Around Town

Watertown Farmers Market Opens for 11th Season – 6 New Vendors, Special Events Planned

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Shoppers browse the vendors at the Watertown Farmers Market on opening day for the 2024 season. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)

Shoppers waited eagerly at Saltonstall Park to get their hands on fresh produce, baked goods, crepes, fish, meat and more on Wednesday afternoon. With the ring of a bell by City Manager George Proakis, the Watertown Farmers Market’s 2024 season opened. This year marks the 11th for the Watertown Farmers Market. “I want to welcome you to another season of the Watertown Farmers Market,” Proakis said.

Around Town

Hear About Funded Projects & How to Apply at Community Preservation Act Public Hearing

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The following announcement was provided by the City of Watertown:

SAVE THE DATE for the Community Preservation Act (CPA) Annual Public Hearing, hosted by the Community Preservation Committee (CPC). Watertown City Hall in the Lower Hearing Room, Thursday, June 27, 2024, at 7 p.m.

Or join remotely via Zoom: https://watertown-ma.zoom.us/j/91525442843. Don’t miss this event for your chance to:

Hear more about the recently funded CPA Projects. Find out about the next steps for the Old Burying Ground and Common Street Cemeteries and the Commander’s Mansion Cultural Landscape projects. Tell us about your open space, outdoor recreation, community housing, and historic preservation priorities.

Around Town

LETTER: Watertown Business Coalition’s Asks for the Watertown Square Area Plan

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To Our Neighbors on the City Council & Planning Board,

We are writing to you today on behalf of the business community in and around Watertown Square. The Watertown Business Coalition (WBC) considers itself a community organization, so the thoughts presented herein are a balance between what is best for all stakeholders (residents, businesses, property owners, nonprofits and more …) in Watertown Square. The WBC has been actively engaged with the community since the Watertown Square Area Plan (WSAP) efforts began in Fall 2023, from holding WBC community events, kitchen table conversations, business roundtables, one-on-one meetings, and taking part in the several phases of planning run by the City. A myriad of ideas and suggestions have come from this process to lead us towards the proposed redesign and transformation of the Watertown Square Area. Two themes that continue to dominate conversation are traffic and housing.

Around Town

Marshall Home Fund Awards $75K in Grants to Help Older Adults in Watertown

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2024 Marshall Home Fund Grant recipients with current and former board members at the Grant Award Ceremony on May 23, 2024. The following information was provided by the Marshall Home Fund:

The Board of Directors of the Marshall Home Fund (MHF) is very pleased to announce the recipients of its latest round of program grant awards. This spring, the Board of Directors pledged $75,457 to local organizations for programs that will benefit residents of Watertown who are ages 55 and older. In awarding this latest round of grants, the MHF has reached a total of $1 million dollars awarded over a 19-year period for the benefit of older adults in Watertown. The 2024 grant recipients include:

Mass Assoc.

Around Town

New Spray Pad Will Keep Kids Cool at East Watertown Park

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Children enjoy the new spray pad at Filippello Park in East Watertown. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)

On a warm afternoon, dozens of children waited patiently for City officials to declare the new and improved spray pad at Filippello Park open so they could run through the cooling streams of water. Friday’s ribbon cutting marked the official opening of the new feature that has 15 spray features, including geysers, an aquadome, a lunar cannon and a palm tree on 2,500 sq. ft. of non-porous rubber play surface.

Around Town

OP-ED: Watertown Square Redesign Lacks Public Transit Improvement Plan

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Watertown Square. (Photo by City of Watertown)

By Mark Pickering

Watertown stands at a crossroads – on two separate issues. What we do now will guide the city’s way into the future. One question is whether to continue to be a city that emphasizes the use of cars and ignores public transit. The other question is whether to allow the construction of taller buildings in the Square.

Around Town

LETTER: Resident Explains Withdrawal from Human Rights Commission

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To whom it may concern,

It is with a heavy heart and disappointment that I am submitting my resignation from the inaugural Watertown HRC Committee. For those of you who don’t know me, I’ve been a resident of Watertown since 2018. I credit Nicole Gardner for getting me looped into the community and caring about my neighbors. I’ve been an active moderator for the Facebook Buy Nothing Watertown South group for a few years and I was the 2023 recipient of the World in Watertown Social Justice Scholarship, so when Nicole reached out to me about applying for the HRC Committee, I jumped at the opportunity. I believed that with my multiple identities as a person of color, immigrant, and queer, I could give a voice to those underrepresented within our community.