Around Town

Tree Lighting Ceremony Coming to Watertown Square Soon!

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The Town of Watertown, Watertown Savings Bank, and the Rotary Club of Watertown are pleased to announce that the eighth annual Tree Lighting event will be held on Friday, December 7 in Watertown Square, according to an announcement from the organizers 

A reception will follow at the Watertown Savings Bank (WSB) main office in Watertown Square. Santa Claus will arrive to the Square by fire truck at 5:15 p.m.; the tree lights come on at 5:30 p.m.; and the reception to follow immediately after at WSB, where attendees will enjoy refreshments, holiday music, and visit with Santa Claus.  Parking will be available at WSB after 5 p.m.

“We’re really excited for this year’s tree lighting, and to continue with this wonderful holiday tradition,” said Kelly Cronin, WSB’s Community Relations Manager. This year, Dan McCarthy/DM Productions will be outside in the Square with holiday music and a special guest of their own beginning at 4:30 p.m. Watertown Rotary will also have refreshments out on the Square. Thank you to all who make this event possible: Russo’s for donating the tree; Watertown Police for providing a police detail; Watertown Fire for transporting Santa Claus; the Pleasant Street Watertown Stop & Shop and Watertown Dunkin’ Donuts for refreshments. For more information, please contact WSB’s Community Relations Office at 617-928-2336.

Around Town

Learn About Computer Coding from Panel of Experts at Watertown Library

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Find out about computer coding during the “Ask a Coder” event at the Watertown Free Public Library on Wednesday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m.

The Watertown Library provided the following information:
If you’ve ever considered a career in coding, or simply wondered what goes into building and running the technology you use, this is your chance! A panel of professional developers and software engineers will reveal how they got started, describe their work, offer advice for those looking to break into the field. Bring your questions! Our panelists:
Rebecca Dornin: Senior Software Engineer at Charles River Analytics with additional tech experience at Harvard; M.S. in Software Engineering
Owen Cunningham: Principal Software Engineer at GMO with additional tech experience in the fields of insurance, marketing, healthcare, law, and aerospace; self-taught
Tai Dailey: Front-End Engineer at O’Reilly Media with additional tech experience at Northeastern, Boston.com, CVS; volunteer with the nonprofits Girl Develop It and Black Girls Code; (second) B.S. in Web Design and Interactive Media
WHERE: Watertown Free Public Library, 123 Main St., Watertown, in the Watertown Savings Bank Room

Entertainment

First Watertown Library Winter Concert Features Violinist

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The Watertown Free Public Library kicks off its Winter Concert Series on Dec. 2 with a performance by violinist Dorisiya Yosifova. The library provided the following information:

Winter Concert Series: Dorisiya Yosifova
Sunday, 12/2 | 2 pm
WATERTOWN FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY, WATERTOWN SAVINGS BANK ROOM
We’re excited to announce the lineup for the 7th annual WFPL Winter Concert Series! As in previous years, our free concert series will feature all local artists. Performances are free and open to all.

Charity

Watertown Scouts Collected Hundreds of Bags of Groceries for Food Pantry

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What does the generosity of Watertown residents look like when combined with the hard work from scouts? It looks like 200 bags of groceries for families in need in Watertown. This was truly a group effort. Boy Scouts from Troop 30 teamed up with Cub Scouts from Pack 30 to participate in Scouting for Food, a nationwide program of the BSA. Working with Stop & Shop at 171 Watertown St., scouts asked store customers to donate items needed most by clients of the food pantry — peanut butter, rice, beans, jams and cleaning supplies — to fill the pantry’s shelves.

Charity

Grants from Tufts Health Plan Foundation Helps Children & Older Adults

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Twenty-seven local organizations each will receive a grant of up to $10,000 from Tufts Health Plan Foundation’s new Momentum Fund. The fund was established to foster new ideas and support cities and towns in their efforts to make their communities better places to grow up and grow old. 

“We developed the Momentum Fund to help smaller communities and organizations that want to do this work,” said Nora Moreno Cargie, president of Tufts Health Plan Foundation and vice president of corporate citizenship at Tufts Health Plan. “They are adopting more inclusive policies, building accessible parks and public spaces, and integrating age-friendly practices.”

The Momentum Fund is supporting 10 projects in Massachusetts, 10 in Rhode Island and 7 in New Hampshire. Each is community-led, addresses healthy aging and includes older people in the planning and implementation process. “Many New England communities recognize older people as tremendous assets,” said Phillip González, the Foundation’s senior program officer.

Schools

Minuteman High School Receives National Blue Ribbon School Award

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Representatives from Minuteman High School in Lexington accepted the school’s 2018 National Blue Ribbon School award at a ceremony held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 8. An audience of 1,300 people looked on in the hotel’s ballroom as dozens of outstanding schools nationwide were presented with the National Blue Ribbon School award by the Director of the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program, Aba S. Kumi. “At no other time in Minuteman’s history that I can think of has our school had such a great stretch of news going on,” said Principal Jack Dillon, who has worked at Minuteman for the past 13 years. “This is a really proud moment to represent Minuteman.”

He attended the Washington event along with Lead Mathematics Teacher John Fusco and Lead English Teacher Greg Donovan.

Entertainment

Watertown Mall Hosting Tree Lighting Ceremony, Welcoming Santa

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The Watertown Mall will be hosting a Tree Lighting Ceremony on Nov. 21, 2018 at 1 p.m. with the Joe Brogan Jazz Trio playing live from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Santa will be there 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. to join in the festivities. We will have a collection box for the Food Pantry, please bring non-perishables.  Our large, beautiful tree will be on display all season. The event will be held in the back hallway next to Target, across from Carter’s. The event is free and open to all ages. About the Watertown Mall

The Watertown Mall is wheelchair accessible and accessible by MBTA Bus routes 70 and 70A.

Obituaries

OBIT: Mary (Herlihy) Russo, Served on Council on Aging, Past President of Sons & Daughters of Italy

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Mary (Herlihy) Russo of Watertown and Boca Raton, Florida passed away peacefully surrounded by her loving family on Wednesday, November 14, 2018.Mary’s passion was her family, both immediate and extended, who will miss her energy, excitement and infectious laughter. She was the heart of our family. She is survived by her loving husband David A. Russo to whom she was married for 51 years. Devoted mother to her daughter, Rosemary Garside and her husband Paul of Watertown, son David J. Russo and his husband Matthew McNeff of Watertown, and daughter Sister Elizabeth Francis (Linda) of Quincy (Daughters of Mary of Nazareth). She was a loving grandmother to Katherine Garside and Daniel Garside of Watertown. She was the daughter of the late John and Evangeline Herlihy and sister of the late
Alice (Herlihy) Walker.