Around Town

Rotary Club Spreads Valentine’s Greetings to Seniors Through Service Project

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Rotary Club of WatertownMembers of the Rotary Club of Watertown, and some guests, wrote Valentine’s Day cards for seniors in town. Dozens of seniors around Watertown received Valentine’s Day cards thanks to the Rotary Club of Watertown. A group of four Rotarians, and two potential new members, gathered at Panera Bread one morning in January to write out cheerful messages for the recipients, said Lilia Weisfeldt, president of Watertown Rotary. “We created 100 personalized cards for local seniors,” Weisfeldt said. The cards were printed by one of the Rotary members, and delivered to the Watertown Senior Center by another member.

Hockey

Watertown Hockey Teams Heading to State Tournament, Boys Earn High Seed

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Charlie BreitroseWatertown is back in the MIAA State Hockey Tournament, this time as the second seed in the boys bracket. The Raiders boys and girls hockey team both earned berths into the MIAA State Tournament, and the boys squad has been seeded near the top of its bracket. Watertown High School’s boys team will host the winner of the game between 31st seeded Saint John Paul II and 34th seeded South Shore Tech in the first round of the Div. 4 Boys Hockey Tournament. The Raiders finished with a record of 10-9-1, and benefited from the strength of schedule in the MIAA seeding system.

Around Town

Boston Magazine Names Watertown One of the Best Places to Live

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The following announcement was provided by Boston magazine:

Watertown has been named a 2022 Top Place to Live in the upcoming issue of Boston magazine. Each year, Boston magazine’s Top Places to Live highlight the region’s most coveted communities, breaking down one of the nation’s most intricate real-estate markets into a comprehensive guide featured in the March issue. The magazine’s Top Places to Live is considered an authoritative source for what’s trending in the greater Boston real estate market. 

The most recent Top Places to Live names 18 communities as Top Places to Live – examining each based on current trends, values, tax rates, education systems and much more. This year, with feverish demand, rising prices and low inventory, the guide focuses on six key trends driving the market.  

Watertown was recognized as part of the retail development boom, as homeowners continue to seek a level of accessibility and urban appeal found in new developments similar to larger urban centers. The magazine cites Watertown for its close proximity to the city and mixed-used developments such as Arsenal Yards, noting the development, “boasts housing as well as brands including Shake Shack so you can grab a burger on the way home from work”. 

According to the magazine, the median single-family home price in Watertown is $785,000, with a residential property tax rate of $13.25. 

The March issue of Boston magazine, with the full Top Places to Live guide is available on March 1, 2022.

Around Town

Watertown-Based Group Advocates for Teaching Media Literacy to Children

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A Watertown-based non-profit group seeks to make sure that students learn about the messages they are getting from television, video games and social media, and how they impact their lives. Media Literacy Now was started by Erin McNeill who first became aware of the impact of media on children in 2011. “What really pushed me to do this was I could see what was happening to my own kids, and how much they were influenced by messages they were getting: mostly at that time from television, and then as time went on, video games and now it has gotten more extreme — wall-to-wall messages,” McNeill said. “The messages tell kids who they are and what they should be. They are powerful, parents are powerful too, but multi-million dollar corporations are influencing children.” McNeill knows about the media having worked in the industry, including covering policy and how it is made in the United States while working for Congressional Quarterly.

Board of Health

Indoor Face Mask Requirement Lifted by Watertown Board of Health

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The indoor face mask requirement in Watertown was lifted by the Board of Health on Wednesday night. The latest face covering mandate was put into place on Dec. 22, 2021 when COVID cases were on the rise when the Omicron variant hit the area. Watertown reached a peak of 1,131 active cases on Jan. 19, and they have declined since then, said Watertown Health Director Larry Ramdin.

Schools

Outdoor Spaces Planned for High School Project, Committee Wants More Details

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Ai3 ArchitectsThe outdoor space around the new Watertown High School will include an amphitheater west of the school, an outdoor learning area to the east, and a grassy area to the south. Designs for the new Watertown High School are coming together, but the School Building Committee would like some more specifics about the area east of the school. Landscape architects made some changes of the outdoor area along Common Street, said Arthur Eddy of Traverse at the Feb. 16 School Building Committee meeting. “You asked us to reduce paving within the site along Common Street,” Eddy said.