A Bad Day for the T

Friday the 15th

Well, here we had a BYU Management group meeting and luncheon downtown today. So we left 2 hours before the appointed hour so we could get to Alewife Station and take the T downtown for a delightful lunch (at a mere cost of $25 each) and not be late. So at the 2nd stop, as we sat at the Davis Square stop, they announced that the train would be stopped as there was a medical emergency at the Porter Square station. After a little while they announced that since it would be at least 20 minutes we should all go up to the street and they would have busses to take us to Harvard Square so we could get on the T and get to our destination. So the hordes of people trying to get to work, to luncheons, or whatever they were doing, rushed up to the street........to wait and wait and wait. It DOES take time to marshall the forces and get enough busses to shuttle us around. Well, as you can imagine, it took nearly an hour for the first bus to land in front of the mob. At that point we heard that some person had jumped in front of the train at Porter Square and due to investigations, etc. the T would be shut down for the rest of the day!!! But we could take the bus!!! Well, at this point, it's noon, when we were supposed to be served our meal. I thought it was VERY rude of some person to jump in front of an oncoming train and totally screw up so many people's plans for the day!!! Including ours!!!

Well, the weather was delightful, Tufts University and Boston University are having their graduations this weekend so there's lots of kooky people wandering around as Davis Square is the Tufts stop. And since we wouldn't get to the luncheon until it was more than half over, we decided to walk around and found a Chipolte Mexican Grill and had delicious tacos that probably tasted more yummy than our $25 meal!!! Then ice cream at one of the many many places around that make their own ice cream!!! Then we got a free bus ride back to Alewife and our car. So it turned out to be a very nice day. Sorry, no pictures!!! You can't appreciate how Davis Square looked--the whole square is brick with trees and benches and tables and fun people and fun little shops and places to eat. Even the McDonalds was a store front. I wish you could all come here right now when the weather is bearable and see what a fun place this is. But you don't want to drive here. These drivers feel they are "enabled" to the highest degree. I think because the roads are narrow and winding that they just dart out in front of you when there's only a few yards between cars. And the heck with a "yield" sign. Just keep going and run someone off the road if you want!!! Scary!!!

So, I've just spent the last hour or so making the fixins for Taco Salad at our Self-Employment workshop tomorrow. Then tomorrow night we go to Nashua for the Stake Conference. Sunday the meeting is broadcast to our chapel here and afterwards we're having a sandwich supper. So I will be making pita bread sandwiches with ham and all sorts of "stuff" with it!!

OK, time to make cookies.........We supply food at the workshops because all the chapels are in places where there's no food close by and it takes too much time to go out and get food. My problem, as it always is.......we're paying for it---no reimbursement for food---and I have to have a full gourmet meal. Oh well, at least they're not hungry altho we have to make the afternoon interesting so they don't fall asleep. Off to the kitchen----which isn't saying much!!!!

Sunday the 17th


Massive Fire at Church of Jesus Christ of Lds in Cambridge
There was a pretty big fire at Longfellow Park in Cambridge which turned out to be the roof of a Church at the edge of it. It looked from the scene that everyone got out in time (there were no ambulances), but it is going to take a while to put it all out.


About 300 people were inside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints meeting house at the time, but officials say it appears everyone was able to make it outside safely. At midday, the sky over Harvard Square was choked with smoke. Parishioners dressed in their Sunday best watched firefighters try to salvage the building.


Attendance at the church was larger than usual because the parish was part of a national teleconference with Mormon church leaders in Utah. One church member, standing outside in a dress shirt and tie and clutching a portable projector, said he evacuated after hearing a smoke alarm. He said he expected it to be a false alarm, but the church quickly became engulfed in flames.

The chapel, which is about 60-years old, was gutted. The roof collapsed, but the steeple remained standing. It faces Longfellow Park on Brattle Street & Hawthorn Street, near Harvard Square.

The fire was was reported just before 11 a.m. Sunday. Officials say it started in the building’s attic and quickly reached three alarms.


Needless to say, this was THE big news around here and you all heard about it there too. This is the church where dad was bapyized in 1965. It is definately a historical landmark----at the time it was built, I think it was only partially a residential area but now there's homes all around and there is absolutely no parking except on the street. Three single ad young adult wards "live" there as does the institute people and the family history library. There's a big common area outside and on the other side of that area is the Quaker Church and school. They are storing all the books and paintings that we salvaged.


We went over today to see what was up and the Stake President was there. He's the guy in the orange. He said he hoped no one was there to interview him as he wasn't dressed "appropriately". Sunday after the fire was out he had to go in and collect some confidential papers and he took off his coat and tie. The press was there and wanted a statement and his daughter told him to quick get dressed "right".

The consensus is that the brick outer walls are safe and the church is going to be restored. The city wanted to condemn the building and have it torn down but the church people said it was structually sound and they could restore it. The church definately wants to restore because if it was condemned and everything was hauled away they would never be able to get a permit to rebuild in this residential neighborhood!! Pres. Low said they worked for 3 years on a site to build in a residential neighborhood and finally gave up even tho it would be built on a huge site and blend in to the neighborhood. Especially in Cambridge they would never be able to rebuild on the same site. I'm sure the people whose home practially touches the one end of the church were in a wad Sunday thinking their home would be burned to the ground.


This is the end where the chapel was gutted. You can see right through the window and the sun is shining!!!



This is the classroom end which burned out too. There were some offices and downstairs is the baptismal font. Just to the right of the tree is a 3 story home, which butts right up against the church---almost.


The fire didn't damage the steeple so they are going to remove it and I suppose use it when the building is restored.

But alas and alack, the flowers at the Temple are in bloom and everyone is thankful no one was hurt and the building will be restored, and the church remains true and God did NOT cause the fire (which some brilliant soul stated in his remarks). It was a smoldering electrical circuit in the attic. It's really a good thing the neeting was in progress so they could get stuff out and get the fire department there!!




Just got these pix from someone in the ward that was in a helicopter!!! Damage was more extensive than we thought!!





So it's onward, ever onward. We have some meeting tomorrow night at a one stop center---I can't remember why (senior moments come fast and furious), Thursday we're going to the Bishop's Storehouse as there are a ton of people coming throught there that need counseling (I still swallow hard at the fact that "I" am involved in counseling ANYBODY) and this weekend our boss from New York comes and we're holding an employment specialist meeting on Saturday. So we ARE doing something besides taking pictures of burned out buildings!!!

We're looking forward to seeing Catrina (Steve's wife) the week of June 6 as she is in charge of a 5 day meeting for her department at the "U". Then Dan and Kim are about to commit to sending their 2 oldest out here for a week the end of July and maybe some others will try to come. We can fill up a week of fun stuff to see and do!! June 1 is our technical "hump day" believe it or not. Time is flying.