By Courtney Wright
Happy Mother’s Day/Spring/Small Business Month/Memorial Day Mission Hill!
The weather is doing its part this past week to keep me in high spirits as we embark on another very busy month in the neighborhood.
May 1st officially kicks off Outdoor Dining and patio season in the City of Boston and I know we are all looking forward to spending more time outside as the weather warms up and our nice days multiply. Our local restaurants will be busy over the weekend setting up their seating areas, picking up their “No Parking” signs at City Hall and planting their flower boxes. If you’ve been out enjoying the beautiful weather as of late, you’ve hopefully discovered the outdoor seating options already available at Milkweed, Mike’s Donuts, Lily’s Pasta, Green Haus Cafe, Hebron Market and Merengue Express. On behalf of MH Main Streets, thank you for all the effort you all put into creating inviting and bright spaces for our community to enjoy together after months of rain and cold- we appreciate you!
Coinciding with patio season is National Small Business Week. During National Small Business Week (May 4-10), the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) honors the efforts and impact of small businesses through nationwide in-person events and a free Virtual Summit (May 6–7). The summit offers educational workshops, networking opportunities, and access to federal resources to support entrepreneurs and small business owners. More information is available at www.sba.gov/events. Here in Boston, we go a step further and have designated May, Small Business Month. Over the next month, Main Streets districts throughout the city will be working with the Office of Economic Development and Inclusion to highlight businesses and commercial districts throughout the city and will be hosting workshops and networking opportunities between Small Business and relevant resources and departments. All Small Business Month events will celebrate and support the small business ecosystem of Boston. Highlights include: Small Business Resource Fair | Thursday, May 8 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. | Dot House Health (1352 Dorchester Ave) and Small Business Solutions Technical Assistance Consultation Hours | Friday, May 9 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (virtual). Check out https://www.boston.gov/departments/small-business to learn about other events and offerings and register for those of interest.
To celebrate Small Business Month locally, Mission Hill Main Streets is partnering with OFFSITE, a local organization that works within the hospitality industry to “create opportunities to build capacity and agency among our community, and contribute to expanding access to a diverse range of knowledge, skills, and career opportunities”, to offer a TIPS+ training for local restaurants that serve alcohol. On May 12th, we will be hosting this responsible alcohol training and certificate program in-person at the Puddingstone Tavern (Thank you Melo and Harry!) for up to 20 staff from our local businesses. This training and certification are being paid for by MHMS and is free for those attending. If you or your staff would like to sign up for one of the spots, please reach out to me at [email protected].
I encourage you to celebrate Small Business Month by eating and shopping locally and sharing your experiences to help promote local business. With so many graduations, holidays and happenings over the course of May, please keep your eyes peeled for local specials, whether that’s Mother’s Day brunches, plants and flowers for graduations (Green Haus), or whatever the occasion might be- try to spend it in Mission Hill’s small businesses.
On Monday, May 5th at 10 a.m., the Mayor’s Neighborhood Coffee Hour will take place at the Mission Hill Playground at 1497 Tremont st. Come mingle with neighbors and City Hall staff and departments to have your voice heard. To learn more or sign up for a slot with the Mayor: boston.gov/coffee-hours. I hope to see you there!
By the time coffee hours wrap up, it will almost be time for LUNCH at Yellow Door Taqueria-you heard that right. To celebrate Cinco de Mayo, Yellow Door will be opening for lunch this Monday at 11:30 a.m.! It’s exciting in itself to add a new lunch spot to the rotation, but even more so given that yesterday they launched their new Spring/Summer 2025 menu. Yellow Door is excited to introduce new food and beverage menu items that highlight and are inspired by summer produce and flavors – like new margaritas (watermelon, passionfruit, raspberry + mint) and the Chilled Citrus Shrimp Taco!
A reminder that Yellow Door is open for brunch on the weekends currently and Mother’s Day Brunch reservations are available for the 11th from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. The Mission Bar and Grill also features a special Mother’s Day Brunch menu every year that will work as a great gift for the women in your life. While these few have been shared with me, I know that there are many more businesses and restaurants with new items on their menus (Milkweed) and great offerings for the festivities in the month ahead.
You have probably noticed as I have that since the end of the pandemic, our streets and sidewalks have become increasingly unpleasant regarding litter and trash. In the absence of the City being able to hire and place hoakies to all neighborhoods for whatever reason, MHMS is using beautification grant funds to partner with Project Place and their Clean Corners program. We are very excited about this collaboration, and I hope that you all will be too as we begin to see improvements in cleanliness on our sidewalks. Project Place is an incredible social service agency in Boston that has been working in communities since 1967, serving clients in the face of significant challenges. As the needs of the population have shifted over the years, Project Place has responded by refocusing its programs, one of these being Clean Corners. Clean Corners is an economic development initiative created in response to the immense challenges involved with assisting people who are homeless achieve self-sufficiency. In addition to job training, Clean Corners employees have access to support services that help them maintain a professional work schedule. They receive intense training and are a highly visible, positive presence in the neighborhoods they serve. They are paid hourly, and graduate from Clean Corners with skills that transfer directly to a variety of industries, including custodial services, facilities maintenance, waste management, and landscaping.
“Clean Corners is a great option for urban communities that want to keep their neighborhoods and business districts clean,” said Suzanne Kenney, Executive Director of Project Place. “But much more impressive is Clean Corners’ record of helping clients become self-sufficient by teaching them skills through on-the-job training that they can use to obtain mainstream employment.”
Beginning this week and lasting the year, Project Place will be walking the business district twice weekly to collect trash and other litter along Tremont and Huntington. They currently have contracts and work with most Main Street districts, Fenway Park, City Year and the New England Holocaust Memorial. As a collective of 20 Main Street districts, we have been working with the Boston Main Streets Foundation and our City electeds to try and institute the Clean Corners program city-wide. The program serves a huge need for commercial districts while contributing to the stabilization of some of our city’s most vulnerable. I’m proud that MHMS, through this grant, can bring them to Mission Hill and I hope you will take the time to get to know them as you begin seeing them out and about over the next year. I want to thank our State Representative Chynah Tyler who has been an integral partner with MHMS in trying to increase and secure funding in the State budget for our Main Streets district and programs like these.
As I talk about upcoming street cleaning activities, I need to extend a sincere thank you to those who came out for Boston’s 10th annual Love Your Block on April 12th. It was a snowy, cold morning and I was worried no one would show but as usual, I was not disappointed. Thank you to MHMS Board members Juan Martinez and Chelsea Lauder, honorary Board member and MH’er Tricia Fitzgerald, and the Northeastern Off-Campus students (shoutout Mallory Pernaa) for spending a blustery day picking up trash throughout the business district. Thank you to Mossy, Frank and Jim for keeping me company at Mike’s while I waited for volunteers/escaped the elements temporarily. Thank you so much Maria Weinograd and Mike’s Donuts for keeping us fed and warm as always by graciously donating donuts and coffee to our group.
We do not have a set time yet, as our MH Post members are some of the most sought after-understandably so-and busy people I know, but please mark your calendars for our Annual Memorial Day Ceremony in Hanlon Square in Brigham Circle. Typically beginning at 11 a.m. (unless Colonel Geoge Rollins is MC’ing a State House event) we will honor our local veterans with a wreath laying ceremony and music from the wonderful bugler. Memorial Day is May 26th, stay tuned for a finalized set time- unless Mossy already has it and shared it in his column.
If I missed anything or you would like something included, please feel free to get in touch at [email protected].