Former Mayor (of Boston) Kevin White's wake is being held while I write this. Having lived and/or worked in Boston my entire life, I have an affection for all things Boston. I also have an appreciation for history and for those that contribute to our history by servicing the citizens of Boston. Kevin White was one of those people.

With the cloud of the Penn State/Sandusky/Paterno scandal still hanging, I think it is important to recognize men like Kevin White who have used their positions solely for the purpose of good.

The excerpt below from a boston.com article tells a simple but powerful story about the city administration while White was mayor.


From boston.com:

Catherine Sexton, 80, of East Boston, was not one of the political elite, but she was in line this afternoon just the same. Some 30 years ago, she said, in the 1970s, the White administration showed up at her house and put a curb cut in front of it, which was a boon to her teenage son who used a motorized wheelchair.

“They just rang our doorbell and told us that they saw we had a need. They came without being asked; it’s something I’ll never forget,” she said.

She said she had taken the Blue Line to the wake today, but “I would have walked here if I had to.”

Trifecta.

I'm not one of those who boasts much. As a matter of fact, I hardly ever boast. At all.

However, I am giving myself a pat on the back for my performance this past fall semester in graduate school. My grades were:

MBAACM 684 Written Communication Graded A
MBAMGT 664 Legal Environment Graded B+
MBAMS 635 Operations Mgt Graded A-

And there is light at the end of the tunnel, finally. I still have six classes remaining until I receive my diploma, but it looks like I will be invited to attend the commencement ceremony in June. I can almost hear the huge sigh of relief now (from both Sarah and me)...until then, I will continue to trudge on.

Thank you New Balance.

So….I went for a run during my lunch break the other day. As I made my way across the pedestrian bridge which runs over Storrow Drive, I thought how cool it is that the sidewalks and pathways along the Charles River had been cleared of the snow (which had fallen over the weekend).

Must be a Mayor Menino thing, I thought.

Not sure this is maintained by the city – it could be State property.

Either way, I was thinking how great a thing it was that runners didn't have to worry about wiping out on the snow and ice.

I continued along and took note of a dozen or so other runners before seeing a few New Balance “banners” on poles which line the pathway along the river. The banners advertise the sponsorship agreement between the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and New Balance. Apparently in 2010 New Balance had agreed to provide the funding needed to keep the paths along the Charles clear for runners!

Thank you, New Balance.

This partially makes up for the mishaps at the Falmouth Road Race last August.