Around Town

LETTER: Resident Petition Asks Town to Hire Outside Group to Help with Charter Review

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Watertown’s Town Hall. Dear Watertown Citizens,

This year, our city will have the opportunity to review how our government works and make constructive changes to our Town Charter, a chance that comes only once every 10 years. As a city in Massachusetts (we are legally “the city of the town of Watertown”), we have two basic choices of government: mayor/council or town manager/council. Within those two forms, however, there are many ways to set the governing details. Whether we want it to or not, Watertown will become a very different town in the next 10 years.

Around Town

Virtual Event on Paths to Recovery from Substance Use Disorder, Even During COVID-19

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The following announcement was provided by the WATERtown Task Force:

On Sunday, Sept. 13th at 4 PM the W.A.T.E.R.town* Task Force for Substance Use Disorder will  host a virtual event to recognize National Recovery Month. It will include nationally recognized experts, as well as a panel of local residents speaking about the stigma of substance use disorder and paths to recovery–especially during this time of Covid-19. For more information, see the link to flyer below. To join the zoom webinar event, register through this link http://www.watertown-cares.com.

Cartoon

Small Saves Gets a New Teammate in This Week’s Comic Strip

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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.”

Around Town

Watertown Resident Tests Positive for West Nile Virus, Tips for Avoiding Mosquitos

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The following announcement was provided by the Watertown Health Department:

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) announced today a human case of West Nile virus (WNV) in Watertown. This case represents the second human case of West Nile Virus in our community. This raisesthe risk level to HIGH in our Watertown. Although serious illness caused by WNV is uncommon, there have been 206 cases of WNV in Massachusetts between 2001 and 2019. There were five human cases of WNV in 2019, and 49 human cases in 2018.

Entertainment

Moving Plays to be Presented by New Rep, Library & Historical Society

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The following information came from New Rep Theatre:

Watertown Historical Moving Plays: The Charles W. Lenox Experience — an immersive and educational theatrical experience. Script by Ken Green, directed by Michael Ofori. Sept. 26 to Nov. 8, 2020

Outdoors in Watertown, 60 minutes

New Rep Theatre has partnered with the Watertown Free Public Library and the Historical Society of Watertown to bring to you Watertown Historical Moving Plays, an immersive and educational theatrical experience that leads participants on a stroll through historical sites in Watertown.

Food Truck Festivals of America

Food Trucks Coming to a Neighborhood Near You, Preorder Now

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Watertown-based Food Truck Festivals of America is bringing the food trucks to diners, including two trucks visiting town this weekend. On Sunday the Sept. 13, Trolley Dogs and Whoopie Wagon will be on Frank Street from 4 pm-7 pm. Diners must preorder food, which can be done at www.foodtrucktruckfestivalsofamerica.com/streats. For more information, see the announcement provided by Food Truck Festivals of America, below:

With tourism down, offices closed, college students working remotely and urban foot traffic down to a minimum, the hundreds of food trucks in New England had to do something to stay alive. The days of selling 400 lunches on the Greenway have been gone since March. What to do and where to go? So, now the food trucks are rolling to the suburbs where programs like Neighborhood StrEATs in Watertown have helped keep the trucks alive and brought some welcome culinary diversion to the neighborhoods.

Around Town

Library, Historical Society Mark Women’s Suffrage Centennial with Free Virtual Events

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The following announcement was provided by the Watertown Library:

On August 18, 1920, the United States ratified the 19th Amendment, making women’s right to vote a part of our nation’s Constitution. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of that historic moment and the suffrage movement that made it possible, the Watertown Free Public Library and the Watertown Historical Society invite you to join in two free, virtual events. With a national election on the horizon, there is no better time to reflect on the history and future of voting rights. Here’s what the Library and the Historical Society are planning:

History At PlayTM, LLC Performance: ­­I Now Pronounce You Lucy Stone

Virtual Play | Thursday, 9/17 | 7 PM

In this fiery, one-woman performance by History At PlayTM, LLC, Judith Kalaora becomes Lucy Stone: A fierce abolitionist, women’s rights activist, and the first woman

from Massachusetts to earn a college degree. Challenging discrimination is not easy, but Lucy Stone is never one to ­take the easy road.

Around Town

Watertown Group Discussing Erasing of Indigenous History in Town, Columbus Monument

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The following announcement was provided by Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice & the Environment:

Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice and the Environment will hold our September Monthly Meeting via Zoom on Wednesday, September 16, at 6:45 PM. All are welcome. Our topic this month is: Engaging Our Past For A More Truth-filled Future. Please join us for a very special monthly meeting featuring the Pigsqusset Decolonization Team, a group of Watertown citizens who organized in early 2020 to engage the public in a conversation about the erasure of the Indigenous history of the place we call home. Their initial goal is to create a conversation about the future of the monument to Christopher Columbus in the Town Square.