Wellesley Wonderful Weekend to celebrate USA’s 250th birthday

March 5, 2026 by admin Leave a Comment

Wellesley Wonderful Weekend, set for May 16-17, will get a jump on the celebrating the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

That milestone is commemorated in the Wellesley celebration’s logo and will be recognized throughout the spring weekend, which features one-time events as well as traditional ones such as the Veterans Parade, municipal open houses, and fireworks.

“At its heart, Wellesley Wonderful Weekend is a celebration of unity” said Carl Nelson, a Wellesley Celebrations Committee board member, in a statement. “While America is vast and diverse, its strength begins in communities like ours—in town centers, along parade routes, and in shared moments of connection and joy. As we gather to mark 250 years since our nation’s founding, we celebrate not only America’s past, but Wellesley’s enduring spirit.”

The Wonderful Weekend actually kicks off on Thursday, May 14 with a special concert at Wellesley Hills Congregatonal Church highlighting Katharine Lee Bates of “America the Beautiful” fame (Bates was a graduate of Wellesley High School (then called Needham High School) and Wellesley College). The concert will feature musical performances by the Wellesley Symphony Orchestra, the Wellesley Town Band, and the Wellesley Choral Society, plus dramatic readings.

On Saturday, May 16 more than 30 free community events will be offered, including open houses at the police and fire stations, and the touch-a-truck spectacular at the Department of Public Works. The day starts with the Pancake Breakfast organized by the Kiwanis Club of Wellesley and also features the Pups in the Park event organized by the Rotary Club of Wellesley.

Also on Saturday: Re-enactments of the creation and writing of The Declaration of Independence with Ben Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson will be held at Wellesley Town Hall, and of the famous ride of Paul Revere/William Dawes. An encampment of Patriots will be present at Town Hall and the British Artillery will be at Morton Field with live cannon fire.

On Sunday, May 17, the morning begins with the Wonder Run 5K race and Kids Fun Run organized by the Wellesley Hills Junior Women’s Club, as well as an Antique Car Show organized by the Modifiers Car Club of Wellesley on Central Street. Later, residents will line the streets for the 58th Annual Wellesley Veterans Parade, honoring those who have served our country and recognizing the organizations and individuals who serve our community. Wellesley Country Club is sponsoring the parade.

The weekend culminates with an evening concert, community picnic, and fireworks display at Hunnewell Field on Washington Street.

Those interested in sponsoring any weekend events may contact the Wellesley Celebrations Committee at wellesleycelebrations@gmail.com

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“We want to negotiate”—Men’s Group Speaker Paul Cramer on conflict resolution

March 5, 2026 by admin Leave a Comment

Wellesley Friendly Aid — Friendly Aid Building

EVENT: Wellesley Service League Men’s Group Speaker Series
SPEAKER: Paul Cramer
TOPIC: Negotiation & Conflict Resolution Expert Negotations in the International, Domestic & Personal Arena
DATE/TIME: Tuesday, March 10, 2pm
LOCATION: Wellesley Friendly Aid, 219 Washington St., Wellesley
SPONSOR: Wellesley Service League

DESCRIPTION: Renowned negotiation expert and Wellesley resident Paul Cramer will share his expertise in negotiations and dispute resolution in the international, domestic and personal arena.

Trained at the Harvard Negotiation Project by Professor Roger Fisher, co-author of Getting to YES, Paul’s experience includes a breadth of negotiation, mediation, and facilitation in which he has successfully advised individuals, corporate executives, diplomats and government officials as well as NGO leaders and labor representatives on the most effective strategies in building an “interests-based” negotiation to achieve solutions that satisfy all parties better than walking away.

Let’s settle down, now

Paul has settled complex litigation, facilitated restructuring negotiations for large commercial transactions, and mediated between antagonistic parties. Across many fields including healthcare to the building of civil society in Iraq through a conflict resolution program encompassing multi-government officials, clerics, and other influential parties, Paul has worked in over 40 countries around the world.

Please join us for an informative and engaging discussion in which Paul will share guidance on applying these approaches to solve some of our daily challenges. Senior men from Wellesley and surrounding communities are invited for refreshments and conversation. Guests welcome.

Please email Julie Barron or Jennifer Scheer Lieberman for more information juliefbarron@gmail.com or scheerdecor@comcast.net

Sign up now for summer camp in Wellesley (and beyond)

March 4, 2026 by admin Leave a Comment

SPONSORED CONTENT: It’s that exciting time of year again—time to register your children for summer camp. Most programs have their sign-up links ready to go, so now’s the time to jump on things, before spaces fill up.

The Swellesley Report’s Summer Camps page lists over 100 programs from local day camps to overnight adventures.

Thanks to NEOC for their swell sponsorship of our Summer Camps page. NEOC sparks and stokes the excitement, discovery, and fun children have while outside and builds their understanding of nature, where kids explore and play outside at an easy pace, without any technology at all.

Don’t see your camp listed, or want to update your current listing? Contact us at theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

Fundraising

Runner finishing off all Wellesley’s streets & trails as part of Boston Marathon training

March 4, 2026 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

What’s a mere 26.2 miles along the Boston Marathon course cheered on by thousands of people once you’ve already knocked off all 189 miles of Wellesley’s streets and trails, many by yourself and sometimes in a couple feet of snow?

First-time Boston Marathoner and 21-year Wellesley resident Kevin Clark is about to find out come Marathon Day on April 20.

Like many local runners, the pandemic initially inspired Clark to explore more of the town just as a way to get out of the house and do something. Then he kept going and going and going…

Now he’s 86% through all of Wellesley’s streets and trails—and when we say all, we mean all. He’s not just dipping a toe onto a street and calling it done. He’s running the full street or trail.

“I’ve enjoyed visiting neighborhoods I never knew including Standish and Sheridan Estates, along with the trails leading to our neighborhood schools. I enjoy seeing the look on people’s faces when I come through on dead ends and cul de sacs that see little traffic or strangers,” Clark says. “I once worked as a milkman and I like to run to all our public schools on a run I call the “Milkman’s Route.”I also was surprised to find some steep hills tucked in throughout the town and forests.”

Clark is running the Boston Marathon in memory of his and his wife’s son Harry and on behalf of the Community Fund for Wellesley, which provides essential grants to address both emergent and ongoing needs within the Wellesley community. Clark hopes you’ll contribute to the cause to provide him with extra incentive to finish all the Wellesley miles and then crank out a fast Boston Marathon in April.

Contribute to Kevin Clark’s Boston Marathon run on behalf of the Community Fund for Wellesley

Both goals have been extra challenging during this snowy and icy winter with “many sidewalks impassable or sketchy,” Clark says.

Clark has used an app called Wandrer to track his miles across Wellesley. It gamifies things by awarding points for new roads and trails covered. It also sync with Strava, a popular app that Clark uses to track various activities.

Local government

Wellesley 2026 election results: Incumbents Sullivan Woods, Ulfelder return to Select Board; Panagopoulos, Sullivan to join School Committee

March 3, 2026 by Bob Brown

According to unofficial election results released on Tuesday night, Wellesley Select Board incumbents Beth Sullivan Woods and Tom Ulfelder retained seats for their fourth terms in what was a tense three-candidate race. Contender Marc Charney, seeking to bring a new perspective to a board he said was too set its ways, finished third; he’ll remain chair of the Planning Board.

Sullivan Woods was the top vote getter with 2,624, and won all eight precincts, according to the unofficial results (write-ins and ballots that need to be researched will be added by the end of the week). She was followed by Ulfelder with 1,969 votes and Charney with 1,576.

The incumbents earned new three-year terms on the Select Board, which serves as the town’s chief executive body.

Sullivan Woods in the Select Board race emphasized making sure resident voices are heard on budget and other issues. Ulfelder said his experienced leadership would be valuable as the town faces challenges on the budget, capital spending, and housing and commercial development fronts.

Unlike with the Select Board, none of the four candidates in the only other contested town-wide race—running for two School Committee seats— were incumbents.

The top two vote getters were Costas Panagopoulos with 1,967 and Bob Sullivan with 1,803, both of whom earned three-year seats on the School Committee, which develops and manages school policies, and much more. Panagopoulos led voting in six of 8 precincts, with Sullivan capturing the other two.

Candidates Ayla Lari tallied 1,489 votes and Michael Robert Cave received 703.

Panagopoulos, a PhD, is a political science educator at Northeastern University, while Sullivan has a background in finance and business. And yes, it was a big night for the Sullivan family overall, as Bob Sullivan and Beth Sullivan Woods are siblings.

Overall, 20% of registered voters cast ballots (up from 17% last year).

Among the uncontested races, Mark Kaplan remains town moderator, Odessa Sanchez stays on the Housing Authority board, and Stephen Burtt is back with the Board of Assessors. New office holders include Maria Gallo Ashbrook and Aunoy Banerjee on the Board of Library Trustees, Joseph Schott and Melinda Arias-Voci on the Natural Resources Commission, and Susan Ecklund on the Board of Health.

See the complete unofficial results for all town-wide and Town Meeting seats.

Congrats to all who ran for office as well as everyone who voted and helped to run the town election.

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Wellesley Media to air town election results on Tuesday night

March 3, 2026 by admin Leave a Comment

Wellesley Media, on Comcast 8, Verizon 40, and WellesleyMedia.org, will present a short show on Tuesday, March 3 at 9pm to announce unofficial election results ahead of when the unofficial results make it to the town website later in the night. This announcement on Wellesley Media will be based on machine-tabulated numbers.

The campaigns station people at each precinct right at 8pm, when the polls close, and copy down the results from the tabulator tape when it prints at each precinct. Another 40%-plus of ballots sent by mail, etc., are pre-processed at Town Hall and will be posted somewhere around 8:30pm.

The Town Clerk typically posts unofficial results sometime after 9pm on election day, with write-in, hand counted, and other such ballots reviewed before official results are published.

Arts round-up: Amazing Acastock concert is coming; Global film at Babson; Paintings by Dr. Savage; Society of Artists event; Latest from Wellesley Repertory Theatre; Call for creatives

March 3, 2026 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

Wellesley is fortunate to have a lively arts scene, with various opportunities to engage with or make art at any given time. Check out a concert, theater performance, or film this month. Here are just a few events happening soon, here and beyond Wellesley.

WHS Performing Arts: Acastock Concert

DATE/TIME: Fri Mar 6, 7pm-9pm
LOCATION: Katherine L. Babson, Jr. Auditorium, Wellesley High School, 50 Rice St.
TICKETS here
DESCRIPTION: This always-popular annual a cappella show is presented by Wellesley High School Performing Arts. Special guest stars contribute to the talent overload the WHS students already bring. Led by WHS director of choral music, Dr. Kevin McDonald.

Babson Global Film Series

EVENT: film screening of Bad River, written and directed by Mary Mazzio
DATE/TIME: Tuesday, March 10, 7:00 P.M.
LOCATION: Carling-Sorenson Theater, Babson College
COST: Free and open to the public. Registration encouraged. Walk-ins welcome.
DESCRIPTION: Narrated by Quannah ChasingHorse and Academy-Award nominee, Edward Norton; and produced by Grant Hill and Allison Abner, Bad River is a new documentary chronicling the Wisconsin-based Bad River Band’s fight for sovereignty.

Council on Aging, art exhibit

DATE/TIME: March – May, during Tolles Parsons Center hours
LOCATION: Tolles Parsons Center, 500 Washington St., Wellesley
DESCRIPTION: Featured artist Dr. Robert Savage is a Wellesley resident who retired in 2016 after a roughly 35-year career in plastic and reconstructive surgery (and teaching and writing). At first he was all about art collecting and art history, but it wasn’t long before Dr. Savage started putting paint to canvas. The self-taught artist concentrates on iconic scenes of New England, especially the Cape and Islands. See our interview with Dr. Savage here.

Robert Savage, artist — Robert Savage, featured artist at the Tolles Parson Center

Wellesley Society of Artists “Inspired By” awards reception and “Who’s Your Muse” panel

DATE/TIME: March 22, 1:30pm
LOCATION: Wellesley Free Library, 530 Washington St.
COST: Free and open to the public.
DESCRIPTION: The awards announcement will be followed by a panel discussion, “Who’s Your Muse?” with WSA members who will discuss how their artwork was inspired by a particular artist’s style or genre. Light refreshments and a chance to chat with local artists Free and open to the public.

EVENT: Theater performance, “To Kill a Mockingbird”
DATES: Feb. 27 – Mar. 22
LOCATION: Umbrella Arts Center, 40 Stow St., Concord, MA
TICKETS: here
DESCRIPTION: Adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird opens in a sleepy Alabama town in the midst of the Great Depression, where Scout and her brother, Jem, live with their widowed father, lawyer Atticus Finch. While the children act out stories and muse about their mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley, the facade of their seemingly peaceful town begins to crack when a young Black man is accused of a terrible crime. Based on the book by Harper Lee. Directed by Scott Edmiston

Wellesley Repertory Theatre to present in-process presentations of Lifted

Wellesley Repertory Theatre will offer in-process presentations of the 7th play of Mfoniso Udofia’s Ufot Family Cycle, Lifted, at several Boston-area spaces in March 2026. These ‘text-in-hand’ presentations inform Udofia’s ongoing writing of this work-in-process.

March 10, 12, 14: Footlight Club
7A Eliot Street, Jamaica Plain

March 24-28: Maso Studio, Huntington Theatre
264 Huntington Avenue, Boston

March 29: Diana Chapman Walsh Alumnae Hall Auditorium, Wellesley College

Tickets can be ordered online.

Natick puts out calls for art

WANTED: Natick Center Cultural District and Public Art Natick are calling for artists to create two-sided banners to adorn 40 street poles throughout Natick Center.
ELIGIBILITY: Any resident of Massachusetts that can accept and cash a check may submit a proposal, but preference will be given to current or former Natick, MA residents. Please review all the particulars here.
PROPOSAL DUE DATE: March 15
STIPEND: $1,000

WANTED: Natick Center Cultural District and Public Art Natick are calling for art for a Natick Center gift card.
STIPEND: $100
PROPOSAL DUE DATE: March 15
More information here.

Sports

Wellesley Public Schools Athletic Director John Brown retiring in fall of ’26

March 2, 2026 by Bob Brown 1 Comment

John Brown, who has served as athletic director for Wellesley Public Schools for the past 20 years, has announced plans to retire, staying through October.

Brown over the years has celebrated the always high participation rate of students in Wellesley athletic programs, which have racked up 47 state titles during his tenure (see the banners before and since Brown joined WHS).

In November, Brown was recognized with the 2025 MIAA William N. Gaine Jr. Sportsmanship Award, presented annually to an individual who sets an example for promoting sportsmanship in Massachusetts interscholastic athletics.

Brown came to Wellesley in 2006 from Natick High, where he was the baseball coach, and had earlier been a talented player.

The biggest change during his tenure: The rise of club sports. “Club sports is the biggest change because it had changed the landscape of Athletics and not necessarily for the best…,” he said.

Don’t ask Brown to pick a favorite team or moment: “I have so many great memories that it is hard to pick just a few. It wouldn’t be fair to all of the other great things that have happened.”

In his retirement announcement, Brown thanked many people, including those who hired him and have kept him on. And of course he singled out his office partner Mary Anne McDonald.

He also recognized his family for putting up with Brown’s often hectic schedule.

“They understood that holidays, vacations and birthdays needed to be celebrated around Wellesley games and events so that I never missed anything,” he wrote.

“How often can someone say that their hobby and their passion is their job. I would not have traded this for anything. I was able to make my living in sports in a great community,” Brown wrote.

Asked about once he departs Wellesley whether he might be tempted to go back to at least rooting for Natick baseball, he says: “When I left Natick I always said that I would root for them all but twice a year when they played Wellesley and nothing will change. Once a Raider always a Raider!”

wellesley high basketball john brown — John Brown making an announcement at a Wellesley basketball game

Wellesley Athlete of the Week profiles (sponsored by Deland, Gibson Insurance)

Football coach stepping down after 14 years at Wellesley High