History | Mark Sardella

Archive for the ‘History’ Category

Razing of Miss Hope’s Studio School Marks End of an Era for Wakefield Baby Boomers

04Oct08

Almost unnoticed, an era ended in Wakefield, Massachusetts this week. Or at least, an era’s final tangible symbol vanished with the razing of the bungalow at 93 Montrose Avenue that was home to Hope Dillaway’s Studio School for Children in the 1940’s and 1950s. The property is slated to be developed as a five-lot single-family […]

Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, Feature stories, History, News, Profiles, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, artist, artists, Baby Boomers, Boomers, children, demolition, development, home, homes, Hope Dillaway, kindergarten, Miss Hope, Montrose Ave., Newton Dillaway, preschool, school, Studio School, Studio School for Children, teacher, teachers, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Massachusetts, Wilson Dillaway

Then and now…

06Nov07

I have several boxes of old family photos, from both sides of the family. A few date to the late 19th century, but most of the photos that interest me now are from the first half of the 20th century. In a sense, we all think that the world began around the time when we […]

Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, Family, History, Wakefield | 2 Comments
Tags: 1930s, 1937, Chestnut Street, Daily Item, Italian-Americans, Italians, Joe Laurino, Steve Sardella, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Massachusetts, Wakefield news, Wakefield newspaper, Wakefield newspapers

ISRAEL HOROVITZ’S PLAY RECALLS A FAMILIAR WAKEFIELD

01Sep07

It’s not often that the town of Wakefield figures prominently in a work of art or literature. But in Israel Horovitz’s The Widow’s Blind Date, the playwright gives his hometown a strong supporting role in this taut drama about the reunion of three Wakefield High School classmates who share an unsavory past. My review of […]

Filed under: Community, Feature stories, History, Reviews, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: Daily Item, Gloucester Stage Company, Israel Horovitz, Lake Quannapowitt, playwright, stage, theater, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield Massachusetts, Wakefield news, Wakefield newspaper, Wakefield newspapers, West Ward School, Widow's Blind Date

PARK GATES ONCE FRAMED EXCLUSIVE NEIGHBORHOOD

10Aug07

Wakefield Park Some locals are aware of their significance, but how many people drive through or past them every day without ever wondering why they are there? In 2007, the stone pillars at Park Avenue and Chestnut Street, next to Temple Emmanuel, are among the least talked about historical landmarks in Wakefield, Massachusetts. But at […]

Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, History, Wakefield | 2 Comments
Tags: Daily Item, Park Gates, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield Massachusetts, Wakefield news, Wakefield newspaper, Wakefield newspapers

AUTHOR STEPHEN PULEO TELLS THE STORY OF BOSTON’S ITALIANS

17May07

At last night’s Sweetser Lecture “The Boston Italian story,” author Stephen Puleo told his Wakefield audience last night, “is a true American success story. It’s a story that, if you are of Italian American heritage, you should be incredibly proud of.”

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LET’S GET IT RIGHT ON 9/11

09May07

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”?

Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Opinion, Politics | 1 Comment

WAS JANEANE GAROFALO HERE?

30Apr07

Wakefield Tonight, 20 Years Later I know what got me thinking about “Wakefield Tonight,” the weekly live cable TV comedy/variety show that I produced on Wakefield Public Access Television twenty years ago, from late 1985 through the end of 1986.

Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, Feature stories, History, Humor, Television, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: 1980s, Bill Downes, Bob Seibel, Boston, Carl Yarde, Chance Langton, Charlie Brooks, comedy, comedy club, comedy clubs, Denis Leary, Elaine Gold, Fran Solomita, Gary Stewart, Janeane Gaofalo, Jimmy Tingle, Jon Rubin, Kevin Meaney, Lenny Clarke, Linda Franklin, Paul Lazarus, Paula Poundstone, public access television, Rich Ceisler, stand-up, standup, Steve Faria, Steven Wright, Stu Wiley, Tony Morewood, Tony V, Wakefield Public Access, Wakefield Tonight, Warner Cable, Warner Cable Communications Inc, Warner-Amex, WCAT

THE COLDEST SUMMER

26Apr07

Sure, it’s been cool so far this summer. The average daily high temperature for July has been 77.6, almost 4 degrees below the normal average high of 81.4. The average mean temperature for the Boston area has been 3 degrees below normal. You think that’s bad? Try the New England summer of 1816. That’s the […]

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