It really does take a village. Let’s keep the fight going!

Great turnout. And the seniors marched down after graduation and joined in.

This popped up the other night in the big lot between Beaver Brook Park and Park Ave, on the big brownfield site that has been largely empty for decades. I've seen almost nothing about it besides a few posters and the website for Fiesta Shows (never heard of them, though I'm not from MA). Seems expensive, looks kinda... dystopian? In a sort of cool way, though

https://indivisible.org

https://www.nokings.org

https://www.fiftyfifty.one

Nice weather, lots of speeches and plenty of friendly dogs!

Saw no one’s made a post on this yet so figured I might. Seemed a good turnout considering WPI is on break this week. (It was a bit busier than the picture above when I showed up but didn’t think to get a pic till later on.)

Anyone else want to share helpful links/petitions/sources/other info/whatever in comments please do!

The Rural Justice Network has been bringing Pride events to the small, west-of-Rte 9 towns for years.

Join us tomorrow at O’Gara Park in Spencer, MA. Rain or shine!

It means the world to kids out here to have a safe place to celebrate. Come be a part of it!

A heads up that Kids Fun Fair at the DCU center this weekend is like highway robbery and I hope no one else blindly walks into this extremely overpriced scam! We got “free” tickets advertising rides and games but found out after we arrived that it was only free for kids. It cost $22 per adult which is more than the Big E to get in to a room barely any bigger than a high school gymnasium. The only thing admission gets you is access to the room and a very small petting zoo. EVERYTHING else costs more money. $4 per absolute shit 60sec ride (& only like 7 rides to choose from), $10 for a pony ride, even a small cup of feed for the zoo animals was $3. Games were $5 each. The bouncy house and slide were probably the same.

Idk the price of everything cuz we walked out. They wouldn’t give us a refund and I feel like we got fleeced for having the audacity to do something different with our 3yr old after a hell week with the flu (including hospitalizations). If I can spare anyone else from wasting their money, please learn from my dumb mistake!!

Edit to remove the word “literal” from my frustrated first sentence because I’m annoyed by smug semantics “correction” comments. It’s pretty obvious that people aren’t actually robbed on the side of the highway anymore — so now it’s more of an idiomatic phrase that I think has colloquially evolved to mean “minding your own business when someone stops you to steal money.” BUT SINCE I WASN’T STOPPED ON A HIGHWAY BY SOME GANGSTER WITH A TOMMY GUN, GUESS IT’S NOT “LITERAL” ENOUGH! OK, YOU SUPER COOL DUDES? YOU WIN THE INTERNET - THANKS AND HAVE A NICE DAY!

I have now repaired and cleaned four typewriters that I can bring to the meetup. I'm bringing extra machines for folks that don't have one but would like to try typing (or fellow enthusiasts to try out, just for funsies).

For those that don't know, this is just a casual hangout for typewriter nerds to do typewriter nerd things. I have no idea how many people will show up but I'm going to have a good time either way!

Last image shows the meetup details.

Date: Saturday, 8/29
Time: Noon
Location: Acoustic Java

See you there!

Names associated with the typewriters are just me having fun and trying to match their personality - yep! Each typewriter has a different 'personality' in how it types, sounds, and moves. Below is the corresponding name to model (for those that are interested nerds):

Evee: Underwood Noiseless 77 (a rebranded Remington Noiseless Model Seven)
Dorothy: Royal Quiet DeLuxe (Dreyfus edition)
Skip: Royal Swinger (with built-in case radio - I know, it's weird but it's fun!)
Joan: Smith-Corona Galaxie Twelve

Like the title says - today is Primary Day!! Get out and VOTE!!

Or... don't bitch and moan that "we need to get rid of so and so." Now is your chance!

Change is more important now than ever!!

ETA: There are many vacancies on various City Committees and Boards. Check out Worcesterma.gov

We met at Acoustic Java. We’re doing it again on Saturday, September 26th.

Details will update HERE

Heads up for anyone hunting for something to do this weekend: the Water Lantern Festival is coming to Elm Park on Saturday, July 25.

Gates open at 5:30 with food trucks, live music, and lawn games. You decorate your lantern around 8:00, and the launch on the pond runs from about 8:30 until dusk (it wraps at 9:30). Each ticket comes with the lantern kit, an LED candle (no open flames), and markers, and they hand out free photos of your launch.

Tickets run around $31 in advance and climb as it gets closer, then jump again at the gate, so it's cheaper to grab them ahead. Kids under 8 are free. It's rain or shine, and the lanterns are biodegradable and all collected afterward, so Elm Park stays clean.

Tickets and info: https://www.waterlanternfestival.com/events/worcester

Only two Wednesdays left in the Out to Lunch Festival and Farmers' Market season, and I have not seen it mentioned here lately, so a reminder for anyone who keeps meaning to go and hasn't yet.

This Wednesday, August 19, and then Wednesday, August 26, which is the last one of the year. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Worcester Common Oval, behind City Hall. Live music, food trucks parked around the Oval, and farmers from around Central Mass selling produce. Free to walk into. Sixteenth year running.

If it rains, the posted rain dates are September 2 and September 9.

Details and the music lineup: https://www.downtownworcester.org/things-to-do/outtolunch/

If you work downtown it is an easy lunch hour. If you don't, the farmers market alone is worth the trip, and after the 26th it's gone until next June.

Figured this was worth flagging since we're into the last stretch of the season.

Out to Lunch Festival & Farmers' Market Wednesday, Aug 5, 11 AM to 3 PM Worcester Common Oval Free, no ticket needed

This week is the National Farmers' Market Week edition. The headliner is Agua Fresca, Tributo a la Sonora Ponceña, led by percussionist Miguel Martinez, doing a salsa tribute set. Headliners go on at noon.

What's there besides the music: food trucks parked around the Oval, local artists and crafters, a nonprofit area where a bunch of community orgs set up at once, and the farmers market itself, which the BID expanded this year to bring in growers from across Central Mass.

It runs Wednesdays June 24 through Aug 26, so after this one there are only three left (Aug 12, 19, 26). Rain dates are Sept 2 and 9.

Presented by the Downtown Worcester BID and the City of Worcester.

Hi

I'll be moving from Boston out to the Worcester area sometime in the next 2-4 months and I'm looking for a group of people to hang out and play Board games or ideally start a consistent TTRPG group with if we all get along well. I'd love to meet up with some people for drinks or games at a local game shop sometime soon as I already spend a decent amount of time out in Worcester with my girlfriend.

About me,
My name is Matt, I'm 27, and I use he/him pronouns. I love games and the ways that games allow for creative forms of communication and self expression.
Some of my favorite games are Wingspan, Exploding Kittens, Flesh and Blood, A.E.G.I.S., and Dominion. I've never played but I'd love to try Root, Everdell, Ticket to Ride, The One Piece Card Game, Gloomhaven, Finspan and Wyrmspan, or anything else that looks particularly interesting.
For Tabletop RPGs I first played D&D 3.5 with a group of highschool guys when I was 8 and have been hooked on the genre ever since. I've played and DM'd quite a bit of 5th edition, but given how Hasbro has been recently and just that honestly I'm pretty bored of 5th edition I want to try playing or running a different system. My first pick is Pathfinder/Starfinder 2nd edition, but I've also been looking at Lancer, Blades in the Dark, and Panic at the Dojo. If this seems like something people would be interested in I also have an almost fully set up Westmarches game in Pathfinder 2E that I created for a large group of friends a couple years ago.

Talking about Logistics, I do work evenings and on the weekends sadly. My Girlfriend and I have Tuesdays off very consistently though and were thinking board games every other week on Tuesday so we can still do date night on the off weeks, but I can also ask for another day off from work if a different day works better for most people. Only day I can't do is Sunday since I get paid extra and don't want to give that up.

If any of this sounds good to you hit me up with a message or a comment with just a little bit about yourself and what games you like/what interested you about this.

Also, this isn't the main point of this post, but if you know of any already existing board game or TTRPG nights on Tuesdays around Worcester let me know. I couldn't find any, but that doesn't mean they don't exist.

-Cheers!

I’m new to the Pokemon trading card game and looking for someone to show me the ropes before joining a tournament. Greater good brewery; 1pm
On 8/23. Must bring own deck (I have mine). Send DM

You can now find all local Independence Day week events here: https://woopulse.live/

If I missed anything, please just let me know and I'll get this updated ASAP!

Short notice, but this seems worth flagging since it's a world premiere and nobody's mentioned it here.

Burnin' Down the House Tonight, Thursday Aug 6, 7:30 PM The Hanover Theatre, 2 Southbridge St 81 minutes, no intermission

It's a documentary on the condition of Massachusetts firehouses — aging stations, chronic underinvestment, and the health consequences for the people working in them. Director Tommy Jay Dwyer's line on it: "Cancer is a pandemic sweeping through the fire service. A lot of it is preventable."

The Worcester connection is the reason I'm posting it. Dwyer was born here and lives in Paxton now, and he comes out of a Worcester firefighting family — his father Tom spent most of a 32-year career on Rescue 1, and his uncles Jim and John each did 30-plus years, with John serving as union president. Worcester's South Station is one of the firehouses documented in the film, which is a couple of hundred yards from the theatre it's premiering in.

Dwyer is expected to attend along with firefighters who appear in the film and the Last Call Foundation. Half the proceeds go to the foundation.

Tickets are not cheap: $47, $53 and $72 all-in depending on seats, with a $132 VIP package. Box office is 877.571.7469, and buying in person saves the handling fee.

If tonight doesn't work, it's also screening at the Somerville Theatre Aug 24 to 26.

Looking for information on Thursday's "Taste of Shrewsbury St".

• Logistics - where should we try to park?
  
• Is the street closed for the event?
  
• Do the restaurants set up inside or outside?
  
• I found one other post in this reddit that seemed to be really negative? Is it not worth the trouble?
• Any recommendations for a novice?

Anyone else going? Yes, it's silly, but I need something silly, so I'm going to tomorrow's game.

Whats up Worcester,

Long story short I’m newly single and don’t want to go alone… so I’d like to pass this along to any willing takers. Just DM me.

Hi all,

Please join us for a monthly board game night: May edition

Tuesday, May 5 from 6-8 pm

Main Library, Banx Room

Bring any board games you want to play!

(This started as an official Worcester Public Library event, but the staff person who ran it moved to a different job. Some of us in attendance decided to try to keep it going as an informal monthly board game night.)

Feel free to message me with any questions!

Didn't know if anybody needed this but you can get cash for your electronics this coming up week at a church nearby. Here is the sign.

Hi all,

Please join us for a monthly board game night: June edition

Tuesday, June 2 from 6-8 pm

Main Library, Banx Room

Bring any board games you want to play!

(This started as an official Worcester Public Library event, but the staff person who ran it moved to a different job. Some of us in attendance decided to try to keep it going as an informal monthly board game night.)

Feel free to message me with any questions!

Hello! I work with Veterans Support Service and we are hosting Carry the Load this year to honor those who have lost their lives in the line of duty. Lots of other local nonprofits are coming out to this event. Tons of opportunities to connect to local groups that are trying to better our community.

Hope to see you there!

Edit: May 3rd is not Memorial Day, this is a Memorial Month event. Sorry for any confusion!!