By Maurice ‘Mossy’ Martin
The Mission Hill Veterans Post 327 celebrated a wonderful Christmas party at Victory Point Restaurant in Quincy on Dec. 7.
Because our celebration occurred on “The Day Which Will Live in Infamy,” our Post Commander, Col. George Rollins, spoke eloquently about the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese and the subsequent heroism of our American troops.
Our Mission Hill City Councilor Sharon Durkan attended the party and gave a short upbeat speech, as did Brigadier General Enoch “Woody” Woodhouse. The peerless Woody will celebrate his 98th birthday Jan. 14.
Our Veterans Post is always seeking good men and women for new membership, and we recently lost two great veterans.
Leo White, passed away in Oct. at age 95. Leo, from Roslindale, was a retired Boston Firefighter and a member of the George Wright Golf Course.
Naval veteran John Morrissey passed away last month. John worked tirelessly for Disabled American Veterans. I got to know John from listening to his captivating Mission Hill stories, going back to the days when he owned the Calumet Cafe (currently The Mission Bar & Grill). R.I.P. Leo and John.
Happy birthday (Jan. 22) to the lovely Carla Klaassens, who is known in Jamaica Plain as “The Dancing Queen.”
Carla earned that moniker with her dazzling footwork on Brendan Behan’s dance floor.
Scrolling down the ‘I Grew Up On Mission Hill”’ Facebook page last week, I came across a dandy poem penned by Mission Hill’s Frank Pedersen. The poem, “The Town I Love So Much,” is about Mission Hill.
When Frank stopped in Mike’s Donuts, he was called “51” because that was the number on his back when he was the rugged middle linebacker for the Killilea Club. He is now referred to as Frank the Poet.
Condolences to the family of Nancy Lowe (LeBrun), who passed away last month.
Nancy was a wonderful woman, who was my Mission High 1967 classmate. Nancy lived in Cumberland, R.I., and she was a woman after my own heart, being a sports fan, and she enjoyed a little gambling.
Happy 80th birthday (Jan. 12) to Billy “Bucky” Rollins, a retired Harwich policeman who grew up in the Mission Hill project.
Billy, a Mission High graduate, was a good athlete who played football for the Dorchester Knicks in the Boston Park League.
Harwich was an alluring town on Cape Cod for beach loving revelers back in the late ‘60s, and Officer Rollins occasionally was forced to squelch a few loud parties, but he told me he “never lugged anyone from Mission Hill.”
At my “office,” Mike’s Donuts, last week, I spoke with several Mission Hill homeowners who are bracing for the upcoming 10.4 percent Boston property tax increase imposed by Mayor Wu.
This hike comes at a time when the Mayor spent $500,000 of taxpayers’ money for 10 electric cars for city workers.
I appreciate the Mayor’s concern for the environment, but do we really need a Boston Climate Council, which the Mayor created in October? The Climate Council consists of 13 Cabinet Chiefs led by Climate Officer Brian Swett and Green New Deal Director Oliver Sellers-Garcia.
Regarding electric cars, lithium and cobalt , which are vital for the batteries in the vehicles, are produced in the Republic of Congo and China, where child labor and unsafe working conditions are prevalent.
Maurice can be reached at [email protected].
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