Who did — and didn’t — go to Mayor Menino’s funeral?

About 1,000 were invited — all by phone two days before the Nov. 3 funeral. Ultimately, about 900 people squeezed into the Most Precious Blood Church in Hyde Park.

Was there a “do not invite” list? No, former Menino aides tell us. But some notables were missing, including Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce president Paul Guzzi and former governor Michael Dukakis.

Both got invitations, but Guzzi couldn’t make it because of a family conflict. Dukakis, in an e-mail, said he had to teach that morning. Instead, he went to Menino’s wake at Faneuil Hall the day before.

And what about Boston Foundation president Paul Grogan who has had his ups and downs with the former mayor? Grogan, to his own surprise and delight, not only got invitation but a great seat up front.

“All’s well that ends well,” Grogan said.

Compass for Kids relies on the generosity of donors and willing businesses to hire homeless and at-risk parents, so it was in apparent gratitude that its executive director gave a shout-out to a local restaurateur last week.

Whenever Jodi Hill calls for help, Sal Lupoli delivers, telling her, “ ‘Whatever you want, sweetheart,’ ” she told a luncheon crowd.

Cue the uncomfortable laughter. The guest speaker, preparing to take the stage, was Governor-elect Charlie Baker, whose effort to lighten a moment with a TV reporter during the recent campaign by calling her “sweetheart” led to many more tense moments as Democratic activists accused him of condescension.

“Sal’s Italian. He calls everybody sweetheart,” Hill tried.

But Baker, still basking in the easy confidence of a victory, got a sigh of relief when he took the stage and acknowledged Lupoli, “who, it turns out, calls people sweetheart and gets away with it,” Baker said. “Very impressive.”

In his last months alive, former mayor Tom Menino quietly made the transition from politician to philanthropist. Menino raided his own political war chest to donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to charities and causes he held close to his heart.

Menino contributed $50,000 to Camp Harbor View, a summer sanctuary he founded in Boston Harbor for urban youth. He donated $25,000 to Boston Scholar Athletes, which seeks to improve academic achievement through sports. He gave $25,000 to help build a handicap-accessible playground that bears his name next to Spaulding Rehabilitation Center.

The former mayor made a career of using his fund-raising prowess to scare off would-be competitors. He collected $500 checks from developers and bankers, and $25 contributions at scores of neighborhood breakfasts.

In March 2013, Menino announced he would not seek a sixth term and had more than $618,000 in his campaign account. When the former mayor died last month, he had given more than $377,000 to charity, according to records with the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance.

Menino’s campaign treasurer, Harry R. Collings, said he sat with the former mayor to discuss donations, recalling his terms in office and organizations that made a difference.

“These are the ones he felt very close to,” Collings said. “He wanted to help.”

Donations included $5,000 to the Kwong Kow Chinese School, $5,000 to the Children’s Dyslexia Center of Greater Boston, and $5,000 to The Women’s Lunch Place, which helps combat homelessness and poverty.

After Menino was diagnosed with inoperable cancer, he gave $30,000 to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and $15,000 to a medical education fund that bears the name of his primary care physician, Dr. Charles A. Morris.

In his final month as he was hospitalized at Brigham and Women’s, Menino gave away $95,000, records show. Recipients ranged from a concussion fund at Boston Children’s Hospital ($10,000) to Boston University ($25,000), where after leaving office Menino helped launch the Institute on Cities.

The last donation of $2,500 went to Art Resource Collaborative for Kids. Political finance records show it was dated the day before Menino died.

The New Hampshire Senate race between Democrat Jeanne Shaheen and Republican Scott Brown was over more than two weeks ago, but the intrigue continues.

After he asked a tough question of Brown in a pre-election debate and issued an on-air apology, WMUR-TV journalist James Pindell disappeared, temporarily, from the airwaves. This week, the state’s Republican National Committeeman, Steve Duprey, took to Facebook to dispel at least one rumor about the circumstances.

“Rumors have been circulating that James Pindell isn’t on air with WMUR because of Republican displeasure with his performance at the Shaheen-Brown debate. The storyline is that WMUR is worried that his performance could impact their chances to host a Republican presidential debate,” said Duprey, chairman of the RNC's presidential debates committee.

Not true, Duprey says.

“I can assure those interested, however, that neither WMUR nor ABC faces any risk of not hosting a debate because of a question raised in a Senate race debate by my friend James Pindell. Sorry to put an end to the conspiracy theorists’ fun,” he wrote.

Senator Elizabeth Warren and her Democratic colleague of West Virginia, Senator Joe Manchin, share little in common. She represents the most populist wing of the upper chamber; he’s so conservative some envisioned a party-switch after the election.

But Warren could learn a critical lesson from Manchin: how to make it to the restroom.

The Massachusetts senator, a target for reporters last week when she emerged from a Democratic leadership meeting, enveloped herself in staff and looked rather pained as she inched past questions toward the toilet.

Manchin had another idea. “Bathroom!” he screamed as he raised his hands and dove through reporters’ notebooks.

The crowd parted, and he went on his way.

What next for Scott Brown?

After losing his Senate race in New Hampshire this month, there has been much speculation about his next move. This week, Twitter provided at least a short-term answer:

“Looking forward to playing guitar with my daughter @AylaBrown and her band at Mohegan Sun this weekend. #nhpolitics.”