THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, January 31, 2025 Page 7 It is said in “Malden Musings”... • Chris, please know that you are in our thoughts and occupy places in all our hearts. The “Steve Moro Celebration of Life” gathering last week at the AOH was worthy of the wicked good guy your brother was and his popularity in Maldonia. MVPs and VIPs all joined together that night for a sendoff that Steve would have happily participated in and would have, no doubt, been the last to leave (LOL). Chris, continue to look on the sunny side of life, my friend. • Breaking news...grandson Christian (Falzarano), playing in the Peabody Youth Basketball League, had a game for the ages last week – draining 18 points along with several blocked shots as well as altering many more with his Victor Wembanyama wingspan in full effect. At 14 young Christian is well ahead of Papa hoop-skill-wise at his age, and if CJ Falz keeps up the hard work, possibly will beat me one on one before I turn 75. Insert smiley face. • Sorry I missed your milestone birthday, Nathan (Lamb), and thank you for the invite, my “old friend.” Those with long memories will remember Nathan from his glory days as Editor at the Malden Observer when that paper rocked Malden! Happy 5-0, dude! Yer aging like fine wine, big guy! • Congratulations to Malden strongman Dan Ford’s son Hayden for being named Catholic Conference Football AllStar by The Boston Globe in their yearly rundown of the best and brightest in high school sports. Papa George must be very proud. • Deb Burke is retiring. This is not good for Malden. Debbie Burke is a Maldonia Legend. Deb Burke will be seriously missed. Seriously! I’ll have an in-depth Deb Burke report in the very near future. All the best in retirement, Deb, from a huge admirer of yours starting way back in your Malden Evening News days. • Can we have a big round of applause for PJ Bell from the Health & Human Services Dept. just because he is doing the Lord’s work!? PJ is giving back to Malden the only way he knows how, through his heart and soul. Thank you big guy, keep up the great work! It has not gone unnoticed. • Just a heads up...MPD Captain Marc Gatcomb’s son Marc made his NHL debut with the NY Islanders last week. Way to go, young Marc! A chip off the old block – his pops, Captain Gatcomb, was a regular in the Girl’s Catholic parking lot way back in the day when street hockey and the Big Bad Bruins ruled. As a street hockey player, Marc mixed it up with hundreds of other like-minded hockey fanatics back in the glory days of Orr, Espo and O’Reilly. Details to follow. • We lost another treasured piece of our shared Maldonia history last week. Rest in peace to Dorothy, Tiger’s wife and Joanne Settimio’s beloved mother, who graced this world for nearly 96 years. She leaves behind a legacy as Christian’s grandmother and a cherished member of our community. Dorothy’s memory will live on as long as we continue to speak her name and share her stories. Joanne, my deepest condolences to you, my friend. I promise to keep her memory alive with you. • I met Sylvia Raffaela Cranfill last week for the first time in my (something, something) years of living. Must have walked by her house on Russell Street a couple thousand times in my life, but our paths simply never crossed. Sylvia is 86, full of life, has been in the same house in Edgeworth her whole life, and a hot (expletive deleted). A wonderful, engaging soul, she made quite an impression on me as we chatted about who knows who before we even got to her impressive longtime Edgeworth bona fides. I became friends with her son Mark shortly after. Mark, take it away: “My mom is a real firecracker! 86 years old living on the 3rd floor of the house we grew up in. Takes care of my 91-yearold stepfather with Alzheimer’s, goes up and down 3 flights of stairs daily, and drives to NH for her cigarettes every week. Raised three boys on her own in the 60’s when people weren’t kind to divorced women. She is a tough ole gal but a real gem. So, anyone who treats her well is a friend of mine who will have my loyalty and help forever.” Thank you Mark for sharing, and believe me, it was my pleasure meeting Sylvia. Stay well. • Congratulations to three members of the Malden High School football squad for earning All-Star honors in The Boston Globe Schoolboy edition a couple weeks back. All-purpose everything Kevin Exilhomme (12 touchdowns), quarterback Aiden Brett and freshman running back (over 1,000 gained) Jayden McGuffie. Way to go, guys! Keep your heads up and thanks for representing Malden with class and dignity. • Happy January birthdays to Malden celebrities Paula Cagno Maddaleni, Stan Langston, Carol J. Person Merletti, Diane (Fucci) Nuzzo, Bobby McLean, Johnny Cagno and (Harry Mehos’ little brother) Michael. • Did I sense a little change in the stratosphere at the first Council meeting for the new year? Not exactly kumbaya but something akin to civility and cooperation? Time will tell. Apropos of nothing... my admiration for him knows no bounds. Yes, I am an unabashed Danny Meyers fanboy. For many reasons – but top of the hit parade – an inspirational role model during my most formative years growing up in MUSINGS| SEE PAGE 18 Independent. Strong. Local. WE’RE HERE FOR YOU. 419 BROADWAY EVERETT, MA 02149 771 SALEM ST. LYNNFIELD, MA 01940 331 MONTVALE AVE. WOBURN, MA 01801 WWW.EVERETTBANK.COM 617-387-1110 781-776-4444 781-281-9092 There’s Every Bank, Then There’s MEMBER FDIC | MEMBER DIF
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