The annual Neponset Day festival went off without a hitch on a crisp, blue-sky morning and afternoon at Pope John Paul II Park last Sunday. Hundreds of friends, families, neighbors, and Neponset River advocates flooded the park with positivity, eating lunch from the food trucks and ice cream vendors, then taking a paddle along the rolling river. The park has a dock and canoe
Years of lockdowns took a brutal toll on businesses. Now, the rapid spread of Covid after a chaotic reopening has deprived them of workers and customers.