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On a day when a local miracle of seeing local streets and even the city sidewalks abutting the main library duly cleared of a roughly five inch overnight snowfall happened, the City of Quincy hosted a Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr, memorial breakfast at the Tirrell Room at the local Elks lodge on Martin Luther King Jr. Day was most curiously lily white as the nearby snow-covered soccer fields.
Then again, maybe not all that surprising given the venue.
In any event, a near full house of likely upwards of a hundred and fifty attendees or thereabouts came out early on a holiday Monday in the wake of an overnight snowfall that was the largest snow event of the season — so far, that is.
In turn, the Quincy Quarry News staffer attending the event spotted many better seen as the usual suspects at one of Quincy Mayor Thomas P. Koch’s election campaign kick-off fundraising events save for one difference: event host Mayor Koch was MIA as he was said to be dealing with a family emergency and so missed a free meal.
Others, however, lined up at the buffet line to chow down on a free meal, including as well as admittedly the Quarry staffer attending the event.
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A Quincy police officer and the Norfolk County District Attorney in the buffet line
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Returning to those in attendance, people of color were few and mostly in familial groups.
For example, family members of the former City of Boston Police Commissioner who was the first Black Boston Police Commissioner who was the keynote speaker and so offered up a perfectly appropriate and respectful presentation.
There were also at least an Asian couple, a few who looked to be Middle Eastern, and a few Hispanics.
In other words, those attending tracked with the long steady as well as overwhelming white City of Quincy employees during the overly long-ongoing tenure of the Koch Maladministration.
Even so, there were some positives and they follow.
Again, the Black former Police Commissioner offered up a solid presentation.
Also a positive:event: host Quincy Mayor Thomas P. Koch cancelled out given a purported :family emergency”.
Additionally, a special shout out to the Barrett family who run the food services at the TIrrell Room for putting out a solid breakfast buffet. In particular: the bacon served was lean, crispy and tasty; the breakfast sausage cooked to juicy perfection, a nicely turned out fresh fruit salad was offered; the breakfast potato dish was based on tasty red potatoes instead of bland brown russets; and — of special note, the scrambled eggs were fluffy and delicious as opposed to overcooked and leathery as it all too common when cooked for a good-sized crowd.
Plus, with the mayor MIA the food did not run out even if the gourmand Norfolk County District Attorney was among the event attendees.
And for arguably the biggest surprise of the day: the Norfolk County Sheriff did a bang-up job of pitch-hitting the singing of The Star Spangled Banner a cappella.all by his lonesome after the originally scheduled singer called in sick at the last minute.
I’m of color and have lived in Quincy for 10 years but have never heard of this event being held. Poor advertising or am I just not looking in the right places?
Teresa,
For starters, this event is arguably the first such event so-hosted by the City of Quincy. On other hand, are you on the mayor’s campaign contribution list or an old Quincy political player? Seriously, the event was promoted but such was likely targeting the demographic of most of those who attended.