As posted previously, there will be a benefit concert on September 11th organized by the non-profit “Cops for kids with Cancer. It will feature Milton resident Pauline Wells singing an Irish repertoire. The following is from the announcement made by the Boston Police Department.

A Celtic Crossing Presents Pauline Wells in Concert At Boston’s Historic Wilbur Theatre

“A 9/11 tribute to benefit Cops for Kids with Cancer”

September 11, 2009 will mark the 8th anniversary of a day in history hopefully none of us will ever forget. The attacks of 9/11 are the Pearl Harbor of our parents and grandparents lives. The events of this horrific day took many lives way before their time, husband’s wives, parents, grandparents, flight crews, and emergency responders including over 300 firefighters and 60 police officers.

This year “A Celtic Crossing” will present a magnificent musical 9/11 concert to be held at the Wilbur Theatre in Boston’s historic theater district. The proceeds going to benefit Cops for Kids with Cancer.

See the full announcement from the Boston Police Department here.

The Artane Band from Dublin was in town last week and performed at Milton High School. You can read about their performance here.

One of the highlights of the concert was a piece by the drumline. Taking a page from the Blue Man Group, they grabbed some some lit up drumsticks and fired away.

A member of the band filmed the performance. To view the video click on the “Continue reading. . . ” link.

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Thursday night the Artane Band from Ireland performed at Milton High School, and what a performance it was!

The Artane band dates back to 1872, founded in what then was the Artane industrial school run by the Congregation of Christian Brothers. The school was closed, but the band has lived on. Originally a boys band, girls were included in 2002. They frequently perform at Coke stadium in Dublin, one of the largest sports venues in Europe and home of the Gaelic Games. The band is directed by a spark plug named Ronan O’Reilly and managed by Tony Doherty.

O’Reilly, who functioned as MC, and consummate showman as well as conductor, led the band through a wide ranging repertoire that included traditional Irish tunes, a medley of Civil War songs, and show tunes. At times gentle, at times rousing, the pieces were all performed with energy, passion, and pride.

And there were any number of highlights to the performance. First, there was Mr. O’Reilly’s personality.  Clearly proud of his ensemble, he engaged the audience, encouraging them to clap and sing along, and he was not above expressing his opinion when he felt the audience effort lacking. It was all in good fun.

The performance also featured guest appearances from several other noteworthy groups. They included Pauline Wells, the local singer who was joined by members of Devri, the Milton High School violins, and the Boston Police Department’s Gaelic Column.

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The Boston Globe’s “G” section for 09.05.09 published a chart of schools that deliver the best bang for the buck. Namely, schools that produce solid results and have afforbable homes.

They identified several criteria: MCAS scores for 4th & 10th grades, teacher-pupil ratios, diversity, and Avg assessed home values for single family homes.  The criteria were each awarded a score from 1 – 4 with exception of diversity which was either 1 (diverse) or 0 (not diverse). Milton is clearly diverse, however, in the other areas the Globe only awarded Milton a single point (MCAS grade 4 scores, avg home price and teacher: student ratio). Only on MCAS scores for grade 10 did Milton score a 3. Many of the schools in the top ten also had high average home prices but scored 3 and 4 in all other criteria. Milton was in the bottom quartile.

We would advise taking this with a grain of salt. You can find the story and the full chart here.

from Wicked Local Milton

As public meetings on health care go, the one hosted by U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch in Milton was a polite affair.

Aside from some scattered booing and shouting, the 800 people who filled a Curry College gym Thursday night were relatively tame. (Read the full story here.)

To view a Patriot Ledger video of the event, click on the “Continue reading . . .” link.

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A healthcare reform town hall meeting will be held Thursday night at Curry College in Milton  – hosted by Congressman Stephen Lynch.

Over the past week and a half several attempts were made to have Congressman Stephen Lynch on WATD (95.9 FM) to preview the event; but his office declined the invitation- citing scheduling conflicts.

WATD will broadcast the meeting live from Curry College immediately following the 6’oclock news with Katherine Perry.

It is expected to run until 8pm.

The Boston Herald has an article on Milton’s restaurant scene. It includes a recipe from Abby Park for Thai shrimp.

from The Boston Herald

Milton is no longer a “dry” community.

The town recently issued its first on-premise liquor licenses in many years to Abby Park in East Milton Square and 88 Wharf in Lower Mills. The establishments opened this summer as the only full-service restaurants in town. (A handful of private clubs in town had been able to serve alcohol.)

(Read the full review here.)

There is a good article in today’s Boston Globe on swine flu and prevention tips.

He’s one of the nation’s top flu fighters. But for Dr. Marty Cetron, the battle begins at home.

That’s where, like parents all across the country, he is preparing his three children – they’re 9 to 15 years old – for the arrival of a fall flu season unlike any in their lifetimes. This will be the season of our dual discontent: Disease trackers expect both seasonal influenza and the novel swine strain to circulate. And swine flu, which made its US debut in the spring, has shown an unusual propensity for making the young sick while sparing the old. (You can read the full story here.)

My wife and I finally got around to having dinner at the new Abby Park restaurant in East Milton Square.; and it was very good.

The restaurant decor and design are impressive. It has a lively, convivial, slightly chaotic atmoshpere. In part because the place has to date been extremely popular (i.e. it’s packed). The good news is that Abby Park takes reservations. If you plan to go there, you should make one, otherwise you can find yourself waiting for a table.

We started off with the baked Cherrystone clams. They were small stuffed clams with linguica and corn and they were great. We also split a Chilled and Grilled Vegetable Salad which came with tomatoes, mozarella and balsamic vinegar, also superb.

For entrees we tried out the Lobster Cavatelli and the Angel Hair pasta with heirloom tomatoes and basil. The lobster was a rich, delicious dish made with marscapone and mushrooms. The angel hair pasta was lighter but flavorful.

There is only one complaint. It is a loud room. The surfaces are all hard and with its relatively small room size; conversation becomes difficult. There was a music system in place; but the music was indistinguishable from the overall din. Aside from the noise level, it was a  nice meal close to home.

The Boston Globe also reviewed Abby Park. You can find their review here. You can view Abby Park’s dinner menu here. Abby Park is also open for lunch.

We also returned to 88 Wharf Street for a second meal. We had company in from out of town and having enjoyed our first meal so much, felt it the perfect local venue for our guest. Unfortunately the second visit was not as successful.

First, 88 Wharf does not take reservations for parties less than 6. We had to wait over half an hour for a table. . . not the end of the world. We knew several parties and sat for a while with an old friend who was having a quiet meal alone. Except it was not a quiet meal. This is also a very loud room in which conversation can be difficult.

We enjoyed the cheese board, the arugula salad, and the crab cakes. Aside from the arugula salad being a little overdressed, our meals were very good. This has not been everyone’s experience however. The Steak Frites were mentioned by more than one of our friends as being subpar.

If you go to 88 Wharf try to get there early and request to be seated on the patio.

We need to give our wallets a vacation; but we urge you to give both places a go. They crowds they are attracting are an indication of the pent up demand.  The staffs at both establishments are a bit strained and they are new so be prepared to exercise a little patience.