Around Town

Local Fitness Studio Celebrates Galentine’s Day with Free Taylor Swift-Themed Event

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The following announcement was provided by Get Lively:

Get ready to shake off the winter blues and celebrate friendship, fitness, and fun at Get Lively®: Health & Fitness! In honor of Galentine’s Day, our fitness studio is hosting a FREE event that combines the best of both worlds – a heart-pumping workout with the magic of Taylor Swift. Get Lively®’s Galentine’s Day extravaganza will kick off with an energetic workout set to the songs of Taylor Swift!  Whether you’re a Swiftie or just looking to have a blast with friends, this workout is designed for all fitness levels. Our night together doesn’t end with the workout – stick around for some locally made treats and social time! Connect with fellow fitness and Taylor enthusiasts, make new friends, and enjoy the positive and inclusive community atmosphere that Get Lively® is known for.

Around Town

Watertown Food Pantry Receives More Than $202K in Contributions in December

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The following announcement was provided by the City of Watertown:

The Watertown Department of Senior Services is absolutely thrilled to announce the incredible contributions received in December 2023! We are overjoyed to have awarded a substantial $152,000 American Rescue Plan (ARPA) grant from the Watertown City Council, as well as an additional grant of $20,000 from the Friends of the Council on Aging, secured in partnership with the Director of the Senior Services after partnering for a grant application from the Cambridge Savings Bank. The excitement doesn’t stop there! We also want to extend our heartfelt thanks for the $30,000 in donations from local businesses, churches, and residents. These remarkable contributions have resulted in a staggering 52 percent increase to our operational budget’s bottom line – an enormous impact within just one month!

Around Town

Charles River Watershed Association Holding Annual Meeting

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

We hope you’ll join us Wednesday, March 27 at 6:00 PM at MIT Welcome Center for Charles River Watershed Association’s 58th Annual Meeting. We look forward to connecting with our members and recognizing CRWA advocates and volunteers whose dedicated work helps protect and preserve the resilience of the Charles River. We are happy to announce that our Annual Meeting will be in-person this year! You can look forward to socializing with fellow advocates while browsing CRWA’s interactive tables on current projects, and learning more about the role your support has played in keeping the Charles River clean and healthy. Invitations will be arriving soon!

Around Town

Food Insecurity in Watertown: Hunger is a Multi-Faceted Problem — It Won’t Magically Go Away

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The Watertown Food Pantry set up outside the United Methodist Church while its facility was being repaired. (Photo by Kathy Cunningham)

For the last several weeks, Watertown News, in conjunction with Watertown Cable Access Television, published six stories in a series called “Watertown’s Hidden Problem: Food Insecurity Among Us.” (See part one here). In the course of reporting these stories on food and hunger in our community, one absolute fact has emerged: how indelibly intertwined the problem of food insecurity is with other challenges. Food is too expensive. If you can afford food, it might only be cheap, low-nutrient food.

Around Town

Piece of Watertown History Highlighted in New York Times

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The head of Watertown’s Boston Post cane which says, “Presented by The Boston Post to the OLDEST CITIZEN of Watertown” (Photo courtesy of Joyce Kelly)

Beginning in the first decade of the 20th century, hundreds of communities around New England handed out canes to the oldest resident, including Watertown. For many year Watertown’s cane was missing, but it was recovered in 2009. So who has the cane now — no body. A story about the canes, first handed out in 1909 by the Boston Post newspaper, recently appeared in the New York Times. The authors interviewed Charles Morash, who helped recover Watertown’s cane in 2009.

Around Town

LETTER: Walker Pond is an Opportunity to Embrace Nature

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Photo by Leo MartinWalker’s Pond, on the Westside of Watertown. By Linda ScottWatertown Resident

Thoughts on Walker Pond

“So ring the bells that still can ringForget your perfect offeringThere is a crack in everythingThat’s how the light gets in.”

— Leonard Cohen

I was reminded of this Leonard Cohen song while watching the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) meeting on January 18th. One of the projects being discussed was Walker Pond, a property that Watertown purchased for over $11 million as a sort of “Jewel in the Crown” for Watertown, a rare place where families could sit, experience nature, picnic, fly kites, play informal soccer games, and get to know more about each other and the nature that surrounds them. Lots of my life experiences came to mind…

“Look, Linda, a rabbit. It must have escaped from the Nature Lodge,” said a little girl while we, me a camp counselor and she a child from a very rich NYC family, stood on the porch of our cottage on a dewey early morning at a camp in Connecticut.

Around Town

Small Saves Meets the New Goalie in Town in This Week’s Comic

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James DeMarco grew up in Watertown and became a goaltender at age 5. It’s his life’s passion to stand between the pipes and keep the puck out of the net. Combining this with the love of cartooning Small Saves emerged in 1991 and took on a life of his own. “To play goal – then come home and draw Small Saves — is my ideal definition of a good day.”