When people who lived and worked in Lowell were trying to figure out how to revive the city in the 1960s and ’70s, one piece of wisdom that emerged during the planning was that it makes sense for Lowell as a community to invest in its assets that can’t be…
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For any community, its cultural treasures come in different forms. Sometimes the treasure is a distinctive building or place in nature and sometimes it comes in the form of a living cultural treasure. Today’s SUN has two stories, somewhat related, about cultural treasures in the city. One story details the…
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Dave Daniel and Steve O’Connor last night successfully launched their new books at the Old Court pub with the help of more than 200 people who came armed with good will, good humor, a good thirst, and a good appetite for literature written by somebody they might see in the…
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Sixty years ago today (June 25, 1950) the Korean War began. Nearly half a million Americans served in Korea during the war’s three years with 36,000 killed in action, 92,000 wounded, 8,000 missing in action and 7,000 taken prisoner. The Korean War featured the first and only combat (thus far)…
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Yesterday morning I attended two events of the Franco-American Week Festival: the annual memorial ceremony at the Little Canada Monument near the corner of Aiken and Hall streets and the traditional flag-raising ceremony at City Hall. The Little Canada Monument has been re-landscaped so that the granite stone with bronze…
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Mass Moments reminds us that today is the 335th anniversary of the deadliest war (in terms of percentage of population killed) ever fought on the North American continent. The town of Groton, just west of here, was the frontier of English inland expansion and the conflict reached into the town…
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Pawtucket Falls post card image /UML Center for Lowell History The other day it was people from Lawrence weighing-in on the Enel North America plan to regulate the flow of water over the historic Pawtucket Falls with a pneumatic crest gate, or “inflatable bladder,” installation system on the Pawtucket Dam. As…
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Thanks to Dick for his report on planning guru Frank Keefe’s nutshell version of the Lowell revitalization story and success recipe. Bill Lipchitz’s comment about the Center City Committee being formed in 1972 added a key benchmark. Since he was there, maybe Bill can clarify the connection between the CCC…
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Speaking of Franco-American Week, in the new New Yorker (June 28) the Talk of the Town section has a piece called “In the Stacks” about a recent display at the New York Public Library. It turns out that librarian Anne Garner specializes in “marginalia,” that is, comments and marks made…
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We’re halfway through Franco-American Week. Here’s a quick update on remaining events: Thurs, June 24, 9.15 am—Memorial ceremony at Little Canada Monument, Aiken St, opposite UMass Lowell Recreation Center; 10 am—Flag-raising at Lowell City Hall; 7 pm—Prayer service to honor St. Jean Baptiste at Franco-American School Grotto followed by wine-and-cheese…
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