Around Town

Centre Street Food Pantry Expands Hours in Response to Pending SNAP Cuts

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The following announcement was provided by Centre Street Food Pantry:

Centre Street Food Pantry, a nonprofit regional food relief agency that serves residents of Brookline, Needham, Newton, Waltham, Watertown and Wellesley, has announced its response to the pending cuts to SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Access Program) and other hardships created due to the government shutdown. Centre Street will expand its hours, provide additional Thanksgiving items, and stock as much food as possible to provide fresh produce, dairy and meal-making groceries to those in need. Centre Street typically serves 1,100 households a month (each a unique visit) and is preparing to serve upwards of 1,500 households starting in November – an increase of 35%. To meet the anticipated increase in families seeking food in November, Centre Street will be: 

Extending its weekly Tuesday service days to include an additional half hour for those who cannot make an appointment. Extending its Saturday service day by one hour.

Around Town

Final Watertown Swap Shop of the Year This Saturday

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Residents can donate and pick up items at the Watertown Swap Shop. The program had to be cancelled multiple times during the Trash Strike, but the Solid Waste and Recycling Advisory Committee, and Watertown Faces Climate Change added one opportunity for residents to take part. See details below. The Watertown Swap Shop will be open on Saturday, November 1, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Watertown Recycle Center at 76 Stanley Ave. You must park on the street on Green River Way or Stanley Ave if you are shopping at the Swap Shop. 

If you have donations, you can pull your car into the Recycle Center up to the Swap Shop to unload.Learn more about the shopping and donation guidelines at the Swap Shop.

Around Town

Nearly 2,500 Watertown Residents Set to See Food Benefits Frozen, Local Assistance Efforts Underway

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With a freeze on SNAP benefits set to start Nov. 1, 2025, food drives for local food pantries are being planned. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)

Starting Nov. 1, 2025, nearly 2,500 Watertown residents who receive federal food assistance funds will likely lose hundreds of dollars in SNAP benefits. Food pantries, non-profits and other groups in the City are gearing up to try to fill the gap.

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.”

Around Town

See the Art Making a Former Lumber Yard into a More “Pleasant Landscape”

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Vitoria Regia said “Charles River and the Joseph Thompson Bridge” was inspired by an area of the river she finds very soothing. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)

Six new banners like the fence line around a former industrial property on the Westside of Watertown. The images were created by local artists and will be displayed around for the foreseeable future. “Transitions” by Cynthia White is an abstract piece which she thought fit into the theme of A Pleasant Landscape. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)

The project was organized by the City of Watertown to make the area look a little nicer, said Liz Helfer, the City’s Public Arts & Culture Planner.

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.

Around Town

Watertown Police Offering Free Kits for Drivers With Autism or Who are Neurodivergent

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The Watertown Police recently added a new resource for neurodivergent people and their families that could help prevent misunderstandings and even tragedies. The WPD has joined the Blue Envelope program. The program was started a few years ago by the Massachusetts State Police, and the kits are now available at the Watertown Police Station, said Watertown Police Officer Devon Shatkin. “It’s essentially fostering safer relationships between individuals with autism who are drivers on the road and police officers,” Shatkin said. ” So, we’ve seen a much increased frequency of those type of interactions, and they can be difficult, dangerous, stressful.