By Sal Giarratani
TOWNIES ALWAYS WELCOME IN SAUGUS
I recently attended a Christmas Party dinner/dance over at the VFW Beachmont Post in Revere. The catering was done by The Tumble Inn Diner in Saugus on Lincoln Avenue. The co-owners are Laura Cuhna and Rick Scirocco. When Rick discovered I had a Townie connection, he let me know that while he didn’t come from Charlestown, he did grow up visiting family members on his mother’s Irish side. Byrne, Rogers, Walsh, Welch, Morse and more ties in Charlestown’s one square mile of real estate Rick hasn’t forgotten those Irish roots of his.
We Gaelic-Garlic guys are everywhere!
Laurie Cuhna and Rick Scirocco
AMC COMING HERE
The Appalachian Mountain Club has announced that its headquarters is moving to new quarters in Charlestown. The 140 year old outdoor recreation and conservation nonprofit will take over half of 10 City Square better known to most locals as Rogan›s Hall, an old dance hall going back to at least the Roaring 20s. This building is on the National Registry of Historic Places and is 124 years old having been built in 1892.
As a young woman, my mom used to dance there every weekend to some great live movie in the pre-DJ era. She probably learned how to do the Charleston right there in City Square. I bet when Loopers were tired of looping even they would hit the dance floor too. The remainder of the building space will continue to be leased to current tenants like ground floor Legal Seafoods.
The Appalachian Mountain Club folks will be dancing in the streets around City Square the way generations of Townies once danced away inside on the spring-balanced dance floor.
Here’s a great picture of the old Rogan’s Hall Building taken recently
Photo by SAL GIARRATANI
City Square continues to be a gatepost to the community a welcoming site for all. The front gate of Charlestown.
THE NAVY NEVER GETS FORGOTTEN IN CHARLESTOWN
Charlestown has always been a Navy Town going back it seems forever. Many Townies over the generation enlisted in the US Navy during war and peace. My Uncle Joe (Harrington) enlisted in the US Navy following the Pearl Harbor Attack. He ended up getting sent to Puerto Rico where he eventually met his wife and raised a large family. I remember when I enlisted I the US Air Force right out of high school, he told me I should have joined the Navy.
On the 75th Anniversary of the Pearl Harbor Attack, veterans, their families, friends and supporters showed up. Riflemen fired a salute, Boston fireboats shot streams of water as hundreds gathered to cast memorial wreaths into the water. More than 2,400 died on that early Sunday morning that threw us into war.
The USS Cassin Young, a destroyer is docked at the Charlestown Navy Yard as a symbol of pride for all and is staffed by the National Park Service and is named for a Navy captain who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at Pearl Harbor. He died in 1942 during the Battle of Guadalcanal.
Guest speaker at this event was the commander›s grandson Lt. Commander Cassin Young II who spoke of his grandfather›s bravery and sense of duty. His grandfather received it before his death and said Iwas lucky being in command of a great ship with a great crew” For as long as America lives, we will never forget what happened on December 7, 1941 and all the heroes who sacrificed their very lives for the generations to follow them.