You could not have asked for a more perfect day! Saturday afternoon from 12pm to 4pm, the West Medford Community Center put on their annual BBQ. While tickets to this event were somewhat hard to find, that may be on purpose. As the doors opened, it was clear this place was going to be packed and immediately!

There were some tickets available at the door but those ran out quickly. What makes this event so special is that ALL of the food prepared at this event is homemade. Let me say that again – HOMEMADE! You had your choice of ribs or chicken, then you get a heaping of rice, a side of corn, potato salad, regular salad, watermelon and a drink.

The food was simply outstanding! You would be hard pressed to find any place that makes food of this high quality. The event planners knocked this out of the park! If you were looking for desert, they were selling baked goods and the choices ranged from cookies, brownies, everything was there! Cookies could be bought for .50, when was the last time you could buy anything for fifty cents? All proceeds of course go back in to the community center.

It should be noted that West Medford gets it right. People speak about community but WM executes it. All were welcome to this event and everyone knew just about everyone who showed up. Props to the independent candidates who showed up to this event. Talk about politics were discussed but most importantly, the candidates took the time to talk to people at this event and not at them. They also listened. The real goal was to have fun and enjoy this moment.

Among the city council hopefuls were Patrick Clerkin, Nick Giurleo, Page Buldini, Melanie Tringali and just announced, Rick Caraviello! Again today wasn’t about politics, it was about people, food and memories!

Getting back to community, West Medford was home to the famous West Medford Open Studios. They also have various events throughout the year. The community center is also home to a lot of senior events. More importantly, Medford’s own Terri Lyne Carrington world renowned jazz drummer has featured her – Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice and the group of musicians she brings to this event are world class.

While we are here, you cannot talk about West Medford without bringing up Terry Carter, he is one of the Poet Laureates for the City of Medford. This man has been a prominent member of the community his entire life. You can hear it in his poems, his live events when performing with a jazz band and everyone knows who is he. He features a live show every first Friday of the month in a show called – Words and Music. We will be inviting him to the Medford Happenings show as soon as we can book him! For more information on Terry, check out his site – Terry Carter The Brown Skinned Poet