The influence of older voters in the 2024 election
By Jennifer Benson AArP MAssAchusetts stAte Director
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AARP has a long and proud history of non-partisan voter engagement. While we do not make endorsements or political contributions, we do encourage candidates to talk about what they would do to address the interests and concerns of older Bay State residents.
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There’s a good reason politicians should listen; people 50-plus vote. In the 2018 and 2022 mid-term elections, the share of voters 50-plus was approximately four times that of voters under 30 (56% – 15% and 59 – 12%, respectively). In the 2020 presidential election, the share of voters 50-plus was nearly three times that of voters under 30 (53% – 18%). Not only will older voters likely continue to make up a larger share of the electorate in 2024, AARP polling shows that they are also much more motivated to vote. Eighty-five percent of voters 50-plus say they are extremely motivated to vote in 2024, compared to just 67% of younger voters.
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Candidates who want to win should listen to older voters and address the issues that matter to them — like protecting Social Security, helping older adults live independently in their homes, and supporting the 48 million Americans and 780,000 Bay Staters who help care for aging parents, spouses, and other loved ones.
Voters aged 50-plus are counting on Social Security to help pay their bills in retirement. In AARP’s most recent survey of battleground Congressional Districts, an overwhelming majority (81%) said it was extremely or very important to their vote in November, and it was the number one issue for voters aged 65 and up.
Social Security is your money — you earned it through a lifetime of hard work. It is essential for helping to cover living expenses and pay your bills. If politicians don’t take action to protect and save Social Security in the next 10 years, your Social Security could be cut by 20 percent — an average of $4,000 a year. It’s time for both parties to come together and agree on a solution to fix the Social Security shortfall so we can protect the financial security of current and future generations.
We also found voters aged 50-plus say policies that help seniors live independently as they age are extremely or very important to their vote. In fact, we found that favoring these kinds of policies and supporting family caregivers improves performance for both parties on a generic Congressional ballot.
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Family caregivers are the backbone of a broken long-term care system, helping with everything from buying groceries to managing medications to bathing and dressing — often putting their finances and jobs at risk. They provide over $600 billion in unpaid labor each year, saving taxpayers billions and keeping loved ones at home and out of costly nursing homes. AARP is fighting for solutions that will save caregivers time and money — and give them more support.
Voters 50-plus are the majority of voters in every election, and we are stretched to the limit. We want to see politicians address day-to-day challenges like caring for loved ones and protecting hard-earned Social Security.
If you have questions about voting, AARP is here to help; Check out aarp. org/mavotes for all the information you need to cast your ballot; from important deadlines to regulations on early voting and voting by mail.
Jennifer Benson began as AARP Massachusetts State Director in June. As State Director, Benson advocates for AARP’S 736,000 members and all residents 50-plus in the Commonwealth on critical priorities, such as strengthening Social Security, protecting seniors’ access to their doctors, and ensuring all Americans have independence and choice as they age. Previously, Benson served as a principal at TSK Associates, one of New England’s leading public affairs and government relations firms. Benson also served as president of the Alliance for Business Leadership (ABL), a non-profit coalition of business leaders focused on renewable energy, affordable housing, and transportation.
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From 2009 to 2019 Benson served as State Representative for the 37th Middlesex District. During her time in office, she served as House Chair of the Joint Committees on Health Care Financing, State Administration and Regulatory Oversight, and Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure. Jennifer earned a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government, and a B.A. in Art History from Florida Atlantic University. She and her husband, Brent, are the parents of three grown children and live in Watertown.
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Jennifer Benson
Reunion brings back the music of Old Vienna Kaffeehaus
By MAureen sullivAn contriButing Writer
WESTBOROUGH – For one summer’s afternoon, in a backyard near Hopkinton Center, the Old Vienna Kaffeehaus came back to life.
Three decades after the landmark venue in Westborough closed its doors, performers and fans alike convened for a reunion/revival on Saturday, Aug. 17, at a private residence.
Sally Johnson, one of the reunion’s organizers, said they expected up to 1,000 people. By late afternoon, there were hundreds seated and listening to the lineup of 15 performers.
There was even an impromptu “bleacher” section at the back of the yard for those who brought blankets and pillows.
In front, the Old Vienna Kaffeehaus sign — all 350 pounds of it — took center stage, just below the back porch that was transformed into a stage.
According to Robert Haigh, who served as the venue’s master of ceremonies, reunion organizers heard about the sign the previous morning. Its owner, Tom Potosnak, agreed to have the sign brought to the reunion.
Timothy Mason, another Kaffeehaus stalwart, said he was “absolutely floored” by how the reunion came together.
“This was an amazing thing that happened,” said performer Buddy Mondlock of the event.
“It’s fantastic,” said Diane Zeigler, who performed with Geoffrey Cary Sather. “I cut my teeth there” as a singer and songwriter before retiring as a performer some years ago to raise her family, she said.
“This is my first gig back,” she said. “I’m seeing so many old friends.”
In addition to Zeigler and Mondlock, the lineup featured Duke Lavine, Emilia Ali, Barbara Kessler, Deborah
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Henson-Conant, Jim Infantino, Lori McKenna, Christine Lavin, Cliff Eberhardt, Bob Malone, Paul Dellavalle with Walker Crockett, Don White and Peter Mulvey. Each act was introduced by a series of masters of ceremonies.
“I’m really excited to see the folks in the lineup,” said Erin Ash Sullivan, one of several musicians who volunteered at the event.
First upon the back porch/stage — Haigh and Mason, who kept the entertainment flowing at the Kaffeehaus for years. They presented a 20-minute audio tribute from performers who had died, including Dewey Burns and Bill Morrissey.
After the tribute, Jan Luby kicked off the live performances.
Comedian Jimmy Tingle appeared between the second and third acts to offer his thanks for the reunion — and crack a few jokes — before heading to Chicago for the Democratic National Convention.
While some performers took the stage, other performers walked through the crowd, admiring souvenirs from the Kaffeehaus days. That included Mulvey, who chatted with friends as he looked at a lineup of open mic performers from the 1990s.
“I think it’s beautiful,” said Mulvey of the reunion.
He and Haigh told audience members about the photo gallery in the back along with a watering station and the merchandise area.
A water station was on hand for thirsty guests; organizers also had a misting station in case it was needed.
For those who did not bring their own snacks, the Snappy Dogs food truck was on hand for hot dogs and chili; there was also an ice cream truck from Juniper Farms.
For information on the event, including a history of the venue, visit https://0830club.com/ovk/.
1. How did you make the decision to move your mom to the Willows? (Erin)
Mom had started to have a couple of health and mobility issues that grounded her... we knew that driving was going to be tricky so, while she was in respite, we began looking.
2. Was location key to your selection of the Willows? (Erin) Yes, we love New England. Mom said to me, “Erin, where are we going to go to make our memories? We have always loved the Boston area... she said to me, “Let’s go home so we can spend this chapter doing the things we both love”
3. Were you surprised to learn about all the choices you would face? (Erin)
There’s no handbook for how to help a parent with this transition. We wanted to find a place that would help her handle all of the changes that come with aging. Whatever the next phase is, the goal is to age in place for as long as you can in the quality and the surroundings you love .
4. What makes you feel at home at the Willows? (Ginger) It’s so clean here. This place has character. It’s not all new and chrome. This is my kind of place. I’ve met a lot of nice people. It fits us and we fit it... and the staff is so accommodating and so quick to respond.
5. What lesson did you learn about selecting a senior living facility? (Ginger)
Had I been thinking about it, maybe I would’ve looked into it in my 60’s, not that I was ready for it at all, but for me to do the work to come to a place like the Willows. To say ‘all right,’ what am I looking at when I’m 80? Start looking at these places, just start to prepare. It’s important to know what your options are.
Your best life starts here. Because here, you’re family.
salmon
Hundreds turned out for a reunion/revival of the Old Vienna Kaffeehaus on Saturday, Aug. 17, at a private residence in Hopkinton. (Photo/Maureen Sullivan)
Radio legend Barry Scott keeps finding your favorite “lost” songs
By MAtt roBinson contriButing Writer
BOSTON – “I never wanted to do anything else!” This is how DJ, writer, and dance party impresario Barry Scott responded when asked what inspired him to be a radio disc jockey. His radio show “The Lost 45s” had endured for over 40 years, and has been in worldwide syndication since 1993. It brings back to life many pop songs from the seventies and eighties that you may have thought you’d never hear again.
Early start
Starting at the age of five, Scott would play music in his home, talking between each track. “My heroes were mostly local jocks like Dick McDonough from WDRC [in] Hartford and Dale Dorman in Boston,” Scott explained.
Scott’s platter-programming proclivities revealed themselves early on, for when he took a career aptitude test in high school, the results suggested “radio announcer.”
Naturally, Scott went to Emerson College, which has one of the strongest media programs in the world. Ever eager to please his audience, Scott insisted on playing the actual songs that his fellow students requested, even if they
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had fallen off the charts elsewhere.
“Listeners kept asking for records…that no one else had played,” he recalled, citing such popular picks as those by Helen Reddy, Sonny and Cher, Tony Orlando and Dawn, the Os-
monds, and the Partridge Family. In catering to his campus’ calls, Scott birthed a radio revolution that has lasted nearly as many years as its title suggests — “The Lost 45s.”
National recognition
Though some of the songs were no longer considered popular, the show Scott created was soon being written up not only in The Boston Globe and Boston Herald, but in Radio & Records and Billboard — the keeper of the charts.
“[That] secured my first commercial Boston radio job upon graduation,” Scott smiled, noting that the show now airs Sunday nights from 6 to 9 p.m. on Easy 99.1 FM.
While many of the artists featured on his show received regular airplay, Scott seeks songs that may not have had their full due and defines a “lost” song as, “a record…that didn’t receive adequate airplay…since it left the charts.”
Scott continued to play ABBA’s lesser-known hits even when the group’s greatest hits album “Gold” came back to the top of the charts and after the lat-
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DJ Barry Scott, pictured here in 1984, attended Emerson College and got his start in radio in the 1980s.
er success of the Broadway smash (and hit movie) “Mamma Mia, But he saved the song “Dancing Queen” for his popular live events.
“It still makes people dance,” he observed, noting that many of his listeners also ask for songs that they think should have charted higher but didn’t. “We call them ‘shuddabeen’ hits,” he said.
Aging with the audience
When asked about his “core” audience (or, as they say in the broadcasting world, “target demo,”) Scott suggests that it has grown with him and even split into multi-generational camps.
“The Lost 45s has always been popular with adults who grew up with these artists and records,” he observed. “As well as their kids, who either found them fun, silly or were totally unfamiliar with them since they weren’t the normal hits being played to death by all other radio stations.”
In fact, even in recent years, Scott has been hearing from multiple generations of the same families, many of whom eschew AI-induced corporate media.
“During the seventies, there was tons of variety on Top 40 music stations,” Scott reminisced.
“As radio became more corporate, stations appeared that were more focused on a particular genre,” he explained. “With managers telling entire station chains what to play, whittling down playlists to a very narrow group of records and leaving out any chance for local hits.”
As a result, Scott has been providing a unique service to millions of music fans by playing B-sides and socalled “one-hit wonders” that do not sell as well and so do not get played on most other stations.
“I’m proud to say virtually none of those over-played ‘hits’ have ever been played on The Lost 45s,” Scott noted. “When you put on the show, you always know…we are playing different records and artists.”
Reviving careers
In addition to bringing families together and back to radio, Scott has also been credited with reviving many musical careers, including one of a local family.
“The Rhode Island based Cowsill family (who had been the original Partridge Family inspiration) hadn’t performed together in quite a few years when Bob Cowsill was a guest on the show in 1990,” Scott recalled, pulling from the world’s largest library of recorded artist interviews and touting one of his favorite locally-sourced stars. “He sent the interview to the rest of the family, and they got together for their first tour in a decade!”
Among the other stars who refound fame after talking with Scott are such living legends as Paul Anka, Neil Sedaka and Frankie Valli. Coincidence?
In any case, when asked for his own favorites, Scott demurred, but noted that “Seasons in the Sun” by Terry Jacks (who just happened to be Scott’s first on-air interview) and “I Think I Love You” from the Partridge Family featuring David Cassidy are probably the most requested and played songs in his show’s 40-plus year history.
“There’s simply too many ‘Lost 45s’ to play to keep repeating,” he maintained.
Raising money and awareness for AIDS
Another group from which too many have been lost is the seemingly endless list of artists who died from AIDS. To stem the tide and support his fellow creatives, Scott started the “Aim for the Heart” radiothon to raise money and awareness in the early years of the tragic virus that took many of Scott’s closest friends.
“Every Valentine’s Day,” he remembered, “we spent an entire radio station day chatting with educators, doctors, people with HIV/AIDS as well as family members of those who had passed on.” He also organized a concert called “The Lost 45s Against AIDS” that featured his beloved Cowsills, along with such other Lost 45s legends like Captain and Tennille, Mark Lindsay of The Raiders, Tony DeFranco, Alan O’Day, and Bobby “Boris” Pickett.
“It’s one of my all-time highlights,” he beamed. “That was one hell of a show!”
Entertaining seniors
Though he recently ran his final official “Top 100” countdown this past Labor Day weekend, Scott is far from done with championing great music. In addition to producing other features, specials, and countdowns on the radio, he is still making many live appearances, hosting dance parties, interviewing more recording legends, and using his talents to support fans who have been with him since the beginning by sharing old favorites with various senior communities.
“My dad had Alzheimer’s,” he explained. “Near the end of his life, about
the only time he would look directly into my eyes was when an Elvis Presley or fifties doo-wop song came on. After he passed, I was driving by an assisted living facility when a Frankie Valli song came on, reminding me of him. Although I’d passed that location hundreds of times, this time I turned in and spoke to the director.”
Offering recorded music and music-related trivia (both of which have been shown to help keep the mind sharp and the heart rate in a safe zone), Scott’s senior shows are a hit throughout the region.
“People who didn’t react to anything before [are]…singing, clapping and even dancing,” he observed. “They come more alive and their smiles are priceless!”
And Scott also finds that he is not always the only one sharing.
“One woman told me she was in the Ed Sullivan audience when the Beatles made their TV debut,” he recalls. “These stories are always sweet for me to hear.”
Even though the final live top 100 countdown has aired, fans can revisit and relive their favorite musical highlights on Scott’s website (www.lost45. com).
“We are also syndicated across the world…and have a database of shows from the past five years and a classic show is spotlighted every month,” Scott said, noting that he is looking forward to visiting more senior communities, hosting more dance parties, and writing more books and maybe a screenplay.
“I have always loved what I do and for that I am eternally grateful,” Scott said in conclusion, and is looking forward to his 43rd year of “rescuing” favorite songs and artists. “My fans are the best and most vocal around. I can’t thank them enough for making the dreams of a five-year-old DJ come true!”
DJ Barry Scott, second from left, has helped revive the careers of bands like The Cowsills; several of its members are pictured here with him in Hampton Beach, N.H. in 2017.
By colin MccAnDless contriButing Writer
BOSTON – Rock icons and the so-called “Bad Boys from Boston” Aerosmith have reached the end of the road after a half century of selling out rock arenas worldwide. The band announced on Aug. 2 that they are retiring from touring, citing frontman Steven Tyler’s inability to fully recover from a vocal cord injury that had previously sidelined him from performing in 2023.
Aerosmith was more than “just another band out of Boston,” to quote another legendary rock band who emerged on the scene in 1970s Beantown. They have sold over 150 million albums worldwide, won four Grammy Awards and have attracted legions of adoring fans over their storied Hall of Fame career, which spanned from 1970-2024.
Since the big news dropped, Aerosmith pages on social media have been blowing up with tributes, favorite memories of past shows, photos, artwork and wistful regrets over missing cancelled shows because of their retirement.
In a statement addressed to their fans on
Facebook, the band expressed “A final thank you to you—the best fans on planet Earth. Play our music loud, now and always. Dream On. You’ve made our dreams come true.”
1970s formation
Aerosmith formed in 1970 when Steven Tyler met Joe Perry while both were working in a Sunapee, New Hampshire, ice cream parlor. The band began as a power trio that included bassist Tom Hamilton and Tyler initially served as the drummer, but they soon grew into a hard rock quintet with the addition of guitarist Brad Whitford and drummer Joey Kramer. By year’s end Tyler became the full-time lead vocalist, and the group had relocated to Boston. They played their inaugural paid gig at a high school gym “student dance” in Mendon, Massachusetts.
During their formative years, Aerosmith played the Massachusetts and New York club circuit and scored a record contract with Columbia Records in 1972, releasing their self-titled debut in 1973. The power ballad “Dream On” was first released on this album and became a minor hit. In those early touring days, the band shared a Commonwealth
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A vocal cord injury for Aerosmith frontman Steve Tyler has ended the Boston rock band’s touring days after more than 50 years.
Avenue apartment in the Allston neighborhood of Boston.
It wasn’t until their third album “Toys in the Attic,” released in 1975, that Aerosmith broke through and found commercial success. The first single “Sweet Emotion” cracked the Top 40 and the album ascended the charts to No. 11. They also re-released “Dream On,” which landed in the Top Ten. Their next effort “Rocks” went platinum and peaked at No. 3. Joe Perry and Brad Whitford left the band in 1979 and 1980 respectively to pursue other projects.
In 1980 Aerosmith released a “Greatest Hits” record that sold over six million copies. After issuing a couple records with a different lineup, Perry and Whitford rejoined Aerosmith in 1984 for the “Back in the Saddle” reunion tour. Battling drug and alcohol addiction, Tyler and Perry completed rehab programs in 1986 and later that same year appeared in Run-D.M.C.’s cover of “Walk This Way” (Aerosmith’s final single off “Toys in the Attic”), also appearing in the MTV video of the hybrid rap/rock reimagining of the iconic tune.
Resurgence during 1980s
Then in the late ‘80s Aerosmith de-
livered an avalanche of hits with songs such as “Dude (Looks Like a Lady”), “Ragdoll,” “Janie’s Got a Gun” and “Love in an Elevator.” The hit parade continued into the early ‘90s with the album “Get a Grip,” which went double platinum and featured the hit singles “Livin’ on the Edge,” “Cryin’” and “Amazing.” On the heels of this resurgence, the band opened a short-lived rock club on Lansdowne Street in Boston, Mama Kin Music Hall, which lasted from 1994 until they sold it in 1999.
Aerosmith would perform at the Super Bowl halftime show on Jan. 28, 2001. Later that same year in March, they would be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Tyler never left any doubt as to the lofty heights the band envisioned themselves achieving. “We weren’t too ambitious when we started out,” he once said. “We just wanted to be the biggest thing that ever walked the planet, the greatest rock band that ever was.”
However, like many other hard rockers who tour together for extended periods and live an extravagant lifestyle, the band members certainly experienced their share of adversity including multiple rehab stints, inter-
Park and a residency in Las Vegas. (Photos/ Wikimedia Commons)
nal dissension and brief hiatuses for members to parlay their success as a group into solo projects, books, shows and other various business ventures. In 2010, Tyler joined the popular singing competition series “American Idol” as a judge. The appearance thrust Aerosmith back into the spotlight and he continued touring with the band. They later landed a residency at Park Theater in Las Vegas in 2019 called “Deuces Are Wild” that was shut down by the pandemic.
On Sept. 8, 2022, Aerosmith finally performed what had been a delayed 50th anniversary concert at Fenway Park in the city where it all started.
In September 2023, after just three dates during their “Peace Out: The Farewell Tour,” Tyler announced that he had injured his vocal cords. Aerosmith postponed the tour while he sought medical attention to repair the damage and heal. Tyler expressed hope for a 2024 return and tour resumption. Alas, it was not to be.
Remembering the sweet emotions
Fans across the internet have been sharing fond memories and recollections of Aerosmith whether in news
article comment sections or on social media pages associated with the band.
One person responding to The New York Times article on their tour retirement lamented, “It’s sad to see medical issues ending the careers of some of the singers who defined our youth. Linda Ronstadt, Neil Diamond, now Steven Tyler. I wish they all could have finished their careers with a triumphant farewell, rather than having their gifts essentially stolen from them (and from us, as fans).”
Another individual shared, “Joe Perry grew up in the neighborhood where I live, but I don’t know which house it was. Aerosmith’s first gig, once the band had formed, was at a school up the road from me.”
An early concertgoer gushed, “I saw Aerosmith three times in the ‘70s when I was a teenager and consider ‘Get Your Wings’ and ‘Rocks’ two of the greatest rock albums of all time.”
A fan on Aerosmith’s Instagram page reminisced, “First saw you when you played Beverly High School,” alluding to a Massachusetts show from May 1973. Another Instagrammer raved, “You’ve been the soundtrack to many memories of my life.”
And then there were those who worked with the band on some of their earlier gigs. “Promoted Aerosmith’s first concert on Cape Cod in ’73,” stated another commenter.
Several people replying to an Aerosmith Fans Facebook page post asking who has seen Aerosmith live and at what venue said they had been to 20plus shows. One individual put their concert tally between 40 and 50.
Perhaps a contributor to the Aerosmith Fans page summed up the feelings of nostalgia and “bittersweet” emotion best, proclaiming, “We have enough music to last us a lifetime from you Steven Tyler, but we sure love to hear you if you’re ever able to sing again. If not, we will remember it all and play it all. You are part of the fabric of our lives.”
Leonard Nimoy’s odyssey began in Boston long before boarding the USS Enterprise
By shAron oliver contriButing Writer
BOSTON – Famously known for his role as Mr. Spock in the sci-fi TV and movie franchise “Star Trek,” the world’s favorite half-human, half-Vulcan, Leonard Nimoy was destined for the stars.
Tenement origins and military service
Born in Boston in 1931, Nimoy grew up in a tenement in the city’s West End neighborhood. Bitten by the acting bug when he was a child, he enrolled in acting lessons when he was eight years old and supplemented his Ukrainian Jewish immigrant family’s income with odd jobs such as selling newspapers and shining shoes. As an adult, he hawked vacuum cleaners and freezers, scooped ice cream, serviced vending machines, and managed apartment buildings. The actor’s humble beginnings would also involve some interesting chance encounters before reaching stardom. After graduating from English High School, he attended
Actor Leonard Nimoy, famous for his role as Mr. Spock in the sci-fi TV and movie franchise “Star Trek,” grew up the son of immigrants in a tenement in Boston’s West End neighborhood.
Boston College for a short time, taking some drama classes.
In 1953, Nimoy enlisted in the United States Army Reserve at the now-de-
funct Fort McPherson, Georgia. While there, he crossed paths with fellow soldier Ken Berry whom he encouraged to try out acting and helped contact agents. Berry eventually found success starring in sitcoms “F-Troop,” “Mayberry RFD,” and “Mama’s Family.”
Meeting
JFK and beginning of acting career
Upon being discharged from the military, Nimoy and his pregnant wife Sandi moved to Los Angeles where he worked as a cab driver to support his growing family between small acting gigs. On August 13, 1956, 24-year-old Nimoy received a call right before the Democratic National Convention was to start.
Nimoy told the Tampa Tribune, “It was a highly political time — right before the convention — and Stevenson and Kefauver were running strong.” Nimoy was referring to Democratic nominee for president Adlai Stevenson, who was also the cousin of “M*A*S*H” star McLean Stevenson.
Nimoy continued, “When I got to the Bel Air, I asked the doorman if I was waiting for the Senator from Massachusetts. He said he didn’t know. When Kennedy came down, the doorman whispered to me, ‘Is this guy a senator?’”
tion. He said, ‘He’d be finished politically.’ That was the one flat statement he made about politics.”
“We chatted about careers … politics and show business, and we agreed that both had a lot in common. Maybe too much in common. He said, ‘Lots of competition in your business, just like in mine.’ And then he gave me this: “Just remember there’s always room for one more good one.”
Since the Senator was not carrying any cash, Nimoy had to follow him into the Beverly Hilton lobby to collect his $1.25 from someone Kennedy knew, but he also received a $1.75 tip.
Nimoy began working steadily as an actor, appearing in over 50 roles in B-movies and television series, including several episodes on both “Gunsmoke,” and “Wagon Train,” highly-rated Western TV shows of the era.
“Star Trek” and fame
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“As Kennedy got in the cab, I said, ‘How are things up in Massachusetts, Senator?’ He perked up. He said, ‘Are you from Massachusetts?’ He asked me so many questions — he was so socially oriented — he asked me why I was in California, where my folks came from, why they came to America, and what they thought of [me] being an actor.”
“I asked him about Stevenson’s chances, and he said, ‘You meet a lot of people, what do you think?’ I asked him what would happen if Stevenson won the nomination but lost the elec-
“Star Trek” made its television debut in 1966 and by 1968, fandom had reached a feverish pitch with the character of Mr. Spock smack-dab in the center of it. So much so that NBC knew the prospect of ever replacing the actor was out of the question since it would likely alienate his followers. Nimoy even released a couple of record albums. “Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy,” debuted shortly after his first album “Music From Outer Space.”
During a 1968 autograph signing event in the housewares department at Lechmere in Cambridge to promote record sales, Nimoy’s mother Dora told the Tampa Bay Tribune that she thought her son looked tired, adding that she stood in line to see her son because she only saw him for 10 minutes when he was at her house.
Leonard Nimoy died in 2015 at the age of 83 in his home in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the Peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Jesus Christ.
~ Philippians 4:6-7
~ Isabella
Shrewsbury resident honored by JW Marriott on 90th birthday
By evAn WAlsh contriButing Writer
SHREWSBURY – Bert Barton and his twin sister, Joan Hargrave, are considered by many to be the youngest guests to ever stay at the Essex House.
On July 2, 1934, Werner and Marianne Kaufmann, Barton’s biological parents, traveled from Massachusetts to New York City to shop. Barton was never told quite how the events unfolded, but what’s certain is that later that day the Kaufmanns ended up in the Essex House, a hotel in the heart of New York City adjacent to Central Park.
There, Barton and Hargrave were born on the 21st floor.
Now, in 2024, the Essex House, which is now under the management of Marriott and known as the JW Marriott Essex House New York, is still a part of Barton’s life. To celebrate and recognize the 90th birthday of their “youngest visitor,” JW Marriott sent Barton a robe and a handwritten card from company executives.
The gesture, which was a surprise to Barton, was a moment to remember.
“I couldn’t say a word. I was speechless,” Barton told the Fifty Plus Advocate.
The surprise was organized by one of Barton’s close friends, who contacted the JW Marriott Essex House New York to ask if it would commemorate the occasion. According to John Rieman, the general manager of the hotel, the company was happy to recognize Barton’s big day.
“As General Manager of the JW
Bert Barton wears his robe, which was gifted to him by staff at JW Marriott Essex House New York. (Photo/Evan Walsh)
from him, and join[ed] in his time of celebration. Thank you, Mr. Barton, for staying with us. This was the ultimate example of providing guest service and the opportunity to serve you so long ago,” he said.
Barton has four children — Bill, Joan (named after his sister), Jim, and Denise — and three grandchildren. When it came time to surprise Barton with the robe, which came in an inconspicuous cardboard box, family flew in from as far as California to celebrate. It was his special day, but the occasion was just as exciting for family members, described Denise Barton, as they watched the full-circle moment.
“We all wanted to be there to watch him open it … [I saw] a big smile. This was a pretty good surprise, I thought,” she said.
Marriott Essex House New York, I’m always so interested in its storied past, including the stories of its guests and how we made their stay special. Mr. Barton must indeed be our ‘youngest guest’ ever, as he celebrates his 90th birthday and actual birthday having taken place at the hotel itself! We recently learned of this event directly
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In 1955, Barton was adopted by Maurice Barton, a retired surgeon. He later attended Bowdoin College and enlisted in the U.S. Army.
Barton had a successful career in sales and marketing and moved to Southgate at Shrewsbury several months ago. You’ll still see Barton walking about, going to the gym, and driving throughout town.
• Contemporary styled 1 & 2 bedroom apartments
• New kitchens with built-in microwaves and granite-like countertops
• Small pets welcome
• Heat and Hot water included
• Bus route / ample parking
• Beautiful landscaped grounds with gazebo
Autumn farm fun for the entire family
By sAnDi BArrett contriButing Writer
REGION – It is fall and time to plan a local farm stand visit. Pack up the mini-van and pick fat pumpkins, bounce along on tractor-pulled hayrides, and savor iconic spiced apple cider doughnuts. It is the perfect way to spend an afternoon hanging out with your grandkids.
Orchards are open seasonally and hours vary. Check their websites before heading out on your autumn adventure.
Wojcik’s Farm
Blackstone
A popular attraction at Wojcik’s Farm is racing through the corn maze. Afterwards, pick your own pumpkin and a nosh on classic cider doughnuts. On-site food trucks, adult cider, vendors, games, and activities for the kiddos round out your day at the farm.
Connors
Farm
Danvers
Hanson’s
Farm
Framingham
The joy of wandering through a sunflower field is an unforgettable experience. At Hanson’s Farm, you can take a hayride out to the two-acre sunflower field and immerse yourself in these colorful giants. If you are looking for something a little more adventurous, try navigating your way out of their challenging corn maze.
The little ones will love the farm animals and the ice cream bus. Everyone in your group can enjoy the lawn games and delicious apple cider doughnuts.
Carlson
Orchards
Harvard
Carlson Orchards is known for their exceptional apple cider. When you head off to the farm, they offer a variety of pick your own fruit options. Additionally, their cut your own sunflowers is a fun, seasonal event.
After working hard in the fields, grab a seat in the Cider Barn for a hard cider or soft kiddo version of this tasty beverage. Order
Spend a fun-filled day with your grandchildren at Connors Farm. Down at the farm you can ride the Putnamville Railroad or plot your way out of the dinosaur corn maze. There is a ropes course, hayrides, pedal carts, and more. Spooky nighttime autumnal happenings include a flashlight maze adventure and an after dark trip through their haunted fields.
Carlson Orchards in Harvard has a variety of pick your own fruit options as well as pick your own sunflowers.
(Photo/Sandi Barrett)
one of their flatbread pizzas and call it dinner. Don’t forget to grab a bag of apple cider doughnuts for the ride home.
Smolak Farm
North Andover
Tractor pulled hayrides and an exciting array of farm animals are two of the highlights for exuberant youngsters. Experience the wonder of watching a child stretching their hand out to feed a nibbling goat. Children of all ages need to lean into exploring farm life. Of course, your visit must include munching on iconic apple cider doughnuts and other freshly baked goodies. They are the highlight of a day on the farm.
Tougas Family Farm
Northborough
Setting out on an adventure to find the perfect pumpkin in the patch is a wonderful tradition to have with your grandkids. Of course, you will probably be tasked with carrying the heaviest pumpkin back to the car! At Tougas Family Farm you will find the classic apple cider doughnuts, but they also whip up fabulous pumpkin doughnuts. A delicious twist on the ‘everything pumpkin spice’ season.
The meandering barnyard path takes you past scampering goats, aloof alpacas, and wooly sheep. Pick up a bag of animal feed from their store and make a bunch of new furry friends.
Honey Pot Hill Orchards in Stow has lots of activities in addition to its tempting farm store.
(Photo/ Suzanne Neubauer)
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Honey Pot Hill Orchards
Stow
Honey Pot Hill Orchards has lots of activities to explore. Take a hayride around the acreage. Enjoy the barnyard animals—pigs, mini ponies, goats, rabbits, and other farm critters. Explore one of three different mazes— Big Green Monster Maze, Little Hedge Maze, and Tunnel Maze.
The cider doughnuts and caramel apples are sweet seasonal treats, must-haves to complete your autumn farm day adventure.
Shelburne Farm
Stow
The John Deere Combine Climber at Shelburne Farm is a huge hit with the truck enamored crowd. Climbing to the top then sliding down can burn up young energy and work off a few delicious warm cider doughnuts. Round out your visit with a hayride and a trip around the barnyard animal enclosures.
Parlee Farms
Tyngsboro
Enjoy a classic fall farm experience at Parlee Farms. Acres of pumpkins where you can select the perfect one for your jack-o-lantern. Their farm animals are ready to nibble a tasty treat from your hand. Tractor rides and fresh cider doughnuts make your visit complete.
farm activity.
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Picking pumpkins for Halloween is a favorite autumn
‘The Perfect Couple’ revives the Cape and Islands as top filming destination
By shAron oliver contriButing Writer
NANTUCKET – Netflix’s newest murder mystery “The Perfect Couple” stars 57-year-old Nicole Kidman as a wealthy Nantucket novelist whose family is rocked when a body is found in the harbor on the morning of her son’s lavish wedding. As luck would have it, everyone in the wedding party becomes a suspect. The six-episode limited series also stars Liev Schreiber, Michael Beach, Dakota Fanning and Nick Searcy and was filmed primarily on the Cape in Chatham with some scenes shot in Nantucket.
Best-selling novel
Based on best-selling author Elin Hilderbrand’s 2018 novel of the same name, Amelia Sacks (Eve Hewson) is set to marry Benji (Billy Howle), the son of Greer and Tag Winbury (Kidman and Schreiber, respectively). Although she disapproves of the nuptials, Greer spares no expense to ensure this will be the island’s social
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event of the season. However, something this horrific brings judgment on the playground of the rich as portrayed in one scene where a man in a police interrogation room gives a frank assessment of Greer and her family: “They’re rich. Kill someone and get away with it rich.”
Putting murder aside, viewers also get the chance to soak up the picturesque Cape Cod scenery in this whodunit. In an interview with Boston.com, Hilderbrand said, “Because the majority of ‘The Perfect Couple’ was filmed on location in Chatham, the production will have an authentic Cape and island feel. The second unit shot extensively on Nantucket itself, and the script includes inside references to places like Bartlett’s Farm. Hollywood legend Fred North took overhead footage in his helicopter, and he later messaged me and said it was one of the most beautiful places he’s ever shot.”
She added that it is her hope that Hollywood will open up to making more Nantucket and Cape Cod-set “beach read” adaptations for the big and small screen.
Other books optioned for the screen
The author does have a few more Nantucket-set novels that have been optioned for on-screen treatments.
“The Five-Star Weekend” – After tragedy strikes, food blogger Hollis Shaw gathers four friends from different stages in her life to spend an unforgettable weekend on Nantucket.
“Swan Song” – When rich strangers move to the island, social mayhem — and a possible murder follow. Can Nantucket’s best locals save the day, and their way of life?
Of course, the Cape and its surrounding islands are no strangers to providing perfect locales for Holly-
Above: Author Elin Hilderbrand, who wrote the novel that the Netflix series “The Perfect Couple” is based on, has optioned other books set on Nantucket for on-screen treatments. (Photo/Wikimedia Commons/Kenneth C. Zirkel)
Right: Nicole Kidman stars in Netflix’s newest murder mystery “The Perfect Couple,” which is set on Nantucket. (Photo/Wikimedia Commons/Gage Skidmore)
wood productions. The most famous of them all perhaps being Steven Spielberg’s 1975 blockbuster “Jaws,” which was filmed almost exclusively on Martha’s Vineyard. Here are a few fun facts about “Jaws.”
• Initially, the location scout wanted to check out Nantucket for filming, but a storm forced his ferry to detour to Martha’s Vineyard.
• Lee Fierro, who played the distraught Mrs. Kintner who gave the famous slap, lived on Martha’s Vineyard where she was the artis-
tic director of the Island Theatre Workshop and mentored hundreds of aspiring actors.
• Another Martha’s Vineyard local, Craig Kingsbury, provided one of the biggest scares in the movie— his disembodied head pops out of the boat.
Season 10 of “American Horror Story” as well as Starz network’s crime drama “Hightown” were filmed in Provincetown. Locals will likely see more of their quaint seaside towns featured on small and big screens.
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What do you expect?
By MAriAnne Delorey, Ph.D.
According to demographers, the American population is older now than it has ever been. The whole of society is adapting to these changes, and it is really a struggle. Entire systems are trying to adjust to the change, including our medical system, which has seen huge changes over the past 100 years.
Steven Pinker sums it up well in his blog when he talks about causes of death,
“Over the course of the 20th century, Americans became 96 percent less likely to be killed in a car accident, 88 percent less likely to be mowed down on the sidewalk, 99 percent less likely to die in a plane crash, 59 percent less likely to fall to their deaths, 93 percent less likely to die in a fire, 90 percent less likely to drown, 92 percent less likely to be asphyxiated, and 95 percent less likely to be killed on the job.”
Hospitals, then, are seeing a corresponding lack of patients drawn by accidents and are instead seeing emergent care requests from patients that are due to heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and other chronic conditions. This shift has created a huge divide between how we envision medical care (think any Hollywood portrayal) and both what is needed and how it is provided.
This is great news. We are living longer, and our additional years are usually healthier. But medicine has a long way to go to keep up with an aging population.
The Association of American Medical Colleges has been collecting data on what specialty areas of medicine are most popular. In Massachusetts in 2022, there were 296.8 doctors per 100,000 population. Of those, only 8.1 were geriatricians. For comparison, 89.5 were pediatricians. This is true despite the fact that our senior population is about to outnumber the number of children for the first time in history.
Now, I get it, many people will continue to see their primary care doctor well into their older years, and so this does not tell a full story. However, it is clear that as a whole doctors are not choosing to specialize in geriatric medicine, which cannot be good for the needs of our society.
I see this in the constant ebb and flow of our residents in and out of the local hospitals. They don’t feel great, they get sent to the ER. If they are lucky, they wait in the ED for hours when there is no bed, but eventually get seen. Many of our residents get seen briefly and sent home, sometimes only to be readmitted later that day.
Something is wrong with our system when our otherwise healthy residents get told,
“What do you expect? You’re 97.”
“Can’t complain too much at your age.”
“Well, I guess this is part of the territory, huh?”
The thing is these people did not reach the older years by not knowing their bodies. Believe them if something is wrong. Don’t dismiss them because they are older.
In her well-known poem about aging, “Warning,” Jenny Joseph talks about how she will disrupt a society that wants to ignore and avoid older adults by making herself obnoxiously visible. She writes,
I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
Of course, there is a consequence to the older generation for being ignored, dismissed, and otherwise marginalized, but there is also a consequence to the younger ones.
If we are going to dismiss the person, what else are we dismissing?
Their experience
Their wisdom
Their compassion
Their sense of humor
As one person put it, being ageist is a very questionable tactic because you are discriminating against your future self. Perhaps we should start listening.
Marianne Delorey, Ph.D., is the executive director of Colony Retirement Homes. She can be reached at 508-755-0444 or mdelorey@colonyretirement.com and www. colonyretirementhomes.com.
One woman, one vote
By JAnice linDsAy contriButing Writer
My great-grandmother, whom I remember well, was six years old in 1868 when the U.S. Constitution was amended to give men of color the right to vote.
As a girl, she could not expect to have that right herself. It didn’t matter that many women, both Black and white, had been leading abolitionists. They fought to have slavery abolished, and they fought to get Black men the vote, but men in the U.S. Congress didn’t consider women capable of making political decisions well enough to vote themselves.
Three decades later, when my grandmother was born, she, too, might never have that right.
Even when my mother was born, there was no guarantee, though the Constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote was in the
works and was finally ratified when she was four months old.
Great-grandma Marcy, who had a lifelong active interest in politics, was 59 years old when she cast her first vote in a presidential election.
I wish citizens would consider all that, when they say they won’t vote because they don’t like either candidate, or they’ll sit this one out because they don’t agree with their candidate on a specific issue. How would they feel if they were denied the right to decide?
After almost 250 years as a republic, but only 104 years where all citizens, not just the male half, have been represented—and when the strong, intelligent women of my own lineage were left out—when it’s time to vote, I vote.
It is a privilege to pick up that pen and fill in the oval that will indicate my choice for president. Millions of people around the world will never have this opportunity, or it will be a sham opportunity, with results foreordained. I am joining fellow citizens from all over the country and beyond, all of us sharing this special right and fulfilling this responsibility. And, at least for this moment, it matters what I think! Haven’t the candidates spent countless
dollars and most of their time trying to get my attention and impress me with the belief that they would be such a good president or vice president?
On March 3, 1913, the Women’s Suffrage march was held on Pennsylvania Avenue, a day before Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration. Seven years later, the 19th amendment to the Constitution was enacted, guaranteeing women the right to vote. (Photo/Creative Commons)
Besides, there’s a little piece of me that thinks, if there is an afterlife where we meet our ancestors, I wouldn’t want to run into all those tough New England Yankee women of my heritage and have to confess that I missed a chance to vote.
Great-grandma Marcy was a lifelong Republican. Her son, my grandfather, and my grandmother leaned Democratic. They marched wholeheartedly into the Democratic camp when, during the Depression in the 1930s, Grandpa was appointed postmaster of our Rhode Island village, giving him a steady job and enabling him and Grandma to support their seven children. The certificate of his appointment, framed, hung on the wall above the roll-top desk in their tiny home office, apparently signed by Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt himself.
SUPER CROSSWORD PUZZLE
But Republican or Democrat, the important thing was to be informed and to vote. I remember as a child going to the polling place with my mother, standing beside her as she cast her ballot after the adults had been absorbed in watching the political conventions on TV, thinking that voting must be an important and very grown-up thing to do.
I have voted in many presidential elections. I’ve learned that there’s no such thing as a perfect candidate. As a voter, you won’t agree on every issue with any candidate. You choose the candidate whose values and principles most closely align with your own. And you vote.
Contact jlindsay@tidewater.net
By shAron oliver contriButing Writer
BRAINTREE - Named after Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, Bradlees department store opened in the 1950s after three Connecticut businessmen, Isadore Berson, Edward Kuzon and Morris Leff met to discuss revolutionizing retail shopping with the evolution of old five and dime discount stores.
The unforgettable Mrs. B
Although its stores closed in 2001, memories of the Braintree-based company live on in the hearts of many. At its peak during the 1980s, the discount store chain had over one hundred locations throughout seven states across the eastern United States. Selling a wide variety of items including clothing, footwear, housewares and furniture, Bradlees was always bustling with customers, especially during the Christmas holidays.
Thanks to popular TV and print ads, store buyer/smart shopper “Mrs. B” (played by actress Cynthia Harris for almost 20 years) was always on hand to remind consumers of Bradlees’ great deals. One favorite is the advertising jingle, “At Bradlees, you buy what Mrs. B. buys, and nobody can buy like Mrs. B” As many may recall, the commercials ran from 1973 to 1976 and from 1979 to 1998 wherein Mrs. B would continually keep customers informed about bargains. Harris was also known for playing Paul Reiser’s forceful mother in the hit 1990s sitcom “Mad About You.”
Memories live on
The retail chain is still a pleasant memory in the minds of customers and former employees, evident by Facebook pages dedicated to the store.
Jennifer Hublard Edgar wrote: “I miss Bradlees. Great job and great coworkers!!!”
Kimberly Willis Rapoza recalled: “Remember when you were buying with a credit card and the cashier would pull out “the book” that contained all the bad credit card numbers in the world and would look to see if your card was there?”
A few years ago, there had been a Bradlees truck sighting, stirring up hopes whereas one person shared her story of purchasing a suit from Bradlees for a weekend trip to the Catskills. The same suit would have cost $100 more at a local boutique. Alas, the 18-wheeler was not there to deliver merchandise for the reopening of Bradlees.
For those who appreciate occasionl trips down memory lane with a
little added history, a short documentary titled “Abandoned — Bradlees Department Store” is available for viewing on YouTube.
Interestingly, Springfield native and “The Simpsons’” showrunner Mike Scully based the “Marge Be Not Proud” episode (Season 7, Episode 11) on his childhood shoplifting experience at Bradlees. According to Scully, he was 12 years old when a bunch of guys pressured him into shoplifting along with them. Unfortunately, Scully was the only one who got caught and described the event as “one of the most traumatic moments of his life.”
Challenges and decline
Several Bradlees stores had lunch counters and snack stands that served food and soft drinks, leading customers on a “one stop shopping” experience. In 1993, they added Dunkin’ Donuts, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell. However, the handwriting was on the wall ever since 1988 when Bradleee’s parent company, Stop & Shop, faced a hostile takeover attempt by Herbert Haft’s Dart Group.
Stop & Shop stores were often featured alongside Bradlees in the same shopping plazas and in cases like New York and New Jersey metropolitan areas, stores were large enough to house both Bradlees and Stop & Shop under the same roof. One side of the store would operate as Bradlees while the other would operate as Stop & Shop.
Bradlees filed for bankruptcy in 1995. Unable to make a strong enough
At its peak during the 1980s, Braintree-based Bradlees had over one hundred locations throughout seven states in the eastern United States.
comeback, faced with stiff competition and despite renovations and upgrades, the company filed for bankruptcy again the day after Christmas
in 2000 and closed their last store in March 2001. Meanwhile, Stop & Shop remains a prominent fixture throughout New England.
Actress Cynthia Harris played “Mrs. B” in Bradlees TV commercials and print ads for nearly 20 years.
By MichAel PernA Jr contriButing Writer
WORCESTER - A local business began in 1918 as a small restaurant that primarily sold hot dogs. Coney Island Hot Dogs has evolved, with very few, if any, changes to its operation over the decades to become a Worcester institution.
Husband and wife team
Catherine and George Tsagarelis opened the business on the ground floor of a building at what is now 158 Southbridge Street in Worcester. The business quickly became a big hit, with Mr. Tsagarelis’ creation of a special chili-like sauce (the recipe of which remains “secret” to this day) for the hot dogs being a top seller. The addition of a large neon sign, which depicts a hot dog with toppings dripping from it, has become not only the business’s trademark, but a local landmark as well. The original idea for the sign came about one day when George held up a hot dog and someone took a
photo of it.
The family has continued to be involved in the business until this day. Although Coney Island does have a number of different items on their menu, it is rare for anyone to order anything but one of the various
Preserving Memories with Dignity
hot dog offerings. The lines of customers that are found at Coney Island on any particular day move quickly along—the staff has a constant supply of hot dogs on the grill and buns steaming so orders can be filled fast. In fact, it is so infrequent that anyone
Locals and visitors alike have been lining up inside Coney Island Hot
in Worcester for 106 years.
orders anything but a hot dog that it takes longer to fill those orders. The customer is asked to have a seat, and when the hamburger or other dish is ready, the line cook yells out loud enough for all to hear: “YOUR BURGER IS READY!”
Dogs
The large neon Coney Island sign itself has an interesting history …Over the years, the sign deteriorated until it became almost inoperable … the newly updated sign was re-installed and has continued to light up the nighttime in the area with its signature “Coney Island” logo ever since.
Customers have left their mark
The restaurant itself has remained virtually unchanged over the years. Two small restrooms, with what appear to be their original wooden doors, are located at the rear of the dining area. Wooden booths line the walls and run down the center of the restaurant, and an adjoining room has a bar and more booths. One of the quirks that Coney Island has become known for is the long-standing tradition of people carving (or scratching) their initials or names into the wooden booths. These etchings have become so numerous over the years that many of the older ones have become illegible, however people still look for a spot where they can carve whatever they might like into the wood.
Another fixture that still sits near the ordering counter is a jukebox, complete with a
BROOKHAVEN ASSISTED LIVING
number of musical hits from many years ago. One of the only concessions to more modern times has been the comparatively small increases in the price of a “dog” over the years. In 1918 the price was five cents per hot dog. With few price hikes over the years, the current price is $2.25 for one hot dog, complete with any combination of toppings, mustard, relish, onions, or the “secret sauce.”
Landmark sign
The large neon Coney Island sign itself has an interesting history. It was first installed in 1938, in an era when neon signs were much more prevalent than today. Over the years, the sign deteriorated until it became almost inoperable—the “drips” of neon sauce were spotty instead of the normal constant stream. In 1975, the family decided to have the sign restored. After a period of restoration, the newly updated sign was re-installed and has continued to light up the nighttime in the area with its signature “Coney Island” logo ever since.
One modification for modern times has been the opening of a Coney Island concession at the home of the Woo Sox, Polar Park. Although located just a short distance from the original business, the Polar Park location has proven to be very popular with ballpark patrons.
The Tsagarelis clan is now in its fourth generation serving up the hot dogs that Worcester area residents love. Hopefully, this 106-year-old family business will continue to flourish for years to come.
The Coney Island Hot Dogs restaurant sign has been a Worcester landmark since 1938.
Boston’s Paul Posti went from war hero to chef to celebrities
By shAron oliver contriButing Writer
BOSTON – Paul Posti may not be a household name but his decorated career as a war hero and then later chef makes him worthy of being so. In 2023, close friend George Mather of Raynham honored the former World War II B-17 Flying Fortress tail gunner by writing and publishing the memoir “Posti: War Hero, Hollywood Insider, Chef to Celebrities, and Redemption.”
Wartime exploits
Before kicking a young, hungry relatively unknown man named Elvis Presley out of his kitchen at the Knickerbocker Hotel, Posti was a soldier who was born in Walpole but grew up in Boston’s North End neighborhood. Posti earned a Silver Star, the nation’s third-highest decoration for heroism, by accomplishing a feat that has not been repeated since. He shot down a German Flocke-Wolfe fighter plane with a Smith and Wesson 38-caliber service revolver in 1942. The weapon used was given to Posti by his father, who was allegedly a member of the Boston mob The Black Hand.
According to a 2003 Air Force newsroom report, the act of heroism was disputed by officials until Captain Clark Gable presented proof. The report stated, “Gable, who left his movie career to become an aerial photographer with the U.S. Army Air Force, took Posti into a darkroom and ran off a strip of movie film. The captain had operated a gun camera aboard another bomber during the mission and filmed the German plane in its death dive.”
That same year, the family of Paul
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Posti donated the revolver and his leather bomber jacket for display at the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The war hero, who lost an eye due to a shrapnel explosion, flew about five missions with the Golden Age of Hollywood star Clark Gable.
Chef to the stars
Upon leaving the military, Posti became an executive chef and close friends with celebrities like Clark Gable, Bugs Bunny voice actor Mel Blanc, Frank Sinatra, and Elvis Presley. Along with his employer and owner of The Brown Derby, Robert Howard Cobb, Posti created the now-famous Cobb salad on the spot to appease a demanding Cecil B. DeMille, a founding father of American cinema. Another version is
Paul
in California with his wife after the war, where he became an acclaimed chef to stars like Frank Sinatra.
(Photo/George Mather)
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that he made the salad using a mixture of leftover ingredients for his famished boss, for which it is named since he had not eaten all day.
Most movie stars from the 1940s to the 1970s knew Paul Posti. Crooner Frank Sinatra befriended Posti after the chef helped him out by serving him free meals. This led to Posti being Sinatra’s friend and personal chef for over 24 years at the singer’s restaurant Villa Capri. Posti once claimed Sinatra added the lyrics about his popular meatballs to his song Isle of Capri because he loved them that much.
According to the memoir’s introduction, “Posti was part of the greatest generation.” Mather further stated, “Paul Posti was very protective of his relationships with well-known celebrities. He felt that to do things for his own advantage would betray his friendship with them. If I had asked him to introduce me to Frank Sinatra, he would cease being friends, he would have perceived me as trying to use him to get to see Frank Sinatra.”
Posti lived in the North End until age 13 when his father sent the boy to Italy to begin culinary training under George Escoffier, who was thought of as “the greatest chef who ever lived.” Mather recalled that he and his wife would visit Posti and his wife in Van Nuys where the famed chef would give the couple cooking lessons that would end up being served as dinner.
The couples often discussed their bond with Massachusetts over Italian coffee and biscotti. According to Mather, Posti loved to talk about Boston, the North End, St. Joseph’s Day, and Cape Cod. Paul Posti died at age 89 in 2002.
Chef
Posti lived
Paul Posti received the Silver Star in World War II for shooting down a German fighter plane with a revolver.
Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth had several connections to Boston
On July 26, 1864, Booth reportedly met with fellow conspirators and Confederate sympathizers at the Parker House Hotel to plot a plan to kidnap and kill President Lincoln, along with Secretary of State William Seward.
escaped from the asylum by horseback. Although there were repeated claims by men stating they were Corbett, their stories were discredited and by all accounts, the man who killed John Wilkes Booth disappeared in 1888.
By shAron oliver contriButing Writer
BOSTON – Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth has made headlines again as the subject of the Apple TV+ seven-episode conspiracy thriller “Manhunt.” Based on James L. Swanson’s book “Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer,” the docuseries follows the journey of Lincoln’s Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, in his pursuit to learn the full extent of the conspiracy that led to the president’s assassination—a conspiracy and various origins that could be traced back to Boston.
Plot hatched at Parker House Hotel
Born in 1838, John Wilkes Booth was an actor like his father Junius Brutus Booth. By age 16, he showed interest in theater and politics, particularly for the Know Nothing party. Booth also displayed great anger at Lincoln’s re-election. An advocate of slavery, he was obsessed with the South’s worsening condition in the Civil War. In 1862, he made his Boston debut playing nightly at the Boston Museum and the Boston Transcript once wrote a review calling him “the most promising young actor on the American stage.” However, it was his brother Edwin, a Boston resident at the time, who was the titan of Shakespearean stage plays and did not share his political views.
On July 26, 1864, Booth reportedly met with fellow conspirators and Confederate sympathizers at the Parker House Hotel to plot a plan to kidnap and kill President Lincoln, along with Secretary of State William Seward. The plan fell through, but Booth remained
in the city for a few more days. Booth owned property on Commonwealth Avenue but never built a house on the lot.
Booth returned to Boston on April 5, 1865, where he was seen at a firing range, presumably Roland Edward’s Pistol Gallery on Green Street, practicing shooting his pistol just 10 days before assassinating Lincoln. On April 17, 1865, Edwin Booth was released and allowed to return to New York City after being detained by federal marshals following Lincoln’s assassination.
Killed by Union soldier
The man credited for bringing down John Wilkes Booth, as he crouched inside a barn, is Sergeant Thomas “Boston” Corbett, a/k/a The Mad Hatter. Corbett defied orders to capture Booth alive. The English-born soldier who hailed from Boston was known for his religious beliefs and eccentric behavior. After being discharged from the army in 1865, Corbett returned to Boston to work as a milliner. When the hat-making business started to slow, Corbett had difficulty holding down a job and his erratic behavior increased. A fervent Christian, Corbett made himself a eunuch and did not check himself into a hospital until he had said his prayers, finished dinner, and took a light stroll through the city.
Nevertheless, his fame as “Lincoln’s Avenger” earned him the appointment of assistant doorkeeper of the Kansas House of Representatives in 1887. Unfortunately, Corbett became convinced that House members were discriminating against him, and at one point, he brandished a pistol and chased the of-
ficers out of the building. The next day, a judge declared Corbett insane and sent him to the Topeka Asylum for the Insane. Thomas “Boston” Corbett later
John Wilkes and his brother Edwin never saw eye to eye when it came to politics or President Lincoln. The assassination was a blow from which Edwin never fully recovered even though Boston citizens were sympathetic to his burden. The infamy associated with the Booth name caused him to abandon the stage until January 1866, when he reappeared to play the role of Hamlet. Edwin forbade the name of his brother to ever be spoken in his house again.
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John Wilkes Booth was killed by Union soldier Thomas “Boston” Corbett, a Boston resident known for his religious beliefs and eccentric behavior.
Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth, whose brother Edwin lived in Boston, supposedly planned the assassination at the Parker House Hotel.
By shAron oliver contriButing Writer
BOSTON – “Creature Double Feature” introduced a young audience to campy horror films on Saturday afternoons. But to the not-so-mature mind, those two-headed monsters and bloodthirsty giant insects were rather terrifying. Equally interesting is how youngsters so easily segued from viewing cartoons and wrestling to watching scenes of murder and mayhem.
Syndicated in the Boston and Philadelphia areas during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, the television show sometimes aired under the name “Sci-Fi Flix.” For three hours on a Saturday afternoon, viewers watched classic Universal Horror movies (1930s to 1950s), Hammer Studios and American International Pictures films (1950s), the trailblazing “King of the Cult” director Roger Corman’s flicks, of course, Toho Studio’s Japanese monster movies, including Godzilla and his giant enemies.
Fans reminisce
Fans who remember the show often take to YouTube to express their thoughts.
@utube9000 wrote: “Ah yes, Saturday mornings in the Boston area. You’d start out with cartoons, championship wrestling came on at 11 and Creature Double Feature at 1 pm! Then another Creature Feature at 8pm! Heaven!”
@uncharted-desert-isle added: “Every Saturday from 12:30 pm - 4:30 pm I was glued to Creature Double Feature, thanks for the memory.”
@boofdfast shared: “Now, this is EPIC old skool!!
Japanese monster movies dubbed in English were staple offerings on “Creature Double Feature.”
Gotta love growing up in the Boston, MA area in the 70s and early 80s. Love the part at the end of the intro, where they used Anguirus’s roar (the part that sounds like a siren). Love the part with Godzilla, Rodan, and Ghidrah. So classic.”
Enduring popularity
The B-movie showings were extremely popular with audiences and were a staple of WLVI’s Saturday programming in the 1970s and 1980s. At some point, during the early to mid-1980s, “Creature Double Feature” was replaced with “Martial Arts Theater” which featured cheap English-dubbed Hong Kong martial arts movies.
A Facebook page dedicated to the horror show is filled with snapshots of old movie posters, film screenshots, and reflections. Commenting on the movie “The Man from Planet X,” Steve Vance wrote:
“Interesting aside: the female lead in this entertaining oldie, Margaret Field, was also the mother of Oscar winner Sally Field.”
WLVI staffers have reported a continuance of re-
ceiving more emails and phone calls about “Creature Double Feature” than about anything else. In 2006, Channel 56’s Steve Ratner was quoted in The Boston Globe as saying “I’m amazed at the following the show continues to have. It’s just insane how many people come up to us and ask after the ‘Creature Double Feature.’ Every day we get e-mails from people all over the country.”
The main voice on “Creature Double Feature” was a Channel 56 long-time booth announcer Neil MacNevin (his radio/TV name was Tom Evans). He and an engineer named Press Campbell would create sound effects like echoes and wind during the weekly recording sessions for the movie and promos for “Creature Double Feature” during the week.
Boch brings it back
In June 2006, the Boston Herald reported that Boston-area car dealership owner Ernie Boch Jr. would be bringing the show back to WLVI in its original timeslot occasionally. The first two films of the new series, “Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster” and “The Giant Gila Monster” aired on June 24, 2006.
Boch himself hosted the show in full costume and makeup as host The Ghoul. The original show only had on-screen announcers other than for a brief time when Rich Koz, Son of Svengoolie, hosted “Creature Double Feature” in the early 80s. A second installment aired on October 28, 2006, featuring 1973’s “Horror Express” followed by 1968’s cult classic “Night of the Living Dead.” The broadcast showed no pop-up ads during the films or interruptions from any on-air talent personnel during commercial breaks.
