Around Town

LETTER: What’s Happening With Watertown High School’s Trophies?

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To: School Administration, Town Officials, Historical Society of Watertown and to the editor of the WatertownMaNews, 

Recently during the deconstruction of the Watertown high school, I was made aware of a recent discovery or a better description, recovery of a WHS sports trophy. It was pulled out of a pile of debris being loaded onto a construction vehicle. My first thought was, who cares, is it a big deal, does it really matter??? It’s only one trophy but is it “only one” trophy or were the rest of the trophies dishonorably trucked out too? And when you think about it, it does matter, it matters to the winning Coaches, it matters to the outstanding Athletes that earned those trophies and the Watertown community.

Around Town

Registration Open for 25th Annual Charles River Cleanup

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The following information was provided by the Charles River Watershed Association:

Registration is now open for the 25th Annual Earth Day Charles River Cleanup on Friday and Saturday, April 19 and 20, 20241 Each year, the Charles River Cleanup brings together over 3,500 volunteers to improve the parks, forests, playgrounds, and paths and keep the Charles River and its tributaries clean, safe, and beautiful for all. The Charles River Cleanup builds on a national effort as part of American Rivers’ National River

Cleanup, which, to date, has removed over 32.5 million pounds of trash from America’s waterways, as well as the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Park Serve Day, a statewide cleanup initiative now in its 18 year. Since 1999, Charles River Cleanup volunteers have gathered each Earth Day to pick up litter, remove invasive species, and assist with park maintenance along all 80 miles of the Charles River and the 1,100 acres of Emerald Necklace parkland surrounding the Muddy River, a tributary of the Charles. Volunteers have a long-lasting impact–the Charles River Cleanup empowers ordinary river lovers to give back to their communities in a tangible way, forge new connections with nature and each other, and become life-long stewards of our river. “We are so grateful to the thousands of volunteers who turn out to remove trash from the banks and parks and roadways near the Charles,” said Emily Norton, Executive Director of Charles River Watershed Association.

Around Town

Watertown Walk Returns This Week with City’s New Community Engagement Specialist

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The following announcement was provided by Live Well Watertown:

Mark your calendar for these weekly programs focused on city happenings, health and wellbeing, arts & culture, and local business/community features. Join us for movement, conversation, and connection! March programs are listed below. Meetup locations vary. SIGN UP HERE for reminders and check our website calendar for updates. Walks will not take place if it’s raining or below 32 degrees. 

Kick off Walk with Tyler Cote, Community Engagement SpecialistMarch 7, 2024, 1:00 – 2:00pmMeetup in Saltonstall Park’s red brick plaza, next to City Hall, 149 Main Street

Come walk and talk with the City’s NEW Community Engagement Specialist! Tyler is focused on being a resource for community members to connect with and access to share thoughts about projects and efforts happening around the city. Bring your ideas about active projects, such as Watertown Square, or share a new idea or concern you’d like Tyler to know about.

Around Town

Options for Watertown Square Redesign Refined and Presented to the Public

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Residents gave input about the ideas for redesigning Watertown Square during a meeting on Thursday night. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)

Designers gave some glimpses of what Watertown’s center could look like if the City adopts a plan to redesign and redevelop the area during Thursday night’s Watertown Square Area Plan meeting. Two main options for reworking the roadways in the Square were explored, both of which would add more open space to the area, and showed retail kiosks on the Delta. The scenarios also looked at how Watertown could meet the requirements to allow more housing to meet the MBTA Communities Act. Buildings with as much as six stories of residential units were shown in the illustrations.

Around Town

Watertown Library & Wayside Youth Offering Workshops for Communicating with Your Teen

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The following announcement was provided by the Watertown Library:

All parents can, on occasion, use help in communicating with their children, especially with teens. Wayside Youth and the Teen Department of the Watertown Free Public Library will be offering a free series for parents who sometimes get stymied when they try to talk about the difficulties, high expectations, and other stressors their teens experience during adolescence. The workshops will be held March 7, April 4, and May 2 at 6:00 p.m. at the Watertown Free Public Library. Discussion topics on these evenings include how and why there are such difficulties communicating, how parents can deal with their stress when they talk to their teens, and what resources in Watertown are available to assist them. One evening, there will be a panel of teens who will talk about their perspective and about the barriers they experience when talking to their parents.

Around Town

LETTER: Candidates for GOP State Committee Endorsed by Former State Committeeman

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Dear Republican Voter:

March 5, 2024 is a very important day for the future of the Republican party in Massachusetts. That is the day the Republicans will vote fo r their candidate for President. But almost as important, it is the day that they will also vote for their Representatives on the Massachusetts Republican State Committee. As you may recall I was honored to serve in that position from 2012 until 2021, when I left to move with my family to Virginia. However, I still care deeply about the district and the Republican Party in MA.