By Michael Coughlin Jr.
At its monthly meeting on Monday, the Gove Street Neighborhood Association (GSNA), formerly the Gove Street Citizens Association (GSCA), announced its new name and revealed plans for a social event in July.
The name change follows a few months of conversations between group members who wanted to ensure that residents felt welcome to attend meetings.
For example, during the GSNA’s March meeting, Board Members Neel Batra and Paola Villatoro spoke about the idea that there could be folks born outside of the United States who see the word citizen in the name and assume the group or the meetings are not for them to join.
As part of the name change process, there was a ranked-choice vote, which the Gove Street Neighborhood Association won with 10 first-place votes.
In addition to announcing the name change, Villatoro, who hosted Monday’s meeting, discussed plans for a picnic or block party on July 29th from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
“We actually just got approved for the permit. The City of Boston is giving grants out for these types of gatherings, so we had applied for a grant,” said Villatoro.
“We haven’t heard back exactly how much the grant is going to be, but we thought that in July, instead of having a meeting like this, it would be great to have an in-person meeting.”
Moreover, she emphasized that the meeting would not be as formal as its monthly Zoom meetings and described the event as a get-together to get to know members of the community.
In terms of the location for the event, Villatoro said it would be behind the Gumball Apartments. “So, the Gumball Apartments, there’s a little parcel there that is blocked off with the blue bikes situation, and we are planning to host it there and kind of like spill onto the Greenway,” she said.
Another board member, Jane O’Reilly, thought the location was also known as the Gove Street Plaza.
Eventgoers are encouraged to bring blankets and items like food to share. Villatoro indicated that a goal of the event is to elevate local businesses, so there are plans to supply food from places like Santarpio’s, Carmella’s, and more.
Moreover, the GSNA plans to send out flyers soon about the event and would welcome anyone who would like to volunteer to help. To contact the GSNA, email [email protected]. To keep up to date with the association’s