Around Town

City: Check On Your Neighbors During Period of Cold Weather

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The City of Watertown sent out the following information:

During the period of dangerously cold weather through Sunday, January 21, 2024 we ask that you please take the time to check in on your neighbors to ensure their health and wellbeing. We invite everyone to get warm by visiting the Watertown Free Public Library at 123 Main Street. They are open Monday to Thursday from 9 AM – 9 PM, Friday from 9 AM – 7 PM, Saturday from 9 AM – 5 PM, and Sunday from 1 PM – 5 PM. Get Extreme Cold Safety Tips, such as how to prepare your home, winter pet safety tips, a car checklist, and more.

Business

Watertown Business Coalition Hosting After Hours at Olespana

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The Watertown Business Coalition’s first networking event of 2024 will be an after hours event at Olespana in East Watertown. The WBC sent out the following announcement:

Join Us for a WBC After Hours Event at Olespana

If you have yet to check out Olespana, now is your chance! Enjoy authentic Spanish tapas in a fun and festive setting right in your East End here in Watertown! Thank you to owner, Peter Pyne, for being our host for the evening! Our programming aims to help connect our community and residents to the City’s issues and initiatives. Our morning Coffee Connects, After Hours get-togethers and Civic Events will continue to give you the opportunity to visit places of business in town, meet people, learn something, chat with city government … and maybe even have a laugh along the way. Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024 5:30 to 8 p.m.

Cash Bar – Light Bites provided 

RSVP HERE

This event is FREE and open to Watertown Businesspeople & Stakeholders,  Watertown Residents & Watertown Employees – Join Us!

Around Town

Watertown Group Holding Standout & Commemoration for Lives Lost in Palestine

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Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice & the Environment and Massachusetts Peace Action will be having a silent standout in Watertown Square and a commemoration of lives lost in the nearby Belmont-Watertown United Methodist Church on Sunday. The group sent out the following announcement:

Sunday, January 21

Standout for a Permanent CEASEFIRE in Gaza and PalestineEnd the Siege of Gaza – End the Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine

End U.S. Military Aid to Israel

Release All Hostages and Political Prisoners

Support UN Resolution Calling for Humanitarian Aid

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM – Silent Standout in Watertown Square

(Public parking is available in lot behind CVS)

 BRING YOUR OWN SIGN or come at 12:30 PM to Make a Sign

 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM Commemoration of Lives Lost in Gaza, Palestine and Israel Speaker – Nidal Alazraq, Executive Director, 1for3.org 

Belmont-Watertown United Methodist Church80 Mt. Auburn Street, Watertown (Across from Starbucks) Sponsored by Peace and Common Security Working Group of Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice and the Environment and Massachusetts Peace Action (watertowncitizens@gmail.com)

Schools

Watertown Students Earn Honors at SNHU & Plymouth St.

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The following Watertown students earned academic honors in the Fall semester of 2023. Southern New Hampshire University

President’s List

It is with great pleasure that Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) congratulates the following students on being named to the Fall 2023 President’s List. The fall terms run from September to December. Full-time undergraduate students who have earned a minimum grade-point average of 3.700 and above for the reporting term are named to the President’s List. Full-time status is achieved by earning 12 credits over each 16-week term or paired 8-week terms grouped in fall, winter/spring, and summer.

Schools

LETTER: Watertown Educators Call for Emergency Protocol Training Following Third False Intruder Alert

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The following is a letter signed by 50 Cunniff families and more than a dozen additional community members in response to the third false alarm of the intruder alert at the Cunniff since the new building opened. 

January 14, 2024

In the aftermath of an accidental activation of the intruder alert at Cunniff last week, we want to publicly share our support for the heroism, leadership, compassion, and professionalism that our teachers demonstrated during this crisis. Thank you for prioritizing the safety and wellbeing of our children and for the countless ways that you support them every day. The district has released information about physical safeguards being installed to prevent another false alarm. Last week’s incident was the third occurrence during school hours since the opening of the new Cunniff. Watertown Educators shared via Facebook that Cunniff Educators have asked for emergency protocol trainings since moving into the new building. The signers of this letter are calling for immediate action by Watertown Public Schools district leadership and Watertown School Committee to ensure this need be met.

Around Town

Digital Archive of Armenian Music Accessible via Armenian Museum of America Website

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78 rpm records from the collection of the Armenian Museum of America are
being digitized, restored, and shared on its website under the Virtual Resources tab (Photo by
Jonathan Lizcano)

The following piece was provided by the Armenian Museum of America:

By Jesse Kenas Collins

Over the past year, the Armenian Museum of America’s Sound Archive program has taken a giant step forward. Each month, the Museum posts a handful of songs digitized and restored from its collection of 78 rpm records on its website along with a historical writeup about the artists. Along with more conventional musical recordings, some of the recordings touch on Armenian cultural, political, and educational history, as well as the history of recording technologies. The program is sponsored by a generous grant from the SJS Charitable Trust. The Museum hosted musicologist Ian Nagoski to its galleries to weave the story of the influential but largely forgotten soprano Zabelle Panosian, who was born in Bardizag and emigrated to Boston in 1907.