The Elizabeth Peabody House was honored with a citation commemorating its 125 years in operation during the latest meeting of the Somerville City Council.

By Joe Creason

The Somerville City Council held a regular meeting on April 22 to review orders of business and hear reports from the Councilor-led committees pertaining to the various sectors of municipal management.

Thursday’s meeting began with a citation submitted by Ward 4 Councilor Jesse Clingan and the mayor, commending the Elizabeth Peabody House on its 125 year anniversary. The organization has been a long-standing advocate for education and affordable childcare in the community.

Cake4Kids is looking for volunteer bakers and agencies with underserved kids.

By Denise Keniston
tw:@denisekeniston

Cake4Kids is a nonprofit that provides custom birthday and celebration cakes to underserved children. They have delivered thousands of cakes to kids all over the country and Boston is ready to get in on the sweetness!

Professional pastry chef Tali Pinnolis is the ambassador for the new Boston area chapter. She says a lot of families struggle to celebrate birthdays. “Imagine growing up never having a birthday cake. For the majority of us, the thought is difficult, if not inconceivable, to imagine,” says Pinnolis. “With the COVID pandemic, especially, many families are so strapped for time, money and energy that celebrating a child’s birthday is out of reach.”

Urban Axes of Somerville has been hanging on while awaiting the further lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.

By Alex Reidy

Axe throwing is quickly being made popular by Urban Axes across the country, and here in Somerville, with a fun business model that caters to the young, the old, the amateur and the expert by providing an entertaining and unique experience like no other.

It has been announced that the City of Somerville will move into a modified Phase 4, Step 1 of the state’s reopening plan starting on Friday, May 7. This means that indoor capacity for several businesses will be increased significantly, something that the local economy desperately needs. For specific details and general guidelines, go to https://www.somervillema.gov/reopeningphase4.

Once completed, the integration of a pump station at the ArtFarm complex is expected to alleviate a major portion of the city’s flooding problems.

By Alex Reidy

A virtual community meeting to introduce the Poplar Street Pump Station preliminary design and its integration with the ArtFarm project was held on Wednesday, April 14.

What is ArtFarm? According to the City of Somerville’s website, ArtFarm is “a self-sustaining art and urban agriculture laboratory designed to foster community engagement and creativity” and “will serve as a park, urban agriculture site, and arts hub featuring the ArtFarm community center with performance and exhibit spaces.”

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The traditional dish calls for butter and egg yolks for the hollandaise sauce. This sauce is high in cholesterol. I know you’re thinking, no way can this guilt free. But I’m here to tell you, this recipe is a game changer and is absolutely delicious. The avocado hollandaise is creamy, and its richness is so satisfying that you can eat this more often and reap the health benefits of this amazing fruit. High in heart healthy fat, dietary fiber, potassium, along with a good portion of the daily recommended vitamins B-6 and C at 20% and 24% respectively (USDA).

Community volunteerism is an uplifting thing to observe and, especially, to participate in. When the efforts involved result in making the community a bit cleaner and a more comfortable place to live then it is all to the better.

So it is with the annual Somerville Spring Cleanup held this past weekend as many residents pitched in, picked up, and swept out the old, unwanted refuse and generally celebrated our mutual appreciation of the city we live and work in.

Angelo Busa/McWatters enjoyed a wonderful surprise on his first birthday with a Somerville Fire and Police caravan on Summer St. on Saturday, April 24. Angelo is the son of Jacqueline and Mike Busa. Florence McWatters is the great grandmother and his grandfather Kevin McWatters and Karen McWatters were present to witness the fabulous gesture by the fire and police departments. Angelo is also Grand Nephew of former Alderman Bob McWatters.

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I talked with artist Thea Paneth, of Somerville Open Studios, about the upcoming event that happens on May 1 and 2 of 2021. Open Studios has brought art to the streets of Somerville for over 20 years, and they continue to keep on keeping on, during these challenging times.

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Ball Square resident Marlena Merrin is a songwriter, musical theater writer, poet, and sometime improv actor. You can listen to some of her songs and read about some of her musicals at collegeboundthemusical.com. In her alternate life, under a slightly different name, she designs and analyzes IT systems for security and privacy.