Love your library?
Join us for our annual Newton Free Library Spring Fling fundraising gala and auction to benefit the “jewel of the city”!
Spring Fling Gala
Saturday, March 29 ~ 6:30 pm
Become a sponsor and reserve your tickets today:
Those who commit to being event sponsors by this Friday January 31st will be listed by name on the Spring Fling print invitation.~ Our Speakers ~
B.J. Novak
Author of One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories.
Mr. Novak is also actor, writer, director, and executive producer of NBC’s Emmy Award-winning comedy series The Office.B.A. Shapiro
Author of The Art Forger and five suspense novels The Safe Room, Blind Spot, See No Evil, Blameless and Shattered Echoes, as well as the non-fiction book The Big Squeeze. Ms. Shapiro is also a teacher of creative writing at Northeastern University.
Tom Ashbrook ~ Honorary Chair William Novak ~ Host
For more information about the Spring Fling, or questions about tickets or sponsorship, please contact Ellen Eckenrode at (617) 796-1407 or development@newtonfreelibrary.
net.
Category: All About Newton
News, events, children’s activities in Newton, MA.
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Newton Free Library Spring Fling Fundraiser
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Meet Children’s Book Authors from Foundation for Children’s Books
What’s New in Children’s BooksSpring 2014
Announcing New Venue & Great Speakers
from The Foundation for Children’s BooksSaturday, April 12 @ 8:30a.m. – 12:30p.m.We’re excited to introduce a new venue for our spring “What’s New in Children’s Books?” half-day event. Thanks to our partnership with the Lesley University MFA in Creative Writing Program, it will be held at University Hall at Lesley University, conveniently located next to the Porter Square T stop on the Red Line. Paid parking is available in the lot adjacent to the building.
1815 massachusetts avenue, cambridge ma
For this event we’ll be looking at “What’s New?” in Non-Fiction. Our spring program will feature the following talented speakers:
Steve Sheinkin, author
Jason Chin, author/illustrator
Kathryn Lasky, author
Michael Tougias, authorMelissa Stewart, author
More information here
Steve Sheinkin
Jason Chin
Kathryn Lasky
Michael Tougias
Melissa Stewart
Click on image to view book at Amazon.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
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Sing-Along in Commemoration of the Life and Music of Pete Seeger
Sing-Along in Commemoration of the Life and Music of Pete Seeger
Waban Library Center
1608 Beacon Street, Waban
Pete Seeger, the banjo-picking troubadour who sang for migrant workers, college students and star-struck presidents, and introducedgenerations of Americans to their folk music heritage, died this week at the age of 94.
Come celebrate his life through song at a community Sing-Along hosted by the Newton Family Singers on Saturday, February 1st, 3pm at the Waban Library Center.
We’ll sing together as a community, songs straight from Pete’s songlist – songs about freedom, equality, justice, peace, the world we love and the strength of community.
As Pete once said himself: “Participation – that’s what’s gonna save the human race.”
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Birthday Wishes CakeWalk Fundrasier: Registration Open!
It’s already kick-off time for CakeWalk 2014 and registration is officially open!Bright and early on Sunday morning, May 18, 2014, Birthday Wishes will celebrate its third annual CakeWalk at Millennium Park in West Roxbury, MA.CakeWalk is our signature (and only) fundraising event, reflecting the grassroots nature of our organization and the importance of kids helping kids. CakeWalk truly reflects what makes Birthday Wishes so special – loyal supporters of all ages and from all walks of life – coming together to make sure that homeless children experience what many of us take for granted, a birthday celebration!Participants can sign up to walk either our 5K or half-mile route, and participate as individuals or form a team with family or friends. CakeWalk celebrates corporate teams, sports teams, book clubs, scout troops, neighborhoods, school, church and civic groups. Everyone is welcome to enjoy our fun, noncompetitive walk and family festival of kite flying, face painting, entertainment, field games, free refreshments, family raffle, music and more.Our event goal this year is $75,000. This funding is critical to carrying out our mission. In combination with the steady stream of birthday gifts and toys, goody bags, birthday cakes and juice boxes that are so generously donated throughout the year, a successful CakeWalk will help ensure that more than 23,000 homeless children will experience the joy of a birthday celebration in 2014 – an experience that lasts just a few short hours with the impact of a lifetime.Please visit our registration page and sign up now! Although we expect about 500 walkers the morning of May 18, please ask for me at Millennium Park so I may personally acknowledge your participation and say thank you. I look forward to walking by your side.
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Gracie Gold (Born in Newton) Will Compete in Olympics
Skater Gracie Gold, who was born in Newton, was named to the 2014 Olympic Team. She will compete in Socchi, Russia next month.
Here’s Gracie Gold with the Wall Street Journal.
18-year-old Gracie Gold is here in the Ladies Short Program at the 2014 US Champs.
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The Lake Language Glossary and Matt LeBlanc
My mom friend Penny grew up in Newton but not in Nonantum and she was the first person who told me about The Lake Language. We box at Nonantum Boxing Club so we had Nate who grew up in Nonantum explain it to us. He said the early residents of Nonantum were gypsies followed by Italians. Words from both languages evolved into The Lake jargon.
The mark of a true, old-school Lake resident is talent for the so-called Lake language – a collection of words and phrases believed to have roots in Romany, a language spoken by Gypsy immigrants from Europe, and brought back to the Lake early this century by local youths who worked for a time with traveling carnivals.
The Romany words mixed with Italian, English, and other street slang of the 1930s and ’40s to produce a lively mix that is one of the strongest links to the Lake’s proud and rough-and-tumble past. from Boston.com
quister jival [Quis-tah jiv-il] means pretty girl
divia mush [di-vy-ah moosh] is a crazy guy
quister mush is a good, stand-up guy
chor’d means stolen
chabby means young boy
Cuya moi [coo-ya moy] means shut up, or go to hell
“Sarge, mush has a coramunga in his cover!” or, loosely translated, “That guy is carrying a gun!”
Lake language – which is phonetic with no official spellings – is most often mixed with English words to make its meaning clear. For example, “How can you oy [eat] that inga [junk, crap]?” or “This mush is divia” [this guy is crazy] or “That mush has some overshay” [he lies, tells untruths, pronounced ovah-shay].
Nonantum isn’t a big place and you get the sense that everyone knows everybody. True to form, Nate’s uncle grew up with Matt LeBlanc. Will Lake Talk survive? Nate thinks he’s the last of the Mohicans though his kids can joke around in Lake Talk.
Want to understand Lake Talk? Here are more examples of words and phrases from the Boston Globe .
- mush (pronounced to rhyme with push) — “guy”, can be positive or negative depending on context
- wicked pissa, mush!–“extremely awesome, guy”
- chabby — “boy child”, possibly related to the Romany word chavvie = “boy”
- chor’d — “stolen”, possibly related to the Romany word choro = “thief”
- chuccuo — (chu-co) — “donkey”, “horse’s ass”
- cuya moi — “shut up” or “go to hell”
- divia (div-ya) — “crazy”, “jerk, screw-up, or harmless screwball”
- inga — “unattractive” or “bad-tempered person” or “junk” or “crap”
- jival — “girl”
- mush has a cormunga in his cover — “guy is hiding a gun”
- mush is the earie — “the guy is listening”
- over-chay or overchay (ova-chay) — “it’s a lie” or “he’s an actor”
- oy — “eat”
- pissa — “awesome”
- pukka to the mush — “tell the guy”
- quister jival (quest-ah dival) — “pretty girl”
- quister mush (quest-ah mush) — “good, standup guy”
- shapdude (shup-dude) — “how’s it going?”
- wonga — “money”
- geech — “go away”
- gash — “girly man”
- jawl — “steal” or “look at”
- dikki ki dotti — “unreal or unbelievable”
- minje — “dirty or unattractive woman”
- suv — “to have sexual relations”
- corey”– “the male sexual organ”
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L’Aroma NNHS Student Photography Exhibit
Newton North High School Student photography exhibition and reception
Photography by Lee Guekguezian, a senior at Newton North High School, is on display during the month of January at L’Aroma Café, 15 Spencer St., West Newton.
A free, public reception will be held this Sunday, Jan. 26, from 3 to 5 p.m.
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Auburndale Cove skating Open today for first time! FREE Ice Skating!
My neighbor Maxine alerted me that Auburndale Cove skating is open today for first time!
She says, “No better winter activity than outdoor skating at the cove on natural ice! It has rarely been open in recent years, but this Polar Express freeze brings this benefit!”
Update for today, Jan 25th, from Maxine, “We are just back and ice surface is crunchy and can be dangerous for falls. (I took a nice dive!). They say they will plane ice surface Sunday morning and should be better.”
Auburndale Cove
West Pine Street
Auburndale, MA 02466
Map from Paddle Boston
Image from Endless Knots
Operational Hours:
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday 3:00 – 9:00 PM
Tuesday 2:00 – 9:00 PM
Saturday, Sunday, Holidays & Vacations 10:00 AM – 9:00 PMThe following standards are used in determining sufficient ice thickness for skating:
6” Black Ice – Black Ice is formed by the freezing of water without a snowcap on it; thus creating a non-porous ice that is strong in consistency.
9” Snow Ice – Snow Ice is formed when a snow covers, over a thin layer of black ice melts and re-freezes to form a white porous ice.Skating Hotline: 617-796-1536
When is ice safe?
There really is no sure answer. You can’t judge the strength of ice just by its appearance, age, thickness, temperature, or whether or not the ice is covered with snow. Strength is based on all these factors — plus the depth of water under the ice, size of the water body, water chemistry and currents, the distribution of the load on the ice, and local climatic conditions.There is no such thing as 100 percent safe ice.
Some cold facts about ice:
- New ice is usually stronger than old ice. Four inches of clear, newly formed ice may support one person on foot, while a foot or more of old, partially thawed ice may not.
- Ice seldom freezes uniformly. It may be a foot thick in one location and only an inch or two just a few feet away.
- Ice formed over flowing water and currents is often dangerous. This is especially true near streams, bridges and culverts. Also, the ice on outside river bends is usually weaker due to the undermining effects of the faster current.
- The insulating effect of snow slows down the freezing process. The extra weight also reduces how much weight the ice sheet can support. Also, ice near shore can be weaker than ice that is farther out.
- Booming and cracking ice isn’t necessarily dangerous. It only means that the ice is expanding and contracting as the temperature changes.
- Schools of fish or flocks of waterfowl can also adversely affect the relative safety of ice. The movement of fish can bring warm water up from the bottom of the lake. In the past, this has opened holes in the ice causing snowmobiles and cars to break through.
Note that there are no ice skate rentals.
Other free outdoor ice skating rinks in Newton:
Newton Centre: Check their Facebook page for when it opens.
Newton Highlands
Other places to ice skate:
Daly Rink in Brighton
Reilly Rink in Brookline Cleveland Circle
Veterans Memorial Rink Waltham
Larz Anderson Park in Brookline
Lessons at Fessenden School
Babson College Ice Skating Lessons
Cheryl Franks Creative Skating Academy at BB&N
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ReelAbilities Film Festival is coming to Boston
The ReelAbilities Film Festival is coming to Boston January 30-February 6, with three screenings in Newton! In fact, ReelAbilities Boston, and our host festival, the Boston Jewish Film Festival have our offices in Newton as well, as do some of our community partners (including Understanding Our Differences and Waypoint Adventure) and the founding partner of ReelAbilities Boston, the Ruderman Family Foundation.
ReelAbilities is the nation’s largest disabilities film festival: it promotes awareness and appreciation of the lives, stories, and artistic expressions of people with disabilities. Yet the films might not be what you’d expect: a feature film at the West Newton Cinema on February 3, Come As You Are, is based on a true story of three young men with disabilities who go on a road trip from Belgium to Spain on a quest to lose their virginity. More family-friendly fare is offered on Closing Night, February 6, at West Newton Cinema, with our Shorts Program: Reel Encounters. We’re screening seven short films that will engage, challenge, and amuse audiences. Our host partner for the evening is Understanding Our Differences, who posted the following on their website:
“Join Understanding Our Differences for the closing night of Reelabilities: the 3rd Annual Boston Disabilities Film Festival. On Thurs. Feb. 6th we are co-hosting with the Festival a program of short films at West Newton Cinema at 7 pm. The film topics parallel many of the UOD units. Also screening is a new short film, and the director and actor (with an intellectual disability) will attend the reception after the film screenings. UOD will have information and activity tables at the reception as well. Save the date and plan to join us! Children ages 13 and above are welcome to attend.”
Tickets for Come As You Are and the Shorts Program: Reel Encounters are available online or at the West Newton Cinema box office.
Also, on February 5 at the Leventhal Sidman Jewish Community Center, the film Anita will be screening. It is free of charge; pre-registration is requested at bostonjcc.org/reelabilities
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Newton Youth Summit III with Kevin Breel
Newton Youth Summit III Rescheduled
Youth Summit III is rescheduled for March 26th due to unforseen events with featured speaker Kevin Breel. We are sorry to have to reschedule, but are looking forward to featuring Kevin at the summit in March, which will be held from
6 to 9 p.m.Thank you to everyone who was planning to attend on Feb. 5th and we hope you will be able to reschedule and join us in March. Looking forward to making the event even bigger and better!
Mayor Setti Warren invites teens and adults to attend Youth Summit III focusing on Youth and Adult Communication, Difficult Conversations and Solutions from Youth Summits I and II. Since October 2012, Mayor Warren has hosted 2 annual Youth Summits bringing teens, family, and community together to mastermind challenges faced by Newton teens. Maintaining the momentum, the upcoming 3rd Summit promises to be a opportunity to further focus on solutions gathered in Youth Summit II.
Wednesday, February 5th from 6 to 9pm at Brown Middle School
125 Meadowbrook Rd, Newton, MA 02459
Teens and Adults Welcome!
Being a teen has never been easy. None the less, teens in 2014 face challenges that are prevalent, pervasive, and complex. The upcoming Newton Youth Summit III is sure to be a catalyst for change. Teens have been working with leadership to plan this event with featured speaker, Kevin Breel, who is most recently known for his TEDx talk, “Confessions of a Depressed Comic”.
As a teenager, Kevin Breel almost took his own life. His story, so powerfully told in his viral TEDxYouth Talk, gives voice to an often silent struggle and offers a message of hope.
As Jack Knox writes in the Times Colonist :
His story, abbreviated, is this: He grew up in Cadboro Bay, a popular kid, fun at parties, English and drama awards, always on the honour roll, captain of the Lambrick Park basketball team when it was ranked No. 1 in the province. Under it all was the other him, the kid who plunged into depression at age 13 when his best friend died in a car crash.
Breel now speaks out about his own depression, with a mission of helping kids his age realize they’re not alone.
“If someone in your life suffers from depression, you need to watch this video. If you don’t think anyone in your life suffers from depression, you need to watch this video — because you may not realize it if they do.”
To learn more about the featured guest speaker, Kevin Breel, visit www.kevinbreel.com
Need more information? Call 617-796-1436 or email youthsummit@newtonma.gov or visit www.newtonma.gov/youth
