Your one-stop culture and arts shop
By Lindsay Sauvageau LSAUVAGEAU@LEOMINSTERCHAMP. COM

As The Community Journal has always striven to embrace Ashburnham and Westminster and the artistic and cultural heritage they have nurtured, so these communities should now be inspired to embrace themselves and the magic of those around them.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams" and as I have had the privilege of meeting some of the many brilliantly creative entities in these and neighboring communities, I am positive that the creative mark Central Mass. has already made in history will forever be a sign that we believe in our dreams, that we believe in ourselves.

As each of us go through our lives, playing as hard as we work, creating and discovering - reading, writing, painting, dancing, laughing, living and loving - expressing the beauty in our hearts with the people around us, we find inevitably that we are embracing the idea that anything can happen, and inspiring a future generation to believe in a world of endless possibility too.

I created The City Scene over a year ago for The Leominster Champion and in that time I have come to the conclusion that though each city, each town I explore has its' own unique contribution to the Massachusetts community at-large. It is what we accomplish together, across the board, with our drive to succeed, to experience and to share with others what we have learned that truly define who we are. We live in an area that is a whirlwind of creativity and innovation. Everyone is an artist, an actor, a musician and a writer and there are places, faces, groups and events emerging every second that cater to the bard and bohemian in us all.

Through this column I hope to share with readers not only the wonderful happenings, trends, places and people that make this area great but also how we have embraced larger cultural trends passed down to us by Hollywood, Vogue and the Food Network. I'll delve into the art of karaoke singing and recount a moving experience when visiting the Fitchburg Art Museum, the National Plastics Museum in Leominster, the Westminster Historical Society or the Ashburnham Cultural Council. I'll discuss the skills of video game playing, the pressure of preparing for the Academy Awards and the pleasure one can get by simply sitting and reading with their children. Realize that there is more than one creative way to eat a package of Ramen noodles, just like there are a slew of good places to play mini golf or and I hope to explore them all.

I'll explore the dance studios where you can learn belly dancing and swing dancing and hula dancing; the clubs and bars supporting amazing local music; the coffee shops; the cultural agencies; the historical societies; the parks with the best swing sets and the stores with the best CD selections. And above all that I want to invite anyone in the arts to contact me, to sing to me of arms and men and tell me your stories so that we really never do forget the beauty of our dreams.