Malden Musings: The Crime of the Century Peter Levine One of the greatest unsolved mysteries in the history of Edgeworth, and the St. Rocco Feast, took place in August of 1982 at the 53rd annual San Rock Festa. It was just another ordinary St. Rocco weekend right up until Sunday morning. Then blam! The backstory; as always, all the regulars gathered to sample the calzone, sausages & peppers, fried dough, and cannoli. They gathered to toast loved ones no longer with them. And to share the home-made vino that sat fermenting for months in every basement in Edgeworth. Regulars like Lou Brandano, (then Ward 2 Councilor) Dom Fermano, Tony Spadafora Sr., Johnny Colangeli Sr., John Puleo Sr., Freddy Caruso, Joey Cantera, Frankie Ultrino, Nick Angelo, Anne Sbraccia, Jean Selidelli, (then Ward 6 Councilor) Billy Croken, Bobby McCarthy, and a whole heck of a lot more San Rock pilgrims. The Bobby Fiore Orchestra entertained. The Angelo girls poured drinks. Children's faces were painted. But the talk of the weekend, the talk for the next few years actually happened as Saturday night worked its way towards dawn. Seems that in the wee small hours of that night a heartless and vicious thug pulled what was called at the time, “the prank of the century." This miscreant pulled a most cowardly act and cut down the grease pole that had been placed in the ground the night before. As dawn rose over Edgeworth groggy pilgrims arose. Through blood shot eyes they found the axle greased covered pole on the ground in a prone position. Tempers flared but cooler heads prevailed. Salvatore "Butch" Gennetti was the calm voice of reason; "It was a shame. Someone used a saw to cut the pole down. To do something like that is kind of (expletive deleted) when you consider the hard work involved." When everybody finally sobered up, they realized that Butch's words should inspire them to continue the weekend and make the most of it. The show went on. Of course it did. This is Edgeworth! The pole went back up. The vino poured once again. That afternoon, after the Procession, the grease pole climbers set the record for retrieving the salami at the very top of the pole. Mark & Joey Martino, Al Fucci Jr., Johnny & Gary Esposito, Rickie McCoy, Luke Angelli, Billy Spadafora, Sonny Trioli, John Racioppi, Kenny "Boo Boo" Bucci, and Eddie & Bobby Doherty made the best of a bad situation and put on a show for the ages. The crime remains unsolved to this very day. Every so often rumors of 'who done it' fly out the doors of the Italian American Citizen's Club, the I.T.A.M.'s, and the Molinari's back yard but the elusive culprit has never been brought to justice. Just as an F.Y.I. the statute of limitations never runs out for a crime as heinous as this in Edgeworth. Just the facts ma'am.