At a public meeting, Wednesday, October 1, at 7:00, at the Visiting Nurses Association (VNA) building at 259 Lowell Street, Somerville residents will have an opportunity to share ideas about Somerville's open space and comments on the Open Space and Recreation Plan. The Plan is five-year plan that the City is required to submit to the Massachusetts Division of Conservation Services to be eligible for certain open space and recreation grant programs.

The Somerville Dog Owners Group extends our appreciation to every one who participated in the Open Space and Recreation Survey this summer. Nearly 1000 Somerville residents took the survey! We expect that representatives from the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development will share the results of the survey at the meeting.

If you are unable to attend the meeting and have any comments about the plan or ideas about Somerville's open space, please direct them to the attention of Ellen Schneider, Landscape Project Manager, City of Somerville (617-625-6600 x2529; eschneider * AT * somervillema.gov).

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and Ward 5 Alderman Sean O’Donovan invite all interested residents and stakeholders to attend a Community Meeting to discuss the 2008 update of the City's Open Space & Recreation Plan. This is the third and final installment of the OSRP meetings which have been held around the City over the past several months. This final meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 1st at 7:00pm at the VNA, 259 Lowell Street. The Plan is required to be updated every five years by the State Division of Conservation Services, to be eligible for certain open space and recreation grant programs.

Methok owner, Tsering Lha, with Ward Three Alderman, Tom Taylor, and Somerville Dog Owners Group Chairperson, Michele Biscoe, with her daughter Kate.

On Friday, September 5, Methok hosted a party with free food for people and dogs to celebrate their grand opening at 62A Summer Street, down the street from the off-leash recreational area at Nunziato Field in Somerville. The Someville Dog Owners Group thanks Methok for donating $200 to Somerville Unleashed, the City of Somerville's fund for off-leash recreational areas!

som|dog also thanks everyone who contributed to, volunteered for and shopped at the fourth annual yard sale on Sunday, September 6. Somerville dog owners and friends of Somerville dogs raised over $800 for Somerville Unleashed!

Following are some of the many people who helped make the yard sale a success:

Kirk's owner, Frank Cresta, hosted the sale and ensured that shoppers went home happy!
Prospero and Circe's owner, Lisa McFarren, helped organize and run the sale.
Granby and Chloe's owners, Julie Roix volunteered at the sale and Steve Roix helped to transport items.
Zoe Winkle and Babette's owner, Ananth Pandian, donated items and volunteered at the sale.
Victor's owner, Jean Berman, volunteered at the yard sale.
Ward Two Alderman, Maryann Heuston, volunteered at the sale.
Dogma (and Catma, Too) in Union Square donated items to the yard sale as well as the fabulous door prize: a $25 gift certificate.
Mama Gina's Pizza (19 Union Square, 617-625-0116) donated pizza for the volunteers.
Ward Six Alderman, Rebecca Gewirtz, donated items to the sale.
Steven Winslow donated items to the yard sale.
Strummer's owners, Michele Biscoe and Marshall Wallace, donated items to the sale.

A new dog-friendly business has opened down the street from the off-leash recreational area at Nunziato Field. In honor of its grand opening,

Methok, which specializes in helping clients select gifts that deepen their connection with friends and loved ones, is giving a special gift to the community. Tsering Lha, who owns the shop, is donating a portion of the proceeds of all sales Friday evening through Sunday, September 7, to Somerville Unleashed, the City of Somerville's fund for off-leash recreational areas.

Lha wants to give something back to the community for the enjoyment she gets taking her dog, Monster, a two-year-old yellow lab, to the off-leash recreational area at Nunziato Field.

In addition to the City's original off-leash park at Nunziato Field, the City recently opened a new area for off-leash recreation adjacent to the Ed Leathers Community Park on Walnut Street, between Medford and Pearl Streets.

The City's off-leash recreational areas are created and maintained with the help of generous donations from the community. Donations to Somerville Unleashed may be sent to:

Somerville Unleashed
c/o Carlene Campbell, Assistant Director of Personnel
City Hall
93 Highland Avenue
Somerville, MA 02143

For more information about the City's fund for off-leash recreational areas, please contact Carlene Campbell, (617) 625-6600 x3303, or ccampbell at somervillema.gov.

The small OLRA at Leathers Park is a welcome addition to the parks in the City. In particular, owners of small dogs will appreciate an alternative to the larger OLRA at Nunziato Field which is popular among people with larger dogs.

Ed Leathers Community Park, named for former Somerville resident and WWII veteran Edward L. Leathers, PFC, opens with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday evening, August 28, at 6:00 p.m. Members of Ed Leathers' family will be special guests at the ceremony, which will include a brief speaking agenda, gun salute*, and light refreshments.

*If your dog is startled by loud noises, you may prefer to celebrate the opening of the off-leash recreational area at Leathers Park at another time and spare her or him the gun salute. Otherwise, bring your dog and join your neighbors along with Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and Ward 1 Alderman William Roche in honoring Ed Leathers with a celebration of open space!

For more information, check out the Lincoln Park neighborhood on Yahoo Groups!

More info from Cleo's owner:

She ran away from Fletcher Field near Packard St and Professors Row on Tufts Campus. Animal rescue in Medford and Somerville, and Tufts Campus security have been alerted and can help out if you see her.

This year the theme for ArtBeat is "Green," and there will be a scavenger hunt to showcase the many community organizations that are working together to make Somerville a more sustainable community. Wear green and/or dress your dog in green and participate in the Green Brigade Parade at 5:15!

Remember to get an ArtBeat 2008 dog tag for a $3 donation and help keep ArtBeat coming back to Davis Square every year!

ArtBeat is the Somerville Arts Council's annual arts festival. ArtBeat by Night is Friday, July 18 (Rain date: July 19); ArtBeat by Day is Saturday, July 19 (Rain Date: July 20). The full schedule for ArtBeat is available online from the Somerville Arts Council.

This is an excellent opportunity for residents to address our concerns about the livability of our City to the Mayor and the Aldermen.

In recent years, there have been only two budget items directly regarding dog ownership in the City:

• the City Clerk's proposed revenue from dog license and dog kennel fees and


• the line item in the Police Department salaries for the Animal Control Officer

In the 2009 Fiscal Year Budget, no fewer than five departments address matters of dog ownership including:

• City Clerk (dog licenses, dog-license database, and dog-kennel licenses)


• Executive Administration (soliciting public feedback on policies regarding off-leash dogs; facilitate problem-solving meetings on dog issues in Lincoln Park)


• Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development (off-leash recreational areas)


• Department of Public Works (maintenance of the off-leash recreational area and parks that allow dogs)


• Police Department (Animal Control)

The Proposed Fiscal Year 2009 Municipal Budget can be downloaded from the City Of Somerville's website.

Monday, June 16 - Mystic River Reservation Master Plan Meeting
6 to 8 pm
Tufts Boat House, 300 River’s Edge Drive (177 Corporation Way), Medford, MA

Tuesday, June 17 - Assembly Square Land Swap Discussion
6:30 pm
Assembly Square Marketplace
Meet on the DCR pathway by the waterfront, across from the Christmas Tree Shops. Parking available at the Marketplace -- look for a white tent.

A great deal of open space in Somerville is part of the Mystic River Reservation and the property at Assembly Square. Somerville dog owners should be included among the many and diverse people who are able to enjoy this parkland! We need to attend these meetings to be included.

Mystic River Reservation

At a previous meeting about the Master Plan (November 2007), several people spoke of the needs of park users with dogs. Designated off-leash recreational areas will attract usage to lawn areas, an explicit goal of the Master Plan. Indeed, no other suggestion was proffered at the meeting to attract usage to underused lawn areas.

Senator Jehlen has secured $250,000 for the Mystic River Master Plan in the FY2007 budget: Come to the meeting and share with the Senator your ideas for improving recreational opportunities on the Mystic River parkland!

You may also contact the Senator directly:

Senator Patricia Jehlen
Room 513
State House
Boston 02133
617-722-1578
patricia.jehlen@state.ma.us

The official notice about the Mystic River Reservation Master Plan Meeting is available from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.

Assembly Square

For every one thousand Somerville residents, there is just about two-and-a-quarter acres of open space. The Assembly Square development will increases the residential capacity of our City. For every additional 1000 residents that Assembly Square will accommodate, the developers must create an additional 2.25 acres of open space. Otherwise we are losing ground!

For everyone who will live, work, and play at Assembly Square, and for the livability of our City, people must be welcome to enjoy the parkland at Assembly Square and the nearby DCR parkland with our pets. We need both

• designated areas where people can enjoy the benefits of socializing and exercising our dogs
• off-leash areas to accommodate uses that are incompatible or unsafe for unrestrained dogs where dogs must remain on leash.

East Somerville Main Streets distributed a flyer for the Assembly Square Landswap Discussion.

Spring finally arrived this year, just in time for the parade. It was a beautiful day—bright and sunny and warm.

The people who were out watching the parade were every bit the equal of the warm and beautiful day. The Memorial Day Parade reveals Somerville at it's finest. The whole town comes out to watch the parade; everyone is friendly and smiling.

Without a cloud in the sky, the asphalt along the parade route got pretty hot under our pups' paws, but we made new friends who helped our dogs beat the heat. At Pinball Plus (370 Highland Avenue), a very nice gentleman brought out his garden hose and let us hose down our dogs.

A couple of doors down, Kickass Cupcakes (378 Highland Avenue), put out buckets of water for the dogs. Kickass Cupcakes also donated mini pupcakes and mini cupcakes for the dogs and their owners who walked with som|dog in the Parade. The dogs wolfed down the carob and peanut-butter pupcakes after the parade.

Extra water for the dogs was donated by Dogma and Catma, too (321-325 Somerville Avenue).

Thanks to everyone who walked with som|dog, to Dogma (and Catma, too), to Kickass Cupcakes and to Pinball Plus. Thanks Bill (with Suki) for sharing your photos. Thanks Somerville, especially Frank Senesi, Director of Veterans' Services, for another great parade!

For the fourth year, the Somerville Dog Owners Group (som|dog) is walking our dogs in the City's Memorial Day Parade, Sunday, May 25.

Dogs that enjoy the company of other dogs, that are licensed and up-to-date on vaccinations, that walk well on a loose leash and that are in good physical condition are welcome!

The parade begins at City Hall. The parade route is 2.25 miles proceeding up Highland Avenue to Davis Square, then along Holland Street to Teele Square and continuing on Broadway to Veterans Memorial Cemetery in West Somerville.

Not everyone and not every dog can walk the whole route, especially if it is a warm day. If you and your dog cannot walk the whole route, you may join a group of reinforcements who will file in with som|dog when we get to Davis Square.

som|dog thanks dogma (and catma, too) who will be helping to carry our banner and pull the waggin' wagon with extra water for our dogs in the Memorial Day Parade. Dogma (and Catma, too) has Cool Pooch sport water bottles: you and your dog can drink from the same bottle without backwash!

For more information and to walk your dog in the Memorial Day Parade with the Somerville Dog Owners Group, please contact Michele at somdog * AT * somervilledog.com; 617-290-9107.

Please set aside five to ten minutes to take the Open Space & Recreation survey. There are twenty six questions. Your answers will make a difference in your life and in the life of your dog!

This is hugely important. Somerville dog owners are a significant park user group, but, since it's still largely illegal for us to use parks with our dogs, our needs are underrepresented in park programming and funding.

The last time the City conducted a survey of park users, only eleven respondents said that access for dog owners was important!

The survey is being conducted to complement the 2008-2013 Somerville Open Space & Recreation Plan. In addition to soliciting public feedback on the Plan through the survey, the City is also hosting a series of public meetings about the Plan. The third and final public meeting is scheduled for July.

Also of interest to dog owners:

• Piggy’s Pet Pottery (Pottery for Pets & People by Mia Carter, inspired by her pug, Piggy) is available at Stinky's Kittens & Doggies, Too in Ball Square.


• Diana Rice, an artist specializing in portraits and landscapes, is particularly interested in the relationships that humans have with their animal companions. Her studio, Diana Rice Fine Art, is located at 14 Ibbetson Street, near Pet Spa on Somerville Avenue.

According to Somerville Open Studios:

The city of Somerville boasts to having the largest density of artists within the state. In fact, the city's web site claims to have more artists per square mile than any other city in the U.S., except New York (which does not hold a citywide open studios). The research is yet to be done, but SOS may in fact be the only citywide open studios of this magnitude in the world, where artist sites are so close together that it is considered truly pedestrian-friendly. The SOS map booklet features indexes by both artist and by artistic medium, so that event-goers can pre-select and plan ahead their marathon walking tour.