** Note, I do not claim to be a writer by no means. I just figured here would be a good spot to tell these stories in addition to reviewing the Landscape.
In the fall of 1982 I worked at a restaurant in East Longmeadow Mass. called the Willow Glen House. It was a fairly large place with several banquet rooms. My position there was maintenance in the terms of housekeeping, bar backing, washing dishes,painting,filling coolers and banquet room set up. I was also just married with a young son living at Cannon Circle. ( Spring Meadow Apartments ) Two brother in laws owned the place at the time having just purchasing it from the original owner, Ernie Siano.Charlie and Tom the Armenian brother in laws were the owners.
I mostly worked for Charlie the Armenian and who ever the banquet manager was. But one day in early fall of 1982 Tom the Armenian said that we were having a banquet in the Castillion Room next Friday night that wasn't on the schedule. He also told every one including me not to punch in as we would be paid cash sometime after the event. So as we got closer to the event we all started to get the details. It was going to be a big stag party for some one connected to the local mafia. Prime Rib for dinner with severs and all the fixings. Multiple bars, with a huge raffle.We were all told that if this party went well we would have another one in a couple of weeks. As I recall the stag went off with out a hitch and about 400 men showed up. Everything went fine, and when all was said and done I think I got $50.00 cash for the night and clean up, not bad money at the time for a little extra work. With in a couple of weeks we all heard that we were going to have another stag and that it was going to be the same situation with not punching in and getting paid cash. So great I thought as did all the rest of the people. All I know is the banquet ladies loved to get paid in cash and they were loving it.
As the second stag approached and at one time or another both Tom and Charlie had gotten to me to let me know that the people holding the party would be coming by well before the event and I should get them anything they needed. Find I said and with in a couple of hours and may-be three days before the stag men started to show up with pick up trucks that looked to be filled with tables. But as time would reveal, the tables were actually gaming tables that they needed set up in the hall. So as we rearranged the room for them one guy approached me and asked about the cellar of the place. I showed him the whole thing and he pointed to a specific room with a lock on it and said I'll need that room. I opened it for him and never saw him again until after the event.
The event was moving forward and there was a lot of Russel leading up to the stag. The organizers were telling the chef that there would be between 500 and 600 men there plus all these gaming tables, a couple of bars, and we even had to move a bunch of furniture out of a big coat room so all the bosses could eat in private. My father called me to say he would be there with his friends and to make sure we had the right Scotch at the bar for his pals. Well soon enough the stag got of to a great start, packed house with more still coming through the door. The only problem was people started to park on North Main Street, and with plenty of parking around the back no one had thought of directing traffic to the back so every one just started parking where ever they wanted. Soon enough the East Longmeadow police was there and as soon as some one heard that the police were there, those gaming tables were gone, down in seconds. Funny thing is it took them almost 3 days to set them up. A bunch a fat lazy guys who took forever to put them together. But when the cops showed up, gone in only seconds. It was still a good stag party and the bar was hoping late into the night. Hell I even had to give a few old timers a ride home.
The day after the party I worked a normal day cleaning the banquet room and being thankful that there was not another event that night. I went home at a normal time as my wife Mary had to work and I needed to be there for the baby. I was not home more then 5 minutes when I received a phone call from Tom telling me I had to come back to work to help the guy with the stuff from the stag. I said I do not have a sitter or ride and I didn't think I could make it. He said get a sitter and some one will be at my house in a couple of minutes. Well lucky for them our neighbor Nancy Comier was home and she said she would watch our son. A long came a gray pick up truck and it was the guy who asked me about the cellar of the place. So I figured he was cool. We go back to the restaurant where I proceed to help him load up all the gaming tables. He gives me a ride home and I think all is set. Well the next morning while at work I get a call on the phone from Charlie. He is in another part of the facility and wants to meet at the Castillion room. So I go down there and when I get there he is with 2 cops. One a detective and one is the Chief. When I arrive they ask about the cellar and say they want to check it out." Fine" I say and Charlie is trembling not knowing all the gaming shit is gone.We get to the cellar and the Chief walks right to the room where all the stuff was and says open it. Now this Charlie is about to have a heart attack, but I say "sure no problem" and give Charlie a wink, like its O.K. Sure enough, the room is empty and the cops are "satisfied" for now they say.
A few days later while getting the same room ready for another event the head banquet waitress says to me, "did you get paid from the stag from last week?" "No" I say and she immediately tells me to go and ask for it and make sure I get it. I tell her I will and that I have not seen Tom yet for the money. Again she wants to be sure I get the money. Well I am sure not to her surprise but to mine when I see Tom and ask for the pay he tells me I already got paid and he did not have any thing for me. So at this juncture I really did not know what to do. I thought I might try and clear it up with Charlie as he was a more reasonable man. In the mean time I end up at my parents house for dinner on the Sunday that all this was going on. When we were eating my father said it was the best stag he had ever been to and wanted to know how much money I made that night. When I told him what was happening, my mother stopped eating and looked right at him and said, " you take care of this." A few days later on a Thursday Night I get a call from my father. It is late in the evening and Thursday night would typically be a night where my father would be out. He says to go to the restaurant tomorrow at 5:00 and see Tom for the money. When I do Tom is in his typical spot at the bar in a conversation about nothing with the bartender. I ask Tom for the pay from the stag party and again he says, " I do not have anything for you and stop bugging me about it." I told him I was not going to argue but I am pretty sure I need to get paid for the event and that the organizers would not want to hear of any kind of with holdings. I left felling that it may be over as he seemed pretty confident that he could pocket my end of the stag party. Even though it was only a few bucks, it was still enough to but food on the table.
Friday night was also a time our family would get together and on this Friday when the phone was ringing I was sure it was my mother calling to invite us over for a home cooked meal. Well it was my mother calling but not for the invite. She was calling to see if I had gotten paid by one of the two Armenians. When I said no she said she would call me back later. When I said what about dinner she said not tonight. Now it was Sunday and I was anxious about everything going on with this money and with the hopes of being invited for dinner. Soon the phone would ring, a little later then normal for a Sunday dinner invite but never the less it was ringing. When I answered it was my mother on the other end of the phone. She asked if we were coming over for dinner and that we should be there early. If we eat at 2:00 I want you here for 1:00 she said. Right after you go over to that restaurant and see the guy about your money. I ask if it is a waste of time and she says go and get right over here after. So I get there right at 12:30 on Sunday and sure enough there is Tom the Armenian at the bar. As I approach he turns to pretend not to notice me but I speak up and say "Tom I think you have something for me". He hands over a brown envelope and says, "I do not know who you know,but you know someone." I walk away with $75 wondering myself, Who do I know???? Well as it turns out, my mother would have coffee every once in a while with Albert Ba Ba Scibelli at the local coffee shop on Sunday mornings after 8:00 mass.He was a local mafia boss running cigarette machines. And it was my mother who had the conversation about Tom the Armenian and payment with Mr. Scibelli over coffee that Sunday morning. So that is why Albert Scibelli is my favorite Springfield gangster.Plus he also cleaned me out of princess pine Christmas wreaths one time too.
So I hope to get back to a weekly blog. And when the weather gets better it will be more about the landscape. But there is a lot of landscape to cover,baseball,politics,horse racing..........
Good Luck, Eddie Pags
P.S. Football Picks New England , Seattle
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