Around Town

Sheepshearing Festival Returns to Gore Place, Tickets Now Available

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Gore PlaceAfter a two-year hiatus, the Sheepshearing Festival returns in-person at Gore Place on April 23. The following information came from Gore Place:

Forced to move online by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sheepshearing Festival at Gore Place will return in-person on Saturday, April 23, 2022. Since 1987, this annual event has entertained guests with music, 100 craft and fiber artists, demonstrations of traditional shearing and herding dogs, and historic re-enactors, on the beautiful grounds of this historic, 50-acre estate. According to Executive Director and festival organizer Susan Robertson, “We’re proud that the Sheepshearing Festival has become a New England spring tradition for so many. People often tell us that spring doesn’t begin until the Sheepshearing Festival.

Around Town

Watertown Student One of Minuteman’s SkillsUSA Medal Winners

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The following information was provided by Minuteman High School:

Seventeen students from Minuteman High School received medals in the SkillsUSA Massachusetts District Technical Competitions this month. More than 370,000 vocational-technical students participate in SkillsUSA competitions nationwide annually. Students demonstrate their skills in their career technical areas of study, employability, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) safety guidelines. A total of 56 Minuteman students representing 13 career technical education majors competed. Of the 17 students who won medals, 6 received gold, 8 silver, and 3 bronze. The gold and silver medalists will continue onto compete at the States competition at Blackstone Valley Vocational Technical High School on April 29. Minuteman’s SkillsUSA faculty advisors, Kristina Juzyn and Denise D’Ambrosia, took photos of the students as they informed them that they had won medals to get candid reactions.

Around Town

Registration for Pequossette & Kindergarten Summer Programs Opens Wednesday

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The Watertown Recreation Department provided the following information:

The Watertown Recreation Department Pequossette Summer Program Packet is now available for viewing. Online registration will begin Wednesday, March 23 at 12:00pm by selecting the Online Registration link on the Recreation website. The website is: https://recreation.watertown-ma.gov and then select Online Registration at the top. In addition to registering online, you must fill out all the forms completely which are now fillable. Remember to use your child’s grade that he/she will in the fall of 2022.

Around Town

Share Your Photos and Stories With as Part of the Watertown Library’s Local History Project

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The following announcement was provided by the Watertown Library:

The Watertown Free Public Library’s Local History Collection includes photographs and artifacts dating back to the city’s founding, but there is a problem — there exists very little record of what happened in Watertown during your lifetime. That’s why the Watertown Free Public Library (WFPL) is embarking on a mission to collect stories and images from Watertown’s recent history, from 1950 to the present day, to preserve them in the Local History Collection. “When people in the future try to figure out what happened in Watertown in the 1980s, 90s, or recently, what will they find?” asks Local History Librarian Caroline Littlewood. “That’s up to us. We are experts on our own experiences, and our own personal histories.

Around Town

Youth in Grades 6-12 Can Learn About TV Production at WCA-TV Workshop

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The following information was provided by Watertown Cable Access TV:

WCA-TV invites youth grades 6 through 12 to participate in our first ever youth TV Production workshop! Learn all the steps to creating a television show from start to finish. In this workshop, students will put together a script, learn how to use our studio and control room equipment, and perform and produce a show from a topic of their choosing. The workshop will take place April 19th, 20th, and 21st from 12pm to 3pm. Enrollment is open through April 15th and will be on a first come, first served basis.

Around Town

Five Years Later, Memory of Fallen Watertown Firefighter Lives in Colleagues’ Hearts

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Charlie BreitroseWatertown Firefighters place a wreath at the memorial to Joseph Toscano, who died fighting a fire five years ago. March 17, 2017 was one of the darkest days for the Watertown Fire Department. They lost a beloved colleague, Joseph Toscano, during the aftermath of a fire on Merrifield Avenue. On Thursday, Watertown Firefighters showed up in large numbers to remember Joe on the fifth anniversary of his death. Current and former WFD personnel, on-duty and off, lined up several rows deep at the corner of Merrifield and Bigelow avenues at the time of his passing to salute Toscano.

Around Town

Watertown Tab Ending Print Edition, Continuing Online

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A screenshot from the Watertown Tab’s website on wickedlocal.com

Watertown’s lone remaining print newspaper, the Watertown Tab, will cease printing newspapers, and leaves the City with no print newspaper for the first time since (at least) the late 1800s. Subscribers to the Tab’s email news briefing received the following noticed Thursday morning. “The Watertown Tab will cease publishing a print newspaper and will instead exclusively offer news online at www.wickedlocal.com/watertowntab, on social media, via digital newsletters and other platforms.” The parent company, Gannett, made similar announcements about the Newton Tab and Needham Times. The Watertown Tab & Press is the amalgamation of some of Watertown’s historic newspapers.

Around Town

Watertown Community Foundation Introduces New Board Members

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The following information was provided by the Watertown Community Foundation:

The Watertown Community Foundation (WCF) announces the appointment of three new members to its Board of Directors. Joining the board are Watertown residents Eileen Hsu-Balzer, Felicia Sullivan, and Donna Tuccinardi. “We are delighted to welcome our newest board members and partners as we broaden our reach into the community. Each brings experience, energy, and dedication to our mission of building and sustaining a vibrant, close-knit community,” said David Siegel, WCF co-president. Eileen Hsu-Balzer is a long time Watertown resident with deep ties and commitment to the community, including as a current board member of the Watertown Boys and Girls Club and Springwell, a 24 year tenure as a Watertown School Committee member, Co-founder and past-Producer of the Summer Concert Series and more.