Arts

Two Artists Featured in Plumbing Museum’s Latest Exhibition: Industrial Nature

By |

The Plumbing Museum is pleased to announce its upcoming exhibition — Industrial Nature — featuring new works by Artists-in-Residence Joshua Ruder and Jenn Houle. The exhibit will showcase new works created during the artists’ three-month studio residencies at the Manoog Family Artist-in-Residency program, launched last fall in partnership with J.C. Cannistraro. The exhibition will open on Thursday, October 26, 2017 and will be on view through December 15, 2017. The opening reception will be held on Thursday, October 26 from 5-7 p.m. and will include live music by solo jazz pianist Anastassiya Petrova, currently studying piano performance at the Berklee Global Jazz Institute. The event is free and open to the public.

Charity

Support the Watertown Youth Coalition Peer Leaders and Enter to Win $5K for a Vacation

By |

A raffle is being held by the Wayside Youth and Family Support Network and you can enter to win and also support the Watertown Youth Coalition Peer Leaders – a group that works to reduce alcohol and drug use by teens. The Watertown Youth Coalition sent out the following information:

You could still win the $5KGetaway Raffle, but only if you buy a ticket and try your luck today! $5 for 1 ticket, $20 for 5 tickets and you could win a $5,000 voucher for a vacation to the destination(s) of your choice! Put “Watertown Youth Coalition Peer Leaders” under “I want my raffle fee to support the following individual or team” and 100% of funds will support the WYC Peer Leadership Program! Buy online today by clicking here

Or make a tax-deductible donation directly to the team. Any contribution is appreciated and will help the WYC Peer Leaders with their efforts this year! Join us and give now by clicking here

Environment

Group Holding Discussion of How Climate Change Could Impact Massachusetts

By |

A meeting will be held about how climate change will impact Massachusetts. ProgressiveWatertown sent out the following announcement:

Please save Saturday, Oct. 21, when ProgressiveWatertown will host a public forum on Climate. The Forum will take place at the Watertown Free Public Library, 123 Main St., starting at 1:30 p.m. Attendance is free. We have three wonderful speakers to lead the discussion; Emily Norton, the Director of the Sierra Club of MA, George Bachrach, the former President of the Environmental League of MA (ELM), and Chris Dempsey, the director of Transportation of MA.

Airplane Noise

Group Concerned with Airplane Noise Meeting in Belmont

By |

Boston West Fair Skies (BWFS) will hold its quarterly meeting Thursday, November 2 in Belmont, the group announced. 

BWFS works towards redistributing airplane noise more fairly among our communities. Thursday November 2nd, 2017, 7-8:30 P.M.
Belmont Public Library, 336 Concord Ave. We are a citizens grassroots organization which includes Arlington, Belmont, Cambridge, Medford, Somerville, Watertown and  Winchester – all communities affected by the increased airplane noise due to the implementation of 33L RNAV (using GPS) departures at Boston Logan Airport. The quarterly meeting location rotates to different towns. BWFS is fighting for a more equitable distribution of airplane noise.

Sports

Watertown Wrestling Coach Kevin Russo Will Join the Athletic Hall of Fame

By |

(The Watertown High School Athletic Hall of Fame provided this profile.)

Watertown High School has a tremendous history when it comes to outstanding coaches, including Hall of Famers Dick Berardino, Dick Umile, Eileen Donahue, and Steve Harrington, just to name a few. Kevin Russo is the next coach to join the Hall, and his accomplishments in a 27-year career are lengthy indeed. In 1999 Kevin undertook the difficult task of starting a brand new program in his adopted hometown of Watertown. There was no club team at Watertown, no JV program to feed off of, so he started with a varsity team in league competition right away. Under Kevin’s tutelage Watertown has had many successful winning seasons and has been able to fill the line up each year in all 14 weights, which is extremely difficult to do.

Business

Members of Watertown’s Most Unique Baseball League Visit Mt. Auburn Hospital

By |

Members of the Watertown Challengers League made a recent stop at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge to thank the hospital and CEO Jeanette Clough for their important sponsorship, the hospital announced. The Watertown Challengers League is a division of Little League Baseball that gives youth ages 7-19 with special needs the opportunity to have fun and be a part of a team. Participation is free to each player and includes a uniform, jacket, trophies and an annual banquet thanks to local sponsors. The team is run by Eric Manning (of Watertown), VP of the Watertown Challenger League and his wife Brenda Manning (of Watertown), board member at large and manager of the Watertown Challenger League. The Mannings joined the league five years ago as volunteer coaches aiding their son, Brian Manning (of Watertown) who has cerebral palsy.

Business

Community Partners Talk About Tufts Health Plan in Company’s Annual Report

By |

This year Tufts Health Plan Foundation took a new approach to the annual report, sharing community voices to represent our work for 2016, the company announced in a press release. The audio annual report, Making Our Communities Great Places to Grow Up and Grow Old, released today, highlights collaborations and initiatives supported by the Foundation to advance the age-friendly movement across the region. “Listening is critical in our role as community partner and investor,” said Thomas O’Neill III, chair of the Foundation board of directors. “It informs how we engage, promote health and connect to the communities we serve.”

As part of its practice, the Foundation collaborates with and engages older adults, civic leaders and nonprofit organizations in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island to support communities that work for people of all ages. “We are living longer, and opportunities to create vibrant cities and towns that are great places to grow up and grow old must be advanced,” said Nora Moreno Cargie, Foundation president and vice president, corporate citizenship atTufts Health Plan.

Letters

LETTER: Resident Worried About Chemicals Being Used on Artificial Turf

By |

(This letter was read to the Town Council on Oct. 10, 2017)

Maintaining artificial turf means putting chemicals on top of chemicals. With a high quality, state of the art, cost-effective, grass playing field, which we do not currently have in Watertown, proper maintenance, supervised by a knowledgeable professional is essential to protect that field. But in the strange new world of unnatural fields, proper maintenance can mean less about protecting the field, and more about protecting the human beings, especially young ones, who use the field. Proper maintenance of synthetic turf requires that even more chemicals be applied to the field – a field which is already a mixture of hundreds of chemicals, in solid form.