‘Medford Invents’ at Circle the Square on June 16

CACHE in Medford kicks off its fifth season of Circle the Square on Thursday, June 16 from 3:30-7:30 pm. This third-Thursday street festival fills Medford Square with free events including live music and dance performances, food vendors, family activities, as well as a variety of programs and discounts offered by local businesses and organizations.

The theme for the June Circle the Square is “Medford Invents”, celebrating the past, present, and future ingenuity of Medford’s residents. As the birthplace of many well-known songs, poems, and books, and even the rollerskate, Medford is no stranger to innovation and invention, and Circle the Square celebrates that with events, programs, and discounts all afternoon.

Enjoy robotics demonstrations by the Medford High School Robotics Team and the Medford Tinkers Robotics Team, groups of students who use innovative thinking, coding, and engineering to develop operating robots. Visit Artworks In2Shades and invent and illustrate your own cartoon character. Then learn about the Mystic Makerspace, a creative space for regular innovation and invention, and participate in their community quilt by designing your own fabric square. Work alongside the Medford Public Library as they construct a Rube Goldberg-style marble maze. Children will dig deep into their minds and imagine the many possible contraptions and inventions that can be created out of a box, and explore STEM activities with the Medford Family Network.

Invention is at the heart of artistic creation, and there will be plenty of opportunities for both taking part in and witnessing art-making throughout the afternoon. During glass blowing demonstrations with Hugh Naggar, onlookers can request and purchase their own small glass-blown animal. Paint your own T-shirt with East Cambridge Savings Bank or participate in a craft project and learn how to help the Cradles to Crayons charity. Get your face painted and invent a new identity with Zing! Facepainting.

Next, dip into history and head over to the Medford Historical Society & Museum on Governors Avenue to see the exhibit of historic wedding dresses from the 19th and 20th centuries. Watch a performance by The Guardians of Isadora, which will provide a sneak peek of a full performance at Chevalier Theatre at 7pm accompanied by a historic talk about the local dance form by Dee Morris.

If all of this inventing has made you work up an appetite, enjoy food from Simple Fare, edible samples from Noodles & Company and barkTHINS, cool summer treats with CB Scoops, and take advantage of special deals and discounts at Carroll’s Restaurant, Salvatore’s, Blue Fuji, Sweeties Too, and Chicken and Rice Guys.

Throughout the afternoon, the sound of music can be heard at various locations throughout the Square, with performances by the cutting-edge Green, Newton, and Darrel Jazz Trio, the all-female folk rock band Paper Waves, original music from Medford high school singer and songwriter Georgia Bowder-Newton and friends, and bluegrass and western swing music by the Bagboys. A demonstration by Xtreme Ninja will showcase the skills of martial arts students.

Kids can stay active in the Kids Zone outside of City Hall with a bouncy house provided by Brookline Bank, soccer drills with Redemption Hill Church, and chase the majestic creations of Jim the Bubble Guy. Elsewhere, they can learn about the fundamentals of science with Mad Science of Greater Boston through their demonstration “Up, Up, and Away.” Information and activities will also be provided in various spaces throughout the event by the Friends of the Fells, Medford Community Gardens, Walk Medford, the Medford Bicycle Commission, and the Friends of the Medford Public Library.

Circle the square all afternoon to visit businesses offering special deals and activities. Visit the Members Plus Credit Union table for free giveaways, Serenity in the City’s table for goodie bags of spa products, Roland’s Jewelry for a special deal, and stop by Middlesex Federal Savings Bank to play their duck game and enter a raffle to win a $50 Assembly Square gift card. Purchase a #BarryCalled bumper sticker celebrating our local folk hero Captain Barry Clemente, and visit the Little Flippers Swim School table to get a picture taken with Flippy the Dolphin. Stop by Century Bank to see the antics, balloon animals, and facepainting of Silly Sally, and a performance by Magician Robert Clark. Browse the wide selection of fresh produce, baked goods, flowers, and more at the Medford Farmer’s Market while enjoying the music of Ryan Alvanos. Finally, wind down with free chair massages by Elements Massage.

This summer, CACHE relaunches its Medford Saves Key Tag program – buy a key tag for big savings at dozens of local businesses, with proceeds going to support Circle the Square and other CACHE programs. Key tags will be on sale for $15 near the Welcome Table. Participate in this event’s scavenger hunt and find the “Medford Saves” signs at participating businesses to be eligible to win 2 tickets to the MIT Museum, or a Medford Saves Key Tag and a $10 Carroll’s Gift Card. Take a picture of yourself next to a Medford Saves sign and post it to Facebook, or Twitter with #MedfordSaves to be eligible to win a Medford Saves Key Tag. And stop by our Welcome Table to enter our raffle to win a 26” Magna Mountain Bike.

Schedules, maps, scavenger hunt game cards, and raffle tickets will all be available at the Circle the Square Welcome Table at the corner of Riverside Avenue and River Street, and schedules will also be available at various sites throughout the Square. Visit our web site www.circlethesquare.org for more information about our schedule of events, or visit us on Facebook or Twitter.

Circle the Square is supported in part by the Medford Arts Council, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and the City of Medford, as well as the sponsorships of Jay Campbell Realty, Wholefoods in Medford, Noodles & Company, and RE/MAX Andrew Realty and Carroll’s Restaurant. Thank you to East Cambridge Savings Bank for providing volunteers during this event.

– Submitted by Laurel Siegel