Running to the beat

The weather was nice and the turnout was strong at this morning's ZUMIX Run to the Beat 5K in East Boston. Here are some photos from the race.

Eastie resident Steve Holt prepares to ride the lead cycle.

The runners are off!

As she nears the finish, Cheryl Conte passes a group of ZUMIX members keeping the beat.

Runners cross the finish line.

After conquering the course, runners grab some fruit and water at Piers Park.

Paralympic Training Clinic at Piers Park

This press release came via email:

Piers Park Sailing Center, a national leader in community and disabled sailing, will host a Paralympic training clinic with demonstration sails aboard new 2.4-meter class sailboats. Likened to a go-kart on the water, the new 2.4-meter class is not only specially suited for adaptive sailing but an absolute thrill-ride for all able-bodied sailors.

Members of the public are invited to visit Piers Park Sailing for a rare opportunity to try their hand aboard a 2.4-meter – a one person boat often utilized for Paralympic sailing. U.S. Sailing Team’s Mark LeBlanc will offer world-class coaching. Later in the weekend, participants will have an opportunity to race the boats during a round-robin tournament. Interested sailors should call Piers Park Sailing at (617) 561-6677.

Piers Park Sailing Center, the closest non-profit and recreational sailing center to downtown Boston, was recently designated Paralympic Sport Club Boston, part of the US Paralympic Team’s national network of training facilities. US Sailing named the organization “Best Community Program for Disabled Sailors” in 2009.

Schedule:
Friday: Sail boat demos from 12 p.m. to sunset
Saturday: Sail boat demos from 9 a.m. to noon; round robin races from noon to 5 p.m.
Sunday: Gold Fleet Round Robin Finals – Saturday’s race winners return for more races from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Sacred Heart Festival

The annual Sacred Heart Festival will be held this Friday and Saturday just behind the church, which is located at corner of Brooks and Paris streets. Details are available here at EastBoston.com.

Photo from rc.net.

Eastie Pride Day

Back in 1989 community activist Sal LaMattina put together a neighborhood celebration and called it Eastie Pride Day. Today, Sal represents East Boston on the city council and his community festival is going strong.

The 21st Eastie Pride Day takes place today between 4 and 8 p.m. at Piers Park on the waterfront. It should be sunny and in the mid-80s at the start of the event. Click here to see the line-up of activities.

Weekend festival

The Sacred Heart Festival takes place this weekend, with music, food and games on the schedule. This is the third year for this event, which is held behind Sacred Heart church, located on Brooks Street between Paris and Morris streets.

The festival runs Friday from 6 to 11 p.m. and Saturday from 4 to 11 p.m. "Disco Diva" Evelyn Champagne King is the featured musical guest on Saturday evening. There will also be picnic games, a watermelon eating contest, henna artists and a big 50/50 raffle.

Money raised by the festival goes to youth programming at the parish.

Benefit breakfast

Longtime co-worker and old friend Dave Ferraro will be honored at a breakfast to benefit the Salesian Boys & Girls Club at Spinelli's in Day Square on Thursday, June 11. Dave was my boss for much of the 13 years that I worked at the Boys & Girls Club on Paris Street (which now operates out of Savio Hall). The breakfast starts at 7:30 a.m. and tickets are $25.

Remembering EB Camps

Last week the Lowell Sun reported that there is a cookout today in the town of Westford at the former site of East Boston Camps. The event, the story says, "is free and open to anyone interested in the site, whether it be to learn about opportunities for retreats or to offer assistance in the ongoing effort to restore and maintain the 286-acre parcel."

For 70 years the camp served as a summertime refuge for youngsters from East Boston and Chelsea, but in 2007 disagreements between the town of Westford and the East Boston Social Centers, which operated the camp, ended the program. Since then there has been some bad blood on both sides, as evidence by the comments posted in response to the story.

On the waterfront

The youth sailing programs at Piers Park are in jeopardy this year because of Bernie Madoff's financial shenanigans. The Boston Herald reports that three foundations that were victimized in the giant Ponzi scheme have pulled funding, leaving the kids landlocked this spring and summer.

The Piers Park Sailing Center, in its 10th season, offers programs for adults and children, as well as having the only fully handicap-accessible dock in New England, which allows the disabled to participate. The group is trying to make up for the half-million dollar shortfall that is a result of the scam and the weak economy.

Contributions can be made online at piersparksailing.org or sent to:

Piers Park Sailing Center
95 Marginal Street
East Boston, MA 02128

Update (5/16): While the folks at the Piers Park Sailing Center appreciated the Herald's focus on their program, they've pointed out that the newspaper got some of the numbers wrong. The program's executive director, Mat Rosa, sent out the following email, which I received via Joe Mason:

This past Sunday, the Boston Herald ran a story on Piers Park Sailing Center. We anticipated the story to highlight the great work being done at Piers Park and raise awareness of this organization’s Spring Appeal campaign, “Sponsor a Youth”.

On behalf of our staff, Board of Directors, those who support our mission and the thousands of families we serve, I would like to offer this response to the article.

It was a great opportunity for Piers Park to be featured on the front page of a publication with the volume of readers as the Herald. Unfortunately, this article may have raised concerns about the sustainability of our organization.

The story portrayed the Center as experiencing a dire financial situation. However, the figures mentioned in this article were not correct. To date we have raised over $100,000 towards our annual operating budget of $339,500. With our fund raising campaign we are confident in our ability to secure the funds we need to continue to run a fabulous program.

It is also with sincere regret that The Shapiro Family Foundation was mentioned by name in this piece. This foundation has long been a strong supporter of the mission of Piers Park and continues to be a great resource and champion for our organization and the families we serve.

I hope the sensationalized vulnerability of a non-profit organization in this difficult economic climate did not deter from the story that highlighted the great work we do for underserved youth and the disabled community. We are by no means experiencing unprecedented difficulty. Piers Park Sailing Center is a vibrant organization that is alive and well, continuing our important mission of providing unique educational opportunities for the communities we serve.

A beautiful day

Late yesterday afternoon I went to visit my mom for a bit and when I drove past Bremen Street Park there were, without exaggeration, hundreds and hundreds of people there. Mostly they were children on the swings and other play elements, but there were also young and old adults walking, sitting and hanging out.

It was a refreshing image of urban life, and I immediately thought of this blog and how -- on any issue concerning East Boston -- there are comments that rant in completely negative terms about the neighborhood, the people, the businesses, the politicians. I think that we all should stop and sniff the proverbial flowers. We live in a place that is cool, diverse and safe. Yes, the streets are sometimes dirty; a neighbor can sometimes be annoying; we're not without crime or a gang element or an issue that city government should have responded to more quickly. Reading over the comments, however, one would think that Eastie is the South Bronx in the 1970s.

So let's enjoy the arrival of spring. As the prophet Bono says, "It's a beautiful day / Don't let it get away."

Don't forget the marshmallows

The state's Department of Conservation and Recreation is hosting oceanside campfires at area beaches in February, including Feb. 7 at Winthrop Beach, Feb. 14 at Revere Beach and Feb. 28 at East Boston's Constitution Beach. Sounds like fun.

The DCR's winter program also includes winter tracking (Feb. 14) and nature photography for beginners (Feb. 21), both at the Belle Isle Marsh. Click here for details.

Portuguese Feast this weekend

I received an email about this weekend’s Portuguese Feast at Sacred Heart Church:

"It is a continuation of traditional feasts that reach back for centuries in Portugal and into early last century in East Boston. Saturday is most popular with folks as festivities include a ceremonial “Blessing of the Pensons,” DJ and Portuguese Folk Dancers. We also have food and drinks available, while complimentary red wine and sweet bread flow pretty liberally.

On Sunday we process from our club location on Putnam Street, with all of the girls dressed in white carrying the symbolic crowns and flowers, followed by a Portuguese band and the club membership. The route takes us down Chelsea Street, through Day Square, winding up to Saratoga Street and down Brooks Street to Sacred Heart. The 10 a.m. Mass will culminate in a blessing of the crown and an offering of sweet bread to members of the congregation. Immediately following, we will process once again but will wind up back at church hall, where we will have dinner. I have provided the schedule below and hope to see you and lots of new folks there!

Saturday 9/6:

5:00 Holy Ghost Feast Begins

7:00 Blessing of the Pensons

8:00 Traditional Portuguese Folk Performance by Folklorica de Alto Minho Dancers

11:00 Saturday Evenings activities wrap up

Sunday 9/7:

9:30 Procession leaves 196 Putnam St .

10:00 Procession Arrives at Sacred Heart Church and Mass Begins

10:50 Procession Departs Sacred Heart Church

11:30 Procession Returns to Sacred Heart Church

12:00 Dinner Begins in Church Hall

All Feast activities, aside from the procession, will be held at Sacred Heart Church.”

Feast photos

Boston.com has some photographs taken at this year's Italia Unita festival. Right now they are the first eight images here, but may get moved as more photos are added.

Festival time

Italia Unita's 14th annual Italian Festival starts tonight and runs through the weekend. The food and entertainment take place in East Boston's Central Square and up Meridian Street towards Maverick Square. From the Maverick MBTA stop the festival is a three-minute walk.

The festival's schedule can be found here.

The place to be

Today's Globe has a story on development in the neighborhood -- specifically, the Boston East project, which would put 196 units on Border Street along the waterfront. The piece says that, "Developers, state and city officials, and residents are united in their enthusiasm for the project," which will include 26 units of affordable housing, an art gallery and "plenty of public-access space."

Elizabeth Gehrman, a freelance writer who lives in Eastie, goes on to say:

...the buzz on East Boston finally seems to be translating into action. Boston East is not the only new housing development that's moving forward: The 65-unit Seville at Boston Harbor and the 148-unit New Street residential project are also steaming ahead, and several other projects have been approved by the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

In her column today, the Globe's Yvonne Abraham writes about things to do this summer in the city and notes:

There are great spots all over East Boston, an enormously diverse magnet for new arrivals to the city. But here in Orient Heights, you have a kitschy 35-foot copper and bronze Madonna, set in a tranquil plaza, and it is truly something to behold.

Festival on tap for weekend

The annual Sacred Heart Festival will take place this weekend and will feature music, food, games and activities for kids. Scheduled to perform are Tiny Tavares, Harold Melvin's Blue Notes, Franco Ingraiti, J. K. M. Rico, ZUMIX, and dancers from local dance studios.

The festival takes place Friday from 5 to 11 p.m. and Saturday from 12 noon to 11 p.m. Sacred Heart is located at the intersection of Marion and Brooks streets in East Boston.

Celebrate our favorite creek

The 5th annual Chelsea River Revel will take place Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. along both sides of the Meridian Street Bridge (officially it's the Andrew P. McArdle Bridge). The schedule includes live music, local talents, dance groups, food, moon bounces, boat rides, arts and crafts, rock climbing, a puppet parade, kayaking and more.

Admission is free, except for the 5K road race; the kids race (15 and under) is free. The event is hosted by the Chelsea Creek Action Group, which seeks "to build public awareness; promote public access; seek environmental justice; and transform the neglected, polluted Chelsea Creek into an environmental, recreational, educational and economic resource for East Boston, Chelsea and the region."

The forecast for Saturday is partly and 75 degrees, which should be perfect. For more information, check out the event web site here.

Park work

A standoff over who is responsible for what has slowed the finish of East Boston's Memorial Park -- what we grew up calling "The Stadium" -- according to today's Globe. Contractor Barletta Engineering has been slow to finish its work, but apparently some of the company's employees have been cutting grass and doing some other jobs there in recent days.

While on the subject of Eastie's parks, a reader emailed to ask about the work being done on the wading pool at the Bremen Street Park. She heard jackhammers and noted that, for a while last week, fencing was put up around the perimeter. Why was the work on the pool taking so long? Was the original construction, she wondered, flawed in some way? Does anyone know the story?

Unwilling to part with booty

The East Boston Yacht Club is one of eight local yacht clubs that still owes the state outstanding rent money, according to the Channel 5 web site, TheBostonChannel.com.

A couple of weeks ago the TV station reported that 16 private yacht clubs were holding out on paying rent on the publicly-owned land they occupy because they wanted to negotiate with the state, but Richard Sullivan, the commissioner of conservation and recreation, said there would be no negotiating. The clubs owed a total of $400,000 in back rent, but since the story first aired about half of that has been paid.

The state also wants the yacht clubs to sign agreements allowing public access.

Now hear this...

A couple of hearings have been scheduled on issues that affect East Boston.

First, the city's Licensing Board is holding a hearing on the proposal by Two Guys Food, Inc. to open a Burger King in Maverick Square. The board is coming out to the Umana Middle School on Wednesday at the behest of Maverick Square and Jeffries Point residents. The hearing begins at 6:30 p.m.

Second, a hearing will be held in the next two weeks on a proposal to allow slot machines at the state's four tracks, including Suffolk Downs in Eastie and Wonderland in Revere. According to the The Enterprise newspaper's web site, the host communities -- which would get a piece of the action -- must approve of the slots as well.

Also, the Westford Eagle reports that the town's board of selectmen have been discussing issues related to East Boston Camps, which has been run on town property in Westford for decades. The issues include "overseeing [that] the lessee was upholding their end of the lease" as well as electrical problems that resulted in "a toxic substance from old electrical power transformers" being found on the property.

Eastie nightlife wanting

Last Sunday's Globe had a story that touches on some of the discussions going on in a couple of the threads on here. It was called "All dressed up, looking for someplace to go," and it discusses the lack of places to gather in East Boston for "20- to 40-something lawyers, artists, marketing directors, entrepreneurs, and software engineers" who have moved into the neighborhood in recent years.