Around Town

Sign Up for Membership to the Boys & Girls Club and the Swim Programs

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A new year at the Watertown Boys & Girls Club is about to begin, so now is the time to register for club membership and for the swim programs.

Fall Registration: Registration forms are now available at the Club’s Front Desk and on our website (www.watertownbgc.org). Please complete the form and drop it off at the Front Desk with payment of $25 per child for the year. You can also attend one of our Registration Days to become a member. Registration Days for Club Membership will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 7 and Thursday, Sept. 8 from 4-7 p.m.

Aquatics: Register for fall swim lessons by completing the forms found on our website (www.watertownbgc.org/aquatics) and meeting with Aquatics Director, Rob O’Neill, at the Club.

Government

State Officials Recommend Being Prepared for Hurricanes, Tornadoes

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Hurricanes and tropical storms are not just coastal events. As we saw in 2011 with Tropical Storm Irene, the strong winds and torrential rainfall that often are associated with hurricanes and tropical storms can cause widespread damage well inland and across the entire state. A storm’s strong winds can destroy buildings, down trees and power lines, and result in widespread power outages across the entire state. Additionally, large amounts of rain, particularly over a short period of time, can trigger destructive inland flooding. “The sometimes forgotten threat associated with hurricanes and tropical storms, particularly in our inland communities, is flooding,” stated Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency Director Kurt Schwartz.

Around Town

Mount Auburn Hospital Starts Breast Cancer Survivorship Clinic

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Mount Auburn Hospital is pleased to announce the start of its Breast Cancer Survivorship Clinic to provide guidance and support for breast cancer patients after cancer treatment.The clinic will be led by Nurse Practitioners and Co-Directors, Kelly Dusenbery, FNP and Laura Myers, FNP, along with Dr. Susan Pories, Medical Director of the Hoffman Breast Center and Chair of the Breast Center Steering Committee and Dr. Lisa Weissmann, Chief of Oncology and Chair of the Cancer Center Steering Committee. Survivorship care and follow up will focus on the following key areas of recommendation:

Providing each patient with an individualized survivorship care plan that includes details of their cancer treatment and guidelines for monitoring and maintaining their health
Increase awareness of short and long term side effects post treatment and develop a plan to address the patient’s needs and concerns
Surveillance for breast cancer recurrence
Screening for second primary cancers
Assessment and management of physical and psychosocial long-term and late effects of breast cancer and treatment
Health promotion
Care coordination

“We have developed a unique assessment tool to be incorporated at the patient’s Survivorship visit, highlighting the above recommendations,” said Dr. Pories.  “Being told you have breast cancer can be a life-altering experience. It is common to have concerns about how to move forward after treatment ends. It is the goal of the Breast Cancer Survivorship Clinic to help every patient regain their health and strength again. In coordination with our multidisciplinary team, our Nurse Practitioners provide each patient with an individualized survivorship care plan that includes details of their cancer treatment and guidelines for monitoring and maintaining their health.”

Breast cancer survivors represent an estimated 3.1 million women living with breast cancer in the US.

Entertainment

Free Showing of Documentary on at Perkins School on Blind Sailing

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Perkins School for the Blind presents a free showing of the moving “Sense the Wind,” a documentary about a blind sailing competition. 

Perkins sent out the following information:

Join Perkins class of ’72 alumnus Matt Chao for a FREE preview screening of Sense the Wind on Sept. 14, 2016 at 7 p.m. in the Grousbeck Center. All are welcome to the audio described showing of this documentary. Highlighting ability, not disability, this documentary tell the remarkable story of Matt and three other individuals who share a unique bond — each is vision impaired and striving to race in Japan’s 2013 Blind Sailing world Championship while navigating all the other challenges in life. Following the film there will be a Q&A with the producer/director Christine Knowlton and Matt Chao.

Around Town

Watertown Runner Runs Falmouth Road Race for Brain Injury Association

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Julia Doucett of Watertown participated in the 2016 New Balance Falmouth Road Race on Sunday, Aug. 21, on behalf of the Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts (BIA-MA) with nine other teammates, BIA-MA announced. Doucett, a prospective physical therapist, was inspired to run by the survivors she works with every day that touch her heart and persevere against all obstacles. While the Falmouth Road Race was not intended to be a charity race, their “Numbers for Nonprofit” program allows organizations like BIA-MA to race and raise funds through FirstGiving, the race’s official fundraising partner. Donations to Team BIA-MA support leadership, support services, advocacy, and prevention and education programs.
BIA-MA is one of the first and oldest organizations in the state to offer support and resources to brain injury survivors and their families, in addition to prevention programs, education, and legislative advocacy. Their mission is to create a better future for survivors and their families, and their work will continue with three walks held across the state in September.

Transportation

MassDOT to Hold Several Public Hearings on New Tolls, Electronic Tolling

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The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) announced it would hold seven public hearings regarding the proposed new gantry prices for All Electronic Tolling during the month of September, including in Newton and Allston. The hearings will begin Tuesday, Sept. 6, in Worcester and will continue in other communities until the final hearing on Thursday, Sept. 15. All of the hearings will begin at 6:30 p.m.

The schedule is as follows:

Tuesday, Sept.

Around Town

MassDOT Moving Toward Electric Tolling, Demolishing Toll Booths

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The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Board acted Monday to move ahead with plans to completely demolish Interstate 90 toll plazas by the end of 2017 as a milestone in the state’s progress toward All Electronic Tolling (AET) along Interstate 90 (the Massachusetts Turnpike), the Tobin Bridge, and Boston tunnels, the DOT announced. At today’s Board meeting, MassDOT announced that AET will “go live” on October 28. The Board approved toll demolition contracts, reviewed data security and retention proposals and instructed MassDOT to proceed with public hearings on proposed toll rates designed to be revenue neutral and minimize changes in toll charges for current commuters. “The AET system will improve driver convenience and safety and reduce greenhouse gas-causing vehicle emissions,” said MassDOT Highway Administrator Thomas J. Tinlin. “When toll booths have been removed, AET will allow drivers to maintain regular highway speed as they pass under AET gantries, eliminating the need for drivers to sharply reduce speed and idle in toll booth lines.”

The Board-approved contracts provide that tolls booths will begin to be demolished as soon as AET goes live and all work to remove toll plazas and reconstruct roadways is to be completed by the end of 2017.