Cambridge Police Officer Brendan Pasco (second from right) accepting the Ruth and Carl Barron Patrol Officer of the Year Award from Superintendent Steven Williams (far left), Carl Barron (second from left) and Commissioner Robert C. Haas (far right). Photo courtesy Cambridge Police.

By Brock Parker, Town Correspondent

Cambridge Police honored officers and community members at the department’s 10th annual awards ceremony Wednesday.

Police Officer Brendan Pasco was named patrol officer of the year, George M. Tavares was named detective of the year, and Lieutenant Timothy Hogan was named superior officer of the year. Brook Miller was also named the non-sworn employee of the year.

Almost 200 people, including police, family and friends, attended the ceremony at the MIT Kresge Auditorium Wednesday, according to Cambridge Police.

City Manager Robert W. Healy thanked the department for its service, and awards were given to 96 members of the police department and community members.

A full list of the winners can be found on the department’s website.

The Cambridge River Festival will be held along the Charles River and Memorial Drive Saturday. Photo by Adam Gooder.

By Brock Parker, Town Correspondent

The 33rd Annual Cambridge River Festival will be held Saturday afternoon along the Charles River, offering music, dance, theater and visual arts.

The free festival produced by the Cambridge Arts Council has attracted more than 200,000 people annually.

The event will run from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, June 2, rain or shine, along the Charles River and Memorial Drive between JFK Street and Western Avenue.

The Festival will feature multiple stages for live local and national jazz, folk, and roots music, as well as dance, poetry and theater performances.

The entertainment will also include art making activities, workshops and demonstrations, and a market of unique arts and crafts, specialty and traditional festival foods.

More information is available on the city’s website.

Cooper Kelley was honored at the Smithsonian American Art Museum along with other winners of a national video game design contest. Submitted photo.

By Brock Parker, Town Correspondent

Cooper Kelley, a 6th grader at the Maria L. Baldwin School in Cambridge won top honors at a national competition for designing video games earlier this month.

Kelley won the category of “Scratch & Playable Game Incorporating STEM Themes” for grades 5-8 in the National STEM Video Game Challenge.

The Challenge seeks to encourage interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) by tapping into students’ passion for playing and making video games, according to the Challenge's web site.

Kelley's victory came in a competition in which kids use programming language called Scratch to make a video game. He won with his game called “Mechanical Dragon.”

Twenty-eight middle school and high school students from across the United States were selected as winners for their game designs. The winners were announced at The Atlantic’s Technologies in Education Forum in Washington, D.C. earlier this month and the students were honored at an event sponsored by Microsoft on May 21 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Game highlights for each of the youth winners can be found at here.

By Susan Meyers, Guest Columnist

I wasn't going to write about The Pickle Ride.

I've come close to deleting my notes on it twice. I've also tried and failed to write about it in any straight-up, conventional way: the mileage, the sights, the location of the bike shop along the route, in case you bust a part.

Only now, eight weeks on, do I understand that the worst part of the Pickle Ride was also the most interesting part, and the part worth telling.

It began as a weekend spin on a sunny day along the Minuteman Bike Trail. It was the day before the Boston Marathon this year, a steamy one. My biking friend and I began our ride in North Cambridge, ducked under Route 2, cycled past the backyards and ballfields of East Arlington, then Spy Pond and the Great Meadow, and on into Lexington.

We were sharing the road that day with every species of rider: Intense cyclists racing expensive, lightweight bikes as if they were late to the starting line, but also tots on My Little Pony three-wheelers. The Minuteman Bike Trail is a community ride, and at its most enjoyable if you think about it that way.

What I was thinking about during much of the ride, however, was food. My stomach was growling. My biking friend and I had agreed, before we set out, that we would stop for lunch in Lexington.

But my biking buddy, he's not like me. He doesn't stop for lunch when hunger strikes, and especially not when he's on his bike. No, he makes himself earn his food.

Which is why, even though it was well after noon, that we biked right by our designated lunch spot. My friend cycles many more miles than I do, so I didn't argue. And on we spun, past beautiful stretches of greenery on the way to Route 128, then across the bridge over the highway, and into Bedford. Just beyond the Bedford depot is a lesser-known treat: a wooded trail that runs through conservation land and a wildlife preserve. We paused at the trail head.

“Let's go for it,” my friend said. “We'll grab lunch on the way back.”

Because stopping when you are hungry is for wimps.

The added miles were beautiful, no question, but by the time we doubled back to Lexington, it was 3 p.m.

“Let's split a veggie roll-up,” my vegetarian biking friend said.

“Sounds good,” I said, though I could have eaten a whole roasted cow. Hunger, it seemed, had damaged my ability to think.

Fortunately, just as he began to order, my friend had second thoughts.

“Maybe we should each get our own,” he said, and asked for two.

As I watched the deli guy assemble our roll-ups, though, I grew alarmed. Sure, there was a slice of Swiss in there, and a scoop of hummus. But most of the sandwich I carried outside to eat consisted of every pickled pepper on the planet: banana peppers, marinated red peppers, pickle chips, some sort of chopped sweet green pickle, and those were just the ones I recognized.

We sat on a bench and unwrapped our sandwiches. As I ate, a steady stream of pickle juice dribbled out the bottom of my roll-up. Napkins weren't up to the job; I had to hike forward over my spread knees to keep the spatter off my clothes and legs. Trickling madly, and three bites into my sandwich, I discovered a separate something tucked in next to my sandwich. Shocked, I extracted it: a generous wedge of new dill pickle wrapped in its own drippy square of white butcher paper.

I held it out, showed my friend.

“I think I'm hallucinating, here,” I said.

Have I mentioned that I was very hungry? My friend was having no trouble eating his roll-up. So I ate my peck of pickled peppers sandwich, or most of it. When I finished, I was brined to the eyeballs.

And we still had to ride from Lexington back to Cambridge. Not far, but not nothing.

My riding buddy popped up off the bench, refreshed, in good spirits, suffering no ill effects. He eyed me, still bent over on the bench.

“Maybe all that salt will be good for your electrolytes,” he suggested.

“I don't know,” I replied, gazing at the puddle between my feet. “I'm pretty pickled out.”

It came to me, after a moment, that I needed an antidote. Some sort of quick anti-pickle. I am not proud of what came next, but to be fair, my options were limited. I couldn't face the deli again, and nothing in a nearby bakery looked palatable.

So I bought and ate a small bag of malt balls. Just thinking about it now makes me feel ill, but in the moment, somehow, I thought they might be a counterbalance.

And they were, briefly. We got back on our bikes and rode back to North Cambridge. I have to say, I had plenty of pep.

“All that salt and sugar seems to be working for you,” my friend called to me from behind.

He couldn't see the expression on my face. He didn't know that I was riding fast to finish off those sloshy, vinegary, sugar-crusted last miles as quickly as possible.

Is there a moral here? Most definitely. When you're biking, keep it simple. Tune in fully to the world around you, but don't forget to tune in to your own body. Stop and eat when you're hungry. And don't mix pickles and malt balls.

Don't do The Pickle Ride.

Susan Meyers is a Brookline writer. Her memoir about sight, blindness, and her relationship with her brother, titled Check This Box If You Are Blind, was published last June by Climbing Ivy Press.

Medford photographer George McLean was the lone local naturalist to find this year's nest of the popular Cambridge Red-tailed Hawk mates, Ruby and Buzz. On Saturday, he snapped a photo of a milestone, as Dawn, the firstborn, became the first chick to leave the nest (above):

"What a feeling, watching this Red-tail Hawk growing from a fluff ball into beautiful flying proof of how wonderful nature can be and what great parents Buzz and Ruby have been over the years.

"I took 200 photos this time to get this one picture, to get a 'fledge' flight is every photographers dream."

George first found this year's nest on Fawcett Street in Cambridge in early April after Buzz and Ruby abandoned their previous nesting spot at 185 Alewife Brook Parkway.

Both parents incubated the eggs for four to five weeks, and fed the three chicks - Dawn, Orion, and Sleepy - from the time they hatched until the babies leave the nest, usually at six to seven weeks old. The young will fly competently at nine weeks but continue under the watchful eye of their parents, learning  hunting skills and survival against potential enemies.

Some wildlife enthusiasts have voiced concerns about this large tom turkey named Longfellow that was shot and killed at Mount Auburn Cemetery this month after repeated aggressive behavior.

(Photo by George McLean)

By Brock Parker, Town Correspondent

Mount Auburn Cemetery is known as a sanctuary for wildlife just steps from the bustle of Cambridge and Watertown, but after a wild turkey charged after baby strollers and then attacked an employee, the cemetery called in the police.

Now cemetery officials are trying to explain to wildlife enthusiasts why a tom turkey was shot and killed by an environmental police officer earlier this month, and explain the circumstances around another wild turkey that was found dead at the cemetery in Cambridge last weekend.

“I just can’t understand this,” said wildlife photographer George McLean, who snapped a photo of the now-deceased turkey, called Longfellow, before he was shot. “It wasn’t necessary.”

The large tom turkey that was shot had shown repeated aggressive behavior that culminated with an attack that sent an employee to the hospital on May 14, said Bree Harvey, vice president of external affairs for Mount Auburn Cemetery. The cause of death for the second turkey remains unknown.

“This is definitely not what we wanted to happen,” Harvey said.

The death of the turkeys has started a “firestorm” of emails and in some cases accusations that the cemetery was to blame for the death of both birds, said Harvey. Mount Auburn Cemetery officials have drafted a letter to send to the birding community in an effort to address the concerns.

McLean, the 77-year-old wildlife photographer who also volunteers at the cemetery, said he was shocked to learn that “Longfellow” had been shot and killed instead of being trapped and taken elsewhere. McLean said he’s been approached by an aggressive turkey before and easily shooed it away by spraying a canister of fox urine.

But Harvey said Massachusetts Environmental Police decided to shoot the turkey after cemetery officials grappled for several months over what to do about aggressive turkeys on the grounds.

Since the winter, Harvery said visitors to the cemetery have complained of turkeys chasing them, pecking at them, and even going after baby strollers. Security guards at the cemetery have repeatedly been called because visitors felt threatened by the birds and needed assistance getting back to their vehicles, Harvey said.

At first, Harvey said cemetery officials attributed the behavior to the mating season, but the problems have persisted this spring.

Concerned about the safety of a number of elderly people who come to Mount Auburn Cemetery to visit gravesites, Harvey said the cemetery began consulting with the Mass Audubon and the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife about what needed to be done about the aggressive birds.

“We are a wildlife sanctuary, yes, and we don’t want anything drastic to happen to anything that is calling Mount Auburn home,” Harvey said.
“However, we also feel a responsibility to protect all of our visitors.”

Harvey, who said she is 5-feet-8 inches tall, said the aggressive tom turkey’s head came up to her chest and he had come after her before, as well. She said she was able to flee to a vehicle and escape.

“It was coming at me and it was going to attack me,” she said.

But on May 14 a cemetery employee who had just had knee surgery came across the big bird, and when it became aggressive he tried to back away. The employee tripped, fell backwards and the turkey jumped on him and scratched him, said Harvey. The employee hurt his knee in the fall and was taken to the hospital, she said.

Massachusetts Environmental Police were called in and decided to shoot the turkey that day, Harvey said.

The bird was killed because it had attacked the employee and had been “very aggressive” with other people passing by, said Reginald Zimmerman, a spokesman for the state Executive Office Energy and Environmental Affairs, which oversees the state Environmental Police and the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.

“Wild turkeys are usually put down when they present a public safety risk,” Zimmerman said Friday.

Zimmerman said the state has seen many cases of aggressive turkeys, and they typically involve male birds who are very territorial. He said the reports of aggressive turkeys going after baby carriages at the cemetery were a real concern.

Harvey said cemetery officials aren’t sure what happened to the second turkey that was found dead on a road in the cemetery last weekend. She said the bird showed no signs of trauma, and was not killed by state Environmental Police. She said 14 turkey eggs have recently hatched at the cemetery, but only four of the chicks remain. Harvey said she suspects the missing baby turkeys have become victims to predators such as coyotes and foxes on the cemetery grounds.

Mount Auburn Cemetery has no plans to do anything to the other turkeys living on the property, she said.

“We’re hoping that this situation won’t repeat itself,” she said.

--brock.globe@gmail.com

(David L. Ryan/Globe staff)

Fareed Zakaria to Harvard graduates: "When we come together, when we put aside petty difference, when we cooperate, the results are astounding."

By Johanna Kaiser, Town Correspondent

Acclaimed journalist and author Fareed Zakaria told graduating Harvard University students on Thursday that the world is in the midst of an “astonishing age of progress” that they can help shape.

"When we come together, when we put aside petty difference, when we cooperate, the results are astounding," Zakaria, host of CNN’s international affairs program, "Fareed Zakaria GPS," and editor at large of Time magazine, told students, alumni, and families at the Annual Meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association, which serves as the afternoon program of the school's commencement ceremonies.

“When we look at the problems we face--economic crises, terrorism, climate change, resource scarcity--keep in mind that these are real problems, but the human reaction and response to them will be real,” said Zakaria, who has a doctorate from Harvard and who received an honorary degree during this year’s commencement--the school’s 361st.

Harvard also awarded honorary degrees to composer John Adams; philosophy professor K. Anthony Appiah; critic Gillian Beer; physicist Walter Kohn; Teach for America founder Wendy Kopp, Georgia Congressman John Lewis, and atmospheric scientist Mario Molina.

The jovial proceedings celebrating the school’s alumni--including the 7,500 who just graduated--included the singing of school songs, performances by the university’s marching band, and a procession of Harvard and Radcliffe alumni from as far back as the class of 1929 -- represented by 103-year-old George Barner of Kennebunk, Maine.

As the ceremony began, the graduates--some still in full regalia--wandered through Harvard Yard’s Tercentenary Theatre taking photographs with proud family members and waving to friends before taking their seats.

Zakaria, a native of India who has been hailed for his foreign policy expertise, outlined the advances in medicine, technology, and education that have reduced poverty levels, increased life expectancy, and improved the living condition of people around the world--improvements that he said will help this country to continue to grow.

“Well a world of peace and broader prosperity--the rise of the rest--is going to be particularly good for the United States because let me remind you that this is the country with the largest and most dynamic economy in the world,” Zakaria said, praising the United States for its industries and diversity.

While Zakaria offered a positive outlook of the world’s future, he encouraged the graduates to be proactive and avoid complacency.

“Human action and human achievement have managed to take on and best terrible problems,” Zakaria told the graduates.

He confidence in the world extended to the recent graduates. He urged them to make a difference by following the principles such as hard work, courage, loyalty, and faith that society has always honored.

“Trust in your instincts and you will build a great life, you will build a good life, and you will change the world,” he said.

Harvard President Drew Faust, also looked to the fast-changing future with a confident outlook, telling the graduates that the the institution will continue to adapt and meet challenges to achieve its goal of educating.

“Harvard has survived and thrived by considering over and over again how its timeless and unwavering dedication to knowledge and truth must be adapted to the demands of each new age,” Faust said.

“With the strength of our past, we welcome these unknowns and the opportunities they offer as we re-imagine Harvard for the next 375 years,” she said.
--
johanna.yourtown@gmail.com

A panel discussion that kicked off a series of events celebrating late Cambridge politician Thomas 'Tip' O'Neill included, from left to right, family members Thomas O’Neill Jr., Susan O’Neill, Thomas O’Neill III, Rosemary O’Neill, and MSNBC’s “Hardball” host Chris Matthews. Photo by Bob Coe.

By Brock Parker, Town Correspondent

MSNBC’s “Hardball” host Chris Matthews visited Cambridge Tuesday to lead a discussion about the late Speaker Thomas “Tip” O’Neill, Jr.

Matthews moderated a discussion with several members of O’Neill’s family in the Cambridge Public Library to kick off a year of festivities honoring the 100th anniversary of O’Neill’s birth on Dec. 9, 1912.

O’Neill died in January of 1994 at the age of 81 after 50 years of public service, including serving as the Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the U.S. House of Representatives for a decade.

Matthews, who served as an aide to O’Neill, was joined in the panel discussion Tuesday by O’Neill’s son Thomas P. O’Neill III, daughters Rosemary O’Neill and Susan O’Neill, and grandson Thomas O’Neill Jr.

“Before Speaker O’Neill made history as a national leader, he earned the trust and love of the people back home,” Matthews said in a press release about the event. “It is an honor to share in this tribute.”

The City of Cambridge and the Speaker Thomas P. O’Neill, Jr. Centennial Committee are organizing events this year in honor of late speaker, including an exhibit at the Cambridge Public Library highlighting the speaker’s political career, the dedication of a mural, and the dedication of a portrait of O’Neill at Cambridge City Hall.

“It’s wonderful to see so much excitement and interest in sharing this great history,” said Thomas O’Neill III. “I hope this discussion, and the events taking place throughout the year, will spark memories, allow people to share their stories, and educate others on this rich history here in Cambridge.”

More information about the events planned to commemorate O’Neill can be found at cambridgema.gov/tip

(Google Maps)

By Matt Rocheleau, Town Correspondent

Traffic on the Anderson Memorial Bridge will be reduced to one lane in each direction and the downstream sidewalk on the bridge will be closed when road work begins on the bridge next week, state transportation officials announced.

Construction is slated to start Tues., May 29, at 7 a.m.

Drivers are being encouraged “to allow extra time for their trips and to reduce speed and use caution when travelling through the work zone,” the Massachusetts Department of Transportation said in a statement.

Bicyclists riding on the bridge will share the eastbound and westbound lanes, officials said. Signs, “channelizing devices” and traffic control measures will be used to guide drivers through the construction area. State transportation officials did not immediately provide further details about the plans when reached Tuesday.

Also known as the Larz Anderson Bridge, the three-span, 440-foot-long crossing carries North Harvard Street over the Charles River between Allston and Cambridge. The bridge features are two traffic lanes in either direction and a sidewalk along each edge.

The 97-year-old bridge is planned to undergo a four-phase $20-million rehabilitation project camp scheduled for completion in fall 2014.

Similar to work recently completed on the Boston University Bridge, the Anderson will be slimmed from four vehicle lanes to three to accommodate bicycle lanes and wheelchair-accessible sidewalks. One vehicle lane will be designated for Boston-bound traffic. The other two will steer vehicles into Cambridge.

Urged by advocates, including the Charles River Conservancy, state officials have agreed to configure the bridge to make bike and pedestrian underpass construction possible in the future. But the state has said it cannot afford to build underpasses as part of the current project on the Anderson.

It is one of six Charles River bridges currently under construction or in design under the state’s eight-year, $3 billion Accelerated Bridge Program that began in 2008 and includes more than $400 million allocated to improve Lower Basin area bridges of the Charles River.

For more information on the project, click here.

E-mail Matt Rocheleau at mjrochele@gmail.com.
--
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By Brock Parker, Town Correspondent

The Salvation Army will dedicate a new $5 million shelter wing at its Central Square facility in Cambridge Wednesday.

The two-story addition will add overnight homeless shelter for as many as 36 guests, space for 36 additional guests in a transitional housing programming, a medical clinic for homeless patients and space for caseworkers.

The dedication ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 23, at the facility at 402 Massachusetts Ave.

The celebration is open to the public and civic and community leaders are expected to join Salvation Army Massachusetts Divisional Leaders, Majors David and Naomi Kelly, for the celebration.

The drop-in center in the new wing will be named in memory of longtime Salvation Army supporter and Advisory Board Member of the Cambridge Salvation Army, Robert A. James.

The celebration will mark the completion of the first phase of the Cambridge Corps renovation, which began in April of 2011 and included the demolition of the gymnasium at the rear of the building.

The renovation is the first at the Central Square facility since 1969. The addition also improves kitchen and dining facilities at the facility, which serves thousands of people each year.

The Salvation Army is already working to raise an additional $3.9 million for the second phase of the project, which will renovate and expand the front portion of the building. That renovation will increase the the space and the number of children that can be served by the Salvation Army’s Our Place program providing daycare services to homeless infants and children up to five-and-a-half years old.

More information about the Cambridge Corps of the Salvation Army can be found here.