Townie Tidbits

MICHAEL’S MISSION IS MISSION POSSIBLE

I turned out for Michael’s Mission recently at the Knights. The place was packed. Donations raised. Clothing collected for the Recovery House in Hayes Square. A good mix of folks young and old. It was all for a good cause in memory of a sad ending for a good kid caught up in his demons. He is loved and remembered by all who knew him. Kudos to Smokey Cain who seeks to help other troubled lives in our midst in his son’s memory. Hopefully, this is the start of a new Townie Tradition.

DENNIS TAYLOR AND IVORY SOUL

Pretty difficult to forget this band’s name, just think of Ivory Soap and know that Dennis Taylor and the band is 99 44/100 percent great soulful music. I got to hear the band recently at the Knights during parade week and they were super. Also got to hear Dennis singing solo at the Peter Looney Park gathering sounds like a cross between Barry White and Marvin Gaye.

WHAT IS THIS WALL CONTROVERSY DOWN AT ESSEX STREET AND MISHAWUM

All across this nation nowadays all everyone is talking about are walls. A wall with Mexico. A wall between races. A wall between all of us. I was surprised to hear about the controversy down on Essex Street negatively impacting on long time resident of that little street behind the project.

We don’t need no stinking wall between us, whether it is an actual wall or a large ugly fence. I hated projects growing up because they always are build to be separated from the rest of the community. That is what happened when the Bunker Hill Projects were built and that is what happened when my old project Orchard Park was built in Roxbury. Mishawum was built correctly out front on Main Street as a part of the existing structures along this major street in Charlestown. I hardly see the need to separate residents of Mishawum from Essex Street and vice versa. Walls never work to the betterment of anything good.

Mishawum was built to house those in need of housing. Folks who live there aren’t second class citizens and neither are residents of Essex Street. Pitting the neighborhood against each other is not positive. Mishawum is the original name the Indians gave to Charlestown. Charlestown is proud of its past but also hopeful for the future. A chained fence is so unCharlestown like.

All of us could be the next Essex Street. We should stand with them.

AMERICA’S BARK TIME

Back to the week of the Bunker Day Parade while many were up at St. Francis de Sales honoring Father Dan at the unveiling of the Saint Florian statue, down at the Bunker Hill Mall, the business community of Charlestown was holding its community marketplace along Main Street and into the mall area, I met up with folks at the America’s Bark Time table, an online dog treat company inside the town.

This company is owned by a Charlestown couple Paul and Rosetta Cannizzaro and the company’s theme is Red Sox Baseball and it all makes sense since Paul and Rosetta got married at Fenway Park. For information, go to

America’[email protected].

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.