Very Special Announcement
— The Magic Staff Has Been “Returned To Its Rightful Owner!”
Jim Walent began the Rathskeller (The Rat) — Boston, MA thread not too long after Facebook began. I joined somewhere around 2011 when there were already around 1,800 members. Deep kudos to Jim for getting it going and beginning what historically has become one of Facebook’s more steady and reliable threads!
A reasonably good writer and capable of typing over 100 wpm, I became a daily mainstay and inspired many Rat-related conversations. Frequent were my chats with guitarist extraordinaire and former Harlequin bandmember Matt Gilbert, who eventually became the lead guitarist of my band Climate Change. Together, with several other daily participants, we’d scheme and dream of The Good Ole’ Days!
Jim eventually passed The Rat administrator torch to me and I’ve helped keep it well-lit for over a decade. In essence, I’ve had the good grace to oversee many memories and magical moments. Importantly, I can’t tribute strongly enough the wonderful attitude, contribution and commitment of the thread’s overall membership.
Together, we’ve shared Rock N’ Roll Rat Kinship at its very best!
Due to the advent of Covid-19, the past couple of years have been difficult for just about everyone. But the times especially fell difficult for musicians and the club scene in general as closures and lockdowns became widespread. We wuz all ahurtin’ for certain! Remember, always support your local musicians!
Already in difficult health due to my heart issues, the Covid years became especially difficult for me as my health worsened. I literally evolved into becoming a hermit.
Indeed, one of my worst afflictions became Dupuytren’s contracture where my fingers bent over at the knuckles making it difficult for me not only to play guitar (thank god for D-tuning!) but also to type — the vowels just don’t come out the same — lol. Indeed, my Facebook communication skills have taken a bit of a hit.
Mach Bell — Rat musician-author and formerly of the Thundertrain band— came on board about year ago to help with admin duties (thanks for answering the call, Marc!). But this thread has grown to nearly 8,500 members. With me wavering it would have been too big of a task for Mach to handle alone. So I put out a call for administrative help.
The Wheel of Karma and Hands of Time answered my call. Peter Rinnig, owner of QRST’s in Somerville and Kathei Logue, who formerly booked The Rat, made the connection and both came on board as administrators. Peter is business-partnered with Rat owner Jimmy Harold and together they sell officially-licensed Rat merchandise via QRST’s.
During our discussions Peter and I both agreed it’d be perfect if Jimmy would also came aboard as administrator. Peter made the connection.
Ladies and gentlemen, much like in the movie The Forbidden Kingdom where the magic staff was returned by Tripitikas to its rightful owner, Rat Club Owner Jimmy Harold has now become an administrator of Rathskeller (The Rat) — Boston, MA.
I offered to Jimmy that we’d be willing to reduce our administrative roles to that of moderator roles, thus making Jimmy the absolute head thread administrator … but he humbly declined.
Thus, we will function as a committee of administrators: Myself, Mach Bell, Peter Rinnig, Kathei Logue and Jimmy Harold. Mitch, of course, will always be with us. Historically, the only true way into The Rat was always through Mitch!
