Why do people run or walk for miles for fitness or training for a marathon and then dash across a road or jay walk instead of spending 20 seconds at a crosswalk waiting for the “walk” signal to activate? All that time invested in health could be lost in the glimpse of an eye to hastiness. Don’t ask me.
Dunkin’ Donuts can’t wait to unveil a new flavor of doughnut or beverage, but—as an Item reader pointed out—it’s been two years since a crash broke the window in the Dunks’ on the ocean side of the Lynnway and it’s still boarded up. When are they going to fix it? Don’t ask me. While we’re at it, I wish Newman’s Bakery on Humphrey Street would reopen soon.
One of Lynn’s great hidden gems is the English High School auditorium, with its architectural details reminiscent of the movie theaters that once entertained local residents. It’s fun to think of the generations of young thespians who recited their first lines or sang their first song before an audience on the English stage and felt the thrill of performing live.
English isn’t the only school with a great auditorium. The city’s collection of Art Deco public schools, including Washington, Harrington and Ford, are rich in design details and attention to craft that underscored early- and mid-20th century construction. Ford even survived a shoddy reconstruction in the early 1990s with most, but not all of its original architectural fine points intact.
Speaking of English, it’s been just over a year since long-time Lynn teacher Tim Ring died. A friend and mentor to so many people in Lynn, Ring’s legacy lives on at English in the bulldog and Abraham Lincoln statues that grace prominent locations in the school. Ring personified someone who truly loved education for the joy of passing on knowledge to others. He is missed.
While we’re on the subject: Who had the idea of sculpting or buying the charging bull in front of Pamino’s Pizza on Walnut Street? It’s a fun and quirky West Lynn staple.
I think about the late Neil Buckley whenever I drive down the Carroll Parkway toward Nahant Rotary. Buckley was struck and killed on the parkway in 2011. He was one of dozens of local musicians who pursue their craft even though fame and a boatload of money aren’t necessarily coming down the pike.
Someone told me The Frolic in Revere was one of the bygone places where Barbra Streisand got her start. Can anyone remember the names of all the jazz clubs that once lined Route 1? Don’t ask me.
Everytime I walk up Union Street I think about how it is one of Lynn’s cornerstones. St. Joseph’s Church is like the Rock of Gibraltar looming over Union with generation after generation of Lynn residents climbing its stairs and worshipping, mourning or celebrating in its exalted interior.
Agueda Jimenez stood on Union Street in 1991 and saw opportunity where other people saw a vacant storefront. She started one business and turned it into four, adopting a “never quit” attitude about work and life.
Abner Darby always made time for me when I visited him at the Community Minority Cultural Center’s Union Street office. When I asked him a question, he gave me a “I can’t believe you don’t know the answer to that” look before launching into an answer that always left me grateful for spending time with him.
