Happy Birthdays this week to some of our fans here in the Ville and elsewhere from the Ville: to a good guy, Ken Ward, who is celebrating. To David R. Smith, former Editor here at The News. Former State Senator and good guy Anthony Galluccio. Former Villen and former Chairman of the Somerville License Board, Ray Trant, is celebrating.   And we can’t forget that great lawyer and Villen Attorney Mike Dwyer, because if we forget – trust me – he won’t speak to us for 24 hours. To Suzanne Bremer, who is celebrating this week and is also a candidate for Ward Three Alderman. We give send her best wishes. Also this week is Paul Cammarata.

*********************

Squeeze Box Slam 2013 is this Saturday June 15, 1–6p.m in Davis Square. Start the day off with a little accordion anarchy! From 1-3 p.m. local musicians are invited to bring their boxes and play in the parks and public spaces in Davis Square. No rules, no guidelines. You are welcome to play alone or join in groups. The concert starts at 3 p.m. in 7 Hills Park behind the Holland St. T. Concert schedules all afternoon, hosted by Somerville’s own Lady Kielbasia!

*********************

Don’t forget this Sunday in Charlestown is the annual Bunker Hill Parade celebrating the battle of Bunker Hill. The parade starts 1p.m., up and down Bunker Hill Street down Main Street around the monument.

*********************

Matt Desmond, another candidate for Ward Three Alderman, is having his kickoff event at the On The Hill Tavern this coming Friday, June 14, 6 to 10 p.m. Matt is the son of Alderman at Large Bruce Desmond. This is his first run for public office. He’s a formable candidate in a race that could have 3 even 5 candidates running for the open seat being vacated by long time Alderman Tom Taylor this year. On The Hill Tavern is located at 499 Broadway in Magoun Square.

*********************

Don’t forget about our newest Alderman. Courtney O’Keefe is having her kickoff on Wednesday, June 19 at the Olde Magoun’s Saloon. Courtney recently was appointed unanimously by the Board of Alderman to fill the vacant seat left by former Ward 5 Alderman Sean O’Donovan. Courtney is well known in the Magoun Square neighborhoods for her hard work and dedication to bring that square to the attention of the city. This event will be her campaign kickoff .

Update:The time of the event has changed to 5:30pm-7pm due to the Bruins game that night. Go Bruins! Again, at the Olde Magoun’s Saloon.

*********************

Our condolences to the Quinlan family on the tragic loss of both John and Doris Quinlan, married for 56 years and passed away a day apart of each other this past week. John Quinlan was a firefighter with the city for 28 years. Lifelong residents and parents of devoted daughter Mary Jo Rossetti and family. We extend our sincere sympathy to them and the rest of their family. May they both rest in peace for eternity together.

*********************

Congratulations to Nancy Kavanagh who this past Tuesday evening was installed as the new President of The Somerville Rotary Club. Nancy succeeds this past years President Mark Alston-Follansbee. Nancy was installed at the La Hacienda on Medford Street, attended by members, family and friends. Nancy will preside over the club for the next year. Rotary is a service club formed of many of the local businesses, civic leaders as well as the non-profit filed. They meet on Tuesday at 12:15 p.m., at Mt. Vernon Restaurant on lower Broadway. For information about joining or finding out about the many local charitable organizations that the club supports go to the web site which is linked from our site directly www.thesomervillenews.com.

*********************

Mark your calendar. Candidate for Ward Three Alderman, Robert “Rob” McWaters, is having his first fundraiser/campaign kickoff on Monday, June 24 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at the Precinct in Union Square. We hear a lot of his family will be present too. He is a great guy and has done more for the city than most, and he’s one of four candidates in Ward 3 that knows what’s going on here in the city. We sure hope the place is jumping with wall-to-wall supporters.

*********************

It appears now that the deadline to file papers back to City Hall is near, only one candidate for the vacant seat in Ward 7 School Committee will be on the ballot. That person is Caroline Lynch Normand.  We hear that Barry Rafkin has said since Caroline is in the race he won’t file and the other person, Eric Saulnier, has decided against running as well. In Ward 3 it looks like it’s only going to be four candidates for the Alderman seat: McWaters, Desmond and Delani have been certified, with Bremer not yet complete as of our deadline, but we understand she will certify. In Ward 1 there are three Alderman candidates: Bastardi, as the current Alderman, LoRusso and McLaughlin as challengers. Ward 2 has only two as of our deadline: Nionankis and Futrell have certified, but Thompson hasn’t yet. For the At Large, Seven took out papers and as of deadline today, White, Sullivan, Connolly, Rossetti, Fitzgerald, and Dempkowski have all been certified. One other person, William Medeiros, brought his papers into City Hall later Tuesday but hasn’t had time to certified as of our deadline. Again, the deadline for candidates to bring back their papers is Wednesday, June 12 at 5 p.m.

*********************

The upcoming special election on the 25th is interesting in that the ballot will only have three names, and that the ballot looks like this:

Gabriel Gomez of Gloucester, Republican Party nominee

Edward Markey of Malden, Democratic Party nominee

Richard A. Heos of Woburn, Twelve Visions Party nominee

Has anyone ever heard of the Twelve Visions Party?

REMEMBER TO GO OUT AND VOTE ON TUESDAY, JUNE 25, SPECIAL ELECTION TO FILL THE VACANT SEAT OF FORMER SENATOR JOHN KERRY.

*********************

Meet Author George Hassett as he discusses his new book “Gangsters of Boston” Wednesday June 19th at 7:00 p.m. at The Book Shop, Ball Square, 694 Broadway. This book is the first comprehensive account of three centuries of thug life in the city where America began. In chilling new detail, veteran Boston journalist George Hassett reveals the legendary crime stories of Boston – from Prohibition to the Mafia, the Irish Gang War to Whitey Bulger. The forgotten chapters of Boston gang history are also covered, from the role of street gangs in the American Revolution to Chinatown’s infamous Tong Wars to the murder of number king Daddy Black, it is all here. Every neighborhood, every era, every gangster.