Man About Canton: Dan Berardi Honored
By Joe DeFeliceOn Saturday, April 13, Dan Berardi was the guest of honor at the Canton Town Club as his family and many friends turned out to celebrate his 90th birthday.
Dan Berardi is a true Cantonite. Born of immigrant parents, Candido and Mary Berardi, and raised in Canton, he lived on Revere Street and later moved to 38 Mechanic Street with the rest of the Berardi clan. Danny is the oldest of seven brothers that included Frankie, Gino, Dickie, Bobby, Joey, and Eddie and two sisters, Mary and Anna. He grew up during the Great Depression in the 1930s. After graduating from St. John’s Elementary School, he went to Canton High School where he graduated in 1941. He was an outstanding lineman on the CHS football team.
On February 12, 1943, during World War II, he was inducted into the U.S. Army Air Corp. One year later, his unit, the 816th bomber squadron, was stationed in Italy. From an air base in Italy, he took part in 50 air missions over targets in Belgium, France, Germany, Romania, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. During a mission in 1944, Danny, as a tail gunner on a B-17 flying fortress, was awarded the Silver Star for bravery and gallantry in action while remaining aboard a shot-up and crippled B-17 bomber with wounded crew members. Amazingly, Danny survived all 50 missions. Having risen to the rank of staff sergeant, he was discharged in late 1945.
After the war in 1948, Danny became employed at the Canton Post Office where he remained until he retired in 1987.
In 1950, he married his lovely wife, Dolly, and built a house on Leonard Street before moving his four sons (Dan Jr., Paul, David, and Mike) and one daughter, Sandra, to 612 Chapman Street where the family remained for the next 28 years. In 1983, Danny downsized, moving to 49 Kenney Street, where he still resides today.
In 2003, after 53 years of marriage, Danny lost his beloved wife. Today, he keeps himself busy with his garden, eating out at the 99 Restaurant in Canton, playing with his grandchildren and one great-grandchild, and taking frequent trips to the Canton American Legion to discuss the town and world events. At the birthday party, Freddy Gladstone of the Canton Legion presented Danny with a specially made jacket that included the Silver Star emblem. MAC congratulates Danny Berardi on his 90th birthday, his service to his country, and his life as a true Cantonite!
Selectmen in Sharon recently approved a 40 percent increase in ambulance rates. The base rate will be $1,048.45 for emergency service with basic life support, and $1,245.05 for emergency service with advanced life support.
On the subject of the town of Sharon, 14.4 percent of its population of 17,612 are people of Russian descent, which is the highest proportion in Massachusetts. Sharon High School’s enrollment of 1,195 students includes 74.1 white students and 25.9 minority students with 16.0 percent Asian students, also one of the highest proportionally in the state.
And while on the subject of Russia, the country recently passed a law prohibiting smoking in public places, which includes schools, universities, hospitals, playgrounds, sports arenas, restaurants, government buildings, and public transportation. This is an extraordinary measure in a country where approximately 60 percent of adult men smoke cigarettes.
The Wampatuck Country Club recently petitioned the Canton Zoning Board of Appeals to construct a 2,100-square-foot steel building to replace a collapsed storage facility on its property at 95 Pleasant Garden Road.
The Sky 8 Shrimp farm will produce about 1,500 pounds of shrimp this year at an industrial park building in Stoughton. The operation is the first of its kind in New England. The number 8 in the name comes from the fact that this is the eighth such shrimp farm in the United States. Shrimp is the most consumed seafood in America. The new company is owned by James Tran and Peter Howard.
JP Scott was recently appointed by CHS Athletic Director Danny Erickson as the new head baseball coach, replacing Junior Medina, who resigned after leading the program for three seasons. Scott was the assistant coach for the past three years.
Selectmen recently appointed Cynthia O’Connell of Sharon as the town’s new conservation agent, replacing longtime conservation agent Robert Murphy, whose contract was terminated in December 2012 by the selectmen. O’Connell previously worked as a part-time conservation agent in Dedham.
Selectmen voted to fund the Canton Fourth of July celebration as part of the Recreation Department’s annual budget.
An expert is a man who tells you a simple thing in a confusing way in such a fashion as to make you think the confusion is your own fault.
This is all for now folks. See you next week.
Joe DeFelice can be reached at manaboutcanton@aol.com.
Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=20084
Posted by Joe DeFelice
on Apr 18 2013. Filed under Featured Content, Man About Canton, Opinion.
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