History | Mark Sardella

Archive for the ‘History’ Category

Old Linden Tree gone but not forgotten

10Jan16

When audiences arrives at the Unitarian-Universalist Church in Wakefield, MA for future concerts at the Linden Tree Coffeehouse, something will be missing. The majestic linden tree that lent its name to the coffeehouse 31 years ago and has graced the front of the church for longer than anyone has been alive, was taken down on […]

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Tags: branch, Brightview Senior Living, church, Joe Cresta, Joe Spear, linden tree, Linden Tree Coffeehouse, Liz Freeman, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Peter Stickel, Shelter Development, steeple, stump, trees, Unitarian Universalist Church, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, Wendy Dennis, wood

Wakefield Public Access TV: the Dark Ages

17Dec15

This month, Wakefield Community Access Television celebrates its 25th anniversary as Wakefield’s public access television operation. It’s hard to believe that WCAT has been around for a quarter century. What’s even harder to believe is that public access television has been around in Wakefield, MA for even longer than that. WCAT was formed in December […]

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Tags: Betamax, Bob Lazarus, Bob Seibel, cable TV, Chance Langton, Charles Laquidara, Charlie Brooks, Charlie Golub, comedy, Gary Stewart, Janeane Garofalo, Lisa J, Massachusetts, Mr. Ed, Rich Ceisler, Tony V, Topsfield Fair, TV, video, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Public Access Television, Wakefield Tonight, Warner-Amex Cable, WBCN, WCAT

Downtown reality check

11Dec15

by Mark Sardella (Wakefield Daily Item) Who did she think she was – this outside consultant with her studies and her facts and figures – coming in and telling us that our downtown isn’t the economic Death Valley we’ve been led to believe it is? How dare she suggest that revitalization doesn’t happen overnight and […]

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Tags: Brothers Restaurant & Deli, business, downtown, economic development, Farmland, FinePoints, Main Street, Mark Sardella, MarketStreet, Massachusetts, Peg Barringer, Reading MA, revitalization, Sabatinos, Sakura, The Savings Bank, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA

Veterans deserve big turnout on Nov. 11

07Nov15

Next Wednesday is Veterans Day. It’s one of the few holidays left that hasn’t been consigned to the nearest Monday in order to create another long weekend for those who have the day off. If you’re not a public employee, chances are you have to work on Veterans Day. On one hand, I understand not […]

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Tags: Air Force, Alicia Reddin, Army, Coast Guard, Galvin Middle School, Gen. John R. Galvin, Global War on Terror, Gulf War, Korean War, Marine Corps, Mark Sardella, Marnie Sheeran, military, Navy, November 11, soldiers, veterans, Veterans' Day, Vietnam War, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, war, women, World War I, World War II

Wakefield’s art theft mystery

03Nov15

by Mark Sardella (Wakefield Daily Item) It’s not exactly the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist, but it appears that Wakefield may be dealing with an art theft mystery of its own. In the past year, a combined total of three paintings have gone missing from two of the town’s oldest institutions, located almost directly across […]

Filed under: Art, Columns & Essays, Feature stories, History, News, Wakefield | Leave a Comment
Tags: Amos Boardman, Art, art theft, artist, Beebe Library, Elizabeth Lowry, Franklin Poole, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Janine Fabiano, Joe Cresta, Joseph C. Payro, Joseph Payro, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, painting, Rembrandt, Sharon Gilley, Storm on the Sea of Galilee, The Concert, theft, Unitarian Universalist Church, Vermeer, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Police

Author Casey Sherman promises suspenseful Sweester Lecture

24Mar15

Wednesday, March 25 at 7:30 pm at the Savings Bank Theater – Wakefield, MA Those who attend Wednesday’s opening lecture of the 2015 Sweetser Lecture Series at The Savings Bank Theater are in for a treat. Speaker Casey Sherman is not just an author and journalist. He is a born storyteller, entertainer and showman who […]

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Tags: Albert DeSalvo, author, books, Boston Strangler, Boston Strong, Casey Sherman, crime, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, speaker, Sweetser Lecture, The Finest Hours, The Savings Bank Theater, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, writer

Sign of the Times

23Jan15

The passing of another era has been marked with the removal of another landmark from Wakefield‘s downtown. On Sunday, the giant projecting “Santoro’s” illuminated sign was removed from above what was one of the early submarine sandwich franchises in the Wakefield area. Why didn’t the preservationists step in and protect this historic landmark? Were they […]

Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, History, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: downtown, Israel Horovitz, Main Street, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Santoro's, signs, sub, submarine sandwich, The Savings Bank, Thomas Wolfe, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, Wakefield MA

A Moving Veterans Exhibit at the Wakefield History Museum

07Dec14

“It should not be just one day. We should be thinking about the service men and women every day,” State Rep. Donald Wong said at Wakefield’s 2014 Veterans Day ceremonies. When Rep. Wong speaks at local Veterans Day or Memorial Day ceremonies, he always ends his remarks with some version of that same message about […]

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Tags: Col. Edward J. Connelly, E.B. Willis, Henry Nasella, John Wall, Mark Sardella Wakefield Daily Item, Massachusetts, Nancy Bertrand, Rep. Donald Wong, Revolutionary War, veterans, Wakefield Historical Society, Wakefield History Museum, Wakefield MA, wars, West Ward School, World War I

New Brightview Senior Living proposal filed

18Sep14

They’re BAAACK. Shelter Development, LLC whose proposal earlier this year to construct a Brightview Senior Living facility in conjunction with a parking garage in the downtown area stirred months of controversy before being defeated at the polls and at Town Meeting, has filed a new application for a 137 unit assisted living facility at approximately […]

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Tags: Assisted Living, Brian McGrail, Brightview Senior Living, development, Fraen Corporation, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Shelter Development, Shelter Group, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA

Social (Media) Security

29Aug14

Is there a “generation gap” in Wakefield? That’s what I’m hearing, especially on Facebook where all the cool kids hang out. The term itself sounds so last century. It used to be applied to the cultural differences between the ‘60s kids and their parents. But now, word on the street is that there are issues […]