Happenings

South Boston Citizens’ Association president Tom McGrath has announced the association’s 2016 recipients of the James M. “Jimmy” Kelly Shamrock Award for Community Service. One of the 2016 Shamrock Awards will be presented to Patty McCormick, for her selfless efforts in aiding those in need and pitching in at the drop of a hat, for any benefit or worthy cause in the town. Patty is a lifelong resident of South Boston, and for the past 25 years a proud resident of Andrew Square. Patty is a 37 year employee of the South Boston Boys & Girls Club. Her most recent accomplishment at the club is working on the Capital Campaign that resulted in an $11.3 million renovation of the Clubhouse on the corner of “F” [...]

Massachusetts was one of a dozen states that voted in primary elections or caucuses on Tuesday, March 1 - Super Tuesday. The state results were largely as predicted by numerous polls: Donald Trump won the Republican primary and Hillary Clinton won the Democratic primary. Locally, this held true as well. Trump and Clinton were overwhelmingly the most popular candidates on the Republican and Democratic ballots, respectively, in South Boston. In South Boston (Wards 6 and 7 in Boston), 8,065 Democratic votes were cast and 2,975 Republican votes were cast in the primary earlier this week. On the Democratic side, Clinton received 51.57 percent of South Boston's Democratic votes, while Sen. Bernie Sanders received 45.63 percent. The remaining percent of Democratic votes went to former Maryland governor [...]

On Thursday, Feb. 11, some of South Boston Catholic Academy’s best and brightest engaged in a tenacious edition of Catholic Trivia before a live studio audience of teachers, peers and parents.  Knowing that “As iron sharpens iron, one person sharpens another,” these 20 students took this small competition to grow in faith, knowledge, and mutual respect of one another (Proverbs 27:17). Four teams, each with a representative from Grades 2-6, faced a flurry of questions about the Scriptures, the Mass, the Saints, and everyone’s favorite topic, Popes Francis and Benedict XVI. Declaring a victor proved to be difficult; each team was filled with poised and intelligent competitors. What was easy to see, however, was the sure joy brought to each participant and spectator, brought together [...]

To fifth grade teacher Ms. Doyle for working for over a year on winning a grant to pilot a history program where the children learn from actual historical figures relaying information in the first person - and to the fifth grade students who remain riveted during these lessons!   To fifth grade student Darius Spriggs in Mr. Durney’s classroom who has been working with Mrs. Wyse on math assessments for his portfolio. Each session Darius gives his best effort to make sure his work is done neatly and correctly. He is a good role model for the other students in the group!   To K2 student Riley Coughlin in Ms. Flores room for trying her best to slow down while [...]

By KEVIN DEVLIN  Recently, the South Boston Neighborhood House - aka the Ollie - started recognizing its youngsters by announcing “Student Spotlight” winners. Young members are recognized for their good behavior, being kind, caring and considerate, sharing, as well as just being good kids overall. Two youngsters are picked during the month and their pictures are hung up in one of the classrooms. Wence Otieno was one of the youngsters recognized for this achievement in February. Wence, 6, is the son of Selesa Obudho. He has an older sister, Aunnie, and a younger brother, Nicholas. He is in the first grade at the Tynan Elementary School in South Boston. His favorite subject is reading (he loves the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series) and someday [...]

By KEVIN DEVLIN She was one of two youngsters in February recognized as a “Student Spotlight” winner at the Neighborhood House - aka the Ollie. Young members are recognized for their good behavior, being kind, caring and considerate, as well as just being good kids overall. In addition, she was the recipient of a brand new bike donated by the law firm of Goodwin and Procter LLP for her exemplary behavior. Her name is Madison Kronmiller. Madison, 6, is the daughter of Pamela Moriarty and Keith Kronmiller. She also has a “Nana” Joanne, “Grandma” Gayle, and a loving great-grandmother, Ethel. Madison is in the first grade at the Tynan Elementary School. Her favorite subject is science and someday she wants to be a teacher. Her [...]

By KEVIN DEVLIN They both attend the William E. Russell School on Columbia Road in Dorchester. The school is named after William Eustis Russell. Russell was born in Cambridge in 1857 and attended Harvard College and the Boston University School of Law. He served four terms as the mayor of Cambridge before he was elected as the 37th governor of Massachusetts in 1891, the youngest governor to be elected at the age of 34. The school was built in his honor in 1903. I attended this school back in the early sixties but at the time it was a middle school. But I digress. The two young girls featured are two young, adorable sisters named Angelina and Gloria Szwanke. Their mom is Veronica and they [...]