Community support needed to create a hub for laughter and creativity

A new improv comedy theater is coming to Somerville, MA. Sort of. Union Comedy, currently at 593 Somerville Ave, has found a new home at 73 Bow Street. Before moving, however, there is some work to be done, and a stage to be built.  The theater has launched a Kickstarter campaign in the hopes of  raising $50,000 to build a vibrant performance space for the improv  comedy community, performers and audience alike. 

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Health & Human Services Director, Nancy Bacci, speaks with the Director of Veterans Services for the City of Somerville, Jerome Thomas.

Jungle Community Music Club continues to provide entertainment and community engagement despite the challenges it has faced. — Photos courtesy of Jungle Community Music Club

By Jeffrey Shwom

It’s a Wednesday night in Union Square. Choose your own adventure … you can get there earlier for the Open Mic night or stay late for Karaoke. Either way, down a short court, tucked behind Union Square’s long time comfort pub, The Independent, lies the Jungle Community Music Club (The Jungle). Sam Epstein, owner and manager, regaled a night that two magicians performed. “It was incredible! They were really interesting.” Though an outlier for the normal artists and bands that perform on Wednesdays, that moment speaks to the specialness of the space. “Everyone supports artists going up. Meeting people and hanging out. People come in groups, or by themselves. It is a community in the club.”

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The second meeting of the Somerville School Advisory Group discussed the future of the Winter Hill Community Innovation School and The Brown School.

Buy a wreath to help to spread holiday cheer.

By Cathleen Twardzik

It’s that time of year again. Christmas is starting to waft through the air, but at the Somerville Center that means wreath assembly time. You could partake in the creation of beautiful, festive creations by volunteering at The Somerville Growing Center: Volunteer Opportunities (signupgenius.com).

This annual event is “our biggest” fundraiser. Each wreath is “handcrafted” and “made with love by our volunteers, which helps to support programming and care for the Growing Center.”

By Ian Halim

When Dr. Audrey Evans was 80 years old, she got married for the first time, tying the knot with a physician-colleague she’d worked with for some 40 years, Giulio “Dan” D’Angio. One morning in 2005, Evans and D’Angio got married, went to a cafe for juice and croissant, and made it to work by 8:30am. She was a woman so devoted to her work, apparently, that she couldn’t take a day off for her own wedding!