Forty years ago, Vijay Selhi, who was born and raised in India, started working at a McDonald’s restaurant in Somerville for $3 an hour. Today, he and his sons Cherag and Anurag own and operate 18 McDonald’s locations in greater Boston, including three in Dorchester. For the Selhis, this accumulation of riches is less about selling tens of millions of Big Macs and French fries over the years than it is about providing support for families living the way he did during his days as a minumum wage worker.

Community civic associations in the Boston area have recently become the recipients of grants from commercial entities doing business in the neighborhoods the civic groups represent. A strategic infusion of funds to build stronger communities and neighborhood groups offers a rare opportunity and one we should welcome. The money can also serve as a springboard for bringing neighborhood groups together to strengthen Dorchester as a whole.

The Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC) voted in favor of establishing a Historic District in Uphams Corner during a meeting on Dec. 13, sending the matter to the National Park Service for final review and implementation.

Ben Haley of MHC presented the petition, which was brought by Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation to the commissioners in order, he said, to enter into the Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credit program for renovations done to the Pierce Building.

The Salzberg family, long-time retailers in Uphams Corner, filed plans last month to redevelop a key commercial building on Dudley Street by converting it from the one-story Rainbow Fashions clothing shop to a six-story, mixed-use, 48-unit building on the corner of Virginia Street.

It was during a particularly intense early summer Little League game in the former Cedar Grove baseball league when A’s coach Jim English called a timeout to calm his young pitcher, who was getting flustered as the opposing team rallied. English ran out to the mound and began talking with the young hurler, and soon the boy was smiling and firing strikes, recalled English’s long-time friend and co-coach, Shaun O’Sullivan.