The Hometown Weekly for all your latest local news and updates! Over 27 Years of Delivering Your Hometown News!  

Monthly Archives: February 2019

Hanlon School celebrates creativity

Hanlon School celebrates creativity
Sometimes a squiggly line is more than a squiggly line; sometimes it can be whatever you want it to be. That’s the lesson students at the Hanlon Elementary School learned during a recent event led by Hanlon first-graders in celebration of International Creativity Month. Inspired by the Antoinette Portis book, “Not A Box,” the “Celebrating Creativity” project...
Read more

BrookWood gymnastics optimistic after season

BrookWood gymnastics optimistic after season
[ccfic caption-text format="plaintext"]
By Doug Hyde Hometown Weekly Correspondent No, it isn’t a typo. BrookWood is the short name for the combined high school gymnastics team from Brookline and Westwood. For the last three years, this co-op team has brought together high school gymnasts from both towns, giving more competitive opportunities and experience to these young athletes. This season,...
Read more

Westwood hockey tournament bound, set state record

Westwood hockey tournament bound, set state record
[ccfic caption-text format="plaintext"]
By Michael Flanagan Hometown Weekly Sports Editor There have been a lot of good high school hockey programs over the years in the state of Massachusetts. Catholic Conference powers like Catholic Memorial, BC High, Malden Catholic, public programs such as Burlington, Reading, and other Western Mass purebreds like Springfield Cathedral have all held decades of...
Read more

Ken Batts’ piano wows Wellesley diners

Ken Batts’ piano wows Wellesley diners
[ccfic caption-text format="plaintext"]
By James Kinneen Hometown Weekly Reporter On Wednesday afternoon, Wellesley’s seniors were treated to chicken sandwiches, vegetable soup, a blueberry muffin and Ken Batts’ version of The Great American songbook on the piano. You wouldn’t know it, but Batts only started playing the piano seven years ago after first playing the guitar. Now, he teaches adults...
Read more

Islington Branch knitters spread warmth

Islington Branch knitters spread warmth
[ccfic caption-text format="plaintext"]
Knitters at the Islington Branch Library are giving back. Mary Campion hatched the idea for members of the library's Sit and Knit group, which meets weekly, to create a "peace blanket" for donation. Everyone would knit a square, which would then be combined to form a larger quilt. With help from members of the...
Read more

Chamber Players ready March 10 concert

Chamber Players ready March 10 concert
[ccfic caption-text format="plaintext"]
The Wellesley Chamber Players are very much excited to welcome their newest members, Tanja Roos and Brannon Cho, for an upcoming concert on Sunday, March 10, at 3 p.m., in Beveridge Hall, Dana Hall School, Wellesley. Tanja Roos is a violinist from London, the fourth generation of a musical family. She has studied...
Read more

Fells Branch teaches kids about five senses

Fells Branch teaches kids about five senses
[ccfic caption-text format="plaintext"]
By Alex Oliveira Hometown Weekly Reporter On Thursday, January 31, the Fells Branch Library held its fourth session in a five-part program teaching kids about their five senses. Over the course of an hour, Special Programs Director Michele Maram led a group of tumbling toddlers between the ages of 3-5 in a session that explored...
Read more

WHS gymnasts finish second in BSC

WHS gymnasts finish second in BSC
This season’s Wellesley High School gymnastics team put together the program’s strongest record in the past four years, finishing the season with a record of 6-2. The highest score of the regular season came on January 24 against Needham. Wellesley finished the meet with a 135.7 over Needham’s 131.9. The team was led by senior...
Read more

Computational thinking workshops on tap

By Rama K. Ramaswamy Leading up to this year's Wellesley STEM Expo 2019, the Wellesley Education Foundation (WEF) and its Expo planning team have launched a brand new initiative: Computational Thinking Workshops. These days, parents and students alike are noticing an increasing overlap between STEM and other disciplines. Qualities such as on-the-spot adaptability, algorithm assembly, and...
Read more

Lisa Rogers running Marathon for WOW

By Rama K. Ramaswamy Lisa Rogers has been at the John D. Hardy Elementary School since 1999 and a library teacher there since 2001. Rogers holds a B.A. in English Literature from The College of William and Mary in Virginia, an M.A. in English Literature from Boston College, and an M.L.S. in Library and Information Science...
Read more

Hocus Pocus Dinner coming to WCC

The Society of American Magicians is returning to the Wellesley Community Center (WCC) for its annual Hocus Pocus Dinner on Sunday, March 3. The Hocus Pocus event is open to the public. Walk-around magic begins at 4:00 p.m., dinner begins at 5:00 p.m., and the magic show begins at 6:15 p.m. This year, Ryan Lally will be...
Read more

Film critic Burr discusses Oscars

Film critic Burr discusses Oscars
[ccfic caption-text format="plaintext"]
By Alex Oliveira Hometown Weekly Reporter [caption id="attachment_31628" align="alignright" width="300"]Boston Globe film critic Ty Burr spoke to a full house last Monday evening at the Walpole Library. Boston Globe film critic Ty Burr spoke to a full house last Monday evening at the Walpole Library.[/caption] On the...
Read more

GOFI to graduate service dogs

GOFI to graduate service dogs
On March 10 from 2-4 p.m., service dogs from Golden Opportunities for Independence (GOFI) will graduate at Walpole High School. These dogs have been in training for 18 months and thousands of hours of dedication by their human partners, trainers, volunteers and staff of Golden Opportunities for Independence. gofi-graduation Read more

Rebel wrestlers show fight in Weymouth

Rebel wrestlers show fight in Weymouth
[ccfic caption-text format="plaintext"]
By James Kinneen Hometown Weekly Reporter [caption id="attachment_31612" align="alignright" width="300"]Senior Night had the Weymouth fans coming out in droves. Senior Night had the Weymouth fans coming out in droves.[/caption] Walpole’s last dual meet of the year came against Weymouth on Wednesday night. Unfortunately for the Rebels, this particular...
Read more

Griffin lifts Huskies to sixth Beanpot title

Griffin lifts Huskies to sixth Beanpot title
[ccfic caption-text format="plaintext"]
By Michael Flanagan Hometown Weekly Sports Editor Last season, Northeastern broke their 30-year Beanpot drought with a 5-2 victory over Boston University to claim the school’s fifth-ever tournament title. On Monday night, the defending champ and No. 13-ranked Huskies took to the TD Garden ice to defend their crown against rival Boston College. Leading the...
Read more

Needham native releases debut solo album

Needham native releases debut solo album
By Alex Oliveira Hometown Weekly Reporter A young jazz musician from Needham, James Fernando, has just released a piano and electronic based album, titled “The Lonely Sailor.” Raised largely in Needham and a 2014 graduate Needham High School and Berklee College of Music, Fernando now plays professional piano out of Washington, D.C. Fernando has previously released a collaborative...
Read more

Wamps halt Rockets eight-game streak

Wamps halt Rockets eight-game streak
[ccfic caption-text format="plaintext"]
By Michael Flanagan Hometown Weekly Sports Editor [caption id="attachment_31593" align="alignright" width="300"]Sophomore guard Kiki McIntyre (2) fights through a double team and puts up a jump shot. Sophomore guard Kiki McIntyre (2) fights through a double team and puts up a jump shot. [/caption] Entering Friday night,...
Read more

Needham students win art awards

Needham’s regional award recipients for the prestigious Boston Globe Scholastic Art and Writing Awards for 2019 have been announced. ​This program, sponsored by the Boston Globe and ​The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts (SMFA),​ introduces Massachusetts communities to a new generation of young artists.​ Competing against thousands of other young Massachusetts...
Read more

Needham rally spoils Braintree’s senior night

Needham rally spoils Braintree’s senior night
[ccfic caption-text format="plaintext"]
By James Kinneen Hometown Weekly Reporter [caption id="attachment_31584" align="alignright" width="300"]Needham shows some of the toughness that was the key to the second half. Photos by James Kinneen Needham shows some of the toughness that was the key to the second half. Photos by James...
Read more

Leigh Montville entertains with career stories

Leigh Montville entertains with career stories
[ccfic caption-text format="plaintext"]
By James Kinneen Hometown Weekly Reporter If you enjoyed watching any of Tom Brady’s six Super Bowl championships, you have Leigh Montville to thank for it. Well, sort of. Fresh off the heels of the Patriots’ championship over the LA Rams, longtime Boston Globe and Sports Illustrated sportswriter Leigh Montville spoke to a crowded room...
Read more