Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

I thought that it was pretty cool back around 1968 when I did something crazy in Davis Square. I rode my bike in the front door of Grants five and ten, through the aisles, almost hitting customers, and down the stairway, and out the back door. I had to then keep peddling my Sting Ray like mad because the store manager was right behind me. I remember riding right by the baby turtles in the pet section, on the way down the dangerous and bumpy steps and out through the heavy door.

I was often accused of being a bad influence and a ringleader. Especially in a party situation, usually, I was the one who came up with the idiotic ideas for dangerous and sometimes life threatening stunts. Add cocktails, and you got even more trouble. My Baby Boomer friends and I lived on the edge. We had fun even though it was risky at times.

Every day was a party. I got us into beefs in other countries while on vacation. I’ve been thrown off of Greyhound buses, I got us tossed

~ Photo by John A. Roderick

out of hotels, and detained at customs. But I’ve got a story that proves that one of my favorite partners in crime was pulling outrageous stunts long before we started hanging out together. So I can’t be blamed for this one.

My very good friend Freddie had a really cool early 1960’s Volkswagen Beetle with tinted windows. The year was 1970 and Freddie was a relatively new driver but he was in that car constantly. One day he was down at the Mass Ave. end of Cameron Ave., the street he lived on. He must have been bored or just temporarily insane when he got the idea to drive his VW Bug on the railroad tracks from Cameron Ave. to the next crossing which was Davis Square. But knowing Freddie, it was probably just a spur of the moment idea.

If you’ve ever walked or cycled the bike path you know that it’s a fairly long stretch. And what if a train was coming … from either direction? But that didn’t stop Fearless Freddie! What was going through his mind as he played that dangerous game of choo-choo train engineer? Would the cops be waiting at Davis Square with handcuffs and a tow truck? What an adrenaline rush!

Freddie approached the Davis Square crossing at Holland Street. Luckily, he pulled off of the tracks and up Holland St. without a hitch. A clean getaway! The treacherous and silly dare-devilish feat was history.

Unfortunately, someone who saw him as he pulled off the rails, ratted him out to his father. Fearless Freddie was bagged by a patron of The Pine Tree Diner. His punishment was that he had to park his car for a week and hoof it. He also had to go right home after school. There were plenty more crazy adventures to follow involving me and Freddie. I miss those days and I miss my friend Freddie every day.

Today on that same stretch of former railroad track that Freddie completed his wild and dangerous ride, you will find runners, walkers, and bicyclists. When I drive by there at either end, I recall counting the cars, hopping a freight and picturing Fearless Freddie driving his Volkswagen Bug on the railroad tracks. File under those sensational, psycho, Somerville ‘70’s.