A pressing need for a place of worship and communal service to cater for the needs of  the community of Sikhs in Sommerville and its surrounding cities, including Boston led to the setting up of Gurdwara Guru Nanak Darbar, Sommerville in September of 1997. The Gurdwara was the result of pooling of talent and resources amongst members of the community. The history of the Gurdwara is a story of sorts that parallels the development of the Sikh Community in Sommerville, Cambridge, Malden, Medford and the city of Boston. The Gurdwara is now attended by members from as far as North Andover and Woburn. The Gurdwara  began as a prayer service that was conducted in the houses of Sikhs who were members of the community. About six months later, the community rented a premises at 62 Summer Street, Sommerville, and then for another two years at 251 Highland Avenue. As the community grew bigger, the Gurdwara shifted to larger rented premises at 76 (Rear) Central Street, Somerville. In May 2003 the Sangat purchased a building in the commercial hub of Medford and converted it to a Gurdwara. In January 2004, the Gurdwara moved to this  new premises at 226 Mystic Avenue, Medford, which consists of two Diwans (prayer halls), a library, a 700 sq foot fully furnished Granthi Living Quarters, conference room, office, langgar hall and a full sized commercial kitchen. The community now comprises of some 40 families and is growing. The Gurdwara's management comprises 7 Directors headed by Sardar Bachittar Singh Sodhi as Chairman. The Management Committee of the Gurdwara comprises of Sardar Jaspal Singh Pabla as President, Sardar Gurminderjit Singh as Treasurer, Sardar Harbhajan Singh as Vice Treasurer, Sardar Gurinder Singh Saini as Secretary, and Jarnail Singh Pabla and Avtar Singh Basuta as Executive Members. The Gurudwara meets on Sundays for its main functions. Reading of the Five Banees (prayers) begins at 7:00 am followed by the recital of Sukhmani Sahib. The congregation service begins at 11 am, with an hour of Kirtan by the local youth Jatha. This is followed by a Gurbani kirtan till 12:45 pm. Langar meals (community kitchen) are served at 1:00 pm. The Gurudwara conducts weekly Kirtan (Harmonium, Tabla) and Gurbani Recital classes. These classes run on week days from 4:30 to 6:30 pm and Punjabi classes are held on Saturday from 4:30 to 6:30 pm. Seventeen children are currently attending these classes. Anyone can join these classes, the only condition being interest. The current thrust of the Management Committee, headed by Sardar Jaspal Singh Pabla as President, is the maximum utilization of this premises. All activities are geared towards educating and training the children and youth. Punjabi classes have been set up with well equipped with audio-visual teaching aids to make teaching effective.   Additionally, the management committee is in the process of setting up and equipping the Khalsa Library for the benefit of the children. For more information contact: Webmaster E-mail to Gurudwara Guru Nanak Darbar at: darbar_gurunanak@yahoo.com