September 28: Friends of East Boston Greenway with the Greenway Council

Friends of the East Boston Greenway
With the East Boston Greenway Council

Thursday, September 28, 2017
6:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Anna DeFronzo Center
395 Maverick Street, East Boston
Near the corner of Jeffries Street


AGENDA


1.  Introductions

2.  Greenway Safety and Security Update
Boston Police Dept. District A-7
 Community Services Sergeant Martin and Officer Simons

3.  Heidi Schork, The Mural Crew
    Greenway Mural Update

4.  Linton Harrington, The Trustees (invited)
    Final Report on summer youth work

5.  Kannan Thiru
    Climate Ready Boston:  The Role of the Greenway in Preparing East Boston for    Flooding Due to Sea Level Rise

6.  Barr Foundation Waterfront Initiative RFP
    Update and discussion of opportunity
   
7.  New Business / Old Business


CALENDAR OF MEETINGS
All meetings on 4th Thurs at 6:30 PM

Upcoming meetings: 2017:    Sept. 28, Oct. 26, Nov. 16 (note change), Dec. TBD








       

Events at the East Boston Branch Library

Bhangra Dance for Teens and Adults
Join us for our Bhangra dance class Mondays, February 27 and March 6 from 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Bhangra has traveled around the world in pop culture, films and even electronic music.  Learn how to do bhangra dance, the traditional dance of the Punjab region of India.  We’ll celebrate our last class with traditional Indian refreshments, and students may choose to have their final class dance filmed to take home. 

Learn to Knit!
Learn basic knitting techniques and make your own blanket, hat or headband.  Bring your own needles and yarn - materials will not be provided. Knitting takes place on Mondays, February  28 and March 6th from 6-8. For teens and adults. Stop by the library or email mkelly@bpl.org for a list of suggested projects and supplies. 

English Conversation Group
Join us for English language practice with fellow language learners on Thursdays at 6:15 p.m. 

ESL Intermediate English Class
A weekly adult intermediate English class for people with some English experience.  Meets Friday mornings from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Mid-Winter  Storytimes at the East Boston Branch Library
Sing Along:  A weekly half hour of everyone’s favorite songs which meets on Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m.(Runs Feb. 7th-March 28th)   For all ages, accompanied by an adult.

Family Storytime on Tuesdays at 11:15 - This weekly storytime for ages 1-5, accompanied by an adult features books, songs movement, and a craft.  Groups please register in advance. (Runs February 7th-March 28th)

Baby Lapsit on Wednesdays at 10:30- Join us for bounces, rhymes, stories, songs, and activities.  For children under 2, accompanied by an adult. Runs Feb. 8-March 29.

Homework Help
High school students help children in grades K – 8,Monday through Thursday from 3:30 – 5:30 p.m. A Boston Public School teacher provides homework help on Mondays and Thursdays from
 4 – 6 p.m.No registration is necessary. 

Yu-Gi-Oh Club
Are you a child or a teen who enjoys Yu-Gi-Oh! cards? Join us for our weekly Yu-Gi-Oh! Gaming sessions on Saturdays at 1 p.m. We ask that individuals come with their own set of cards to play.  No previous knowledge of the game is necessary. For ages 6 and up. 

“Pajama Party on February 21st at 4 p.m.
Enjoy a waffle bar and decorate your own pillowcase. Wear your pajamas! For all ages. Please bring a pair of new pajamas for babies, children, or teens to donate to our pajama drive.

School Vacation Movie
. Join us for our special School Vacation movie, Star Wars:The Force Awakens on Wednesday, February 22nd @ 1:00 pm!!!

All-Ages Snow Bunny Crafternoon
Crafters from ages 5 to 95 can come make a snow bunny to keep or give away on Thursday, February 23rd from 5:00-7:30 p.m.Sew and no-sew versions will be available to make participation easy for everyone.We will provide patterns, fabric (you are welcome to bring your own, too!), a sewing machine, and sundries. Young crafters must be accompanied by a parent to help with craft materials

The Pineapple Project
Please join us on Friday, February 24th at 2:30 p.m. for the Pineapple Project, an original play about gender, creativity, and each child’s freedom to be who they are. “The Pineapple Project was born during a moment of play between actor Mal Malme and her  niece in which her niece said” Boys Can’t be Princesses.!” As a gender non-conforming person and theater artist, Mal couldn’t ignore this statement. This led Mal and colleagues Becca A. Lewis and Renee Farster-Degenhardt to create a theatre piece for children ages 3-8 to broaden the gender conversation and validate each child’s identity.

9/14: Dog Park to Open in Eastie: More than 22,000 fenced in square feet for your dog to play at Bremen Street Park

The Massachusetts Port Authority officially opens the Bremen Street Dog Park offering a 17,000 square-foot fenced in area for large dog and a 5,500 square-foot fenced in area for small dogs to play, socialize, and exercise. (Total: 22,655 square-foot dog park divided for large and small dogs) The park’s features include five pieces of dog agility equipment, pet waste stations, and water fountains for dogs.

WHERE:       Corner of Bremen Street and Porter Street, East Boston, MA (by the Bremen Street Park)

WHEN:         Monday, September 14, 2015 at 10 a.m.

East Boston YMCA offers free community cooking classes

Tuesday Night Classes Focus on Fresh Ingredients & Healthy Cooking on a Budget

The East Boston YMCA Cooking For Life programs offers free community cooking classes every Tuesday evening that teach basic cooking skills and emphasize healthy cooking on a budget. All of the classes are taught by the Y’s Director of Kitchen Services, Chef Meg Tallon.
 
"These classes are a great way to learn the basics of healthy cooking," said Tallon. "We’ll help you feel more comfortable in the kitchen and expand your cooking repertoire with simple healthy meals that make the most of your food budget.”

The next session of free classes include:

October 28 - Kitchen Basics: Learn how to stock your home pantry with kitchen essentials and master basic cooking techniques like sautéing, braising and roasting. 

November 4 - Make-Ahead Meals - Learn how to prepare sauces and main dishes like Beef Stew that you can prepare days, and even weeks, before you need them. With our make-ahead staples and you’ll be able to enjoy a home-cooked meal every night.

November 11 - Healthy Cooking Basics - Keep the flavors you love while focusing on fresh healthy ingredients. You’ll make over recipes like Chicken and Rice and Lasagna and see just how delicious healthy cooking can be.

November 18 - Tastes of the Season:  Fall Harvest - Cooking with seasonal ingredients ensures maximum freshness and helps you get the most for your food dollars. This class uses the fruits and vegetables of the fall harvest season to create a fall feast on a budget.

Classes are held at the Y Teaching Kitchen at 54 Ashley Street on Tuesday evenings, 6:00-8:00 pm. Free on-site childcare is available to participants. Sign up for one class or for the entire four-week session. Advance registration is required. Please call Meg Tallon at 617-418-7331, ext. 203, to reserve your spot.

In addition to the free community cooking classes, the East Boston Y also offers a wide array of cooking master classes --- including Decadent Desserts, Easy Italian and Extreme Holiday Meal Makeovers. Master classes are $40 for members and$50 for non-members. The proceeds from the master classes support the Y’s free community cooking and nutritional education programming. To find out more about the master classes, visit www.ymcaboston.org/eastboston/kitchen.

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Wrap up from latest meeting of the Friends of East Boston Library

[Editor's Note: The following is from  Maddy McComisey, President Friends of the Library East Boston Branch, a wrap up of its November 25th meeting.]

The Friends of the Library East Boston Branch met on Nov. 25th 2013.  We had a full agenda beginning with a request that the library implement ongoing programs presenting authors, music, culture and art for adults, teens and children.  A collaboration of local schools, dance studios, music venues (locally Zumix) playing out their art, music, writing poetry etc. Things mentioned by patrons was the desire to have many, many, many more books on the bare shelves.  Not only are the shelves bare they said, but it is hard to find books look for books because of the bending down.  It was requested something be done to heighten the existing book shelves and again more more more books.  Compared to the 65,000 available at the old libraries in East Boston, 18,000 or 20,000 books is  skimpy

Commenting on the library everyone agreed it was a beautiful building and state of the art and it will win a prize but commented the adult reading room is small.  Where are rest of the the paintings (FLK)? How come there aren't any young children's tables and chairs? And where are the local artists and schools going to display their work?  There isn't a good display system anywhere in the library.  A good quality permanent hardware system to hang and display exhibits could be installed throughout the library.  It wouldn't be nice to hammer nails to hang a display.

Friends of the Library need an ongoing book sale.  Friends needs this to help fund the $400.00 Zoo passes every year.  Patrons like to buy books on the cheep.  Who doesn't like a bargain?

The community needs a large bulletin board in the front of the building.  Our community likes to know what is going on.

These comments were put together from comments from patrons who have called, stopped us in the street, walked to our houses to let us know what they thought because they know we are affiliated with the library somehow.  Patrons have commented on what they see and would like to have fixed.

We ended the meeting with the Friends agreeing to contact the people in command to request these things be fixed or implemented as soon as possible.

Stop & Shop donate turkeys at the East Boston Y

Nicolas Morales helps his mother, Iris Morales, pick up a turkey from Stop & Shop store manager Rich Nolan, Thursday, Nov. 14 at the YMCA of East Boston in East Boston, Mass. Committed to sharing meals and giving thanks in the communities it serves, Stop & Shop is donating more than 21,000 turkeys to hunger relief organizations and families throughout the Northeast in need this holiday season.

Stop & Shop Delivers 250 Turkeys to YMCA of East Boston Nov. 14 in Time for Thanksgiving

Turkey Express is just one of many ways the supermarket will share meals and give thanks

this holiday season

Stop & Shop’s Turkey Express trucks will deliver 250 turkeys to the YMCA of East Boston in East Boston in time for Thanksgiving. The delivery is one of eight stops on Stop & Shop’s Turkey Express route throughout New England and 12 across the Northeast.

According to a recent survey by the Boston Medical Center, East Boston showed the highest rate, at 25.4 percent, of childhood food insecurity out of the 10 Boston zip codes. Within Boston, there is a high demand for donations to local food banks and Stop & Shop’s donation to the YMCA of East Boston will help to feed more than 1,000 people. 

“We strive to be a better neighbor both in and out of our stores and we are committed to fighting hunger in our communities year round” said Joe Kelley, president of Stop & Shop New England. “We understand that the holidays can be particularly difficult for families in need, so we encourage everyone to share a meal and give thanks this holiday season. Together, we can help support the families who depend on hunger relief organizations when they need it most.”

This November, Stop & Shop will donate more than 21,000 turkeys to local food banks throughout the Northeast with its Turkey Express program. Deliveries will run through Thanksgiving.

EastbostonDotCom Photographs from today's unveiling of the new branch library in East Boston

All photographs by Frank Conte, editor and publisher, eastboston.com.

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