The 17th Annual Gobble Gobble Gobble 4 Miler marathon took place last Thursday, Thanksgiving Day. Runners took to the streets, starting in Davis Sq., decked out in their feathery finest in support of Project Soup and Somerville Track PAC, a program aimed at providing college scholarships for Somerville High School students.

The Saint Clement Anchormen prevailed over St. Joseph Prep in the big Thanksgiving Day matchup last week at Tufts Field. – Photo by Darren Deng

By James Cameron

The Anchormen, in an effort to prove they still have it after their playoff exit, defeated the Phoenixes 43-16 at Tufts Field on Thanksgiving.

Dan Sklar has been described as an “American Primitive” by other poets in the region. And they mean this as a compliment. Sklar is a PhD and a professor of Creative Writing at Endicott College and he writes with a no-frills and emotive style–that cuts to the chase and cuts the … well you know what.  His latest book of poetry is titled  Flying Cats: Actually Swooping ( Ibbetson Street Press). I talked with Sklar on my Somerville Community Access TV show Poet to Poet: Writer to Writer.

A poem about James Joyce and Harry Truman? Unlikely you say. But Michael Todd Steffen pulls it off.

With an anticipated influx of new job opportunities in Somerville, the city aims to cut a path leading local workers directly to those jobs by entering into a contract with a local workforce development agency. In addition to providing job training, the selected agency will connect residents with Somerville employers looking to hire and will promote all opportunities for residents to have first access to local jobs.

The new Holiday Arts & Eats Festival at Assembly Row in Somerville to be held this Friday through Sunday, December 6, 7, and 8, will be the area’s first-ever winter Food Truck festival, in conjunction with an artisan market, local musicians, a beer and wine tent, a holiday train ride, and several other holiday and children’s activities. The artisan market and all activities will be held under a festive heated tent.

Arrests:
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Dale Harding, 26, of 6 Myrtle St., November 25, 8:10 a.m., arrested at home on warrant charges of witness intimidation, carrying a firearm with ammunition, discharging a firearm, destruction of property over $250, possession of a firearm without a FID card, assault with a dangerous weapon, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

A faulty chimney flue is the apparent cause of a fire at 34 Day Street on Thanksgiving evening, November 28. Firefighters responded to the two story, single family home at 7:31 p.m. and found smoke coming from a wall around the first floor fireplace. Firefighters had to rip the wall open to extinguish fire burning inside the wall void. Fire damage was confined to the area around the fireplace but water damage also resulted in the basement. Firefighters were on scene for approximately 45 minutes. Damage is estimated at $30,000.

Next Wave/Full Circle students and staff invite you to kick off the holiday season with the purchase of a beautiful tree or wreath from the Next Wave/Full Circle Tree Lot at Foss Park. The annual fundraising event began Sunday, December 1 and runs through Wednesday, December 18.  Net proceeds from this event benefit the Student Activities Fund at NW/FC.  Students staff the lot (with supervision from NW/FC teachers and counselors), gaining valuable work skills in the process. The Lot, located at the Latta Brothers Memorial Pool at Foss Park, 20 McGrath Hwy., is open from 4-8 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m.-8 p.m. on weekends.

Help the Somerville Arts Council better understand the economic assets of the creative community in Somerville by participating in a quick community survey, launched with the UMass Center for Policy Analysis.

The survey can be found at www.somervilleartscouncil.org/creativesurvey, is open to all residents and will be available through December 6. It takes only 12 questions and five minutes to complete.