Posts by Jon Hopwood
The shrine to baseball that was Ebbets Field is gone, but the shrine to the triumph of the human spirit over the tragedy that was racial segregation in America that is Holman Stadium, remains. And that shrine was honored Tuesday night when Nashua’s historic baseball park became the eighth memorial on the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire.
On Tuesday, May 30, Holman Stadium will officially become part of the New Hampshire Black History Trail, when a plaque is dedicated honoring the ballyard’s role in serving as the home of the first integrated American professional baseball team in the 20th Century. The 1946 Nashua Dodgers featured Negro Leagues veterans Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe, who along with Jackie Robinson, were the nucleus of the 1949-56 Brooklyn Dodgers Dynasty that won five National League pennants and one World Series in eight years.
The “Original Pat Long” who is Chairman of the Board of Mayor Aldermen was not at Pat Long the lawyer’s campaign kickoff at Green Beautiful Restaurant on Wilson Street around dinnertime Tuesday, but many board members were there.
Air Force Veteran Sandra Bell joins fellow Air Force Veteran James Chamberlain as a plaintiff in the lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs, which was brought by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.
Upon hearing of the death of Ed Kois, Manchester VAMC users and staff – like myself – must have experienced shock and sadness. It hit me very hard. And then – like me – they must have felt sad for Al. I thought of his sadness, thinking of the loss of Dr. Ed Kois, the whistleblower who changed everything because of his ally and friend the director, and the director who changed everything because of his ally and friend, the whistleblower.
Herk Streitburger confirmed he did not carry the Bible that is placed on display at the Manchester VA while he served in WWII.
Brigadier General Donald Bolduc will appear with Congressman Chris Pappas of New Hampshire’s First Congressional District at Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s Medical Center, One Medical Center Drive, in Lebanon on May 13 from 5- 7 p.m.
A federal lawsuit was punctuated by a fly-over of the VA Hospital by an airplane trailing a banner that read: VAMC – HONOR ALL POWER/MIA – REMOVE BIBLE.
The movie is “True Grit,” the true “True Grit,” and moviegoers will get to see the classic in theaters this week with four showing, on May 5 and May 8.
The display is presented by the Clothesline Project to raise awareness of MST and undermine the stereotype of those who have experienced MST as “victims.”
The choice of Manchester to serve as spearhead in the campaign to improve America’s 17 veterans healthcare systems acknowledges the leadership of Al Montoya and the dedication of the director and his employees. Under Montoya’s watch, the Manchester VAMC has improved its corporate culture.
It’s been 60 years since the Prince of Widescreen Motion Pictures, the Thinking Man’s Epic, was first unspooled before the movie-going public. Winner of a record 11 Academy Awards, the second highest-grossing movie of its time after Gone With the Wind, the 1959 Ben-Hur remains a singular cinematic experience.
When I remember John Weekes, I think of how he was always there for me. When my politics got me into a big rhubarb, when people started avoiding coming on my show, John always showed up. He wasn’t afraid.
Calling John Weekes “Mr. Baseball” was not to use a nickname: John won the title at a national competition of baseball aficionados in Los Angeles. One by one, like batters at a plate being mowed down by a great power pitcher, the contenders were retired. Finally, it was down to John and one other “Stathead.” The tie-breaker was to name all the World Series winners. John Weekes knew all of them, and much more.