We here at The Times wish everyone a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday. As we approach holiday gift shopping don’t forget to shop local to support local businesses.

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City offices will be closed on Thursday, November 24, and Friday, November 25, for Thanksgiving. Trash, recycling, and yard waste collection will be delayed by one day. No street sweeping on Thursday or Friday.

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Local small business owners can now apply for forgivable loans of up to $15,000 to assist with financial losses related to COVID-19 via Somerville’s Small Business Recovery Program. To qualify, businesses must be located within the City of Somerville, have 20 or fewer full-time employees, and be able to demonstrate a decline in revenue during the past two years. Home-based and brick-and-mortar businesses are welcome to apply. Learn more and apply www.somervillema.gov/bizrelief

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SeedMoney Challenge time is now! The Somerville Community Growing Center hopes to raise $1500 over the next 30 days of this crowdsourced fundraiser (November 15 – December 15). If they raise enough money fast, they qualify for more funding. To donate visit bit.ly/seedsforsomerville.

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Happy birthday this week to several locals: Happy birthday to Jason Fucile, who celebrates this week. We wish Jason a great birthday. Tracey Leah Pratt is also celebrating this week. We wish Tracey a very happy birthday. Happy birthday to Craig Resmini. We wish him a great birthday. We wish all of our Facebook friends, such as Diane Johansen, Marie Coady, Todd Easton, Peggy Ryan Lookliss, Mary McGuire, Julie Adelsberger, Gamal Elfouly, Brian Kirk and Kim Volza 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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The second annual Boynton Yards Winter Fest is happening on December 10 with music from The Velvet Dirtmunchers and Al Watkins, activities from EventThem, craft vendors, and free food from Cuisine en Locale. RSVP: http://ow.ly/NyYb50LCRN6.

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Order a balsam wreath from the Next Wave / Full Circle Schools. All proceeds go to field trips, exciting learning opportunities, and scholarships for college or career training programs for NW/FC students. Visit https://somerville.k12.ma.us/wreathsale to learn more and to pre-order by November 25.

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Somerville teens 13 years and older are invited to earn some extra money by snow shoveling this winter with the City of Somerville Teen Snow Shoveling Crew. www.somervillema.gov/applytoshovel.

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Save the date for the next Highlander Theatre student musical production, Into the Woods! Performances on December 1, 2, and 3 at Somerville High School. This modern classic follows the story of the Baker and his wife (who wish for a child), Cinderella (who wishes to attend the King’s Festival), and Jack (who wishes his cow would give milk). To make their wishes come true they must first venture Into the Woods, which is filled with challenges and adventures that you won’t want to miss. The Highlander Theatre website: https://www.highlandertheatre.org.

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The Somerville Arts Council announces that the Illuminations Tour is back. As in recent years, they will provide an online map featuring the best and brightest holiday displays. Folks are welcome to sign up and/ or welcome to take tours whenever they’d like (any time after the online map goes live). And back by popular demand … a night of Caroling. To participate, sign up at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSctSRpCKsuV_Br6Zy_PXECo1I-DcaFcGCnRLoGw-RXaDjazDQ/viewform. Sign up by December 5. Caroling sign up by December 11: https://somervilleartscouncil.org/illuminationstour. Save the dates: Illuminations online map launch date: December 8. City-wide caroling: December 15, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. (rain date December 16). Illuminations Bike Tour: December 17 (rain date December 18, details TBD). Whether you’ll be decking your house or singing Deck the Halls, we encourage you to participate. Share with friends and neighbors. RSVP to their FB event page for updates: https://fb.me/e/2WYSJP6zb.

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The City of Somerville will host a free COVID-19 booster clinic for Somerville seniors and their caregivers on Thursday, December 2, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Somerville Council on Aging, located at 167 Holland St, Somerville, MA. Registration is open now and can be completed here: home.color.com/vaccine/register/somerville. Anyone in need of assistance with registration, can call 311 or the Somerville Council on Aging (617-625-6600 ext. 2300) to schedule their appointment.

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The Somerville Flea 10th Holiday Market takes place Sunday, December 4, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave. You will find two floors and over 30 vendors of vintage and artisan wonders. Shop local and find that perfect gift that you never even knew existed.

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The City of Somerville has been recognized by CDP as one of 122 cities and counties across the globe that is taking bold leadership on environmental action and transparency, despite the pressures of a challenging global economic situation. Designed to encourage and support local governments to ramp up their climate action and ambition, CDP’s Cities A List is based on environmental data disclosed by local governments to CDP-ICLEI Track. A clear momentum in local climate disclosure and action is building – for the first time, over 1,000 cities and counties (1,002 in total) received a rating for their climate action from CDP in 2022, a rise on the 965 cities and counties scored in 2021. In 2022, just over one in ten local governments scored by CDP (12% of such local governments) received an A.

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The City of Somerville will offer limited household hazardous waste (HHW) drop-off service to residents starting Thursday, November 3, through the end of the year. Residents may dispose of eligible items each Thursday in November and December, excluding Thanksgiving, between 4:00 and 7:30 p.m. at the Department of Public Works yard (1 Franey Rd.). Drop-off will be canceled in the event of heavy snow. HHW will not be accepted outside of the designated hours. For general information about trash, recycling, and waste disposal services, go to somervillema.gov/sanitation.

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Get your flu shot and updated COVID-19 booster at a City of Somerville clinic this fall. Visit www.somervillema.gov/vaccineclinics. The flu vaccine and the updated COVID-19 booster dose are provided at no cost, regardless of health insurance or immigration status. Advance registration is required.

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The Fuel Assistance Program, also known as the Home Energy Assistance Program, helps low-income households pay their winter heating bills between November 1 and April 30. Renters and homeowners in Somerville are eligible to apply if they meet federal income guidelines. Learn more and apply online at somervillema.gov/fuelassistance

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The Somerville Community Preservation Committee (CPC) is seeking public feedback on current applications for the Committee’s general public open seat, for which three Somerville residents applied. The Committee must solicit feedback from the community prior to appointing any person to an open seat, per city ordinance. The CPC is made up of Somerville residents who set the priorities for approximately $3 million in Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds each year and recommend which projects should be funded to the City Council. All Somerville community members are invited to share feedback on the applicants’ qualifications, which can be found at www.somervillema.gov/CPA. Feedback must be emailed to the CPA Manager Roberta Cameron at rcameron@somervillema.gov by Friday, December 2, at 12:30 p.m.

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The 13th Annual Somerville Winter Farmers Market (SWFM) is held every Saturday through April 8, 2023. The Center for Arts at the Armory is located at 191 Highland Avenue, Somerville, MA 02143. To learn more and for a complete listing of vendors, weekly specials, and live entertainment, please visit www.somwintermarket.org. You can find the market on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SomervilleWinterFarmersMarket, and on Instagram @SomWinterMarket.

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Registration is open for the Teen Center at the Edgerly Education Center (33 Cross St.), operated by Somerville Recreation. A Teen Center membership provides teens access to a safe space to hang out with friends with amenities including a gym, computer room, music room, and daily snacks, activities, and programming. Somerville teens ages 12 to 18 are eligible to enroll. Memberships are free and last for the duration of the school year. Enroll your child at: https://somervillema.myrec.com/…/program_details.aspx.

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