By Donald Norton

Over 100 former and current East Somerville residents who grew up here attended the reunion at the City Club this past Saturday night.

The reunion was the idea of Dan Rogovich who grew up in East Somerville and organized the first one three years ago, and this is the second so called reunion. Dan worked hard along with his small committee of family and friends to pull off this event.

Several generations of East Somerville residents showed up from the 60’s right straight up to the 90’s and still some that continue to live here in East Somerville. Great music by a local band, lots of food and great reminisces by the many that showed up. There was lots of talk about the old days and funny details of events that each enjoyed and have great memories of.

It was obvious to many there that some hadn’t seen each other in decades, some several decades. What a nice event and when you think about growing up in East Somerville, it was set apart from the rest of the city. It was known by many in Somerville as the poorest end that ran the Charlestown border.

It might have been that, but to the many people who attended and didn’t attend that grew up in East Somerville, it was an experience for many reasons. Many of the various parts of East Somerville were bonded together closer than other sections, some would say.

East Somerville runs from McGrath Highway east to the Charlestown line. Growing up, everyone in East Somerville knew all the land marks and lots of people Saturday reminisced and talked about many of those spots, like St. Benedicts, Broadway Theatre, Seven Sons Diner, Tin Roof, Daily’s Café (Bucket of Blood), Broadway Café, Khoury’s Café, Patsy’s Pastry shop, Apollo’s Cake Company, Tucks, Royal Furniture, Tufts Street Drug, Tip Top Market, Steve’s, Prescott School, Edgerly, Vocational School, J&S Subs on Cross Street, Millers Market, Reds, Florence Street park, Dunkin Donuts on Middlesex when they served lunches, First National Store warehouse and Gas Station, Glen Park and who didn’t go to Joe Izzy’s across from Glen, Mt. Vernon Restaurant, Grover’s on Cross & B’Way, Tar Pits and who got caught, and many other spots in East Somerville depending on the decade you grew up in.

No matter where you grew up in East Somerville everyone from there visited all the places mentioned and we’re sure we missed some others. Hopefully, this tradition continues, for the many that showed up and those that couldn’t attend last week but wanted to and will if there is a next time. Thank you, Dan Rogovich, for a great ride down memory lane. It was really enjoyable for everyone who attended.

Many thanks to Neil Gillis and Russell “Rusty” Smith for the many other pictures sent into the paper from the event. Go online to view the others.

— Photos by Donald Norton, Neil Gillis and Russell “Rusty” Smith