Around Town

Our History: Historic July 1776 Event Includes Descendant of Treaty Signer, Upcoming Event

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Rep. Henry Bear, Maliseet Tribal Representative to the Maine House of Representatives (Photo courtesy of Joyce Kelly)

This article is part of a series on local history provided by the Historical Society of Watertown. It was written by Joyce Kelly, Board member of the Historical Society of Watertown. Joyce writes articles for the newsletter and is the newsletter editor. This was published in our October 2014 newsletter, “The Town Crier.”

The Historical Society once again reenacted the reading of the Declaration of Independence from a Council Chamber window on the 2nd floor of the Edmund Fowle House, first done on July 18, 1776. We also celebrated the Treaty of Watertown, signed on July 19, 1776 in the Council Chamber of the Edmund Fowle House.

Around Town

City Receives More Than 30 Applications for ARPA Funds

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The City of Watertown has $10.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds that can be spent on a variety of areas as part of Pandemic recovery. The City Council requested proposals for use of the money and received 32 applications from City departments, community organizations, individuals, or a combination of those. The requests total nearly $24 million in funds, and include areas such as affordable housing, food pantries, and social workers. The City has several applications, including multiple for water infrastructure projects. The Watertown Library seeks to build another study/work room.

Around Town

Local Church Host Site for Global Leadership Summit

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Grace Chapel Watertown will be a host site for the Global Leadership Summit on Aug. 3-4, 2023. The speakers at this year’s summit include former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, and founder of Sseko Designs and author Liz Bohannon. According to the Global Leadership Summit:

The Global Leadership Summit (GLS) is the largest leadership experience in the world which partners with local churches, ministries, and organizations to help leaders to grow and become a catalyst for change. With the partnership of industry-leading experts that represent the best of ministry wisdom with marketplace insights, GLS will inspire and equip you to lead boldly and wisely, no matter where you serve in the world!

Around Town

Watertown Rec: Beat the Heat on Waterslides, Family Movie Night, Street Hockey & Tennis

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Watertown Recreation has plenty going on for kids this summer, including a waterslide event at Victory Field on July 7, a Family Movie Night on the 14th, and the Cops N Rec Street Hockey program begins July 10. Register Online: www.recreation.watertown-ma.gov go to “Online Registration.” The following information was provided by the Watertown Recreation Department:

Special Events coming soon! We are hosting a waterslide event this Friday 7/7

Location: Victory Field Oval

Time: 10:00am – 3:00pm

Play video games on the Mobile Video Bus on Thur. 7/13

Location: Victory Field

Time: 10:00am – 12:00pm

See Puss and Boots: The Last Wish on Friday Night 7/14 – I have attached the flier for the movie night above!

Around Town

Find Out What Happened in Watertown on July 18 & 19 at a Historical Society Event

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Photo by Charlie BreitroseBob Childs of the Historical Society of Watertown reads the Declaration of Independence in 2016 from the same spot it was first read in 1776, the second floor of the Edmund Fowle House. This year’s event will be at the Senior Center

The Historical Society of Watertown’s celebration of Treaty Day returns in-person in 2023, with an event at the Senior Center on July 18. The Historical Society sent out the following announcement:

Join us in the air-conditioned, Watertown Senior Center for the story in words and pictures behind Watertown’s first public reading of the Declaration of Independence and the signing of the Watertown Treaty between the Mi’kmaq and St. John (aka Maliseet) in Canada and the newly formed United States. The Treaty ofWatertown was the first international U.S. treaty.

Around Town

Watertown Preparing to Form a Human Rights Commission, Working on Details of Group’s Role

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Charlie BreitroseWatertown City Hall

Watertown is on the verge of a milestone as it moves closer to establishing its first-ever Human Rights Commission. After a vote in the Subcommittee on Rules & Ordinances on June 5th, a final draft of the Human Rights Commission ordinance passed out of the committee and will move to a final vote in the Council. No one, it seems, expects it to meet much blow-back. “This is incredibly exciting and overdue,” said Bevin Croft, who was a member of the informal residents’ committee and a former member of Cambridge’s Human Rights Commission. “It’s exciting to see something that was so controversial before get another push and be met with almost no resistance.

Around Town

Watertown Girl Representing Mass. at JDRF 2023 Children’s Congress

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Watertown’s Kate Putnam will be a Massachusetts delegate at the JDRF 2023 Children’s Congress. Pictured are the delegates from the 2019 conference. (Photo courtesy of JDRF). The following information was provided by JDRF:

Kate Putnam, age 14 of Watertown, MA, was chosen by JDRF, the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research, to join a delegation of her peers and celebrity advocates in Washington, D.C., this summer at JDRF 2023 Children’s Congress from July 9-11. Kate will join more than 160 other youth from across the country to meet with their Members of Congress and other key decisionmakers to inform them of the critical role they can play in supporting the T1D community. 

Throughout the event, these youth — ages 4 to 17 — will participate in leadership and character-building programming, interact with T1D role models, and engage in a number of activities on the Hill, including attending a Senate hearing to share personal testimonies that highlight the challenges of living with T1D and the need for continued Federal funding through the Special Diabetes Program, or SDP (www.jdrf.org/get-involved/advocacy/special-diabetes-program). 

“When it comes to my experience with type 1, I have been extremely lucky to get the care and support that I need, but I still deal with a high degree of stress.