Around Town

First Parish of Watertown Welcomes New Minister After Year-Long Search

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First Parish of WatertownRev. Sophia Lyons was chosen to be the new minister at First Parish of Watertown. The following announcement was provided by First Parish of Watertown:

First Parish of Watertown is pleased to welcome Reverend Sophia Lyons as its new minister. The congregation voted to call Rev. Sophia as its minister last spring, after a year-long search and discernment process. First Parish of Watertown is a Unitarian Universalist congregation, welcoming people from all faith traditions and backgrounds to join in finding meaning and building connections. Rev. Sophia embodies the breadth of spirituality, compassion, honesty, and passion in her ministry that came through as the congregation’s key desires for a minister. She is deeply committed to building Beloved Community, to being radically welcoming, and to anti-oppression work.

Around Town

Watertown Actress Playing Lead Role in Production of “The Last Wide Open” in Concord

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Watertown’s Rebecca Shor plays the lead role in The Umbrella Stage Company’s production of “The Last Wide Open.” The following announcement was provided by the Umbrella Stage Company:

The Umbrella Stage Company returns to live theater for the 2021/2022 season with a fresh, intimate staging of Audrey Cefaly’s romantic comedy, The Last Wide Open. Starring Watertown actress Rebecca Shor, with Ethan Butler and Kayla Shimizu, the play tells the story of Lina, a young waitress, and Roberto, an Italian immigrant, who have been working together for years but rarely talk. If they do talk, it’s from a distance or gets lost in translation. But when a late-night thunderstorm finds them alone in the restaurant at closing time, they find their lives intersecting in surprising and mystical ways.

Around Town

Community Bike Celebration to be Held on Little Greenough, Activities for “Kids of All Ages”

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A Community Bike Celebration will be held in Watertown on Saturday, Sept. 18 at Little Greenough Boulevard. The event is hosted by Commonwheels Bicycle Collective and will include a kids bike rodeo, a fix-it station, free helmets and chalk for sidewalk art and more. “From 1-4 p.m. Commonwheels Bicycle Collective will be host a fix-it station and there will be activities for kids. We hope to see you there!”

Around Town

Watertown Woman Cutting Off Hair in Memory of Aunt Lost to Cancer

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Audrey Woods will be cutting off her hair to raise money for cancer research and to honor her aunt. Watertown’s Audrey Woods will be cutting off two-feet of hair to raise money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund in an effort to beat the disease that took her aunt’s life. Woods will cut off hair she has been growing for 5 years on Oct. 1, 2021, in memory of her aunt, Jane T. Sabin, who died from cancer in 2018

“Three years ago I lost my beloved Aunt Janie to breast cancer. The hole she left in our lives is huge and aching and can never be filled,” Woods wrote on her fundraising page.

Around Town

Local Dance Studio Survives the Challenges of the Pandemic, Uncertainty About Home at Watertown Mall

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The Watertown Mall recently changed owners when Watertown Mall Associates Limited Partnership sold it for $130 million to Alexandria Real Estate Equities on April 21. Business owners in the mall spent much of the early summer wondering what the new changes would mean for them, including Maria Zullo, owner of Miss Maria’s School of Dance. Miss Maria’s School of Dance (MMDS) was founded 10 years ago in Watertown and has grown into a thriving local business. The studio was originally located on Waverley Avenue in the current location of Suzyn Day Spa, and has since moved three times, growing larger with each move. 

The first location had a single dance room, and after two years, MMSD expanded into a three dance room location on Main Street. In its eighth year of business, Zullo was able to secure a lease at the Watertown Mall in the location where the Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) used to be.

Around Town

West Nile Virus Risk Level Raised to High in Watertown and Surrounding Areas

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The Watertown Health Department sent out the following information:

We have been advised that the Massachusetts Department of Public Health is raising the West Nile Virus Risk level for Watertown and surrounding communities to high. This means that the risk of contracting West Nile Virus is increased and persons over 50 and the immunocompromised are at greater risk for severe illness. They should take precautions and limit their activity outdoors during peak mosquito periods (dusk to dawn). Residents should also eliminate all standing water in their yards and remove any receptacles that can collect and hold water. Also apply Insect Repellent when you go outdoors.

9/11

Watertown Remembers 9/11 at Ceremony, Reflects on the Events of 20 Years Ago

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Charlie BreitroseWatertown Firefighters salute during the 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony at the Watertown Fire Station on the 20th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001. Each year since the attacks on the World Trade Center took the lives of hundreds of firefighters, the Watertown Fire Department has honored the sacrifices made on Sept. 11, 2001. This year, which marked the 20th anniversary, the ceremony drew dozens of people, who lined the sidewalk in front of the Watertown Fire Headquarters on Main Street.

Around Town

Watertown Shuttle Starts Running from Pleasant Street to Harvard Square, Available to the Public

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Watertown TMAThe Watertown Connector started running the week of Labor Day. The shuttle goes down Pleasant Street to Watertown Square and then heads to Harvard Square. It is open to the general public. Watertown residents have a new public transportation option with the addition of the Watertown Connector, which runs along Pleasant Street and ultimately takes people to Harvard Square. For about a decade, the Town of Watertown and residents have been working to start a shuttle to the westside corridor that would serve not only businesses and apartment complexes that help fund it, but also the general public.