Shout out to Robert McClosky, author of “Make Way For Ducklings,” for providing Mrs. Nee and her K1 class a reason to have a great day in the Public Gardens! (And a special shout out to Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Oack,Pack, and Quack!)
Community Day in South Boston is an annual activity of the South Boston Community Health Center’s Youth Ambassadors. The 11th annual Community Day took place last Saturday in the Ironworkers Hall, set aside for this event courtesy of Ironworkers Local 7. Community Day was a fun-filled event that closed with a free lunch. See you there next year. -Rick Winterson The balloon man at the Health Center’s Community Day. (Photo by Rick Winterson) Community artwork at Community Day, courtesy of Holland America Line. (Photo by Rick Winterson) The Health Center’s Teen Clinic and the Gavin Foundation at Community Day. (Photo by Rick Winterson) Brightly painted Adirondack chairs – a Community Day specialty. (Photo by Rick Winterson) [...]
Nyquist won the Kentucky Derby, the popular horse race that was the feature of the South Boston Collaborative Center’s annual Derby party. And there were many other winners as well last Saturday evening, namely the clients of the South Boston Collaborative Center, an agency in the front lines of South Boston’s war against opioids like heroin. The Collaborative’s Kentucky Derby Day raises funds for this effort. Barlow’s in Fort Point put on a superb buffet – perfectly cooked sliders, shrimp with tangy sauce, and really cheddary mac ‘n’ cheese. It was quite a party. Nyquist, after a truly expert ride by jockey Mario Gutierrez, won by 1-1/4 lengths in a respectable 2:01:31. It was Nyquist’s eighth consecutive win – on to the Triple Crown, after American [...]
Mary Joyce, a board member of Local 17’s Friends for Children Charity, and Neal Kelleher, the charity’s president, arrive at the Condon School to present a $1,500 check for much-needed supplies to the Condon School. Local 17 represents this area’s members of the Sheet Metal Workers International Union; the local is very active in community-related activities. Shown receiving the check from Mary and Neal last Thursday morning, May 5, are Condon Principal Robby Chisholm, Parents Association President Michelle Ratican and the Condon School’s Student Council. Many thanks to the generous Local 17 of the International Sheet Metal Workers Union and their Friends for Children Charity. -Rick Winterson
Last week, South Boston Online published an article on Donnie Lewis’s “Disco Ball” fundraiser, which he arranged to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and its cancer research and treatment programs. Donnie’s disco ball gala in the Boston Teachers Union Hall was enormously successful, featuring DJ Dru Errico and attracting hundreds of his friends. Donnie’s story is amazing: He’s a cancer survivor who received stem cells from a one-out-of-25-million genetically matched USN midshipman stationed on the West Coast. Since then, Donnie has been giving back by hosting fundraisers to support the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. -Rick Winterson It was standing room only at Donnie Lewis’s Leukemia & Lymphoma Society fundraiser in the BTU Hall Friday, May 6. (Photo by Rick Winterson) Donnie [...]
Open house week at the Catholic Charities Child Care Centers is next week. The open house at the South Boston location (275 West Broadway) is Thursday, May 19, from 6 to 8 p.m. Then open house provides the opportunity to meet teachers, learn about the curriculum, talk to parents with enrolled children, and enjoy light refreshments. For more information, call 617-464-8500 or visit ccab.org. There are open houses at six other locations, including a few different Boston neighborhoods. All will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. On Tuesday, May 17, there is an open house at the Jamaica Plain location (19 St. Joseph St.; 617-522-4040) and on Wednesday, May 18, there is an open house at the Dorchester location (185 Columbia Road).
I wanted to comment on two recent items that made news in South Boston. Last week as I read that half-page thank you from the folks behind the Michael Joyce Memorial Playground (in the April 28 issue of South Boston Online), I was struck with the irony that the community forces behind this park amplified everything that Michael Joyce lived his life for, which was his neighborhood. He understood yesterday, was concerned about Southie's future and wanted to be a part of today too. The quote at the top of this half-page notice said it all: "All of us are born for a reason though some of us don't discover why. Success in life has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish [...]
At 634 East Broadway, Wears + Wares is a fairly recent addition to South Boston’s Broadway scene (there’s a kind of friendly rivalry as to whether East or West Broadway becomes “Big” Broadway in the future. May the “Best” Broadway win). Nikole Roome and Clodagh Fitzharris put on a Cinco de Mayo evening last Thursday at Wears + Wares, complete with margaritas and guacamole, to kick off the weekend leading up to Mother’s Day. This was a joint event with Nurture, The Sun Tan Van and Lashes by Clo. Has a new South Boston tradition started? -Rick Winterson
By RICK WINTERSON Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day. Its early beginnings took place about 150 years ago, very likely in the village of Waterloo on the Underground Railway in upstate New York. The graves of fallen Civil War veterans were “decorated” with bright flowers on May 30, as a tribute to their bravery and sacrifice. This particular day was chosen in part because it was in the spring, but mostly because it was not the date of any famous battle. Instead, it was a day set aside to honor every one of the war dead; Memorial Day is now officially observed on the last Monday of May. Here in South Boston, you will see volunteers and members of the Thomas J. Fitzgerald VFW [...]
By RICK WINTERSON The 36th annual Marjorie M. Gibbons Memorial Lecture was a great success. The 2016 Gibbons Lecture, the latest in this endowed series, was “A Beautiful Dismissal: The Unnoticed Nature of South Boston.” Local naturalist and botanist George LoCascio III gave the lecture; its subject – befitting its poetic title – was the wildflowers of South Boston. In addition to the beauty contained in the above photographs, the numbers in connection with South Boston’s wildflowers are equally as striking. In his summer-long project in 2014 – a thorough survey of wildflowers located here – George found 75 total species, which were members of 45 different plant taxonomic families. Included in these findings were a shrub (glossy buckthorn) and three vines. Follow the scent [...]
