It’s Valentine’s Day this Sunday, so no excuses – don’t forget. It’s also the beginning of school vacation week here and on Monday we celebrate Presidents Day, both George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

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Happy Birthday to a lot of our friends and fellow Villens here this week: A big happy birthday to the city’s largest Ward Alderman vote getter and popular guy around the city, Ward 3 Alderman Bob McWatters is celebrating this week. A well-known lady who was born here, with family that has deep roots in Somerville, Ellie Pye celebrates this week and we wish her a happy birthday as well. Another popular family name and lady, Elaine Hill, formerly of Ball Square. What a nice lady. We wish her the very best of birthdays as well. Also celebrating is the younger Harry Vaughan, who was also raised here in Somerville, now of Revere. We wish him a happy birthday as well. His father, Harry Sr., was the Health Inspector here for years. A real longtime Somerville family from Winter Hill, Joe Hart of the Hart Family is celebrating this week. Happy birthday to him as well. Happy birthday to all the others here in the Ville and those who are from the Ville. We hope you have a great day and week for yourselves.

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Don’t forget today is the last day to either register to vote in the March 1 presidential primary election or to change your party affiliation. You need to do this by Wednesday, February 10. You can go to the Election Department in the lower level of City Hall – off School Street entrance – and fill out the form, or better yet you can just go online to https://www.sec.state.ma.us/ovr. This year’s presidential primary race is crucial to everyone. There is no excuse. Registering to vote can’t be any easier than if they came to your house and did it on the spot.

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There’s a new website in town. Check it out at www.somervillema.com. The Somerville Times is on the site. Also check out www.medfordma.com.

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Those who might be interested in obtaining certification for firearms should look up the Lawrence Rod & Gun Club. They offer an extensive program at the end of which you receive certification for Massachusetts/NRA Certified Firearm Safety Classes. They run a class once a month, which is limited to 10 people and we hear that this is the place to go to learn safety when handling guns. Email gunclub@earthlink.net for more information and or go to their website at www.lawrencerodandgunclub.org and read up about the course.

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There’s a Valentine’s Day special going on at the Thurston Spa, corner of Thurston and Medford. On Sunday, Valentine’s Day, the restaurant will be open 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and for all ladies and children who come there will be a special gift for the day. Don’t forget about the full breakfast special – $8.00 plus tax. They deliver as well.

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The East Somerville Reunion is being planned for this coming June 25 at the Somerville City Club, across from Holiday Inn. They have a Facebook page set up to take reservations: East Somerville Reunion 2016. The first reunion was very successful, with well over a 100 people attending, and lots of old friendships were restarted. If you grew up in East Somerville in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s you should set aside the date and make your plans to attend. You won’t be disappointed.

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Coming on March 11, “Flashback Friday” at the Somerville City Club. Do you still have that poodle skirt? Maybe your bellbottoms and platform shoes? What about those ripped jeans or hammer pants? Break them out! Take a journey back in time and dance the night away to songs from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. Costume dress optional. Join in on Friday, March 11, 7:00-11:00 p.m. at Somerville City Club, 20 Innerbelt Rd., Somerville. Tickets are $15. There will be a cash bar, raffle tickets and 50/50’s. Adults only. All proceeds benefit The Somerville PTA Scholarship Dinner Dance. For tickets, email Kristine Vallery at afaspta@yahoo.com.

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It’s now gotten to the point that a prediction of 4-8 inches of snowfall is catastrophic. They shut down the entire city, declare a snow emergency and only get about 4 inches, which is what was predicted. Now, imagine you own a small restaurant or store and it’s a struggle every day to make a living, never mind having the city shut you down with a no parking ban before the snow arrives. That means no customers, translate into no business. The only ones making money were the towing companies, city workers and contractors, filling up the Alewife Dilboy parking lot. Now, when the towing companies use city property to tow and store cars do they pay RENT to the city? Maybe the city should tune into another weather station? The absolute worst was calling the snow emergency at 5a.m. on Monday morning before a flake even hit the ground. On top of that the city banned cars from the squares and busy places, which just happened to be where the businesses are located. Oh, by the way, Boston – which is technically to our south/east border – didn’t call for a parking ban or snow emergency. We wonder if it’s the Mayor’s Office that called this. Or the DPW commissioner Koty? We say bring back Omar. Where was the Chamber’s voice? What do you think?

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This week a couple of us from The Times paid a visited the Neighborhood Restaurant in Union Square on Bow Street. We hadn’t been there in a while. What a pleasant surprise. The breakfast menu was large, not very expensive and more than enough to eat on the plate. The service by the waitresses were fantastic and, best of all, the food was excellent. If you haven’t been there at all or not recently, we suggest you try it out and see for yourself. Our rating was a solid 4.5 out of 5 points (we’re saving the other half-point for our next visit). During the week, around 10:00 a.m. or so, it’s not crowded and you can go in and sit down and enjoy. Mention that you read about it here in The Times, and we’ll bet you get a smile.

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Join the public skating at Simoni Rink in Cambridge from 1:00-2:50 pm on Sunday, February 14 and help them reach our goal of raising $10,000 for the Denna Laing Fund. $1 from every public skating admission on February 14 will be donated and FMC will match any additional donations made at the arena that day. Denna suffered a spinal cord injury while playing in the Women’s Classic at Gillette Stadium, leaving her with no feeling in her legs and partial feeling in one arm. Donations to her fund go to help cover medical costs as she fights toward recovery. February 14 was chosen to honor the Boston Pride player’s roots as a Princeton Tiger, where she donned number 14 as the center co-captain. Phone 888-74-SKATE for more info.