Around Town

Mount Auburn Hospital Offering Grants to Local Groups

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The following information was provided by Mount Auburn Hospital:

Mount Auburn Hospital is offering a one-time, non-competitive grant opportunity to cities and towns in the hospital’s service area, including Arlington, Belmont, Cambridge, Somerville, Waltham and Watertown. This grant, up to $5,000 per community, is designated for capacity building or projects/programs which coincide with the health priorities identified through Mount Auburn’s Community Health Needs Assessment. These priorities include mental health, substance use, chronic/complex conditions and healthy aging. Consideration will also be given to projects related to the Social Determinants of Health and health care access. Health departments can designate another municipal department or a local community-based organization to apply for all or part of this funding if preferred.

Around Town

Recreation Dept. Hosting Meeting on Lights at Filippello Park

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Filippello Park’s two athletic fields, picnic area, playground and more draw lots of visitors. The following information was provided by the Watertown Recreation Department:

The Town of Watertown will be hosting a Community Meeting on Tuesday, July 23 at 7:00 p.m. in the Richard E. Mastrangelo Council Chambers. This is a follow-up meeting to our initial discussion on Sept. 24, 2018. This meeting will be held to discuss the potential renovation plan to replace the current lighting system at Filippello (Grove) and install a new lighting system at Filippello (Arlington) with LED field lighting equipment.

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Shooting of TV Show Impacting Parking on East Watertown Street

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A street in East Watertown’s Coolidge Square will be closed for a day due to the shooting of the television show “Defending Jacob.” The Deluxe Town Diner will be site of the filming of production, which stars Chris Evans. Due to the filming, Bigelow Avenue will be closed to parking on both sides from Mt. Auburn Street to Artsakh Street (near the St. Stephen’s Armenian Church).

Around Town

Mount Auburn Cemetery Selling Land in Watertown

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Mount Auburn Cemetery. Mount Auburn Cemetery is seeking a buyer for several acres of land in Watertown which it owns. According to a Boston Globe article, the historic cemetery located in Watertown and Cambridge plans to sell six acres of land. See the story here. The land, located on Grove Street, currently has a parking lot and used to be a cement plant.

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DPW Trying to get Watertown to Clean Up its Recycling

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Residents will soon be able to purchase a second recycling toter – the green one – for less than before. With the recycling world in flux, the Department of Public Works is trying to get Watertown to clean up its recycling in an effort to maintain service and keep prices down. Jesse Myott, the DPW’s director of Administration and Finance, said that the facilities that take the recyclable items from the United States have become more strict about what they will take. Loads with the wrong type of materials, or those that are dirty or soiled with trash are being rejected. “Back in 2018 we saw significant change with regards to the global processing of recycling,” Myott said.

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Learn About Cartooning, Create Rube Goldberg at HATCH Makerspace

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Hatch Makerspace has tons of activities in July, including learning cartooning and caricature, Rube Goldberg-esque creations, 3-D modeling, or hit one of the weekly drop-in sessions. The Makerspace is part of the Watertown Free Public Library. It is a public workshop with space, equipment, and materials available for you to use. 

Here are some of the workshops going on at Hatch, located at 20 Summer Street in Watertown. It is open Monday-Thursday, 1-9 p.m., Friday-Sunday 1-4 p.m. Hatch will be closed on July 4 for Independence Day. Hours are updated regularly online: watertownlib.org/hatch

Workshop spotlight: Art Studio – Cartoon and CaricatureLearn the basics of cartoon and caricature drawing from Watertown artist, Adrian Alvarez.

Around Town

Minister of First Parish Bidding Church, Watertown Farewell

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Mark Harris, minister of the First Parish Church of Watertown, received the 2019 Unity Award. He helped start the event, and will be retiring from the church later this year. After 23 years, the Rev. Mark Harris will leave Watertown’s First Parish Church Unitarian Universalist where he made his mark with his congregation and the wider community. Harris’ time as minister of First Parish Church runs through the end of July, but he gave his last sermon in early June. In September, he and his wife, Andrea Greenwood, will move to Maine.

Around Town

Stock Up for the Fourth of July at the Watertown Farmers Market

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The Watertown Farmers Market will be in full swing on Wednesday, July 3, and shoppers can get meats and veggies for the grill, ingredients for salads and the kids can enjoy an Independence Day craft. The market will be open on Wednesday, July 3, from 2:30 – 6:30 p.m. at Saltonstall Park (next to Town Hall). The organizers of the Watertown Farmers Market provided the following information:

Pick up tips, chops, sausages, dogs, and more from Lilac Hedge Farm, all perfect for the grill. And let’s not forget about the veggies such as this Grilled Zucchini and Summer Squash Salad or this Grilled Beet Salad with Caramelized Citrus. Guest vendor, B – Organics, will be selling produce bags to keep those veggies fresh until you’re ready to use them.