Candlelight Peace Vigil 
in Oak Square Common
3.16.03 
About 75 Oak Square Neighbors gathered tonight in Oak Square Common to express support for alternatives to war with Iraq. The vigil was part of The Global Vigil called by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Rev. Bob Edgar of the National Council of Churches and many other organizations. 6851 vigils were held in 140 countries. Visit the Global Vigil website

OLP
Website
3.14.03 
Our Lady of the Presentation School now has it's own website with a Calendar of events and even student pages. Visit the OLP website  

What's Up 
in Oak Square?
3.5.03
Check out all the great events at the Faneuil Branch Library and around the area. Visit the Oak Square Calendar

Councilor 
McDermott
Oak Square Business Owner is Our New City Councilor
2.7.03
"Councilor Jerry McDermott was born and raised in Allston-Brighton, where he now makes his home with his wife Aoibheann and their daughter Aisling. ... Prior to his recent election to the Boston City Council, Jerry owned and operated a family business, McDermott Realty, located in Oak Square. 
Councilor McDermott has made it his focus to ensure that all of his constituents are heard and receive the best possible representation. He has enacted an open door policy to his office and has committed to making his office accessible to everyone within District 9..." Go to his website

Daniel Bowen: Boston’s Pioneer Museumkeeper
An early resident of Oak Square 
by William P. Marchione
Contemporary Boston is a city of many great museums. The history of museumkeeping in the hub had its modest beginnings in 1791, with the arrival from Philadelphia of one Daniel Bowen, age thirty-one, a close friend of the patriot-painter Charles Willson Peale, the nation’s pioneer museumkeeper. Continue reading

Are you 
a Map Nut?
Having scoured the web for interesting maps of the area I finally found this City of Boston map that has every bell, whistle, and transparent overlay that you could possibly imagine. Don't let it keep you up all night like it did to me. 
Go to The Boston Atlas website
Or see an aerial view of Oak Square

The "Y" Settles in
With 7500 members (4800 from the 02135 area code) the Y is still working out some minor kinks. Interim Director Sharon Mallone met recently with community members to address parking and landscaping issues that are still unresolved. We look forward to years of working together with the Y to keep our 'good neighbor' relationship healthy. Go to the YMCA website

BC fund Supports 
Friends of the Common
Back in June, the decision making committee of this town-gown fund, granted $2,500 toward costs of the Oak Square Common Flower Planting Project, considering it a "great benefit to the residents and business people of Oak Square and the entire Allston Brighton community." The money has been used to pay for both annuals and perennials. What is especially nice is that the committee hopes to continue it's commitment to this effort over the next few years. 

On the Beat Sep. 17
Boston Police District 14 publishes a terrific list of Useful Police and Community Phone numbers. Go to the Police phone list

ABFree Radio
Check out our own local radio station Allston-Brighton Free Radio broadcasting at 1630 and 1670 on the AM dial (does anybody still have a dial?) and soon web casting live. Go to the ABFree website

3rd annual garden tour continues a fun tradition
High up on steep hills, down low by a pond, and tucked behind unassuming homes, are beautiful local gardens. From bright sun to deep shade, the twelve gardens on this year's tour included open vistas and small contained areas. The participating gardeners spent Saturday 7/14 greeting more than 80 curious visitors who hoped to catch glimpses and inspiration. These hosts patiently answered questions, and sometimes provided juice and cookies, especially for the intrepid who traveled the tour by foot. When there was a bout of rain, visitors were invited in.

The Brighton Garden and Horticultural Society
This community group welcomes novices as well as master gardeners. Click here for minutes of the first meeting. Society activities will include sharing seeds, perennial divisions, and practical tips about what grows well in this area, as well as presenting educational guest speakers, and attending flower shows together. Many other possibilities for exploring ways to support each other as local gardeners have been discussed, and the group is open to all new energy.Click here for more information. All budding horticulturists are welcome to join. Membership dues for the year are $15.00.

The Garden Society also sponsors the annual Oak Square garden tour which is A LOT of fun. Any suggestions for cool neighborhood gardens to add to the tour are strongly encouraged. Please call Doris at 782-4781 with ideas.

Local Horticultural History
In October 2000, local historian William P. Marchione gave a slide lecture (followed by a walking tour) at Faneuil Library  about the horticultural past of the western section of Brighton. He described the lives of men who owned and operated important nurseries right in the Oak Square neighborhood. Men such as Joseph Breck, Horace Gray, James Lloyd Lafayette Warren, William Strong, and William Elliott.  The Breck Seed Company is now based in Illinois, but still donates 500 tulip bulbs each year for planting by the Friends of the Oak Square Common. 

Honoring and celebrating this early history as a regional center of horticultural enterprise was one of the inspirations for the new Brighton Garden and Horticultural Society. 

Neighbors: 
Charlie Vasiliades 'the Mayor of Oak Square'
OakSquare.com interviews Charlie Vasiliades local activist and neighbor. Part 1, Part 2. 

Langley Road Holds its Annual Block Party
Sep. 10, 2000
The Oak Square area has a number of block associations which sponsor various events and organizing efforts. These include groups on Dunboy Street and around Hobart Park. One of the oldest is the one on Langley Road. Every year they hold a festive block party to celebrate their street and to which all neighbors are invited. Click here to see photos and get ideas for your own event.

Go to the Library website
Order Books online


Go to the YMCA website
Sign up for classes

Do you have questions about the 'hood? Email Charlie(at)Oaksquare.com and he will do his best to answer them.

Q: Dear Charlie, I found your response to the question on "ethnic diversity" highly illuminating, but I'm left wondering if all those groups that you identify actually "get along"? Any major strife?  Also, is there a night life or "cafe"/wine bar culture in Brighton? Thanks for any details. - Trica

A: Dear Trica, Thanks for your question - it's nice to know that people do actually read the stuff posted on web sites like Oaksquare.com. Obviously this is only my opinion, but overall I feel all of the various ethnic and racial groups get along remarkably well here. As you read in the earlier question, our area is a very diverse one, and although Boston can be very tribal, Brighton and Allston have had I think the advantage of never really being just one ethnic group's "turf". So as the area got more diverse over the years, except for a rare period of some turmoil one summer back in the early 80's, people have been very accepting of each other. That is not to say that all groups necessarily interact with each other on a regular basis, for many of the newer ethnic groups are immigrants who tend to live in the apartment areas along Commonwealth Ave., while the older Irish, Italian, and similar populations tend to be homeowners in the other parts of the neighborhood such as Oak Square.

But despite these general groupings, there is still diversity within every neighborhood of Brighton. My street in Oak Square for example, which is a mixture of one and two-family homes, is still largely white ethnic (Irish, Italian, and Greek-American), but there are also four Chinese-American families, one Vietnamese-American, two African-American, and single young professionals of all races who tend to room together, either as renters or owners. We all get along, and we're in the fifth year of having an annual block party where people who are "newcomers" can get to know the "old timers" as more than just a face to say hello to (there's pictures at the Oaksquare.com site).

And this brings up another reason why I think people get along in the neighborhood. As you can probably guess with all of the colleges we have in this area, we have a fairly high student and transient population. We have sort of a classic "town/gown" situation, where the presence of the large student population has created problems not of crime or racial/ethnic strife, but the problems of noise, absentee landlords, high rents, and a population viewing the neighborhood as a pass through, contrasting with a population that looks at it as a home. When the new ethnic groups to the area first start renting, then buying homes, I feel that the long-term community has embraced that more than maybe in other places because it means a family next to you instead of students or an absentee landlord. 

Lastly, as regards the nightlife, because of the young population, there is an active nightlife, particularly around the Harvard and Comm. Ave. intersection, and also to a lesser degree in Cleveland Circle and Brighton Center. I'm not sure exactly how you would define a "cafe/wine bar", but there is an increasing trend of upscale establishments replacing the older, "traditional" bars. Hope all of this info helps answer your questions, and may I be the first to welcome you to the neighborhood! - Charlie
Click here to visit the "Ask Charlie" archives

Oak Square Links

Elected Officials

Congressman
Mike Capuano

State Senator
Steven Tolman

State Rep.
Brian Golden

State Rep.
Kevin Honan

Mayor
Tom Menino

City Councilor
Jerry McDermott

RIP - Brian Honan

City Councilors (at large)


Michael Flaherty
•

Maura Hennigan
•

Steve Murphy
email him  
•

Felix Arroyo