Last Saturday, the Union United coalition met to discuss priorities for the Union Square redevelopment process and begin to craft a community benefits agreement that can eventually be negotiated with the city and the master developer. 
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Friends and neighbors will share music and good times as this year’s edition of PorchFest hits town this coming weekend.
By Jeremy F. van der Heiden
The artistic community in Somerville is highly active, and will once again participate in the highly unique PorchFest event this Saturday, May 17, when neighborhoods come alive with song and conversation. This is anything but a typical festival, as residents come together for a community event in which musicians play on their porches and stoops, allowing passersby to enjoy the tunes while walking around the city.
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The seven parcels up for redevelopment. (click to enlarge)
By David R. Smith
The “Final Four” of potential master developers chosen by the Union Square Civic Advisory Committee (CAC) will have to bring their A-game to the Somerville Redevelopment Authority (SRA).
The master developer eventually chosen by the SRA will work with the city and property owners in the redevelopment of seven parcels in Union Square.
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Tom Taylor honored for decades of public service
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An appreciative assemblage of colleagues and constituents honored the retired, 27-year-serving alderman of Ward 3. Tom Taylor, at last week’s general meeting of the Board of Alderman.
By David R. Smith
Somerville’s longest-serving ward aldermen received what may have been the longest-lasting round of applause the aldermen’s chamber has seen as he was honored last week for his decades of service to the city during an emotional opening to his former board’s meeting that was attended –and very well so- by family, friends and former constituents.
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Last shot before the big drawing this week. There are still tickets available, and they need to be sold. The Somerville High Scholarship Foundation is having its annual $10K drawing this Friday evening, May 16, at the Highlander Café at Somerville High (gym entrance off Highland Avenue). This foundation has been busy now for just over 25 years and has given thousands and thousands of dollars to students to go on to college. Call Eugene Brune at 617 -628-5835 only 250 tickets will be sold. Lots of door prizes for those that attend, and a great night for a worthy cause. If you haven’t been before, come at 7p.m. to the Highlander Café. Refreshments will be served.
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By Douglas Yu
The city’s Community Preservation Committee (CPC) held two public meetings this month, addressing the public on how the city should prioritize spending Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding. More than 60 Somerville residents attended the meetings to share their testimonies about what projects, including affordable housing, historic preservation, open space and outdoor recreation, the city needs to acquire, create, preserve, support and restore.
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— Photos by Claudia Ferro
The annual M.O.M.’s Run 5k Run/Walk for Cancer will took place on Sunday, May 11 and there was a great turnout. Local and regional participants enjoyed a good run for a great cause, with all proceeds benefiting the Claudia Adams Barr Program with Dana Farber Cancer Research.
By David R. Smith
The citations awarded to former Ward 3 alderman Tom Taylor last week – the longest-serving ward alderman in the city’s history – was filled with deep and sincere expressions of love and gratitude.
But it also came with plenty of laughs, such as the story Mayor Joe Curtatone shared about Taylor and his less-than-friendly relationship with the pigeons that nested under the McGrath Highway overpass (for all the obvious reasons).
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Eagle Feathers #52 – Miss America
By Bob (Monty) Doherty
“May Day” in this country is a day when the sight of budding trees and flowers tells us that winter is over and the children sing around the May poles to celebrate the arrival of spring. In other countries, like Russia, it’s a day of viewing parades and exhibiting national pride. Kate Smith would spend her life celebrating both of these practices. She was a singing patriot. She was born on May 1, 1907, May Day, and she died on June 17, 1986, Bunker Hill Day. Kathryn Elizabeth Smith grew up in the nation’s capital. At eight years old, she sang for World War I veterans and, while attending nursing school as a teen, she sang for patients.
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