History | Mark Sardella

Archive for the ‘History’ Category

An Irish homecoming

17Mar22

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 grass growing between tire-worn tracks. Up on a hill in the distance, I could make out a pickup truck. A […]

Filed under: Columns & Essays, Family, Feature stories, History, Wakefield | 4 Comments
Tags: Ahoghill, Ballymena, Beechfield Guest House, Blaney, Clare Blaney, Colm Blaney, Dympna Blaney, Family, family history, genealogy, Harry Blaney, History, Ireland, John Blaney, Matk Sardella, Northern Ireland, Portglenone, Rosetta O'Hara, Sean Blaney, travel, Una Lynch, Wakefield Daily Item

Brave New World

11Mar22

Less than a year after dumping the Warrior logo, the Wakefield School Committee continues to demonstrate that they are more in tune with global causes than they are with the local taxpayers who pay the freight. Last week, they quietly changed Columbus Day to “Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day.” And nobody said a word. The 2022-2023 […]

Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 4 Comments
Tags: America, Aztecs, calendar, Christopher Columbus, colonizers, Columbus Day, education, European, explorer, History, human sacrifice, Humor, Indians, Indigenous People, Italian-Americans, Italians, learning, Mark Sardella, Native Americans, New World, North America, Opinion, Peru, Politics, Reuters, Scandinavian, school, stolen land, students, teachers, Vikings, virtue signaling, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Memorial High School, Wakefield Public Schools, Wakefield School Committee, WakefieldMA, Western Hemisphere

Return to ‘Wakefield Tonight’

28Jan22

Many years before I became an ink-stained wretch, I toiled in another branch of local media. It was way back in the last century, the 1980s, to be precise, when I produced and directed Wakefield’s first regularly-scheduled TV comedy/talk show. Cable TV was new and all the rage. Cable companies vied for lucrative contracts in […]

Filed under: Art, Columns & Essays, Community, Feature stories, History, Humor, News, Opinion, Profiles, Reviews, Television, Wakefield | Leave a Comment
Tags: 1980s, Bill Downwes, Bob Brooks, Bob Lazarus, Bob Seibel, Boston, cable TV, camcorder, Carl Yarde, Chance Langton, Charlie Brooks, Charlie Golub, Comcast, comedians, comedy, comedy clubs, comics, Community Television, Elaine Gold, Gary Stuart, Giggles, Internet, Janeane Garofalo, Johnny Carson, Jon Rubin, Linda Franklin, local TV, Massachusetts, monopoly, Open Mike, Prince Pizzeria, public access television, RCN, Rich Ceisler, smartphone, Sony 1800. Betamax, stand-up, Steve Faria, Stu Wiley, talk show, Television, Tony Morewood, Tony V, TV studio, verizon, viideo, Wakefield Community Access Television, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Public Access, Wakefield Tonight, Warner Cable, Warner-Amex, WCAT, YouTube

Logo logistics

03Dec21

Apparently, the Wakefield School Department doesn’t have enough on its plate at the moment, so last week administrators announced plans to push ahead with developing a new high school sports logo to replace the Native American image that was so heinous it took three quarters of a century to determine that it was offensive. Presumably, […]

Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 9 Comments
Tags: amends, atonement, Bandstand, community forum, Critical Race Theory, curriculum, decolonization, diversity, Douglas Lyons, education, equity, Eurocentrism, Golden State Warriors, Hiker, Humor, inclusion, Indienous people, Mishy Lesser, Opinion, Politics, schools, students, teachers, Upstander Academy, Upstander Project, Wakefield High School, Wakefield Massachusetts, Wakefield School Committee, Wakefield Warriors, Warrior logo, Western Civilization

Decolonizing Columbus

08Oct21

I love Columbus Day because it reminds me of a bygone era before children were taught to hate their own country, its founding and its history. Now, we teach students that they live on stolen land and are descended from genocidal oppressors. Must do wonders for their social emotional wellness. Our local Human Rights Commission […]

Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 3 Comments
Tags: America, Christopher Columbus, Columbus Day, explorer, Galvin Middle School, General John Galvin, headdress, History, humor Wakefield High School, Indians, Indigenous People, Indigenous Peoples Day, Majorettes, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Native Americans, Opinion, Politics, restorative justice, schools, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Human Rights Commission, Wakefield School Committee, Wakefield Warriors, Warrior logo

New book on Wakefield’s role in the Civil War

01Oct21

WAKEFIELD — Greenwood native Thomas A.C. Ellis has written a new, comprehensive history of Wakefield’s role in the Civil War. It is a worthy companion to other volumes written on the history of the town. Ellis is an independent Civil War historian who decided to write the book after he searched for information regarding Wakefield’s […]

Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, Feature stories, History, Wakefield | 4 Comments
Tags: battle, book, Civil War, Confederacy, Cyrus Wakefield, History, Lakeside Cemetery, Major Horace M. Warren, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, military, Richardson Light Guard, South Reading, Thomas A.C. Ellis, Tom Ellis, union, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield’s Civil War Service, women

Theory of relativity

13Aug21

For something that supposedly doesn’t exist in any public school anywhere, an awful lot of effort and ink have been spent of late trying to convince us of it’s non-existence. Critical race theory, they insist in no uncertain terms, has no place in public education. The messaging usually goes something like this: “Of course we’re […]

Filed under: Columns & Essays, Feature stories, History, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 14 Comments
Tags: Bakari Sellers, classroom, Critical Race Theory, CRT, Culturally Relevant Teaching, culturally responsive teaching, curriculum, Douglas Lyons, Dr. Clint Smith, education, educators, equity, Jamilah Pitts, Jason Pavey, Judith Briggs, Margaret Messier, Mark Sardella, Marxist theory, MASC, Massachusetts Association of School Committees, Opinion, Politics, schoold, social justice, Social Studies, students, Suzt Veilleux, teachers, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Public Schools, Wakefield School Committee

Secret summer retreat

06Aug21

Only the most jaded cynic would question the School Committee’s decision to discuss the “next steps” in the process for the Wakefield Warrior logo at a Saturday morning meeting in the dead of summer that wasn’t being recorded on ZOOM or cable. So, when a reporter and two members of the public showed up at […]

Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 7 Comments
Tags: Ami Wall, apology, Critical Race Theory, culturally responsive teaching, Dorothy Presser, Douglas Lyons, education, Galvin Middle School, Humor, Indians, Indigenous People, Mark Sardella, Mike Boudreau, Native Americans, Open Meeting Law, Opinion, Politics, professional development, public meetings, retreat, schools, teaching, Town Election, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield School Committee, Warrior logo

Coming soon to a school near you!

24Jul21

If the sudden urgency to eliminate the Wakefield Warrior logo last spring after 75 years struck you as curious, perhaps it shouldn’t have come as such a surprise. In retrospect, you wouldn’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to conclude that the logo’s elimination was merely setting the stage for something bigger, like the local […]

Filed under: History, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 7 Comments
Tags: America, American University, children, colonialism, colonizers, CRT, culturally responsive teaching, culture, educators, History, Humor, Indians, Indigenous Curriculum, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, melting pot, Mishy Lesser, Native Americans, Opinion, Politics, public schools, students, teachers, United States, Upstander Academy, Upstander Project, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield School Committee, Wakefield School Department, Wakefield Warrior Logo, WakefieldMA, Youth Council

High school confidential

25Jun21

If you thought the Warrior logo issue that roiled the Wakefield community last spring was just going to go away quietly, that’s what’s known as wishful thinking. At least that’s what the anti-logo side was wishing would happen. But the Warrior logo is back in the news, and once again, it wasn’t the pro-logo side […]