The Somerville Chamber of Commerce is holding their monthly Business After hours social this Thursday night, October 2, 5-7 p.m. at the East End Grille, 118 Broadway. It’s an excellent networking event featuring free appetizers with a cash bar. Free parking in private lot. Bring your business cards for the drawing. Members and their guests are welcome. Treat your colleagues and clients! Sponsored by Our City Realty. RSVP with name(s) and affiliation(s) for you and your guests to smackey@somervillechamber.org.

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A first with Mayor Curtatone’s administration just happened: his first veto. The so-called “Pay-to-Play” ordinance spearheaded by the more progressive members of the Board of Alderman, led by Ward 6 Alderman Rebecca Gerwitz. An Ordinance proposal was made to lower contributions from $500 to $250 because they think (we heard) that the mayor is taking money hand over fist by developers here in the city, and why should he (again we think, that’s what they are thinking) get all the money? Meanwhile, up at the State House our esteemed progressive arm of the legislature, Senator Pat Jehlen herself, in the Senate voted to raise a similar bill from $500 to $1,000 for contributions. It’s the same on the House side. Representative Denise Provost voted to increase it from $500 to $1,000. Seven Aldermen voted to reduce it, and four Aldermen voted against it. The mayor’s veto will hold up unless one of the four changes their mind and it looks like they probably won’t. Maybe the progressive members should all get their agenda together and be on the same page?

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Our sincere condolences to the family of Mary Dalaklis Carafotes who passed away this past weekend. Mary was a popular music teacher at the high school for 32 years. A great lady whom everyone loved and thought the world of. The city has lost a special person who gave a lot back over the years. Relatives and friends are invited to attend Calling Hours at the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church, 29 Central St., Somerville, on Friday, 4-8 p.m. A Funeral Mass will be held in the church on Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. followed by interment at Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge.

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Happy Birthday this week to some of our fans here in the Ville. First of all, this would have been our good friend Bob Publicover’s (former Publisher) birthday this week. All his friends and family miss him. He was a good person. Another fan of our paper is Frank Ricardo, a black belt up in Maine, but he lived here in the Ville for a long time. A nice guy, and we wish him many happy returns. Happy Birthday this week to Gay Koty, Nurse Koty. A very nice lady and always smiling. We hope she had a great time this week, with many more to come. Senator Sal DiDomenico celebrates this week, and although he doesn’t have Somerville as part of his district anymore, he’s still a reachable guy and very well liked all over. We wish him the very best. Best to Mike Capuano, no not the congressman but his son. We hope Mike had a great time or will this coming weekend. To all the others celebrating their birthdays this week, we salute you and wish you a great birthday.

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Local good guy Tom Trane is out of the hospital and recuperating at the cape. We hope he feels much better and is back to the city real soon.

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Having a recent heart attack herself, Patty Norton was taken once again to MGH emergency a week and half or so ago, and they decided to keep her for few days. She’s home now and doing much better. She wants to thank everyone for their nice cards and cheers sent her way.

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We’re glad that Cam Toner is heading back to The Somerville Times’ office. She’s been sick for a long time, but she’s a fighter with a strong constitution. Imagine at the young age of the mid 80’s and she is like a Timex watch. She takes a beating but keeps on ticking. We can’t wait to have her smiling face back in the office.

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The 2014 Boston Zine Fest will be held on October 11 at Washington Street Art Center, 321 Washington Street, Somerville and on October 12 at Aeronaut Brewing Company, 14 Tyler Street, Somerville. The Boston Zine Fest is an annual event dedicated to the celebration of zines and DIY (do-it-yourself) culture and aims to create a space where zine enthusiasts and creators can come together to share their creative work, exchange ideas, and promote self-publishing. For the uninitiated, zines (derived from “fanzine”) are self-published works usually with a small circulation and often reproduced via photocopier.

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Somerville High Adult Evening Courses are starting up again this fall, and registration is over the next two weeks Tuesday and Thursday nights at the High School main office. One class in particular being offered again this semester is the Real Estate course being offered for $165, which is more than half of what it would cost going anywhere else. Plus it is a live course with interaction with the teacher who has over 35 years of experience to offer. Register directly to the Principal, Sophia Carafotes, by emailing her at scarafotes@k12.somerville.ma.us or visit the high school at 6 p.m. and see how many great courses that they have to offer the public at real low prices you can’t find anywhere. Let Sophia know you saw it here. She’s one of Somerville’s finest teachers.

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It’s official. We will soon be putting out new boxes on the street shortly for The Somerville Times. You’re going to be seeing a lot of them around the city. The red boxes will be clearly marked The Somerville Times on all four sides. We received some calls from residents who gave us some good suggestions as to where they would like to see a box. If you have a suggestion please call 617 666-4010 and let us know. Better yet, drop into our office at 699 Broadway in Ball Square and say “Hi.” We’re still the only locally owned and operated community newspaper here in the city.

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The Masonic Open House at 125 Highland Avenue is coming up on Saturday, October 11, and is open to the public for tours and Q&A. There are now two Somerville Masonic Lodges. Once again, in Somerville it’s King Solomon’s Lodge AF & AM founded in 1783 in Charlestown moved to Somerville 1899. A fairly new chartered lodge has been formed called The Independent Lodge, which is an exclusively Portuguese member’s lodge. Their first meeting in Somerville is this month. Congratulations to Lou Domenech on being installed on September 20 as the new head of King Solomon’s Lodge here. Lou is a lifelong local area resident and is looking forward to a great year ahead.

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Come enjoy an intimate night of music with Gay Sheldon and friends, fundraising for homeless women veterans this Friday, October 3 at Arts at the Armory. Donations of underwear, nightgowns, socks, or gift cards for hair or nail care will be accepted in lieu of an admission fee. These donations will be brought to the New England Center for Homeless Veterans. The event is in memory of Elizabeth A. Sheldon and will be held from 8:00-10:00 p.m.