Thursday, December 13, 2012
Valuable Resources for Those – Like Myself – Who Can't Get Enough of Learning about the Family and Its Legacy
Anyone who reads this column semi regularly has read here much about the Ames family. I make no apology for writing about the family frequently. Because, let's face it, it fascinating, among the most accomplished in U.S. history, has strong roots here in Easton, and has given beyond generously to this community. So when I arrive or come upon some interesting and valuable information about the Ames family, or a story about one of its members that I find engaging, I am inclined to share it here. So, earlier this week, a good friend of mine emailed me this link to a PDF file of a superb history of the Ames shovel and tool company. The author of the piece is Ames family descendent, Dr. W. Ames Curtin – a successful entrepreneur and …
Monday, December 3, 2012
Taking "Hotdogging" Too Far at Easton Junior High School, and Being Held Accountable For It
So this past Saturday night I was watching a show on a sports TV network – and the show was focused on “turkey” moments in recent sports history. You know, when athletes mess up, and do things that aren't so smart. I mean, it was a hoot watching some of these mistakes. Like, for example, that pro football player running with the ball to the end zone, strutting and celebrating his impending touchdown, only to have a player on the other team tackle him before he made it to the goal line. Precious. Also shown were football players who ran for what they were sure was a first down – and after being tackled, they jump up and point forward, so convinced they are that they have "moved the chains," only to find out they have come up short. …
Monday, November 26, 2012
A discussion of possible frontier justice in Easton
In the late 1980s, I worked at a prefect for a school year at Georgetown Preparatory School, an international resident-day college prep school that is the oldest institution of Jesuit learning in the New World. Georgetown University would grow out of Georgetown Prep. What is a prefect? Well, it something of a resident assistant who helps out with the students in the areas of discipline, academics, and recreation. As a recent graduate of Boston College – a Jesuit school of higher learning – it was a superb and enriching year for me. So, anyway, during that school year I reported to the housemaster who was a Georgetown Prep alum, and who had grown up in Alabama. I will call him George Andrews, but his name wasn't George Andrews. George …
Friday, November 23, 2012
No hometowns are better than Easton.
On May 4, 1979, Margaret Thatcher was elected prime minister of Great Britain. Prime Minister Thatcher would become one of the great leaders of the 20th century, and would be known as the “Iron Lady.” Margaret Thatcher's political mentor was her father. And, in an interview on the evening of May 4, 1979, following her historic victory, Ms. Thatcher said, “Well, of course, I just owe almost everything to my own father. I really do. He brought me up to believe all the things that I do believe and they're just the values on which I've fought the election. And it's passionately interesting for me that the things that I learned in a small town, in a very modest home, are just the things that I believe have won the election.” Love all of this …
Friday, November 16, 2012
McMenamy's: Delicious burgers, and a place that just makes you feel good.
So, OK, I have to admit to being a bit humbled and chastened here, for this is a Muscato's Musings column that should have been written a couple years ago. I mean, really, when you think of “Old School” and nostalgic and beyond nostalgic Easton, can we do any better than McMenamy's Hamburger House? No, we can't. Of course I have mentioned McMenamy's Hamburger House in my columns, but didn't feature it. Until today. McMenamy's Hamburger House has the best burgers (charbroiled or grilled, however you like them) anywhere. Nostalgic “ambiance” that is unmatched. Comfort food. Everything about McMenamy's Hamburger House is feel good. Last week, I posted a photo on my Facebook page of a McMenamy's steakburger with cheese on a buttered roll…
Monday, November 12, 2012
Our Armed Forces Veterans Have Paid the "Price of Admission" to Our Free Society
I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God. Oath of Enlistment into the U.S. Armed Forces (As a prelude to today’s column, I am compelled to note that my reason for placing the Oath of Enlistment above is because of a post that my friend and fellow Oliver Ames High School Class of 1981 member, Jim “Kip” Kippenhan – retired from the U.S. Navy – posted on Saturday night on …
Monday, October 29, 2012
Halloween was all so wonderful and fun in Easton.
“Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” G.K. Chesterton In some way, in some not all too insignificant way, those words above of the great English writer, G.K. Chesterton, speak to the enduring wonder and fun of Halloween – at least for kids. You see, there is of course a good portion of spookiness and haunting all enveloped and mixed in the concept and notion of Halloween – but as for that spookiness and haunting component of the event and holiday, they are Chesterton's dragons that, really, don't even have to be beaten, but just have to be observed and recognized as part of the decoration … part of the ggrrowwwlll … part of the hissing and …
Monday, October 22, 2012
Easton People Reflect
Last week, on Tuesday, October 16, New England got hit with a relatively minor earthquake – as earthquakes go. The epicenter of the quake was in southern Maine. Here in New England we do have faults deep down under the landscape where we live, but it seems they aren't as nearly unsteady and rambunctious as so many other “tectonically active” areas. But, let me tell you, this past Wednesday I was over at WGBH TV in Boston on a business matter, and I had an opportunity to speak with John Ebel, Director of the Weston Observatory, and professor at my alma mater, Boston College, who was there that day to appear on a Greater Boston segment in which our earthquake of last Tuesday was discussed. He told me that our area has been hit with …
Thursday, September 13, 2012
We need to get back to nature before it is too late.
We should all be grateful for positive and fortunate accidents, no matter how modest or profound and positive and fortunate are these accidents. So on Tuesday, I am at North Easton Savings Bank, the branch across from the North Easton Post Office. And I spied on a table a book, which I picked up and inspected. Alas, this book, and the message it conveyed, provided me just the right follow up/sequel to the column I wrote which was published in this space on Monday. Yes, I am grateful for the accident. Last Child In The Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder is the name of the book I discovered lying on the table at the bank. It was published in 2005, and written by Richard Louv Last Child In the Woods is a national …
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Jennifer (Coulter) Desjarlais, a Graduate of Oliver Ames High School, has Her Roots in Easton
Jennifer (Coulter) Desjarlais is part of the administrative leadership team of one of the most prestigious institutions of higher learning in America. She is a very busy woman. As Dean of Admissions & Financial Aid at Wellesley College, Desjarlais is a steward in recruitment; outreach; admissions; enrollment; financial aid; helping new Wellesley students get acclimated and their feet grounded; advising and working with applicants and students on financial aid options and helping them to understand their individual responsibilities in the financial aid apparatus; remaining apprised of how students are progressing at Wellesley, reaching out and helping students navigate college life; and working as a liaison between Wellesley College …
Jimmy Donnelly
8:12 am on Saturday, December 15, 2012
If it has to do with Portuguese folks or the Ames family, it's been covered. Now lets move on. more ›