Watertown Library Co-Hosting James Patterson, Jeff Benedict at Virtual Author Talks

Bestselling author James Patterson will speak with Hank Phillippi Ryan about his two upcoming books on Dec. 15 and on Dec. 17 Jeff Benedict will discuss his book about the New England Patriots’ Dynasty. The Watertown Library sent out the following announcement:

The holiday season always brings an abundance of new and highly anticipated books by prominent authors. This year, the Watertown Free Public Library (WFPL) is partnering with local booksellers and neighbor libraries to bring a few of those bestselling authors to Watertown – virtually, of course!

Watertown Hosting Live Pearl Harbor Remembrance Ceremony

Members of Watertown’s veterans organizations talk before the Pearl Harbor Commemoration in 2017 at the Watertown Dock in Watertown Square. The Town of Watertown will remember those lost at Pearl Harbor with an in-person event on Monday, Dec. 7. The Town of Watertown sent out the following information:

Please join us for a ceremony honoring those who lost their lives during the Pearl Harbor attacks at the landing above the former wharf in WatertownSquare. The event will take place on December 7, 2020 at 10:00AM.

Watertown Mall Teams with Police for Annual Gift Drive

The following information was provided by the Watertown Mall:

This year the Watertown Mall has teamed up with the Watertown Police Department to collect gift donations for the Whooley Foundation’s Annual Gift Drive. The Whooley Foundation’s mission is: To ensure that no child or family in our community goes without some joy during the holiday season. The Giving Tree is located inside the mall between the Registry of Motor Vehicles and Miss Maria’s School of Dance. The tags on the tree are for boys & girls ages 12-18. There are no specific items on the tags, but gift guides are available near the tree to assist with gift donations; all gifts are appreciated.

Learn to Make Paper Figures, 3D Ornaments and More at Hatch This Month

Hatch Makerspace can help you get ready for the holidays with their workshops in December. Hatch is located at 20 Summer Street, and is part of the Watertown Free Public Library. The following information was provided by Hatch:

Papercraft Characters with Yi BinFriday, December 4, 6 pmCreate your own cast of 3-dimensional characters using paper! You will learn techniques for cutting and folding to bring your imagination to life. This is a great workshop for families.

Cleanup Time for Small Saves in This Week’s Cartoon

Cartoon by James DeMarco

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.”

Donations Sought for Watertown Mutual Aid’s Winter Coat Drive

The following announcement was provided by the Watertown Mutual Aid Network:

Join us for the Winter Coat Drive on Saturday, Dec 12th, 12-3 p.m benefitting Watertown organizations and families. Please share the flyer with your friends and neighbors! We are accepting donations of:

NEW & LIKE NEW winter coats for children and adultsNEW hats, gloves, scarves for children and adultsNEW children’s pajamas

Watertown Scouts Collect Tons of Donations for Food Pantry

Some of the donations collected by Watertown Troop 30 and Pack 30 for the Watertown Food Pantry. The following announcement was provided by Watertown Scout Troop 30:

Scouts from Troop 30 and Pack 30 combined forces Saturday to collect two-and-half tons of food for the Watertown Food Pantry. In normal times, the Troop (BSA scouts age 10-17) and the Pack (Cub Scouts age 5-10) would solicit donations from customers at Stop & Shop as part of an initiative called Scouting for Food. This year, to keep contact at a minimum and taking Coronavirus precautions, Cub Scouts held a contest to see who could collect the greatest number of donations from neighbors. Cubs flyered their neighborhoods asking for help, and Watertown responded: Cubs collected carloads of groceries totaling 4,941 pounds.

Minuteman Students Cook Meals for 200 in Need for Thanksgiving

The following announcement was provided by Food Link:

This Thanksgiving, 200 food insecure residents of eastern Massachusetts will receive a traditional Thanksgiving meal with ingredients rescued by Food Link, cooked by students from Minuteman High School, and delivered by Food Link volunteers. Food Link, a food rescue organization serving eastern Massachusetts, has partnered for the 2020-21 school year with Minuteman High School, a regional career technical education high school in Lexington, to create nutritious meals for neighboring communities that are grappling with food insecurity. Through this collaboration, Food Link is rescuing food from grocery stores, produce markets, farms, and distributors and delivering it to Minuteman High School where culinary arts students create meals based on the ingredients they receive. These meals will then be shared with organizations feeding those in need. 

“Food Link has rescued 820,000 pounds of food since the pandemic began to address the growing need in our communities,” said DeAnne Dupont, Executive Director of Food Link. “This partnership allows us to take fresh, nutritious food and create meals to share with organizations such as after, low-income housing facilities and food pantries.”

Minuteman’s culinary arts students operate a restaurant at the school, which is typically open to the public but is only open to staff temporarily due to COVID-19 protocols. The partnership with Food Link provides culinary arts students a different population base for which to cook and bake meals.