— Photos by Claudia Ferro
The annual tree lighting ceremony took place on Dec. 4 on the City Hall Concourse, followed by a meet and greet with Santa Claus in the Somerville High School Highlander Café.
Santa Claus was escorted by the Somerville Fire Department for the ceremony and was available for photos following the tree lighting. All children attending the ceremony also received a gift from Santa. Live entertainment for the event featured the Somerville High School Band and Orchestra, the Somerville Community Chorus, and El Sistema Somerville.
Refreshments were served at SHS.

Don’t forget the Christmas tree and wreath sale at Foss Park. The proceeds go to the Next Wave and Full Circle Alternative School here in the city. Please consider stopping off and helping the kids out and buy your tree locally.

No need to do without your Farmers’ Market visits through the off-season. The Arts at the Armory is once again playing host to the winter market from now until March of next year.

By Gabriela C. Martinez

The Somerville Winter Farmers’ Market is back for its fifth year at the Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave.

The market will be open every Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. until March and it will include produce vendors from previous years, such as Winter Moon Farm, Heron Pond Farm, Misty Brook Farm (which also has grains and meat) and Apex Orchards.

By Rebecca Danvers

A toy drive to benefit children of military personnel is taking place now through Dec. 18. The effort is sponsored by Operation Homefront and is being represented locally by West Somerville Dental, here in Somerville. Donations of toys can be brought to West Somerville Dental office at 124 College Ave.

Eagle Feathers #67 – Anderson’s Train

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

Charlestown, established in 1628, is older than Boston. It originally covered ten towns before it split and annexed itself to the capital city, taking 200 years to accomplish.

Sandra McGoldrick was honored with her own “Red Jacket Day” by the Somerville Kiwanis last Thursday.

By Ross Blouin

The Somerville Kiwanis Club recently celebrated the accomplishments of one of its veteran members, President and CEO of the Winter Hill Bank Sandra McGoldrick, at its luncheon meeting on Thursday, December 4.

The Somerville Times “Best of Somerville” Best Bank Employee honoree, Sylvana Sabatino, of Middlesex Federal’s Teele Sq. office proudly shows off her certificate of honor. Congratulations, Sylvana, on a job well done.

Andrew Sofer grew up in Cambridge, England, and, after boarding school, studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Boston University, and the University of Michigan. His numerous poetry awards include Southwest Review’s Morton Marr Prize; Atlanta Review’s International Publication Award; First Prize in the Iambs & Trochees Contest; and New England Poetry Club’s Gretchen Warren Award. Wave, his first book of poems, was named a finalist for the Morse Prize, the Donald Justice Award, and the New Criterion Prize. Andrew has acted and directed widely, and his writings on theater include the acclaimed book The Stage Life of Props. He teaches in the English department at Boston College. I had the pleasure to interview him on my Somerville Community Access TV show Poet to Poet: Writer to Writer