Watertown News (https://www.watertownmanews.com/category/more/page/18/)
Google MapsA Google Maps view of Walkers Pond. The pond is the dark area surrounded by trees. The red line is the city line, with Watertown to the right, and Waltham to the left. Watertown officials have put out a survey for the community to weigh in on what they would like to see at the new recreation site at Walker Pond, which sits on the border with Waltham on the Westside of town. See the announcement from the City below.
After showers and thunderstorms on Thursday as a cold front pushed through, cooler, less humid air moves in for Friday and Saturday under high pressure. Heat and humidity return briefly Sunday before another front brings showers and storms late Sunday into Monday. Early next week trends cooler and drier, with pleasant late-summer weather lasting into midweek. Signs of fall weather are starting to show, and the last throws of summer may be here this week. Saturday, August 16 – Warm and dryStill sunny with low humidity.
A new policy was approved for lights at Watertown’s Recreation facilities, including Saltonstall Park, home to the Papas Elite Summer Basketball League. (Photo by Natalie Nigito Photography)
A new policy for controlling lights at Recreation Department-run fields and courts was approved by the City Council on Aug. 12, despite some confusion coming out of the Committee meeting on the issue. The purpose of the policy, said Councilor Tony Palmoba (chair of the Committee on Parks and Recreation) is to have effective lighting while balancing community needs, public access and energy conservation. Generally, lights will turn on at fields and courts at sunset and turn off at designated closing times.
Bar ‘Cino’s gelato is just one dessert to choose from in the No Child Hungry This Summer program. (Courtesy of Bar ‘Cino)
Bar ‘Cino, located at 47 Main Street in Watertown, is pleased to announce a new fundraising effort to support the Centre Street Food Pantry, a local food relief agency serving Brookline, Needham, Newton, Waltham, Watertown, and Wellesley. From August 17 though August 31, 50 percent of dessert sales will be donated to the Centre Street Food Pantry’s “No Child Hungry This Summer” program. In a survey of families who visit Centre Street Food Pantry, more than half reported that their children did not receive subsidized meals in the summer, while the remainder who brought their children to an approved meal site said they came home and were still hungry. In response, the Centre Street Food Pantry has held the “No Child Hungry This Summer” fundraising campaign each of the last four summers to raise funds to provide lunch food items to approximately 1,400 children each month from June through September.
“We are so grateful to the work that the Centre Street Food Pantry does for families in need and humbled to have the opportunity to support their efforts,” said Gary Morrison, Regional Manager, Newport Restaurant Group.
Massachusetts State House
The Office of Climate Innovation and Resilience seeks applicants from from high school students for the Youth Climate Council. Rising sophomores through seniors are eligible to apply. The Office of Climate Innovation and Resilience announcement reads:
We are excited to announce that applications are now open for the 2025-2026 Youth Climate Council! This is an incredible opportunity for passionate and driven young individuals from across the state to engage with each other and the Office of Climate Innovation and Resilience on Massachusetts climate policy. YCC will meet monthly over Zoom from September 2025 through May 2026 with opportunities for in person events throughout the year.
The following announcement was provided by Watertown Cable Access TV:
Watertown non-profits and organizations are welcome to sign up between 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. to film a PSA at WCA-TV’s Studio. All you need to bring is your script and smile! WCA-TV will edit the PSA for you. The PSAs created will then be broadcasted on WCA-TV’s Public Channels, as well as uploaded to our site. You will also receive a copy of the PSA.
Candle boats in the Charles at Watertown Square. The following piece was provided by Watertown Citizens for Peace Justice & the Environment:
In 1912 Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo City, gave 3,000 cherry trees to Washington, D.C. to celebrate the growing friendship between the United States and Japan. Thirty-three years later, on August 6, 1945, the United States dropped the first nuclear bomb on Hiroshima and the second on Nagasaki three days later. Over 100,000 people’s lives were ended instantly and by the end of that year, over 210,000 people were dead. Countless others were maimed or suffered long-term effects of radiation. In what he called his “anti-poem,” Original Child Bomb, Trappist monk and writer Thomas Merton described the events leading up to August 6 in a stark, bureaucratic style.
A Watertown trash bin. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)
The City of Watertown’s emergency drop-off site for trash and recycling will also now accept yard waste. The trash strike that started July 1 continues, and the City has set up a drop-off site at the former Sterritt Lumber site, 148 Waltham St., for residents to use. The temporary facility is open Monday-Friday, from 7:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. for Watertown residents. The City’s Trash Strike updates said: “Please limit your drop-off to 3 bags of household trash, the equivalent amount of recycling that would fit in your bins, and a maximum of three bags of yard waste.