The Top Five Super Markets in the U.S. and a "Food Fight" at one of Them

by Bill Russo

April 2015:  Consumer reports has just listed its picks for the top five super market chains in the United States.  Coming in at Number One  Wegman's,  a Rochester NY based regional chain of about a hundred stores.  There is no Wegman's on Cape Cod where I live but there is at least one in Massachusetts (Chestnut Hill).  The family controlled firm does about $7 billion a year.


The second best super market according to
Consumer reports is the fabulous Florida chain, Publix.  It is wholly owned by employees, past and present and has about a thousand stores, most of them in "The Sunshine State."  A solid entrant in the 'Fortune 500', Publix generates an annual revenue stream of more than $27 billion dollars.

Landing the third spot on the CR list is the quirky California 400 store behemoth "Trader Joe's". While regular super markets carry some 50,000 items, TJs has less than 5,000 and most of those carry the TJ label.  Despite the limited selection the stores have a cult like following, not to mention "Two Buck Chuck", a cheap wine designed to sell at $2.00 a bottle although for various reasons, "Two Buck Chuck" is often  "Three Buck Chuck", which does not sound as good to the ear or feel as good to the pocketbook.  TJ's has a regional office in Massachusetts and a number of stores in the Bay State and New England.  There is only one TJ's on Cape Cod.  It is in the capital of the Cape, Hyannis and is next to the Flagship Store of the Christmas Tree Shoppes.

The fourth best store group on the CR chart is a 100 store grocery outfit called 'Fareway', based in Ohio.

The fifth best super market chain in the "States" is the New England based "Market Basket."  Market Basket (AKA Demoulas Super Markets) operates about six dozen locations in New England but has just one store near Cape Cod, home to 200,000 year round residents and about a million seasonal people and tourists. 

The Cape store is located at the very start of the peninsula, by the Canal.  Like TJ's, this chain has a cult following and some people make a weekly 60 mile trip up the Mid Cape highway  from as far away as Wellfleet, Eastham and even P-town to get to that lone Cape Cod store.  

Speaking of Market Basket..........................................

The Market Basket Family Wars are about to go to the movies.  A total of 607 people reached into their wallets and drew out $66,790.00 for a "Kickstarter" campaign to fund a feature documentary called "Food Fight" that will depict the story of the wild family battle that nearly ruined a Massachusetts based regional supermarket with 71 stores in three states.

Like the American Civil War more than two centuries before, families were split in two and brother fought brother in skirmishes that could have meant the death of the billion dollar chain.  Starting more than 25 years ago, the conflict came down to a last stand in the Summer of 2014, when 'cousin' fired 'cousin' to set the stage for the final battle.


All during  the summer of 2014, the drama was enacted in scores of towns,  involving more than ten thousand employess in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine.

When cousin Arthur was fired by the other cousin, also Arthur, as the company's CEO it set off the war which the New York Times labelled "The last stand for the middle class."  The charismatic 'fired' cousin, Arthur T. Demoulas,  rallied the thousands of non union employees against a new management team.

It's pretty confusing but was the highest drama in New England all last Summer.  It even got more press than Tom Brady's under inflated footballs.

Jay Childs is the man behind the documentary and he appeared recently on New Hampshire Public Radio to explain his project. He hopes to begin screening "FOOD FIGHT" by this Summer.   Here's the link to the transcript of the interview:  http://nhpr.org/…/portsmouth-filmmakers-documentary-chronic…

Will the NFL Make Brady Sit Out the Super Bowl?

by Bill Russo

With the gnarled fingers of suspicion pointing directly to Brady as the DEFLATOR, one wonders if the penalty handed down from the "League" will be to declare Tom ineligible to play.

Not to worry. The Patriots are already recruiting guys to fall on their swords and protect the QB.

Most likely, an assistant coach or some other staffer will get fired for "Deflate Gate" and get a Golden Handshake. That's why they call them 'Fallguys'.

Here's another scenario........

"Blame it on the dead guy" is an often successful dodge used in the business world to deflect responsibility for illegal, immoral, or unethical actions. If someone in the Patriots 'family' has passed recently, then that person will be discovered to be the one who doctored the balls.

 It's rough being from the State that sounds like a sneeze : 

Mass 'ah choo' setts. You're always having to say you're sorry. First we had to apologize for the Kennedies (or is it Kennedys): Now we have to apologize for the Patriots ! ! ! !

The Codfresh: An Eerie Lake unlike any you Have Ever Seen

by Bill Russo

Here's a snippet from "Swamp Tales: Horrors from the Hockomock Swamp and the Cape Cod Marshes": This section describes an unearthly Cape Cod Lake and is a prelude to the sad tale of Jimmy Catfish.

"Codfresh Lake is like no other body of water that I have ever seen. Some say it was created by the great hurricane of 1937. Others avow that it never was created at all, but is simply some sort of a cosmic joke. It is only called a lake because there is no word in English for what it really is.

In the middle of Cape Cod sometime in the early 1900s; from Nantucket Sound Northwards, a salt river snaked its tidal way from Dennis Port towards Brewster, then veered sharply West in the direction of Provincetown - but it never got there.

A rogue stream from Harwich, began a trip East at Long Pond and took on girth when it married a rivulet from Hinckley's Pond. The conjoined rivers had a baby when they ran through Seymour Pond, about three miles from Route six. The newly expanded raging fresh-water river set a course for Dennis Port - but it never got there.

The Salt River rushed on to meet the Fresh River combination. The mingle of these entities did not bring forth a marriage of the headwaters; only an uneasy truce that created an odd body of water six miles long and a half mile wide. Divided into three sections; it consisted of a tiny sea of salt water two miles long on the East end; a small fresh-water lake of two miles in length on the West end; and in the middle, was a two mile area of unearthly water that the locals called 'The Brack'.

The three sections of the Codfresh were as different in color as in composition. The salty part was a bright, inviting blue, while at the opposite end of the lake, the freshwater section had a brownish/black hue. In the middle; the brack took on the gray pall of a World War Two battleship.

Airplanes generally avoided Codfresh Lake. Some pilots reported feeling queasy as they flew over the motley waters. Other fliers said their engines sputtered as they crossed the Brack.

Codfish were known to swim in the East and Trout basked near the Western shore; but in the middle it was said that strange fish existed. Fish that were neither salt nor fresh; but simply 'Brackfish'.

The six miles of land that was filled by the uneasy entrenchment of the salt and fresh rivers, had contained high points and low. It was both forested and bare, as well as rocky and sandy.

As it was being formed during the wrestling match of the rivers, the Codfresh waters took down trees, hills and hollows. The result was the largest lake on the island of Cape Cod, lying mostly in Harwich but partly in Dennis. Oddly enough, the shape of the lake mirrored the shape of Cape Cod! It looked like a flexed human arm."

Swamp Tales is currently Number 70 on the Amazon sales chart for Kindle short reads. It is priced at 99 cents.

Coming: the Paperback version of Crossing the Musical Color Line

By Bill Russo

Just one month until the launching of the Paperback version of "Crossing the Musical Color Line and other adventures of Singers and Players."

 It is a memoir mostly about icons and trailblazers that I was lucky enough to meet or interview. The Kindle E book has reached as high as Number nine in its category on the Amazon charts. Here's a part of the chapter about my friend Chet Krully, the first white man to play in an all black orchestra (he was also the lead guitarist in the 1970s for Miss Diana Ross , the Lead singer of the Supremes)

"Chet stayed with Diana Ross for a few years and if you were lucky enough to meet him, he would tell you many stories about the lady - but he would never dish dirt. The worst thing he ever said to me is that "she had some personal issues to deal with."

As a guitar teacher few could top Chet. His students included Gabor Szabo, Patty Larkin, and hundreds of other professionals.

I took lessons from him when he was deep into his 80s and we both said that I was the worst guitar student he ever had, but he never held it against me. The truth is, I was a frustrated brass player and only took lessons from Chet for the stories.

We would sit together in one of the studios of Rick's Music Center in Raynham, Massachusetts and he would hoist his ever present large Dunkin' Donuts coffee, take a swallow; and then tell me yarn after yarn about the big band days, the rock days, and his meetings with people like Sinatra, Sid Caeser, Rich Little, Robert Goulet and of course, all of the Supremes.

Beside playing with Fletcher Henderson, he also worked with the aggregations of Jimmy Lunceford and Nat Pearce.

Chet had fond memories of his time with the Henderson band. He recalled, with a sorrowful smile, the many times that he would walk into a 'white-only' restaurant and order coffee – twelve cups to go!

Then he'd saunter outside to the sidewalk and distribute the steaming coffees to his pals who were not allowed in the establishment because of the color of their skin."

Crossing the Musical Color Line and other Adventures of Singers and Players is available in the Kindle store for just 99 cents.  

Crossing the Musical Color Line reaches Number Nine in Kindle

By Bill Russo 

Crossing the Musical Color Line and other adventures of Singers and Players is Number 9 in Kindle Short Reads (Country Music) and Number 18 in Kindle Short Reads (Jazz). It is the first time my book of stories about fairly obscure musical geniuses, has charted on Kindle.

Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#9 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Arts & Photography > Music > Musical Genres > Country
#18 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Arts & Photography > Music > Musical Genres > Jazz

Bridgewater Triangle Quiz...What Really Happened?

by Bill Russo 

I have often wondered about the "Purple People Eater". He's the star of a Sheb Wooley novelty song that was number one in 1958 and is still heard today. Is the Purple People Eater purple? Or is he so named because he eats Purple People?

At any rate, "Purple People Eater" is NOT the answer to the Bridgewater Triangle Documentary Quiz. The producers did not sing Purple People Eater during filming.

So with "B" out. There are three possible correct answers to the question: WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING REALLY HAPPENED DURING THE FILMING OF THE BRIDGEWATER TRIANGLE?

A. The crew was abducted by aliens.
C. A Puckwudgie creeped into the picture.
D. Bigfoot ate everyone's lunch. 

About that "Purple People Eater". I think I have figured out that he was NOT purple. His name comes from his fondness for eating Purple People. At least that's what I get from reading this part of the lyric where he is asked by the narrator of the song:

"Mr Purple People Eater, what's your line?
He said eating purple people, and it sure is fine
But that's not the reason that I came to land
I wanna get a job in a rock 'n roll band"

Here's the full set of lyrics to Sheb Wooley's Classic......

Well I saw the thing comin' out of the sky
It had the one long horn, one big eye
I commenced to shakin' and I said "ooh-eee"
It looks like a purple eater to me
It was a one-eyed, one-horned, flyin' purple people eater
(One-eyed, one-horned, flyin' purple people eater)
A one-eyed, one-horned, flyin' purple people eater
Sure looks strange to me (One eye?)
Well he came down to earth and he lit in a tree
I said Mr. Purple People Eater, don't eat me
I heard him say in a voice so gruff
I wouldn't eat you cuz you're so tough
It was a one-eyed, one-horned, flyin' purple people eater
One-eyed, one-horned flyin' purple people eater
One-eyed, one-horned, flyin' purple people eater
Sure looks strange to me (One horn?)
I said Mr. Purple People Eater, what's your line
He said it's eatin' purple people and it sure is fine
But that's not the reason that I came to land
I wanna get a job in a rock and roll band
Well bless my soul, rock and roll, flyin' purple people eater
Pigeon-toed, undergrowed, flyin' purple people eater
(We wear short shorts)
Flyin' purple people eater
Sure looks strange to me
And then he swung from the tree and he lit on the ground
He started to rock, really rockin' around
It was a crazy ditty with a swingin' tune
Sing a boop boop aboopa lopa lum bam boom
Well bless my soul, rock and roll, flyin' purple people eater
Pigeon-toed, undergrowed, flyin' purple people eater
I like short shorts
Flyin' little people eater
Sure looks strange to me (Purple People?)
And then he went on his way, and then what do ya know
I saw him last night on a TV show
He was blowing it out, a'really knockin' em dead
Playin' rock and roll music through the horn in his head

Inventing Baseball the Modern Way - George Stallings of the Boston Braves

by Bill Russo

Here's a few bits and pieces I'm going to throw into the stove to see if we can warm up a cold winter with some baseball "Hotstove Talk".   We're reaching back to 1914 for this chat.  Here's a few chunks from my little Kindle book,"Worst to First, the 1914 Miracle Boston Braves."

The year 2014 marked the 100th anniversary of one of the greatest seasons in baseball - it was the summer of the rise of the Boston Braves who went from last place in July to first, and then on to victory in the World Series.

The Braves were 26 and 40 in early July; after starting out with just three wins in their first 19 games. On July 18th, the team was still in eighth place and trailed the league leading New York Giants, by ten games.

Fans were excited though, as the club was beginning to show some form, and had won eight of its last nine games.  Still, even the diehards did not expect the Braves to be able to contend for the pennant, let alone win it.

But the Boston players went on the most amazing run in baseball history. Over their last 89 games, they won 70 and lost just 19 for a .787 victory percentage.

And they did it with only one established star, little Johnny Evers – about five and a half feet tall and weighing 95 pounds when he broke in with the Cubs.

Evers would go on to fame as part of the fabled double play trio of 'Tinkers to Evers to Chance'. The Braves wooed him away from Chicago with a budget busting salary of $10,000 (about 250,000 in 2015 dollars).

They also gave him  an unheard of signing bonus of $25,000 to keep him from jumping to the upstart Federal League.

The chapters of the booklet are written as if the season were happening right now; in hopes of transporting the reader back to that long gone era of 26 hour train rides and 30 day road trips: of bean balls and spit balls, foulballs, and goofballs.

In one chapter, you will actually get to (figuratively) ride with the team on a road trip in the Pullman car and get a real taste of the life of an early 1900s ballplayer. You will learn the story behind 'Tinkers to Evers to Chance'. And you will get some insight into “The Miracle Man” Manager, George Stallings who may be the father of modern baseball. He was the first manager to use the “platoon” system. He treated his ball club like a pack of paste boards - and in 1914 he always threw down the right card.

Here's part of the chapter about the long Road Trip Train Ride 
(Boston, Mass.  1914)

The road swing starts in the Great Room at the brand new South Station in Boston. From the Great Room and its bustling emporiums and food shops, the players lumber out to the tracks and see the big locomotive that will carry them on their thousand mile trip, their car is the Pullman at the very end of the train. 

It has 14 berths for the 25 players. Each berth has an upper and lower bunk, allowing for 28 beds. Since it is a private car, the guys have the use of both the ladies and the men’s room, which gives extra toilet facilities but there is no bathtub so they have to use 6 little wash basins to take care of their grooming needs. There is a men’s and ladies room at each end of the car. 


The first leg of the trip will be to Chicago to take on the Cubs. It is a 1,000 mile trip that takes about 23 hours. The train departs at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, and with about 12 stops, will arrive at Union Station in Chicago at 4 p.m. on Wednesday. The next game for the players is on Thursday. They had two days off for the travel. 


George Stallings Jr. sometimes travels with his Dad (The Manager) and he shared some travel tidbits with the press. 


“The ballplayers are always hungry. They file into the dining car and make sure they get their six bits worth. Some of the boys regularly complain that there is a fly in their meal and demand to have another. When the waiter takes the plate, all that remains on it is the fly - and the ballplayers bring the flies with them!!!” 

After dinner the men walk back to their Pullman car and splay across the seats smoking cheap cigars that compete with the soft-coal smoke that drifts in through the tiny window screens. 
Three or four card games start. One ballplayer is not allowed in any of the games. He already owes two years pay for his previous losses. He begs everybody to let him play. “Look fellas, How about Four Years or Nothing?”, he pleads to no avail. 

I hope you like the sample.  Read the book for just 99 cents in the Kindle Store.  

Bridgewater Triangle Documentary Quiz - Do you know?

Bridgewater Triangle Documentary Quiz:

Which of the following really happened during the filming of the movie? 

A - The entire crew was abducted by aliens.
B - The producers sang "Purple People Eater".
C - A Puckwudgie creeped into the picture.
D - Bigfoot ate everyone's lunch.

Answer coming soon!!!!

The creepiest part of the Bridgewater Triangle movie was the interview with Bill Russo,

Peter Muise of the popular blog, New England Folklore, has high praise for the feature film "The Bridgewater Triangle".  Here's his Movie Review: 

If you read this blog you're probably familiar with the Bridgewater Triangle, a large area in southeastern Massachusetts that's famous for a wide variety of strange phenomena. There's now a documentary about the Triangle, and I think its worth seeing.

I have three criteria for for judging non-fiction movies and TV shows about paranormal phenomena:

1. Did I learn something new?

2. Is it skillfully made?

3. Did it creep me out?

I'm usually satisfied if just one criterion is met. For example, I might enjoy watching a poorly made and laughably unscary show just because it teaches me about some new monster. "Oh, hey, I never knew there was a humanoid lizard monster in East Podunk. Cool!"

But happily, The Bridgewater Triangle meets all three. First, I did learn quite a few new things. I already knew that the Triangle's 200 square miles have been home to Bigfoot, giant black dogs, UFOs, monster snakes, and strange birds. But after watching I did learn that...

• The first UFOs in the area was seen by two undertakers on Halloween night in 1908!
• The red-headed hitchhiker of Route 44 has a rival, the mad trucker of Copicut Road, a phantom pickup truck that forces people off the road in the Freetown State Forest.
• In addition to Bigfoot, small orange ape-like creatures have been seen in the area.
• In 1993, a rare African cat called a serval was found dead on the Easton/Raynham border. Where did it come from?

The Bridgewater Triangle is also well-made and easily could air on any TV station. The film conveys its information through dramatic re-enactments, still photos, drawings, and a lot of interviews. The talking heads include paranormal investigators and cryptozoologists like Loren Coleman, Jeff Belanger, Tim Weisberg, Christopher Balzano, and Joseph DeAndrade, as well as former police officers, TV newscasters, and plenty of area residents. There's also lots of footage from notorious locations like the Hockomock Swamp, Anawan Rock, and the Freetown State Forest, giving the viewer a good feel for the area. Even suburban streets acquire a creepy vibe as the camera glides slowly past well-trimmed yards surrounded by deep, dark, woods...

I did find portions of The Bridgewater Triangle quite spooky. An account of some children seeing Bigfoot in 1970 creeped me out, as did Joseph DeAndrade's story about hearing a voice telling him to turn around while exploring a swamp. I won't tell you what he saw, but it was large and hairy!

For me, the creepiest part of the movie was the interview with Bill Russo, which is either a great report of a paranormal encounter or a fantastic campfire story.

In 1990 Russo lived in Raynham and worked the late shift. One night after midnight he took his dog for a walk near some high-tension power lines. As he walked through the deserted area he heard a high-pitched voice wailing the following words:

"Ee wah chu. Ee wah chu. Keer. Keer."

A strange creature stepped into the light cast by a streetlight. It was about three feet high, covered in brown hair, potbellied, and seemed to be old. It continued to cry out "Ee wah chu. Ee wah chu. Keer. Keer" and beckoned to Russo with one hand. It wanted him to join it.

                                                                           -0-

You can see the full interview in the DVD of the Bridgewater Triangle, which is available in the web store of The Bridgewater Triangle Documentary.  You can also read about it in my little book of stories, "The Creature from the Bridgewater Triangle" on Amazon Kindle.  

do yourselves a favour don't read this book!!"

After over a thousand reads of "The Creature from the Bridgewater Triangle and other Odd tales from New England" and several good reviews, I finally got two HORRIBLE ONES.  Both are from Goodreads and here they are!

First bad review   "Not worth it...very misleading, basically short stories means "why to avoid Plymouth Rock". New England in this book includes Arizona. a few Sales pitches"

Second bad review "What a load of rubbish.do yourselves a favour don't read this book!!"


From Goodreads author page....here's my description of the book:

'The Creature From the Bridgewater Triangle and other Odd Tales From New England' has been a steady seller on Amazon Kindle since publication in late 2014.

It is not however, just about the Bridgewater Triangle; and a few readers have expressed disappointment that the entire book was not about spooky Southeastern Massachusetts.

When I wrote my little book, there were already dozens of writings about the 200 square mile area that has been called one of the most haunted locations in the U.S.

I am not an expert on the subject. I lived in it, yet had never heard of the Bridgewater Triangle until years after I had been confronted by a chatty little creature that I now believe to be a Puckwudgie.

I appear in the Bridgewater Triangle Documentary, not as an expert; but as a witness to a mysterious encounter with a being unknown to science.

The experts on the area are in the film. The list includes Loren Coleman, Andrew Lake, Alan Alves, Christopher Balzano, Jeff Belanger, Joseph DeAndrade, and others.

I recommend that people read their works for the very best information on the "Triangle".

My work contains a variety of stories and legends mostly about New England. It also has my Cape Cod fishing and travel tips, which a number of people have found interesting.

I hope you will enjoy it for what it is. If however, you are seeking a book that will speak more expertly to haunted Massachusetts, check out the works of the people that I mentioned previously.

Bill Russo, January 2015