Silver City Galleria Mall (3/2/1992- 2/29/2020)

 Oh my! First time blogging in 2021! But this blog is something of a tribute to a mall that I once considered the Mall Of The 90s here in the SouthCoast of Massachusetts: the Silver City Galleria. 

The Galleria opened up back in 1992 and my family & I heard about this great wonder and thought we should check it out and we did! We saw stores that we have never seen before at our North Dartmouth Mall but some of the stores were going to be there years after. We first saw a Ruby Tuesday, which ended up opening at the Dartmouth Mall location 2 years after. We saw a Ground Round across from Ruby, another restaurant that opened up in Dartmouth soon thereafter. It also had an Electronics Boutique & a Babbage's that merged into GameStop years later. It also had a CyberStation, which was the Galleria's answer to the North Dartmouth Mall's Dream Machine. Of course, you gotta have a Sears there, which Sears was like the iconic store of the malls over the years and decades! They had a JC Penney as well. They had a Sam Goody, which was the Galleria's answer to the North Dartmouth Mall's Record Town at the time before fye took over. They have some of the stores that the Dartmouth Mall had as well like FootLocker, WeatherVane & Newport Creamery. Heck, they even had a food court, which was the first time I have seen a food court at the mall when the North Dartmouth Mall didn't even have once until 2000.  Plus, the Galleria was a 2-story mall.

Over the years some of the stores that began in 1992 ended up leaving the Galleria to make way for new stores like the Disney Store, Macy's , Steve & Barry's, Dick's Sporting Goods , Hot Topic, Gadzooks and many more. Approaching the 2000s, the Galleria started going downhill, especially in 2008. By that time, the Internet started to keep folks away from the mall via online shopping. In 2009, I decided to go to the Best Buy at the Silver City Galleria to try out some computers by the way of searching in Google. Thanks to the Galleria Best Buy, I was inspired to get a computer so I can use the Internet to open up a "whole new world" in my life as a way to communicate, socialize and even shop and be creative! But in the 2010s, the malls in America started to become a thing of the past, even our malls here in Massachusetts were not safe.... the Harbour Mall in Fall River, which opened in 1971, closed its doors in 2016 and was demolished and in its place is the SouthCoast MarketPlace. The Swansea Mall, which opened up in 1975, closed its doors in 2019 and was demolished soon thereafter. Now at this point only 2 malls left standing, the Silver City Galleria and the Dartmouth Mall.  The stores at the Silver City Galleria were leaving one by one until there was a few stores left like Dick's, Round One, & Regal Cinemas left. Then COVID-19 happened, forcing the closing process of the Galleria to speed up and on February 29, 2020..... almost 28 years to the day it opened back in 1992....the Galleria has closed its doors for good, leaving the 50-year-old Dartmouth Mall as the last mall standing in SouthCoast Massachusetts. 

I had great memories at the Galleria Mall... like the time my family, along with 2 of my church youth group friends went to the Galleria on a rainy day while camping in KOA Middleboro. Another great memory was when I went Christmas shopping with the church youth group and I first saw Super Street Fighter 2, Fatal Fury 2 & World Heroes 2 at the Cyber Station arcade. Another one when I saw The Santa Clause with my father and played a unique arcade fighting game by Capcom known as DarkStalkers at the Hoyt's Cinema. I also saw another movie at the Hoyt's Cinema with my church youth group called Mrs. Doubtfire. When Hoyt's became Regal Cinemas, I saw 2 movies there: Pixels and Hobbs & Shaw. I also met 2 sports celebrities while I was at the Galleria as well, then-Red Sox first baseman Brian Daubach & then- Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri. Memories that I never forget as long as I live! Sorry to see the Silver City Galleria Mall close and then get torn down thereafter. 

I will end this blog by saying this was coming due to the fact that the Great Depression in 2008 and the Internet along with COVID- 19 plus poor management played roles in shutting down the Galleria. I will miss the Galleria but its legacy will live on via pictures and an archive website created by James Walsh: https://www.silvercitygalleria.org/ <----- go here to check out its legacy it leaves behind. Thank you, Silver City Galleria. RIP. 

Final movie seen at the Galleria for me: Hobbs & Shaw. 

Another of my final purchases from the fye Galleria- Chojin Sentai Jetman series DVD

Me and then- Red Sox first baseman Brian Daubach.

This was signed by then- Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri in 2002 after the Patriots won their first Super Bowl. 

This is one of the final purchases from the fye Galleria: Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger DVD series.

2020- A Start Of A New Decade

Well, here I am in 2020. Going through the most trying time in my life. Last year was pretty crazy and the winter wasn't as bad as I thought it would be considering we here at the SouthCoast in Massachusetts did not get that much snow and the only time we got a lot of snow this past winter was the 1st week of December with only 8 inches and that was the most that we got around here this past winter. January & February was pretty quiet here despite the fact that I started off the New Year throwing up but I felt better enough to go to work but I went straight home and slept for a long time to make sure I had the strength to work more. The first half of March started pretty good and then I went on my usual March vacation and all h-e-double-hockey-sticks broke loose in this country when COVID-19 hit America. Some states all over the country started shutting down and Massachusetts got into the act only 3 days after I got back to work only for me to go on a forced vacation mandated by the government closing non-essential businesses, which means the mall that I work at is closed, so I got some serious time off. But I filed for unemployment, which was a smart move for me, during the quarantine. Folks are blaming the President, each other, other politicians, the Chinese government and acting crazy protesting. Even some folks are putting on their mental tinfoil hats by spewing some crazy conspiracies. I just chose not to read into everything but I will respect the new rulings during this SDIQ (Social Distancing Isolation Quarantine) period.

As for me, I have been 95% cool, calm and collected during this whole ordeal. Why? One, the Lord Jesus Christ has my back and I put my trust in Him! Two,my family has helped me keep sane and knowing they are there makes me feel better knowing they are there for me. And three, I have a lot of things in my room that I can do that will keep my mind off this whole ordeal as well. 

As of writing this blog, all the summer events here in New Bedford have been postponed until after Labor Day, including the Whaling City Festival. Which means some of these events can still happen later on this year. Only one event in New Bedford that is cancelled and that event was the Feast Of The Blessed Sacrament aka the Madeira Feast aka the Portuguese Feast aka the Festa. Some folks ,myself included, are not very happy about this but there is nothing we can do about it. It is what it is. A lot of folks, myself included, are not very happy about how this summer is going to turn out, concerned about how the children are going to feel during the summer. Heck, school ended early and the high school seniors have missed out on proms ,parties and graduation ceremonies. Families who lost their loved ones during this period ,missed out on a proper funeral and could not see their loved ones in the hospitals during this time. Weddings have been postponed, birthday parties have been cancelled, parades have been cancelled. Church services have been closed during this time as well. But there are essential workers from every essential worker in the medical field to every essential worker in restaurants, supermarkets, convenience stores and the police and truck drivers and delivery drivers trying to help keep the country from "drowning" by providing us with necessities during this trying time and I am thankful for each and every one of them. 

Most of the sports have been cancelled except the WWE and AEW, whose workers have putting in a huge effort to help us keep our minds off this whole global debacle we are in right now and we thank them for it, too! As we slowly approach reopening up the economy here in Massachusetts this coming Monday unless Governor Baker decides to extend this SDIQ period, we all need to be safe, be smart, stay strong and stay positive and not give in the negative feelings that might set us against each other. We are in this together and we will make it! We will get through this and we will conquer this! Never give up, folks! 

2019- The Last Of The 2010s

Hey, folks! Haven't blogged in here for a while! A lot of crazy changes has happened since I blogged in here last time! A fallout between the oldest daughter in my family (aka my sister,the 2nd oldest in the family) and my parents occurred this past October before my other sister's wedding when she decided that she wasn't going to go. My parents weren't happy about this and since then,my sister and her family are no longer on speaking terms with us. I was supposed to move in with them last year in April but they changed their minds and decided not to have me move in. I was disappointed in the whole situation. I always believed in family but sometimes things happen that make you turn your back on family and trying to look out for yourself but sometimes it just makes things worse in your life. I love everyone in my family but it is difficult to accept things the way they are right now. Gotta stay strong,gotta move on.

This year, 2019,was a very surreal year. This past winter was pretty mild...no major double-digit snowfall totals, no major blizzards and it was pretty cold at times as well. This spring wasn't that bad either,had my vacations and I have been enjoying my Saturdays off. Power Rangers Beast Morphers premiered and it is really cool so far! As far as video games are concerned,I have downloaded a lot of games for the Nintendo Switch and got New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe and really enjoyed it. I also picked up an authentic replica of the WWE Intercontinental Championship Title belt and it is really cool-looking!! It is my all-time favorite wrestling championship belt! But the SouthCoast Massachusetts region lost another mall within 3 years as the Swansea Mall closed its doors for good on March 31,2019. 

This summer is only now 10 days left as I am writing this blog right now! Downloaded more games for the Switch, got Super Mario Maker 2, celebrated my niece's 1st birthday. The Whaling City Festival went well without incident and it will be bigger next year! The Madeira Feast went well without a major incident as well! But the sad news is that the SEARS Department & SEARS Auto Center has also closed its doors at the Dartmouth Mall this year as well. Until 2015, it was my father's workplace until he retired during the holiday season instead at the end of that year. Had jury duty but wasn't needed,which was cool. Plus,I saw Hobbs & Shaw at the movies and recently got the Disney live-action Aladdin on DVD. But this year and this decade of the 2010s is not over yet,we still have the holiday season of 2019 to contend with and next month is a big month for pro wrestling on TV! A lot of wrestling shows moving to different TV channels and it will be insane to keep up with,LOL! As I conclude this blog,I will be editing and adding things to this blog as we go along for the final 3 months of this year and this decade of the 2010s.