“Everywhere she walked.
The color shouted
And sang arourd her…
In October, any wonderful
Unexpected thing might
be possible.”
“The Witch of Blackbird Pond”by Elizabeth George Speare

Hubby and I saw a great deal of color along the Expressway Saturday morning. There are even pretty trees along Morrissey Blvd. Hubby noticed that there was one lone yellow rose, ready to open, in our yard.  He cut it and put it in a small vase on the middle part of the stove. I went over to smell it. The aroma was positively lovely. We have picked the last of the tiny tomatoes in front of the house. Hubby has brought a few bunches of grapes from our grapevine. They are very sweet. Hubby has drained the garden hose. We finally turned the heat on in the house this past Sunday. When the temp inside the house is 64 degrees, it is time to turn on the heat. At 10 p.m. each night, he turns the heat up on the second floor so our bedroom is warm and turns the heat down on the first floor.

***
Congratulations are sent to Mary Whalen, of St. Ambrose Parish, who was given a certificate for 3,000 hours of service as a volunteer State House tour guide. Michael Maresco, assistant Secretary of the Commonwealth, presented Mary with her certificate from Secretary of State William Galvin.

***
Back to the Irish Village for a bit: Just before our group left on Friday, owner Tommy invited us to see a spectacular poster on his office wall, a huge (15 feet tall, and 8 feet wide) replica of the Irish Proclamation of Independence from 1916. There is only one other copy of the proclamation this large, and it is in Ireland. Also, while I was down the Cape, my new friend, Mary Bavis, gave Hubby and me a copy of the book “Originals from Dorchester, A Memoir,” by Gerard Healy. I will ask daughter Sue to see if she can buy us a copy on the internet.

***
I was sorry to read of the death of Michael Bradley on Oct. 14, at age 60 years. In his youth, Michael lived at the other end of Houghton Street. I do remember his sister Beth. I knew of his mother, Mary, and his father, Arthur Sr. To all his family, I join his former Houghton Street neighbors in sending our sympathy.

***
On Sat., Oct. 17, Hubby and I joined close to 200 others at a Seniors Luncheon, thanks to our City Councillor, Frank Baker. Frank’s aide for seniors, Jill Baker, had told me about it three weeks before.  I thought it was a terrific idea. How the team let so many seniors know of the event was amazing. Jill told me that Michael Dutra was to be the entertainer for the luncheon. I literally gasped when I heard that Michael was to entertain. Michael is a Sinatra sound-a-like. Those seniors who go into town on Wednesday evenings to the concerts on City Hall Plaza know Michael well since he has performed there for the last two or three summers. He truly sounds just like Sinatra and we seniors were the perfect audience for him. We know practically all of Sinatra’s lyrics and thoroughly enjoy them.  As a matter of fact, daughter Sue is a big fan of Michael’s so I asked Jill if it was okay if she came with us. Sue was delighted to come.

When we approached Florian Hall, we saw a familiar face, Barry Mullen, looking very official and handsome in his new suit. He served as the “doorman” and greeted us warmly. Hubby took a photo of Barry and me. We could see that the photo came out great, although I needed a pair of stilts to be the same height as Barry. I promised him that I would send him the photo. When we went inside to the foyer, we immediately felt nice and warm. (It was really cold outside.) Jill Baker gave us a big welcoming hug.

We found seats, thanks to our friend Eileen Collins. The hall was quite filled a half hour before the luncheon started. Soon, our friends Eileen Burke and Carolyn O’Connor came in and sat with us. Lenny Lilly, our Community Service Officer from District C-11, was on duty at the luncheon so he was able to sit with us for a little while. Ace photographer Harry Brett came in and also sat with us. Seated at the neighboring tables were Eileen Collins, Irene Duff, Peggy McDonough, Norma Conley, Marilyn Ferrara, Evie Dunne, Barbara Ridge, Carol Muphy, Mary Lentz, Mary Shea, Ginny Biagiotti, Loretta Philbrick, Peg Canty, and Sarah Doherty.

We watched as Michael played some pleasant music as we waited for the luncheon to begin. Then Ron Della Chiesa, a proud Dorchester resident, came to the microphone; he was to be the emcee for the afternoon. (Ron is on the radio station WPLM 99.1 FM each Sunday, 7 p.m. to 2 a.m.) Ron told us that this is a great year because Sinatra’s 100th birthday will be celebrated on Dec. 12, his actual birthday. Ron then introduced Michael. The crowd was hushed as he sang. Ron joined him on some of the Sinatra songs. They did well together. Many in the audience sang along with Michael and with Michael and Ron. Who wouldn’t know such songs as “On a Clear Day,” “Summer Wind,” “Young at Heart,” “The Lady Is a Tramp,” “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered,” “The Way You Look Tonight” (a lovely song), “Fly Me to the Moon,” “ I’ve Got a Crush on You,” and “I’ve Got the World on a String.”

About halfway through the afternoon, the music stopped and lunch was served. There were so many volunteers that the meals were served very quickly. People were delighted with the choice of food: ziti with meatballs, rolls, ice water, and delicious chocolate desserts: whoopie pies, and (maybe) cream–cheese brownies, with coffee. Everybody raved about the food. Some seniors mentioned that they had not eaten pasta in quite a while.

After the dishes were cleaned off the tables, Michael came back to the microphone. He serenaded us with “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “The Best Is Yet To Come,” “All the Way,” “Sweet Caroline,” “ High Hopes,” and “New York, New York.” Then he asked all of us to join him in “God Bless America.” Michael sang for almost the entire three hours. He told us that he shares the Dec. 12 birth date with Frank. What a great performer!

It was so nice to see Fran O’Keefe near the end of the afternoon. She told me that she is proudly awaiting the birth of the first member of the fifth generation of her family. (She looks much too young for that.) I told her to say “Hi” to her daughter Denise and her son-in-law Paul. Fran said she enjoyed the afternoon so much. Everyone I heard leaving Florian Hall was saying the same thing. It was a delightful luncheon. We told City Councillor Frank’s aide Jill how much we enjoyed ourselves.  Thank you, Frank. It is so nice to have a lovely event for seniors in the afternoon. The Senior Salute for Dorchester Day (in the afternoon) showed us the right way.

***
I love this thought from Ralph Waldo Emerson: “To know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived; this is to have succeeded.”