Archive for the ‘Columns & Essays’ Category
A BAD START FOR VERIZON
A major corporation comes to town and says whatever it needs to say so that local officials will let them do business here, and then waits for the town to threaten legal action before living up to its agreement. I know–it’s shocking. But that’s exactly what communications mega-giant Verizon did to the town of Wakefield, […]
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Tags: cable television, cable TV, Daily Item, Jim McGrail, PEG channels, Phyllis Hull, public access television, selectmen, verizon, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield Massachusetts, Wakefield news, Wakefield newspaper, Wakefield newspapers, WCAT
COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS 2007
Graduation season is upon us, and it’s once again time for the unqualified to dispense pearls of wisdom to the disinterested. So don your caps and gowns, take your seats and try to stay awake.
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FRED’S FRANKS MUST GO
The arrival of summer also signals the return of transient vendors to the areas around Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield, Massachusetts–most visibly, Fred’s Franks, the hot dog stand at the head of the Lake. This seems like as good a time as any to review the recent history of that part of town. When the old […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, Opinion, Wakefield | 39 Comments
Tags: Fred Rex, Fred's Franks, hot dog, Lake Quannapowitt, peddlers, transient vendors, Wakefield
PEDESTRIANS IN PERIL
Boston Police are going after motorists who don’t stop for pedestrians in crosswalks. According to a report on WHDH 7News, cops have set up a sting operation where a plain-clothesfemale officer posing as a young mother, using the crosswalk, attempts to cross the street with a doll in her stroller. The Channel 7 report showed […]
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LET’S GET IT RIGHT ON 9/11
On September 11, 2007, it will be have been six years since the terrorist attacks. Call me picky, but can we please not hear that date referred to in speech as “nine one one”?
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NEW MONOPOLIES
I never thought I’d say it, but I’m starting to miss the cable companies. Whipping boys don’t grow on trees, you know.
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OPEN MIKE NIGHT AT TOWN MEETING
Q. What did the Canada goose say at Town Meeting? A. I just flew in from the Common, and are my wings tired!
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Tags: Bill Carroll, Bob McLaughlin, comedians, comedy, Daily Item, funny, Humor, Open Mike, Town Meeting, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Massachusetts, William H. Carroll
SUPPORTING THE TROOPS?
As we approach another Memorial Day with our country at war, it will be interesting to watch the attendance at events around the country. We often hear from those in the anti-war ranks that they oppose the war but “support the troops.” And yet, when I attended last November’s Veterans’ Day observance in my hometown […]
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GRADUATION SPEECH, 2006
Well, that time of year is once more upon us, and again my commencement day speech has been written, re-written, polished and rehearsed. I am, in short, prepared to impart the following pearls of wisdom to any class of graduates at any school that will have me.
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Mark Sardella 