Entertainment

Watertown Man Keeps Classic Cartoons, Values Alive

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Growing up, Fred Grandinetti loved watching Boomtown with Rex Trailer and Bozo the Clown, and the cartoons they would run during the show. Today, Grandinetti has his own show, “Drawing with Fred,” where he can show cartoons, including his favorite – Popeye the Sailor. The show can be seen on Watertown Cable Access, along with cable stations in Needham, Bedford, Londonderry, N.H., and Salem, Mass. Among the highlights of his time doing the show, Grandinetti said, was having Jackson Beck, the voice of both Bluto and Brutus, do the voice of Brutus on Drawing with Fred. The animated shorts are not the only feature of the show.

Entertainment

WHS Drama Putting Final Touches on “Our Town” Production

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Beth Peters has directed the fall play at Watertown High School for 10 years, and the school had not done the classic American play “Our Town.” This is the year! The Thornton Wilder play is both a simple production, but one where the student actors must dig deep emotionally, said Peters, who also teaches drama at an elementary school in East Boston. WHS junior Zoe Grodsky, who plays Emily Webb, said there are some very sad scenes in the play. “It’s a tough show.

Around Town

New Season of Top Chef Features Show Shot in Watertown

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Bravo’s reality cooking show Top Chef shot its latest season in the Boston area, including one episode in Watertown. Top Chef season 12 features segments from Boston area landmarks such as Fenway Park, Plimouth Plantation, the Cheers Bar and our very own Commander’s Mansion. The episode at the historic house located in the Arsenal on the Charles was shot in late May, said Tammy McKenna, facility manager at the Commander’s Mansion. The show included employees from athenahealth, the company that now owns the Arsenal complex. When the show was looking for a filming location athena suggested the mansion, McKenna said.

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Art Show Features Pieces Inspired by Watertown Lockdown, Bombing Suspect Search

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A Boston art gallery will show a set of plates created by two Watertown artists who were inspired to make the commemorative plates after being in the shelter in place while authorities searched for the second Boston Marathon Bombing suspect. The Miller Yezerski  Gallery, 460 Harrison Ave. in Boston, will show Mike Mandel & Chantal Zakari’s “Shelter in Plates” from Oct. 3 to Nov. 4, and an opening reception will be held on Friday Oct.

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New Spot Opening Where People Can Learn to Create

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The Watertown Free Public Library’s latest endeavor will provide residents with a place to learn how to use equipment and technology to create their own crafts and other projects. Dubbed HATCH, the WPFL’s makerspace will open in the Arsenal Project in October, said Assistant Library Director Caitlin Browne. “It will be an exploratory space where people can play with (equipment), and other’s will have the opportunity to learn from people who have experience using it,” Browne said. Equipment will be added over time, but HATCH will begin with a 3-D printer, sewing machines, a screen printing press, a variety of electronics to experiment with, and a variety of crafting supplies. One of the items that will be available will be Arduino, which are small microprocessors that can be programed to do different things.

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Celebration for Mural that Adorns History-Filled Building

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What used to be a dingy wall overlooking a small parking lot, now beams with color from a mural painted by Watertown teens over the summer. On Sunday, Sept. 21, a group came to dedicate “Tapestry of Cultures,” which is on the side of the a building along Baptist Walk. Alan Dana, whose grandfather and great uncle bought the building in the 1910s, said the mural is a big improvement. “It was a blank wall and it had some graffiti,” Dana said.

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Trampoline Complex Coming to Watertown

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A 37,000-square foot trampoline complex will be opening in the Westside of Watertown later this year. The facility will be called Launch Watertown and will be located at 1 River St., just off Pleasant street near the Waltham line. It will be the largest complex run by Launch Franchising. A large part of the floor space will be covered by adjoining trampolines, and there will also be places for “Xtreme” dodgeball, and a Free Fall activity, where people can jump from a town into an inflatable stunt bag, according to the report on Broadway World. The Launch Watertown website also shows trampoline basketball courts and a foam pit, as well as an area to eat which has flat screen TVs and an arcade. Launch Watertown seeks to open by December 2014.

Around Town

Watertown Woman’s Magazine Teaches Kids About Healthy Eating

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Watertown’s Sally Sampson started ChopChop magazine in an effort to teach kids they can eat tasty and healthy food and her non-profit group is a finalist in the startup accelerator MassChallenge. The Boston Herald recently profiled Sampson and her not-for-profit publisher Chop Chop Kids, which she founded in 2010. She started by trying to find recipes that are both cheaper and healthier than fast food. See the article here: http://bostonherald.com/business/healthcare/2014/08/chop_chop_eat_healthy