Watertown Business Coalition Hosting Networking, Membership Kickoff Event

The Watertown Business Coalition’s membership kickoff event will be held on Feb. 17 at Not Your Average Joe’s. “This month’s event will give you a chance to re-connect with old friends and meet new connections … and you’ll have an opportunity to learn about our goals and if you choose — become a charter member of the Watertown Business Coalition,” the WBC event announcement said. The group was established in 2019 to create connections in the Watertown business community.

Library Trustees Seek Public Input on Hiring New Library Director

Watertown Free Public LibraryThe Watertown Free Public Library. The following information was provided by the Watertown Library:

The Watertown Free Public Library is hiring a new Library Director and the Board of Trustees is seeking input from Watertown residents. There are two ways to get involved:

1. Complete the community survey at bit.ly/DirSurvey222. Serve on the Preliminary Screening Committee.Two residents will be selected.

Social Media Contest Inspires Residents to Clear Snow Around Fire Hydrants

A fire hydrant that was shoveled out by one of 25 Watertown residents who entered the City’s social media contest after the recent blizzard. Dozens of Watertown residents answered a call on social media to shovel out fire hydrants in their neighborhoods after the recent blizzard. Watertown’s IT Department put out requests for people to clear the snow, and send in a photo to enter the contest. Prizes were given out to many who participated, said Jeanne Ostroff, the City’s Social Media/Web Coordinator. “At my last job at a local school district, I tried doing this a number of times with support from the Athletic Director encouraging student athletes to shovel and did not get any responses,” Ostroff said.

Watertown Recreation Taking Applications for Part-Time, Seasonal Staff

The Watertown Recreation Department is now accepting applications for the following positions for the 2022 calendar year. This includes immediate employment as a part time member of the staff throughout the year or seasonal work during different seasons of the year. Applicants must be entering the 9th grade (Fall 2022) or older to be considered. Positions Available: Program Directors, Program Supervisors, Program Staff, Program Counselors, Counselor in Training, Nurse, Specialists, Pequossette Staff, Park Instructors, Park Rangers, Tennis Supervisor, Coaches and Scorekeepers. If you are looking for employment to begin before the summer season, please complete your application and an interview will be scheduled with the Director of Recreation as soon as your application is completed.

Library Seeks Residents to Take Part in Watertown Collective Memory Project

The Watertown Free Public Library is launching a project called the Watertown Collective Memory Project and you can be a part of it! The Watertown Collective Memory Project (WCMP) is “a yearlong initiative to build a digital collection of stories and photographs from Watertown’s recent history, up to the present day, that captures the full breadth and diversity of our community,” as Local History Librarian Caroline Littlewood described it. Though the project is led by Littlewood and other members of the Watertown Free Public Library (WFPL), they are encouraging other local organizations to contribute and will be relying on volunteers to help run the project. The Historical Society of Watertown and Watertown Cable Access Television are both partners in the project as well. 

The WCMP first got started as part of a refurbishing of the WFPL’s digital history records and has since developed into a community-wide project to build a collaborative and accessible digital history of the town. For Littlewood especially, who started her position at the WFPL during the COVID-19 pandemic, this project has come to mean much more than uploading files.

Watertown Library Trustees Fill Open Seat with Candidate from 2021 Election

Maja Young was appointed to the Board of Library Trustees. The following announcement was provided by the Watertown Library:

On January 10, 2022 the Watertown Free Public Library Trustees and Town Council President Mark Sideris appointed Maja Young to fill the open seat on the Library Board of Trustees. She will serve for two years. A Watertown resident, Young explains that the Watertown Free Public Library has always been an important constant in her life:

“As a kid, I loved getting a giant pile of books from the Library to bring home. In high school, my friends and I studied, researched papers, used the computers, and socialized at the Library.