When we endorsed Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone, there were many great reasons. One of them was the sparkle in his eye when he talked about bringing back the Somerville he loved as a child growing up here. We were not disappointed, especially in the summer.

This summer will have pools, youth jobs, ice cream for the kids on the Fourth of July and of course, fireworks.

The kickoff of our Curtatone Summer will be the revived Memorial Day Parade, which the mayor brought back to life with a vigor and excitement we had not seen in years. Another reason to support the mayor was the high-speed team he was prepared to bring to City Hall, On that team, none shine brighter than the man behind the parade, Francis P. Senesi, the director of the city’s veterans services office.

Senesi walked into a job that had been vacant for months. For too many people, the job was seen as a reward for running errands to Providence to purchase desk lamps or driving around the city with a truck full of signs. Instead of playing the payroll for pals game, the mayor chose a man whose devotion to his fellow veterans is unparalleled.

Look at the results: the inbox is emptied every day, phone calls are returned and the neglected tributes to our fallen patriots, such a the Honor Roll and Dilboy Memorial at the City Hall campus and Veterans Cemetery in Teele Square have been refurbished and maintained.

The other night, Senesi held a fundraiser at Assembly Square’s Good Time Emoporium for the Memorial Day Parade, where he handed the mayor a symbolic check for $10,000, which the committee raised from the fundraiser and other donations.

It was a great night of food, drink and sea stories, capped off by a tremendous show put on by the U.S.O Troupe of Metropolitan New York.

Yes, it was a super time. But, as we looked around the room, we noticed some people missing. Just where were the Progressive Democrats?