Rink dedication a reminder of Southie’s strength

I spoke at the dedication of the Jack O’Brien Street Hockey Court at Moakley Park in Southie on Saturday. After thanking Jack O’Brien’s daughter Tara for inviting me, I offered the following remarks:

This ballpark is where it all began for so many kids from Southie. And it is good to see so many friends here this morning, from Jackie’s early Little League days, St. Augustine’s CYO Baseball, the Mustangs and the Hawks (sandlot football teams), and our days winning city championships in football and baseball at South Boston High School.

It all began right here at Columbia-Moakley Park. But even before Jackie and I played ball here together with Dom Gentile, Gerry Wheeler, Bob Nichols, Tom Devine, Ken Preskinis with coaches Frank Fallon, George McCarthy, John Horan, Charlie Connolly and Bill Burton, there were earlier standouts like Bill Hurld, Dick Lucas, Normie Fitzgerald, the Sullivans and Steve Flynn, just to name a few. But the kids that came along years later are really the reasons why we pay tribute to Jack O’Brien today. When these kids needed help and support, they received it. Jack O’Brien, like his wonderful dad Eddie before him, were so generous and committed in supporting the youth of South Boston, from athletic programs, the Girls and Boys Club, Julie’s Learning Center to so many other important girls and boys social service agencies. The O’Brien Family was always ready to help.

And in the mid 1990s, when the deadly crack cocaine epidemic hit our streets, and especially the youth of Southie, it was our social service agencies and churches largely financed by businesses like O’Brien’s Funeral Home who stepped up and helped provide vital resources. I was at the Vatican at the time, but Jackie, Gerry Ridge and Willie McDonough called me and asked me to call some prominent Catholics, including the cardinal, to assist the various recovery programs and provide financial help for needy families. No grandstanding, everything quietly and behind the scenes. It was the the ugliest time in our community’s history, including school busing, but the neighborhood miraculously came together, like good families do in time of crisis, and made a big difference.

One last story I would like to tell you. Over the years I have traveled quite a bit. In fact, all over the country and world. Oftentimes someone will come up to me and say, ‘Ambassador, you come from a neighborhood where a lot of wellknown people are from. U.S. House speakers, cardinals, mayors, congressman and war heroes. You must have been pretty proud to grow up in South Boston?’ Yes, as a matter of fact I am. But let me tell you something else that I am even more proud of. I grew up in a community where average working class families cared for one another. If someone needed help, people like Jackie O’Brien and so many others were there. Like Jack, they quietly but generously contributed to needy causes and supported numerous kids’ sports teams. And that’s why we are here today, paying tribute to this fine son of South Boston. Jack has always been there for the kids of Southie and the people of South Boston are here today for him.

Yes, some things in Southie have changed, but Jackie O’Brien and the people’s concern for kids hasn’t.

Let’s watch the kids play hockey.