Good Morning, Burlington!

Today is the last day to help us plan for 2024 by filling out the Buzz survey. Anyone who fills it in (and leaves their contact information) will be in the running for one of 15 gift cards from local businesses including True North, Shake Shack, T&K Nails, and more.

I hope you enjoyed the gorgeous weather yesterday, just in time for a possible snow storm midweek. Also this week, Lunar New Year and Black History Month celebrations continue all around the area, plus Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday, which brings with it the beginning of Lent.

See below for some opportunities to celebrate and learn more about these special days. Share your stories about how you and your family observes these holidays and be featured in our Community Celebrations stories. Two events that are going on today:

• 3:00 PM - The Singing Souls of Black Folks - A Talk by Rev Dr. Cheryl Townsend Gilkes (North Andover Historical Society)
• 2:30 PM - Asian Art Series at Acton Memorial Library (virtual; Register here)

Put Your Name in the Running—Take Out Nomination Papers by Wednesday

With just three days left to take out nomination papers, the local election ballot is nearing completion. Currently, if everyone who has taken out papers returns them (and many already have), there will be contests in the following races:

• Select Board (2 seats): Incumbent Joe Morandi faces Town Meeting Member Sarah Cawley and town government veteran Brad Bond.
• School Committee (1 seat): Incumbent Martha Simon is up against Ways & Means member Meghan Nawoichik.
• Planning Board (1 seat): Incumbent Toni Ann Natola meets challenger Neil Prajapati.
• Housing Authority (1 seat): incumbent Richard Howard will take on involved town government member, Eileen Sickler.
• Town Meeting Precincts 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6, including the one-year seat in Precinct 3, have more candidates than available seats.

The only roles with fewer candidates than seats are Precinct 2 and 7 Town Meeting, which each have 5 candidates for 6 available seats. If you reside in Precinct 2 or Precinct 7 and are interested in running for Town Meeting, head on over to the Town Clerk’s office at 29 Center Street between Monday and Wednesday to take out your nomination papers and get 10 signatures from registered voters in your precinct. Papers are due back on Friday by 1:00 PM. Town Hall closes at 1:00 on Friday, and you will not be able to return your papers after that!

This Week in Burlington

Municipal Meetings and Community Events

Monday, February 12

• 12:00 PM-2:00 PM - Baby-Friendly Matinee: The Holdovers (Capitol Theatre, Arlington)
• 5:30-7:30 PM - Planning Department MBTA Communities Working Group (Town Hall Annex Basement Meeting Room and Virtual)
• 6:00 PM - Select Board (Town Hall Main Hearing Room and Virtual)
• 7:30 PM - Information Systems Security Advisory Committee (ISSAC) (Virtual)

Tuesday, February 13

• 9:00 AM-2:30 PM - Memorial Elementary Kindergarten Registration (BHS; by appointment only)
• 9:00 AM - Planning Borad Sculpture Park Subcommittee (Virtual)
• 10:00 AM - Police Station Building Committee (Town Hall Main Hearing Room and Virtual)
• 10:15 AM-12:00 PM - Foreign Affairs Discussions Group (Library)
• 5:00 PM - Shawsheen Organization Development Subcommittee (Shawsheen Miller Conference Room)
• 6:00-8:00 PM - Family Night of Computer Science - Families with kids in grades K-5 (BHS)
• 7:00 PM - Board of Health (Town Hall Main Hearing Room and Virtual)
• 7:00 PM - Capital Budget Committee (Town Hall Annex)
• 7:00 PM - Shawsheen Public Hearing on FY25 Operating Budget (Shawsheen Miller Conference Room and Virtual)
• 7:00 PM - School Committee (BHS School Committee Room and Virtual)

Wednesday, February 14

Valentines’s Day - learn more about the history of this holiday.
Ash Wednesday (First day of Lent) - learn more about this solemn western Christian day.

• Perspectives on BHS Courses - 8th graders learn about high school and the year to come. (MSMS)
• 2:00-4:00 PM - Erland Valentine Party - Celebrate this day with your fellow Burlington seniors and the Council on Aging at this 7th annual party. Contact Burlington’s Council on Aging for more information. (RSVP Required)
• 4:00 PM - Board of Assessors (Town Hall Main Hearing Room)
• 4:00 PM - Council on Aging (61 Center St, Room 136 and Virtual)
• 5:30-6:15 PM - PJ Storytime: Stuffed Animal Sleepover (Woburn Public Library)
• 6:30 PM - Zoning Bylaw Review Committee (Virtual)

Thursday, February 15

• 8:30-9:30 AM - BHS Course Recommendation for 8th Grade Parents: Includes Breakfast (MSMS Cafeteria)
• 9:00 AM-2:30 PM - Francis Wyman Elementary Kindergarten Registration (BHS; by appointment only)
• 12:30-3:00 PM - Bridge Club (Human Resources Building, 2nd floor)
• 4:00-5:00 PM - Teen Volunteer: Bookend Painting (Library; Register)
• 5:00-10:00 PM - Lunar New Year Special Event with a full schedule of opportunities to learn, participate, and celebrate. See Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese art from the collection. (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
• 6:30 PM - Planning Board (Town Hall Main Hearing Room and Virtual)

Friday, February 16

• School vacation starts after dismissal today!
• 10:30-11:30 AM - Mysterious Mornings Book Group - This week’s book is Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon (Library; Drop In)
• 4:00-4:45 PM - Still Life Drawing - Grades 3-8 (Library; Register)
• 8:00 PM - A Beautiful Resistance, Live (Museum of Science, Boston)

Saturday, February 17

• 2:00-4:00 - Black History Month Paint Workshop (Lynn Arts)

Sunday, February 18

• 10:00 AM - Chinese New Year Parade and Festivities in Boston

Monday, February 19

• Town Offices and Buzz HQ closed for President’s Day. See you Tuesday!
• February Break week begins for Burlington schools. Classes resume February 26.

Sports and Activities

The boys’ basketball team took home a 59-52 win Friday night against Wilmington, with Cedric Rodriguez making BHS history yet again as he broke the school’s all-time scoring record of 1,249 points and then some. The girls took another L, falling 39-47 to the Wildcats.

Yesterday was another good day for Lady Devils Hockey, who shut out Melrose 6-0 despite playing the JV squad for a good portion of the game. Boys lost their game 0-1 in overtime.

This week, we have some basketball and hockey on the schedule as the regular season winds down.

Today, there’s basketball at Westford Academy with two 10:30 games (freshman and JV) and a varsity game at noon. The JV boys’ hockey team also plays today at 11:20 in Winchester.

Then we’ll have Gymnastics tomorrow, followed by a full schedule of hockey and basketball on Tuesday and nothing else until Friday.

That’s it for today. Enjoy your Sunday, Burlington!

Nicci

Thanks for reading Burlington Buzz! Share with anyone in Burlington who would enjoy knowing about upcoming events for individuals and families!