Over 125 elderly were at the Winter Hill Yacht Club on St. Valentine’s Day, sponsored by Middlesex County Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian along with Mayor Joe Curtatone and the Council on Aging, and through the generous hospitality of Bill Rogers and the members of the Yacht Club. It was a nice crowd and a great time was had by all that attended, with plenty of food which was prepared by Deputy Sheriff’s and donated free of charge to all attending.

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

Two of Somerville’s finest ladies, both running for the same office as Middlesex County Registry of Deeds, were also present at the Yacht club and generously donated nice Valentine’s presents to all.  Both Maryann Heuston and Maria Curtatone are in full swing here in Somerville and the rest of Middlesex County to win hearts and minds in the September election. We wish them both good luck. It’s a large field of candidates from around the county, but we’re sure one of the two ladies will win with Somerville behind them.

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

The Winter Hill Yacht Club should be congratulated for all the work they have been doing lately to make relations with the rest of the city better. It must be the new leadership at the club, and one notable person there is Winter Hill resident himself Bill Rogers. A real nice guy who has his heart and soul deep in Somerville.

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

This week in the ‘Ville and from the ‘Ville – Big Happy Birthdays to such notables as Mr. Irving E. Johansen, who turned 88 years old and is still very active. Also this week is Chris Cianci. Need a car? Call Chris. Also from the ‘Ville is Russell Koty, the well known DJ. We want to wish good friends of ours and lifelong residents Louie Ferrara and Scott Gamble, a retired and popular Somerville Police Officer, a great day as well. We can’t miss out on saying Happy Birthday to Robert Lomanno and another birthday friend of The News Brian Barton, who recently was elected as an officer in his union. To Anelise Tubinis, who works here at the school Department, we wish the best of birthdays and hope she enjoys her day. Best wishes, too, to another good friend of The News, Boston Officer Tommy Yung. To these and all the others celebrating this week and month we wish you the best and a great day.

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

Arts at the Armory Café on Highland Avenue now has beer and wine all day. A fine taste to go with any one of their famous sandwiches. Their space is also available for rent for special events from birthday parties to private concerts. Drop in and see why the Armory Café is quickly becoming the place to be and meet each other here. And while there say “hi” to its famous proprietor Danny Kalis. He’s got a lot of friends here in the ‘Ville, new and old. We see that our friends and good guys Bob Publicover and his partner David are there a lot, so we know it has to be good.

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

On Saturday, Taza, Somerville’s famous chocolate maker, will host a chocolate pairing at their place on Windsor Street. It’s only $3. For more information give them a call at 617-623-0804.

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

On Fridays the Powderhouse School (165 Powderhouse House Blvd.) offers a great Parts and Crafts for kids ages 7-13. The event each week offers building great things with instructions and a chance for kids to do things on their own. 3-5 p.m. weekly at $25.

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

Our condolences to the family of Claire Ashton on her recent passing. Claire was a lifelong Somerville resident, a wonderful cheerful woman, and she will be sadly missed. Many of us know her daughter, our good friend Kate Ashton, a Grants Administer up at city hall who is one of the best daughters that any mother could have.

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

Our deepest sympathy and condolences to the Winters family on their recent loss and a good friend to many, Howie Winters Jr. Howie was a lifelong resident and a nice guy who will be missed by many of his family and friends he leaves behind.

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

What is going through the minds of the authorities at Somerville and the School Department?  We heard that last week a student who allegedly tweeted over a thousand threats tweets about his girlfriend who is a student as well. When he came to school on Monday he told other students he was going to bring a gun to school and kill her. Allegedly, they took him out of class to confront him on this and then he flipped out on them, and we heard he was taken to the hospital. We then heard that when the girl’s parents heard about this last threat they immediately got an emergency restraining order.    Allegedly, with his twitter name he printed over 100 pages in the last two weeks. There have reportedly been no more tweets since he’s been in the hospital. We heard that the girl’s family would like to see if the administration will step up and give their daughter protection and assurances of safety so that the matter can be handled quietly. The puzzling part of the whole thing is that we heard that this student is being allowed to go back to Somerville High after his observation and evaluation is completed. This whole thing sounds very upsetting but hopefully the school department will handle it so that everyone is satisfied. We’ll keep you posted.

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

Masonic Open House takes place on Saturday, February 25, at 125 Highland Avenue (rear building), from 9 a.m. to 3-p.m. Light refreshment will be offered and officers of the lodge will be there there to answer all questions and give a personal tour of the lodge and its historic artifacts, some dating back to the 1600’s.

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

We heard through some of our sources that Bob Hickey, the husband of Cindy Hickey, was recently interviewed for Frank Senesi’s job at Veterans Services. We also hear they are still interviewing individuals. In a city with many distinguished veterans there should not be a shortage of persons qualified to fill Frank’s shoes. Frank was very good and he was focused on the job.

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

It seems that Gatehouse, the Publisher of the Somerville Journal, has decided to up the price of their paper to $2. Before it was the removal of their boxes around the city, now they will up the price and watch how many papers get returned from the stores. So we did a little test sampling to see how the price of $2 might affect their paper. One store in West Somerville two weeks ago had 20 papers delivered on a Thursday morning and the following Thursday 18 were handed back to the delivery man. We asked two more stores to keep track and let us know their tallies.

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

Mark your calendars for March 16 at the Armory on Highland Avenue. The revival of the old St. Patrick’s Day parties is in the second year with Alderman Sean O’Donovan once again hosting it. Featuring the famous “Old Brigade Irish Band,” light refreshments, dancing and just a great time for everyone who is wearing the green on St. Patrick’s Day.    The cost is a $20 donation. Like last year, let’s pack it wall to wall having a grand old time with everyone. Years ago, former State Rep. Marie Howe was famous for having huge crowds at the Armory in celebration. We think it’s great that Sean has picked up and continued this old tradition here in Somerville. Save the date for a Somerville tradition that is always a great time.