Eagle Feathers #64 – On Guard!

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

*This article originally appeared in the October 29, 2014 edition of The Times. We are repeating it this week in memory of Olympia Dukakis, who recently passed.

Olympia was her name … fencing was her game … and acting was her fame.

Her immigrant mother and father came to America from Greece and named her after the fields of Olympia, the site of the ancient games. As a young girl, she grew up in the tough ethnic neighborhoods of Lowell and Somerville and learned to be a scrapper while living here before, during, and after World War II.

“Hmm … let’s see. What does our city need that it does not yet possess and just has to have? Ah, yes! Its own center for the arts!”

Clearly, this was not the actual thought process that brought the city to take steps towards acquiring the Center for Arts at the Armory complex by eminent domain in the very near future. Still, to some it may well be easily imagined that way.

Arrests:
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Christine Benjamin, of Roxbury, May 13, 1:02 p.m., arrested at McGrath Hwy. on a warrant charge of larceny under $1200.

Lamont Sands, of Holbrook, May 14, 10:27 p.m., arrested at Windsor St. on a charge of receiving a stolen motor vehicle.

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Somerville Poet, publisher Gloria Mindock is an institution around our town, and beyond. She founded the Cervena Barva Press, and was our former poet laureate. She has been active member of the arts scene for a number of decades. Mindock has a new poetry collection, Ash, from the Glass Lyre Press. This is from their website:

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Tomas O’Leary is a poet, translator, music-maker, singer, artist, and expressive therapist. His new and selected poems from Lynx House Press is In the Wellspring of the Ear. Previous books of poetry include Fool at the Funeral, The Devil Take a Crooked House, and A Prayer for Everyone. A teacher for many years – college, high school, elementary, adult ed) – he has worked for the past couple of decades with folks who have Alzheimer’s, playing Irish accordion and eliciting cognitive and emotional responses through songs, stories, poems, and free-wheeling conversation. He grew up in Somerville, long before it became the Paris of New England.

Come hear members of the local Salvadoran community tell their stories and talk about their work in Somerville’s neighborhoods! Panelists include: a social documentary photographer who exhibits throughout New England, a local leader who works to build the collective power of immigrants, a community engagement specialist who assists Spanish speakers across the city, and a pastor whose sermons are heard throughout Latin America.

Somerville’s Fair Housing Commission’s webinar covers information that includes the Fair Housing Act and protected classes, how to spot discriminatory practices by realtors, and what to do if you’re facing housing discrimination.

Somerville will join with the State in lifting remaining COVID-19 restrictions on Saturday, May 29. Please note, as of May 29, State guidelines will still require face coverings to be worn on public transit, in rideshares and taxis, in healthcare facilities, and in other settings hosting vulnerable populations, such as congregate care settings. Until May 29, face coverings remain mandatory in indoor public spaces and also outdoors when 6-foot social distancing is not possible. For more information on the State’s reopening plan and guidelines, visit mass.gov/reopening.