Sunday, October 26, 2014

Pack Mentality

On June 1, 2008, Scott Spence, Barry Scanlon and I ran a 10 mile road race known as the Pack Monadnock in Peterborough, New Hampshire.  To this day, it stands as the only race in history that we've done where we've sworn never again.  And six years later, we're holding true to our word.
Why never again?  Well most likely because the last two miles of the race were uphill, and the last mile itself was virtually a straight-up vertical climb.  Let's put it this way, we didn't see anyone - not just a few people, mind you - anyone, running up the last leg.  It was insane.
So naturally, we go back.  This time, though, for the annual October climb with Andrew - A climb, mind you - NOT A RUN!
Pack Monadnock: elevation 2,288 feet.
So yeah, you need a speed limit on an access road like this.
The signs were there, Andrew was ready to take the hard way up
And then he goes and strikes a pose like this.  God only knows what catalog he's prepping for.
Mountain Men, of course
Why climb? For views like this!
The son also rises
Tangled up in blue
Standing Tall
Seriously, we've got such a treasure trove of mountains, trails, and endless hikes throughout New England - you've GOT to get out there and take advantage of them
And then we broke through the tree coverage and discovered the aforementioned access road that we previously "ran" upon.  Mind you, Andrew was quite perturbed that there was a road that let folks access the mountaintop, but hey, we took the hard way.
Up top in the windy weather observation tower, we ran into victim rights advocate Laurie Myers of Chelmsford who snapped this windswept father-son pic
Andrew thinks he can see his house from there
Nearby, a stone shelter provided some interesting. meditative shots
And finally, as anyone who runs with me knows my mantra when it comes to hills, what goes up, must come down.  Which, truth be told, can sometimes be more taxing on the legs.
Regardless, it was another successful outing, and another notch in our mountaineering belts.
Onward and upward!

Monday, October 13, 2014

Having a Senior Moment

This past week featured Heather's night in the spotlight, along with three of her fellow seniors at Lowell High School, as they were feted during a nice little tradition that LHS puts forth every year for its sports teams, Senior Night.
In this case, it was the Girls Field Hockey team, capably coached as it has been for many a moon, by Lisa Kattar.
Here's coach Kattar and the Senior girls doing their baddest of the bad poses.
From top left, there's Kiona Ashe, a four-year player, who's on defense.  She's also been a member of the LHS baseketball and softball teams all four years,  Kiona is part of the ROTC program and is a member of the Latin Lyceum.
After Coach Kattar, comes Heather, also a four-year member, and also on defense, she's also on the LHS lacrosse team, and is a member of the International Language Club, the Pep Club, and the National Honor Society. (Obviously, I could say lots more, but I'm sticking to the program bios!)
Bottom right is Taylor Ly, a forward on the team who also ran indoor track and cross-country for LHS.  She, too, is on lacrosse, and is a member of the International Language Club and the National Honor Society.
And bottom left is Katy Coughlin, a four-year member of the team who plays both middle and defense.  She has run indoor track, and is also on the lacrosse team.  Katy is also a member of the LHS Pep Club, the Science Club, and the International Language Club.
Taking the field, with styrofoam cups showcasing the senior's numbers
Besides her biggest cheerleader (her mom!), Heather also had her aunt Annie and bro in attendance to make some noise in the stands
Annie added a touch of color with her sign
Acknowledging her adoring fans and getting ready to deliver an historic, inspirational speech that will be quoted for generations to come
Heather's on-field escorts for the evening
The signs are there, and she's all smiles on the field at half-time
And of course, what kind of an event would it be without an obnoxious brother photo-bombing at every opportunity?
Flowers for Coach Kattar
Also in the stands - Heather's bestie, Chloe Manousos, a powerhouse on the softball diamond, and friends with Heather since they both first skipped off to St. Margaret's pre-K those many years ago 
Members of the LHS Girls Varsity Field Hockey Team, with one male photo-bomber who stole a page from Andrew's book!
Congratulations to all four of the seniors for leading the team during a difficult year, but still shining the smiles and keeping the team moving forward throughout!  Nice job by LHS and Headmaster Brian Martin for putting the seniors in the spotlight for their night at Cawley!
Now get out there and win some games, girls!

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Sun-Day, Buddy Sun-Day

136 years ago, print shop owners and brothers John and Daniel Harrington created a weekly newspaper for the Mill City, and dubbed it the Lowell Sun, a newspaper that would evolve into the only major daily newspaper to cover the comings and going of Lowell and all of its neighboring communities.  For decades, the paper remained in the hands of John Harrington's descendants, the family Costello.  Throughout most of the 20th century, it would still be owned and operated by the Costello family before it was sold to the MediaNews Group in 1997.

On Sunday afternoon, the members of the Fourth Estate that were part of the enormous Lowell Sun extended family gathered together for a Fall Classic usually reserved for high schools - a reunion, this one for of an army of employees who worked at the Sun when it was under the control of the Costello family.

The historic gathering took place at Lenzi's in Dracut, and was a trip down memory lane for generations of folks who worked in ye days of olde in the editorial newsroom, advertising department, compsitor's room and all of the other business branches of operations at the paper.

For some of us - ye humble blogger included - we've been gone from the halls of print for quite some time,  In my case, 19 years.  There were lots on hand whose departure from the Sun predated even my exodus from 15 Kearney Square to the Lowell PD.

But everyone's individual paths and stories all converged in the function hall yesterday, with proceeds from the event going toward the Lowell Sun Charities.

Throughout the room, with slide shows of employee pics scrolling in the background, folks who haven't seen one another in some cases of 30 years or more, gathered to remember their days together in Kearney Square.

While I still keep in touch with quite a healthy number of folks through various means, including workplace interactions, and especially social media wonderworks such as Facebook and Twitter, it was refreshing to catch up with what folks have been doing for the past few decades.

For me, it was a chance to meet up with a group of people who were all in the newsroom when I started there as a young co-op student from UMass Lowell at the ridiculously naive age of 19 on Valentine's Day, 1984.  All of the people here in this pic, were there when I started, and several made me feel welcome right from the get-go.

From left to right, former Sports Editor Ron Driscoll, current Managing Editor Kris Pisarik, fellow movie-buff and former education reporter Kathi Scrizzi-Driscoll, former higher ed and hospital reporter Patti McCafferty (now a colleague over at UMass Lowell), and to my left, Enterprise Editor Chris Scott, who was my newsroom neighbor for my whole stint at the paper.
Once upon a time, if it can be believed in these days of pared-back resources and dwindling hard-copy readers, the Sun printed seven editions and had satellite offices at the State House, in Washington, D.C., in colonial Bedford, and in downtown Ayer, home of its Nashoba edition.  Here's a reunion of three of the stalwart reporters who passed through the unforgettable Ayer Bureau - Mike O'Connell, Pat Montminy (who worked side-by-side with me on the most horrific case of my career), and Peter Ward. 
Huge props to the team who pulled the event together - Nancy McKenna, Debbie Linnehan, Carmen Bellerose, and Sheila Keough O'Brien
Kendall Wallace, who started at the paper nearly five decades ago, took the opportunity to recall some of its earlier days, when the newspaper business was the premiere delivery of news before everyone required the instant information of the internet. 
He passed the torch to former Editor Jack Costello, who, in an emotional thank you, said how much he regretted ever selling the paper, and would leap at the opportunity to buy it back and immerse himself back into the biz. 
Outside, some of the Costello siblings reunited with Sun management past and present, in the form of current Editor, right, Jim Campanini. 
Patti and I had a chance to thank Kendall, the guy who first hired us into the business, and started us on our professional careers which have followed wandering paths in the ensuing decades, with both of us landing in higher education posts
And while I don't know that I can call it a reunion since I still work with her in the trenches at Middlesex Community College, I got a chance to hang out with one of my favorite peeps, Nancy Roberts - literally the first face I saw when I walked into the newsroom for the first time ever for my interview to land the job.  She welcomed me then with a friendly hello and then watched all of our collective backs for years to follow. 
Love it, hate it, no one can deny the role the Sun has played in the tableau of the Merrimack Valley that has unfolded over the last century.  It was fun seeing old friends.  I only wish more of the folks that Dick Cook buzzed into the newsroom over those years were able to join us for the reunion.   They literally span the globe nowadays.  Maybe next time they pull one of these together, we can see some of the other faces who helped the Sun make history and shaped the news for millions.