Archive for the ‘Humor’ Category

“Wakefield has such a pretty downtown,” my friend in the passenger seat said as we drove past The Rockery on the right, with its rows of bright red and white tulips leading up to the Hiker Statue. It was a few weeks ago and the fountain hadn’t been turned on yet. “That’s not what our […]


By MARK SARDELLA You needn’t be a Chekhov scholar to enjoy Christopher Durang’s “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” currently on stage at Quannapowitt Playhouse in Reading. Durang’s comedy may have been inspired by Chekhov, but it is 180 degrees from the dark, despairing mood that permeates Chekhov’s plays. In fact, it’s hilarious. Wakefield […]


By MARK SARDELLA Bank robbery isn’t as easy as it looks, especially when things don’t go as planned. That’s the lesson that two brothers learn early on in John Kolvenbach’s comedy The Bank Job, currently at Gloucester Stage. Fourteen million dollars is a nice haul, but it won’t do you much good if your escape […]


Zoned out

20May17

I know some people don’t like me to write about marijuana, but the subject has been in the local news a lot lately and it’s kind of my job. So this constitutes a trigger warning for those delicate flowers of the Cannabis Community whose heads tend to explode when I write about pot. (Rest assured […]


Long before it became part of my job, I would attend practically every Town Meeting. It wasn’t out of any sense of civic duty. I’ve always found Town Meeting to be great entertainment. That has led some to suggest that I seek professional help. Last week’s two-part episode did not disappoint. If you’re one of […]


Most people think Wakefield is a pretty nice town. We have two lakes, a beautiful Common and a walkable downtown area with some great restaurants. We have easy access to public transportation and are near two major highways. Oh, and we are one of the few places outside of big cities that still has a […]


Bag the ban

30Mar17

It was only a matter of time. A small group of our fellow citizens has decided that they know better than the rest of us and want to dictate how we can carry our shopping purchases out of a store. Ten citizens have signed a petition to place an article on the May 1 Annual […]


The older I get, the more I hate winter. I hate Old Man Winter almost as much as CNN hates the President of the United States. I have no proof, but I’m convinced that winter is a Russian plot to turn the United States into Siberia.


157 candles

03Feb17

Today would be Curtis Guild’s birthday. Who the hell is Curtis Guild, you ask? How soon we forget. He was a three-term Massachusetts governor, from 1906 to 1909. If you’ve never heard the name Curtis Guild, apparently you’re so confused by the striping on the Route 129 Rotary that you’ve never taken a right onto […]


I want to state up front that this column may have been hacked by the Russians. So if you find anything objectionable, you know who to blame. (Snarky lot, those Ruskies.) The New Year is known for lists. New Year’s columns typically feature lists of “bests” and “worsts” of the previous year. Predictions for the […]