Lovers, fighters brawl on wedding day

The bride’s parents, Annanina and Joseph Colonna, are pictured with the married couple. Photo courtesy of Lisa Healy.

By: Carley Thieret

In August of 1982, a blue-collar Brookline wedding party traded its tuxes for fisticuffs and bandages – and made Brookline famous nationally in the process.

Newspapers throughout America described bleeding, broken heads, broken lips and even broken teeth. A reception that began with over 300 people ended in a brawl involving over 100.

Guests filled the Case DeFredo banquet hall on August 20, 1982, to celebrate the wedding of Lisa Colonna and Bob “Muscles” Healy.

According to The Schenectady Gazette, the reception had just ended when the fight broke out. The bride and groom had already departed for their Lake Erie honeymoon and missed out on what turned to be an eventful end to their wedding.

“Muscles” was a formidable welterweight boxer, and many of the guests were members of the Brookline boxing club, often known as Charlie’s Angels.

Boxing has a long-standing history in the neighborhood, and members of the club, including Muscles, dominated in tournaments such as the Golden Gloves, Silver Gloves and Junior Olympics.

According to the bride, Lisa Healy, guests were playing a common wedding game where one pays a dollar, takes a shot and gets a dance with the bride.

“People were getting a little smashed, you could say. My Italian cousin pinched Bob’s Irish cousin on the ass; the fighting erupted from there,” Lisa explained.

The bride and groom did not hear about the brawl until the next morning when Lisa awoke to a phone call from her mother.

She explained that her cousin was in intensive care and let her know that they owed the
hall $600 in damages. “She was able to save my box of wedding envelopes, but couldn’t salvage the cake.”

Police from three different departments were called to quell the disturbance.

“I think when you put Italians and Irish together you get lovers and fighters, and that’s exactly what we got,” Lisa said.