"This is only the beginning," Lawrence S. DiCara '71 said last night at McKeon VFW Post in Dorchester as he looked around at the people who had come to hear him announce his candidacy for the Boston City Council.

DiCara, who will graduate from Harvard Thursday, arrived at the Post at 9:30 p.m. and made the formal announcement, only 12 hours after Rep. Louise Day Hicks (D-Mass.) had told the world that she would seek election as Mayor of Boston.

"It's good to be among friends," DiCara told approximately 200 persons who paid $5 each. "This is where I want it all to begin, here where I've always lived. In Dorchester." DiCara then made his way through the hall, shaking hands with his old school friends and kissing former teachers and family friends.

Campaign Manager William H. Guenther '72, resplendent in his new; shorter haircut, beamed as he looked around at the large turnout and watched his candidate move.

'I'm a Man'

Earlier. DiCara had talked to a reporter about Rep. Hicks and himself. "I had planned to announce on this day long before she did." he said. "There are a lot of contrasts between us. She's old, and I'm young. She's a woman; I'm a man. I'm very small, and she's very big. And she announced early in the morning, mostly to the press, while I'm announcing to the people."