Boston Jewish History Ride

Got this in the email, looks like fun if you are into jewish history (and might be a chance to score some good food also!)

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Boston Jewish History Bike Ride Sunday June 10th

This is a Boston Cyclists Union Ride
Co-Sponsored by the Jewish Labor Committee, the Workmen’s Circle, the
Franklin Park Coalition, Kahal B’Raira and the Dorchester Historical
Society,

Location:
Franklin Park Zoo, at the Giraffe entrance
1 Park Road

Meet at 10 AM. This is an all-day ride. We’ll stop for a picnic lunch, so
bring some food along. Helmets Required. Steady rain cancels.

What: From the turn of the 20th Century into the 1960’s, the largest
Jewish community in New England was located in Roxbury, Dorchester, and
Mattapan.

Come join us as we explore the Jewish history of those neighborhoods.

We’ll see the synagogues and homes, Hebrew Schools and the original Hebrew
College, the Young Men’s Hebrew Association (the other “Y”) and the
Home for Destitute Jewish Children, Jewish Memorial Hospital (located on the
site of the original Beth Israel Hospital), the Workmen’s Circle building
next to the Franklin Park Theater (performances in Yiddish), and places to
get food, like Kosher butchers, delicatessens and the largest Kosher
catering hall in New England (it wouldn’t be Jewish without places to get
a corned-beef sandwich).

We’ll also talk about how and why the Jewish community of Roxbury,
Dorchester, and Mattapan evolved, and answer questions such as: why were the
3 Orthodox synagogues across from each other on Woodrow Avenue?

We’ll meet in Franklin Park, at the Giraffe entrance to the Zoo (off
Seaver Street, across from Schoolboy Stadium).

The ride is about 12 miles and most of it is pretty flat and level (although
we will climb over the top of Elm Hill.

This is a Boston Cyclists Union Ride; Helmets Required; steady rail
cancels.

For more information contact Dick Bauer
857-540-6293.

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Pearl Harbor Day

Bike messengers leaving the White House on Dec. 7, 1941, day of Pearl Harbor attack. Even though the events of the day are truly horrible, the picture always reminds me of a time when bicycles played a larger role in every day life. I would certainly not wanted to live at that time, I enjoy modern life, but I would like to bring back aspects of the past.

This has always been one of my favorite photos. More on the story here.

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Historic Tour Of Middlesex Canal

Got this in the email today

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Historic Bicycle Tour of Middlesex Canal

On Saturday, October 2, 2010, MassBike, along with the Somerville Historic Preservation Commission, the Middlesex Canal Commission and the Middlesex Canal Association will sponsor the 8th annual historic bicycle tour of the southern portion of the Middlesex Canal. The Canal was the “big dig” of the end of the 18th century. Completed in 1803 after 10 years of construction, the Canal connected the Merrimac River in what is now Lowell with the Charles River at Sullivan Square in Charlestown. In many ways it served as a model for later canals including the Erie Canal. The Canal remained in operation for 50 years, providing both passenger and freight service, but could not compete successfully with the Boston and Lowell Railroad which began operation in the 1830’s.

The ride will meet at the Canal marker on the Sullivan Square MBTA station at 9:00. From there we will ride about 28 miles to the Historic Mill Village and Canal Museum on the Millpond in North Billerica. We will make a lunch stop in Woburn, so we recommend that you bring a lunch. We should get to North Billerica in time for anyone who wants to catch the 3:07 train back to Boston. The ride will then follow the northern section of the Canal another 10 miles from North Billerica to Lowell and catch the 5:00 train back from there.

The route is pretty flat and level and we will average 5 miles per hour, so the ride will be an easy one for most cyclists. Along the way we will stop at a number of remnants and restored sections of the Canal, as well as the Mansion of Loammi Baldwin, the chief engineer of the Canal (who discovered the Baldwin apple while building the Canal), the two remaining aqueducts (which carried the Canal over rivers and brooks), and the northern end of the floating towpath that carried horses over the Millpond.

The ride will be led by Dick Bauer of the Somerville Historic Preservation Commission and the Middlesex Canal Commission, Robert Winters of the Middlesex Canal Association, and Bill Kuttner of the Shirley-Eustis House. Steady rain cancels.

For more information, contact Dick at [email protected] (857-540-6293),

Robert at [email protected], or Bill at [email protected]

http://www.massbike.org/resources/rides.htm

For more information about the Middlesex Canal go to: http://www.middlesexcanal.org

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“Stop The Highway” Learn About The History Of Transportation Advocacy In Roxbury

Got this in the mail today, looks interesting if you got the time you should check it out.

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Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010
12:00 Noon
Dudley Branch Library

“Stop the Highway” – the campaign that successfully halted the proposed ‘Inner Belt’ of Interstate Highway 95 that would have cut through towns from Concord to Boston and would have destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses in Roxbury. Many were displaced before a coalition of organized communities brought the plan to a halt.

Today’s Orange Line, Melnea Cass Blvd, Malcolm X Blvd, and many other changes are in place as a result of the organizing and leadership activities of Roxbury citizens and the Black United Front.

This is Roxbury’s recent history – that some never knew or heard of. Hear — and contribute to — this first of a 3-part series in the documentation of Roxbury’s role in shaping national policy on transportation and community planning.

Part One January 30 with Chuck Turner

Part Two February 27 with Leonard Durant

Part Three April 3 with Leonard Durant

Here is a photo of what was the plan for the intersection of Ruggles and
Tremont: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ferriswheelsbikeshop/4313240361/

Scary!

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Historic Tour Of Somerville

Got this in the email, looks fun.

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Join the Somerville Bicycle Committee and the Somerville Historic Preservation Commission for a bike tour featuring Somerville’s many historic houses of worship.

We’ll meet at Somerville City Hall, 93 Highland Avenue, at 2 pm on Sunday, May 31. We’ll take about three hours to ride about nine miles, stopping along the way to see various churches and synagogues throughout the city.

Rain date is Saturday, June 6, same time and starting location. For more information, visit http://SomervilleBikes.org , e-mail [email protected] , or call 617-628-8895.

A $3 donation is requested to support the activities of the Historic
Preservation Commission.

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