The Memorial Day weekend tends to mark the beginning of the high season for travel and vacations for most folks. It’s a great time for seeing old friends, family, new sites and familiar ones as well.

The results of the Division 1 state meet held at Durfee High School in Fall River on Saturday, May 27, are as follows:

Nicole Genard took first place in the Javelin with a personal best throw of 139’10”. That is the farthest throw in the state this year. Nicole was third in the 100m Dash with a time of 12.50.  Emma Youte placed sixth in the Long Jump with a jump of 16’1″.  Our 4x100m relay placed second with a new school record time of 49.57. Running on the relay was Gelynne Berger, Alison Kaba, Michel-le Meranda and Nicole Genard.

Gloria Mindock

Gloria Mindock has lived, written, and created in Somerville, Mass for many years. Not only does she have the respect of the local and national poetry community but she has quite a following abroad. She edits the Istanbul Literary Review from her home in the Union Square section of our city, as well as running her Cervena Barva Press , an independent press that has published numerous titles from poets domestic and foreign. Mindock’s own work has resonated with the poetry community in Eastern Europe, and she has been published in a number of literary journal there, most notably in Rumania. Mindock is a substance abuse social worker, had her own theater company, and for a decade co- edited the Boston Literary Review. I spoke to her on my Somerville Community Access TV Show Poet to Poet : Writer to Writer.

Somerville Poet Amaranth Borsuk.

Somerville Poet Amaranth Borsuk is the author of Handiwork (Slope Editions, 2012), selected by Paul Hoover for the Slope Book Prize, and, with programmer Brad Bouse, of Between Page and Screen (Siglio, 2012). Her poems, essays, and collaborations have appeared widely in print and online. Currently a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Humanities at MIT, she will join the faculty at the University of Washington Bothell this fall.

First of Four Open Streets Celebrations this Summer Begins on East Broadway with Parade, Foss Fest, “SomerPeople” Multicultural Celebration and More.

The City of Somerville kicks off its third annual SomerStreets series on Sunday, June 3 on East Broadway, in partnership with East Somerville Main Streets and FossFest for “Carnaval @ SomerStreets!”  Through SomerStreets, where “roads are closed to cars and open to you.” programming will extend along East Broadway from Temple Street to Pennsylvania Ave. on Sunday, June 3 from noon – 4 p.m., including a kickoff parade at noon, live music, “SomerPeople” multicultural celebration, food, and fun.

Somerville’s Memorial Day Parade 2012

– Photos by Donald Norton

Los Straitjackets wants you to come and be one of them - as an audience member, of course - at Johnny D’s on May 31.

By Jim Clark

Relax, folks. The guitar wielding men wearing the black clothing, gold Aztec medallions, and personalized Mexican wrestling masks won’t hurt you. They are merely there to entertain you, as only they can do.

More than 70 Units Step off from City Hall Concourse at 1:00 p.m. Somerville-based Professional Women’s Soccer Team, Boston Breakers, to March for the First Time in 2012

The annual Memorial Day Ceremonies, concluding with the largest Memorial Day Parade in the region, are set for Sunday, May 27, beginning at 8 a.m.  Sponsored by American Legion Post #19 in conjunction with the Somerville Allied Veterans’ Council, scheduled events will begin at 8:00 a.m. at the American Legion Post #19, 124 Highland Ave., with a short procession down Highland Ave. to the Central Library and the  placing of wreaths on monuments along Central Hill Park.  The parade will step off from the City Hall/Somerville High School concourse at 1 p.m., and will proceed for 2.3 miles down Highland Ave. to the Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery in Teele Square. The parade will conclude in Veterans Memorial Cemetery with a ceremony of remembrance for fallen Somerville veterans under the supervision of the Somerville Allied Veterans Council.

On The Silly Side by Jimmy Del Ponte

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

Did you wear a three-piece white suit, wide collared shirts, and platform shoes? Were some of you ladies the proud owners of hot pants, mini dresses, and shoulder pads? With the recent passing of music legends Donna Summer and Bee Gee Robin Gibb, my thoughts are directed back to that golden age of Disco. What was Somerville people’s reaction to Disco? I asked some of my friends who were there to share some of their disco experiences. I can also speak first hand because I played in a disco band briefly.

By William Tauro

Four new police officers were sworn in after their approval by the Somerville Board of Aldermen.