By Alana DiPlacido
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Friends, family, and peers gathered at the Westwood Council of Aging (COA) to honor Eddie Germano as the town’s oldest citizen and the recipient of the Boston Post Cane. Germano, who turned 100 this past November, was the next recipient of this honor. The tradition of the Boston Post Cane began in 1909, when the Boston Post bestowed the gold-topped cane to a number of towns in the Boston area with the intention of it being passed from one to the next of the town’s oldest residents. Sadly, Germano will not be able to take the cane home with him as it is considered a historical artifact and remains displayed in the COA; however, his name will be inscribed on a plaque and he received a golden replica pin of the cane to commemorate this honor.
“Those of you who know me, know I’ve got a big mouth, and the microphone will only make it bigger” Germano joked as he launched into an acceptance speech. Over the next half hour, Germano regaled the attendants with his life story, focusing specifically on his lengthy career within the newspaper business. Starting from age 10, when Mr. Germano lied and said he was 12 so that he could have his own delivery route, the newspaper business has been his life-long passion.
Specifically, the Boston Post holds a very special place in Mr. Germano’s heart, making the Boston Post Cane an even greater honor in his eyes. Mr. Germano, a sports cartoonist for several different newspapers over the span of his career, credits the Boston Post’s former sports cartoonist Bob Coin with being his greatest inspiration and idol. “I used to measure his cartoons, make my own ones the same size, and paste them over Mr. Coins! Just so I could imagine what it would feel like to have as many people see my cartoons as his!”
Germano confessed humorously. Germano also worked as an office boy at the Post for about three years before moving on to the Globe and other papers. This connection to the Boston Post, a prominent newspaper in Boston until it went out of business in 1956, made the honor of the Boston Post Cane seem incredibly full circle for Mr. Germano.
After Germano’s speech, Select Board Chair Joseph Previtera and State Representative Paul McMurtry spoke before bestowing the cane and commemorative pin to Mr. Germano.
As Germano smiled with his new pin in his lapel, it was hard not to smile as well. The tradition of the Boston Post Cane and Mr. Germano’s ceremony highlighted the importance of celebrating the lives of Westwood’s residents in its aim to preserve its history and foster community.
