Larry the K's Lineup

  In the wake of the 10 th anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings, which was observed during Monday’s (April 17, 2023) 127 th running of the race, I’d like to share this column on a unique art exhibit held to pay tribute to the Boston Marathon five years after the 2013 tragedy. The art exhibit --- which was held during the month of April 2018 at the Attleboro Arts Museum in downtown Attleboro, MA --- offered a unique glimpse into both the bombings and their aftermath and the marathon itself. This column was published in the Wednesday, May 2, 2018, edition of The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro, MA: Link to this column: https://www.thesunchronicle.com/opinion/columns/larry-kessler-museums-marathon-exhibit-is-inspirational/article_0c135f7b-b8b9-537e-88b0-7abf563a33db.html Link to the story I wrote on the opening night of the exhibition on April 10, 2018: https://www.thesunchronicle.com/news/local_news/runners-high-attleboro-arts-museum-features-marathon-themed-art/article_4f7e...

It's not every day that I can play the proud papa role and tout one of my daughter's athletic accomplishments, but yesterday (April 12), on her 22nd birthday, my younger daughter Alana scored the first goal of her college lacrosse career during Johnson and Wales University's 22-5 rout of Albertus Magnus. That goal came about midway through the third quarter and it was the 18th JWU goal of the game. That was quickly followed by her second and third goals of her career, including one on a penalty shot. Getting a hat trick on three consecutive goals was a great way for her to celebrate her birthday. Her accomplishment is a testament to her grit and determination, because the only other competitive lacrosse she had played before this winter-spring season was on a club team during the second semester of her senior year in 2019 at Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School in Franklin, MA, where she was a four-year starter on the women's championship soccer team. He...

  Artist Mary Wojciechowski of Attleboro creates luminaries at the Feb. 18 museum art exhibit. The Attleboro Arts Museum, which serves the greater Attleboro, MA, area and beyond, is celebrating its 100 th anniversary this year, and that’s a most notable accomplishment. The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro, MA, saluted that anniversary with stories in the paper on the weekend of April 8-9, and with this column, which was published in the edition of Monday, April 10. At the end of this column, I include the links to the stories and this column in case you’d like to check them out. ******* “Mazel tov” is the traditional Hebrew greeting when you wish someone well as they’re celebrating a “simcha” (a happy occasion). It’s most often uttered when wishing people well at milestone events --- bar or bat mitzvahs, marriages, births, wedding anniversaries, graduations and birthdays. It literally means good luck as “mazel” means fortune or luck and “tov” means good. But however you say it, in...

  The author is 3 (far left) and his sister Sharlene is 7 in this family photo. Passover, the eight-day Jewish Festival of Freedom, will begin with the first of two Seder meals tomorrow evening (April 5), and the holiday --- which commemorates the ancient Hebrews’ flight from slavery in Egypt --- carries an even deeper meaning these days due to what the Anti-Defamation League has called record-high antisemitism in the United States. It's both discouraging and chilling that antisemitism remains a major problem in 2023, but given the hateful nature of American politics these days --- when people (and not just extremists or would-be terrorists) demonize their opponents and openly talk about killing them and inciting riots and inflicting violence on them --- it shouldn’t come as a surprise. That atmosphere makes our memories of the holiday even more precious, and that’s the subject that I delved into with two versions of the same column. This column was published April 1, 2023, in ...