Deer Buzz

For restless thumbs, a necessary discipline

Chantal Boxer wanted someone — anyone — to help her kick the habit.

A personal concierge who is often on the road, she uses her BlackBerry to text and e-mail clients, friends, and associates from behind the wheel of her sport utility vehicle. She knows she’s just one LOL away from a crash.  Now help is on the way. Yesterday, the governor stepped in, signing a law that bans texting while driving.  “I am definitely an offender,’’ said Boxer, 34. “I’ll tell you, this new law is going to change my life.’’  The new law, which takes effect in October, could force painful changes for many. The constant checking, the inability to look away from an iPhone, and the aching thumbs represent more than a guilty indulgence; the phones are an increasingly necessary lifeline to work and family. It seems like everyone, from teenagers to college presidents, is tethered to the devices, using an idle minute at a red traffic light as an opportunity to check e-mail or tap out a text message.

Trish Karter, cofounder of Dancing Deer Baking Co. said she tried to go “cold turkey’’ from her cellphone. A self-described BlackBerry addict, she said she successfully cut back this year although she occasionally finds herself slipping. She welcomes the new law.  “It’s a relief,’’ Karter said. “I want to stop myself.’’  Talking on a cellphone while driving remains legal for those over 18, but under the new rule, texting, e-mailing, Internet searching, and other noncalling activity is forbidden, including those seemingly harmless stoplight phone checks. Texting scofflaws can be pulled over by police and fined $100 or more.

It’s a tough turn for those with a texting habit, but will the intervention be successful? According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, 1 in 4, or 27 percent, of American adults admitted to texting while driving in a recent nationwide survey, the same percentage in a similar study of teenagers.  Powerful voices as varied as the National Safety Council and television talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey have condemned distracted driving, yet the problem persists. John M. Collins, general counsel of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, expressed concern that the problem may already be too rampant for police alone to control.  “It’s going to be a while before we know what the real impact of this is,’’ Collins said of the law. “It’s just like swatting mosquitoes: There’s too many of them and we can’t do it alone.’’

Of a half-dozen people interviewed in downtown Boston yesterday, three had witnessed or been involved in accidents while using a cellphone.  Twenty-three year old Kate Ostreicher got into a fender-bender while texting and turning down the radio when she was 17. To teach her a lesson, her parents refused to fix the damaged car for a year, making her drive it around with duct tape.  She said she is expected to be reachable at any time for her job as an assistant to a chief executive and can understand how tempting it would be.  “It’s definitely dangerous,’’ she acknowledged. “At the same time, I can’t say I wouldn’t do it myself.’’  Grace Roessler, a student at New England School of Law, welcomed the prohibition.  “I’m all about the texting ban,’’ said Roessler, 24.  She once got into an accident while talking on her cellphone. She said her boyfriend was breaking up with her, and she failed to notice that a stop sign at a familiar intersection had been replaced with a traffic light.  Though the accident was minor and caused no damage, she said, she felt embarrassed by how distracting a conversation can be, let alone a text message that requires taking one’s eyes off the road. With hope, she said, the new law will at least reduce the risky behavior.

David Goff, 41, a teacher at Belmont High School, said he also welcomed the new law, even though he admitted to occasional text messaging while driving — and not just at red lights.
His self-imposed rule until now? No texting while on Storrow Drive.  “Anything that focuses drivers more on the road is probably a better thing for safety reasons,’’ Goff said.  He also said the threat of a fine would help him stop texting on the road.  Gloria Cordes Larson, president of Bentley University, said she has coped with a deep and at times abnormal affection for her BlackBerry, though she also carries an iPhone now.  Yet Larson said she keeps both her phones out of reach while driving, turning them on mute and hiding them in the glove box or on the back seat. She said she has never risked using the phones while on the road in Massachusetts, where she described drivers as “berserk.’’  “It’s my only rule,’’ she said of her cellphone habits. Plus, she said, she still has time to check both devices at least 100 times a day.  “If you left me to choose between my husband and my BlackBerry,’’ Larson said, “I’m not sure what I would do.’’

Dancing Deer Executive Leaves Post: She led local store to national renown

Trish Karter, the cofounder and chief executive of Dancing Deer Baking Co. for 15 years, resigned yesterday, saying she hopes to pursue passions outside baking.

“In my next chapter, I’d like to have a bigger impact working with a product or concept that’s more in the field of sustainability and social justice,’’ said Karter, 53. “I’m not ready to talk about it more firmly, but I’m a builder and I think I’ve got one more big build in me.’’

Frank Carpenito, whom Karter hired from Fairfield Farm Kitchens to become the company’s chief operating officer, will take over as chief executive. Company officials said in a statement that Carpenito “significantly improved profitability’’ in the past two years and “laid the groundwork for excellent growth going forward.’’

Karter helped the company grow from a storefront operation in West Roxbury to a nationally recognized brand with its preservative-free baked goods, like its signature gingerbread cake and molasses clove cookies. Business has slowed in recent years as the economy sputtered, and in January, the company laid off seven workers. The company expects $10 million in revenues by the end of the year.

The company currently employs 72 permanent and 150 seasonal or holiday workers, she said, and is currently rehiring.

“The recession certainly slowed us down,’’ Karter said. “It makes it harder to do all the great things I dream of when you’re struggling to make the numbers work.’’

A self-described social activist, Karter employed urban workers, allowing them to become stakeholders in the company. The company currently operates out of a Hyde Park industrial building that was retrofitted to be more energy efficient.

While no longer running Dancing Deer, Karter will continue to have a “very significant’’ equity interest in the business, according to a statement issued by the company.

Brownies: Dancing Deer Baking Company

The Dessert Darling reviewed our Peanut Butter Brownies on her blog and gave us her highest rating of 5 Cherries - read her glowing review here:

“Love free samples at Whole Foods! Without them, I’m not sure I would have discovered these beyond-delicious, all natural, Peanut Butter Brownies by the Dancing Deer Baking Company!  These dark fudge brownies lay beneath a drizzle of peanut butter and have roasted, salted peanuts mixed throughout the batter to give it the perfect sweet-and-salty combo that makes the best treats addictive and crave-worthy. Mmmmmmmm, an easy 5 Cherries!~~”

Click here to read more reviews by the Dessert Darling

Paul and Phyllis Fireman’s One Family fetes grads

One Family, Inc. was founded by Paul and Phyllis Fireman with the aim of ending family homelessness. One the programs, One Family Scholars, helps formerly homeless and at-risk moms get scholarships so they can help themselves. The other night, some of One Family’s graduates were feted, and the well-wishers included Fireman, Governor Deval Patrick, Hizzoner Tom Menino and his wife, Angela, Reebok’s Paul Foster, Dancing Deer Baking Co. CEO Trish Karter, Honey Dew Donuts president Dick Bowen, and One Family’s executive director Denise Durham Williams.