Wellesley speaker event—”The State of the Charles River”
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Wellesley Board of Health takeaways: Skip the Stuff; Pantry connection; spending opioids settlement funds
Takeaways from the Wellesley Board of Health meeting on Oct. 12 (see Wellesley Media recording for the full thing).
Electronic permitting: The Health Department is embarking on electronic permitting with food establishments to streamline the process. Many other departments in town have already gone the electronic route. We encourage the Health Department to make those permits accessible to the public online.
Skip the Stuff: The Health Department is partnering with the Department of Public Works, Sustainable Wellesley, and others on an effort to encourage restaurants to dole out less plastic (spoons, forks, knives) with take-out orders. Such single-use utensils would only be given upon request by customers. Director of Community and Public Health Lenny Izzo said there’s an effort underway by some residents to bring a article forward at Annual Town Meeting along the lines of what other communities, such as Newton, have done. If the proposal were to pass, it would become a town bylaw enforceable by the Board of Health. Such a change might be just the first of multiple phases designed to reduce plastic use in town.
Food Pantry connection: In the wake of longtime Wellesley Food Pantry Director Cynthia Scott departing that role, the Health Department met with a new pantry supervisor to ensure the continued support. Food insecurity continues to be a huge issues in town, seen frequently by Wellesley social workers and exacerbated by the rise in food prices. “[The issue] hasn’t shrunk, it’s actually increased. We have more apartments coming into town, we have more vouchers coming in with some of these apartment projects and it’s just becoming a bigger challenge,” Izzo said. During the meeting, the Board voted to allow Izzo to spend up to $3,000 on efforts to address food insecurity without going back to the Board for itemized approvals.
Putting opioid settlement funds to work: Wellesley’s in the second year of receiving opioids settlement money that comes through national and state lawsuits against drug makers, distributors, and others for their responsibility in the opioids health crisis. There had been restrictive state accounting rules that made it tough to actually use the hundreds of thousands in funds, but now Wellesley and other communities are do so. Izzo cited the hiring of a recovery coach program in collaboration with five partners. Also, narcan training is underway among staff, and the intent is for them to train other town staff and residents on this medication that can reverse an overdose from opioids. Wellesley has a goal to make narcan available in all town buildings, and is well on its way to doing that. Wellesley is seeking to use its funding to address a range of needs, Izzo said, as opposed to putting it all into one big contract.
Pandemic planning for K-12 schools: Board member Dr. Shira Doran said she met recently with school administration and health officials to start setting up a framework for a pandemic plan, and to discuss what went well or not with the existing plan during the COVID-19 pandemic. One lesson might be codifying interplay between the town and the state’s health leadership, she said. Izzo expressed frustration that during the COVID-19 pandemic, 20 years of training by the town on doing mass vaccinations largely went for naught due to the way the state handled things.
Please keep Swellesley healthy by contributing what you can
Here’s what’s up with that DeLorean parked in front of Wellesley’s FIXT Dental
“Like most of my good ideas, this started as a joke,” says Dr. Jason Tubo of FIXT Dental about the 1981 DMC DeLorean that’s been parked lately outside his Washington St., Wellesley Square practice. Yup, the same kind of DeLorean that Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) and Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) used for time travel in the Back to the Future film trilogy.
So what’s a vintage DeLorean got to do with dentistry? I asked, as did his wife and business partner, Jenny Tubo, when Tubo brought up the idea to her. His elevator pitch—”We help people get the smile they had in 1985, using the technology of the future.”
When he puts it that way, it still sounds like a crazy idea, but one that just might work. Dr. Tubo specializes in dental implants and cosmetic dentistry. As a quality-control enthusiast, he’s got an onsite lab staffed by a team of ceramists and designers. Every detail is overseen by Dr. Tubo.
Because FIXT implants and other cosmetic dentistry devices and services are in demand across the region, the practice already has a mobile laboratory van with 3-D printers and intraoral scanners. “We’re the lab with the docs that you call to come do the job when no one else can do it or when people say it’s impossible,” Tubo says.
They take that mobil lab—same make and model as the A-Team van from the 1980s TV show (you’re detecting a trend, right?)—out and about on such calls. On the outside it’s pure vintage, on the inside the A-Team van is a high-tech dental lab.
Problem was, the team realized they needed a second vehicle to do local runner-type deliveries. Something small. Something fun. Something fast. During brainstorming sessions, Ferraris and Lamborghinis came up. Nah. Too common here in Swellesley. Seems there’s something along those lines parked right across the street, in front of Smith & Wollensky, practically every night. Tubo wanted something that stood out, not some common-by-comparison daisy. In near-despair, Tubo figured a humble Tesla could do the job and allow him to move on to his next crazy idea.
Then the idea of the DeLorean came up. It checked all the boxes. On theme with the 80’s; attention-getting; and fun. “There was no other car I could think of where you can park anywhere and people are going to stop and take a picture they’re going to send to their cousin, to their brother,” Tubo says.
Add a “FIXT 88” vanity plate and a couple of QR codes on the vehicle, and the car goes from merely fun and functional to a savvy marketing tool. Tubo and lab director Yoan Raimondo are the only guys on staff so far who drive the 43-year old manual transmission vehicle, with no power steering, or power brakes. Along with whatever deliveries they stow into the under-the-hood storage space, they also have to pack patience. A simple gas fill-up turns into a hour of people asking for the story and taking pictures.
Look for more on this story on Very Local, which on Oct. 29 will run a 30-minute segment to include Tubo and the DeLorean.
And look for the DeLorean outside of 590 Washington St. in Wellesley Square (the storefront area of Belclare condos).
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Save the date: Friends of the Wellesley Council on Aging’s Health & Wellness Fair (Oct. 17)
The Friends of the Wellesley Council on Aging present a Health & Wellness Fair on Thursday Oct. 17 from 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM at the Council on Aging facility at 500 Washington St. in Wellesley.
Admission is free, offering free health screenings, snacks, and raffle chances every ½ hour.
Over 40 experts will be presenting information regarding the latest trends in fitness and nutrition, health screening, home health care, residential living opportunities, and legal and financial information specific to seniors including guidance to navigate Medicare and Medicaid.
An available health screening includes vision and eye pressure testing, vascular care & testing, stretching therapy, massage therapy, acupuncture therapy, dental health, and nutrition guidance.
Learn more about the event here or by emailing Rick Mongeau at rmongeaucp@gmail.com
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Wellesley Police Officer running New York City Marathon in honor of friend and fallen colleague
Wellesley Police Prosecutor Tim Barros recalls the first time he met Lamars Hughes back in 1995, before they were colleagues. Barros had walked into a Boston Chicken restaurant where Hughes was the only other customer. The two chatted, and as Officer Hughes left, he said “I’m sure I’ll see you around town.”
Indeed, three years later they became colleagues when Barros joined the force.
They remained friends until a year ago, when Hughes died, just three years away from retirement.
Hughes’s life was cut short following a car accident while on duty in early 2023. He was out of work for an extended period after the accident while recovering from injuries, and Hughes and Barros talked regularly about work and family life.
“Every conversation ended with us laughing and making jokes at the other’s expense,” Barros recalls.
On Nov. 13, 2023, Barros was sitting in his office at the police station when his cellphone rang. Upon seeing it was Hughes’s number, Barros bantered “New phone. Who’s this?” Sadly, the voice on the end was that of Hughes’s wife, Angeila, who was at the hospital and broke the news that her husband had passed away.
“Over the next few months, we learned that Officer Hughes died from a pulmonary embolism, resulting from his lack of mobility after the car accident. Something we couldn’t have seen coming. So, where do we go from here?”
Barros is going to New York City in November to run the marathon, something his friend Hughes had suggested he do after running the Boston Marathon. Barros is running with a charity bib number from the National Blood Clot Alliance—Stop the Clot (you can donate at Barros’s fundraising page).
Barros will be wearing green, Hughes’s favorite color, likely because he was a huge Boston Celtics fan.
Honoring Officer Hughes
Barros says “Lamars was a remarkable man” who grew up in Boston, and attended South Boston High School during the forced busing years.
“Something that was not easy for him, but thankfully, sports assisted with being accepted. He used to tell me that playing on teams made skin color irrelevant because the uniforms were the same color,” Barros says. “They all stuck together as a team.”
As someone who loved helping people, Hughes always knew he wanted to be a police officer, Barros says. In 1993, he took the statewide Civil Service Police Exam and as required, picked four communities to send the scores to. He chose Boston, New Bedford, the MBTA, and Wellesley, which Hughes said needed a Black officer in the wake of a notorious mistaken identity incident involving Boston Celtics player Dee Brown.
In 1994, Hughes became Wellesley’s first Black police officer.
“For the next 29 years, Hughes was a staple of the Wellesley community and the police department. Everyone knew him. Everyone trusted him,” Barros says.
Hughes served in multiple positions with the Wellesley Police Patrol Union, including vice president and president.
“He enjoyed talking with residents and businesses on his beat. And he enjoyed laughing with everyone. He had the most unmistakable belly laugh that was infectious. Something I miss but still think of regularly,” Barros says.
Hughes was also a big family man. In 2006, he married Angeila, forming a union that resulted in a blended family of five children and five grandchildren. He regularly hosted BBQs and gatherings at his house.
The process has started to get Officer Hughes’s name on the wall in Washington, D.C. as part of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial next year during National Police Week. His name will also be added to the memorial in front of the Wellesley police station.
Patient profile—Newton-Wellesley Hospital’s ortho docs fixed what was broken
SPONSORED CONTENT: Meet Kristen Vella, an active, busy mom who had been suffering from the effects of a failed shoulder surgery she’d had over five years ago. Despite trying various treatments, Kristen’s pain persisted, limiting her mobility and affecting her overall quality of life.
Determined to find a lasting solution, Kristen sought the expertise of the orthopedic doctors at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, within the Mass General Brigham Medical Group.
After a thorough examination, specialists determined a course of action that has relieved her pain and allowed her to purse an important professional dream.
Kristen’s story, in her own words
I was brought to Dr. Foster and Dr. Simon at Newton-Wellesley Orthopedics due to a failed shoulder surgery that I was told would be a routine procedure. Shortly after having the surgery I knew it wasn’t successful.
I expressed my concerns to my first surgeon on numerous occasions and was told that my shoulder just needed time. I was given multiple injections to try and help with the pain post-surgery. I even had a follow-up appointment canceled on me because I was told there was nothing more they could do for me. For a year, I was in and out of a sling and couldn’t pick up or hold my three-year-old daughter. I ultimately decided I needed a second opinion. I was referred to Newton-Wellesley by my brother, who had experienced a successful surgery with Dr. Foster.
A shoulder to cry on
After meeting with the doctors they confirmed what my body had been telling me—that something was wrong. Although I felt validated, it was devastating to learn that I would need a second shoulder surgery a mere ten months after my first surgery. Still, I was relieved that the doctors listened to me and explained how they knew exactly what course of action to take.
