‘SNOW DAY,’ ANYWAY! Malden Mayor Christenson whips up a ‘storm’ on Graduation Day

By Steve Freker

They would not be denied, after all.

Mayor Gary Christenson has made himself a veritable “fan favorite” of Malden schoolchildren for many years for a multitude of reasons — essentially ever since he first took office in 2012. When the winter months roll out on the calendar is when the Mayor always takes center stage with the Malden Public Schools kids, especially when there’s even just the faintest glimmer of the possibility that even one lonely flake of snow might drift down from the sky into Malden. That is when probably every student in Malden glues themselves to the social media platform “X” (formerly known as Twitter) to check out the Mayor’s potential, earth-shattering declaration. Every time he made such an announcement — and sometimes they were announcements of NO Snow Day — Mayor Christenson and his staff would come up with a creative way to tell the students of Malden of his decision to have, or not have a snow day, before the next day of school.

There are only two words they wanted to hear: “SNOW DAY!!”

At Sunday’s Graduation Day, Mayor Christenson made full recognition of the fact that this was the first school year in the 14 he has led the city where he did NOT declare a single snow day. “When I was a student in the Malden Public Schools back in the day, I, too, looked forward to a snow day,” Mayor Christenson opined, speaking at the graduation podium Sunday, recalling that feeling of “hoping against hope” for that longed-for free day off due to inclement weather.

“The snow day never came this year,” the Mayor told the Class of 2025 graduates, “so I decided to bring the snow to you, today.”

Dressed in his traditional navy blue graduation gown, the Mayor swiftly removed it to reveal a snazzy pink, blue and white blazer festooned with a Frosty the Snowman theme, resplendent with little ”Frostys” all over. When he first took off the gown, a mini-snowstorm of white “snowflakes” behind the Mayor began with a “pop” onstage, akin to a champagne cork. Laughter and applause followed as strains of “Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow” could be heard in the background. After he donned his “snow glasses,” Mayor Christenson had once again brought down the house with an inventive “Snow Day in June” performance.