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Category Archives: Needham

Line dancing provides stress-free exercise

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By James Kinneen Hometown Weekly Reporter While vacations and cold and flu season cut the number of dancers at Needham’s Center at the Heights, the enthusiasm did not seem diminished in any way as Hsiu-Hui Chen led her pupils through stretching exercises, “The Cupid Shuffle,” and a John Travolta in “Saturday Night Fever”-inspired number...
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Van Duser, Novick playing Homegrown Coffeehouse

Guy Van Duser and Billy Novick are set to play the Homegrown Coffeehouse on Saturday, January 26, at 8:00 p.m. Together as a duo for more than forty years, Guy Van Duser and Billy Novick have performed in concerts, clubs and festivals all over North America and Europe. Like a good marriage, their music has wed...
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Evan Anderson, Eagle Scout

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Evan Michael Anderson, son of Ed Anderson and Tee Stock of 49 Hillcrest Road, received his Eagle Scout award at a Court of Honor held Sunday, January 6, at the VFW Hall in Needham. Although Boy Scouts of America has existed for 106 years, only 6 percent of its members have attained this highest...
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Needham to celebrate MLK’s legacy

Needham’s celebration and observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is scheduled for Monday, January 21, in the Pollard Middle School auditorium. The program will be from 10 a.m. to noon, and doors will open at 9:30. Refreshments will be served. The program is sponsored by the Needham Diversity Initiative, Clergy Association, Human Rights Committee, Public...
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Needham’s kids read to Tucker

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By Alex Oliveira Hometown Weekly Reporter Tucker is a seven-year-old collie-shepherd-something. “When his ears go back, he kind of looks like a greyhound,” said Tucker’s owner, Adam Cutter, “but we really don’t know.” Tucker is a trained therapy dog, he has brown inquisitive eyes, and when he’s not comforting residents at rehab centers and...
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Cutler Park, hidden in plain sight

By Alex Oliveira Hometown Weekly Reporter Hidden along the walls of I-95 north and behind a bland park of Needham offices, a far more remarkable park is waiting to be explored. Cutler Park, roughly 600 acres of state preserved trails, trees, ponds, paths, wetlands and boardwalks, is an unexpected piece of nature hiding behind a concrete corner...
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Needhamites swim ‘Miles for Marly’

Twelve Masters Swimmers from the Needham YMCA swam “Miles for Marly” at the Harvard Blodgett Pool on January 6. This memorial swim is 100x100 yards, or 6.2 miles, of an endurance challenge. The 100-x100 yard event is steeped in history, as it was famously and routinely done by Bobby Hackett, 1976 Olympian, as a workout...
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Chamber to honor Paulette Harwood

The Newton-Needham Regional Chamber will present Paulette Harwood with a lifetime achievement award at the chamber’s annual Needham Night Dinner on January 30 at the Needham Sheraton Hotel. After nearly 60 years of teaching dancers in Needham and Newton, Harwood retired and closed her business, Paulette’s Ballet Studio, in July of 2018. “Paulette Harwood touched the lives...
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DA hosts Rockets at leadership conference

Needham High sent a strong student team to Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey’s 2018 Peer Leadership Conference at Gillette Stadium – the first in a season of events designed for students supporting healthy decisions in their school communities. “Having a core of motivated peer leaders is an important part of keeping high school cultures healthy...
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CRBA performing at New Years Needham

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Forty-one students, ages 8-18, from Needham’s classical ballet school, Charles River Ballet Academy (CRBA), will perform on the Needham Town Hall stage on December 31 at 3:15 p.m. as part of New Years Needham. The performance will feature classical pieces from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Giselle and Coppelia,” as well as...
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A Christmas Memory

By Thomas Keating, Jr. There isn’t a worse time to be in a hospital than during the holiday season, but there I was. I was in the Army hospital at Ft. Dix, New Jersey, falling ill with severe pneumonia during basic combat training, caused, no doubt, by training outdoors that cold, snowy November of 1968. My high...
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Malik the Magician wows COA

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By Alexander Oliveira Hometown Weekly Reporter On Thursday, November 29, the Needham Council on Aging was treated to an afternoon of magic and dry humor by Malik the Magician. With the crowd gently murmuring, a bald man in a black vest – exactly what the mind’s eye conjures when envisioning an act called “Malik the...
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Flying, flipping dogs loosed in library

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By Alexander Oliveira Hometown Weekly Reporter A number of unleashed dogs tore through the Needham Public Library on Tuesday, November 27, leaving children, parents, and staff, shocked and bewildered. With eyes wide and mouths agape, onlookers watched as four barking border collies leapt and sprinted at blurring speeds across the library’s community room. The dog catchers...
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GOTR bring positivity to community

Seeking to bring smiles and positivity to the residents of Needham, the local Needham Girls on the Run (GOTR) team recently donated a Community Impact Rock Garden to the Town’s Parks and Recreation Department. The Rock Garden is made up of nearly 60 rocks, hand-painted by the 15 girls on the team who participated in...
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Outstanding ‘Little Mermaid’ presented in Needham

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By Audrey Anderson Hometown Weekly Correspondent The Needham Community Theatre presented a top-notch production of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” from November 16–25 at the Newman Elementary School Auditorium in Needham. The audience was indeed fortunate to see this fantastic production, which offered outstanding singing and acting, in addition to exciting sound and lighting effects. Read more

Needham Lights makes spirits bright

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Continuing its 64-year tradition, Needham illuminated the town common - and its legendary Blue Tree - on Saturday. This year’s event, the first under the auspices of the Newton-Needham Regional Chamber, featured WCVB’s Julie Loncich, performers from the Plugged In band program, and of course, Santa Claus, among other visitors. Special thanks to...
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Needham’s Cuddy organizing Shoebox holiday drive

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Julia Cuddy is a 17-year-old senior at Needham High School. Last year, she was chosen to as the Boston Coordinator for The Shoebox Project for Shelters. The Shoebox Project for Shelters is a public charity that collects and distributes gifts in the form of shoeboxes to women who are homeless or at risk...
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CATH hosts vernal pool discussion

By Robby McKittrick Hometown Weekly Reporter On Monday, November 19, the Center at the Heights hosted a presentation by Mass Audubon's Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary on vernal pools. A worker for Mass Audubon and the speaker for the presentation, Joy Marzolf, explained that a vernal pool is an area of water which serves as a home for many different...
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Broadmoor Chamber Singers delight community

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By James Kinneen Hometown Weekly Reporter On Saturday afternoon, the basement of the Needham Public Library was filled with an eclectic mix of music ranging from traditional spirituals to 60s folk hits, with just enough holiday music to remind the audience what season is fast approaching. Led by artistic director June Ambush, The Broadmoor Chamber...
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NEF announces Gift for Education Cards

Members of the community are invited to honor a special teacher or VIP in their child’s life by making a donation in his or her name to the Needham Education Foundation (NEF). Gift for Education Cards make it simple to show gratitude, while providing vital support for the funding of NEF grants which allow both...
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