The annual Somerville High Scholarship Foundation raffle is this Friday evening, May 17, and tickets are still available the first price of $10,000 that will be awarded along with many other prizes. Only 250 tickets are to be sold. The event will be held at the Highlander Café at the High School, Friday night at 7 p.m., with the drawing starting at 8p.m. Several door prizes, refreshments and lots of fun for a great cause. To purchase a ticket for the raffle beforehand make checks payable to the SHS Scholarship Foundation and mail your $100 check to SHS Raffle, c/o Eugene Brune, P.O. Box 440275, Somerville 02144. We do know that from past years you can or might be able to purchase a ticket directly at the function this Friday night, so show up and take part in the festivities. This is a great local charity that raises funds for scholarships for well deserving students. Send a check today and get your tickets. Who knows? You just might be the big winner.

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Elio LoRusso, candidate for Alderman in Ward 1, is having a fundraiser at the Mt. Vernon Restaurant at 14 Broadway tonight, Wednesday, May 15 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Elio is working hard. He’s already been online on Facebook as well as other social media places.

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A Storm is coming! The MMA’s 12th Annual Storm the State House is this Thursday, May 16. Motorcyclists from across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and neighboring States will be making the trek to the State House in Boston to attend the MMA’s 12th Annual Storm the State House Event. The main staging location is the Lions Club and Senior Center, 9 New Washington Street, Somerville, and they’ll be leaving there at noon. Other staging areas are located across the state and leave at various times to converge on the Somerville start point. The seniors will have refreshments available at no cost and a donation to the center is welcome. Contact Billy Tauro for more information.

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Our good friend Barry Wilder is on the mend, having recently undergone a hernia operation. He is walking around and getting back in shape. We’re glad he’s doing better. Just in time for his lovely wife Lee to undergo a hip replacement later this month. We hope she has a speedy recovery as well. Both are up in their summer home in Maine enjoying the nice Maine breeze.

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Ginny Post, the wife of Stephen Post, was recently in the hospital. We hear she’s on the mend as well and hopefully will soon be home. We wish her the best.

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A fundraiser will be held at the Somerville City Club on Friday evening, May 17 starting at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 pp. A portion of the donations will go to the One Fund, a portion to the Jimmy Fund in memory of Sean Collier, and a portion to the Donohue family to help them out while Richard is recovering from near death. Contact Cheryl Endicott cheryle@bu.edu, 617-501-4437 (cell phone) 617-358-1470 (work).

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Happy Birthdays this week to the following fans, readers and just plain Villens at heart: Big time to one of the city’s best lawyers, Ed Smith, who is a great guy and we hope he has a great time this week. George Landers, the city’s unofficial official DJ plus all around nice guy, is celebrating this week with two of his children. Melissa Hurley-Sullivan, the lovely wife of Alderman Dennis Sullivan celebrates too. We hope Dennis at least takes her out to dinner. Others are Maureen Clark, who is also celebrating this week here in the Ville, as well as Tina Galluzzo Caruso, and a great guy from one of Somerville’s nicest families, Mark MacLeod. Former resident here in the city Megan Foster is celebrating this week. Finally, Happy Birthday this week to Michelle Bowler of the DPW.

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This coming Sunday, May 19 from 2 to 4:30 p.m. join ESMS in a lively and informative tour about one of the oldest and architecturally diverse sections of Somerville. Led by Edward Gordon, President of the New England Chapter of the Victorian Society of America, the focus will be on Pre-Civil War buildings and architectural features. The walk begins at the Sullivan Square transit station and concludes with appetizers at a local eatery. Rain or shine. See you there!

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Congratulations to the Iannacone family on the street dedication that was held on this past Saturday for Virgil “Virgie” Iannacone at the intersection of Central and Summer Streets in Somerville. Virgil’s family and friends, along with elected officials, were there for the wonderful tribute to his legacy.

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Happy wedding anniversary to Barbara and Tom Carli of Carli Fence. Barbara and Tom are very nice people and we wish them all the best and many more years of happiness.

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Don’t forget to book your tickets now for next Thursday, May 23 for the Annual Somerville Lions Club “A Night of Comedy & Fun” at Giggles Comedy Club on Rt. 1 South in Saugus. The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. with three top comedians, raffles and all the pizza and salad that you can eat. All proceeds support Lions Club charities and programs. Tickets are $25 per person and will be available at the door or also by contacting Billy Tauro for tickets and RSVPs at (617)293-2016.

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Happy college graduation to our good friend Regan McGovern who graduated this week from Fisher College. Regan is a wonderful person and will do well out there in the business world.

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Our condolences go out to the Murphy family for the passing of their dad over the weekend, James Patrick Murphy. He was a bus driver for the MBTA for over thirty years, raised his family here in Somerville and was also father to Somerville Fire Department’s District Fire Chief Dennis Murphy. James was a very nice man and will be sadly missed.

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You’re invited to the Somerville Special Olympics of a Special Kind on Wednesday, June 12 (rain date June 13). Athletes and volunteers to arrive at 5:15 p.m. Opening ceremonies commence at 6:00 p.m. at Trum Field on Broadway. Honor guards from the Somerville Police, Fire and Sheriff’s Departments will lead the parade. Track and field events include a 25 yard dash, a 50 yard dash, throwing events and golf. Entertainment will be provided by DJ George Landers, Jimmy DelPonte and the Somerville Sunsetters. So don’t miss it! Event pre-registration required. Return forms by June 1. Forms are available on their website: www.wscinc.org or phone the Walnut Center at (617) 776- 1448 or (617) 629-3568.

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Well, here’s another one for the record books. There’s plenty of talk around town that one of those parcels of land down at Assembly Square where IKEA once was going to be built is now, as we speak, being bulldozed and cleared off to put a “Horse Circus/Rodeo” there temporarily for the summer under a couple of big top tents that is said to be scheduled to begin around July 16. As we hear more on this “Horse of a Tale” we will keep you up to speed on it.

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Don’t forget to mark your calendar for Sunday, May 26 for the annual Memorial Day Parade here in Somerville. It starts at City Hall and goes all the way up through Davis into Teele and ends at Calerdon Hill.

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So far Maureen Bastardi has passed in the necessary signatures to be on the ballot in September. She was the first to turn in the required amount here in Somerville. Two more candidates have pulled papers since our last edition. Matt McLaughlin has filed for Alderman in Ward One. He used to live in Ward Five and we heard that he’s being encouraged by his good friends at the Somerville Community Corporation, which every year has a candidate here or there running for office. That organization is so civic minded. In Ward Three we have a new name, Gerald C. Amaral, who pulled papers for Alderman. So far if Ward One candidates for Alderman and Ward Three candidates for Alderman turn in their papers, it would be a primary in those two wards only. Now, hopefully, if we can get more people to pull papers around the city and it would be fantastic. Still no opponents in Ward 4 and Ward 6 and only 5 for Alderman at Large. We need 9 to make a primary.

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Bert Gay is now home and on the mend after over a week of being hospitalized and nearly meeting his maker. The family tells us that he said he told them that he “didn’t see a light at the end of the tunnel, just a dark scary place and that he’s glad to be back!” Bert is husband to our Former Somerville Mayor Dorothy Kelly Gay. We wish them well and hope for a speedy recovery for Bert.

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Also, our hearts and prayers are with our good friend Annemarie Carey Browne, who just underwent brain surgery on Tuesday. We wish her all the best for a speedy recovery. Annemarie is wife to our good friend Mike Brown at the Somerville DPW.

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Saturday, May 18 musicians and bands throughout Somerville will celebrate and utilize an underused public venue: The Porch.   Acts ranging from bollywood funk, cosmic americana, killer blues, Moroccan, Balkan, gospel, American space rock and clawhammer banjo, will serenade passersby from porches throughout Somerville. There are three time slots are based on three quadrants of the city; east to Central will be 12-2; Central to Willow will be 2-4; west of Willow 4-6.   For a complete map and information go to Somerville Arts Council’s web site: www.somervilleartscouncil.org/porchfest.