Category Archives: Community Notes

Newton Youth Hockey Intramural Programs

Registration is now open for two new programs. Additionally, there is still space in the Learn to Play program.

Girls Learn to Play Hockey is a new program for girls of ALL ages who are interested in playing hockey. No previous experience is required. The 4-week program kicks off on  January 9th at 5:00 pm. Cost is $150. Register HERE

U8 Skating Skills and Development is a new program to strengthen skating skills and build on previous instruction, regardless of skill level. Participants must have at minimum, one year of skating or Learn to Play Hockey experience. There will be two 6-week sessions that take place in December-January and January-March. Registration for Session 1 is open now. Registration for Session 2 will open late December. Cost for each session is $230. Register HERE

Please email any questions to intramuralvp@newtonyouthhockey.com.

*COVID Information: In the event of rink shut-downs, you will receive a prorated refund.

Members of Closed Gyms Invited to Join

The West Suburban YMCA offers incentive for new members seeking fitness and well-being. The closing of several local gyms in Newton and surrounding towns have left many gym-goers without a place to workout. The West Suburban YMCA​ welcomes members of fitness centers that are closed or going out of business.

“To the many members of local gyms that have unexpectedly closed, the Y is here and ready to welcome you,” says Jack Fucci, President and CEO of the West Suburban YMCA. “We’ve put into place excellent systems and protocols and feel confident that gym-life and pandemic-life are not mutually exclusive.”

The West Suburban YMCA, which has been open and operating since July, is offering an extra incentive for new members​​ who join before the end of the year. Anyone age 18 or older who joins the West Suburban YMCA by December 31, 2020 will receive a personalized training program that includes:

A 6-week written training plan based on individual fitness level
Three 30-minute sessions with a certified personal trainer
Weekly check-in email plus healthy recipes
A $450 value free with cost of a membership

In addition to the spacious fitness floor at the West Suburban YMCA, the facility also boasts two indoor swimming pools, an outdoor track and turf field, full-size gymnasium with upper level indoor track, squash/racquetball court, and four dedicated group exercise studios. Fitness classes and personal training are offered indoors, outdoors, and virtually.

During its shutdown, the West Suburban YMCA took steps to ensure a smooth and safe reopening. They invested more than $100,000 in state-of-the-art equipment to mitigate the risk of coronavirus transmission. In addition to the required PPE, the Y added plexiglass shields, installed additional hand washing and sanitizing stations, redesigned spaces to allow for social distancing, revamped its ventilation and air filtration system, purchased electrostatic sprayers for disinfecting, and requires reservations for pool lanes and group exercise classes to reduce congestion.

Those who wish to join the Y or learn more can visit www.wsymca.org/membership​.

The West Suburban YMCA is a charitable non-profit organization that has been a fixture in the Newton community for over 140 years. The Y is committed to strengthening the foundations of the community by supporting youth development, healthy living and social responsibility for all.

ALL are welcome at the Y, and its community brings together people of all abilities, ages, ethnicities, financial circumstances, genders, races, religions, and sexual orientations.

Green Newton Student Group Presents ‘Greening the Holidays’

Green Newton Student Group Presents ‘Greening the Holidays’. Newton student leaders invite you to join this virtual public meeting (for all ages) on how we can make plans to celebrate a more sustainable holiday season. The program will include great gift ideas, trivia questions and easy steps to make an environmental difference. Please register in advance for this webinar here: Greening the Holidays

 

  • Food & Waste, with Kaleigh Yee (NSHS ’19) and Hailey Strickler (Beaver Country Day ‘22) How does food and waste play into the culture of a holiday? How can we make more sustainable choices while maintaining tradition?
  • Fashion, with Ahona Dam (NSHS ’23) and Mia Santangelo (NNHS ‘22) What is fast fashion? How can we consciously avoid supporting it during the holidays?
  • Transportation, with Ava Freeman (NSHS ’22) During a ‘normal’ holiday season, how can we realistically prioritize conscious transportation choices?
  • Gift Giving, with Windley Knowlton (NSHS ‘18) What makes a gift special? What are some meaningful, environmentally conscious gift ideas?
  • Advocacy, with Coral Lin (NNHS ‘21) Why is advocacy important to prioritize during the holidays?
  • Taking Action!, with Clara Dutton (NSHS ‘21) How energy efficiency steps can be considered a gift?
  • The 4C Tree Project, introduced by Elizabeth Sockwell (NSHS ‘16) and Jojo Parks (BC ‘24) What is the ‘Capture Carbon Commemorate COVID-19’ project all about? How can one incorporate volunteering experience into a gift?

December 6th, 4:00 – 5:00 pm

Credit to Esther Zhang (NNHS ’22) for designing the graphic for this Green Newton event

Newton Neighbors Helping Neighbors

Newton Neighbors Helping Neighbors is an all volunteer, incredibly organized group that continues to recruit and harness the energy of Newton volunteers to help people through these difficult times in a wide variety of ways. Consider donating to one of the four drives below or contact them yourself and volunteer your time.

Newton Neighbors Helping Neighbors coordinators have organized four drives to help families obtain food, winter gear, and holiday gifts this holiday season. Please note that Newton Neighbors Helping Neighbors is not an incorporated organization or a 501(c)(3), so your contributions are gifts to neighbors in need and not tax-deductible donations. There are four ways in which you can support your neighbors!

  • Send gift cards for Thanksgiving meals to families in Brockton and Waltham
  • Donate snow boots for children in Waltham
  • Purchase gift cards for Second Step, Inc residents in Newton
  • Support the Newton Village Bank toy drive

Details about each drive are below!

Drive #1: Help families celebrate Thanksgiving in Brockton and Waltham
NNHN has partnered with the Brockton Workers Alliance and Thom Charles River Early Intervention to bring Thanksgiving to families who are struggling to make ends meet. Most of these families commute and work in Newton and neighboring towns and are facing substantial challenges related to unemployment and income. The goal is to raise $3,500 to purchase and distribute 70 gift cards of $50 each to families in Brockton and Waltham during the week of Thanksgiving. If you can support this effort, please Venmo your contributions to Charlotte Dietz: @Charlotte-Dietz-1 noting the contribution is for the Newton Neighbors grocery gift card collection. Charlotte will purchase the cards for our partner organizations to distribute.  If you would like to help but don’t use Venmo, please email newtonneighborshelping@gmail.com .

Drive #2: Donate snow boots to children in Waltham
Eleven children in Waltham whose families are supported by Thom Charles River Early Intervention need snow boots.

Please go to the sign-up here: Snow Boots to see the requested sizes and sign up to donate. If you can donate new boots or gently used hand-me-downs in good condition, please drop them off in a bag or box labeled with the size at 991 Beacon Street, Newton Centre

Drive #3: Holiday gift cards for residents at The Second Step
Help support 15 families (a total of 29 adults and children) at The Second Step, a community of domestic violence survivors, advocates, and volunteers with a holiday gift card drive. The Second Step is a community of survivors, advocates, and volunteers. The goal is to collect gift cards totaling $100 per child and $150 per adult. You can split the total requested among multiple cards or put it on a single card.

Details about the gift cards can be found here: Gift Cards. Please send gift cards (by December 10th) to the address below with a note that they are for the 2020 Holiday Drive to:

The Second Step, Inc. Attn: Mimi Sperl
P.O. Box 600213
Newtonville, MA 02460

Drive #4: Village Bank Holiday Gift Drive
The Village Bank has partnered with the Newton Rotary and the Newton Department of Health and Human Services to sponsor the city’s annual Holiday Gift Drive. Please drop off new and unwrapped gifts until December 15th to any Newton branch of The Village Bank. Gifts should be for children aged newborn to ten years old and may include age-appropriate toys, games, electronics, and sporting goods as well as gift cards from local merchants. Other ways to give include purchasing and shipping online gifts through the Amazon Wish List or making tax-deductible cash donations to the Newton Rotary. Newton Neighbors will also be working with local stores to offer holiday gift kits available to purchase for the toy drive. For more information on the drive and the Amazon Wish List link, go to https://village-bank.com/holidaygiftdrive.

Holiday Drive -Through with Giant Puppets, Frosty, Newton Teddy Bear and more!

Come to the Mayor’s Dazzling Holiday Drive -Through with Giant Puppets, Frosty, Newton Teddy Bear and more! This holiday season, things are a little different, but we can still celebrate with a festive drive-through display of holiday lights, music and surprises!

All are welcome to Mayor Fuller’s Celebration. Bring an unwrapped gift (suitable for ages newborn -10 years old) to support the Newton Police Department’s “stuff a cruiser” for the Village Bank’s Gift Drive. Please consider supporting the Newton food pantries by bringing a grocery gift card.

Mayor Fuller will greet you as volunteers collect your donations in a contact free manner. Look for Frosty and other special friends along the drive-by route. Newton Community Pride volunteers will be handing out a thank you gift for your support. This event is
sponsored by Newton Parks, Recreation and Culture, and Newton Community Pride.

Special thanks to Jerry Reilly for the giant puppets! Please consider purchasing your donations locally and head to dinner (or take out) after your drive-through visit. For more information call 617-796-1540.

December 8th (rain date December 9th),  5:30 – 6:00 pm
Newton City Hall, 1000 Commonwealth Avenue

South Stage Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough fundraiser

South Stage Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough fundraiser is running now through December 6th! Order a delicious holiday gift for yourself or someone else!

South Stage is selling refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough (yields 20-22 cookies) by the quart for $15.00. Dough is made fresh by fabulous local caterer/restaurant VineRipe Grill.

Place your online order at southstage.org by December 6th, and choose your pickup time of either December 12th (2:00 – 3:00 pm) or December 16th (10:00 – 11:00 am). Pickup will be at the Newton South High School front entrance or just inside in the auditorium foyer.

Other pickup arrangements can be made if needed — email LaurenLookner@gmail.com. All orders must be made in advance, thank you!

For other South Stage holiday gift ideas, please visit https://www.southstage.org/merch.html

Gap Program Information Session

COVID-19 has turned our lives upside down. In response, many students are asking if this pandemic presents the opportunity to pursue a different avenue instead of the direct transition into higher learning. A gap year – a break from traditional academics – is a chance to explore, pause, and reflect before entering the next step of academia. Students use this time to gain a better understanding of themselves and the type of impact they want to have on the world.

TeenLife’s Virtual Gap Program Information Session will allow parents, students, and educators to learn about a variety of gap programs in a short amount of time. There will be three sessions each with six different organizations presenting. You can sign up for one or all sessions!

The event is free, but registration is required. Hosted by TeenLife and The Gap Year Association. Register here: Gap Year Program. Please email margaret@teenlife.com if you have any questions.

December 10th, 5 – 8 pm

Visual Scavenger Hunt

A group of eight Newton South 9th graders – Zoe Hong, Ellie Gish, Naomi Weitzman, Elliot Heywood, Edward Macklin, Sylvia Jacobs, Seth Korn, Josh Wolf just put together this great outdoor activity in Cold Spring Park. It’s a purely visual scavenger hunt that works as well for a 4 year old as an adult.

Bring up this document on your cell phone and follow the photos – they will lead you in a (roughly) hour long trip around Cold Spring Park with various surprise along the way.

Women in World Jazz virtual Creative Arts and Sciences program

Creative Arts & Sciences is proud to present Women in World Jazz webinar-style virtual concerts for schools that missed their spring performances. Both live and pre-recorded performances and virtual collaborations will be included. Members of the ensemble will share information about the music of the featured composers. DLA students will attend the performance with their neighborhood school hybrid classmates.

Webinar links will be distributed to students by the school’s administration prior to the performance date.

All performances will take place at 9:15 am
November 18th – Grades K-2 Bowen, Ward, Peirce, and Burr
December 2nd – Grades 3-5 Angier, Bowen, Ward, and Burr
December 12th – Grades 3-5 Cabot, Peirce, Underwood, Zervas, Horace Mann
January 13th – Grades K-2 Angier, Cabot, Underwood, Zervas, Horace Mann

Creative Arts & Sciences enrichment programming is made possible by generous contributions to each school’s PTO. Thank you for your support!
View a flyer here: Creative Arts & Sciences concert series