An Irish bar in the shadow of City Hall was transformed into a somber campaign rally of sorts early Thursday evening, signaling the end of an era in Boston politics.

Inside, men and women clutching pints and wine glasses warmly embraced, some getting misty-eyed as they peeled the backing from familiar campaign stickers. Nearly every lapel in Paddy O’s barroom had a splash of green and white, reading “Mayor Menino, Moving Boston Forward.”

Former Menino staffers, those who worked on his campaigns, in his City Hall, and as his eyes and ears in his neighborhoods for 30 years, turned out to toast "hizzoner" one last time.
Relics from Menino's final run for mayor
As the bar began to fill, Freda Brasfield— who worked as a neighborhood liaison for Menino in Dorchester and Mattapan— began to pass out poll cards from the mayor’s 2009 re-election campaign. On the front: “Vote Menino. Turn card over to see Mayor Menino’s Deputy Mayor…” The back was a shiny silver surface reflecting the card holder’s face.

Brasfield, now working for the new mayor’s administration, kept the cards and other leftover campaign materials as mementos. Now felt like the right time to bring them back out, she said.

The relics from Menino’s final campaign brought chuckles followed by sighs. A final tip of the hat from the neighborhood mayor many in the room had known even before he ascended to the city’s top position.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren swung by the fete shortly after it began at 5 p.m. alongside her colleague U.S. Sen. Ed Markey. In a statement released shortly after news broke of Menino’s death, Warren said, “Mayor Tom Menino used his big heart, his strong voice, and his fierce determination to shape every corner of the city,” adding “Our mayor is gone, but he lives on in every neighborhood in Boston.”

Thomas Menino died Thursday morning at 9 a.m. at the age of 71.

Menino’s body will lie in state at Faneuil Hall on Sunday beginning at 10 a.m., his family announced Thursday night. A private funeral service will take place on Monday at noon at Most Precious Blood Parish in Hyde Park, where the mayor was baptized.

Anyone wishing to extend condolences to the mayor can leave flowers and mementos at City Hall, according to Mayor Walsh's office. Condolence books will be placed at all city branch libraries and community centers, and any letters or cards can be sent to “Mayor Menino’s Office, Boston University, 75 Bay State Road, Boston, MA 02215.” For further information, visit tommenino.org