Coming up on Saturday, April 11 at 6 p.m., “Under the Roof Benefit 2015” for the Somerville Homeless Shelter’s 30th Anniversary. The Somerville Homeless Coalition (SHC) will host the dinner at the Center for Arts at the Armory in Somerville. To mark this milestone, a number of founding members of the SHC will be in attendance and honored for their initiative, vision, and compassion. While they are still “working to put themselves out of business,” they are committed to helping those in need for as long as there are homeless and hungry people in our community. Visit www.shcinc.org to learn more about the SHC or this event. For questions, please contact Kathryn at 617-623-6111 or kbenjamin@shcinc.org. They hope you will participate in this terrific event.

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Also coming up on Saturday, the 11th, it’s Masonic Open House here in Somerville as well as around the Commonwealth. All lodge buildings will be open from 9 to 3 p.m. King Solomon’s Lodge AF & AM, which was chartered in 1783, is located at 125 Highland Avenue (rear). The Lodge officers will be on hand to welcome and give a tour of the property and explain the historical pieces that the lodge has in its possession. Free parking. Come up the driveway to the main entrance across from the Veterans Post.

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Speaking of open houses for the Masonic buildings and lodges, one such is Mystic Valley Lodge, located in Arlington. They are open this Saturday as well from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The lodge is having a blood drive and an opportunity to meet and greet a legend. The 1955 Welter Weight Division World Champion Tony DeMarco will be on hand to meet and great. Local Attorney Phil Privitera is hosting as head of the lodge in Arlington this event along with the other officers of his lodge.

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We want to wish the following Villen Bruce Rollins, who grew up here, a very happy birthday. A great guy and family man, young Bruce works for the utility company here. He recently attended and earned a certificate in Labor Relations Collective Bargaining Studies from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. We congratulate Bruce for a job well done.

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Also, happy birthday to the following who are celebrating this week: Former resident and nice guy Paul Acciavatti is celebrating. A well-known resident who grew up here, Pat Scrima is also celebrating this week. We wish him a very happy birthday. A great friend and a great real estate agent, Ida Fasano is celebrating this week while vacationing in Florida. We wish her a happy birthday. A guy who also grew up here and another well-known name, Mike Dilulio is celebrating his birthday this week and we wish him the very best. Finally, to a hard working dedicated and committed city employee and proud city official, Steve MacEachern. We wish him the very best of birthdays and hope he and everyone else this week has a great time.

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To our friends in the Greek community, we wish them a very happy holiday this week and a very Happy Easter this coming Sunday.

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Speaking of members of the Greek community, we want to give a shout out to Sophia Carafotes, who is one of the nicest, smartest and most creative people here in the city. We wanted to let her know we appreciate her hard work in the school system. No wonder she was voted number one teacher here in the city a few years back.

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We salute a local young lady from Somerville, Caroline Koty, who was recently named to the Dean’s List at Westfield State University for its Fall semester 2014. A great job and keep up the good work!

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We got it from reliable sources that the new zoning ordinance is going down in flames. We estimate a 10 to 1 vote to kill the bill. A lot of aldermen have been upset over the administration’s handling of the proposed ordinance. Maybe the mayor’s choice as liaison to the Board of Alderman underestimated the Board once again. So the question last week was who will the mayor blame? I think we all know who will be blamed, don’t you?

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Meanwhile, we confirmed that Mr. Charles Chisholm of College Avenue, a chartered member of P-Flag, will be running for Alderman in Ward Six. He will be a formidable candidate, we think.

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The Somerville Pop Warner $5 Pasta Dinner Fundraiser is coming up on Thursday, April 16 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Somerville City Club on Innerbelt Road, across from Holiday Inn. Join the SPW Family for a $5 pasta dinner night complete with dessert, raffles, and a 50/50 drawing. Please support an organization that supports over 250 of our city’s kids. What a great organization for the kids. The adults are very committed to these kids and this is money that is needed to run the organization. Please support the kids.

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Another reminder about Sunday, April 26, 4-8 p.m. at the Somerville City Club, when the family and friends of former Ward 3 Alderman Tom Taylor, who passed away recently, holds a “celebration of life” for Tom. It will also be Tom and Celia’s 25th anniversary on May 12. The invitations went out on Facebook, but if the family missed anyone please feel free to add yourself to this event. The family will need some help with food, drinks, and desserts. This is open to all of Tom’s friends who he knew over the many years.

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The yearly SHS Raffle is here again with the $10K first prize winners and many other prizes given away. This hard working Scholarship Foundation is selling tickets at $100 apiece. Send $100 to Joseph Favaloro, P.O. Box 440275, Somerville 02145. The drawing will be held on May 8 at the Highlander Café, Somerville High at 7 p.m.

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The very nice Alderman in Ward 7, Katjana Ballantyne, is having a fundraiser/campaign kickoff April 28 at the ever-popular Ward 7 place to meet, PJ Ryan’s in Teele Square. Katjana was elected Vice President of the Board of Alderman and we hear she’s doing a great job. We’ll see everyone at PJ’s on the 28th from 6-8 p.m.

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Ward 5 Alderman Mark Niedergang will be hosting campaign kickoff/fundraiser on Wednesday, April 29 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. at the Olde Magoun Saloon in Magoun Square, next to CVS. Please join Mark to eat, drink, and make new friends and kick off his reelection campaign. The special guest speaker will be Alderman At-Large Bill White with a short program starting around 6:30 p.m. Complimentary food. Cash bar. The suggested minimum contribution is $50 per person, but please come and give what you can.

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Congratulations to the Alderman from Ward 3, Bob McWatters, who organized and led the fight along with the neighbors to stop the developer from building underground parking at Highland and Spring Street recently. He was assisted by several of his friends including Alderman White, Rossetti, Niedergang, Sullivan and we’re missing somebody, we know, and we apologize. It just goes to prove that the good Alderman Bob McWatters is truly a constituent’s alderman who cares about the local issues.