As expected, the senior dance was a very formal affair. High school students were immaculately dressed for the occasion, marking the end of youthful innocence and the beginning of more mature pursuits. Girls were decked out in white gowns and wore gloves while boys sported white jackets with matching flannel pants. Nearly eight decades ago, […]
Author Archives: Dave Kindy - Independent Correspondent
Posted inSports
Behind the arm of D.C. Brown, Plymouth North captures Division 2 baseball championship
The game wasn’t quite over Sunday, but D.C. Brown’s day was done. The Plymouth North High School star pitcher, and 2024 MIAA Player of the Year, had reached his pitch limit and couldn’t remain on the mound at Polar Park in Worcester. Fortunately, the Eagles were leading after another masterful pitching performance by Brown – […]
Posted inCulture
Remembering Tom Ruggiero and his amazing D-Day story
The seas were rough that morning 80 years ago. In the early hours of D-Day, June 6, 1944, Sgt. Tom Ruggiero of Plymouth put a paper sack he’d been handed to good use as his Landing Craft Assault (LCA) bounced through heavy waves on the way to Omaha Beach in Normandy, France. “I had thrown […]
Posted inCulture
Navy veteran who escorted FDR to be honored on his 100th birthday
The scuttlebutt was true: something big was happening on the USS Baltimore. On July 21, 1944, Seaman First Class William “Willie” F. O’Connell watched with awe as President Franklin President Roosevelt was piped aboard in San Diego harbor. The U.S. Navy’s heavy cruiser escorted him on a secret mission to Hawaii, where he conferred with […]
Posted inCulture
How the Mayflower II helped mend relations between the US and the UK
On June 8, 1957, the Mayflower II was nearing the end of her transatlantic journey from England to America. Near Bermuda, she encountered a fleet of international warships, which cruised near the full-scale re-creation of the Pilgrim vessel, loudly blasting horns while sailors waved and cheered from the decks. Four American destroyers then approached the […]
Posted inCulture
Rekindling the John, Priscilla, and Myles love triangle
Samson and Delilah. Antony and Cleopatra. Romeo and Juliet. John and Priscilla. History is filled with love stories. They feed our fantasies of romance and remind us why remembering Valentine’s Day should be taken to heart. Though largely legendary, some of these accounts of affection are based on fact. Even Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers are believed […]
Posted inCulture
250 years ago, Plymouth helped spark the Boston Tea Party
In December 1773, Boston was a tinderbox ready to burn. The Tea Tax implemented earlier that year had the Sons of Liberty group and other concerned citizens up in arms over yet another attempt by British Parliament to usurp their rights as freeborn Englishman. In desperation, they turned to “mother Plymouth” for assistance. Only too […]