July 4th & 5th: Fourth of July Celebrations
From Newton Cultural Development: The Independence Day weekend is full of events and activities to safely gather and celebrate Independence Day. You can find details and more information on the weekend festivities by clicking here. Every heart beats true, for the Red, White, and Blue. Please visit this link to confirm details as some events have been rescheduled due to the weather!
Tuesday, 7/6: NewMo 2.0 Launches (+ info about other transportation options)
From Mayor Fuller’s newsletter: NewMo 2.0 (Newton in Motion) dramatically expands access to and from public transit for all residents who live in any village and neighborhood of the City as well as for all employees and visitors in Newton.
Any resident, anyone who works in Newton, and any visitor here can book a $2 on demand, shared ride to connect to the MBTA Green Line or Commuter Rail system, Needham Street and the Wells Avenue Office Park area.
Download the NewMo app (search for NewMo Newton) on a smartphone or call 617-655-8019 to get started. Those without access to a smartphone can both sign up and book a ride by calling 617-655-8019.
Rides cost $2 (with the first five free) and will be paid directly through the app or charged to your credit card when you use a telephone to call for a ride. Qualifying low-income residents can receive discounted rides for 50 cents. To see if you qualify for discounted rates, contact Nicole Freedman, at nfreedman@newtonma.gov.
While NewMo 2.0 will not do drop offs and pickups at every commuter rail and T station, people anywhere in Newton can get a ride to and from the Green Line or to the Commuter Rail Framingham/Worcester line or the Needham line on Mondays through Fridays, 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Questions? Visit our website at newtonma.gov/Newmo or email NewMo customer support at newmo@ridewithvia.com, or call Via at 617-655-8019.
Another new transportation option, information via the Newton Needham Chamber of Commerce: The MetroWest Regional Transit Authority is changing transportation service on Bus Route 8 in Wellesley. This route will be replaced with a new on-demand, app-based service called CATCH Connect that will operate within the community and to Newton-Wellselley Hospital, the Woodland and Waban MBTA stations, among others.
Prefer to bike? Newton’s Blue Bikes stations are now live. More info: www.bluebikes.com
Tuesday, 7/6: Newton Farmers Market (Tuesdays and Saturdays all summer)
Tuesday Market: Cold Spring Park 1:30 to 6:00 p.m.(1094 Beacon Street between Walnut and Chestnut)
The Saturday market: Newton North High School 9:30a.m - 12:30 p.m (352 Lowell Avenue, Newtonville).
Thursday, 7/8: Help Newton Neighbors at the Newton Community Freedge (and every other Thursday throughout the summer)
Newton Neighbors is still looking for a few Freedge volunteers for this Thursday, July 7th. The time commitment is small, but the warm fuzzy feeling you’ll get from helping is big. All volunteer assignments should take less than an hour.
Morning Freedge Monitor / Afternoon Freedge Monitor / Evening re-stock. To sign up: https://volunteersignup.org/HQDHY
Thursday, 7/8: Piccadilly PopUp Kindness Rocks Workshop
Pop in to paint anytime between 10 AM and 8 PM
Outside the Piccadilly Pop-Up Shop at 1280 Centre Street to paint motivational art on rocks. The Pop-Up is open throughout the summer - more details: piccadillypopup.com
Friday, 7/9: Hyde Center Concert (continues Fridays all summer)
Throughout the summer there will be a wide range of performances at Hyde Bandstand including bands, movies, plays, storytelling and cultural programming. https://hydecenter.org/2021-summer-in-the-highlands/
Saturday, 7/10: Rotary Club of Newton Textile Recycling Day.
The Rotary Club of Newton is joining with the textile recycling company HELPSY, the City of Newton, and Green Newton to host monthly clothing/textile drives from June through September. These clothing drive events will help the environment by reducing the amount of clothes and textile waste going to landfills and incinerators. The first clothing drive will be held on Saturday, July 10 from 8am-12pm, in the back parking lot of The Shops at Chestnut Hill near the Hammond Pond Parkway entrance. The other Saturday morning clothing drives will be held from 8am-12pm on August 7, and September 11.
HELPSY is the largest clothing collection recycling company on the East Coast. In 2020, they helped to divert over 30 million tons of waste.
Saturday & Sunday 7/10 & 7/11 Linda Plaut Festival of the Arts
Celebrate Newton’s talented musicians, singers, bands, poets, story tellers & more!
Free and open to all
Outdoors at The Hyde Bandstand, 90 Lincoln Street, Newton Highlands
Outdoors at Suzuki School of Newton, 1615 Beacon Street, Waban
Inside at The Allen House Center for the Arts, 35 Webster Street, West Newton
July 14th - 18th: St. Mary of Carmen Society 86th Annual Festival
Sunday, July 18th: Start of Newton Cultural Development Summer Concert Series
Summer concerts are back for 2021! Sunday concerts will be at the 'Newton Centre Bowl' - the open green space below the hut off Tyler Terrace. Bring a picnic blanket or lawn chair, then sit back, and enjoy a variety of music. Be sure to support local businesses and get dinner at one the many restaurants in Newton Centre as well! Click here for concert information and details.
Fridays & Saturdays: Visit the Swap Shop
Via Green Newton Newton’s Resource Recovery Center Swap Shop (115 Rumford Ave., Auburndale) is open again, now on Fridays AND Saturdays. City residents can drop off usable items, and take home other items for free. New items are added each week so check back often. The Swap Shop will be open through the fall on Fridays and Saturdays, from 7:30am-1:30pm. See details here.
All items must be approved by a volunteer before being dropped off. Open to Newton residents only – proof of residency required upon request. View the Swap Shop guidelines.
Find local events & learn more about what’s happening in town:
There are lots of great resources to find out what's happening in Newton - check out some that might interest you below!
We’ve created a landing page for those new to town, featuring important apps to download and helpful email lists to sign up for, including Mayor Fuller’s newsletter. Check it out here: https://www.welcomingnewton.org/new-to-newton
In addition, visit the following web pages and subscribe to these newsletters to find out more info about what’s happening in town - events, important city discussion and decisions, and more.
Newton Neighbors Helping Neighbors is Welcoming Newton’s partner project focused on community support. Join the Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/newtonneighborshelping/
Mayor Fuller’s newsletter: https://www.newtonma.gov/government/mayor-fuller/updates
Local media: New TV is Newton’s local cable access TV station: https://newtv.org/, the Newton TAB is our weekly newspaper, the Newton Patch is online, and the Boston Globe has a “Newton Report”.
Village 14: https://village14.com/ They aim to be “the “go to” place for discussion of any issue in Newton, but there’s also plenty of room for humor and a bit of fun too. We welcome you all to join the conversation – the more voices, the better the conversation.”
Arts & Culture: Newton Arts Calendar: http://newtonartscalendar.org/; Newton Cultural Alliance’s weekly newsletters: https://newtonculture.org/
Newton’s City Calendars: https://www.newtonma.gov/government/public-buildings/calendar
Newton Free Library’s Calendar of events: https://newtonfreelibrary.libcal.com/calendar
Newton Community Pride: https://newtoncommunitypride.org/
The Newton-Needham Chamber of Commerce has a regular newsletter "Need to Know" covering local business issues and other topics of local interest https://www.nnchamber.com/
Amy Sangiolo’s Community Newsletter covers local government: https://amysangiolo.com/
OurNewton.org has local events and information https://www.ournewton.org/
All Over Newton has local shopping and restaurant information and guides: https://www.allovernewton.com/
The Newton Senior Center's "Coming of Age" newsletter has info of interest to local seniors. Subscribe here.
Need support?
Food assistance: information on the three food pantries, grab and go, and more available on the city's website here.
The Horace Cousens Industrial Fund is a charitable trust, established in 1930, which gives financial help to Newton residents who are faced with a temporary but severe financial problem. Grants are for one-time specific needs. https://www.newtonma.gov/home/showpublisheddocument?id=41413
Welcome Home, Inc. is a home goods pantry based at Trinity Church in Newton. Want to shop? Email welcomehomemass@gmail.com to schedule an appointment. www.welcomehomemass.org Newton Neighbors Helping Neighbors has a Facebook group to connect community members to support one another and share resources for people who live, work, pray, play and/or learn in Newton. Join here. Support the work of Newton Neighbors Welcoming Newton is a project of Newton Neighbors, Inc. You can now make tax-deductible contributions to us! Thank you to Newton Community Pride, our fiscal sponsor. If you would like to make a donation, please do so here. Or mail a check to: 1294 Centre Street, Newton 02459