Seger Sessions!

Time for an E Streeter road trip and some Old Time Rock and Roll with Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band at Mohegan Sun.

We traveled in style

Arriving at Mohegan Sun, these high rollers were ready to break the bank.  Or at least their wallets.

Martin gets caught up in the wonder of it all.  Whoops, wrong place.

Clearly, this group is ready to run the tables. Or run from them, not sure.

A man and his waterfall are soon parted

Tommy couldn't join us, which is good, because he would have spent the whole night pumping money into Michael Jackson.  And that wouldn't have bene the first time he did that, either.

Hats off to Martin for this money shot

Martin got a little cocky when he won three bills.  He thought he was the night's big winner.  He'd be proven wrong ere long.

But first, in honor of Andrew, a visit to the bottomless buffet

Time to hit the betting windows.  Barry gets some help from his advisor

Ready to watch their winnings roll in

But alas, it would be someone else who walked away the big winner this night

One Does Not Simply Walk into Mohegan Sun and Win Money

Showtime!  Seger's still got it!

Belting out the classics

A shoutout to the E Streeters, who at least temporarily for THIS night, became Silver Bulleters.

Finally, after a long night of gambling, rock and roll, and debauchery, it was naptime.  At least for some of us.  The rest of us just made room for Martin to stretch out.  Jack's back and ribcage should be back to normal any week now.

An April March

Brilliant blue skies provided the best of canopies for the March of Dimes walk from LeLacheur Park.  This year, we turned out in big numbers to support our little buddy Ryan Fennell, Jessica and Craig's son who, while arriving a bit early, has been a soldier inspiring all of us in his first seven months.

Here's the star of the day, complete, I might point out, with his stuffed Spider-Man.

Here's the extended Cook and Fennell clan, ready to march for Ryan along the Merrimack River riverwalk, and beyond.

You want to talk Marathon Strong?  Look no further than this guy.

Mom and dad with their little miracle baby

This picture was taken BEFORE the walk.  Luckily, Chris was there to support his dad.

Yeah, because nothing gets a one-year-old baby more excited than a six-foot Alligator.

While the hundreds in attendance were off and walking, two of us, myself, and my nephew Chris, decided to not only run the course, but to extend it.  It was no run-of-the-mill course, either, for this guy, training for the 2014 Boston Marathon

Coming 'round past the Wannalancit Mills, Brady was holding his own quite nicely.

But it was Heather and Candy who took the lead in the home stretch.

Here's the REAL Mystery Machine - this guy!

Memere and Hales enjoy a laugh

And finally, the star of the day, Ryan!  He made the three-mile walk look effortless!

 
If you're interested in supporting this rock star's March of Dimes efforts, you can visit his fund-raising page here:

 http://www.marchforbabies.org/s_team_page.asp?seid=2047343

Here's an overview of the walk from Jess amd Craig's page and the March of Dimes organization, explaining why it is they do what they do:

Every day, thousands of babies are born too soon, too small and often very sick. Our team is walking in March for Babies because we want to do something about this.  The mission of March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.

More than happy to support that cause for our favorite Spider-Buddy!  Rock on, Ryan!

Celebrate the Runners

Okay, I've held off on writing this type of post for more than a week out of deference and respect for the people whose lives were irrevocably changed by the events at the Boston Marathon finish line.  Time needed to pass to allow for healing, and to allow for law enforcement to do their jobs and capture the men responsible for the unimaginable attack, but I needed to write this blog post to celebrate the work of friends and family members who spent months training for the grandest race of them all, and did us proud on so many fronts - not just for their finishes, but for how they comported themselves in the face of chaos.

Some of my other blog posts have been dedicated to the events of that day that dominated the news, but indulge me in this post as I celebrate the achievements of my friends and family in the Boston Marathon.  By no means can we forget the experiences and losses of that day.  Indeed, they should stay with us always.

You've seen/read a lot of the reports that implore us to remember the victims, not the perpetrators.  I ask also that you congratulate my fellow E Streeter runners, who will forever be part of the tapestry and lore of the 117th Boston Marathon.

The signs were there early.

Captain America and Iron Man, Avengers Assemble!

If he had more time to get ready, Ryan would have joined everyone at the start in Hopkinton.  Maybe next year.

At the start, Tommy needed all the support he could get.

Who knew the Pesky Pole could run the marathon?

Andrew makes a point of thanking his Pace Car for 13 miles, Sean

At the halfway point, Andrew is joined by Nicole, one of the screaming millions of Wellsley College.

Where you ALWAYS stop to kiss the girls

Time for some father-son bonding

Mile 16 means time for a quick kiss from mom, knuckles from Heather, a hand-off to Scott and Carlos for the back 10, and a quick change of tops.  Time to Bleed Purple!

Suddenly E Streeters were everywhere as the Scanlon brothers came to the rendezvous point, not a drop of sweat to be found between the two of them.

And close on their heels, Lowell Police Officer Nick Laganas, thumbs up for the final 10!

Barry is either screaming in pain, or he's ready for Heartbreak Hill

Barry, emerging from Kenmore Square, hunkering down for his final mile

And finally, Andrew, crossing the finish line, completing his first-ever Boston Marathon!

Again, kudos all around to my son and fellow E Streeters, including Joe Patuto, who managed to avoid being captured on camera by me, otherwise he'd be featured prominently in this blog entry as well.

Take a moment to congratulate these warriors.  Never let it be forgotten that on a day that changed our city, our race, our nation forever, these guys still managed to log a 26.2 jaunt, one that will never be forgotten.

Boston Strong, E Streeter Strong!

Lowell Strong, Too

This one goes out to a longtime friend, who found himself unwittingly thrust into not just the national forefront this week, but the global one as well.  Throughout possibly the most testing week of the Bay State's history, the man seen standing as a rock in the center of the chaos, was Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis, III.

I worked with Ed for quite a stretch of time, first when he was a Lowell Police Vice Squad Sergeant, and I stalked him as a Lowell Sun police reporter, and ultimately, we worked alongside one another, when he drafted me to be his Communications Director at the Lowell PD when he became Superintendent.  Here we were in 1996 hanging with a different Boss, Bruce Springsteen.

Since then, our careers have gone in different directions, but we've always managed to stay plugged in with one another.

This week, I watched with fascination as Ed stood in front of the global media, providing sporadic updates about the case that gripped the nation and forever changed the Boylston Street finish line of the Boston Marathon.

But the story I wanted to share was not about Ed's media exploits, not about his leadership at the front of the police investigation, it was about the mid-week conversation we shared.  The conversation had nothing to do with the investigation.  I wouldn't be so shallow as to put him into a pickle by asking him questions during a sensitive investigation that literally meant life-and-death circumstances for all involved.

No, the conversation was unforgettable, because Ed, who had barely been eating and sleeping for days, was calling to check on me.  He knew that my family, fellow E Streeter friends and I had been at the finish line when the bombs went off.  He knew that my son, Andrew, was running in his first marathon.  He knew my wife, Jackie, and daughter, Heather had been standing directly across the street from the first blast.  And he wanted to make sure we were all okay.

The man whose life, career, and and every syllable were the fodder of cameras and scribes worldwide, just wanted to make sure one of his friends was doing okay.  He listened to my version of what we all had experienced.  He told me his officers were doing everything they could to catch those responsible.  And then he had to bolt, because something else was unfolding.
On Friday night, I admit to sitting there with more than a gloating sense of pride watching him stand before all of those cameras again to tell everyone the nightmare was over, the bad guy was in custody.  Throughout all the week's champion cries of Boston Strong, I couldn't help but think it was Lowell Strong, too.  I hearkened back to the dozens of press conference we had worked on together.  I remember the discussions we would always have before he got in front of the cameras.  We didn't always agree on how it was going to play out. In fact, we disagreed frequently, but it was never an insurmountable difference of opinions.  We moved on, and stepped right back into the trenches the next time we needed to get a job done.

Ed will be forever changed by this, no question.  And at the same time, he won't be.  He'll still be the guy who grew up in Lowell's Centralville neighborhood, landed a job working for a department he loved, and then worked his way up through the ranks until he took the helm of that department.  He'll still be the guy from the law enforcement family, who has made his second family within law enforcement, not just locally, or statewide, but nationally, and now globally as well.  He'll still be the guy I remember during that fateful October in 1996 who personally visited the homes of each of his brother officers who were killed in a tragic plane crash, to meet with their families and pledge to do everything he could to help them go on.

And now, he'll be the guy I remember who took a couple of minutes away from one of the most horrific and gripping tragedies that has tested our nation to check on my family and me.  And when a bit more time has passed and the global news agencies have returned to their stations to await the next big story, he'll still be a man I'm proud to call my friend.