Around Town

LETTER: 2024 New Year’s Resolutions For the City of Watertown, Part 3: And on the Bright Side

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My 2023 Thank You’s to Our City Council. Thank you, Council President Mark Sideris for your availability to residents and for standing up for the integrity of Watertown Square. Thank you Councilor Gardner for your work on the ARPA funding process. Thank you Councilor Palomba for your advocacy regarding developer linkage fees for affordablehousing. Thank you Councilor Feltner for supporting the need for more resident involvement in the development planning process and raising the bar on planning for our City parks.

Entertainment

2 Watertown Children’s Theater Plays Coming to Newly Renamed Theater at Mosesian Center

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The black box theater at Mosesian Center for the Arts was recently renamed in honor of Watertown Children’s Theater Founding Artistic Director Dinah Lane. (Photo from MCA)

Mosesian Arts’ Watertown Children’s Theater will produce two plays this winter in the newly named Dinah Lane Theater. New classes in performing and visual arts for all ages also begin this month at the arts center. A program of the Mosesian Center for the Arts since the two organizations merged in 2013, Watertown Children’s Theatre engages young individuals and groups in the process of making theater. Initiated in 1983 by Founding Artistic Director Dinah Lane, the program celebrated forty years in November with a benefit reception and performance titled 40 Season of Love.

Around Town

LETTER: Part 2: My City of Watertown New Year’s Predictions & Ninth City Resolution

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By Linda ScottWatertown Resident

These are my opinions, based upon hundreds of conversations, attending numerous City meetings, and making thousands of observations over the past few years. I hope that they can stimulate conversation and help busy Watertown folks focus on some of the current issues. Things to be on the lookout for in 2024, if these City resolutions are not taken to heart by our City Councilors:

1 – Expect the assault on residents’ quality of life to continue:

Short-Term Rentals. That’s where your neighbors are allowed to run an informal hotel business out of their homes right next door to you. (And the City gets to collect a fee).

Schools

Free Workforce Training Courses Offered by MassBay College

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MassBay Community College Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) students practice skills in the nursing labs on the MassBay Framingham campus, Framingham, MA, May 2019 (Photo/MassBay Community College). The following announcement was provided by MassBay Community College:

This spring, MassBay Community College is offering free workforce training courses for eligible Massachusetts residents in Automotive Damage Appraisal, Behavioral Health Technician I, Behavioral Health Technician II, Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), English as a Second Language (ESL), and Phlebotomy. These grant funded courses are one-semester and provide students with in-demand skills that will strengthen gaps in the local workforce needs. “We are thrilled to continue to offer community members these classes, free of charge, enabling them to gain skills that qualify them for positions in growing industries that need trained and ready-to-work professionals,” said MassBay Executive Director of Corporate Partnerships, Workforce Development and Community Education Colleen Coffey. “Community members are able to learn a new profession in just a few short months, and in many instances, they are offered jobs at the conclusion of their clinical placements.”

Prospective students interested in learning more can visit MassBay’s Corporate Partnerships & Workforce Development (CPWD) course listing or email or call cpwd@massbay.edu or 781-270-4100.

Entertainment

Watertown Artist Shares Artwork & Artist Books at Library Exhibit

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The T. Ross Kelly Gallery at the Watertown Free Public Library is hosting “Constructed” – an exhibit featuring artwork and artist books by Watertown resident, Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, January 3, 2024, through February 28, 2024. All of the artworks in this exhibit were constructed – from the literal forming of flat paper into three-dimensional books, to the careful placement of shape, line, and color in the abstract work on display. Julie Fei-Fan Balzer

Balzer shares her perspective on the creative process, stating, “For me, the process of making art is the process of bringing together various elements and discovering how they change each other once in combination. These visual constructions are similar to the experience of forming a lively dinner party, where you must consider how to seat guests.” Art enthusiasts, patrons, and the community are all invited to visit “Constructed,” now through February 28, 2024

A bathroom cabinet with stone basin byJulie Fei-Fan Balzer.

Entertainment

See the Latest Adventures of Small Saves in This Week’s Cartoon

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James DeMarco grew up in Watertown and became a goaltender at age 5. It’s his life’s passion to stand between the pipes and keep the puck out of the net. Combining this with the love of cartooning Small Saves emerged in 1991 and took on a life of his own. “To play goal – then come home and draw Small Saves — is my ideal definition of a good day.”

Business

Charles River Chamber Hosting Webinar on AI, Networking Events & More in January

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The Charles River Regional Chamber has a variety of events in January focused on small businesses, non-profits, young professionals along with its Women’s Impact Network. Plus, learn what AI and ChatGPT is all about. The Chamber serves Watertown, Newton, Needham and Wellesley, and will host in-person and remote events in January. See the list provided by the Chamber below:

Webinar: Demystifying AI & ChatGPT

Date: Tues. Jan.

Around Town

LETTER: Part 1: 2024 New Year’s Resolutions for the City of Watertown

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And How the Heck Did We Lose Our Post Office?? By Linda ScottWatertown Resident

Dear City Officials,

I’ve taken this opportunity to write this resolution list as a service to you, with explanations for each resolution. It’s based upon my observations and the hundreds of conversations that I’ve had with residents over the past two years. I hope that you won’t find this extremely annoying, but what can I say? I hope that you’ll also find it helpful and motivating for this new year.