You can be eating lunch surrounded by mountains 12,000 feet above sea level and still run into an honest-to-goodness daughter of Revere.
During a break from serving lunch in a restaurant in the Rockies, Debra Darling said she earned a theater arts degree at Emerson College and put it to good use at the Squire dancing in a variety of costumes, including an elaborate butterfly get-up and the obligatory naughty nurse outfit.
She spent time in Las Vegas working at a place called Guys and Gals before leaving the stage life for the mountains. Her daughter followed in her foot — or, rather, high heel — steps and now works as a self-styled burlesque dancer.
***
I loved this call I got from Topsfield resident Kate Fleming, who told me how her cousins came from across the country to visit 73 Neptune St. where Bunny Walsh and her husband, David, raised their kids in the 1960s before moving to California.
A trip to the West Coast by Fleming inspired her relatives to make an East Coast visit earlier this month. Almost 20 Walsh family members, including two Vietnam veterans, visited West Lynn, including the 76 Neptune St. home where David Walsh’s parents, John and Theresa Walsh, lived. They paid their respects at family graves in St. Mary’s Cemetery and took a trip to Washington D.C.
Fleming said the visit gave her a chance to show off Lynn and remember childhood days having fun with her cousins. “There were 52 of us when we were kids,” she said.
***
Thanks to John Muckian of Ipswich who reminded me that Lithuanians were one of the ethnic groups that rubbed shoulders in McDonough Square along with Polish, Irish and Italian residents, to name a few.
“Some went to St. Patrick’s and some went to St. Michael’s. The Lithuanian Naturalization Club, aka The Lith Club, was on Camden Street across from the back side of the MBTA garage,” said Muckian.
***
I was sorry to hear about Bob Smallwood’s passing. He had a sense of humor as dry as the Sahara and told one of the funniest stories about Buchanan Bridge. Rest in peace.
My neighbor’s friend, Teddy, should get the Perpetual Gardener award for his constant and creative efforts to beautify the lawn and planting space in front of his Ocean Street home. He is truly a man engaged in a labor of love.
***
I’m proud to call myself a colleague of photographers Owen O’Rourke and Spenser Hasak. Owen’s photo taken in Lynn Woods transformed a row of trees into a rank of ancient-looking men taking their ease in the shade. Spenser captured Revere legend Vincent Cammarata sitting in front of a portrait of him as a teenager painted by Debbie Barrett-Cutulle of Saugus. He also shot a photo that was at once dream-like and action-filled showing Lynn Fire Chief Stephen Archer at the center of Tuesday’s Tucker Street fire. Magnificent.
***
It’s great to see the Lynn YMCA project get underway. My day is always off to a good start when I get a swim in at the Y and I always think back to YMCA swim lessons and summer camp, including the time my brother was the only member of a kangaroo court that convicted me of dumping drinking water. My sentence: Bowing multiple times to a cow’s skull.
