Mar 1, 2024 It was December 1963, and the most listened to song on AM radio was I Want to Hold Your Hand by the Beatles, a not-yet-famous British rock group. That recording had a lasting effect on American music history. Everyone has their favorite Beatles song, but I Want to Hold Your Hand got […]
Beatlemania in Medfield in the 1960s Read More »
Oct 1, 2023 While most Americans today can’t fathom the thought of hitchhiking, many people at an earlier time would routinely stick out their thumbs on the side of the road. There were many different reasons that led people to hitchhike and why hitchhiking became acceptable. Hitchhiking was once a common form of getting
Hitchhiking to Medfield and Beyond Read More »
Jul 31, 2023 Once cosmopolitans who thought themselves sophisticated, might have asked, “Medfield? Where’s that? What’s that?” And many of the young people living in Medfield were chagrined by the frequent snide remarks about Medfield being Deadfield or Mudfield. Times change. Gradually the transplanted city people came to recognize a bustling community after driving down
There Was Once a Place Called Lord’s Read More »
Jun 2, 2023 The Memorial Day parade in Medfield has always been a festive occasion. Historically speaking, the holiday celebration would start with Clifford Gerald Doucette. Gerry was Medfield’s veterans’ agent, past American Legion commander, key member of the Medfield Memorial Day Committee and Committee to Study Memorials, and a prime mover in getting the
Five Medfield Heroes Read More »
May 2, 2023 Who could ever forget the Horgan twins, Jimmy and Joey, who grew up in an antique Greek Revival house at the corner of North and Cottage Streets, now the site of Rockland Trust bank? Jimmy passed away from a long illness on August 22, 2015. Joey passed away December 21, 2019. Their
Midcentury Medfield Memories: Remembering the Horgan Twins Read More »
Feb 1, 2023 From February 5 to 7, 1978, the Blizzard of ‘78 hit New England. It started later and was much more powerful than most local meteorologists had anticipated. In the preceding days, weather centers knew something was coming, but they just couldn’t make up their minds about how much. Meteorologist Harvey Leonard from
Midcentury Medfield Memories: The Blizzard of ’78 45 Years Ago Read More »
Jan 1, 2023 My grandfather, Joe Marcionette (1901-1991) gave us memories of the way things used to be! He was an incredible man and larger than life figure. Joe was a town selectman in the 50s and 60s, and he enjoyed the office and position immensely. He also owned the Jenny gas station, now the
Joe Marcionette – Living to See Change Read More »
Nov 1, 2022 [Editor’s note: Tim Flaherty wrote about Medfield’s extended Palumbo family in the July/August Portal. This addendum about Bruno Palumbo contains information about his World War II service which was not available when the original story was written.] My uncle Bruno Palumbo was the third from the youngest of the 10 children of
Staff Sargent Bruno James Palumbo: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier with Valor and Honor Read More »
Oct 1, 2022 There was fear in the 1950s – of communist infiltrators, of the H-bomb, of mutations caused by radiation and of science. On the humanistic level of how people treated others, there was sometimes the loss of dignity and sensitivity. More precisely, there was a fair amount of bullying taking place either
Midcentury Medfield Memories – Fishing, etc. at Kingsbury’s Pond Read More »
Sept 1, 2022 In the last issue of The Portal, I wrote about the Palumbo family of Frairy Street. This month the focus is the Iafolla family on that street that was known as Little Italy. In the 40 years between 1880 and 1920, some 40 million Italians emigrated to the United States. Antonio Patrizio
Remembering and Celebrating the Iafollas Read More »