The annual Somerville Maple Syrup Project has returned for its 17th season. It began with a local maple tree tapping on the Tufts University’s Somerville/Medford campus. The project will culminate in the Maple Syrup Boil Down at the Somerville Community Growing Center, 22 Vinal Ave., just outside Union Square, this weekend on Saturday, March 7, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (Rain date March 14, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.) If you are interested in learning more or volunteering for the project, email volunteer@thegrowingcenter.org.

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What was all the hubbub about at East Somerville Community School last Friday morning? We’re hearing reports that police and fire units were there conducting some kind of business. If anyone knows what was happening, then please let us know. Area residents were especially concerned, so we’d like to be able to shed some light on this.

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Don’t forget to move your clocks forward one hour this weekend. When local standard time is about to reach Sunday, March 8 at 2:00 a.m. clocks are turned forward one hour to 3:00 a.m. local daylight time. Sunrise and sunset will be about one hour later on Mar 8 than the day before. There will be more sunlight in the evening.

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Happy birthday this week to the following: A big happy birthday to own good guy and great Editor, Jim Clark. We wish him a great day, and we hope he enjoys his birthday and does something fun. Happy birthday to another one of our own, local real estate agent and lifelong resident John Pratti, from C21 North East – The Norton Group. We hope John has a great birthday. Happy birthday to another nice guy, Eddie Nuzzo. We hope he has a great one. Happy birthday to Nick Kondilis, a long time real estate agent with Bremis Realty. We hope he has a great birthday. Happy birthday to one of Somerville’s good guys, from a great family, Marc Piro. We hope he has a great day. And to one of our good friends, Donald Coutoumas, of the Somerville Coutoumas family, going back a long time here in the city. We hope Donald has a great birthday. To all those that are also celebrating this week, we wish you a happy birthday.

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If you haven’t done so already, stop by the Ball Sq. Café to enjoy some great food and to check out their beautiful new addition. The place looks great and now they can serve so many more people, so go by and see what a great job they did.

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On St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, Liam Mannion and Bob McWatters invite the public to join them at Sally O’Brien’s, 335 Somerville Ave. to hoist a pint of Guinness and enjoy some Irish music.

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Students and families: do you love to dance? Do you want to learn some awesome Latin dances? Please come to the Somerville High School Latin Dance night, which will be held in the high school cafeteria on Thursday, March 5, from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. There will be dancing, dance lessons, and food. All proceeds will support the SHS service-learning trip to Puerto Rico. Tickets are $10 per adult, $5 per student. All ages are welcome. Tickets can be purchased ahead of time by scanning the QR code. Tickets will also be available at the door. For more information, please contact Steve Ensdorf (sensdorf@k12.somerville.ma.us) or Alicia Kersten (akersten@k12.somerville.ma.us).

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The Somerville Council on Aging presents Golden Girls Murder Mystery in Lancaster, PA, Sight & Sound Theater to see Queen Esther. Saturday, April 28 – May 2. 4 Nights and 5 Days. The package Includes round trip motor coach transportation, 4 nights deluxe accommodations in Lancaster, 4 breakfasts/4 dinner feasts, a visit to the lovely Kitchen Kettle, a tour of Lancaster, PA, browsing and shopping at Mrs. Lapps, a visit to Kreiders Farm and Hershey Chocolate World, and a visit to the casino. Includes round trip baggage taxes and meal gratuities. Double $649pp, Single $804pp. For more information, call Connie at 617-625-6600 X 2300

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The 2020 Citywide Swim Meet takes place on Sunday, March 8, 9:00 a.m. to noon at the Kennedy Pool, 5 Cherry St. Students in grades 1 – 8 will be competing in age-appropriate categories (1-5 and 6-8) in the backstroke, freestyle/crawl stroke, breaststroke, or butterfly events. Stop in for this free family event and cheer on your favorite swimmer(s).

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The 2020 Summer Camp and Activities Fair takes place on Tuesday, March 10, 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. at the East Somerville Community School, 50 Cross St. Somerville families are invited to stop by to learn about summer camps, recreational activities, and other summer learning opportunities in Somerville and the surrounding community. Program representatives will be on hand to share information and answer questions about their respective programs. This is a free family activity.

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The Annual Meeting of the Somerville High School Scholarship Foundation will be held at the East Somerville Community School in Room 165, at the Glen Street side of the building at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, March 9. Discussions will be held regarding the new four year renewable Eugene C. Brune Scholarship, the upcoming $10,000 elimination raffle celebration on May 15 at the Somerville Lions Club, and the Scholarship Awards Night at Somerville High School in May. The meeting is for current officers, directors, and members. New members are welcome. For information, contact Susan Tkaczuk, Correspondence/Recording Secretary (781) 568-9609; Suetkaczuk@gmail.com. Find them on Facebook by searching Somerville High School Scholarship Foundation. Your interest and participation is most appreciated.

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The Somerville Garden Club March meeting will take place on Wednesday, March 11 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. The program will include short demonstrations on the growing and care of some “easy to care for” and some “not so easy to care for” houseplants. There will be a demonstration and discussion on the care of orchids by Bill Bennett, and the manager of the greenhouse at Pembertons will talk about a variety of other common houseplants. There will be lots of time for questions. In addition, the raffle will include plenty of houseplants of many types and varieties to choose from using a free raffle ticket. If it is cold the night of the meeting, please bring a paper bag to protect your new houseplant from the cold. There will also be the usual plant roundtable. All Somerville Garden Club meetings are free and open to the public. Meetings are held at the Tufts Administration Building (TAB), 167 Holland Street, second floor, wheelchair accessible. Parking is available, and the building is a ten-minute walk from the Davis Square MBTA stop. For additional information, please visit www.somervillegardenclub.org.

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Project Bread’s Walk for Hunger is seeking participants to help shine a spotlight on hunger and raise funds to help neighbors. Set for Sunday, May 3, the one-day community event offers three routes: the 20-mile route with eight shuttle bus checkpoints, the 5K run through Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood, and the 3-mile loop, all of which are kid and stroller friendly. All routes start and end on the Boston Common. In its 52nd year, thousands of caring community members will participate in the oldest pledge walk in the country, which is expected to raise $2 million to support anti-hunger solutions and advocacy work to increase food access for people of all ages statewide. Likeminded organizations that participate as teams in The Commonwealth program can walk and run to raise money to support their own work, while also furthering Project Bread’s mission. The suggested fundraising minimum is $250. To register for Project Bread’s Walk for Hunger or to make a donation, visit projectbread.org/walk-for-hunger or call (617) 723-5000.

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AARP is taking appointments to help with income tax preparations at the Holland Street Senior Center at 167 Holland Street. Please call Josephine to schedule an appointment at 617-625-6600 ext. 2300

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