The Swellesley Report

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

Wellesley restaurants—over 50 dining options

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Wellesley Rotary ClubThanks to the Wellesley Rotary Club for sponsoring our swell restaurants page.

The Rotarians are at it again, fundraising to fight food insecurity. Help them out by entering for a chance to win a Wellesley Rotary Club’s 3rd annual “Dinner On Us” Sweepstakes prize. The Wellesley Rotary Club has purchased gift cards from 50 Wellesley restaurants, and many restaurants donated gift card prizes of $100, $50, and $25. So now it’s your turn to step up and win–donate by Nov. 12, 2023 at 11:59pm for chances to win big.

More information here on prizes from the Absurd Grand Prize (winner takes all $100 gift cards to 30 Wellesley restaurants); the Ridiculous 2nd prize (winner takes all $50 gift cards to 30 Wellesley restaurants); and more.

 

 

     

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

We volunteered to cover the Wellesley Volunteer Fair

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A strong streak of volunteerism runs through Wellesley, and last week over 15 non-profit organizations set up informational tables at the annual Volunteer Fair to try and lure that energy over to their particular groups. Held in the Wakelin Room at the main library, the two-day event was organized like a job fair, with representatives of local non-profits on hand to answer questions and hand out literature. The goal: for potential volunteers to find the right fit to give generously of their time and talents. The event was sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Wellesley and the Wellesley Free Library.

Wellesley Rotary Club
Wellesley Rotary Club. From left: Tory DrFazio; Club president Patrick Hayden; Bill Westerman; Dick Carls. Tickets for the Club’s 3rd Annual “Dinner on Us” Sweepstakes fundraiser are available now.

 

Wellesley League of Women Voters
Wellesley League of Women Voters helped sponsor the Volunteer Fair. Left, Deb Codispoti, and Tanya Roy

 

Wellesley Village Table
Wellesley Village Table, a Wellesley Village Church program, was created to address food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program has plenty of volunteer opportunities for individuals or families. Meal prep takes place in the fully licensed industrial kitchen in the basement of Wellesley Village Church, and many hands make light work. From left, Jane Amara, Heather Conway, Shannon Kelly.

Over 15 groups in all attended. Missed the Volunteer Fair. The door has not slammed shut on your volunteerism dreams. Any of the groups will be happy to answer your questions about what they do and how you can fit in. Find out more information on their individual websites.

  • Building a Better Wellesley
  • Rotary Club of Wellesley
  • Sustainable Wellesley
  • Town of Wellesley
  • Wellesley A Better Chance
  • Wellesley Conservation Land Trust
  • Wellesley Council on Aging
  • Wellesley Democratic Town Committee
  • Wellesley Friendly Aid
  • Wellesley Historical Society
  • Wellesley League of Women Voters
  • Wellesley Service League
  • Wellesley Symphony Orchestra
  • Wellesley Trails Committee
  • Wellesley Village Table

Please volunteer to support your local news source, The Swellesley Report, by contributing or by becoming an advertising partner.

Page Waterman, Natick
London Harness, Wellesley
Longfellow, Wellesley

Wellesley volunteer fair coming to the library

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A 2-day Wellesley Volunteer Fair will be held at the main Branch of Wellesley Free Library (530 Washington St.) to connect non-profit organizations with potential volunteers. Hours will be 2-4pm on Sunday, Oct. 1, and 10am-noon on Monday, Oct. 2.

Registration for organizations is open.

The following is provided to groups taking part:

  • One 6-foot table
  • Two chairs
  • Volunteer registration form
  • Light refreshments and treats for all

Organizations should bring information about their mission and volunteer opportunities. Email Cara Rothman with questions.

Offered by the League of Women Voters of Wellesley & the Wellesley Free Library.

Separately, we welcome you to volunteer tips, photos, ideas to theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

Roll with the Wellesley Food Pantry “Ride for Food” team—sign up now

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The Wellesley Food Pantry will participate in 12th annual Three Squares New England’s Ride for Food on Sunday, October 1, at Noble & Greenough School in Dedham. The Food Pantry needs riders (or walkers) to sign up and help make this event a huge success.

Wellesley Food Pantry's participation in the Ride for Food
Wellesley Food Pantry’s Ride for Food team, 2017

The ride is for all levels and abilities. Riders must be 14 years of age or older. Participants may ride 25 or 50 miles; complete a 5-mile walk; or create their own virtual fundraising event. Light breakfast items, coffee, and snacks will be on hand at the starting point, along with water stops along the route. After the ride there will be a celebratory event at Noble & Greenough complete with food trucks, music, and fun for everyone.

The Food Pantry’s goal for this largest fundraising opportunity of the year is to raise $20K to support its 400+ Wellesley clients in need. Each event participant is required to set a minimum fundraising goal of $350. Organizers report that historically the average raised by individuals is $1,000. All participants who raise $1,250 will receive a unique bike jersey, designed by a young local artist. For the non-cyclists who hit that fundraising goal, there will be a fun and fashionable alternative to the jersey.

On a mission

To fulfill the Wellesley Food Pantry’s mission of offering healthy, high-quality food choices, the volunteer organization spends thousands of dollars each month to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables, meats and fish, eggs, cheese, and more.

As inflation has risen, so have costs. Many of the Pantry’s clients are children, and nearly 40% of clients are seniors (aged 65+).

REGISTER for the Ride for Food and fundraise for the Wellesley Food Pantry Team.

DONATE to the Wellesley Food Pantry team.

QUESTIONS: contact manager@wellesleyfoodpantry.org

Family-run Kids Backing Kids continues to support children in-need around Wellesley and beyond

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For Wellesley High alumna Grace Rodrigue and her two sisters, Olivia and Simone, volunteering and being able to give back to their community is deeply personal and fundamental to supporting children who are economically disadvantaged. In an interview with Swellesley, Grace shared that her father understood first-hand what it was like to grow up as a child in poverty and on food stamps, which is partly why he became involved and was named President and Director of Kids Backing Kids.

Grace Rodrigue with her two sisters, Olivia and Simone

Kids Backing Kids is a non-profit, independent organization that was co-founded by the Rodrigue sisters during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 when it became clear how much COVID-19 was impacting children and families. According to the KBK website, the original concept was to help children who could not afford school supplies, receive them, and it quickly grew to become more: educating other kids in Wellesley about important problems children are experiencing such as food insecurity and homelessness.

KBK does more than its annual Back to School Supply Drive, which gives kids a new backpack with supplies, snacks and other school-material resources, by holding a holiday gift drive during the Winter and a diaper drive, where people can donate items for infants and new mothers. According to Grace, the organization has now branched out to helping students in Needham, Newton and Dorchester.

KBK also has many volunteer opportunities that engage people of all ages and backgrounds. For kids in grades 5 to 8, they can be a ‘Backpack Stuffer’ which is a more casual commitment, and for high schoolers, they can become “Community Speakers”—a higher level of commitment that allows them to learn about and then speak on topics (childhood poverty, food insecurity, homelessness, or trauma) in front of large groups.

KBK also has a selective mentorship program for kids in grades 10 to 12, in which they select four students to be paired with a mentor on the executive team for one year, to learn about how a non-profit organization operates and to be a part of something they care about.

“We like to include our community and surrounding communities as much as possible because we want other kids to get the experience of helping kids their age,” Grace said. “We want to raise awareness of these social issues and hopefully inspire change in the future with future generations. So we always have an interactive part in our drives where kids and families and anyone can volunteer to help in any sort of way.”

More: Wellesley’s charitable and community action groups

Wellesley newcomers: How to volunteer

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We remember what it was like to be a newbie in town. So we’ve started a semi-regular column designed to help Wellesley’s new blood navigate daily life here.

Wellesley is a town that runs on volunteers. The 240 elected members of Town Meeting vote on Wellesley’s budget, zoning, bylaws, and and other business on the first Tuesday of March every year. The five-member Select Board, also an elected body, is responsible for all matters that affect the interests of the Wellesley. And there are a couple dozen boards and committees in charge of everything from Wellesley’s Wonderful Weekend, to historical initiatives, to wetlands protection.

Wellesley Town Hall
Wellesley Town Hall in bloom

Boards and committees that may need your enthusiasm and skill

  • Advisory Committee
  • Assessors Board
  • Audit Committee
  • Community Preservation Committee

Some of the above are appointed standing committees. Some are appointed special committees. Some are elected boards and officials.

To get your can-do spirit on the radar of those who make appointments, fill out the Town of Wellesley volunteer form.

In addition, there are multiple ways to volunteer through Wellesley’s public schools, as well as dozens of charitable and community action groups.

So dive right in. Wellesley needs you.

Wellesley Historical Society and Wellesley Hills Junior Womens Club give out big donations

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The Wellesley Historical Society has announced the 2023 Jim Marcotte Scholarship recipients. Congratulations to Rhys Ramsden and Fatima Sillah.

Rhys Ramsden is passionate about music—its production as well as its power to transform. Rhys pursues this passion through song writing, music recording and collaborating with other artists. He has developed a significant online music presence and uses this presence to build community. Beyond the composition and production of music, Rhys looks forward to exploring the ways that the music industry has promoted gender stereotypes and hopes to see the industry move beyond its current binary: domination by cisgender men and sexually-packaged women. Rhys will be attending The New School in New York City, where he will major in music technology.

Wellesley Historical Society scholarship winners
Rhys and his mother Linda at Wellesley Scholarship Foundation’s Scholarship Award Ceremony. From left: Linda Ramsden, Rhys Ramsden, and Historical Society board president Peter Mongeau. Photo credit: Wellesley Historical Society.

Fatima Sillah has been active in the Wellesley High School community as a member of Young Ethnic Scholars (Y.E.S.) and as a member of the student council. She provides peer mentorship through the Journeys program and is a student ambassador for the World of Wellesley. She loves to sing and dance and has participated in WHS musicals, acapella groups, and the Hip Hop Dance club. The first-generation college student will attend UMass Boston in the fall to pursue a lifelong dream of becoming a dentist.

More about the scholarship’s namesake, Jim Marcotte.

Wellesley Hills Junior Women’s Club, doing what they do

The Wellesley Hills Junior Women’s Club awarded a grant of $3,500  to Natick-based Family Promise Metrowest to support families facing homelessness and housing insecurity in the Metrowest region. More here.

Here’s the schedule for Wellesley’s Wonderful Weekend, May 20 & 21

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Wellesley’s Wonderful Weekend, organized and funded by the Wellesley Celebrations Committee, is ready to bring the excitement during the town’s largest community gathering of the year. This two-day event takes place on May 20 and 21, and includes events and activities for all ages.

Don’t skip breakfast on Sat., May 20

Remember to start everything out with the most important meal of the weekend—the Pancake Breakfast, on Sat., May 20, 8am-1pm, at Wellesley High School, 50 Rice St.

Gluten free, waffles and pancakes are available as an option and there will be bountiful chocolate chips for toppings at this all-you-can-eat family fun event with the prices that haven’t gone up in years. $10 if you’re 14 or older, and five dollars if you’re 13 and under.

Have a cool car? Help out

There is a serious need the 54th Wellesley Veterans’ Parade has for convertibles to carry the Honorees in this year’s Parade, to be held on Sunday, May 22, 2022, starting at 1pm, starting at the junction of Routes 9 & 16, at the Friendly Aid parking lot.
Anyone who might have an available convertible can contact Roy Switzler, Parade Chairman at 781-235-1299 (o), or 617-840-5718 (c) or at wellesleycelebrations@gmail.com or rswitzler@aol.com
Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend
Wellesley’s Wonderful Weekend parade, 2022.

This year, the Annual Wellesley Veterans Parade theme is “Birth of Our Nation: Celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party.”

Wellesley’s Wonderful Weekend—what’s new in 2023

Encampment location change: The encampment is usually on the grounds in front of Wellesley Town Hall. That’s not happening due to construction of the historic building. Instead the 18th century military encampment will take place at Morton Park Field. There will be tours all day on Saturday and a cannon firing hourly 11am-4pm near the Wellsley PD, 485 Washington St.

Catch Connect: This year, free transportation on Saturday, May 20 will be provided by the MWRTA Catch Connect from 10:00 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. to the many Wellesley Wonderful Weekend venues (e.g. Touch a Truck event, Wellesley Police and Fire Department open houses, Art in the Park and other events). Riders over 12 years of age can ride unaccompanied.

If you would like to use this service on Saturday, please email info@sustainableWellesley.com. In your email, make sure to share that you/family/friends would like to try Catch Connect so we can accommodate your travel plans.

Climate Action Passport:

  • Grab a passport at the Library, Free Eye Exam/Eyeglass donation event at Wellesley High School, Touch a Truck, or the Wellesley Police Department or Municipal Light Plant open houses.
  • Get your passport stamped at Wellesley’s Wonderful Weekend climate action events.
  • Show your passport at the Climate Action table at the WWW picnic (Hunnewell Field) on Sunday, May 21 from 4:30 p.m. to dusk. All stamped passports will be entered into a drawing to win a $200 bike shop gift certificate.

Wellesley’s Wonderful Weekend schedule, Sat., May 20

Saturday, May 20: 18th century military encampment at Morton Park Field—The Royal Irish Artillery Division and 26th Yankee Division. Tours all day on Saturday. Canon firing Saturday, 11am-4pm, on the hour, nearby Wellesley Police Station, 485 Washington St.

8am-1pm: Pancake Festival at Wellesley High School, 50 Rice St., Wellesley Kiwanis Club. Wellesley Key Club (slight cost)

8am-1pm: Free Eye Exams at the Wellesley High School,  50 Rice Street, Wellesley Lions Club

9am-10am: Morses Pond Trail Guided Walk, Wellesley Trails Committee, Meet at town beach access road gate, end of Turner Rd.

9am-10:30am: Walking Tour of Wellesley Hills Square with Wellesley Historical Society. Meet at the Tollhouse, 229 Washington St.

10am-noon: Bike Safety Rodeo, for children under twelve. With Wellesley Police and Wellesley Kiwanis, Tailby Parking Lot, Linden and Crest Roads.

9am-noon: Touch a Truck Open House at Wellesley Department of Public Works, 20 Municipal Way (off Rt 9)

11am-3pm–Open House at Wellesley Municipal Light Plant, 4 Municipal Way (off Rt. 9)

11am-3pm: Open House at Wellesley Police Station, 485 Washington Street

11am-to 3pm–Open House at Wellesley Main Fire Station #2

Noon-3pm: Open House at Tolles Parsons Center, 500 Washington Street

11am-3pm–Open House at Wellesley Historical Society, Stanwood House, 323 Washington Street

(Rescheduled until fall due to expected rain) Noon-2:30pm: Art in the Park, Wellesley Community Art Project & Wellesley Women Artisans – Simons Park (corner of Washington and Brook Streets, left of Main Library)

1pm-3pm: Pups in the Park, Rotary Club of Wellesley, Friends of Wellesley Veterans, Inc., and Wellesley Celebrations Committee, Hunnewell Field

1pm-3pm: Build Your Own Nancy’s Troll and Fairy House event (for elementary school kids), in memory of Nancy Bagdasarian. At Pickle Point on Morses Pond. Wellesley Conservation Land Trust, Crosstown Trail. Parking area opposite 49 Russell Rd.

(Canceled due to expected rain: limited showing of the artwork will happen during Sunday’s picnic instead) 10am-4pm: The Wellesley Society of Artists is pleased to present “Celebrating 90 Years of Art and the Next Generation of Artists”, featuring the artwork of 30 WSA member artists on display at Simons Park (corner of Washington & Brook Street, left of Main Library).

4pm–dusk: Paint the Town–Plein Air Painting event, Wellesley Society of Artists and Page Waterman Gallery, Town Hall grounds, corner of Washington and Grove Streets, Wellesley Square.

4pm: Veterans Ecumenical Memorial Mass at Saint Paul Church, 502 Washington Street, Wellesley Veterans Council

Wellesley’s Wonderful Weekend schedule, Sun., May 21

8am-10am: Guided Bird Walk at Morses Pond, Wellesley Conservation Land Trust. Park on wooded side of Turner Rd. Meet at Turner Road Gate.

8am: Wonder Run 5K Race* (small fee charged) 9am: Kids Fun Run*  (small fee charged), Wellesley Hills Junior Women’s Club, Wellesley High School, 50 Rice Street. Register here.
A Lexington Minuteman re-enactor will fire a musket shot to start the race of the 9th annual Wonder Run 5K & Kids Fun Run

9:30am-2pm: Antique Car Show, Wheels of Wellesley X, on Central Street, from Juniper Restaurant to Fire Station 1. Organized by the Modifiers Car Club and the Wellesley Celebrations Committee

1pm-3pm: 55th Annual Wellesley Veterans Parade. 2023 Theme: Birth of Our Nation: Celebrating the 25oth Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party—1773-2023. Route along Washington St. (Route 16) through to Central St. in Wellesley Square. Reviewing Stand in front of Wellesley Village Church. Wellesley Celebrations Committee

4:30pm-dusk: Picnic in the Park at Hunnewell Field. Food, drinks, kids’ rides, crafts, games, ponies, & other fun. (small charge for food, drinks, and some activities.

6pm: Concert for Wellesley at Hunnewell Field. Featuring music by The Reminisants, and a musical theatrical performance by Wellesley Theatre Project Wellesley Theatre Project

Dusk: Fireworks – The Biggest and the Best! At Hunnewell Field. Sponsors: Roche Bros./Sudbury Farms and Needham Bank

Please support the Celebrations Committee with a donation. Those fireworks (and so much more) are free to all revelers, but not to the organizers!

Donations can be sent by check made payable to Friends of Wellesley Veterans, Inc. and sent to Friends of Wellesley Veterans, Inc. P.O. Box 812202, Wellesley, MA 02482-0015  or by visiting wellesleywonderfulweekend.com/donate