Join Medford’s Walk/Ride Day on last Friday of the Month

Go car-free and celebrate Medford’s independent businesses!

Medford has many “hidden gems.” Here are some ideas to help you explore them on Friday, July 27^th and every last Friday.  All you need to do is walk, ride a bike, or take a bus to any of the Walk/Ride Day partners, and ask for your special reward.

Feel and look your best:

Start your day the serene way, with a free  6 am “slow-flow” yoga class, at Awakened Warrior Yoga (Riverside Ave).  And while you’re there, enter the raffle for a month of free lessons from Xtreme Ninja Martial Arts Center.

Get 10 percent off a trim, a new cut, or maybe even a color treatment at Hair’s Karen Salon, or get 20 percent off all products you choose.

Treat yourself to a free fitness evaluation and a free training session at Fitness Together on Salem Street.

Recenter yourself with a massage from Medford Muscular Therapy Centre, and add a free 15-minute treatment of your choice.

Get 10 percent off all services at Nancy’s Family Salon on Salem Street.

Improve your life going forward: make an appointment with Lions Share Coaching (online/phone only) and get entered into a six-week life and/or career coaching program, or get 15 percent off any coaching package. Email marie[at]lionssharecoaching.com  or call 617–803–1508 to sign up.

Food and drink:

Visit Mystic Coffee Roaster on Riverside Ave and order your free cup of fresh-roasted coffee. Don’t forget to get one of Janabee’s amazing cinnamon rolls or other pastry to go with your beverage.

Enjoy a free cup of amazing clam chowder (and treat yourself to some other yummy bites) at Depot Square Grill.

Get a yummy dinner or snack at Colleen’s Ice Cream and Sandwich Shop and sign the raffle entry for a gift card.

Stop in at Paul Revere Restaurant and get a free soda when you buy a club sandwich.

Shopping:

Start smack in the middle of Medford Square at Century Bank by opening a personal checking account, and get a free $50.00!

Just a few doors down Salem Street at Aggie’s Attic (women’s clothing and accessories): dress yourself up and get 10 percent off whatever you buy.

Squinting? Cross back over the major intersection and stop in at Medford Optical on High Street, for $100 off any complete pair of prescription eyewear.

Just a few doors away, at D’Errico-McGlynn Flowers, select $20 worth of flowers and get 10 percent off your purchase.

Need a gift? Or want to reward yourself? Ward’s Gifts has a huge selection, and you’ll get 15 percent off your purchase.

Online:

Go online and get 10 off a good book (or several) from Bestsellers Café: http://shop.bestsellers-cafe.com. The new store will be open soon!

If you commute car-free, check-in at http://greenstreets.mapc.org/ to be entered into a raffle.

Visit www.GoGreenStreets.org to find all the participating businesses and other partners in Walk/Ride Days.

More about Walk/Ride Days in Medford

Walk/Ride Days is looking for new retailers and schools to join the project. To participate, a business chooses an incentive that will help bring more customers to the business without driving. Then, on the last Friday of each month, the businesses reward the people who visited because of the program. Schools in the Walk/Ride project can participate in many ways, from Walking School Bus events to a Special Walk/Ride day for the whole community.

Walk/Ride Days is a project of the Green Streets Initiative, an international grassroots organization based in Cambridge, MA, that celebrates and promotes the use of sustainable and active transportation. Green Streets’ mission is to create safer, healthier, and quieter streets and more vibrant communities. More information at: http://www.gogreenstreets.org/.

Green Medford and the Medford partners of Mass in Motion are coordinating participation in Walk/Ride Days. To sign up or ask questions, call Susan at 781-526-4714, or email greenmedford[at]gmail.com.

Green Medford seeks to educate the Medford community to understand our environmental impact, and to empower members of our community to make more sustainable energy choices related to homes and businesses, transportation, and food. More information at: www.greenmedford.org and at our Facebook page (search for Green Medford).

Give a big cheer for Climate Summer!

The six Climate Summer members from the Massachusetts team should be arriving in Medford sometime tomorrow (Monday). They will be riding in from Waltham. Please give them a rousing welcome!

Here's a photo of the team, from their week in Hull:

They are (not in the order shown in the photo):

Murtaza Nek, Program Coordinator

Becky Palermo, Media Coordinator

Aaron Morales, New Media Coordinator

Emily Edgerly, Outreach Coordinator

Julia Barnes, Video Co-Coordinator

Andrew Nguyen, Video Co-Coordinator

You can read their interesting stories here: http://www.climatesummer.net/the-teams/massachusetts-team-2012/

They will be staying at Wesley United Methodist Church on Winthrop Street, where we will also hold the Green Medford meeting on Tuesday at 7 pm. Please come and meet them, and contribute your unique ideas for a greener Medford.

In case you missed the last email, here are some of the things the Climate Summer team will be doing during their week with us:

o   Bike Fest at the Medford Farmers Market, Thursday, July 19^th from 3-7 pm, Riverside Ave behind City Hall. The Bike Fest will include free tuneups, kids’ activities, test rides of electric bikes from Smooth Scooters, a raffle for a new bike helmet from Medford Saving Lives, as well as donations of used bikes and equipment to low-income individuals who need them though an organization called ROLL IT FORWARD. Bring your bike, your kids, your buddies, and your shopping bags to the Farmers Market and Bike Fest for a great event.

o   Circle the Square, Thursday, July 19^th from 3-7 pm, all around Medford Square. Enjoy all the beauty and bounty that Medford Square has to offer, on display for your pleasure! At this debut event, you can shop at the Farmers Market, listen to great live music, meet the Climate Summer team, and buy local art—all right in “the Square.”

 o   Outreach for Walk-Ride Days: The team will recruit businesses to join the growing Medford Walk-Ride Days program, which is designed to get people out of cars and onto the streets. Celebrated on the last Friday of each month, Walk-Ride Day businesses offer special incentives to people who ride a bike, walk, or take a bus. Find all the participating businesses and their offers here: http://gogreenstreets.org/city/medford-ma.

o   Pulling invasive water chestnuts from the Mystic River. The Mystic River Watershed Association is sponsoring a small team of boats on July 17^th. The riders will get off their bikes and onto the water for a few hours of effort on behalf of our river.

o    Making a film about sustainability and curbing our addiction to fossil fuels: Climate Summer members will be interviewing members of the Medford community for this video. Want to be on camera? Just look for the distinctive group of bikers with video cameras around Medford all week.

Climate Summer Bicyclists Coming to Medford July 16-22

Six young adults are spending the summer traveling exclusively by bike around Massachusetts to inspire communities to curb use of fossil fuels

Medford, MA, July 8 ~ New England Climate Summer will reprise their 2011 visit to Medford this coming July 16-22, helping to strengthen and inspire community groups, while actively addressing society’s addiction to fossil fuels by crafting local solutions that strengthen communities. The Climate Summer riders, who are college students and recent graduates, are spending their summer working with community leaders and residents to connect diverse constituencies and weave a powerful movement against fossil fuel use and climate change. Riders live their values—traveling exclusively by bike across New England.

The Medford team consists of three young women and three young men, who will visit six Massachusetts communities in addition to Medford (Lexington, Hull, Waltham, Northampton, Holyoke, and Worcester) by the end of summer. Their visit to Medford is sponsored by the City and by Green Medford. More information about the team members is posted on the Climate Summer website (http://www.climatesummer.net/the-teams/massachusetts-team-2012).

While they are in Medford, the Climate summer team plans to participate in many events on behalf of a better Medford. EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO JOIN THEM!

o   Bike Fest at the Medford Farmers Market, Thursday, July 19^th from 3-7 pm, Riverside Ave behind City Hall. The Bike Fest will include free tuneups, kids’ activities, test rides of electric bikes from Smooth Scooters, a raffle for a new bike helmet from Medford Saving Lives, as well as donations of used bikes and equipment to low-income individuals who need them though an organization called ROLL IT FORWARD. Bring your bike, your kids, your buddies, and your shopping bags to the Farmers Market and Bike Fest for a great event.

o   Circle the Square, Thursday, July 19^th from 3-7 pm, all around Medford Square. Enjoy all the beauty and bounty that Medford Square has to offer, on display for your pleasure! At this debut event, you can shop at the Farmers Market, listen to great live music, meet the Climate Summer team, and buy local art—all right in “the Square.”

o   Outreach for Walk-Ride Days: The team will recruit businesses to join the growing Medford Walk-Ride Days program, which is designed to get people out of cars and onto the streets. Celebrated on the last Friday of each month, Walk-Ride Day businesses offer special incentives to people who ride a bike, walk, or take a bus. Find all the participating businesses and their offers here: http://gogreenstreets.org/city/medford-ma.

o   Green Medford Planning Meeting, July 17, 7-9 pm. For location, email greenmedford@gmail.com.

o   Pulling invasive water chestnuts from the Mystic River. The Mystic River Watershed Association is sponsoring a small team of boats on July 17^th. The riders will get off their bikes and onto the water for a few hours of effort on behalf of our river.

o   A film about sustainability and curbing our addiction to fossil fuels: Climate Summer members will be interviewing members of the Medford community for this video. Want to be on camera? Just look for the distinctive group of bikers with video cameras around Medford all week.

New England Climate Summer (http://www.climatesummer.net) is a summer internship program for college students, graduate students, and recent graduates. Climate Summer riders travel exclusively by bicycle in small teams across New England, spending approximately one week in a community before biking on to the next. While in each town, riders connect with community leaders who are actively addressing society’s addiction to fossil fuels by crafting local solutions that strengthen communities. Riders bring with them a movement-building perspective, empowering those they meet and helping to highlight the important work of local organizations. In Medford Climate Summer is partnering with Green Medford and many organizations that are working to make Medford great in every way.

Green Medford (http://greenmedford.blogspot.com) is a grassroots group of residents. Some volunteer with other Medford-based organizations, while others are independent but want to help Medford be a more sustainable and enjoyable community. Green Medford also supports municipal efforts related to energy efficiency and climate change. We are a chapter of the Massachusetts Climate Action Network, which combines the forces of more than 70 communities across the state, all working to fight the impacts of climate change.

Contact:

Susan Altman, Green Medford, greenmedford@gmail.com, 781-526-4714