Ogunquit News
"Sweetheart" of a time helps a friend in need
By C. Ayn Douglass
Bob O'Connell and David Norton, chefs at Gypsy Sweethearts, are pictured here flipping burgers and mugging for the camera at a benefit barbecue held on Columbus Day, Monday, Oct. 9, in honor of local musician and teacher Stephen Brocciotti.
Photo by C. Ayn Douglass
OGUNQUIT - The qualities of life of living in a small town or village in New England as opposed to living in a larger city are many, but probably most pronounced during hard times and crisis situations.
In Ogunquit, residents experienced it firsthand during the fierce Mother's Day storm of 2006, as town officials and departments dedicated hundreds of hours to the relief efforts of its citizens
Interestingly, by conservative estimates, probably half of the town's year-round residents know the town manager, police chief, fire chief and public works director on a first-name basis.
That doesn't happen in large cities.
Word travels fast when one of our own is in need, and in Ogunquit the response to that need often manifests in two things this town does best: food and art.
Musician and teacher Stephen Brocciotti contracted a vicious form of Lyme disease in the fall of 2005 and since then developed meningitis, followed by an infection that affected the optic nerves in both eyes. Stephen is now legally blind in his left eye and has severely limited vision in his right eye.
Visual limitations have left Stephen unable to drive, read or teach guitar and music theory at River Tree Arts and Berwick Academy. Financial burdens are mounting, placing Stephen and his family in jeopardy.
Two benefit events have been scheduled for the Brocciotti family. One, a barbecue, occurred on Columbus Day in the parking lot behind Gypsy Sweethearts on Shore Road. The other, an art auction on Nov. 4, is scheduled at the River Tree Arts Center in Kennebunk.
The owners of Gypsy Sweethearts, Tony and Judy Tarleton, have hosted benefit brunches and barbecues for the last six years on Columbus Day, and this year they dedicated the event and the proceeds to the Brocciotti family. On a perfect, almost summer-like day, the inviting smell of burgers, fries and pulled pork with homemade barbecue sauce wafted up and down Shore Road, drawing hundreds to the event.
"It's like summer today. It's actually hot out. We're really lucky, and we hope the smell will bring some folks in," said Cathy Schillinger, a cook at Gypsy Sweethearts. "We always do this on the Monday of Columbus Day weekend, while there are still people around."
There were still plenty of people around, and by 1 p.m. the donation jar was nearly full and the 15 volunteers - staff members of Gypsy Sweethearts and their friends and family members who donated their time for the effort - said they would stay "as long as people kept coming through," according to Tony Tarleton.
The Nov. 4 event sponsored by the artist friends of Brocciotti is an art auction at the River Tree Arts Center in Kennebunkport, located at 35 Western Avenue, Route 9, Lower Village. Organizers expect 75 to 100 artists to participate. River Tree, where Brocciotti has taught for many years, has provided space for the event. A preview of the artworks to be auctioned will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a reception to follow. Bidding will begin at 7 p.m.
For more information on this event, call 967-9120.
