Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

Walking into The Railside Lounge and restaurant in the ‘70s was not like walking into one of the bars/restaurants in Davis Square today. You were met with a blast of cigarette smoke that stayed on your clothes and your hair. If you weren’t supposed to be there, your pungent scent ratted you out! The clientele was a lot different, too, because Somerville back then was different. Salt of the earth, slice of life, work with your hands, shot and a draft beer, different. They called that drink a boilermaker, and you could get a good one at The Railside.

— Photos by Claudia Ferro

The Council on Aging’s Halloween Celebration took place on Thursday, October 30, at its Holland Street Center. Participants enjoyed music, a costume contest, and trick-or-treating with the COA staff and other guests.

The Elizabeth Peabody House’s food pantry provides much-needed food to those in need locally. — Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Peabody House

By Harry Kane

The Elizabeth Peabody House provides free groceries at its food pantry for those in need, but since the government shutdown and SNAP freeze, there is a greater demand.

The local distribution center provides a lifeline to households experiencing food insecurity amid a looming crisis. Last week, EPH served groceries to some 425 households, an uptick of 15 to 20 percent since the shutdown began.

A “No Parking Here to Corner” at Walnut Street and Sunnyside Avenue was deemed unnecessary by Director of Parking Suzanne Rinfret, advocating instead for stricter parking enforcement. — Photo by Bobbie Toner

By Jordan Pagkalinawan

 The Traffic and Parking Committee met on Monday, October 27th, to discuss various speed control measures and debate several issues related to the testing of autonomous vehicles.

Walnut Street “No Parking Here to Corner” Sign

The committee first heard from Director of Parking Suzanne Rinfret, who explained a work order to evaluate a request for a “No Parking Here to Corner” sign at Walnut Street and Sunnyside Avenue. After the department frequently checked the intersection and noticed only three tickets issued between October 24 and 27, Rinfret said such a sign would not need to be installed.

Congratulations to the new Mayor of Somerville, Jake Wilson, the City Councilors, and School Committee members. We congratulate them all on their well-run campaigns and wish them the best as they delve into their roles as Somerville’s latest group of civic leaders.

Eagle Feathers #341 – Trum Field

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

War memorials salt the city’s landscape from East Somerville to West Somerville. If you read them – and you should – they bring remembrance and note the dedicated sacrifice of this city’s residents during all the wars America has been involved in. Being the most densely populated city in New England, this regrettably translates into very large losses. The sons and daughters of this patriotic city, commonly referred to as the Brooklyn of Boston, or the city of homes, or the blue-collar bedroom of Boston, suffered more than her small area would show.

We honor them every year, and we regard them with awe and deepest admiration. Proud, but humble in countenance, they seem to simply play their part in our annual celebration of appreciation for their courageous contributions to the well-being of our nation—the well-being of ourselves as a society.

The flesh-and-blood reality is even more awe-inspiring as we realize how fragile life truly is, and yet these brave men and women each took a stand and declared that no harm should come to their fellow countrymen. Not on their watch.

Former Alderman Bob McWatters visited the Brady Towers on Halloween with Holly Simione, a candidate for City Councilor at Large. Bob is shown here with Eleanor Rances, Commissioner for the Somerville Housing Authority.

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One day I got an email from the accomplished Somerville sculptor Ann Hirsch about a talented outsider artist – Robert Wright. She told me he has this strange but very compelling art on display in a little park in Gilman Square. On a crisp morning in October, I walked over to Gilman Square in Somerville to meet the man and view his art. It was a bit nostalgic, as the old Paddock Restaurant site was across the street, a place I used to frequent years back. Wright was walking with a friend of his, and I introduced myself. Wright told me that he is a resident of the Park Street Senior Center and started working on this art among a little warren of trees next to his residence. He revealed that he had once been an ironworker and was severely injured in a work-related accident, and since then, he had been looking to fill his time with something interesting.