By Josie Grove

The city’s most familiar historical landmark is undergoing some much needed shoring up and refurbishing, thanks to the expert work being provided by MJS Construction Inc.

The granite tower looming over Union Square is just over one hundred years old, but its symbolic significance is much older. Prospect Hill was strategically important during the American Revolution, and is the site of first raising of the thirteen-striped Great Union Flag, unfurled on January 1, 1776. In honor of this occasion, the mayor of Somerville hikes to the top of the tower every year on January 1 to raise a flag.

We, the owners, staff and all associates of The Somerville Times would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and a prosperous New Year for 2016. We want to thank all our readers and fans for their support in helping to make The Somerville Times the largest circulating community newspaper here in Somerville. We have worked hard to fill the paper with Somerville people and their stories over these past several years, and we’re proud of what we have accomplished. We hope you continue to support us over the new year and, once again, from our family to yours, God bless everyone and thank you.

On Christmas Eve, I will be serving tzimmes as a side dish to accompany a smoked ham. The sweet, salty and smoky flavors go so well together, it’s sure to become a new favorite for you. Tzimmes is a Yiddish dish and is typically part of the Rosh Hashanah meal. There are many variations of this sweet dish most of which include carrots and dried fruit. I have researched different variations of recipes and adapted it to flavors of my liking. But I can tell you that this dish is so satisfying and delicious that no excuse of a holiday is needed to serve at your next gathering. It’s so easy to prepare that you place everything in a crock pot and walk away.

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

It’s that time of year and folks look stressed as they rush from shop to shop to create a holiday that exceeds expectations.

As current and past presidents of the Somerville Community Corporation (SCC), our wish lists have changed over the years. Instead of wishing for the newest tech toy, we hope for a future for Somerville in which people of all incomes can continue to co-exist and where everyone has a home they can afford, a job with a livable wage, and a network of peers to find support and build a movement to improve the community. We’re sure you agree.

Somerville resident William Falcetano chimes in with his occasional movie review for Off the Shelf:

Our fate, whether we like it or not, is that the cinema has become our history textbook. It is from movies that people learn about the Holocaust, President Kennedy’s assassination, Iwo Jima. Film can be propaganda or education; and as in education the student must carefully select the teacher. In the case of Jay Roach’s tribute film to Dalton Trumbo we have an example of how the cinema can be both educator and entertainer.

I run into Steve Swensen quite often when I head to my makeshift office in the back of the Bloc 11 Cafe. Swensen is a retired Somerville High School English teacher, and boasts that he has spent his 39 year teaching career in these immediate environs.  He shares this poem with us.

Arrests:
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Crystal Bielakowsky, of 158 Everett St., East Boston, December 14, 6:53 p.m., arrested at Broadway on charges of shoplifting by concealing merchandise and furnishing a false name or Social Security number.

Robert Silva, of 55 Springfield St., December 15, 10:00 a.m., arrested at Webster Ave. on warrant charges of indecent assault on a person 14 or older, sexual conduct for a fee, and trespassing.

The Healey School tot lot has an exciting new addition, The Buddy Bench. Thanks to a donation from The Joseph Middlemiss Big Heart Foundation and Ms. Conley’s facilitation of the process, students at the Healey School now have a beautiful resource to help them in fostering inclusion and friendships. Developed by a student named Christian, the Buddy Bench concept came from the idea of a designated place where students could sit if they were looking for someone else to play with, and where other students could go to invite someone to play. Christian worked with his principal to make his idea a reality and now schools around the world have added Buddy Benches to playgrounds.

Somerville Artist Resa Blatman.

By Doug Holder

I interviewed Resa Blatman at the Bloc 11 Cafe in Somerville, Mass. We talked about her recent trip to the Arctic, the gentrification of Somerville and its implications for artists, her artwork inspired by Global Climate Change, and art as a commodity, among other things.

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

Dear Local Families,

We are writing today to encourage you to support your independent retailers this holiday season. Like many other retail businesses, we at Diaper Lab are finding this year particularly difficult. In our niche of independent children’s stores, most  across the country are struggling to stay afloat and many are going out of business entirely.  We only have to look across our parking lot to see Stella Bella’s Davis Square location closing.  Remember Twinkle Star, Bird by Bird, Calliope, Greenward and Isis Parenting?  Those are all stores that were once here in Somerville/Boston, and most opened around the same time we did.  Eight years later, we are the only one of this group that remains.