More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.
The Wellesley Health Department is holding a community flu clinic for residents 18 years and older on Tuesday, November 20 from 10am to noon at the Warren Recreation Building (90 Washington Street, 2nd Floor). Insurance plans are accepted, please bring your information. Walk-ins are welcome. Residents who are unable to attend the flu clinic should contact the Health Department at 781-235-0135 to make an appointment.
Dan McCabe Memorial Blood Drive
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
10am – 3pm
Wellesley Hills Congregational Church
207 Washington Street
Appointments are encouraged
Please call 1-800- 733-2767
or visit www.redcrossblood.org
Sponsored by the Youth Fellowship of Wellesley Hills Congregational Church and Wellesley Boy Scout Troop 182
RELATED: A Path in the Woods Foundation
Winter heating costs have you worried? Do you want to cut your utility bills?
Learn ways to reduce your energy usage and make your home more comfortable and efficient. The seminar will review available programs that help you reduce energy usage.
The 2018 Town Wide Energy Assessment Campaign sponsored by the Wellesley Municipal Light Plant and National Grid is offering no-cost energy audits, free light bulbs and significant rebates and assistance on insulation, heating equipment and appliances. The seminar will familiarize you with the audit process
You are encouraged to bring your oil, gas and electric bills with you. Volunteers will help you determine your benchmark energy rating and assist with the audit process.
The seminars will be held at the Tolles Parsons Center, 500 Washington St.
Wednesday November 14, 1pm
and
Wednesday December 19, 1pm
Sign-up with the COA 781-235-3961. Walk-ins are welcome.
This program is sponsored by the Wellesley Sustainable Energy Committee.
Start your day with a light breakfast at the Council on Aging (COA) on Monday, November 19, 7:30am to 8:45am and learn more about the programs, services and volunteer opportunities offered.
The COA invites senior residents who haven’t yet participated in COA programs or who haven’t visited the new Tolles Parsons Center (500 Washington Street) to come by before regular COA business hours to join Director Gayle Thieme and COA board members for a brief information session. Volunteers will be giving tours of the Tolles Parsons Center and its various meeting and activity rooms.
Registration for this event is now open; space is limited to 50 people. To sign up, email the COA or call 781-235-3961.
Join us on Friday, November 16 in Wellesley for an evening of a cappella singing at a benefit concert for The Wellesley Cancer Prevention Project.
The ACDC-2 concert will feature three of Boston’s coolest a cappella groups:
If on Halloween you see a teal pumpkin on a Wellesley doorstep, it’s not just a holiday decorating project run amok. To those in the know, teal pumpkins are purposefully placed, and they’re sending out a special code. I am here to crack that code as wide open as a vandalized jack-o-lantern.
Part of the Teal Pumpkin project, the blue-green symbols are all about making sure that trick-or-treating is fun and safe for everyone. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, 8% of U.S. kids have food allergies and other conditions that preclude them from joining in on the traditional autumnal candy bacchanal. Teal pumpkins serve as a signal to the treats-seeking community that here is a place where non-food loot is available such as glow sticks or small toys. It’s a simple act of consideration designed to promote inclusion for kids whose food allergies turn the fun of Halloween into a just another time when mom and dad are saying a whole lot of “no.”
Teal as the color of food allergy awareness and has been used for 20 years to raise awareness about food allergies — think bumper stickers and banners. The pumpkin add-on came in as a national initiative launched in 2014 by Food Allergy Research & Education to “raise awareness of food allergies and promote inclusion of all trick-or-treaters throughout the Halloween season.”
What got going as a social media campaign has spread to more and more communities. It’s something Wellesley mom and Mass General hospital allergist Kimberly Gold Blumenthal and her family have done for several years. “We have a teal fake pumpkin and a plastic teal pumpkin that we will fill with toys…Children with food allergies, especially those with anaphylactic-type allergies to peanuts and tree nuts, used to feel left out of the Halloween fun. What fun is it to collect a bunch of candies that may not be safe to eat? The teal pumpkin project helps ‘mark’ houses where food-allergic kids can trick or treat at safely, so they can join in the fun.”
It’s an idea whose time has come because let’s be real here. There’s nothing scarier than a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction.
Candy is still king on Halloween, but the work-around of a toys option for some means a safe and happy Halloween for all. Rebecca Flanagan (those pics, above, are of her home) says, “My 5 year old has severe food allergies, so the Teal Pumpkin Project has really helped to make Halloween easier for my son and make him not feel different from the other children. In our family, the kids trade in the candy they collect for a LEGO set and are given a small bag of safe candy from home. With the inception of the Teal Pumpkin Project he is now able to keep the non-candy treats he collects trick-or-treating, making him feel more included on a day that can be a real challenge for food allergy kids and parents.”