Happenings

by Rick Winterson   “Toys for Tots” for Greater Boston is located here in South Boston.  It’s on the Eighth Floor of the Design Center (formally called the “Innovation and Design Building”) at 21 Drydock Avenue.  You can visit there to drop off donated toys, which are then distributed by U.S. Marine Corps personnel working there, along with many, many volunteers.  The total effect of the “Toys for Tots” annual efforts at Christmastime are nothing short of colossal. Last Tuesday, November 20, Mayor of Boston Martin J. Walsh took some time from his own busy Holiday schedule to visit “Toys for Tots” in the Design Center.  He took a brief tour of the facility, along with Vinnie Dolan and Major DeVries, USMC, who came in [...]

  by Rick Winterson      As South Boston Online promised in its last issue, the Annual Comedy Night, a laugh-filled party courtesy of the South Boston Collaborative Center, was a great success.  The Collaborative’s Comedy Night was held last Friday evening, November 16, in Florian Hall.  A full house of between 250 and 300 guests formed a responsive audience, who were ready to have a great time while supporting the Collaborative (both of which they certainly did). The high point of the evening was the presentation of the Annual Darlene Sheehan “Beacon of Hope” Awards.  The two 2018 recipients – George McEvoy and Dennis McLaughlin – are members of the ILA (the International Longshoremen’s Association).  Collaborative Executive Director Andy Ward served as Emcee; Sen. [...]

 by Rick Winterson   First, let’s look at some “demographics” in Washington.  As everyone knows, in the recent mid-term elections American voters sent a Democratic majority to the U.S. House of Representatives.  By itself, that’s not unusual.  In fact, out of 50 mid-term elections in our history, only three times did the House fail (!) to change hands.  This means that the House now has a large number of new, younger Democrats – age 50 or less – while its leaders, mostly senior House members, are in their late 70s and 80s.  Calls for new leadership have been frequently heard since the November 6 elections. South Boston’s Congressman Stephen Lynch was interviewed by “On the Record” (OTR, Channel 5) last Sunday.  Lynch himself has been [...]