From all of us here at The Times, we hope that everyone has a great Thanksgiving holiday with your family. It’s been a good year for a lot of us. Think of ten things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

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Somerville ranked 24th out of 25 top cities to raise kids, in a study done by National Council for Home Safety and Security. Somerville has been a special place for hundreds of thousands of us in the past and will continue to be so in the future. This doesn’t surprise many of us who live here and the many who grew up here. This makes us all feel proud.

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The East Somerville clothing drive, which began on November 13, continues through to Friday, November 24. Hosted by Second Chances, Inc. and Mudflat Pottery School. You can find donation boxes at Whole Foods Market, 45 Beacon St. and Architectural Openings, 16 Garfield Ave. Second Chances reuses and recycles clothing, shoes and accessories so that homeless and lower income people feel confident and valued as they take their first steps toward brighter futures. For for more details go to www.secondchances.org/clothingDriveMudlflat2017. Drop off Monday to Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

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Celebrating their birthdays this turkey week are some of the Ville’s nicest people. Happy birthday to John Hight, a new grandfather who has a lot to celebrate this year. Happy birthday to Joan Puglia, a lifelong resident and a nice lady. We hope she has a great day and week on this, her birthday. Happy birthday to a good guy with a great heart, Bobbygeorge Potaris. We hope he is having a great birthday and Thanksgiving week with his family and Lauren, his better half. Happy birthday to Josh Lewin, who is celebrating this week. He is the owner of Julia’s in Union Square, a successful restaurant right in the square on Washington St. Also, Happy birthday to Geraldine Nolan McLaughlin, another great lady of our city. We hope she has a great day for herself. Happy birthday John Bonner, a Somerville firefighter. We wish him the very best of birthdays and thank him and his brothers and sisters at the fire department for their service. Happy birthday to Karen MacLeod Fraser, who grew up in East Somerville. Married to another Villen, we hope she has a great birthday for herself. Happy birthday to a good and kind person whom we have known many years, Diane Johansen is celebrating this week. We wish her all the best. Finally, to a good friend of ours who used to live here for many years and, Malitta Knault, a great lady, smart and with a good heart. We certainly hope she has a great day with her family. To all others here in Somerville celebrating this week, we send our birthday wishes and may all your wishes come true.

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The “Winter Hill Yacht Club for Criminals” still has convicted felons as members of the club. We can’t understand why the club who rents that beautiful piece of land from the STATE – which has a huge fence around it, not to mention a gate to keep out residents, we guess – can still occupy the location. We understood that the lease to DCR states that no criminals can be members, or is that the club rules? We get confused sometimes. We also understood that over 90% of the membership doesn’t even live here in the city, and we know that many from the city have applied, but must wait their turn. Maybe because they don’t have a criminal record that might be a reason that the club won’t open its membership. Just saying. There needs to be an investigation by someone on their membership list and their application process. We raised this question before and we will keep raising it until the club cleans up its act. Don’t forget, some of us here use to be “life members” until the E board changed the rules. It seems like they always want to change the rules when it suits them. We happen to think that the club should become a public marina for the residents of Somerville, especially now that 90% of the current club membership lives outside the city. We think the gates should be open to all of us here in Somerville. Maybe when the lease is up that will happen.

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The Somerville Times Best of Somerville voting is still going, but will be wrapping up soon. When you see a business or person on the ballot (on page 3) that you like let us know. If you don’t see a category that you think should be included also let us know. You can email your choices (thebestofsomerville@yahoo.com) or mail them to the office (The Somerville Times, 699 Broadway, Somerville, MA 02144). Show your pride in a person or business or place you like and want to vote for.

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Join Ward 3 Alderman Robert McWatters, and the Mayor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development, for the third in a series of community meetings to discuss upcoming renovations to Prospect Hill Park. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 12, at 6:00 p.m., in the Somerville High School Auditorium, 81 Highland Ave. For more information about the planned park renovations visit www.somervillema.gov/prospecthillpark, or contact Luisa Oliveira at Loliveira@somervillema.gov.

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The Somerville High School varsity football team has a neutral non-conference game vs. rival school Cambridge Rindge & Latin on Wednesday, November 22 at 6:00 p.m. at Russell Field. This in place of the traditional Thanksgiving Day game.

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Don’t forget the Wreath Sale Fundraiser in support of programming and maintenance at the Growing Center. The wreaths include handmade bows, in choice of three colors (red, burgundy or purple), cones and other natural materials. To order go to: https://goo.gl/forms/INrDIEB2EcCXvqP73. Wreaths will be available for pick-up at the first day of the season of the Winter Farmers Market at the Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., on Saturday, December 2, 9:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Wreath orders received before November 25 are $35, later order wreaths are $40.

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One final note this week: do you hear crickets over there? We do, but we’re not surprised. Are you?