Around Town

Watertown Resident Honored for Creating Program Linking Watertown Schools with Local Biotechs

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Merle Kummer

The following announcement was provided by Beth El Tempe Center:

Merle Kummer, President and Founder of CoLAB, was a recipient of the eighth annual Jonathan Jacoby Tikkun Olam Award, granted by the Social Action Committee of Beth El Temple Center in Belmont, MA. “Tikkun olam” is Hebrew for “repairing the world,” and this particular award was created in May 2016 to honor the inspired actions and service of community members. Merle Kummer is an organizational learning professional and community organizer, who conceived and launched CoLAB. The first of its kind, CoLAB is a not-for-profit organization connecting Watertown High School students with local life science companies to encourage student interest in STEM careers – Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, and build new levels of STEM self-confidence. Collaborating with individuals from academia and biotechnology sectors, Merle has created a unique platform whereby scientist volunteers engage with students in one-on-one and group settings.

Around Town

Registration Open for Watertown Recreation’s Winter Programs

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The Watertown Recreation Department Winter I Registration for all offerings has begun, and includes sports, crafts, science and more for children as young as 3 to adults. The sports programs include Junior Mighty Mites and Mighty Mites, for pre-schoolers, and Jr. All Sport and All Sports for elementary school students. Three are volleyball, futsal, and wrestling for students, and adult pickleball, basketball, and volleyball. Plus the Wachusett Ski Program is back for middle and high schoolers. Not into sports, there are crafting classes, a non-bake bonanza, and science programs: Outer Space & Physics Fun, Electricity & Magnetmania, and Code & Control Robo Dozer.

Around Town

Submissions Wanted for CRWA’s Charles River Photo Contest

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The following announcement was provided by the Charles River Watershed Association:

Calling all photographers – do you love to capture our favorite river? We are so pleased to announce the first annual 2023 Charles River Photo Contest! Submit your photos today – share your top three images with us by Friday, November 17th for a chance to win exciting river-themed prizes and features on our digital channels. Shortly after the deadline, finalists will be selected, and CRWA members will be called upon to vote for winners in next month’s River Current. Check out the full details over at crwa.org/photocontest, and submit your photos!

Around Town

Award Winning Restaurant Featuring Steak & Frites Coming to Watertown

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Medium Rare will be serving up steak and frites at Arsenal Yards in 2024. (Courtesy of Medium Rare)

The following announcement was provided by Medium Rare:

Medium Rare, the award-winning, iconic, full-service restaurant famous for its French-influenced steak and frites (fries), is coming to the Boston area. The lease is signed. The location is set: 130 Arsenal Yards, Watertown, MA. The hammers are in motion (on the build-out, not the already-tender steak).

Around Town

Public Invited to 3 Day Planning Event for Watertown Square Redesign

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The following announcement was provided by the City of Watertown:

Join us for an exciting, three-day design charrette with the project team as we sketch through alternative visions for the redesign of the Watertown Square area, at 64 Pleasant St. (same location as our Oct. 17 project kickoff). A charrette is a collaborative planning process during which an interdisciplinary team of planners, designers, transportation experts, city officials, residents, business owners, other interested people, and most importantly you, work together to create a shared design vision of a particular area. The goal of the process is to capture the vision, values, and ideas of the community.

Around Town

Watertown Resident Honored for Her Humanitarian Work

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Watertown’s Donna Hicks of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University received an award from North Suffolk Community Services. (Courtesy photo)

The following announcement was provide by North Suffolk Community Services:

Nonprofit human services provider North Suffolk Community Services (NSCS) honored Watertown resident Donna Hicks, Ph.D., of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University, during its 64th Anniversary Connection Celebration held at the Hyatt Regency Boston Harbor Hotel in East Boston. 

Dr. Hicks received the Humanitarian Award for her most recent book “Leading with Dignity: How to Create a Culture that Brings Out the Best in People,” as well as her peace work. 

She has worked on conflict resolution in the Middle East, Sri Lanka, Northern Ireland and Columbia, and has taught courses in the subject at Harvard, Clark, and Columbia universities. 

Around Town

Our History: Mills Along the Charles River in Watertown

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Aetna Mills

The following story is part of a series on local history provided by the Historical Society of Watertown. It was written by Paul Brennan, former President and former Vice President of the Historical Society for the October 1998 Historical Society newsletter, “The Town Crier.” When Paul was President, he lived in the Fowle House for 5 years and in December 2000 was named the “Town Historian” by the Town Council. AETNA MILLS

On September 27, 1995, Paul Brennan, President of the Historical Society, greeted the members of the Senior Center for the sixth time in about a year for yet another much anticipated historic tour of a long-forgotten treasure of our town, the Aetna Mills. After a question and answer period in the Senior Center, the group of thirty members boarded the shuttle and traveled down to the banks of the Charles River to view one of Watertown’s early industrial influences of the 18th and 19th century. Tour group from the Senior Center in the museum at Aetna Mills (Courtesy of Paul Brennan)

The large complex of red brick buildings located at the corner of Bridge and Pleasant Streets is now owned and occupied by The Boston Scientific Corporation (Editor’s 2023 Note: Boston Scientific is no longer in this location).