Quincy’s Martin Luther King Jr Day Breakfast Not Diverse

A Quincy Quarry News exclusive image

— Quincy Massachusetts News by Quincy Quarry News – News, Opinion and Commentary

“I have a dream …”
An old photo

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, 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.

Where is Tommy?
A Quincy News Photoshop Phun Team meme

In any event, a near full house of likely upwards of a hundred and fifty or thereabouts came out early on a holiday Monday in the wake of an overnight snow that was the largest snow event of the season — so far, that is.

Further, 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.

A police officer and the District Attorney in the buffet line
A Quincy Quarry News exclusive image

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 who gave 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 Koch Maladministration.

The former Boston Police Commissioner at the podium
A Quincy Quarry News exclusive image

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 buffets.  In particular, the bacon served was lean, crispy and tasty, the breakfast sausage cooked to perfection, a nicely turned out fresh fruit salad, and of special note the scrambled eggs were fluffy and tasty as opposed to overcooked as it all too common when cooked for a good-sized crowd.

And for 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 scheduled singer called in sick at the last minute.

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