Odd/even parking starts this week on April Fool’s day, and will continue through to December 31. Those traffic and parking people will be walking around handing out tickets, so watch the signs for the day your street is earmarked for street cleaning.

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Somerville Recreation will be holding a road race in conjunction with the Mayor’s Shape-Up Somerville Initiative. The race to be held on Sunday, April 24, with the kids race at 10:30 a.m., while the adults 5K race starts at 11:00 a.m. The proceeds will go to the Somerville Youth and Recreation Foundation (SYRF). This non-profit foundation was formed exclusively for charitable purposes. For more information go to www.SomervilleYouthRecF.org.

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Happy Birthday to a lot of our friends and fellow Villens here this week: Happy birthday a great guy, John Kendzierski, who although new to the city, has many friends here. We wish him the very best of birthdays. Happy birthday to Diane O’Brien, who is self-employed here in Davis Square as tax person. Big time happy birthday to younger Jimmy Halloran, who is celebrating this week. Jimmy has been part-timing as a real estate agent at the Norton Group for several years. We wish him a good day. Happy birthday to Andrea Gregory, who is a fantastic reporter and now is Editor of couple of magazines. She was very involved here at The Times not too long ago. We wish her a happy day. Happy birthday to Andrew Lafuente, a nice guy and the son of Ward 4 Alderman. We wish Andrew a good day for himself. Also celebrating his birthday this week is another good guy, Jeffrey Lewis. We wish Jeff a very happy birthday.

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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. Someone asked online why we keep these two web sites in Newstalk, guess because we like them.

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For those that might be interested in obtaining certification for firearms should look up the Lawrence Rod & Gun Club. They provide 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. We’ve been told that the course has seen a major increase in people applying for it, especially women. We can tell you first hand here that it’s a great course and quite thorough. The same goes for this in Newstalk. The club has informed us that many residents of Somerville have called or gone to the club to find out about certification.

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Sad news here in the city. Another life long resident and nice guy, Paul Gauthier, passed away recently. Paul was an accountant and a friend to many here in the city. Our condolences to his many friends and relatives.

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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. The reunion people are looking for financial support, so go to their Facebook page and help if you can. This is an exciting event, sort of like a High School reunion, but different age groups are coming together with one purpose: to celebrate their youth growing up in East Somerville. Many thanks to the committee for doing this, the second reunion.

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This week, the Somerville Democratic Ward and City Committee will be meeting at the Cafeteria at the High School on Sunday, April 3 at 1:00 p.m. for their 2016 caucus to elect delegates to the Democratic State Convention, and for their reorganizational meeting of seven Ward Committees. All Democrats are invited to attend and run as delegates. All recently elected members of the Ward Committee are invited to participate and vote in the reorganization. All other interested parties may attend. Funny how back 30 and 40 years ago each ward would attract hundreds of ward members, and that’s when fewer were registered and more were involved in the community. There are about 40K registered voters here in the city, and the Democratic Party members are lucky to get over a 100 citywide. It would be nice to see those newly welcomed residents who registered to vote, who care about local elections and either run or encourage people to run for office.

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The Highland Masonic Building Association is once again hosting their annual “Giggles Comedy Nite” on Wednesday, April 20, at the Prince of Pizza on Rte. 1 in Saugus. The public is welcome. A private room with some of Boston’s finest comedians, great pizza and – best of all – silent auctions held afterwards. Everyone wins. Contact Donald Norton at 617-623-6600 x 11 for information. Tickets at the door or reserved are $25, a donation to the HMTA insurance fund, not a tax deduction.

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Somerville and Medford Representative Christine Barber will host office hours Saturday, April 9 from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. at Angelina’s Pizzeria, 230 Holland Street, Somerville. Joining Representative Barber will be Somerville’s Ward 7 Alderman, Katjana Ballantyne, and Ward 7 School Committee Member Carrie Normand. Rep. Barber invites constituents from the Somerville neighborhoods of Teele Square, Winter Hill, and Ten Hills, and the Medford areas of Hillside and South Medford to attend. Constituents are encouraged to take this opportunity to meet the Representative and share any thoughts or concerns they might have regarding issues in the district or current legislation. Drop-ins at the State House are also welcome, or you can schedule a meeting with the Representative by contacting the office at Christine.Barber@mahouse.gov or (617) 722-2430.

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The Harmony Sweepstakes A Cappella Festival will take place on Saturday, April 16. Join in for the 26th annual Boston Regional this spring at the Somerville Theater featuring eight sensational vocal ensembles and hosted by the 2015 National Runner-Up, Audience Favorite and 2015 Boston Regional Champs, Timepiece. Tickets are $20 + fees and can be purchased online, directly through the Somerville Theater box office at 617-625-5700 or on the day of the event.