The Fourth of July holds a special significance in the hearts of truly patriotic Americans. Not only is it a time to celebrate the birth of our nation, but it also happens to fall at the best time of year to make good times happen, summer.

Who among us doesn’t enjoy the occasion? Who can resist the warm glow of good fellowship between friends, neighbors and families as the “birthday” of our nation comes around?

Somerville was part of Charlestown and her history until 1842. The most accurate account in early writings places the arrival of English Captain Thomas Graves, a Charlestown engineer and street planner, as the date of Charlestown’s founding. Older than Boston, she was born on the fourth of July, 1629.

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By Off the Shelf Correspondent g emil reutter.

Somerville poet Gloria Mindock’s passion, raw and honest, holds Putin and his regime accountable for the atrocities committed in Ukraine since the beginning of the war. The poet gives voice to the voiceless, documents the atrocities committed by Russians who have lost all sense of morals and faith.
Images and metaphors light up the page in the poem, Bells of Kyiv:

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Hilary Sallick is the author of love is a shore (Lily Poetry Review Books, 2023), which is on the 2024 longlist for the Massachusetts Book Award, and Asking the Form (Cervena Barva Press, 2020). Her poems appear or are forthcoming in Permafrost, Potomac Review, Jet Fuel Review, Notre Dame Review, Ibbetson Street, Small Orange, and other journals. She served as vice-president of the New England Poetry Club from 2015 to 2024. A teacher with a longtime focus on adult literacy, she lives and works in Somerville. (www.hilarysallick.com)

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries and letters to the Editor of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

The events of the week of June 16 sadly demonstrated how Mayor Katjana Ballantyne’s indecision and poor communication continues to harm and de-prioritize public employees, the staff critical to keeping our city and its services running.

Host, Sarah Fishman speaks with US Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley from the MA-7th District.

The Center for Arts at the Armory Commissions Six Lead Artists to Headline Second Annual Feet Keep the Beat Festival July 30 – August 4, 2024

Now in its second year, Arts at the Armory’s Feet Keep the Beat Festival announces that it has commissioned five local percussive dance artists and one Musical Director to create an evening length work to be premiered on August 2nd in the Armory Performance Hall.  The Feet Keep the Beat Artists will also lead free dance jams and community workshops throughout the festival week. Returning from last year’s festival are artists Ariaki Dandawate (Kathak), Yosi Karahashi (Flamenco) and Antonio Tran (Flamenco guitar), as well as Joh Camara (West African), Lekisha Limage (Step), and Ryan Casey (Tap), who are new to the festival this year.

Mayor Katjana Ballantyne and the Somerville Department of Racial and Social Justice (RSJ) host the City’s annual Juneteenth flag-raising event at the Somerville City Hall Concourse on June 18, 2024