Illuminations Tour 2018 takes place Saturday, December 15, 4:30 to 9:15 p.m. Tickets go on sale Sunday, December 2, at 10:00 a.m. at Blue Cloud Gallery in Ball Square, 713 Broadway. Celebrate the folk artistry of residents who transform their houses and yards with lights, illuminated ornaments, and shrines of devotion and fantasy. 45-minute Trolley Tours leave from (and return to) Somerville High School Field House, 81 Highland Ave. This is a new location this year, which is located between the Central Library and the High School. Coffee, hot chocolate and cookies will be served. In addition, craft activities for children and the Somerville Community Chorus will perform. Each year the tour changes, so do not expect the 2017 tour to be the 2018 tour. This is a fundraiser for the Arts Council. For more info visit www.somervilleartscouncil.org.
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Don’t forget, if you would like to subscribe to receive a digital edition of our paper, go directly online to our website – www.thesomervilletimes.com – over to the right side and fill out your email address to receive a free, full PDF copy of the paper. By the way, if you scroll further down, a link to former editions of the paper are online as well, and all recent legal ads have been online for anyone who needs the legal ad they just ran.
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Happy birthday this week to several locals: Happy birthday to the one and only Nancy Fucile, of Victor’s Deli. What a great smile and personality she has when you go into Victor’s. Nancy is the overseer of the many delicious foods that they offer. We wish Nancy the very best of birthdays and many more. She and Jason are the backbone of Victor’s today and have carried on the tradition of Rosa and Victor. Happy birthday to one of Somerville’s newest residents and a very nice guy, Ardi Leemput, from Belgium. Both he and his lovely wife moved here to the city and they love it. We wish Ardi the very best of birthdays and hope he stays here with us for many years to come. Happy birthday to Lisa Hastings, a nice lady celebrating her birthday this week. Happy birthday to Peter Blaikie, who is also celebrating this week. We hope he enjoys his birthday. Finally, to former Somerville guy from a great family, David Bell turns 60 this year. We hope he had a great party last week and continues to enjoy his birthday week. Happy birthday to everyone here and from the city who is celebrating this week. We wish every one of them a very happy birthday.
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Best wishes to Ricky Willette, who was recently in the hospital. Ricky is one of the good guys at DPW here in the city. He is home recuperating and we’re glad. Now get back to work before the first storm so we know that between you and TB the streets will be done well.
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Condolences to Representative Christine Barber on the sad passing on her sister Julie, who unfortunately recently passed away from breast cancer. It’s sad that a life so young and vibrant has to leave so early. Our condolences to her and her family.
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Great to see that the mayor is doing better. What a horrible thing to experience. He suffered from a severe case of Shingles virus last week. We hope he gets taken care of, this is one of the worst things you can have. He has a fundraiser tonight, Wednesday, December 5, at the Armory.
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Don’t forget to park on the EVEN side of the street once they call a snow emergency. And no, you can’t park in the school yards anymore, they put gates on them. Let’s hope the city doesn’t call for snow emergencies unless it’s a real emergency like a blizzard.
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New winter Learn-to Skate classes for children, ages 4 to 18 at the local ice rink in Somerville. Classes at the Founders Memorial Rink, 581 Somerville Avenue in Somerville, start December 16 at 2:00 p.m. Get 7 weeks of lessons for the price of 6. Use code: SOM2. Use hockey, recreational or figure skates. Beginner, intermediate and advanced classes are available. For information and to register, call Bay State Skating School at 781-890-8480 or visit online at www.baystateskatingschool.org. Celebrating 50 years.
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To that person (fictitious or not) who wrote a letter accusing us of being jealous of the so-called rag because we constantly write about the Winter Hill Yacht Club for Criminals: We have some news coming their way in a couple of weeks they may not like. But we still stand with the residents of the city who think that the club should be converted for public use. After all, 80% of their members don’t even live in Somerville, so we hear, including some dubious individuals who are members there.
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The 4th Annual Union Square Holiday Stroll takes place on December 8 in Union Sq. An afternoon of Union Square discovery filled with festive happenings and holiday delight: rad retail, unique eats, music from around the world, visits with Santa, creative crafts, sparkly lights and more. Bundle up and come on down to unwrap Union Square in all its wintry wonderment. Union Square’s local businesses will have festive offerings all day long. Visit local businesses to check out their holiday decorations and cast your vote to win a Union Square prize package. Pick up a ballot from any of the participating businesses above and submit your votes at the voter drop off in the businesses. Votes must be cast on December 8 only. For more information visit https://www.unionsquaremain.org/.
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Join city staff on Wednesday, December 12, at 6:00 p.m. at the Central Library, 79 Highland Ave., for the fourth in a series of public quarterly meetings where updates about parking changes, new data collection, and strategies for impact mitigation will be discussed. All interested persons are encouraged to come including residents and local business owners, as well as city and school staff. 2019 meeting dates will be announced soon. In addition to the meetings, an online form has been created to give community members and city and school staff an opportunity to submit questions, comments, and/or suggestions about the parking changes. A residential parking survey regarding current parking habits is also available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Haitian Creole. Please only fill out one survey per household. The feedback form and survey, along with additional information about the High School project and resulting parking impacts, can be found at www.somervillema.gov/shsparking. Questions? Contact Mike Tremblay in the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development, at mtremblay@somervillema.gov. Meeting interpretation into Spanish, Portuguese, or Haitian Creole available upon request. Contact somerviva@somervillema.gov or 311 and ask for a SomerViva Immigrant Outreach Liaison.
Newstalk – December 5
Illuminations Tour 2018 takes place Saturday, December 15, 4:30 to 9:15 p.m. Tickets go on sale Sunday, December 2, at 10:00 a.m. at Blue Cloud Gallery in Ball Square, 713 Broadway. Celebrate the folk artistry of residents who transform their houses and yards with lights, illuminated ornaments, and shrines of devotion and fantasy. 45-minute Trolley Tours leave from (and return to) Somerville High School Field House, 81 Highland Ave. This is a new location this year, which is located between the Central Library and the High School. Coffee, hot chocolate and cookies will be served. In addition, craft activities for children and the Somerville Community Chorus will perform. Each year the tour changes, so do not expect the 2017 tour to be the 2018 tour. This is a fundraiser for the Arts Council. For more info visit www.somervilleartscouncil.org.
**************************
Don’t forget, if you would like to subscribe to receive a digital edition of our paper, go directly online to our website – www.thesomervilletimes.com – over to the right side and fill out your email address to receive a free, full PDF copy of the paper. By the way, if you scroll further down, a link to former editions of the paper are online as well, and all recent legal ads have been online for anyone who needs the legal ad they just ran.
**************************
Happy birthday this week to several locals: Happy birthday to the one and only Nancy Fucile, of Victor’s Deli. What a great smile and personality she has when you go into Victor’s. Nancy is the overseer of the many delicious foods that they offer. We wish Nancy the very best of birthdays and many more. She and Jason are the backbone of Victor’s today and have carried on the tradition of Rosa and Victor. Happy birthday to one of Somerville’s newest residents and a very nice guy, Ardi Leemput, from Belgium. Both he and his lovely wife moved here to the city and they love it. We wish Ardi the very best of birthdays and hope he stays here with us for many years to come. Happy birthday to Lisa Hastings, a nice lady celebrating her birthday this week. Happy birthday to Peter Blaikie, who is also celebrating this week. We hope he enjoys his birthday. Finally, to former Somerville guy from a great family, David Bell turns 60 this year. We hope he had a great party last week and continues to enjoy his birthday week. Happy birthday to everyone here and from the city who is celebrating this week. We wish every one of them a very happy birthday.
**************************
Best wishes to Ricky Willette, who was recently in the hospital. Ricky is one of the good guys at DPW here in the city. He is home recuperating and we’re glad. Now get back to work before the first storm so we know that between you and TB the streets will be done well.
**************************
Condolences to Representative Christine Barber on the sad passing on her sister Julie, who unfortunately recently passed away from breast cancer. It’s sad that a life so young and vibrant has to leave so early. Our condolences to her and her family.
**************************
Great to see that the mayor is doing better. What a horrible thing to experience. He suffered from a severe case of Shingles virus last week. We hope he gets taken care of, this is one of the worst things you can have. He has a fundraiser tonight, Wednesday, December 5, at the Armory.
**************************
Don’t forget to park on the EVEN side of the street once they call a snow emergency. And no, you can’t park in the school yards anymore, they put gates on them. Let’s hope the city doesn’t call for snow emergencies unless it’s a real emergency like a blizzard.
**************************
New winter Learn-to Skate classes for children, ages 4 to 18 at the local ice rink in Somerville. Classes at the Founders Memorial Rink, 581 Somerville Avenue in Somerville, start December 16 at 2:00 p.m. Get 7 weeks of lessons for the price of 6. Use code: SOM2. Use hockey, recreational or figure skates. Beginner, intermediate and advanced classes are available. For information and to register, call Bay State Skating School at 781-890-8480 or visit online at www.baystateskatingschool.org. Celebrating 50 years.
**************************
To that person (fictitious or not) who wrote a letter accusing us of being jealous of the so-called rag because we constantly write about the Winter Hill Yacht Club for Criminals: We have some news coming their way in a couple of weeks they may not like. But we still stand with the residents of the city who think that the club should be converted for public use. After all, 80% of their members don’t even live in Somerville, so we hear, including some dubious individuals who are members there.
**************************
The 4th Annual Union Square Holiday Stroll takes place on December 8 in Union Sq. An afternoon of Union Square discovery filled with festive happenings and holiday delight: rad retail, unique eats, music from around the world, visits with Santa, creative crafts, sparkly lights and more. Bundle up and come on down to unwrap Union Square in all its wintry wonderment. Union Square’s local businesses will have festive offerings all day long. Visit local businesses to check out their holiday decorations and cast your vote to win a Union Square prize package. Pick up a ballot from any of the participating businesses above and submit your votes at the voter drop off in the businesses. Votes must be cast on December 8 only. For more information visit https://www.unionsquaremain.org/.
**************************
Join city staff on Wednesday, December 12, at 6:00 p.m. at the Central Library, 79 Highland Ave., for the fourth in a series of public quarterly meetings where updates about parking changes, new data collection, and strategies for impact mitigation will be discussed. All interested persons are encouraged to come including residents and local business owners, as well as city and school staff. 2019 meeting dates will be announced soon. In addition to the meetings, an online form has been created to give community members and city and school staff an opportunity to submit questions, comments, and/or suggestions about the parking changes. A residential parking survey regarding current parking habits is also available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Haitian Creole. Please only fill out one survey per household. The feedback form and survey, along with additional information about the High School project and resulting parking impacts, can be found at www.somervillema.gov/shsparking. Questions? Contact Mike Tremblay in the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development, at mtremblay@somervillema.gov. Meeting interpretation into Spanish, Portuguese, or Haitian Creole available upon request. Contact somerviva@somervillema.gov or 311 and ask for a SomerViva Immigrant Outreach Liaison.