Tonight Wednesday the 22nd, at the ever-popular Sally O’Brien’s on Somerville Avenue, Union Square, Ward 3 Alderman Bob McWatters will be having a fundraiser from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. We hear that three special guests will be showing up to wish Bob good luck, of course along with the huge crowd he gets. One is his good friend Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan (don’t forget he’s campaign coordinator here in Somerville for her), the first District Attorney for Middlesex County who grew up here, in Ward 3, and her family is still here. No one packs them in like Bob does. Last time hardly anyone could move around. He’s very popular on his own, doesn’t need anyone especially property owners and developers and whatever to throw him a sellout time. He’s popular because he is truly a constituent alderman and reaches out to all the residents of Ward 3, not just the special interest of a few. He’s got support from all sides, and yes, he’s a great guy.

~Photos by Bobbie Toner

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and Ward 2 Alderman Maryann Heuston hosted the Lincoln Park groundbreaking ceremony on Friday, June 17 Lincoln Park (near the Argenziano School playground). The ceremony marked the official start of the long-awaited renovation of Lincoln Park. New features include a multi-use grass field, a new Argenziano schoolyard, an updated softball diamond, community gardens, an outdoor play area, Parkour and skateboard areas, 150 new trees, outdoor exercise equipment, new lighting, and an off-leash dog area. The project will also include rain gardens that recycle stormwater as well as a 1.26-million gallon underground stormwater management system aimed at curbing flooding in the area.

The cool shade of Powderhouse Park (a.k.a Nathan Tufts Park) served as the perfect venue for Joe’s Jazz and Blues Fest 2016.

By Charles Lane

Residents and visitors to the city gathered for the annual Joe’s Jazz & Blues Fest that took place at Powderhouse Park in Somerville this past Saturday.

Eagle Feathers #106 – Hidden Happy Hollow

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

By 1870, Somerville’s largest industry peaked. Her dozen brick-making companies were turning out 24 million bricks a year from the clay deposits scarring her landscape. The boom ended when the 1873 depression struck, followed by the population explosion of the late 1800’s, and ending with the increase in land values throughout the city.

By Jim Clark

On Saturday, June 17, police received a report of suspicious person at a Pearl St. location. A woman had phoned saying that her father called her and was distraught that a woman was on his property.

Officers were immediately dispatched to the scene to investigate the situation.

A recent campaign to increase awareness about elder abuse is sparking discussions about the issue. Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services (SCES) recently distributed 500 awareness ribbons, which were attached to flyers with information about elder abuse and how to report it. SCES Elder Protective Services can reached at 617-628-2601 during normal business houses and through the Elder Abuse Hotline (1-800-922-2275) at all other times.

Your 2016 Somerville Youth Softball Organization (SYSO) Girls Fastpitch 10U Champions, the Somerville Hurricanes.

By Bob Schofield

The last softball game of the 2016 Somerville Youth Softball Organization (SYSO) Girls Fastpitch 10U Championship series was an epic battle between two great teams; Somerville Hurricanes vs. Somerville Cyclones.

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I was sitting in the Bloc 11 Cafe in Somerville when a gentleman of my acquaintance approached me. He said, “You really took a good picture of me for The Somerville Times – but the text labeling me as a “hipster” in the Square (no pun intended) was insulting. Another man would look at me and see me differently. Call me a street punk, call me homeless, but don’t call me a hipster.” He went on to explain the word “hipster” had a long and proud heritage – but the word now has been bastardized. He continued to explain that hipsters – real hipsters – are original people, genuinely offbeat, not the hordes of bohemes flocking to Somerville. I had no intention of offending him. This man is intelligent, well-read, and certainly from what I have observed a man off the beaten path. He has faced his share of challenges and he is obviously much more than the neat category of hipster.

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Tim Suermondt is the author of two full-length collections of poems: Trying To Help The Elephant Man Dance (The Backwaters Press, 2007) and Just Beautiful (New York Quarterly Books, 2010.) His third collection, Election Night and the Five Satins, will be published early in 2016 by Glass Lyre Press. He has poems published and forthcoming in Poetry, The Georgia Review, Prairie Schooner, Ploughshares, Blackbird, Bellevue Literary Review, PANK, North Dakota Quarterly, december magazine, Plume Poetry Journal, The Southeast Review and Stand Magazine (U.K.) among others. He lives in Cambridge, MA, with his wife, the poet Pui Ying Wong.

Somerville’s Emmett Easton proudly showed off his Second Place award at Fenway Park.

By Bob Schofield

Somerville Little League’s own Emmett Easton came in Second Place in the 7/8-year-old baseball division of the 2016 Pitch, Hit & Run Team Championship at Fenway Park this past weekend.