BHCA Community Corner

ANNUAL APPEAL

Next week the Beacon Hill Civic Association will kick off its Annual Appeal, which provides vital funding for the BHCA’s ongoing operations. For 94 years, the BHCA has worked to enhance the quality of life for our residents through community building, civic engagement and historic preservation. “Through community events and volunteer opportunities we help neighbors make connections, build friendships and forge ties that make this special place feel even more like ‘home,’” said Board Chairman Mark Kiefer. “Serving as a voice of the community, we promote constructive dialog on key issues, interact with elected officials, and act as a clearinghouse for neighborhood concerns. And we continue to work steadfastly on behalf of the neighborhood to protect our precious architectural and cultural resources.”

Supporting the Annual Appeal will help BHCA further its mission in the coming year. Contributions of $400 or more include tickets to the Beacon Hill Gala on February 4, 2017. Donations can be made on its website at www.bhcivic.org, by sending a check to the office at 74 Joy Street, or by calling 617-227-1922.

Residents urged to report hate crimes

Since the presidential election, many Americans, including some within our own neighborhood, feel threatened as harassment and intimidation of minority groups increase. To counter these incidents of hate and intolerance, Attorney General Maura Healey urges residents to call 1-800-994-3228 or to fill out a civil rights complaints form online if they witness or experience bias-motivated threats, harassment or violence against racial, ethnic and religious minorities, women, immigrants and lesbian, gay and transgender individuals.

Healy’s staff will track reports and refer cases to local law enforcement officials or the office’s Criminal Bureau. Hate crimes are generally prosecuted by local district attorney’s offices.

Clothing Drive to benefit Center Club extended

The Beacon Hill Civic Association is sponsoring a warm clothing drive at 74 Joy Street to benefit our neighbors at Center Club, a program of Bay Cove Human Services. Center Club (www.centerclubboston.org) is a clubhouse for adults with psychiatric disabilities, located behind the District A-1 Police Station at 31 Bowker Street.

BHCA thanks all those residents who have already generously donated and encourages others to bring bagged donations until December 1. For more information, please call the BHCA at 617-227-1922.

A Piece of the Past

As early as the 1920s, Christmas Eve celebrations on Beacon Hill have been one of the many popular traditions in Boston. Its festivities were variously described by some writers as soul-stirring and heart warming and by others as almost carnival-like and semireligious.

But it wasn’t always like that. In 1659 the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony passed a law that banned Christmas celebrations of any type. Anyone who was seen observing the holiday in any manner, including feasting or skipping work, was fined five shillings. For almost two hundred years, residents abstained from any celebration. But all that changed in 1856, when the Commonwealth officially declared that Christmas would be a legal holiday in Massachusetts.

[Source: The Life & Times of a Neighborhood]

Get involved

Beacon Hill Civic Association committees and special events comprise volunteers working together from all over the neighborhood to assure a good quality of life here. All residents are welcome to jump aboard.

Meetings

No meetings this week.

Upcoming Special Events

Holiday Decorating Days

Saturday, December 3 and Sunday, December 4

Throughout the neighborhood

Holiday Undecorating Day

Saturday, January 7 and Sunday, January 8.

Sunday Brunch at Hampshire House for volunteers

45th annual Beacon Hill Gala

Saturday, February 4.

Dinner & Dancing at the Four Seasons

Visit the Beacon Hill Civic Association website bhcivic.org and/or call the office (617-227-1922) for more information on how to get involved.

 

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