About Jeanne Rooney

Jeanne Rooney is the Editor in Chief for South Boston Online.
21 12, 2017

Children’s Museum “Snowmazing” Amazes

2017-12-21T16:56:19-05:00December 21st, 2017|Categories: News|Comments Off on Children’s Museum “Snowmazing” Amazes

The Children’s Museum on Congress Street in South Boston sets a worldwide example for the learning experiences (and the fun) with their exhibits.  The Museum has embarked upon its year-end school break program called “Snowmazing”.  Stop by from December 26 to December 30.   by Rick Winterson      “Snowmazing”, the winter exhibition at the Children’s Museum is, well, amazing, as is the entire Museum itself, known worldwide as a leader in meeting young peoples’ needs and interests. This writer was conducted on a guided tour of the Museum by Jo-Anne Baxter, Director of Public Relations, last week, starting with “Snowmazing”, which includes some of the most eye-catching, popular exhibits there. Skate with your socks on, at an inside “Snowmazing” skating rink surfaced with slippery, [...]

21 12, 2017

Conroy’s Last Plunge

2017-12-21T10:10:19-05:00December 21st, 2017|Categories: News|Comments Off on Conroy’s Last Plunge

by Rick Winterson      The 2018 Polar Plunge, perhaps the longest continuous annual custom and event in South Boston, will happen on Monday morning, January 1 (of course), at 9 a.m.  The location – the Curley Community Center (a.k.a. “The L”) on Day Boulevard at the foot of L Street, on the K Street Beach side.    South Boston’s historic Polar Plunge has been a faithfully followed local custom for over 115 years – at least since 1901.  Our hometown’s Plunge is the oldest in the country.  Very possibly, South Boston residents took part in unrecorded Plunges going all the way back to the Civil War.  Soldiers in that years-long conflict learned the value of sanitary habits, including bathing; they brought these health-giving customs [...]

21 12, 2017

BPS Tries Damage Control On School Start Times

2017-12-21T19:27:19-05:00December 21st, 2017|Categories: Featured, Happenings, News|Comments Off on BPS Tries Damage Control On School Start Times

Three Hour Meeting Held at Condon School By Richard Campbell Students and parents of the Boston Public Schools were activated into respectful protest Tuesday night at the Condon School in South Boston over the ham handed moves by the BPS Board’s to change start times for elementary and secondary students- seemingly with little regard to parent’s opposition to major aspects of the plan. The community at the Condon School was in unanimous agreement about the efficacy of changing times for students. Expressed in so many ways by many people the consensus was: “Please don’t do this, it will ruin our lives.” While the decision to move older adolescent kids to later start times had a slightly better reception, the concept of completely disturbing the lives [...]

15 12, 2017

ICA Winter Harbor Market Weathers the Storm

2017-12-21T17:13:18-05:00December 15th, 2017|Categories: Lifestyle|Comments Off on ICA Winter Harbor Market Weathers the Storm

By Richard Campbell This past Saturday the Institute for Contemporary Art celebrated their Winter Market, a small pop-up festivity of artists and vendors designed as a holiday attraction for Seaport visitors. It was well received by those who braved the first Boston snowfall. Held in the lobby of the ICA the low key event featured young artists and entrepreneurs, plying their goods.  The majority of the artists in displays were small, and missing enough choice to give them broad appeal, but there were some unique start-ups. Perhaps the most ICA appropriate artist, Alex Kittle of Panandascan, displayed her edgy film and TV inspired illustrations that give a cartoonish glimpse of entertainment classics like Twin Peaks, Moonstruck, and  Kill Bill with cult worthy stickers and pins [...]

15 12, 2017

“Toys for Tots” in South Boston

2017-12-15T12:15:03-05:00December 15th, 2017|Categories: News|Comments Off on “Toys for Tots” in South Boston

by Rick Winterson   You have surely seen and heard of the “Toys for Tots” program, first founded by Major Bill Hendricks, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, and his wife Diane.  Actually, the idea occurred to Diane, after she had unsuccessfully tried to find a way to get Christmas toys to needy children. Just as a reminder, here are a few remarkable facts and figures describing “Toys for Tots”.  In this Year of Our Lord 2017, “Toys for Tots” has turned 70 – Diane and Bill Hendricks began it in 1947.  If you would like to see a heart-warming sight, take the elevator to the Eighth Floor of South Boston’s Design & Innovation Building at 21 Drydock Avenue by the Flynn Terminal.  You’ll see an entire [...]

15 12, 2017

“For Now” Opens

2017-12-15T12:11:51-05:00December 15th, 2017|Categories: News|Comments Off on “For Now” Opens

by Rick Winterson      “For Now”, located at 68 Seaport Boulevard on the edge of One Seaport’s Courthouse Square, is a retail incubator.  Inside “For Now”, there are thirteen - Lucky 13 - small pop-up shops, which take many forms - racks, steps, shelves, pegboards, tabletops, and mannequins.  Each one of these is really a small business of its own, featuring elegant, enticing crafted goods. It is the concept of the “For Now” proprietors, Katharine ReQua and Kaity Cimo, that small but creative businesses belonging to craftspeople can pilot their wares in a real-life, bricks-and-mortar marketplace at “For Now”.  They can then move on, after one, or two, or three months, to achieve their own independent e-commerce success.  But they are here for, well, [...]

15 12, 2017

Seaport Restaurant Review: Gather in a Cozy Enclave

2017-12-21T17:15:19-05:00December 15th, 2017|Categories: Featured, News|Comments Off on Seaport Restaurant Review: Gather in a Cozy Enclave

By Richard Campbell It’s a little tough to find reasonable restaurants in the Seaport that are more sophisticated than glorified junk food and more accessible than pricy establishments. District Hall’s Restaurant, Gather, isn’t exactly a bargain, but for tasteful dinner and lunch, it represents a reasonable compromise. Starting with the small, but resourceful wine list, you can find a reasonable Pinot Grigio from Anterra, Italy, or a solid Chardonnay from Sonoma in the whites, to a moderate California Merlot or Cabernet in the reds.  The price of admission for the few French wines isn’t extraordinary in most cases, and unlike some places in the Seaport they give you a decent sized glass.  The beers on tap represent a small but original selection of crafts and [...]

13 12, 2017

Finding the Center: The South Boston Branch Library

2017-12-13T18:58:37-05:00December 13th, 2017|Categories: Editorial|Comments Off on Finding the Center: The South Boston Branch Library

By Richard Campbell While members of the community give the South Boston Branch Library positive ratings on service, and in general the atmosphere of the library is welcoming, we hold the position that the library facilities of the South Boston Branch are in need of major improvement. It is very hard to ignore the fact that in South Boston, the branch library is the only truly open public meeting space, and its design is entirely inadequate to that task. The small footprint of the library, with its weak design and technology infrastructure make it a rudimentary building that was adequate in the early post World War II period that simply cannot be afforded the gradualist approach in order to meet 21st century library standards. The [...]

13 12, 2017

Beautifully Festive Scenes on 2017 Laboure House Tours

2017-12-13T18:46:59-05:00December 13th, 2017|Categories: Happenings, Lifestyle, News|Comments Off on Beautifully Festive Scenes on 2017 Laboure House Tours

By Rick Winterson The 27th Annual Laboure House Tours have come and gone once again. In South Boston, these much-anticipated events have always foreshadowed Advent and a joyous Christmas Season. The Tours in the Year of Our Lord 2017 were no different. In fact, they might have been better – person after person who went on this year’s tour commented how elegant and cheerful the homes looked. Add to this the variety of beautiful things available in the Shoppe at Laboure, along with the refreshing pause after the Tours, and it was a great way to begin the Season. South Boston Online can’t fit a lengthy description of all five homes on the House tours into this article, but we can give a few high [...]

13 12, 2017

West Broadway Development Gets Community Review

2018-11-27T13:06:35-05:00December 13th, 2017|Categories: Happenings, News|Comments Off on West Broadway Development Gets Community Review

by Richard Campbell Monday night two meetings were held by the Boston Planning and Development Agency BPDA concerning new housing developments on West Broadway. First was the Impact Advisory Group Meeting at the Laboure Center, and the second was a public meeting for citizen stakeholders at the Condon School. Both meetings were to review a major demolition and rebuilding project on 457-469A West Broadway. The enterprise desiring to build the new housing (44 housing units, 50 garage spaces), 463 LLC, is in the review process with the BPDA. The BPDA Project Manager, John Campbell, and representatives for the project were all in attendance at both meetings. In truth, the two meetings were very similar, with the first meeting being more coherent and dedicated to real [...]

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