Lake, The

i'm a newtonite born and bred and i've known "the lake" as crystal lake in newton centre! who the hell calls a village a lake? crystal lake is "the lake"!

Mush, you obviously went to Newton South. Crystal Lake is "a lake." Only nonantum is "The Lake." Having lifeguarded many summers at Crystal Lake and ordered thousands of wings from West Street Bar and Grill, I am quite sure about the distinction between the two.

I agree with sickie that sami was clearly a Newton South grad and surprisingly ignorant of Newton's other half.Ever heard of mush?? Mush

Any of you divia mushes or bree know where mandi-ki can get a history of Lake language? I was born there and was told that it came from "carny talk". That might have been an overchay because I was just a chabby then. Now I have a quistia little givel and I want her to get the right education.

people don't even know about The Lake, the neighborhood I'm from. kids in Newton hear the Lake language and imitate it. The Lake practically isn't even part of Newton, nothing like Newton South. It's the only real neighborhood in Newton.

Mush,The corner of Watertown St. and Adams St. is the heart of "The Lake". If you have any doubts, ask anyone at the West St. Grill and Tap. "The Lake" refers to Silver Lake that used to be off of Adams St. Hence business names like Silver Lake Liquors located in, you got it, "the lake".

It's wicked quista to hear you Divia Mushes talking about givel.I myself jalled many a Corey after leaving "The Place" after hours.As a former Mush from West Newton who hung around with all the Mushes and Mushettes from the Lake in the old Newton North High School(Remember "The Wall"outside the Caf,or the Tunnels under the road?I was an Irish kid from up on Adams Ave but a lot of my friends were the Italian kids from "The Lake"Who can forget standing by the Wall when a Quista Givel would walk by and we all would shout"Minkya"

i graduated in 99'where did the lake talk originate from? I think it rocks anyways. i heard it originated from the italian immigrants who settled there. can someone make like a dictionary or somethin?

mush, nonantum has always been the lake. crystal lake was always just crystal lake and still is. ill catch u divias at store 24

Having grown up in Newton, I was always curious where the term expression "divia mush" came from (among other lake-isms). Anyway, I happened to be poking through a Romanes word list (Romanes being the language of the Romani, aka gypsies) and I found that "Moosh" means man. Certainly nothing conclusive, but it makes the "carny speak" theory a bit more intriguing.

emily's a bit too smart. stay out of the lake

One time I took a friend from Newton South to Watertown St. in "the lake" to get something and they he felt like he was on a field trip. They really don't pay much attention to the other side of the tracks--that means you SamiGotta go hang with Charlie Maley--see ya later

Emily is way smarter than most pre-1990 Day Jr. High grads, but she's close to right...Anglo-Romani (sp?) is the actual language, and in the early 20th century, it seeped into the neighborhood (maybe the Carnies in Hawthorn Park every July brought it?). I remember hanging out under the willow trees at the actual lake back in the day, and I also painted the exterior of the whole block from Swartz's down to Silver LAKE Electronics in 1986. So there - you freakin' divyas.

I am another pre-1990's Day grad and you are right. My dad was a Lakey and I have also lived there. Everyone pokes fun at the residents, but it is the last true neighborhood left in Newton and I loved living there. It was not called carney language, but it is considered gypsy language. In fact, about a year ago, I was speaking to a half-Italian not from the area and I happened to say the word "divia". His eyes grew wide as he exclaimed, "Oh my God! Are you gypsy?!". I responded, "Well, that's what my father used to call me when he was disgusted with my behavior." True story

.....and a little more info. Silver Lake was down the Lake and was filled in. That is why there are all those little "summer cottages" down there that are now full time residences. They were the summer hang out for the Bostonians. You will find the same phenomena is other surrounding towns like Wayland and Natick around Lake Coch. Sami really needs to cross Comm Ave. to the other side of the tracks once in a while

I'm from Newton and now live in northern california. I check boston common at work all the time to get home sick. Anyway - this brought me right back to my days at north and passing through the adams (blue)and beils (dark green) lockers where the lake was spoken. My friend from high school who also lives out here and i say divia and mush though no one outhere has any clue what we're talking about. I still say wicked all the time which gets me made fun of but i refuse to say "hella"

Crystal Lake as "the lake?" Mush, I went to South and even I don't think I've ever heard someone make that mistake.

What's up, Mush!

I typed in "The Lake" in google and this came up. This is so quista. Sickie I dont know if "Sami" is even a Mush, Wouldnt a mush spell it Samy or Sammy?Might be a gival and a quista one at that. I knew a guy who had a few pages of definitions but you have to prove your from the North side not the south side to know where hes at.

You're all DOVILE

I always that it was "jaw like a divia" but then I also thought the Beetles wrote a song called "Paperbag Ricer" . . . I suppose it all boils down to usage. Anyone remember hangin' out behind the Paramount? or settin' pins at Hunneywell or Ace's? or sitting for two hours a day doin' nothin but looking at the Jethro Spot in Mr Warrener's shop class? or mushin' trolleys or cars? (the verb "mush" . . .) I know the noun "mush" was used to address friend and foe alike as far from the Lake as Oak Square, possibly like "cousin" is used in the middle east; I could never figure out what Newton had against Everet. . .

My grandparents on both sides came from The Lake, two Irish families, interestingly. My dad's family moved to Brighton, but my mother lived up the Lake all her life and graduated from Newton High in the late-1920's. When I got my first pair of ice skates at age 5, in 1955, my father and I walked over to the lake between Adams St. and Nevada from my grandmother's house on Bridge St. so I could try them out. (She lived right next to the "Santa Claus" park at Bridge and Watertown.) Therefore, I remember "The Lake" as an actual body of water, marshy and small, that froze in the winter, obviously, and was enjoyed by the locals. Co-incidently, when I became a third grade teacher in Newton in 1975, I was assigned to the Carr School on Nevada Street where, by then, "the Lake" had dried up. I wound up teaching the grandchildren of families whose last names I remembered from a lifetime of stories about the Italian, Irish, and French-Canadian friends of my mother and her siblings from their years "up the Lake." Did any of you guys from the Lake go to Carr School? I have only fond memories of you. My five years at Carr, until it closed in 1980, were some of the best years of my life, mostly because the people of the Lake were so friendly and kind. (I'm the teacher who had the big moustache. Still have it, by the way.)

Please, mush! I grew up in New'in Cawna ('cause the T is silent) & went to Lincoln Eliot & Day. I didn't even know there was an actual Lake (Crystal) in New'in till I was in high school. I remember "divvya" as being a word you could use as an adjective or just kind of an exclamation: if someone did something stupid, you said, "Divvya, mush"; something cool, you said, "Aw, quistya, mush." Yo, mush, please, mush, etc.

My great grandparents came from Italy straight to the Lake. So my entire family is from there and many still reside there. I recently moved from Quirk Court off Adams across from the 'Sons' where I rented a small house. My wife and kids and I are in Kentucky now and I am in culture shock. I'll bet I was the first person to ever call someone a mush while in the comomwealth of Kentucky... I'm so homesick I got a job in an Italian restaurant to stop from going divya.

The dialect from The lake lives on.Most unique place in America.

Oh my head.......I can't believe you scrubs are all talkin' about the Lake, and NO ONE mentions the Pellegrinis?....Fats Pellegrini is who started painting the fire hydrants and the friccin' traffic , double yellow, line things..or whateva(SHUDDUP!)... red green and white. Leon and Larry were the brawlinest baddasses in Newton North......the storys about keggahs in Cabot Park would, within a week, sound like a friggin' episode of the A-Team...Unreal.....Bunny's Mahket Ruuuules, mush...

Anybody go to Franklin?

Mush, the Lake is the capital of Newton and will always be. If you people from South Newton want to try and take that away, your in for a rough night.

All you "Mushes" and "Jivils" coy the moy, stop jallin ya corey and get over to the West Street Grill for a Quistia or Divia Steak and cheese, "Fat Burger" or "Mush" Burger.www.weststreetgrilltap.comGod Bless "Fat" we miss you.

Please mush, Newdon north class of 79 here, da lake is da lake... Crystal lake is for doodah rich folks from South. Don't make me come down there and go divia on you mush. Long live the NNHS "offices"

Kind of off the subject I am a 1980 graduate of NNHS and I was in Adams house and it was dark green. Either they changed things around or Bibbo is color blind..."da lake" was/is certainly unique...fond memories

The good ol' Lake. It's basically full of a bunch of old losers and people who can't seem to understand they graduated from high school YEARS ago. Get a life people, the lake sucks, has sucked, and ALWAYS will suck. Hey you guys know there is a whole world out there, and it's round?

I love it. I live in Pasadena and to come to a board like this and seeing so many Massholes ripping into each other like somebody cutting off Chevy Nova on Route 9 with a n '84 Monte Carlo brings me a little tear of joy. Now lets all go egg the Green Line and call it a night with a Cabot's shake.

Good ol' Marc, it's easy to sit behind your key board and have BIG Cogliones, (is that a thong you're wearing)I bet if you were down the Lake your cogliones wouldn't be so big. The Lake is the only real neighborhood left in Newton, it is a great community that was built on hard work, honesty and respect. Some things you obviously need to learn more about.It's losers like you that made this round World what it is today. You probably don't even know your neighbors. So coy the moy, by the way did you even graduate High School ? And it's time to cut that mullet mush !

The Lake will always live on...All the young mushes coming up are keeping the traditions....myself i having been painting those street lines and hydrants for 10 years now!!!!!god bless the "fat" man!!!!

I remember the rest rooms in Brandon's were labeled "Jivels" and "Mushes". I can imagine an outsider that has to pee, wondering if they are a jivel or a mush.

Ever take someone from outside The Lake to Guiseppe's and watch the horror on their face as they got yelled at for asking for lettuce on thier sub ? Classic.

The Lake Baby. I grew up there. Fats used to steer the Madonna Parade (which was the reason the fire hydrants & lines were painted the colors of the Italian Flag) by my great grandmother's house when she was too old to leave the porch. Then he'd give all the kids fire crackers and jumping jacks. Fats was a good time.Anybody remember Giuseppe?s subs? D&A Pizza? Magni Bakery? I still haven't found a loaf of bread anywhere near as good as Magni's. I hear people still line up around the corner to get Antoine's canolis at the holidays.Questia mush.

I am also from a family that came directly to Newton from Italy and settled in Thompsonville to continue farming along Florence St and Dudley Rd. There were at least two Irish Traveller colonies in Newton at the turn of the last century. One in Nonantum (The Lake) and one in Newton Centre (Thompsonville.) They must have spoken in a version of the Patrin/Romany language where you can find the words mush, divja, etc. I have a little background on the Travellers, things that my parents told me, and I would like to hear more about the language and the people and compare. If you have parents and grandparents who lived in The Lake and T-ville in the late 1800's and early 1900's, please ask them about the gypsies and share your stories here.Regards,A Newton South grad who knows that Crystal is not The Lake.

To Grimace: THe restrooms in Brandon's were named jivels and mushes by my father, JA, who painted them on there when Brandon's was the Columbus Cafe, opened by my grandfather. The funny thing about that is I was just remembering how growing up we girls weren't allowed to go down the barroom because it was strictly for men (all the little old Italian men would be lined up at 8:00 am waiting for my father to open it up so they could get their glass of red wine). I recall that shortly before my father sold (or gave) the Columbus to Billy Brandon, he was trying to drum up business and we girls had him bring live bands in there (anyone remember playing?) and going in there on a Friday night for a beer was a big thrill for me, at 18 it was legal to drink then. Anyway, I was just trying to find the origin of the word "divia" when my brother sent me this link. Living in Denver now, this almost brings a tear of nostalgia to my eye. And frankly, the best thing Fats ever did was host the annual Xmas parties, giving away those huge bags of toys marked "boy" or "girl" (should have been "mushette" or "jivelette", huh?)

I threw together this little Lake dictionary for a friend from work who had just moved down there and had no clue what people were talking about.I'm interested to see what some of the other wordy types think about the spellings I've come up with, and please do let me know what else needs to go in there. Things like "minkya" aren't included as they are Italian, but not exclusively "Lake."Mush: (not what a dogsledder shouts, rhymes with ?push?) n. Dude, buddy.Ex: Hey, mush! Come here for a minute.Ex: He's a good mush.Divia: (alt spelling divya) - adj. crazy.Ex: You are a divia mush.n. crazy personEx: Hey, divia! Watch where you?re going!Ex: Mush, my boss went divia on me yesterday just because I was 5 minutes late!Overchey: - v. lie, fabricationEx: Don't overchey me. I know you were there.N. lie, fabricationEx: He's a good mush. Overchey! (i.e., he's not a good mush)Jivel: - n. WomanEx: Mush, who's that jivel think she is?Alt: JivellaQuisture: (sounds like kwishtya) - adj. AwesomeSpelling explanation: Think "posture" with a Boston accent.Ex: Mush, I don't know who that jivel is, but she?s got a quisture rack.Coy the moy - shut upEx: Mush, coy the moy, that jivel with the quisture rack is my girlfriend.Avray: Over thereEx: Mush, see the quisture jivel avray?Joll: V. StealEx: I just jolled a pack of gum from Fox?s.Cory: Male genitaliaEtymology: I suspect this comes from the word ?Quarry?Ex: ?Ow, my cory! (After getting hit by a ball)Ex: Mush, that jivel jolled my cory last weekend. (Note, it is unclear why joll is used here. It just is.)

I forgot about those. Those Christmas party bags were the best! Every year you could count on a new hockey stick being in there, that was a great thing indeed when you were a kid.

Stearns Park(The Park),the Woods Joe Do,Cheif!,Salt and Peppah Shakah at the festival, Babe! not a chick Boys club camp get there early for stickball allison park 4 square champion, Christmas at Post 44 equals paperbags with hockey sticks... quistcha,I got all the chicks, yah overchay. No divia, Mingah I lie. Italian Ice from Ray's. Ms Capuzzo at LE. The Wall, The River(Charles) Tunnels not by Day, FA.I never considered cabot's park as part of the lake but I guess I except you guys because after Hawthorne park your it but you have got to have heard of Fats, Our Lady's(which is not in the lake) Ray's Deli, That crazy funeral parlor( The surname was M somethinanothah) on Watertown st.which imo is the end of the lake heading west.All Lakahs went to Lincoln Eliot,Day and NN. Bigelow kids are out.. Newton ctre kids...out. The lake...I tell my current friends about the place and they are in total dibelief. I say directional instead of turn signal, carriage instead shopping and thanks to the Lake I have the luxury of learning my vocabulary like mush and how ir was used still kills me.

It's nice to see "The Lake" lives on. It isn't (and will never be) as good as it used to be when I was growing up, but I still call it home and I'm proud to be a Mush.Nowhere else in Newton will you find the comraderie and culture that we have in The Lake.I can add a little more to the history of The Lake.Newton was originally named New Town, a part of Cambridge.Nonantum was named by it's native Indians.Nonantum was predominantly populated by Jewish imigrants in earlier years, hence the old synagogue.Then French and Irish imigrants, hence Shamrock street and Murphy court.Our Lady's Church architecture is French Gothic.So things change and people change but the history remains.Now my controversial statement:"The Lake is not Italian" The Lake is a group of good, middle class, hard working, decent people. Many are 1st 2nd or 3rd generation immigrants.The best people in The Lake where the people who came together to make it what it is,Anthony "Fat" Pellegrini and the whole gang, you are not forgotten.Long Live THE LAKE!

"The Lake" thats where I grew up. My whole family still lives there. And to all the people who have anything bad to say about"The Lake" and the people from "The Lake" #1 Your just jealous #2 You know what u can do.And to two of the best people you could ever meet, my Grandparents Anthony "Fat Pellegrini and Joanne C Pellegrini,it will neva be the same without you.~Arrivederci~

The Lake was Silver Lake... whats left of it is a small swamp you can see behind a fence from the parking lot kiddie corner to Nevada street and Watertown street. Cops chased some weirdo through there 2 years ago and he hid in the swamp as a helicopter circled the area, he reportedly ran through a nearby neighboring house before being caught by police. It was never announced what this guy actually did, if anyone knows please post it!Anyways, before any of this happened and before the lake washed up (which stories say was a man-made lake) it was actually big enough that residents had small boats they'd take out on it, and even row to eachothers houses for tea or food.What's the relevence of this ?Community-The population has grown so rapidly yet the sense of community is still rich in "The Lake" (nonantum), although many of the values may be perceived as highly conservative in this village, people are socially active much more-so than in many other citys. I think its great that so many people come together and can discuss all type of current issues. I wish other larger cities or even other villages of Newton can inherit this ideal. In addition there is much culture here in regards to both Italian and American history. If in town you may catch a parade, carnival or just get a great home-cooked meal and peruse various old and often historic photos showing the progession of development in the greater boston area.All in all, Nonantum is a fun part of my childhood history and I will always return there on occasion to remanaisce or visit family.Peace to Tony Circionne, Derek Cedrone and all the young bucks who left us at an early age, "only the good die young".

ahhh yes god ol good ol lake boy, defending what he percieves as people who act normal. I was just back there a few weeks ago and ran into a few guys I used to go to high school with at the D&D on Adams st, guess what they were still tlaking about only high school and hadn't done anything with their lives lol imagine that. Well I got back into my new mustang and laughed all the way back to DC. Don't worry though guys, someday maybe the 80's will be cool again

janine, the lake no matter what you might delude yourself to think it is, is nothing more than a black spot in newton. Try venturing away from the umbilical cord sometime, you might find that the sun shines elswhere also

My umbilical cord was cut along time ago, so don?t speak on things you know nothing about, especially THE LAKE.

Do you think Marc might have been picked on as a child? He sure acts like it! Whats the matter with you Marc, Why do you hate the lake so much? I wouldn't have that much to say about my worst enemy, if I had one. Do me a favor and don't come back to the lake again. We don't need your kind around here.

Good to here from Marc again, for some one who hates The Lake so much it seems you're around enough. I bet you're a mummas boy who got beet up for wearing Garanimals to school you sissy. Once again you sit behind your key board (that obviously does not have spell check you moron) and spout off about the losers down The Lake, grow a set and tell some one how you feel next time you grace us with a visit in your really cool Mustang. By the by when I was in phsycology classes at Havard they told us about guys that drove Mustangs, it seems they had problems with bed wetting and enjoy swallowing things whole, go figure.

ahhh yes "good ol lake boy, CJ, and janine". good ol lake boy I seriously doubt you went to Harvard, you might have gone on campus to buy a sweatshirt or something but that's about it, you might wanna spell check your computer also there IV league. CJ I avoid the lake hence why I live in DC, I went back and had a nice laugh at all the morons there. Basically a lot of what I see here are people riding the coat tails of a 2-bit thug and priding themselves to say they knew him...whateva

I grew up all over Newton, including the Lake, Mush. I was googling the word "Mush" to see if the world has caught on. A while back my friend's mother who works in the school system had sent out a survey asking "What is Mush?" It was hilarious. I wish I saved it. Good to see the Mushes are still out there. I live in California now where people say "Hella" and think Pissa" is a bad thing...Divia, that's wicked retahded.

DUDE MUSH! Simmer down there Markie! Your supposed to spell your name with a K you effin DIVIA!!I remember the Christmas Party's at the 440...every year Santa would show up in a HELICOPTOR!! AHAHA! How did Fats ever arrange that? There wasn't much worth anything in those bags...but it was a good effort though. Hey...one thing about Fats: he always gave back to the community and cared about kids. Not many people can say they do that.I grew up w/Larry, Leon & Luchetti mush....and the only Sammy that counts is Sambo Davis!! hahaha!I don't get any mush talk out here in AZ. I grew up in West Newton but Long Live the Lake Mush!!

Hey! Nobody has mentioned SKAVINT, mush. And question: What DOES Minkya mean?? I guess since I wasn't a dude yelling it at a quisture jivel, I never caught onto that one...

I've heard "joll" used as a synonym for "bs", as in "Don't joll me, mush."I live in another part of the country now, and reading this page was like a trip down memory lane.Remember Mr. Pup's?And is DePasquale's Sausage still there?

how could you think "the lake" is crystal lake? shows that people on the south side of town don't even know we exist!

Mush newton south sucks!

Just looking thru things and found this site. I'm Derek Cedrone's Mom.Warmest regards to you all, as Derek would have wished. Be well and happy.

As a true native of "The Lake", we never considered the Crystal Lake crew worth the green scum that their lake had on its surface. Waltham, Watertown; They had some b''ls. Crystal lake homies were wusses.I live & work out of state now. Recently one of my people told me they had hired a woman named "Divya"! I started laughing out loud. They had no idea why!

Hey Marc, GET A LIFE!

HI EVERYONE I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU ALL KNOW WHO PLAYED SANTA SO WELL FOR SO MANY YEARS. HE WAS MY UNCLE BOB NALLY HE WAS A GREAT GUY WHO LOVED CHILDREN.HE MADE CHRISTMAS EVEN MORE EXCITING FOR ALL THE KIDS.EVERYONE KNOWS FATS RAN THE CHRISTMAS PARTY AT THE 440 BUT I WANTED YOU ALL TO KNOW WHO PLAYED SANTA.HE DID IT FOR OVER 20 YEARS AND WAS HAPPY TO DO IT. SADLY HED PASSED AWAY 2 YEARS AGO. I MISS HIM HE WAS A WICKED FUNNY GUY.AND A GREAT UNCLE. THE BEST

DePasquale's Sausage is indeed still here, and so good. I'm brand-new to The Lake -- just moved here in June -- and I love it. I grew up in a tiny town in CT, but though I love it, it didn't have anywhere near the sense of community that The Lake does. I just got home from the Christmas lighting at the park. It even snowed!Thanks everyone for all the great history and stories, and thanks to Anto and others for the translating!I wish I could have met Fats.

Wow I come back and still get a great laugh out of all these posts. Almost sounds like I was in high school again. Good to see that people have matured. I visited some family for christmas and drove up from DC, yeah the lake is still the run down armpit of Newton that it always was. Keep dreaming folks and someday the 80's might be cool again. At least then all the goomba's with their tank tops, mullets, and IROC's might be cool again hahahahaha. Hey you guys know the world is also flat?

Mushes travel far and near. All I know is they bring the mush with them and I love it.

The Lake has heart and soul. What's your last name "Marc"? You're angry and obsessed with this neighborhood for some reason. I bet I know you, just wondering who you are. By the way I've been all over the world and I still keep it divia. I miss Biscone's

P.S. Before it was Biscone's it was Ray's. That store was awesome.

MUSH!!! To Windbreakah...yeah, I went to Franklin. Had Ms. Laganse for Kindergarten. The Lake is what it is! The melting pot of Newton. I lived in West Newton all my life, moved to Nh, but came back and met a quivia Givel also from Newton. Newton North and Drinking down by the tracks!!!! Bibbo from Northern Cali? Were you from Kilburn Rd? I grew up on Northgate Park...Thanks for the Memories you Mushes!!!!!!!!!

Mushes!! Was reading some old posts from Marc..guy can't even have a decent k on his name hahaha!! Yeah, I came back too, and yeah, some of the guys in H.S are still doing the same old, same old. What you don't get or if you even stopped to (Think) get is that they also have family, and strong ties to the area. They have a sense of community that you will never have. I got that sense back, when I moved back here, and I think that's why your so angry. Hey....get over yourself MUSH!!!Ps. Bernie F. That Mush became a firefighter in Idaho (Sandpoint) give that mush a shout on their web site!!!

I'm not a lake native but everyone, including us not native frequenters of The Lake, knows that DePasquale Bros. sausage cart during the carnivale is the very best place on all the earth to get an Italian sausage.It's sweet world!!PS. If anyone is interested, I just recently heard a rumor that that tiny bit of wetland that is all that is left of Silver Lake is in danger

Cont..... in danger of being dried up and developed. I hope that someone puts a stop to that.

Cont..... in danger of being dried up and developed. I hope that someone puts a stop to that.

Cont..... in danger of being drained and developed. I hope that is not going to happen.

Several of you mentioned the carnival down Hawthorne in the summer, but who remembers the 2 tons of firecrackers that they strung up in that driveway on Adams Street and lit at the same time? Who's house was that anyway?

I ate an Francescos tonight. The food was great. I noticed the old Jewish Synagogue across the street. Is it still used?

I ate an Francescos tonight. The food was great. I noticed the old Jewish Synagogue across the street. Is it still used?

Joe Meedoo !!! Lol!!! Now that brings back memories. The house on Adams Street was Johnny Welans mom's house, which almost blew up. and Yes the synagoge is still active and the oldest in the Boston area.Mushes!!!!!! Hey Bibbo...write back MUSH!!!!!!!

The house on Adams street with the firecrackers was Nunzio Leone's Chairman of the festival commitee for over 30 years....funny think is I never realized their was a Lake on the south side of Newton.....lol

Just found this site...amazing!! I graduated from Our Lady's in 1964...my dad, Sal Arico, is 85 years old and still calls everyone a mush!! My folks still live on Lincoln Road, and I try to visit them every year during "The Festa"....my mom still walks a few blocks. So happy to read everyone's comments about "The Lake"...it was such a part of my childhood. Hello to everyone. Sally Arico Jones

I think I might pick up a rum cake at Antoine's after a quick "3 dogs on the sub roll" over at Guiseppe's!

It's great to see that this site keeps going. The Lake is/was a special place with a sense of community that's sadly missing from most places today.By the way, this "Marc" character spells his first name with a "c" at the end. Hum! Only other one I knew who did that was a little loose in his loafers!

I had to piss my pants!!! Happy Hank Mush!!!! Lol! I haven't heard that name since Joe Meedo!! hahahaha.Thanks for the laugh.Yeah, I think the Marc guy's last name was clark! Very light in the loafers!!! LOL!!!!MUSH!

The Lake is the most unique neighborhood in the Boston area, filled with strong, proud Italian characters I have admired for years in memories from my childhood. I spent countless weekends with my father, Alex on Adam's street and down the club watching my grandfather Ambrose cook. Rest in peace Grammy, Grampy, Dad; you are missed dearly and will never be forgotten.

FIRST OF ALL I WOULD LIKE TO SAY HELLO TO ALL YOU MUSHES AND GIVIELSI GREW UP IN THE LAKE AND YOU CAN NOT FIND A BETTER PLACE TO GROW UP (I GREW UP ON ADAMS STREET)SPENT MANY A DAY DOWN AT HAWTHORNE PARK WITH MACK PELLEGRINI (GOD REST HER SOUL) AND THE ONE AND ONLY FAT SPENT MANY A DAY AND NIGHT CLEANING UP THE PARK WITH FAT AND CLEANING UP MAGNI PARK WASHING ADAMS STREET WITH A HOSE THERE WERE TWO SANTA CLAUSES THE OTHER WAS MIKE BELLI (HAVE PICTURES TO PROVE IT)HE DID IT FOR OVER 15 YEARS SO TO ALL OF YOU WHO LOVE THE LAKE GOD BLESS YOU IT WILL NEVER DIE AND DONT FORGET THE 3RD SUNDAY IN JULY THAT THE FESTIVAL AND THE PARADE SO SEE YOU THERE.

Anyone seen this? Mush, check it out....divia vid:http://youtube.com/watch?v=Gf3xBG3wWfc

My husband (a Newton/Lake native)forwarded this link to me and I am so psyched that I have now learend the lingo! Now I can say "you have a Quisture jivel for a daughter in law". LOL.

YO Mushes and Jivels!! Good to see this page has a life of it's own, pass it along to as many as you can!

Yeah I took another trip up there for family and spent some time with some guys from high school who partied behind worlds gym. Some of them are somewhere between alcoholics and a 2nd stint at rehab, and I beleive one is having a vacation in a 6X6 room. Nothing like moving a bit more forward in life people. I see the onces who succeeded got the hell out of there didn't they? Man what a joke that forgotten swamp has become, well it always was really.

Marc:To be honest I didn't really love mushes or the lake while growing up in Newton. They definitely had a tendency to be violent and were quick to make fun of anything that moved. That said, they were a pretty funny and unique group of people that had some good qualities as well as bad. Clearly you were beaten many times by mushes, probably very badly. It's sad to see someone so bitter after so many years. Maybe it's time to let go of your anger and move on. It seems like you are the one that is still hung up on high school..

I just found this site and am excited to read all the comments about such a great time we all had growing up in the lake. We never had much and every year Fats gave you either a new football or basketball in that brown paper bag and the girls got a doll I think. I remember riding with Fats in an antique car when Bellotti ran for governor. I grew up on California St. We had so many parks and there were so many kids. Some of the things I remember: Getting a sub at Ray's Dell in the white waxed paper for $.60, Guiseppe's meatball subs (Joe used to swallow 2 raw eggs every morning), Mazzola's hot bread, that purple '70 challenger in the window of Silver Lake Dodge, anyone remember the phone booth in the back of Ray's dell? Fox's pharmacy was on Watertown St at Chapel. What about the Deacon's joke shop? And didn't the Sullo's run a little breakfast restaurant (Chapel & Wat.)? The 349 was there before it became "The Place" and let's not forget the Boy's Club and Friday night boxing. The new club was awesome. Frank Crocetti always gave me the Italian cheek squeeze (on my face). Man did that hurt. So many fabulous memories that shaped our lives. We were all very close, almost a model society for the rest of the world when you think about it. I went to OL and the H.S. Remember getting a rose from a certain beautiful blonde girl while sitting on the wall. She was from West Newton, 39 years later and 3 blonde daughters (they were tough)here we still are. She was shocked one day when she heard a woman say (in a major dept store) "the mush is divia". She though I was the only one who talked like that. I said honey, it's a real language, trust me. Her father always told her never to marry anyone Italian or from the lake and he would laugh like hell. We had it all!

Hey Grimace,Are you my Bubba? G & R have missed you if you are JF alias Bubba. PWB

Mahk musta gave up a few quakahs behind the caf to save his azz from the cherry apple pit....c'mon mahk, don't make me trow a beatin on ya mush. 'Cause I will.

Marc is a lonely girl, dont listen to him for he would'nt last 2 minutes walking down Hawthorn St.
I grew up on Clinton St. and Fats Pelligrini returned my fathers stolen tools to him after he heard that he had been ripped off. Thats the kind of Guy he was. He told my dad not to ask any questions about who did it and I'm sure he told the divia who stole them never to steal from your own neighborhood again before he gave him a dope slap.
Anyways I always admired Fats and the things he did for all of us especially the elderly. People like Marc dont get it and never will. They dont know what its like to grow up in a neighborhood everyone knows each other the way we did. The Lake is not the same any more but the Legacy will always be there. From Ray's Del to the Boy's Club, from Hawthorn to Our Lady's, from catching a beatin to having that same guy stick up for ya later on, the Lake always taught you lessons about the important things in life. Love, Loyalty and Community. The Lake was a great place to grow up.

My Irish mom grew up down the Lake on Adams Street near Linwood Ave and often told stories of skating on Silver Lake with all the kids. An older, quite DASHING lad named Warren...(she called him "Warrie")...would intervene when the mushes tried to botha' her cuz although she wasn't Italian, she was definitely QUISTA with her long, jet black hair, pale clear skin, and hazel eyes... She talked about being sweet on a mush named Ralph, but his mother wouldn't hear any talk of Irish girls, not even one so QUISTA! But, soon her PRINCE would come, a mosh from San Donato in a Navy uniform, asking her to wait til he got home from the war, and she did because his eyes were as SPARKLING BLUE as the ocean that kept them apart! ♥ They started out on Green Court, but he was a carpenter/builder, so he built her a CASTLE on a hill where they had my brother, my sister and me! The Lake was just a place I took for granted when I was young. We lived a few miles away, but it was "home" to all my relatives, and we spent most of our free time there amidst the sights, the sounds, the feasts, and the culture. I was baptised, confirmed and married at Our Lady's; and lit candles at St. Jeans where my (French Canadian) grandma spent a lot of time with me in tow. I didn't realize how special The Lake was until I grew up and realized that not EVERYONE was either ITALIAN, IRISH or FRENCH! ...so, not EVERYONE had an Uncle Guido (aka "Whitey") who, um..."took care of things"????? Not EVERYBODY knew that the word "jolled" meant that ya'...um...SWIPED sumthinn'??? It was an AWAKENING that's for sure! LOL!!

So I was watching "My big Fat Gypsy wedding" on TLC and the Gypsies were saying Div-ya & mush...I'm all like WHAT??? so wrote them . Along with a long list of well known Lake terms, it would seem the "Carny" story pans out. Half these Lake-isms are indeed from the Romney language. (aka gypsies to the rest of us mushes )They were super nice about explaining all this. The other half is Italian or straight up Bostonian. Ming-ya is actually quite fresh to say to a Girl, weather she understands Sicilian or not !

you mush, The Lake (or 'da Lake') is not in Newton Center (Centre) - that is "Crystal" plain a simple (or as some might say "Polio Pit") - da Lake is in Sandi Beli's back yard - it is geologically a depression left by an old dried up meander of the Charles River ("Chahles Rivva") filled in with old mota cycles from Peoples Cycle, a few old sofas and Fridgidairs, diamond lock roofing shingles, tonic bottles, used crankcase oil mixed with street sand, leaves and old bricks and probably more than a few bodies tossed in by lots of other local divia mushes.

I grew up literally a stone throw from the Watertown/Newton marker on Watertown Street (corner of Morse and Watertown). I well remember The Lake from the 50s and 60s. Living in an Italian family Ray's Deli, DePasquale's, Mazzola's and the Gloria Chain were regular spots. I loved going into Mazzola's with my father where the ovens were. Amazing smell. Man that place smelled great. Saturday lunch was Mazzola's Italian bread (the big long uncut loaf) and link hotdogs from Gloria Chain, eaten in front of the TV. Sunday a huge dutch oven of tomato sauce would be simmering and you could be sure DePasquale sausages were in it.
Even though I was from Watertown I heard it was "The Lake" because of Silver Lake from grandmother and aunts/uncles who lived there.
Was there a death in the family? Then Magni's Funeral Home was where the wake would be held.
Great old memories. Just wish I had a Ray's sub right about now!

Does anyone remember or have stories related to my Grandfather, Sam Fried, of Fried's Department Store?