Somerville Mourns Stephenson Aman … and More
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DETOXIFIED CONWAY PARK RETURNS TO SERVICE
Final ribbon-cutting to be held this Friday, 11 a.m.
It’s been five years since Conway Park was discovered to be contaminated. In preparation for renovations to the 2.8-acre complex at 550 Somerville Avenue, a 2017 environmental site assessment found that chemicals had seeped into the soil, including lead and PCBs, some of which exceeded regulatory limits.
DISPATCH FROM THE FIRST-ANNUAL BOSTON HOT SAUCE FESTIVAL
“Large or small, they may only have one or two sauces and it helps them get out in front of the public”
Barry Shannon of Barry’s Hot Sauce and John Kasper, co-owner of Whitehouse Station Sauce Company, met at the NYC Hot Sauce Expo last October. It was a fun spicy affair, but the pair also wanted to bring the same kind of visibility to hot sauce in Boston.
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Somerville Mourns Stephenson Aman
City leaders expressed sadness at the news that Somerville resident Stephenson Aman passed away last week.
“Stephenson was a mentor, role model, coach, community organizer, advocate, and most of all, a friend,” City Councilor Judy Pineda Neufeld wrote on Twitter. “There is so much I could share about Steph. And yet words won’t do this beautiful soul justice. There wasn’t a piece of this city he didn’t touch.”
Born in Boston to Haitian immigrants, Aman attended Charlestown High School, Bunker Hill Community College, and received his bachelor’s degree in political science from UMass Boston in 2014. Most recently, he worked for the City of Somerville as a Community Liaison, providing support for low-income, under-served residents. He also served on the Somerville Education Foundation, the Somerville Cannabis Commission, and the SomerVision 2040 Committee. Last year Aman ran an unsuccessful campaign for City Council in Ward 2.
City Councilor Jake Wilson wrote: “Whether it was a neighborhood cleanup, a community meeting, or a youth sports outreach event, Steph was a great partner when it came to improving the lives of people who too often get overlooked here. I’ll miss his energy and his voice in Somerville.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Aman’s family at gofund.me/5c75bd87/.
Looking for a Job?
The City of Somerville, Somerville Community Corporation, Boynton Yards, and USQ are hosting a job and resource fair (somervillema.gov/jobfair) to connect residents with local employment opportunities. The job fair will take place this Thursday, May 26, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Mystic Activity Center, 530 Mystic Avenue.
Representatives of about 30 local organizations in diverse industries, including technology, hospitality, health care, construction, retail, education, and other sectors, will be on site to meet with interested job-seekers. Advanced registration is encouraged.
If you are feeling unsure of your ability to apply for jobs, the First Source Jobs Programs can help you clarify your career goals and develop job readiness skills. An initiative of the Somerville Community Corporation, First Source (somervillecdc.org/firstsource) works to advance economic opportunity for unemployed and underemployed adult workers, people working minimum wage jobs, immigrants, people of color, and front line workers in Somerville and surrounding communities.
First Source offers career coaches to help with résumé development, interview practice, computer literacy, and other essential job-seeking skills. You can sign up online, or contact Danyal at dnajmi@somervillecdc.org, or 617-410-9917 for more information.
Memorial Day Ceremony Planned
The City of Somerville will host a ceremony of remembrance to honor those who have sacrificed for our country in military service. The ceremony will take place Monday, May 30, at Veterans Memorial Cemetery on Broadway between Alewife Brook Parkway and North Street.
The program will begin at 10 a.m., with speakers including Mayor Katjana Ballantyne, City Council President Matthew McLaughlin, Director of Veterans’ Services Ted Louis-Jacques, and several members of the local veterans’ community.
The public is welcome to attend in person, and the ceremony will be live-streamed on the CityTV Facebook page and broadcast after the event on GovTV and on the City’s YouTube channel.
Photo credit: Somerville at sunset, May 2022. Photo by Jason Pramas. Copyright 2022 Jason Pramas.
This article is syndicated by the Somerville Wire municipal news service of the Somerville News Garden project of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism.
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Linda Pinkow is a reporter for the Somerville Wire. She is also a development consultant for the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism.
