If the sudden urgency to eliminate the Wakefield Warrior logo last spring after 75 years struck you as curious, perhaps it shouldn’t have come as such a surprise.
In retrospect, you wouldn’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to conclude that the logo’s elimination was merely setting the stage for something bigger, like the local implementation of the latest trend to grip the education community, “culturally responsive teaching.”
At its last meeting in June, the Wakefield School Committee heard about the administration’s plans to establish an “Indigenous Curriculum” at all levels and across all subject areas when school returns in the fall. The move is rooted in a resolution issued last April after the School Committee voted to eliminate the Wakefield High School logo, which for decades had consisted of an image of a Native American in a headdress.
Continue reading ‘Coming soon to a school near you!’
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Power to the people
Remember all the way back to last week, when we had a four-day heat wave?
I realize that the return to winter weather over the July Fourth weekend tends to blunt the memory of what came before. But three of those days, June 28, 29 and 30, brought temperatures of between 97 and 100, coupled with high humidity.
Did you run your air-conditioning during those days? Of course you did. So did everyone else. Fool not to. That’s what’s known as “peak demand” in the energy industry, a period in which electrical power is expected to be provided for a sustained period at a level significantly higher than the average supply.
The reason the electrical grid is able to provide that extra power during peak demand periods is because it has the capacity to ramp up to meet that extra demand due to reliable electricity generation powered by fossil fuels.
Continue reading ‘Power to the people’
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High school confidential
If you thought the Warrior logo issue that roiled the Wakefield community last spring was just going to go away quietly, that’s what’s known as wishful thinking.
At least that’s what the anti-logo side was wishing would happen.
But the Warrior logo is back in the news, and once again, it wasn’t the pro-logo side that brought it up.
School Superintendent Doug Lyons raised the issue at a recent School Committee meeting when he had to explain why a “confidential” survey that the School Department sent out to the community last March wasn’t so confidential after all.
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Tags: Ami Wall, Doug Lyons, election, Humor, Indian, logo, Mark Sardella, Native American, Opinion, Politics, public records, Richard Bayrd, school, School Committee, survey, Suzy Veilleux, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, warrior
Train in vain
WAKEFIELD, MA — The closure since last November of the Broadway commuter rail crossing has certainly been no picnic for many, and the damage to nearby businesses is not to be minimized.
At the same time, I’m an optimist by nature, and in the spirit of this week’s theme of arcane 1970s pop culture references, remember the Monty Python tune, “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life?” That’s me to a T.
So, I’ve long suspected that at least some Broadway residents may harbor mixed feelings when it comes to the railroad crossing closure. They might not say it out loud, but it wouldn’t surprise me if more than a few Broadway residents are secretly enjoying life on a quiet residential street as opposed to the New England Dragway.
Right now, they have a neighborhood that’s relatively free of speeding traffic and, for now at least, the trains aren’t sounding their horns.
If, as some are demanding, the town were to open the Broadway crossing now, without approval of the Federal Railroad Administration, the entire town would lose its Quiet Zone status. That means trains would sound their horns as they approach each of the town’s six crossings.
Imagine Greenwood neighbors’ delight at hearing several loud horn blasts seconds apart as trains rumble through the crossings at Greenwood and Forest streets, which are separated by about 1,000 feet.
That would be heaven compared to what lower West Side residents would have to endure as every rush hour train blasts its horn at each of the four crossings along the half-mile stretch between Broadway and Prospect Street.
Ask someone who lived on Emerson Street in the 1980s what it was like. There’s a reason we have a Quiet Zone. Residents demanded it. If the town were to open the crossing tomorrow and let the trains sound their horns, the first ones to criticize that decision would be the same people now complaining that the crossing is closed.
Again, the harm to area businesses is regrettable to say nothing of the inconvenience to upper West Siders who can no longer get to Caporale’s and back during commercial breaks on the View.
The closure has also no doubt impacted traffic at other crossings, especially Albion Street, which is bad news for those eager to blame the as yet unoccupied Harvard Mills apartments for the gridlock in that area.
The current situation stinks, no doubt about it. But those blaming the town are on the wrong track. And the current Town Engineer isn’t responsible for this train wreck either. He just inherited it. Every time he meets the FRA’s requirements, the feds move the crossing gates a little further way.
If this problem isn’t resolved soon, might I suggest letting the Boys & Girls Club take a crack at it?
I hear there’s nothing they can’t do.
[This column originally appeared in the June 17, 2021 Wakefield Daily Item.]
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Field House of Dreams
If the town is still divided as a result of the Warrior logo issue, you wouldn’t have known it from last Saturday’s Town Meeting, where things were so congenial, I feared a chorus of Kumbaya might break out at any moment.
Mercifully, the proceedings came to a close before anything so unseemly could transpire.
Compared to last June’s Town Meeting, where long-held personal animosities boiled over, you could almost smell the spirit of community that filled the high school field house last Saturday. Or maybe it was just the lingering odor of gym socks.
Of course, small numbers are conducive to maintaining decorum, and 112 is a small number even by COVID standards. Low attendance often means little discussion, another plus when it comes to maintaining civility.
Some have suggested that low attendance and a lack of discussion from the floor is attributable to the general satisfaction of the citizenry with the way that the town is being run.
That’s one theory.
Another is the ungodly hour at which this year’s Town Meeting was scheduled. Eight a.m. is too early to be anywhere other than bed on a weekday. On a Saturday, it’s the middle of the night. If we started Town Meeting at 7 a.m., we might be able to get attendance down to 50. It’s worth a shot.
The 112 hardy souls who did make it were mute through the first three-quarters of the proceedings. Either that or asleep. It wasn’t until the caffeine started kicking in at about 9:30 that the first questions were asked from the audience.
Another possible factor contributing to low attendance and less participation was the lack of any controversial articles to justify packing the meeting with befuddled newbies instructed to vote on one special article and then leave as boisterously as possible.
Have we finally run out of modern conveniences to ban? Are there no sexist or misogynist board names left to be neutered? Surely this is just a temporary lull and not the end of the crusades. Blame it on COVID.
For his part, William H. Carroll turned in his usual solid performance as Moderator. Try as he did to keep things entertaining, some of his jokes fell flat with the slumberous assembly. It wasn’t his fault. Ask any comedian and they’ll tell you that morning audiences are the worst. That being said, now that Julie Smith-Galvin is chair of the Town Council, maybe it’s time to retire the bit about reversing the order of her last name.
When Town Meetings were held on Monday nights, all we heard was how hard it was for parents of young children to attend. If only Town Meetings were held on a Saturday morning, they insisted, they’d be there with bells on.
Believe it or not, this week they’ve been posting on social media that having kids at home makes it tough for them to be there on Saturdays. If only Town Meetings were held on a week night…
At least now we know these people were never serious about attending Town Meeting.
[This column originally appeared in the May 13, 2021 Wakefield Daily Item.]
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Tags: Bill Carroll, caffeine, COVID, division, Field House, harmony, Humor, kumbaya, Mark Sardella, Moderator, Opinion, Politics, Saturday, sleep, Town Meeting, unity, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, warrant, Warrior logo
Score one for the Warrior
The best news out of Tuesday’s Town Election is that Wakefield isn’t totally gone.
Not yet, anyway.
I guess I’m not supposed to use the word “normal” anymore, but Tuesday’s vote on the Warrior logo was a victory for those who value tradition, history and the people’s right to tell their elected officials what they think.
The opponents of the logo didn’t want the people to be heard.
Now you know why.
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Tags: April 27, ballot question, Bayrd Family, compromise, election, grassroots, heritage, History, Indian, legacy, logo, Mark Sardella, Native American, News, Opinion, Politics, Richard Batrd, Save the Warrior, School Committee, signs, vote, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Warrior, Warriors
It’s not just about the Warrior logo anymore.
The ballot question on Tuesday’s Town Election is also a referendum on cancel culture.
Tuesday’s election is a chance for the normal people of Wakefield to push back against those who are tearing down our traditions left and right. It’s an opportunity to strike a blow against cancel culture by voting to keep the Warrior logo.
But you have to get to the polls on Tuesday, April 27 and vote.
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Tags: April 27, ballot, cancel culture, election, Facebook, Mark Sardella, Opinion, Politics, polls, referendum, School Committee, tradition, vote, voter, Wakefield High School, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Warrior, Warrior logo
By now, you’ve probably heard that the School Committee voted on March 23 to eliminate the Wakefield Warrior logo.
You may have inferred from that 5-2 vote that the issue is settled and the April 27 Town Election vote on the Warrior logo ballot question is now moot.
That’s exactly what the School Committee wants you to think. It’s the main reason they voted when they did – to make you believe the April 27 ballot question no longer matters. That, and to show their utter disdain for the process. They alone know best. The voters be damned.
As much as it was a vote to eliminate the logo, the March 23 School Committee vote was also an effort to depress the pro-Warrior turnout on April 27.
If their ploy works, they can then claim vindication and say that the voters backed their decision at the polls. As cynical and calculating as that sounds, it’s exactly how they think.
But even as the anti-logo side is hoping you’ll conclude that it’s a done deal and you don’t need to show up and vote, their own actions tell a very different story. The anti-logo forces are going to great lengths to make sure that their own people get out on April 27 and vote to “retire” the logo.
They are putting an awful lot of time, money and effort toward influencing a vote on an issue that they’d like you to believe is a done deal, a fait accompli, a moot point.
Why are they doing all this? Because they know the April 27 vote on the Warrior logo ballot question still matters. A lot.
If it doesn’t matter, why did they go to the trouble of organizing a “Vote No” campaign committee?
If it doesn’t matter, why are they raising money through national political action committee “ActBlue” to defeat a local grassroots effort to save the Warrior?
If it’s a done deal, what’s the point of all those “Vote No” signs?
If the April 27 vote doesn’t matter, why bother creating a web site and Facebook page urging people to vote “no” on April 27?
If it doesn’t matter, what’s the purpose of those copycat rallies and standouts every Saturday?
If it doesn’t matter, why have scores of “Save the Warrior” lawn signs been stolen from people’s yards?
If it’s a done deal, what was the point of holding yet another “community discussion” on April 6 on “the importance of retiring the Wakefield Warrior logo.” If it doesn’t matter, why were two current anti-logo School Committee members featured speakers? If it’s a done deal, why were they collecting $20 “donations” from everyone who attended their April 6 “community discussion?”
Actions speak louder than words. The actions of the anti-logo crowd show that they believe the vote on April 27 is enormously important.
The pro-Warrior side had better believe it too.
—
[This column originally appeared in the April 8, 2021 Wakefield Daily Item.]
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Tags: ActBlue, April 27, election, Indian, lawn signs, logo, Mark Sardella, Native American, Opinion, Politics, rallies, vote, voting, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, Wakefield MA, Wakefield School Committee, Wakefield Warrior
Wakefield Warrior, 1947-2021
WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield Warrior passed away Tuesday night, March 23, after a courageous battle with an aggressive strain of cancel culture. He was 74.
Specialists from around the state were brought in last week to consult on the Warrior’s condition but their intervention may, in fact, have hastened his demise.
The Wakefield Warrior came into this world in 1947. He could trace his roots back to the late General John R. Galvin and the Bayrd family of Wakefield. He was the godson of Harold Greene.
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Education of a Warrior
The Wakefield Warrior debate of the last several months has certainly been educational, which is only fitting since it involves a school logo.
I, personally, have learned a great many things, the latest as recently as yesterday.
After finishing my annual boiled dinner, I decided to relax with a pint of Guinness and watch last night’s televised panel discussion, where I learned that it’s wrong to take anyone’s culture for granted.
I also learned that mascots are bad, so I’m really glad we don’t have one.
Continue reading ‘Education of a Warrior’
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