A Note of Appreciation for Priscilla Nickerson –
Dear Editor,
Last week, our city was hit with the devastating news of the passing of Mrs. Priscilla Nickerson. As a Ward Six resident for many years, Priscilla was one of the fiercest advocates for our neighborhood. She took pride in her home, in her business, and in West Revere, and always sought to improve the city where she could.
Priscilla co-founded the West Revere Neighborhood Group, and through Priscilla’s organization and because of her advocacy, residents were able to come together to plan and execute projects that have greatly enriched our neighborhood and will serve as reminders of Priscilla’s legacy. Some of these projects that Priscilla played an integral role in include the Paws ‘N Play Dog Park on Sargent Street, the murals on the Sargent Street underpass, the Rosemary Cataldo Urban Walking Trail in West Revere, and playgrounds at the West Revere School Complex and in North Revere. Many of these would not have come to fruition without Priscilla’s tenacity and dedication. When the West Revere Neighborhood Group was formed and needed a place to hold its meetings, she did not hesitate to open the doors of her family’s function hall to her neighbors.
In founding the now-annual Revere Santa Walk in 2011, Priscilla’s vision was to bring the residents of our city together for some fun while also raising funds to go toward various projects, which beautify the community. She even helped to organize the first city-wide spring cleanup, and never hesitated to pick up litter in the street – we can recall during one meeting with the DCR, Priscilla told the DCR foreman that she bought a scraper at BJ’s so she could scrape gum off the sidewalk as she did her routine walk on Revere Beach Boulevard. We can also recall countless calls from her over the years about graffiti that needed covering, weeds on public ways that needed tending to, dangerous double utility poles that needed addressing, street lights that needed replacing, sidewalks that needed fixing, underpasses that needed cleaning. That was Priscilla – she wanted to make Revere shine in any way and every way she could – and she did.
Priscilla constantly gave of her time and of herself for the greater good of this community. As the Ward Councillors, we valued Priscilla’s input and advice, and appreciated not only her actions and enthusiasm, but we appreciated her. We will miss our friend, and we thank her for dedicating so much of her life to the people of Revere. May Priscilla Nickerson’s memory and legacy live on by all of us sharing in the same pride and love for our community as she did.
Richard J. Serino
Ward 6 Councillor
Charlie Patch
Former Ward 6 Councillor
Offense Taken
Dear Editor,
I was absolutely appalled when I read the article in the October 13 Revere Journal reporting the meeting of the Revere Human Rights Commission.
Without any notice to the residents of Revere, the commission members voted to recommend that the celebration of Columbus Day on October 11th be replaced with Indigenous Peoples Day. This thereby would replace an 80 year Revere tradition with a newly created day. When asked what that new date would be, it was suggested that the commission seek guidance from an outside source “as to what we should doâ€!!
To add insult to injury, it was callously suggested that the Italians “can find another dayâ€.
I strongly suggest that the commission members revisit their decision and give the residents an opportunity to be heard on this matter. And I also wonder, if Columbus Day is deemed unimportant, can St. Patrick’s Day be far behind ?
Carol Haney
