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Reposting past Years in Review. 2011 in Review The local political lineup changed considerably in 2011. Steve Panagiotakos, who was elected to the Lowell School Committee in 1989, the Massachusetts House in 1992, the State Senate in 1996 and had most recently served as chair of the Senate Ways and…
Read More »Since the birth of this website in March 2007, I have posted for each year (except 2010 for some reason) a Year in Review article that tried to capture the most important local events of that year. For the coming week, I will repost each of these annual reports with…
Read More »This essay was first heard as a radio essay on the “Sunrise” program of WUML, 92.5 FM, at UMass Lowell. Executive producer Chris Dunlap assembled writers in the area for the daily essay, a popular component of the morning public affairs show with a daily essay by writers from the…
Read More » From nine years ago: Fifty-six folks from Lowell, Massachusetts combine to recite “A Visit From St. Nicholas” by Clement Clarke Moore. Produced by Richard Howe of www.richardhowe.com, December 2012.
Read More »What was Christmas like in Lowell one hundred years ago? Here are some stories that appeared in the local newspapers in the days leading up to Christmas as well as some ads for local merchants: First Day of Winter: Warmer tomorrow! The weather man promises to repent and make full…
Read More »The Christmas Fruitcake: An Ageless Traditionby Henri Marchand A note from the author: Like its subject this essay has been around, appearing first as a Sunrise radio essay on WUML-FM, re-wrapped as a “Guest Column” piece in the Sun newspaper, and showing up on this blog for the past few…
Read More »Recollections of Noël By Louise Peloquin When the priest at Notre Dame de Lourdes church * put on violet vestments on the first Sunday of Advent, Noël was on the horizon. My family attended French Mass which always included traditional hymns from Québec and France. Our Advent favorite was: “Venez…
Read More »This article first appeared in Merrimack Valley Magazine (Nov/Dec, 2020). “Oh, Babe, What Would You Say?”: A Holiday Mosaic Painting by Vassilios Giavis, reprinted from Merrimack Valley Magazine. St. Patrick’s Day, 1986, Liberty Hall (Merrimack Rep Theatre) in Lowell Memorial Auditorium. Benefit reading for a new organization pledged to…
Read More »Crawdaddy Remembers A 1953 Christmas Encounter With the Drifters By Bill Crawford My dad yanked me in hard out of the cold. It was mid-December 1953, and the black Gotham City skies were spitting down snow flurries. We were waiting to rendezvous with my mom who left us for a…
Read More »The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons Barron This is Happiness by Niall Williams is not a book to be read in a hurry. Set in the remote village of Faha in County Clare, Ireland, the story is set in the 1950’s before electricity came to dirt-poor Faha. …
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