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Category Archives: Westwood

Wondrous Wednesdays bewitch Westwood Library

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By Stephen Press Hometown Weekly Staff As the morning’s bright light streamed in through the windows of the Westwood Library, visitors were treated to a rare and unique sight: an audience full of toddlers, perfectly captivated and attentive. In front of them, Children’s Librarian Hannah Gavalis alternately read, sang and moved. “This is Wondrous Wednesday...
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Needham Bank provides Westwood METCO funding

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Needham Bank today announced that it will provide a total of $25,000 in funding, spread among five school districts serving six local communities, to enable them to continue full METCO participation during the 2016-2017 school year. METCO, which has been in existence since 1966, is the country’s oldest continuously operating voluntary desegregation program. It...
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Westwood eats up Greek Festival

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By James Ensor Hometown Weekly Reporter The daytime skies have been cloudy, but the mood outside St. Mark’s Greek Orthodox Church in Westwood was anything but. Over the course of Saturday and Sunday, September 17 and 18, the parish held its Second Annual Greek festival, featuring food, music, and an unmistakable sense of community. Several...
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Teen STEAM in Westwood

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STEAM education is vital to our future - a local Westwood teen takes on the challenge In 2016 State of the Union Address, President Obama announced a computer-science-for-all initiative. The President’s 2017 budget mentions that there are currently more than 600,000 high-paying tech jobs open across the United States, and by 2020, 51 percent...
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Westwood Police Explorers earn Presidential recognition

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On September 12, the Board of Selectmen recognized two Police Explorers for each earning The President’s Volunteer Service Award: Mr. Michael Forde, a member of the Westwood High’s Class of 2017, and Mr. Adam Ganz of Sharon High’s Class of 2016. The Westwood Police Explorer program is one of certifying organizations for the...
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Baby Sign Language at the Westwood Library

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By James Ensor Hometown Weekly Reporter Young parents and their recently-born children sat in a circle around Sheryl White, founder and owner of Baby Kneads, on the morning of Thursday, September 8. For over an hour, the children’s room of the Westwood Library was home to Sheryl’s lessons on American Sign Language for babies. Signs...
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Autumn block party delights

On Saturday September 10, “THE LOOP” neighborhood had its third annual Block Party. Festivities included a DJ, photo booth, “make your own slushie” truck, and dunk tank. Kids rode their bikes and scooters up and down Pond Plain all day while the adults ate, played cornhole, and mingled. The event was capped off with an...
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Westwood Scout Clasby keeps it clean

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By Stephen Press Hometown Weekly Staff When Westwood’s Cameron Clasby started brainstorming for his Eagle Scout Service Project, his mind took him back to a fishing trip with some friends. “I realized there was a need for this project when I was fishing with friends at Buckmaster Pond,” wrote Clasby in an email to Hometown Weekly....
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Library quilters in Westwood

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By James Ensor Hometown Weekly Reporter In a peaceful back room of the Westwood Public Library, the quilting club gathered for their monthly meeting on Monday, August 29. The club has been in existence for about 8 years, and had to adapt to survive when the Westwood Library changed buildings, at one point taking refuge...
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Drought leads to Westwood’s mandatory water ban

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By Harry Kane Hometown Weekly Correspondent For the sixth straight month, the region has been experiencing abnormally dry conditions initially resulting in a drought advisory followed by a drought warning. As of Friday, August 26, the status has been modified to include a mandatory ban on outdoor watering of lawns or shrubbery. The drought is...
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A bright light still shines in Westwood

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By Stephen Press Hometown Weekly Staff When Westwood’s Jack Jardin tragically lost his life in a car accident at the age of 21, there was a sense among his community that they had lost not only a native son, but a bright creative force who had yet to make his greatest impact on the world....
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Pizza party at the Westwood COA

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By James Ensor Hometown Weekly Reporter Oven-cooked pizza and make-your-own sundaes were on the menu at the Westwood Senior Center on Friday, August 26. Dozens gathered for the festivities, which ended up stealing away some members of the bridge club that was playing concurrently with pizza party. “I wanted to get more people in to...
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Hancock again wins Maine Road Race

Westwood sixth grader, Lil Hancock, finished first overall in the Rockland Maine Lobster Festival 1-Mile Run on Sunday, August 7. The race is open to boys and girls of all ages, including high school students. Lil’s first-grade brother, C.J., finished ninth overall and Lil’s eighth-grade sister, Katherine, finished second in the under-14-year-old 10K race. Lil’s...
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Westwood kid’s vacation discovery rocks

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By Stephen Press Hometown Weekly Staff When most kids head off on their summer vacations, it’s to collect fun experiences and bond with their families. For Westwood’s Andrew Easton, the summer jaunt may have come with an unexpected surprise: a career calling. Easton, a rising third-grader at the Martha Jones School, discovered a fossil during...
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(Mostly) impenetrable reading fortresses pop up

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By Cameron Small Hometown Weekly Intern What do you get when you mix blankets, flashlights, rampaging children, stuffed animals, and smiles? You get the Family Fort Night event held at the Main Branch of the Westwood Public Library last Wednesday night, August 17. Like most things that are planned out, things did not go exactly...
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Little Olympics at Islington Branch

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By James Ensor Hometown Weekly Reporter Although the young athletes would have been forgiven to think they were in Rio when they were baking in the sun, they were in fact escaping the heat in the Islington Branch library on Thursday, August 18. For an hour on that hot morning, from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30...
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The delicate sound of Westwood

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By James Ensor Hometown Weekly Reporter Hidden away in the courtyard of Westwood High School, the community concert band, Westwood Winds, put on a fantastic show Monday evening. The band was comprised entirely of music enthusiasts with ties to Westwood, and had only practiced together seven times over the summer before the show. Made...
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Top Secret Science in Westwood

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By James Ensor Hometown Weekly The cafeteria of the Sheehan School in Westwood was transformed into a science lab for local kids this week. “Top Secret Science,” a non-profit education group based out of Woburn, provided first to fifth graders the chance to enjoy hands-on science projects while beating the heat. “We are at different places...
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Westwood’s king of the jungle gyms

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By Stephen Press Hometown Weekly Staff Pssst…are the kids out of earshot? Okay, good, because this is sensitive information. If it falls into the wrong hands, it could lead to days - maybe even weeks - of “Can we go? Can we? Can we?!?” There is a oasis in Westwood. Not just any oasis, but a youthful,...
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The menagerie of Westwood Library

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By Cameron Small Hometown Weekly Intern A mysterious table stands in the room with a white tablecloth draped over it. Sunlight streams in through the glass doors, casting shadows on boxes and crates stacked against a wall. One crate starts to shake. Something is inside, something that wants to get out. The crate rattles again....
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