New England Residents Take Note: FREE EVENT: Lexington's Discovery Day on Sat. May 25th

Celebrate Lexington's Discovery Day this

Saturday, May 25th

Celebrate the beginning of summer at Lexington's 40th annual Discovery Day on Saturday, May 25. Sponsored by the Lexington Retailers Association and hosted by over 90 of Lexington’s businesses and civic organizations, this is a special day to "rediscover" the delights of our town. Meet up with friends and neighbors as you walk freely along Massachusetts Avenue in the center of Lexington (closed off this year to auto traffic) for the community street fair featuring live entertainment, local merchandise, delicious food, a beer garden and giveaways!  Festivities begin at 10 am and conclude at 3 pm, with free parking at the Depot lot and meters in the center.

Delicious Food and Drink

Fuel up for the day with a taste of local restaurants including: Abbott’s Frozen Custard, Bertucci’s, Daikanyama’s Japanese Cuisine, Il Casale, Parfait, Rancatore’s Ice Cream, Royal India Bistro, Sanyo, Upper Crust Pizza, Waxy O’Connor’s, and more. Grab a refreshing drink at Berman’s Wine & Spirits beer garden featuring Harpoon and Clown Shoes craft beers.

Entertainment

Between shopping and eating check out what’s happening in town from Lexington’s diverse civic groups.. The kids will enjoy fun activities at Emery Park hosted by Pinot’s Palette, Elite Freestyle Karate, Lexington Education Foundation, LexFUN!, ArtSpan, and more. Be on the lookout for the Red Sox’s mascot Wally, sponsored by William Raveis Real Estate.

There’s much to see and hear!Beginning with performances at the bandstand from the students of the Dance Inn. At 10:45am dance and sing along to music by Ben Rudnick and Friends.. From 11:45am to 12:45pm the Mariachi Mexico Lindo will roam through the crowds, and topping the day off we will be entertained by the talented Lexington High School Jazz Improvisation and Jazz Combo ensembles.

Giveaways & Shopping

Throughout the day there will be drawings for prizes donated by local merchants. To be eligible for the prize drawings pick up an entry from the Lexington Chamber of Commerce booth near Crafty Yankee. Winners will be announced from the bandstand and following Discovery Day winners will be notified of their prize and the location of the business to retrieve their prize through a mailed letter.

There are over 90 local businesses and organizations at Discovery Days and many local shops will have free giveaways and special deals. While you’re in the center stop by the Lexington Historical Society’s Annual Relinquished Treasures Spring Sale at the Depot from 9am - 2pm. The treasures include items donated from local homes such as glassware, china, silver, jewelry, vintage clothing, furniture and collectibles. Proceeds from this sale support the organization, which has been instrumental in preserving our town’s history for over 120 years.

Town Leaders & Services

Get set for summer by purchasing your swim tags and tennis court and golf IDs right on site from the Lexington Recreation Department. Have a question about town or state issues? Both the Lexington Board of Selectmen and State Representative Michelle Ciccolo will be present to hear your opinions and share current news. Learn about fire safety from the Lexington Fire Department with a visit in the “Safe House”. Get the latest safety tips from Lexington Police Department. The Lexington Department of Public Works, Department Water & Sewer Division will provide information on water conservation and quality, while the Environmental Service Division will demonstrate composting and recycling.  

Discovery Day is made possible with the additional financial support of the following businesses:

Grant B. Cole Realtors, Keith Asarkof DMD & Associates, Avenue Deli, Cambridge Trust Company, Fancy Flea Antiques & Fine Jewelry, Lexington Dental Associates, Lexington Graphics, Lexington Toyota, Salem Five Insurance Services, Signature Stationers, Spaulding Outpatient Center for Children at Lexington, Tricon Sports and Wilson Farm.

Participating businesses:

Abbott’s Frozen Custard, Allan Azoff's Martial Arts Academy, Artis of Lexington, Berman’s Wine & Spirits, Bertucci’s Brick Oven Pizza, Boston Sports Club, Brookline Bank, Cambridge Savings Bank, Cole Home Improvement, Coppe & Sears Pediatric Dental & Orthodontic, Crafty Yankee, Daikanyama Japanese Cuisine, Daniels Chiropractic Office, D B Studios, Digital Federal Credit Union, Elite Freestyle Karate, Empow Studios, Firefly Moon, Get In Shape For Women, Help Around Town, Home Instead Senior Care, Il Casale, Jackrabbit, Leading Edge, Lexington Therapeutic Massage, Michelson's Shoes, Omar’s World of Comics, One 2 One Bodyscapes, Parfait, Paul Mammola Salon, Pepperlane, Pinot's Palette, Rancatore's Ice Cream, Rodan & Fields – Emily Hickey, Royal India Bistro, Russian School of Mathematics, Sanyo, Sartori Insurance Agency, Spectacle Management, Summer’s Edge Day Camp, Tang's Natural Healing, TD Bank, The Dance Inn, Theatre Pharmacy, Upper Crust Pizzeria, Verizon Wireless Lexington, Watertown Savings Bank, Waxy O’Connor Restaurant, Webster Bank, William Raveis Real Estate, Yamaha Music School.

Other organizations taking part:

ArtSpan, Bina Farm Center, Chinese Americans of Lexington, Christian Science Reading Room, Communities Without Borders, Falan Dafa Association of New England, Grace Chapel ESOL, Grace Chapel Kidsweek, Lexfarm, LexFUN!, Lexington Arts and Crafts Society, Lexington at Home, Lexington Bicycle Advisory Committee, Lexington Chamber of Commerce, Lexington Christian Academy, Lexington Comprehensive Plan Committee, Lexington Democratic Town Committee, Lexington Education Foundation, Lexington Elected Officials, Lexington Environmental Services, Lexington Fire Department, Lexington Goes Purple, Lexington Historical Society, Lexington Human Rights Committee, Lexington Human Services Department, Lexington Interfaith Garden, Lexington Police Department, Lexington Pride Coalition, Lexington Recreation & Community Programs, Lexington Republican Town Committee, Lexington School Health Advisory Committee, Lexington Ski Club, Lexington Symphony, Lexington Transportation Services, Lexington Tree Committee, Lexington Water/Sewer Department, Lexington Youth & Family Services, LexMedia, LHS Robotics Club, My Weekday School, Penguin Coding School, Rotary Club of Lexington, Scouts Lexington, State Representative Michelle Ciccolo, Supportive Living/Douglas House, Sustainable Lexington Committee, The Goddard School, The LEAP School, William Diamond Jr. Fife & Drum Corps, and Young Engineers of Lexington.

Additional info. can be found at www.DiscoveryDayInLexington.com.

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Did You Know?...May 23rd is National Taffy Day! -- Stock Up on Laffy Taffy Now + Enjoy These Fun Activities to Celebrate with Your Family!

National Taffy Day – May 23, 2019

"On May 23rd, we celebrate our favorite sweet and chewy treat on National Taffy Day. Taffy has a long history as one of America’s native sweets. Common lore has it that in the 1880s, a Jersey Shore candy shop got flooded, soaking the shop’s taffy stock with Atlantic salt water. On a lark, the owner sold the candy as “saltwater taffy” and an American delicacy was born! Today it’s sold on boardwalks up and down the Eastern seaboard of the U.S. and has even found its way to landlocked candy shops. National Taffy Day is a day to indulge in the sweet pastime of unwrapping that twisty wax paper and popping a chewy bit of taffy into your mouth. Yum!

National Taffy Day Activities

1. See it get made

   Watching taffy being made is not to be missed! Most taffy factories offer guided tours so that you can see how taffy is heated in huge copper kettles, and then slowly cooled by hand on cold marble slabs and then put on a machine that now does the pulling.

2. Indulge in a taffy binge

   Gorging on candy for National Taffy Day might not seem like the best advice, but then again it is the custom for other holidays (not naming any names)… so having a few taffies is a great way to celebrate!  
3. ----

1.     Check out my favorite taffy candy, LaffyTaffy, and do a fun taste testing with your family,         to find out which flavor is a favorite in your house...
2. 
   
   
3. We are a banana LaffyTaffy house :-)

----

1. Make your own

   The best way to celebrate National Taffy Day is to actually make your own! Not only is this a fun activity, but it also means that you will have a good supply of taffy to give out to your friends and family. Look up a recipe on the web and get cooking (and pulling.)

Why We Love National Taffy Day

     We love to watch it get made

      

         Not only is taffy a delicious candy, enjoyed by all ages, but making it is also a real upper 
         body workout! Nowadays taffy is made by machines, but in the past, or if you are making 
         it at home, you use the ‘taffy pull’ to add air to the taffy mixture. This is what gives taffy its            distinctive texture.

1. It makes us nostalgic

   We love that tasting taffy takes most Americans back to childhood memories of blissful summers by the sea. As taffy is traditionally sold at boardwalks, it has been a staple of American seaside resort towns for over one hundred years.

2. The flavors are endless

   Taffy has survived the test of time because of its unique texture, which comes in almost every flavor imaginable; from vanilla, maple, mint and watermelon, to raspberry, banana and licorice… or anything else you can think of!"

*Content source: https://nationaltoday.com/national-taffy-day/

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Welcome in Summer with a Good Book -- "The Adventures of Lily Huckleberry in Scandinavia -- A Whimsical New Book That Will Inspire Kids to be Adventurous Young Travelers (Review)

Disclosure: I was sent a review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All views shared are mine and mine alone.

Buy now in hardcover for only $25.00

With summer fast upon us, many families are already thinking of summer travel plans.  Do you have any?  We are hoping to make it up to NH a few times during the summer to hike and enjoy the mountains, while visiting with family.  In addition to packing all the summer essentials, clothing, toys, swim stuff, etc., we also make a point to bring a few books for the girls to read, and to enjoy enjoy together around a cozy fire, or snuggled upon the couch as we watch the rain fall outside.  One book that we recently read and fell in love with instantly, and will definitely be bringing on all our summer adventures is "The Adventures of Lily Huckleberry in Scandinavia.  This is a whimsical new picture book that will inspire kids to be adventurous young travels -- perfect for summer travel!

"Hello beautiful world, I'm ready for you," is announced by Lily in the beginning of the book, and this phrase is weaved throughout the story as she embarks on magical summer adventures in Scandinavia.  Kids will not only enjoy a cute and entertaining story, but will also learn about Nordic culture through language, traditions and stories, which Lily shares. You really feel like you are getting snapshots of her travels with the colorful and detailed illustrations. We found ourselves lingering on each page to take in all the details.  And, halfway through the book, both of my girls agreed that they would love to visit Scandinavia one day, as Lily made is sound so much fun, and illustrations had us wishing we were there already. :-)

My girls really enjoyed learning about the Midsummer celebration, a Scandinavian tradition, where people wear flower crowns and dance around a maypole.  in addition to Scandinavian traditions, they also learned about historical landmarks like the Little Mermaid of Denmark, as well as Nordic characters like vikings and elves.  Because this book was a learning experience, I incorporated it into our homeschooling as part of our world travel studies.  We spent a whole week learning about Scandinavia, after kicking off the learning journey with this book.  I continued to share the book throughout the week, to show things we had learned about in schooling like, the Swedish horse, Dala, which appeared on Lily's journey.  And, in the back of the book there is a section that includes Scandinavian facts, as well as a glossary of familiar terms.  

We really loved learning about Scandinavia, and following Lily on her adventures.  Seeing her have so much fun on vacation, had my girls wishing it was summer already, so that they would explore and travel like Lily.  And, learning about Scandinavia was made more fun with this book, complete with a cute story of a little girl's adventure, as well as breathtaking illustrations, that were so lifelike.  If you are looking for a new book to pick up and share with your kids, as part of your/their summer reading, then I highly recommend "The Adventures of Lily Huckleberry in Scandinavia," available now.

More about this book:

"The first book of a travel series for little wanderers - full of bravery, whimsy, laughter, and cultural discovery! Over 1,000 copies sold during our Kickstarter campaign! See the reviews on Amazon.

In this very first book of the series, our brave, curious Lily Huckleberry uses her magic globe to travel to Scandinavia for a Midsummer party, where she finds herself ker-splat in the middle of a strawberry mystery. 

As she travels around Denmark, Norway, and Sweden to save Midsummer, Lily explores Nordic culture and meets a menagerie of friends. 

She swims with The Little Mermaid in Copenhagen, mingles with the King and Queen of Sweden, rides the Dala horse, and faces a group of grumpy Vikings that may or may not have something to do with the strawberry mystery... 

That's all we will tell you for now, we don't want to ruin the surprise ;) 

Details: 

• 7x10" - perfect for little hands
• Illustrated story with 96 pages of colorful illustrations
• Includes a map of Scandinavia + fun facts + a glossary so kids can depend their knowledge of the region.
• Keepsake book - gold foil on the cover + linen binding
• High quality, thick paper.
• Printed responsibly in Canada using FSC certified, chlorine-free paper made with 30% post-consumer waster + vegetable/soy-based inks.  "

In this book, kids will learn about Scandinavian traditions such as the Midsummer celebration, with its flower crowns and maypole dancing, to historic landmarks, like the Little Mermaid of Denmark and the stunning fjords of Norway. 

Nordic characters like elves, vikings and the Swedish horse, Dala, appear throughout the journey, and common Scandinavian words, like "Mormor" or "Fika," are introduced with helpful speech bubbles for proper pronunciation.

--

About the Authors

Audrey Smit is the founder of This Little Street, a design company with a colorful and happy aesthetic. Audrey grew up in a small village in France and has lived all over the world. Her design inspirations are fused from these beautiful places and their people. She now lives in Berkeley with her Danish husband and their four adventurous little girls.

Jackie Knapp, who works as the Director of the Children’s Ministry in Albany, has mentored and taught kids worldwide. This is her first children’s series, inspired by a Thursday Adventure Club created for Audrey’s girls, and from her own gypsy spirit.

About This Little Street

Founded in 2017 in sunny Northern California, This Little Street is an original brand by designer Audrey Smit - a whimsical world filled with happy, colorful products and fanciful stories for children. This Little Street is also the home of Lily Huckleberry, the hero of a new book series that empowers kids to be brave, imaginative, and curious about the world. This Little Street is on a mission to make people smile more and help parents raise good little humans. For more about This Little Street, visit www.thislittlestreet.com

Disclosure: I was sent a review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All views shared are mine and mine alone.

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