Tis the Season for…
HOLIDAY SHOPPING IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD...

Congratulations to the following winners of the People's Choice Awards for the City's Best Hot Chocolate and Best Dressed Holiday Window contests held during the 2009 City of Lights Parade and Holiday Art Stroll.
Best Hot Chocolate
1st Place: Second Wind Cafe http://www.secondwindcafe.com/
2nd Place: Market Street Market
Runner Up: Caffe Paradiso http://www.caffeparadiso.com/

Best Dressed Holiday Window
1st Place: Brew'd Awakening Coffeehaus http://www.brewdawakening.com/
2nd Place: C'est http://www.cestlowell.com/
Runner Up: Chantilly Place http://chantillyplace.net/

Tutto Bene

Open Tuesday - Saturday 10AM - 9PM
http://www.tuttobenecellars.com/

Visit the Brush Gallery Holiday Marketplace on Sat. and Sun., Dec. 12 & 13, 11am-5pm, and vote for the perfect cookie!

Taste a variety of cookies made by Brush Gallery Artists old family recipes, vote for the one you like best, and then take a copy of the recipe with you so you can make great cookies for the holidays. Festivities include a raffle of a variety of beautiful gift baskets including decadent chocolate, wonderful wine, sumptuous spas and creative candles. http://www.thebrush.org/










Western Avenue Studios. December 5th & 6th and December 12th & 13th from noon to 5pm http://www.westernavenuestudios.com/
New home of The Revolving Museumhttp://www.revolvingmuseum.org/become_member.html









Ayer Lofts Artisans Show Exhibit runs Sun., Dec. 6 through Mon., Dec. 28. Ayer Lofts Gallery is open Saturday and Sunday, 12 - 4pm and is located at 172 Middle Street, Lowell. http://www.ayerlofts.com/

Sam Meas

Congressional Candidate Sam Meas coming to Downtown Lowell, Saturday 21 NOV
On Saturday, 21 NOV, Sam Meas, a Haverhill-based Republican running for a seat in the 5th Congressional District of Massachusetts, will be walking through Downtown Lowell and the Lower Highlands in order to meet with business owners and residents.

The walking tour will begin at 8:00 a.m. at the Market Street Market (95 Market St.) Sam will spend the entire morning downtown, and will head to Le Petit Cafe (660 Middlesex) at 2:00 p.m. to begin making his way up Branch Street.

Crosswalk-Phase II

Join Chief Lavallee for the next
Downtown Lowell Sub Committee Meeting
City Hall, Mayor’s Reception Hall
375 Merrimack Street
Monday, November 16, 2009
7:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M.

UPDATE:
Last night we had a very good meeting with Chief Lavallee, several residents and bar owners. No real surprises; crime is up and funding is down. LPD is still doing an excellent job despite having a deficit of 34 officers. On a positive note everyone in attendance agreed that face-to-face communication between residents and the bars has been great.

Chief Lavallee also told us that the crime statistics that he provides to us now at meetings will be available on-line at: http://www.crimemapping.com/

Captain Kennedy mentioned that there is an "epidemic" of car break-ins all over the city. He reminds everyone that the smallest thing left in your car will attract a thief; most of all GPS devices (but they take just about anything including change in console). Be sure to put it in the trunk or bring it inside and use a moist cloth to wipe away the marks from the device on your dash.

The fun part was when Chief Lavallee took us on a field-trip next door to the new Emergency Communications Center. The recently completed project includes the area where dispatchers work; they were able to give us quite an impressive demonstration of what happens when you call 911. The next room is designed as "central command center" during an emergency. I believe their eight agencies from the city and local area represented during a time of emergency. All-in-all I was feeling like my tax dollars where spent very well on this particular project. And let's not forget…those dispatchers are the folks who were literally falling through the floor in their old space. I'd say this one is considerably safer for them while they are helping to keep all of us safe.

One more thing…UTEC is celebrating their 10th Anniversary Wednesday with a fundraising party. Greg Coutreau will be recognizing a member of LDNA for being one of their first partners in the neighborhood. Although the admission is pricey; it would be great if you can support this outstanding organization.
Date: Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Time: 6:00-8:00 PM
Location: 34 Hurd St. Lowell, MA 01852
Tickets are $50 in advance, $75 at the door
http://www.utec-lowell.org/

There will be no formal LDNA meeting until January 2010; I'm sure that I will be seeing all of you between now and then.