Tom Duggan's Notebook
NORTH ANDOVER - Valley Patriot
hires new Advertising Manager
The Valley Patriot is proud to announce
that Dennis Corrigan of Boxford has been
hired to be our new advertising manager.
Corrigan has decades of advertising sales
experience and has agreed to come on
board full time representing The Valley
Patriot with local and national
advertising clients. Corrigan will
oversee our sales force and is recruiting
sales professionals to assist in growing
the ever-expanding sales base we have
built since 2004. Paula Porten, our
advertising manager for the last four
years, says she is excited about Corrigan
joining The Valley Patriot family as it
gives her more time to concentrate on
researching, writing, and editing
stories. You can reach Dennis at (978)
352-4435
LAWRENCE, METHUEN - Sullivan,
Manzi in new competition: Who can eat
more!
After recently losing what he called
“a questionable” weight loss
contest with Mayor Manzi of Methuen,
Lawrence Mayor Michael Sullivan has
thrown down the gauntlet and issued yet
another challenge to Manzi. “My team
can out-eat Manzi’s team any day of
the week!” Sullivan said. Mayor
Sullivan will recruit and train a team of
three people to eat more than Mayor Manzi’s
top three in a contest that will
challenge each team to see who can eat
the most Sal’s 19 inch three pound
pizzas in ten minutes. The contest will
take place in the Caesar’s Palace
Function Room at Sal’s Riverwalk on
September 29th at high noon. In
conjunction with the Mayor’s Pizza
Challenge, Sal Lupoli will host the first
Salvatore’s Customer Appreciation
Day, which will serve hotdogs, hamburgers
and of course pizza.
NATIONAL - June 1, 2009 Change in
Travel Requirements
On June 1, 2009, the final phase of the
Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative will
be implemented by the United States
Government. This will require U.S.
citizens to present a passport book,
passport card, or other acceptable travel
document to enter the United States at
all sea or land points of entry. The
United States passport is an
internationally recognized travel
document and the premiere proof of the
bearer’s U.S. citizenship and
identity. The passport card is a new
travel document option produced by the
U.S. Department of State. It was created
to facilitate the frequent travel of U.S.
citizens living in border communities by
expediting entry and document processing
at U.S. land borders and ports of entry.
It is a lower-cost alternative to the
traditional passport book and is valid
for international land and sea travel
between the United States and Canada,
Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda only.
The passport book will continue to be
required for all international air
travel. Between now and June 1, 2009, the
goal of the U.S. Department of State is
to continue to educate and encourage the
U.S. traveling public to apply for and
obtain the necessary travel documents
that will allow them to comply with the
new requirements. Applications for
passport books and passport cards are
accepted by local acceptance facilities.
There are now nearly than 9,400
designated post offices, clerks of court,
and other government offices that accept
passport applications nationwide. Your
local acceptance facility can be found by
accessing www.travel.
state.gov or by calling 1-877-487-2778
(TDD/TTY: 1-888-874-7793).
MERRIMAC – Old Home Days
The Merrimac Old Home Day Committee will
be holding its first meeting to begin
planning for Old Home Day 2009. Topics of
discussion will center on fall
fundraising and promoting further
community involvement. The Committee
welcomes new members and fresh ideas. The
meeting will be held on Tues., October,
7, 2008 at 7pm. We’ll meet in the
Merrimac Town Hall.
Please check us out on the web at: www.merrimac01860.info
or contact us directly at: oldhomedays@gmail.com
NORTH ANDOVER - Fifth Annual
Prayer Shawl Tea in September
Communities Together, Inc.,
formerly The Greater Lawrence Council of
Churches, will sponsor the Fifth Annual
Prayer Shawl Tea at First-Calvary Baptist
Church, 586 Massachusetts Avenue, N.
Andover on Wednesday, September 24, 2008
from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. Please join them
for tea and pastry as they celebrate the
Prayer Shawl Ministry in this area, offer
shawls for a blessing by clergy, honor
knitting groups, and share stories of how
the shawls touch lives. Knitters,
crocheters, clergy, shawl recipients,
supporters, and those interested in
learning more are all welcome. This event
is free and open to the public. Please
RSVP by Monday morning, September 22 to
Barbara at the Communities Together
office at (978) 686-4012 or email Barbara
at CTstaff@ conversent.net.
METHUEN - Penny Social
Forest Street Union Church in Methuen is
holding its annual PENNY SOCIAL on
Saturday, September 20, 2008 at the VFW
Post 8349, 26 River Street in Methuen.
Join us for an evening of family fun,
door prizes, a 50/50 and raffles. Tickets
are 25 for $1.00, with 125 items
available. Pizza, hot dogs and other
refreshments can also be purchased that
evening. Ticket sales start at 4:00 PM
and the drawings begin at 6:00 PM. For
more information call 978-683-8523 or
visit us at www.foreststreetucc.org.
See you there!
LAWRENCE - Celebrate the Irish
Dr. William Mahon will discuss his most
recent publication Thomas Griffin and the
Irish Speaking People of Lawrence and the
Irish Manuscripts at Villanova University
by the way of Lawrence, sponsored by The
Irish Foundation, Division 8 AOH and
LAOH, The Friends of the Lawrence Public
Library, The Friends of the Harvard
University Celtic Dept. and The Cumann,
na Gaeilge League of Boston. Supported by
the White Fund and the Department of
Foreign Affairs, Cultural Committee
Office of the Council General of Ireland.
INFO: Lecture and Book Signing- Sunday
September 14, 2008 at 1:30PM at the
Lawrence Heritage State Park Visitor’s
Center -1 Jackson Street, Lawrence, MA.
Admission is free, Handicap Accessible -
For information please contact the
Lawrence Heritage State Park Visitor’s
Center 978-794-1655 Division 8 AOH
Website: www.homestead.com/div8aoh
LAWRENCE - Siglo’s Big
Announcement
Last month we were shocked to learn from
the Spanish language newspaper called
Siglo 21 that Lawrence Superintendent of
Schools Wilfredo Laboy had announced his
impending resignation and was on his way
out. The jubilation among the Laboy
haters could be heard from one end of the
city to the other and when the “news”
broke it spread like wildfire through the
Spanish speaking population with Spanish
language radio stations fanning the
flames and gleefully spreading the word.
Problem is.... the entire story was
completely made up.
LAWRENCE - Siglo’s
non-announcement
Adrianna Reccia who has long been the
head honcho at Siglo 21 was quietly
replaced by none other than Santiago
Mattias (husband of illegal alien Dirma
Espada, AKA: Milagros Dominguez). For
those of you who don’t remember,
Mattias was one of the publishers of the
now defunct “Latino News” and
is part of an organization that gives
people awards for just being born “Latino.”
No wonder our readership among Spanish
speaking residents in the Valley has
sky-rocketed! Though we’ve had some
requests, there really is no need for us
to start publishing in Spanish as the
Spanish language newspapers in The Valley
implode before our very eyes with a
racist agenda and an inability to speak
to Latinos who are Americanized. Of
course, they will always have a plethora
of “Immigration attorneys”
advertising to help illegal aliens obtain
government services but that’s not
going to last long after John McCain
becomes president and gives them all
amnesty. Who would’ve thought four
years ago that the Valley Patriot could
become the paper of record for Latinos in
the Valley? Certainly not me, but we’re
thrilled to have so many Latinos Paying
Attention!
DRACUT, METHUEN - Valley Dispatch
Another one bites the dust
And so it goes,...they came into
existence by trying to pilfer the format
and saturate part of the distribution
area of The Valley Patriot (thanks to
Paul Sullivan) but The Valley Dispatch
can no longer be found in those bright
yellow boxes scattered throughout Methuen
and Dracut. It seems the free weekly
newspaper (owned by the Lowell Sun) just
couldn’t make it on their own and
has stopped distributing independently.
Who could have predicted that? Well, I
think we did, but don’t worry
Dispatch fans you can still get the
Valley Dispatch only now you have to pay
for it as it’s only available as an
insert on Wednesdays in the Lowell Sun.
In the mean time, The Valley Patriot will
continue to expand in the Lowell,
Chelmsford, and Dracut area. And of
course, we will always love Warren Shaw
and hope he will come to the dark side!
HAVERHILL - Vendors needed for
the 6th Annual Italian Festival
Ahhhhh, the smell of the sauce simmering,
bread baking and the pizza cheese melting
– just some of the delicious
excitement right around the corner at
Haverhill Downtown Association’s
“North of the North End” 6th
Annual Italian Festival. The festival
will be held on Sun., September 28th from
noon until 6:00 p.m. in Washington Square
and along Washington Street in historic
downtown Haverhill. The Downtown
Association is currently looking for
vendors to participate in this fun filled
event. Vendor booths sized 6’x10’
can be secured for $100. Vendors can
include food, arts and crafts, jewelry,
clothing, pottery, information, games,
activities etc. All booths should have an
Italian theme or be decorated to reflect
the colors of Italy. To secure your space
please contact committee member Officer
Paul Malone at 978 360-3703. Last year
more than 5,000 people attended this
popular event. This year’s festival
features everything from authentic
Italian cuisine to musical entertainment
for all ages. The Miss Italy competition
winner will take home a generous
scholarship. This year the festival will
feature a grand finale of the Rat Pack
direct from Las Vegas with a tribute to
Frank, Sammy, and Dean and the original
sounds of the famous legions of the past.
The festival is free.
NORTH ANDOVER - Whidden Knew
about accreditation warning
Last month it was revealed that North
Andover Superintendent Marini was
notified in May that the high school was
put back on accreditation warning. He and
the high school principal met secretly
with the New England Association of
Schools and Colleges (NEASC) claiming
that the warning status was a “mistake”
and that they were trying to have the
warning removed before the public had to
be told. But their meeting did not result
in a warning “mistake” being
removed from North Andover High School,
instead the NEASC notified the
superintendent that the school system
would have to go through the official
process of evaluation to have the warning
removed. After a firestorm of press and
parent complaints Marini finally admitted
that “maybe” he should have
notified the public and that he “Might”
have been wrong not to do so. School
Committee members publicly attacked
parents who spoke out about the issue
during a school committee meeting, but
last month at least one member of the
board, chairman Barbara Whidden admitted
publicly that she did, in fact, know
about the warning back in May.
Coincidentally, the School Committee
meeting was not broadcast on cable access
and was not video taped as all previous
school committee meetings had been.
LAWRENCE - We checked!
Last month we were told by Lawrence DPW
Director Frank McCann that the city
parking garages were only in the black
(to the tune of about $80,000) because
the health insurance payments for parking
garage employees were being paid for by
the DPW. “Why don’t you check
it out?” McCann asked. So we did.
According to Lynn Tran, Assistant
Comptroller for the City of Lawrence, the
budget for the city parking garages, now
under the control of Planning Director
Michael Sweeny, paid $64,252.82 from July
1, 2007 to June 30, 2008 for employee
health insurance. A Memo by Lynn Tran,
(the most non-political employee in city
hall) also states that for the current
fiscal year the parking garage budget has
already been used to pay a weekly
deduction of $1,201.48 for employee
health insurance. Good thing we checked!
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pictures and material are
(C) copyright, Valley Patriot, Inc., 2008
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