Fireworks are this week, Thursday night, July 3. The city will celebrate its 10th Anniversary of Fireworks at Trum Field. Live entertainment for our Independence Day celebration will include performances by the Somerville Sunsetters, local Disco-Funk band Booty Vortex, the USO Metropolitan New York Performers, and the U.S. Navy Band Northeast Pops Ensemble beginning at 6 p.m., all leading up to a 30-minute fireworks display at approximately 9:15 p.m. In case of rain, the USO Metropolitan New York Performers and the U.S. Navy Band Northeast Pops Ensemble will perform at the East Somerville Community School at 7 p.m. on July 3. All other entertainment will be postponed until July 10. For the tenth anniversary celebration, community members are invited to send in any old photos or items from past celebrations (recent and distant past) to help us celebrate Somerville’s history. Send photos or information to Carlene Campbell-Hegarty at CCampbell@somervillema.gov, or call 617-625-6600 ext. 2615.

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The East Somerville Reunion is coming up fast on July 12 at the Somerville City Club. Open to all who grew up in East Somerville in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. From all parts of East Somerville, Cross Street, the Avenues, Glen Park, Florence Street Park, Prescott School, Edgerly School, all areas. If you grew up there and want to reacquaint yourself with others from the same neighborhood, this is the party for you. Over 100 so far are going to attend. This will be a great event. Everyone that grew up in East Somerville will tell you, it was a special place in our city. Everyone knew everyone, no matter what corner you hung out on or park you grew up on down there. East Somerville had something special. The old-fashioned block parties that took place to the Old Broadway show. The event is free, you just have to be from East Somerville. There were sponsors that took care of the bill for the City Club and food.

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Happy Birthday this week to a few of our fans here and around the Ville. This week our own popular poet and writer Doug Holder is celebrating his birthday. A nice guy, we wish him the very best this down at his regular place the popular Sherman Café. Also this week is Roland Racicot of Roland’s Jewelry right in the middle of Medford Square. Roland is from one of Somerville’s finest and largest families. Our good friends over in Cambridge, Cambridge Masonic Building, in Porter Square are celebrating their 104th birthday. We wish them many more. Also celebrating coming up at the beginning of next week is Paul Gaspar, who grew up here in the Ville and owns his own appraisal company known as PG Appraisals. If you need an appraisal he’s the go to guy. He has many years of great work behind him. Although not from here she is a fan of the paper, we wish a happy birthday to Cheryl Taylor of Milford, owner of one of Massachusetts largest RE firms (ERA Key Realty Service). She’s a great lady and runs a very nice company. Also celebrating, someone who used to live here in Davis Square, Jeff Harrington is celebrating this week as well.

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We attended the Somerville Redevelopment Authority meeting last week and maybe it’s us but if you get a chance watch it on channel 22 or online and see what you think. We are sure we’re not the only ones that noticed the meeting was a bit confusing, not just for the members on the board but for those in the audience. The City Attorney for sat there with the board and was frankly a little demeaning, we think, in her remarks as well as her gestures regarding some of the board members’ motions and questions. She probably isn’t used to being in the public eye. Either that or she was sent there to control the meeting. We think maybe both? One of the members put a motion on the floor, which was pretty simple, but the board members seemed confused by it and worse yet the Chairperson was equally confused. After some remarks the maker of the motion withdrew it. Apparently, the board members weren’t aware that the four developers that were selected to be chosen from were now reduced to two developers without notice to those who were going to vote.  It appears that the CAC group who was asked to work with the SRA board recommended, along with the staff report, that two developers be removed from the voting process. Again, it appeared to anyone sitting there that the SRA members – at least some of them – didn’t know about the removable ahead of time. Hmmm…maybe that’s why the city lawyer was sitting there with them? We think the Chairperson of any board should be there to get the members’ motions clarified and then allow discussion with a vote to follow, but this chairperson was lost and didn’t know what to do. The original motion was taken back and a new motion was placed before the members to vote on. We thought along with some in the audience that the meeting could have gone a little more smoothly. The Chairperson needs to exercise a little control and keep order, which she clearly wasn’t doing. We don’t blame them for being confused. Again, they were there to vote and choose from four developers, but somehow, someone, somewhere, selected two from the four and now the board had two to vote on. The city attorney apparently did her job.

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You don’t need a green thumb for these houseplants! Learn to raise cacti and easy to grow succulents at the July meeting of the Somerville Garden Club. Art Scarpa, founder and current president of the Cactus and Succulent Society of Massachusetts will present “Art’s Traveling Cactus and Succulent Plant Show.”  Art will showcase dozens of cacti and succulents—from the bizarre to the familiar—and discuss growing succulents indoors and out, including dish gardens and container gardens with hardy plants that can be left outside. The July meeting of the SGC is Wednesday, July 9, 7-9 PM, at the Tufts Administration Building, 167 Holland Street, Somerville. Meetings are on the second floor wheelchair accessible. All Somerville Garden Club meetings are free and the public is invited to attend. For additional information visit www.somervillegardenclub.org.

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Good news about our good friends down at Patsy’s Pastry shop on lower Broadway. No closing down anytime soon. They have at least until next spring sometime. We stopped in to see Sal, one of the brothers who own the shop, and they are glad that they are staying put for now. So don’t worry about those great pizza slices that Sal makes and the bread, on top of the awesome cakes and pies. You will still be able to shop there.