Thursday, September 6, 2012

Smoke This Rib Fest 2012 - Oct 21

 
The East Cambridge Business Association presents

The Smoke This Rib Fest 2012

Sunday Oct 21, 2012

12:00-4:00pm

Cambridge Street in East Cambridge

(Between Fulkerson and 5th Street)
 
The East Cambridge Business Association (ECBA) is proud to present The East Cambridge Business Association “Smoke This” Rib Fest 2012, on Sunday October 21, 2012 from 12:00 noon – 4:00pm. The Rib Fest and Street Fair will take place on Cambridge Street in East Cambridge, between Fulkerson Street and Fifth Street.
The Rib Fest is a culinary showdown pitting pit master against pit master for the title of the best ribs in town. The event is for all ages so come and enjoy some BBQ. There will be plenty of food and fun to be had for all, but for the best chance to sample a variety of ribs and to cast a vote for your favorite, you’ll need a Taste Ticket which will get you 10 rib samples from the restaurants of your choice at a first come first serve basis.  Taste Tickets go on sale September 20th . Additionally, each restaurants will be selling a dish of their own, showcasing their own menu.
 We have a growing list of particpants that already includes Abigail's, Area Four, ARTBAR, Atwood's Tavern, Bambara, Catalyst, CRLS Culinary School, East Side Bar and Grille, Lord Hobo, Midwest Grill, New Deal Fish Market, Ole, Portugalia, Lizzy’s, Trina's Starlight Lounge, and Tupelo
 
Stay tuned for further updates on this years Rib Fest. 
Feel free to contact us at info@EastCambridgeBA.com with any questions or for Sponsorship information.

 
 


Thursday, August 9, 2012

State Chooses Three Finalists for Courthouse


The State's Department of Capital and Asset Managment recently revealed that developers HYM, Divco West, and Leggat McCall are the three finalist for the redevelopment of the Sullivan Courthouse.

All three currently have or have had a presence in East Cambridge.  Divco recently acquired the Davenport building on First St. Leggat McCall converted the old Durans chocolate factory into what is now One First Street. HYM is the developer of the Northpoint project.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Free Summer Movie Night is this Thursday



Join the
East Cambridge Business Association
at
292 Cambridge St

Thursday August 9th
7:00pm
followed by a Family Friendly Movie
Bring your lawn chairs and blankets and enjoy the show.
 Free Popcorn and water provided by ECBA and East Cambride Savings Bank

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Run & Ride at Cambridgeside: Free Family Fun



Hey kids!  Ready, set, go!
Do you love to ride your bike and run?  Compete in the third annual, kids only duathlon with biking and running in and around CambridgeSide Galleria!

Run & Ride at CambridgeSide is for kids 5-15 years old, with prizes, race t-shirts, giveaways, entertainment and more.  Race with your friends and make new ones – sign up for Run & Ride at CambridgeSide today!

Sunday, July 29, 2012
8:30am Registration
10am Event Begins

CambridgeSide Galleria
100 CambridgeSide PlaceCambridge, MA  02141

Pre-register for FREE today at http://www.shopcambridgeside.com/.

Help a child turn a page. Bring a new, unused school supply for donation to the East End House. Run & Ride is an innovative community collaboration between CambridgeSide Galleria, City of Cambridge, Cambridge Public Health Department, Cambridge Police Department and Cambridge Fire Department. 

Monday, July 9, 2012

Summer In The City @ Donnelly Field

Jungle Jim's Wild about Balloons &
Agenda for Children's Literacy StoryWalk
Tuesday, July 10 at 10:00am

Location: Donnelly Field, Willow St. & York St.
Rain site: Frisoli Youth Center, 61 Willow St.

Jungle Jim spins stories as he twists great balloon animals and performs stunning magical tricks. While you are at the park, enjoy arts & crafts activities, snacks, book give-a-ways during the StoryWalk Kick-Off Event.

After the performance, take a StoryWalk! Participating Inman Square businesses display a page from the same children's book in their street-front windows and offer discounts and giveaways to children and families.

Sponsor: Inman Square Business Association and Agenda for Children's Literacy

Performance runs about 45 minutes long.
Designed for children, but fun for all ages!

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

BOOMTOWN Festival 2012


BOOMTOWN is once again returning to East Cambridge with a week long celebration of fun family events!
It all begins on Monday July 16th at 4pm with FREE chalk art, face painting, dancing, and drumming workshops.  Then there is a free evening concert by The Second Line Social Aid & Pleasure Society Band starting at 7:30 in Centanni Court Yard.

BOOMTOWN is organized by the Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center on Second Street, and brings fun art projects and evening concerts to the East Cambridge Neighborhood.  This year, while you are feeding your soul with culture and fun, your belly can be feed with tacos from The Taco Truck, from 4-8pm each night.

Its a great neighborhood event that is FREE!  Be sure the check the schedule to see whats happening each night at BOOMTOWN!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

CAMBRIDGE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CONCERT - Pops on the Lawn

Cambridge Symphony Orchestra
Pops on the Lawn

Cynthia Woods, Music Director

Sunday June 24, 3:00 PM
@ Sennott Park
(Prospect St at Broadway)


Featuring your favorites from Movies, Musicals and Television!

Superman & Superman Returns
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
Chicago
West Side Story
Hoe-Down

... and many many more!

This concert is FREE and open to the public!

This program is supported in part by a grant from MetLife and the Cambridge Arts Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
Cambridge Symphony Orchestra · 617-576-1819 · www.cambridgesymphony.org

Please check our website for the Rain Location.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Lunch at Hungry Mother!


Backdoor BBQ at Hungry Mother!  HM is serving lunch on Thursdays and Fridays starting at 11:30am until 1:30 (or until they run out, which ever comes first)

Nothing better than a Pulled Pork Sandwich to take you into the weekend.  See you in line ...

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Bike Cambridge - Free Urban Cycling Workshop




Please join the City of Cambridge and Mass Bike for a :
Free Urban Cycling Workshop
May 29th @ Millers River Apartments

A great class if you get the bike out only occasionally, want to use one more for your daily errands, considering bike com-muting, or simply want to ride along with your kids.
This is a how-to informational class for Cambridge residents; no experience or bicycle necessary.
Those who complete the class will be eligible for a free bike helmet.



RSVP REQUESTED BUT NOT REQUIRED TO: OHN PELLETIER @CAMBRIDGEMA.GOV 617-349-4631
P
LEASE MENTION CLASS DATE WHEN RESERVING.

J
JPELLETIER
 

Monday, May 7, 2012

THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS!

We had close to 60 volunteers for the East Cambridge Clean Up Day on Saturday, and they weren't your average everyday volunteers, they were ROCKSTAR volunteers.

We left Cambridge Street spotless and weed free.  Then we went on to mulch EVERY tree well from Second Street all the way to Columbia.  This was an enormous effort and we sincerely thank everyone who participated, especially local business owners, The East Cambridge Families Group, Frisoli Youth Center, and EC Dog Owners Group.  Also thanks to Living Proof who put a group together from their office to join us. It was truly a community effort.

Another thank you to Susana Segat at CCTV who gave The Clean Up Day some great coverage on her blog and got some great interviews with volunteers.

We are following up with businesses owners and encourage them to keep the street looking great for the summer months and continue the great work of the volunteers.  The flower baskets will be here soon and EC businesses, residents, and visitors will have even more reason to be proud of the neighborhood,

I had wanted to post the group picture, but I'm having some technical difficulties, that said I couldn't let the day go by without sending a huge thank you to all who came out.  Ill update with a pic as soon as I can.

oh and the shirts looked great too ... you're going to be jealous if you didn't join us ... there's always next year.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Monthly Meeting Recap

Small businesses don't often have the luxury of employing an HR Director that can easily answer questions or the time to keep up on the ever changing laws pertaining to their business and employment.

This is why Tuesday's ECBA meeting at the law offices of Clark Hunt Ahern & Embry was a valuable opportunity for ECBA members.  The topics ranged from interview traps to the changing regulations on retaurants workers tips.

In addition to great advise and presentations by Attorney's from CHA&E, members had the opportunity to hear from Patty Colarossi, an officer, at the US Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division

Employment Law is not something easily explained in a blog post.  The best advice at the meeting was that if you have a question, pick up the phone and call the Department of Labor at 617-624-6700 and ask to speak to an officer.  It's better to ask the questions and get it right than it is to get caught off guard.

The Department of Labor Website is also a great resource filled with downloadable Fact Sheets and even a number of mobile apps that can help keep you organized

The link to the Department of Labor Website
http://www.dol.gov/whd/

Many thanks to the attorneys at Clark Hunt Ahern & Embry for arranging the meeting and for taking the time to educate our members. Hopefully everyone walked away with a better understanding of how to protect themselves and their businesses.  Of course CHA&E is a great local firm that can assist you with a variety of services, so do contact them for your business needs.



Sunday, April 22, 2012

Volunteer for the 3rd Annual Clean Up Day: May 5

 

Join the East Cambridge Business Association for the
3rd Annual East Cambridge Clean Up Day

The ECBA will sponsor the 3rd Annual Clean Up Day along side the East Cambridge Families Group, and Frisoli Teen Center.

Volunteers can meet at either Silva Park or the Bocce Court starting at 9:30am on Saturday May 5.
We will work on Cambridge St picking up litter and weeding tree wells to prepare them for mulch.

Join us for pizza at an after party at Vellucci Park (next to the tracks) when we finish.
FREE TSHIRT FOR VOLUNTEERS
(Bring gloves if you have them)

Please let us know where you will be meeting us, email us at info@eastcambridgeba.com
Thanks!

Thursday, April 5, 2012

East Cambridge Crime Prevention Meeting

Wednesday, April 18th, 2012

6:30 PM

East End House

105 Spring Street,

Cambridge, MA 02141


 Join us for a discussion with local officers about crime in our community,
including a review of the most recent Community Crime Report!

We Hope to See You There!


Pizza and Light Refreshments Will Be Served

Questions? Contact Tim Severyn at the East End House
at timothy@eastendhouse.org or 617.876.4444

*Sponsored by the East End House, the Cambridge Police Department,
and the East Cambridge Business Association*






Thursday, March 15, 2012

Monthly Meeting Recap

For those that attended our last monthly meeting, the presentation by DPW was very informative and we can look forward to a number of postive improvements along Cambridge St.

The meeting began with some information about how businesses can apply for outdoor seating and make use of sidedwalks in front of their business.  The City of Cambridge is having great success with their outdoor seating program and are encouraging more businesses to particpate.  The city is also promoting a pilot program this season where businesses can essentailly lease parking spaces in front of their businesses, construct a platform, and use it for outdoor seating.  While there has not been any interest as of yet in East Cambridge, we are eager to see how this proposal develops throughout the city.

Sidewalk cafes have been playing big role in improving the street scape and creating a welcoming atmosphere for pedestrians.  If anyone has questions about how to take advantage of the outdoor seating program feel free to contact us.

Deputy City Manager, Richard Rossi, and Commissioner of Public Works, Lisa Peterson, then gave ECBA an overview of the many services that DPW provides within the community and fielded some questions.  The question ECBA gets asked most is "whats up with the not so great smell coming from the catch basins along Cambridge St".  The good news is that DPW will begin work in the next few weeks to install new vents in the catch basins which will eliminate the odor. Catch basins located at 621, 625, 633, 645, 719, 764, 1076, 1106, and 1121Camrbidge St have been identified for the installation.  If you have a problematic catch basin in front of your business that is not listed here, please let us know and we will relay to DPW for attention.

Also, DPW will be planting 6 new trees in empty tree wells and closing off 3 other retired tree wells which will help to eliminate a place for unsightly weeds to grow and collect trash during the summer months.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Cambridge Symphony Orchestra: ESSENTIAL TCHAIKOVSKY

Cambridge Symphony Orchestra
Cynthia Woods, Music Director
presents

ESSENTIAL TCHAIKOVSKY
Sunday, March 25, 2012 at 4:00 PM
Kresge Auditorium
48 Massachusetts Ave. (approximate address)
Cambridge, MA 02138

Overture to The Marriage of Figaro ... Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Concerto for Violin Op.35 in D major ... Piotr Tchaikovsky
... featuring violinist Irina Muresanu

Symphony No. 6 Op.74 in B minor (Pathetique) ... Piotr Tchaikovsky

Tickets are:
Adults: $15 (advance), $20 (door)
Seniors/Students: $12 (advance), $15 (door)
Children Under 12: $5 (all times)

Tickets can be purchased online at http://cambridgesymphony.org/event/essential-tchaikovsky/

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

ECPT Meeting Tonight Feb 22 at East End House

If you are interested in hearing from the developers that submitted bids on the Edward J Sullivan Court House, 5 of the 7 bidders will be at the East Cambridge Planning Team meeting tonight starting at 7pm at the East End House 105 Spring St.

East Side Bar and Grill on Phantom Gourmet


In case you missed it, here is East Side Bar & Grille on Phantom Gourmet.

Congrats to Chris and East Side and thanks for the Smoke This Rib Fest plug .... Stanley Cup of BBQ competitions indeed

Monday, February 6, 2012

Clover Brings CSA Farm Shares to East Cambridge

What if picking up your CSA farm share meant stopping by a retail location on
your own schedule instead of meeting a truc in a parking lot during a 3-hour pick-up window?
That’s the idea behind a new experiment in “CSA retail” launched today by Clover Food Lab
(www.cloverfoodlab.com), a chain of fast-food restaurants and food trucks in Boston and
Cambridge founded by MIT alum Ayr Muir.

In community-supported agriculture (CSA), customers subscribe to a farm and pay a sum of money
(usually $500-$600) in the winter; farmers use the cash to plan, buy seeds, hire employees, and
grow food. As the harvest comes in from June to October, farmers divide up the produce weekly
among their shareholders.

“The problem with CSAs in urban areas is that they’re sort of hard to find out about and
inconvenient to pick up,” Clover president Ayr Muir says. CSA members in the Boston area often
need to drive to the farms or pick up their shares from the back of a delivery truck in parking lots or
behind grocery stores during very limited time windows (for example, Wednesdays from 4-6pm).
Muir wants to use Clover to spotlight CSAs front and center. He believes that if successful this pilot
program could pave the way for CSAs to enter the mainstream. Clover believes the market for CSA
membership could number in the tens of thousands in the Boston area providing vital support to
area farms.

This February, Clover HUB, the 7,000-square-foot facility at 1075 Cambridge Street, will be
transformed into a pop-up CSA sign-up space. Customers can read information about five different
CSAs and sign up for whichever farm appeals to them the most or fits into their schedule best. The
pilot program will include Marshall Farm, The Food Project, Lindentree Farm, Drumlin Farm, and
Red Fire Farm, each dropping off on a different day of the week.

Once the growing season starts in June, shareholders will return to Clover HUB on a specific day
each week to pick up their box of vegetables.

Clover will host a public CSA Night at Clover HUB, 1075 Cambridge Street, from 7pm-9pm on
Friday, February 24. At the event, which is open to the public, customers can talk to the CSA
farmers, sign up for any remaining shares, and tour the area of Clover HUB where CSAs will be
picked up come harvest time.

Muir sees several benefits to customers who sign up. Customers will be able to stop by during
normal store hours, so they won’t lose out on their share because traffic or bad weather made
them a few minutes late to a pickup. Muir believes farmers will benefit from the increased visibility
and ease of drop-off. An indoor pickup area means that farmers will not have to wait around after
they drop off the shares. Clover will offer the service free to farms.

Clover expects customers to consider a variety of factors when picking their farm. Some customers
might pick a CSA with a Monday drop-off to have food for the week, or Fridays to have food for the
weekend. Others might select a CSA because they’ve seen the farm at a neighborhood farmers’
market (Drumlin Farm), because it is certified organic (Lindentree Farm, Red Fire Farm),
empowers local teens (The Food Project), or provides little gifts throughout the season (Marshall
Farm).

Shares are offered on a first-come, first-serve basis. Some farms have many shares available;
others have sliding scales for payment from low-income customers; and one, Lindentree Farm, is
launching its first-ever Boston drop-off, creating 10 special shares just for Clover customers.
The CSA program fits into Clover’s long-term goals: to improve customers’ health over time; bring
money to local farmers, and make fresh food accessible to many people. On a busy day, Clover
serves nearly 20,000 people at two restaurants and four food trucks parked at MIT, Longwood
Medical Area, Boston University, and South Station. “If this experiment works, in a few years, we
could introduce CSAs to thousands of new customers and funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars
to local farmers,” Muir says. “The hardest part for us is going to be waiting for the crops to grow.”

CSA Night
Friday, February 24, 7pm-9pm
Clover HUB (1075 Cambridge St, Cambridge, MA)
Open to the public

Schedule and Location of Clover CSA Pickups (June—October)
Clover HUB (1075 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA)
Monday: Marshall’s Farm (Gloucester, Mass)
Tuesday: The Food Project (Lincoln, Mass)
Wednesday: Lindentree Farm (Lincoln, Mass)
Thursday: Drumlin Farm (Lincoln, Mass)
Friday: Red Fire Farm (Granby, Mass)

More information:
http://www.cloverfoodlab.com/?p=8750
http://www.cloverfoodlab.com/?p=7727
http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/csa/csa.shtml

Monday, January 23, 2012

PopUp Cafe Info Session

Pop-up Café
Information Session

Date:              Tuesday February 7th
Time:             9:00 am
Location:       License Commission
                        831 Mass. Ave., Cambridge

Since being introduced in Cambridge (2006), outdoor dining has been successful in increasing street life, creating a vibrant street atmosphere, making the sidewalk more interesting for pedestrians, supporting local businesses and enhancing sidewalk plantings.  Annually 42 establishments participate in the program; 18 serving alcohol.

Pop-up Cafés are an opportunity to build on the success of the outdoor dining program by using on-street parking spaces for additional café space.  This space can be combined with sidewalk seating to provide a larger seating area than previously permitted, or may allow outdoor dining in areas not previously permitted, due to limited sidewalk width.  Pop-up Cafés have been popular in Europe and have recently been established in California, Pennsylvania, Canada and New York City. 

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

East Cambridge Planning Team meeting at 7pm

Tonight at 7pm the Division of Capital and Asset Management (DCAM) will be at the East Cambridge Planning Team meeting at the East End House.

DCAM will be briefing residents on the process of putting the Edward J. Sullivan Court house out to bid and how the building could be reused.

The future use of the building will certainly have an impact on the neighborhood so do take some time to tell them what you would like to see happen there.

DCAM was very responsive to some ECBA suggestions after our meeting and did respond to the requests to better maintain the vegetation and clean up the trash that seems to collect in the area.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

The Little Engine That Could! - Cambridge Symphony Orchestra

Cynthia Woods, Music Director

presents

THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD!

Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 4:00 PM
Somerville Theatre
55 Davis Square
Somerville, MA

Internet Symphony No. 1 (Eroica) ... Tan Dun
The Little Engine that Could ... Allen Feinstein (book by Watty Piper)
Cello Concerto No. 2 in D major ... Joseph Haydn

Tickets are:
Adults: $10 (advance), $15 (door)
Seniors/Students: $8 (advance), $12 (door)
Children Under 12: $5 (all times)

Tickets can be purchased online through http://www.cambridgesymphony.org/

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

January Monthly Meeting Update

At the January 3rd ECBA monthly meeting hosted by Vinfen, ECBA members were joined by John Pelletier of the City of Cambridge's CitySmart Program and representatives from the State's Division of Capital and Asset Management (DCAM).

CitySmart is a program designed to encourage the use of more sustainable transportation for all kinds of trips. It was a three year grant funded program and just finished up in East Cambridge. John shared the results of the surveys and the information gathered during his time working within the East Cambridge neighborhood.  This is the third year of the program and by far showed the most successful results.  The survey reached 17% of East Cambridge households and showed that residents are very in tune with the transportation options around us. John will be posting the full report on their web page in the coming days. 

Some interesting information for ECBA to consider is that the most popular events participants would most likely attend in their neighborhood are; themed walks (63%), support local business events (47%), Park/neighborhood cleanups (44%), community meeting on neighborhood improvements (39%) or transportation improvements (38%), and general neighborhood walks or themed bike rides (both 34%).  We have already hosted  many of the mentioned events, so its encouraging to see a strong desire to have the continue and hopefully evolve into larger neighborhood events.

The Division of Capital and Asset Management (DCAM) approached the ECBA in order to reach the business community and solicit feedback on the future of the Sullivan Courthouse.  We were joined by Commissioner Carole Cornelison and Acting Deputy Commissioner Dana Harrell who explained the process currently underway.  Having no interest in reuse of the building in state or local government , DCAM is seeking requests for proposals for the property.  They stated that world wide interest has been shown in the building due to the proximity to Kendall Square. DCAM has hosted three tours of the building and a full list of interested parties having taken a tour is posted on their website.

Many ECBA members expressed concerns about how the building will blend in with the surrounding neighborhood, how parking would be handled by new owners, and overall building appearance.  DCAM felt that an active ground floor use could be achieved through the sale process and by working with the City and city's zoning  process.  It was also noted that a complimentary use to that of the nearby Multicultural Arts Center may be beneficial as well as a desire to see the building's outer skin upgraded to something more attractive.

RFP's are due at the beginning of February and a proposal should be selected some time in June.

ECBA will continue to monitor this project and hopes to communicate concerns and ideas with DCAM.  We encourage you to share your thoughts and comments with us as we can relay them to DCAM for consideration.