The continuing COVID-19 pandemic put a damper on our ability to enjoy the usual holiday celebrations in normal ways in recent years. Religious-minded and secular folks alike have had to deal with their cherished special occasions in semi- or total isolation.

And in spite of vaccinations being available for some time now, it doesn’t help to know that in spite of our best efforts to avoid it, the lurking danger is still out there when we venture out and mingle with others. It’s the sad reality we all have to face at this time, until the danger finally goes away for good.

Federico Manganella, 90, of Tampa, FL passed away on April 8, 2022, with his family by his side.

Federico was born on March 3, 1932, in Salerno, Italy, the son of Pietro Manganella and Dorotea Tirotta.  He married Geraldina De Filippis in Italy.  Geraldina survives.  Federico is also survived by his 4 daughters:  Dorothy Rodrigues and her family:  Adrienne (Graham) Town and their daughter Charlotte Town; Anthony Rodrigues; Catherine (James, deceased) Doherty and her family: William Doherty, James Doherty, Jr, Kelly Doherty; Maria (Jeff) Ardolino and their family:  Jeffrey Ardolino and Nicholus Ardolino; Carla (Harold, III) Cook and their family:  Harold Cook, IV and Camden Cook; brother: Luciano Manganella; sister: Anna Manganella.   Federico was preceded in death by his parents and siblings: Felece Manganella, Adriana Manganella, Norma Manganella.

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Review by off the Shelf Correspondent Denise Provost

The newly re-issued play The Patient is set in an unspecified year. Yet its era can be identified. It dates from the time of the seedy, down-at-the-heels Boston of not so long ago, when “affordable housing” often meant having a room in one of the area’s then-plentiful rooming houses.

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Megan Donahue is a freshman at Endicott College studying English with a minor in Digital Media: Concentration in Film and Television Production. She hopes to one day be a screenwriter and director. She is passionate about film watching and filmmaking, and she loves storytelling as well as poetry, reading, and painting.

The Somerville High School Robotics team’s work took on a frenetic pace in January 2022, with students working long hours after school to problem-solve and engineer solutions to prepare their competition robot, BONK. Every year, there is a new challenge and the 2022 challenge, Rapid React, includes fifteen seconds of functioning autonomously. Then team drivers pick up the remote control and, for the remaining two minutes and fifteen seconds of competition, control the robot as it picks up cargo (balls), moves into position and shoots cargo into a lower or upper basket, and then spends the last seconds of the match climbing a set of bars. Each successfully accomplished task earns the team points.

On Monday, April 18, for the first time since 2017, the City of Somerville will be celebrating Patriots’ Day outdoors and in person at Foss Park on Broadway from 10 to 11:30 a.m. 

This event will feature a reenactment of Paul Revere’s famous ride from Boston to Lexington — which happened to pass right through Somerville.

The Board of Directors at the Center for Arts at the Armory is pleased to announce that effective April 1, Jess White has been promoted to the position of Chief Operating Officer (COO). White joined Arts at the Armory in August 2021 as Operations Manager, and quickly demonstrated her capacity to join CEO and now Co-Director Stephanie Scherpf, and the Board of Directors in the leadership of the non-profit organization, which serves as a vital hub for arts, culture and community for Somerville and Greater Boston. 

Somerville’s Ellenor Barish is raising funds to benefit the Somerville Homeless Coalition as she prepares to run the Boston Marathon. — Photo courtesy of Ellenor Barish

By Fernando Cervantes Jr.

Local Somerville resident Ellenor Barish is eager to do something she has not done in 17 long years: complete a marathon. She will also do it in one of the most iconic races of all, the 126th running of the Boston Marathon.

The race, scheduled to be run on April 18, is set to receive 30,000 runners from around the world. But for Barish this run means more than just running 26 miles, it also means representing a cause.