Party Before The Closure
The South End Public Library branch is slated to close on Oct. 25 for some short-term renovations, Friends of the South End Library President Marleen Neinhuis told the Eight Streets Neighborhood Association on Oct. 8. However, before the doors close, they’ll have a party.
Neinhuis said on Oct. 23, they plane to have a farewell party for the library where musician Pat Loomis will play and friends will bid farewell to the branch for awhile.
“In about two weeks, the library will close for about two months,” she said. “We expect that it will open back up in February. This will be for some short-term repairs. We cannot wait another five years for a new library. The adult computers are right next to the childrens’ area and adults often look at inappropriate materials that the children can see. We’ll have new electrical outlets and a paint job. It often looks like a seedy place, but it’s one of the most important gathering places in the neighborhood and has a great staff.”
There will also be new computers, new outlets, new flooring, an adult area and a separate seating area for teens.
BCYF Family Gym
Boston Centers for Youth & Families (BCYF) free Family Gym Program is back for the fall season in more community centers than ever before and Boston families are invited to join in! Family Gym is a free, weekly play program that promotes physical activity for children ages 3-8 and their families.
Family Gym runs on Saturdays beginning Oct. 5 at five BCYF community centers, including BCYF Blackstone Community Center in the South End. Start time is 10 a.m.
Children and adults move at their own pace in supervised activities. Colorful play equipment encourages individual, small, and large group play. Families can jump rope, play on an obstacle course, do the limbo, or play parachute games or sports. No pre-registration or center membership required however caregivers must participate and remain in the gym with their children at all times. Thanks to a partnership with Northeastern University, UMass Boston and Simmons College, student volunteers serve as Activity Leaders at Family Gym. Family Gym is sponsored by Boston Children’s Hospital and The Foundation for BCYF.
This session of Family Gym will run through November 23.
South Cove/Bay Village Urban Renewal Meeting
The Boston Planning & Development Agency invites the surrounding community to a meeting on October 22 at 6:00 pm at the Revere Hotel to discuss updates to the South Cove Urban Renewal Plan Area. For translation service requests please reach out to the Boston Planning & Development Agency at least one week prior to the Community Meeting.
Mayor’s Fall Pumpkin Float Taking Place On October 18
Mayor Martin J. Walsh has announced the return of the annual Fall Pumpkin Float at the Boston Common Frog Pond on Friday, October 18, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Hundreds of illuminated jack-o’-lanterns will be floated on the water accompanied by spooky family activities. Attendees are asked to bring eight-inch or smaller carved pumpkins that will be lit and then floated on the Frog Pond for a dramatic early evening display. Adults and children are encouraged to wear Halloween costumes and participate in a wide range of fun activities. Test your courage in our haunted zombie maze, take a ride on the Spooky Mansion Slide, experience the Jumpin’ Pumpkin, try your skills at the bean bag toss, and enjoy nighttime fun on our LED swings and seesaws.
Boston Public Library Announces Wedding Ceremony Giveaway Contest
As one of the city’s most sought-after wedding venues, and in honor of the McKim Building’s 125th anniversary, the Boston Public Library is giving four couples the opportunity to host their wedding ceremony within its historic walls this February — for free! Couples will have the opportunity to begin the next chapters of their lives by exchanging vows inside the historic Abbey Room at the Central Library in Copley Square. The giveaway registration period begins on Tuesday, October 15, 2019 and ends on Friday, November 15, 2019. All participants must submit their registration online at https://www.bpl.org/ceremonygiveaway/. Four couples will be randomly selected and notified on or about Monday, November 18, 2019. The winning couples, along with ten guests, will exchange their vows on the morning of Sunday, February 2, 2020. The package includes a pre-ceremony light breakfast and beverages, compliments of The Catered Affair, bouquets and boutonnieres provided by Fleur Events, ceremony music performed by SpeechLess Music, ceremony and mini-session photography provided by Janelle Carmela Photography, commemorative takeaway gifts compliments of the Boston Public Library and The Catered Affair, an overnight stay provided by the Westin Copley Place, and ceremonies officiated by Justice of the Peace Karla Firestone. Learn more about how to enter the wedding ceremony giveaway contest at https://www.bpl.org/ceremonygiveaway/. Registration opens on October 15, 2019 and closes on November 15, 2019. Terms, rules, and conditions apply.
South End Dates
•Worcester Square Area Neighborhood Association and the Blackstone Franklin Squares Neighborhood Association will have a social between both groups at Estragon on Monday, Oct. 21.
•The Friends of the Titus Sparrow Park will hold its annual Halloween Party on October 31 from 5-6 p.m. There will be refreshments, roving entertainers, and pre trick-or-treat fun.
•The Friends of Hayes Park will hold their annual fundraiser on Thursday, Oct. 17, at the Revolution Hotel (40 Berkeley St.), from 6-8:30 p.m. There will be cocktails, hors doeuvres, an auction and raffles. Tickets are $45 in advance, $60 at the door.
•The South End Historical Society (SEHS) will hold its 51st annual South End House Tour on Saturday, October 19th from 10 a.m. to 5 pm. Starting in the 1960s, founding member Doe Sprogis organized the South EndHistorical Society’s first four house tour. She continued to be a driving force behind every one of them until 2014, when she and her husband David opened up their own home at 184 West Brookline Street for what turned out to be her last tour. Doe passed away in 2015, but the House Tour lives on and continues in her memory. Tickets for the House Tour are $30 in advance and are available at www.southendhistoricalsociety.org/housetour. Tickets will also be available on the day of the Tour for $35 each at Sprogis & Neale Real Estate, 679 Tremont St. For more information, please contact at [email protected] or 617-536-4445.
• The Boston Transportation Department (BTD) is proposing to add angled parking on Warren Avenue between Clarendon and Pembroke Streets. The Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services will host a public meeting in partnership with BTD on Wednesday, October 30, 6:30 p.m. at the McKinley Elementary School located at 90 Warren Ave. This is an opportunity for neighbors to engage with the proposal and share constructive feedback.
•SoWa Spooktacular. Oct. 27, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be face painting, pumpkin painting, live music, special Halloween brews and the costume contest. They’ll be awarding prizes for the best human, pet, and vendor costumes. Visitors and their pets can enter the contest by having their photo taken at the chalk wall at 460 Harrison Ave, from Noon – 2 p.m. Winners will be posted on Facebook the following day. The first place winner will win $500. More prizes to be announced soon on Facebook.
• TUESDAY, OCT. 22, 6:30 p.m. Award-winning foreign correspondent Stephen Kinzer, whose investigations and penetrating analyses have shed harrowing light on innumerable clandestine American adventures here and abroad, will return to the South End library to talk about Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control. He will be introduced by former Municipal Court Judge, Herb Hershfang.
Fenway Times
•Clean Muddy Forum: The Muddy Water Initiative will hold a Clean Muddy Forum at the Fenway Community Center on October 24 from 6:30-8 p.m. State Senator Will Brownsberger, Executive Director of the Charles River Watershed Association Emily Norton, and PE Civil Engineer for the Watergate Pilot Project Cassandra Kkoutalidis will speak at the event, and residents are encouraged to share their ideas for revitalizing Frederick Law Olmsted’s vision for the urban waterway.
•1252-1270 Boylston St. Public Meeting: Scape Boylston, LLC proposes to build an approximately 226,700 square foot mixed-use programming, comprised of approximately 477 residential rental housing units and an activated ground-floor retail podium fronting on Boylston Street. The Project also includes the ‘Boylston Black Box’, a 10,000-square-foot LGBTQ-centric venue for the performing arts – anchored by a 156-seat theater which will be delivered and operated on a not-for-profit basis. The meeting will be held on Monday, November 4 from 6:00-8:00pm at 2 Charlesgate WEst, 5th floor.
•Red Sox Community Meeting: We hope you’ll join us on October 30th for some evening snacks at our full community meeting at Fenway Park. Doors at 20 Jersey Street will open at 6pm, and a short speaking program will begin around 6:30. All of our Fenway-Kenmore neighbors who live or work here are welcome
Fenway Park Happenings:
Fall Events And Fenway Bleacher/Music Hall Construction
This year, Fenway Park will only host one offseason event, the Spartan Race on November 9th and 10th. We hope to break ground this fall on the bleacher improvements inside the ballpark and the new Fenway Music all slated to open in 2021 at Lansdowne and Ipswich Streets. More information to come as they move forward with these projects.