To stay up to date on the latest in vaccination information from the Town, click here. The Town conducted a robo-call this weekend about vaccinations, and will be updating that page as they get new information.
Interested in running for town office?Click here for information on offices up for election. Nomination papers are due March 23. Last day to register to vote is April 21, and Town Elections will be held on May 11
* Wayland schools making progress on COVID-19 testing plan. Wayland school officials are aiming to either join the state’s upcoming program for testing students and staff for COVID-19, or move forward with its own testing program.
* Dudley Chateau Reopens For Dining — With Igloos. The Dudley Château reopened for sit-down dining this week featuring a unique option not often seen in the area. The restaurant is offering diners the option of eating outdoors in heated igloos. The plastic, bubble-like structures have been used across the country during the coronavirus pandemic to keep diners separate, and have come in especially handy during winter months.
* Wayland Will Revisit Effort To Transform Government Structure. An effort to revamp Wayland town government is back on the agenda in 2021 after the issue was pushed off the 2020 annual Town Meeting warrant due to the pandemic. The proposed Wayland Select Board-Town Manager Act would create a hierarchy in town government with all departments except schools reporting to a town manager. The Select Board would remain as the policy-setting board.
For those who are in need of basic food resources, please call 508-358-7701.
Musical e-Valentine fundraiser to support the arts at Wayland High School. The Creative Arts Parent Association (CAPA) has teamed up with almost two dozen musicians and artists at Wayland High School to offer musical e-Valentines in a virtual fundraiser. Supporters choose from among 13 music and art combinations and provide their own personal note to the recipient. CAPA will assemble their virtual card and send on Valentine’s Day. Cards are $12 per card ($5 for students). To view options and place orders, visit CAPA Presents –Send a Valentine! {link: whsarts.org/Valentine} before the Wednesday, February 10 deadline. All proceeds go to CAPA, the parent organization dedicated to supporting the visual and performing arts at Wayland High School. CAPA typically provides over $10,000 in annual grants and support to the high school’s arts programs, funding master classes, special equipment, Fine Arts jackets, festival fees and more.
Domestic Violence Roundtable collects Valentine Donations for Families in Shelter. Each February, the Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable collects items for Valentine’s Day and fills gift bags for women, men and children temporarily living in local domestic violence shelters and transitional housing programs: REACH Beyond Domestic Violence, The Second Step, and Voices Against Violence. The Valentine Bags are decorated by the children from Sudbury Extended Day. For complete details, click here
Join the MRC! New Medical Reserve Corps Volunteers are always needed! We have a great group of volunteers, however, we would love to recruit new members. If you are interested in helping out your community and would like to volunteer please contact the Health Department at Health@wayland.ma.us.
Upcoming Meetings
Meeting Schedule for The Week: See the Town Website’s Calendar online here. Please check the online calendar for the latest updates, as meetings noted below could have been updated (change in date, time or location) since we captured them. Also, some meetings could have been added since we collected the calendar information.
Please check the Town Calendar to confirm meeting times, locations and agenda. There can be updates from when we capture the schedule below.
Links to join the meetings via zoom are posted on each agenda. The call-in number for public comment during board and committee teleconference meetings is 508-358-6812.
* Board of Health, 5:30pm. Agenda includes: Joint meeting with School Committee to discuss plans for full in-person Kindergarten.
* Board of Selectmen, 5:30pm. Agenda includes: Annual Town Meeting articles, River’s Edge, COVID-19 update
* Finance Committee, 6:15pm. Agenda include: ATM articles, FY22 Town and School capital budgets and funding sources, FY22 town and school operating budgets
* Social Justice Book Group for Teens (February 23)
* Teen Winter Reading Challenge 2021
Wayland High School Fine Arts Department and National Arts Honor Society announce Winter Art Show, online starting February 4. The Wayland High School Fine Arts Department along with the National Arts Honors Society is proud to announce our annual Winter Art Show! This year, it will be held virtually as an immersive online art gallery using the platform Kunstmatrix. It will feature over one hundred and fifty works from the fall semester’s many art classes, including Art 1/2/3/4, AP Studio Art, Painting, Digital Photography, Ceramics, and Advanced Ceramics. The link to the show will be posted on the Wayland Student Press Network (WSPN) website on the morning of Thursday, February 4th (where you will also be able to find an article to learn more about the show). Virtually walk through the 3D online gallery at your own pace, as though traveling through one in person! Since the show will be available for two weeks after it is posted, feel free to come back as many times as you want!
ArtsWayland presents February Members Salon at the W Gallery. The W Gallery is proud to present our February Members Salon running from Feb 1 through Feb 28th both online and in house. The gallery is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 pm to 5 pm and we are following all precautions to keep our visitors safe. Come and warm up from the cold while taking in the beautiful work of our local member artists! If you would prefer to view the work online, it can be found online here
Music-making continues virtually. Wayland’s favorite senior singers continue to lift their voices together every week, and YOU can join the fun by (old-school) telephone or (new-school) computer, tablet or smartphone. After 30-something years of music-making, we’re determined to stay connected and healthy with singing! Contact us at goldentones.org, or call 508-318-6318 to learn how to join our 90-minute “virtual rehearsals,” weekly on Tuesdays at 10am, and Fridays at 2pm. There are no auditions and no attendance requirements, only a friendly group of music-lovers from all over MetroWest who enjoy singing, dancing and music-making to pop classics and show tunes.
Listings from Prior Newsletters
Are you looking for something to stimulate your mind? Lifelong Learning, an Independent Collaborative (LLAIC) is a seven-year-old volunteer non-profit organization offering low-cost classes and enrichment programs to seniors interested in growing both intellectually and socially. LLAIC traditionally meets in Wayland; but, due to Covid-19, all classes and programs are currently on Zoom. This has allowed us to offer our programming to both local and out-of-town folks who are looking for learning, stimulation, and connections. This spring, we are offering over 25 courses as well as a variety of social and interest groups. Details are online here
New Year’s Resolution: Support your local Wayland restaurants. As a Town, Wayland has great local restaurants, but they’re struggling, especially now that indoor seating has been limited to 25% capacity, very few people want to dine inside anyway, and cold winter months make outdoor dining impossible. Restaurant service workers are bearing the brunt of a very tough COVID economy. How can we help? Wayland Economic Development Committee (EDC) is encouraging Waylanders to keep local restaurants in mind, if they can, and whenever they can, to help make a difference. Many restaurants around the Commonwealth have permanently closed their doors. We can actively support our local restaurants to help them survive the cold winter, by ordering takeout and delivery during the next few months – and we can enjoy great food to boot. Mangia! Click here for details and convenient online restaurant contact grid.
From the Council on Aging — for all of the following, to sign up, contact the COA at 508-358-2990 or coa@wayland.ma.us:
Art Matters:American Art 1776-1900 on Thursday, January 28, 1:30pm via Zoom. The United States was not founded by schooled artists, but by people seeking freedom and adventure. American artists have been like America itself, pioneering, bold, and independent. Early American artists had their roots firmly planted in European traditions but explored their own frontiers and evolved their own unique flavor, forged in the struggles of the birth of our nation. Join us on Zoom for a look at the roots of American Art from 1776 until 1900 with its pioneering courage and rebellious spirit. Made possible by a generous grant from the Friends of the Wayland Council on Aging.
Music of Civil Rights. Wed., Feb. 3, 1:00 p.m. on Zoom. What role did music play in the civil rights movement? Anthems such as We Shall Overcome, Eyes on the Prize, and Blowin’ in the Wind brought racial issues to even greater national attention. From Sam Cooke, James Brown, Odetta, and Janis Ian to today’s spoken word artists Gil Scott-Heron and the Last Poets, music has been a powerful part of the movement. Join music historian John Clark to learn and listen to this important music from the ’50s through to today.
Q&A on Russia with Henry Quinlan. Thursday, Feb. 4, 3:00 p.m. on Zoom. In January the COA showed a video presentation by Russia expert Henry Quinlan. Now, he’ll briefly review that presentation, and take your questions, live on Zoom. If you missed his presentation, you can view it on WayCam TV on Tues. Feb. 2 at 4pm. Join in this fascinating conversation about a complex and intriguing country where Henry lived and worked for decades.
Building Resilience: What We’ve Learned During the Pandemic. Wed., Feb. 17, 1:30 p.m. on Zoom. Join aging life-care professional Joan Harris, LSW, MBA, CMC to talk about strategies that have helped people through the pandemic, and how those strategies might shape life going forward. What have we learned that can improve our planning and our enjoyment in the future? An interactive discussion will follow her presentation.
Chinese New Year Celebration and Cooking Demo. Thursday, Feb. 18, 1:30 p.m. on Zoom. Celebrate Chinese New Year — the Year of the Ox — with Roberta Hing, who will explain many of the traditions surrounding the holiday and also share her family’s immigration story. Then, learn how to make delicious dumplings–one of the many symbolic foods eaten during the holiday. Click here for the recipe.
Wayland Lived Experiences Project Launches on International Human Rights Day. December 10th was International Human Rights Day and in honor of it the Wayland Lived Experiences Project has launched. This is a grassroots story collecting initiative to understand identity-based bias that may be occurring in our community. If you or someone you know has been targeted due to race, ethnicity, spoken language, (dis)ability, gender, sexual identity or some other aspect of identity, please consider completing the survey or encouraging others to do so. We welcome responses from anyone living, working, studying, worshipping in or visiting town. The survey can be found online here. Thanks to the Lydia Maria Child Fund at First Parish, it will also be available in other languages and in paper with return postage. You can follow the LEP Facebook page for updates. This is an effort of the Human Rights Commission Study Group, a group of residents exploring the formation of a human rights commission, a new town committee, by petitioner’s article. The group includes Karen Blumenfeld, Steve Correia, Elaine Donnelly, Mei-Ling Ellerman, Adam Gutbezahl, Peg Ingolia, Doug Levine, Terrie Livingston, Mary Antes, Amruta Mudambi, Nora Noteman, Ingrid Palacios, Heather Pineault, Rachel Sideman-Kurtz, and Kim Winter should you wish to reach out with questions about the project or the petitioner’s article. You can also email the project at WaylandLivedExperiences@gmail.com
Opening of 2021 Annual Town Meeting Warrant.. By vote of the Board of Selectmen on September 21, 2020, the 2021 Annual Town Meeting is scheduled to begin on Saturday, May 15, 2020 at time and location to be determined. The Annual Town Meeting Warrant opens on Wednesday, December 15, 2020 at 8:30am and closes Friday, January 15, 20201 at 4:30pm. To access the Petitioner’s Article Submission Form and other documents please visit the 2021 ATM webpage.
Discovery Museum announces virtual 2021 Speaker Series; series kicks off with Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum on kids, race, and racism on January 27. The Discovery Museum Speaker Series kicks off its 9th year with Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, President Emerita of Spelman College who is widely known for her expertise on race relations and as a thought leader in higher education. “Talking to Kids about Race and Racism: A Conversation with Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum,” will be moderated by Tiziana Dearing, host of WBUR’s Radio Boston. For registration information and the complete speaker series schedule, click here.
Remembering Lauren. 2021 marks the 10th anniversary of Lauren Dunne Astley’s murder in Wayland. Due to COVID concerns, a virtual memorial will be held on April 1, 2021, what would have been Lauren’s 28th birthday. Those organizing the event are reaching out to families who knew Lauren and have photos or memories they’d be willing to share in a slideshow. Submissions may be made to Lauren’s mother, Mary, at msmarykathryn@gmail.com. The organizing committee thanks you in advance.
New tutors trained in Wayland’s ESOL Program. Immigrants in our area who want to improve their competency in English now have greater opportunities. Ten generous and enthusiastic people have recently completed a training course and are now certified to be tutors of ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages). These recent “graduates” include five from Wayland – Lois Galluzzo, Judy Goldberg, Britt Rjanikov, Maureen Tillett and Namrata Trehan; two from Sudbury – Cathy Pinto and Marie Taylor; two from Weston – Theresa Levinson and Ann Killeen; and one from Stow – Yvonne Yoneshige. These new tutors, like those who were trained last winter, and some who have been tutoring for years, work one-to-one with learners from various countries. Learners recently matched with our new tutors have come from Israel, Turkey, Syria, Guatemala, Venezuela and China. As all tutoring must be done remotely due to the pandemic, tutors are using whatever technology works for both tutor and learner, be it FaceTime, Skype, Zoom or simply phone and email. As usual, we can put all possible tutors to work with waiting learners. The next tutor-training course will be offered in the winter, probably starting in late February. Tutors do not need to know another language, nor do they need to know every detail of English grammar. For more information email Ginny Steel or call her at 781-541-4919.
Lauren Dunne Astley Memorial Fund Calls for Mini-Grant Applicants.Announcing Mini-grant Funding for Projects in Effective Teen Relationships & Violence Prevention, the Arts, and Community Service
Following the success of past years, The Lauren Dunne Astley Memorial Fund is offering an exciting program to fund small projects in three areas: Effective Teen Relationships & Violence Prevention, the Arts, and Community Service. In Lauren’s spirit and memory, grants of up to $2,000 are now available for individuals and groups with dynamic project ideas in any of the above areas. This year the LDAMF will especially value initiatives that aim to work creatively to make a difference even in these socially-distant times. Keep on sparkling! Interested parties are invited to complete an online application by January 31, 2021. New applicants encouraged! The application form can be found online at https://laurendunneastleymemorialfund.org/
It’s Girl Scout Cookie Time! We can’t go door-to-door just yet, but you can get all your favorite girl scout cookies shipped directly to you! Send cookies to the people you miss, treat yourself, or donate to our Community Caring program. And be sure to try our new Toast-Yay! cookie. If you are not contacted by a local girl scout (via text, email, or social media), order online at bit.ly/wgsCookies and your order will support Wayland Girl Scout troops. Still $5/box (plus shipping). Thank you for supporting Wayland Girl Scouts!
Transportation for Wayland Seniors. Under a new, grant-funded program, the Wayland Council on Aging (COA) can now arrange for free taxi rides for seniors who have no other way to get to non-emergency medical appointments or other essential errands such as grocery shopping, visits to food pantries, or to pharmacies to pick up prescriptions. The program is funded by a Metropolitan Area Planning Council/ MassDevelopment grant designed to offer short-term support to communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Wayland residents age 60 and over who find themselves without transportation options may contact the COA to request a ride. COA staff will review requests for compliance with the grant’s guidelines. For those who qualify, staff will make arrangements with either Tommy’s Taxi and JFK Transportation, who are partnering with the COA under the terms of the grant. Ride requests must be made at least one full business day in advance. The program runs through December 31, 2020, or until the funds are depleted. If you have questions or would like to ask about a ride, call the COA at 508-358-2990 or email coa@wayland.ma.us
Would you like to serve on a Town Board or Committee? Many appointment opportunities, ranging from A-Z (literally! from the Audit Committee to the Zoning Board of Appeals) are posted online here.
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