Beantown Society Neighborhood Party and Scholarship Fund Kick-off
Saturday, July 22nd at 8:00 PM
YOU ARE INVITED to come celebrate and support the youth of Beantown Society — the by-youth, for-youth program of Spontaneous Celebrations — as they share their dreams for the future.  This year marks the first graduation of high school seniors from Beantown — many of the same youth activists who started the original youth program as middle school students!

8:00 – Meet Beantown Youth and Eat and Drink….
8:30-9:00 –  Melodramtikz Hip-Hop Dance Performance
9:00-9:30 –  Youth Led Dance Lessons
9:30-1am – Dance Party!!

July 22nd, 8pm-1am. Spontaneous Celebrations,
45 Danforth St., Jamaica Plain. Sliding Scale Contribution ($15 minimum) toward a new scholarship fund for Beantown Society graduates. Info:   jen@spontaneouscelebrations.org , 524-6373 x2.

Beantown Society’s Mission/Vision Statement
The vision of Beantown Society is to unite youth in Boston across race, class, culture, and neighborhood to end youth violence.  We believe in changing youth’s oppression, neglection, rejection, and depression into youth power.  We work towards this vision by offering a youth-run after school program as well as workshops, projects, and events based on youth interests.  We provide a space for youth to express themselves, receive one-on-one support, and become leaders in their community.

Beantown Society’s  ”Don’t Wait Till We’re Dead” Campaign
The focus of this campaign is to counter the negative stereotypes of young people that are prevalent in the media right now by asking the city to recognize the positive contributions that youth are making to their community.  Beantown Society feels that youth in Boston only get into newspapers or on TV when they are victims or perpetrators of violence.  Rather than waiting until another young person has been killed to honor their life, the young people of Beantown Society are asking their elected officials, their community, and the media to honor them and their peers now, while they are alive and working hard to make a positive impact on their community.

The Pinebank Promontory:
1^st Public Planning Meeting

A planning and design process to hear public opinion about
the interim uses of this unique site overlooking Jamaica Pond.

The Emerald Necklace Conservancy—in cooperation with Boston Parks Department—is convening a “visioning” process. We invite Neighbors For Neighbors and other Jamaica Plain community members—both those who may not have formed an opinion about the Pinebank mansion itself and those who have strong feelings about the mansion—to help brainstorm about the immediate future of the site.

We know that the “Friends of Pinebank” are working hard to gain support for rebuilding the mansion. In the meantime, the promontory overlooking Jamaica Pond is a unique site and there should be an interim plan for making it a wonderful experience for park visitors, as well as acknowledging the history of the house and grounds. The premise of this planning process is that nothing should be done that would preclude the possible reconstruction of the Pinebank manor at some time in the future.

3 Visioning/ Planning Meetings hosted by the Emerald Necklace Conservancy

1^st Public Meeting – Tuesday, July 18 at 6:00 at the Curley House, 350 The Jamaicaway  (corner of Moraine Street).

How to Access the Media

Thurs., July 13, 5:30-7pm, Sweet Finnish, 761 Centre St. Free. (857) 222-4420.

FREE

Ever wondered why some stories are covered and other are not? Are you introducing a new organization, community project, or introducing a new campaign? Sandra Storey, the Editor and Publisher of The Jamaica Plain Gazette, and Neighbors for Neighbors, JP, will be hosting a workshop teaching the basics and few tricks of how to access the media.