“These things are good”

These things are good…

• Piantedosi Bakery when their smokestacks are cranking!
• The 1950s American television series Playhouse 90.
• Malden Square’s continued resurgence as a hot new dining destination with the addition of Floramo’s Restaurant on Centre Street and Mineirão Steakhouse on Ferry.
• “Jackie Teal Productions” sponsoring yet another crazy successful Toys for Tots fundraiser this past December.
• Receiving the Jewish Journal in my mailbox like clockwork each week.
• Likewise, The Boston Globe, every Sunday.
• Richard Boone’s character “Paladin” doing a Greek folk dance on an episode of “Have Gun Will Travel.”
• Tribal Wisdom and Green Dimension ace drummer Jamie Forbes – long dormant, finally finding a forum (Facebook) to showcase his skills.
• That forever lovely face of Dawn at Donut Villa.
• Talking old-school round ball with Hall of Fame Maldonian Al Barriss.
• “All Things Must Pass” by (birthday boy) George Harrison and “A Song for You” by his pal Leon Russell.
• Brigitte Bardot celebrating her 88th birthday last Sept.
• Malden High School’s Varsity Swim team winning the GBL title. Details to follow when I gather them.
• Honorary Maldonian (guitarist) Nuno Bettencourt making a halftime appearance at the Super Bowl as part of Rihanna’s band. Nuno spent quality time in Malden when Extreme were bursting onto the local scene. Lunch at Pearl Street Station (when it was on Pearl Street – now home to Joey Crowley’s Pisa Pizza), hoop at Little Pearl and kicking around soccer balls at Amerige.
• Malden’s community garden along the Northern Strand Trail.
• Finding out that Malden Fire Dept.’s Tommy Walsh Jr. is related (through marriage) to ABH’s Tony “Pippin” Howard. Tom’s dad, Tom Sr., is a beloved figure in Malden, but his brother-in-law Tony is a legend.
• Jeri Scibelli in Human Resources at City Hall in Malden. She makes visiting City Hall a pleasure!
• The young man who held the door open for me one early morning as I entered Store 33 on Pleasant Street. Who says the youth of today don’t have manners!?
• Paul Solano (and Charlie) just killing it over there at Pearl Street Station on Summer Street. It’s the go-to place in Malden for food, fun and drink.
• Lunch meat at Dom’s Sausage with Malden Peace Officer J.P. Kelly, his brother like no other Wayne Allen and Salvatore “Sonny Boy” Trioli. Priceless!
• Jeff Beck’s “Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers.”

  Fun column culled from the November 6, 1985, issue of Malden This Week called “On Maplewood…” This column, beautifully written by Beverly Doucette, featured lighthearted news straight out of Maplewood. I’ve read a couple of them, and they are a delight. Here is a little taste of Beverly Doucette’s “On Maplewood…” Beverly, if you still live in Malden, I would love to hear from you.

  “Shades of Green Acres!  A rip snortin’ time was had in Maplewood this past weekend down on Waite Street. It seems that when Jean and Lauren Fisk were taking bundles from their car, they were greeted by none other than the grunts of….a pig! Sure enough, there it was moseying around their backyard. Well, after some coaxing and cajoling, they finally corralled him in the open spaces between garage and fence and promptly called the Malden police.

  “‘Hello, this is Jean Fisk. Has anyone reported a lost pig, because I’ve got one in my backyard.’

  “After finally convincing the station that it wasn’t a left-over prank from Halloween, and that this pig story was no fish story Officers [Joe] Pontbriand [who grew up on Adams Street and still resides in Malden, by the way] and [John] Amirault were dispatched to the scene. A return call to the station on the walkie-talkie to report the situation was quickly confirmed as Petunia (or Porky) confirmed the situation for them with a few oinks and snorts over the air.

  “In the few hours of captivity, during which he feasted on sirloin and apples, this adorable 60-pound rust colored intruder quickly captured the hearts of all, especially Valerie Fisk, and it was with some dismay that he was reluctantly sent away in the Animal Rescue League van. But not before he was visited by the curious who had heard Petunia’s performance over the scanners, and by one gentleman who happened upon the scene not knowing about Petunia and calmly inquired if the commotion was due to a possum which has recently visited his home.

  “And you thought Malden had lost its rural flavor!!”

  Picked up pieces while reading “Malden this week” Nov. 6, 1985…

• “Malden this week” was like The Malden Advocate. One thing that does stick out, though, in 1985 was that politics was a full contact sport. The faint of heart need not apply (from the many hours that I have spent reading political coverage from that era).
• You could pick up a copy of the newspaper at Jake’s Pub, the Hole-in-the-Wall Pub, Mal’s Supermarket, Dandy Donuts, both Kappy’s, Fratelli Pizza, Auld-New Lounge, Malden Deli, Converse Restaurant, Pleasant Smoke Shop, Mike’s Cafe, the Stadium Cafe, the Highland Cafe, Marty’s Subs, Faulkner Drug, Billy’s Smoke Shop, Summer Street Fruit & Variety, Home Cash Market, Forgione Liquors, Cissy’s Smoke Shop, Donut House, Donut Villa, Lombardi Variety, Henry’s Lounge, Jessel’s Grille and Donut Man Coffee Shop amongst many, many more.
• Jim Conway handily beat Joe Bogan (7,754 to 5,268) in the mayoral race. Joe conceded early at the Irish American while “Gentleman Jim” celebrated the night away at the Moose. Being the class act that Mr. Bogan is, he and his consultant, Sean Mullin, made the trip across town to the Moose to congratulate Jim in person.
• In 1985 the Boyle Dynasty was in full effect. My 1975 classmate, Arthur (Boyle Jr.) topped the ticket for school committee with 6,867 votes. Arthur was very likeable and could charm the skin off a snake! Much like his brothers Dave and Mike. Arthur was also a very talented hoopster. Ninth grade at Beebe saw many skilled ballers, such as Greg Phaneuf, Bert Cioffi, Dave Angelo and Gary Dawson, but Arthur may have been the best of the bunch. Well, maybe not better than Choff but right up there.
• Congratulations, by the way, to Arthur and his lovely wife Helen on their recent 46th wedding anniversary!
• Arthur’s mom, Margaret “Peg” (Boyle), squeaked by Billy “King of Slush” Spadafora by 235 votes to take the Ward 3 seat.
• Voter turnout in ’85 was 13,307, or 47% of the 28,078 registered voters.
• Voter turnout in Malden November of 2021 was 20% (7,188 of the 35,842 registered voters).
• New York Sirloin Steak was $1.89 a pound at Mal’s Supermarket on Jackson Street.
• Steak Tips (!) are $17.99 a pound at Dom’s Sausage today. Just saying…
• At “Land of Electronics” at 216 Broadway on Route 1 you can purchase an Apple Computer with a stand, printer and a Data Case disk holder for just $1,385.
• Baby faced Paul Donato sits in the corner office in Medford and is pictured smiling several times throughout this paper.
• Caiazzo’s Playoff Pub at 192 Pearl St. (former home of Tricca’s) has a barbecue dinner for two at $12.95, a side order of spaghetti and meatballs for $1.25 and a three-ingredient pizza for $7.50.
• Saluting Veteran’s Day 1985 in a full two-page ad were Chris Fallon, Medford Mayor Paul Donato, Jim and Ann Conway, Ward 5 Councillor Eddie Quinn, Ward 6 Councillor Steve Finn, Town Line Ten Pin, Malden Lodge of Elks, Ward 8 Councillor Jackie Coakley and the Loyal Order of Moose.

  As Peter Falk’s iconic TV character Columbo would say, “Just one more thing, sir” – speaking of Nuno/Extreme… the boys enjoyed a “Kodak Moment” with legendary rock deity Robert Plant at the 1992 Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. Nuno succinctly put into words his feelings that day: “Here we stand in the company of Gods. Doing the classic…’does anyone remember laughter’ pose. It doesn’t get much heavier than this, Robert Plant and Led Zeppelin, when it comes to Rock and Roll singers. I’ll never forget this day… my head was down playing my guitar. The curtain opened. Doves flew in, angels sang, and he entered. I looked up in disbelief. I would have bowed, but I was already looking up. Before I could get a word out, he spoke. Just wanted to pop in and say, I really dig your tunes man. Hole Hearted, very cool. Excuse me? Giants of this caliber, throwing out compliments like confetti. It wasn’t enough that we were about to walk onto the Wembley Stadium stage in London. To perform our Queen medley for Freddie’s aids tribute concert. It wasn’t enough that we were sharing the stage with. Bowie. Daltry. Iommi. Elton. Axl. Slash. Hetfield. U2. George Michael. Def Leppard. Metallica. GnR. Seal. Lennox. Liza. Elizabeth Taylor. Queen. And of course… Plant. And ALL there for the one and ONLY Freddie Mercury. Possibly the greatest day of my life and one of greatest performances and triumph in Extreme’s career. I’ve said it before and say it again and again. A Portuguese immigrant from an island in the middle of the Atlantic who grew up in Hudson Ma. Who woulda thought. It CAN happen to any of us. Want it? Go get it.”

—Peter is a longtime Malden resident and a regular contributor to The Malden Advocate. He can be reached at PeteL39@aol.com for comments, compliments or complaints.