It’s Thanksgiving week in the neighborhood. OFDers are streaming back for a taste of home cooking, maybe a pre-meal walk with the cousins, and a pint at the old (or new) pub. For these ex-pats, there’ll surely be a shock to the system as they round the corner to encounter a new block of condos or a shut-down pharmacy.
But, if they stick around through the weekend, they’ll also find familiar rites of the season are still alive and well— and some new traditions that are finding their own place in the Dot landscape. Saturday brings a flurry of activity and what serves as the official “launch” of the holiday season across the villages, hills, parishes and corners that constitute this town-turned-city neighborhood.
An effort to “light-and-unite” the neighborhood through a coordinated series of tree lightings will happen over a three-and-a-half hour window on Saturday afternoon and evening. Conceived back in the mid 1990s and organized by a committee led through the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services, the trolley tour starts in Port Norfolk at 4:15 p.m. and wraps up its schedule at Mother’s Rest at Four Corners at 7:10 (approximate time, the tour is sometimes delayed by photo-taking and traffic.) Other stops and times are listed on this info-graphic.
In Lower Mills, the “Holiday Stroll” is set from 3 to 6 p.m. in the village along Dorchester Avenue and Washington Street. The shops and restaurants typically offer special treats, holiday caroling, appearances by Santa and his court, etc. This year’s lighting of a tree outside the St. John Paul II Catholic Academy school building will take place around 6:15 p.m.
Just up the avenue, the Ashmont Holiday Market will take place on Saturday from 2 to 6:30 p.m. at Parish of All Saints, 209 Ashmont St., with an after-party at Tavolo from 7 to 9 p.m. It’s billed by organizers at the Main Streets district, Ashmont-Adams and Ashmont Hill as “an opportunity to be merry, socialize and support local businesses while enjoying live music and seasonal treats. More than 25 craft and food vendors plus free family activities.” The tree lighting is scheduled for 6:45 p.m.
Saturday’s trolley tour is the first of two tree lighting blitzes. A second round— the citywide “Enchanted Trolley”tour on Dec. 6 and 7. — includes stops in Mattapan Square (12/6 at 1 p.m.), Codman Square (12/7, noon), and Adams Corner (12/7, 1 p.m.).
iCodman Square Neighborhood Council’s Dec. 7 tree lighting is preceded by a toy party for kids in the Great Hall starting at 10:30 a.m. with more than 300 toys for children. The city’s Enchanted Trolley will arrive around 12:30 p.m. at the newly renovated Codman Park to light the Christmas tree in the new space. There’s also a holiday market and craft fair planned at the Great Hall on Friday, Dec. 5, 4-8 p.m. and Sat., Dec. 6 in the Great Hall, sponsored by Codman Square NDC.
-Bill Forry
