RichardHowe.com – Voices from Lowell & Beyond

Time of the End of the Season Part IX

Time of the End of the Season Part IX

By Bob Hodge

Bob Hodge grew up in Lowell and went on to graduate from Lowell High (1973) and University of Lowell (1990). He was (and still is) one the greatest runners to come out of this region. He’s also a writer whose 2020 memoir, Tale of the Times: A Runner’s Story, is available at lala books in downtown Lowell and in Kindle format from Amazon. The following is an excerpt from his novel-in-progress.

Already published:

Time episode 1

Time episode 2

Time episode 3

Time episode 4

Time episode 5

Time episode 6

Time episode 7

Time episode 8

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Side Trip to Galway

I could see that it would be fun and interesting living with these two knuckleheads who were as obsessed as I was with our Athletics aspirations. On the weekend we would be adding another of our persuasion a college drop out said to be taking a sabbatical. Bobby would be sleeping on a cot in the hallway.

He would be running with the Bombers while on his break from college and working at the shoe factory with Donnie and me. Bobby was also a guitar player so I could see us all making some noise when I got back from Galway with my guitar.

I spent the rest of the week getting in a routine which included working 25 hours a week doing odd jobs at the shoe factory and working in the factory store on odd Saturdays.

The first job I was given was hanging insulation way up in the ceiling of the factory, which required climbing a ladder a very uncomfortable distance up over the factory floor where the racks of shoe last and shoes being made in progress and the noise and the spills and the smells.

On Friday I took the train up to Galway and walked to my parent’s house through those same streets I had left behind nearly a year ago. So much had changed in that short time and Galway looked smaller cheaper and meaner as immediately I started to walk and some delinquent peckerheads started harassing me, “hey hippie dippie what’s with the pack, you going camping?”

No—don’t look back, you can never look back.

I had dinner with my dad at home and got caught up with my mail. Later my old friend Richelieu picked me up in his Thunderbird and we drove around Galway stopping in at some old stomping grounds.

My friends were bemused by my travels and I was equallypuzzled that they had no desire to ever leave Galway or explore other possibilities.

“Willy, you got that running thing going good for you—but it’s different for us.” A few friends and family commented that I now had a “Boston” accent. “I only been in Boston for a week.”

“Well Willy, you just talk different—you ain’t the same.”

Summer was rolling now and in Galway that meant trips to Salisbury or Hampton Beaches. Early Sunday morning we piled into the Thuderbird for a day at the beach. Lee Ann and Sue in their little “Elly Mae” cut off jean shorts and bikini tops.

The minute we got to the beach and got our blankets down and carried the cooler the frisbees the footballs and all with us I headed out for a ten miler in just my shoes and shorts and cheap sunglasses.

When I returned, I did some barefoot strides on the beach and everyone joined in throwing the football around with frequent dives and swims in the surf.

I had a beer and chatted with Sue who was a few years younger than me a senior in high school. She had been dating a guy on the football team but I sensed she was getting bored with him.

“Willy, my boyfriend is kind of jealous of your notoriety as a runner and if he took up running, he would kick your ass—but football is a real sport and running is for sissies.’

I lay back and tried not to stare at Sue and her beautiful boobs. Like looking into the Sun.

After a time, I fell asleep and dreamed I was far away running in the clouds of snowcapped mountains.

Richelieu dropped me at the train station.

“Willy, you know Sue just a girlie only 17 man she don’t know nothing about nothing.” “Oh ya, I get that, but she pretty sweet just the same.”

“Keep in touch with yourself peckerwood.”

After a few weeks getting in a routine Coach told us he could take a few of us with him to the USOC Training Center in Colorado Springs. He chose me to go mainly because most others could not get away from school and work duties.

We would stay for a week and be tested by the science community and attend classes, one taught by our coach. There were fifteen athletes total from 800-meter specialist to marathoners. It was one of the few times that I felt like the governing bodies in our sport were actually doing something positive to affect our sport.

There wasn’t much to do in the Springs and one night as I sat reading, some homework really a book called the “Marathon Footrace” a complete history of the event, Coach walked in and said “Hey Willy, Neil and I are headed over to the bar around the corner if you want to join us.” “What the hell are you reading? Geez, didn’t I explain the marathon to you already?”

The establishment was a dive bar with about a dozen chopper motorcycles parked in front. The coach showed no hesitation just marched right in. It looked like dozens of bars in Galway where I grew up with pool tables and such. The coach immediately struck up a conversation with a biker who he referred to as Miss even though it was pretty obvious Miss was a Mister with long hair.

Neil and I played pool with a couple of women who were with the bikers and Neil started flirting with them so much that I thought for sure we was going to get stomped. The bikers wanted to know what was up with the coach. “Man. That dude is funny. Is he alright in the head?” “Well, he is one of the greatest marathon distance running coaches in the world.” “World class marathon coach, wow. I guess that would explain it.”

The bikers explained that they never knew what the hell was going on at the training center and we were the first athletes to ever venture over to their neck of the woods.

Midnight came and we did not have to go home but we couldn’t stay there. The last Neil and I saw of our coach he was waving to us from the back of a Harley. “Juanita’s taking me for a little joy ride.” For good or ill I will forever have that image in my mind somewhere.

Dream, dream, dream…. of the early day’s ascendant tripping off to London with my newly minted B-Town singlet. The dialectic with Coach Gerry and the ultimate learning experience.

As I make the coffee and breakfast morsel my back aches low and I drag myself around the kitchen and try to get comfortable in my seat with my notes and reading materials. Another day around the Sun.”

I spent a few days back in Galway visiting with my family and friends and packing up what I needed for the apartment in Boston. My brother gave me a ride with my stuff and helped me move it in the apartment. Donnie let me put some stuff in his closet.

I worked at the local shoe factory job for a week and then left for Europe where the plan was to run the mile in London and a five k in Finland four days later.

I travelled to London alone but met up with some other athletes at Heathrow and we were taken to a Hostel at the Crystal Palace where the meet would be held. We had a few days before racing to rest up and get acclimated.

I was approached by one of the meet directors and asked to rabbit the race for the first half mile in 1:55. I just hoped I could pull that off, but also, I wanted to stay in the race and finish respectably.

Desmond Wally from New Zealand might be attempting to run a sub 3:50 mile so I had an important part to play in it.

I was very nervous in the lead up to the race. The grand venue with 20,000 spectators and all of the foreign athletes, many of the best in the world. Once the spikes were on and the sweats came off the nervousness was gone.

I was meant to be here destined and I would be myself just unwind that coil spring out there no need for shrewdness or over analyzing I be the rabbit the rabbit be me.

The pistol shot and I was the bullet breaking out to thunderous applause. I both floated and steamrolled down the back straight and into the curve I felt light as a feather and I hit 56 seconds for the first quarter.

The next 300 yards went the same way but, in the home straight I began to lose my easy stride and the weight hit my shoulders and I felt I was falling, the second lap was 59 seconds.

I stayed on the rail as Desmond cruised past and then the majority of the rest of the field my next lap taking 68 secs and then I managed a 63-last lap for a 4:06 finishing dead fucking last.

I suited up and left quickly feeling like I was going to cry and I jogged around the athletic fields in a daze.

Other groups of runners were milling around doing their warm ups and downs when Wally passed by and slapped me on the back, “Thank you mate, you did a good job.”

Well, I made $200. I guess I will take it and maybe I can salvage a good race over in Finland in a few days. Desmond Wally got beat by the local top British miler Colin Davey, an arrogant jerk cocky and in your face.

I went out to the Pub that night with some fellow competitors and I began to put the race in perspective and I realized how fortunate I was to be here and how unlikely it was that I would rabbit and run well. I did not consider myself a miler in any case.

As I sipped my warmish beer and eyeballed the local talent a man sat beside me and chatted me up.

He was the director of a local road race and he asked if I was interested in competing in this race the same night that I was supposed to be in Finland.

“What are they paying you to run over there?” “Nothing, it is going to cost me some money for expenses just getting over there.”

The road race was a five miler and he mentioned that Colin Davey was running and he also said he would pay me $250 to run. “I’m in.”

Coach Gerry would probably be pissed as he went through some trouble to get me the race in Finland but $250 was three weeks’ pay in the shoe shop. I could not afford to turn that down and I wanted a shot at Colin Davey.

I was thinking about how that great American Miler was quoted to say “Road Racing is Rock n’ Roll and Track & Field is Carnegie Hall.”

I managed to get the word back to Coach Gerry and to the meet organizers in Finland neither of whom seemed distressed.

That is when I knew Coach Gerry was someone I could work with, someone who understood me and who understood the sport.

I had been trying out some new racing flats that the local company that I worked for gave me as prototypes.

They were awesome, very light and cushioned perfectly to my liking. I did a two-mile time trial on the track in the new flats two days before the race in 8:50 feeling good.

Colin would be a tough nut to crack, a 800/1500m specialist and UK Record Holder he was also a very solid cross country and road racer though he did not run the roads often.

The race was sponsored by a big department store and had some nice merchandise prizes for the top finishers guaranteeing a good field.

Race day dawned clear and beautiful. I packed all my things the night before as I would need to go directly to the airport immediately after the race, my ride was all arranged.

The crowds at the start/finish area were large and enthusiastic. As I was warming up Colin came up behind me and said, “hey mate, how much “bob” you getting.”

It took me a minute to understand. “Not enough, but after I win my stock will be rising.”

He laughed and sprinted away.

The start was a bit of mayhem but I put my foot on the gas and doubled the clutch and I was away. Colin spent the first few hundred yards waving and slapping hands with people so it was easy for me to get a lead I did not plan to relinquish.

I was 4:20 at the mile and never looked back. I could hear people saying “B-Town?” and “Boston” and “Who is this guy?”

I was tempted to look back but I never liked to do that and also, I could tell I had a sizable lead from the crowd noise behind me which had grown faint.

The crowd in the last half mile had closed in and I barely had room to run through this deafening gauntlet.

I finished in 22:10 breaking the course record by 45 seconds. I jogged straight to my awaiting car where my driver took me to the airport, changing into some jeans and a t shirt on the way. I won a color television which I had them ship to Annie the fire plug in Atlanta.

I felt like a rock star temporarily but once I was on the plane and on my way back to Boston I realized I would be back at the factory gluing shoes the next day.

I did not exactly return home the conquering hero as everyone seemed to know about my dead last in the mile but no one seemed to know about my road race win over Colin Davey.

I settled into a routine with my roomies and teammates and was given another job temporarily in the shoe factory hanging insulation in the ceiling. This work was almost as back breaking and dangerous as gluing the shoes.

At some point Coach Gerry talked to the company owner and they managed to find me a desk job in the offices working with Donnie.

When that happened, I took to running three times a day, usually five miles before work, then eight miles at lunch and then ten miles at night.

I did not have any big races planned until the fall as the team would be gearing up for the National Cross-Country Championships. I did run some all-comers track meets and road races almost every weekend.

I talked with Alby Thomas, my teammate who held the American Record in the marathon, about working in his running store which he had just opened. I ended up just working there on Saturdays and when I told friends and family I worked in a store dedicated to runners they were skeptical and thought that it was just a front for some illicit business.

Eventually though this running thing became legit and overnight it seemed everyone became a runner and the Boston Marathon went from a few hundred runners to ten thousand.

And I was right in the middle of it all.

Coach Gerry thought I should go back to college. “Listen Willy, I love this running game more than anyone and it cost me a lot but I don’t regret any of it that is true.”

“Coach, most of us don’t want to admit that all we really want to do is run, it’s like we’re ashamed of it or something, but not me. I am going to do this thing while I can and find out what I got and college can wait.

College running does nothing for me. Those in the NCAA, corrupt, hypocritical bastards are even worse than the AAU.”

Coach laughed and I felt that he knew I sincerely meant what I was saying and that as someone just about to turn twenty-one I already knew the realities of this athletics game and I was all in as long as it lasted.

Alby preached professional running and more opportunities for “amateurs” to make a living and nearly every run with him turned into a diatribe against the AAU. In one interview he was asked what could be done with the powers that be if they didn’t provide better conditions for athletes.

Alby said, “We’ll have to snip, snip, cut their balls off.”

Alby took a lot of heat for his comments in this interview in which he also revealed his disdain for the muscle sports pro sports like football and baseball that they were a fraud and that athletics had superior athletes.

I loved it but he really toned it down after this interview because the media were about to crush him if he kept it up. There were some who were sympathetic but when you began threatening to cut off body parts, well, you lose some support maybe.

Yes, folks, running has its share of drama too.

In August I was planning to run a newly minted race in Falmouth on Cape Cod that was created by our bartender friend Francis who was also a runner ex-Marine and all around the most enthusiastic proponent of running on the entire planet.

He certainly did more for our sport than the stinking AAU ever did.

The B-Town Bombers helped support the first few years as the race became established and then just took off.

This year there will be eight hundred runners, holy cow!

After that it was on to a glorious fall and another shot at a cross country USA Champion Title.

This was about the time that I was hitting the peak of my enthusiasm, my wonderous awe of just being alive unaware of the waves about to break all around my head.

I received some media acknowledgement for my recent exploits, especially my triumph in the road race in London, including a photo of me in the B-Town singlet and local shoe company shoes, getting into the waiting car that would take me to the airport only minutes after my victory.

I am surrounded by spectators cheering and laughing and it is a shot of adrenaline every time I look at this photo.

I was reading many books about athletic heroes back through history and currently reading a little gem by seven-time Boston Marathon Champion Clarence DeMar who also made two Olympic teams winning a bronze medal in 1924 in Paris.

I had this idealism, I believed in the Olympic Oath and I would swear on the statue of Zeus, king of the gods of Mt Olympus. At the same time amateurism will never work, never could work and so many athletes’ careers have been destroyed because of this nonsensical edict.

I wanted to win the Boston Marathon and run in the Olympic Games, and a lot of smaller steps along the way to those goals are what motivated me to continue with almost maniacal devotion.

What I am trying to say is that I was conflicted but I determined that there is no way to reach any type of fulfillment until and unless you work at something until you are defeated and/or satisfied.

Only you will know whether it was a worthy cause.

In the Middle of It

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=X2oWAoUq-7g&ra=m

Remembering Cupples Square

Remembering Cupples Square

By Leo Racicot

In spite of my lifelong devotion to The Acre and Saint Patrick’s Parish, I was actually born on Pine Street in The Highlands, baptized at Saint Margaret s Church on Stevens Street. Aunt Marie and Nana lived most of their lives in The Highlands in close proximity to Cupples Square so, in my younger years I spent a lot of time in that square. I liked and still like the name Cupples Square; it sounded European to my young ears, a place out of one of the Sherlock Holmes stories I liked so much. As a kid, I divined its quiet charm, its pretty string of enticing shops. My first encounters with the square were when my father would bring me to his barber for my monthly haircut. Crewcuts were the style of the day. This was the 1950s — lots of dads and their sons looking like Johnny Unitas, Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford. I liked Dick the Barber. He had a pencil-thin mustache like his idol, Errol Flynn. His shop smelled like hair tonics, some fruity, some pungent, some bracing. Papa would never let Dick flatten my hair with Brylcreem. “When you’re older …”

Barbershops in the 1950s weren’t just for getting your hair cut. Men would linger for hours, chatting, trading stories, debating current events. I always looked forward to going there, being with Papa, being one of “the guys”.

I always liked walking past Teddy’s Variety; it tickled me that our mother, as a young teenage girl, worked the soda fountain there. She told us what she liked best about the job was the free ice cream sodas. Oh, and the cute boys who’d come in after school to flirt.

Next door to Teddy’s was Yum Yum Bakery. Nana would take me in on my visits and treat me to a buttercup. A thick slice of checkerboard cake (equal parts vanilla and chocolate fashioned to look like a checkers game board) was a favorite. I went ape for the chocolate squares, messy, luscious fun. Not more than a couple of steps away was Huntley Hardware. Huntley’s had a warm, silvery welcoming feel to it and offered personalized service to its community, some of them customers of long-standing. I don’t remember Nana ever buying or needing anything at Huntley’s (though I do have a clear memory of her buying bobby pins to put up her white, flowing hair.). She liked chatting with Mr. Huntley (Was his name Bob?); the two had known each other for years in the neighborhood. She also let me tag along to visit Mr. Pryor, (known to one and all affectionately as Pryor) at First National Market. Pryor was a long-time manager at this longtime Highlands grocery store, an affable friendly face always eager to help with a grocery order or point the latest bargains out to customers. This is the store Marie and Nana liked to get their green stamps from. Green Stamps was a wide-scale national loyalty program. The way it worked is this: based on how much you’d spent on your weekly groceries, the store would award you, the customer, a certain amount of stamps. Diane and I found it great fun when getting back home to Marie’s to have her make a kitchen project of pasting the stamps into little booklets. When our tongues got tired of licking the things, Marie would put a small glass bowl of warm water on the kitchen table to replace our tired lips and tongues. Booklets of stamps could then be redeemed at local redemption centers in exchange for prizes, big and small. I remember the excitement when Marie took us to Nashua to trade our books of stamps for a brand-new radio. That was on a Saturday and on Sunday, the radio brought the news that Country Western singer, Patsy Cline, had been killed in a tragic plane crash. After that, the green stamps lost their luster for me…

Across the street from First National was Page’s Drug Store. Page’s sat at the sharp, V-shaped intersection of Pine and Westford Streets, a black, almost baroque structure whose appealingly decorated windows filled with women’s make-up, men’s colognes, powdery, colorful, puffy do-dads, vanity mirrors and an astonishing assortment of what used to be known as sundries redeemed the dark facade.

Cupples Square was also home to Terminal Fruit Co, owned and operated by Greek immigrants, George and Angie Malapanis. Terminal Fruit grew out of a fruit-peddling enterprise George and Angie began when they first came to America. Their boys, Costas (Dino) and Jimmy, both around my own age, were often in the store. This popular staple of Highland residents’ fruit and market needs was a beloved Cupples Square institution. The Malapanises later moved their business to Appleton Street under the name Palmer News Palmer News had a magazine collection to rival that of Harvard Square’s International Bookstore. Both stocked local and world periodicals, my idea of heaven. Palmer News became a weekly stop for me in the ’80s where Costas and Jimmy would give customers the shirts off their backs if needed. Good people, like their parents.

The places, the people I knew there are many years gone. Today, Cupples Square is the home base for generations of those Vietnamese boat people and refugees who migrated to Lowell following the failure of the war in Vietnam in the early 1970s. Southeast Asian-owned grocery stores, herb shops, beauty salons, restaurants now populate the still-busy square. It is a different Lowell from the Lowell I came of age in, a different but no less vibrant Lowell, offering culinary, cultural, captivating adventures.

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Checkerboard square cake

George Malapanis with sons Jimmy and Costas

Getting my hair cut at Dick the Barbers

Huntley Hardware

Marie, Diane and me preparing Green Stamps

Nana and me

Our mother the “soda jerk”

Seen & Heard: Vol. 39

A weekly report on things I’ve read, heard and seen since last Wednesday. 

Podcast: The Varsity featuring host John Ourand interviewing Ted Leonsis, a Lowell High Distinguished Alumni. Leonsis gained fame and fortune as an executive with America Online (AOL). In 1999, he purchased the NHL’s Washington Capitals and since then has acquired the NBA’s Washington Wizards, the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, and Washington DC’s Capital One Arena which is in the midst of a multi-year, billion dollar renovation. Leonsis explained that when he bought the Capitals, teams placed extremely high value on cable TV rights and saw the sports venue as an unwelcome but necessary expense. All that has changed with the highest value coming from the experiential value of the event, of attending a game in person. Hence, the big renovation to the arena. Some of what Leonsis said was welcome: like the attention they pay to the cleanliness and functionality of the arena’s bathrooms, something often an afterthought to management but important to fans. But some of the things he said were creepy, like they use facial recognition software to identify people coming to the game, match it up with another database of people’s birthdays and, if that happens to be a particular fan’s birthday, they highlight it on the jumbotron. I’m sure it’s well meaning, but it sounds awfully intrusive to me. I’m not surprised these your privacy but I was surprised an owner talked about it like it was a great thing. As for his future goals, Leonsis said he wants to make Washington DC the women’s sports capital of the world. Having seen the Mystics play in the Capital One Arena a few years ago, I can attest that WNBA games are exciting and worthy of the attention Leonsis hopes to give them. 

Book Review: “Panic at the Pump” by Meg Jacobs. The full title of this 2016 book is “Panic at the Pump: The Energy Crisis and the Transformation of American Politics in the 1970s.” It caught my attention because I vividly recall both gas crises – one in 1973, the other in 1979 – that are discussed in this book. The first followed the Yom Kippur War while Richard Nixon was president; the second followed the Iranian Revolution when Jimmy Carter was president. The book mostly relates the political struggle between the remaining New Deal era Democrats who wanted price controls and gas rationing if needed, and the free market Republicans who wanted no regulation so the market could take its course. With help from Jimmy Carter, a moderate who believed in deregulation, the Republicans prevailed. The free market caused US dependence on oil from the Mideast to rise until the formal US government policy became using military force to ensure the flow of oil from the Persian Gulf. We can see how that’s working out today. 

Article: “(Boston) City councilor takes aim at surveillance ‘loophole’ police use without approval, by Yogev Toby, Boston Globe, September 23, 2026. The city of Boston enacted a “surveillance ordinance” in 2022 that purportedly gave the city council oversight of surveillance technology and use by the Boston Police Department. However, in two recent instances, councilors have learned that the BPD has employed two different surveillance technologies before first coming to the council. In the first case, the BPD replaced existing Flock cameras with cameras made by Axon. The police argued that just replacing an existing system does not trigger notification since the council had OK’d the original system. But because different vendors offer different capabilities and policies, councilors believe new approval from the council was needed. The second surveillance tool used by BPD monitors social media use. There was no approval sought but BPD argued that “exigent circumstances” allowed the acquisition and use of the technology without prior approval. The BPD didn’t explain what those exigent circumstances were. Councilors maintain that the exigent exception is temporary and not ongoing, which is how the BPD is using the social media monitoring tool. 

Op-Ed: “How Flock Cameras Became the Enemy” by Evan Greer in New York Times, September 21, 2026. The writer of this op-ed is the director of Fight for the Future, a group that organizes against censorship and surveillance. He asks why more than 350 cities and towns across the United States have ended their contracts with Flock Safety, the company that provides AI enhanced license plate reading cameras and software. The Lowell City Council recently voted to suspend its contract with Flock which I’ve written about several times in my Sunday newsletter. The writer suggests Flock cameras have become emblematic with mass surveillance although Flock is not alone in providing this kind of service. It’s competitor, Axon, does the same thing and other companies like Palantir and Clearview AI make surveillance products. The essay ends with this: “Ending a Flock contract won’t stop high-tech surveillance. But this kind of community-level organizing is nevertheless showing it’s possible to challenge the rapid creep of technology that’s often forced upon us, even during a time of immense political gridlock. People do care about their privacy. They just need to be shown a viable path toward reclaiming it.”

L’Etoile – A Star on Prince Street, Chapter 7

Two years ago, Louise Peloquin began sharing excerpts from L’Etoile, a French-language newspaper published in Lowell from 1886 to 1957. At my urging, she has agreed to compile some of her previous posts with added contextual information into a book manuscript to be called, L’Etoile: A Star on Prince Street. Starting this week, Louise will present draft chapters from the book in serial form here on the blog. Today, we have another installment.

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L’Etoile – A Star on Prince Street, Chapter 7

The Star Highlights Lowell Stories

By Louise Peloquin

This chapter presents 6 examples of how L’Etoile cast its light on local news.

The first two articles demonstrate how “The Spindle City” has always known how to manage large crowds as the unfailing success of the Lowell Folk Festival attests. Started in 1990, and after two years as the National Folk Festival, it is the longest-running, second-largest free folk festival in the United States. Every July, thousands flock to Lowell. Only Seattle’s Northwest Folklife is larger.

These century-old excerpts bear witness to the Lowellians’ long-standing reputation for extending warm welcomes:

L’Etoile, October 30, 1917

Le Congrès de l’industrie textile

Grande parade ouvrière hier soir. L’établissement d’une échelle uniforme de salaires dans les filatures sera à l’ordre du jour à une prochaine séance.

La convention des United Textile Workers of America se continue aujourd’hui à la salle des Elks, rue Middle. Il y a plus de 150 délégués présents.

La parade qui a eu lieu hier soir a obtenu un bon succès. Il y avait environ mille membres de nos unions textiles dans les rangs. Le départ a eu lieu à 7h et l’on a suivi un itinéraire dans rues principales de la ville, illuminées en divers endroits par des feux de Bengale.

A l’hôtel de ville, le défilé a été passé en revue par le maire et les échevins, à l’exception bien entendu de l’échevin Francis A. Warnock, qui est président honoraire de l’union textile locale et qui était en tête de la parade.

Les femmes qui sont délégués à la convention ont paradé en automobile.

Les réparateurs de métiers étaient les plus nombreux dans les rangs. Ils étaient au nombre de six cents probablement. Les ‘dresser tenders’ avaient environ cent membres dans les rangs et les fileurs de laine étaient au nombre de 150.

Après la parade, il y eut réceptions dans les diverses salles des unions ouvrières et l’on y a servi des rafraîchissements. Nombre de discours ont été prononcés.

La convention s’est ouverte de nouveau à 9h ce matin et le président de l’union internationale, John Golden, a donné lecture de son rapport annuel qui est des plus encourageants, indiquant que l’union se propage rapidement par tout le pays, ainsi qu’au Canada.

Le secrétaire-trésorier a aussi présenté son rapport annuel, qui est aussi des plus satisfaisants.

Ces deux rapports et les quelques discours qui les ont accompagnés ont pris toute la session de l’avant-midi.

Interviewé sur la question des salaires, le président Golden, qui est un des chefs ouvriers les plus conservateurs du pays, a déclaré que la question des salaires serait ajoutée à la convention ces jours-ci, mais il ne pouvait dire d’avance quelles seraient les décisions qui seraient prises. Divers rapports seront soumis sur la situation dans les diverses parties du pays et comme on ne connaît pas encore la nature de ces rapports, il est difficile de dire quelle décision sera prise. M. Golden croit cependant que l’on essaiera d’établir une échelle plus uniforme de salaires. On se basera néanmoins sur les conditions différentes qui existent en certains endroits.”

________

Textile Industry Congress

     Large workers’ parade last night. Establishing a uniform wage scale in textile mills will be on the agenda of an upcoming session.

     The convention of the United Textile Workers of America continues today in the Elks room on Middle Street with more than 150 delegates in attendance.

     Last night’s parade was a huge success. Approximately 1000 members of our textile unions were among the ranks. Departure was at 7 o’clock. Then the parade followed an itinerary in the city’s principal streets, illuminated here and there by Bengal light sparklers and flares.

     At City Hall, the parade was ceremoniously inspected by the mayor and aldermen, with the exception, naturally, of alderman Francis A. Warnock, honorary president of the local textile union at the head of the cortège.

     Woman delegates to the convention filed in automobiles.

     Most numerous in our ranks were the 600-odd loom repairers. In addition, about 100 dresser tenders and 150 wool spinners paraded.

     Afterwards, refreshments were served at receptions in various worker union rooms. Numerous speeches were pronounced.

     The convention opened again at 9 this morning and the president of the International Union, John Golden, read his annual report. It was quite encouraging and indicated that the union is rapidly growing in the whole country as well as in Canada.

     The secretary-treasurer also presented a most satisfactory annual report.

     These two reports and the few accompanying speeches filled the entire morning session.

     Interviewed on wages, president Golden, one of the country’s most conservative worker leaders, declared that the wage question would be discussed in the coming days but that he could not say in advance what decisions would be taken. Different reports will be submitted on the situation of the different parties in the country. Since we do not yet know the nature of these reports, it is difficult to say what will be determined. However, Mr. Golden believes that an attempt at establishing a more uniform wage scale, based on the various conditions in diverse locations, will materialize.”

L’Etoile, November 5, 1917

Clôture de la convention textile.

Des mesures sont prises pour empêcher la baisse des salaires après la guerre actuelle. La moralité de la population de Lowell est reconnue.

La convention des unions textiles s’est terminée samedi soir.

On a pris quelques décisions importantes. La principale est celle qui pourvoit à ce que les officiers internationaux envoient un délégué à chacune des unions locales pour donner à celles-ci des instructions touchant la création d’un fonds, pour se préparer contre la baisse des salaires par les manufacturiers pendant et après la guerre. On vise à ce que les salaires ne soient jamais diminués.

On a décidé de déclarer une grève générale dans les filatures de Philadelphia si celles-ci ne révoquent pas sans retard l’avis qu’elles ont affiché ces jours-ci à l’effet qu’un employé devra donner 15 jours d’avis avant d’abandonner l’ouvrage, sinon son nom sera inscrit sur un tableau noir et aucune autre filature ne devra l’engager.

1. Stevenson de Toronto a fait adopter une résolution pourvoyant à ce que les unions textiles du Canada s’affilient au Trade and Labor Congress d’Ottawa.

Avant de clore la convention, on a présenté des coupes ou autres cadeaux à l’échevin Francis A. Warnock; à John Hanley; à Frank T. Mullin de cette ville; à Jesse Walker, de Cohoes N.Y. et à Mme. Sara A. Conboy, de Roxbury.

On a voté des remerciements à la presse et au public de Lowell et on a déclaré que la convention de Lowell est la plus belle que l’on ait encore eue. Les délégués sont d’avis que Lowell est une ville des plus morales,  si l’on considère sa population.”

________

Textile Convention Closing

Some measures were taken to prevent wage decreases after the present war. The morality of the Lowell population is recognized.

     The textile union convention closed on Saturday night.

     Several important decisions were taken. The main one provides that the international officers send a delegate to each local union to facilitate the creation of a fund to prepare for a manufacturer-imposed wage decrease during and after the war.

     A general strike in the Philadelphia textile mills was decided if an immediate revocation of a recently-posted notice did not occur. This notice states that an employee must give a 15-day notice before leaving his job if he does not want his name listed on a blackboard and be prevented from working in any other textile mill.

     Mr. Stevenson of Toronto had a resolution adopted stating that each textile union in Canada must join the Ottawa Trade and Labor Congress.

     Before closing the convention, trophies, awards and other gifts were presented to alderman Francis A. Warnoch; John Hanley; Frank T. Mullen of Lowell; Louis Walker of Cohoes, N.Y. and to Madam Sara A. Convoy of Roxbury.

     A vote of thanks was extended to the press and to the public of Lowell along with a declaration that the convention of Lowell was, up to the present time, the best that the delegates had ever had. They expressed the opinion that Lowell is a city among the most moral, if one takes into consideration its population.”

L’Etoile was a powerful vehicle of the “buy local” rallying cry. Since the time Lowell was called “The Venice of America,” the city has prided itself on promoting its products. The following two articles show how long-ago Lowell touted its products.

L’Etoile – September 2, 1924

Les Produits de nos filatures

Le comité des marchands au détail de la Chambre de Commerce est à tirer des plans pour l’observation de la ‘Semaine de la Nouvelle-Angleterre.’

Les marchands de la ville veulent célébrer l’observation de la ‘Semaine de la Nouvelle-Angleterre’ en ville et c’est à cet effet que leur comité de la Chambre de Commerce eut une réunion hier pour faire des préparatifs. Il n’y a pas encore de plan définitif mais on poussa l’affaire de l’avant, et on songe sérieusement à donner une belle démonstration pour le public de Lowell.

Les marchands vont demander aux industriels locaux et à ceux des villes voisines de leur fournir des matériaux fabriqués dans nos filatures pour les exhiber dans leurs vitrines. Des arrangements ont déjà été faits de ce côté-là et sur ce point-là, on est prêt à observer cette semaine-là.

Les marchands ont étiqueté leur marchandise venant de divers endroits dans la Nouvelle-Angleterre de sorte que les clients pourront se rendre compte de la bonté des étoffes fabriquées en ville ou ailleurs dans notre voisinage.

Le plan définitif sera annoncé dans les journaux et les gens de Lowell pourront ainsi prendre part à la célébration.”

Les directeurs de l’affaire disent qu’en se servant nous-mêmes de nos produits et en les vantant, on attirera le commerce d’ailleurs.”

________

The Products of Our Mills

The Chamber of Commerce retail merchant committee is about to set up a plan to observe ‘New England Week.’

     City merchants want to celebrate ‘New England Week’ downtown. Yesterday, their committee at the Chamber of Commerce held a meeting to make preparations. Committee members have not yet come up with a final plan. However, things are progressing and they are seriously working on putting together a beautiful public demonstration for the community.

     The merchants have asked industries from Lowell and vicinity to furnish them with products manufactured in our mills in order to exhibit them in shop windows. In this regard, arrangements have already been made and everything is ready to observe ‘New England Week.’

     Merchants have labeled their merchandise from various places in New England in order that customers recognize the quality of the fabrics made in Lowell and vicinity.

     Newspapers will announce the final plan thus allowing Lowellians to participate in the celebration.

     Business leaders maintain that by using and promoting our own products, we will attract customers from outside Lowell.”

L’Etoile, September 16, 1924

L’Etalage de produits de la Nouvelle-Angleterre

Plusieurs des marchands de Lowell se sont mobilisés, anxieux d’observer la ‘Semaine de la Nouvelle-Angleterre’ car hier ils ont changé leurs vitrines et se sont empressés d’étaler à la vue du public des produits de la Nouvelle-Angleterre.

Des centaines de gens ont été surpris de voir dans les vitrines de nos marchands que tant de produits sont manufacturés dans les filatures de Lowell.

Les plus fameuses exhibitions sont celles chez A.G. Pollard Co., Bon Marché Dry Goods Co., le 2o0th Century Shoe Store, le Walk Over Shoe Store, L’Alberton Furniture Co., la Robertson Furniture Co., et A.E.O’Heir. Dickerman and McQuade ont des bas Shawmut, des sous-vêtements de Lowell et des appareils de jeux de la Nouvelle-Angleterre.

Toutes les filatures de la ville sont représentées dans les divers magasins de Lowell. Les modèles de 1925 de certaines de nos manufactures sont vus dans les vitrines en ville. Les filatures Booth, Merrimack, Appleton, Hamilton, Massachusetts, Tremont, Suffolk, Lawrence et autres ont des produits chez A.G. Pollard Co.

Tous ces produits resteront dans les vitrines de nos marchands toute cette semaine. Ils donneront une idée de l’excellence des produits de la Nouvelle-Angleterre. Certains des magasins ont des articles de divers endroits de la Nouvelle-Angleterre.

________

New England Products on Display

Many Lowell merchants are eager to observe ‘New England Week’ because yesterday they changed their shop window displays and lost no time laying out New England products for the public to view.

     Hundreds of people were surprised to see so many products made in Lowell mills.

     The most famous exhibits are at A. G. Pollard Co., Bon Marché Dry Goods Co., the 20th Century Shoe Store, the Walk Over Shoe Store, the Alberton Furniture Co., the Robertson Furniture Co., and A.E. O’Heir. Dickerman and McQuade carry Shawmut stockings, undergarments from Lowell and game machines from New England.

     All of the city’s mills are represented in the various Lowell stores. Certain 1925 models are displayed in downtown shop windows. A.G. Pollard Co. carries products from Booth, Merrimack, Appleton, Hamilton, Massachusetts, Tremont, Suffolk, Lawrence and other mills.

     All of these products will remain on display all week. They will give an idea of the excellence of New England products. Certain stores carry items from different places in New England.”

On April 15th 2019, the following headline appeared in the New York Times: “Fire Mauls Beloved Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.” What Jack Kerouac called, in his novel Maggie Cassidy, Lowell’s “ponderous Chartres Cathedral of the slums” would have suffered a similar fate 95 years earlier were it not for a young woman’s acuity and responsiveness.

Here is L’Etoile’s front-page coverage of this breaking news.

L’Etoile, October 31, 1924

On tente d’incendier l’église

Est-ce folie ou est-ce un crime?

     Un inconnu tente d’incendier l’église Saint-Jean-Baptiste mais son geste incendiaire est perçu par une jeune fille faisant ses dévotions. Une allumette enflammée sur du pétrole répandu sur le plancher.

C’est la deuxième tentative depuis quelques jours.

La magnifique église Saint-Jean-Baptiste qui, le 21 novembre 1912 fut pratiquement détruite par un incendie, faillit subir le même sort ce matin lorsqu’un incendiaire que l’on croit être un pyromaniaque, tente de mettre le feu après avoir arrosé d’une quantité de pétrole le plancher et le bas des murs.

La nouvelle de cette tentative odieuse s’est répandue avec rapidité dans la ville et a causé un émoi considérable parmi toute la population. Il est fort probable que si l’incendiaire eut le temps d’accomplir son oeuvre, nous aurions encore une fois à raconter les tristes détails d’une conflagration semblable à celle de 1912.

D’après les détails que nous avons appris ce matin, il semble que l’incendiaire pénétra dans l’église entre 9h30 et 10 heures et qu’il demeura pendant quelque temps agenouillé ou assis dans le choeur de chant du soubassement de l’église. Il y avait à ce temps quelques personnes dans l’église.

Un peu après 10 heures, une demoiselle qui faisait les dévotions du Chemin de la Croix, regarda dans la direction du choeur et vit l’étranger allumer une allumette et la jeter sur le plancher.

La demoiselle en question eut la présence d’esprit de courir au presbytère St-Joseph et d’avertir les pères. Lorsque ces derniers arrivèrent à l’église, l’incendiaire était disparu. Les pères virent de suite qu’une quantité de pétrole avait été versée sur le plancher et le long des murs près des confessionnaux derrière l’église.

Les autorités policières furent immédiatement avertis, et quelques minutes plus tard, le sergent Phillip Dyer et les agents Joseph L. Lamoureux et Daniel M. Lynch arrivaient sur les lieux. Ils firent des recherches partout dans les environs, mais comme ils n’avaient aucun signalement de l’inconnu, leurs recherches furent inutiles.

Les policiers ont constaté que des allumettes avaient été allumées et jetées sur le plancher mais, chose remarquable, le pétrole n’avait pas pris feu.

L’on rapporte que cette tentative d’incendiarisme est la deuxième qui ait eu lieu en moins d’une semaine. Il y a quelques jours, des guenilles imbibées de pétrole furent trouvées dans l’escalier qui conduit au choeur de chant de l’église supérieure.

Les autorités policières ont commencé une enquête et feront tous les efforts possibles pour opérer l’arrestation du coupable. D’après les indications, il semble que les deux tentatives ont été accomplies par le même homme.”

________

Someone tries to set fire to the church

Is it insanity or is it a crime?

     An unknown individual tries to set fire to Saint-Jean-Baptiste church but the act of arson is perceived by a young woman performing her devotions. A lit match on gasoline poured on the floor.

     This is the second attempt in several days.

     The magnificent Saint-Jean-Baptiste church which, on November 1912, was almost devastated by fire, nearly met the same fate this morning when an arsonist believed to be a pyromaniac, tried to set fire after having doused the floor and lower walls with a quantity of gasoline.

     The news of this heinous attempt spread rapidly across the city and caused considerable emotion within the entire population. It is highly likely that, had the arsonist had the time to accomplish his work, we would once again have to recount the sad details of a blaze similar to that of 1912.

     According to the details we have gathered this morning, it seems that the arsonist penetrated into the church between 9:30 and 10 and stayed there for a while kneeling or sitting in the choir area of the church basement. There were a few people in the church at the time.

     Shortly after 10, a young lady doing the Way of the Cross devotions looked in the direction of the choir and saw the stranger light a match and throw it on the floor.

     The young woman in question had the presence of mind to run to St.-Joseph rectory to warn the priests. When they arrived, the arsonist had disappeared. The priests immediately saw that gasoline had been poured onto the floor and along the walls close to the confessionals in the back of the church.

     The police authorities were immediately notified and, a few minutes later, Sargent Phillip Dart and agents Joseph L. Lamoureux and Daniel M. Lynch arrived on the scene. They investigated everywhere in the surroundings but, since they had received no reports on the unknown person, their research was useless.

     The police officers noticed that matches had been lit and thrown onto the floor but, remarkably, the gasoline had not caught fire.

     It is reported that this attempted arson is the second to take place in less than a week. A few days ago, rags soaked in gasoline were found in the staircase leading to the choir loft of the upper church.

     Police authorities have begun an investigation and will make all possible efforts to arrest the culprit. According to indications, it seems that the two attempts were executed by the same individual.”

L’Etoile largely covered Lowell’s centennial celebrations with articles on planning the schedule, establishing budgets, organizing events, entertaining guest personalities, ensuring safety and celebrating in style. Here is one of the many articles the paper published to wish a happy 100th birthday to the town become a city:

L’Etoile, March 1, 1926 front page

Lowell est en liesse

On estime que le quart de la population prend part aujourd’hui, d’une manière ou d’une autre, aux trois diverses phases de la grande fête du 100ème anniversaire de l’incorporation de la ‘town’ de Lowell. Grandiose cérémonie à l’Auditorium cet après-midi transmise par WEEI.

Bal à l’auditorium magnifiquement décoré ce soir.

On compte qu’un grand total d’environ 30,000 personnes prendront part aujourd’hui aux trois diverses phases de la célébration du centenaire de l’incorporation de la ‘town’ de Lowell.

Ce matin, des milliers d’enfants assistaient aux cérémonies commémoratives qui se déroulaient, à 9h30, à l’Auditorium Memorial, à l’Auditorium Cyrus W. Irish de la High School et dans les diverses salles et classes des autres écoles de la ville.

Cet après-midi, à l’heure où nous allions sous presse, c’est-à-dire à 2 heures, un auditoire compact s’était rassemblé à l’Auditorium Memorial pour assister au plus grandiose programme de chant, de musique et de discours que l’on ait jamais vu à Lowell. Le programme est transmis à un auditoire incalculable par tout l’Est du pays par le poste de radio WEEI de Boston. C’est la première fois qu’un événement quelconque se déroulant à l’Auditorium est transmis par radio par un poste de première importance.

Ce soir, à 8h15, il y aura un grand bal à l’Auditorium Memorial. L’un des plus curieux décors de la soirée sera l’énorme gâteau d’anniversaire illuminé de 100 chandelles. Le gâteau sera sur la scène. Il est si grand qu’un homme peut se cacher complètement derrière sans être vu. Ce gâteau est relativement peu cher, considérant sa grosseur, et surtout le fait que la crème qui l’orne est de la crème véritable. Un pâtissier expert a travaillé toute la journée d’hier à ce gâteau.

Les directeurs prient le public de bien remarquer que c’est la première fois que Lowell est honoré, à son Auditorium, d’une émission par un poste du calibre de WEEI. Cette station, pour bien exécuter sa tâche, a dû apporter à Lowell un outillage de $2,000 qu’elle a installé dans l’un des appartements de la promenade du balcon. C’est de cet appartement que l’annonceur A.F. Edes, l’un des meilleurs d’Edison Light, transmettra le programme à Worcester, d’où il sera relayé à Boston au poste central.

1. Edes aura un récepteur à l’oreille et un transmetteur devant la bouche. Il parlera à voix basse à un moniteur assis, et, pareillement outillé, dans un fauteuil en arrière du parquet. Le moniteur relayera le programme à M. Edes et ce dernier, par un seul tour de bouton, fera entendre tout le programme au vaste auditoire.

Au bal de ce soir, les personnes détenant des billets seront admises à la porte de la rue East Merrimack de 8h15 à 8h45. A cette dernière heure, les portes principales seront ouvertes à la masse ne possédant pas de billets, et tout le public sera admis jusqu’a l’heure où le chef des pompiers M. Saunders, qui a la responsabilité légale en la matière, annoncera à la police que la salle est remplie à sa capacité.

Même après ça, la police tiendra un compte soigné de tous les sortants, car on s’attend à ce que beaucoup de personnes quittent la salle après le concert, ou après les exhibitions de danse, et la police permettra ensuite aux retardataires d’entrer dans la salle proportionnellement au nombre des sortants.

L’Auditorium offre un aspect tout-à fait différent depuis la construction des deux estrades temporaires. Beaucoup de personnes commencent même à demander maintenant que l’on conserve en disponibilité ces deux estrades pour s’en servir de nouveau plus tard lorsque l’occasion s’en présentera, pour des graduations par exemple.

C’est au département des Edifices et Terrains de la Ville de Lowell que l’on doit attribuer la construction de ces estrades. Elles sont très bien faites, avec crochets et boulons pour les consolider. On n’a qu’à déboulonner les estrades pour les démonter et les mettre en entrepôt pour tout besoin futur. Les deux estrades auront été enlevées en temps pour le bal de ce soir.

Carl B. Wenigman du Bon Marché, président du comité sur les décors, avait la direction des décors de la salle, et c’est Sam Lemieux, l’artiste décorateur de vitrines du Bon Marché qui, avec ses assistants, a fait le travail des décors. M. Lemieux a travaillé toute la journée hier.

Il y a tout juste ce qu’il faut de décors pour ajouter à la beauté de l’Auditorium, et rien qui lui enlève la beauté de ses lignes simples. Il y a au-dessus de la scène un gros lampadaire électrique, tandis que tout autour des balcons se trouvent des banderoles: ‘1826 – Centenaire de Lowell – 1926.’ Des fleurs, des drapeau et d’énormes vases complètent le décor.

Plusieurs rumeurs ont circulé sur la façon dont on entretiendrait les hôtes de la ville entre les cérémonies de l’après-midi et le grand bal de ce soir. Les directeurs annoncent officiellement qu’il y aura seulement un simple dîner aux quartiers généraux de la Légion après les cérémonies de cet après-midi et que les membres du Comité exécutif seront présents pour entretenir leurs hôtes.”

________

Lowell is jubilant

     It is estimated that one fourth of the population is participating today, one way or another, in the three different phases of the big 100th anniversary celebration of the incorporation of the town of Lowell.

     Grandiose ceremony at the Auditorium this afternoon broadcast by WEEI.

     Ball at the magnificently decorated auditorium this evening.

     We count a total of approximately 30,000 people expected to participate today in the various centennial events to celebrate Lowell’s incorporation as a town.

     This morning at 9:30, thousands of children attended the commemorative ceremonies at the Cyrus W. Irish High School Memorial Auditorium and in different rooms and classes of the other city schools.

     This afternoon, as we go to press at 2, a compact audience is gathered at Memorial Auditorium for the most grandiose choral, musical and speech program Lowell has ever had. The program is broadcast by WEEI radio Boston to an innumerable audience up and down the East coast. It is the first time a Memorial Auditorium event is transmitted by a major station.

     This evening, at 8:15, a grand ball will be held at Memorial Auditorium. One of the evening’s most unusual decorations will be an enormous birthday cake, lit by 100 candles and displayed on stage. It is so big that a man can hide behind it without being seen. This cake is relatively inexpensive considering its size and its decoration made of real cream. An expert pastry chef worked on it all day yesterday.

     The directors ask the public to take special note of the fact that this is the first time Lowell is honored in its own auditorium by a radio station as reputable as WEEI. To properly fulfil its task, WEEI had to bring $2,000 worth of equipment to Lowell and install it in one of the apartments off of the balcony. From this location, newscaster A.F. Edes will transmit the program to Worcester where it will be relayed to the central station in Boston.

      Mr. Edes, seated in the rear, will have a headset, a microphone and, with one press of a button, will broadcast the entire program to a vast audience.

      At the ball tonight, ticket holders will be admitted at the East Merrimack street entrance from 8:15 to 8:45. Afterwards, the main doors will open to those without tickets. The public will be admitted until Fire Chief Saunders informs the police that the room is filled to capacity.

     Even afterwards, the police will carefully take into account all of the people leaving because it is expected that many will exit the room after the concert or after the dance demonstrations. Then, the police will allow latecomers to enter proportionately to the number having left.

     The Auditorium has a different look since the construction of two temporary stages. Many people are even beginning to request that the two stages be kept available for later use when the opportunity comes up, for graduations for instance.

     The city’s Buildings and Grounds Department constructed these stages. They are very well-built, with hooks and bolts to consolidate them. Unbolting suffices to disassemble the stages and store them for future use. The two stages will have been removed in time for this evening’s ball.

     Carl B. Wenigman of Bon Marché, president of the decoration committee, directed the hall decorating. Bon Marché decorator-artist Sam Lemieux and his assistants worked on the decor. Mr. Lemieux worked all day yesterday.

     There are just enough decorations to add beauty to the Auditorium and nothing takes away from the elegance of its simple lines. Above the stage there is a large electric lamp while around the balconies float banners with ‘1826 – Lowell Centennial – 1926.’ Flowers, flags and enormous vases complete the decor.

     Many rumours circulated about how the city’s guests would be entertained between the afternoon ceremonies and the grand evening ball. The directors officially announced that only a simple dinner would be held in the Legion headquarters after the afternoon ceremonies and that the Executive committee members present would entertain their guests.