Watertown News (https://www.watertownmanews.com/page/18/)
Watertown veterans marched in the 2024 Memorial Day Parade. (Photo by Natalie Nigito Photography)
The 2026 Memorial Day Parade, featuring Watertown veterans, youth sports, and other community groups, will be held on Monday, May 25, beginning at noon. A ceremony with Watertown’s veterans group will take place at the end of the parade.
The Watertown Fire Department received funding this year to run two ambulances, and now the challenge is to hire enough paramedics to run both.
The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department.
Watertown veterans presented the colors during the 2025 Memorial Day Ceremony. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)
Watertown currently lacks a dedicated veterans services officer, but while the City works to fill the opening the Director of Human Services has taken on most of that role.
Watertown Helps Out, a chance for people to give back to the community where they live and/or work, returns in May. The Watertown Community Foundation has a list of places to make a difference throughout the months. See more details in the announcement from the Foundation, below.
Spring baseball turned into summer baseball Tuesday night at Victory Field. Temperatures were in the 80’s most of the day and still in the low 70’s at game time. Ah yes, game time. This is an important piece of Tuesday’s story. Start time was slated for 7 p.m. At 6:50 P.M., under mostly clear skies both teams had completed their warm-ups, and both starting pitchers were deep into preparation in their respective bullpens. Seven P.M. passed – no umps. By 7:15 P.M., Wilmington was throwing a football around. Finally at 7:20 the umps strolled in thru the DPW gate and across the football field. By 7:30 P.M. we had first pitch. Not a big deal on a beautiful summer-like night, right? Wrong, but first the skinny on a 4-0 Watertown win.
This Friday morning, or for lunch, stop by 66 Galen St., the large new building on Galen St by the river, and try out their wares. I’ve read that their coffee is good, their chairs comfortable, and their sandwiches are reasonably priced. Friday evening there is a free dance recital by the trainees at the Boston Dance Theater. Do you love modern dance as I do? Saturday morning check out the pottery sale at Indigo Fire. There are more than 30 potters’ pieces for sale. If you prefer to save your money and need a spiritual lift, there is a free meditation class at the library on Saturday morning called Planting Seeds of Hope. Saturday evening there is a concert of Uillean pipers at the Canadian American Club. If you don’t know what a Uillean is, then you should go and experience them in person. On Sunday, the Edmund Fowles house is open for tours. It is the second oldest house in town, build in 1772, and it served as the headquarters of the Massachusetts government from 1775-1776.
Following the detention of a Watertown man by federal immigration enforcement agents on April 10, School and City officials discussed actions being taken or planned by local officials.
Watertown students have been learning high-tech farming in the freight farm that sits in the parking lot behind the Watertown Public School’s Phillips Building. On Thursday, the public can purchase some of the crop raised in the farm at a pop-up farm stand. See more info in the announcement from the schools, below.
The showcase of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) in the Watertown Public Schools, along with people and businesses in the city that work in those sectors, returns to Watertown Middle School on April 29. See more details in the announcement from the organizers, below.
A still of Camille Cottin from the film “In the Land of Arto,” which will have its East Coast Premier on April 20.
The following announcement was provided by Belmont World Film:
As part of Armenian Heritage Month, Belmont World Film’s 24th International Film Series presents the East Coast premiere of the Armenian film In the Land of Arto, on Monday, April 20, at 7 p.m. at the West Newton Cinema (1296 Washington St.). The screening will be followed immediately by a discussion led by Diana Hayrapetyan, Professor of Armenian at Harvard University and a PhD candidate at the Strassler Center for Holocaust Studies at Clark University.
(UPDATED April 20, 2026, 9:20 a.m.: The authors corrected the percent of renters and homeowners “burdened by unsustainable and rising home costs.”)
Last Monday night, City Manager George Proakis presented a draft proposal to redevelop the parking lot behind CVS in Watertown Square. There was a lot to like.