~ Malden Musings ~ Saint Rocco on My Mind

By Peter Levine

Before you know it the second weekend in August will be upon us, and I know you know what that means. Yes, San Rock Festa will magically appear on the streets of Edgeworth; to be more specific, holy ground central, Pearl Street. Entertainment this year is downright scary it is so darn good! Acts this spectacular once could only be seen in places like The Strip or Vegas or the Catskills or The Channel (LOL)! But nothing is too good for Maldonia, says San Rock Festa boss of bosses Joyce Mover.

And now ladies and gentlemen, dig this… drum roll please… (Friday night) The Reminisants! The Rems are a beloved institution in Maldonia (one of Mayor GC’s faves), and we are very happy to have them back again this year (sans retired band leader, guitar slinger and hot ticket Dom Viscione). Request “House of the Rising Sun” – you will not be disappointed!

Saturday night we have another really big shew… Those wild and crazy cats in WildFire will shake, rattle and roll until the wee small hours or until you’re past your bedtime (whichever comes first). Try staying seated during their performance – impossible!

Sunday, fuhgeddaboudit! No expense spared as those really nice boys in Sea Breeze, led by Steve “The Pearl Street Paisan” Savio with his usual savoir faire, take the midafternoon stage. Steve will make you swoon a à la (1944) Frank Sinatra with his smooth, baritone vocals and his ability to interpret songs with emotion and style all the while with the best “guitar face” for a singer that you have ever seen! I’ll be front row center like a SB fanboy requesting “For the Good Times” – true story!

Sunday night we bring back those horn crazy cats in the 12 Barz Band to close out the festivities in style. Lead vox Allan Marcus is a vocal powerhouse who’s been rocking the Boston club scene for decades. His roots steeped in rock, soul and R&B, he doesn’t just vocalize – he seriously commands the stage (you see him last year? Fuhgeddaboudit!). His voice? Equal parts grit, soul and fire. His presence? Magnetic and dreamy! Whether he’s belting out a high-octane anthem or pouring his heart into a slow burn, Al’s energy is flat-out infectious. Inspired by music icons, such as Joe Cocker, Stevie Wonder and Tom Jones, Al brings the same raw emotion, slick style and unstoppable charisma that all three of his idols brought to the stage. That ain’t no lie! Request “Vehicle” by Ides of March; again – you will not be disappointed!

No need to thank us, just join the rest of Maldonia that weekend on the streets of Edgeworth (Amanda & Mark Linehan – here is your very own personal invite) and spend your gelt in Albert’s Beer Garden or have a swell feed with a sausage or a braciola or some yummy fried dough (if you are lucky, maybe 100 year young Esther Carducci will prepare your dough!). One sad note, though, sorry for being the bearer of bad news, but due to import/export issues… no gabagool this year! Thank you, thank you very much – said in my best Elvis voice.

Oh yeah (on a serious tip), and thoughts of Salvatore “Butch” Gennetti will be with us every single moment of the three days.

It is said in “Malden Musings”…

• I visited Malden Center Fine Wines at 220 Pleasant St. last week. Amazing place! No Ballantine Ale but they have everything else under the sun. Basil Hayden Bourbon, Lini 910 Lambrusco Bianco, Bissell Brothers Swish Silver Pale Ale… out of sight, man! Malden is fortunate to have these folks in our lives.

But I can’t picture that end of Pleasant Street without conjuring the old Charlie Browne’s Café – later reborn by Al Glynn Sr. as the Strandway, a smoky, dim-lit gin-joint rumored to be a favorite watering hole of none other than the alleged Boston Strangler, Albert DeSalvo. Two doors down? Jenny’s Pizza, dishing out slices that could burn the roof of your mouth and still keep you coming back (as a ninth grader, I remember it well!). And who could forget the Strand Theatre – where in 1965 the curtains parted for “The Outlaws Is Coming” with The Three Stooges? Little brother Frankie and I were there, wide-eyed with our older cousin, “Big Joe” Bates. Down the block was Al’s Pool Room, where legends like Al LaFave and Tony DiFilippo held court with chalk-dusted cues and (at times) illegal smiles. These are more than memories – they’re the ghosts of Pleasant Street, whispering stories to anyone who pauses long enough to listen. Come back for more if you like old Maldonia ghost stories brought to you by the stable genius himself, me!

• Maldonia’s ace hurler, baseball superstar Sammy Steed’s daughter, Jess, is just killing it as a senior centerfielder for coach Steve Lomasney’s Girl’s Peabody Tanners. Updates to follow on “Malden North’s” girls’ softball squad featuring Sammy’s all-star daughter.
• I am very happy to report, once again, that one of Malden’s best friends, Jimmy Semon, is alive and well and looking like a million bucks in 2025. Peace out, my friend, be safe and I hope to see you (more often) during the bocce season?
• The burning question throughout Maldonia for years now? At 430 Main St., in the heart of beautiful downtown Malden Square, is it “India Bazaar” or “Indian Bazar”? Conflicting signs in the window of this South Asian grocery store have been confounding residents from Linden on the Saugus Branch to Donut Villa like forever!

430 Main Street was the former home to Malden’s original greasy spoon, Arthur Chopelas’ Schopell’s Deli, later the Converse Restaurant. I skipped class for the first time (and last) at Schopell’s as a sophomore after Mr. Cunningham strode in and explained to me (in no uncertain terms) how I would need to be more “creative” if I intended to skip class on his watch. One of my boyhood mates, Paul Figelski, and I had our first chicken croquette dinner at Schopell’s, and although it was yummy we had no idea what exactly it was made of.

• I’m delighted to report that Boston’s undisputed king of square slices, Galleria Umberto, is still serving the absolute best pie in town! This Hanover Street institution – helmed by brothers Ralphie and Paul Deuterio (both old Malden Y guys) – has been dishing out legendary Sicilian slices, golden-crusted arancini, crispy panzerotti and perfectly stuffed calzones since JFK’s presidency. Their parents Umberto and Antoinette, opened the original spot on Parmenter Street as a bakery in the late ’50s. The line is always long, the menu is no-nonsense and the pizza? Still the bestest! Here’s to many more years of success, gentlemen – see you soon!
• It’s…the most wonderful time of the year. Yes, we are talking about opening night bocce ball at the Italian American Citizens Club in God’s country, Edgeworth! All roads lead to the IACC on Pearl Street on First Night as evidenced by all the big shots who came by to throw out the proverbial first bocce balls. Thank you, Mayor Gary Christenson, for stopping in (by the way, with those bocce skills, I expect you to have a team next year!), and very special guest star, Dom “Top Dawg” Fermano, for adding a little class and dignity to the festivities that night. Fuhgeddaboudit and thank you very much, one and all.

Breaking news out of Edgeworth… Shuffle puck just might be the underdog of barroom sports at the Italian American Citizen’s Club; playfully dubbed the red-headed stepchild to bocce! But don’t let the diehards hear you say that! Especially not the father-daughter dynamo of John and Katharine Mehos, who just claimed their second straight championship and play the game as if it’s a question of survival!

All season long, the competition was fierce and the margins razor thin. But the Mehos duo stayed cool under pressure, dialed in with every puck and delivered clutch shots when it mattered most (and they were fan favorites for sure!). After five grueling matches, they outlasted the gritty tandem of “The Ditch Diggers,” Timmy Smith and Matty Mavs, to go back-to-back as champs.

I managed to grab a word with John right after the dust (and sawdust) settled. The champagne was flowing, cigars were glowing and somewhere in the background “We Are the Champions” may or may not have been playing on a loop on Murph’s boombox. We exchanged a few celebratory syllables – though honestly, John’s grin was doing most of the talking: “First I’d like to thank all the men and women who played this very competitive year plus a shout out to Peter ‘Five Feet of Fury’ Robinson for running the show. Ten years ago, my best friends and I went back-to-back on the bocce court. Unbelievable!!!! To win back-to-back titles on the shuffle puck table with my daughter Katharine now, I don’t think you or I could come up with the words to describe how I feel. I love her, she’s the best and she throws a mean puck. See you next year! 3-peat?!”

As Peter Falk’s iconic TV character Columbo would say, “Just one more thing, sir” – as May flowers bloom and the sun shines brighter, so does our favorite leading man – Billy Settemio – who’s strutting into the Big 6-8 like the silver screen icon he is! Still rocking that Hollywood jawline and a head of moss that would make Clooney jealous, Billy remains Edgeworth’s resident sage, part heartthrob, part Master Po, always ready with a nugget of wisdom, a side of charm, and that award-winning smile.

Here’s to the man who makes 68 look like the new 38 – may your days be filled with laughter, love and just enough mischief to keep things interesting. Happy Birthday, Billy! Wishing you 68 more years of legendary moments and wedded bliss!

Postscript 1: Before Brian Hatch was making power moves as a Business Agent for Teamsters Local 25, he was bulldozing defenses and rallying teammates as a cornerstone of that legendary 1987 Malden High football squad I couldn’t stop gushing about a couple weeks back.

And let me tell you – after that column dropped, my inbox lit up like a Friday night under the lights at Macdonald Stadium. I must’ve heard from at least a half dozen of Brian’s former teammates (and just as many dyed-in-the-wool Maldonia gridiron diehards), all with one loud-and-clear message: You better give Big Brian his due! And they were right.

The heart and soul of that team? Without question, was the consensus. Passionate, relentless and – according to more than one source – one of the toughest SOBs to ever strap on a Golden Tornado helmet. The kind of guy who played every down like it was the last snap or as if it were a matter of life or death.

So, Brian, my bad for the oversight last time around. Won’t happen again – I promise! We good? Insert smile face.

And don’t worry, folks: I’ve got plenty more stories of unsung heroes from that unforgettable squad coming your way. Just need a little time – and a few more inches of column space.

Postscript 2: Speaking of Galleria U… our beloved Galleria Umberto (you know the one – Hanover Street, North End, legendary Sicilian slices!) got some serious national love in 2018! They were one of just five spots from across the entire country to win a James Beard America’s Classics Award – that’s basically the food world’s Hall of Fame for local legends. The award honors family-owned joints that serve spectacular food, have deep community roots and keep folks coming back for generations (like the Levines, the Scibellis and the Benners).

So yeah – big-time belated congrats to the Umberto crew! Malden’s proud of ya, and we’ll be in soon to satiate our square slice fix (I’ll take five, Ralph!).

—Peter is a longtime Malden resident and a regular contributor to The Malden Advocate. He can be reached at Pe*****@*ol.com for comments, compliments or criticisms.