New England had its share of the weird in 2020
In this June 27, 2014, file photo, plates of fried calamari are served at the town dock in Narragansett, R.I., after Gov. Lincoln Chafee signed legislation to give the squid dish official status as Rhode Island s state appetizer. During the August 2020 televised virtual Democratic National Convention s roll call voting, the state s Democratic Party chairman Joseph McNamara stood on a beach with a restaurateur holding a heaping plate of the squid and proclaimed Rhode Island the calamari comeback state. (AP Photo/Jennifer McDermott, File)
In this Monday, July 27, 2020, file photo, farmer Joe Marszalkowski holds a prosthetic leg that he found the day before in a soybean field on his farm in West Addison, Vt. The leg was lost by double amputee Chris Marckres while skydiving on Saturday. (Jack Thurston/NECN and NBC10 Boston via AP, File)
Rhode Island was a big sensation at the virtual Democratic National Convention for its unconventional video plugging calamari the state s official appetizer. In a nationally broadcast made-for-memes moment, a lawmaker and a restaurateur with a heaping plate of sauteed squid stood on a beach and proclaimed Rhode Island the calamari comeback state. State Democratic Party chair Joseph McNamara said he wanted to highlight how the coronavirus pandemic has decimated the seafood industry. Rhode Island s 30-second spot, part of the DNC s roll call where states formally nominated Joe Biden for president, was an instant social media sensation. The Rhode Island chef who held up a plate of fried calamari during Tuesday night s virtual Democrat National Convention roll call is gaining his own popularity.
John Oliver Memorial Sewer Plant, calamari comeback: Weirdest stories of New England this year
Updated Dec 24, 2020;
By William J. Kole | The Associated Press
It’s difficult to imagine a year when we needed a little comic relief more desperately than in 2020. No yuks? Yuck.
Fortunately, New Englanders came through with some welcome pandemic distractions.
Rhode Island’s signature squid took center stage at the Democratic National Convention. A Connecticut city named a sewage treatment plant in comedian John Oliver’s (dis)honor. And a soybean farmer in Vermont harvested a prosthetic leg that a skydiver had lost during a jump.
CALAMARI COMEBACK
Rhode Island was a big sensation at the virtual Democratic National Convention for its unconventional video plugging calamari the state’s official appetizer. In a nationally broadcast made-for-memes moment, a lawmaker and a restaurateur with a heaping plate of sauteed squid stood on a beach and proclaimed Rhode Island the “calamari comeback state.” State Democratic Party chair Joseph McNamara said he wanted to highlight how the coronavirus pandemic has decimated the seafood industry. Rhode Island’s 30-second spot, part of the DNC’s roll call where states formally nominated Joe Biden for president, was an instant social media sensation.
Fortunately, New Englanders came through with some welcome pandemic distractions.
Rhode Island’s signature squid took center stage at the Democratic National Convention. A Connecticut city named a sewage treatment plant in comedian John Oliver’s (dis)honor. And a soybean farmer in Vermont harvested a prosthetic leg that a skydiver had lost during a jump.
A guide to some of the region’s stranger stories from the past 12 months:
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Rhode Island was a big sensation at the virtual Democratic National Convention for its unconventional video plugging calamari the state’s official appetizer. In a nationally broadcast made-for-memes moment, a lawmaker and a restaurateur with a heaping plate of sauteed squid stood on a beach and proclaimed Rhode Island the “calamari comeback state.” State Democratic Party chair Joseph McNamara said he wanted to highlight how the coronavirus pandemic has decimated the seafood industry. Rhode Island’s 30-second spot, part of