager to make a career change. Their shared love for stationery inspired them to open their own stationery store.

The name of the store comes from Zhang’s Chinese Zodiac sign — she was born in the year of the mouse. Created by the store’s designer, Jean Gao, the hand-drawn mouse became the logo and appeared on postcards, stickers, tote bags and other items.

Zhang, who is originally from Fujian, China, moved to the U.S. in 1999 and has lived in Newton since 2009.

“I grew up in a place where kids can go to a store and buy stuff without paying, and everyone knows me and my parents, and my parents will pay after,” Zhang said. “I felt very safe and welcomed.”

She wanted to bring that sense of community connection to The Paper Mouse, and to Newton.

When the shop opened, most of its products came from local artists. But that began to change during the pandemic.

During the six-month shutdown, Zhang said the store received numerous calls and emails from customers hoping to buy cards and stationery, which prompted them to launch an online store and start an international curation.

Lee said people compare prices when shopping online, so he wanted The Paper Mouse’s products to stand out to attract customers. “So expanding to the international offerings gave us more unique and exclusive items that people around here may not be able to find easily online,” he said.

Lisa Schwartz, an English teacher in Newton, visits the store frequently. “I fell in love with the artwork,” Schwartz said. “It’s so well curated.”

For Schwartz, collecting stationery is like an endless rabbit hole. She particularly falls for the Hobonichi journal books, a Japanese stationery brand specializing in planner books.

Schwartz said The Paper Mouse is the only store nearby that carries a line of Hobonichi products.

“They have things here that you can’t get in other places or you have to order online,” she said. “I ordered something from Hobonichi (online store), and it was like $40 shipping.”

In addition to the series of Hobonichi products, The Paper Mouse carries the 2024 UK Gift of the Year winner Amber Crystal Light, LAMY fountain pens made in Germany, and art works from Bottle Branch, a Newton art studio.

“The owners go to a trade show in New York City every February and August, where they can meet suppliers and vendors from all around the world,” said Yulan Li, assistant buyer at The Paper Mouse, where she has worked for eight years.

“We find those artists ourselves, and also if their style matches with the shop,” she added.

The Paper Mouse in West Newton offers a variety of stationery, writing tools and more. Photo by Ruyuan Li

Jennifer Fitzsimmons, 46, of Waltham, said she’s grown tired of shopping at big chain stores, where “the notebooks are almost always lined, with no indication of what kind of paper they use or whether it’ll hold up to fountain pen ink.”

“The staff here can answer a lot of questions,” Fitzsimmons said. “And they have pen testers, which I deeply appreciate.”

She said The Paper Mouse provides a wider variety of stationeries than most independent stationers, so she comes back every few months to check new products.

The Paper Mouse will celebrate its 10th anniversary Nov. 22 with new product launches and giveaways.

“Not only do we carry exclusive and unique items from other people, we’re going to start making our own unique and exclusive items for our customers,” Lee said.

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This story is part of a partnership between the Newton Beacon and the Boston University Department of Journalism.