Archive for the ‘History’ Category
Old school
Coming on the heels of the great news that the Greenwood School would at long last be getting a new roof came the even better news that the 123-year-old structure would not support solar panels on the new roof. There goes the planet.
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Tags: bicycle, building, carbon footprint, Climate Change, coal, construction, cycling, Envision Wakefield, Global Warming, green, Greenwood, Greenwood School, Humor, Mark Sardella, Opinion, Politics, roof, solar panels, Town Report, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Memorial High School, walking
Condo Condescension
Since it’s the New Year and a new decade, it seems like a good time for your periodic reminder that Wakefield is not in fact turning into “Condoville” or “Malden” or any of the other haughty labels that the snobs on social media like to toss around. What’s wrong with condos? Or for that matter, […]
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Tags: apartments, buildings, business, condominiums, condos, development, downtown, factories, factories of Appeals, Greewood, housing, industrial, Malden, Mark Sardella, Master Plan, mixed-use, New Year, Opinion, Politics, revitalization, Tonno, Town Meeting, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Station, West Side, Zoning Board, Zoning Bylaw
Weekend Warrior
As we head into the long Indigenous Peoples Day weekend, let us take a moment from our apple picking, leaf-peeping and farmers market excursions to reflect upon the true meaning of the holiday: to show how much more virtuous and woke we are than those who still call it Columbus Day.
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 2 Comments
Tags: Berkeley, Board of Selectmen, CA, Christopher Columbus, Columbus Day, Europeans, farmers' market, FDR, First Peoples, football, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, History, holiday, Human Rights Commission, Humor, inclusive, Indians, Indigenous Peoples Day, Italian-Americans, Landrigan Field, Mark Sardella, men, Native Americans, Opinion, Politics, progressives, Roman Empire, Town Council, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Warrior
Zoning out
So, now they want Zoning Board of Appeals meetings to be televised. The suggestion was made recently at a televised Town Council meeting. Misery loves company, I suppose. There’s nothing TV viewers would rather watch than deliberations over dimensional variances and nonconforming uses — unless you count the Watching Paint Dry Channel. To help promote […]
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Tags: cable TV, city, Climate Change, Community Television, Conservation Commission, developer, development, environmental issues, Envision, Greenwood Station, Humor, Mark Sardella, meetings, nonconforming use, opinion. politics, overdevelopment, public access, Special Permit, Television, Town Council zoning, variance, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Station, WCAT, ZBA, Zoning Board of Appeals
The sounds of silence
READING — When brilliant, Radcliffe College-educated Henrietta Leavitt (played by Grace Sumner) receives a letter at her Wisconsin home inviting her to come and work for Edward Charles Pickering, director of the prestigious Harvard College Observatory, she is thrilled by the prospect of doing important astronomical research.
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Tags: astronomy, community theater, Demetra Tseckares, drama, earth, feminism, Grace Sumner, Harvard College Observatory, heavens, Henrietta Leavitt, History, Humor, Lauren Gunderson, Mark Sardella, Nancy Curran Willis, Nancy Finn, Nick T. Miller, planets, play, Quannapowitt Players, Rachel Furgiuele, Radcliffe College, review, science, Silent Sky, sky, stage, stars, theater, theatre, Wakefield Daily Item, womens sufferage
Native tongue
As has oft been stated, Wakefield is a welcoming town, for both visitors and new residents — especially new residents, whom we have a habit of electing to public office before they’ve even finished unpacking. A couple times a year, Wakefield offers an orientation program for refugees from other communities. It’s called Wakefield 101, where […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 4 Comments
Tags: Americal Civic Center, Bandstand, Board of Selectmen, elections, Forest Glade Cemetery, Frist Parish Congregational Church, Galvin Middle School, Humor, Lake Quannapowitt, Lakeside Cemetery, language, Mark Sardella, natives, North Ave., Old Burial Ground, Opinion, Politics, Rockery, The Common, The Hiker, tourist, town hall, townies, vote, Wakefield 101, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, West Side
