This week the virtual web surfing is all about Braintree (where I actually lived for 6 years on Hollis Avenue). And I guess now that I’ve Googled the heck out of the town…I can sum it up with 3 names:  Silk, Sacco & Thayer. Read on and you’ll get the gist.

Of course, the first thing that popped into my head was the Sacco and Vanzetti case.  Remember these guys? They were two Italian-born laborers and anarchists who were tried, convicted and executed via electrocution on August 23, 1927 in Massachusetts for the 1920 armed robbery and murder of a pay-clerk and a security guard in Braintree, Massachusetts.  In April 2010, Braintree will host a 3-day event for the 90th anniversary of the murder of the 2 payroll clerks Federick Parmenter and Alessadandro Berardell. The day will include a mock trial form the day. (thank you Jim Regan! from BELD).

Worth noting that robberied in Braintree are way down according to CityRating, a great place to catch the city stats for crime, school,etc.

Speaking of the law, whether you are in Braintree and any other city and town in Massachusetts, there are a few dumb laws still on the books that could technically land you in jail. Here is a great list that made us roll on the floor. Check out the dumblaws website.

And I was surprised to learn that General Sylvanus Thayer, the “Father of West Point” was from Braintree. He was also the founder of Thayer Academy in Braintree.

Braintree also seems to breed hockey players. Holy cow! We had Mark O’Sullivan on tonight’s show too. He comes from a big hockey family and according to him Braintree has the biggest hockey program – over 800 kids!

• Tony Amonte, former hockey player
• Mike Mottau, hockey player, Hobey Baker Award winner
• Brooks Orpik, hockey player, Pittsburgh Penguins
• Jeremy Roenick, hockey player, San Jose Sharks
• Dave Silk, hockey player, 1980 Olympic Games “Miracle on Ice” (he also attended Thayer Academy!)
• Ryan Whitney, hockey player, Anaheim Ducks

Then, I cruised over to the Braintree Town site. Very clean. Easy to navigate. Nice simple calendar of events. Couldn’t find an email sign-up for own alerts though. If anyone knows where it is…please write in.

Next stop on the virtual tour, Wikipedia. Where I found my usual stats:

• town population = 34,442
• town incorporated = 1640
• mayor = Joe Sullivan
• for every 100 females 18 and over there were 84.4 males – is it the mall that scares the men away? LOL

Tags: wikipedia