Archive for the ‘History’ Category
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 […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, News, Profiles, Wakefield | Leave a Comment
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
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
Social (Media) Security
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 […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 2 Comments
Tags: cheese, CVS, DeSoto, Dollar Store, Facebook, Family Dollar, generation gap, Hazelwood Cottage, Lake Quannapowitt, Mark Sardella, media, Mike's Gym, newspapers, Pleasure Island, social media, social security, Twitter, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA
School’s Out Forever
Galvin demolition conjures ghosts of schools past Watching the big yellow CAT’s giant claw rip through the old Galvin Middle School last week, one couldn’t help but wonder – if those walls could talk, what would they say? (Besides “Get that damn machine away from me!”) They don’t build them like they used to. The […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | Leave a Comment
Tags: Baby Boom, Boston Red Sox, Cyrus Wakefield, demolition, Galvin Middle School, General John R. Galvin, Greenwood School, Junior High School, Mark Sardella, schools, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, Wakefield MA
A Fistful of Dollar Stores
Economic revitalization of downtown areas is usually aimed at sprucing up what’s already here through things like improved, uniform signage and dressing up storefronts as well as attracting the kinds of new businesses that reflect the quaint, warm and homey small town feel that we either remember from our childhoods or have seen on postcards […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 3 Comments
Tags: 5 and 10, Dollar Store, Dollar Tree Store, downtown, F.W. Woolworth, Family Dollar, Five and Dime, Five and Ten, J.J. Newberry, Main Street, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, retail business, stores, W.T. Grant, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA
Like other secular national holidays, Independence Day brings its share of reminders of the “true meaning” of the holiday. Enjoy your three-day weekend, we’re told, but take a moment to think about why we observe the day. This seems especially appropriate on Memorial Day and Veterans Day, when we pay tribute to those who fought […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | Leave a Comment
Tags: celebration, Fourth of July, Independence Day, John Adams, July 4th, Mark Sardella, Parade, Samuel Adams, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA









