Join Mayor Katjana Ballantyne, city staff, and Traffic Commission members for a special meeting of the Traffic Commission to discuss new plans for protected bike lanes on Holland Street on Wednesday, September 21, at 5:30 p.m. At this meeting, the mayor and city staff will present the new design to the Traffic Commission and answer questions. The Traffic Commission will then discuss the plan and hear public comment. Written comments will also be accepted after the meeting. The Commission will then reconvene for a vote in the coming weeks. This new safety plan maintains parking on one side of Holland Street but restricts parking on the other side in order to create protected bike lanes. Loading zones and accessible parking spaces will be increased. The full designs are available on the project website. To learn more and register to attend the meeting, go to somervillema.gov/hollandstreetdesign.

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Head on over to the #AERONAUTCannery for their first-ever Tape & Record Swap on September 24. Hosted by Boston’s DJ Donuts and featuring performances by local DJs and bands. Plus, they’ll have Ginger Spizen with their unique wearable art, Batter & Bloom for sweet treats and fun cards, and eight analog vendors ready to wow with their finest selections for your perusing pleasure. This event is free, but you can check the link to learn more and RSVP: https://bit.ly/3R6evAU

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Happy birthday this week to several locals: Happy birthday to a great Somerville person, Lori Pino, owner of Amal Niccoli in Ball Square. We wish her a very happy birthday. Happy birthday to the now retired Somerville Homeless Coalition Director, Mark Alston-Follansbee. We wish him the very best. Happy birthday to Richard Mangan. We hope he has a very happy birthday as well. We wish all of our Facebook friends, such as Ellen Gagliardi, Stephen Green, Jonathan O’Connell, Conor M Brennan, Adele Chang, Kimberly Barnett, John Morabito Jr., Ann Sylvester, Julia Gilligan Corsetti, Scott Breen and Lisa Monaco a very happy birthday. We hope everyone has a great day. To all the others we may have missed, we sincerely wish them the very best of birthdays.

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September is Recovery Month. Additional Narcan distributions will take place Friday, September 30, at Foss Park from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. For more information, resources, or to get involved, email mmitchell@somervillema.gov or visit https://www.somervillema.gov.

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Join Somerville Parks and Recreation for a Fall Festival. Kick off the new school year with an afternoon of free fun and entertainment for the whole family, featuring live music, games, bounce houses, face painting, and more. Saturday, September 24, 1:00 p.m. and 4:00pm, at Trum Field, 541 Broadway.

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Come out to Aeronaut Brewery, 14 Tyler St. (or Zoom in) for their monthly Streetwise speaker series. September 21 at 6:00 p.m. This month’s speakers are Galen Mook, Executive Director of MassBike and Kristiana Lachiusa speaking about how buses and bikes can share the road safely. For Zoom details visit bit.ly/3ORnXHn .

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To celebrate Union Square’s sizzling food landscape, the Somerville Arts Council brings you the IGNITE Festival. Expect an evening of international eats, fire throwers, roving entertainment, and a raucous celebration of global culture. In addition to many local food vendors, there will be interactive light installations, numerous illuminated performers and to top it all off, FIRE! Local eateries throughout the Square will be featuring Ignite themed specials on Saturday, October 1, 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. in Union Square.

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Our deepest condolences to the family of Elissa R. Haley who passed away last week. She had many friends here in the city and will be missed. Her full obituary can be viewed on www.thesomervilletimes.com and www.cotafuneralhomes.com.

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Mayor Katjana Ballantyne and Ward 2 Councilor J.T. Scott invite you to a virtual community meeting to discuss roadway upgrades and transportation safety improvements on the western portion of Washington Street, from Line Street to Webster Avenue. The city is planning to reconstruct sidewalks, repave Washington Street, and install changes that will improve street safety and usability, including wider sidewalks at bus stops, raised crosswalks for traffic calming, and protected dedicated bike lanes. Construction is expected to begin in 2023.At this meeting, city staff will present a proposed design for Washington Street and gather input from attendees. After the meeting, the proposed design will be posted to the project website along with a survey for additional feedback. The meeting will take place Wednesday, September 28, at 6:00 p.m. Visit somervillema.gov/westernwashington to register to attend.

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Ward-based Community Meetings, formerly called the ResiStat program, are back this October. Hear from Mayor Katjana Ballantyne and city staff to find out what’s happening in your neighborhood, learn how to get involved, and ask questions about issues that are important to you. All meetings begin at 6:30 p.m. and can be attended in person or online. First up is Ward 5 on Monday, October 3, at the Kennedy School. A meet-and-greet with refreshments will begin at 6:00 p.m. Interpretation and accessibility assistance is available. For the full schedule and to learn more, visit somervillema.gov/communitymeetings.

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HONK! call for volunteers: After over two years of programming with maintaining a distance in mind for safety reasons, HONK! is returning to its in-person all outdoor format. Given that, the festival cannot happen without all the musicians, artists, organizers, activists, friends, participants, and fans. The weekend’s tasks are varied and plentiful, and there are many ways in which HONK! can use help to make the 2022 festival run smoothly. Even a one-hour shift of passing the bucket or working the merch table helps enormously. Plus, it is a great way to be totally immersed in the vibrant HONK! scene: honkfest.org/help.

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Call to artists for the Dark Tales, Familiars and Object of Divination Inside-Out Gallery Exhibit with guest curator, Boriana Kantcheva. Submission deadline is October 6. To apply, go to https://somervilleartscouncil.org/resources/calls. To celebrate the fall and the spookiest and most mysterious month of all, October, the Somerville Arts Council’s Inside Out Gallery at Davis Square invites Somerville based artists, Somerville residents or artists maintaining work spaces in Somerville to submit work for a group exhibit that brings together familiars of all kinds and narrates stories filled with darkness and magic. If ghosts and goblins, witches and fortune tellers, Tarot cards and tea leaf readings are part of your work, they want to see it.

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The SHS Class of 1982 40th Reunion will be held at the Sons of Italy, 117 Swanton St, Winchester, MA on November 15, 6:30 – 11:30pm. Cost: $40 per person, dinner included, cash bar. ($50 after November 4). Payment methods: include Paypal: mbmbrennan44@gmail.com, Venmo: SHS Class of 1982 @shsclassof1982, Check: made out to SHS Class of 1982 mailed to Marybeth Caturello, 85 MacArthur Road Stoneham, MA 02180. For any other questions, please email Marybeth Brennan at mbmbrennan@comcast.net or call Marybeth Caturello at 617-851-2519.

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The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is now available 24/7, 365 days a year in Massachusetts and across the country. 988 is a direct three-digit phone line to trained National Suicide Prevention Lifeline call takers. If you need suicide, substance use, or mental health crisis support, or if you are worried about someone else, you can call or text 988 or use the chatline at 988lifeline.org to access compassionate care and support.

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Mark your calendars: students in grades 9-12 and their families won’t want to miss the in-person College Fair on October 18 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. in the SHS Cafeteria.

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The Somerville Mobile Farmers Market is open for the season, selling fresh, local produce through October 15. The market schedule is as follows: Fridays: 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Council on Aging/SCALE (167 Holland St.); 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.: East Somerville Community School (50 Cross St.) Saturdays: 10:00 to 11:30 a.m.: North Street Housing (24 North St.); 1:30 to 3:00 p.m.: Mystic Housing (Playground between 15B and 25B Memorial Rd.). The market accepts cash, debit, credit, SNAP, WIC Farmers Market Coupons, and Senior Farmers Market Coupons, and it offers an unlimited 50% discount for anyone who needs it. To learn more, visit: somervillema.gov/farmersmarket.

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