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LETTER: Event Shows How Watertown Welcomes Immigrants and Refugees

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The message from Watertown was loud and clear last Sunday: Our community is not afraid to welcome and nurture immigrants and refugees. Over sixty people came to the Watertown Free Public Library to share stories and learn how to separate fact from fiction regarding immigration. Presented by Watertown Citizens Refugee Support Group (a working group of
Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice & the Environment), President Sue-Ellen Hershman-Tcherepnin opened the afternoon with a reading of “New Colossus,” the poem by EmmaLazarus engraved on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. Refugee Support Group member and Immigration Attorney Elizabeth Goss framed
the conversation with facts about the past history and current situation of immigrants and refugees who reside in the U.S. She dispelled many harmful assumptions and myths, then introduced the 3 featured speakers: Watertown Police Lieutenant Daniel Unsworth, Watertown Middle School student and Kingian Non-violence Trainer Shivani Sharma, and international scholar/peace activist Dr. Yakir Englander. Lt. Unsworth spoke about the many challenges facing the WPD in their efforts to
ensure that all residents of Watertown feel safe and protected, regardless of their
immigration status.

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Lights, Camera, Implant: Watertown Dentist Does Live Demo of High Tech Dental System

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Putting in a dental implant is nothing new for Watertown dentist Dan D’Amico, but on Friday he did it with cameras broadcasting his every move to a room full of dentists at a major Boston dental conference. 

Most of D’Amico’s dental office on Main Street was taken over by the video crews and representatives from Dentsply Sirona, the maker of the equipment being demonstrated for about 180 attendees of the Yankee Dental Congress. The audience heard a presentation from Dr. Tarun Agarwal in a ballroom in Boston, D’Amico prepped his patient for the procedure – putting in the implant where a new crown will be set. D’Amico, who has been in business for more than 25 years, had given presentations at the Yankee Dental Congress about the technology before, but he had never done a live demo. He has used the technology for about 4 or 5 years. He uses of Cone Beam X-ray to make a 3-D image of the patient’s teeth and jawbone, and then an intra oral scanner to find where to place the implant.

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Watertown Artist Captured 2018 Unity Breakfast in Sketches and Words

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The 2018 Watertown Unity Breakfast was another resounding success – with over 400 participants gathering at the Hellenic Center on January 15 to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., organizers announced. As in previous Unity Breakfast events, the program included lively music, an inspiring and informative keynote address, winners of the Middle School and High School essay contests, murals and rap lyrics from Middle School students, and a presentation of the annual Unity Award for outstanding community service. And a hearty breakfast served by the Watertown Deluxe Diner. Local press coverage of the 2018 was extensive – with articles in both online and print versions of the Watertown Tab, the online Watertown News, and video of the entire event by WCATV (the local cable television station). In addition, however, Unity Breakfast organizers have made available an unusual and creative record of this year’s Unity Breakfast – “sketch notes”, colorful hand-drawn notes and illustrations created by local artist Sheri Kennedy.

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Postage Rate Hike Hindering Local Effort to Send Care Packages to the Troops

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For more than 15 years, Wendy Rocca has been shipping care packages to United States military personnel overseas with the group she founded – Operation American Soldier. When she went to the Post Office this week to pay for the latest shipment, however, she was shocked by the increase in rates for mailing packages to overseas military addresses. 

The U.S. Post Office raised rates on Jan. 21, 2018, which was not a surprise for Rocca, it was the amount that caught her off guard. “The rate went from $8.01 to $10.65,” Rocca said. “It is still the most cost effective way to ship – I can only ship through the Post Office.

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Group Hosting Dialogue About How Immigration Impacts Our Communities

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A discussion of how immigration into the U.S. impacts communities like Watertown will take place Sunday, hosted by the Watertown Citizens Refugee Support Group. WHEN: Sunday, January 28, 2018, 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.

WHERE: Watertown Free Public Library, Watertown Savings Bank Room, 123 Main St, Watertown

Featured Speakers:
Watertown Police Lt. Daniel Unsworth
Internationally renown scholar Dr. Yakir Englander
Watertown Middle School Student Kingian Non-violence Trainer Shivani Sharma
Immigration Attorney Elizabeth Goss
Come join an open, honest conversation about U.S. immigration – its impact on our communities, how to separate fact from fiction, and how to take responsibility for the discourse that surrounds us. Presented by Watertown Citizens Refugee Support Group. http://watertowncitizens.org/, https://www.facebook.com/groups/WatertownCitizensRefugeeSupport/about/

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Grant Information Session for Groups Providing Services for Older Adults in Watertown

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Groups that provide services to older adults in Watertown can get help applying for grants from the Marshall Home Fund. The Fund sent out the following information:

Do you provide services or programs for older adults living in Watertown?  If so, consider attending the Marshall Home Fund’s annual Grant Information Session on February 8, 12:30-2:00 p.m. in the WSB room, Watertown Public Library, 123 Main St., Watertown. (Snow date February 13). The Marshall Home Fund provides modest grants to public and non-profit organizations addressing the health, housing, transportation and well being of adults 55 and older. Come learn about our 2018 priorities and our revised grant application, which will be due March 16, 2018.

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Tour Life-Friendly Gardens at Homes Around Watertown

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Organizers of the Life-Friendly Garden Tour sent out the following announcement:

Imagine a Sunday afternoon in May, redbud and dogwood in blossom, tulips and late narcissus in bloom, where bees are buzzing, robins are singing, and either you are welcoming others to enjoy and learn from your chemical-free garden or yard, or you are the visitor, viewing flourishing plantings and learning from your host or hostess about healthy, earth-friendly gardens.On Sunday May 6 from 2:00 – 5:00 p.m., a chemical-free, admission-free garden tour will be sponsored by Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice, and the Environment. This will be the 20th Life-Friendly Garden Tour since the first one in 2007. Owners of the sites on the tour will share their growing spaces, large and small, where plants of all kinds thrive best without the use of synthetic chemicals – pesticides, fungicides, herbicides. “Cide” means kill and these products threaten the wellbeing of plants and animals, and of the planet. Synthetic fertilizers do indeed feed the plant, but at the expense of the soil, which it degrades.

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Watertown Community Foundation Co-President Emcees 18th Unity Breakfast

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Darshna Varia, Watertown Community Foundation Co-President, was selected as the Honorary Convener for the 18th Annual Unity Breakfast, held on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to celebrate Dr. King’s vision, the foundation announced. The Breakfast draws hundreds every year, and on January 15, 2018 over four hundred attendees were welcomed with Varia’s reflections of her own exposure to Kingian thought and action. Having grown up in Kenya, Varia described her own introduction to the power of resistance to oppression with the 1990 release from prison of African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela. As many Americans may have recalled where they were when Dr. King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech, she recounted the sense of energy and possibility many in Africa felt when Mandela was freed. She noted that increasingly attendees would remember other visionary leaders, inspired by Dr. King, making it all the more important for each generation to recall King’s dream, to take stock of the work necessary to make it real, and to recommit itself to the task.