Remembering Arlington's Paul Tavilla, the World's Greatest Grape Catcher

The late Paul Tavilla, an Arlington, Mass., native and an owner of the P. Tavilla Company at the New England Produce Center in Chelsea, Mass., gained much attention back in the day as the Guinness Book of World Record's champ for catching grapes in his mouth.

In the early 1980s as a reporter at the Arlington Advocate in Arlington, Mass., I once had the honor of talking with this friendly, funny, caring man. The first topic of conversation centered, of course, on "Grapes thrown by hand and caught in mouth on level ground and high-rise buildings." I was truly impressed by this unusual feat, which led to Mr. Tavilla gaining national attention with guest appearances on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, The Dinah Shore Show, Geraldo Rivera, Maury Povich and Live with Regis and Katie Lee. More importantly, his unique talent brought many smiles to charity events and hospital visits.

Paul landed in the record books several times including catching a grape in 1979 at ground level from 327 ft., 6 inches at Breeds Hill Rd. in East Boston, Mass., and, at the high rise level in 1988 from 788 ft. at the John Hancock Tower in Boston, Mass.

Mr. Tavilla died on Nov. 6, 2014. He seemed like a very nice man and although I only chatted with him once, I heard from so many "Arlingtonians" about his greatness as a person.  If you have any stories about Mr. Tavilla, please feel free to comment in the box below.

You can also read his fascinating, entertaining Grape Catcher web site for a detailed account of his accomplishments.

Perly Burrill Gas Station, Lynnfield, Mass.

Photo credit: John Phelan.

I let the gas in my car tank run down to almost nothing on purpose recently after a day trip to Salem, Mass.? Why would I do something so asinine, you ask?

Well, I wanted to spend some time filling the tank at Perly Burrill iin Lynnfield. As a kid, my dad would fuel up there on the way back from visiting my grandparents in Lynn -- or after eating at the Prince Pizzeria in Saugus. You know, the place with the Leaning Tower of Pizza structure outside.

Perly Burrill was unlike any other gas station on the planet. With the lowest prices, neon multi-colored lights and pennants, bright pigments saturating the little building,  whirligigs, and various other doodads almost creating a cartoon-like presence, Perly Burrill lit up otherwise peaceful Salem St. at night in such a welcoming but tacky way.

Approaching Perly Burrill in 2013, my jaw dropped open and my soul sank into oblivion when I saw this...

Why do all the fun things as a kid have to be taken away? I exited Perly Burrill with my heart broken and proceeded to a cookie cutter, "Anytown" USA gas station, and never looked back.

For the record, Perly Burrill is a fuel oil supplier, and we are glad they service North Shore residents. That doesn't take away the sadness, however, of not seeing my favorite gas station in the world with its Las Vegas-like lights that made filling up on gas a fun experience.

Green Plastic Dinosaur Banks from Boston Sinclair Gas Stations

Does anyone remember those green plastic dinosaur banks that were given away with each fill up at the Boston area Sinclair gas stations? At 28 cents a gallon, my dad would fill up his Pontiac at the station at the corner of Brighton and Concord Avenues on the Belmont-Cambridge line and we would tag along for those one-of-a-kind dinosaur banks.

The green dinosaur banks were sturdily built and able to hold a good amount of earned allowance -- which, we spent, of course, on baseball cards, Wacky Packages and Mad Magazines from Mrs. Mooney at the former Hoffman News in Arlington Heights.

Eventually the dinosaur banks became extinct, as well as the Sinclair stations in the Boston area.

Is there anyone in the world that remembers these green dinosaur banks? Please let me know!