You’re invited to an eclectic evening celebrating Women’s History Month. Enjoy a Renaissance comedy play co-written and performed by Chiara Durazzini, a short film from Bosnia-Herzegovina directed by Sanja Zdjelar, and Israeli artisanal pastries from Galit’s Treats! Laugh, cry, and break some bread (and pastries) together!
Free Admission and Free Refreshments! Everyone is welcome (not recommended for younger than 6 years).
March 25th, 5:00 pm
Newton City Hall, War Memorial Auditorium
If you are ready for winter to be over, start dusting off those running (or walking) shoes! The 26th annual Heartbreak Hill Road Race and Family Walk is a perfect way to shake off some of that cabin fever! Just one mile, up and down famed Heartbreak Hill! Every runner receives an official digital-clock time, a race medallion, goody bag and a free ticket to the pre-race pasta party at Newton City Hall on Saturday, April 14th.
The 1st, 2nd & 3rd place runners in each category win a trophy! The first 500 registrations receive a free t-shirt. There are free activities for kids organized by the Lasell College Special Events students.
Not a runner? Everyone can walk the course at 11:30. Registration is easy at www.newtoncommunitypride.org $10.00 child/$12.00 adult.
April 15th, Newton City Hall
Try the Y!
The Y is free and open to all on Mondays throughout March. Just stop by 276 Church
Street with a valid ID, and they’ll waive the regular guest fees.
Registration for Late Spring Programs
Registration for Late Spring Programs opens March 26th for Y members and April 2nd for the community. Programs begin the week of April 23rd. Some highlights include:
Visit wsymca.org to register online or stop by the Y’s Welcome Center at 276 Church Street, Newton.
School Holiday Programs on March 30th
The West Suburban YMCA is offering full day and half day program options on Good Friday.
Blue Waves Swim Try Outs
The Blue Waves Swim Team at the West Suburban YMCA is a nationally ranked competitive swim team for ages 6-17. All new swimmers looking to join the Blue Waves Swim Team for the Spring/Summer Long Course Season are required to try out. Try outs will be held April 3rd – 5th and swimmers must pre-register for a try out slot ($5 for members / $10 for non-members). Try out registration is available online at wsymca.org or by calling 617-244-6050 x3086.
Prospective families are invited to an Open House at a Sunday morning Jewish learning community. Join at 9:30 for z’man rishon, where everyone comes together for a weekly assembly. When the students go to class, there will be time to meet with the school director and hear about the outline of the program. After that, a parent volunteer will take you on a tour of the school so you can see the learning in action. Childcare will be provided upon request.
To sign up to participate, please contact our Director of Congregational Learning, Rabbi Shahar Colt – dcl@dorsheitzedek.org. For more information on the West Newton congregation, please visit https://dorsheitzedek.org/
April 29th, 9:30 – 11:30 am
Jewish Community Day School, 57 Stanley Avenue, Watertown
Join the Newton Food Pantry team participating in the Ride for Food! On September 23rd, their first ever team will be participating in this annual ride that supports food pantries, community farms and food rescue organizations and they need your help.
Why ride?
The NFP numbers demonstrate the need. They serve over 750 Newton residents each month and that number has been rising. There has been a 16% rise in the average number of households served in 2017.
Total Bags Distributed in 2017 = 16,381 (37% increase). $10,000+ matters. As an independent fully volunteer-run organization, every chance to raise significant amounts of money matters. Expand our community. Develop new friendships and deepen your own commitment to this effort to respond to food insecurity in our city.
How can you help?
How do you sign up?
Sign up by contacting Lisa Tieszen at latieszen@gmail.com or 617-875-9047.
Free Psychological First Aid training. Psychological First Aid has long been established as the gold standard of disaster responses. Created by a global team of experts, it is the only intervention endorsed by both the World Health Organization & the U.S. government for use in the aftermath of traumatic events.
The goal of this comprehensive two-day training is to prepare participants to deliver basic behavioral health disaster response skills following large-scale disasters or critical incidents, such as homicides, suicides, accidental deaths, & similarly distressing events.
This program is free & open to all. Nursing CEUs available. Registration is required. To sign up, go to region4bvolunteer.org and register as ‘guest’. For more information, view this flyer.
March 13th and 14th, 5:00 – 9:00 pm
345 Walnut Street, Newton
Sign up now for the spring SAT College Prep classes:
SAT Math Review – 5 Mondays, March 19th – April 23rd, 6:30-8:30 pm at Newton North
SAT Verbal Review – 5 Wednesdays, March 21st – April 25th, 6:30-8:30 pm at Newton North
SAT 2 Chemistry Review – 4 Tuesdays, May 1st – 22nd, 7:00 – 9:00 pm at Newton North
SAT 2 Biology Review – 4 Wednesdays, May 2nd – 23rd, 7:00 – 9:00 pm at Newton South
NCE is also offering the following college related programs for parents:
De-Stress the College Funding Process – April 10th, 7:30 – 9:00 pm at Newton South
You Can Afford College If… – April 25th at Newton South, 6:30 – 8:30 pm.
Navigating the Student-Athlete College Search and Recruiting Process – (2 session program) May 1st & 3rd, 7:00 – 9:00 pm at Newton North. Parents and students welcome.
For more information about these programs, or to register, visit newtoncommuityed.org or call 617-559-6999.
Save the date! Spread the word!
PorchFest is coming to Newton. On June 2nd, Auburndale (for now*) is throwing open its porches (driveways and yards) for an afternoon of FREE music between noon and 4:00 pm.
Information about the event, sign-ups for porch owners to host (Auburndale only!), and musicians (all sorts, any variety, from anywhere and everywhere) to play on porches, is now available at https://newton.porchfest.info/. Deadline for sign-ups is April 1st.
*the Newton PorchFest Steering Committee hopes to make PorchFest an annual citywide event beginning next year.
Newton Youth Players is a children’s theatre company at the Newton Cultural Center at City Hall, for elementary school children who love to sing, dance, act, and construct scenery. Each summer, fall, winter and spring season they produce adaptations of popular Broadway musicals that the whole family will enjoy. Registration and information at www.newtonyouthplayers.com
There are just two spaces left for “Bye Bye, Birdie” Mondays, March 19th – June 11th, 6:30 – 8:00 pm. The popular musical comedy that tells the story of a rock ‘n roll singer and the fans who love him. The memorable score includes The Telephone Hour, Put On a Happy Face, and Kids.
There is still a chance to sign up for “Hello Dolly” on Wednesdays, September 5th – December 5th, 2018. With rehearsals from 4:00 – 5:30pm. An all-time Broadway favorite, this show is the story of matchmaker Dolly Levi and her wooing of grumpy Horace Vandergelder. The setting is turn-of-the-century New York City, with its shops, famous restaurants, and plenty of young New Yorkers enjoying the scene. Popular musical numbers include Put On Your Sunday Clothes, Before the Parade Passes By, It Only Takes a Moment, and Hello Dolly.
Registration is now open for all casts of “South Pacific”, January 2nd – March 20th, 2019. Set in the South Pacific during World War II, sailors and nurses pass the time while they wait to be shipped out. This classic American musical tells the story of Nellie Forbush, Emile de Becque, Joe Cable and Liat as they sort out their cultural differences. Comic relief is provided by zany Luther Billis and Bloody Mary, two island eccentrics. Popular songs include Some Enchanted Evening, I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair, Younger than Springtime, and Happy Talk.
The main agenda item for the next CPC meeting is a PUBLIC HEARING on proposed revisions to the funding guidelines in Newton’s Community Preservation Plan, including:
The proposed revisions have been online since November 2017 from the program’s home web page, www.newtonma.gov/cpa, and from its Guidelines & Forms page. If you wish to comment on these guidelines but cannot attend the hearing, please contact Alice Ingerson at aingerson@newtonma.gov or 617.796.1144.
March 13th, 7:00 pm
City Hall Room 211