By The Times Staff

Another year passes by, and one more chapter in the 175-year-old saga of Somerville is written.

In many ways it was a tumultuous year, filled with protest and controversy. Conversely, in many other ways the fabric of the community coalesced and brought us together to unite in common causes.

In February, the #OneSomerville rally brought people out to show their support for the Sanctuary City policy adopted by Somerville, after facing threats from the national administration to cut federal funding for such cities.

City workers held a rally of their own in October, allowing union employees to show solidarity in standing together to fight for a contract so that, according to them, they might achieve a sense of security, pay raises and jobs for Somerville workers.

Tragedy struck from out of the blue on a number of occasions as well. Two shootings took place, taking the life of 16-year-old Tenzin Kunkhyen in September, and in October Kevin Raymond, 20, was shot in a parking lot.

In October, an off-duty Somerville police officer, Louis Remigio, was fatally injured in a multi-vehicle crash on I-95 in North Hampton, New Hampshire. The city mourned its loss, and an outpouring of grief mixed with accolades in praise of the fallen officer.

Still more loss was registered in the form of the omnipresent opioid epidemic that has gripped the entire nation in recent years, along with our own friends and family right here in Somerville. While medical institutions and law enforcement agencies struggled to educate and inform the public on how best to deal with this menace to public health and safety, selfless volunteers from Somerville Overcoming Addiction did their best as well to make a difference in the face of this terrible scourge.

With the passage of legislation legalizing the sale and use of medical marijuana in the state of Massachusetts, Somerville established its own set of dispensaries, first with Sage Naturals, Inc., in Davis Square, soon to be followed by Revolutionary Clinics, Sira Naturals, True herbal consults, and Inhale MD.

While Somerville celebrated its 175th birthday throughout the year, another milestone was commemorated as the one and only Marshmallow Fluff marked its 100th anniversary with its own series of festivities and promotional events. The culmination of the revelry took place in September with a very special edition of the annual What the Fluff? A Tribute to Union Square Invention festival.

A breakthrough in funding for the fiscally challenged Green Line Extension project was realized as federal funding was approved after a long, arduous process of contract renegotiation and budgeting refinement met the established standards.

Construction of the GLX resumed in earnest, and the project is once again in full swing.

Yet another major development got underway after funding for the new Somerville High School was approved by voters in the previous year’s election.

Several options were discussed for the project, and a combination of renovation and new construction was finally settled on by city planners.

Union Square and Assembly Row development also took off in a big way in 2017. While the future shape of Union Square is still being debated and analyzed, Assembly Row has blossomed, with new commercial and nearby residential investments paying off massively.

Somerville earned the designation of a Gold-Level Bicycle Friendly Community from the League of American Bicyclists last year as well, proving that we live in one of the most bikeable cities in the Commonwealth.

A citywide election followed on the heels of the previous year’s national election, while passions and ambitions ran high and wide.

Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders stopped by to endorse their chosen candidates, and a majority of them – with the aid of support by Our Revolution Somerville – were ultimately victorious.

The resulting turnover on the Board of Aldermen stood out as a political stunner for many, while delighting others who rooted for their election.

It was a wildly engaging year of ups, downs, gains and losses. Let us hope that the year to come will be just as memorable.