A Lighter Shade of Blue
The result of the January 19, 2010 special election was supposed to be a forgone conclusion. In Massachusetts, the bluest of blue states, a Republican hadn’t been elected to a Senate seat in nearly 40 years, we were told, over and over. Once Martha Coakley won the Special Democratic Primary to fill the US Senate seat long held by Ted Kennedy, the seat was hers by right.
In a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans 3-1, Martha Coakley wasn’t even going to need to campaign, at least not very hard, to defeat Scott Brown, a mere state senator and a Republican to boot. There would be no need to spend millions on advertising. And President Obama certainly wouldn’t need to clear his schedule to come up here and campaign for Martha Coakley. She’s a Democrat, after all, and this is Massachusetts.
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Memorial “pavers” to go on sale
They’ve already raised over $25,000 from voluntary donations and the sale of t-shirts and sweatshirts. Now, the World War II Memorial Committee is about to embark on a major fundraising effort that they hope will bring them much closer to their goal of $200,000 – the amount that they estimate will be needed to replace the crumbling wooden memorial on the upper common with a new, granite monument honoring the citizens of Wakefield, Massachusetts who served during the Second World War.
The Committee will soon be selling granite “pavers” that will form a “Walk of Remembrance” around the new World War II Memorial, which the Committee hopes to have built by Memorial Day, 2011. Over the next month, local residents will be receiving a flyer in their Gas & Light bills with information and an order form for requesting a paver to honor a veteran. The forms will also be available at Town Hall, the library and the Senior Center. A complete packet of information will be provided once the paver order, with deposit, has been received.
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Tags: 2nd World War, Dick Pearson, fundraiser, Jim Murphy, John Encarnacao, pavers, Phyllis Hull, Second World War, soldiers, veterans, Wakefield, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield Massachusetts, Walk of Remembrance, war memorial, World War II, World War II Memorial, World War II Memorial Committee, World War II Monument
Election Ennui
Congratulations to the voters of Wakefield, Massachusetts. One in four of you came out to vote in the recent special primary election to choose Teddy Kennedy’s successor in the US Senate. Wakefield’s 26 percent participation was nearly double the statewide turnout of 14 percent.
Somewhere, the Founding Fathers must be beaming with pride.
In the past, I’ve vocally decried voter apathy. I’ve done my share of railing against low voter turnout in elections and poor attendance at Town Meeting. But now, I think I’m beginning to understand voter indifference, at least as it relates to the recent Special Senate Primary.
On the Republican side, there was essentially no race, a reality borne out by the fact that Scott Brown defeated Jack E. Robinson by a nearly 9-1 margin state wide. So a lack of interest in the Republican primary was easy to understand.
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Leigh Barrett stars
More than a century and a half after its original publication, the emotional power of Charles Dickens’ holiday fable, “A Christmas Carol,” remains undiminished, and the current stage adaptation at Stoneham Theatre is a testament to the classic tale’s influence and staying power.
The current incarnation of Stoneham Theatre opened its doors on Dec. 1, 2001 with “A Christmas Carol,” and while other holiday works have graced the Stoneham stage over the last decade, the theater decided to celebrate its tenth season by returning to the story that brought new life to the historic theater.
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Bad Signs
You might have spotted them in the last month or so, manning their little table in front of a local Post Office or some other busy public building. They have posters and signs depicting President Barack Obama – altered so that he is sporting a Hitler mustache.
Charming.
These are the Lyndon LaRouche loonies, and they like to show up on sidewalks and public events, handing out their unintelligible screeds and engaging anyone who would talk to them.
They are followers of Lyndon H. LaRouche, a self-styled economist, political activist, and the founder of several political organizations known collectively as “the LaRouche movement.” He has been a perennial candidate for President of the United States, having run in eight elections since 1976 and as recently as 2004.
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Tags: Barack Obama, Congress, Democrat, Democrat Party, Democratic Party, election, elections, fringe, Health Care, Health Care Bill, Health Care Reform, Hitler, LaRouche, Lyndon LaRouche, Mao, meetings, Nazi, Obama, Obamacare, Politics, post office, President, President of the United States, radicals, Senate, Tea Party, Tea Party Movement, town hall, town hall meeting, White House
Taxing Times
Wakefield, Massachusetts votes itself a new tax
The 2009 Regular Town Meeting proved to be a taxing one – and not just for those who hung in for the entire three and a half hours. Town Meeting backed two new local taxes: one that will bring the tax on a restaurant meal in Wakefield to 7 percent and another that hikes the hotel occupancy tax from 4 to 6 percent. So it was a taxing Town Meeting even if you didn’t sit through it.
Over the years, Wakefield voters have shown themselves to be reliably frugal when they go to the polls, handily voting down Prop. 2½ overrides and outsized budgets. Town Meeting, on the other hand, has tended to be looser with the public purse strings.
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Tags: Daily Item, hotel tax, John Carney, local option, local option meals tax, local taxes, MA, Marc Luca, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, meals tax, tax, taxation, taxes, Town Meeting, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield Massachusetts
Performance on Friday, November 21, 2009 in Cambridge, Massachusetts
The line was already forming outside the First Parish Church as I cruised by at 7:15 p.m. in what I knew would be a vain attempt to find a parking space. I parked in a garage at the other end of Harvard Square and walked back. The line was still down the sidewalk, but the doors were open and Dan Hicks fans were filing into the church sanctuary.
I got in line and the 50-something woman in front of me turned and said, “Are you here to see Dan?”
“No, I’m just getting a good seat for Sunday’s service,” I wanted to say, thinking that was the kind of response that Dan would appreciate. Instead, I politely nodded yes when she asked if I’d ever seen Dan before.
Continue reading ‘Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks a Hit in Harvard Square’
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Honoring Those Who Served
Veterans Day 2009 in Wakefield, Massachusetts
As featured speaker at yesterday’s Veterans’ Day exercises, US Army veteran Sam Stella delivered his remarks in an auditorium lined with the photographs of Wakefield soldiers who died in battles fought in distant places long ago. He focused his comments on the roles that United States servicemen and women played in World War I and World War II.
“They did what they were supposed to do,” Stella said of the veterans of both World Wars, “and that’s the reason why we’ve been able to continue in this country. When people get together and do things in unison, the job gets done.”
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Tags: Albert Turco, American Legion, Betsy Sheeran, Galvin Middle School, Gen. John Rogers Galvin, James Good, John Carney, John Encarnacao, Katherine Clark, monument, Patrick Glynn, Paul DiNocco, Sam Stella, soldier, soldiers, US Air Force, US Army, US Marine Corps, US Navy, veteran, veterans, Veterans' Day, Wakefield, Wakefield Choral Society, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield Massachusetts, World War II, World War II Memorial
Next Wednesday, Nov. 11, Wakefield, Massachusetts observes Veterans Day with ceremonies beginning at 11 a.m. in the Galvin Middle School Auditorium.
While Memorial Day each spring focuses on honoring deceased veterans, Veterans Day is intended to honor and thank all US military personnel who served in all wars, particularly living veterans and those currently serving in the armed services. As such, it is fitting that Wakefield’s Veterans Day observance each year is held in the school named for Wakefield native John Rogers Galvin. General Galvin’s 44-year military career included two tours of duty in Vietnam, and he ended up as NATO‘s Supreme Allied Commander, Europe and Commander in Chief, United States European Command from 1987 to 1992.
Continue reading ‘Veterans Deserve Big Turnout on Nov. 11’
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Play about a teenage girl with supernatural powers
From the very start, you know that there’s something different about The Sparrow, and that goes for both the play currently on stage at Stoneham Theatre and the title character.
The Sparrow is an inventive and original play that combines a comic book aesthetic and a cinematic style – achieving a result that is artistic yet accessible and approachable. The play was conceived by Nathan Allen, who directed the original production at the House Theatre in Chicago. Allen also directs the Stoneham production.
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Mark Sardella 