The Wayland Reads book this year is Ibram Kendi’s How to Be An Antiracist.Click here for a list of upcoming sessions. More information on Wayland Reads is available here.
Waylandenews Executive Director Kim Reichelt is a member of the Wayland School Committee
If you would like to submit a post on our website, click here for information on how to add your post.
Wayland News
News in the past week
* Construction On Wayland Bagel Table Location Begins. The long-awaited Wayland Bagel Table has a possible opening date. The local chain announced Tuesday that construction has started on its Wayland store. The company is targeting June 1 for an opening date, according to the Facebook post.
For those who are in need of basic food resources, please call 508-358-7701.
The Lauren Dunne Astley Memorial Fund is pleased to announce its 2021 mini-grant recipients. This marks the eighth year that the LDAMF has awarded funding for innovative, creative initiatives working in the three areas of its mission: Effective Teen Relationships & Violence Prevention, the Arts, and Community Service. Applicants this year had the unusual burden of planning around the significant challenges presented by COVID-19, but this still turned out to be our most competitive application season ever. After difficult choices, a total of 15 project proposals were funded this year, all of which carry Lauren Dunne Astley’s spirit and memory into their important work.
Wayland Community Fund serving Wayland residents temporarily in need of financial assistance. Please call us if you need help!
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.
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.
Monday, March 22
* Board of Selectmen, 5pm. Agenda includes: traffic at elementary schools and potential signage, Town Administrator update, Racial Justice advisory group, ATM 2021 articles, 2021 annual election
* Dungeons & Dragons Club: Session Zero (March 24)
* Gen Z Virtual Trivia Night (March 26)
For Families: Curated Collections for Kids. Would you like a handpicked selection of books just right for your children? Call the Children’s Room at 508-358-2308 and we’ll pull together a bundle for you to pick up at your convenience. We’d love to hear from you!
Roundtable Spotlight Series: Amplifying the Voices of Male Survivors of Sexual Assault. Over the course of the year, the Roundtable has hosted a Spotlight Series focusing on segments of our communities that face additional barriers when considering if and how to seek help or support. In recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, please join the Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable on Tuesday, April 13 at 3pm for their next Spotlight Series event: Amplifying the Voices of Male Survivors of Sexual Assault. This event will feature male survivors from the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center’s (BARCC) Survivor Speakers Bureau, who will share their stories and what they want the community to know. The conversation will be moderated by a staff member from BARCC and allow time for participants to submit questions through the chat. The BARCC Survivor Speakers Bureau (SSB) was formed in 2002 by a group of survivors who wanted to share their stories as tools to educate others about the realities of sexual violence. The members of the SSB share their stories and engage in a dialogue with audiences ranging from college students to mental health counselors. For complete details, including registration information and support resources, please click here.
Capturing the Stories of our Elders: from Hollywood to our own families, April 6. Hollywood filmmakers will teach you to create a video time capsule to spotlight your loved ones and inspire future generations of your family. In this live webinar, Tiffany Woolf, seasoned filmmaker and daughter of Boston legend Bob Woolf, and Noam Dromi, Emmy Award winning writer/producer, will share their inspirations to create Silver Screen Studios to celebrate the stories of our elders. They will tell us why capturing our senior family members’ stories of hope and resilience can enrich the lives of future generations and help ease our grief when these relatives are no longer with us. Tiffany and Noam will also provide unique advice regarding how to gather and develop the stories, whether you’re on a shoestring budget or interested in a professionally produced film. All of this, sprinkled with anecdotes and clips from Tiffany’s upbringing with her renowned celebrity/sports agent father, as well as Tiffany’s and Noam’s projects with such Hollywood icons as Carl Reiner, Larry King, Norman Lear and Marion Ross. In addition, we will kick off a contest to win an exclusive Silver Screen Studios film production featuring your elder loved one’s life. More information, including registration online here.
WayCAM Board Seeking New Members. WayCAM’s Board of Directors anticipates two vacancies later this year, and encourages interested parties to seek information now. The board meets regularly with Executive Director Jim Mullane and brings a variety of skills to discussions and decisions. A nonprofit organization, Wayland Community & Access Media, Inc. (WayCAM) manages facilities for community access TV on the Public, Educational, and Governmental (PEG) access channels of the Wayland cable television system. Contact Executive Director Jim Mullane for an overview of WayCAM’s mission and how board members contribute.
Household hazardous waste day will be on April 24th, online registration will begin in early April.
Wayland Youth Fishing Derby cancelled for 2021. Safety for all youth and families comes first. With so many changes in the ways we live our lives over the last year, it is with sadness I bring news that the Wayland Youth Fishing Derby 2021 will be canceled until 2022. After consulting with many health care organizations, speaking with many of the loyal supporters and families, we have decided it is in the best interest to stay safe and healthy until we can overcome Covid. Thanks to all for understanding the hard decision that has been made. -Tom Antonellis (Organizer and Sponsor)
Listings from Prior Newsletters
Roundtable Spotlight Series: Amplifying the Voices of Male Survivors of Sexual Assault. Over the course of the year, the Roundtable has hosted a Spotlight Series focusing on segments of our communities that face additional barriers when considering if and how to seek help or support. In recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, please join the Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable on Tuesday, April 13 at 3pm for their next Spotlight Series event: Amplifying the Voices of Male Survivors of Sexual Assault. This event will feature male survivors from the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center’s (BARCC) Survivor Speakers Bureau, who will share their stories and what they want the community to know. The conversation will be moderated by a staff member from BARCC and allow time for participants to submit questions through the chat. We encourage everyone to join us on April 13th at 3:00 PM to hear and participate in this important conversation. Working together, we all have a role to play in recognizing the voices and stories of all survivors of sexual assault in our communities. Registration is required, and can be completed through the Roundtable’s website. For questions, please email infodvrt@gmail.com. For complete details, click here.
Virtual Remembrance for Lauren Astley, April 1, 2021 at 7:30pm. at http://www.waycam.tv/live or on WayCAM Channel 8 (Comcast) or Channel 37 (Verizon)
Project Reboot, March 26 and 27. Attention high schoolers! You’re invited to Project Reboot, a free, 24-hour high school virtual hackathon bringing together high school students from across New England and the country. The goal of this event is to benefit students who are struggling with remote learning and empower those who are participating. This event will take place Friday night, March 26th, and Saturday March 27th. Because of our generous sponsors and contributors, we have a LOT to give away! For just signing up, you receive over $300 in free software and swag! For those competing, we are giving away over $2,500 in prizes, which include monitors, Bluetooth headphones, Raspberry Pi computers, an Oculus 2 VR headset, and much more! If you don’t know what a “hackathon” is, or don’t know a single thing about coding, don’t worry! We will have workshops and talks that will put you in the best position possible to start your computer science journey. See our FAQ on our website for more questions and answers, email us, or reach out to us on our many social media platforms, which you can find at the bottom of our website. There will be a pre-hack stream on March 20th, which will preview the hackathon and teach viewers how to use Git, an important tool for software collaboration. This will be on our YouTube channel. Don’t forget to sign up and join our Discord for further updates! See you all there! reboothacks.com
EMASS Senior Softball League opens registration for 2021 season.Eastern Massachusetts Senior Softball (EMASS) is opening its annual registration campaign for slow-pitch softball players age 50 and over. With over 400 members, the league attracts players from towns across Eastern Massachusetts with games played on fields in Wayland, Medfield, Ashland and Framingham. The EMASS season opens in May with 18 weeks of regular season games scheduled through Labor Day and year-end playoffs completed in early October. Click here for full post
The W Gallery March Member Salon, This exhibit will be open for viewing in the gallery from 1-5 pm on Saturdays and Sundays from March 1st through April 3rd. We have safety protocols in place including social distancing and mask wearing requirements. Details online here
The Wayland Depot Open for the Spring Season. Hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 12pm – 4pm, 1 Cochituate Rd (Rte 27).
Select the perfect gift for any occasion or special event. Pick out a creative piece of new jewelry for yourself that will stand out in your virtual meetings. Locally crafted wooden boxes, pottery pieces, handmade scarves along with Massachusetts maple products, local honey, books by local authors, and an assortment of Wayland Booster apparel can all be found at The Wayland Depot. The Wayland Depot is celebrating 40 years of volunteer service to the town. We will be keeping volunteers and shoppers safe with social distancing COVID protocols. Shop local and small.
Survey seeks stories of Lived Experiences in Wayland. The Wayland Lived Experiences Project, a grassroots story collecting initiative, launched a survey on International Human Rights Day, December 10 last year and it is open for participation to all who live, work, study, worship in or visit Wayland. It is a questionnaire that enables individuals to share personal accounts of mistreatment that they may have faced, on the basis of race , religion, sexual orientation, gender, nationality, or any other aspect of their identity. The Project gathers personal narratives through an anonymous survey so any individual can share their experience without fear.
This is a mid-collection snapshot and data continues to be gathered from various survey distributions around town. From the responses received so far – the top three categories of mistreatment are microaggressions, verbal, and non-verbal behaviors. We saw examples from such interactions across all aspects of town life, including but not limited to residents/neighbors, school authority figures and town officials/public figures. The majority of respondents characterize the mistreatment they experienced as motivated by a racial, cultural, or ethnic difference.
Sharing experiences is a way to influence systemic change locally. It is also a way to amplify the narratives and personalize them in a manner that allows them to become relatable, as we see through the eyes of people in the community whose voices may not yet have been heard. To that end, descriptive data from the survey findings will be published later this year with the goal of inspiring dialogue, raising awareness, breaking down barriers to seeking help, and promoting an inclusive, equitable and welcoming community.
The Lived Experiences survey is available online at WaylandLivedExperiences and online here. Thanks to First Parish of Wayland, paper copies of the survey are now available at selected locations around town, such as the Wayland public library, the Main offices at WHS and WMS. While the survey was initially available in English, it has now been translated into Spanish and Mandarin. For more information contact: WaylandLivedExperiences@gmail.com.
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
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!
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.
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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