Through the Years

10 years ago

April 28, 2005

The annual town election is set for Monday. Voters will decide whether to accept a change in the Town’s Charter, with the Charter Commission advocating for a Town Manager and Town Council form of government in place of the present Town Meeting and Board of Selectmen set-up.

Winthrop took a big step into the 21st century this week with the unveiling of a new town web site that eventually will enable residents to access most town government business functions.

Officials from the Archdiocese of Boston have ordered Rev. Thomas DiLorenzo, pastor of the Ho;y Rosary Church, to stay away from the East Boston residence of State Senate Pres. Robert Travaglini, where DiLorenzo has been leading protests in front of Travaglini’s home to voice opposition to Travaglini’s promotion of stem cell research by the state’s biotech industry. In addition, DiLorenzo had sent a letter to Travaglini mentioning one of his daughters which had alarmed the Travaglini family.

The unemployernt rate dropped in Massachusetts for the seventh straight month. In Winthrop, unemployment stands at 4.9 percent.

20 years ago

April 27, 1995

The selectmen have stated that they are satisfied that the Winthrop Golf Club is not in violation of its lease with the town and will not force the club to increase playing time for non-member local residents. Robert Indresano and Thomas Quinn, members of the Golf Club Study Committee, had asked the selectmen to order the club to change its policies in that regard. However, Robert E. Noonan, Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, said that the selectmen have no authority to order the club to do so.

30 years ago

May 8, 1985

 

Selectman Ron Vecchia has called upon Boston Mayor Ray Flynn to take a tour of Deer Island as the selectmen continue to seek Flynn’s support to locate the proposed MWRA sewage treatment plant on Long Island, rather than on Deer Island.

State Rep. Alfred Saggese said he believes that the recent vote by Town Meeting to impose a one-year moratorium on new construction in the town, which needs legislative approval, will move quickly through the legislature.

40 years ago

May 7, 1975

Town Meeting, gathering for its third session, reversed its vote of last week and voted not to create a full-time town assessor post and instead voted to appropriate $100,000 to hire an outside firm to conduct a reevaluation of all property in the town. The move leaves in place the present system of an elected, three-member Board of Assessors. Present Board of Assessors members George Pulsifer and  Henry Rock took to the floor of Town Meeting and suggested to members that they may have been confused by their previous vote, which was taken at 11:00 p.m. of the previous session, when they created a full-time assessor at a salary of $12,000.

Police arrested three girls who had stopped their car to rob a woman, who was walking along a local side street, of her handbag at knifepoint.

A trio of escapees from the Deer Island jail were captured after a search by Winthrop, Boston, and MDC police. The three still were on Deer Island property when they were apprehended.

John Wayne stars in Brannigan at the Kincade Theatre.

50 years ago

May 6, 1965

An effort by the selectmen to add a fourth sergeant onto the police force was thwarted by a lack of funds and the failure of Police Chief Frank Perrone to back the move. The selectmen said that a fourth sergeant was needed because Sgt. Paul Abely is the police prosecutor and spends most of his time in the district court.

The selectmen have requested the building inspector to begin condemnation proceedings against the owner of a deteriorated block of stores on Shirley st. between Perkins and Underhill streets.

The selectmen have approved a five-year lease of the Old Church Building with the Winthrop War Veterans Association. The group will undertake necessary repairs of the structure, which was condemned by the building inspector two weeks ago.

The first annual Scholarship Ball was held by the Citizens Scholarship Foundation at the Cottage Park Y.C.

Margaret Heckler, the first woman ever elected to the Governor’s Council, was the guest speaker at the Young Woman’s Republican Club meeting held at the home of Mrs. Lila Taylor last week.

Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello star in Beach Blanket Bingo at the Winthrop Theatre.

60 years ago

May 5, 1955

The Rev. Aloysius Finn has been named the new pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church.

The Rotary Club has donated a portrait of the late N. Eliot Willis, former long-time principal of the junior high school, to the school on the occasion of the one-year anniversary of Willis’s passing.

More than 400 distinguished guests and fellow townspeople attended the testimonial for Selectman Walter Van Dalinda last week.

A Winthrop lobsterman, Philip Madonna, was rescued clinging to a bell buoy in Boston Harbor after his boat capsized and sank off Deer Island near Pt. Shirley Saturday at 8 p.m.

Winthrop High students will take over the reins of town government for the annual Youth Leadership Day. The students will conduct a mock Town Meeting in the Elks Hall in the evening.

Grace Kelly, Bing Crosby, and Gene Kelly star in The Country Girl at the Winthrop Theatre.

70 years ago

May 3, 1945

The Winthrop Boy Scouts, encouraged by the large attendance at their annual kickoff dinner, are shooting to reach their fundraising goal of $2500 by this weekend.

First Lieut. Ross Stanley, a former Winthrop resident, has been awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action on the battlefield in France.

Ruth Leonard, who is serving as a WAC in the Philippines, writes in a letter home of the total destruction of that country in the aftermath of the fighting to expel the Japanese. She writes that dead Japanese soldiers are to be found everywhere and that the starving Filipino people are in need of food and clothing.

A War Bond Rally was held at Reid’s Boat Yard this week.

Rita Hayworth stars in Tonight and Every Night at the Winthrop and State Theatres.

80 years ago

May 4, 1935

The Board of Assessors has announced a reduction in the tax rate of 80 cents to a new rate of $27.00. However, the savings is more illusory than real because the sums appropriated by Town Meeting for federal ERA projects, welfare, and soldiers and sailors relief will have to be borrowed under the provisions of a recent special act of the legislature that permits cities and towns to borrow money for those purposes.

The family of Norman F. Daw, who was wounded and gassed in the world war and who suffered the rest of the years of his life from his injuries until he passed away in 1931, finally has obtained his valued citation for gallantry that he was awarded but never received.

Bing Crosby and W.C. Fields star in Mississippi at the Winthrop and State Theatres.

90 years ago

May 5, 1925

The Board of Health has announced a clean-up week across the town for next week. The Board urges all residents to put out all of their household rubbish, except building materials, for collection.

The official census has placed the town’s population as of March 31, 1925, at 16,155.

Area resents are debating the pros and cons of a tunnel, drawbridge, or suspension bridge to connect East Boston with Boston.

100 years ago

May 8, 1915

The children’s ball held by the Spanish-American War veterans at Wadsworth Hall, featuring children from the dancing class of the War Veterans Assoc., was a great success.

A new channel light, a black, five-pile dolphin with a flashing white light every five seconds, will be established at the entrance to the dredged channel in Winthrop.

Winthrop is suffering from the actions of some individual who is ringing false alarms. In Chelsea, a man received six months in jail for the same offense.

One of the finest social events of the year as held at Ft. Banks. A dance last Tuesday evening held at the fort was beautifully decorated and the soldiers and sailors from all down the coast were attired in full dress.

110 years ago

May 5, 1905

The assessors and town clerk have posted notes regarding the assessment of polls and licensing of dogs. The Board of Health is chasing after property owners who have yet to connect to the sewers.

Building Inspector Lucius Floyd reports that 51 building permits were issued from January 1 to May 1 this year. Of these, 13 are for two-family dwellings, one for a three-family, and seven for one-family homes.

Winthrop joins Revere in mourning the passion of Warren Fenno, well-known and distinguished resident of that city who was a successful fruit grower. The railroad company once again will set out 60 trees this year to beautify the areas near thew train station. A 12 year old Marshall St. girl was burned to death she she attempted to start the stove with kerosene in her home and it exploded.

130 years ago

May 8, 1885

The Sunnyside section of town, just west of Cottage Park and adjoining Woodside Park, is one of the most beautiful areas of town, shaded by stately forest trees and offering a picturesque view of the harbor.

After much discussion at the thinly-attended Town Meeting, $600 was appropriated for watering the town’s streets this summer and $400 for the purchase of a hook and ladder truck.

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