I Love Newton

Author: Mia

  • Dawn Davis Yoga Goes Online! Live Streaming Classes!

    Dawn Davis Yoga Goes Online! Live Streaming Classes!

    Dawn Davis Yoga is now offering Saturday online yoga class at 9:30 for $10. Friends and relatives anywhere in the U.S. can access her classes online.

    Live Streaming Classes with Dawn

    Tuesdays 9:30-10:30
    Wednesdays 9:30-10:30
    Fridays 9:30-10:30
    Saturdays 9:30-10:30

    Register through www.dawndavis.com

    If you have a class card, you may use that (it would be at the regular price), or you can purchase a $10 pass for the Saturday class. Classes Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday will all be at 9:30 as well. You may use your existing class card for the weekday classes.

    If the global health crisis has had financial implications for you and you are interested in a reduced or free class, please send her a confidential email, no questions asked.

    As always, my videos are completely free of charge and you can access the full library of my recorded offerings on my youtube channel: Dawn Davis Yoga.

    10% of all proceeds from live-streaming classes go to support the vital work of The Second Step in Newton, MA.

    p.s. Free FIVE MINUTES TO FREEDOM: Meditation Medic with Dawn

  • Food for Families in Need

    Food for Families in Need

    Help for Our Neighbors

    • Newton COVID-19 Care Fund: NewtonCareFund
    • Centre Street Food Pantry: CentrestFoodPantry.
    • Newton Food Pantry:  NewtonFoodPantry
    • Arabic Baptist Church Food Pantry: ArabicBaptistChurch

    For those of us who need help – ranging from unemployment insurance and SNAP benefits to mental health resources and emergency intervention – please also see the list of resources here and here. We will update this list of resources as we learn of them.

    Food for Families

    The Food for Families program has free bags of non-perishable food available for pickup for anybody in need at five locations in Newton. Find the bags in large “pod” containers here:
    • Fire Station 2: 1750 Commonwealth Ave., Auburndale
    • Fire Station 4: 195 Crafts St., Nonantum
    • Fire Station 7: 144 Elliot St., Newton Upper Falls
    • Fire Station 10: 755 Dedham St. Newton/Oak Hill (on the south side of the City)
    • American Legion Nonantum Post 440: 295 California St., Nonantum (near Watertown)

    Please, only 2 bags per family to allow for more families to access food. Also, remember to maintain proper social distancing when picking up the bags (allow a person who is in the pod to exit before entering). Bags can picked up at any time.

    Student Meals

    The Corner Café, 321 Washington St., is providing free, hot lunches to Newton students pre-K through grade 12. Text “School Lunch” to 617-527-9835 for a no contact pickup.

    Grab ‘n Go meals are available for all Newton Public School students. Swing by either of the two locations: the parking area near the auditorium entrance at Newton North and the front parking loop at Newton South High School between 10:00 a.m. and noon, Monday through Friday.

  • Kids: Design Wally’s Ice Cream New Sign Contest!

    Kids: Design Wally’s Ice Cream New Sign Contest!

    If you are looking for something for the kiddos to do while they are out of school, Wally’s ice cream is holding a contest where kids can design the storefronts new sign!
    We love our Wally’s family, and despite the current struggles, we believe this is a great opportunity to celebrate our wonderful community. Now more than ever we want to keep our sense of community alive and showcase all our amazing talent!
    One design will be chosen and turned into our new storefront sign for the 2020 season! For this contest to be successful we are requiring a minimum of 50 submissions to ensure a diverse selection. Please share and spread the word!
    Visit wallyswickedgood.com for details!

    Competition Guidelines

    Sign Guidelines

    • Store Name – Wally’s Ice Cream & Sweets (The Wally’s wicked good tagline is optional, but we do not want the sign to be too cluttered with words. The fewer words, the bigger the letters can be and easier to read!)

    • 5 Inches X 30 Inches -We recommend using 3 pieces of white computer paper side by side

    ​

    Entry Guidelines

    • Must be in K through 8th Grade to enter

    • Must live in Newton, Wellesley, Waltham, or Weston

    • With your submission please provide at least 3 sentences describing your art piece and what you love about Wally’s.

    • ​And finally, must be a lover of Wally’s Ice Cream & Sweets!

    ​

    Winning Prizes

    • The Grand Prize winner will have their submission turned into a 2-foot by 12-foot sign for the front of our store and a Wally’s gift card!

    • We will also have a first, second, and third place winner for several age groups, each winning a gift card to Wally’s! (Details to come soon!)

    ​

    How to submit your amazing design!

    Submission must be turned in by April 30th. Please drop of you design during one of our ice cream pickup windows. Please provide your first name, age, grade level, and a way for us to contact you.

    ​

    Pickup/Dropoff Time: Wednesday & Saturday 6PM – 8PM

  • Nonprofits: Chance to Win 1 of 3 $10k Grants from Aquent

    Nonprofits: Chance to Win 1 of 3 $10k Grants from Aquent

    For those of you who are unfamiliar, Designing for Good gives our worldwide talent a chance to use their creativity to help their favorite nonprofit. This year, we’ll be awarding three $10,000 grants to deserving nonprofits to help bring the winning ideas to life!

    Contestants need to create a 90-second video, pitching an idea of how the nonprofit could use the money in a creative way for the greater good.

    Submission videos from last year’s grant recipients are on the Designing for Good site.

    During this time especially, we think it’s a great way to encourage people to do something to help out their favorite nonprofits.

    To help you get talent to participate, we’ve prepared these materials:

    Email:

    Social Media:

    We’ll begin sharing information about the content on 3/27 and will have posts every week (typically on Fridays). Go to our sites to like and share the content.

    Aquent

    • LinkedIn

    • Twitter

    Vitamin T

    • LinkedIn

    • Twitter

    • Instagram

    • Facebook

    Last year we received 150 submissions, we’re hoping to get over 200 this year.

    Aquent Designing For Good

  • Local Markets with Easy Curbside Pick Up

    Local Markets with Easy Curbside Pick Up

    Want to share that Russian store BazaAr (there is one in Allston, Baza in Newton off Needham St, and one in Framingham) now offer doing orders by email or phone (they don’t have a platform to order online), then they pack you order and you can pick it up at curbside from a masked gloved employee.

     

    Baza Gourmet Food & Spirits

    30 Tower Road, Newton, MA 02464
    (617) 986-8510
    baza@bazaarboston.com

     

    They are reasonably well stocked with veggies, fruits, dairy and other stuff. I emailed my order earlier today, got a call back within a few hours and my order was ready for curb pick up. The Allston store even had some hard liquor (Spiritus) that is 96% alcohol and can be used for sanitizing.

     

    BazaAr in Allston
    424 Cambridge Street, Allston, MA 02134
    +1 (617) 787-1511
    alina@bazaarboston.com
    BazaAr in Brookline
    1432 Beacon St, Brookline, MA 02446
    +1 (617) 739-8450
    bazaarbrookline@gmail.com

     

     

  • Donations of masks and supplies to Boston Hospitals

    Donations of masks and supplies to Boston Hospitals

    Donations of masks and supplies: 

    As you have undoubtedly been seeing in the news, hospitals are increasingly facing shortages of the personal protective equipment required to prevent infection of healthcare workers taking care of patients with COVID-19.  This includes masks (N95 and surgical) and gloves.   We have had several patients approach us regarding donating to Boston hospitals extra supplies that they had purchased.  These donations are generous, desperately needed, and greatly appreciated.   Information regarding which items are accepted for donation and where these can be dropped off can be found HERE:

    For donations to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center: https://www.bilh.org/donations 

    You can also email Chris Minette at cminette@bidmc.harvard.edu with any questions.

     

    For donations to Mass General Hospital: https://www.massgeneral.org/news/coronavirus/ppe-donation-form 

    For donations to Brigham and Women’s Hospital: https://www.brighamandwomens.org/deptforms/covid-19-donations?fbclid=IwAR0NnGhuEsOTGDpY0Z90oZawu55yYYTXZ1NhSynvmgfW-axoImVWN_DtUb0&utm_campaign=covid19_social&utm_content=ORGFB032020&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook 

    We know these are challenging times for everyone as our daily lives are disrupted and our families sometimes separated.  We remain available to address individual questions and concerns by email and phone, by video-telephone conference, and in the office for medical consultations when appropriate.  The single most important aspect to controlling this outbreak is for each of us to continue to rigorously and seriously follow the guidelines of social distancing and personal hygiene.   Please remember that we will continue to follow the previously outlined protocols for all office visits to ensure the safety of our patients and staff for all office visits:

    -Any patients that feel they need an office visit, must call in advance and speak with a physician

    -Our door remains locked, and all patients will need to ring our doorbell.  

    -After being cleared to enter the office by a physician, all patients will be asked to wear a surgical mask upon entry to the office and will be asked to use hand sanitizer upon entry to the office.

    Stay home and stay well.

    Sincerely,

    Personal Physicians HealthCare

  • Places that are good local destinations for getting out of the house

    Places that are good local destinations for getting out of the house

    Memorial Drive, there is plenty of on-street parking in front of MIT. Paved bike path, as well as crushed stone for walking/jogging.

    Wollaston Beach in Quincy, which has about 2 miles of paved sidewalk abutting the seawall. We saw bikes, strollers, dogs, and walkers.  About 20 minutes away as there is no traffic.
    * Mount Auburn Cemetery Now Closed except for funerals*
    I suggested Mount Auburn Cemetery as place to visit. Today, I received information that they are closing Mar 30th, except for burials & 4–6 PM, for families to visit a graves.
    I have volunteered at Mount Auburn cemetery for over 10 years. Things are beginning to bloom.
    580 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge. Turtles have been seen in the Consecration Dell pond.  No dogs, jogging, biking, or picnics. The Washington Tower has not yet opened but the security people are still working. Mount Auburn is a great place for birding….
    https://mountauburn.org/visit/tips-for-your-visit/
    https://mountauburn.org/families-tips/
  • Please Support the Newton Food Pantry

    Please Support the Newton Food Pantry

    Dear NFP Supporters,

    COVID-19 has brought about a challenging and uncertain time for many in our community, but we have had some amazing support from our community over the past week in the form of financial and in-kind donations and offers to volunteer. Thank you, Newton!

    Please help us to continue this support by donating HERE today!

    In the face of COVID-19, our top priority is to keep our clients and volunteers healthy and safe. Therefore, our pantry procedures have changed until further notice. We are open during the City Hall closure and providing food to Newton residents (including both NEW and EXISTING clients) during our regularly scheduled hours, but instead of running a “choice” pantry where it can be difficult to maintain safe distancing, we are providing pre-packaged bags of food to our clients. Important safety procedures that we have implemented during this crisis are summarized HERE.

    Newton Food Pantry

    Through the generosity of our community, we are able to now offer all Newton residents who need food the opportunity to pick up pre-packaged bags of groceries twice per month until this crisis subsides. Every client will receive the same pre-bagged food, but the amounts will vary based on family size.

    In addition to revamping our operations to change from a choice pantry to pre-bagged food, we have been working with numerous local businesses to expand our inventory. For example, Great Harvest Bread has been providing us with freshly baked bread offerings, and Johnny’s Luncheonette has been providing us with homemade soup offerings.

    Ethan Diamondstein Newton Food Pantry

    Another amazing example of how just one person can make a huge difference in our community is volunteer Ethan Diamondstein. Ethan, who is a Saturday volunteer, contributed donations to the NFP from his canceled bar mitzvah, where he was actually going to speak about the issue of hunger. He has also walked and raised money for the NFP’s Walk For Hunger team. Yay Ethan!

    We have also been expanding our delivery of groceries to individual households and providing bags of groceries in bulk to Senior Housing complexes. During this time when City Hall is closed, if you wish to contribute non-perishable goods, you can drop them off at 36 Metacomet Road or 61 Ballard Street. 
    Please support the Newton Food Pantry

    Anyone who wishes to volunteer and is between the ages of 18-60 and not in a high risk group for COVID-19, please email Regina Wu at volunteercoordinator@newtonfoodpantry.org.

    A huge thank you to all of you for remaining committed to NFP and we hope you all remain safe and healthy.

    With Gratitude,

    Tracie, Regina, Maria, Ron, Peter, and Carol

    Newton Food Pantry Board

  • Dawn Davis Yoga Classes Go Virtual and her free classes online

    Dawn Davis Yoga Classes Go Virtual and her free classes online

    From Dawn Davis:

    I was initially intimidated by Zoom. But, it is actually more accessible than I thought it would be. There are many beautiful aspects of the virtual yoga at home, including that you get to practice in your pajamas (!), and other family members can join in. Furthermore, we are donating 10% of all revenue to support the work of The Second Step. And the feeling of community is present, and unique in that we are actually all in your living room with you!

    Here’s how it works:
    1. Sign in to your Mindbody online account from www.dawndavis.com (if you haven’t done this before, please let me know and I’ll send you a password; If mindbody acts like you’re new—and if you’re getting this note, then you are not new–that means we need to get you a password in order for you to access your account. I can help, just email me).
    2. After you sign up for each class, Mindbody will send you an email with registration link to the class on Zoom.
    3. Download Zoom on the device you’ll be practicing on.
    4. Then click on the link from mindbody to register for the class
    5. Zoom sends an email that will drop you into the class!

    It’s definitely a few steps but hopefully will feel straightforward.

    If you want to have music, please bring that in the room with you as the vocals over zoom are good for voices, not great for music. Once class starts, I’ll mute everyone so we can each have our own jam and it won’t be heard by other yogis.

    You can access free yoga videos and meditations on Dawn Davis Yoga Channel.

    Dawn Davis Yoga

  • Artemis Yoga Offers 2 Free Yoga Classes Weekly via Zoom

    Artemis Yoga Offers 2 Free Yoga Classes Weekly via Zoom

    Yoga is good for so many reasons and the feedback this week has been wonderful.
    I realize that not everyone may be able to afford an online class right now and so we are offering two complimentary classes a week, free of charge.
    Please let others know about what our community is doing during this challenging period. If you have a specific need outside of these two classes, please reach out to me directly.
    These online classes are free and open to all.
    Please register in advance on Mindbody: https://www.artemisyoga.com/schedule/
    WEDNESDAY – 12:00NOON – FUNDAMENTALS WITH SUE – Free!
    SUNDAYS – 4:00PM – RESTORATIVE WITH LIZ R. – Free!
    Liz Padula
    Artemis Yoga
    639 Mt. Auburn Street
    Watertown, MA 02472