We hope everyone had a great long weekend celebrating America’s 235^th birthday—a milestone certainly worth celebrating!—on the Fourth of July. The xtra xtra crew spent the weekend with friends on various lakes and beaches throughout New England, and we hope all of our fans and followers enjoyed delicious food, great company, and a good time for the holiday.

Communities tend to go all out for the Fourth of July. Estimates suggest that the US imported over $190 million worth of fireworks last year, and the colorful bursts over the Charles River last night suggest this year was no different! Whether you barbequed with friends or celebrated with sparklers in your own backyard, we want to know how you observed this special holiday.

Share your experiences in a comment, and remember to visit xtraxtra.com to post your unique community photos. Visitors come to xtra xtra to see what’s new in their favorite communities, so I’m sure they’d love to see how your town celebrated the Fourth. Upload your photos with a caption and tag them to your town to keep everyone, both near and far, connected with the local experience!

Til next time,

CH

For the first time in almost forty years, the Boston Bruins have won the 2011 Stanley Cup after seven tough games against the Vancouver Canucks. Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas was named MVP of the playoffs last night, and the game clinched the second-best television rating in the last thirty-seven years of playoff games.

This concludes a milestone-packed decade for Boston fans. In the last ten years, the New England Patriots have won three Super Bowls, the Red Sox have seized two World Series titles, and the Boston Celtics have won an NBA Championship. Last night’s achievement from the Bruins rounds out the decade nicely by giving each of New England’s big teams a victory worth celebrating.

We join the rest of Boston in celebrating this extraordinary victory by one of our favorite teams. We’re especially excited to hear that a parade will be held on Saturday to welcome back the team and honor this milestone. If you’re in the area, make sure you down to Boston and join in the celebration, and remember to share your parade pictures with the rest of the community at xtraxtra.com!

We’ve used our “Community Focus” series to spotlight the neighborhoods and suburbs that make up the greater Boston culture, but today we decided it’s time to recognize the city of Boston as a whole. Founded in 1630 and regarded as the birthplace of the American Revolution, Boston features a myriad of historical landmarks and attractions. Tourists flock to the city to see the Swan Boats, the USS Constitution, and the birthplace of Paul Revere, but Boston is also home to more than 600,000 people. That’s certainly a lot of milestones!

Whether you’re a resident of the city or planning a visit to grab some chowder and check out the Bunker Hill monument, we invite you to take a look at some fantastic photos of Boston from the folks at Flickr.

Click here to see our favorites on Flickr!

You can also find the latest headlines from Boston by visiting xtra xtra‘s page for Beantown announcements.

Till next time,
CH

**Image Credit: WikiMedia Commons

Danvers is cradled between Boston and the New Hampshire border, and it’s also home to a lot of milestones. Thousands of local residents call the town home, and that’s how it earned a slot in our Community Focus series. Visit Danvers to see the nation’s oldest fruit tree, landmarks from the Salem Witch Trials, and beautiful foliage in the rolling hills that make up the town’s geography.

Click here to see some of our favorite photos from Danvers.

You can find the latest news from Danvers by visiting its xtra xtra page. Share some milestones commemorating achievements in Danvers and see them in Your Town at Boston.com!

Till next time,
CH

The word “Natick” comes from the Massachusett tribe’s word for “place of hills,” and traveling over the hills and dales of Natick, Massachusetts reveals a sprawling community on the edge of Boston’s bustling city. Natick is home to a wealth of history, but it’s also home to thousands of families and events that keep the area busy with activity.

In researching Natick for our “Community Focus” series, I was interested to learn several facts about the community. NFL and “Hail Mary” passer Doug Flutie was raised in Natick, and Vice President Henry Wilson once operated a cobbler shop in the town square before his rise to office in Washington. Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, lived in Natick, and the town’s Walnut Hill School is a national leader in the performing arts. Natick, I discovered, has had a hand in milestones affecting sports and the arts to local leadership and national politics.

To learn about the milestones coming from Natick today, visit the town’s xtra xtra page. You can also learn more at their local “Your Town” site on Boston.com.

Click here to see some of our favorite photos from Natick.

Until next time,

CH

Newton is the Garden City, and it’s one of Boston’s most colorful suburbs. Visiting the city will take you to popular colleges and show you beautiful foliage. The Fig Newton cookie is named after the Garden City, and it’s also a patriotic cornerstone for the country. Katherine Lee Bates, who wrote “America the Beautiful,” lived in Newton, and the lyricist for “My Country Tis Of Thee” made his home on Newton’s Centre Street.

This city is also home to xtra xtra. Our office is perched above the Mass Pike in Newton, so it holds a place close to our hearts. There are all sorts of things to do in this suburb of the city. You can take in a BC football game, grab lunch at a local café, and take a jog up Heartbreak Hill, one of the most challenging stretches of the annual Boston Marathon.

You can also stop in Newton to celebrate some fantastic milestones. Read about them on xtra xtra, and remember that you can also share your own for free.

Click here to take a look at some of our favorite Newton pictures on Flickr…

Till next time,
CH

Quincy is home to over 91,000 local residents, making it one of the largest cities in the state of Massachusetts. It’s also one of the most unique cities in the region, featuring an eclectic mix of historical attractions, elegant scenery, and bustling businesses. Quincy was home to several of our founding fathers—including John Hancock and John Adams—and today it’s home to a fantastic local culture and a wonderful community.

Whether you’re walking along the beach or exploring the birthplace of our second president, there are limitless things to do and see in Quincy. Howard Johnson’s and Dunkin Donuts got their start in Quincy, and it’s also where a popular local band, the Dropkick Murphys, got together before “shipping up to Boston.”

Quincy is one of Boston.com’s Your Town communities, and like all of the communities at xtra xtra, it holds many unforgettable milestones. Find the latest news from Quincy at xtraxtra.com, and then check out a few of our favorite images from the City of Presidents.

Click here for our favorite Quincy photos on Flickr…

You can explore other installments of our Community Focus series by clicking this link.

Till next time,
CH

Cambridge was settled in 1630 by the 700 Puritan colonists who journeyed to America form England. The small settlement flourished as an agricultural center in the region, but a lot has changed in the last 380 years.  Today, Cambridge is home to over 105,00 people and ten higher education institutions.

Cambridge has set the scene for a variety of books, movies, and television shows, but the real city is quite different from its pop culture persona. It’s the fifth most densely populated city in the United States, and the diversity and richness of its culture is certainly something to be enjoyed. Whether you’re visiting Harvard Yard (where, in fact, it is not possible to park one’s “cah”) or strolling through Kendall Square, you’re always in for a treat.

Click here for a few of our favorite shots of Cambridge from Flickr.

Like other towns in our Community Focus series, Cambridge is home to some awesome milestones. Check them out on xtra xtra, and remember you can also view Cambridge announcements at Boston.com/YourTown.

Till next time,
CH

South Boston (“Southie” to locals) is a vibrant community on the outskirts of Boston. You’ve probably seen it in the movies—“Gone Baby Gone,” “Mystic River,” and “The Town” all featured scenes shot in South Boston–but that’s only a small glimpse of a multilayered community with historical roots dating back to the 1600s.

Southie is an up-and-coming community in Boston, and it’s the first town featured in our Community Focus series. We’ll be examining different communities to figure out what makes them unique. After all, each community has its own history, character, and personality, and South Boston is no exception. The town is growing as the Seaport District continues to expand while the vibrant culture attracts visitors throughout the year (including the spectacular St. Patrick’s Day Parade!). xtra xtra also has roots in Southie; our founder, Paul Rooney, grew up in South Boston, and Steph lives there today.

Click here to see a few of our favorite pictures from Southie on Flickr.

And like all communities, South Boston is also home to some spectacular milestones. Check them out at xtra xtra or at Your Town on Boston.com.