“Sister” gets audience into the act at Stoneham Theatre
If you plan to attend Sister’s Late Night Catechism “class” currently at Stoneham Theatre, you would do well to arrive early and be in your seat before curtain time. Sister (played by Nonie Newton-Breen) showed no mercy as she comically scolded Saturday night’s late arrivals, much to the delight of their more punctual “classmates.”
“Late Night Catechism 3: ‘Til Death Do Us Part,” is the third in the four-part “Late Night Catechism” franchise of touring one-woman shows that combine Catholic and other topical humor with lots of audience interaction.
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Tags: Bill Murray, John Belushi, John Candy, Second City, Shelley Long, Steve Carell
In Wakefield, Massachusetts
No question about it – times are tough.
We’re in a recession that rivals any economic downturn since World War II, and some people are even starting to whisper the D-word.
That’s why it’s especially heartening this Christmas season to see ordinary people, who may themselves be struggling, going the extra mile to bring some Christmas joy to those who truly cannot help themselves – children.
As they have for almost twenty years, a group of local runners will once again don reindeer costumes and pull a sleigh carrying Santa for six miles around Wakefield, dropping off toys and gifts at the homes of needy local children. The annual Christmas “sleigh-pull” gets underway this Sunday evening, December 21, at 6:30 p.m. with the runners assembling at Veterans’ Field for the start of their annual journey of giving.
Continue reading ‘Runners Pull Through For Needy Kids’
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Located missing boy in woods on cold December night
Two Wakefield, Massachusetts police officers received commendations last night. One of them walks on two legs, the other on four.
Police Chief Rick Smith and the Board of Selectmen last night formally commended Officer Brett Rossicone and K9 Leo for rescuing and likely saving the life of a missing 11-year-old boy earlier this month. In addition to the commendation from the Wakefield Police Department, Smith also presented Officer Rossicone with a plaque from Middlesex County Sheriff James DiPaula recognizing his heroic efforts.
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Tags: Brett Rossicone, canine, commendation, Daily Item, dog, dogs, James DiPaulo, K9 Leo, Leo, Middlesex County Sheriff, Police Chief Rick Smith, police Wakefield Selectmen, rescue, Richard Smith, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Massachusetts, Wakefield Police Department
Wakefield Christmas Lights
Christmas lights along Main Street in downtown Wakefield, Massachusetts.
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Tags: Christmas, Christmas lights, decorations, holidays, lights, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Massachusetts
Holiday classic newly relevant for these times
What is left to say about “It’s a Wonderful Life,” the story by Philip Van Doren that in 1947 Frank Capra made into a classic holiday film starring Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed and Lionel Barrymore?
Now aired on numerous television networks throughout the holiday season, hardly anyone over a certain age doesn’t know the story of George Bailey, a bank clerk and family man who is about to commit suicide when a strange man appears and shows him what the world would have been like if he had never been born.
But even if you’ve seen the movie version over and over, there’s nothing like a live stage production to give you back the feeling of experiencing the story for the first time. And that’s true in spades of Stoneham Theatre’s current holiday production of “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
Continue reading ‘It’s a Wonderful Life at Stoneham Theatre’
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Tags: Allan Mayo, Ann Marie Shea, Bill Gardiner, Bill Taylor, Chris Fournier, Chris Jorie, Christmas, David Wilson, Dee Nelson, Donna Reed, drama, Frank Capra, George Saulnier III, Hannah Wilson, holidays, Jakob Michaels, Jeremy Barnett, Jessica Webb, Jimmy Stewart, Joanna Murphy, Kiera McNelis, L. Arkansas Light, Linda Goetz, Lionel Barrymore, Lucas Lloyd, Meghan Fisher, Michael Barbo, Michael Sticca, Owen Doyle, play, Rebecca Lerman, Scott Giangrande, stage, Stephen LaMonica, Stoneham MA, Stoneham Massachuestts, Stoneham Theater, Stoneham Theatre, theater, theatre, Theresa Chiasson, Weylin Symes
“It is our obligation and responsibility to remember and honor those who have served in our armed forces,” Colonel John B. Encarnacao said at yesterday’s Veterans’ Day observance. “We literally owe them our lives and the freedom of our country.”
Wakefield’s Veterans’ Day ceremonies got underway at 11 a.m. in the Galvin Middle School auditorium with Commander David McCall of Corporal Harry E. Nelson American Legion Post 63 presiding. After the posting of the colors, Commander McCall led a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.
Continue reading ‘Wakefield, Massachusetts Honors Veterans’
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Tags: Air Force, American Legion, Anthony Encarnacao, Army, Betsy Sheeran, Daily Item, David McCall, Galvin Middle School, John Encarnacao, Katherine Clark, Kristina Encarnacao, Marine Corps, Marines, Mark Falzone, National Guard, Navy, newspaper, Richard Weisenbach, Ryan Murphy, soldier, soldiers, Thomas Bankert, veterans, Veterans' Day, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School Chorale, Wakefield High School Wind Ensemble, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Massachusetts
Wakefield needs a hug.
The town is struggling financially and its self-esteem may be shot, but help is on the way. The board of selectmen gave preliminary approval last week to a group that wants to stage a “farmers’ market” on Saturday mornings at Hall Park on North Ave starting next summer.
I just hope that, as a town, we can keep it together until then.
“Our town is in urgent need of some community and morale building,” the proponents told the Selectmen last week, “and a farmers’ market is one great way to start.”
Of course, in addition to “enhancing the local sense of community,” tangible arguments in favor of a farmers’ market–such as cheap, fresh, locally grown produce–were advanced as well.
Continue reading ‘Farm Aid for Wakefield, Massachusetts’
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Tags: Daily Item, farmers' market, fruit, selectmen, vegetables, Wakefield, Wakefield Climate Action Project, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Massachusetts, Woodstock
Runs through Nov. 9, 2008
Each of the characters in Colin Teevan’s “How Many Miles to Basra,” it seems, has a debt to settle.
The current offering at Stoneham Theatre follows an Irish radio journalist, Ursula (played by Eve Kagan), as the British military unit in which she’s embedded struggles to survive an unauthorized journey deep into Iraq just after the fall of Saddam in 2003. (Stoneham Theatre audiences will remember the talented Kagan for her performances as Louise in “Gypsy” and as Judith in “The Cutting.”)
The unit is battling boredom at a little-used checkpoint when an approaching vehicle arouses their suspicions. They pull the Iraqi occupants from the car and the ensuing search turns up a large sum of cash. When a scuffle ensues, exacerbated by the language barrier, one of the soldiers mistakenly thinks he sees a weapon and shoots both Iraqis.
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Tags: Alejandro Simoes, Basra, Bryan Miner, Colin Teevan, Daily Item, Derek Stone Nelson, Eve Kagan, Iraq, Iraqi, Janelle Mills, Jerrell Lee, Joe Lanza, Mason Sand, play, plays, Stoneham MA, Stoneham Massachusetts, Stoneham Theatre, theater, theatre, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Weylin Symes
Fright Night at Fenway Park
Wednesday, September 24 was a dark and chilly night at Fenway Park, as the Boston Red Sox prepared to play the Cleveland Indians in a meaningless game. The Red Sox had clinched a post-season berth the night before, assuring that there would be October baseball in Boston.
Cleveland was going nowhere, achieving a .500 winning percentage only by playing well for the previous month. Pitcher Paul Byrd was starting for Boston against the Indians, a team that had previously released him, so there was some on-field drama.
But who could know that the real drama that night would unfold beneath the stands, on the lower concourse on the third base side.
Continue reading ‘Fright Night at Fenway Park’
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Tags: author authors, baseball, Boston, Boston Red Sox, Carl Beane, Clevland Indians, Daily Item, Fenway Park, Item, Larry Lucchino, Mayor Menino, Paul Byrd, Stephen King, Thomas M. Menino, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item
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 home subdivision.
Most people don’t spend much time thinking about their kindergarten days, if they think about them at all. They probably remember even less about the building that hosted them. For the last several decades, kindergarten for most kids has been just the next step after day care and nursery school.
Continue reading ‘Razing of Miss Hope’s Studio School Marks End of an Era for Wakefield Baby Boomers’
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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
Mark Sardella 