Wellesley sisters celebrating inauguration with book drive for Boston-area kids

January 19, 2021 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Wellesley sisters Sanah (grade 7) and Sanya (grade 11) Goenka have launched a book drive for Boston-area kids in need as part of the Biden-Harris Presidential Inaugural Committee’s National Day of Service program.

You can help by donating new or gently used culturally diverse books appropriate for kids of ages 8 to 12. You can drop them off from Jan. 20-22 at 3 Mulherin Lane, Wellesley.

The sisters have been active in community service work for the past few years. They started a non-profit last year called Help Empower that offers free remote tutoring for students affected by school closures due to COVID-19. They’ve organized a team of high school student volunteers to tutor middle and elementary school kids in the Greater Boston area.

Pinnacle Residential Properties: the concept of home & roots

January 19, 2021 by admin Leave a Comment

SPONSORED POST: Lindsey Fay is a real estate agent at Pinnacle Residential Properties. She writes about Wellesley as the home her family loves.

I think about the concept of home a lot. Especially over this past year, when home has come to mean more to us than we ever realized before. It has provided us with sanctuary, a bubble of safety and normalcy, and very necessary constancy during uncertain times.

Pinnacle, Lindsey Fay — Lindsey, her husband Doug, their three children (Jack, 10; Olivia, 9; Teddy, 6), and Memphis

Recently my husband and I were having a conversation about home and roots. We were discussing how we respond when people ask, “Where are you from?” Seems like a simple enough question and my response comes easily. “I’m from Wellesley.” Other than for brief periods, I have spent most of my life here and this is where my family is from. I am a third generation Wellesley resident.

My parents live around the corner in Cliff Estates and my grandmother still lives in the Westgate Porter colonial where she and my grandfather raised their seven children. We have a legacy of wonderful memories, and we’ve derived much enjoyment from some of the simple opportunities living in this town has presented.

My dad’s family was always involved with Wellesley sports (especially basketball), and my grandfather loved to coach the kids. After he retired from a sales career in the late 80s, he took a position as coach of the Wellesley High Girl’s Varsity Basketball team. He was very proud of his team and was able to help them qualify for playoffs in 1990.

While my roots run deep here, for the past ten years my husband has established his own. He is originally from outside of Chicago, but he has been away from the midwest longer than he lived there.

[Read more…]

Bench at baseball field honors Wellesley’s Harry Clark

January 15, 2021 by Bob Brown 1 Comment

Wellesley’s got new premium seating at Reidy Field for baseball fans.

The bench was installed by the town in December at the Washington Street baseball field through an anonymous donation to honor Harry Clark, an inspiring young Wellesley resident who passed away last summer. Word is that the donors were friends of Clark from youth baseball, where they were brought together.

Clark’s father, Kevin, says the bench’s appearance was a very pleasant surprise for the family. “We are so grateful and hope it keeps the wonderful spirit and actions of Harry alive,” he said.

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Wellesley’s scenic roads

December 9, 2020 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Wellesley has many scenic roads, but only seven are officially designed as such under the state’s law per town approval.

The list:

- Benvenue Street
- Brookside Road
- Cartwright Road
- Cheney Drive
- Pond Road
- Squirrel Road
- The Waterway/The Brookway

We’ve created a page on The Swellesley Report to highlight those roads (Wellesley’s 7 official scenic roads). According to the state law, “After a road has been designated as a scenic road any repair, maintenance, reconstruction, or paving work done with respect thereto shall not involve or include the cutting or removal of trees, or the tearing down or destruction of stone walls, or portions thereof, except with the prior written consent of the planning board…”

From time to time, residents of these roads will rise up against what they fear are threats to the scenic-ness of their roads. Friends of Brookside have had their differences with various Wellesley Country Club plans, for instance, and more recently, Pond Road residents spoke out against a couple of large houses that a developer proposed to build closer to the road than is standard there.

In the wake of the proposed Pond Road developments (the Planning Board rejected the 9,000 sq. ft. house proposals under a Large House Review, but the developer could still build a couple of smaller houses there), the Board has started to discuss how it could address scenic road issues (catch a brief mention of this at the 2-hour, 35-minute mark of a recent Planning Board meeting recorded by Wellesley Media).

Planning Director Don McCauley said scenic road issues “may be something that the Board really wants to be taking a lead on rather than reacting to…what I’m sure we might be receiving some citizens’ petitions on.”

He said the focus of the original law in the 1960s, which is still valid, was to protect against “the ever widening of roads that was just wiping out streets, walls and areas of interest to facilitate cars.” The presumption that the whole scenic area is protected, however, isn’t necessary true or within the scope of the law, he said.

Looking at size of lots, setback distances, and other things could be fair game for the Planning Board and town to explore, he said, in thinking about more “scenic protections.”

Conservation easements and historic district restrictions could also play a role, said Catherine Johnson, chair of the Planning Board.

Click arrow at top left of map to see street key by color

Stroll through Wellesley into military history

November 4, 2020 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Storefront displays saluting veterans throughout the month of November have been set up across Wellesley Square and Church Square. Some of the displays honor locals, others recall national themes.

The Wellesley Celebrations Committee, which was unable to host its usual events during Wellesley’s Wonderful Weekend in May due to the pandemic, is spearheading the November displays as well as other activities. The Celebrations Committee is partnering with American Legion Post 72, the Veterans’ Services office and the Wellesley Select Board, as well as local businesses and property managers.

Upcoming events include a ceremony on Veterans’ Day, Nov. 11, at 11am at the war memorial in front of Town Hall (program will include a POW/MIA observance, Wellesley Police Department and Wellesley Fire Department Honor Guards, Veterans’ readings and personal reflections), and a Nov. 14 performance by the Boston Fireman’s Band downtown.

Here’s a whirlwind tour of the downtown window displays. These photos, due to window glare, don’t do the displays justice. Viewing them in person if you can is definitely the way to go.

veterans display

Black Lives Matter vigil being held at UU Wellesley Hills

November 2, 2020 by admin Leave a Comment

Members and friends of UU Wellesley Hills invite you to stand with them to honor Black lives harmed and lost, those victims of racial violence and injustice, known and unknown. Their next 15-minute silent Black Lives Matter vigil will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 12:30pm on the sidewalk in front of 309 Washington St.

Health and safety protocols will be followed to protect participants. For more, information please contact
[email protected].

Pinnacle Residential Properties: looking out for our neighbors at home & worldwide

October 27, 2020 by admin Leave a Comment

SPONSORED POST: Vin Spoto, President of the Wellesley Rotary Chapter and the co-owner of Pinnacle Residential Properties, writes about the role of the Rotary Club in the Wellesley community, and worldwide.

The Wellesley chapter of Rotary International has been part of our community for over 74 years, yet most residents remain in the dark about the role of the organization, both locally and globally.

Elizabeth Seton Residence staff members with masks donated by the Wellesley Rotary Club.

The Wellesley Rotary Club is one of over 34,000 chapters worldwide. Like most individual chapters, it focuses mainly on helping to find solutions to local social, economic, or health problems that are impacting the lives of some of our residents. Funds come from local fundraising events, such as the popular Taste of Wellesley event, as well as from sponsorships and grants. There are lots examples of the many programs to which Wellesley Rotary contributes such as Mass Bay Community College’s Food Insecurity Program. Food Insecurity is the lack of resources for sufficient food and the impact of hunger. This a problem that affects up to 52% of the student population.

Other local programs include:

partnering with Boston Children’s Hospital to help adolescents with depression. This Wellesley initiative has been brought to several countries including Nigeria and India
helping Wellesley restaurants deal with the economic impact of COVID by purchasing 1,000 meals for delivery to first responders
supplying face shields to the town’s retailers and masks to MassBay, Elizabeth Seton Residence, and the Kids Backing Kids program, and contributing to Community Investors to help them run their sports programs for our local youth
providing over 400 tree samplings to our public-school children to plant in town each year

Pinnacle, Wellesley — A polio vaccine is administered to a boy.