Arts and Culture

Looking to spice up your winter, while saving money? The YUM Restaurant Card is your ticket!

This card is a wallet-sized miracle. It supports local businesses. It gets you a discount at thirteen immigrant-run Somerville restaurants. It’s only $12 online. And all the proceeds go to support The Welcome Project’s programs for Somerville’s immigrant families.…

This spring, Somerville is launching its first “one city, one book” campaign, a community reading project in which people all over the City will be encouraged to read and discuss the same book.

The kickoff event will be on Sunday, March 28, 4:00 to 8:00 at the Somerville Armory on Highland Avenue.  The book…

The Somerville Public Schools invites you to tell your stories about learning and teaching in Somerville in our Spring 2010 Digital Photography contest. Complete submissions received by April 5th will have the chance to win a $50 gift card from Tufts University and the opportunity to have their photos printed in the Somerville News and…

The City of Somerville, with it’s clear mandates and civil rights obligations from Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, continues to be really , truly, obviously unskilled at inclusive community-building.

It was a quintessential Somerville night at the theater for “Beauty And The Beast” at the High School this evening.  Promoters Gretchen Kinder and Rosemarie Sears must have outdone themselves packing the house because I had to make my way to the balcony to find a seat.   I saw neighbors, friends, teachers, school committee members…

Cross-posting from the SCAT website [link to source here]

Thursday, February 4, 6:30-9; afterparty to follow
SCATV, 90 Union Square, Somerville
6:30pm: doors and prescreening activities; 7:00pm sharp: screening followed by panel discussion;
9pm: afterparty @ the Independent, 75 Union Square
***SEATING IS LIMITED; please come on time***
The event will be…

Dracula
Original novel by Bram Stoker
Adapted for the stage by John Mattera
Directed by Michael Babish

Theatre@First is proud to bring an adaptation of Bram Stoker’s 1897 classic, “Dracula,” to the stage this February.

Nine performances February 12th -27th at 8pm, with a 3pm matinee on Valentine’s Day February 14th at…

The Boston bellydance community is shakin’ it all back together! Join us for a glamorous afternoon of compassion in motion.

Don’t miss the opportunity to give our HONK!  a vote in the New England Art Awards on-line poll. They’ll only count your vote if you vote before midnight today, Sunday, the 24th. There are some other locals or near locals who could use a vote as well. (There are links to the voting below…

Join the Somerville Community Chorus for our 25th anniversary year!
Auditions are not required. All voices are welcome.

Open rehearsals are Tues. Jan. 26 and Feb. 2, 7:15-9:30pm (attend one
or both). …

First Church Somerville is presenting its Christmas Cantata in the morning at 10, regardless of the snow. The music will be wonderful – great voices, drums, good spirits.

After the Cantata is a festive brunch – strata, salad, fruit.

Our sidewalks will be shoveled and our hearts will be open. We’d…

SCAT is hosting Santa Claus in the TV studio on Tuesday, December 15 from 6:00 to 7:00pm. This event is free. Children may come up to tell Santa what they want for Christmas in person, or watching the live TV show from home on Channel 3, they may call in to him at 617-628-9876. The…

It looks like the climate crisis is taking a back seat to the economic crisis as Mayor Curtatone and the Somerville Arts Council promote the annual Illuminations Holiday Tour,  “the annual trolley tour of holiday light displays” around the city.  Certainly, keeping the holiday lights off is the least we could do to help reduce our carbon footprint.…

This Monday, November 23rd, Transition Somerville will screen “The First Millimeter: Healing the Earth” at the College Ave Methodist Church at 7 p.m.

We are writing to ask you to support the February 2010 Somerville High School production of Beauty and the Beast by purchasing an ad in the program book. You can find details on the range of sponsorship costs and benefits, and information about how to become an ad book sponsor online at www.somerville.k12.ma.us/musical

Kicking off on Wednesday, December 9 from 3:30-5:30, SCAT’s Next Generation Producers After-School Film Production Club offers students the opportunity to create their own video projects, learn state-of-the-art television production skills, and work alongside other youth with similar interests. The teens will receive one-on-one attention from SCAT staff as they create the film and video…

These jumped out at me recently from my somartscouncil@yahoogroups.com digest:

“Something Sweet in Somerville”

ON VIEW: November 7-21 , 2009

GALLERY HOURS: Saturdays 12:00pm-4:00pm and by Appointment

GRAND GALA and Auction Closing: November 21, 6:00-9:00pm ($5 entry or a NEW hat, scarf, mittens, gloves, socks, or other winter wear for SHC)…

Next Thursday night in Davis Square, you’re invited to the next Sprout Spaghetti Dinner, a dinner theater series sponsored by Sprout, that seeks to bring people from the Somerville and Cambridge communities together around good food, music, and performance.

Students in Somerville High School’s Culinary Arts program have baked for Governor Patrick. Now let them bake for you! The annual Thanksgiving Pie Sale has started. For only $9 per pie students will prepare a beautiful and delicious pie in one of eight varieties. Order forms, which can be downloaded at http://www.somerville.k12.ma.us/cafe must be…

Free film – Dec 5 – “Emmanuel’s Gift,” part of “Disability Reframed” series.

The Tufts Global Lens Film Series picks up after a week off. The films are top notch, free, open to the public and you won’t have to fight a crowd (I got a private screening last week). The movies are the type you won’t get an easy chance to see again.…

There will be an open screening and discussion of the 45-minute documentary, “Eating Local in Somerville” on Tuesday, November 3 at 7:30pm in the studio of Somerville Community Access Television, 90 Union Square, Somerville.

Eating local is a national movement that has been embraced enthusiastically in Somerville. A new documentary produced by SCAT Executive…

Switch your brain on early to let the tubes warm up, and come back in time with us!

Each year, this event attracts over three thousand visitors.  All proceeds benefit the girls’ and boys’ cross-country and track teams at SHS, including the awarding of college scholarships each June.

This is the eighteenth year that the TrackPAC will sponsor this event.  We are very proud that it has become a Thanksgiving weekend destination…

North Cambridge Family Opera is holding auditions this coming weekend, Oct. 17 and 18, for its Spring 2010 production of Springtime for Haman. North Cambridge Family Opera specializes in fully sung theater productions for singers of all ages and encourages families to participate.

The Post-Meridian Radio
Players (PMRP) are pleased to announce the launch of the Web site and
ticket sales for “The Big Broadcast of October 30th, 1938″ – the
latest iteration of their annual Halloween tribute to the Golden Age
of Radio.

The Ghosts of Somerville will rise again next Saturday, October 17th from 4:00 p.m. to dusk, at the Milk Row Cemetery, at 400 Somerville Avenue, next to DeMoulas Market Basket.  Historic Somerville, Inc. is producing the event, with help from the Somerville Museum and the Somerville Historic Preservation Commission (SHPC).  Ghosts of Somerville is a…

Chicago didn’t get the Olympics but Somerville got HONK! with 30 bands from around the world, Friday afternoon through Sunday–here’s an article that describes the schedule. HONK! provided us with this great video!:

Join the Family Fun Day at the Dr. Albert F. Argenziano School at Lincoln Park this Saturday, October 3 from 10:00 am-2:00 pm. Everyone is invited for this community celebration of the school. Bring the kids for games, face painting, bubble bounce and more!…

Riverfest 2009

Starts 4:00 PM
(fireworks at 8:00 PM)

Assembly Square (map)

This is the second annual Mystic River Festival, featuring food, music, games, and fireworks. This event is sponsored by Federal Realty Investment Trust; Mayor Joseph Curtatone, City of Somerville; the City of Malden; and the…

We need places for groups of all sizes–singles, doubles, triples, quadruples, and yes, even those places where 25 spirited horn players can rest their weary heads. Most groups will not be arriving by car this year, so proximity to Davis Square and/or the Red Line is a priority.

Did you know instrument lessons for youth in grades 4-12 (strings) and 5-12 (band instruments including drums) are free in the Somerville Public Schools? Community donations have helped create a low-cost instrument rental program for families.

Learn more about the instrument lessons and rental program at one of three information sessions this week:
Strings…

September 26 (8 PM) and 27 (3 PM) at the Somerville Theatre!

“Never After: It’s Not Your Grandmother’s Fairytale Musical”
An original musical fairytale comedy, performed in concert

Written & Composed by Somerville playwright Colleen Campbell
Stage Direction by Elizabeth Hunter
Music Direction by Thom Whittemore

‘Never After’ is the story…

Cuba. What did you just think of? Communism, Fidel, the revolution? Many people believe things in Cuba are being run wrong and should be changed. I, however, disagree. When I think of Cuba I think of kindness, generosity, and community. It didn’

t used to be this way.…

FossFest 2009 is a free outdoor music event in Somerville’s Foss Park (corner of Broadway and Fellsway W) taking place on Saturday, September 5th from 2-6pm. Bring a blanket and a picnic (no alcohol; there will be food vendors at the event) and listen to five fantastic local bands – The Diamond Mines, Audrey Ryan, Concord…

The 4th annual Viva la Vinal Festival will take place on Friday and Saturday, August 28th and 29th (rain date Sunday, August 30th) at the Vinal Avenue Growing Center located at 22 Vinal Ave. in Union Square, Somerville.

The event will run from 4pm to 10pm both days (see schedule and artist info below) and…

On Sunday, September 13, 2009, Pabst Blue Ribbon [www.pabstblueribbon.com] and Precinct Bar and Restaurant [www.precinctbar.com] in Union Square, Somerville, will present “Music Festival 2009” to benefit RESPOND, Inc., a New England agency providing safe haven for women and children., and CAAS,(Community Action Agency of Somerville). The event will run from 3:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.

From the Tufts website:
All are invited to a day of education, art, and family entertainment. All activities, including lunch, are free of charge.

Residents, neighbors and friends are invited to celebrate the seventh annual Community day at Tufts University from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, September 27. The event will take place on the academic quad at Tufts’ Medford and Somerville campus and is cosponsored by the two cities.…

Get the skinny on Somerville’s own sassy, classy, and definitely brassy festival of alternative marching bands coming up October 11th, and find out how to be part of the fun!

Last night’s performance by Project Star at the Somerville High auditorium was a lot of fun.  Jimmy DelPonte’s original musical showed his talent as a storyteller, humorist, and song writer.  He can be forgiven as director for giving the leading role to his son Joey who has theatrical presence and a really good voice.  Many…

On Friday, August 14 from 7 to 10 pm Somerville Community Access Television is the producer of “Somerville….In Shorts!” SCAT comes in under the Arts Council’s ArtsUnion umbrella to present an evening of locally produced experimental and animated films outside on the Union Square Plaza. It’s an impressive line-up of filmmakers, including some who have…

‘Nuff talkin’. DRAW! Live comics creation, artistic head-to-head showdowns, live music, and PRIZES to benefit Boston Comics Roundtable.

Pig out and enjoy a cool drink and cooler music to benefit SHC!

Today at 2 pm, a bunch of kids and grownups laughed, danced, clapped, sang, screamed with laughter and marvelled in unison. The OpenAir Circus is again in Somerville- and you’ve got one more day to catch it! (with pics)

The Globe has a story today about the evolution of Davis Square and my son Nick’s project of finding out what happened to the kids who made the beautiful T station tiles when they were in elementary school…

Tim Devin’s “The history of Somerville, 2010-2100” is a community art project exploring what the future of Somerville might be like. As part of the project, Tim has been talking to residents, and documenting their hopes, dreams, and fears about the future of the city. He has also been meeting with politicians and city officials, and researching government plans and think tank vision statements.

The renowned Extraterrestrial Circus Experiment will perform their unique and astonishing show, “People” for one night only on Friday, July 10 at 7 pm. The show, at the Armory Center for the Arts, 191 Highland Ave. in Somerville, will benefit the OPENAIR Circus.

We will be singing traditional and contemporary songs from a variety of genres – songs that are easy to sing, songs you know and love, songs you sung at camp, songs you might like your kids to know, songs that don’t have “explicit lyrics” Bring copies of “Rise Up Singing” (if you have it), guitars, tambourines, kazoos, drums, food, a blanket, friends, neighbors, and positive energy. A splendid time is guaranteed for all.

Please join us to support the Somerville Commission for Women at El Potro in Union Square… Appetizers and Live Music will be provided.

The Friends of the Community Growing Center will be hosting an all-ages community sing along on Saturday, June 20th from 5-7.

We will be singing traditional and contemporary songs from a variety of genres – songs you know and love, songs you sung at camp, songs you’d want your kids to know, songs that…

On May 22 – 24 2009, I went to Anime Boston for the first time. Anime Boston is a convention where all Japanese animation lovers come together and buy or interact with one another. There are a lot of things going on in anime Boston. There is a concert and competitions of various different games. I happened to join a Rock band Tournament.…

Please join The Welcome Project on June 7 for a graduation celebration for some special people from cultures and countries all over the world. These are the students in our youth language interpretation and adult language learners programs who have just completed a year’s worth of learning as language interpreters and English language learners.

Change for a 10 Spot
Wednesday, June 3, at Johnny D’s from 8-11 pm
With a little help from our friends

We couldn’t do our work without friends like you! Join us on Wednesday,
June 3, 8:00-11:00 pm at Johnny D’s Uptown in Somerville’s Davis Square
for Change for a 10 Spot.

Tickets…

Historic Preservation Event: A Walking Tour entitled, “West Somerville- From Powderhouse Pickles to Ball Square Brickyards”, has been rescheduled to its rain date on Sun. June 14th rain date. The tour goes from 10:30 – 12:30 pm and starts at the Powderhouse Field House. See here for more information: http://www.somervillema.gov/alert.cfm?alert_id=203…

From the SPS homepage, entitled “A message from Tony Pierantozzi, Superintendent of Schools”
… The extent of the impact of the current financial crisis on fiscal year 2010 remains unclear. We do know that the impact of the revenue decrease at the State level will require creative solutions and difficulty in maintaining our…

Celebrate student musicians in the Somerville Public Schools at the Spring String Fling on Thursday, June 4th. This free concert featuring student performers in grades 4-12 will begin at 7:00 PM in the Somerville High School Auditorium (81 Highland Avenue).

Instrumental music lessons are free in the Somerville Public Schools. To learn more contact…

Music for Hope Concert to Benefit RESPOND
Saturday, May 30, 2009
7:30pm, Tufts University – Cohen Auditorium

HONK! Neighborhood meeting, May 28th, 2009 7-8:30 PM at the West Branch Library in Davis Square, 40 College Ave. The HONK festival returns October 9-11th in and around Davis Square. This community meeting will be about how you can get involved in helping to make HONK happen again. Check out www.honkfest.org for more…

I live outside Davis Square and every time I ride the T, I stop and look at the tiles that line the entrance to the station. I grew up in Somerville at the same time as many of the people who made these tiles, so I usually look for someone I know, and I often wonder what they’re all doing today. …

The Somerville High School Art Fair starts on Wednesday, April 29th and runs through Friday, May 1st. Special opening reception will be start at 6:30 PM on the 29th. Student work is on display throughout the Atrium of the High School…

Rock out and chow down to keep our neighbors off the streets!

Come out to the Progressive Democrats of Somerville (PDS) Annual Meeting. See what exciting things are happening with PDS as it celebrates the start of its 6th year.

The short

Last Thursday, responding to requests from the Actors Shakespeare Company and Arts at the Armory, I attended the Board of Zoning Appeals hearing. Testimony at that hearing was a revelation in several very different – and conflicting – ways.…

Eight performances, right in Davis Square!

Hi everyone-

Below is a call-for-participants for a community art project I’m working on about Somerville. Hope you decide to participate!

Thanks!
Tim

–
What will the future hold for Somerville? We’re trying to figure that out, and we need your help!

“The history of Somerville, 2010-2100″ is an art project…

On Friday I was a guest at the high school’s Multicultural Fair. It was the most dramatic and most successful cultural event I’ve ever seen – beating everything from Lincoln Center to the MFA.

Dozens of cultures were brilliantly represented with music, dance, food and talk. The presentations were person-to-person, with teens talking with…

Craig Leach’s Somerville High School media and TV production students this week explained what they’re learning and why the class deserves taxpayer support. And they posted “digital books” they created. Take a look!

“Jerry617″ takes his driver’s license test with a state policeman who’s a jokester.  Haley’s friend knocks over a vase

I’m pleased to announce http://www.somervillefoodscene.com, biweekly anonymous reviews for Somerville residents. When you have a few moments, please do stop by and enjoy…

My progressive, arts-loving church started talking a lot about race and racism, after the Jeremiah Wright kerfuffle in the press last spring (Jeremiah Wright is UCC, like us). We haven’t stopped talking about it yet, and this winter and spring are running a multifaceted “Sacred Conversation on Race,” both for our own community’s learning, and the wider Somerville community.

We are hosting an arts and entertainment evening as a centerpiece of the project, and are soliciting participants. Will you be one of them? See the invitation below.…

Somerville writer Doug Holder presents a workshop on the Small Press and Independent Publishing to Books of Hope youth and the community on Monday, Feb 23rd, 7-9 pm at the Mystic Activity Center, 530 Mystic Ave. The event features poet/performer C.D. Collins who’ll be joining Doug for this lively reading, talk, and interactive creative exchange…

I want to share with you a call I received this week from an 80-year-old Somerville woman. Olga is a retired math teacher who is recovering from hip replacement surgery. After hearing President Obama’s Inaugural Address and his call to service, she picked up the phone, saying she was moved to “give back any way I can.” Olga will be tutoring math at Somerville High School three hours a week. I know that there are many more Olgas in Somerville and beyond who are searching for meaningful ways to connect with and give back to their community.

Click “Read more” to learn about:

- College Goal Sunday on January 25th
- Kindergarten registration paperwork help, January 26-29
- Bye Bye Birdie at Somerville High School February 6-8
- Student art on exhibit at the Nave Gallery
- Somerville Special Olympics Swim team

Registration has opened for the 2009 Somerville Open Studios.  This year the event will be on May 2 and 3 from noon to 6:00pm.  Registration for participating artists is only open until January 30. You can register here: http://2009.somervilleopenstudios.org/membership/

A focus group of Civil and DisAbilities Rights advocates will join with the longest-running TV Access producers group in the country during Civil Rights Week in MA to tackle the challenges of designing equal opportunity communities.

Julia’s drawing entitled Red Sails at Sunset by Julia J won third prize in Crayola’s “Art of Childhood” online exhibit!

More than 35 student actors, musicians, stage and costume designers, and production engineers are working on the 2009 Somerville High School production of Bye Bye Birdie. Scheduled to launch its three day run on Friday, February 6th, Bye Bye Birdie tells the story of Conrad Birdie…

Hi Gang.. Bill from SCAT here. It’s the holiday time of year and best wishes to all of you from the members and staff here at Somerville Community Television. Today’s BIG NEWS: Santa and Mrs Claus will be live on Somerville Channel 3 on Wednesday night December 10, from 6-8pm. We would like to invite those of you with little ones…

A new exhibition, cosponsored by the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and the Chinese Historical Society of New England features material from the Chinese American Women Oral History Project. Exhibited are transcripts, audio, and video clips, artifacts, correspondence, and books that document the experiences of several women who…

Nearly a third of Somerville residents were born outside of the United States. Who are we in this immigrant city? What dreams and aspirations brought us here? How did we cope in a new community and in a new country? What brings us together – what pulls us apart – across generations of immigrants?

I like to play video games that have to do with music or creating music. Like DDR (Dance Dance Revolution): you play with a mat that has 4 arrows, one pointing up, down, left and right. On the screen, you press the arrows with your feet by dancing along with the music that you’re hearing on the game. That is one music game that I love to play. …

As promised here is the latest and greatest from Somerville Community Access Television. Check out the footage from the Community Arts Festival and from a Nepali Community Event. See a separate posting for the interview with Bill Shelton about Charter Reform on Fred Berman and Bill Bumpus’ Monday evening show, Progressive Voices.

I’m sure I’m not the first person to say that ArtBeat has become lame. Other than some interesting music, it is mostly a lame, generic craft festival. It is almost always too hot and not that unique or interesting.

Honk, on the other hand, showcases what makes Somerville unique and compelling. Like the Fluff festival and Open Studios, Honk is becoming a great example of funky, creative Somerville.

Unfortunately, rumor has it that Honk may not necessarily continue. This would be a huge loss.

Does anyone else share my views that ArtBeat should be substantially changed and that public and Arts Council funds should be dedicated more towards saving Honk?

This year’s third annual HONK! Festival from Oct. 10 – 12 was an exuberant street party!

Workshops on Friday.
Free music by 25 bands on Saturday.
And the Honk! parade on Sunday.
It’s a big event this weekend posted a month ago by Columbine. I thought it should get more than just a calendar listing.  Also–they’re looking for volunteers.…

Join Union Square Main Streets for our monthly ‘Second Wednesdays in Union Square’ community celebration.  October features a tour of Union Square’s drinking holes, complete with drink specials and new friends.

When: This Wednesday, October 8 from 6pm until whenever you want to leave.

Where: We will begin the night at 6pm at…

Food, music, and raffle, rain or shine – everyone is invited!

Regional news media continues to report on communities around the Commonwealth which are faced with financial squeezes that negatively impact local education. One way some communities manage the squeeze is by instituting or driving up extracurricular activity fees. In the Somerville Public Schools the commitment to providing equal access to important enrichment activities remains strong.

Come to Union Square September 28 27 to celebrate Somerville’s own sweet, gooey, and utterly unique contribution to American cuisine, Marshmallow Fluff!  From 4 to 7 PM (rain date Sunday September 28) come participate in the Fluff cooking contest, find out about Somerville superhero Fluff Boy, and hear the dulcet tones of the…

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

I am part of a group of Somerville and Cambridge residents organizing the third Honk! Festival of activist street bands, and I wanted to extend an invitation to all of you to take part in the Honk Parade from Davis Square to Harvard Square on Sunday, October 12…

Saturday, September 20, 2008
The Urban Country Fair

sponsored by Truth Serum, Somerville Arts Council and ArtsUnion
(raindate: September 21)
3-7pm FREE and open to the public
Union Square, Somerville in the square!

Truth Serum’s Urban Country Fair will combine Exhibitors, Craft and…

Join us for the re-opening of the Mystic Community Garden at the Mystic Housing Development. The opening takes place as part of the Mystic Providers’ annual picnic for Somerville Housing Authority tenants. Drop by anytime between 3 and 7 to tour the garden. Just drop by the The Welcome Project’s table in front of the…

Join us on Wed, Aug 20th Tuesday, August 19 for the re-opening of the Mystic Community Garden at the Mystic Housing Development. The opening takes place as part of the Mystic Providers’ annual picnic for Somerville Housing Authority tenants. Drop by anytime between 3 and 7 to tour the garden. Just drop by the The Welcome Project’s table in front of the Mystic Activity Center at 530 Mystic Ave. We’ll walk you over for a tour of the new garden.

Seeking musicians for a new brass quintet to be based in Somerville. Rehearsals will be once or twice weekly. The intended skill level is proficient amateur, but if people would like to build up their skill level through the group, that’d be great too. We won’t take ourselves too seriously, but once we put together a solid set of pieces, I’d like for the group to have the goal of performing in the community.

The OPENAIR Circus is an amazing phenomenon with an improbable history. If you’ve got kids, take them this weekend and think about joining. After this weekend, the next major performance will be in Boston’s First Night parade.…

On August 5, from 8 – 9 p.m. on SCAT’s celebrated DEAD AIR LIVE show, the Tibetan community will offer viewers a first-hand report of what Tibet was like before the Chinese invasion, and talk about what it was like to have to flee their beloved homeland and become exiled citizens of the world. Tune in to SCAT Channel 3 next Tuesday, for a fascinating and moving account of a beautiful culture and people, who cultivated the roof of the world.

This Friday, July 25, at 7 pm, the Extraterrestrial Circus Experiment, a traveling troupe from Ohio, presents their show Quantanime at the VFW Dilboy Post, 371 Summer Street in Davis Sq. All proceeds support Somerville’s OPENAIR Circus.

Please join us for a wonderful evening of folk, rock, pop, and jazz music to benefit Veterans For Peace and Iraq Veterans Against The War. The benefit will be on Tuesday, July 29 at 8:30 PM at Johnny D’s, 17 Holland St. Davis Square Somerville. Performers include Celia Slattery, Deb Pasternak, Porch Party Mamas, Media Made, and Katrina Degel Jazz Quartet. Admission is $15.

This is Joanna Stenning posting on behalf of Beyond the 4th Wall Theater and Creative Arts Studio in Central Square, Cambridge. We are excited to announce that we still have room for more participants in our upcoming summer programs for children and teens, and would love to open registration for these classes to the Somerville community.

Conguero Vicente Lebron has been a cornerstone of the Latin and jazz scenes in Boston for over 30 years. He is currently being held in a Homeland Security prison and threatened with deportation.

Sustainable Somerville — a nascent network of community organizations working to make/keep Somerville a great place to live, work, and play — is sponsoring a Sustainability Scavenger Hunt at ArtBeat (Saturday, July 19th in Davis Square), to show how the common thread of sustainability connects the work of the

July 10 The Lost Boys Seven Hills Park
July 17 Mean Girls…

Who says all summer reading lists have to be filled with fluff? CAAS, the Community Action Agency of Somerville, is offering a summer reading list about poor people and people rising out of poverty–and what we can all do to help. “There is something on this list for every reader”

From the ArtBeat Festival webpage:

“During the heat of summer (held on the third weekend in July), artists and festival goers converge on Davis Square, transforming it into one of the area’s largest and most innovative arts festivals. ArtBeat includes music, performance art, craft vendors, dance, theater, food, and a whole more…

The National Council on Disability (NCD) is gathering public input for a study of emerging issues and trends affecting the lives of people with disabilities. Information gathered will be used in the development of NCD’s next annual progress report to the President and Congress, “National Disability Policy: A Progress Report,” which is required by Section 401(b) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended.

The Sunsetters are a group of preteens and teenagers who sing and dance to Broadway tunes. Check them out at the fireworks celebration, June 26 at 6PM. Available dates are as follows…

The Sunsetters are a group of preteens and teenagers who sing and
dance to Broadway tunes. Check them out at the fireworks celebration, June 26 at 6PM.

Another of the city’s popular family events, Family Fun Day includes a variety of activities for residents of all ages. Obstacle courses, games, watermelon eating contests, dancing, and a dunk tank are only a few examples of the day’s events! Dunk the Mayor! Dunk your Alderman! Eat your weight in watermelon! Bring your children, your parents, and your friends.

Somerville families don’t have to run away to join the OPENAIR Circus. The Circus is offering its 23d year of summer circus workshops for children, teens, and adults. Classes will run June 24th through July 24th. Performances will be August 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.under the big top at Nunziato Field near Union Square in Somerville.

Beyond the 4th Wall is dedicated to providing children and teens with an affordable outlet for theater, visual, and performing arts. Students ages 9-15 are encouraged not only to develop as performers, but also to build self-confidence, learn how to work as a team, and to practice creative thinking–and to have a GREAT time while doing so! We would like to invite children and teens from the Somerville area to participate in our Summer 2008 classes, camps, and events.

Somerville’s Historic Preservation Commission presents family-friendly events May 18-31 including walking and bike tours, an awards ceremony, and a retelling of stories from the lives of Paul and Rachel Revere. Check out the schedule below…

All are welcome to the West Branch Library at 40 College Ave. on Monday, May 5, at 7 p.m. for a reading by Somerville authors with stories in “Further Fenway Fiction: More Short Stories from Red Sox Nation.”

It’s great that people have been responding to Linda Conte’s post proposing a parent-made directory of summer camps and other summer educational activities.…

Massachusetts Readings on Cervenabarvapress.com