Subscribe to The Advocate See page 10
Vol. 20, No. 18
-FREE-
www.advocatenews.net
Published Every Friday
617-387-2200
Friday, May 4, 2018
Tony the barber passes the clippers after 55 years By Barbara Taormina ast weekend, a small crowd of family, friends and fans gathered on the corner of Salem Street and Granville Avenue for a bittersweet celebration. After 55 years of pompadours, buzz cuts, mullets and quiffs, Anthony Cammarata, who most people know as Tony the barber, has retired and passed the clippers and the keys to Tony’s Barber Shop to new owner Berthony Sanon. Cammarata’s family marked the moment with pizza, cake and a bouquet of balloons, and Mayor Gary Christenson stopped in to personally deliver a citation from the city. “Tony’s barber shop has been a fixture on Salem Street mostly because of Tony’s friendly personality, his
L
passion for his work and his commitment to his customers,� said Christenson, who read from the citation as the Cammarata clan clapped and cheered. “Malden’s motto is “Strong Past, Proud Future,� and there’s no doubt Tony has made a long-lasting difference in our community,� said Christenson. Cammarata, who will turn 90 in July, was born in Everett but grew up Malden’s Edgeworth neighborhood. He cut and trimmed hair at a barber shop in Maplewood before opening his own shop on Salem Street back in 1963. Along the way, Cammarata and his wife, Gloria, who many people know as a little lady with a big personality, had five children: Michael, Dean, Paul, Maryann and Patty. The couple raised their family in a home right
A CUT ABOVE: Mayor Gary Christenson, Gloria and Tony Cammarata and new shop owner Berthony Sanon show off Cammarata’s citation from the city and a tribute plaque to the shop and Cammarata’s long career.
behind – almost on top – of the shop. Maryann, who is now Mary-
ann Tkaczuk, said Tony’s Barber Shop was a big part of the Cammaratas’ family life.
“As kids, it was our job to
BARBER SHOP | SEE PAGE 12
Residents present a community plan for Malden Hospital site By Barbara Taormina he Friends of Fellsmere Heights were at the City Council meeting this week to present a proposal to redevelop the Malden Hospital site, a plan to help pay for the project and a strategy to get to the next step. Bob Doolittle, vice president of the nonprofit group, outlined the Friends’ proposal to devote 16 acres of the site to open
T
IRU D &RQWDFW XV DWLRQ J OL E 1R 2
space and community uses, such as athletic fields, gardens and a performance space. The remaining two acres would be reserved for private development, ideally for senior housing. “The great goal of the Friends, an alliance to bring together former adversaries, is to do something wonderful up there on the hill,� said Doolittle. He credited Mayor Gary Chris-
tĂŜƚ ƚŽ ĹŹĹśĹ˝Ç ĆšĹšÄž ǀĂůƾĞ ŽĨ Ç‡Ĺ˝ĆľĆŒ ŚŽƾĆ?Äž Ĺ?Ĺś ƚŽĚĂLJ͛Ć? ĆŒÄžÄ‚ĹŻ ÄžĆ?ƚĂƚĞ ĹľÄ‚ĆŒĹŹÄžĆšÍ?
)5((
tenson, City Council President Debbie DeMaria, Malden Hospital owner Hallmark Health and Medford Mayor Stephanie Burke for their input and advice, and he highlighted the intercity cooperation and collaboration behind the Friends’ proposal. A small piece of the hospital land is located in Medford. Steve Keleti, a volunteer director for the Friends, provided a list of possible state grants and private foundations that could be tapped to fund the proposal. Keleti and Doolittle urged the councillors to open the lines of communication with Hallmark Health about a possible acquisition of
0DUNHW $QDO\VLV 2I <RXU +RPH
Ä&#x201A;ĹŻĹŻ hĹśĹ?Ć&#x161;Ä&#x17E;Ä&#x161; Ć&#x152;ŽŏÄ&#x17E;Ć&#x152;Ć? Ä&#x201A;Ć&#x161; ϲĎϳͲϰϲĎͲϰώϯϴ
$2.49 GALLON *$//21
:H DFFHSW 0DVWHU&DUG 9LVD 'LVFRYHU
3ULFH 6XEMHFW WR &KDQJH ZLWKRXW QRWLFH
*DO 0LQ +U 6HUYLFH
the site. Such a move would allow Malden and Medford to apply for some of their local Community Preservation Fund dollars, which could be used to develop a detailed engineering plan for the site that would address the interests and needs of both communities. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We need a united and attractive plan that could be competitive for funding,â&#x20AC;? said Doolittle. The Friends were joined by Peter Converse, the great-greatgrandson of Elisha Converse, who donated much of the hospital land to the City of Malden. Converse attended the council meeting to express his support for the Friends and for the proposal to preserve the hospital land for the community. (See related story.) The Friendsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; plan is an alternative to Fellsmere Housing Groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proposal to build a multifamily residential complex with a mix of
250 condos, townhouses and single-family homes. In exchange for a zoning change that would allow the project to move forward, the Fellsmere Group would provide a seven-acre buffer around the development with trails that will be open to the public. Malden would also receive $500,000 in mitigation money to ease the developmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s impact on the city, and a donation of two acres of land to expand Fellsmere Park. The council also received a packet with a third option, an â&#x20AC;&#x153;inprocessâ&#x20AC;? Plan for Hospital Hill, developed by longtime local activist Brian DeLacey, who sought input from dozens of residents throughout the city for the proposal. The big-picture Plan for Hospital Hill calls for relocating the senior center and 50 percent of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s public works operations to the
HOSPITAL | SEE PAGE 2
Be Safe Not Sorry!
EVERETT TAXI MALDEN TRANS
(781) 322-5050 (781) 324-5050 ~Family owned locally for 40 years~
(617) 389-8100