Around Town

Watertown Community Gardens Gets Grant to Remove Invasive Plants from Watertown Greenway

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Watertown Community Gardens received a state grant to improve the path from Watertown to Cambridge. (Contributed Photo)

By Linda RelsonWatertown Community Gardens, Board Chair

Volunteers have been working on the Watertown-Cambridge Greenway all year, and their efforts got a boost earlier this month with the award of a MassTrails Grant. The Watertown-Cambridge Greenway is a treasured ribbon of green space that connects School Street in east Watertown to Fresh Pond Reservation in Cambridge. The path is a rail trail converted from the former B&M Railroad’s Watertown Branch, now owned by the State of Massachusetts’ Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). It is frequented by commuters, dog walkers, and bicyclists every day of the week. Unfortunately, since the path’s construction, many of the shrubs, trees, and perennial flowers that were originally planted have been overcome by invasive plants.

Around Town

Director of Award-Winning Documentary Film on Armenian Women During Wartime to Appear at Upcoming Screening

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The following announcement was provided by West Newton Cinema:

The West Newton Cinema Foundation is presenting a special screening of the internationally acclaimed documentary There Was, The Was Not on Friday, Nov. 7, 2025, at 7 p.m. at the West Newton Cinema, 1296 Washington St., West Newton. Following the screening, the film’s writer and director Emily Mkrtichian will participate in the Director’s Spotlight, a program of the West Newton Cinema Foundation. The Q&A discussion will be moderated by Paul Boghosian, President of Harbor Side Films. The film company produces documentaries (PBS), public affairs programming as well as major television and cable and streaming projects for networks and private clients. Presently in development is Pulitzer-Prize-winning poet, Peter Balakian’s memoir, “Black Dog of Fate.”

Entertainment

Watertown Author Launching New Historical Mystery at MCA

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Jonathan Bockian

Watertown author Jonathan Bockian announced he will launch his new historical mystery novel What Was Forbidden: a Venice Ghetto mystery, in discussion with Pia Owens, author of the “Let’s Have It Out” newsletter, on Sunday, November 2, 2-4 p.m., at the Mosesian Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal St., Watertown. The event is free and open to the public. Advance registration is encouraged at the webpage linked here. What Was Forbidden is based on a true event in the Ghetto of Venice in 1672. A is brother is murdered, a truth is buried.

Elections

LETTER: Why I Think You Should Vote for My MOM!   

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Dear Watertown!  

As the youngest of four kids , I’ve spent my whole life watching my mom, Amy Donohue, give her time and energy to the Watertown Public Schools. Education has always been number one in our house, whether it was volunteering on the PTO, helping with the Watertown Education Foundation events, or donating to every youth group and sports team you can think of. When I was younger, I used to roll my eyes because she seemed to know everyone. Every teacher, every coach, every parent.

Around Town

Kids Eat Free at Watertown Restaurant on Halloween

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Watertown’s Branch Line restaurant will host a Halloween party, and invites families to join in the fun. Children will eat for free on Oct. 31, and there will be music and games. See info from the restaurant, below. On Halloween, Branch Line is hosting a biergarten party on their covered, heated patio.

Business

Charles River Chamber’s Fall Business Breakfast Features AG Andrea Campbell

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The Charles River Regional Chamber will host the 110th Fall Business Breakfast with features speaker Attorney General Andrea Campbell on Friday, Nov. 7, from 7 to 9:30 a.m. at the Newton Marriott Hotel, 2345 Commonwealth Ave. See more details provided by the Chamber, below. The Charles River Regional Chamber’s signature annual gathering, presented by Needham Bank, brings together hundreds of civic and business leaders for a morning of connection, inspiration, and celebration. 

Breakfast and networking kicks off at 7 a.m., with our program starting promptly at 8 a.m.

Our featured speaker will be Massachusetts’ Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, who’ll be joined by NBC10 Boston’s Latoyia Edwards for a fireside chat.We’ll be honoring 2Life Communities’ CEO Amy Schectman with the chamber’s highest honor the R.L. Tennant Award and will hear from Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller in her final address to the business community as mayor. 

Get your tickets before we sell out. Register here

Obituaries

OBIT: Richard Tashjian, 99, Former Long-Time Watertown Resident, Owned an Art Gallery

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Richard Tashjian

Richard Hratch Tashjian, a well-known artist, passed away peacefully on Oct. 21, 2025, at the age of 99 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Born on June 27, 1926, in Dorchester, Massachusetts, Richard lived a life rich in creativity, love of nature and devotion to the fine arts. Richard served honorably in the United States Naval Reserve during World War II from 1944 to 1946, where he was an aerial photographer. Following his military service, Richard pursued his education with fervor, graduating from the Museum School of Fine Arts in Boston in 1950 and further enhanced his skills in design under the tutelage of Professor Gyorgy Kepes at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Visual Design Architectural Center in Cambridge.

Entertainment

Small Saves Makes a Fashion Choice in This Week’s Comic

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James DeMarco grew up in Watertown and became a goaltender at age 5. It’s his life’s passion to stand between the pipes and keep the puck out of the net. Combining this with the love of cartooning Small Saves emerged in 1991 and took on a life of his own. “To play goal – then come home and draw Small Saves — is my ideal definition of a good day.”