State Rep. Holds Fundraiser

Amid friends, supporters and home-cooked sausages, State Rep. Peter A. Vellucci (D-Cambridge) held a non-alcoholic fundraising dinner last night in the bottling area of a Cambridge distillery.

Vellucci is running against fellow incumbent Marie Howe (D-Somerville) because this year's state redistricting plan merged his district with that of Somerville Democrat Howe. As a result, Howe and Vellucci will square off in the September 15 Democratic primary.

"Our goal tonight was to raise some money and bring people together and we did just that," said a jubilant Vellucci, who entertained 140 guests at $100 a plate.

The three-term Cambridge representative said he would need between $75,000 and $100,000 in contributions to defeat Howe, a 23-year Beacon Hill veteran. "Unfortunately, money is very important in this race," Vellucci said.

Vellucci's father, Cambridge Mayor Alfred E. Vellucci, officially endorsed his son at the dinner. The elder Vellucci said the distillery party was the first and only political fundraiser he had attended in which alcohol was not available.

Marie Howe had charged earlier this week that the fundraiser would be illegal if it entertained guests in the customary manner because of a state law preventing the dispention of alcoholic beverages at a distillery. No alcoholic beverages were served at the affair.

"There is whiskey everywhere and not a drop to drink, only lemonade," Vellucci complained at the dinner, which was held within sight of the distillery's liquor-bottling apparatus.

Vellucci's campaign manager, Clifford Truesdell '66, told the crowd, "We only have three of the four things a good campaign needs. We have the candidate, the cause and the issues, great supporters, but we're missing the booze," Truesdell said. "We've got to thank Marie for her sobering influence," he added.

Truesdell also announced that he had concocted a new drink called the "Marie"--"one ounce Tabasco, one ounce lemon juice, poured over crushed sour grapes."

Vellucci also received endorsements last night from Somerville Mayor Eugene Brune and Alderman John Buonomo, Buonomo, who has been defeated twice by Marie Howe, called the Cantabrigian's attempt to oust Howe long overdue.

"The next 100 days of this campaign will have a profound effect on the next ten years in Cambridge and Somerville," Buonomo said. "Vellucci can do more in a short time than Marie Howe has done all her years," he added.

Brune labeled himself and Vellucci as reformers and said Howe was allied with an old guard of Somerville politicians responsible for corruption in City Hall. "I think some of the people she supported have been the subject of criminal investigations," Brune said.

Other guests at the party included State Sen. Michael LoPresti (D-Cambridge).