Globe West Community briefing

Celebrating rink’s return

September 5, 2010

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Arlington

The town’s Recreation Department will host a grand reopening of the Veterans Memorial Skating Rink on Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., with the festivities including free public skating. The Summer Street facility has undergone a $1 million renovation project since closing for the summer in March, including an overhaul of its refrigeration system and the skating surface being expanded from 185 feet long to 197 feet, said Joe Connelly, Arlington’s recreation director. The facility also has new duct work, boards, and plexiglass around the skating area. ‘The shell of the building is the same, but it’s a brand new rink,’’ he said. Although the state Department of Conservation and Recreation owns the rink, Connelly said, the town’s lease required it to foot the bill for the renovations. But without the renovations, a leaking refrigeration system may have forced the heavily used rink to be closed, he said. In addition to public skating and group rentals, the rink is used by Arlington Youth Hockey and hockey teams from Arlington High School and Arlington Catholic High School. — Brock Parker

HOSPICE PROGRAM NEEDS HELP — The Visiting Nurse and Community Health’s Hospice Care program is seeking volunteers in Arlington and surrounding areas. The Arlington-based nonprofit agency, which delivers home health and hospice care to residents of 22 area communities, is seeking volunteers to work as little as 1 to 3 hours a week. For more information, contact volunteer coordinator Marie Tulin at 781-643-6090, ext. 1343. — Brock Parker

BELMONT

HONOR FOR MUSIC PROFESSOR — Phil Wilson, a Berklee College of Music professor from Belmont, has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Trombone Association. He was awarded the honor at this year’s International Trombone Festival, held recently at the University of Texas Austin, for his achievements in playing and teaching jazz. He has performed and recorded with notable musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, and the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra. He is a big-band arranger and directs the Berklee Rainbow Band, which he founded at the start of his teaching career in 1965 and has received international acclaim. Past recipients of the festival’s lifetime achievement award include Willie Colon, Dick Nash, Milt Stevens, and Buddy Morrow. — Sara Brown

Brookline

DEAF AWARENESS — The first open-captioned commercial film in the United States will be screened at 7 p.m. Sept. 21 at the Coolidge Corner Theatre to mark Deaf Awareness Week. The theater, in partnership with Temple Emeth, is showing “See What I’m Saying,’’ an award-winning documentary about four uniquely talented deaf entertainers. Director Hilari Scarl will introduce the movie and answer questions after the screening. Tickets are $10 and are available online at www.coolidge.org or at the theater, 290 Harvard St. — Andreae Downs

OLMSTED’S LEGACY — A one-hour documentary on the creation of America’s great city parks, including the Emerald Necklace, by 19th century landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted will be screened Sept. 22 at the Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave., in Boston. Cosponsored by the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, which works to preserve the Boston parks that Olmsted created, the show starts at 7 p.m. Included is a question-and-answer session with the director, Rebecca Messner, and several local luminaries featured in the documentary. Tickets are $10 at 800-440-6975, online at www.mfa.org/tickets, or at the MFA ticket desks. — Andreae Downs

NEEDHAM

MEET THE CANDIDATES — The town’s Stephen Palmer Senior Center, at 83 Pickering St., will host a forum for Republican and Democrats running for state representative in the 13th Norfolk District on Tuesday at 1 p.m. The candidates will have five minutes to introduce themselves, then the audience will be able to ask questions of them. The center hosts a public forum for candidates every year, usually attended by 50 to 75 people, said associate director Sherry Jackson. Republicans John O’Leary and Joshua Levy and Democrats Denise Garlick, Jerry Wasserman, and Gary McNeill are expected to take part, she said. Although all of the candidates in the Sept. 14 party primaries are Needham residents, the 13th Norfolk District represents Dover and part of Medfield as well as Needham. — Katrina Ballard

ADVERTISE IN 300TH BIRTHDAY PROGRAM — The Needham 300 Committee is looking for sponsors interested in placing ads in a program for the town’s yearlong 300th birthday celebrations. The program, listing the events planned for the year beginning on Nov. 5, will be distributed to every home in Needham next month. The deadline to submit an ad is Sept. 15. For more information, visit www.needham300.org or e-mail Ted Ballard at egballard@gmail.com. — Katrina Ballard

Newton

CARE PACKAGES FOR ROSH HASHANA — Beginning at sunset Wednesday, Rosh Hashana marks the start of the Jewish New Year, and is one of the faith’s High Holy Days. To make the season more meaningful, Hebrew SeniorLife, a nonprofit health care provider, will offer care packages of food, candles, and prayer books to more than 700 Jewish seniors across Greater Boston. “The care package program was started in 2004,’’ said Shani Traum, who manages it for Hebrew SeniorLife. “When we started, there were around 120 seniors. Now there are over 700, 130 in Newton and Brookline alone.’’ Recipients must be over 70, but volunteers to coordinate and deliver the care package come from all walks of life, she said. The program will also deliver care packages for Hanukkah and Passover, and is looking for volunteers in November to help with the Hanukkah season. The program is free, and recipients do not have to prove physical or financial hardship to participate. Traum said residents interested in receiving care packages or volunteering for the Hanukkah season should contact Hebrew SeniorLife at 781-247-8150. — Sarah Thomas

NEW SENIOR STAFF — Mayor Setti Warren has named three new senior staff members in his administration, according to an announcement by his office that said they would make Newton’s government more cost effective and forward thinking. Stephanie Kane Gilman was hired as public buildings commissioner, with her responsibilities to include developing a complete infrastructure assessment of all public buildings, and identifying all potential capital projects and their funding. Gilman had worked at Harvard University as a program manager for greenhouse gas initiatives and its capital project services manager. Nancy Forrester has been hired as the city’s first performance management director. During his campaign last year, Warren often stressed the need for performance management, which involves measuring all city functions, establishing standards of response, and ensuring cost effectiveness. Forrester was principal and organizational development specialist with Biscaye Consultants Ltd. The city’s new chief procurement officer is Rositha Durham, who spent the last five years as purchasing director for Somerville. Durham will manage the procurement process for all municipal and school departments in Newton, the announcement said. — Sarah Thomas

WALTHAM

CLASSES IN CASUAL ENGLISH — English at Large, a regional nonprofit educational organization, will be holding weekly conversation groups for English-as-second-language learners at the Waltham Public Library on Saturday mornings from 10 to 11:30 a.m., starting Sept. 18. The group focuses on people with intermediate or advanced English skills, and provides a venue for them to learn about American culture and holidays, and casual spoken English while making friends. English at Large is based in Medford, and relies on hundreds of volunteers to lead conversation groups and one-on-one tutoring in 20 area communities. To register, contact the organization at 781-395-2374 or visit its website, www.englishatlarge.org. — Megan McKee

WATERTOWN

JAZZ AT ARSENAL CENTER — The ArsenalARTS-Berklee Jazz Collaboration, which features performances by some of Berklee College of Music’s world-renowned faculty, has announced the lineup for its fall season. “Berklee has been reaching out to the community to do a number of jazz series’’ across Greater Boston in recent years, all over the greater Boston area in recent years,’’ said Joanne Barrett, spokeswoman for the Arsenal Center for the Arts, in an interview. “And our black box space is a perfect place for jazz.’’ The series, in its fourth year, will begin on Sept. 20 with the Laszlo Gardony Quartet. Other performances are scheduled for Oct. 25 with the New World Jazz Composers Octet, and on Nov. 15 with the Daryl Lowery Instant! Groove. Concerts will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15, or $12 for Arsenal Center members, and $10 for seniors and students. For more information, call 617-923-8487, or go online to www.arsenalarts.org. — Sarah Thomas

WESTON

OPENING ON HOUSING PANEL — The town moderator is looking to fill an empty seat on the six-member Elderly Housing Committee. The committee oversees the Brook School Apartments, a housing complex for the disabled and people over 62 years old. Interested parties for the seat, which expires in 2012, are encouraged to e-mail Wendy Spector at moderator@westonmass.org in order to be considered. For more information about the position, contact committee chairman John Heine at jheine@csmqt.com. — Andrew Clark

Around the region

HOLLISTON

FALL HARVEST FAIR — The Holliston Historical Society will present its 30th annual Country Harvest Fair on Sept. 19 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at its headquarters, 547 Washington St. The fair will feature antiques and collectibles, old-fashioned handicrafts, a silent auction for goods and services from area merchants, food, entertainment, and activities for children and adults. There are still spaces available for vendors of crafts, antiques, and collectibles (no commercial items). For information, visit the Historical Society’s website, www.hollistonhistoricalsociety.org, or call 508-429–5795. — Brittany Danielson

MEDFIELD

SIGN UP FOR TOWN FESTIVAL — Food, entertainment, children’s rides, and local merchants are part of Discover Medfield Day on Sept. 25. The nonprofit Medfield Employers and Merchants Organization, which promotes town businesses and contributes to Medfield schools and organizations, runs the fall fair, now in its 31st year. Food vendors have until Friday to return applications for a one-day license to the Board of Health. Vendor registration and food license applications are available online at www.medfield-memo.org. For details, contact Medfield Day organizer Cheryl O’Donnell at 508-359-7366. — James O’Brien

UPTON

SEEKING CLASS OF ’60 — Reunion organizers are reaching out to members of the last Upton class to graduate from Northbridge High School in Whitinsville. After the class of 1960, Upton joined the Mendon-Upton Regional School District and started sending its students to the newly opened Nipmuc Regional High School. “We have had difficulty reaching all classmates because of outdated addresses,’’ said Barry Smith, publicist for the graduates’ 50th class reunion, which is scheduled for Oct. 16. Tickets for the reunion, to be held at Whitinsville Golf Club, are $35. Call Henry Haggerty, the class president, at 508-234-2876 or e-mail him at hh5868@aol.com. — James O’Brien