Schools

Perkins School Teacher Participating in USA Blind Soccer Summit

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USABAA teacher from Perkins School for the Blind will take part in the inaugural USA Blind Soccer Coaching Education Summit. The following information was provided by the U.S. Association for Blind Athletes:

Kelsey Linsenbigler, an adapted physical education teacher at Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, is among the 26 coaches and educators from across the United States attending the inaugural USA Blind Soccer Coaching Education Summit this week in Staunton, Virginia. 

The inaugural USA Blind Soccer Coaching Education Summit will take place June 22-23 at the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind. The camp will host coaches from schools for the blind, parks departments, soccer clubs, adaptive sports groups and other organizations to learn about blind soccer and how to integrate it into their programs and their communities. The camp is a collaboration between the Clemson University Adaptive Soccer Program, Maryland School for the Blind, the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind (VSDB), and U.S. Association for Blind Athletes (USABA). Blind soccer is in a grassroots phase of development as the USABA works to develop a national team for the L.A. 2028 games.

Around Town

Gore Place Hosting Jane Austen Garden Party

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The following information came from Gore Place:

Gore Place presents the Jane Austen Garden Party on the grounds of our beautiful 19th-century estate—a site fit to be the setting for one of the celebrated author’s famous novels. The event will be held on Sunday, July 10, 2022 from 2-4 p.m. 

Your event ticket includes an individual showcase box with sweets and savories from our catering partner and a bottle of lemonade (add a mini bottle of wine for $10 more.) There will be lawn games and a viewing of the ground floor of the fabulous Gore Mansion. Regency Period dress encouraged! The party starts under the spacious Century Tent. Tables and chairs will be provided, but you may bring your own lawn chairs or picnic blankets if you wish.

Around Town

Marshall Home Fund Surpasses $1 Million Granted with 2022 Awards

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Marshall Home FundThe 2022 Marshall Home Fund Grant recipients at the Grant Award Ceremony inmate May 26, 2022. The following information was provided by the Marshall Home Fund:

The Board of Directors of the Marshall Home Fund is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2022 round of program grant awards. This spring, the Board of Directors pledged $75,600 to local organizations that benefit residents of Watertown who are aged 55 and older through programs that provide group services or emergency individual assistance. In awarding its 2022 grants, the MHF exceeds a total of $1 million awarded over a 17-year period for the benefit of older adults in Watertown. 

The 2022 grant recipients include:

Carroll Center for the Blind: Services for Seniors with Low Vision or Blindness provides evaluation, recommendations, and training on independent living to older adults in Watertown with vision loss. 

Mass. Assoc. for the Blind and Visually Impaired: Wraparound Vision and Rehabilitation Services will assist residents of Watertown 55+ with low vision or blindness in their access and use of technology.

Around Town

Free Watertown Compost Collection Beginning in August

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The following announcement was provided by the City of Watertown:

The City of Watertown is excited to announce a new partnership with Black Earth Compost. Watertown residents can sign up for free weekly curbside collection of compostable materials and receive a complimentary 13 gallon bin. Meat, Bones, Dairy, Fruit, Vegetables, Leftovers, Napkins, Coffee Grounds & Filters, and More… ALL COLLECTED FOR FREE CURBSIDE PICKUP

COMPOSTING MADE EASY

Program begins August 2022

To learn more and sign up, visit: blackearthcompost.com/watertown

For additional questions, please email: recycle@watertown-ma.gov 

** This program is currently only open to residents that receive city-provided trash and recycling pickup.*

Around Town

Boston Tea Party Participant from Watertown Honored with Special Grave Marker

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Boston Tea Party Ships & MuseumSpeaking at the ceremony for the placing of the grave marker for Watertown’s Samual Barnard on June 18 were Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum Creative Manager Evan O’Brien; Marilynne Roach, President – Historical Society of Watertown and Jonathan Lane, and Revolution 250 Coordinator – Massachusetts Historical Society. The following information was provided by the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum:

The Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, in partnership with the Historical Society of Watertown; the City of Watertown, MA, and Revolution 250, a consortium of organizations working together to commemorate the 250th anniversaries of the events that led to American Revolution, will place a commemorative marker at the gravesite of known Boston Tea Party participant, Samuel Barnard, in the Common Street Cemetery (founded in 1754) in Watertown for the first time on June 18, 2022. Massachusetts Patriot Samuel Barnard was born in Watertown, MA on June 19, 1737 and lived in Watertown his entire life. He was a blacksmith and a farmer and married Elizabeth (née Bond) in Watertown, on March 4, 1773 with whom he had five children. After his involvement in the infamous Boston Tea Party, Barnard went on to serve in the American Revolutionary War.

Around Town

Watertown Community Foundation Awards $127K in Spring Grants

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The Watertown Community Foundation (WCF) has awarded grants totaling $127,000 to initiatives in two categories.  

One: WCF’s Program Grants are award grants designed to help organizations that serve Watertown develop new or continue existing programs with an educational focus (broadly defined). These are programs that operate outside of the Watertown’s public schools. 

Two: WCF’s Institutional Grants are 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.   

Eligible organizations apply for a maximum of $5000 for program grants and a maximum of $7500 for Institutional grants.  The grants are funded by the Foundation’s Watertown Arsenal Education Fund. WCF Grants Chairwoman Mary Ann Mulligan explains, ” WCF continues to receive record numbers of applications and this year was no exception.  The depth and breadth of our community-based organizations is remarkable. We are happy to have the resources to support the diversity and creativity of these initiatives.”

WCF grantees agree.

104 Main Street

LETTER: Time to Draw Line on Big Developments, Create a Historic District on Main Street

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Local Communities in Square Miles

Boston 89.63Newton 18.16Waltham 13.76Cambridge 7.1Belmont 4.7Watertown 4.12

Watertown. It’s small. It requires thought. In a small area like ours, every decision that’s made makes a profound difference. Many of us have raised concerns about losing the essence of our community, what made us unique and desirable … small but big; bustling and densely populated and diverse, but with a real home town, neighborly feel.

Cartoon

Cousin Tony Comes to Visit 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.”