Around Town

Wildlife Having a Tough Time Dealing With Snowy Winter

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The dense covering of snow on lawns, plants and other areas has made it difficult for some wildlife to get a meal, and some are suffering. 

Watertown Animal Control Officer Karen O’Reilly said she had seen unusual behavior by wildlife around town because the snow had covered a valuable food source. “We are seeing many animals, such as skunks, who are wandering around during the day desperately looking for food,” O’Reilly said. “They are traveling up and down plowed/ shoveled paths such as the sidewalks and streets as they are the easiest paths to take.” Geese have also struggled this winter. They depend heavily on grass for food, O’Reilly said.

Police/Fire

Watertown Police Department Welcomes Three New Officers

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The Watertown Police Department is pleased to announce the swearing-in of three new officers into its ranks: Christopher Murgo, Michael Hill, and Kerilyn Amedio. Officer Murgo is a 2008 graduate of Watertown High School and a 2013 graduate of Salem State College. Officer Hill is a 2003 graduate of Newton North High School and a 2007 graduate of Middlesex Community College. Officer Amedio is a 2008 graduate of Mount Saint Joseph Academy and a 2012 graduate of UMass-Boston. The officers attended the six month State Police Municipal Police Academy in New Braintree.

Entertainment

Watertown Woman’s Winter Poem Featured on Public Radio Website

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Watertown resident Eileen McCluskey recently had a poem she wrote about winter featured on the website of a Public Radio program. Her piece, “The Wish” was published on the webpage of Radio Boston along side with poems by David Thoreau, Jack London and Emily Dickinson. The poem appears on the page for Radio Boston’s episode titled “Darkness Snow & Ice: The Literature Inspired by Winter.” “I had originally sent it to Morning Edition as a possible commentary,” McCluskey said. “I also shared that email with a friend who works at WBUR — and he sent it to Radio Boston’s executive producer, who called me about an hour after he saw it.

Around Town

Watertown Community Foundation Has Grants for Education, Institutions

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The Watertown Community Foundation (WCF) announced two Spring 2015 grant programs to support local nonprofits, programs and projects. Approximately $70,000 will be distributed. One: WCF’s Educational Program will award grants designed to help organizations that serve Watertown develop new or continue existing programs with an educational focus, broadly defined. Two: WCF’s Institutional Support is designed to help institutions central to the Watertown community by providing funds to maintain critical programming and retain paid staff. Grants under this program impose neither restrictions on the use of funds nor any program requirements.

Schools

Several Watertown High School Artists Honored in State Competition

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Several Watertown High School student artists received awards in a competition that honors the best high school artists in Massachusetts. The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards announced the 2015 awards. In 2014, the program received more than 250,000 submissions. A ceremony for Massachusetts’ award winners was held at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston on Saturday, March 7. Watertown’s winners were:

Julia Harrington – Silver Key for drawing
Liana Aleksanyan – Silver Key for drawing and honorable mention for painting
Emily Hart – honorable mention for painting
Katie Eaton – Gold Key for design
Melanie Halibian – Silver Key for design
Emerson O’Connor – Silver Key for design
Christopher Patvakanian – honorable mention for digital art
Erika Libertini – honorable mention for digital art

See the student’s artwork on the Watertown Public School’s website by clicking here.

Around Town

Watertown Pet Hospital Helping Stray Animals, Pets of Low Income Families

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Watertown’s Pet Haven Animal Hospital has signed up to be part of a state program to help spay and neuter stray animals and help low income residents who have a dog or cat. 

The Massachusetts Animal Fund provides vouchers for local homeless animals and low income families.  Pet Haven has signed up as one of the providers. To promote the fund, they are hosting ‘The Commonwealth Fix’ on March 26, 2015. Any low income resident who owns a dog or cat that is not spayed or neutered can call Watertown Animal Control Officer Karen O’Reilly at 617-972-6446 to request a voucher for the event. With the voucher the procedure is free to the resident.

Charity

Young Boy’s Effort to Help Women Dress for Success Just His Latest Effort

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Zack Gosselin has already established a legacy of giving, and the 8-year-old’s latest effort is to help women be dressed and ready for the professional world. During this campaign to help Worcester-based Dress for Success, Gosselin collected enough items to clothe about 50 women and raised $1,300 for the group, as well. One of the major sponsors of the drive was Watertown’s Monique’s Bath Showroom and MedeasHomes.com, run by Watertown’s Medea Palandjian. “I just want to help people that are feeling down in the world and make them feel better,” Gosselin said. Gosselin lives in Billerica, and enlisted the help of some members of the Shawseen Tech baseball team to help his drive.

Government

Watertown’s New Director of Public Health Has Private and Public Experience

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Watertown’s new director of Public Health comes to town with experience working in the public and private sectors. Deborah M. Rosati began her new post on Feb. 23 after working 11 years in quality assurance/food safety with Legal Sea Foods including as the quality assurance officer since November 2008. She also has plenty of experience working in municipal health departments. From 1989-2003 she worked as director of public health in Wayland, Everett, Lowell and Saugus.