Meeting on Future of City’s Historic Preservation Efforts March 12
The city will offer ‘A Vision for Historic Preservation in Boston’ on Tuesday, March 12, from 6 to 8 p.m. at City Hall, Room 801, as well as virtually.
The meeting, sponsored by the city’s Office of Historic Preservation and the Boston Landmarks Commission, will “present a framework showcasing how historic preservation can address some of Boston’s pressing challenges in environmental sustainability, social equity, and affordable housing,” according to the city, as well as detail “Boston’s plans for events to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary and Boston’s 400th anniversary, in 2026 and 2030, respectively.
R.S.V.P. for the meeting at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdx4C5yq39bZAh3azF2Ia9QuTtiptsoEZuUZPsRSLz6F2SvJQ/viewform
Upcoming Programming Sponsored by West End Museum
On Wednesday, March 13, at 6:30 p.m., join the West End Museum for a night of brain-teasing questions and friendly competition and put your Boston history knowledge to the test at the next trivia night, held at Causeway Restaurant and Bar.
To purchase tickets and for further information, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/boston-trivia-night-tickets.
On Wednesday, March 20, at 5:30 p.m., and on Saturday, March 23, at 1 p.m., the museum will offer ‘West End Women: A Walk Through History.’
Intellectuals, abolitionists, suffragists, artists, authors, and athletes – the women of Boston’s West End played an important role in shaping the history of their neighborhood, Boston, and the world. Join the West End Museum on a walking tour in honor of Women’s History Month.
Tickets for the walking tours cost $10 each. Visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/west-end-women-a-walk-through-history-tickets to purchase tickets for the March 23 event.
On Saturday, March 30, at 6:30 p.m., the museum presents ‘Destruction and Rebirth: Barber and Beethoven’ at The Hub on Causeway Community Room at 52 Causeway St. (located along the alleyway next to Hub50House, across from the Tip O’Neill Building).
Join the museum for an artistically sublime experience as we project photographic images from the Edgell and Frani Collections (which chronicle life before, during, and after urban renewal) alongside a live performance of two of classical music’s most emotive string quartets, both possessing tonal qualities that convey the ideas of transformation and explore the complex social dynamics that underpin both the destruction and rebirth of the West End neighborhood.
Tickets for this event cost $15 each and can be purchased by visiting https://www.eventbrite.com/e/destruction-and-rebirth-barber-and-beethoven-at-the-west-end-museum-tickets.
WEM Seeking Volunteers for Spring and Summers Seasons
The West End Museum is now seeking volunteers for the spring and summers seasons.
Volunteer opportunities include in-person openings on Wednesday-Sunday mornings and afternoons for greeter, event assistant, exhibit attendant, social media creator, and special projects assistant.
For more information, contact the WEM volunteer coordinator via email at maisie@thewestendmuseum.org.
Upcoming Programs Sponsored by The Vilna Shul
The Vilna Shul, located at 18 Phillips St., presents a film premiere of ‘999: The Forgotten Girls’ on Thursday, March 7, from 6 to 8 p.m.
Don’t miss the Boston premiere of a riveting, award-winning new documentary about the 999 Slovakian Jewish girls aboard the first official transport to Auschwitz. The screening will include a talkback and performance with writer/director Heather Dune Macadam and the Czech/Slovak musician team which composed the film’s score. Tickets cost $18 each.
The Vilna also presents ‘Mazaltob – Sephardi Women in Translation’ on Thursday, March 28, from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
This book-launch celebration and discussion featuring translators Frances Malino and Yaelle Azagury and moderated by Jonathan Decter. Mazaltob will offer a fascinating portrait of a young Moroccan Sephardi woman navigating the ever-shifting ground between tradition and modernity, East and West, self and other, obligation and desire. Stylistically bold, culturally rich, by turns comic and wrenching, this polyphonic novel is both historically important and, in its new translation, a gift for our times. Tickets for this event cost $18 each.
Ongoing programming sponsored by The Vilna Shul include ‘Israel Through the Filmmaker’s Lens,’ with Dr. Shayna Weiss, on Wednesdays though March 27, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at 18 Phillips St.
This course will explore questions about Israeli life and identity in a global context. Dr. Shayna Weiss will examine contemporary Israeli film and what these movies teach about Israel today, covering timely topics including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Mizrahi-Ashkenazi relations, ultra-Orthodoxy, Holocaust memory, and more.
The cost of admission is $120 per person for all five sessions, including dinner, along with an approximately $30 materials fee (for film viewing, paid directly to screening platforms [e.g. Netflix]).
The Vilna also presents ‘Climate Change and Tikkun Olam: A Poetry Journey,’ with Professor Deborah Leipziger on Wednesdays through March 13 and on April 3, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at 18 Phillips St.
This course will look at climate change through a Jewish lens, like what does Jewish tradition teach us about how to cope and respond to this environmental and humanitarian challenge?; and how can poetry and creative endeavors help build resilience while cultivating hope, empathy, and action? Professor Leipziger is a sustainability expert who is also a poet and co-founder of the New England Jewish Poetry Festival.
The cost of admission is $120 per person for all five sessions, including dinner.
Visit https://vilnashul.org/events/upcoming for more information for more information on The Vilna’s upcoming programming.
WECA Meeting Set for March 14
The West End Civic Association (WECA) will hold its next meeting in person on Thursday, March 14, at 6 p.m. in the Community Room at Amy Lowell Apartments at 65 Martha Road.
The guest for this meeting will be Mayor Michelle Wu.
Masks are encouraged for attendees.
Annual Gardeners’ Gathering Set for March 16 at NU
The 48th annual Gardeners’ Gathering takes place on Saturday, March 16, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Shillman Hall and The Egan Center at Northeastern University .
The event, which is free to attend and open to all, brings Boston-area growers of all kinds together for a day full of informative workshops, engaging exhibitors, networking, and inspiration. In honor of the 50th anniversary of Mel King’s Massachusetts Gardening and Farm Act, the Gathering will focus on celebrating our invaluable legacy gardeners, taking a look back on the incredible community growing work in Boston over the last half a century.
Be sure to pre-register for the event at https://thetrustees.org/program/gardeners-gathering/.
Sounds on the Hill to Hold ‘Celebration of Faith’ on March 28
Boston Society of the New Jerusalem – Sounds on the Hill, invites you to ‘A Celebration of Faith.’ The church at 140 Bowdoin St. invites you experience word and music during Holy Week and Easter.
On Thursday, March 28 (Maundy Thursday), at 5 p.m., the COH Brass Ensemble will present a musical offering featuring a five-member brass ensemble. On Friday, March 29, at 7 p.m., there will be a Service of Tenebrae, featuring “Seven Last Words of Christ” by Haydn.
On Sunday, March 31, at 11 a.m., the brass ensemble and BSNJ Choir will present ‘Gloria’ by Vivaldi. The fully professional, mixed-voice choir will be under the direction of Andrew Mattfeld.
Visit https://churchonthehillboston.org/ or call 617-523-4575 for more information.
Beacon Hill Books to Welcome Two Authors on April 18
Jeanne Blasberg, whose third novel ‘Daughter of a Promise’ is due out soon, will be joining Julie Carrick Dalton, author of the upcoming novel, ‘The Last Beekeeper’ and a new resident to the neighborhood, on Thursday, April 18, at 5 p.m. at Beacon Hill Books at 71 Charles St.
Charles River Cleanup Set to Return April 19-20
Join the Esplanade Association for the 25th annual Charles River Cleanup – one of the largest Earth Day cleanups in the nation – on Friday, April 19, and Saturday, April 20.
Registration is now open for individual and corporate/large groups; sign up for one or both days online at https://esplanade.org/cleanup/.
Free Lessons in American Mahjong Offered at West End Branch Library
The Friends of the West End Library will be offering lessons in American Mahjong to new and experienced players at no cost.
The group meets on Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m., on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month in the Community Room of the West End Branch Library, 151 Cambridge St.
To sign up or for more information, email Audrey Tedeman (artedeman@gmail.com) or Julia Forbes (jmaforbes@gmail.com).