William Curry
Times Staff
About 1,000 people gathered at Florian Hall in Dorchester last weekend in a show of support for recovering firefighter Tony Pickens.
It was called “A Night for Tony.” It was a night he will remember.
“The Milton Fire Department Local 1116 firefighters and wives did a great job organizing with all the time and effort and deserve all the credit,” says Fire Chief Malcolm Larson. Bob McCarthy, the president of the Massachusetts firefighters union attended, as well as chiefs and firemen from all over the state, including Brockton and Randolph.
Firefighter Nancy Monroe says she felt great about the event. “The turnout has matched the effort, and it is terrific. As a union and as a department, I couldn’t be more proud.”
Another key organizer, firefighter Joe Garrity adds, “This has been phenomenal. Fantastic support has been shown from the town of Milton, the city of Brockton and all communities. The brothers stick together and have rallied around the Pickens family. The locals did a tremendous job.”
The event raised tens of thousands of dollars towards Pickens’ medical costs. A series of donated items were raffled and awarded throughout the night from a five-day Caribbean cruise, a Sony surround-sound TV to a Toro snow blower and an iPod.
Pickens arrived escorted by his engine company with sirens ablaze, while friends and brother firefighters lined the entry way and guided him and his family into the hall. It was a hero’s welcome, a showering of support.

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By Jon Prestage
Editor
Six of the country’s 10 most Irish communities are located in Massachusetts, and Milton is the most Irish of them all. Thirty-eight percent of its 26,062 residents, according to the 2000 census, say they are of Irish descent, but that’s not what drew author Michael Quinlin, and his wife, Colette, a graphic designer, to town.
They came for other reasons, like the schools and the French Immersion program and an opportunity to escape urban life in Dorchester for their young child, but the couple founded the Boston Irish Tourism Association (BITA) a few years ago and Irish heritage is a key focus of their lives.
Quinlin, who, several years ago, authored a book called, Irish Boston: A Lively Look At Boston’s Colorful Irish Past, says his parents were born in Ireland, and Colette is from Ireland. As you might expect, March is a busy time of the year for both of them, primarily because of St. Patrick’s Day and the activities they plan around the event.
Quinlin says St. Patrick’s Day is changing. It is no longer just a matter of green beer, Irish pubs, rowdy parades and party hats, and the reason for the changes have a lot to do with changing demographics among people of Irish descent in this country and also on the fact that Ireland has an economy that buzzing with growth. No longer do Irish immigrants flock to America’s shores in large numbers in search of opportunities. They remain home for those opportunities now.

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By Nate Leskovic
Staff Writer
A public meeting last week presenting plans to build the new animal shelter at the DPW yard brought more questions than answers as residents expressed concerns about the move and the future of the yard and the town farm.
Town Administrator Kevin Mearn, Planning Director Bill Clark and DPW Director Walter Heller presided over the tense meeting proposing the Randolph Avenue location for the Milton Animal League’s (MAL) new $2.5 million shelter. The current building on Gov. Stoughton Lane at the town farm is deteriorating.
There were few questions about the details of the new shelter, but many about the intention to move it and future possibilities for the DPW yard and the town farm.
Neighbors near the DPW yard fear development on Randolph Avenue due to property owned by Milton Centre LLC, which unsuccessfully proposed a shopping center for the area two years ago.
Mearn said Heller could soon start a feasibility study to fix up the DPW yard, and that the shelter would act as an “anchor” to help assure that the DPW yard remains a town facility.
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By Nate Leskovic
Staff Writer
The ballots for the Tuesday, Feb. 5, presidential primary are ready for marking as Massachusetts takes part in the “Super-Duper Tuesday” battle.
Voters will get to weigh-in on their preferred candidate in either the Democratic, Green-Rainbow and Republican party. The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. (see page four).
The Democratic candidates are Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
The Republican candidates are John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul.
The Green-Rainbow candidates are Jared Ball, Cynthia McKinney, Kent Mesplay, Ralph Nader and Kat Swift.
Some on the ballot have already left the race. For the Democrats, Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, John Edwards, Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich and Bill Richardson are no longer running.
Green-Rainbow candidate Elaine Brown and Republicans Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter have dropped out.
Independents can vote in any party’s primary. This is the first year they do not have to fill out a “change card” after voting to rescind a de-facto registration with the party whose primary they voted in.
In addition to the presidential race, voters will pick members of the Democratic and Republican Town and State Committees, which work to promote the interests of the parties and back candidates.
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By Jon Prestage
Editor
The group Sustainable Milton is immersed in an effort that it calls the “Milton Solar Challenge” that could net a four-kilowatt solar panel array worth nearly $50,000 to offset electricity costs of a town building or school.
The challenge requires that the group gather 300 families by April 30 willing to join the New England Wind Fund by donating either $5 a month for a year ($60) or providing a one-time $100 payment to the fund, which is a non-profit organization offering financial support for wind development projects throughout the region.
As part of the Sustainable Milton campaign, approximately 100 residents showed up on a recent Saturday to take a closer look at David DeSantis’ home, which, when it was built five years ago, was much like any other house in town. Since then, DeSantis, a real estate developer, has installed a range of cutting-edge “green” features that make the home one of the more energy-efficient in town. A 10-kilowatt voltaic solar panel system provides enough electricity to make the home electricity independent. The family’s two vehicles currently run on biodiesel or recycled vegetable oil. Compact fluorescent lighting is used throughout the home. The house is extensively insulated, and before the end of the year DeSantis plans to install a 3.7 kilowatt wind turbine to power two electric vehicles that he hopes to acquire when they become available.
DeSantis is serious about energy efficiency, and he thanks Al Gore and his film, An Inconvenient Truth for his commitment to dramatically cut his energy usage.
“It’s just good citizenship,” he says. “After seeing the film I had a long talk with my son and we figured the best way was to do these things was to do it ourselves and then try to share our knowledge with others.” He also visited Amazon.com and ordered numerous copies of the film, which he then sent to friends.
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