Around Town

Watertown-Based Family First Receives Grant from Cummings Foundation

By |

The following announcement was provided by Families First:

Families First is one of 150 local nonprofits that will share in $30 million through Cummings Foundation’s major annual grants program. The organization was selected from a total of 630 applicants during a competitive review process. It will receive $150,000 over three years. Families First’s mission is to bring parents of young children together in their communities so they can strengthen their parenting knowledge, skills, and social support systems.

Funding from Cummings Foundation will be used to expand Families First’s highly effective model for parenting education and parent leadership programs in Greater Boston for parents to help their children thrive and drive increased community resiliency. The Cummings $30 Million Grant Program primarily supports Massachusetts nonprofits that are based in and serve Middlesex, Essex, and Suffolk counties.

Entertainment

Festa Italiana Taking Place June 10 in Waltham

By |

The following announcement was provided by Festa Italiana:

Come One, Come All

Cheers everyone! The much-acclaimed Festa Italiana, an Italian style festival, is returning to the (Waltham Common):

610 Main St. Waltham, MA 02452.Saturday, June 10, 2023(10 am – 5m )(Rain date June 11th). Come and enjoy a fun-filled day of live entertainment; music; dancing; food; crafts; children’s amusements; games and activities; culture; etc. The event aims to please everyone, young and old.  

It is hosted by The Italian American Alliance; www.theitalianamericanalliance.com; and it is a celebration intended to promote the ITALIAN culture and heritage.

Schools

Reopening of Lowell School Pushed Back Due to Delays in Materials & Equipment

By |

Watertown Public SchoolsA look inside Lowell Elementary School, which is under construction, and reopening will be pushed back by about a month. Watertown Superintendent Dede Galdston sent out the following announcement on Tuesday, May 30:

To our Lowell Elementary School community:

We are writing to you this afternoon to share an update on the ongoing renovations at the Lowell school. Since last year, the Lowell has been undergoing its most significant construction project since the school was built in the 1920’s. We have been eagerly anticipating our return to Lowell, which was targeted for the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year. Unfortunately, it has now become apparent that we will not be able to reopen the school until early October.

Around Town

Watertown Food Pantry Hosting Father’s Day Razor & Shaving Cream Drive

By |

The following announcement was provided by the Watertown Food Pantry:

The Watertown Food Pantry assists approximately 125 families/250 individuals per week, for a total distribution benefit of approximately 13,000 persons across the year with their food insecurity.  

In addition to food assistance, pantry clients are in need of hygiene products, which are essential for healthy living, but not covered by assistance programs like SNAP and WIC.  Therefore, many are not able to purchase basic toiletries. In celebration of Father’s Day, the Watertown Food Pantry is seeking donations of razors and shaving cream in support of client’s hygiene needs until June 18th.    

Donations are being accepted every day at the Watertown Fire Station at 99 Main Street, weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Watertown Senior Center at 31 Marshall St.

Business

Charles River Chamber’s Women Impact Network Meeting in Watertown

By |

The following announcement was provided by the Charles River Chamber:

Build relationships with chamber colleagues while enjoying some of the finest restaurants in our communities! Our popular networking lunch series moves to Taffer’s Tavern at Watertown’s Arsenal Yards. Arrive by 11:30 a.m. for casual networking before being seated for lunch noon to 1 p.m.Select your entrée from the following signature items on the registration screen. Your $30 event fee will cover two-course lunch, and gratuity – 100% goes directly to Taffer’s. Please note we are unable to accommodate special menu requests or modifications

Open to chamber members and future members who have not previously attended a luncheon and are interested in learning more about the chamber’s Women’s Impact Network. Advanced registration is required and space is limited.

Around Town

Civil War Clergy at Mount Auburn Cemetery: Rev. Joseph Thayer

By |

Rev. Joseph Henry Thayer

By Bill McEvoy

In honor of Memorial Day, local historian Bill McEvoy has compiled histories of some of the Civil War clergy who are buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery. This is part 15 of 15. Reverend Joseph Henry Thayer was born November 7, 1828, in Boston. He died on November 26, 1901, at Cambridge, from general sarcoma. He graduated from Harvard College in 1850.

Around Town

Civil War Clergy at Mount Auburn Cemetery: Rev. George Oviatt

By |

Rev. George Alexander Oviatt

By Bill McEvoy

In honor of Memorial Day, local historian Bill McEvoy has compiled histories of some of the Civil War clergy who are buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery. This is part 14 of 15. Reverend George Alexander Oviatt was Born on April 11, 1811, in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He died June 1, 1887, in Sudbury, Massachusetts, from paralysis. Reverend Oviatt, graduated from Yale in 1835, and then its divinity school.

Around Town

Civil War Clergy at Mount Auburn Cemetery: Rev. Charles Noyes

By |

By Bill McEvoy

In honor of Memorial Day, local historian Bill McEvoy has compiled histories of some of the Civil War clergy who are buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery. This is part 13 of 15. Reverend Charles Noyes was born October 26, 1835, in Petersham, Massachusetts, and died on May 23, 1916, in Norwich, Connecticut. He attended the Hopkins classical school in Cambridge, and later the Cambridge High School. He graduated from Harvard College in 1856 and from the Harvard Divinity School in 1859. 

In January 1860, he was installed as the pastor of the Unitarian society at Brighton, Massachusetts, from which he resigned in 1864 due to ill health.