Author Archives: Bigelow PTO

HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY, NEWTON CPA!

A Neighborhood Birthday Party for
Nonantum, Newton Corner, & Newtonville (Wards 1 & 2)
Tuesday, November 15th at Newton North High School

Come to a birthday party for Nonantum, Newton Corner & Newtonville: Tuesday, November 15, 2011, from 7 to 9 pm in the Newton North High School Film Lecture Hall (enter from front lobby). Refreshments provided! Meet the Community Preservation Committee, find out how Newton has used the Community Preservation Act to fund affordable housing, historic resources, open space and recreation projects, and share your ideas about what should be funded next. Bring photos of past or potential projects for our interactive maps. Questions? See www.newtonma.gov/cpa or contact Alice Ingerson at 617.796.1144 or aingerson@newtonma.gov.

Become a Newton School Volunteer

Help a Newton elementary school student learn basic mathematics concepts.  Adult volunteers are needed to tutors students in grades 2-5.

  • Tutor  a child once a week for 30-45 minutes.
  • No teaching experience is needed.
  • Tutors select their preferred school, grade, day, and time.
  • Play special math games that reinforce skills and help students gain confidence.
  • Training, Everyday Math books and learning materials, and ongoing support are provided.

For more information, please contact Ellen Bender @ 617.559.6131 or ellen_bender@newton.k12.ma.us

Bake Sale – November 8th – We Need Your Help

Bake Sale

Help the PTO raise money the old fashioned way, a community bake sale.  Tuesday, November 8th is Election Day and we are planning a bake sale.  We would love to have a nice selection of home-made items to sell.  Banana Bread, Muffins, Cookies, Brownies and Candies.  We would love a few volunteers to help sell during the day (starting at 7 am until we run out of items).  Please email Alicia Bowman @ alicia.bowman@comcast.net to let us know what you can bring or if you would like to volunteer.

Come to the TURKEY BOWL – November 10th

The Turkey Bowl football game is fast approaching.
If it is chilly, bring your hats and gloves and come support your Bigelow team on
Thursday, November 10th at Burr Park Field after school.
Delicious baked goods, snacks and drinks will be available to buy so students of all grades, bring your allowance!
Bake sale donations, contact: Liri Kaler at lirikaler@comcast.net
Proceeds go towards 8th Grade Graduation expenses.
Can’t wait to see you there!

Thanks for a Great Soup Stroll!

I would like to thank everyone who participated in this year’s soup stroll! It was a fabulous evening and an enormous success. The money raised will go towards our creative arts and sciences programs as well as technology. A big thank you to the hosts who generously volunteered their homes and who took great care and time to prepare special meals.  Thanks to all of you who participated – for your generous donations and for your terrific community spirit.  As much as the Soup Stroll is a fundraiser, it is a wonderful opportunity for families to connect, meet one another and form new friendships. Continue reading →

Halloween Fair at the Newton Community Service Center (NCSC)

The annual Halloween Fair at the Newton Community Service Center (NCSC) is a fun-filled celebration geared toward the younger set (ages 0-10). Join us in celebrating Halloween in a wholesome, non-scary way, and help raise funds for the early child care programs at NCSC.

Kids can wear their Halloween costumes and decorate pumpkins, apples, cookies and try face painting, mask making, goodie bag decorating, and nail painting. The fair also features the annual Halloween Maze – beloved by small and large children.

NCSC Halloween Fair
Saturday, October 29th
10 a.m. – 1 p.m.

For more information, call 617-969-5906.

The fair takes place in the auditorium at Newton Community Service Center (NCSC), 492 Waltham Street, Newton, MA 02465

Sign Up & Save… and Earn Money for the Bigelow PTO

Attention Bigelow Parents!  mom.com is a new daily deal site coming to the Newton area.  They offer fabulous deals on things families like to do, buy, and eat in your immediate area.  

Sign up for mom.com and support the Bigelow School.  mom.com will donate $2 for every parent who signs up to receive local family-friendly deals. 

Click here to sign up – it’s free!

www.mom.com/p/bow-email-newton-bigelowmiddleschool-101911

Historic Newton Events for late October through November 2011

  • Sunday, October 23, 1:00 PM – DIGGING FOR EVIDENCE: AN ARCHAEOLOGY FAMILY PROGRAM
  • Thursday, October 27, 7:30 PM – UNEARTHING A PIECE OF NEWTON’S PAST: ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE DURANT-KENRICK HOUSE AND GROUNDS
  • Saturday, November 5, 9:00 AM-noon – BURYING GROUNDS CLEAN-UP
  • Saturday and Sunday, November 5 and 6, noon–5:00 PM – NEWTON COMMUNITY WEEKEND
  • Monday, November 7, 7:00 PM – NEWTON’S REVOLUTIONARY ROOTS – THE NEWTON HISTORY SERIES
  • Thursday, November 10, 7:30 PM – HISTORIC NEWTON BOOK CLUB
  • Friday, November 11 – MUSEUM CLOSED FOR THE HOLIDAY
  • Thursday, November 17, 7:30 PM – FREEDOM AND STATES’ RIGHTS: CONFLICTING VISIONS OF THE CIVIL WAR IN THE NORTH AND SOUTH
  • Saturday, November 19, 1:00–4:00 PM – IS “GREEN” A HISTORIC PAINT COLOR?
  • Wednesday, November 30, 6:30 PM – FOURTH ANNUAL NEWTON PRESERVATION AWARDS

LATE OCTOBER

Sunday, October 23, 1:00 PM
DIGGING FOR EVIDENCE: AN ARCHAEOLOGY FAMILY PROGRAM
Learn the basic methods of archaeology by taking part in a mock dig in the backyard of the Jackson Homestead. Bring the whole family to see what archaeology can teach us about the Native American people who flourished in this area before European settlement. This program is appropriate for families with children ages 8 and up.  Cost: $20 per family ($15 for members) includes museum admission and materials. Prepaid registration is required, limit 25; call 617.796.1450 to register.

Thursday, October 27, 7:30 PM
UNEARTHING A PIECE OF NEWTON’S PAST: ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE DURANT-KENRICK HOUSE AND GROUNDS
Based on the findings from the summer 2011 excavation at the 1734 Durant-Kenrick House and Grounds by archaeologists from UMass Boston, this illustrated talk will explain what stories the archaeology around colonial houses can tell us.  Archaeologist Christa Beranek will describe the results of the excavations at this house, including the newly discovered dairy, and the light they shed on the lives of the Kenrick and Durant families.  Free.

NOVEMBER

Saturday, November 5, 9:00 AM-noon
BURYING GROUNDS CLEAN-UP
It’s time for our late-fall cleanup of one of Newton’s most historic spaces—the East Parish Burying Ground.  Help tidy up the premises and see the results of our now-completed headstone restoration.  Please bring gloves and rakes if you have them!  Meet at the corner of Centre and Cotton Streets.  Free.

Saturday and Sunday, November 5 and 6, noon–5:00 PM
NEWTON COMMUNITY WEEKEND
Newton residents are invited to enjoy free admission to the museum.

Monday, November 7, 7:00 PM
NEWTON’S REVOLUTIONARY ROOTS – THE NEWTON HISTORY SERIES
Edward Durant, Leading Citizen
Independent scholar Mary Fuhrer will discuss Edward Durant´s role as a leader-socially and civically-in late colonial Newton. Edward Durant was a leading citizen in many senses. Among the town´s largest landowners, Durant was a man of means, setting standards of learning, refinement, and style. His townsmen looked to him for leadership, and never more so than when they believed their cherished rights to self-determination were under attack in the decade before 1776.  At the Newton Free Library, 330 Homer Street.  Free.

Thursday, November 10, 7:30 PM
HISTORIC NEWTON BOOK CLUB
The next selection of Historic Newton’s book club is Mrs. Adams in Winter by Michael O’Brien. The book tells the riveting story of Louisa Adams, wife of John Quincy Adams, and her harrowing 40 day journey from St. Petersburg to Paris in the winter of 1815.  Travelling nearly alone, in the footsteps of Napoleon’s retreating army, she and her son crossed war-torn Europe to meet her husband in Paris.  O’Brien deals deftly with geographic and historical details and offers a peek into the family relationships of this prominent family.  The book club is free and new members are always welcome.

Friday, November 11
MUSEUM CLOSED FOR THE HOLIDAY

Thursday, November 17, 7:30 PM
FREEDOM AND STATES’ RIGHTS: CONFLICTING VISIONS OF THE CIVIL WAR IN THE NORTH AND SOUTH
At the outset of the Civil War, the Confederacy was consumed by the issue of preserving slavery, while the Union was profoundly ambivalent about emancipation. James DeWolf Perry, executive director of the Tracing Center on Histories and Legacies of Slavery, will explore the historical background which gave rise to these conflicting perspectives on the war. He will also discuss how the war eventually came to be seen, in the South, as a defense of states’ rights and the southern way of life and, for the rest of the nation, as a righteous struggle to abolish slavery. Free.

Saturday, November 19, 1:00–4:00 PM
IS “GREEN” A HISTORIC PAINT COLOR?
Thinking about painting your historic home?  Come to this hands-on workshop that will combine information about getting paint to stick to older homes and how to paint with historic colors while at the same time using “green” products.  Nigel Costolloe of Catchlight Painting and Sally Zimmerman of Historic New England will lead the workshop and answer questions.  Co-sponsored by Green Decade/Newton.  $30 per person ($15 per Green Decade or Historic Newton members).  To register, contact Green Decade at 617.965.1995 or visit www.greendecade.org.

Wednesday, November 30, 6:30 PM
FOURTH ANNUAL NEWTON PRESERVATION AWARDS
You are invited to attend the Fourth Annual Newton Preservation Awards! Help us celebrate individuals and projects that have chosen preservation as a sustainable reinvestment in the Newton community.  To attend this event, please RSVP to 617-796-1450 or historicnewtonrsvp@gmail.com by November 1.  Light refreshments to be served.  Event will be held at Boston College Alumni House, 825 Centre Street.  Free.

Catch the Spirit of Newtonville!

Catch the Spirit of Newtonville!
Saturday, October 29th, 10:00 a.m to 3:00 p.m.

Newtonville celebrates Autumn and Halloween with free music, art, entertainment, face painting and tasty treats for kids and adults.  Watch windows being painted as part of the annual Halloween Window Painting Contest.  Visit Newtonville stores on Walnut Street and Washington Street for treats and special discounts.  Collect 13 Spooky Stamps to be entered into free raffle for items donated by Newtonville businesses.  Some of the many items generously donated:  gift basket from Starbucks, makeup palette from Co Bella Salon, pizza from Newtonville Pizza and gift certificates from the New Art Center, Great Harvest, Newtonville Books, and many more. Come catch the Spirit of Newtonville and have a spooktacular time!