THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, July 8, 2022 Page 3 Malden Today, Tomorrow and Yesterday – “Phantom Gourmet invades Malden” By Peter Levine C ongratulations to Malden! Malden simply crushed it on Saturday, June 25, as thousands of party pilgrims descended upon Malden Square to take part in the biggest, the baddest, the most spectacular block party Malden has ever thrown! The Phantom Gourmet carnival brought close to 8,000 “phans” to Exchange and Pleasant Streets to eat, to drink and to get their merry on. The weather was spectacular! The event professionally organized (Thank you for behaving yourself, Malden)! The many (50) food stands were amazing (Kowloon! Loretta’s Last Call! JP Twisted BBQ! The Margarita Girls, oops, I mean Margarita’s!). I’ve been to many celebrations in Malden over the years. None can match this one for the sheer size of the event, for the quality of the food vendors and most of all the joy it put into each and every single person I interacted with that day! Congratulations to Malden! You did a good job! You put happiness into people’s lives, sunlight shining brightly on the city we all love so much. Thank you, Phantom Gourmet, (please come back next year!). Thank you, Kevin Duff y, for being Malden’s #1 cheerleader. Tasked with what seemed like the impossible, Kevin made it look easy. As he always does. Your pops would be proud (once again!). Thank you, Mayor Christenson, for making this happen under at times (from what I had heard) trying circumstances. Thank you also to your staff for that amazing day! Kathleen (Manning-Hall), Maria (Luise), Peter (Caso) and whoever else I may be missing, thank you from the bottom of our hearts! You may have heard that the Converse family were in Malden recently for a family reunion. If not for Malden’s fi rst Mayor (and biggest benefactor), Elisha Converse (and his off spring), Malden would look dramatically diff erent than it does today (not in a good way). Thank you, Dora St. Martin, for making this happen! Of course, Mayor Christenson was there to greet the clan when they arrived. At the library on Friday night (June 24), these were his remarks: “Good evening. It reads on the 2022 Converse Family Reunion schedule that my role is to provide welcoming remarks, but I think it should really read ‘Mayor gives thanks to the Converse family.’ As you probably know, Malden has had its challenges throughout the years, but our communihave the prestigious Converse name attached to them, but it’s the countless lives touched and shaped over the years that has truly made a diff erence for us all. For instance, not too long ago in this park there were thousands of people here in celebration of the end of Ramadan. On Thursday, the Library hosted the kickoff to their Annual Summer Reading Program, and next week we are about to employ hundreds of youths for the summer thanks in part to funding from the Malden Industrial Aid Society. Thank you once more for being the foundation from which Malden continues to thrive and be a welcoming place for all.” He’s the mayor who was on HERO | SEE PAGE 16 AUTOTECH Former Highland Café owner Dave Angelo (right) and family with TV personality Mr. Phantom Gourmet, Dan Andelman. ty has always been able to overcome them thanks to the resiliency of the Converse name that continues to remain with us. What also makes Malden special is that we’re a compassionate city as well. We are a community that has always found a way to give back no matter the times we fi nd ourselves living in, which is also characteristic of the Converse name. Elisha was known for his philanthropic deeds and generosity, but one of the things he did like no other was to get community members to contribute their time. This was especially important in how organizations continued long after he was gone, such as the Malden Hospital, Industrial Aid Society, the Day Nursery (across the street), YMCA and right here at the library. So let me end by how I began, which is to say thank you for your presence here this evening and being a part of something that continues to this day, which is a Malden community that is built on a Strong Past, Proud Future – thanks to all of you!” At Pine Banks Park on Saturday night, Gary charmed the Converse crowd once again: “Typically, my experience as Mayor is that once we give our welcoming remarks, we’re off to the next thing, like the Phantom Gourmet Food Festival, and we don’t look back, but not when it comes to the Converse family. We were there last night, we’re here tonight and we’ll see you at church tomorrow morning. Now as you probably know, Malden is home to Dunkin’ Donuts, and there’s that saying that ‘America Runs on Dunkin’ – well, here in our city, the saying is ‘Malden Runs on Converse.’ And it’s not just the places that $$ CASH FOR YOUR CAR, TRUCK OR SUV! $$ GET YOUR VEHICLE SUMMER READY! Check out our AC SPECIAL Includes Complete Safety Check Only $99.95 2014 INFINITY JX80 All Wheel Drive, Premium Package, Every Conceivable Option, Warranty, Only 120K Miles! TRADES WELCOMED! $17,500 Easy Financing Available! Includes Freon 2011 FORD TAURUS 6 Cylinder, Auto., Most Power Options, Clean Title, Warranty, Only 140K Miles, Runs and Looks Great! TRADES WELCOME! $6,995 (781) 321-8841 • (617) 571-9869 1236 EasternAve • Malden EddiesAutotech.com Vehicle! We Pay Cash For Your
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