Revere Through the Years

10 years ago

August 11, 2004

Residents are set to enjoy a gala weekend at Revere Beach beginning Friday night with a showing of the movie Shrek, the annual Sandcastle Festival, a kite demonstration, live entertainment, and a fireworks show Saturday night.

School Supt. Paul Dakin reported to the School Committee that 20 percent of freshmen entering Revere High were required to take summer school classes because they had failed middle school because of a lack of attendance.

Area residents and the new owner of the former Giannino’s Greenhouse property agreed to a settlement of their battle over zoning issues in which the new owner, developer Louis Porrazzo, will be allowed to build five, two-family homes on the 28,119 sq. ft. of land.

A group of 67 family members and friends gathered at the Continental Restaurant in Saugus to celebrate the 85th birthday of Revere resident Mario Colecchia. Colecchia, who came to Revere from Italy as a youth, has six adult children, 12 grandchildren, nine great-children, and one great-great-grandchild.

The Sheila Rosanio School of Dance and Gymnastics at 233 Washington Ave.  is observing its 20th anniversary this year.

Ward 2 City Councilor Ira Noveselsky sponsored National Night Out festivities last Tuesday evening at the Garfield School.

The Bourne Supremacy, Catwoman, and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban are playing at the Revere Showcase Cinemas.

 

30 years ago

August 8, 1984

State Rep. Angelo “Butch” Cataldo has announced his candidacy for re-election. His challenger, City Councillor Robert J. Haas Jr., opened his campaign headquarters this week, which will not be a traditional storefront, but rather a 24-foot camper that Haas will use to traverse the district which includes Revere and parts of Malden and Chelsea.

Wonderland dog track will observe its 50th anniversary this Saturday. Revere’s Phil Frye, 79, will be honored as the lone employee who has been working at the track since its opening in 1935.

The unheralded St. Mary’s Little League all-star team, known as the team  on the other side of Revere that plays on an old dirt field, has captured the New England Babe Ruth Bambino tournament and thereby has qualified for the national championship tourney in Shelbyville, Indiana this weekend. St. Mary’s is one of only eight teams to qualify for the national title. The team, comprised of 11 and 12 year olds, lost its first game in the double-elimination New England tourney, but defeated Nashua, N.H., with a 14-2 thrashing in the title game. Mark Follo belted a two-run homer for the St. Mary’s team, which recently was feted as Fenway Park and with a luncheon at City Hall.

 

40 years ago

August 7, 1974

Election Coimmission Secretary Fred Sannella said the city will be going modern in the upcoming primary election with the introduction of voting machines in all of the city’s 23 precincts.

The Revere Licensing Commission, bowing to pressure from City Councilor Edward O’Hara, has voted to revoke the 11 a.m.-on-Sunday opening licenses for liquor license holders that the commission previously had granted, but which O’Hara said were granted illegally.

State Police attached to the Attorney General’s Organized Crime Division raided a series of establishments in Revere, Chelsea, Newton, Lynn, and Somerville, resulting in the arrests of 25 persons and the shutting down of a gambling operation that authorities said was netting at least $50 million per year.

Paul Principato, a senior at Salem State College, captured the men’s title in the second annual Mayor’s Tennis Tournament. Principato teamed with Mike Rothblatt to capture the men’s doubles crown. Mary Jones won the ladies’ title.

 

50 years ago

August 6, 1964

A stormy session of the School Committee saw the board name McKinley School teacher Fred McDonough as the new principal of that school and Philip Flowers, a Burlington school system teacher, as the new principal of the Paul Revere School. Parents of McKinley School students vociferously opposed the appointment of McDonough, who had been recommended for the post by School Supt. Louis C. Perullo. On the other hand, the appointment of Flowers, a former teacher at the Paul Revere School who previously had taught as a Franciscan Brother, came as a surprise. Flowers had not been recommended by Perullo, who instead had recommended Edward Manganiello, a guidance counselor at the Paul Revere.

The City Council voted 4-3 to go on record as opposing an urban renewal plan for Revere Beach. Boston developer Jerome Rappaport last year had proposed a $100 million urban renewal project for the Revere Beach area that would have included hotels and high-rise residential and commercial buildings.

 

60 years ago

August 5, 1954

A long-delayed honor was awarded posthumously to Pvt. Arthur DiStasio, who was killed in action in France in November, 1944, with the presentation of the Bronze Star to his parents, former City Councillor and Mrs. Samuel DiStasio. Three days after Arthur DiStasio was reported killed in action, his brother, Pvt. Peter J. DiStasio, was reported killed in action in the battle of Leyte in the Philippines. Double funeral services were held for the boys when their bodies were returned to Revere in September, 1948. A third brother, Edward, served in the Navy in the war.

School Committee member Dr. William C. Hartigan has been named to head the clothing drive in Revere for the 400,000 children left homeless in the aftermath of the Korean War.

Dr. Joseph DiPietro has announced the opening of his dental office at 74 Revere St.

 

70 years ago

August 10, 1944

Revere’s toll of war dead increased this week with the announcement from the War Dept. that Pvt. Dante DiPrizio, son of Mrs. Carmella DiPrizio of 192 Revere St., has succumbed from wounds he received in action on July 12.

Pvt. Donald Cerulli, son of Mr. and Mrs. Pellegrino Ceruli of 169 Park Ave., has been reported missing in action as of July 7. Cerulli was a 1943 grad of Revere High where he excelled in dramatics.  He was a member of the RHS production that captured third place in the National High School Drama competition in 1941. He also had appeared in the production of Stage Door at the Copley Theatre in Boston.

Petty Officer John Mayo, son of Mr. and Mrs. John N. Mayo of 12 Washburn St., and husband of Mrs. Doris Mayo of Medford, has been reported as killed in action.  Mayo had been reported as missing in action on May 9 in the Mediterranean theatre of war.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.