Resurrecting the 21 Whittier Drive Community Room

 Three of us were at Coffee Hour this morning, I just got back to my apartment at noon.

 For two hours I played piano today, after Coffee Hour from 9-10 or so.  

Fri, Jul 24 at 12:43 PM

 An Open Letter to Shelby Perrault

21 Whittier Drive

Everett MA 02149 

There's so much potential for the 120 apartments at

Whittier Drive

McKinley

Proctor

Lynn St

Shute St,

but it will take real effort to bring the room back to life and more.

The biggest event we had outside of Mayor Van Campen and Maria Bussell visiting

on the campaign trail - they had the biggest audiences, was when we had 

a farm in the community room, animals!  

What I propose is Animal Rescue League bringing in pet adoptions.

The Animal Farm cost Mystic Valley a lot of money, maybe our

state Rep McGonagle and his pal Anthony DiPierro can work to

bring the room to life again?

By reaching out to the Animal Rescue League to have a bi-weekly

pet adoption program, with dogs and cats in the room that people

can adopt, we can get our aging tenants from all 120 apartments

invited to these events.

Of course it would be more than just the pets, we'd have coffee

and ask local businesses to get involved to foster different people

speaking different languages to get involved --- with interpreters.

We have to do something.

It was a pleasure to play piano today for a couple of hours, and
I'm willing to invest the time again to help our community out.

Had a good talk with Shelby Perrault yesterday, she said the

community room is for everyone, yet on July 23, 2026 while

I was playing piano alone in the room, some guy sat down

right near me instead of in the TV room.  He started rustling

a bag to annoy my playing - as he did a month or so ago -

I call him Mr Eminent Domain, one of those bad penney types

that disrupt the flow.

He snapped at me "This is not a recording studio."  He wanted

to make puzzles.  Bullying this 72 year old disabled man,

the heavy-set, chain-smoking individual wanted to make puzzles,

so he made it so uncomfortable for me that I left and filed

a grievance with Shelby.

Today that individual saw three of us at coffee hour and left.

The room's complexion changed when the bully left, it was

not as suffocating and we had donuts, coffee and played with

an APP on the phone called Coin Snap which tells you the

value of your coins.  A fellow at the table had two silver dollars

valued at $46.00 each.  It also tells you the history of the coins

and how many minted.

This is the good thing for seniors when one person doesn't 

control the room and make puzzles all day long, acting as

if it is his own office.  He actually has keys to Pastor Ed's

bureau, with his own personal belongings in there. 

That isn't fair.

Having interaction with dozens of people is fair.

So Rep McGonagle and Ward III Councilor DiPierro,

I'm asking you guys to reach out to Animal Rescue in

Boston, or an animal shelter, and let's get Housing to

work with us to bring pets back to the Community room,

the most successful event we ever had.

The Connolly Center has events for seniors that

are packed; NeighborhoodPACE at St Therese had

a dozen or so people playing BINGO when I was

there for lunch on Monday (and to see the doctor,

and have the nice vampire lady take blood from me,

yikes....she's my friend but she's still a vampire...)

One person making puzzles for over a year and thinking

it is his office, making others uncomfortable, snapping

at a piano player "It's not a recording studio" is just

absurd, unfair, and stifles our creativity.

So 1 apartment out of 120 can make puzzles and

suffocate all the rooms with his puzzles, not yours?

No, it is wrong monopolizing a room and turning it

into a ghost town.

Neighborhood PACE has plenty of seniors in the

room at St Therese for lunch and for BINGO

The BINGO ended at 21 Whittier, the Puzzle Maker

had a beef with a late senior and quit the Bingo...

too much animosity and hostility....and I'm just

the reporter...

21 Whittier has a reputation of the Bingo dissolving,

as has the entire room

The room coordinator needs to address these

situations on her watch.  Who fights over Bingo?
The puzzle maker was angry with the tenant - now deceased-

and walked out.

The puzzle maker said the happiest day in his life was when

a neighbor underneath him dropped dead.

Don't blame the messenger, that negative force OWNS the

21 Drive Community Room and it is not fair, Shelby.

We need a room that flourishes and has TV time where

elders can get together.  The Puzzle Maker was also putting

Catholic literature on the piano, and everywhere, suffocating

the room.  The First Amendment doesn't allow for 1 religion

The piano is a beautiful instrument.  The puzzle makers, there

were two until one died, put flowers on the piano, the woman

used the piano to throw her clothing, purse, telephone, it was

so disrespectful.  When I moved their plants to a table I found,

to my horror, that they had ruined the top of the piano carelessly

pouring water on the plants which ruined the piano top.

Do you think the puzzlemaker has the integrity to pay for the

piano to be repaired? A beautiful musical instrument harmed

by the negligence of one selfish person.

Yesterday I was intimidated with the cruel remark about it

not being a "recording studio."  So I - in a moment of inspiration -

had to shut off my recorder and leave.  Instead of letting me

tape my music, he came over and rustled his lunch bag repeatedly

to annoy me to the point where I could not record, could not us

the community room, so that he could make puzzles.

Today, when that person left, more people got to enjoy the room.

At PACE we sign an agreement to be civil.   IF we snapped at

someone at PACE we would get suspended from the room.

I suggested people sign Agreements but Shelby won't.

Instead she put up a sign "No rolling eyes at people,"

yet in her office, when Charles Censullo bothered her,

my hand on the Bible, Shelby rolled her eyes.

Amazing.  No one reads such nonsense, people must

sign an agreement to be civil so that Jean Daniel from

Housing not be barefoot taking tenants' lease forms,

so filthy dirty, according to a woman, L.F., who said

Mr. Daniel from Housing did that?

Who wants some barefoot Housing Coordinator

walking around a senior center ???? like that????

No wonder they have Attorney LaRovere on staff,

with a nutcase like that you need a 24/7 attorney.

But I digress, the point of this is to resurrect the 

room with friendly people who can meet each other.

1 man making puzzles 9-5 every day and chain smoking

and being hostile is why it is Shelby Perrault's Ghost Town.

We need to bring the people back. 

 

All are welcome to play - two other people asked me for help with

playing piano.  Happy to oblige.  We never get invited to do puzzles,

but I'm happy to help people have fun with music

It's about helping our fellow tenants vs one person being selfish

and ruining it for everybody else.

I hope Shelby is listening; she has been tone deaf to our needs,

which is why we had 2 NeighborhoodPACE persons and one

other tenant there this morning.  Pace or the Council on Aging

should step in if Mystic Valley Aging Services can't handle it,

and right now they cannot handle it, all due respect  

The Messenger

Joe V