Join Jamaica Plain History Society on Zoom for a reading of the play Sophia Hayden Deserves Better by Stephanie Alison Walker. In 1891 a brilliant 23-year-old woman from Jamaica Plain won an architecture contest to design the Woman’s Building for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. What should have been the start to a flourishing career in architecture became career-ending. Throughout the two-year process of building The Woman’s Building, the architect quietly endured bullying, micromanaging…

December 17th @ 6:30 455 Arborway, Jamaica Plain, 02130 Celebrate the season with an evening of joyful music and Christmas readings followed by a reception. The event is free and open to all. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nine-lessons-and-carols-tickets-468494328147

Family Hike: What is Beautiful to You? Sunday, December 18, 1:00-2:30pm https://arboretum.harvard.edu/family-hikes/ Ilex opaca 'Emily' 301-62*A   Join us for a family hike as we explore the winter landscape to find something beautiful to each of us. We will go through varied parts of the landscape, including a forested area and an exploration of the ponds, looking at things large and small. Our route includes a short uphill hike, but we can amend the pathway…

The JP Jubilee Elders' Chorus is presenting a free community concert "How Can We Keep from Singing?” on December 18. In the JP Jubilee tradition, this will not be a program of holiday songs, but a rich sampling of various musical genres, including folk, African American, Quaker, classical, and the Beatles, among others. The concert is at 4 pm, at St. John’s Church (One Roanoke Ave.). Masks and vaccination are required of the audience, as…

Everyone is warmly invited to participate in the January Vigil in Support of Black Lives Matter, on Thursday, January 5, from 5:30-6:30 pm on the lawn of the First Baptist Church in Jamaica Plain, 633 Centre Street, JP. This month we will celebrate the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and supporters are invited to bring and share short quotations, readings, or stories of the work of Dr. King and…

Stay connected to nature and enjoy the health benefits of a winter walk at the Arnold Arboretum. Docents will cover seasonal interest, Arboretum history, and our plant collections. Please dress for the weather, including footwear. Roads are plowed but not salted and walks may venture onto woodland paths. After your tour, warm up with a hot drink and further conversation with your docent and Arboretum Visitor Staff. This walk is limited to 20, please register…

Bird bills come in all sorts of sizes and shapes, from the needle-like bills of swallows for picking insects out of the air, to hummingbirds' long and curved bills for probing into the base of a flower, to the robust bill of the evening grosbeak for cracking into seeds. Some even have special features, like pressure sensors that allow shorebirds to detect food without touching it. The Arnold Arboretum invites you to join Dr. Lorna…

It looks like a cherry tree, it smells like root beer, but it is, in fact, the beautiful and aromatic sweet birch. Join Horticulturist Brendan Keegan to learn about this fascinating tree and its role in ecological succession, its use by wildlife, and its importance to indigenous communities. You may even get a chance to smell the wintergreen scent yourself. Getting to this Tree Mob on Hemlock Hill will involve walking up a moderately sloped…

Spruces and hemlocks and pines, oh my! Take a walk and use a hand lens to see the intricacies of evergreen needles and cones. You will be surprised at something you’ve never noticed before. The walking portion of this program will be a mile on moderately sloped woodchips, gravel, and paved paths. In the event of inclement weather, registrants will be notified. For more information, please call (617) 384-5209. To sign up, click here.

Back by popular demand, this talk will explore the history of ice harvesting on Jamaica Pond. Before the 19th century, ice was a commodity available only to the very rich and to those who could harvest it themselves. That changed as the ice harvesting industry became increasingly mechanized. New technologies allowed more people to enjoy the benefits of ice year-round. By 1880, the Jamaica Pond Ice Company had 22 icehouses on Jamaica Pond with a…