Honored by Massachusetts State Legislation

March 5, 2010

A note from Gary Vaillancourt:

Judi and I are honored that Rep Callahan has chose to honor Vaillancourt Folk Art with this legislation. Jennifer has always done what she can to assist local business and she has been a great advocate for Vaillancourt and our American Employees. While to some it may come across as a meaningless award, the reality is that this designation would go a long way in assisting our company to survive and grow in this marketplace. It is nice to know that a state Representative cares enough about her constituents to pursue such legislation.

Reluctant honor looms for folk art shop

Friday, March 5, 2010 — By Donna Boynton TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

A grouping of holiday chalkware at Vaillancourt Folk Art. (T&G Staff File Photo/MARK C. IDE)

SUTTON — In the billion-dollar industry that is Christmas, Vaillancourt Folk Art is a rarity.

And in Massachusetts, it is one of a kind.

To honor the success of the local small business and for its contributions to cultural tourism in the state, Rep. Jennifer M. Callahan, D-Sutton, has sponsored a bill that would make Vaillancourt Folk Art the official Christmas ornament and collectibles maker of Massachusetts.

“To be honest with you, it’s kind of embarrassing,” said Gary Vaillancourt, who with his wife, Judi, started Vaillancourt Folk Art in 1984. “I feel kind of awkward with all this economic turmoil to have something like this before the state Legislature.”

However, Ms. Callahan said she is proud to recognize the entrepreneurial spirit of a family that has built a small company of international renown that happens to make its home in Massachusetts, in her district.

“Vaillancourt Folk Art is a family business that has been capable of mass producing collectibles being done by a handful of educated, trained artists,” said Ms. Callahan. “And this particular business is done with the notion that these pieces of handmade art will be passed down as a family tradition.”

Vaillancourt Folk Art is one of the few remaining small Christmas ornament and collectible manufacturers in the country, and the only one in Massachusetts, a state once heralded for its manufacturing.

In 1989, there were more than 100 collectible artisans across the country.

In the early 1990s, individual artists started to license their pieces to the larger Christmas ornament companies, such as Dept. 56, and the number of smaller companies started to decline.

Today, there are only two others similar to Vaillancourt, Buyers Choice in Pennsylvania and Lynn Haney Collection in Texas.

“If you look at us, we are a niche; we are a Christmas niche,” Mr. Vaillancourt said. “And there are a few of us remaining.

“If you look at the huge industry, it’s a struggle to compete with the Chinese marketplace. We can’t do it with price, but we do it with quality,” he said.

“We are certainly one of the higher-end marketplaces, and that separates us from the Chinese,.” he said.

Ms. Callahan said the bill being reviewed will have to advance through the legislative process for a vote.

“In this economy it is important to keep this tradition alive, and keep a small business humming,” said Ms. Callahan.

“It is the uniqueness of Vaillancourt Folk Art that speaks to why it should be the official Christmas ornament and collectibles maker.

“This is a good economic action, and is helpful to the commonwealth in advancing cultural tourism,” she said.

A real Dickens: THE ORIGINAL’S GREAT-GREAT-GRANDSON

November 24, 2009

A real Dickens (Full Article)
THE ORIGINAL’S GREAT-GREAT-GRANDSON

By Donna Boynton TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF (Nov 24, 2009)

Gerald Charles Dickens will perform his one-man show of “A Christmas Carol” at Vaillancourt Folk Art. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)

SUTTON — He remembers the first time he heard “A Christmas Carol.” It was Christmas Eve, he was 5 and his father had gathered the children to read the story that included the miser, the trio of holiday ghosts and the ever-hopeful child. He remembers how he was caught up in the magic of the tale.

Now, when Gerald Charles Dickens reads his great-great-grandfather’s classic tale to audiences during the holiday season, he tries to capture that same magic of Christmas.

“What I remember most about it, and what I always try to capture, is the sudden realization that Scrooge hasn’t missed Christmas Day at all,” Mr. Dickens said from his home in England. “It’s absolutely magical — he doesn’t know how long he’s been gone or how far he has traveled, but he wakes to find out he hasn’t missed Christmas.”

Mr. Dickens will perform his one-man show of “A Christmas Carol” Saturday and Sunday at Vaillancourt Folk Art in Manchaug Mills, which has been transformed into Blaxton’s Hall for the event.

Vaillancourt Folk Art is a local Christmas tradition in its own right, and to prepare for the performance, Judy Vaillancourt researched Charles Dickens at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, which is home to the Robert Fellman Dickens Collection, one of the largest in New England.

“We really want him to be proud,” said Mrs. Vaillancourt of the venue her family business is creating for the performance. “We’re in a textile mill, what could be more fitting than that because that is what his great-great-grandfather wrote about.”

And his great-great-grandfather visited Worcester twice in the 1800s.

The first visit was a three-day stay in February 1842, when he celebrated part of his 30th birthday; his second visit came March 23, 1868, when he gave a reading of “A Christmas Carol” in Mechanics Hall, said Joel J. Brattin, professor of humanities and art at WPI and curator of the Robert Fellman Dickens Collection.

And now his great-great-grandson will visit Central Massachusetts, giving a similar reading of the famed tale.

Though not formally trained as an actor, Mr. Dickens has been acting since he was cast in a school play at 9 and has remained active in theater in England.

Mr. Dickens has been offering his one-man performance of the holiday classic since 1993, when he was asked to give a reading to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the tale’s publication.

“At that time, I did the readings in much the same way that Charles Dickens did — standing at a lectern, reading from the book,” said Mr. Dickens. “It grew from just a reading to something that took a life of its own.”

Mr. Dickens first began touring in 1996, giving readings of “A Christmas Carol” in large settings to an audience of 2,000 people, and in small settings to a family of 12 in their home.

It was on one of those tours that what could have been a performer’s worst nightmare, turned into a fortunate mistake that has created Mr. Dickens’ unique performance.

He was scheduled to do two readings in Tennessee, and the time between performances was tight. He raced out of the first venue, traveled several miles to arrive just before his second performance was to begin, only to discover that he had left his copy of “A Christmas Carol” behind.

“There was no time to do anything about it, so I did it from memory,” said Mr. Dickens. “What started as something I did out of sheer necessity, became a one-man show. It was the best thing that ever happened, and it completely changed the show.”

His props are few — a walking cane, a hat stand and a chair. What makes his performance unique is the way he brings voice and life to all 26 characters in the tale. Mr. Dickens said “A Christmas Carol” incorporates so many changes in scenes, that he wants the focus to be on the words, on the characters, and not be distracted by scenery.

“A Christmas Carol” was first published in 1843 and has helped to create a certain perception of Christmas.

“At the time he wrote ‘A Christmas Carol,’ the celebration of Christmas in England was changing,” said Mr. Dickens. “It was the year the first Christmas card was published. Decorating was becoming much bigger, and he was there to capture it — to capture Christmas in the Victorian Era.”

“(Charles Dickens) helped move society away from the old, the days of the Puritans when there was no celebration of Christmas,” said WPI’s Mr. Brattin, noting that Dickens introduced a holiday celebration that includes the hanging of the green, food, drink and family. “You get the sense from the Cratchit Family that Christmas is not all about money or the giving of Nintendos, that there is so much more to it than that … The story has lasted for such a long time because of its own strengths; it is a story of the possibility of change and conversion.”

What Charles Dickens was also able to capture in his tale were the feelings of hope, generosity and frustration that the Christmas season brings.

“There’s a bit of everybody in all of the characters,” said Mr. Dickens, adding there is even a bit of the author in the personalities he created. “He (Charles Dickens) could be mean, miserable and pig-headed as Scrooge, but he could also be generous and fun-loving like Fezziwig.

“What I like to have happen is that people come at the beginning of the evening to see a show, and they leave having been part of the show,” said Mr. Dickens.

While the reading of “A Christmas Carol” has become a holiday tradition for many, what is Mr. Dickens’ holiday tradition?

“This is my tradition,” Mr. Dickens said. “I get to live Christmas two to three months out of the year. What could be better?”

Mr. Dickens will perform “A Christmas Carol” at 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, and at 2 and 6 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $25 each and can be purchased by calling (508) 476-3601 or online at www.valfa.com.

‘Dancing’ host joins Starlight fundraiser

December 12, 2008

By Nancy Sheehan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

As a kid, Tom Bergeron had a dream, and, no, it wasn’t “I want to be an Emmy-award-winning television host when I grow up.”

“My fantasy was to work at WBZ Radio because I would listen to Larry Glick and Dave Maynard and Carl DeSuze and people like that,” said Bergeron, who grew up in Haverhill. “To get to work with them was really the big goal in my mind.”

Then, TV happened — sort of by accident.

“When I was doing radio in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in the early ’80s, some people who worked in Boston television called and said, ‘We’re doing some TV shows we think you might be good for. Would you like to come down and audition?’”

So he headed down to Beantown and got the job. Actually we should say jobs. Versatility became the likable host’s hallmark. After 20 years that have encompassed lots of live local shows, 10 years of “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” and six seasons of being the official live-TV greeter for about 20 million viewers a night on “Dancing with the Stars,” Bergeron is now a bicoastal bigwig, albeit a humble one who hasn’t forgotten his New England roots.

He will appear at the Vaillancourt Folk Art Studio at Manchaug Mills tomorrow for an event to benefit the Starlight Children’s Foundation. We spoke with Bergeron by telephone recently. He was on his way to JFK airport in New York, shuttling between his home in Connecticut and his other one in California, where he spends about half the year shooting “Dancing with the Stars” and taping “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” (Don’t worry. He was a passenger and so could chat unencumbered by the threat of crashing.)

Bergeron said he is looking forward to reconnecting with longtime friends Gary and Judi Vaillancourt, owners of the studio. “It will be good to go back and see old friends,” he said. “In the midst of all this sort of craziness that’s happening it’s a real treat.” Bergeron has for many years been a supporter of the Starlight Foundation, which helps seriously ill children and their families cope through entertainment, education and family activities. Each year, the art studio offers a new “Starlight Santa,” the sale of which benefits the foundation.

Working in Boston TV benefited Bergeron, who said that is where he learned how to make hosting look easy. His first job for WBZ-TV was called “Super Kids,” a weekend show aimed at 6- to 11-year-olds patterned after the then-popular Evening Magazine format. He did that a couple of years, copped an Emmy and then was offered a grown-up news show called “4 Today.” The offer included a little side gig: that of tuxedoed lottery host. He wasn’t sure at first he wanted to be the one calling out the winning numbers, but in the end he was game. “So I had fun with it,” he said. “I called the tuxedo the mega-tux and I just made as much light of it as you can about people risking their food money for millions of dollars.”

He continued with “4 Today” spots throughout the news day and added “People Are Talking,” all of which proved a good training ground for his as-yet unforeseen nationwide-live-TV future.

“The ‘4 Today’ stuff that I did throughout the day and the ‘People Are Talking’ show that I did for six years at ‘BZ that ran the gamut from serious to silly and everything in between, and also all the radio work and improv theater and things like that that I did. All of it is sort of in the big stew pot in terms of building the muscles that you need to kind of be very present and focused when you’re on the air.”

It all resulted in a remarkable sense of ease in making conversation and reeling off witty remarks undaunted by the fact that millions are looking on. That would be an enormous challenge for most people.

“But doing live TV for me is something I’ve done for years so it’s a very comfortable thing for me now. I’ve said it and it’s really true: sometimes the most relaxing part of my day when we’re shooting ‘Dancing with the Stars’ is when I walk on that set live in front of 20 million people. It’s like wearing bedroom slippers. I love it.”

He says he loves the people he works with as well. “I give a hard time to the judges on the show but we’re all good friends actually,” he said. “So I walk out there trusting that there are going to be opportunities (for good quips) on the air.”

Are the now-famous judges, Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba, pretty much like they seem on TV?

“Yeah, I think they are,” he said. “Len sometimes isn’t quite as cranky as he lets on. He’s got more of a twinkle in his eye. Bruno isn’t quite as nutty as he lets on, and Carrie Ann is much sweeter than she lets on sometimes …”

We had to ask about devilishly handsome pro dancer heartthrob Maksim Chmerkovskiy. He seems a tad full of himself at times. Is he?

“I said about Maks on one show, because I’m very fond of him, that he has a brash exterior and a marshmallow center,” Bergeron said. “He’s a sweetheart. I think that some of that bravado is because he’s not exactly an unattractive guy — and I say that as a card-carrying heterosexual — but he is also in the world of ballroom, which, prior to this experience of being on a massive television show, was his life. He’s a star in that world and then suddenly he was exposed to the spotlight of a major TV show. Part of what appeared to be brash ego was a bit of a defensive crouch, initially, I think. He’s gotten a lot more comfortable with it. If you spent any time with him at all you would be absolutely charmed.” (Where do we sign up?)

The future for Bergeron holds more of Maks and the rest of the “Dancing” cast as well as his new book, “I’m Hosting as Fast as I Can,” due out in April from HarperCollins. There also will be some beneficial changes on a personal level. Bergeron and his wife, Lois, have two daughters, one in college and one a high school senior in Connecticut. The idea of an upcoming empty nest has a slightly different connotation for the Bergerons.

“The last 10 years, working in Hollywood and also living in Connecticut, we’ve experienced something like the empty nest already with each other,” he said. “So next year, Lois will be able to come out and spend more time with me in California once we’ve parked both our kids in college.”

So, is he happy?

“I’m pretty happy with what’s on my plate right now,” he said. “Next year we’re looking at the 20th year of ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos,’ which will be my 10th (year on the show) … And ‘Dancing with the Stars’ will be having its eighth and ninth seasons next year and the book will be coming out so there’s a lot going on and I’m having a ball. I really am. I’m having a wonderful time.”

Lighting the way

December 1, 2008

By Bonnie Russell TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Sutton–And the lights all will go on in Massachusetts — at least in the Blackstone Valley as the annual Chain of Lights of celebration ushers in the holidays.

Activities will take place Dec. 6 in Sutton and Dec. 7 in Grafton and Millbury.

SUTTON

On Dec. 6, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., three trolley routes will take visitors to various stops to enjoy holiday activities and celebrations.

Route 1 starts at St. John’s Church, Route 122A, and visits First Congregational Church and Keown’s Orchards.

Route 2 starts at Whittier Farms, Douglas Road, and goes to First Congregational Church.

Route 3 begins at Sutton Senior Center, Hough Road and goes to St. Anne’s Church.

Shuttle service connecting routes 1 and 2 with route 3 will be provided from the First Congregational Church.

First Congregational Church Choir will perform throughout the day, carolers will perform during lunch, and tours of the sanctuary will be offered, along with Winter Wonderland, Christmas crafts, and vote for the best wreath. Roast beef dinner at the church has seatings at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Cost is $8 adults, $5 children 4 and older, and free to children younger than 4.Other highlights include: Artist Linda Sinacola, selling her original watercolor, oil paintings and prints of Sutton scenes;Sutton Historical Society, offering demonstrations all day on the skill of blacksmithing at The Blacksmith Shop; St. Mark’s Church’s holiday fair; Sutton Public Library, storyteller at 10:30 a.m. and crafts from 11 a.m. to noon; Bellawood Farm will feature a goat milking demonstration; and the Sutton Middle School will have a Relaxation Station with nail painting, hairdos, massages and lunch available at the Cheesecake Cafe. Santa will be on the common for caroling and tree-lighting ceremony at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 6.

Additional locations include Keown Orchards, Heritage Plaza, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Eaton Farm Confectioners, National Gallery, Rebecca Lecouteur Interiors, St. Anne’s Parish, Vaillancourt Folk Art, Sleighbell Christmas Tree Farm and Gift Barn, and Sutton Senior Center.

For trolley routes, a complete list of events and updated information, visit www.suttonma.org/Pages/SuttonMA_Cable/lights.

Folk art featured

June 12, 2008

SUTTON — Vaillancourt Folk Art’s marketing materials were recently featured by Xerox Corp. at a trade show in Germany for the printing equipment industry.

Vaillancourt produces hand-painted chalkware figurines and has been working with Xerox to test its digital printers, the privately held business reported. Xerox’s production color product marketing group featured Vaillancourt materials, such as catalogs, at the trade show.

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