This year is the 44th Annual Whaling City Festival, an event with fun filled family oriented activities, live music, Finelli Amusements, professional wrestling, car and bike show, great food and more. The organization’s new president Allen Richard, is looking to take the festival into a new direction, adding new events, improving all facets, including the relationship with the city and community.

Approximately 125,000 people will pass through the event during the weekend of July 13-15. This is a fantastic opportunity for local businesses to get coverage and publicity. The organization is always looking to expand its group of sponsors, which currently include FUN 107, Fall River Ford, Channel 6, Tremblay’s Bus Company, ABC Disposal, Cat Country, City of New Bedford, WBSM Radio, NSTAR, Crow City Motoring and others. In addition, Children’s Safety Awareness Day will take place on Friday, June 13 from 11 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. The event will be in conjunction with the New Bedford Fire Department, the New Bedford Police Department, the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office, the District Attorney’s Office, and the Providence Bruins. This is certainly an activity to be a proud sponsor of.

Volunteers are always needed, and the current group which comprises about thirty people from the ages of 12-90 will help with information, traffic, directions, setting up, breaking down, picking up trash, manning the gates, drink service, and more. It’s a ton of fun, and at the end of the festivities Mr. Richard treats all of the volunteers to a great meal and other perks.

An excellent way to partner with the Whaling City Festival is to participate in this year’s Chinese Auction. For a minimal investment, your business gets to be associated with a fun activity that thousands of festival-goers will be involved in. By offering a few items for the auction, a business will also be associated with the local charities that will benefit from the sale of the raffle tickets. It’s a win-win situation for everyone!

In an attempt to help promote the festival, presidency, recruit vendors, sponsors, and volunteers Richard runs a website and an accompanying Facebook Page. The website will be updated in the coming weeks with the schedule, itinerary, and info.

If you are a potential vendor, or sponsor and interested in participating in this year’s Whaling City Festival, you can apply here: http://www.whalingcityfestival.net/applications.html

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, musical act looking to participate in this year’s festival, or for more information you can contact Allen Richard at: ARichard@WhalingCityFestival.net

UFC 146 MAIN CARD
265#: Junior Dos Santos (14-1) vs. Frank Mir (16-5) wins by TKO in RD2!
265#: Antonio Silva (16-3) vs. Cain Velasquez (9-1) wins by TKO in RD1!
265#: Dave Herman (21-3) vs. Roy Nelson (17-7) wins by KO in RD1!
265#: Shane Del Rosario (11-0) vs. Stipe Miocic (8-0) wins by TKO in RD2!
265#: Lavar Johnson (17-5) vs. Stefan Struve (27-5) wins by Arm bar in RD1!

PRELIMINARY BOUTS: FX Channel
145#: Diego Brandao (19-7) vs. Darren Elkins (14-2) wins by Unanimous Decision!
155#: Edson Barboza (10-0) vs. Jamie Varner (19-6-1 2NC) wins by KO in RD1!
185#: C.B. Dalloway (12-5) vs. Jason “Mayhem” Miller (24-9 1NC) wins by Unanimous Decision!
170#: Dan Hardy (23-10 1NC) vs. Duane “Bang” Ludwig (29-12) wins by KO in RD1!

PRELIMINARY BOUTS: Facebook
155#: Paul Sass (13-0) vs. Jacob Volkmann (14-3) wins by Triangle/Armbar Combination in RD1!
205#: Kyle Kingsbury (11-4 1NC) vs. Glover Teixeira (18-2) wins by Arm Triangle in RD1!
145#: Mike Brown (26-8) vs. Daniel Pineda (17-8) wins by Unanimous Decision!

Ultimate Fighting Championship 146 takes place Saturday May 26, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, featuring an “All Heavyweight Main Card.” The first two preliminary bouts will be broadcast free on the UFC Facebook page. The remainder of the preliminary bouts will then be broadcast on FX at 8 PM EST, before going live to Pay-Per-View starting at 10 PM EST. In addition, the half hour “Countdown to UFC 146” show debuts Wednesday morning at midnight on FUEL TV. Replays at 5 p.m. and 10PM the same day and Thursday at 8 PM and Friday at 1:30 AM.

Frank Mir vs Junior Dos Santos: UFC Heavyweight Championship Bout
Perhaps the best heavyweight striker in the sport, regardless of organization, Brazilian Junior Dos Santos combines excellent footwork, clean strikes in combination, heavy power and phenomenal takedown defense in a tough to beat style. His sole loss was in 2007 by armbar to Joaquim Ferreira at MTL: Final, a Sao Paolo, Brazil event. He has since spent time with training partners the Nogueira brothers, two high level submission artists, to shore up the weakness. Dos Santos who has had nine bouts in his UFC career, has finished seven of these fights. The two that went to a decision were Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin, but they took a sever battering and came close to being finished on a number of occasions. One thing you can bet the house on with Dos Santos is that his opponent WILL get hit. Dos Santos has won the Knockout of the Night award on three occasions.

Frank Mir replaces Alistair Overreem who was originally scheduled to fight for the heavyweight title after beating Brock Lesnar, but was ousted after testing positive for a 14:1 testosterone-epitestosterone ratio in early April. This will be Mir’s 20th bout in the UFC, and 5th attempt at the Heavyweight title. He won the championship by beating Tim Sylvia at UFC 48 in 2004, and won the Interim Heavyweight Belt against “Big Nog” at UFC 92. He lost his attempts against Brock Lesnar at UFC 100 and against Shane Carwin at UFC 111.

Mir is perhaps most famous for his aggressive application of submissions that result in broken bones and torn ligaments. When he won the heavyweight belt at UFC 48 against “Big” Tim Sylvia he applied an armbar from the guard that broke Tim’s forearm in two places. Against “Big Nog” he applied a Kimura or Double Wrist Lock that resulted in a broken humerus. His experience, size, and strength combined with submission prowess equate into one of the most dangerous heavyweights in the division. He has won Submission of the Night bonuses on two occasions. Regardless of who you are, if you are on the ground with Mir, you are in serious danger.

Mir has seemingly focused on his striking which began to show marked improvement in his bout with Antonio Nogueira at UFC 92 which resulted in a TKO victory against one of the best chins in the history of the sport. His subsequent bout against Cheick Kongo was a guillotine choke, but one that was set up by a faked jab and an overhand left that bent Kongo in half and sent him flying a few feet away into the canvas. Since his loss to Shane Carwin at UFC 111 he has strung together wins against Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, Roy Nelson and Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira.

This fight will come down to whether Mir can get Dos Santos to the ground. Mir has never shown a predilection to try for takedowns and is happy to stand and strike. If he comes in overconfident, which is one of his downfalls, and decides to stand and strike with JDS it could be a short night. This is a fight where Mir needs to have one objective: any way, shape or form, get it to the ground. For JDS to win, he simply needs to do what has worked so well for him already: keep it standing, cut angles, and demand respect with heavy strikes in combination. NBG Pick: Junior Dos Santos

Antonio Silva vs. Cain Velasquez
Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva is making his UFC debut, but is no stranger to the sport. Having spent the past few years in Strikeforce, he went 3-2 defeating Andrei Arlovski, Mike Kyle, and Fedor Emelianenko. In his debut and final fight with that organization he lost against Fabricio Werdum and Daniel Cormier respectively. Antonio prefers to keep it standing, is big and strong, and very difficult to take down. His opponent and past heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, is no slouch in the take down department. As training partner and wrestling student under Silva’s last opponent Daniel Cormier, he has a template in place on how to defeat the Brazilian. While Cain is known for his pace, cardiovascular endurance and wrestling, he demonstrated substantial power in his TKO victory over Big Nog at UFC 110 and has won the Knockout of the Night award three times.

Bigfoot may have some difficulty with the speed and transitions that Cain brings to the table. He needs to land big shots early and maintain his striking measure to win. Not allowing Cain to set the pace and rhythm of the fight is paramount. Cain simply needs to stay busy and mix his striking and grappling to effect a ground and pound victory. NBG Pick: Cain Velasquez

Dave Herman vs. Roy Nelson
Dave Herman came to the UFC as an impressive, dangerous finisher having only one decision in 24 fights. His debut was against prospect and world class Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner John-Olav Einemo, whom he disposed of in three minutes. However, his next bout against Stefan Struve, he looked lethargic and distant and was TKOed in the first round. His opponent is Roy Nelson, who having gone 3-3 in the UFC and coming off a loss in his last fight against Fabricio Werdum, is in a do-or-die situation in a cut happy organization. While he has always demonstrated tenacity, grit and doggedness, he has yet to show that he has what it takes to belong in the top echelon of fighters.

Herman needs to stay away from the dynamite that is in Roy Nelson’s right hand and maintain his measure and reach. If he does this, he is en route to doing what many have had trouble with: finishing Nelson. Nelson’s right hand is tailor made for tall opponents and those with a lazy jab and Herman is a perfect candidate. He needs to let his hands go and land that right hand as often as possible. NBG Pick: Dave Herman

Shane Del Rosario vs. Stipe Miocic
This fight has “We’re going to steal the show and get Fight of the Night honors!” written all over it. Del Rosario, who is the first American to win the WBC Muay Thai championships, is a finishing machine. In kickboxing he went 8-1, with eight knockouts. In MMA, he is 11-0 with eleven finishes, eight by knockout and three submissions. The criticism against him is that he has yet to fight a top opponent, outside of Levar Johnson who has only recently been making some noise. His opponent Croation Stipe Miocic has a similar background and style. In his eight wins, he has knocked out six opponents and submitted one. The difference here is that Miocic’s striking background is with Boxing, particularly Golden Gloves, and wrestled in Division I and ranked nationally.

For Del Rosario to win he simply needs to land punches and avoid the takedowns, IF Miocic attempts them. For Miocic to win he needs to utilize his well-roundedness, use footwork to avoid the big bombs, and grapple in the clinch and on the ground to wear Del Rosario’s arms out and sap his power. NBG Pick: Stipe Miocic

Lavar Johnson vs. Stefan Struve
The final fight on the main card also has potential to win any of the three bonuses. Lavar Johnson is one of the heaviest handed fighters in the heavyweight division, has fifteen knockouts in his seventeen victories. Similar to Del Rosario (who he has lost against), the criticism against him is that he has yet to face top opposition. He has shown some awkwardness when on his back, but shown that he has a gritty determination to win at all costs. Stefan “Skyscraper” Struve, is a fan favorite for his “Let it all hang out, and go out on my shield.” approach to fighting is the tallest fighter in the UFC at 6′ 11″. He is 7-3 in the UFC and has won submission of the night on two occasions and a knockout of the night. Struve has faced better, but not necessarily top opposition.

For Lavar Johnson to win the fight he needs to avoid the ground at all costs, where he has a glaring weakness and Struve is strong at. He needs to throw overhand rights as often as he can. For Struve he needs to avoid the urge to stand and trade strikes as he seems to like to do. He needs to box and work the fight to the ground. He can win in the stand up as long as he is smart about avoiding the power and waits for Lavar to get tired, which he will. NBG Pick: Stefan Struve

Come back for the results, updates and animated gifs. What are your picks for the headline fight between Dos Santos and Frank Mir? The main card bouts? Who wins the bonuses?

The “bug” of the sea, the favorite of many a “seafoodie” and the crustacean that evokes drooling at its mention, is our friend the lobster. The word lobster comes from the Old English loppestre, which interestingly enough is related to the O.E. word for “spider”, loppe. It is also related to the Latin word locusta, or locust. Its resemblance to these creatures are evident. For those who don’t think its anatomy is strange enough, perhaps you’ll be convinced once you learn about the lobster’s anatomy. The lobster hears with its legs and tastes with its feet. The kidneys are in the head, nervous system in the stomach with its teeth, and its brain is in the throat.

The lobster grows up to 3 feet long and can weigh more than 40 pounds. It has fewer calories than chicken breast ounce for ounce. Lobster was a term of “endearment” by colonists for the British soldiers, long before “Redcoat” was common parlance in the 1880s. The “infamous” rubber band that one sees on the lobster claws did not come about to protect today’s customer, but to protect other lobsters as they have no problem eating one another when hungry.

The lobster, particularly the Maine variety, is popular the world over. Whether sauteed, part of a clambake, or part of Surf ‘n Turf at Mike’s Restaurant, its partner, butter is somewhere in the picture. It is hands down one of the most popular foods in the region, up there with the Clam Boil, Chowdah, and Fish and Chips. Unbeknownst to many, the lobster played an integral role in the development of not only local history and culture, but the nation as a whole. Both the “Old World” and the “New World” benefited in many ways from this tasty critter.

For local Indian tribes, lobster was prepared by covering them in seaweed and baking them over hot rocks. This inspired today’s clambake loved by so many. However, they didn’t solely serve as a food source. They were used as fishing bait and as a fertilizer for crops. The lobster, as well as fish, would be placed in the ground underneath the crop as a source of nourishment. Colonists in the 17th century quickly found out that the lobster was a prodigiously abundant food source for the American Indian, and quickly began to harvest them. Lobster was on the menu, along with swan and seal for the first Thanksgiving. Journals dated as far back as 1605 make mention of how easy to catch and how plentiful they were. Stories abound of the first colonists simply picking lobsters up by hand as they washed ashore “…up to two feet high.”While this may be urban legend, it paints a picture of how copious they were.

Anthony Parkhurst, 16th century explorer that navigated on the east coast of Newfoundland mentioned that he and his men could “…take up in less than half a day, lobsters sufficient to find 300 men for a day’s meat.” American John Rowan in the 1850s stated “I have seen two hundred lobsters taken in one tide by a couple of little boys wading about among the rocks armed with cod-hooks tied to sticks…Lobster shells about a house are looked upon as signs of poverty and degradation.”

Indeed, William Wood, a British historian visiting Canada’s Newfoundland in the early 17th century has been quoted as saying “Their plenty makes them little esteemed and seldom eaten [except by the Indians who] get many of them every day for to baite their hooks withal and to eat when they can get no bass.”

This abundance of the crustacean filled many bellies during these early times, giving a much needed fuel source for people to work, build and develop their hamlets. Certainly there were small communities that survived because of the lobster. It was used to feed prisoners, apprentices, servants, and the poor alike. Because of this lobster was initially associated with being a poor man’s food. At best it was eaten by the blue collar worker, for example peddlers had sold lobster from a wheelbarrow to the many Irish immigrants that came to Maine.

As times improved, and the colonists learned to farm better, raise cattle and harvest other crops, lobster became even less popular and virtually valueless as a commodity. People were saturated with this common staple. Some historical documents mention that servants and workers would have options in their contracts that would insure that they were NOT fed lobster more than two to three times per week or not at all.

This early history of the lobster has spurred many an urban legend. Supposedly there were colonial, fisherman or prison revolts. It is said that people were so fed up with eating lobster that they were willing to burn, pillage and physically intervene. Petitions with hundreds or thousands of signatures were created. Landlords, bosses, supervisors and masters were taken to court and successfully sued. Even laws were placed on the books for this cruel and unusual punishment of having lobster for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, tea and a snack. Unfortunately, no historical records exist that can corroborate any of these legends. The stories do, however, crop up sometime in the 1950s, perhaps originating in marketing.

So what changed the people’s outlook on the little critter? How do we get from lobster being so common and eaten so much that it was virtually worthless to where we are today where people pay top dollar, crave it in any form, and love it enough that urban legends were created around it?

Lobster as a harvest and valuable commodity had a slight increase in the 1820s as other parts of the nation developed, particularly growing cities Boston and New York. Apparently, no one let these cities know how common the lobster was or that you would have difficulty getting much for a wheelbarrow full of them. With the advent of canning in the 1830s, lobster was able to be shipped to rest of the nation and even Europe. The Burnham & Morrill Company or B&M, who are known today for their canned beans, was one of the first of scores of lobster canning companies to crop up. Canning allowed lobster to stay longer and be shipped further and an industry was born. Eventually canned lobster would collect a greater price than fresh, live lobster.

This lack of knowledge of lobster’s modest and humble beginnings, combined with marketing turned lobster into a rich man’s dinner. In the 1840s restaurants in major cities, were offering lobster as a premium dinner and charging a premium price. A way to flaunt your affluence was to eat several lobsters during a meal. This new attitude toward the crustacean forged a massive industry, and financiers responded by building dozens of canneries and employing thousands of workers. By the 1880s lobster reached a harvest of approximately 130 million pounds per year. At this time lobstermen were being paid 10 cents per pound and the meat was being sold for 12 cents per pound. Imagine that!? The rest, as they say, is history.

Welcome to the second installment of New Bedford Streets: A Piece of Americana. If you missed the inaugural article, please read, as that article sets up the entire series and covers William Street. I’d like to reiterate the importance of reader feedback, correction, and contributions. By all means, let us make this an open discussion.

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In this installment, we will swing 180 degrees and go from being unsure why the street was named, to being positive of its origin. Kempton Street is one of the most trafficked streets in the city, and the Kempton family name is one of that goes back to the very origins of New Bedford and the arrival of the first Europeans in the New World.

The first mention of a Kempton in the historical record is from 1623. The names Manasses/Mannasseh and Ephraim Kempton (though other documents suggest he came later) are mentioned as arriving on the ship Anne, or possibly on the Little James, vessels that were contemporaneous with the Mayflower. Both were born in Berwick-Upon-Tweed, Northumberland, England of parents George Kempton and Mary Jersey.

Mannasses’ soon-to-be wife Juliana (nee Carpenter) Morton, recently widowed, was also aboard the vessel, as was Ephraim’s two-year-old son Ephraim. Ephraim Sr.’s wife Elizabeth nee Wilson had already passed away so father and son made the journey without. A two-year-old surviving the journey across the Atlantic is a minor miracle unto itself, perhaps one could say he was destined to a future in the New World. They were some of the very first inhabitants of Plymouth Bay Colony or New Plymouth.

Mannasses Kempton (1589-1663)
By 1627 Mannasses married Juliana, and while they had no children of their own, Mannasses had five stepchildren to rear. Mannasses shared in the division of cattle, and by 1633 became a Freeman, eventually serving as deputy to the Plymouth General Court.

He was also one of the original proprietors of Old Dartmouth spearheaded by William Bradford. The land purchased in 1652 was from “the west side of Acoughcusse to a river called Accusshaneck and three miles to the eastward of the same, with all islands, meadows, woods, waters, rivers, creeks, and all appurtenances, thereunto belonging…” or in today’s parlance the land on the west side of the Acushnet River, beginning at Clark’s Point and following the County Road to the head of the River. The original group broke up the territories purchased from Wamsutta and Massasoit into 34 shares, and Mannasses Kempton owned one full share.

Ephraim Kempton Sr. & Jr. (1591-1645)
Ephraim Kempton, Sr. a tailor, and his son Ephraim Jr., eventually moved onto land owned by Mannasses in Scituate by 1640. Ephraim Sr. had other children, John who stayed behind in England, Mannaseh and Lettice who did emigrate, and Annis of whom very little is known. There were rumors of other children, most likely daughters, however. there are scant records to confirm this.

Ephraim Jr. married Joanna Rowlins in 1646, and they had six children, two Joannas (one had passed away within a year), Patience, Ephraim III, Mannasseh, and Ruth. After wife Joanna died, Ephraim re-married Sarah Maddox in 1656, and they had two sons Nathaniel and Thomas. Ephraim was a prominent figure in the region and held many positions. He served on the grand jury, was a surveyor, town committee official, constable, and deputy to the general court, before becoming a freeman himself in 1631.

These Kemptons were the very first Kemptons in the New World that our Kempton Street was named after. By the time of the first U.S. Census in 1790 , thirteen Kemptons are named as residents in New Bedford. The census also lists the number of children of these thirteen residents, effectively raising the number to over a hundred. Thus are the humble beginnings of the Kempton Family, that would leave an indelible mark on New Bedford’s history.

Street Name Origins
Kempton Street was originally called Smith Mills Road, a road that led from Westport to New Bedford and passed through a village of the same name, that is now North Dartmouth. It included Rockdale Avenue and Hathaway Road. One of the region’s earliest settlements, the village was the home of many shipowners, had a large general store, two blacksmiths, and stone-grist and sawmills. This is a road that most people in the region travel often, as it is now called the Grand Army Highway or State Road (Route 6).

The mills were powered by the Paskamansett River, which can be seen off of State Road between Rose & Vicki’s and Midas Brake and Muffler. On the site now sits Paskamansett Landing, a small historic park, picnic area, and canoe launch. There are anecdotes that the village was dubbed Smith Mills Village when Elisha Smith (1680 -1766) purchased the property, mill and water rights in 1706. However, I have been unable to corroborate this. I have come across mention that it was named because of the two Blacksmiths that utilized the mill and river to work, or that it was named after any other number of important “Smiths” that lived in the region. The latter is true.

John Smith (1618-1691) was born in England and was apprenticed to an Edward Doty. He attained Freeman status in 1633, built a home and began to acquire land in the area. A tract of land that he purchased from Edward Doty Jr. came to be called Smith’s Neck. His son, Eliashub Smith bought land and “all mill interests” from Abraham Tucker on May 4th, 1707 and from this Smith, was the name Smith Mills adopted.

As the Kempton family grew in prominence and significance, and the villages grew into towns and cities Smith Mills Road became Kempton Street as it crossed into New Bedford and became what it is today.

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Kempton Street Timeline
1769: Thomas Kempton leaves his homestead between what would be Kempton and Hillman Streets to his son Ephraim.
c1775: Ephraim Kempton house is built on the northwest corner of County and Kempton streets, where the Haven Baptist Church is today.
1778: Smith Mills Road officially becomes Kempton Street as it cross the New Bedford and Dartmouth town lines. It is opened for the first time as a “traveled lane” and served and as a division property line for brothers William and Thomas Kempton. William Kempton wills the section between Elm and Kempton streets to three other sons, Benjamin, Manasseh and Ephraim.
1826: In the “Hard Dig” neighborhood a body is discovered by some boys picking huckleberries just west of what was to later become a baseball park. Sgt Wm H Carney Academy‎? When they alerted adults and returned, the body was gone and a mob was formed and began to burn down houses.
1842: Historic Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church is built.
1845: First documented mention of Cannonville Village which is located at the intersection of Kempton Street and Rockdale Avenue, to the east on Kempton St.
1855: Historic Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church is destroyed by fire.
1868: Benjamin Butler is born at the old Ephraim Kempton house.
1898: West End Police Station is erected on the corner of Kempton Street and Cedar Street.
1904: Station 3 is located at the corner of Kempton and Reed Streets.
1907: West End Library opens above the West End Police Station.
1923: St Mary’s Church is founded.
c1925: A building modeled after the Butler Flats Lighthouse is built on the corner of Mill and Kempton and used as a headquarters for Pacific Oil Company for a gas station.
c1928: Table Talk Bakery, based in Worcester opens a facility.
1929: Battery Park, a minor league baseball park is built where Kempton Street runs into Route 6 in front of the old Silverstein’s.
1950: West End Library moves to a building on the southeast corner of Kempton Street and Rockdale Avenue, and later becomes a pharmacy and T-Mobile Store.
1951: United House of Prayer For All People is built and the church organized by Bishop Charles M. Grace.
1953: Angelo’s Orchard Diner opens up on the corner of Kempton Street and Rockdale Avenue.
1960: The St. Ambrose African Orthodox Church on 416 Kempton Street has a wall completely destroyed after a condemned 4 story building that is being torn down by the J.J. England Construction Company accidentally strikes the church. No one is injured.
c1961 Coca-Cola opens a bottling and canning plant and operates it through the 60s.
1970: Race Riots broke out here and over much of the West End. Details go beyond the scope of this article. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) building is erected.
1973: Historic Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church is purchased and demolished by the Redevelopment Authority.
1979: North Bedford Historic District which is roughly bounded by Summer, Park, Pleasant and Kempton Streets is placed on the National Historic Register.
1980: Construction of Routes 195 & Route 18 cause the loss of 122 blocks of houses and businesses. Memorial Square Plaque is erected by the 20th Century Club in memory of African-American men and women who contributed to the civic, cultural, and social life of the community. Corner of Cedar and Kempton.
1985: The St. Mary’s building is transformed into the Eastern Massachusetts Correctional Addiction Center.
1991: Fire Station 3 is disbanded and the building temporarily houses the Bureau of Fire Prevention.
1995: Rescue Company No. 1 is organized as a specialized “Special Hazards” unit and was stationed in Engine 3’s former quarters at the corner of Reed and Kempton Streets.
2000: Buttonwood Park is added to the National Historic Register
2002: Rescue Company No. 1 is disbanded. Today the New Bedford Emergency Management Agency and New Bedford Animal Control use the building.

If you have any corrections, additions, advice or anecdotes to share please comment below or e-mail us at ngbarts@gmail.com.

A neglected piece of nostalgia and Americana is the origin of street names. We give directions, our home address, or mention events that happened on particular streets with no afterthought. However, many street names have deep history and/or interesting stories behind them. How did they come about? Are they randomly assigned names? What exactly is a “Coggeshall”? Purchase Street is called so because that’s where people bought merchandise, right? William Street is named after some famous historical personage named William or is it a last name? Union Street? Is it named after an actual Workers Union or did it come about because of the Civil War?

Each week I hope to shine some light on the origins and history of street names. Some will be dull, others exciting, but all will be a light hearted journey through the history of the region. If you read these installments, learn a bit about local history and historical figures and maybe walk down these streets with a slightly different outlook, our mission will have been accomplished. Many of the streets are named after families that are still extant in the area, and hopefully you come away with a greater appreciation for the last names of friends or even your own family.

Since the history of the area is so vast, I would encourage our readers to share any tidbits of information they may have, even if only anecdotal. Let’s discover and explore together. We could build a local resource that contributes to the community.

William Street
This week we’ll take a journey down William street. Our inaugural street turned out to be an incredibly daunting task. Most street names that are named after a person borrow the surname. In this case, a person’s first name was used. There is an obvious difficulty associated with researching a street named after a person’s first name.

The history of William street goes back before the history of New Bedford as a city or even a town. It also begins, as is often the case with the origins of New Bedford with the Russell, Kempton and Allen families. We’ll get to them in a moment. Let’s set up our series.

New Bedford’s Earliest European Arrival
The first instance of a European setting foot on soil that would eventually be called New Bedford, was an Englishman named Bartholemew Gosnold in May of 1602. Gosnold is known for giving Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard their names. Cape Cod for its abundance of the fish, and Martha’s Vineyard named after his beloved daughter. The spot where Gosnold first landed in the local area is what is called Round Hill in Dartmouth. Eventually he made it to that harbor where New Bedford is today, before heading back to England in June of 1602. However, he had paved the way for the many Europeans to follow that came to the region.

In the early 1600s waves of Pilgrims and Puritans began to arrive and settle in the region. By 1628 John Endecott settled at Salem and began the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1630 John Winthrop brought over 900 people to settle the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and by 1640 more than 20,000 colonists came to New England. Settlers headed into the interior of the continent, and made their way to area that would be New Bedford.

Dartmouth Township; First Families
On March 7th, 1652, the region called by the local Wampanoag tribe “Acushnea, Ponagansett, and Coaksett” was sold to elders of what was called Plymouth Colony. Familiar names like William Bradford, Captain Myles Standish, Thomas Southworth, John Winslow, John Cooke, crop up as part of this group. Wampanoag sachem Massasoit and Wamsutta sold this land to the elders for “thirty yards of cloth, eight moose skins, fifteen axes, fifteen hoes, fifteen pairs of shoes, one iron pot, and ten shillings’ worth of assorted goods.” The land was dubbed Dartmouth and comprised of what would eventually become Westport, Fairhaven, Acushnet, and New Bedford. Settlers arrived in droves and the area of Dartmouth would be incorporated in 1664. Families like the Russells, Kemptons, Hathaway, Howlands, Aldens, and others would begin to make their presence known.

Between 1700-1750 the Russells, Kemptons, and Allens, who owned large parcels of land and cattle would start many businesses and begin to develop the area of Bedford Village. The first areas settled and developed were on the western side of the Acushnet river within what is now downtown, and particularly along what is now called County Street. Joseph Russell gave New Bedford its name after the Duke of Bedford-a relative that was involved in Whaling. As there was already (and still is) a Bedford,

Massachusetts the town was dubbed New Bedford.

The first mention of William Street that I could find went back to 1714 with a description of how the Kempton family and the Russell family would have their estates and properties deeded and bounded. A boundary line that was between Elm and William street split the Kemptons to the North and the Russells to the south. Joseph Russell was born in 1719 and lived at the head of William Street. So by the early 18th century the street has been named already. So which Williams were known in the almost hundred year span from Gosnold to 1714?

William Allen and William Allen
The earliest mention of a William related to the area was the name William Allen, son of George and Katherine. He was born in England in 1629 and departed Weymouth, England with his brother Matthew in 1635. While William Allen himself was not historically associated with Old Dartmouth, his brother Matthew was. It is unlikely, but possible that he named William street after his brother.

There was yet another William Allen, son of Joseph Allen and Sarah Holloway. Joseph Allen was one of the first proprietors of Dartmouth, owning a 1/34th share of the Township. His son William was born in Dartmouth on August, 10 1673.

William Bradford is a famous historical figure with ties to the Dartmouth Township that is familiar to most. He is one of the aforementioned early Dartmouth Proprietors that purchased land in the region in 1652. He is also one of the original Pilgrims that arrived on the Mayflower. His arrival as one of the first Pilgrims, stature, and participation in developing the region make him a good candidate for the naming of William Street.

The next mention of a well-known William is that of King William and King William’s War, which lasted from 1688–1697. King William’s War was the North American theater of the Nine Years War, which was a war between New England and New France, and included the American Indians. We have to recall that at this time in America’s History many settlers were newly arrived from England and still had close ties and loyalty to their sovereign. To name a street, especially one of the original streets would not be that uncommon.

By around the middle of the eighteenth century much of the lands in New Bedford were in the possession of the Russells, to the South, and the Kemptons to the North. We know the boundaries because of confirmatory deeds dated May 25, 1714, that state that the Russells were bounded by a line near Clarke’s Cove on the south, and Kempton by a line near Smith Street; the dividing line was between William and Elm Streets. So there is no doubt by this time that William Street has had its name. The Russells’ land possession included William Street, and there was indeed a William Russell.

The final important William related to the area, is another William Russell. This Russell is responsible for the name of both Bedford and New Bedford and is simply the best candidate for the dubbing of William Street: William Russell, 1st Duke of Bedford. Our Joseph Russell who is responsible for suggesting the name [New] Bedford for the city, suggested the name as a tribute to his own family that had status in England. William Russell, 1st Duke of Bedford was born in 1613 and served as a politician for the majority of his life until his death in 1700 and purportedly had interests in Whaling.

So which “William” is our culprit and responsible for the name William Street? Which is your candidate? Do you have further information that could shine light on the origin? Please e-mail us at nbgarts@gmail.com or comment on this page.

William Street Timeline
1714-Kempton and Allen families have their lands officially deeded and bounded. Boundary is set between Elm and William Streets.
1719-Joseph Russell is born and lives at the head of William Street.
1765-Salisbury, England born and Nantucket whaling merchant, Joseph Rotch buys 10 acres of “New Bedford” land from Joseph Russell III and builds his first home on the west side of Water street just south of William.
1792-1795 William Street is expanded/lengthened.
1792-The first Congregational meetinghouse in New Bedford is built at William and Purchase Streets.
1828-Social Library is located at the Lyceum on 67 William Street.
1829-First Baptist Church is built at 149 William Street
1833-Perry Russell’s prussian-blue works on the corner of William and Sixth street caught fire and burned down. Sixth Street extended from Elm to Middle street.
1834-1836-U.S. Customs House is built on the corner of William and Second streets.
1837-Liberty Hall utilizes the old meeting house of the Unitarian Society at the corner of Purchase and William Street.
1838-City Hall is built where the Free Public Library stands today.
1851-The Congregational and Unitarian Church on the corner of Purchase and William Streets begins to use its bell to warn runaway slaves that U.S. Marshals were coming.
1853-New Bedford Institute for Savings building is erected at the corner of Second and William streets by Russell Warren. Building is currently the New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park.
1863-The corner of William Street and Acushnet Avenue is used to recruit volunteers for the 54th Regiment, which is the first African-American Regiment commissioned in the North.
1877-Citizen’s National Bank is built at 41 William Street. Subsequently becomes the New Bedford Acushnet Cooperative Bank, Haskell’s Bar, the Pequod Lounge, before finally becoming Freestone’s Grill.
1889-The YMCA relocates to 147 William Street.
1893-Liberty Hall is demolished and replaced with the Merchants National Bank.
1897-Lupo’s Restaurant is built on the corner of Acushnet Avenue and William Street.
1906-A fire at the City Hall seated on William Street destroys the building. To continue functioning, City Hall moves across the street to the Free Public Library where it still sits today.
1909-New Bedford High School is built on County Street at the end of William Street.
1910-Former City Hall is finally renovated and opens as the Free Public Library.
1947-Carter’s Clothign and Footwear opens its doors at 55 William Street.
1955-Post Office on Acushnet Avenue and William Street is demolished.
1962-The one ton sea god statue is erected in Tonnessen Park on William Street. It is donated by Ana Hyatt Huntington to serve as a memorial to Whalemen and Fishermen lost at sea.
1971-The New Bedford Institute for Savings Bank at the corner of Second and William streets becomes the Old Third District Courthouse.
1996-The National Historic Park moves into the Old Third District Courthouse on Second and William streets.
2004-Mount Vernon Group razes the Lupo’s Restaurant building site.

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Yesterday I caught up with tattoo shop owner Jeremy Gaudreau, a local businessman that recently opened his shop “Living Canvas” at 1881 Acushnet Avenue in New Bedford. He opened his doors four months ago and business is already booming.

Why open a shop in New Bedford?
There are about a dozen shops in Fall River, one in Acushnet, a bunch in Wareham, and other surrounding areas. New Bedford had one shop when I started the ball rolling and that one wasn’t officially open yet. There was a need for quality tattooing in New Bedford. People were leaving New Bedford and going to other places. Keep it local.

Everyone who comes in just got out of prison or is a biker, right?
Ha! No, our customers are soccer moms, grandmas, young people, old people, politicians, cops, doctors, you name it. There’s still a stigma that it’s criminals, but anyone who believes that is behind the times by about 15 years. Everyone knows someone with one.

I notice you have quite a few discounts and specials advertised. Tell us about them.
We have permanent and temporary ones. We always have a “hero” discount. Police, firemen, military, veteran…you get 25% off. Student? 15% off. If you enter your name and number in the box, once a month I randomly pull one out and that person gets a free portrait.

We have the infamous Harpoon Tattoo. Small, medium and large for $25, $50, and $75. A portion of that gets donated to charity.

I take it portraits are something you enjoy doing?
It’s my specialty. That and realistic images. There’s a bunch in the portfolio and on the Facebook page that people can see.

If I was new to get tattoos, what should I be looking for when I walk into a place? How do I know if the person is not a hack?
Well right away, when you walk in what condition is the place in? Is it a wreck? How clean is the front room? That will be an indicator. Is the artist friendly or act like you’re bothering him or her? Do they have portfolios available? Ask them where they apprenticed. Do they have artwork?

Do you mean tattoo artwork or art in general?
Yeah, regular art. The person should also be an artist….painting, drawing, sculpture, anything. You know they are practicing all the time and love doing it. The tattoo artist should be an artist first.

What kind of safety procedures do you have?
Well you have to be certified in CPR, bloodborne pathogens, skin physiology, and more. I have the autoclave and ultrasound machine and throw away EVERY needle. Single use only.

I see that you offer more than tattoos. Some clothing, jewelry….
We have a few brands of clothing made locally. Shirts, stocking hats, hoodies, etc. “Victim”, “Jubei” and “Brawlers, Inc.” Adam Wood from right down the road here hand crafts metal rings, bracelets, earrings, and necklaces. I also personally hand make my tattoo machines and we offer them too.

So how’s business? How has New Bedford been treating you?
Good, man. We just opened and I’m booked on average three weeks out and it’s growing. Of course, people cancel so depending on the size of the artwork, I do walk-ins so stop by.

What’s the best part of the job?
Besides not having a boss breathing down my neck, I love meeting all the interesting people. It’s a treat to hang out with the interesting characters and do something I love to do.

Where do you see “Living Canvas” in the next few years?
I’d like to add another artist and I’m working with the city to develop a piercing policy. As soon as the city works it out, I’ll be offering piercing. I’d like to make New Bedford known for quality tattooing. I already have people coming from Connecticut, Rhode Island, and even one girl flying in from Kansas to get a portrait in a few weeks. [Customer walks in.]

Oop. Gotta go!

Thanks for the interview Jeremy!
Anytime!

Living Canvas’ hours are from 11-10 Monday through Saturday. Gift certificates are available. Walk-ins can’t be guaranteed, so appointments are suggested. A $40 non-refundable deposit is required and 24 hour notice to re-schedule. Tattoos that take 30-60 minutes run from $50-$100, pricing for bigger art is posted. Portraits are a $350 flat rate. If you want to see satisfied customers, more artwork, and the clothing and jewelry, click like on his Facebook page: Living Canvas Tattoo

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The 44th Whaling City Festival is coming to the Veteran’s Memorial Buttonwood Park in New Bedford’s west end from July 13-15th, bringing the ever familiar musical acts, festival foods, local vendors, merchant booths, amusement rides and more that people have come to love. The new Whaling City Festival president Allen Richard plans on shaking things up by adding many new elements to the usual ones people love and come to expect. If you thought it was the same old festival, think again.

Mr. Richard, who took the reins as president this year, is focusing on sending a signal that the Whaling City Festival has changed and is continuing to change for the better. His eye is on improving every facet of the festival with each coming year. Festival hours are still from 9 am to 8 pm Friday through Sunday. Mr. Richard is hoping to extend those hours in the future to allow the estimated 125,000 people that pass through the festival each year to continue to enjoy themselves after 8 pm.

Richard who has been involved with the festival since 1988, has grown through the ranks because of his love and passion for the city’s historic festival. “I started getting involved in 1988 picking up trash as a volunteer and now as President…I’m still picking up trash,” he told us over coffee at Cafe Arpeggio.

Richard is ambitious, creative, and has a blue collar work ethic when it comes to managing and organizing the festival. However, he is struggling to overcome some negativity that has cropped up in the past. An incident in 2006 in which a brawl broke out and 23 arrests were made, and a problem with a small minority of vendors hawking counterfeit items has presented a few problems for the festival organizers. “Identifying counterfeits is hard. If you have some experience and expertise with them it’s easier to spot. But I’m learning.” Richard stated. “I have no tolerance for it. I’m keeping a sharp eye out and doing everything in my power to crack down on it.”

As for the brawl in 2006 Richard Richard said, “the police chief at the time said that the brawl is responsible for the 8pm curfew, and that by closing before nightfall the festival will be safer. But the brawl happened between 6 pm and 7 pm. At the Businessmen’s Festival a few years ago [2008] a person was shot, and they are open until 10 pm. The Portuguese Feast has a bunch of people placed into protective custody each and every year, and their curfew is 11:45 pm.”

“The truth is that the Whaling City Festival is a safe, fun family focused event and we’ve proven that year after year. Before the brawl in 2006 there were no issues and 6 years later we’ve had no incidences. We’re not asking for special treatment, just for a fair shake.”

Being restricted to an 8 pm curfew has harmed revenue and scared away some potential vendors who don’t want to lose the extra sales which would make it worth the trip. Out-of-state vendors have stated that with gas prices the way they are, they don’t want to make the drive when they are losing 2 hours of potential revenue each night. These 2 extra hours can make the difference in a vendor’s profit or loss.

Richard feels that this restriction is partially responsible for vendor participation dropping from 250 tables in 2006, to 140 last year. Sponsorships have dropped as well, resulting in what was an annual $5,000 donated to citywide scholarships to now nothing at all. The drop in revenue has also restricted the entertainment, amusements, and acts that Richard has been able to recruit preventing him from putting on the highest quality festival possible. For example, the very popular laser light show, bigger name musical acts, and some children’s activities.

In spite of these obstacles Richard is optimistic and plans on proving to the city each and every year by having an incidence free and successful event.

Being able to remain open until 10 pm as other festivals throughout the city are allowed to do will encourage vendors to participate. This in turn will drive up sponsorship and allow Richard to give back to the city with scholarships as well as continue to add new amusements.

“Some of new ideas I’m working on and hoping to recruit are the Soccer Collies-dogs who play soccer against a team of kids, Arm Wrestling, a BMX stunt show, an Illusionist, and the addition of a Foodfest that highlights New Bedford. We’re thinking of highlighting the Portuguese community, food, and culture by having a Cacoila Fest and having a challenge attached to it. We would charge around $5 and donate some or all of the proceeds to the ailing K-9 program for the New Bedford Police. It would be a way of saying thanks for all the work, time and energy the NBPD has given us year after year. But to add these things and keep making the festival better, I need vendors and sponsors. To get them I need a later time slot.”

Of course, as always the expected crowd favorites will be present like Finelli Amusements, the Dance Extravaganza, Car and Motorcycle Show, Face Painting, Top Pro Wrestling, Live Music, and vendors selling crafts and goods. Popular food items like the Blooming Onion, Turkey Legs, Amaral’s Linguica, Greek Delight, Gyros, and Shish Kebab will of course whet everyone’s appetite.

Each year the Whaling City Festival has a crew of 20-30 volunteers from the ages of 12-90 who help with information, traffic, directions, setting up, breaking down, picking up trash, manning the gates, drink service, and more. It’s a ton of fun, and at the end of the festivities Richard treats all of the volunteers to a great meal at his expense.

As with every year FREE shuttle service will run from New Bedford High School to the festival grounds.

In an attempt to help promote the festival, presidency, recruit vendors, sponsors, and volunteers Richard runs a website and an accompanying Facebook Page. The website will be updated in the coming weeks with the schedule, itinerary, and info.

If you are a potential vendor, or sponsor and interested in participating in this year’s Whaling City Festival, you can apply here: http://www.whalingcityfestival.net/applications.html

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer or are a musical act looking to participate in this year’s festival you can contact Allen Richard at: ARichard@WhalingCityFestival.net.

UFC 145 MAIN CARD
205#: Jon Jones (15-1) vs. Rashad Evans (22-1) wins by Unanimous Decision!
170#: Rory MacDonald (12-1) vs. Che Mills (14-4 1NC) wins by TKO in RD2!
265#: Brendan Schaub (9-2) vs. Ben Rothwell (31-8) wins by KO in RD1!
145#: Mark Hominick (20-1) vs. Eddie Yagin (15-5-1) wins by Split Decision!
155#: John Alessio (34-15) vs. Mark Bocek (10-4) wins by Unanimous Decision!

PRELIMINARY BOUTS
135#: Miguel Torres (39-4) vs. Michael McDonald (14-1) wins by TKO in RD1!
265#: Travis Browne (12-0-1) vs. Chad Griggs (11-1) wins by Arm Triangle Choke in RD1!
170#: Stephen Thompson (6-0) vs. Matt Brown (15-11) wins by Unanimous Decision!
155#: Anthony Njokuani (15-6) vs. John Makdessi (9-1) wins by Unanimous Decision!
155#: Mac Danzig (21-9-1) vs. Efrain Escudero (19-4) wins by Unanimous Decision!
170#: Keith Wisniewski (28-12-1) vs. Chris Clements (10-4) wins by Split Decision!
145#: Maximo Blanco (8-4) vs. Marcus Brimage (5-1) wins by Split Decision!

Ultimate Fighting Championship 145 takes place Saturday April 21st, at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. The first three preliminary bouts will be broadcast free on the UFC Facebook page. The remainder of the preliminary bouts will then be broadcast on FX at 8 PM EST, before going live to Pay-Per-View starting at 10 PM EST. In addition, the weigh-ins will take place on Friday, April 20th, and broadcast live on FUEL TV at 7 PM EST.

Jon Jones vs Rashad Evans: UFC LHW Championship Bout
Jon Jones who opened up as a betting favorite (-475/+375) over Rashad Evans is looking to continue is Light Heavyweight reign and do so in spectacular fashion over his old training partner and friend. Some bad blood has boiled up between the two and things are already heated a month out from the event. Greg Jackson who has coached both fighters has stated he will corner Jones in this fight, further fueling the fire between the two.

Jones became the youngest UFC champion in the event’s history with a win over Mauricio Rua at UFC 128 at 23-years old. He has a staggering 87% finish rate, and has finished his last 7 fights. His physical frame (6’4″ 205lbs) combined with his athleticism, natural talent, and wrestling background have turned him into one of the best fighters the sport has ever seen. So far he has proven to be  a special fighter that is so much better than anyone he has competed against thus far. He has yet to be threatened (or be in any sort of danger) and no one has been able to give him a competitive round. Last year alone he finished top fighters Ryan Bader, Mauricio Rua, Quinton Jackson, and Lyoto Machida. Will the bad blood with Rashad cause him to lose composure, get emotionally involved and make a mistake or further motivate him to do what he does best: finish people?

Former UFC Light Heavyweight champion and #2 ranked Rashad Evans has the experience, confidence, and ability to turn this fight into an upset. Having been a former training partner he has experience and insight into Jones that none of his previous opponents have had. Rashad has proven his wrestling prowess and KO power throughout his UFC career with impressive wins over Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin, Rampage Jackson and Tito Ortiz. His critics point to his KO loss to Lyoto Machida back in 2009 at UFC 98 and the final round in his bout with Rampage Jackson at UFC 114 where he was hurt by a punch as the biggest kink in his armor: the ability to take a punch. Whether true or not, being the finisher that he is, Jones will surely try to make every attempt to hit Evans on the chin.

For Jones to win the fight he needs to simply maintain his composure and do what he does normally. For Evans to win, he needs to outwork Jones, take him down and grind out a decision. I think the most important deciding factors in this fight will come down to Jones ability to not be ruffled by Evans before and during the fight and whether Evans can or can not take Jones down.

Rory MacDonald vs Che Mills
Canadian and former King Of The Cage champion, Rory MacDonald is considered by many to be the heir to Georges St. Pierre. Though only 23-years old he has demonstrated an ability beyond his relative inexperience with the sport. A high level of athleticism combined with natural innate ability, he has become a fan favorite by only having one of his 13 fights go to a decision. A 92% finish rate is spread out between 5 KO/TKOs and 6 submission wins. After losing by TKO in an exciting back and forth battle with current interim Welterweight champ Carlos Condit, he got back to is winning ways by winning a decision over Nate Diaz and TKOing veteran Mike Pyle. His lack of fear, aggression, fast pace and well-roundedness make him a serious threat to any welterweight.

Standing in his way and looking to form a similar reputation is Englishman Che Mills. With 7 KO/TKOs and 4 submissions he have the same well-roundedness and threat that MacDonald has. Mills has punctuated a 5 fight win streak with a 40 second destruction of Chris Cope in his UFC debut at UFC 138 in November. Mills seems to excel at striking which is what the UK’s MMA fighters are known most for. Having lost 3 bouts by submission, he will want to avoid the ground and keep the fight standing to maximize his chances to win.

Brendan Schaub vs Ben Rothwell
Brendan Schaub is 4-2 in the UFC. After getting KOed by Roy Nelson in his debut he put together four solid wins in a row, including wins over Gabriel Gonzaga and MMA legend Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic. In his last fight at UFC 134 in August, he faced Antonio Noguiera and was KOed. In a cut happy era he’ll want to show that his chin is not suspect and that he can face and beat top opponents. The pressure will be on for him to perform and perform well. He has heavy power in his hands and is athletic. He will need to really tap into these to beat “Big” Ben Rothwell.

Rothwell, the former IFL Heavyweight champion at one point built a 13 fight win streak and was undefeated in the IFL. Since coming to the UFC he has gone 1-2, being TKOed by former champion Cain Velasquez and losing a decision to the revitalized Mark Hunt. Rothwell is a salty veteran, with a ton of grit, a huge heart, and a workhorse ethic. This fight is an intriguing match-up style-wise and has the potential to be the sleeper of the night. Schaub needs to connect with his big power often and put together power combinations to win and Rothwell, needs to grind Schaub against the cage or get top position on the ground.

Mark Hominick vs Eddie Yagin
Canadian Mark Hominick is never in a boring fight. The world class striker has a slew of wins over some excellent fighters including Yves Edwards, Jorge Gurgel, George Roop and Leonard Garcia, but seems to suffer from the curse of winning the big fights that matter. He has lost steps up in competition to Hatsu Hioki, Josh Grispi, Jose Aldo, and the Korean Zombie Chan Sung Jung. In his fight against current champion Jose Aldo, he showed why he is one of the top guys in the weight class by being highly competitive, winning Fight of the Night honors and in some people’s minds even winning. Against the Korean Zombie he got caught cold and was KOed in 7 seconds. I expect him to be highly motivated and he will have every plan to make a huge statement against Yagin.

The well rounded Eddie Yagin lost a decision to Junior Assuncao in his debut at UFC 135. What will make this fight so interesting is that both fighters are coming off of losses and will come out blazing. The relative unknown Yagin knows that his name is not big enough to withstand 2 losses in a row in the UFC. Knowing his career is on the line he will fight appropriately. Look for this fight to be a candidate for Fight of the Night honors.

Matt Wiman vs Mark Bocek
My pick for winner of Fight of the Night goes to Matt Wiman and Mark Bocek. Stylistically this fight has fun, busy, and exciting written all over it. There is a reason “Handsome” Matt Wiman has 12 fights (8-4) in the UFC: he’s just fun to watch. Never a dull moment, Wiman is like a buzzsaw on jet fuel. He just fights every second of every round at 100%. Trying to KO you, take you down, or submit you. His relentless style always translates into an exciting fight and it’s garnered him 4 Fight of the Night honors.

Yet another Canadian on the card, Mark Bocek has 10 fights in the UFC (6-4) and has displayed some frighteningly high level submission skills. Mark does have a habit of allowing his ego to get the best of him and will stand up and box even if he takes a lot of damage. The best thing that can happen in this fight is that after some exchanges on the feet the two begin to put on a grappling clinic that turns into a war. With two of the best grapplers in the division, it would be a real trophy for either one to submit the other.

Come back for the results, updates and animated gifs. What are your picks for Jones vs Evans? The main card bouts? Who wins the bonuses?

The Maya calendar comes to an end on December 21, 2012 and according to the ancient Maya the world is supposed to come to a cataclysmic end, right?

Wrong.

There isn’t a single document, script, writ, sculpture or mention by a single ancient Maya that states this. This is a cold, hard, fact. It’s not up for debate. If anyone says otherwise, they simply need to refer to the document by name. No one has done it and no one will, because it simply doesn’t exist. It’s a modern invention driven by a market that profits from fear-mongering and sensationalism. It sells books and magazines, makes millions at the box office, and gets people to read news articles.

So what is going on? Where did all this end of the world talk come from? Who started it? Doesn’t the Maya calendar come to an end on December 21, 2012 like we all heard? How can millions of people be wrong? Everyone is discussing it. What exactly did the Maya say about this particular date? Who were the Maya anyway? Read on.

The Maya; Pre-Colombian Mesoamerican Giants
The Maya are a pre-Colombian, Mesoamerican people originating from what is today southern Mexico, and parts of Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador. It’s not exactly known when the Maya made their first appearance. According to the Popol Vuh, which is their written account of creation, three “worlds” or cycles have already passed and we are in the fourth which began on August 11, 3114 BCE. Each cycle lasts 5,125 years. By their account, that would place their origin some 20,000 years ago. Modern scholars have a more conservative opinion and place their origins at approximately 2,000 BCE, possibly a bit earlier.

The Maya as a major civilization lasted until their conquest with the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century, where their numbers dwindled but did not disappear. There are still ancestors of the Maya living today, and as a matter of fact, there is a rather large population of Maya from Guatemala in New Bedford.

While there were Paleo-Indians, various peoples and minor settlements in the region as far back as 10,000 BCE, the Maya were one of the first major civilizations, if not the first. Meso-American history is characterized by cultural diffusion and many of the firsts in the Americas. It’s difficult to concretely pinpoint which civilizations were responsible for some of these firsts such as writing and urban planning, but it is generally agreed that they can be attributed to the Olmec, Maya, and Zapotec. The Olmec are important to the story of the Maya because they likely inherited from them the basic calendar that the modern world is currently discussing in books, the news media, and internet. Who came first and who is responsible for the firsts, is not a topic that falls within the scope of this article.

While the early dates mentioned above only approximate when these cultures made their appearance, they don’t reflect the dates when they became true major civilizations with city-states, astronomy, engineering, urban planning, writing, commerce, architecture, etc. These came much later. For the Maya in particular the period that reflects these major developments coincides with their Classic period that begins circa 250 ACE, although their writing began a few centuries earlier around 250 BCE.

Maya Writing and Documents
While the Maya script or writing system may or may not be the first example of writing in the Americas, it is the only example of a system that represents the spoken language of the community. Along with being the most complete, developed and complex writing system of Pre-Colombian America, it is the one system that has been deciphered the most with at least 10,000 texts on stelae, monuments, pottery, stucco, tombs and even paper made from bark called huun-paper. This has lead to a greater understanding of their culture in comparison to their contemporaries. The system of writing was in use to at least the arrival of the conquistadors, when it began to wither until it’s re-discovery and decipherment by scholars in the 19th and 20th century. It is currently undergoing a sort of revival in some parts of Mexico with Maya peoples and support from the government.

In appearance, the script resembles small images or pictures, similar in fashion to Egyptian hieroglyphs, but unrelated and certainly different. The writing is made up of logo-grams complimented with syllabic glyphs. In the simplest of possible terms, this means that each glyph can be either a syllable, a word or even a few different words. It’s a similar structure to that of the Japanese language with it’s Kanji characters complemented with the Hiragana and Katakana syllabary. A number of languages utilized this script, just as German, Spanish, English, and many other cultures currently use the Latin or Roman alphabet.

Maya Calendar; Origins
As mentioned before, pre-Colombian Mesoamerica is characterized by cultural diffusion. The Maya calendar is based on a system that many Pre-Colombian cultures were using by the 5th century BCE. The Maya took the existing calendar and refined and improved upon it. The sheer amount of script that has been found and deciphered greatly contributed to the understanding of the Maya calendar in particular in comparison to others. The Maya calendar is incredibly complex and a full volume would be needed just to touch upon basic elements of it. For the purposes of this article we will discuss only the pertinent elements and for the sake of practicality will simplify our discussion, even at the risk of upsetting Mayanist scholars.

By the time the Maya were using the extant version of the calendar, it was made up of two basic cycles, a 260-day count called a tzolk’in and the more familiar 365-day count called a haab. The tzolk’in, which is still in use by the Maya today was not an astronomically based calender, but a ritual calendar and is the most important and oldest. It was used to determine when to harvest maize, set auspicious days to have marriages, build homes, determine names, initiation ceremonies and other rituals.

The haab was the same length as our solar-based year but divided differently. Since a “true” tropical or solar year is 365.25 days long this .25 day presents a problem for any civilization that utilizes a calendar and wants to maintain synchronicity. Our current calendar is made up of twelve 28, 30 or 31 day periods that total 365 days, so in essence we ignore that .25 of a day each year. After 4 years we have “lost” a day, so we solve this problem by adding that day back in every fourth year, called a leap year.

The Maya approached this problem by, well…”ignoring” it in a way. The 360 day period called a tun was capped with a 5 day period called wayeb’ to total 365 days. Essentially “losing” a full day every four years just as happens in our modern calendar. However, there was a genius and a larger purpose behind this. It meant every season, year or event started on a different day giving an altogether new auspicious meaning to each passing event and year as a whole. Somewhat similar in meaning to how the Chinese will have a year of the Dragon, Dog or Snake. Because these events “wandered” through the calendar, this is called a wandering year.

The tun or basic year had 18 “months” called a winal that were 20 days long. There were smaller divisions, such as 13 and 20 days, and many larger counts, such as the Ka’tun which was twenty 360 day periods, and the Calendar Round which is approximately 52 years long. Next is the Baktun, which is integral to this article, and is approximately 394 years long, the Pictun which is 7,885 years long, and the Kalabtun which is 157,808 years long. There’s even more. We then have the K’inchiltun which is 3,156,164 years long and finally the Alautun which is over 63 Million years long!

Cycles within Cycles
What should be immediately apparent is that an Alautun is made up of many K’inchiltun, and many more Kalabtun, and so on. There are cycles within cycles. If the Maya calendar’s third world began in 3114 BCE and ended according to the Doomsday theory in December 2012, we have a period of slightly more than 5,000 years. Not even one Pictun! It is a period of 13 Baktuns, and that alone demonstrates that after each Baktun concludes, not ends, a new one begins. Since the calendar has counts in the tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands and millions of years, it’s obvious that the Maya calendar is far longer than 5,000 years long. This standing on its own is a death knell to the doomsday theory.

Just like we use years, decades, centuries, and millennia the Maya used their own system of cycles. To imply that a calendar ends after the completion of a decade, century or millennium would garner a laugh and is absurd on the face of it. They simply conclude and begin anew. The exact same can be said about the Maya calendar. To imply that the world would come to an end because a calendrical event like a Baktun concludes and is starting over is just as absurd. The Maya calendar keeps on counting and December 21st, 2012 is simply the beginning of the 13th Baktun. Altogether this 13 Baktun period has been dubbed ‘The Long Count.’

Maya References to the ‘Long Count’; The Tortuguero Monument
Is the conclusion of a Baktun in general or the ‘Long Count’ of 13 Baktuns specifically of special significance to the Maya? What do they say about this specific date? Do they mention any dates after this one?

In 1915 in Tabasco, Mexico an archaeological site called Tortuguero was discovered and unearthed. This Mayan site had a number of inscribed monuments on it dating to the 7th century. It is one of these monuments, Tortuguero Monument 6 that mentions the 13th baktun. This is the sole mention of the 13th baktun in the entire archaeological record. Yes, all the modern day madness culminates from this one sole inscription. Here it is in all it’s glory:

The 13th baktun will be finished.
On 4 Ajaw the third of Uniiw ? will occur.
It is the display of B’olon-Yokte’
in a great investiture

What we can garner from this short passage is that when the 13th baktun comes to an end, something will occur that is related to Bolon Yokte in a great investiture. Bolon Yokte [Kuh] is a deity that is closely associated with conflict, war, and the Underworld. He is often mentioned in creation myths of the Maya. He is a very powerful deity and important events are attached to his presence. An investiture is a formal ceremony where a title and authority is conferred.

For starters, the passage is woefully incomplete. While this has left room for anyone to interpret the passage to coincide with their agenda or theory, any healthy, balanced perspective would take into account its incomplete nature and therefore suspend a conclusion. Especially one as hugely significant as the end of the planet and/or humankind or some variation thereof. Of course, a rough interpretation can and should be made, but it should be made by those with a background, experience, and deep knowledge of Maya script, culture, and mythos. The consensus among the experts is that a doomsday theory is neither suggested or implied and it simply doesn’t exist among educated opinions.

Mayan Astronomy
Another advancement the Maya are well known for is astronomy. They had a highly advanced system and knowledge of astronomical events and interwove it with their mythos and in more practical matters like city planning and agriculture. The astronomical event that is tied in with the 13th baktun and Bolon Yukte is that the winter solstice sun rises in conjunction with our galactic center. Nowhere is a mention of earthquakes, comets, meteors, asteroids, destruction, or catastrophe. It’s neither implied nor suggested. It is a Eurocentric and western view that the Underworld is attached with evil, bad, catastrophes, etc. What has happened is New Agers came to the conclusion that since a deity that is associated with the Underworld would be present at the end of an era, it must mean we’re all going to die! Silly, childish, immature, and certainly a very uneducated conclusion to the passage on Tortuguero Monument 6. However, it DOES sell books, DVDs, and generate revenue. Hence, it’s presence in popular culture.

End of the World Prophecies through History
Armageddons and end of the world prophecies are nothing new. Hundreds have come and gone. On James Randi’s website alone he names 44 end of the world prophecies through time. My personal favorite in modern time was the 05/05/05 prophecy. May 5th, 2005 was the date 5 planets in our solar system would align. The gravitational pull would rip our planet to shreds. Books and DVDs filled the bookstores. Documentaries were made. Some of the books were well-written by very intelligent people, backed with seemingly sound science. Of course, 05/05/05 came and went like any other day. The point is that the western world is infatuated and deeply in love with end of the world prophecies. The media is infatuated and deeply in love with sensationalism that generates revenue. The perfect formula for a doomsday prophecy that enters pop culture and becomes mainstream.

As mentioned earlier, the Maya still exist today. Many, if not most are unfamiliar with the prophecy, even though aware of Tortuguero monument 6. Those who are aware of the prophecy, find it absurd and laughable at best, and western and/or Euro-centric arrogance at worst.

So you can stop collecting canned goods and building that underground bunker!

UFC 143 MAIN CARD
170#: Nick Diaz (26-7, 1 NC) vs. Carlos Condit (27-5) wins by Unanimous Decision!
265#: Roy Nelson (16-6) vs. Fabricio Werdum (14-5-1) wins by Unanimous Decision!
170#: Josh Koscheck (16-5) vs Mike Pierce (13-4) wins by Unanimous Decision!
135#: Renan Pegado (27-1, 1 NC) vs. Scott Jorgensen (13-4) wins by Unanimous Decision!
185#: Ed Herman (19-7) vs. Clifford Starks (8-0) wins by Rear Naked Choke in RD2!

PRELIMINARY BOUTS
145#: Dustin Poirier (11-1) vs. Max Holloway (4-0) wins by Armbar in RD1!
135#: Alex Caceres (6-4) vs. Edwin Figueroa (8-1) wins by Split Decision!
170#: Matt Brown (12-11) vs. Chris Cope (5-2) wins by TKO in RD2!
170#: Matt Riddle (5-3) vs. Henry Martinez (8-1) wins by Split Decision!
185#: Rafael Natal (13-3-1) vs. Michael Kuiper (11-0) wins by Unanimous Decision!
170#: Dan Stittgen (7-1) vs. Stephen Thompson (5-0) wins by KO in RD1!

Ultimate Fighting Championship 143 takes place Saturday February 4th, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The first two preliminary bouts will be broadcast free on the UFC Facebook page at 7 PM Eastern. The remainder of the preliminary bouts will then be broadcast on FX channel at 8 PM Eastern, before going live to Pay-Per-View begins at 10 PM Eastern. In addition, the weigh-ins will take place on Friday, February 3rd, and broadcast live on FUEL TV at 7 PM Eastern.

Carlos Condit vs. Nick Diaz
Current Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre has been sidelined with a torn ACL and subsequent surgery, canceling his scheduled bout with Carlos Condit. Nick Diaz has stepped in to fight Condit and replace GSP with an interim Championship title bout, which many fans find a far more exciting match-up. Carlos Condit was the Welterweight champion in the now defunct World Extreme Cagefighting organization, before making the move to the UFC.

Both fighters are the archetypal fighter; hard nosed, aggressive risk takers. Diaz is known for his intensity, pressure, fast pace, and aggression. While he is a Cesar Gracie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt and dangerous submission expert, these past few years he has been showcasing his striking ability developed from sparring such professional Boxers as Andre Ward. On an 11- fight win streak, with eight Submission victories and thirteen Technical Knock Outs (TKO), Diaz has shown himself to be one of the most dangerous Welterweights in the world. Diaz has fought for the UFC before, but after a few losses made a move to other smaller organizations in America and Japan.

After seemingly re-inventing himself and making vast improvements, Diaz started to come back into the picture in the Strikeforce organization. He strung together impressive victories over top opponents Frank Shamrock, Hayato Sakurai, K.J. Noons, Cyborg Santos, and Paul Daley, finishing all except Noons. This grabbed the attention of UFC President Dana White and Diaz was brought into the fold where he fought MMA pioneer and legend BJ Penn in October, blodding, bruising and battering Penn en route to winning a Unanimous Decision.

Carlos Condit who is equally as dangerous as Diaz, has only had one of his 27 wins go to a decision. With thirteen wins by submission, and thirteen by TKO his well-roundedness and dangerousness is apparent. Condit has gone 5-1 in the UFC since making the transition from the WEC. His sole loss was in his inaugural bout in the UFC and he dropped a very close split decision to Martin Kampmann which many attribute to “Octagon” nerves. The Jackson Mixed Martial Arts fighter then went on to win his next four bouts earning him a title shot against GSP. The difference between the two fighters is Condit is a bit more technical, composed and calculated and Diaz is willing to take as much punishment necessary and tries to overwhelm you with a volume of punches, aggression and pace. I don’t think there is any way possible for these two styles to produce anything other than a fight filled with fireworks.

Roy Nelson vs Fabricio Werdum
“Big Country” Roy Nelson will be welcoming Brazilian Fabricio Werdum back to the UFC. While Nelson may be the poster boy for a Pillsbury Dough Boy commercial, looks can be deceiving. The candid Nelson in spite of his appearance, has dynamite in his right hand, a BJJ black belt, and a lot of experience against top fighters. He also demonstrated a granite chin and taking some of the best punches from current Heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos. Nelson came to the UFC in 2009 and beat Stefan Struve and Brendan Straub by TKO before losing a decision to Dos Santos. Immediately following that bout he fought a tough fight with Frank Mir and things began to look bleak for him. A sort of redemption came by way of TKO’ing MMA legend and Croatian native Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic. Cro Cop is far past his prime, so it remains to be seen where Nelson really stands in the division. Many feel he is obese and can lose fat to go down to the Light Heavyweight division and leave a larger mark.

Decorated BJJ’er and highly experience Fabricio Werdum has had an on again and off again career in MMA. Just when he begins to gain momentum stringing together wins, he loses. To be fair, Werdum has always fought top opponents, so his 14-5-1 record isn’t an indicator of how dangerous he really is. While known to be dangerous with submissions as demonstrated in his submission wins over Alistair Overeem (Kimura), Aleksander Emelianenko (Arm Triangle), Fedor Emelianenko (Triangle Choke), and Mike Kyle (Guillotine Choke), he showed a much improved striking ability even in losing against K-1 (Kickboxing) Champion and veteran Alistair Overeem. Werdum will be looking to do what he does best and catch Nelson in a submission, but need to set up any attempts to take it to the ground with striking.

Josh Koscheck vs Mike Pierce
Four time D1 All-American Josh Koscheck has fought for the UFC organization a record 19 times, which is his entire career except his first two fights. With 5 submission wins and 5 TKO wins, earning 2 submission of the night and one Knockout of the Night awards, Josh has shown he is much more than one of the most decorated wrestlers in MMA. Josh made an attempt to take the  championship belt from GSP in December of 2011, but was battered from one end of the octagon to the other, dropping a unanimous decision. Since then he only fought once last year and that was against ex-Champion and MMA legend Matt Hughes, whom he KO’d in the first round. He’d love to climb his way back into contention, but has UFC veteran Mike Pierce ready to spoil it.

Pierce who wrestled for Portland State University, fights out of Oregon’s Team Quest camp. He has had seven bouts in the UFC, running a 5-2 record. His most recent performance was a split decision victory over Paul Bradley at UFC on Fox 1 in September. Since Pierce has come to the UFC he has shown a style of grinding and working his way to a decision. He will have his work cut out for him, fighting Koscheck who has far more experience fighting top fighters, is a much better wrestler, and is always setting a very busy pace.

Renan “Barao” Pegado vs Scott Jorgensen
Brazilian Renan Barao is an incredibly dangerous fighter who combines lethal striking with lightning fast submissions. He in essence, kicks and punches you so much that you want to take it to the ground to get relief, but he has a submission waiting for you. After losing his MMA debut in 2005, Pegado then went on to create perhaps the longest win streak in the sport: 26 wins in a row. Of course, the majority of these wins were club fights in Brazil, he has been able to continue his streak in the WEC and the UFC. After an impressive win over Brit Brad Pickett by Rear Naked Choke, he earned himself a top opponent and got one in veteran Scott Jorgensen.

Jorgensen is a 3x Pac-10 wrestling champion and “salty dog” with fights against some of the biggest names in the sport. After running a 7-3 record in the WEC, he made the transition to the UFC winning both his bouts against Ken Stone and Jeff Curran. Besides his pedigree wrestling Jorgensen brings a decent submission game and with 2 TKO wins has demonstrated that he is somewhat of a threat standing. He will need to pull all his experience and tools together and execute a flawless gameplan to disrupt Pedago’s meteoric rise.

Ed Herman vs Clifford Starks
Team Quest and UFC Veteran Ed Herman is a submission specialist with a 6-5 record in the UFC. His biggest wins are over Joe Doerkson, Tim Creduer, and most recently against Kyle Noke. Herman is always exciting to watch, as he lets it all hang out in the ring as evidenced by his 2 submission of the night and KO of the night awards. However, he seems to lose the fights that he must win, and has lost each time he has tried to move up in ranks losing against Demian Maia, Kendall Grove, Alan Belcher, and Aaron Simpson.

His opponent Arizona Combat Sport’s fighter Clifford Starks is undefeated and won his UFC debut by decision against Dustin Jacoby at UFC 137 last October. With half of his bouts being won by decision, criticism is building that he is a grinder and not a finisher. He’ll have some pressure to make a statement and finish this fight.

My picks for fight of the night has to go to Diaz vs Condit, with the possibility of Koscheck vs Pierce stealing it. Werdum or Barao have the best chances to snag Submission of the Night, and Barao or believe it or not Nelson stealing KO of the night. Come back for the results, updates and animated gifs. What are your picks for Condit vs Diaz? The main card bouts? Who wins the bonuses?