Category: Events

Events for adults, families and kids in Newton, MA.

  • Mini-Golf Fundraiser for Newton Free Library!

    Mini-Golf Fundraiser for Newton Free Library!

    Mini-Golf Takes Over the Library 

    Start practicing your swing. On October 4 and 5, the Newton Free Library will be transformed into an 18-hole mini-golf course, winding its way through the second floor and down the back steps.

     Saturday, October 4 (Adults Only, 21+) | 6:00–9:30 PM
    Evening fun with food, beer and wine, live music, and a silent auction featuring gift cards/certificates from local restaurants and businesses.

     Sunday, October 5 (Family Morning) | 8:30 AM–12:00 PM
    The silent auction continues, plus coffee, breakfast treats, Cabot’s ice cream and popcorn for the kids!

    All proceeds go to the Friends of the Newton Free Library to support amazing community programs!

    Support your library

    Play through the bookshelves

    Bring your family, friends, & neighbors!

    Newton Free Library, Newton, MA

    Tickets available at www.friendsofthenewtonfreelibrary.org

    Limited slots available – grab your tickets now!

     

    Mini-Golf Fundraiser for Newton Free Library!

  • Story Starters Winter 2024 Registration is now Open!

    Story Starters Winter 2024 Registration is now Open!

    Story Starters Winter 2024 Registration is now open through January 19!

    Meet author Kaija Langley at our program kickoff!

    Story Starters Winter 2024 Registration is now open

    Our eight-week Family Conversations Program is designed for parents who want to start and strengthen conversations about race with their young children. Join our Winter 2024 Cohort and be the first to receive our brand new book bundles, along with updated supplemental book lists! 

    Our program provides families with:

    • A bundle of 6 books tailored to your children’s ages
    • 5 caregiver guides full of research, resources, and family activities to support and deepen family race conversations
    • 4 curated book lists to support further exploration and conversation
    • 2 in-person family events and 2 virtual caregiver workshops
    • 2 virtual office hours
    • Support from a network of current families and alumni to lean on and learn from
    • Special events to facilitate community connection

    The program kickoff is Sunday, January 28 from 3:00-4:30 pm at Jammin’ With You. For additional program dates and details, visit: www.story-starters.org/program. Questions? Email kari@story-starters.org

    Story Starters Newton MA

  • Newton Food Pantry Volunteers Needed!

    Newton Food Pantry Volunteers Needed!

    Are you looking for a volunteer experience that allows you to give back to your community?  The Newton Food Pantry is looking for volunteers.  Volunteers are especially needed for Wednesdays starting in September – our food distribution days.

    This is a great volunteer opportunity for older kids – feel free to sign up along with your Middle or High School student!

    We are a 100% run volunteer organization with a mission to help families in Newton put food on their tables.  We simply cannot carry out our mission without the support of our dedicated volunteers.  Will you volunteer today? – sign up here

  • Russo’s to Close this Fall

    Russo’s to Close this Fall

    To Our Devoted and Loyal Customers,⁣ ⁣

    After more than 70 years working for the family business, Tony Russo is retiring. ⁣ ⁣

    Our business will close this fall.⁣ ⁣

    It has been Tony’s privilege to serve our many wholesale and retail customers for seven decades.⁣ ⁣

    Our business began as a small farm in Watertown more than 100 years ago. Every day at Russo’s – while surrounded by fresh produce – Tony is reminded of working alongside his grandparents on the farm and later, of working alongside his father and uncle at their wholesale warehouse. Their work ethic became his inspiration. Throughout the years, Tony has worked in all areas of the retail and wholesale business including trimming vegetables, driving trucks, loading and unloading trailers, putting up wholesale orders, sweeping the floor, buying produce, and overseeing the most subtle details of the retail store. At any time, customers can find him involved in the displays of the fruits, vegetables, flowers, bakery, deli, cheese, and garden departments. His days begin around 3:30 AM and end after 8 PM.⁣ ⁣

    Tony has treasured watching generations of families shopping together as they choose their first spring vegetable plants or the first local apples of the season, and as they shop for Christmas trees (with classical music playing in the background, of course).⁣ ⁣

    Tony deeply appreciates and will truly miss the employees who have worked every day, sometimes outside in the harshest of weather conditions. These employees represent the backbone and the energy of the Russo’s environment, and their efforts will never be forgotten. ⁣ ⁣ We cannot overstate Tony’s dedication to the world of fruits, vegetables, and flowers. We also cannot overstate his dedication to Russo’s wonderful employees, customers, growers, and suppliers. And we cannot thank Tony enough for what he has brought to so many people’s lives.⁣ ⁣

    Thank you,⁣ Russo’s ⁣

  • Meet Amy Mah Sangiolo: Newton Candidate for Mayor

    Meet Amy Mah Sangiolo: Newton Candidate for Mayor

    I was part of a Zoom Meet and Greet and clipped Amy Mah Sangiolo by topic.

     

    Newton Public School Reopening

    Did you know that Newton Public High Schools have slipped by 20 spots in the rankings since Ruthanne Fuller became mayor? We are no longer in the Top 20 ranking.

    Newton School District: #58 out of 403 school districts in Massachusetts (Top 20%)

    U.S. News and World Report rank Newton South High School #34 and Newton North High School #37 out of all high schools in Massachusetts.

    Even if your kids attend private school, the desirability of Newton Public Schools affects property value. With the median home price in Newton at $1.4 million, prospective buyers can choose a less expensive city with better schools.

    West Newton Square Traffic

    Affordable Housing in Newton

    Newton Gun Store

    Webster Woods: Boston College Lawsuit against City of Newton

    Elimination of LGBTQIA Position in City of Newton

    Amy Mah Sangiolo 20+ Years of Serving Newton

    On Uniting Newton

    Why I Support Amy Mah Sangiolo for Newton Mayor

    My response to Ruthanne Fuller about diversifying the Newton Police Force.

     

    To donate to Amy Mah Sangiolo for Newton Mayor,

    please go here.

  • Changing the Game Kickstarter Project!

    Changing the Game Kickstarter Project!

    I wanted to let you all know about my Kickstarter project that I am launching in two weeks.

    Changing the Game: Asian Pacific American Female Athletes by Mia Wenjen

    Everyone deserves to see themselves in the pages of a book. Now, Mia Wenjen brings the accomplishments of Asian Pacific American female athletes to life with incredible stories of their amazing accomplishments. Readers rejoice with these extraordinary women as they overcome obstacles to prevail in their sport. [nonfiction picture book, for ages 8 and up]Changing the Game: Asian Pacific American Female Athletes by Mia Wenjen

    Growing up, my teenage daughter played many sports. I asked her if she knew the names of any Asian-American female athletes. She laughed and said that there weren’t any. I searched but found very few books featuring Asian-American female athletes. She was correct! How sad. The few books that existed center on sports that were more dance-driven like figure skating and gymnastics. Where were the role models for girls, especially for popular team sports like basketball, soccer, and hockey?

    With seventy percent of all kids quitting organized sports by age 13, and with girls dropping out of sports at six times the rate of boys, it became clear that I needed to showcase Asian-American female athletes. Girls of every ethnicity need to see Asian-American females succeeding in sports to know that everyone can dream of stepping up on an Olympic podium. That was my wake-up call to write this book!

    You will meet 18 Asian Pacific American Female Athletes in this book who excel at a range of sports and represent many Asian ethnicities.

    • Eun Jung “EJ” Lee Ok (Korean American) is thought to be one of the greatest point guards ever to play women’s college basketball.
    • Chloe Kim (Korean American) is the youngest snowboarder to win Olympic Gold.
    • Miki Gorman (Japanese American) is the only female marathon runner to win both the Boston Marathon and the New York Marathon, twice!
    • Victoria Manalo Draves (Filipino & European American), a diver, is the first woman to win two Gold Medals in both springboard and platform in the same Olympics games, the first Asian-American to medal at an Olympics game, and the first Filipino to win a Gold Medal.
    • Evelyn Tokue Kawamoto-Konno (Japanese American) learned to swim competitively in a ditch through Soichi Sakamoto’s Three-Year Swim Club and is the first Japanese-American female to win an Olympic Medal.
    • Julie Chu (Chinese & Puerto Rican American), a hockey player, is the first Asian-American female to compete for the United States in the Winter Olympics for a sport other than figure skating. She took home three silver medals and one bronze medal from five Olympics.
    • Natasha “Tasha” Kai (Filipino, Hawaiian, Chinese & European American) is the first player from Hawaii to make the full U.S. National Women’s Soccer team. In 2008, she helped the team earn an Olympic Gold medal.
    • Michelle Wie (Korean American) is the youngest female to compete on the PGA Tour and the youngest USGA champion in an adult event.
    • Kristi Yamaguchi (Japanese American) is a two-time Olympic Gold Medal ice skating champion, a two-time singles World Champion, and a two-time pairs National Champion.
    • Amy Chow (Chinese American) is the first Asian American woman to win an Olympic Gold Medal in gymnastics.
    • Anona Naone Napoleon (Native Hawaiian) won the International Makaha Surfing Competition.
    • Michelle Waterson (Thai & European American) is a Mixed Martial Arts champion.
    • Liane Lissa Sato (Japanese American) took home a Bronze Medal for the United States Women’s Volleyball Team at the Olympics held in Barcelona.
    • Catherine Mai-Lan Fox (Vietnamese & European American) is a two-time Olympic Gold Medal winner for swimming.
    • Megan Khang (Hmong American) is the first Hmong American to play on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour.
    • Mohini Bhardwaj (Indian & Russian American) is the first Indian-American gymnast to medal at the Olympics.
    • Naomi Osaka (Japanese & Haitian) is the first female Asian player to hold the number one ranking by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).
    I hope you will share my Kickstarter project on social media when it starts on February 15 and consider donating if you are able.

    You can preview my Kickstarter Campaign here!

    I am also including an option to donate my book to the Free Diverse Books for Classrooms through Multicultural Children’s Book Day.
    Thank you so much!
    Mia

    To examine any book more closely at Amazon, please click on image of book.

    As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    My books:

    The Elusive Full Ride Scholarship: An Insider’s GuideAsian Pacific American Heroes Mia Wenjen

    BEST #OWNVOICES CHILDREN’S BOOKS: My Favorite Diversity Books for Kids Ages 1-12 is a book that I created to highlight books written by authors who share the same marginalized identity as the characters in their books.

  • Donate to St. Mary’s Winter Clothes Drive in Newton

    Donate to St. Mary’s Winter Clothes Drive in Newton

    Winter Clothes Drive: St. Mary’s is conducting a winter clothes drive this coming Saturday, December 5, from 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. in the church driveway. We are collecting gently used or new winter items such as:

    • Clothing (including hats, gloves, mittens, scarfs)
    • Sleeping bags
    • Blankets
    • Disposable handwarmers

    These donations will be given to:

    • Common Cathedral (serving Boston’s homeless and indigent population)
    • Catie’s Closet (clothing for students in need)
    • Cradles to Crayons (clothing for infants to preschoolers)
    • Various agencies serving the needs of adults (clothing)

    Please consider giving to this drive and spreading the word to your family, friends, and neighbors, particularly since the pandemic has local charities serving more people than ever.

    St. Mary’s Episcopal Church

    258 Concord St

    Lower Falls Newton, MA 02462

    St. Mary's Episcopal Church

  • Nominate Nonantum Boxing Club for Newton’s Best Business of the Year

    Nominate Nonantum Boxing Club for Newton’s Best Business of the Year

    Newton Patch asks Which Newton Business Is Best Of The Year? Nominate Your Favorite!

    Please nominate Nonantum Boxing Club here.

    Nominate Nonantum Boxing Club for Newton's Best Business of the Year

    Here’s my nomination:

    I have boxed at Nonantum Boxing Club for nearly nine years and it is a wonderful place that supports the community, especially those in need. From a boxing perspective, Marc Gargaro, one of the co-owners of Nonantum Boxing Club, is an excellent boxing coach. He has sent more than two dozen fighters to national boxing competitions including Olympic qualifying events. He is also a coach for the U.S. Men’s and Women’s Boxing Team that will compete in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. As a 55-year-old mom, I have a group of other mom friends that have trained with Marc for years. We get the same training and attention from Marc that his fighters do.

    On a different side, training future professional athletes is much different in the boxing world than in other sports. Marc trains his team FOR FREE, dedicating hours of his time to team and individual training. He also has a nonprofit in which he offers free boxing fitness and training classes to kids FOR FREE.

    But free boxing training is not the only nonprofit work that he does. Nonantum Boxing Club does service work year-round, including hosting a large boxing tournament on behalf of Newton’s Boys and Girls Club. I have seen numerous events that the gym does on behalf of community members in need such as fundraiser workouts to support someone’s medical bills or piles of donations on behalf of a charity that supports women who are escaping relationships in which they are physically abused.

    What is most special about Nonantum Boxing Club is the people and the atmosphere that they create. The co-owners are both cousins who grew up in large Italian families right here in Nonantum. They have created a community that also feels like a family where everyone is included. the boxing gym may look intimidating but nothing could be further from the truth.

  • Maruichi Japanese Food and Deli Supermarket in Brookline

    Maruichi Japanese Food and Deli Supermarket in Brookline

    I’m so excited about Maruichi Japanese Food and Deli Supermarket. There’s also a Ramen Shop inside, Brooklyn Ramen. They sell Brooklyn Ramen as DIY to go kits as well. 

     

    Maruichi Japanese Food and Deli Supermarket & Brooklyn Ramen

     299 Harvard St

    Brookline, MA 02446

     

  • Newton Police stopped Black Newton Parent at Gunpoint Minutes Away from His Home

    Newton Police stopped Black Newton Parent at Gunpoint Minutes Away from His Home

    Dear Newton North Community,

    Thursday, I shared my concerns about recent student social media posts, and I am writing to follow up on that letter. As I mentioned, recent events have led us all to think more deeply about racism and how it manifests itself in society-at-large, and also here in Newton. The recent incident, when the Newton police stopped a black Newton North and Day parent at gunpoint minutes away from his home, highlights that our work extends beyond the walls of our building and into our community as well. This work often makes students feel a host of emotions: sadness, anger, fear, confusion, and others.  These emotions can be difficult to sit with.  As a community, we want to help students process feelings in a healthy manner, collectively combat racism, and begin the long journey of healing.

    Unfortunately, and at the cost of the safety of our community, several students have used social media as a tool to revisit racist events and harmful comments from the past. Some students have reposted videos from previous school years of peers using racially offensive language that may have already been addressed, and in one particular case, a student stated that he would remove the videos he posted only if he was paid money. In this case, the Newton Police have been notified and are investigating the matter. We know that social media has been a key part in seeking justice and accountability in our society in the last ten years. We also know that a driver of these efforts stems from a community that does not feel that institutions are doing enough to seek that justice.  We also want to be an institution that allows students to express their anger and we need to support them so that they express themselves in a healthy manner.

    As an institution and community, we stand against all forms of racist speech and action and have been committed to a community-wide effort to address and dismantle racism. In our view, publicizing or republicizing racially offensive language, regardless of the intent, causes harm because it can re-victimize people of color. We encourage all students and families to notify a Dean or the police if they observe hate speech or other offensive material online. We also ask students and families to have a dialogue about the purpose of their social media posts and how to use online tools effectively to promote change and healing.

    This blog post shares how to have conversations with your children about racism and racial violence https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/how-to-talk-with-kids-about-racism-and-racial-violence .

    This article explains how we can help create change on social media through positivity.

    https://www.yesmagazine.org/democracy/2018/04/23/yes-social-media-can-be-used-for-positive-change/

    Thank you for your partnership in working to address racism in our community and effect permanent change so that all of our students feel valued and respected, inclusive of our students of color. Our counselors remain available to support students who need help processing recent events or other sources of distress.

    Best,

    Henry J. Turner, Ed.D

    Principal

    Newton North High School

    Newton Police Stopped University Athletic Director At Gunpoint Days Before George Floyd’s Killing

    Black former Northeastern AD says Newton Police pulled guns on him 5 days before George Floyd

    Days before George Floyd died, an ex-Northeastern AD says …

    Black former Northeastern AD says Newton Police pulled …

    Former Northeastern AD describes racial profiling incident in …

     

    Henry Turner