Trash Pick-Up Tomorrow?

[m-b-w.livejournal.com]

Is trash picked up on Evacuation Day?  The city calendar that I have and the one that I can find online both list only the holidays from April to December.   

Comments

[syntheticnature.livejournal.com]

I thought Evacuation Day was only celebrated in the city of Boston?

[m-b-w.livejournal.com]

I had thought the same, but Somerville Public Schools are closed tomorrow. According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evacuation_Day_(Massachusetts), "March 17 in Suffolk County, Massachusetts is Evacuation Day, an official holiday commemorating the evacuation of the city (which was a town at the time) of Boston by British forces during the American Revolutionary War. Evacuation Day is also observed in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Somerville, Massachusetts."

[thespian.livejournal.com]

'observed' isn't the same as a legal holiday, if I recall; this holiday is for Suffolk only:

"Legal holiday'' shall include January first, July fourth, November eleventh, and Christmas Day, or the day following when any of said days occurs on Sunday, and the third Monday in January, the third Monday in February, the third Monday in April, the last Monday in May, the first Monday in September, the second Monday in October, and Thanksgiving Day. "Legal holiday'' shall also include, with respect to Suffolk county only, March seventeenth and June seventeenth, or the day following when said days occur on Sunday; provided, however, that the words "legal holiday'' as used in section forty-five of chapter one hundred and forty-nine shall not include March seventeenth, or the day following when said day occurs on Sunday.

-http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/4-7.htm

[thespian.livejournal.com]

It does seem that the schools are closed, however.

http://www.somerville.k12.ma.us/education/components/calendar/calendar.php?sectiondetailid=3&sc_id=1161776850

But there is no mention of it here, on the 'Which holidays will cause trash and recycling pickup to be delayed?' FAQ

http://faqs.somervillema.intelligovsoftware.com/DPWTq1.aspx

[m-b-w.livejournal.com]

Thanks! As the answer to this FAQ does include the whole year, unlike the April to December calendars that I found, I'll assume that trash is being picked up tomorrow.

[masswich.livejournal.com]

I am relatively certain that City offices are open tomorrow and therefore trash is picked up. "Evacuation Day" used to be a city holiday but now I think its just a school one - which it is in Cambridge as well.

BTW, Evacuation Day is also celebrated in Barnstable County (Cape Cod) ... perhaps because of all the Boston people with summer homes or retiring there? It seems to be a myth that it is only celebrated in Suffolk County.

[folktraveler.livejournal.com]

According to this (http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cishol/holidx.htm) (official) ressource Evacuation Day is only observed in Suffolk County :)

[masswich.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's factually correct in that those legal holidays restrict the hours of certain private businesses (stores, mostly). At least stores can be open on Sundays now (unlike 30 years ago!)

Public entities can choose to be closed other days if they want (as can any business, actually). For example, note that Bunker Hill Day is one of the days that Somerville City Hall is closed (and there is no trash pickup).

[folktraveler.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info!

And I can report that there was trash pickup on College Ave today :)

Greetings from City Hall

[tomchampion.livejournal.com]

School is out, but city hall is open for business and trash pick-up is as usual.

On the other hand, Bunker Hill Day is an officially observed holiday in Somerville, and city hall will be closed -- and trash pickup delayed one day -- for that holiday, which falls on Tuesday, June 17th.

Did anybody watch the John Adams mini-series premiere last night on HBO? The Lexington-Concord "shot heard 'round the world," the battle of Bunker Hill, the siege of Boston, the Flag of Grand Union, the British evacuation of Boston 232 years ago today -- it was all there.

I grew up in California, where the Revolution was something you read about in the "American Heritage Junior Library." At this time of year, I still get a little charge from living at the very spot where 4,000 citizen soldiers camped in extreme discomfort as they manned the fortifications for George Washington's siege of the British forces in Boston (and where the first continental flag with 13 red and white stripes was raised on New Year's Day, 1776).

Somerville was called "Charlestown Beyond the Neck" in those days -- and we were part of the City of Boston and the county of Suffolk.

So drink green beer if you must, but raise a glass to George Washington, the Continental Congress and the holy cause of self-government. Huzzah, huzzah, huzzah!

Re: Greetings from City Hall

[m-b-w.livejournal.com]

Yep, my trash has already been picked up. But, it would be nice if the "City of Somerville Environmental Service Guide" that I receive every year and hang on my fridge had this information. It has a "Holiday schedule for trash pickup" but only includes April to December (yard waste months). That's also the only info. I could find online - didn't think to look at the FAQ as somebody else did.

Re: Greetings from City Hall

[tomchampion.livejournal.com]

I should know better than to try to talk about the birth of American freedom when the topic is trash pick-up.

I will suggest to the Environmental Services unit that we include this info in next year's guide. (Unfortunately, this year's guide just went to press.)

As for the the on-line calendar, our extensive revamping of the Web site has been delayed by the departure of our Web Services Director, but the new calendaring feature should include info like this in a way that "pops" it to the home page.

Re: Greetings from City Hall

[avacon.livejournal.com]

It might be good to at least get the new guide PDF up on the website.

Does the new Environmental Services guide clarify the guidelines around cardboard recycling?
I find it very frustrating when I spend time breaking down and tying up cardboard
boxes into 2'x2' squares only to have the trash people pick them up and carry
them off in the trash... (This has been discussed before on this forum,
but I just had it happen again to me.)

(Thank you for your update here, by the way!)

Re: Greetings from City Hall

[joaveho.livejournal.com]

OK, maybe not the place for this question, but I am having a funny/not so funny time trying to dispose of my old, fallen-apart blue recycling bin. I got a new one at DPW, had two people tell me the old one couldn't be recycled and that I should throw it in the trash pickup. But the trash dudes consistently set it aside each week - I have written TRASH on it and put it physically on the trashcan.

Re: Greetings from City Hall

[tomchampion.livejournal.com]

When I had to throw out an old, cracked and useless recycling bin, I put it in a trash bag. Worked like a charm . . .

Re: Greetings from City Hall

[ron_newman]

What, they aren't made of recyclable plastic??

Re: Greetings from City Hall

[joaveho.livejournal.com]

I know. I started to voice my surprise on the phone and the woman sounded like she had heard that comment once too often, so I didn't pursue it.

Maybe they are made from recycled plastic already, and can't be recycled again, or something? Or something about the rigid structure of that type of plastic isn't acceptable to our current pickup. Just guesses.

Anyhow, they just got successfully thrown away this morning.

Re: Greetings from City Hall

[ron_newman]

This page says that household hazardous waste collection days are "Marked as HHW on the calendar." I don't see any days marked that way on the calendar.

Re: Greetings from City Hall

[acechorizo.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, that calendar is from 2007. I have been similarly frustrated when trying to figure out when the next Hazardous Waste collection day is.