MAYOR MANZI NAMES E.T. KIRBY AS THE APRIL ARTIST OF THE MONTH
Kirby’s Work on Display in the Mayor’s Office
Mayor William M. Manzi has named E.T. Kirby as the April Artist of the Month. Ms. Kirby a Methuen resident and the grandmother of U.S. Air Force Airman First Class Mark F. Mozdziez who was recently stationed with the 99th Securities Forces Squadron at Joint Base Balad in Iraq.
For several years, Kirby’s work has found its way into the lives of hundreds of patrons throughout the United States. Credits and awards are numerous, spanning many years with major Boston art exhibitions, galleries, and art colonies of Cape Ann as well as accreditations by the Salmagundi Club of New York, and the historic Marblehead Arts Association of Massachusetts. Kirby paints in varied media including egg tempera, dry brush English watercolor, acrylic, and oil, creating a vast range of landscape and botanical statements. The Boston Globe critiqued Kirby’s work as “a thoughtful form of poetry in the realm of art today…spiritually refreshing”.
Born and educated in Boston, she now resides in Methuen to be close to her family. The artist has also enjoyed several years in Charleston, South Carolina and Woodstock, Vermont; overlooking green mountains and valleys where she continually exhibits, receiving recognition in ‘The Artist’s Profile’ publication.
Mayor Manzi stated, “It is my pleasure to display Ms. Kirby’s work in my office. I also had the pleasure of recently meeting her brave grandson, Mark, when he was home from Iraq. She and her entire family are a great asset to our community. I encourage the public to come by City Hall and view her fine work.”
The Methuen Artist of the Month Program was created by Mayor Manzi three years ago in order to give members of the Methuen Arts Community a forum to display their work and to encourage participation in Methuen’s growing creative economy. Methuen artists interested in being considered for Artist of the Month should contact the Mayor’s Office.
The City of Methuen is now sending out updates via Twitter. You can sign up to receive these updates at www.twitter.com/cityofmethuen The City will utilize this tool for special announcements as well as emergencies that require public notifications. Obviously the twitter tool will supplement what we utilize already since it has not as of yet achieved significant market penetration, but it can be a useful tool and the price is right. If you have any questions on how to utilize this tool drop me an email at wmmanzi@ci.methuen.ma.us I have my own twitter feed, which you can sign up for at www.twitter.com/billmanzi
HBO Sports unveiled its documentary on one of the greatest boxing battles ever fought, the Ali-Frazier Thrilla in Manila. That battle capped a three fight “long war” between Ali and Frazier, with each having won once before this epic. Both men left pieces of themselves in the ring that day that they have not recovered, and it was just not the damage to their bodies. Each left a major piece of their heart and soul in the ring in Manila, and neither have been fully right since.
The documentary does not include commentary from Ali, who suffers from Parkinsons disease, but features Joe Frazier looking at film of the fight for the first time since it occurred. Frazier’s bitterness at Ali for all of the verbal torture Ali put him through is clear, and is so sad. Joe takes some expressed pride in at least being partially responsible for Ali’s current condition, and that is truly terrible. Despite the bitterness there is some grudging respect shown to Ali by Joe, who marvels at Ali’s quick rise from the canvas in Ali-Frazier 1 after one of the most powerful shots I have ever seen delivered in boxing, a trademark Frazier left hook that should have ended the fight then and there. Ali rose at the count of 4.
The Ali-Frazier trilogy truly did transcend boxing. Their first fight, pitting two undefeated champions against each other, created a huge political divide in the country. Ali, who had refused induction into the U.S. Armed Services as a conscientious objector, had been stripped of his championship and refused a license to box. He lost two and a half years in his prime, and stirred a backlash with his draft refusal and association with the Nation of Islam. Frazier, during Ali’s absence, had become the champion recognized by boxing authorities. But Muhammad Ali was “the peoples champion”, undefeated in the ring and the master of bringing p.r. to his fights by baiting, inciting, and verbally torturing his opponents. The media loved the act, and gave it prominent play always. When Ali was licensed to box again the collision with Frazier was destined to be monumental. And it was.
Ali, in his first bout with Frazier, denigrated him as an “uncle tom”, a tool of the white power structure. This was on top of calling him ugly and stupid, and truly led to bitter feelings that never were healed. I saw that first fight in Lawrence at the gym at Central Catholic on closed circuit, and I have never quite seen anything like it to this day. Frazier was the winner by unanimous decision, but to look at him after the fight was truly shocking. He was unrecognizable, his head being a massive series of lumps. Ali’s face, while not as bad, had massive swelling where Frazier had hit him with the left hook that felled him. As an Ali fan I was shocked by the loss, and I grew to respect Joe Frazier immensly. He was a warrior with a heart as big as a lion. That heart came into sharp focus in his loss to Ali in the Thrilla in Manila.
Ali engaged in his usual theatrics before the Manila fight, in which Ali was again the Champion, having defeated George Foreman in “The Rumble in the Jungle” a year earlier. Ali’s continued reference to Frazier as a gorilla is given a lot of time in the HBO documentary, but at the time it was not treated, to my memory, as a racial slur. “It’ll be a killa, a chilla, a thrilla, when I get The Gorilla in Manila.” Ali really did torture Frazier before the fight, and the documentary makes clear that Ali thought Joe Frazier was a shot fighter. Frazier dissuaded Ali of that notion after round 4 in Manila, taking over the fight and delivering withering body blows to Ali. (Fight Doctor Ferdie Pacheco said Ali was peeing blood after the fight). Frazier had withstood the early Ali barrage, in which he was pounded and almost knocked out early. Those middle rounds almost put Ali out, and his mobility was limited due to the ferocious Frazier body attack. But Ali was a special fighter, and like Frazier found a way to reach down and find that little bit extra, re-establishing control in the twelfth, and imposing some real punishment on Frazier. Both Ali and Frazier, in those final rounds, showed what heart and guts are. Frazier should have gone out in the fourteenth, but simply refused to go down despite literally not being able to see in front of him.
Ali later said that this fight was the “closest thing to death” that he had experienced, and Frazier cornerman Eddie Futch refused to let Frazier answer the bell for the fifteenth. The documentary left open without resolution the claim that Ali had ordered Angelo Dundee to “cut them off” and was ready to quit himself just before Futch threw in the towel.
Ali and Frazier were never truly the same after the Thrilla. Ferdie Pacheco had it right when he said that Ali should have hung it up after this fight. Frazier fought some more too, but really was just a shadow of his former self. The documentary brings home how a boxing rivalry really turned into something so much more. Ali and Frazier are forever connected in history, and their great rivalry, for a short period of time, mirrored the great divide in American society, over Vietnam and more. Despite the bitterness that still exists it is fair to say that boxing has never had two champions with more heart and soul than Muhammad Ali and Smokin Joe Frazier.
Methuen’s annual Easter Egg Hunt, scheduled for today at noon at Veteran’s Park, has been postponed due to rain. It will take place on Monday, April 13 at 4:30 at Veteran’s Park.
Today’s Globe printed a follow up story on the potential fare increases and service cutbacks at the T, and the story ran the gamut from outraged users to legislators saying that the T would not be getting the 6 cents that the Governor’s gas tax proposal would give them, leaving a hole of as yet undetermined magnitude. Marc Draisen talked of the negative impact of these service cuts on Greater Boston.
Marc Draisen, executive director of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, said the MBTA plan “would be nothing short of a disaster for the Greater Boston area.”
He estimated that the reduction in services would result in 25 million new automobile trips per year with 119 million additional miles traveled and 6 million extra gallons of gas consumed.
“We’re just going in completely the wrong direction,” Draisen said. “If there has ever been a time to encourage people to get on public transit, this is it.”
But Draisen’s point, while no doubt correct, points to the ongoing political problems with the Governor’s gas tax proposal. The perceived geographic inequity still has a political impact, despite the Governor making strong efforts to deal with that perception through his proposal. Senator Steve Baddour talked about that political problem in the Globe, and pretty much threw cold water on hopes of a state rescue.
“That’s the legislative conundrum,” said Senator Steven A. Baddour, a Methuen Democrat and chairman of the Senate Committee on Transportation. “You have folks in Western Mass. and different parts of the state, and they have a different view on how much is needed to fund the MBTA. There is no easy solution.”
He said the news about the MBTA reductions would have little bearing on the debate at the State House, at least for now.
“The whole world is laying people off and is going through difficult financial times,” he said. “The MBTA needs to be a part of that. . . . If that means layoffs or reductions in services, so be it.”
That is some pretty tough talk, and does not portend well for the Governor’s gas tax proposal. Senator Baddour’s House counterpart Joseph Wagoner also weighed in, and appeared to throw as much cold water on the T as Baddour did.
“Unlike the federal government, we can’t print money and try to spend our way out of it,” said Representative Joseph F. Wagner, a Chicopee Democrat and chairman of the House Committee on Transportation. “We have an obligation to balance our budget and we’re going to have to make difficult decisions, including on transportation.”
Maybe the mantra should be changed to “reform before very little revenue”. And Secretary Aloisi, who has not been heard from too much lately, seems to have gotten in trouble again with the Senate President. President Therese Murray expressed “dismay” that she did not have advance notice of the T internal document leaked to the Globe.
Senate President Therese Murray was caught off guard yesterday by the news, and appeared frustrated that she was not briefed.
“I just think it’s odd that we were not given this information,” Murray said in an interview. “I was there all day yesterday, I’ve been there all week. And I pick it up and read it in the paper? They do have meetings, there is a secretary who oversees those meetings. Wouldn’t someone come and talk to us about this?”
Secretary Aloisi first gets in trouble for speaking, and now gets in trouble for not speaking. Tough couple of months. And the Secretary did a blog posting that addressed the issues at the T. (No, it was not at Blue Mass Group!) The below is from the Secretary’s transportation blog.
As you read or hear about possible financial scenarios and options for closing the MBTA’s $160 million budget deficit, it is important to remember that no decisions have been made about service reductions or fare increases.
The T staff brought forward to the board at a public meeting one month ago a budget for the fiscal year beginning in July 2009 that includes the projected deficit and shows the T’s extraordinarily difficult budget circumstance. Just one example is the cost of the principal and interest payments as the bills come due on $5.2 billion in Big Dig-related debt. Those debt payments next year will increase by $77 million, and debt payments overall consume 30% of T revenues.
Despite this daunting financial challenge, as Chairman of the MBTA board and your Transportation Secretary I am committed to reviewing every available option to cut costs and close the gap. Right now the MBTA is busy analyzing a full range of options that may or may not include service cuts. But it is too early to tell since no formal set of options has been presented to me.
At the same time, Governor Patrick ‘s Transportation and Economic Security Plan calls for fundamental reforms in transportation and in pension benefits, including ending the “23 and out” retirement benefit at the T. The House and Senate have passed reform bills and will soon meet to hammer out the differences. The Governor has also said that only after comprehensive and meaningful reforms are in place should we consider using additional gas tax revenues to avoid service reductions and fare increases at the T.
As these ideas are considered in the coming weeks and months, I want to assure T riders that any decisions about services and fares will be made only after a complete and transparent public review process. Whether they are using the T to get to work, school or to a doctor’s appointment millions of our state’s residents depend on the T as a critical transportation service. I am committed to ensuring that the MBTA undertakes a robust civic engagement process before any decisions are reached.
The MBTA, facing a deficit of $160 million in the next fiscal year, outlined both fare hikes and service cuts in an internal document leaked to the Globe. The document outlined the service cuts, which would be considerable. Bus service would be cut by half after 8 p.m. and on weekends, and commuter rail service would be eliminated after 7 p.m. and on weekends. Fares would be hiked substantially. As the Legislature continues to work on transportation reform we inch closer to financial meltdown, with no plan in sight to bridge this gap, or the other gaping holes that are being blown in budgets throughout the state. The Governor’s gas tax proposal would have dedicated 6 cents to the MBTA to fund this shortfall. It appears highly unlikely that the MBTA will get 6 cents out of any gas tax proposal coming from the legislature, leaving some or all of this situation unresolved even after revenues are dealt with.
The Globe also detailed, in a separate story, the MBTA’s hiring of four “retired” individuals, who are collecting full MBTA pensions, but are eligible for “consulting” contracts that are not limited by those pensions. So they are able to collect a full pension, return to the job they retired from, and collect another full salary via “consulting” payments. The MBTA has terminated these contracts after the Globe inquiry.
Without a change in course the services that have come to be expected are about to disappear. And that will not just be at the MBTA, it will be all over the Commonwealth. Get ready for the House Ways and Means Budget set to be unveiled next Wednesday. It will be a shocker!
Rep. Barney Frank jousts with a student on some of the issues we have discussed at length on this blog. Pretty good clip, and should start some conversation here.
CONCEPTUAL DESIGN TO BE UNVEILED FOR METHUEN’S HISTORIC “SANDS BRIDGE”
Grant-funded studies show possibility for a community park honoring City’s past, local historian
The City of Methuen has been working for years on a plan for the restoration of the Sands Bridge on Hampshire St. On Saturday, April 11 at 10 a.m., the Historical Commission will review the next step of the plan. In a project funded by the Essex National Heritage Commission, the Waterfield Design Group has completed a landscape design that would create a park to encourage the public to enjoy the site.
The conceptual design includes paths, viewing areas, seating, and off-street parking. Historical markers at the site would honor the adjacent homestead of Colonial-era military officer Robert Rogers and recognize city historian Ernest Mack for his contributions to the preservation and documentation of Methuen’s history.
The plan builds upon a previous study undertaken by the Dry Stone Conservancy to restore the mortarless stone arch bridge, which was completed in 2007 and funded by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Together, the two studies outline a plan for restoration with cost estimates at upwards of $200,000.
So far, the City’s Historical Commission and former Historic Planner, Lynn Smiledge, have been fortunate to garner grant support for these studies. Continuing this endeavor, Historic Planner Alene Reich intends to piece together a combination of federal, state, and local grant funds for the execution of these plans. Local artist Leonard Joiner has pitched in on the effort, selling fine art prints and notecards featuring his drawing of the bridge, which are available through the Methuen Historical Society and the Economic and Community Development Office at City Hall.
Mayor William Manzi, III. has long been interested in restoring the bridge; “It is an important historic site that will be a recreational asset to our City,” Manzi said. “I am looking forward to the completion of the bridge restoration.”
About the Bridge
The Sands Bridge, formerly known as the London Bridge, is a dry stone, double-arch bridge that is notable for the fact that it was built without mortar between the stones. One of Methuen’s most significant historic resources, it is individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Parts of the bridge date back to 1740, but the bridge in its present form was constructed in 1835. Long used to handle traffic between Methuen and Salem, NH, the Sands Bridge was taken out of use in 1963 when I-93 was built.
Previous Articles
Basilesco, John. “Work underway to designate bridge as historic site”, Eagle Tribune, March 27, 2006.
Harmacinski, Jill. “Grant will fund fix-up study of crumbling Sands Bridge”, Eagle Tribune, November 11, 2006.
Chelf, Stephanie. “Artist donates drawing’s profits to Sands Bridge Repair”, Eagle Tribune, July 3, 2007.
Methuen High School had its annual “senior” prom at the Methuen Senior Center yesterday. It is an annual event put on by our High Schoolers, who create a “prom” for the senior of Methuen. Plenty of dancing, and both the High School students and our seniors had a great time. I even did a little dancing myself, but did not allow photographs of that! Great job by Methuen High School.
