Special Event:  Explore Watertown's East End/Coolidge Square Shopping Area

Sponsored by:
Live Well Watertown
Watertown Recreation Department

Joined by:
The Historical Society of Watertown

Thursday, August 18, 2016
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Uncommon Grounds
575 Mount Auburn Street
Watertown, MA 02472

Join co-facilitiators Audrey Jones Childs and Ilana Hardesty in front of Uncommon Grounds to learn about the history of the Coolidge Square shopping area.  Proceed on a culinary/culture tour of Coolidge Square that will end at The Apartments at Coolidge School Auditorium with a presentation featuring the history of Watertown's East End and samples from area markets and eateries.

Ms. Jones is Vice President of the Historical Society of Watertown, a 3rd generation East End resident and a frequent lecturer on the history of Watertown.

Ms. Hardesty has taught healthy cooking programs in Greater Boston for many years and is now enrolled as a student in the Gastronomy Program at Boston University.  In her first course, the Anthropology of Food, she was able to combine her food interests with her love of Watertown, where she has lived for almost 20 years, focusing on the history of Armenian settlement and foodways.

This event is partially funded by The Marshall Home Fund.

This program is free, but registration is required.  RSVP by August 10th to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  Please note: parking will NOT be available in the Uncommon Grounds lot.

Treaty Day: a Commemoration of the Declaration of Independence and Treaty of Watertown

Saturday, July 16, 2016
10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Edmund Fowle House
28 Marshall Street
Watertown, MA 02472

This annual event marks the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence to the citizens of our new nation in Watertown on July 18, 1776.  The signing of the first treaty negotiated by our new nation with a foreign power, namely the St. John's (aka Maliseet) and Mi'kmaq Tribes of Nova Scotia, at the Edmund Fowle House on July 19, 1776, will also be celebrated.

The Nugumij (Grandmother) Drum from the United Native American Cultural Center in Devens, MA, will be present and drummers and singers will perform several songs to mark the occasion.  Center members and guests, dressed in their native regalia, and colonial reenactors will be present to share their stories.

The Edmund Fowle House will be open for free tours.  Visitors will also be able to view two ongoing exhibits: Watertown and the Civil War and A Mi'Kmaw Woman's Award Winning Legacy.

A basket for donations of non-perishable food items to the Watertown Food Pantry will be available.

This event is partially funded by the Watertown Community Foundation.

This program is free and open to the public.
For more information, call Audrey Jones Childs at 617-926-2577.

Special Public Program

A presentation on The Community Preservation Act (CPA)

Sponsored by:
The Watertown Free Public Library
Invest in Watertown

Joined by:
The Community Preservation Coalition

Wednesday, June 1, 2016
7:00 PM
Watertown Savings Bank Meeting Room
Watertown Free Public Library
123 Main Street
Watertown, MA 02472

The Community Preservation Act is a law that was passed in 2000 that allows the residents of a city or town to adopt a small surcharge on their real estate tax bills to create a fund that can only be used for special community investment purposes.  Funds generated by the CPA can only be used as follows:

• Open space and outdoor recreation (e.g., restoration of Walker Pond, creation of a new soccer field, improvements to the Charles River Path, dog parks, playgrounds)
• Affordable housing (e.g., rehabilitation and new construction of homes that help senior citizens and young families stay in Watertown)
• Historic preservation (e.g., renovation of a branch library, archiving of historic photos and documents, preservation of historic gravestones, monuments and buildings)

In Watertown, the CPA would raise approximately $1.7 million each year and make the town eligible for partial matching funds from the state.  Join us for an in-depth discussion of the Community Preservation Act, learn how neighboring towns have used their CPA funds and discover what Watertown could do with its funds if voters choose to adopt the CPA this November.

This program is free and open to the public.
For more information, call Joyce 781-899-7239.

Annual Members Meeting with Election of Board Members and May Public Program

Spies, Patriots, and Traitors: American Intelligence in the Revolutionary War
A presentation by author Kenneth A. Daigler

Wednesday, May 4, 2016
7:00 PM Annual Members Meeting
7:15 PM May Public Program
Watertown Savings Bank Meeting Room
Watertown Free Public Library
123 Main Street
Watertown, MA 02472

Students and enthusiasts of American history are familiar with the Revolutionary War spies Nathan Hale and Benedict Arnold, but few studies have closely examined the wider intelligence efforts that enabled the colonies to gain their independence.  Kenneth A. Dagiler will discuss his new book, Spies, Patriots, and Traitors, which provides readers with a fascinating and well-documented account of American intelligence activities during the era of the Revolutionary War, from 1765 to 1783, while describing the intelligence sources and methods used and the way in which our Founding Fathers learned and practiced their intelligence role.

Kenneth A. Daigler is a retired career CIA operations officer.  He earned a BA in history from Centre College of Kentucky and an MA in history from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and served in the U.S. Marine Corps.  He has written articles about intelligence for the CIA Historical Division's journal, Studies in Intelligence, the Association of Former Intelligence Officers' Intelligencer and other publications.  Spies, Patriots, and Traitors is available for purchase from Amazon.com.

This meeting and program are free and open to the public.
For more information, call Joyce at 781-899-7239.