Around Town

Community Foundation Awards Healthy Watertown Grants to 5 Local Groups

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The Watertown Community Foundation announced it has awarded $8,600 to five community organizations in December 2017 through its Healthy Watertown grant program. These funded everything from a new freezer and display tables for the food pantry to taxi rides for participants in the Senior Center’s events and Narcan for the Watertown Police Department to distribute. “Health concerns virtually every aspect of our lives, from nutrition and positive eating choices, to substance use and abuse, to social engagement as we age. These grants reflect that breadth of issues, and we’re thrilled to be able to make them for the fifth year,” said co-Vice President Emily Barclay. In addition to the Watertown Food Pantry, the Watertown Senior Center and the Watertown Police Department, recipients also included the W.A.T.E.R.Town Task Force for Substance Abuse Disorder and Live Well Watertown.

Around Town

Tour Moxley Field to See Current Layout, Hear About Potential Renovations

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The Watertown Recreation Department will be hosting an onsite community meeting to view current conditions at Moxley Park, which is adjacent to the Watertown Middle School. The Recreation Department is planning for renovations to Moxley Park. To allow residents go get a view of the park, officials will hold a tour of the facility. If interested, please feel free to attend the event. Moxley Park Renovation Site Visit
Saturday, December 2, at 10 a.m. Moxley Park.

Around Town

Rotary Club Joins Middle School Tradition of Packing Thanksgiving Baskets

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The Rotary Club of Watertown, led by honorary member Eleanor Donato, worked with Watertown Middle School kids and their teachers to put together over 40 Thanksgiving Baskets for Watertown families in need, according to a Rotary Club annoucement. Funds for the basket contents were provided by Watertown Middle School families and staff and the Rotary Club. On Monday Nov. 27 kids and adults came together to sort the supplies and pack the baskets. The baskets contained everything a family would need to have a wonderful Thanksgiving meal – from a turkey to ingredients for all of the fixings to instructions on how to make it all come together!

Around Town

Alzheimer’s Association Receives Donation from Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation

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Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation announced that the Alzheimer Association in Watertown was awarded $500 from the Foundation’s Community Spirit 9/11 Mini-Grant program. Tonia Gill, an employee of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, nominated the organization for the award. The funds will be used to support the Walk to End Alzheimer’s. To commemorate those Harvard Pilgrim members who lost their lives on September 11, 2001, Harvard Pilgrim and the Foundation created the Community Spirit 9/11 Mini-Grant program. This program allows each Harvard Pilgrim employee to award a $500 grant, completely funded by the Foundation, to the local charity of his or her choice each calendar year.

Around Town

Nearly 1,000 Runners, Walkers Join 12th Annual Donohue’s Turkey Trot

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For a dozen years, runners have turned up early on Thanksgiving morning on Bigelow Avenue in East Watertown for the Donohue’s Bar & Grill Turkey Trot. This year nearly 1,000 runners turned out, along with family and friends to cheer them on. 

Most people come dressed to run, while some come with turkey headgear, or even dressed up as a turkey. Others bring their young kids in strollers or their dogs on a leash. The proceeds from the event go to the Watertown Boys and Girls Club, and Donohue’s owner John Donohue said he expected to raise about $10,000. After the start of the 5K race the kids’ Turkey Trot took place.

Around Town

Watertown Library Celebrating 36 Years of Service by Retiring Trustee

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Watertown Library Trustee Raya Stern will retire from the board at the end of the year, after 36 years, and the library will give her a farewell celebration. The library sent out the following invitation:
Please join the Trustees and Staff of the Watertown Free Public Library on December 5, as we celebrate Raya Stern’s retirement from the Board of Trustees. Ms. Stern has served as a Trustee for 36 years. The celebration begins at 7 p.m. in the Watertown Savings Bank Room at the library, 123 Main St Watertown. Light refreshments will be served.

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Fallen Watertown Firefighter Receives State’s Highest Honor for Firefighters

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Watertown Firefighter Joseph Toscano, who died while fighting a fire on March 17, 2017, was honored posthumously with the state’s highest honor at the 2017 Firefighter of the Year Awards. 

Toscano collapsed in a Merrifield Avenue home where the Watertown Fire Department was fighting a fire. He was taken to hospital and was pronounced dead from a heart attack. The 54-year-old Randolph resident left behind a wife and five children. The 21-year veteran on Watertown Fire Department was laid to rest after a memorial in Watertown attended by thousands of firefighters. On Nov. 21, Gov. Charlie Baker and state Fire Marshal Peter Ostroskey presented awards to dozens of firefighters from 22 departments.

Around Town

Perkins School’s Inclusion Speaker Delivers TEDx Talk in Boston

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Jaimi Lard, a Perkins School for the Blind Diversity and Inclusion Speaker, delivered a TEDx BeaconStreet talk called “The Courage To Be Inclusive.” Lard, who has been deaf and blind since birth, lives independently and has lead an active life. She has surfed, skied, swung on a trapeze and testified before Congress, according to Perkins School. On Saturday, Nov. 18, Lard was one of the speakers who took the stage at the JFK Library in Boston to deliver a powerful message of importance to both them, their communities and society as a whole.