“The crowd dispersed to meet in the park-
For programs, picnics, and play,
Our country’s flag in hand and heart…
The Fourth was a special day!”
“A Special Day”
by Alice Leedy Mason
I hope that you all had a wonderful Fourth of July weekend. I had a chance to sleep later than usual on three of the days. (I usually get up at 4 a.m. on workdays.) The first day I couldn’t sleep past 5:30 a.m.; the second day, it was 6:30 a.m.; the final day, it was 7 a.m. We got a lot done in the days preceding the Fourth. We took our heavy winter jackets to a launderette and washed them using the big machine. When we came home, we put the jackets on heavy hangers and dried them outside on our umbrella clothesline. They are all ready for next winter. The lighter jackets I can put in our own washer.
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I mentioned last week that I would list the names of the executive board members of the Pope’s Hill Neighborhood Association: Steve Bickerton, Kathy Costello, Julie Gehring, Rob Genduso. Noreen Hegarty, Mark Hegarty, Michael Juliano, Jamie Kaszanek, Sarah Kiley, Jim King, Derek Mourad, Chris Stockbridge, and Brian Waldman. The senior advisors are Rita Hurley, Joe Harty, and me, Barbara McDonough. Should you have a problem, please contact one of the above people.
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I hope that you heard WBZ’s Jordan Rich announce that he became a grand-dad on Wed., June 24. Wendy (named for her late grandmother and born on her birthday) Elle Manavitz arrived to Jordan’s daughter Lindsay and her husband in New York City. The baby will be called “Elle.” Jordan was scheduled to see his first grandchild on the Sunday after she was born. He already has photos of the baby online. I am sure that he would love to show you his photos.
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I must mention the number of people who attended the funeral Mass for Jim Cawley last Thursday in St. Ann’s Church, which was almost completely filled for this man who touched so many lives. The music during the Mass was truly lovely. I think it was because Jim’s wife Elisa is a member, a violist, if I remember correctly, in the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra. I was so happy that I had a few seconds to tell Elisa how good the musicians, Timothy Maeri (cantor) and Glenn Goda (organist), were. Jim’s brother Michael gave a moving eulogy about his brother.
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I wonder if any of you heard the frighteningly loud crack and boom of thunder hereabouts last Wednesday morning. Daughter Sue called the office to tell me that there were no preliminary rumbles to warn anyone of the terrifying noise in our area. She asked if I heard the frightening sound. My office does not have any outside windows so I did not hear anything. Sue said that the lightning must have hit close by. We didn’t know how close until we heard on the noon news that the bolt of lightning hit the home of Henry and Helen Danilecki at the corner of King and Adams streets. Henry came downstairs to check on Helen after the loud noise. They thought everything was okay. Then a wonderful neighbor began banging on their home, alerting the couple to get out of the house because it was on fire. The house is a large Victorian type that probably sits up higher than most of the surrounding buildings. According to the TV reports, there was $200,000 worth of damage done to the beautiful old home. We took special interest in this fire because Helen Danilecki was the crossing guard for many years at that corner for children who attended the old Hemenway School, which had been located on the opposite corner of the street. It was taken down when the Murphy School was built and the corner was then made into a small park. My children knew Mrs. Danilecki very well. So did we mothers who walked our kids to kindergarten at the “Hemey,” as the school was called. By the way, I was happy to see one of the Danileckis’ neighbors comforting them. It was my friend Cora Flood, who served as senior coordinator for the Irish Pastoral Centre on Rita Road next to St. Brendan Church for years. Thank goodness the Danileckis, themselves, were not injured.
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On Thurs., June 25, Hubby and I walked down to the Leahy/Holloran Community Center to attend a spaghetti and meatball supper sponsored by the Bostonian Skilled Nursing Care and Short-Term Rehabilitation Facility. We were welcomed by the LHCC’s Lisa Zinck. She told us that the Bostonian is scheduling a great many renovations to improve its “elderly” building. Director of Admissions Jackie McDonald took me under her wing and told me about some of them. She knew that I had spent a month in her building while I recovered from each of my knee-replacement surgeries. I was pleased with my care each month that I was there. Our nurse Suzanne went around the hall taking each senior’s blood pressure. Mine was one of the lowest at my table. By the way, sitting at our table were Eileen Collins, Marie Schallmo, Marilyn Ferrara, Norma Connolly, Evie Dunne, plus Hubby and I.
We met many of the Bostonians’s staff members at the supper. Executive Director Sam Corey joined us as did Son Edwards, the director of nursing, and Winsome Maitland, assistant director of nursing. The director of physical therapy, Mark Franey, was there as were the director of maintenance, Matt Mourad, and the director of marketing, Amy Gorham. I had a chance to tell the director of dietary, Steve Cook, how nice his staff was each time I stayed there.
The food at the supper was very good. The salad had a nice dressing. To top it all off, we were given canolis for dessert, and this was the first time I had ever eaten a canoli. All I could think of was the line in “The Godfather,” “Leave the gun; take the canolis.” They were delicious.
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An added bit of info: When Fr. Dan Finn came to the Irish Cultural Centre last month, to fill in for Fr. John McCarthy, who was back home in Ireland for a wedding, he mentioned that he came to the US for the first time on Nov. 10, 1962.
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Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote the following: “Our greatest glory consists not in never failing but in rising every time we fall.”
