— Photos by Claudia Ferro

Mayor Katjana Ballantyne and the Council on Aging hosted their annual Senior Picnic Thursday, September 12, at Trum Field. Somerville seniors enjoyed an afternoon of live music, lunch and connecting with friends, community members, community partners and city departments.

Somerville Public Library’s recently shortened hours have many up in arms. — Photo by Bobbie Toner

By Parker Garlough

Reopening the Central Library during afternoon hours is an “urgent priority” for the Mayor’s Office, according to Director of Intergovernmental Relations Neha Singh, but a specific timeline has not yet been set.

Library staff have been reporting a pattern of disruptive behavior to city administration since at least January, Singh said. City spokespeople have not disclosed details of any of the incidents, mainly due to privacy regulations because many (but not necessarily all) of the people involved were minors.

Neon Williams brings the art and craft of neon signage to Somerville. — Photos courtesy of Neon Williams

By Jeffrey Shwom

It’s mid-morning, early fall with abundant sun and warming air as I ride my bike into a place that abounds with tubes and glass and colors. There is a hot pink neon glow on the left, a VFW Post 1105 sign hanging from the ceiling on my right, and shiny things everywhere. The Green Line trains rumbling in and out of the East Somerville stop are viewed through the glazed windows along the Community Path. It is fitting that the shop is on Joy Street … what is not to be joyful about neon signs, a 90-year-old small business and the promise of light, creativity and history?

Ward-based City Hall Community Meetings are back this fall. Hear from Mayor Katjana Ballantyne and city staff to find out what’s happening in your neighborhood, how to get involved, and ask questions about issues that are important to you. All ward meetings are in-person and will begin at 6:30 p.m. An all-ward, fully virtual meeting will take place on Tuesday, October 22. The first meeting will be in Ward 4 on Wednesday, September 18, in the Healey School cafeteria (5 Meacham St.). A meet-and-greet with refreshments will begin at 6:00 p.m. For additional accommodations, please call 311 (617-666-3311). To learn more, visit somervillema.gov/communitymeetings.

(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)

By Emma Lebwohl
on behalf of Shalom Somerville

Since October 7, 2023, the Jewish and Israeli communities have been reeling from the Hamas terrorist attack in Israel. The attack was the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Hamas terrorists murdered over a thousand Israeli civilians and brutally raped Israeli women. They took over 250 hostages, including small children. The trauma from October 7 continues to this day. A few weeks ago, we learned that Hamas murdered six young hostages, including the Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, in a tunnel beneath Rafah.

Most change leads to new beginnings. That’s what they say anyway. We’ve been through some challenging times in recent years, and here we are once again with autumn on our doorstep, bringing with it the undeniable realization that change is inevitable.

We slogged our way through the pandemic with its isolation and deprivation and have finally cleared the dust and slowly put it all back together again as we regained some normalcy in our lives. Let us hope we never have to face that type of thing again.

Eagle Feathers #313 – The Yanks Are Coming

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

The Massachusetts National Guard is the nation’s oldest.  It traces its roots back to 1636 when Governor John Winthrop and four regiments of volunteer militia protected the young Massachusetts Bay Colony.  The best place to learn and appreciate its history would be to visit the Hall of Flags at the State House in Boston.  On display you will find the flags that their forebears fought and served under to the present day. These ensigns record the strife from colonial times when every man and boy age 16 to 60 were required to serve in the militia to today’s citizen soldiers who endure multiple deployments overseas.  These streamers remind us of the sacrifices that were made for us from the Colonial Wars, the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Civil War, and the Spanish American War.

Somerville Cross Country opened up their Greater Boston League (GBL) title defense for the Boys team in a GBL meet against Revere, held at Somerville’s home course at the Mystic River Boathouse. Somerville won the Boys Meet 18-48, placing 8 Highlanders in the top ten finishers. Somerville standout runner Robert Leoni paced the Highlanders Boys, winning the race with a time of 14.28 for the 2.5-mile course.

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Interview by Doug Holder (Board of Directors/ New England Poetry Club)

Recently I received a chapbook of poetry from Margaret Young, a former colleague of mine at Endicott College. It is titled, How Else Can We Wonder What’s Beautiful? (Main Street Rag). I decided to send some questions to the poet on a very hot summer’s day. Oddly enough, as I was considering when to write the interview questions, Young’s husband Rocco Gangle, a noted philosophy professor at Endicott College, greeted me at my table at the Bloc 11 Cafe, my usual haunt in Union Square, Somerville. And indeed, Young has the touch of a philosopher in her work.  According to Young’s website.