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LETTER: Watertown Biosafety Committee Consultant Addresses Questions

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Dear Linda,

Thank you for your letter and questions regarding the Watertown Biosafety Committee (WBSC). I consult for the Watertown Board of Health/WBSC, serve as the designee by the director of Public Health and would like to clarify some of the points you raised and answer your questions. The Biotechnology regulations were enacted to protect Watertown residents by mandating companies performing specific types of work to meet certain requirements. These regulations were developed based on regulations from surrounding communities, but in some aspects are stricter than some of our neighboring communities. For example, Watertown requires a permit for companies performing most work under Biosafety level 2 (BSL2) regardless of whether the work involves synthetic or recombinant DNA (rDNA) which is not true of all municipalities in the greater Boston area.

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Miller/Tracy Children’s Foundation Hosting Shopping Bonanza Fundraiser

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The Miller/Tracy Children’s Foundation will host the 2022 Annual Shopping Bonanza on Sunday, Nov. 6 from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at Watertown Sons of Italy hall, 520 Pleasant St., in Watertown. The Foundation provided the following information:

This is our 17th time running the fundraiser, and this year will be our first time hosting the event since COVID to it is bigger and better than ever! 

We have so many new vendors (full list will be below), a bake sale, and wonderful raffle items. 

Money raised from the event goes towards our outreach programs, including our Back to School program which supplies personalized requests for school supplies, clothes, shoes and backpacks to 200+ children each year in the Greater Boston area. 

More information about the Miller/Tracy Children’s Foundation can be found on our website: MTCF2001.org and on our Instagram @MillerTracyChildrensFoundation

Vendors: 

Charlotte Paints

Kanch by Kolika

Scentsy

Beauty Counter Cosmetics

Tupperware

Handmades by Jo

Color Street

Angus art

Avon

Cho and Moi

Rare Succulent

Making a Mockery

Brookie’s Cookies

Looks by Lopez Boutique

Pink Flamingo Beads

Vibes Candles

Mettle and Verve

AND MORE!

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OBIT: Ronald Webber, Mathematician, Active in Peace & Justice Group

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Ronald Webber

Ronald James Webber of Watertown passed away peacefully on October 12th, 2022 in the Newton-Wellesley Center for Alzheimer’s Care from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. He was born in Austin, Texas, in 1941 and lived on a ranch in Pflugerville, Texas, with his parents and four siblings. The family moved to Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1948 and to Groton, Massachusetts, in 1950. He attended school in Groton and then attended the Cambridge School of Weston and Harvard University. After graduating from Harvard he attended Northeastern University as a graduate student in mathematics.

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West Suburban YMCA Opens New Lodge Named After Watertown Educator

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West Suburban YMCAThe new Loch Lodge was recently completed at the West Suburban YMCA’s Camp Chickami in Wayland. The West Suburban YMCA celebrated the completion of Loch Lodge at Camp Chickami in Wayland on Oct. 17 with a ribbon cutting ceremony. 

West Suburban YMCAThe West Suburban YMCA held a ribbon cutting for the new Loch Lodge at Camp Chickami. Pictured, from left, Jim Lochiatto, Jack Fucci, Ned Morse, State Rep. Carmine Gentile, Lisa Hellmuth Thomas, Steven Kendall, Joe Albanese, and John Federico. The new multipurpose building is named in honor of Chickami legend Jim “Loch” Lochiatto, a longtime Watertown educator who was involved with the camp for more than 40 summers.  Y leaders will thank donors to its capital campaign during a ribbon-cutting ceremony with special guests including state Rep. Carmine Gentile. 

West Suburban YMCAA look inside the Loch Lodge at the West Suburban YMCA’s Camp Chickami.

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See When Watertown Residents Can Use BB&N Fields

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The BB&N fields will be open to use by Watertown residents on weekends. The following announcement was provided by the Recreation Department:

The Recreation Department is excited about the new Buckingham Browne & Nichols Athletic Facility which held its grand opening on September 8, 2022. This Complex is state of the art and will be utilized by the athletic and recreational programs offered by the Buckingham Browne and Nichols School as well as the Recreation Department, School Athletic Programs, Youth Groups and will be made available to “Free Play” for “Watertown Residents Only” at scheduled times. See the schedule below. Please follow all rules and regulations that are clearly marked at the facility.

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Screening of “My Name is Pauli Murray” Will be Followed by Discussion

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The following announcement was provided by Church of the Good Shepherd:

The award-winning documentary “My Name is Pauli Murray” will be shown on Sunday, October 23 at 2 p.m. at the Watertown Free Public Library. The film portrays the Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray, whose ideas strongly influenced Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s campaign for gender equality and Thurgood Marshall’s civil rights arguments. The Rev. Dr. Murray was a non-binary Black activist, groundbreaking legal scholar, poet, and Episcopal priest who lived for a time in Greater Boston. 

The 2 p.m. screening will be hosted at the library by the Church of the Good Shepherd, Watertown. A post-screening discussion will be led by the Rev. Andrew Goldhor and the Rev. Dr. Yolanda Rolle, Youth and Young Adult Missioner in the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. The Rev. Dr. Rolle has strong ties to Emmanual Church in Boston, which the Rev. Dr. Murray considered their spiritual home.