CAPTION 1: Pictured, left to right, are 2008 Community Appreciation Awards winners Judy Burton, Ann Kelleher of The Joy of Old, Joe McGonagle, Lindy Williamson and Michelle Gorman.

CAPTION 2: Community Appreciation Awards Chairman Peter Looney and Youth Award recipient Hector Kilgoe.

For one night each year, those residents who work tirelessly and selflessly to make the neighborhood a better place are recognized at the Charlestown Community Appreciation Awards Banquet.
Established by the Charlestown Neighborhood Council in 1991, the Charlestown Community Appreciation Awards Committee acknowledges members of the community whose good deeds might otherwise go unnoticed. Award categories include Business, Organization, Public Servant, New Resident, Senior, Youth, Alumnus and Unsung Hero.
This year, the 17th banquet takes place at the Knights of Columbus Hall on West School Street Friday, May 9, at 7 p.m. Besides presentation of the awards in each of the aforementioned categories, this year will include a special dedication to lifelong Charlestown resident Jim Conway.

Business Award Winner: The Joy of Old
The Joy of Old is the recipient of the Business Award this year. Founded in 2002 by Revere residents Ann and Michael Kelleher, the shop at 87 Warren St. sells a unique selection of handcrafted jewelry and other items made by local artisans, as well as a line of Charlestown-themed gift ideas.
Proprietor Ann Kelleher credits the store’s success to its friendly atmosphere, adding that she often allows customers to take merchandise home for a free trial run. More importantly, she attributes her good fortune to the support of the community. “The community has made this store what it is today,” Kelleher said.

Organization Award: Charlestown Little League
Charlestown Little League is the recipient of the Organization Award this year.
In 1957, local lawyer Joe Morrissey had an idea to establish the first-ever Charlestown Little League program. Little did Joe know, it would be the single most important development in Charlestown baseball history. Fifty years later, the program is still thriving. The “Neck” is one of the best maintained facilities in the area and boasts a batting cage, renovated clubhouse and four pristine playing fields. More than 230 boys and girls between the ages of 5 and 16 play on 20 teams at four different levels. Twenty-eight adults and 18 parent volunteers assist in running all aspects of the program, from the concession stand to umpiring, coaching and field maintenance.
Ultimately, however, what keeps the Little League program vibrant are the more than 40 sponsors whose donations help provide licensing fees, uniforms, equipment and all other expenses associated with running the program. Some, such as the Cronin Club, the McKeon Club and the Charlestown Boys & Girls Club, have sponsored a team for all 50 years. Other businesses, such as Century 21 Elite Realty, the 99 Restaurant, Ironside Grille, McCarthy Brothers Liquors, the Flatley Company and Jenny’s Pizza, as well as organizations like the Teamsters Local 25, the Knights of Columbus, Memorial Hall and the Cronin Club have consistently made generous contributions.
New businesses to the community such as Zume’s, LaFarge, Schnitzer Industries, Boston Autoport and Distrigas have been quick to step up to the plate as donors and other non-profit organizations such as the Bunker Hill Associates, Mass. General Smart Choices of Charlestown, Charlestown Against Drugs and the Charlestown Neighborhood Council have provided grants to supplement initiatives and areas of the program where funding falls short.
Throughout the years, Charlestown has won five District Championships (the first in 1968 and the most recent in 2007) and has seen wave after wave of sensational ballplayers compete in its program. Many names soon became synonymous with baseball in Charlestown.
In the 1960s, Phil Carr, Frank Tierney, Guy LaPointe, Phil Kelly, Bob Collier, Ralph Goodwin and Phil Coleman played important roles in expanding the program. The 1970s saw John Curtin, John McGill, Marty Fabiano and Billy McKeon provide leadership. During the 1980s and 1990s, Ed and Sissy Greatorex, Ted Collins, Neil O’Brien, Wayne Davis and Larry Getchell kept Little League moving forward. The decade of 2000 has Dave and Sharlene Cahill, Joe and Kathy Doherty, Al Carrier, Jason Gallagher, Kevin Kelly, Michael Charbonnier, Bill Cantin, Tom Ward, Peter Looney and Carolyn and Don Settipani playing important roles.
Three generations of former players and coaches provide a steady stream of volunteers who contribute to keep the program running smoothly and help emphasize the values of sportsmanship, effort and teamwork. The list of coaches, volunteers and contributors who have made this program so successful is too long to mention here, but Charlestown Little League is truly grateful to all those who have contributed over the past 50 years to make this program what it is today.

Public Servant Award: Michelle Gorman
A lifelong Charlestown resident and employee of the Charlestown Community Centers for the past 26 years, Michelle Gorman is the recipient of this year’s Public Servant Award. During her time with the Community Centers, Gorman has run athletic programs, managed the Bunker Hill and Medford Street pools and launched the “Family Fun Night” program. She was also instrumental in revitalizing the Make-A-Wish program at the Community Centers in the early ‘90s.
Over the years, Gorman has touched the lives of countless kids in Charlestown, many of whom are now grown but still appreciate the positive influence she had and nominated her as this year’s Public Servant.
“It’s quite an honor, and I appreciate everyone thinking of me,” Gorman said of the award.
As for her work at the Community Centers, Gorman added modestly, “It’s just a job, but I love the kids.”

New Resident Award Winner: Lindy Williamson
Although she has lived in the neighborhood for 25 years now, Lindy Williamson is the recipient of this year’s New Resident Award. Williamson’s tireless work in the community includes her role in fitting the Harvard-Kent School playground with a rubber surface in 2006, as well as helping to redesign and resurface the Harvard Mall Playground in 2002. She is also a former board member and an active member of the Charlestown Mothers Association, a member coordinator for The Charlestown Playspace located at the Boys & Girls Club and a parent volunteer at the Warren-Prescott School.
Last year, Williamson and fellow Charlestown resident David Jacoby helped launch the Charlestown Youth Soccer Association — the neighborhood’s only soccer program.
Williamson is quick to point out, however, that many people who worked with her on projects throughout the community should share in this recognition.
“I am proud of this award, but I want to make sure that the people who helped are recognized… because you can’t do these things by yourself,” Williamson said.

Senior Award Winners: Judy Burton and Rose Lyman
One recipient of this year’s Senior Award, Judy Burton is a 50-year parishioner at St. Catherine of Siena Church and a volunteer with the church for more than 25 years. Besides working in the church’s front office, she was a member of the St. Catherine of Siena Choir and was coordinator of the church’s CCD religious education program in the late 1990s. Burton has continued to be an active parishioner and volunteer following the 2006 merger that created the St. Mary-St. Catherine of Siena Parish. She also was a foster grandparent at Charlestown Catholic between 1998 and 2003 and is an active member of the Daughters of Isabella #1.
“I don’t know what I did to receive this award,” Burton said. “I’m just stunned.”
Rose Lyman will also receive the Senior Award this year. Lyman is a member of the St. Francis de Sales Parish Social Club and an adult altar server at St. Francis de Sales Church, as well as a member of the Daughters of Isabella #1. One nomination for 92-year old Lyman described her as “a great role model for the community who shows that age is only a number – it is what you do that matters.”
While Lyman said her nomination as the recipient of a Community Appreciation Award as “a big surprise,” she describes herself as a longtime supporter of the community. “I take pride in the town and go anywhere I can to boost the town,” she said.

Youth Award Winner: Hector Kilgoe
Hector Kilgoe, a 15-year-old sophomore at the John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science in Roxbury, is the recipient of this year’s Youth Award. A member of the Charlestown Boys & Girls Club since age 6, he is a junior staff member at the Club and is active in its Keystone Club, a leadership group involved with many community service projects. He was recently named the Club’s Youth of the Year.
“Really, I’m just [at the Club] to help keep kids out of trouble and make sure they’re on track with their schoolwork,” Kilgoe said, adding that he would like to tank the Club’s executive director, Jenny Atkinson, and director of operations, Mike Killoran, for nominating him for the award.

Alumnus Award: Charlie McGonagle
Former resident Charlie McGonagle is the recipient of this year’s Alumnus Award. He is a former Charlestown High School teacher and a tireless supporter of the Charlestown Boys & Girls Club, as well as a member of the Bunker Hill Associates and the Knights of Columbus. McGonagle is also one of the founders of the Joe Considine Over 50 Golf Tournament. But McGonagle’s beautifully written stories of growing up in Charlestown that appeared in the Patriot and are collected in the volume “Blades of Grass” are what many people remember most.
“For many of us who grew up in the town, Charlie’s stories bring back memories,” said Community Appreciation Awards Committee Chairman Peter Looney. “His writing is a wonderful gift that he shares with his family and friends in Charlestown.”

Unsung Hero Award: Joe McGonagle
Joe McGonagle is this year’s recipient of the Unsung Hero Award. Among his countless contribution’s to the community are founding the Bryan McGonagle Street Hockey Tournament and establishing a gym hockey league in honor of his nephew, as well as helping to establish the Charlestown Business Association’s Adopt-A-Pole program — a tradition of decorating light poles in Charlestown around the holidays that continues to this day.
McGonagle volunteers at the Charlestown Boys & Girls Club and the Charlestown Working Theatre, among other organizations. He also assists in Anthony Matson fundraising for sick families in Charleston and continues to allow the CYO color-guard program to use his office.
“It’s very humbling,” McGonagle said after learning he had been chosen as Community Appreciation Award recipient. “It’s impressive when you see some of the current and past recipients. It’s what makes this town as wonderful as it is.”

Special Presentation: Jim Conway
This year’s Community Appreciation Awards Banquet will include a special presentation to Jim Conway. An active participant in community, civic and veterans organizations for more than 50 years, Conway is a member of the Old Charlestown Schoolboys Association and served as its president in 2006-07, as well as president of the Bunker Hill Monument Association since 1983. He has served as chairman of the June 17 Bunker Hill commemorative exercises at the Monument for the past 44 years and as chairman of the Bunker Hill Day Parade for the 37 years.
Conway is the former president of the Federation of Charlestown Organization and the past national historian of the American Legion. He is the retired chief probation officer of Charlestown District Court. Today, Conway also serves as chairman of the board of trustees of the Chelsea Soldiers’ Home.
“I appreciate the graciousness of the Community Appreciation Awards Committee in selecting me, and I want to congratulate them on all the work they’ve done to honor the unsung heroes of Charlestown,” Conway said.

Representatives for the Assembly Square development in Somerville appeared before the Charlestown Neighborhood Council last week to outline the project’s expected traffic impact, as well as several proposals to help remedy the situation.
“There is no getting around that this project will create a lot of traffic, and the way the roadways are today can’t handle the traffic,” said Patrick Dunford, a project manager for Watertown-based Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc. “But we hope to keep the traffic on major roadways, so there is no spillover into the surrounding neighborhoods.”
Federal Realty Investment Trust of Rockville, Md., plans to convert a 50.2-acre site in Assembly Square into a mixed-use area that would include approximately 2,100 residential units, 1.7 million square feet of office space and more than 800,000 square feet of new retail space. Retail space would include a cinema, a 200-room hotel and a 340,000 square-foot IKEA home furnishings store. The project’s multiple phases are expected to take approximately 10 years to complete and cost more than $1.3 billion, according to project consultant Tom McShane.
To help reduce traffic, Dunford said the developer plans to reconfigure seven roadways and add new signals at these locations, including two additional signals on Lombardi Street.
Dunford also said that the signals would be linked together to help facilitate the traffic flow. “Each signal essentially knows what the other is doing,” he said.
The developer had also struck a deal with the Massachusetts Highway Department, whereby existing signs would be modified to help direct commuters to Assembly Square.
“We’re still trying to get additional signage for IKEA,” Dunford said.
Another proposal to alleviate traffic in the area is the creation of a one-mile expansive roadway in the middle of the site to help absorb vehicles, Dunford said.
In addition, Dunford said he expects the traffic impact on Sullivan Square would be minimal, since most vehicles traveling southbound to the site would take exit 28 off of I-93. A thorough review of the arrival patterns indicated that 25 or fewer vehicles would travel to and from IKEA through Sullivan Square, compared with the 3,600 and 5,200 vehicles that already travel through Sullivan Square during those times, he said.
McShane said IKEA would provide free shuttle service to Assembly Square from the Sullivan Square or Wellington MBTA station until the new MBTA station at Assembly Square opens in 2013. The service would run on weekends and some weekdays, depending on demand, he said.
Meanwhile, Dunford said he expects the traffic study would be finalized later this month and, at that time, the developer would share its findings with the city to assist in the city and state’s Rutherford Avenue Corridor Study.

Pat McSweeney is seen Tuesday morning preparing her garden for spring at the Community Garden at Bunker Hill and Main streets.

Several new appointments were made to the Charlestown Neighborhood Council last week.
Eileen Ward replaced Damien DeVasto as the John F. Kennedy Family Service center representative the CNC. DeVasto is also stepping down from the Kennedy Center board of directors.
“It is probably best for the Kennedy Center to have an active member [on the CNC] who can represent the organization’s interests,” DeVasto said.
Marianne Lacey, meanwhile, was named as the Charlestown Preservation Society’s representative to the CNC. Lacey fills the seat vacated by Peg Bradley, who was named as an at-large representative and the committee’s second vice chair last month.
Judy Brennan was named as the Neighborhood Council’s secretary, replacing Bradley in the position.

At last week’s Charlestown Neighborhood Council meeting, newly elected representative Mark Rosenshein presented a proposed electronic document that would be sent to developers for the purpose of providing CNC members with a project summary.
The five-page document, which Rosenshein devised at the suggestion of CNC Chairman Tom Cunha, would request information from developers, including the type of construction (e.g. new construction, renovation) and the nature of the project (i.e. residential, commercial, retail or institutional), as well as the size, scope and location of the proposed development. It would also include a compliance checklist for zoning, parking and affordable housing restrictions.
Prior to appearing before the Neighborhood Council, all developers would be required to complete the document, which would then distributed to all CNC representatives via email, Rosenshein said.
Geoff Lewis, senior project manager for the Boston Redevelopment Authority, cautioned CNC representatives to allow developers some flexibility when reviewing the documents.
“Just keep in mind that things change a lot during the development process,” Lewis said.
The Neighborhood Council voted to table Rosenshein’s proposal until its May 6 meeting to give members ample time to review the document and provide input.

The 39th Annual Michael P. Quinn Dinner Dance took place at the Knights of Columbus Hall Saturday night. The annual event honors Quinn, a Marine from Charlestown who was killed in combat in Vietnam at age 23 on Aug. 29, 1969. Proceeds benefit the scholarship fund that was started in Quinn’s name and is awarded to one Charlestown resident each year.

PHOTO 1 CAPTION: Nicole Callahan, the 2007 Quinn Scholar (center), her mother, Marian Callahan (at left) and Mayor Thomas M. Menino.

PHOTO 2 CAPTION: The Quinn annual best defensive player for 2008, Matt Burke of Holy Cross (second from right), with his parents nay Mayor Thomas M. Menino (at left).

PHOTO 3 CXAPTION: Commissioner Euenge Vaillancourt City of Boston Veteran services; featured speaker Brigadier General Ronald J. Johnson, U.S.M.C., Director Operations; Gold Starr mother Florence Johnson, whose son Edward was killed in Vietnam on Aug. 27, 1967; and Mayor Thomas M. Menino.

PHOTO 4 CAPTION: Robert Quinn, Michael brother (back left); his sons, John and Leo; and Mayor Thomas M. Menino.

CAPTION: Dylan and Connor Groff, ages 3 and 5, are seen in front of a backhoe.

“Our boys have always loved trucks. Before I had kids, I never believed that boys are born with this intense interest and love for trucks and vehicles. It’s in their bone marrow,” Charlestown Mothers Association member Adrienne Groff said of her two sons, Connor, 5, and Dylan, 3.
“I’ve learned so much about trucks through their interest. I might have caught the truck bug myself,” Groff continued. “My husband [Chad Groff] is GM for Aggregate Industries. Connor and Dylan love to go with him to some of the plants on the weekends and see the trucks. They talk about it for weeks after a weekend trip to his sites.”
This is how the idea for Charlestown’s first ever Touch-A-Truck Day started.
“We’ve been throwing around the idea for a while, but didn’t really know where we could make it happen in Charlestown,” Adrienne said. “There are so many families here who could have fun with an event like this, but, like any city, not a lot of big open spaces.”
The Charlestown Mothers Association enthusiastically embraced the idea and the event began to take shape. Bunker Hill Community College donated one of their large parking lots for the event and Chad and Adrienne Groff started to make calls and written requests for a lot of vehicles.
“It’s such a great opportunity and Charlestown is such a perfect place for a Truck Day. There are so many companies in and around [Charlestown] involved in the industry,” Chad said. “For us at Aggregate Industries, it’s a lot of fun to be involved with an event like this. We can give kids and their families a chance to really explore our trucks.”
Adrienne said, “It was amazing to see the response once I started making calls. These organizations have been so generous with their equipment and time.”
These organizations include the Teamsters Union Local 25, Bono Trucking Inc., Boston Sand and Gravel, the Boston Fire Department, the Boston Police Department, Boston’s Department of Public Works, Boston EMS and the U.S. Coast Guard.
LaFarge, a cement company located on Terminal Street, is sponsoring the event’s barbeque provided by Bunker Hill Community College’s Fame Food Services.
“LaFarge has been so generous. They are sponsoring the barbeque and bringing T-shirts for the kids,” Adrienne said.
Adrienne still has a few more calls out there, but she thinks Charlestown’s first Truck Day is going to be fantastic.
“Over 20 trucks parked around a big parking lot, a bite to eat, and a free hard hat – what more could you want?” she said.

CREDIT: Courtesy of Cathartes Private Investments

CAPTION: An artist’s rendering of Mezzo Design Lofts.

Representatives for Mezzo Design Lofts appeared before the Charlestown Neighborhood Council last week to outline steps they are taking to ensure that tenants use the development’s on-site garage.
The $54 million, 146-unit complex on Caldwell Street was developed by Boston-based Cathartes Private Investments in partnership with the Canyon Johnson Urban Fund, a private equity fund co-founded by former NBA legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson that provides financial backing for residential and commercial projects in urban areas. The development also includes an on-site garage with 187 parking spaces. Mezzo Design Lofts was forced to switch to rental apartments in November 2007 in the face of “a dismal condo market,” according to Cathartes senior project manager Mark Barer
Cathatrtes attorney Louis Miller said tenants from approximately 75 percent of the 44 units that have been rented so far have opted to use the garage.
Per the lease agreement, Miller also said tenants with cars are required to park in the garage. “Anyone who lives in [the development] and doesn’t park in the garage can be evicted,” he added.
Miller said abutters should notify the management office if Mezzo tenants are parking on the street.
In addition, Miller said the developer was in negotiations with Boston Transportation Department officials to prohibit the city from issuing resident parking stickers to Mezzo tenants, thereby ensuring that they must park in the garage.
Miler said free parking in the garage would also be provided to all visitors to the development.
CNC representative Mike Charbonnier was pleased that Cathartes representatives were on hand at the meeting to address community concerns.
“The most important thing is that they came before the community, which is what they should have done in the first place,” Charbonnier said during a phone interview Monday. “Residents of Brighton and Parker streets were interested to learn why the usage of parking and the building in general had changed. All developers should adhere to the community process and respect abutters and residents of Charlestown.”