😎 Out with the bad, in with the good

It’s Monday, Boston.

🚲 Orange Line shutdown got you down? Why not avoid the MBTA altogether! BlueBikes is offering five free unlocks for everyone through the end of the shutdown (a.k.a June 30), and all you have to do is enter MBTAORANGEJUNE in their app. 

👀 What’s on tap today:

• The parade’s greatest hits

• New (fiscal) year, same Beacon Hill

• ISO: The MVP’s ring

Up first…

GOOD NEWS

All news is good news

It’s officially summer, the C’s just won it all, and July 4 is just around the corner. Boston is chock-full of good news right now, so all the more reason to pile on. 

Here are some feel-good stories you might’ve missed in June:

🍀 A (very dedicated) Celtics fan got to put the past behind him. Remember how bad you felt when the C’s lost in the finals in 2022? Well, you’d probably have felt a whole lot worse if you’d gotten a sizable tattoo on your arm preemptively celebrating their victory, like Cape Cod resident Jack Bienvenue. But thanks to this year’s win, and a little bit more ink, Bienvenue was able to get his tattoo fixed, and it’s finally (mostly) accurate. 

🚇 A local MBTA employee is the oldest train operator in the world. Officially, anyway. 81-year-old Helen Antenucci has worked as a Blue Line driver for nearly 30 years and just set a Guinness World Record as the world’s oldest train operator. Antenucci is said to be a rider favorite, known for her cheerful announcements and her love for the New England Aquarium and its corresponding MBTA stop. And thankfully, she’s not planning on retiring anytime soon. 

🧊 Clear ice, full heart, can’t lose. 71-year-old Jim Blakey of Hingham probably didn’t expect to become an ice entrepreneur when he retired from his career as a lawyer, but when he dared to wonder how he could improve the ice he bought at the grocery store, his life changed. Now, his product, ClearlyFrozen, is one of the best on the market, and Blakey has sold over 50,000 trays to rave reviews. And between his “CUBES” license plate and nickname “the ice guy,” it seems like he’s embracing it.

❤️ In the face of tragedy, this love story found a happy ending. The loss and trauma that came with surviving the Lewiston shooting permanently altered Ben Dyer’s life for the worse, but the way it changed his relationship with then-girlfriend Keela Smith was for the better. In figuring out how to work through the loss, the pair says they found their bond growing stronger, and the two are now engaged. “If we can make it through these six months, I’m pretty sure we can make it for life,” Smith said.

🚌 These local students are about to take the trip of a lifetime. When five high school students from Milton Academy were tasked with completing a month-long, year-end project, they could’ve made a documentary or written a paper. But instead, they chose to purchase and completely renovate a school bus, which they plan to drive across the country after graduation. Now, just under a month later, the group not only has a seriously impressive bus on their hands (you gotta see the transformation), but they’ve also amassed 2.3 million Instagram followers.

B-SIDE FOODIE’S CHOICE AWARDS SPONSORED BY TOAST

🦞 Time to settle the ultimate debate: Who actually serves up the best New England classics? We’re talking oysters, clam chowder, and lobster rolls – who does it best?

Poll nominees have been selected by Toast and B-Side’s branded content team.

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

🏆 Boston was in rare form for Friday’s duck boat parade. If there’s anything that’ll put the entire city in a good mood (and get a million people Downtown), it’s a championship parade. Our favorite feel-good parade highlights include: This Brighton McDonald’s congratulating their customer Jayson Tatum on his banner win, a literal wedding that took place at City Hall during the parade, and Derrick White continuing his influencer career on both Boston Dental’s IG by getting his chipped tooth fixed (IYKYK), and on Sam Adams’ IG driving a duck boat and talking about Sumner Tunnel closures. 

💰 New (fiscal) year, same Beacon Hill. On Thursday, Gov. Maura Healey filed a $6.9 billion interim spending plan for the state through July 31 — a sign that the state House and Senate won’t be able to hammer out a compromise on Mass.’ FY25 budget by their July 1 deadline. And while the delay could, and often does, complicate work on policy, the folks on Beacon Hill currently have a 14-year streak of missing budget deadlines, so this isn’t out of the norm. FWIW, lawmakers seem confident that it’ll all be worked out soon. We’ll see.

🚌 These MBTA buses are about to get speedier. Brookline and Somerville both recently announced updates to their bus infrastructure. In Brookline, that’ll mean a new year-long dedicated bus lane pilot on Washington Street for the 60, 65, and 66 routes, plus signal improvements (installation starts today). Meanwhile in Somerville, updates on a (different) Washington Street are going down, like extensions to some bus queue jump lanes (basically mini priority lanes) and a new dedicated bus lane, that’ll hopefully improve things for Routes 86, 91, and CT2 riders. 

🌊 Cooling down in the city just got easier. Boston’s hot summer temps aren’t going anywhere this week, but thanks to the Department of Conservation & Recreation pools opening, they might be a little more manageable. Most of the DCR’s pools across the state opened for the summer on Saturday, including options in Brighton, Cambridge, Chelsea, Roxbury, and Somerville. And thanks to lifeguard-retaining efforts, they look to be well-equipped to actually stay open this year. Plus, if you like splashing more than swimming, on Tuesday, Frog Pond’s iconic spray pool is set to follow.

THINGS TO DO

Weekday plans

🌹 Stop and smell the roses (literally). Over 3,000 rose bushes will be in peak bloom this week at the Kelleher Rose Garden, so make a flower pitstop before they wilt.

😋 Cambridge foodies, assemble! University Park is transforming into a culinary epicenter on Tuesday for Taste of Cambridge, where you can sample food and drink from some of the city’s best spots (see the full list of vendors here). 

💏 Mingle with other singles. If you’re sick of swiping and awkward speed-dates, try Mingle Mayhem at Bow Market on Wednesday. They’ll provide snacks, drinks, games, and some surprise activities to get you talking with some prospective hunnies. 

🌅 Start your day with sunrise yoga atop the Pru. View Boston is hosting a breath and rhythm yoga class on Wednesday at 7:30 a.m. where you can stretch out while watching the sunrise over the city.

👖 Support a small biz at the Speedway. The Brighton Bazaar returns for another night of art, vinyl, and vintage from over 100 small, local businesses on Wednesday.

🪴 Build-a-boob pot on the patio. Literally. You can make one to three of your own personalized boob pottery pots at Downeast Cider House's outdoor pop-up on Wednesday. Your ticket includes all supplies! 

🕺 Boogie-oogie-oogie at City Hall Plaza. Boston’s Donna Summer Disco Party is back for its 10th year on Thursday where you can dance the night away to all of Summer’s greatest hits complete with glow sticks, bubbles, a disco ball, and roller skating (!).

🍿 Indulge in a classic rom com. Boston Landing’s outdoor movie night series keeps rolling with a free showing of the iconic film “27 Dresses” on Thursday. Level up by wearing your worst bridesmaid garb for a chance to win a $200 gift card. 

ONE LAST THING

ISO: The MVP’s ring

Want to get on Jaylen Brown’s really good side? Great! All you have to do is find and return this diamond ring to him, which he lost somewhere between TD Garden and Hynes Convention Center in a sea of a million people. 

According to an IG story by the Celtics MVP, Brown lost his ring — which features the logo of his personal brand, 7uice, surrounded by what we can only assume are very real diamonds — during the Celtics’ championship parade on Friday. The post doesn’t offer up many details, but it does promise a “big” reward for whoever finds it. 

And considering Brown’s almost $300 million supermax contract (which set an NBA record) we’d assume his definition of a big reward is like … really, really big. 

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

💍 Thanks for reading! And if you do find that ring and get the reward … just make sure to tell Jaylen who sent you looking. Deal? 

🥶 The results are in: 44% of B-Siders kept cool last week with an AC unit, including one reader who said: “Would have bargained my first born child for central AC :’).” Honestly, fair.

💃 Keep up with us @BostonBSide on IG, TikTok, and Twitter. Send comments and suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].