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About Jeanne Rooney

Jeanne Rooney is the Editor in Chief for South Boston Online.
1 05, 2023

It Takes a Community: Fran Dempsey

2023-05-01T09:39:50-04:00May 1st, 2023|Categories: Business, Featured|Comments Off on It Takes a Community: Fran Dempsey

By Carol Masshardt It is rare for a community to have an auto mechanic that seems to be universally trusted, and one in love what he has been doing since the early 1970’s. South Boston can count itself among the lucky with Fran Dempsey of Fran’s Auto Body on 43 Preble St. “I’m a Southie guy,” said Fran as if this phrase alone told the story of his growing up on L. St., working at “Billy Higgins Exon” and Emerson Auto before opening his own place in 1993. “It’s pretty simple,” he said. “This is my town and I love what I have been doing, and all my customers. I do the right thing and word gets around.” Now at sixty-eight, a father of four [...]

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28 04, 2023

Piping Plovers Delay Opening of Curley Community Center

2023-04-28T11:00:21-04:00April 28th, 2023|Categories: News|Comments Off on Piping Plovers Delay Opening of Curley Community Center

by Rick Winterson Lately, a persistent rumor has been circulating around South Boston:  That the opening of the long-awaited Curley Community Center has been delayed further by the presence of a dozen or so piping plovers, who migrated onto the Center’s beach in April.  Members of Boston’s City Council have informed us that the Center’s opening actually depends on receiving various permits, which are expected “Soon”.  We have heard from environmentalists that a “Beach Management Plan” needs to be approved as well.  Here in South Boston, two fenced-off areas have been established for the piping plovers that arrived on the Curley Center beach.  In the meantime, the completed Curley Center is undergoing a thorough cleaning, but no specific opening date has been set.  The necessary [...]

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21 04, 2023

New Neighborhood Hangout: Petula’s Set to Open in Early May

2023-04-21T11:32:07-04:00April 21st, 2023|Categories: Business, Featured, Happenings, Lifestyle|Comments Off on New Neighborhood Hangout: Petula’s Set to Open in Early May

By Ginger DeShaney When Rachel Titcomb was growing up, she started her day with Petula Clark. Now she wants her Southie neighbors to start their day with Petula’s.  “My mom really loved Petula Clark,” Rachel said. “She would blast Petula Clark every morning to wake me and my siblings up. It put us in such a good mood.” That’s the idea behind the name of her new restaurant at 81 L Street: Petula’s. “My sisters and brothers have flashbacks. There was a lot of Petula Clark going on in my house,” she laughs. Petula’s will be an all-day restaurant serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It is set to open in early May, starting with dinner service, and by June, breakfast and lunch will be added. [...]

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14 04, 2023

It Takes a Community: Belinda Scott

2023-04-14T09:56:16-04:00April 14th, 2023|Categories: Featured, Happenings|Comments Off on It Takes a Community: Belinda Scott

By Carol Masshardt What does it take to serve as a crossing guard at one of the most chaotic and dangerous intersections in South Boston? You may know the rotary near St. Monica’s Church that connects Old Colony Ave., Prebble St. and Columbia Rd., but perhaps not as well as Belinda Scott who firmly and lovingly manages five directions of traffic, a rotary that could elicit aggression in a lamb, and pedestrians, carriages, bikes, and wheelchairs. It is the epitome of an urban streetscape. It is here that she has navigated since 2017, interrupted by some pandemic gaps, with care, humor, confidence and grace. Guiding people is not new to Belinda, now in her sixth decade. Mother of children, biological, adopted and fostered, she now [...]

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13 04, 2023

Crafting a Side Hustle: Kathryn Rizzo Creates Leather Items by Hand, with Love

2023-04-13T17:57:05-04:00April 13th, 2023|Categories: Business, Featured, Happenings, Lifestyle|Comments Off on Crafting a Side Hustle: Kathryn Rizzo Creates Leather Items by Hand, with Love

By Ginger DeShaney The amount of leather Kathryn Rizzo watched get tossed during her time working for a luxury handbag designer in New York sparked a passion.                        She had a boss who handed her a full leather hide – you could still see the shape of the cow – and asked her to get rid of it or make something out of it. At the time, Kathryn didn’t have the space in her tiny apartment or the know-how on what to do with that hide, but it stuck with her for years. “I think about how much I've thrown out now and it hurts my soul,” she said. During her time in the New [...]

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8 04, 2023

Join the Katy and Ellie Collaborative for Special Event

2023-04-08T08:41:48-04:00April 8th, 2023|Categories: Featured, Lifestyle|Comments Off on Join the Katy and Ellie Collaborative for Special Event

A yoga benefit to serve homeless adults and teens on April 16th Ellie Morin died on December 2011, at age twenty of an overdose, and Katy Harrington of cancer in 2017. The Morin family of South Boston was left to grieve the loss of a caring, kind and promising daughter just beginning adult life. Michelle  Harrington was still in shock when her much loved and gutsy sister,  Katy Donovan,  died at forty-nine, nine months after a diagnosis of vaginal cancer.  Unfortunately, these are not unheard-of stories. What is different is the outreach and collaborations the families have since formed to remember and serve others, including an event on April 16th from 9:30-11:30 at the Artists for Humanity.  On that day, Patti Morin, mother of Ellie [...]

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6 04, 2023

‘All is Well’: Son Writes Book as Tribute to Late Father

2023-04-06T16:56:21-04:00April 6th, 2023|Categories: Featured, Happenings, Lifestyle|Comments Off on ‘All is Well’: Son Writes Book as Tribute to Late Father

By Ginger DeShaney To deal with the unexpected loss of his father, Kevin P. Martin Jr. started writing down stories and life lessons he had learned from his dad.  “Part of it was the grief processing … and as crazy as it sounds, I didn't want to forget him. This was my way of keeping him in the present moment rather than the past,” Kevin Jr. said. “This was kind of my way of dealing.” Without realizing it, Kevin Jr. had penned 50,000 words. His wife of 30 years, Lisa, knew his writings were something special. She encouraged him to turn the writing into larger concepts, which turned into chapters. “And before you knew it, unknowingly, I had a book,” said Kevin, who is a [...]

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3 04, 2023

Micro Plant Studio: An Artist with a Vision

2023-04-03T12:39:12-04:00April 3rd, 2023|Categories: Business, Featured, Happenings, Lifestyle|Comments Off on Micro Plant Studio: An Artist with a Vision

By Carol Masshardt The art of plants is displayed in the work of  Julio Cesar Roman-Rios of Micro Plant Studio on West Broadway, and the inspiration was formed through his experiences of both trauma and resilience. His path to the Museum of Fine Arts, followed by a Tufts University Master’s Degree in Public Policy, he has now been a business owner for the challenging past five years. His life and work is a testament to community, possibility and effort. Healthy plants and his uniquely designed pots create an environment of hopefulness and creativity, but the inspiration is decades old. Originally from Puerto Rico, nature caught his imagination and spirit early and in what were often trying circumstances. The impact of domestic violence inflicted on his [...]

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30 03, 2023

Cleanups Begin at Moakley Park 

2023-03-30T19:24:31-04:00March 30th, 2023|Categories: Featured, Happenings, Lifestyle|Comments Off on Cleanups Begin at Moakley Park 

By Ginger DeShaney About 45 people braved the cold and wind Saturday morning to clean up Moakley Park as Boston Harbor Now and the Boston Parks & Recreation Department kicked off the 2023 cleanup season. “It’s community building,” said Lulu O’Leary, one of about 20 members of the Boston University women’s water polo team to participate. “It’s creating a better environment for everybody.” Cliff Meggison traveled in from Sudbury after seeing the event posted on Boston Cares.  “We think it's important that we take care of the natural resources we have, because if we don't, they're not going to be here very long,” he said. “I think it's one of those things that, you know, everybody thinks somebody else is going to do it and [...]

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21 03, 2023

It Takes a Community: Nicole Alfano

2023-03-21T13:27:55-04:00March 21st, 2023|Categories: Happenings|Comments Off on It Takes a Community: Nicole Alfano

By Carol Masshardt There are people who are at home in an office and only go outside to get back inside, but Nicole Alfano, a mail carrier for the past seventeen years, is not one of them.  Serving the community on a route of six hundred addresses that takes up to six hours to complete, Nicole, at 42, is undaunted by weather, the weight of a bag or city streets. “I love the South Boston community. There are so many nice people on my route and beyond. I see the same people every day and try to remember all the names on my route,” she said. This is no small goal in a community where she notes that many houses that were single family now [...]

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