Monthly Archives: July 2025

Beauty from Tragedy

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Once again, Fall River was rocked by a tragic fire.

I certainly do not have enough information to have any definitive thoughts on who needs to be blamed for this tragedy. There are plenty of people online, both professional and amateur, who are putting the work in there. I sincerely hope that lessons are learned from this horror and that steps are taken to prevent anything like this from happening ever again.

One shining beacon of positivity that I did see come from this was the outpouring of support that I witnessed the people of Fall River provide.

One example, that we did participate in, was a fundraising event spearheaded by Chris and Nate Silvia of Christopher’s Cafe on South Main Street along with the Firefighters’ Wives Association spearheaded an event on very short notice to help raise money for the victims.

The number of businesses from Fall River and across the South Coast that quickly lined up to participate was an incredible thing to watch in real time on the Christopher’s Facebook page, as was the vocal support that seemed to be pouring in from residents looking for ways to help.

In less than a week, the event seemed to have grown so big, that the original venue had to be substituted with a larger one.

On Friday evening, my wife, the younger twin, and I ventured down to St. John’s Club in Fall River to take a small part in helping out the community. And, yes, to get me one last Mee Sum’s Chow Mein sandwich.

We arrived 15 minutes before the event started and already saw a line at the back of the building and a completely full parking lot. We found a good street spot and took our place in line.

The line to enter St. John's Club in Fall River. Picture taken by me on Friday, July 18th

An hour into the event, people were already being told they would have to wait to enter because the venue was at capacity. At which point, I looked back and saw the line was already longer than it was when we got there.

To the credit of all who were running the event, those of us outside waiting our turns were not forgotten.

A screen capture from WCVB Boston news that shows a volunteer happily handing out pizza to those of us still waiting to get inside the venue for the fundraiser. I am in the middle of the frame, not facing the camera. My wife is to my right in a red shirt and Twin B is to the left of the woman in a pink shirt.

(Hey, that’s my green shirt. Mom, I’m on the TV!)

Volunteers were quick to run pizza and other appetizers out to those of us still enjoying the sunshine.

And, as far as I could see or hear, nobody seemed to be complaining. Everybody was being patient and, dare I say, friendly with everybody around them.

Once it was our turn to get inside, we happily paid our entry donation and bought two bundles of raffle tickets for the gifts donated by so many local businesses. And then we made our way into the main room where the wall-to-wall food was. Did I mention that the owners of Mee Sum Chinese restaurant was there with Chow Mein Sandwiches?

After we finished eating and put our remaining raffle tickets in their respective buckets, we made our way to the exit, to help let the next round of folks in.

Two hours after the event started, the line to get in, still longer than it was when we originally got there. In fact, one of the news channels did a live ‘hit’ after sunset and showed that there was STILL a lengthy line for people to get in.

Panoramic view of a long line of people still waiting to get in to the fundraiser for the victims of the Gabriel House fire in Fall River. Picture taken by me, July 17 2025.

And as we made our way back to the car, I remembered what the man behind us in line said while we were still waiting to get inside and looking at how long the crowd was.

“”You wouldn’t see this in Easton. This wouldn’t happen in Bridgewater.”

I don’t know for sure if one would see this in Easton or Bridgewater or not. But we certainly saw it in Fall River. And I am grateful to be a small part of this amazing city.

I’ve talked before, and will continue to talk about how the diversity of Fall River is a large part of what makes this community so great. And, as unfortunate as the circumstances are that brought everybody together are, it honestly moves me to see how quickly and how powerfully this city can come together and focus our energy for good.

TOGETHER

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The recent passing of the 2025 “Budget “Reconcilliation”” law is going to make the next handful of years significantly more difficult for the vast majority of Americans.

That goes at least double for a vibrantly diverse city like Fall River.

I am well aware that Fall River has been fighting for survival for decades. I also know that the only way through the coming fight is to push forward, and that none of us will be able to fight this fight by ourselves.

The road is going to be scary and painful in a lot of ways, but there are way more of us than there are of them. We have strength in numbers, and our numbers will continue to grow as more people realize what this congress, senate and president have signed. Already, the policies in the bill are wildly unpopular with voters. The policies will only grow more unpopular as the effects of them start to hit anyone not already a multi-millionaire.

I don’t think that anybody working to fight against this knows what all of the correct answers are to survive the oncoming years, but doing nothing at all and hoping it blows over is not an acceptable answer.

Locally, we need to remember the message behind the motto of Fall River.

FALL RIVER THE SCHOLARSHIP CITY FOUNDED A.D. 1803 INCORPORATED A CITY 1854 WE'LL TRY

I know that the motto is frequently laughed at and dunked on. I’m also well aware that I’m not the first person to write about the motto on the internet. But, when looked at in the proper historical context, the motto of Fall River is actually beautiful and perfect.

Going back to the 1843 fire that nearly wiped out Downtown Fall River, the motto was used as an attempt to express that a disaster was not going to stop the determination of the residents to let the city succeed.

“We’ll Try” isn’t a promise that we are going to go through the motions and make it look good while we half-ass a task.

It was, and still needs to be, a promise that we are going to do the best that we can to fight together, in the face of any- and everything that “they” want to throw our way.

This country, this state and this city are all worth fighting for, even knowing that the rich and powerful are doing everything they can to rig the game against the rest of us. But, like I said before, there are a lot more of us than there are of them.

Even today, while gathering signatures to help ensure my name gets on the ballot, I encountered a handful of residents who refused to sign my nomination papers because I didn’t vote for the same presidential candidate that they did. And while that’s certainly their right, and I didn’t press the issue with them, that goes against what I am hoping to bring to the school system here in the Scholarship City.

In a story I’m sure that I’ll be sharing at some point in the coming months, one of the greatest things I was looking forward to about moving here was the diversity of the city. I say it right on my homepage, and will tell it to anybody that will listen to me: The diversity of Fall River needs to be celebrated and protected.

We would not have made it as far as we already have without all of our different perspectives. We would not have made it this far if, in previous times of trouble, had we all just decided to look out for ourselves and let everybody else fall where they may.

Once again, this is a time when we need to stand together to support one another and do what is best for the common good of the community. Fall River has done it before, and I know that we have it in us to do it again.

We WILL try. TOGETHER.

And we WILL succeed together.