We have a lot to catch up on...

Here we go:

1) There was a discussion about the Somerville 48 hour parking rule on yelp (started by a Winter Hill neighbor):
http://www.yelp.com/topic/boston-somerville-48-hour-parking-rule-with-residential-permit

2) Danielle Dreilinger wrote about 'More cyclists are hitting the road in Somerville', noting that:"Bike use was notably low in Winter Hill and Assembly Square. Joggers, meanwhile, love the Community Path, and more people jog after work than before.":
http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/somerville/2011/10/more_cyclists_are_hitting_the.html

3) Mitch is trying to rent out an off-street parking spot in Winter Hill:
http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/prk/2632684906.html

4) The Bicycling New Historic Somerville brochure is online with Winter Hill hotspots (sorry I missed the actual event way back in May):
http://www.somervillema.gov/sites/default/files/2011-FinalBrochure.pdf

5) This is cool. Mose Berkowitz-Urban Appreciator takes a stroll through Winter Hill:
http://moseberkowitz.com/blog/somerville-survey-winter-hill–-working-class-roots-uncovered-in-modern-times

6) Vegetarians in Winter Hill looking for a roomate (well, I'm assuming they are also vegetarian; otherwise it would just be weird:
$500 Nov. 1: Two Professionals Seek Vegetarian, Male Roommate (Winter Hill, Somerville)

7) A Winter Hill Resident expresses their thoughts about the Green Line Extension:
http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/news/x463307693/Letter-Green-Line-Extension-reason-for-moving-to-Somerville

Ok, we'll leave it at that for now. There are two other items that we should be discussing in the near future:

1) The race for Ward 4 Alderman on Tuesday Nov. 8th. If you would like to get to know some of the players, check out:

http://www.tonylafuente.com/

http://christinebarber4somerville.com/

and, this is the big one:

2) Somerville's First Foodie Crawl is Oct. 25, 6-9:30pm! Get your tickets in advance; this will undoubtedly be a good time.

Carnaval@SomerStreets is THIS Sunday in Somerville, 6/5/11 12pm-4pm, and it's FREE :)

Carnaval @ SomerStreets

Sunday, June 5th - 12-4pm

Roads Closed to Cars....Open to You
All along Broadway from Temple St. through East Somerville to Sullivan

WEBSITE

Come check out all the culture and energy that East Broadway has to offer! This unique one day street party brings the life and culture inside of East Broadway's businesses to the street!

Bring your friends.

Bring your family.

And enjoy our street.

• Shape Up Somerville Road Race
• 12:15 "Samba-Motion Parade" - led by Mayor Curtatone
  Open to All --- Wear your best Carnaval Costume -- the more color, feathers and beads the better!
• Music on 2 Stages -- the Foss Fest Stage & the East Broadway Stage (@ the East Branch Library)
• Villen Vibez Hip Hop Open Mic
• Farmer's Market
• Craft Fair
• 30+ Participating Businesses
• Explore the cuisine of local restaurants
• Raffles, Facepainting, Balloon Animals, Dance and Fitness Demos

The City of Somerville is partnering with East Somerville Main Streets and Foss Fest to kick off the city's SomerStreets inititiave, with Carnaval @ Somerstreets! Somerville's new Open Streets Initiative, SomerStreets, is a monthly celebration from June - October of each year, during which the City closes sections of roads to vehicle traffic in favor of walking, running, biking, dancing, and other activities! By partnering with local businesses and organizations, one Sunday each month the city transforms different Somerville neighborhoods into celebrations of active living, community pride, and live entertainment. Find more information on the City's Website.

@SomervilleCity @EastSomerville @FossFestival

Carnaval@SomerStreets Comes to Broadway on Sunday June 5th from 12-4pm!

Carnaval@SomerStreets is coming to Broadway from East Somerville up to Temple Street on Sunday June 5th from noon until 4pm. Please mark your calendars and please help spread the word about this event by reposting this announcement and emailing to anyone who might be interested in attending.

SomerStreets is an initiative by the City of Somerville and its partners to close the streets to cars and open them to activity. On June 5th from 12-4pm, Broadway will be blocked off from Sullivan Square to Temple Street (Star Market) to make room for dancing, cycling, skating and fun!

Call to Artists: Bands and musicians, artist and craft vendors and volunteers are all wanted for Carnaval at SomerStreets, on June 5, 2011!

Please mark your calendars for Carnaval at SomerStreets on June 5th. More info to come. To get involved with programming at the FossFest Stage, see fossfest.com or contact
fossfest at gmail:

Patriot's Day is Coming to Foss Park 4/18/11!

Please help keep the amazing history of Somerville alive by joining the City for the annual celebration of Patriot's Day in Foss Park on Monday April 18! Click on the flyer for a larger version.

And don't forget to get dressed for the event :)

Thinking Through East Somerville (and Winter Hill)

Everyone knows that there is a range of development throughout the Wards of Somerville. Although East Somerville (...and let's not forget Winter Hill) doesn't get the overall attention that Davis does, from what I have seen, this is not due to lack of trying on behalf of the Mayor and the City. Any perceived difference in support from the City would first need to be quantified, and in doing so, would have to take into account a range of relevant variables. Priorities for services likely have to account for factors such as where the most people are and where the most traffic is. There are many people working with the City to make East Somerville and Winter Hill a better place for everyone. This isn't particularly satisfying if you can't get your car through the snow on your street to get to work. In a case like this, I would like to think that the City would be willing to help if they are made aware of the problem. I would be very interested to hear other opinions on this. It takes a community, and the more the merrier, so please get involved. Best to all Somerville neighbors.

This mini-thought was inspired by Danielle Dreilinger's recently posted article on boston.com:

Many grumble East gets the least

Dan Sorger of the Dutch Bike Company is thrilled with his company's recent move to Boston's Financial District. Though the new workroom/storefront is a little smaller, "It's a much improved space. We used to be in a garage which was just horrible," he said. His rent went down. "We moved to a much nicer neighborhood, and… we're not dealing with the issues of East Somerville."

Read more...

East Somerville Main Streets: Evening for Community

Thanks to East Somerville Main Streets for hosting their 'Evening for Community' tonight, and for all the work that they do to make life better up and down the Broadway corridor. The evening was full of great discussion to spur ideas for ESMS activites and projects for 2011. Look for more details from them soon, and get involved!

UPCOMING: December 7th: Special Holiday First Tuesdays & Fundraiser. Join old neighbors and new friends, while enjoying snacks, playing trivia, and celebrating the holidays at Casey's Bar! $10 per person All proceeds benefit ESMS, Sponsored by Casey's Bar.
December 7th, 6:00pm - 8:00pm @ Casey's Bar - 173 BroadwayHOLIDAY TRIVIA begins at 7:00pm!

SomerStreets on Broadway! 7/25/10

East Somerville Main Streets (ESMS; a non-profit, public-private partnership between East Somerville residents, business owners, community leaders, local government, and the National Main Streets Center) has been contributing to the diverse and vibrant area east of McGrath Highway through the development of several events and initiatives to promote the local community, including 'First Tuesdays' get togethers, arestaurant guide to the area, and even a local cookbookdocumenting some of the best flavors of the local business folk.

ESMS and the City of Somerville will be presenting SomerStreets on Broadway, this Sunday, 7/25/10.

Please put this on your calendar, and join the community for this fun filled Sunday afternoon!

More information can be found below, and on the East Somerville Main Streets and City of Somerville sites.

SomerStreets on Broadway!

Sunday, July 25th 12-4pm

Join the City of Somerville, ESMS and Foss Fest along Broadway for SomerStreets!
Featuring:

Music by:

Marcus Santos and Bloco,

Emperor Norton's Stationary Marching Band

Son del Sol

Dance demo by Vida Real Dance Group

Salsa Demos by Dance Havana

Circus demo by Vegetable Circus,

Zumba demo by Dance Zone

Fencing demo by Bay State Fencersa

Capoeira "Roda da Rua" by Mandingueiros dos Palmares

Community drum circle, tons of kids activities, and more!

Emperor Norton's Stationary Marching Band

From Harmonic Dissidents

Tomorrow we'll discuss the happenings at the Foss Park stage for FossFest.

Have an East Somerville Memorial Day!

From the East Somerville Main Streets Page:

May 30th: Memorial Day Parade - Join the East Somerville 'delegation!' - meet in front of the Somerville Public Library at 12:15, rsvp to info@eastsomervillemainstreets.org.

The New Liberty Jazz Band at the Somerville Memorial Day Parade in 2008, from Rob Bellinger's photostream:

Book Signing at the Somerville Museum!

From East Somerville Main Streets Blog!

Join the Somerville Museum for a lecture and book signing with C.S. Manegold on May 16th from 2-4pm!

Check out the information below:

Historic Somerville, Inc. in partnership with The Somerville Museum presents author Catherine Manegold in the intimate setting of The Somerville Museum.

C.S. Manegold was a reporter for the New York Times, Newsweek and the Philadelphia Inquirer before turning her attention to longer works. As a foreign correspondent, she covered Asia and reported from the Middle East. While serving as a national correspondent at The New York Times she wrote frequently for the Week in Review and the Sunday Magazine. Winner of numerous national awards, Manegold was part of the New York Times team recognized with a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the 1993 terrorist bombing of the World Trade Center. Upon resigning from the Times’ staff in 1999 Manegold committed herself to a longer form of journalism and historical research and discovered a new passion- for teaching.

Ten Hills Farm: The Forgotten History of Slavery in the North explores the early history of black slavery in North America, revealing the interlaced stories of three families of slave-owners who lived on a New England farm settled by Jon Winthrop. This riveting history unfolds over 150 years as these families lived with slaves and profited from the slave trade in the North, the West Indies, and the American South. Isaac Royall Jr., heir to a huge fortune made through slavery and the slave trade in Antigua, granted Harvard College funds to create a professorship of law. From that seed grew Harvard law school.

Somerville Museum
One Westwood Road
Somerville, MA 02143

East Somerville Main Streets Upcoming Events!

Please support East Somerville:

First Tuesdays: Fasika
May 4th, 6:00pm-8:00pm
Our monthly after-hours social is back on Tuesday and we are going to enjoy a taste of Ethiopia! Don't miss out on a night of your East Somerville friends.

Historic Walking Tour
Thursday, May 6th 5:30pm-7:30pm
Meet at Mt. Vernon (14 Broadway) for a walking tour of Historic East Somerville! Find out what has changed and what has stayed the same throughout the years. Sponsored by ESMS, Somerville Historic Preservation Commission and Mayor Joe Curtatone.

East Somerville Clean-Up
Saturday, May 8th 10am-12pm
Rain Date: May 9th
Meet at the Cross St. Senior Center (165 Broadway) for the annual Spring clean up and to make Broadway look better than ever.

East Somerville Open Studios Sites, May 1 & 2
Christian Waeber: 68 Glen St. Mudflat: 149 BroadwayVisit these Open Studio sites and support East Somerville artists! Visit http://www.somervilleopenstudios.org/ for more information.

For more information contact the office at info@eastsomervillemainstreets.org or call 617-623-3869.




Fasika: From eatanddestroy's photostream!

Reminder: Support East Somerville This Afternoon!

ESMS Savoring East Somerville Celebration!

East Somerville Main Streets:"The Savoring East Somerville Celebration will take place on April 17th, 1-3 pm at the Cross Street Senior Center (165 Broadway). We are opening an exhibition Mark Teiwes' photography from the Savoring East Somerville cookbook with recipe tasting, raffles, and live mariachi music!"

ESMS Savoring East Somerville Celebration!

We're always thrilled when there are celebrations in East Somerville, and this one hosted by East Somerville Main Streets looks like it will be a doozy. Please try to make it out to support East Somerville!

From ESMS: "The Savoring East Somerville Celebration will take place on April 17th, 1-3 pm at the Cross Street Senior Center (165 Broadway). We are opening an exhibition Mark Teiwes' photography from the Savoring East Somerville cookbook with recipe tasting, raffles, and live mariachi music!"

If the cookbook and mariachi music were not enough, an Audio Tour with commentary by cookbook contributors is hosted by Rebecca Novak of ESMS (who helped to gather the collection of recipes) and can be found on publicradiokitchen.org!

Mark Teiwes' photo of Ademar and Sunray Reis of Boston Cookie:

Savoring East Somerville Cookbook is a GO!

From East Somerville Main Streets:
Our cookbook project, Savoring East Somerville: A Taste-Based Guide to the Neighborhood, is stirring up excitement! Check out theBoston Globe feature article and our behind-the-scenes blog Order Savoring East Somerville for $15!

FossFest Has Come and Gone

FossFest happened in Foss Park, Somerville last Saturday. There is a writeup about the event here:

http://fossfest.blogspot.com/2009/09/fossfest-wrapup.html

East Somerville Main Strets: 3rd Annual International Movie Nights

On Saturday September 5th, after FossFest make your way down the street to the Old Fire Station for the East Somerville Main Strets: 3rd Annual International Movie Nights.

September 5
O Ano em Que Meus Pais Saíram de Férias (The Year my Parents Went on Vacation)
In Portuguese with English subtitles
104 minutes

In 1970, near the World Cup, ten year old Mauro is left in Bom Retiro, a Jewish and Italian neighborhood in Brazil, to stay with his grandfather while his parents go on vacation. Little do they know, the grandfather has just had a heart attack and died. Mauro makes new friends, cheers for the Brazilian team and sees the movement of the police and militaries on the streets while waiting for his parents.

The movie has won 21 awards including best picture at the 2008 Cinema Brazil Grand Prize.

View Larger Map

East Somerville Main Streets launches "Savoring East Somerville" cookbook project

This is pretty awesome:

From wickedlocal.com:

Posted Jul 17, 2009 @ 05:05 PM

Last update Jul 22, 2009 @ 11:04 AM

---

Somerville —

If you fancy yourself a good cook and have secret recipes up your sleeve, now’s the time to share. Who knows, maybe you can make it big – at least in East Somerville.

East Somerville Main Streets is gathering recipes for ‘Savoring East Somerville: A Taste Based Guide to the Neighborhood’ – a collaborative publication authored by East Somervillians that aims to capture the unique and vibrant character of East Somerville. Given the diversity of the neighborhood, that could include anything from African injira to Haitian patties.

Read more...

East Somerville Main Streets Annual Meeting

East Somerville Main Streets has their annual meeting on Monday, as described on their blog: 

From:

East Somerville Main Streets

Thanks for coming!

We had a great time at our annual meeting and birthday bash on Monday.



Mayor Joe Curtatone came to celebrate with us, as did Aldermen Bill Roche, Dennis Sullivan, and Bill White, and Rob May from the City's Economic Development Department.

Read more...

Silent auction of prints from the Interpreting East Somerville Show!

Check it out at East Somerville Main Streets.

Broadway Intersection at Dusk — By Renee Polcaro is available now! (as are other beautiful works)