Filling the Watertown’s Free Fridge is a Community Effort

Volunteer Sue Twombly stocks the Watertown Community Fridge with items they picked up at the Cambridge Community Center. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)

Each Friday, Will and Sue Twombly drive to Cambridge and fill up their car with vegetables, fruit, bread, and other items and bring them back to Watertown. The food is bound for one of the newest resources for people struggling to afford to eat: the Watertown Community Fridge. The Fridge is a free resource, located outside the United Methodist Church at 80 Mt. Auburn St., that is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Winter Offerings From the Watertown Recreation Department

Watertown’s Recreation Department has a variety of activities available this winter, and registration has opened. Programs include multiple sports for children, teens, and adults. Elementary students can also participate in crafts, robots, and CSI investigation programs, and middle schoolers have a robotics course. The Recreation Department will also run February Vacation programs for grades K-5 and 6-8. See the full list of programs and more details in the brochure by clicking here.

Digital Archive of Armenian Music Accessible via Armenian Museum of America Website

78 rpm records from the collection of the Armenian Museum of America are
being digitized, restored, and shared on its website under the Virtual Resources tab (Photo by
Jonathan Lizcano)

The following piece was provided by the Armenian Museum of America:

By Jesse Kenas Collins

Over the past year, the Armenian Museum of America’s Sound Archive program has taken a giant step forward. Each month, the Museum posts a handful of songs digitized and restored from its collection of 78 rpm records on its website along with a historical writeup about the artists. Along with more conventional musical recordings, some of the recordings touch on Armenian cultural, political, and educational history, as well as the history of recording technologies. The program is sponsored by a generous grant from the SJS Charitable Trust. The Museum hosted musicologist Ian Nagoski to its galleries to weave the story of the influential but largely forgotten soprano Zabelle Panosian, who was born in Bardizag and emigrated to Boston in 1907.

MLK Day in Watertown: Unity Breakfast, City Facility & Trash Schedules

Photo by Charlie BreitroseA closeup of the section of the Kingian Nonviolence Mural featuring Martin Luther King on the back of the Watertown Boys & Girls Club. Monday, Jan. 15, is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and World in Watertown will hold a remote celebration with a broadcast of their annual Unity Breakfast. The holiday also impact the hours of City Hall, the , as well as trash and recycling collection. Unity Breakfast

Dr. King’s legacy will be celebrated by World in Watertown during the annual Unity Breakfast.

Winter Activities: Yoga & Qigong, Cooking & Walking

The City of Watertown’s Live Well Watertown program has plenty of activities this winter, from managing stress, to healthy cooking, to getting active. See details provided by Live Well Watertown:

Happy 2024 ~ we hope the beginning of the year is going well! Our planning is underway to continue offering diverse programs that build a healthier and more connected community. The 2023 Farmers’ Market finished its 10th season stronger than ever and our work on food security reached many more residents. A variety of Live Well programs inspired and encouraged people to eat well, move more, stress less, and connect with the greater community.

Life Science Campus at Former Cannistraro Site Approved

A view of the life science building from Acton Street in the newly approved project on the former Cannistraro property on Pleasant Street. (Courtesy of Broder)

The Planning Board approved plans to build a life science cluster on land off of Pleasant Street, but had concerns about the proximity of the project to the residential neighborhood to the north. The hearing at Wednesday night’s meeting was the second for the project, and it lasted more than 3.5 hours. The complex will have add a four-story, 133,324 sq. ft.