Around Town

Watertown Resident Helping Young Authors Write, Publish Books

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Lemon House PublishingElementary-age students work on their books in a Lemon House class held at The Writer’s Block in Newton in 2022. The following piece was provided by Lemon House Publishing:

“When I held my book in my hands for the first time, it was such an exhilarating and prideful moment that my next thought was, how can I give this feeling to others?” And it was that very thought that inspired former elementary teacher and Watertown resident, Jacky Lamenzo, to start her own company, Lemon House Publishing. To date, Lemon House Publishing (LHP) has helped over 150 students in the area write their own children’s books, leading to over 1,500 book sales on Amazon. Starting a company amid the pandemic proved to be a challenge, but it was the very thing that inspired Lamenzo to seek out teaching in a unique way. She recognized not only did elementary kids need an outlet for creativity but also their teachers.

City Council

Residents, City Employees Named to City Manager Screening Committee

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Watertown City Hall

The group that will review the applicants for Watertown’s new City Manager will include two residents and two employees appointed by City Council President Mark Sideris. The Screening Committee will look at the applications and narrow down the candidates for City Manager to finalists, who will be forwarded on to the City Council. The members will have a chance to interview some of the candidates. The Screening Committee will also include three City Councilors: Sideris, Council Vice President Vincent Piccirilli and Caroline Bays, who chairs the Personnel and Town Organization Committee. The interest in serving on the screening committee was high, Sideris said.

Business

Watertown Restaurant Combines Caribbean & Mediterranean Cuisine, With a Healthy Flair

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Meghan CroninSome of the dishes served at Nzuko in Watertown, which offers Mediterranean and Caribbean inspired food. Located a couple blocks off Main Street, one of Watertown’s newest restaurants offers a unique combination of Caribbean and Mediterranean food, with an emphasis on healthy preparations. Nzuko opened in November, and offers a wide range of dishes inspired by multiple cuisines, said chef Laurette Ndukwe. “I’m from the Caribbean and the manager is from Jordan, and then we have my son, who is an African-American from here, and we have Brazilians in the kitchen, so we have a multicultural flair in the restaurant,” Ndukwe said. Nzuko’s first location was in Framingham, but many diners lived west of Boston (or in the city), so they asked if Ndukwe could open another restaurant closer to Boston.

City Council

Council Approves Job Description for Watertown’s Next City Manager

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The City Council made tweaks to the description of what Watertown is looking for in its next City Manager, and will soon use it to advertise the position. The job description calls for a salary of $200,000 or higher, with preference for someone with knowledge of Massachusetts municipal laws and operations, with good communication skills and strong personnel management and project management skills. The draft of the job description was presented to the Council by Bernie Lynch, the consultant hired by the Council to assist in the search. The description also includes information about Watertown, and background of the previous manager, Michael Driscoll, who retired after working in the Watertown Municipal government for 45 years, the last 29 as Town and City Manager. Also, it included descriptions of the local government, education, the economy, and Watertown’s recreation and open space amenities.

Schools

Committee to Study Vocational Education Finalized, Will Get Help from Consultant

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The ad hoc committee that will study vocational and career education available to Watertown students will have four members of the public, and a consultant will assist members. The Vocational, Technical, and Career Education Options Ad Hoc Committee will have a total of nine members, and will meet monthly from February to June. Ultimately, it will come up with recommendations to the School Committee. The committee was formed after access to Minuteman High School was reduced for Watertown students after the vocational school opened its new campus in September 2019. Watertown is not a member district, but instead pays tuition for students to attend the school located in Lexington.

Around Town

Social Media Contest Inspires Residents to Clear Snow Around Fire Hydrants

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A fire hydrant that was shoveled out by one of 25 Watertown residents who entered the City’s social media contest after the recent blizzard. Dozens of Watertown residents answered a call on social media to shovel out fire hydrants in their neighborhoods after the recent blizzard. Watertown’s IT Department put out requests for people to clear the snow, and send in a photo to enter the contest. Prizes were given out to many who participated, said Jeanne Ostroff, the City’s Social Media/Web Coordinator. “At my last job at a local school district, I tried doing this a number of times with support from the Athletic Director encouraging student athletes to shovel and did not get any responses,” Ostroff said.

Homepage Featured

Police Log: Fight Starts After Argument Over Blocked, Businesses Hit With Graffiti

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The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department. Arrests

None

Incidents

Jan. 26, 7:53 a.m.: A man came into Watertown Towing and was upset about his car being towed. He spoke to an employee and got upset because they would not release the car because it was unregistered. He forcefully pushed past the employee and took a set of keys, but they were not his.

Around Town

Library Seeks Residents to Take Part in Watertown Collective Memory Project

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The Watertown Free Public Library is launching a project called the Watertown Collective Memory Project and you can be a part of it! The Watertown Collective Memory Project (WCMP) is “a yearlong initiative to build a digital collection of stories and photographs from Watertown’s recent history, up to the present day, that captures the full breadth and diversity of our community,” as Local History Librarian Caroline Littlewood described it. Though the project is led by Littlewood and other members of the Watertown Free Public Library (WFPL), they are encouraging other local organizations to contribute and will be relying on volunteers to help run the project. The Historical Society of Watertown and Watertown Cable Access Television are both partners in the project as well. 

The WCMP first got started as part of a refurbishing of the WFPL’s digital history records and has since developed into a community-wide project to build a collaborative and accessible digital history of the town. For Littlewood especially, who started her position at the WFPL during the COVID-19 pandemic, this project has come to mean much more than uploading files.