Archive for the ‘Columns & Essays’ Category
Women’s March
On the heels of the devastating news that only men applied to serve on new Public Safety Building Committee came the bombshell that no women were among the top 50 highest paid town employees. What’s a girl to make of this during Women’s History Month? In the real world, most people understand how the list […]
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Tags: boys, Carol Antonelli, COPS, employees, female, firefighters, gender, girls, Health Director, Humor, Kim Smith, male, Mark Sardella, men, misogyny, Opinion, pay, police, Politics, salary, sexism, social construct, Tax Collector, Town Clerk, town hall, Wakefield Daily Item, women
Fine for parking
It was heartening to see the Wakefield Town Council take an action recently that will benefit those who drive automobiles, because the trend across the Commonwealth and the nation in recent years has been to treat motorists as the scum of the earth.
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Tags: automobiles, bike lanes, Boston, Burrage Yale, business district, Cambridge, cars, downtown, drivers, Ed Dombroski, Green New Deal, Harvard Square, Humor, infrastructure, Jame Hartshorne, Main Street, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, motorists, Opinion, parking, pedestrians, Politics, public meeting, social media, Town Council, upgrade, VHB, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA
Eight men out
Who couldn’t have seen this coming? The folks who took the “man” out of selectman now want to manipulate the gender composition of other boards. So much being gender neutral. Recently, the Wakefield Town Council advertised for candidates to serve on the crisply-named “Public Safety Building Re-Assessment Committee.” In mid-November, the notice was posted widely […]
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Tags: committee, Facebook, female, gender, gender neutral, Internet, ladies, male, Mark Sardella, Mehreen Butt, men, nail salons, Permanent Building Committee, PSB, Public Safety Building, Public Safety Building Re-Assessment Committee, selectmen, sex, Town Council, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, women, Zumba
Take a hike
Throughout his decades as a steady presence on the local scene, he has cultivated an air of quiet reserve. But now, one of Wakefield’s most iconic figures has finally broken his silence. Some may find what he had to say shocking. In an exclusive interview with the Wakefield Daily Item, the character known affectionately as […]
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Tags: ableism, Artichokes, bronze, climate, goat yoga, gun, History, Humor, interview, Lake Quannapowitt, male, man, marble, Mark Sardella, men, minuteman, Opinion, parody, rifle, Rockery, satire, soldier, Spanish American War, statue, The Hiker, Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson, Toxic Masculinity, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA
Pretty Vacant
“Isn’t it a shame about all the empty storefronts downtown?” “Which ones are empty?” “Well, I haven’t been downtown lately. Nobody goes there anymore because there’s too much traffic and not enough parking.” “Oh.” There’s one myth almost as persistent as the one that Wakefield has become so overdeveloped that there’s no room for an […]
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Tags: Boys & Girls Club, business, economy, hippies, John Devlin, Main Street, Mark Sardella, Molise, myth, Nonnos, Piece O Pizza, Procol Harem, Sixties, social media, storefronts, stores, Tommy James & the Shondells, vacancy, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, Yogi Berra
Goodbye Green Monster
By MARK SARDELLA BOSTON – Fans of the World Champion Boston Red Sox will notice a big difference when they attend 2019 home games at the park that John Updike once called, “a lyric little bandbox.” In preparation for the team’s home opener, crews have already begun dismantling Fenway Park‘s iconic “Green Monster,” the 37-foot […]
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Tags: Andrew Benintendi, baseball, Boston Red Sox, Fenway Park, Green Monster, home runs, Humor, John Henry, John Updike, left field, Mark Sardella, Politics, TomYawkey, wall, walls
The town and the city
Once upon a time, there was a perfect little town that had the perfect number of people living in the perfect number of homes. That perfect little town had perfect little downtown with the perfect number of perfect little shops, selling perfectly adorable items to the perfect number of customers. Then, the town fathers let […]
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Tags: 600 North, apartments, Brightview Senior Living, building, commuter rail, condos, development, Dunkin' Donuts, factories, fairy tales, Families, housing, Lisa's Family Pizzeria, Malden MA, Mark Sardella, MBTA, population, smart growth, Town Meeting, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Landing, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Station, zoning
Junkyard Junction
It’s time for our weekly vocabulary test. Today’s words are “clothing” and “shoes.” Let’s start by using both words on in a sentence. “A recliner is not clothing, and mattresses are not shoes.” Congratulations! You’re smarter than a fourth-grader! You’ve also been eliminated as suspect in the trash dumping at the green donation bins in […]
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Tags: 9/11, charity, clothing, donations, furniture, Humor, JFK, Junction, junk, literacy. reading, Mark Sardella, MG Fitness, Opinion, police, Politics, recliner, shoes, sofa, Town of Wakefield, toys, video cameras, Wakefield Daily Item
‘Tis the season of giving…
It’s Christmastime and, if I may so boldly observe, it’s cold outside. Meanwhile, Rudolph has contacted the Reindeer Rights Commission to report bullying and harassment. Climate change has claimed the life of Frosty the Snowman and gender fluid Santa Claus is coming to town. Into this season of gloom, I bring a ray of light […]
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Tags: ATM, Bob McLaughlin, cat, Christmas, Climate Change, Daniel Lieber, electric car, famine, Fred Rich, Frosty the Snowman, gender fluid, holidays, homeless, Humor, Julie Smith-Galvin, Lake Quannapowitt, Mark Sardella, MSBA, Opinion, Paul DiNocco, pestilence, Peter May, plague, Politics, Public Safety Building, recycling, Robert Mitchell, Rudolph, Santa Claus, School Committee, Seth Moulton, Shaw's, solar panels, Town Council, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Fire Department, Wakefield High School, Wakefield MA, Walton School, Wayne Tarr, Wendy Dennis, William Carroll, windmill
Cold comfort
‘Tis the season to be banning things. You’ve no doubt heard about efforts to ban the song Baby, It’s Cold Outside. And that’s not even the most absurd example. It’s becoming harder to argue that the War on Christmas is a myth when stories like the following keep surfacing. In 2018, 69 years after it […]
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Tags: Altamont, Baby It's Cold Outside, ban, Benny Goodman, Christmas, Gillette Stadium, Gimme Shelter, Hells Angels, hippies, joke, love, Lynn Stuart Parramore, Mark Sardella, Mick Jagger, misogyny, peace, Rolling Stones, Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, Trader Joe's, Under My Thumb, understanding, Wakefield Daily Item, War on Christmas
Mark Sardella 