Archive for the ‘History’ Category
Apathy grips Hub
When the New England Patriots are in the playoffs, people can’t wait to hang their Patriot flags and put out their Patriot signs, banners, pennants and even display their inflated Patriots lawn ornaments. Sometimes even before the regular season ends. You can’t drive half a mile in town without seeing Patriots everywhere. So, what are […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | Leave a Comment
Tags: 1960s, America's Pastime, American Football League, baseball, basketball, Boston, Dick Stuart, Dodgers, Eddie Bressoud, Fenway Park, hockey, Humor, Impossible Dream, Jim Gosger, John Henry, Ken Coleman, Lenny Green, Mark Sardella, Mel Parnell, Ned Martin, New England Patiots, NFL, Opinion, Pleasure Island, Red Sox, Robert Kraft, Sixties, soccer, sports, team, Tom Brady, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, World Series
By MARK SARDELLA GLOUCESTER – “Bringing history to life” is about as cliched as it gets, but it happens to be an apt description for what Gloucester Stage’s current production, The Agitators, succeeds in doing. Mat Smart’s play takes us into the 19th century world of icons of equal rights Frederick Douglass and Susan B. […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Politics, Reviews, theater | Leave a Comment
Tags: 15th Amendment, 19th Amendment, abolitionist, drama, equality, Frederick Douglass, Gloucester Stage, History, Jacqui Parker, James Ricardo Milord, Mark Sardella, Mat Smart, play, Rochester NY, Sara Elizabeth Bedard, slavery, Susan B. Anthony, The Agitators, theater, theatre, vote, Wakefield Daily Item, womens suffrage
Street view
Monday was like Christmas in August for me. Did the town rescind the plastic bag ban? Did the Town Council go back to being the Board of Selectmen? Sadly, the answer to both of those questions is “no.” But something almost as good happened. The 2018 edition of my favorite book was released. I’m not […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | Leave a Comment
Tags: 1936, 2018, Board of Assessors, Board of Registrars, Board of Selectmen, books, Christmas, directory, female, genders, Humor, inclusivity, male, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Opinion, Politics, residents, Street List, Town Council, voters, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, World War II Memorial
The vaping lot
It’s been an open secret for some time that vaping is a serious problem at Wakefield High School and at high schools everywhere. Vaping, if you don’t already know, is short for “vaporizing,” in which cartridges containing nicotine or even THC concentrate from marijuana, are vaporized rather than smoked. This is what e-cigarettes do. There […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: addiction, coyotes, drugs, e-cigarette, election, environmentalism, Facebook, Humor, Juul, Landrigan Field, lawn signs, litter, littering, marijuana, Mark Sardella, News, nicotine, Opinion, parking lot, Paul DiNocco, Politics, seagulls, smoking, students, teenagers, THC, tobacco, Town Council, trash, vape, vaping, vapor, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, Wakefield MA, WHS
Town Meeting Manual
Annual Town Meeting is over but November’s Regular Town Meeting will be here before you know it. Since there are always new people moving into Wakefield and new people reaching voting age, a few observations and helpful tips may be in order. You’ll of course want to bookmark this column for future reference. First, a […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | Leave a Comment
Tags: Board of Selectmen, column, definitions, election, Galvin Middle School, History, homonym, Humor, Mark Sardella, New England, Opinion, pep rally, Politics, soccer, terms, Town Council, Town Counsel, Town Meeting, tradition, voters, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, warrant
Board of Selectmen, 1647-2018
WAKEFIELD – The Board of Selectmen passed away with little fanfare this week after a bout with a virulent strain of political correctness. It was 371 years old. Born in 1647, the Board of Selectmen was the child of Lynn Village and Redding. It was later adopted by Reading, South Reading and Wakefield. The Board […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 3 Comments
Tags: Amherst, Board of Selectmen, Brookline, Fire Department, History, Humor, New England, Opinion, political correctness, politically correct, Politics, Reading MA, selectmen, Town Meeting, Toxic Masculinity, tradition, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Police Department
The civics lesson
Terms that perfectly capture their intended meaning sometimes end up as clichés. They get overused because no other words serve the purpose quite so well. The term “politically correct” is a perfect example. It’s status as a cliche is used as cover by those accused of politically correctness. They dismiss the charge on the grounds […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | Leave a Comment
Tags: Auschwitz, Berkeley, Board of Selectmen, civics, cliche, Communist, concentration camp, conservative, Democrat, free speech, gender neutral, gun club, Holocaust, liberal, Mark Sardella, millenials, Nazi Germany, NRA, political correctness, politically correct, Politics, Republican, Socialist, Town Council, US Constitution, Wakefield Daily Item
Local media matters
Being a panelist on two local candidates’ debates last week got me thinking about the role that local media plays in town. Televised debates for political office in Wakefield go back to the days before WCAT, to what I call the Dark Ages of public access TV. That was my first brush with local media […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, News, Opinion, Politics, Television, Wakefield | 2 Comments
Tags: Board of Selectmen, Boston Globe, cable TV, debates, election, gender, History, historym politics, Internet, League of Women Voters, LVW, media, News, newspapers, press, public access, Television, Town Council, town hall, voters, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, WCAT, women
Mark Sardella 