Good Morning, Neighbors,

Last night the Select Board gathered for what ended up being the shortest meeting they’ve had in a long while. During the meeting, they:

• Approved the use of the Common for:

  • Celebrate Burlington Day, August 4

  • Truck Day, September 17

  • Trucktober, October 14

  • Family Concerts on Tuesdays from June 27-August (TBD after rain dates are accounted for)

  • Children’s Shows on Wednesdays from June 27-August (TBD after rain dates are accounted for)

• Heard from Assistant Recreation Director, Kelly Lehman, about the grant of $187,872 from the Office of Health and Human Services to expand the Therapeutic Recreation program.

• Heard from two Girl Scouts about a Cultural Festival they’d like to hold for their Silver Award project. More to come on this.

• Proclaimed this week to be Public Works week and encouraged community members to reflect on and appreciate the work that DPW does to keep our town running.

• Proclaimed June to be Pride Month in Burlington in recognition of the “difficult work for equality that LBGTQIA+ members face, and to celebrate their valuable contributions to our community.”

• Proclaimed June 15 to be Leo Day in memory of trans activist and co-founder of Burlington’s Pride Day, Leo Abramov, who passed away from cancer in March. June 15th would have been his 37th birthday. Read more about Leo and the proclamation, which names this day “because of his dedication to help make Burlington a welcoming place for members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

• Granted single-day liquor licenses to Wegmans to hold beer gardens on Thursdays this summer, from June 1 through August 31.

• Approved the Procession of the Deities up and down Wilmington Road to the Sri Siddha Lalitha Peetham temple on June 25, 2023.

Today in Burlington

Meetings and Events

• 8:00 AM – Mystic Regional Emergency Planning Committee meets to discuss East Palestine as a case study, a solar farm, and more. In case you (like me) have never heard of Mystic REPC, according to their website, ‘‘The Mystic REPC reviews and compiles procedures to deal with hazardous materials emergencies, trains first responders, and shares best practices with members and local businesses.” That’s all I know, and I can’t see if we have a representative member, but since it’s on the town website, I assume we do. (One Audubon Rd; Wakefield, MA)
• 10:30 AM – Walking the Caminos De Santiago, Spain, with Meg Holmes (virtual library event; register)
• 3:00-5:00 PM – Burlington Community Design Workshop – Site Tour – Piedmont Realty office building lobby in the commercial district at 25 Burlington Mall Road
• 6:30-8:30 PM – Burlington Community Design Workshop – Listening Workshop – Piedmont Realty office building lobby in the commercial district at 25 Burlington Mall Road
• 7:00 PM – Board of Health will discuss a variance for an unattended food establishment (Corporate Chefs at 25 Burlington Mall Road), a permit for hens, some tobacco violations for Burlington Citgo and Binsky Premium Cigars, and more. (Town Hall and virtual)
• 7:00 PM – School Committee will discuss (among many other things) DECA, Tenacity Challenge, June events, an update about the equity audit, a food service management RFP, and more. I’ll be interested to see if this is just a part of the process since we had only contracted the current food service company until the end of the year, or if the district has decided the current company doesn’t meet our needs and is looking for a new one. Updates on that tomorrow! (BHS and virtual)
• 7:00 PM – Shawsheen School Committee has a packed agenda this evening, including discussing the Superintendent’s evaluation, voting on next year’s school calendar, discussing a programmable sign, and more. (Shawsheen Tech and YouTube)
• 7:00 PM – Discover India Series: A Musical Journey (virtual library event; register)

Sports and Activities

Girls played two close lacrosse games, with scores ending just one point apart. Varsity beat Andover 16-15, while JV just lost 7-6.

In tennis, boys shut out Melrose 5-0 for a strong regular season standing of 14-4 total and 10-0 in league play. Girls took a tough 3-2 loss, bringing their record to 10-6.

The Varsity boys’ volleyball team took a 3-1 win against Melrose, while JV fell 0-2.

Today we have:

• Unified coed basketball at 3:00
• Baseball in Bedford at 4:00
• Softball at home versus Woburn at 4:15; with a 16-2 record, this team is already bringing home the Middlesex League Freedom Division Championship title, and they surely won’t slow down this afternoon
• Boys’ Lacrosse in Westwood at 5:30

That’s all for today. I’ll see you (hopefully earlier) tomorrow!

Nicci