Adelaide Sproul

Gifts to Teens for Trees Program Honor Watertown Tree Activist Adelaide Sproul

By |

The following piece was provided by Trees for Watertown:

TFW Teens for Trees, a six-week summer internship program to teach Watertown teens about the many benefits of maintaining a healthy urban shade tree population, received two generous donations this Fall in honor of former longtime Watertown resident Adelaide Sproul. Adelaide Sproul was a painter, sculptor and writer, and a founder and early president of Trees for Watertown (TFW), a volunteer citizens group founded in 1985 to protect and plant public shade trees and to advocate for a healthy urban forest in Watertown. Ms. Sproul lived and worked on the top floor of a house overlooking Whitney Hill Woods until shortly before her death in 2009 at age 95. “Adelaide was an early proponent of TFW and the prime mover organizing the first Whitney Woods Cleanup Days,” said Paul A, Tamburello Jr., longtime neighbor of Ms. Sproul, who gave a matching-funds gift of $500 in Ms. Sproul’s honor to Trees for Watertown’s fundraising campaign for Teens for Trees. “She would be over the moon about the central project to inventory Watertown’s public shade trees.”

Around Town

Family Mental Health Support Group Meeting at Newton Wellesley Hospital

By |

The National Alliance for Mental Illness provided the following announcement:
Family Mental Health support group: NAMI Family Mental Health Support Group is a free, structured, confidential peer-led support group for the families of individuals living with mental illness.  
A support group will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 9, 7-9 p.m. at the Newton Wellesley Hospital, at 2014 Washington St. in Newton 02461, on the second floor of the main building in the Bowles Conference Center. This is organized by the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI).

Around Town

Volunteers Wanted to Help Out at Mosesian Center for the Arts

By |

The following information was provided by the Mosesian Center for the Arts:

Mosesian Center for the Arts welcomes you to become a part of this exciting art
community. Thousands of artists, patrons, students and guests visit MCA every week. Reliable volunteers are an important element in the center’s success throughout the year. There are a variety of volunteer positions available: Ushers, classroom assistants and greeters. Volunteers will be trained in their responsibilities and will be eligible to earn volunteer credits that can be applied to a class or ticket purchase (Mosesian productions only).

Around Town

Community Foundation Seeks Applicants for Healthy Watertown Grants

By |

The following announcement came from the Watertown Community Foundation:

The Watertown Community Foundation (WCF) announces the release of the Fall 2018 Healthy Watertown Grants to support organizations that work to create new or existing programs to keep our community healthy. A total of $10,000 will be distributed through these health grants. Past Healthy Grant awardees have included: Local food pantries; nutrition and meal programs for seniors; programs and services fostering healthy aging; programs designed to combat the opioid crisis and provide services and supports for individuals and families struggling with substance use disorders; and
health-related programs for infants and their families. Eligible organizations may apply for a maximum of $2,500. The average amount awarded will range from $500 to $2,500.

Around Town

Find Out About Self-Directed Learning at Mosesian Center for the Arts

By |

The following information was provided by Bay State Learning Center:

Your child can become a self-directed learner who explores personal interests, sets goals and makes good use of local resources to spur his/her curiosity and intellectual growth. On Monday Oct. 1, discover how self-directed learning is possible by attending a talk by Blake Boles (www.blakeboles.com) at the Mosesian Arts Center from 7 to 9 p.m. The talk is free and open to the public, and kids from pre-teen through 18 are encouraged to attend with their parents. Self-directed learning can take place during school hours or during non-school hours. It’s an empowering approach that spurs kids to naturally think of the future they want for themselves, and take action, based on what’s meaningful to them.

Around Town

COLUMN: Good Bye, Paul, My Good Friend

By |

I can still remember the first time I met with Paul. He invited me to coffee to talk to me about how we might work together. I had recently started covering Watertown in my old position as editor at Patch, and he was working with Belmont Savings. Through the years we met dozens of times and worked on a number of projects, and we became friends. I have been thinking a lot about our ventures over the past several years since hearing the sad and shocking news that Paul Airasian had passed away last weekend.

Around Town

Rave Reviews Continue for 2018 Faire on the Square, Council Thanks Organizers

By |

The rave reviews for the 2018 Faire on the Square continued at Tuesday night’s Town Council Meeting. 

Town officials tried to change things up from previous years to breathe new life into the annual event, which drew thousands on Saturday. “This was a really fun, successful, revitalized event,” Sideris said. He thanked several people for organizing the event, including Dan McCarthy, who took over as chairman of the Faire on the Square Committee. Watertown resident James Mello said the event brought back memories of Town events from many years ago. “It reminded me of when we were kids on the Fourth of July when they brought out rides and set them up behind Town Hall,” Mello said.

Around Town

State Shuts Down Watertown Daycare Center Where Infant Died

By |

According to a Fox Channel 25 report, the daycare center where an infant died has been shut down by the state. On Sept. 13, 2018, a 5-month-old girl was found unresponsive at the Strawberry Child Care center on Watertown Street. She was pronounced dead a the hospital. The Fox 25 report said state officials issued an emergency suspension of the child care center because the staff did not perform CPR on the infant, failed to use good judgement in an emergency, and did not to adequately supervise infants in the school.