CAPTION: Local comedian Tony V, who will serve as commentator for the Boston Blazers’ Jan. 17 game at the TD Banknorth Garden.

Veteran Charlestown comedian Tony V will add some local flavor to the home debut of the Boston Blazers at the TD Banknorth Garden Saturday night when he serves as commentator for the professional lacrosse team’s game against the New York Titans.
”The angle I sold them was that I’ll be the voice of the common man who doesn’t know what’s going on and will learn along the way,” Tony V said. “I don’t even know the sport. That was the true selling point to me.”
Tony V was recommended as commentator by Bob Cutler of Charlestown Lacrosse & Learning Center, the Blazers’ official charity. Gus and Cecilia Viveiros, the 10-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter of Tony V and Charlestown native Kristin Johnson, are active in Charlestown Lacrosse, and both were recently named “Most Improved Players” in the program.
Cutler, who serves as executive director of the lacrosse program, believes Tony V’s contribution will make the game more enjoyable for local residents.
"Having a Charlestown personality working the crowd during the Blazers game will give our fans an added level of entertainment and comfort,” he said. “It will be a great evening of family entertainment."
Nancy Hamilton, director of marketing for the Boston Blazers, added, "Having Tony on our team allows us to provide our fans with an amazing evening of great lacrosse and entertainment. When the game stops, the entertainment won’t.”
While Tony V and the Blazers have only agreed to a one-game commitment at this point, the local comic has high expectations for Saturday night.
“They’re not asking me to do anything but be me,” Tony V said. “I think it’s going to be a hoot. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Tickets are still available for the game. For tickets and more information, visit www.blazerslacrosse.com or www.charlestownlacrosse.org.

CAPTION: John Patrick Whelan (Jack's grandson), John (Jack's son and father of John Patrick), Ellen Whelan (Jack's wife), Jack "Sugar" Whelan, Patsy Franzosa (player on the ‘58 team), Charlie McCarthy (player) and Mike Brown (Charlie's grandson).

Lifelong Charlestown resident Jack “Sugar” Whelan, the player manager of the 1958 Boston Park League champion, the Charlestown Cardinals, received the Thomas Yawkey Sportsman Award at the Boston Park League's 27th Annual Alumni Reunion Hall of Fame Dinner back on Nov. 14, 2008.
The team won the City League one year earlier and was promoted to the Park League. They were one of the very few teams that moved up to the Park League and won it their first year.
“Beansie” Charbonnier was his right hand man, and Danny Carr, who owned the gas station, was the sponsor. There were eight future Park League Hall of Famers from the club, including Chuck Chelalier, Red O’Neil, Ralph Cecere, Art Nowell, Phil Kelley, Patsy Fransoza, Ralph Tracy and Walt Mortimer. Another familiar name on that team was Ray Flynn, a pretty good pitcher. The team beat a very good McCormack club before crowds of more than 4,000 fans at each game. Whelan attended the High School of Commerce, Huntington Prep before matriculating to St. Michael’s College in Burlington, Vt., where he had a very productive baseball career. His three-year batting average was .365, and he made three Vermont State College All Star teams. He managed and played for the Charlestown team for three years.
Whelan and Charbonnier started the Milt Schmidt Hockey Program, which attracted more than 500 boys, with a few graduating to Division 1 hockey programs, then on to the NHL.
Whelan was on the board of directors for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, an associate commissioner for the MDC, a director at the Charlestown Savings Bank, a USS Constitution Museum trustee, a 15-year member of the Charlestown Democratic Committee and a trustee of the Massachusetts State College system. He worked for 35 years in management with the Commercial Union Insurance Company. He’s also a past president and chairman of the scholarship committee of the Old Charlestown Schoolboys Association, which has more than 900 members and awarded $1,000 scholarships to 14 students from Charlestown to assist in their college educations in 2008.
At 80, Whelan still laces up the skates and loves to spend his summers on Cape Cod.

The Charlestown Neighborhood Council announced the appointments to six of its seven seats for non-profit organizations last week.
Incumbent representatives include Diane Grant of the Charlestown Business Association, Marianne Lacey of the Charlestown Preservation Society, Eileen Ward of the John F. Kennedy Family Service Center and Jim Conway of the Life Focus Center.
Grace Bloodwell will serve as the Friends of City Square Park representative. (At-large representative Paul Clausen previously occupied this seat). The Charlestown Boys & Girls Club has yet to announce a replacement for Jason Gallagher as its representative to the Neighborhood Council.
Any Charlestown-based non-profit interested in applying for the available non-profit seat should send a letter of interest by no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 30, to the Charlestown Neighborhood Council, P.O. Box 397, Charlestown, MA 02129.

The Charlestown Neighborhood Council voted unanimously last week to reelect its incumbent officers for another term.
At-large representative Tom Cunha will remain chairman of the council, while Precinct 2 representative Dave Whelan and At-large representative Peggy Bradley will serve as first and second vice chairs respectively. Bill Galvin of Precinct 3 will stay on as treasurer, and Precinct 1 representative Judy Brennan will continue to serve as secretary.

Last week, Charlestown Neighborhood Council representatives gave a progress report on the organization’s newly launched Web site.
The site, which was unveiled by at-large representative Mark Rosenshein in November, now has active e-mail addresses for each Neighborhood Council member, as well as a common address (info@charlestownneighborhoodcouncil.com) for general questions. Reports from committee reports will also be posted on the site in a more-timely manner, with the approval of each Neighborhood Council member, according to at-large representative Peggy Bradley.
Diane Grant, the Charlestown Business Association’s representative to the Neighborhood Council, is also adding a calendar feature to the site that would list the times and locations of upcoming committee and general meetings.
To date, the site has been visited approximately 1,000 times, although it isn’t yet linked to a Google search. Future plans include linking the site to Google once the site’s content is approved by all Neighborhood Council meetings, as well as the addition more online links for various community organizations, city agencies and elected officials’ offices.
The Neighborhood Council Web site is available at www.charlestownneighborhoodcouncil.com.

It’s ironic how much inspiration we can draw from those who live such short lives. Musie “Moses” Mahari lived such a life of inspiration. Moses, a longtime garage manager at Flagship Wharf in the Navy Yard, experienced more in his 42 years than most who live twice as long. Right before the holidays, a stroke tragically took Moses away from his large family and many friends.
Moses’ path to the United States was complex and unlikely. Yet those who were touched by this ebullient, fun-loving man knew him only as an incredibly positive person with a mega-watt smile who loved to talk about his two children and the Red Sox. At a memorial, many who were touched by this special man attested to how just a moment’s contact with Moses made them forget their troubles and change their entire day.
Moses was a native of war-torn Eritrea, a tiny Northeast African country with a population of a little more than 4 million. His constant upbeat demeanor and sparkling smile effectively hid the fact that Moses was barely a teenager when the war with Ethiopia ripped his family apart. Assuming the role as “man of the house” when most of us were still in the playground, Moses led his mother and four younger sisters out of Eritrea, first to Saudi Arabia on foot and then to Italy (Eritrea was a former Italian colony). The family eventually settled in Cambridge, where Moses, now fluent in Arabic and Italian and learning English fast, developed into a star athlete at Cambridge Rindge and Latin.
As if his early life was not interesting enough, there’s more. Reunited with his brother Solomon, Moses and the Maharis worked hard enough to gain professional jobs and get the youngest sister, Sofia, into medical school and ensconced in a medical practice in California – all in less than a generation. Solomon modestly describes the Mahari’s success as “the melting pot works.”
Oh, and along the way Moses met the love of his life, Mary Woldemichael. Mary was drawn instantly to Moses’ fun-loving personality and smile despite her first reaction, which was: “He’s very handsome, this one. I better stay away from him.” Moses became the mirror to Mary’s soul. Moses and Mary brought into the world two beautiful children, a son, Robel, and a daughter, Rahel, both of whom have the radiant smiles of their father. To Robel and Rahel, their father was “Santa year-round.” Though dedicated to his wife and children, Moses called his proud mother, Nigishti Zighe, every single day until he passed away.
It’s ironic that the American melting pot that Solomon describes has changed so much over the years. In the days when Irish, Italians and Chinese flocked to this country, the melting pot was a symbol for the complete assimilation of immigrants into American culture, leaving little of their culture of origin standing. A picture of Moses draped in the Eritrean flag with his beloved Red Sox jersey visible underneath shows us that now the melting pot is symbol of cultures weaving together, one learning from the other. This cultural dance makes us smarter, more tolerant and stronger. Nothing exemplifies this more than the life of Moses Mahari and his family. If you don’t believe me, just ask one of Sofia’s patients or the many kids aided by Solomon’s community activism.
Moses’ life journey has traveled full circle - accompanied by much of his family, he was returned to Eritrea and laid to rest in Adi Felesti. As Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, “The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.” Starting with that heroic walk north to Saudi Arabia, the story of Moses and his courageous family shows that we are moving in the right direction.
A fund has been set up for Robel and Rahel’s education. Contributions can be made to the “Moses Mahari Fund” and sent to:

Kathy Melanson
Flagship Wharf
197 Eighth St.
Charlestown, MA 02129