“Autumn burned brightly,
a running flame through the mountains,
a torch flung to the trees.”
                    By Faith Baldwin

One day last week, Hubby had an eye test in Crown Colony. I decided to go along and maybe we could go to Market Basket in Brockton since we were already “on the road.” It was not a good day. There were periodic rain showers. We started down Rte. 128 and then went left on Rte. 24. Even on that dreary day, we were astounded by the number of trees that had turned color. Some trees were half and half, some branches green, some yellow or red. Every once in a while, we would see a totally vivid red tree, which was magnificent. Get out for a short drive. You will see why we New Englanders love living here at this time of year.
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I will reach another milestone this Saturday, Oct. 18. That date in 1998 was the day of the 25th annual High School Day, an event that Nancy Harrington and I had organized for the Pope’s Hill Neighborhood Association. We were very proud that hundreds and hundreds of seventh- and eighth-graders, with their parents, were able to visit in one place with representatives from up to 40 public, private, and parochial high schools. One year, when Tom Cheney was PHNA president, we were worried that there were too many people in the BC High gymnasium speaking with the representatives from the  schools (one estimate was 1,000 people). Thank goodness BC High allowed us to use their classrooms for the more popular schools. And God bless Fr. Ray Callahan, the president of BC High, who offered his school to us for the day. It was Sister Catherine Therese of Monsignor Ryan High School who gave me so much material on high school entrance exams. Nancy and I started Information Day in 1973 because our own kids didn’t know what high schools they wanted to attend at a time when there was chaos in the Boston public schools over what a federal judge would do to remedy what he had found as de facto desegregation across the system. I thank all the volunteers who helped make High School Day so successful. Most were from the Pope’s Hill Association, but we had friends like Agnes Minihan from the Lower Mill Civic Association and Loretta Philbrick from the Cedar Grove Civic Association to help us. Nancy and I considered the 25 High School Days to be our finest achievement.

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I also reached another milestone on the first day of October. On that day in 1979, I wrote my first newspaper column. My friend Nancy Harrington had become ill and she asked me to write her column for the Dorchester Argus until she was better.  You might ask,  “How did I ever remember the date of my first column?” That’s easy. Pope John Paul II came to Boston on that very rainy day, Oct. 1, 1979, 35 years ago. Hubby was working. Our three kids had walked up to Columbia/Kosciusko Circle in the heavy rain to see the Pope and his entourage as they drove by. I was home alone, with my old Underwood typewriter.  I used more Wite-Out that day because I had one eye on the TV and one eye on the typewriter. It took me all afternoon to do just one column and, of course, it was all about the Pope’s visit. I finally finished it by supper time.

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I must mention a frightening sight that Hubby and I encountered the other day. As we drove down Morrissey Blvd. toward CVS and Liquidators, we saw a young man on his bike pedaling “up” on the “down” side of Morrissey close to the median strip of grass. We, like other drivers, were so shocked that we didn’t even beep at him to let him know he was going in the wrong direction. I hope he made it!
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I always love to read about the giant pumpkins grown by local farmers at this time of year. The biggest pumpkin ever in our area came in at 2,100 lbs. two years ago. This year’s winner at the Topsfield Fair was just over 1,900 lbs. It took the farmer 100 days to grow this huge pumpkin, watering it constantly. The farmer had one dilemma: How was he to get the pumpkin off the ground to be weighed? I heard an announcer on WBZ late Friday night tell everyone that it was one of their own who helped get the pumpkin to the weigh station, Don Huff, WBZ’s evening news anchor. Bravo, Don!
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I was so sorry to read of the death of Patrick Tumilty, formerly of County Roscommon, on Sept. 30. I met Ann, Pat’s wife of 60 years, through St. Ann’s church, the school, and the band, thanks to my friend Eileen Burke. I use to see Pat and Ann over at BC High when their son John and our son Paul were students. Pat was always so nice. Our whole family joins many in the Neponset area in mourning his death and sending sympathy to his wife Ann and to their children: Tom, Ann Behrer, John, Mary Beth, and Sheila Coch. By the way, Hubby and I, while eating supper on Saturday evening, heard Bill Bailey, one of the hosts of the Irish Hit Parade, mention that his friend Pat Tumilty had passed away. I didn’t catch the name of the person who called radio station WROL to tell Bill of Pat’s passing. Bill told his listening audience that he had worked with Pat at the Boston Gas Company. “Pat taught me so much,” said Bill. “He was a very nice person.” I am sure that the Tumilty Family loved hearing this about Pat. I was! By the way, it was so nice to see Paul White and Jim Hunt Jr. at Pat’s wake.
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 Thanks to a kind invitation from pal Eileen Collins, Hubby, daughter Sue, and I were invited to the Oktoberfest celebration at the Quincy Elks on Quarry Street. We knew that it was going to be held in the beautiful Tirrell Room, which we had been in previously. We were a little early so we had to wait a few minutes before we entered the main dining area.  While we were waiting to get in, we saw John and Mary Sullivan, Eileen’s sister and brother-in-law. We heard them mention that they had just returned from a cruise to Alaska. That is the one thing that Hubby and I would still love to do. (Maybe we would also still have the strength to get to Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia again.) Also sitting with Eileen, John, Mary, Hubby, Sue, and I were Peggy Gorman, Irene Anderson, Marilyn Ferrara, Evie Dunne, Phyllis Hartford. Marie Schallmo, Dotty Columbre, Jean Buonopane, and my new friends Jim and Judy Farrell.

There was a great “disc jockey who played quite a few music selections  from the 60’s and 70’s. Daughter Sue was delighted; “Louie, Louie,” “Sweet Caroline.” “That’s Amore,” “Joanna,” “Gloria,” “God Bless the USA,” “I Get Around,” “Billie Jean,” and “Shake Your Groove Thing.” Some people got up and danced. Then there were games. I loved watching the “Toss Across” game with the beanbags and the pieces of wood, probably 2 feet by 3 feet, with the game holes cut out. I watched the people playing that game for quite a while. When I was a kid, we had a game similar to that, which we kids loved. There was another game called “Janga/Jenga.” There was a tower made of wooden blocks. People paid a few dollars for the chance to pull out the right piece of wood so that the tower would not collapse. There was a third game, “Beer Pong.” I didn’t get a chance to watch that one so I don’t know how it was played.

Then it was time for the buffet with German food: pretzel breadsticks, wiener schnitzel, beef stroganoff, potato salad, knockwurst, bratwurst, and a scrumptious cake (or rather two cakes). There were four different types of beet on tap. There were two St. Pauli girls walking around in costume and selling chances for the Elks’ fundraiser. (One of the causes to which the Elks donate money is Fr. Bill’s Place.) There were lots of prizes on chances but, sad to say, none of our group won anything. Several of us had our eye on a Coach bag but “no dice.”  As we left the Tirrell Room, it began to rain just a bit. We really did enjoy the Elks’ Oktoberfest. It was different.
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I liked this thought by Mark Twain: “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.”