Archive for the ‘Feature stories’ Category
“I’ve been very lucky to do 10 of Mr. Sondheim’s works,” says Leigh Barrett, a 1983 Wakefield High School graduate who has gone on to an award-winning professional career as one of the top leading ladies of Boston’s musical theater scene. Barrett has won two Elliot Norton Awards for Outstanding Actress (in 2004 and 2007), […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Feature stories, Profiles, Reviews, theater, Wakefield | Leave a Comment
Tags: actor, actress, Boston, Company, Leigh Barrett, Massachusetts, Moonbox Productions, stage, Stephen Sondheim, theater, theatre, Wakefield MA
Remembering K9 Leo
My first and only encounter with the Wakefield Police Department‘s K9 Officer Leo was a memorable one. It was five years ago – almost to the day. On Dec. 18, 2008 I was covering a Board of Selectmen’s meeting at which K9 Leo and his partner, Officer Brett Rossicone, were being recognized for the heroic […]
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Tags: cop, dog, K9 Leo, K9 officer, MA, police, police dog, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Massachusetts, Wakefield Police Department
Honoring Veterans
2013 Veterans’ Day Ceremonies in Wakefield, Massachusetts “I’m a kid from Roxbury who grew up to become a soldier and a lawyer,” keynote speaker US Air Force Lt. Col. Enoch Woodhouse told the Veterans’ Day crowd assembled at the Galvin Middle School Auditorium. Yesterday’s ceremonies were presented by Wakefield’s Veterans’ Advisory Board and local American […]
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Tags: American Legion, Brian Falvey, Donald Wong, Enoch Woodhouse, Galvin Middle School, Katherine Clark, Kristina Valenza, Paul Brodeur, veterans, Veterans' Day, Wakefield Choral Society, Wakefield High School Wind Ensemble, Wakefield Massachusetts
Storybook Ending
Game 2 of the 2013 ALCS was One for the Ages David Mamet couldn’t have written a better script. We headed into Boston for game 2 of the 2013 American League Championship Series with the Red Sox already down one game to the Detroit Tigers. Another loss would have put the home team down 0-2 […]
Filed under: baseball, Columns & Essays, Feature stories | Leave a Comment
Tags: 2013 ALCS, Bob Marley, Boston Red Sox, Dave Roberts, Detroit Tigers, Fenway Park, Mark Sardella, new england patriots, Sausage King, Shane Victorino, Tom Brady, Wakefield Daily Item
October Surprise
Or how my photo of the Hood Blimp made the Official Red Sox Post-season Program Lord knows I waste my share of time on social media, even though I’ve never been a huge Facebook user and by most standards, tweeting 7,000 times and sharing 4,000 photos on Flickr barely qualifies me as a piker among […]
Filed under: Art, baseball, Columns & Essays, Feature stories, Opinion, Photography | Leave a Comment
Tags: ALDS, baseball, Boston Red Sox, Fenway Park, Hood, Hood Blimp, Mark Sardella, photo, photography, Richard Tisei, Scott Brown, social media
GOP Legislators meet with members of business community Wakefield last week became a flashpoint of opposition to the broad new 6.25 percent sales tax on custom software and network design services when The Savings Bank hosted a roundtable discussion with state legislators and technology industry professionals. Thursday’s meeting was the last of eight such technology […]
Filed under: Feature stories, News, Politics, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: Analogic, bnmc, Edgewater Technology, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Rep. Brad Hill, Rep. Bradley Jones, Rep. Donald Wong, Rep. Jim Lyons, Rep. Leah Cole, Rep. Lenny Mirra, Sen. Bruce Tarr, State Street Staffing, tech tax, technology tax, The Savings Bank, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA
[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] Suspicious 1940 blaze linked to union activity On the afternoon of July 18, 1940, the Wakefield Fire Department received a frantic call from the caretaker of the former Arthur G. Walton property at 108 Main St. Hans Meyer, who still lived in the caretaker’s house, reported that the old […]
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Tags: A.G. Walton, Arthur G. Walton, fire, Lake Quannapowitt, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Pasquale DeCristofaro, unions, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, Walton, Walton Family
[Part 1 of 3] [Part 2] [Part 3] Daring payroll Robbery of Walton shoe factory compared to Sacco & Vanzetti When it comes to Wakefield’s prominent old families, chances are you’ve at least heard of the Hartshornes, the Beebes, the Wakefields and the Eatons. But what do you know about the Walton family of Wakefield, […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Family, Feature stories, History, Profiles, Wakefield | 8 Comments
Tags: AG Walton & Co., Arthur G. Walton, Chelsea, Mark Sardella, Mssachusetts, robbery, Sacco & Vanzetti, shoes, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, Walton, Walton Shoes, Waltons
Finding My Irish Roots
A cold October rain was falling as I turned my rented Nissan Sunny down the dirt lane in the village of Portglenone, Northern Ireland. The road was barely wide enough for one vehicle and had patches of grass growing between tire-worn tracks. Up on a hill in the distance to the left, I could make […]
Filed under: Blaney Blog, Columns & Essays, Family, Feature stories | 5 Comments
Tags: Ballymena, Blaney, County Antrim, Ireland, Irish, John Blaney, Nark Sardella, Northern Ireland, Patrick Blaney, Portglenone
“The Remarkable Cyrus Wakefield”
A Talk by John Wall Many people know the story of how the town of South Reading, MA came to be renamed after industrialist Cyrus Wakefield. But most people probably don’t realize the extent to which he shaped the town of Wakefield as we know it today. In a talk on Feb. 20, 2013 to […]
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Tags: business, Capt. Henry Bancroft, Cyrus Wakefield, furniture, History, industry, John Wall, Mark Sardella, rattan, South Reading, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Massachusetts
Mark Sardella 