Posts Tagged ‘Wakefield MA’

As we enter the New Year, the time has come to make some bold predictions for 2014. So let’s dust off the old crystal ball, shall we? Come to think of it, the whole house could use a good dusting. I’ll begin by predicting that that will not happen in 2014. People ask how I […]


Entertaining romantic comedy at Quannapowitt Players “When a woman says she wants a new car, she really wants a whole new life,” middle-aged Becky Foster (played by Barbara Douglass) muses in the opening scene of “Becky’s New Car.” The highly entertaining romantic comedy by Steven Dietz is currently on stage at Quannapowitt Players in Reading […]


Point of Order

07Nov13

In defense of Open Town Meeting Wakefield‘s Regular Town Meeting opens on Monday, Nov. 18, and it seems like a good time to reflect on the institution of Open Town Meeting. While some towns have gone to a watered-down “Representative Town Meeting,” with voting members elected from each precinct, Open Town Meeting remains a New […]


GOP Legislators meet with members of business community Wakefield last week became a flashpoint of opposition to the broad new 6.25 percent sales tax on custom software and network design services when The Savings Bank hosted a roundtable discussion with state legislators and technology industry professionals. Thursday’s meeting was the last of eight such technology […]


[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] Suspicious 1940 blaze linked to union activity On the afternoon of July 18, 1940, the Wakefield Fire Department received a frantic call from the caretaker of the former Arthur G. Walton property at 108 Main St. Hans Meyer, who still lived in the caretaker’s house, reported that the old […]


[Part 1 of 3] [Part 2] [Part 3] Daring payroll Robbery of Walton shoe factory compared to Sacco & Vanzetti When it comes to Wakefield’s prominent old families, chances are you’ve at least heard of the Hartshornes, the Beebes, the Wakefields and the Eatons. But what do you know about the Walton family of Wakefield, […]


A Talk by John Wall Many people know the story of how the town of South Reading, MA came to be renamed after industrialist Cyrus Wakefield. But most people probably don’t realize the extent to which he shaped the town of Wakefield as we know it today. In a talk on Feb. 20, 2013 to […]


When the Board of Selectmen last week moved to use zoning to nip in the bud any chance of a medical marijuana dispensary opening in Wakefield Massachusetts, they were not alone. Many Massachusetts cities and towns have put in motion measures to stem the possibility of a pot store opening in their communities. This widespread […]


“Why are there no moderate Republicans?” That’s the lament we hear with increasing frequency from some quarters as the fall election season heats up. Meanwhile, many of the same people who decry this supposed lack of moderation are working overtime to paint a couple of true moderates as “extreme.” Last year, Congressional Quarterly ranked Scott […]


Sardella Sign & Graphics, 68 North Ave., Wakefield, MA was this week’s winner in WRKO radio’s “Small Business Appreciation Initiative.” On Monday morning, WRKO delivered coffee and baked goods from Greenhills Irish Bakery to the staff at Sardella Signs. I know that my brother Bob built this business all on his own. I watched him […]