Needham gymnast wins gold abroad
Katie King sworn in as new Town Manager
Photo courtesy Town of Needham website
After longtime Town Manager Kate Fitzpatrick retired last week, Katie King was officially sworn in as the Town of Needham’s new Town Manager. She is only the second person to hold the role in the town’s history. Having served as Deputy Town Manager for the past five years, King has seamlessly...Schlittler Shines in Yankees debut
Walpole’s Cam Schlittler during his debut outing, pitching for the New York Yankees. photo courtesy of totalapexsports.com
Cam Schlittler has always been known for bringing the heat. But on Tuesday night, under the bright lights of Yankee Stadium, the Walpole native and son of longtime Needham Police Chief John Schlittler turned up the flame—and the whole...Needham proclaims June 2025 as Pride Month
By Julia Beauregard
Hometown Weekly Editor
On Tuesday, May, 27, 2025 the Town Select Board adopted a proclamation to declare June 2025 as Pride Month in the town of Needham. According to the proclamation, “Now therefore, be it resolved that June 2025 be declared Pride Month in the Town of Needham and that all residents be encouraged...
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NHS celebrates Class of 2025
By Alana DiPlacido
Hometown Weekly Reporter
On Sunday June 1st, the chords of “Pomp and Circumstance” rang out from Memorial Hill as the Needham High School (NHS) class of 2025 gathered alongside friends, family, and loved ones to celebrate their graduation. To begin the ceremony, Principal Aaron Sicott addressed the graduates, noting that this was the first...
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Sensational animal and science show at NFPL
by Elizabeth Connolly
Hometown Weekly Reporter
A very exciting animal and science show recently took place at the Needham Free Public Library (NFPL). Children and their caregivers gathered in the community room to meet the husband and wife duo that own Records and Burpee, a family farm that had brought several animals to showcase for the event.
The...
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Dressing Like Jane
By Audrey Anderson
Hometown Weekly Reporter
The Needham Free Public Library (NFPL) hosted Karen Antonowicz of Spirits of Fashion, who presented a program on “Pride & Prejudice of Fashion: The Jane Austen Era.” Jane Austen lovers came out in force to learn about fashion in the Empire period of 1804-1815 and see examples of clothing worn by...
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Behind the Scenes of Masterpiece
B
y Audrey Anderson
Hometown Weekly Reporter
The Friends of Needham Public Library sponsored a talk by Susanne Simpson, the Executive Producer of GBH’s popular series, Masterpiece. Simpson shared some fascinating behind-the-scenes stories and news about shows being developed. The Community Room was filled with fans of the series, who listened intently to Simpson’s experiences and expressed their...
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Artificial Intelligence: Uses and Detection
By Audrey Anderson
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Needham native and Boston University Journalism Senior Bella Gonzalez shared her research into the positive and negative effects of artificial intelligence (AI) and how to identify AI fakes, as she presented her evening program in the NFPL’s Community Room.
Gonzalez started her presentation by sharing an example of a $25 million scam...
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From Needham to NCAA glory
By Paul Vozzella
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
Very few athletes can say they have reached the mountain top, and even fewer can say they did it in the final game of their career. Needhamite Will Dorion is one of those athletes. The standout basketball player finished his collegiate career with a win in the Division III National...
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Rachel Revere’s side of the story
By Audrey Anderson
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Judith Kalaora, Artistic Director of History at Play, presented “Rendezvous with Rachel,” an historical play about Rachel Revere at the Needham Free Public Library (NFPL). Kalaora portrayed Rachel as she prepared to leave Boston weeks after her husband, Paul Revere, left on his historic ride. Rachel had concerns, and she talked...
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Schwartz and Pillar discuss The Legacy of Morrie
By Julia Beauregard
Hometown Weekly Editor
The Needham Free Public Library hosted photographer Heather Pillar and writer/producer Rob Schwartz to discuss The Legacy of Morrie. Who is Morrie Schwartz? For those unfamiliar, Morrie Schwartz is the titular figure from the world famous memoir, “Tuesdays with Morrie,” by Mitch Albom.
Morrie was a professor of sociology at Brandeis University...
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Needham Speech and Debate Shines
The Needham Speech and Debate Team closed out the regular season with a 3rd palace finish at the Speech/Congress Tournament in Walpole and 5th place finish in debate at Boston Latin March 28, 29 and April 5 2025.
Senior Mia Maffeo won glitter in three different events, including the state championship in play reading. She and...
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NFPL hosts Women in World Jazz
By Alana DiPlacido
Hometown Weekly Reporter
On March 30th, as Women’s History Month was nearing its end, the Women in World Jazz led the audience at Needham Free Public Library (NFPL) on a musical tour through the history of women’s contributions to jazz worldwide. The Women in World Jazz, a Newton-based jazz group, state that the goal...
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Needham authors discuss Publishing 101
By Julia Beauregard
Hometown Weekly Editor
The Needham Free Public Library (NFPL) hosted an evening discussion featuring a panel of local authors. These novelists discussed their experiences with writing and publishing their works. The panel featured two Needham High School alumnae, Janis Robinson Daly and Julia Corbett Davis, alongside Needham High School history teacher Jenn Bouchard. This...
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Daley discusses mass murders in Massachusetts
By Audrey Anderson
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Christoper Daley returned to the NFPL Community Room with his True Crime series. For the second talk in the series, Daley focused on Mass Murderers: Massachusetts’ Most Infamous Murder Cases.
Daley’s first story was about Jesse Pomeroy, who first stripped, beat, and tortured the boys in an outhouse at Powderhorn Hill in...
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Rocket Run blasts past $14K goal
By Paul Vozzella
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
Winter was lingering on Sunday morning, but that did not stop citizens from rocketing around town. The 4th annual Needham Boosters Club Rocket Run was a success as close to 200 Needhamites made their way through the streets to participate in the 5 kilometer run and 1 mile walk.
The Needham...
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Sunita Williams returns to Earth after 9 months
By Julia Beauregard
Hometown Weekly Editor
After being stuck in space for the last nine months, NASA astronaut and Needham native Sunita Williams safely returned back to earth on Tuesday, March 18. Williams mission was originally only supposed to take eight to ten days.
Williams set off for space on June 5, 2024 heading to the International Space...
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16th annual Needham Art in Bloom
By Julia Beauregard
Hometown Weekly Editor
2025 is the 16th year of Needham’s Art in Bloom. This exhibit was molded after the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston’s annual spring Art in Bloom presentation.
Inspired by garden club members Sue Kaplan and Allison Shapiro, the Beth Shalom Garden Club aimed to create a community event that brought together...
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Dr. Landsmark’s role in race relations in Boston
By Audrey Anderson
Hometown Weekly Reporter
A large crowd assembled as Dr. Theordore Landsmark visited the Needham Free Public Library to talk about his lifetime of experience in public policy and urban affairs in Boston working to uplift the lives of minorities. Dr. Landsmark’s visit was intended to take place earlier in Black History Month, but, because...
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