WaylandeNews weekly newsletter

29 Wayland Residents Cycle Toward $66 Million Goal for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in the 2022 Pan-Mass Challenge, Locals will ride to raise critical funds for live-saving cancer research and patient care. On August 6 and 7, more than 6,000 riders, including 29 riders from Wayland, will pedal in the Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC), a bike-a-thon with one and two-day routes from 25 to 210 miles, with the goal of topping last year’s record-breaking gift and raising $66 million for cancer research and patient care at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Dana-Farber). The following riders are from Wayland: Donny Askin, Carl Barnes, Josh Bekenstein, Andy Bekenstein, Patricia Berenson. Matthew Casey, Don Chase, Stuart Chasen, Miriam Conaway-Morrison, Matthew Davids, Michael Donovan, Erika Frey, Martin Greene, Adam Gutbezahl, Rawson Hubbell, Anna Hubbell, Matthew Levy, Doug Lyons, Sean McConarty, Carrie Melvin, Paul Paresky, Julian Phan, David Poorvu, Dennis Reilly, Jessica Reilly, Ian Reilly, Michael Roberge, Tom Sommerfield, Suzanne Spencer. For more details click here

Focus Group Help Needed! Library History. Weds, Aug 3, 7:00 pm – Help Us Prepare for the Library’s 175th Anniversary! The Wayland Free Public Library was founded in 1848, and represents one of the oldest public libraries in the United States. To commemorate WFPL’s 175th anniversary in March, 2023 our librarians are working together with three History PhD students from Brandeis to investigate the history of our library. We will present our findings through an interactive website, a printed pamphlet, and an in-person celebration at the library. In our research, we are asking questions about the intersections between our community library and major themes of American history: race, class, gender, family, education, and war. We would like to know what present-day library patrons think of WFPL as a community space so we can bring our history into the 21st century. We are looking for patrons of the library to participate in a focus group for the WFPL anniversary event! The focus group will be held on Wednesday, August 3 from 7:00-8:30pm, and is open to anyone who is interested in joining! Register to attend in person or via Zoom: tinyurl.com/wfpl-focus

St. Anne’s in-the-Fields Episcopal Church partners with American Red Cross to host a community blood drive, July 21 11am-4pm at 147 Concord Road, Lincoln, MA. For more information or to make an appointment to donate, call 1-800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or sign up online at redcrossblood.org with sponsor code STANNEITF. More details online here. Click here for event flyer.

Library seeking volunteer coding teachers for Girls Who Code. The Wayland Library Girls Who Code Club is looking for volunteer facilitators for the 2022-2023 academic year. Affiliated with the national Girls Who Code organization (girlswhocode.com) and its mission of closing the gender gap in technology, the Wayland club brings together girls for hands-on learning about code and technology. The Wayland library plans to have two clubs: one for girls in grades 3-5 and one for girls in grades 6 and up. Enthusiasm for working with the girls is required; technical skill is helpful but not necessary, especially if you are willing to learn along with them. If you are interested, or would like to know more, please contact Head of Youth Services, Pam McCuen, at pmccuen@minlib.net

The Wayland Community Fund (WCF) provides short-term emergency financial assistance to Wayland residents who have lived in Wayland for at least one year. WCF provides funding for basic needs such as utilities, rent, food, medical bills, and other living expenses. Please call us if you need help with your bills, 508-358-3624 or go to the town website for an application.

The latest from the Wayland Library (full newsletter online here).

Note: Most events require registration. Please visit the Wayland Library calendar for registration links.

SUMMER READING. Our 2022 Summer Reading Program Camp iRead: Read Beyond the Beaten Path has begun! Programming highlights include making a Rube Goldberg machine, live caterpillars from the Caterpillar Lab, and the Toe Jam Puppet Band. Kids in grades preK through grade 5 will keep track of their reading online or on paper logs and will earn badges for time reading and for attending programs. Every child who registers can pick up a goody bag at the library. Participants will also earn raffle tickets for prizes! Our Teen Reading Program has also started. Teens can participate in camp-themed programs at the library and read to earn gift packs and gift card prizes. Register for the kids Summer Reading Program and the Teen Summer Reading Program online at WaylandLibrary.Beanstack.org   The Massachusetts Statewide Summer Library Program is funded by the Massachusetts Library System, the Boston Bruins, and the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners

For Babies, Toddlers and Preschoolers (registration required, zoom access available):

Seeking Volunteer Coding Teachers. The Wayland Library Girls Who Code Club is looking for volunteer facilitators for the 2022-2023 academic year. Affiliated with the national Girls Who Code organization (girlswhocode.com) and its mission of closing the gender gap in technology, the Wayland club brings together girls for hands-on learning about code and technology. The Wayland library plans to have two clubs: one for girls in grades 3-5 and one for girls in grades 6 and up. Enthusiasm for working with the girls is required; technical skill is helpful but not necessary, especially if you are willing to learn along with them. If you are interested, or would like to know more, please contact Head of Youth Services, Pam McCuen at pmccuen@minlib.net

Wayland residents to perform in Weston summer productions. Weston Drama Workshop, a nonprofit youth theater organization in its 60th anniversary season, will stage six productions this month at Regis College, featuring participants entering Grade 5 through age 23. All six casts have been hard at work rehearsing for these productions since early June, and will perform at the Regis Fine Arts Center between July 17 and July 30. With over 30 performances in the span of a jam-packed three weeks, Weston Drama Workshop continues its long-standing tradition of providing the MetroWest community and beyond with quality youth theater. Fifteen Wayland residents will appear onstage this summer.

Tickets are available at westondramaworkshop.org/tickets, and questions can be directed to the box office at 781-768-7070. All performances are held at Regis College’s air-conditioned Fine Arts Center. The performance schedule is as follows:

Pops with Cops, July 28 at Wayland Town Beach. Come join the Wayland Police Department for Pops with Cops “To protect and to serve Ice Cream”. Featuring Chelsea Police Departments’ ice cream truck at Wayland Town Beach, July 28, 11am-1pm.

Sudbury Valley New Horizons Band & Strings in concert, Thursday, July 21. Sudbury Valley New Horizons Band & Strings in concert, Thursday, July 21 at 7pm behind the Wayland Town Building. Sponsored by the Wayland COA. Sudbury Valley New Horizons Band & Strings will be presenting a selection of music to make the summer evening special! We will be playing a variety of styles, including tunes from the musical My Fair Lady, a march, a bit of Brahms and Beethoven, and for the young-uns, we won’t talk about Bruno, but we might just play his song! It will be an evening guaranteed to send you home with your toes tapping! Haven’t heard of Sudbury Valley New Horizons Music? We are a group of adults, 20-something to 90-something, many of whom have returned to their instruments after 50 or 60 or even 70 years of not playing, and others who started learning an instrument as an adult. Our goal? Enjoy making music together and sharing it with others! Come play with us! www.svnhm.org

Trip to Market Basket and Marshalls. On Monday, July 18, let the Council on Aging do the driving to Market Basket, Marshall’s and Home Goods in Waltham. The van leaves the COA at 9:30am to start home pick-ups. Return by 1:30pm. Shopping trips are free of charge and for Wayland residents only. Space is limited, call by noon on Thursday, July 14 to reserve a seat, 508-358-2990.

Summer Beach Party! On Wednesday, July 20 at 1:30pm in the Council on Aging, join us for an indoor Summer Beach Party with special guest entertainer Michael Goodwin. Celebrate with the music of Elvis, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and more with the incomparable Michael Goodwin. This classically trained tenor has an exceptional voice and always presents a fun and informative program combining live performance, video clips, and lecture. Put on your tropical attire and join us for the fun. “Beachy” refreshments will be served. $3 per person. Reservations required. Contact the COA 508-358-2990 or coa@wayland.ma.us to sign up.

Fun and Games: Cards and Boards at the COA, Tuesdays from 9:30 am to noon, starting July 12: Fun and Games! Cards and board games in the COA. Bridge, Cribbage, Scrabble….what’s your game of choice? If you enjoy card or board games with friends, join us on Tuesday mornings for fun and games. Reserve a table and bring your own players, or reserve a seat for your game of choice and we’ll match you with others interested in the same game. We’ll provide cards and game boards and serve coffee and cold drinks. You bring the fun! Please call to make a table or a seat reservation by Thursday of the preceding week. Reach us at 508-358-2990 or coa@wayland.ma.us.

Vokes Players announces its production of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson. Tony and Pulitzer winner August Wilson, one of the top dramatists of the 20th century, wrote The Piano Lesson as part of his 10-play “Century Cycle” (which also includes Fences and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) that tells of the African-American experience through the decades. This Pulitzer-winning play, although modest in its storytelling, displays Wilson’s uncanny ability to capture a snapshot of humanity, in a supernatural-laced story set in 1936 Pittsburgh. Boy Willie, wanting to be his own boss and to own his own land, wants to sell a piano that resides in his sister’s home. This piano has huge family and cultural significance, and his sister Berniece refuses to part with it. Their fight culminates in a stand-off in which the family and the community gather to give witness, as the siblings bear the weight of history and eventually come to honor it. Performances are Thursday-Saturday, 8pm with 2pm matinees on Saturday. More details and ticket information online here

24th Dudley Pond 5k Run, Walk and Kids Fun Run, September 18. 5K Run, 2 mile Walk, Kids Fun Run by scenic Dudley Pond. Benefits preservation of beautiful public watershed. USATF sanctioned. Day of race registration is available: $20 for runners and walkers, $6 for kids’ run entrants. Registration is online here

Wayland Summer Farmers’ Market The Wayland Summer Farmers’ Market takes place weekly on Wednesdays from 12-4pm, June 29 through October 12 at Russell’s Garden Center in Wayland.

A total of 36 vendors will join us during the season, with up to 22 vendors attending weekly. Invite a friend and join us for local foods shopping and lunch in the shade. Three vegetable farms will attend. Vendors will also bring meat, seafood, eggs, maple syrup, honey, jam, cheese, spices, frozen prepared foods (dumplings, tamales, empanadas, lasagna, pot pies), granola, bread, baked goods, bagels, coffee and nut butter. Look for the bright pink Uncle Joey’s Cannoli truck weekly.

New this season: The Village Bank has generously offered funding to support a $15 weekly SNAP Match benefit for those enrolled in the program. Stay in touch with the latest news on the Farmers’ Market website. To find out who will attend each week, sign up for the market email through the website link.

Coming this Fall: Wayland Junior Broadway. Wayland Junior Broadway is an opportunity for 5th graders at the three elementary schools to participate in an afterschool Musical. The Production Team (Directors, Choreographers, Music Directors, Technicians, etc.) would be older high school students already involved in the Wayland High School Theater Ensemble (WHSTE). The Advisor for Wayland Junior Broadway will be Aidan O’Hara, the Drama Teacher and Director at Wayland High School.

Reserve your spot and register online here. Contact Wayland High School Drama Teacher & Director Aidan O’Hara with any questions Complete details online here

Vokes Players announce auditions for fall production. Auditions for the Vokes Players’ fall production: A mystery directed by Chris Cardoni. Their contract prohibits the Vokes from announcing the actual title until September 1. Auditions to be held Sunday and Monday, July 24 and 25, 7pm at Beatrice Herford’s Vokes Theatre (Callbacks if needed: Wednesday July 27) Rehearsals will start August 7 and performances will run from October 28 through November 12 (or possibly a week later). Auditions will consist of readings from the script – Please sign up here for an audition slot. Complete details are online here.

Outdoor Summer Concert Series, Summer is Here! Beginning June 23, come enjoy our outdoor Summer Concerts on Thursdays from 7 – 8 pm in the Town Building Courtyard. Some of your favorite bands, along with some exciting new ones, will fill the summer evenings with great music. Bring a chair, a picnic, a friend!

This is the 11th annual Summer Concert Series sponsored as a community-wide event by the Wayland Council on Aging. We are grateful to our sponsors for their support: Gold: The Village Bank, Middlesex Savings Bank; Silver: Avenu at Natick/National Development; Bronze: Whitney Place, Natick/Salmon Health & Retirement, and the Wayland Cultural Council, supported by the Mass Cultural Council. Concerts will be cancelled if it rains. To check, visit the COA website, or call 508-358-2990.

Our Summer Concerts calendar is online here. We will be adding nearby towns as they announce their summer concerts.

Discovery Museum celebrates its 40th Anniversary, Special programs and events including free outdoor movie nights, accessible arts performances, a free-admission day, a 21+ party, and more will be held June through October. Most events require advance registration, unless noted otherwise. Click here for a an event list, and more information.