Lifestyle

(This series features those who have long connections of over thirty years in South Boston, and those with three years or under.) By Carol Masshardt Acutely aware of history and well attuned to the wonders and challenges of 2024, Edmund Toomey’s life experiences and perspectives could fill a book. But at 85, he prefers a life of privacy and reflection in a neighborhood where he was raised and to which he returned forty-four years ago. He was one of seven children of Joseph and Elizabeth Tommey, who both also grew up in South Boston. “I always had interesting people in my house with service roots and that was not unique,” he said. “Politics, religion, and civic life was like the air you breath. In those [...]

One day after thousands of runners trekked 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to the Back Bay finish line, The Anne M. Lynch Homes at Old Colony hosted a shorter fun run involving runners who work for Beacon Communities, team members from the Tierney Learning Center (TLC), and kids from the community center to show support for the Run for Tierney Boston Marathon team. The marathon team, consisting of Beacon team members, TLC staff, and TLC partners, will donate 100% of the money they raise to programs and services at the TLC that promote education, empowerment and self-sufficiency for families living at Old Colony. “The inspiration for this fun run stems from a team of dedicated runners participating in the Boston Marathon on behalf of the Tierney [...]

By Carol Masshardt Make no mistake, the forty or so ladies, ages twenties to eighties, own the bowling alley on Wednesday nights from September-April. They come from a variety of jobs, backgrounds, abilities as bowlers, and though some don’t actually recall how they came to join, they surely know why they stay. “It’s the camaraderie,” said Jeanne Hogan, who comes from her healthcare job at Tufts Medical Center. “I have only been coming about three years, but there are some thirty-plus. It is a fun group. We laugh, we bowl, there are banquets and get togethers. It breaks up the week and the winter. I have good and so good nights at the bowling, but it’s not about winning and losing,” she said. Betty Dillon [...]

By Carol Masshardt (The next few weeks will profile the running team for the SBNH) “I don’t want to sugar coat it. The dark, brutally cold morning runs can be tough, but then you see a sun rise, and I do it with all the other charity runners, so you get close and it’s worth it.” Devin Baker, originally from Montpelier, Vt. has lived in Boston for three years. She is twenty-five years old, a soccer and basketball player in her youth and now a University of Vermont graduate and an accountant. It would be easy for Devin to enjoy the fullness of her young adult life without running several days a week and “long runs” of seventeen miles on a March weekend. But running [...]