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| MyDorchester & Community New Year's Resolutions! | |
 It's been a good four months for the new MyDorchester Team, with massive increases in web traffic, serious overhaul of the community guide and slow but steady connection to local organizations, news outlets, and public service providers. The team visited numerous civic association meetings and supported initiatives of both partner health centers, the Codman Square Health Center and Dorchester House Multi-Service Center, and helped Healthworks at Codman pull off their winter coat drive! That isn't all we've accomplished, to see all the organizations we've connected with and more click here
Despite these successes, we know there's work left to be done. With this in mind, here are the MyDorchester New Year's resolutions:
- Usability. Make our website more navigable. Create an FAQ page to address common concerns.
- Visit our local libraries! We'd like to meet and keep in touch with branch librarians, or at least stay on top of current programs (yes, we do check the BPL branch library events online).
- Intercultural Communication. Incorporate other languages and make MyDorchester more accessible to immigrant populations (suggestions welcome)
- Continue to expand our numbers: # of visitors; eBlast subscribers
- Tailor our website to our users. Ensure that MyDot resources are helpful and pleasant to use. Do you READ the eBlast? Do you delete it right away? Let us know what you do or don't want to see in the weekly mailing--and also how much.
Community resolutions:
Generation Next Academy's Youth Council;
"To address important issues in the Dorchester community such as fixing up abandon buildings, adding more shelters for the homeless, rehab/health centers, more community centers for the youth, better foster care programs, and the lack of teen jobs in the area. To work on the Safe Love Dance & a (PSA) play based on bullying."
Jane Taylor;
"I'd like to attend community events in Dorchester, all sorts of them, and with that in mind I want to continue to work on developing a Roots and Shoots group for the children in and around this community"
Paolo Gomes;
"Work harder, increase money management skills, prioritize wants, de-procrastinate and take care of my family."
If you didn't have time during the holidays to send us your resolutions, you can still email them in and we may extend this until next week. |
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Miss and Mr. Prestige Pageant
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.png) Youths aged 9-19 are invited to compete in the Miss and Mr. Prestige 2010 Pageant for the awe and recognition of your peers. Winners will get to ride in a convertible during the Dorchester Day Parade as well as the Caribbean Festival! Miss and Mr. Prestige is sponsored by the Boston Police Area B-2 Community Service Office, the Boston Police Athletic League, and the BCYF Perkins Community Center. Admission and parcipation are free.
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The MyDorchester team wishes you all the best in 2011!
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Neponset First Day Hike
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 Come join friends, neighbors, DCR Park staff, and BNAN in starting off the New Year with a guided First Day Hike at Pope John Paul II Park and the Neponset Greenway. The easy walk is about 4.4 milles and you'll receive a cup of hot chocolate at the beginning and end of the program. This hike is FREE and open to the public, but don't forget to dress in layers and winter boots!
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Franklin Park New Year's Day Walk
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.jpg) Take an enchanting walk through Franklin Park to learn some park history, experience Frederick Law Olmsted's masterpiece and catch the beginning of a winter sunset. The walk will be on plowed path's to avoid getting stuck in the massive amounts of snow and the walk is free of charge. So come out and enjoy the beauty of nature in the winter!
MORE INFO
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Seafarers' Island Holiday
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 Yes is may be chilly this time of year, but it is also exquisitely beautiful so don't let the snow stop you from visiting the Boston Harbor Island this Sunday! You can explore Spectacle Island on your own or take a tour with a Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands volunteer. Reservations are recommended so come and get the family out of the city for a day!
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Monday Movie Series: Gardening Keeps Us Healthy
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 BNAN Master Urban Gardeners is presenting movies for the whole family about eating well and gardening in the city at the Codman Square Library. Come and learn about how to garden in your own backyard and how important it is to eat locally!
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Best Places to go Sledding in Town
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So now that we have all this snow, what should we do with it? Let's go sledding! We have compiled a short list of the best locations we could find for sledding in and around Dorchester. So before all this wonderful snow disappears grab your tubes, sleds, garbage bags or even your trash can lids!
Where to sled:
- Dorchester Park off Adams Street
- Mary Hemmenway Park (aka "Hemey Park", dare you sled suicide hill?)
- William J. Devine Franklin Park Golf Course, sledders are allowed in winter
- Weld Hill at Arnold Arboretum, corner of Walter and South streets in Roslindale
- The Bowl next to Jamaica Pond in JP
So get out there and have some fun this weekend!
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Save The Date!
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Sunday, Jan. 9: Though The Earth Shook - a moment of reflection, prayers, and songs for the Haiti earthquake at Strand Theatre ~
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Congratulations Jacqueline Gentile, you were the first to discover the location of our Photo Contest last week! This photo is a residency on Adams Street, right by Neponset and Victory. Take your kids by to see the crazy lights before the holidays are over!
New Photo: Email eBlast@mydorchester.org if you know the location of the photo below and we will give you recognition in the next eBlast!
This photo was taken by Steve Peślak, thanks for getting out there in storm and taking a great photo for us Steve!
Send Us Your Photos for the MyDorchester Photo Contest! |
If you have photos of unique Dorchester outdoor artwork, monuments, you name it, email eBlast@mydorchester.org with your pictures of Dorchester and their locations so we can keep the photo contest up and running. We'll credit you as the author, of course.
Want to know where the past Photos of the Week were taken? Visit our Archive.
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Dorchester Flashback
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 Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1448 Great New England Blizzards
New England weather historian John Horrigan presents
a chronology of the great snow storms that have socked
New England over the last 400 years, including the Three
Landmark Winters of the 17th century, the Great Snow of
1717, Great Blizzards of the American Revolution, The
Triple Big Snows of 1786, The Snowicane of 1804, Cold
Friday of 1810, June Snows of 1816, The Luminous Snow-
storm of 1817, The Great Snowstorm of 1831, The Triple
Storms of December 1839, The October Gale of 1841,
The Blizzard of 1888 and the Blizzard of 1978, plus many
more. Here is a link to the event
Does anyone recognize the location of today's wintry scene? If you do email Earl Taylor below!
If you would like to receive a historical image via daily e-mail, please
join the Dorchester Historical Society's group by joining this google group. You may also want to contact Earl Taylor
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SCI Dorchester's mission is to strengthen the Dorchester community by connecting diverse individuals and organizations through civic engagement initiatives. We envision a community where individuals are strongly connected to their neighbors and play an active role in shaping the destiny of our community. This increase in 'social capital' will result in a community that is safer, healthier and more vital. For more information click here.
The mission of DotWell is to work in collaboration with our founding health center partners - Codman Square Health Center and Dorchester House Multi-Service Center -
to provide integrated clinical and community services that address
health disparities, build social capital, and meet the complex needs of
our communities.
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