Around Town

Support Group in Watertown for Family & Friends of People Misusing Drugs & Alcohol

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The following information was provided by the local organizers of SMART Recovery:

When a person uses drugs or alcohol to excess, the entire family is affected. Concern, anxiety, worry, and depression are just a few of the emotions that family and loved ones experience. For decades people turned to Alcoholics or Narcotics Anonymous and its family-focused support group Al-Anon. But AA isn’t for everyone. SMART Recovery (Self-Management Addiction Recovery Training) started more than 30 years ago.

Around Town

Teens for Trees Surveys 3K Trees, Educate Public on Importance of Street Trees

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Watertown High School students Dylan Hickey, right, and Joe Lessard examine a tree in East Watertown as part of their internship with Teens for Trees. Last summer, a dozen Watertown teens walked over 2 million steps, examined more than 3,000 trees, and shared their knowledge of trees with about 300 people. The teens were part of the second year of Trees for Watertown’s Teens for Trees (TFT) program. The TFT final report was recently released. The goal of this year’s TFT group was to update the town’s street tree index, which was created in 2008.

Around Town

Registration Open for Watertown Recreation’s February Break Program

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Registration opened for the Watertown Recreation Department’s February Vacation Program from Feb. 19 to 22. The program is open to students in grades 1-8, and runs from Tuesday to Friday on the week of February Vacation at Watertown Middle School. The Recreation Department provided the following description: Children will be divided into groups by grades at the start of the program. They will participate in activities such as basketball, whiffle ball, floor hockey and indoor soccer, etc.

Around Town

Construction of Two Story Southside Garage Stopped, Neighbors Want to Appeal

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The disputed garage of the 73-75 Morse Street property is two stories high and stretches the length of two rear abutting properties and just five feet from the property line. Several residents spoke out against the large residential garage being constructed on Morse Street on the Southside of Watertown at Tuesday’s Town Council meeting, and Town Council President Mark Sideris told them that construction has been halted on the building. The garage going up at 73-75 Morse Street was allowed to be built by the Town’s Planning Department to replace a condemned garage. The new building has a second story with what appears to be living quarters, and it sits just five feet from the property line of the neighbors backing up against the property. Judy Antonucci lives right behind the property and said she and her neighbors were never notified about the proposed garage, nor were they giving a chance to oppose it.

Around Town

Clock from Former East Branch Library Has a New Home

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The clock that used to hang in Watertown’s East Branch Library has been saved, and now hangs in the Main Library. A piece of Watertown history has found a home in a very appropriate place: the Local History Room of the Watertown Free Public Library. While the former East Branch Library has been sold to St. James Armenian Church, and will be torn down, the clock has been saved, noted District A Town Councilor Angeline Kounelis, who represents the East End. “Do you remember the “clock” that for decades hung at the East Branch Library?

Around Town

Mother Who Founded Peace Institute After Son’s Murder Will Speak in Watertown

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The following information was provided by the event organizers:

Chaplain Clementina M. Chéry, founder of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute established in 1994 following the murder of her 15 year old son, Louis, will be addressing a public forum to be held at the Watertown Middle School, 68 Waverley Ave., on Jan. 17, from 6:30–8:00 p.m.

This forum on reconciliation and restorative justice is free and open to all. The program will also includes a performance by the Watertown Middle School Chorus. The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute sponsors the Mother’s Day Walk for Peace in Boston, an annual event started in 1996 to offer love and support to the mothers of murdered children. Since the founding of the institute, Chaplain Chéry has undergone a powerful journey of reconciliation and restorative justice, and has provided a beacon of hope for countless families.

Around Town

LETTER: Neighbors Upset by Two Story Addition 5 Feet From Rear Property Line

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Neighbors on the back side of 73-75 Morse Street worry that having a two story garage right near their property line will hurt the value of their homes. Editor:

We are writing as a concerned and outraged neighborhood about an egregious construction situation at 73/75 Morse St. If this is allowed to be completed, it will set a precedent that could be repeated throughout Watertown. If stopped, it would set a precedent that this kind of thing isn’t allowed or tolerated in this town. The new owner-builder of this property has permission from the town to re-construct the two houses and garage that were there.

Around Town

Director of ACLU Mass.’s Racial Justice Program to Speak at Unity Breakfast

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The organizers of the Unity Breakfast provided the following announcement:

On Monday, January 21, 2019 Watertown will celebrate its nineteenth Unity Breakfast on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The event brings together hundreds of people, representing Watertown’s diverse population, to remember Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the man who devoted his life to ending prejudice and racism in our country. The Unity Breakfast has become a Watertown tradition, drawing over 400 guests. The program includes a timely keynote speaker, lively choral music, essays and art projects by Watertown middle and high school students, and the presentation of the Unity Award to Watertown individuals or community organizations that have demonstrated outstanding community service to the town. This year the Honorary Host will be Officer Tony Physic of the Watertown Police Department.