On behalf of the publishers, editors, writers and – most importantly – the staff here at The Somerville Times, we want to wish you all the very best in 2019, for the city, its residents and those who love Somerville like we do. We might have some surprises this year you never know here at the paper. Happy New Year 2019 to all!

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The celebration of the first flag raising in the nation was yesterday, New Year’s Day, up at Prospect Hill. The city did a great job again, as well as the fine people from the Somerville Historic Preservation Commission.

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Happy birthday this week to several locals: Happy birthday to a good friend, Christopher Kenney, a true Somervillevillian. A great guy and good friend. Happy birthday to one of the nicest ladies and former teachers here in the city, Sophia Carafotes. We know she will have a great birthday, but that’s her! Happy birthday to Lisa Ludwick, formerly of East Somerville. “Down back” her family was one of the main stays of the area off Washington St. Happy birthday to everyone here and from the city who are celebrating this week. We wish every one of them a very happy birthday.

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A third East Somerville Reunion is set for this year. Dan Rogovich has let us know he is once again planning to have a third one on June 15 at the City Club, 20 Innerbelt Rd. A successful event the last two years and growing. Some came from out of state to attend. A great time and we’re always looking forward to seeing someone we haven’t seen in many decades. It’s a great way to keep the old spirit of East Somerville alive. Many think of East Somerville as a very special place to have grown up, the closeness of everyone from the avenue’s to the other side, Glen Park to the Charlestown line.  The City Club is being rebuilt and construction will start sometime this year.

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Next Monday night, January 7, is the City of Somerville’s mid-term address by the mayor, President of the Board of Aldermen and Chairman of the School Board. We have no doubt that it will be aired on local channel 22, the city run cable channel.

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Next week, a full announcement will be made of the merger of two real estate companies that are joining together, Century 21 North East and The Norton Group RE, to be called C21 North East – Norton Group RE. Jimmy D’Amico of Chelsea, who currently owns over 40 offices and has over 750 agents associated with him, with offices in MA, NH and ME, as well as down in the cape. The Nortons have been around since 1977 with Patricia and Donald Norton as brokers, as well as 15 agents. Same location at 699 Broadway in Ball Square. Grand opening to take place sometime next week. The Nortons are excited to join with James D’Amico, together to continue giving great service to our clients and customers, now for 41 years here.

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The “Best of Somerville 2018” has been announced (see p.24) and we hope you shop the businesses listed here, we had a lot of votes this year, more than usual and were glad of it. If you’d like to add something, let us know.

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The Annual Meeting of the Somerville High School Scholarship Foundation will be held at the East Somerville Community School in Room 165, at the Glen Street side of the building at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, January 14. They will elect directors to three year terms. The meeting is for current officers, directors, and members. New members are welcome. For information, contact Noreen Santucci at 617-448-0145.

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Miss watching the Board of Aldermen meetings on TV? You can view them in their entirety on Comcast channel 22, as well as on YouTube. Watch your city at work and see how these dedicated members of our community are serving you, the public. We can’t say this enough, watch the meetings on either cable broadcast live, or go online to YouTube to watch them. You will find some pretty hysterical information there about what’s happening in the city. This should be required viewing for everyone who cares about what is happening here. Even the committee meetings are online. After all, the Board of Aldermen is voting to spend your money. Wow, the raises some department heads are getting. Ask yourself, if you own property has your taxes gone down or stayed the same over the past 14 years? And do you remember what they kept telling us what the benefit of Assembly Square would be to our tax base? Don’t let a small minority of a certain group run our city, be aware of what is going on, and VOTE.

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Don’t forget to park on the EVEN side of the street once they call a snow emergency. And no, you can’t park in the school yards anymore, they put gates on them. Let’s hope the city doesn’t call for snow emergencies unless it’s a real emergency like a blizzard.

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The Somerville City Club’s manager, Donny Johnson, is looking all the time for new members to join the club. If you think you’d be interested give him a call 617-623-9340. It’s a great local club for the residents of Somerville. It’s been around now for over 40 years at their location on Innerbelt Road, across from the Holiday Inn. It has plenty of parking and has a very nice hall for rent. Some say the best deal in Somerville. Call the hall and ask for details: 617-623-9340. The Somerville City Club supports a lot of local charitable groups and organizations here in Somerville.

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Have you thought you’d like to do some writing, a little story about Somerville as either a newbie or Villen? We have about 80K people and we would love to hear about your adventures here in the city. Maybe you want to write about a particular subject like our Bob Doherty and Dorothy DiMarzio, or like Jimmy Del Ponte with his stories about the city. Or maybe you’d like to express your opinion like Bill Shelton. Give us a call at 617-666-4010 or email news@thesomervilletimes.com and tell us about your idea.

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Are you retired and looking for part time work, and you’re experienced in sales? Give us a call here at The Somerville Times at 617-666-4010. We are looking for advertising telemarketers.

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Byron DeLear talk and book signing, The First American Flag: Revisiting the Grand Union at Prospect Hill, on Thursday, January 3, 7:00 p.m., at the Somerville Museum, 1 Westwood Rd. DeLear will tell the fascinating story about how our nation came to be known as “United States of America” amidst events occurring right here in Somerville in 1776.