4th of July in Lowell – (PIP #37)

By Louise Peloquin

A 4th of July throwback announcing an honor roll dedication, advertising an evening of celebration and covering heat elevation. Times have changed and yet, have they?

Articles below from L’Etoile, June 30, 1944.

Honor roll dedication on Tuesday

     Next Tuesday, the 4th of July, West Centralville’s Franco-Americans will hold the dedication of the beautiful honor roll memorial for its servicemen which has just been installed in the park at the neighbourhood entrance between Aiken and Ennell streets.

     A committee of neighbourhood businessmen organized the ceremony and devoted more than two months to obtain the necessary contributions to finalize the preparation work.

     A military service for the St-Louis parish soldiers, sailors and aviators who sacrificed their lives will open the ceremony at the church at 9:00.

     At 10:00, after the Mass, the dedication will take place in the park.  This honor roll, rectangular in shape and curved on the left, holds small black boards with the names of about 900 servicemen in gold letters. 7 of them have already given their lives for the country.

     Among those invited to the ceremony are Father Charles-A. Cordier; The Honorable Mayor Woodbury-F. Howard; Major Fitzgerald, veteran of Guadalcanal; Reverend Father Victor Gauthier. City Council members, State authorities and Mrs. Edith Norse Rogers have also been asked to attend the patriotic event.

     The organizing committee of this event is the same which had this park dedicated to servicemen and had a monument and a flag erected last Labor Day. Committee members are Mr. Harry Morrison, president; Jeffrey Matte, secretary-treasurer; Hormidas-J. Ducharme, Raymond Bacon; Léo-H. Beaulieu; Elzéar Dionne; Prosper Deslauriers; André Primeau, now in the Navy, and Andrew Vandette.

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Knights of Columbus

Charities Committee

Jamboree

Tuesday Evening 4th July

The program begins at 8:30 sharp.

Entrance for ticket-holders only.

IMM. GENOA CLUB

167 Dutton Street

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     The heat has made many victims

The weather has become cooler today after yesterday’s humidity and extreme 95-degree heat.

     BOSTON, 30 – There were no thunderstorms last night in our vicinity but the cool temperatures came anyway after storms and showers in the region’s mountainous areas. Consequently, the weather is pleasant today without yesterday’s stifling heat and humidity.

     The thermometer rose to 95 degrees yesterday and, in many places, approached 100. The humidity made the heat unbearable. This third day of heat wave caused drownings and many prostrations.

     Réginald Michaud, 30, drowned in Megunticook Lake in Camden Maine when a boat capsized, throwing him out along with four other men. Michaud drowned in 65-foot deep water. A shipyard worker, he leaves his wife and three children.

     Louis-P. Bouchard Jr., 7, drowned in Sprinket River in Methuen.  There were several cases of heat prostration including that of a woman who collapsed at Harvard’s commencement.  Louis Vassapolli, 35, lost consciousness on the job at Lynn Gas and Electric Works.

     Many municipal employees and workers at city businesses had yesterday afternoon off. Seven people are being treated for heat exhaustion at Boston City Hospital. Mrs. Elise Howard suffered gas suffocation due to a defective chimney in her Dorchester home.

     The thermometer rose to 95 degrees at 3:30 for the second day in a row.

     In Lowell yesterday, the temperature stayed at 96 degrees for 5 hours. It was the hottest day of the year, two degrees less than the record high of 98 degrees on June 29, 1933. Lowell’s previous hottest day was on May 31 with 92 degrees. Last night, the minimum temperature was 70.

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On the occasion of July 4th

We are closing our doors on Monday July 3rd. We wish our Franco-American clientele a most pleasant Independence Day.

JOSEPH J. FOLEY

115 Central Street (1) 

     Peek into the past #37 closes with sincere wishes for a joyous 4th of July to Lowellians and blog readers of all ethnic origins!

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1) Translations by Louise Peloquin