Wayne Martin Puppets Appearing at Watertown Mall’s April Vacation Event

The Watertown Mall Hosts Wayne Martin Puppets, presenting “Spring Sings,” on Saturday, April 22 for April Vacation Week! Join award winning Wayne Martin Puppets for a special “Spring Sings” production! Experience the thrills of the greatest little string extravaganza puppet circus around! The show will be featuring “Scatterbrain the Balloon Blowing Rabbit.” Dance along with ‘The Jitterbugs,’ a ‘Grasshopper Fiddler,’ share in a ‘Teddy Bears picnic’ and march along with the ‘Doop Doop Baby Chicks Band Trio’! You’ll roar with laughter ad gasp in amazement at the antics of these amazing marionettes in a musical revue that’s great for the whole family!

Lexus of Watertown Teams Up With Red Sox to Strike Out Hunger

For the second year in a row, Lexus is teaming up with the New England Sports Network (NESN) to launch the Strike Out Hunger program in an effort to raise awareness and funds for hunger relief across Eastern Massachusetts. Strike Out Hunger is a fundraising campaign where Lexus donates $50 to The Greater Boston Food Bank every time a Boston pitcher strikes out the opposing team’s hitter. The initiative launches on Opening Day and runs through all games in the 2017 Major League Baseball regular season. The second annual Strike Out Hunger campaign follows a highly successful inaugural year in 2016, with Lexus donating $68,100 and 1,300 pounds of food to The Greater Boston Food Bank for 1,362 Boston pitcher strikeouts. The contribution provided more than 200,000 healthy meals to those in need across Eastern Massachusetts.

Athenahealth Honored by State for Commute Options Offered to Employees

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) recently celebrated over 200 Massachusetts businesses, colleges, and universities at the seventh annual Massachusetts Excellence in Commuter Options (ECO) Awards ceremony. Attendees were recognized for their efforts in promoting active, healthy, and sustainable travel options programs at their local worksites, including one in Watertown, MassDOT announceds. The event, held at historic Fenway Park, brings together businesses and institutions from across the Commonwealth that provide innovative programs and resources to encourage employees to commute by public transit, carpool, vanpool, bicycling, walking, or teleworking. “MassDOT is proud of the strides that employers are taking to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the Commonwealth,” said MassDOT Secretary and CEO Stephanie Pollack. “Through partnerships with employers, we are able to provide information on available commuter transportation resources to a greater audience.

Watertown’s Canino Inducted into Westfield State’s Criminal Justice Hall of Fame

Town native and Watertown High School graduate Carlos Canino was honored by his alma mater – Westfield State College – for his accomplishments in criminal justice and on the athletic field. Canino currently works as the Deputy Assistant Director Field Operations for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, after a long career with the agency. He also was a standout in football at Westfield state. Canino be inducted in to the WSC Criminal Justice Hall of Fame along with fellow 1988 Westfield graduate Cheryl Bassett. Westfield State sent out the following announcement before the event:
Former Westfield State University athletic standouts Carlos Canino ’88 and Cheryl Bassett ’88 will be inducted into the school’s criminal justice Hall of Fame on April 5.

Give Back to Your Community During the 4th Annual Watertown Helps Out

Watertown Helps Out! Fourth Annual Community Day of Service kicks off Saturday, May 6, 8:30 a.m. at the Arsenal Project

How do you give back to the community? Where are organizations that need your help? Are there opportunities for your family to serve? In 2014, the Watertown Community Foundation created a townwide day of service, Watertown Helps Out, to fill this need.

Watertown Arbor Day Celebration Features Food Trucks, Demonstrations

Watertown’s Commander’s Mansion will host a free Arbor Day Celebration on Thursday, April 27. The celebration will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on April 27, rain or shine. In case of bad weather, the events will be in side the Mansion, 440 Talcott Ave. in Watertown (behind the Arenal on the Charles).  

Grab a bite to eat from the food trucks (they accept credit cards) or pack a picnic and join us for an afternoon of fun for all ages!

Red Cross Hosting 3 Blood Drives as Boston Marathon Bombing Memorials

The American Red Cross will join community leaders to host three blood drives on April 15 in honor of the lives changed by the Boston Marathon bombings and to pay tribute to the strength and resilience shown by so many following the attacks. The drives will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 15 at Watertown High School, 50 Columbia St., Watertown; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Sheraton Boston Hotel, 39 Dalton St., Boston; and 2-7 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Stoneham, 1 Church St., Stoneham. In April 2013, the Red Cross sent 600 blood products to Boston area hospitals in response to the Boston Marathon bombings. Volunteers are the only source of blood and platelets for hospital patients in need of transfusions. During National Volunteer Month, the Red Cross encourages eligible blood and platelet donors of all types to donate to help ensure blood products are available to hospital patients in need, as they were to many patients in the aftermath of the attacks in Boston.