Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

I feel very blessed to have grown up in the Somerville of the 60’s 70s 80s and 90s. If you think Somerville is cool now you should’ve seen it during those times.

At one point we had a Friendly’s, a Dairy Queen and a couple of Brighams to hang at. Nan’s Sub Shop was across the street from Somerville High and there was Angelina’s across from the Western Junior High School. We had Butler’s Music Store in Davis Square years before our friends’ Rockin’ Robs.

We had great restaurants like The Venice and The Continental at opposite ends of the city. We had two record stores, one in Davis Square and one in Porter Square. And don’t forget that the very first Bertucci’s was in Somerville as was Steve’s Ice Cream.

We had recreational staff at just about every park in the city. We had a good run with high school basketball games. Nobody got a ride to and from school. We either walked or took the bus. Most streets were two-way but we still played right in the middle. We had paper routes and bicycles. We had pigeons and no rabbits.

We had friends with cool cars like Neal’s 67 GTO. Friends started riding motorcycles. We hung out at bars like The Jumbo then ate an early morning breakfast at Kay and Chips.

We had great mayors like S. Lester Ralph and Gene Brune. We wore Members Only jackets and the girls had marvelously big hair. We had no cell phones. We kept a dime in our shoe for the phone booth.

Davis Square had a beat cop I think his name was Al. He was always smiling.

If you wanted to be an electrician, carpenter or a plumber you could attend Somerville trade high school as many of my friends did.

How about how close we are to Boston and Cambridge? When I was a hippie in the 60s and 70s we could go to the Cambridge common or the Boston common to participate in peace rallies and enjoy free concerts.

Somerville high had the best choruses and glee clubs. We now have a beautiful new high school to boast about.

I’ve lived in Somerville my entire life and I’m grateful to be able to stay here now in retirement. There’s a great Facebook page called the Pride of Somerville. Check it out.

We had the best city then and the best city today.