Eagle Feathers #238 – The Great Fires

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

Reprinted from the October 1, 2014 issue of The Somerville Times.

Next week is Fire Prevention Week. Its annual observance is the week in which October 9th falls and has been celebrated at this time since 1922. The reason for this date is the remembrance of a conflagration, the Great Chicago Fire of October 8 and 9, 1871.

Musicians of most genres played live music around the city on porches and in yards between noon and 6:00 p.m. on Saturday during this year’s PorchFest event. 

After more than a year of study and debate, the Somerville City Council has passed a new ordinance that sets guidelines for when and how leaf blowers may be used within the city

Many have felt annoyed with a neighbor or contracted groundskeeper running one of these contraptions either at inappropriate times – such as weekend mornings when one hopes to sleep in a little longer in the morning – or upwind of us as we hope to breathe some fresh air while we enjoy the outdoors whenever we wish to.

*

Review by Off the Shelf Correspondent Dennis Daly

Elegant beyond elegance. Moira Linehan stitches together a palimpsest biography of her mother’s mother, Marie Louise Raimbault Wacha, a nonpareil seamstress and dress designer. Based on very little hard information, Linehan conjures up backdrops, insights, and probable artistic techniques used by her grandmother. She does this by incorporating period art in an ekphrastic approach that uncovers the extraordinary will and likely contours of a magnificent lady. Wacha’s life spanned the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The urban textile centers of Paris and Boston nurtured her.

*

Steven Ratiner has published three poetry chapbooks, and is completing work on three full-length collections. His work has appeared in scores of journals in America and abroad including Parnassus, Agni, Hanging Loose, Poet Lore, Salamander, QRLS (Singapore) and Poetry Australia. He’s also written poetry criticism for The Christian Science Monitor, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The Washington Post. Giving Their Word – Conversations with Contemporary Poets was re-issued in a paperback edition (University of Massachusetts Press) and features interviews with many of poetry’s most important figures. He has taught in the Massachusetts Artist in Residence program for four decades, conducting poetry programs in over 300 schools. Since 2019, he’s been the Poet Laureate for Arlington, Massachusetts; his weekly Red Letter Poems features poets from across Massachusetts and beyond (steven.arlingtonlaureate@gmail.com) This poem was written for his grandson, who is a young citizen of fair Somerville.

Arrests:
*

Stephen Forsberg, October 1, 11:10 a.m., arrested at Somerville Ave. on warrant charges of malicious wanton defacement of property, trespassing, and felony daytime breaking and entering.

First two clinics scheduled for Oct. 13 and Oct. 23, Pre-clinic registration required

The City of Somerville has set up two free flu vaccination clinics for residents in October that will be open by appointment. Additional dates will be added through the fall and winter and will be posted on somervillema.gov/flu. Residents are strongly encouraged to get the vaccine to protect their health as well as to support the community’s efforts to lessen the impacts of both influenza and the coronavirus. 

Volunteers of America of Massachusetts (VOAMASS), a nonprofit that creates opportunities for individuals through residential and outpatient behavioral health treatment, re-entry for justice-involved individuals, veteran services, and senior living, today announced that it has been awarded four grants – totaling nearly $9.2 million – to address behavioral health needs in several Eastern Mass. communities.

Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley today announced her endorsement of current Somerville Ward 7 City Councilor Katjana Ballantyne to become the city’s next Mayor

“I’m grateful to have known Katjana for more than a decade, and to have had the opportunity to work alongside her during her time on the Somerville City Council,” said Congresswoman Pressley. “I have seen, firsthand, her commitment to leading with compassion and in deep partnership with community. During her campaign for Mayor, Katjana has presented a clear vision for Somerville’s future – rooted in inclusivity, equity, and justice – and a detailed plan for how to make that vision a reality. I know that, as Mayor, Katjana will continue to provide the bold, committed leadership that the residents of Somerville both demand and deserve.”