Family Cookbook Book Group (Valente)
Children and their grown-ups are invited to this special kid-centered cookbook club!
This month, we're celebrating flatbreads of all varieties (pizzas included!) Bring a dish to share, or just come to talk about your experience with a chosen cookbook. No need to bring a dish to join. Visit Valente for a themed selection of cookbooks that are ready to check out.
Registration is required; sign-ups available in-person at Valente or through calling at 617-349-4015. This book group is for children of all ages and their caregivers and families. For more information contact Maggie at mfrench@cambridgema.gov.
Meadow Developing in Flagstaff Park to Restore Habitat
An area in Flagstaff Park is being converted to a meadow in the coming months in an attempt to allow more open areas of the City to be more natural. Adding natural areas to our parks and streetscapes will encourage a greater diversity of plant and insect species.
Open Enrollment
Health Insurance Open enrollment for active City employees and non-Medicare eligible retirees will be held this year from February 10-28, 2025. Please review your current health insurance elections and submit any changes you would like to make via the online portal no later than Friday, February 28, 2025.
If “Stranger Danger” is a Myth, Then What? (Main)
Most sexual violence is done by people we know. What can parents, teens, and community members do about it?
Meg Stone, author of The Cost of Fear, will offer practical, gender-inclusive strategies for learning safety skills important for resisting coercion, intimidation, and violence. Avoiding violence is about developing skills, not following rules. Women receive advice like "don't wear a ponytail" or "don't shop alone." These tips lack evidence and come from male authorities who avoid questions.
We will cover:
Demonstration: Learn practical safety gender-inclusive skills.
Resist Coercion: Skills to resist friends, those we know, or authority.
Empowerment: Feel powerful in stressful situations.
Community impact: Personal safety leads to social change.
Registration is required.
Climate Action Book Club (Collins/Virtual)
Join the Collins Branch Library in collaboration with the Cambridge Climate Leaders Initiative for a monthly discussion of a climate-related topic. Each month the group will discuss a book on the topic at hand then hear about a related local program or initiative and how you can take action.
Topic: Decarbonizing the Future
Book: Electrify: an optimist's playbook for our clean energy future by Saul Griffith
This group will meet virtually and in person at the Collins Branch. Please register below if you would like to attend via Zoom. A Zoom link will be sent to all registered participants one hour before the event. For more information contact Jo at jpercell@cambridgema.gov.
DCR Traffic Advisory
Beginning on Wednesday, August 13, 2025, and continuing through Sunday, September 7, 2025 (excluding Labor Day weekend), the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), in coordination with the City of Cambridge, will close two travel lanes of Memorial Drive between Hawthorn Street and Gerry's Landing Road to accommodate manhole repair work.
July 4th - Useful Resources for the Community
It’s no secret that Cambridge offers one of the best views of the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular and each year on July 4th thousands of people come to our community to enjoy the show. Here are some links to useful information on road closures, city services, public transportation, and public safety:
Karen Russell Presents: The Antidote (Main)
Harvard Book Store and the Cambridge Public Library welcome Karen Russell—award-winning author of six books of fiction, including the New York Times bestsellers Swamplandia! and Vampires in the Lemon Grove—for a discussion of her new novel The Antidote.
Registration is required.
$450K In Covid Relief Awarded To 25 Cambridge Cultural Organizations
Applicants were eligible for up to $30,000 each via the Create Cambridge: Arts Nonprofit Recovery Grant from the City of Cambridge (managed by Cambridge Arts and the city’s Community Development Department), in partnership with the Create Cambridge cultural nonprofit coalition, with funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
Specialized Stretch Energy Code
On January 23, 2023, the City of Cambridge adopted the commonwealth of Massachusetts's new
Municipal Opt-in Specialized Stretch Energy Code, joining the communities of Brookline and
Watertown. The code, which goes into effect in Cambridge on July 1, 2023, is to support the City's
Net zero goals.