The Swellesley Report

Since 2005: More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

Wellesley Books puts out June visiting authors line-up

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Wellesley Books has announced their visiting authors for June 2016 including two Wellesley residents: Keri Claiborne Boyle and Ben Coes.

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Saturday, June 4th 2016 @ 10am

Keri Claiborne Boyle, a Wellesley resident, shares her debut children’s book, Teddy the Dog; Be Your Own Dog. Boyle will be here reading from Teddy the Dog; Be Your Own Dog, the first in a three book series, and will also have some crafts for kids.

                                                 

Thursday, June 30th 2016 @ 7pm

Wellesley resident Ben Coes, a New York Times best-selling author of international political and espionage thrillers, shares his new book, First Strike. Come find out how a situation with no solutions turns out.

Thursday, June 2nd 2016 @ 7pm

Best-selling master espionage writer Alan Furst reads from his newest novel, A Hero of France. Join us as Alan Furst shares a riveting novel about the French Resistance in Nazi-occupied Paris.

 

51Qi+EkMASL._SX393_BO1,204,203,200_Friday, June 3rd 2016 @ 11am

Author/illustrator Ruth Chan joins us for a reading from her debut children’s book, Where’s the Party? Children and adults are invited for a reading of Ruth Chan’s latest children’s book, as well as a drawing demonstration and Q & A. Kidville will provide cake and balloons and guests/kids 0-6 are invited to play in their Big Muscle Gym after the reading!

 

Tuesday, June 15th 2016 @ 7:00pm

Wellesley Books welcomes debut author, N.S. Dolkart, to read from Silent Hall. Find out how five bedraggled refugees and a sinister wizard awaken a dragon and defy the gods.

Thursday, June 16th 2016 @ 7pm

NPR commentator and sports journalist Frank Deford reads from his new book, I’d Know That Voice Anywhere: My Favorite NPR Commentaries.

 

This event is ticketed. Tickets are $5 and can be used as a coupon towards purchase of I’d Know That Voice Anywhere.

Also of interest…

The Light of the World, Elizabeth AlexanderBook review: The Light of the World, A Memoir by Elizabeth Alexander

     

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black & blue, Wellesley
Olive Tree Medical, Wellesley
Haskins Automotive, Wellesley
MIT Museum, Cambridge

Memorial day memos

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Here are some closings and changes due to Memorial Day weekend for your planning purposes.

Parking meters in Wellesley will be free on Monday.

Memorial Day, Wellesley, 2016Wellesley’s RDF will be closed on Monday.

Wellesley town offices will be closed Monday.

Memorial Day is an official holiday for the US Postal Service, so Post Offices will be closed on Monday and there will be no home delivery of mail. It is also an official holiday for UPS, but scheduled UPS Critical Express and UPS Holiday packages should still arrive.

Brace yourself for this one, and plan accordingly: Massachusetts law states that liquor stores must be closed on Memorial Day.

Wellesley Memorial Day, 2016The Wellesley Free Library will be closed from Saturday, May 28th through Monday, May 30th in observance of the holiday.

 

 

 

Page Waterman, Natick
London Harness, Wellesley
Dedham Country Day School

Wellesley St. John’s Father Sepe to move on

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Fr. Kevin SepeFather Sepe’s last day as pastor of the St. John – St. Paul Collaborative will be June 1. The announcement came from the St. John’s School bulletin, which says that the Cardinal asked Fr. Sepe to take on a new assignment. Fr. Sepe will move on to Watertown, where he has been appointed the pastor of a newly formed Watertown Collaborative.

Fr. Sepe came to Wellesley and joined the St. John – St. Paul Collaborative when it was launched on June 2, 2015. Following the announcement of his departure, parishioners commented on his short stay in Wellesley. Fr. Sepe wrote to parishioners on the St. John Evangelist Facebook page that “although [their] time was short together, it has been an enriching experience for [him].” He also noted in the St. John School bulletin that “as diocesan priests we serve at the discretion of our Bishop.”

Father James Laughlin, the current pastor of Wayland’s Good Shepherd Parish, has been named the new pastor of the St. John-St. Paul Collaborative effective July 1. During the transitional period, Father MacKay will oversee the administration of the Wellesley collaboration.

Also of interest…

Wellesley’s St. Paul’s School closing

With “faith shaken,” St. Paul’s School parents try to set record straight on closing

Longfellow, Wellesley
Wellesley College Theatre

Album review: The House on Cliff

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Wellesley's The House on Cliff
The House on Cliff band members enjoying high tea on the veranda.

Rock and roll band with Wellesley roots, The House on Cliff,  recently released a classic-rock, radio-ready, 5-song album entitled Skin and Bones.

The four bandmates, which include Wellesley High School graduate and band vocalist Charles Coleman, have toured the United States and the United Kingdom, and released Skin and Bones following their departure from Boston’s Berklee College of Music. I listened to their work and was impressed by this latest collaboration of the Wellesley native and his bandmates.

The band describes itself as a high-energy rock band, and after listing to the songs, I cannot disagree. The music is upbeat and catchy, but also includes slower sections where the instruments fade into the background, highlighting the vocalists. When combined, the instruments complement the vocals, and all aspects of the sound are just as strong when played individually.  “Wrong,” their hardest-rocking tune, features a particularly impressive guitar solo, and the drums are consistent and complementary throughout the EP.

The sophistication of the lyrics in every song is impressive. I particularly enjoyed the chorus of “Pocket Change”: 

“I don’t mind if I never get to see my name in flashing lights/
I’ll storm the town and scream my words into the night/
Just to have a little bit of piece of mind.”

Here, the band reveals to the listener its passion for spreading the message of classic rock, whether that message makes them famous or not. I found this to be particularly fitting for a band whose mission is to restore the popularity of rock music.

The album content is original and the variety of sound throughout makes it appealing to listen to. This is great music to turn on in the car or when you’re looking to take a break from work. The band’s name is a nod to that well-known street in town, Cliff Rd., where the boys in the band, in true classic-rock fashion, can sometimes be heard practicing in a garage there. I wouldn’t be surprised to also hear The House on Cliff’s songs playing on a rock station on the radio in the future.

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Stunned by its luck, Swellesley snags cool intern

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Julia Albert, The Swellesley Report internMeet Julia Albert, The Swellesley Report’s first intern. Polite, respectful, and hard-working, we’re hoping she’ll be a good influence on us. Over the next few weeks, expect to see  Julia’s byline and photo credits on the site, ushering in a new era of blogging on Swellesley, we’re certain.

Hi, I’m Julia Albert, The Swellesley Report’s first intern, and this is my first post. I am a senior at the Dana Hall School in Wellesley, and I will be interning at the Swellesley Report over the next two weeks. I am interested in print, broadcast, and online journalism, and the Swellesley Report is just the start of my journalism career.

At Dana I have written for the Hallmanac, the student newspaper, have been a member of public speaking teams such as Model UN, and I am a dancer at Impulse Dance Center in Natick. I have also served at Dana Hall as a tour guide for prospective students and their families and as a Peer Educator.

My high school graduation is just a few weeks away, and next I will be headed to George Washington University in Washington D.C. where I will major in Journalism and Mass Communication in their School of Media and Public Affairs. I am very excited to be in D.C. next year and to study Journalism in a fast-paced environment where there is always something to report on. While I intern at the Swellesley Report, I hope to gain skills and experience that I can bring with me to GWU.