Check out the latest updates from the Rainbow Commission:

Tuesday, May 17 from 2–4pm, “Books Galore!” at the Lexington Community Center, 39 Marrett Road, Lexington. Do you love books that feature LGBTQ+ characters, including seniors? Join the fun as we engage in book-related games and activities, giveaways, and plenty of laughs! Sponsored by LexPride. Cosponsored by Lexington Senior Services, Arlington Council on Aging, and Arlington LGBTQIA+ Rainbow Commission. Supported by a grant from the Dana Home Foundation.

Nick Page directing. / Lee Daum photo

Mystic Chorale continues to welcome all who love to sing to celebrate our connections to each other in "ARISE!," inspired by songwriter Jean Roe’s words, “To a more perfect union we aspire, and lift our voices from the fire.”

Ten weeks of rehearsals begin Tuesday, April 5, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., at First Parish Unitarian, 630 Mass. Ave., Arlington Center. Mystic will perform a concert at Carey Hall in Lexington on June 10.

In his penultimate season before moving to Missouri last November, after 32 years with Mystic Chorale, much-beloved founder and artistic director Nick Page will lead a glorious season that promises to lift the spirits and souls of singers and audience alike. 

Page says: “For my last two seasons with the Mystic I want to pull out all the stops.  I want us to go full glory with full compassionate connections to each other, to our audiences and to the universe. We will create magnificence!”

This spring is sure to be both exhilarating and stirring as the chorus begins to bid him farewell.

True Story Theater, based in Arlington, presents issues to the public by involving the audience through "playback" -- by drawing stories from them and having actor present the stories that arise. 

See all Regent events >>

Teen artists on the issues: Documentary Bootcamp | Short Film Screening + Q&A

Presented by Arlington Center for the Arts

Wednesday, May 18. from 7 to 9 p.m.

Runs for five weeks with six shows a week

April 21 until May 22

If you have ever longed for something, if you have ever desired it with all your heart, if you have been willing to wait tables for 29 years in order to pursue your dream then, My Son The Waiter will give new meaning to your life with "90 minutes of nonstop laughter!" 

Learn more | Show Times

Eduardo Betancourt

The 2022 Arlington International Film Festival (AIFF) is celebrating the arts through music with a presention by Eduardo Betancourt, a Grammy Award-winning harpist, set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 19, at Town Tavern, in East Arlington.

This is the second of two music concerts this spring with support from the Arlington Cultural Council.

Considered “one of the iconic harpists of this new age,” Betancourt​ is a Venezuelan musician, producer, arranger, composer, instructor and multi-instrumentalist with 30 years of experience in traditional and fusion Venezuelan music.

In 2010, Betancourt won a Latin Grammy Award for his participation on the album ​“​Tesoros de la Música Venezolana" by Ilan Chester​, and in 2016, he was nominated on the ​album ​"​Pa' Tío Simón" with Rafael "Pollo" Brito​.​

The Menotomy Grill & Tavern, which opened in 2013, brews live music Thursday nights.

The pandemic closed the place in March 2020, and dining returned that June.

 Duke Robillard starts at 9 p.m. May 19. Plenty of parking, and never a cover.

Director Paul Murphy, with McKenna Canty and Michelle Mount, in background. / Ginger Webb photosUPDATED May 15: AFD Theatre is staging "Boeing, Boeing," May 6 through 8, 13 through 15 and 20 through 22 on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., with a 3 p.m. Sunday matinee.

But before the show opens, at 22 Academy St., life is very busy. After a dark winter, AFD is ready to start up again with the final show of the season, "Boeing, Boeing."

A French farce written by Marc Camoletti, it tells the story of Bernard, a man smitten with gorgeous women. Simultaneously engaged to three airline hostesses, he has been able to juggle their schedules so that they never meet. Since they fly on three separate airlines, there is always one up, one down and one coming in to land.

But when Boeing brings in faster jets, their lives are about to collide.

Menotomy Concerts presents "Crossing the Space Between Us," featuring music by Ukrainian and American composers, in person at Town Hall at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 20.

Performing are Hazel Dean Davis of Arlington, horn, with the Raha Duo as well as Amelia Hollander Ames, viola; Elaine Rombola Aveni, piano, and Nicholas Auer, horn.

The program: 

Two scenes from "Shadow Bang" by Evan Ziporyn;

"Eclogue (Elegy)" by Théodore Akimenko;

"Songs of the Wolf" by Andrea Clearfield;

"The Stone and the Milkweed" by Jonathan Bailey Holland;

The Jam'n Java Open Mic and Coffeehouse, open Fridays every month for 12 years, has been on a Covid-19 break from the Kickstand Cafe since March 2020, but shows continue virtually, this time at 7 p.m. Friday, May 20.

Log in to SignupGenius to sign up to perform or attend the Jam'n Java Virtual Open Mic >>

 The deadline to sign up is the end of the day, Thursday, May 19, the day before the virtual open mic.

UPDATED May 13: The Old Schwamb Mill is presenting a talk titled “Arlington’s Cultural Heights Revisited” with speakers Sarah Burks, Doreen Stevens and Aimee Taberner, coauthors, Arlington’s Cultural Heights (2014). The illustrated talk, about the remarkable artists’ colony that flourished in western Arlington during the early 1900s, is set for 2 p.m. Saturday.

At that time, the Arlington Heights and Crescent Hill neighborhoods boasted a significant concentration of creative residents, including the Bavarian master wood carver Johannes Kirkmeyer, short story writer and poet Susan Hartley Swett, newspaper journalist Marjorie A. MacBride, poet and editor William S.B. Braithwaite and, most notably, Cyrus Dallin, sculptor of the Paul Revere Equestrian statue in Boston’s North End among many other figures.

Refreshments and an opportunity to view the exhibit “Into the Woods” exhibit will follow the talk.

UPDATED April 27: The Arlington Historical Society has released its listing of programs for 2021-22. Its regular location for Tuesday’s 7:30 p.m. programs is the Masonic Temple, 19 Academy St. (access for the disabled is at rear).

Programs are simulcast on YouTube >> To request a link, email the society at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

With "My Story," the society resumes and expands on the 2019-2020 program theme: The Covid-19 pandemic brought an abrupt suspension to our public programming in March 2020 and prevented gathering for the entire 2020-2021 season—a first in the history of the society. Next up, after a scheduling change:

Wright Locke Farm, just over the Arlington border in Winchester, near St. Eulalia, dates from the 17th century and is preserved to be a fun nonprofit to visit and get involved. 

Find out what's showing at the Capitol Theatre, in East Arlington. 

LexFarm, near the Arlington Reservoir, at 52 Lowell St., Lexington, next to the Arlington Reservoir, has reported the following:  

UPDATED May 15: The Cutter Gallery is a hidden gem with limited hours, but you can find it on the lowest floor of the Jefferson Cutter House, which houses the Dallin Art Museum and the Chamber of Commerce.

The gallery's May exhibition, "The Soul of a Camera" by Richard Krigstein, continues Sunday, May 15, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Volunteers are needed to lead tours of the historic Jason Russell House on weekends from mid-April through mid-October. 

The house is the site of the bloodiest fighting on the first day of the American Revolution on April 19, 1775, and its walls still bear musket ball holes from the skirmish on that day. Contents of the house and its new exhibit, “Menotomy:  Road to Revolution,” further enrich the story of that historic day and create a vivid picture of 18th- and 19th-century life in Arlington. 

Guide training for the 2022 season is scheduled for Saturday, March 19, from 10 a.m.- to 2:30 p.m.

From left, Allison Parramore, Alyssa Wang and Evan Khan.

The Boston Festival Orchestra has announced its second season's summer program.

Last June, the orchestra, with direct Arlington connections, opened its initial season as the first ensemble to bring live orchestra back to Boston after a year and a half. Now, season two features:

• Alyssa Wang, principal conductor, leads three performances in Jordan Hall on July 17, 24 and 31;
• The opening Summer Mainstage concert features cellist, Evan Kahn, performing Tchaikovsky's "Variations on a Rococo Theme" and concludes with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2;
• BFO flutist Allison Parramore takes center stage on July 24 with Cecile Chaminade’s Concertino for Flute. Parramore is also featured heavily on July 17 in Debussy’s "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun";
• Highlights include Brahms Symphony No. 2 on July 24 and Dvorak Symphony No. 8 on July 31; and
• Venturing into contemporary music, the BFO performs David LePage’s "Sleep Softly" in its finale concert on July 31, featuring solos from concertmaster Jae Cosmos Lee.

UPDATED,  Oct. 27: The Arlington Farmers' Market, managed by Patsy Kraemer, in its 24th year at 29 Mystic St., Russell Common lot, closed for the season after Wednesday, Oct. 27, from 2 to 6:30 p.m.

From the Oct. 27 market newsletter: "Patti the Knife Lady will be at the market today. Cyndi the Fish Lady will NOT be at the market.

"Many many thanks to all you terrific customers who have patronized the Arlington Farmers' Market this summer. You're the best - you keep us going.

"All the vendors and I are grateful for your business, your loyalty, and your good cheer! Best wishes for a healthy journey into 2022. See you then, on June 8.

"See you on Wednesday, June 8, 2022. Same time, same place."

Now you can hear the Mystic River as you walk along it for two miles in Arlington and Medford.

"Sound on Mystic" is an outdoor audio installation combining sound art, music, spoken word and ambience into an immersive experience.

Listen through Echoes, a free mobile app that uses GPS data to cue different sounds at various sites. The Mystic River Watershed Association provides it.

After downloading the app, put on a pair of headphones, take a walk within the installation’s extensive boundaries and hear a diverse set of sound works that are all united by the river itself, and its complex legacy as a place of history and nature, community and conflict, labor and recreation.

How do I listen? 

Until the pandemic shut it down March 15, 2020, Fugitive Productions brought Moth and Massmouth winners, along with others from the local arts community, to share noncompetitive, five- to six-minute, true-life "Fugitive Stories" at Kickstand Cafe. 

In 2015, the effort began producing events in West Acton. The response surpassed expectations. It has been the host for 200-plus shows and sold nearly 14,000 tickets to a wide variety of music, comedy, and storytelling events in Acton, Concord, Arlington, Sudbury, Maynard, Framingham, Stow and Lincoln — and then virtually.

That is ending. The effort has been booking for the past couple of weeks  — music and comedy at Sanctuary in Maynard and a story-telling series at Old Frog Pond Farm in Harvard.

Fugitive won’t be booking smaller rooms just yet, including Kickstand Cafe.

Cooped up? The Arlington Land Trust suggests some walking trails in and around Arlington.

Those at the nonprofit hope you and your family are staying safe and healthy during these difficult times. While social-distancing guidelines remain in place to protect us all from exposure to Covid-19, we also know how important it is to be outdoors and enjoy the bounties of spring in New England.

The land trust offers the following suggestions for safe walking around Arlington and in other nearby communities where conservation lands and parks are open.

Please check the websites of places you wish to visit ahead of time since many are still closed.

Registration opens to current families, new families

Registration for Kid Care Afterschool Program 2020-21 opened to new families on Wednesday, April 15. It opened for current families April 8.

"Current family" is defined as having a child registered for the Kid Care Preschool or Afterschool program during April 2020.

The enrollment fee of $50 per child. It is due at the time of registration and may be paid before that.

UPDATED, March 11: A high-quality eight-minute video documentary viewable online, just updated, called“Mill Brook Rediscovered,” is part of an adapted version of a 2019 Old Schwamb Mill exhibit scheduled to be shown in Town Hall from March 2 to April 30. A reception was set for Sunday, March 22, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the second-floor gallery, but that has been postponed in view of the coranvirus. 

“Mill Brook Rediscovered” was produced and directed by Arlington resident Glenn Litton under the auspices of the Schwamb Mill Preservation Trust. Litton is a former producer and executive producer for WGBH-TV, associated with Emmy-winning programs, including “The Advocates, “ “The Living Planet” and “Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale.” His own production company, DocuThis, based in  Arlington. 

More than 9,000 children and young adults are in state custody in Massachusetts under the Department of Children and Family Services. These young people have experienced abuse and/or neglect and are living in temporary situations.

The Foster Care Review Unit makes decisions regarding children who have been in foster care for six months or longer, assessing how well their needs are being met and what progress has been made toward establishing them in a permanent living situation. A volunteer from the Community is one member of the three -person panels that make these decisions.

The Meals on Wheels program of Minuteman Senior Services provides a hot lunch to homebound seniors.

Meals are delivered five days a week, 52 weeks a year, excluding holidays.  These meals assist the older adult who is not capable of preparing at least one hot nutritious meal a day.

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