The Menotomy Grill & Tavern, 8 years old, is back to brewing live music Thursday nights now that Covid-19 has relented.

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

Barrence Whitfield performs starting at 9 p.m. Oct. 21. Plenty of parking, and never a cover.

UPDATED, Oct. 19: LexFarm, near the Arlington Reservoir, at 52 Lowell St., Lexington, next to the Arlington Reservoir, has reported the following: 

UPDATED, Oct. 18:  New England Sculptors Association (NESA) has partnered with the Old Schwamb Mill and the Town of Arlington to mark the beginning of the fall season with an outdoor sculpture exhibition at Mill Pond Park, in front of the Old Schwamb Mill.

Come view and enjoy the six juried pieces that are available for purchase through the middle of November. The participating artists’ sculptures on view include Mid-Century Modern Heart by Cassie Doyon; Weedy Sea Dragon by Cassie Doyon; My Love by Memy Ish Shalom; Cat by Marin Murakoski; Colliding Worlds by R. Douglass Rice; and Dragoon by Dan Rocha.

Photos of sculptures

The mill is the host for a reception, set for 1 to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 23. Meet the artists and enjoy a concert that to follow from 2:30 to 4, with the Foggy Mountain Consort, a renaissance/blue grass band.

The Boston International Kids Film Festival (BIKFF) returns to Arlington’s Regent Theater with a number of award-winning and family-friendly films created for, by and about kids.

“All of our films showcase extraordinary kids doing things many adults only dream of,” said Laura Azevedo, executive director of Filmmakers Collaborative, the festival’s presenter.  “At its heart, the Boston International Kids Film Festival is all about kids, and this year's selections highlight kids from all over the world doing some pretty remarkable work.”

The festival opens on Nov. 19, with a 7 p.m. screening of Yung Punx: A Punk Parable. The documentary follows four Massachusetts-based musicians, ages 8-12, as they form a punk band called Color Killer to perform in a local talent show. The band builds enough of a following to land a spot on the stage of the Warped Tour, the largest traveling music festival in the U.S., but they find a rocky road to rock-and-roll stardom. Comedian and Saturday Night Live alum, Chris Parnell narrates the feature-length film.

Color Killer will be on hand to perform live after the screening, and answer questions from the audience.

Saturday’s lineup features screenings of student-made films created in  Filmmakers Collaborative Academy, a film school with classes throughout the Commonwealth, taught by professional filmmakers. These young filmmakers will present full-length documentaries, animated shorts, and other short films appropriate for all ages.

Films by students from RAW Art in Lynn and Smooth Feather Youth, a youth arts program based in Maine, will also be shown. The screenings begin at 1:00 p.m. followed by question-and-answer sessions with the filmmakers

BIKFF wraps up on Sunday with a virtual screening of Youth v Gov, followed by live panel discussion with the producer and cast members. The film tells the story of twenty-one young leaders filing a ground-breaking lawsuit against the U.S. government, asserting it has willfully acted over six decades to create the climate crisis, endangering their constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property.

In hybrid fashion, all film blocks will be made available for viewing, and audience members will have up to five days to watch each block on their own time as well as to watch the question-and-answer sessions with filmmakers at the conclusion of each block.

All other films will be available the stream online through eventive.org. Attendees will be able to watch all of the films and question-and-answer sessions at their leisure. 

Awards will be presented for Best Documentary, Best Short, Best International, Best Student Film, Best Student Documentary and the Audience Choice Award. Student-made films will be live-judged with the winners announced at the end of each program block. The festival will also present the Peggy Charren Award for Excellence, created in honor of Peggy Charren, who worked tirelessly to achieve both quality and diversity in children’s television, and organized parents in her community to create an advocacy group, Action for Children’s Television (ACT). 

 All screenings are open to the public. Festival passes begin at $50 for complete access to all online and in-person screenings and the question-and-answer sessions. For more information or to purchase tickets to the festival, visit http://bikff.org/

"The Glassblower’s Daughter," an American fairy tale, premieres Friday through Sunday, Oct. 22 through 24, for four shows only.

An inspiring original musical for the entire family about a teenager who finds her voice and grows empowered by discovering a powerful secret. This original, two-act musical will inspire people of all ages.

This is a world premiere performance for Lightning House Players, a theatrical company dedicated to presenting works that inspire audiences.

This presentation is recommended for everyone ages 7 and older.

Aardvark Jazz Orchestra

The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra will open its 49th season with an in-person concert titled "A Duke Ellington Celebration," set for 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 24, at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 705 Hale St, Beverly.

Leading the group in the St. John’s Concert Series is Arlington resident Mark Harvey.

Suggested donations: $15 and $10.

Proof of vaccination and masks required.

Registration required.  Sign up here >> and pay at the door.

Called “stunningly beautiful” (The New York City Jazz Record) and “one of the best jazz ensembles in the world” (Jazz Podium, Germany), Aardvark will play such classics as "Satin Doll" and "I’m Beginning to See the Light" and joyful selections from Ellington’s Sacred Concerts, including the lyrical "Come Sunday" and the jubilant "It’s Freedom." Aardvark has been performing all-Ellington concerts for more than three decades, praised for “lush sonorities and a saxophonic blend worthy of Ellington’s finest reed sections.” (Jazz Times).

Mystic Chorale invites all who love to sing to experience the thrill of reuniting live this fall, beginning Tuesdays, Sept. 14, through Nov. 24, from 7:30 to 9 p.m., at First Parish Unitarian, 630 Mass Ave. 

Sign up at mysticchorale.org.

During Covid, Mystic’s No. 1 priority is the health and safety of all. Close attention is being paid to the latest guidance from the CDC and other sources regarding the spread of the virus and its variants and recommended safety precautions and are setting safety protocols above and beyond what Massachusetts requires. 

All present at rehearsals will be required to show proof of full vaccination and wear masks. Singers will be seated at a safe distance from one another. As the season progresses, Mystic will continue to follow CDC and state guidelines and the latest advice from choral-singing experts regarding masking and other health protocols.

UPDATED,  Oct. 21: The Arlington Farmers' Market, managed by Patsy Kraemer, in its 24th year at 29 Mystic St., Russell Common lot, closes after Wednesday, Oct. 27, from 2 to 6:30 p.m.

From the Oct. 20 market newsletter: "Just one more week for the Farmers' Market. Last market is Oct. 27.

Thanks to Em Phillips, the AHS GSA, Molly Blaauw Gillis and Elizabeth Kostojohn for painting this fun window for the Rainbow Commission as part of the Arlington Heights Halloween window-painting event on Saturday, Oct. 2.

Check it out at Kumon, along with many other windows along Mass. Av.e, on either side of Park Avenue. 

LGBTQIA+ Rainbow events: Select Board members celebrate

On National Coming-Out Day, join our two out LGBTQIA+ Select Board members, Len Diggins, at far right, and Eric Helmuth, for an open conversation with the community Monday, Oct. 11, 7-8 p.m.

Get to know a little more about them, ask them any questions you'd like, and share your thoughts on how you'd like to improve the Town of Arlington. We hope you can join us.

Register to attend in order to receive the meeting information >>

All of us have stories. What's yours? Would you like to be able to share it and don't know where to begin? Have you sat in your car to hear the end of a story on "The Moth' or "Risk" or "This American Life" on radio? Have you attended a live storytelling event or watched "Stories from the Stage" on WGBH and wondered if you could do that?

 If you answered yes, I hope you will join us and Plug In to an evening of virtual storytelling on Tuesday, Nov. 9.

The theme for the evening is gratitude. Anyone living and breathing today has much to be thankful for, and usually there is a good backstory about why.

For more than 30 years, Norah Dooley, has been connecting people through the art of storytelling and shared stories. She has taught thousands of people to tell and value their stories. Norah has been a frequent participant in the Kickstand Fugitive Productions' storytelling series, and a visiting artist in Arlington Public Schools.

The Arlington Garden Club's annual membership drive is under way.

Take a little thyme to grow the roses – and the daisies and the tomatoes: Come join us at the garden club, as members dig in with renewed vigor to preserve the town’s natural resources and to create botanical splendor in our own yards and community spaces.

This is the perfect time to join, at the start of the 2021-2022 club year. Monthly meetings feature educational presentations aimed at improving gardening skills and building awareness of vital initiatives for protecting the local environment.  In addition, small, enthusiastic groups work on civic projects to plant, preserve and maintain public green spaces, such as the Town Hall Gardens, an authentic kitchen garden at the historic Jason Russell house, the traffic circle at Ridge Street,and garden planters throughout town.  

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? 

UPDATED, May 26: The Capitol Theatre and Creamery in East Arlington reopened Friday, May 28, management confirmed to YourArlington.

Screened were "Cruella," "A Quiet Place 2" and "Nomadland."

Tickets are on sale. 

Check the website for showtimes and tickets >> 

Model U.N. students with U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy III in 2018. Kim Kay Holt started the group. LEAP Arlington is starting a program to improve access to camps -- an effort designed to fulfill several issues in town.

Called ACASC, the Arlington Camp Access Service Corps offers weeklong training for 18 to 20 rising sophomores and juniors about how to aid caregivers in finding and applying to summer camps for their children, including getting financial assistance. The students, under supervision, will assist parents of camp-age children in selecting camps.

LEAP stands for the Leadership Enrichment Adventure Project and is the Arlington consulting and community-organizing group run for years by resident Kim Kay Holt. The group launched an after-school program at Ottoson and the Arlington Regional Model U.N. Clubs.

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.

Walk the rink

Starts Tuesday, May 11, at Ed Burns Arena, 422 Summer St. 

Continues through June 10.

Walk the Rink is back.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays (9 to 10:30 a.m.) starting May 11.

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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