Author Archive

This is the fourth and final installment of the names of those Lowell residents who died while serving in the military during time of war. Today, the Korena War, the Vietnam War, and the wars in the Middle East. Korean War (31 names) Alexa, Anthony C Jr Azarowski, Richard Peter…

This is the third installment of the names of those Lowell residents who died while serving in the military during time of war. Today, World War II. World War II (436 names) UNITED STATES NAVY Adie, Donald M Alberghene, Bruce Allard, Georgiana F Balfrey, Robert E Baron, Richard S Beauchesne,…

This is the second installment of the names of those Lowell residents who died while serving in the military during time of war. Today, the Spanish-American War and World War I. SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR / USS MAINE (32 names) Aldrich, Havey M Bellamy, Herbert C Billingsly, Edward D Boyle, William Braden,…

In 1919, the Massachusetts state legislature passed a bill that authorized the city of Lowell to obtain land and expend funds for the erection and maintenance of a public building in the city to be known as the Lowell Memorial Auditorium. The building was to be “dedicated to the men…

 “Forward-March!” – (PIP #47) By Louise Peloquin      L’Etoile’s premises at 24-26 Prince Street in Little Canada were simple, space-effective and ecological. No interior decorator fitted Louis-A. Biron’s office with designer furniture, elegant window dressings and artsy wall hangings. The photos in PIP #5 illustrate the fact that space was…

Here are the Lowell results from last Tuesday’s election: President Kamala Harris won statewide with 2,073,389 votes to 1,234,533 for Donald Trump. In Lowell, Harris won with 20,071 to Trump’s 12,313. US Senator Elizabeth Warren won statewide with 1,990,182 (59.6%) to John Deaton’s 1,347,732 (40.4%). In Lowell, Warren received 20,593…

APPOINTMENT NO MORE  A short essay By Jerry Bisantz It was February 9, 1964. The black and white television was aglow with the family ritual. All seven Bisantz children and my Mom and Dad were crammed into my small living room, vying for space  to watch our Sunday ritual, The…

New at the White House – (PIP #46) By Louise Peloquin      L’Etoile covered the elections so extensively that we were hard put to choose among all of the century-old articles. Here are a couple of items from a weekly column called Au fil de la plume, literally translated on the thread of the…

The great American novelist Upton Sinclair once said, “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” I thought of that Tuesday night while watching the Lowell City Council once again debate whether the method of selecting Lowell’s mayor should…

Martha Sparks: Chelmsford’s Accused Witch By Ron Sykes Certainly, there are many stories of injustice in Chelmsford’s past but, the story of Martha Sparks seems to be particularly cruel. On July 10, 1676 Martha, the daughter of Thomas Barrett Jr., married Henry Sparks from Exeter, New Hampshire. Henry purchased 1…