It’s not just another three-day weekend, folks. It’s a huge part of our regional – not to mention our national – heritage.

Patriot’s Day was established over 100 years ago to commemorate the Battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775, the first battles of the American Revolutionary War. Re-enactments are staged and speeches are given, and a generally festive air of patriotic zeal pervades.

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Winter Hill Brewing produces small batches of various specialty beers that are offered on a rotating basis. Check out their website to view current and future releases. You can pair your favorite beer with one of multiple gourmet, scratch made sandwiches and accoutrements.

By Donald Norton

The Burlington Rotary Club ran its annual Friday Night at the fights, with over 350 turning out to have a great dinner and see some great boxing bouts. Pictured here is a small group of regulars from Somerville who always attend every year. It was a great night and the club raised over $35K dollars.

~Photos by Claudia Ferro

The Fifth Annual FULL HEARTS 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament, a school fundraising event, took place at the East Somerville Community School Gymnasium last Friday, April 6. Qualifying 6th, 7th, and 8th graders (predetermined at each school) faced off in friendly games of 3-on-3, and there were plenty of opportunities to win raffle items and other prizes.

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Recently, Diana Der-Hovanessian, the longtime president of the New England Poetry Club, passed away. She was a very influential person on the poetry scene. Here is an interview I conducted with her some years ago:

Diana Der-Hovanessian is the president of the venerable literary organization: The New England Poetry Club. Based in Cambridge, MA, it was founded by Amy Lowell, Robert Frost and Conrad Aiken almost ninety years ago. Lowell’s vision was to bring well-known poets to large audiences.

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Gustavo Pereira is a Brazilian-American living in the area for the last 28 years. The written words, their sounds, effects and alignments are a call to write, experiment with his own mixture and concoction to express in poetic form much of what we dwell on. A BPS Teacher of Mathematics on leave, Gustavo is working on publishing both his English and Portuguese poems.

Arrests:
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James McNeil, of 35 Windsor Rd., April 6, 9:18 a.m., arrested at Jaques St. on warrant charges of failure to signal, possession of a class B drug, not in possession of driver’s license, larceny over $250, and operation of a motor vehicle with a suspended license.

A couple whose lives were forever changed following a devastating accident, realized their dream today of completing the Boston Marathon route as a team, one week before the official race. The long-time couple, Kaitlyn Kiely, 30 years old, and Matt Wetherbee, 31 years old, began working towards this goal soon after an accident during a pick-up basketball game left Matt paralyzed two years ago. Last year, Kaitlyn suffered severe leg cramping as she ran the official Boston Marathon solo, leaving her eager for a “do over”, and this time, with her teammate. Kaitlyn ran the 26.2 miles, pushing Matt in a racing chair the entire route, to demonstrate that nothing can hold them back.

Donna and Helen met as a caregiver match through the Adult Family Care program in 1998 and they’ve been together ever since.

By Nathan Lamb

Recently divorced- with two young children- Donna was going through a difficult period when she decided to become a caregiver with Adult Family Care (AFC) in 1998.

Looking back on that decision to open her home to Helen, a woman with developmental disabilities, Donna said it’s been life-changing for both of them. Nearly 20 years later, they’re still going strong.