Around Town

Improbable Players Receive $200,000 Grant from Cummings Foundation

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The following information was provided by Improbably Players:
Improbable Players Inc. is one of 33 local nonprofits awarded a total of $10 million from Cummings Foundation through its new Sustaining Grants program, which provides funding for up to 10 years. Christina Everett, Co-Director (Program Management) and Shahjehan Khan, Development Co-ordinator, represented the nonprofit at a May 3 awards night at TradeCenter 128 in Woburn. Watertown-based Improbable Players use theater performances & workshops based on true stories and performed by people in recovery to address addiction, alcoholism, and the opioid epidemic. Performances are 25-45 minutes long followed by a talkback/Q&A. Drama workshops give students the space and tools to combat social pressures and find coping strategies that work for them.

Transportation

Overnight Lane Closures on Mass Pike to Begin Soon

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MassDOT provided the following information:

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) has announced it will be conducting overnight milling work on I-90 east and westbound in Boston between North Beacon Street and Brooks Street beginning on Tuesday, May 15. In order to allow crews to safely and effectively conduct these operations, intermittent lane closures will be implemented during overnight hours throughout this area. Lane closures will be implemented on only one side of I-90 at a time and crews are expected to begin work on I-90 eastbound before transitioning to working on I-90 westbound. The full hours for this work are approximately from 10 p.m., through 5 a.m. These operations are expected to be completed in approximately one week and are in advance of paving operations that will occur in the coming weeks. 

MassDOT encourages drivers to be mindful of these potential impacts. Those traveling throughout the area should reduce speed and use caution.

Around Town

Watertown Historical Commission Awards Ceremony Coming Up Soon!

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The WHC sent out the following information:
The Watertown Historical Commission cordially invites you to attend the:

2018 Watertown Historical Commission Awards Ceremony

WHAT: Community, Snacks, Awards & Fun! WHEN: Thursday, May 17, 2018, at 7 p.m.

WHERE: The Commander’s Mansion, 440 Talcott Ave., Watertown

This year’s Award Recipients:
Richard E. Mastrangelo Memorial Award
Posthumously to Kenneth E. Thompson – “Dedicated Service to Historical Commission as Building Inspector”
Architectural Preservation Award
Anthony Fox and Sarah Holcomb “The Henry Chase House Restoration”
Environmental Presentation Award
athenahealth – “Soil Remediation Use in Arsenal on the Charles Master Plan”
Community Spirit Award
Dick O’Connor – “History of Victory Field Article in Watertown Tab”
Historical Resources Preservation Award
Cara Marcus – “Watertown Square Through Time”
Historical Resources Preservation Award
Rosemarie Smurzynski – “Mt. Auburn Cemetery Tour of Notable Watertown Woman”
Service to Youth Award
Eric Cordeiro and Taylor Boas- Boy Scout Troup 30 and Cub Scout Troop 30 “100th Anniversary Program on Watertown Cable Access TV”  
For additional details please call Susan Jenness in the Office of Historical Preservation at 617-972-6426.

Marian Ryan

Watertown High Gets Check from District Attorney for Safe Prom, Graduation Events

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The following information was provided by the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office:
Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan donated $500 to Watertown High School to promote substance-free events after prom and graduation. Watertown High School is one of 13 high schools that applied to receive $500 from the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office for safe post-prom and graduation events. District Attorney Ryan has hosted events across the county to encourage teenagers to make “safe choices” when attending parties and other activities with their friends. District Attorney Ryan has also spoken to parents on the topic of “social host responsibility,” warning parents and caregivers about the dangers of serving underage drinkers.

Around Town

Updated: Tune Up Your Bike, Ride Around Watertown During ‘Get Out Your Bike’ Event

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Note: Due to a wet weather forecast for Saturday, the Watertown Get Out Your Bike Event is re-scheduled to Sunday, May 20, 2018

Spring is here. Find your bike, get it tuned up and take a ride during Watertown Moves’ Get Out Your Bike Event. The following information was provided by Live Well Watertown:

WHEN: Sunday, May 29, 2018, 10:30 – 12:30 p.m. (rain date, May 20)

WHERE: Watertown Square Dock, Charles River Road at Galen Street Bridge

Dig your bike out of the basement, garage, or shed and bring it down for a free check-up. Talk with representatives from Watertown’s Bike & Pedestrian Committee, Watertown’s new Transportation Management Association (TMA), Live Well Watertown, and the new Bike Share Program, to learn about current and upcoming programs and initiatives. Pick up information on bike safety & commuting and a cycling map for exploring Watertown and beyond, along the Charles River.

Entertainment

Natures Interfaces With Art in Watertown Gallery’s New Exhibit

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Room 83 Spring sent out the following information about its upcoming exhibit:

Art and the ecosystem convene in Dynamic Entities at Room 83 Spring featuring the work of David Buckley Borden, Rebecca Hutchinson, and Joel Longenecker. Sculpture, painting and works on paper, reveal art as the interface between nature’s cycles and processes and the parallel actions, proposals, and outcomes of each artist’s investigative studio practice. Through mimesis, simulation, evidential re-presentation, and collaborative interpretation, Buckley Borden, Hutchinson, and Longenecker give testament to a complex community of interwoven physical factors and the ever-unfolding contingencies of nature itself. As a witness and participant, each artist explores themes of flux, flow, growth and decay, creation and its demise, to render an intimate experience of awe and the sublime. A Cambridge-based interdisciplinary artist and designer, David Buckley Borden promotes a shared environmental awareness and heightened cultural value of ecology.

App

MBTA Piloting Bus App for Blind Riders Developed by Perkins School, Raizlabs

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The following information was provided by Perkins School for the Blind:
Perkins School for the Blind has enhanced its groundbreaking micronavigation app, designed to help commuters with visual impairment find their bus stops, by bolstering it with new technology that makes traveling even easier. Still free to use, BlindWays 2.0 now alerts riders along select MBTA bus routes when they’ve found their outdoor stop via signals from bluetooth beacons, installed in bus stop signs, that trigger iPhone vibration. “Perkins continues to foster innovation by working collaboratively, as we are with the MBTA and developer Raizlabs on this initiative, to solve challenges for people who are visually impaired,” said Luiza Aguiar, executive director of Perkins Solutions. “We’re motivated to help create a transportation infrastructure that is equally accessible to all riders. Augmenting BlindWays to leverage beacons speeds us along that path.”
The first iteration of BlindWays was released in fall of 2016, providing users with crowdsourced landmark clues to help them navigate the last 30 feet of frustration standard GPS models leave between users and their exact destinations.

Around Town

Join Live Well Watertown Walks, Enter to Win in the Weekly Walking Challenge

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Watertown residents are invited to join walks around town each Thursday through May 16, and enter to win a gift certificate to the Watertown Farmers Market. The following information was provided by Live Well Watertown:
Live Well Watertown Walking Series
Lunchtime Walks

Wednesdays, April 25th – May 16, 12:00 – 12:45 p.m.

Explore Watertown’s neighborhoods on foot! Walkers will meet at Saltonstall Park and walk a different route each week. Walks led by Live Well Committee Members – the pace will be moderate. Walk-ins welcome!