Events April 2024

Monthly Meeting

Earth Day: Planet vs. Plastics

Wednesday, April 17

6:45 Chat 7 PM Program

Earth Day in 2024 is coming up on Monday, April 22. The theme this year is Planet vs. Plastics. For our April monthly meeting, we are pleased to present Eileen Ryan as our featured speaker.



Watertown resident Eileen Ryan is the leader of Beyond Plastics Greater Boston and a Steering Committee member of Plastic Free Mass and the Beyond Plastics Virtual Group. She is a trained speaker on plastic pollution and is happy to talk to anyone and everyone about the ecological, environmental and human health hazards of plastics

zoom link more info

Events from our Working Groups

Community Stories with Project Literacy You're Invited!

Thursday April 25 7 PM

Free in the first floor meeting Room WFPL

Project Literacy is proud to present a showcase of original speeches from English language students. Learn about your neighbors' experiences in finding and building community. Light refreshments will be served. This event is open to everyone!

Mother's Day Walk for Peace

Sunday,, May 12 Once again Watertown will be organizing a group of walkers and soliciting donations to support the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute and its efforts to end the cycle of violence. What better way to celebrate Mother's Day. More Info here.

Donate and Register to Walk with Us Reserve a Seat on our Bus

Events from our Friends

Race Reels Environmental Justice

Thursday April 18 5:30 PM

Watertown Library

Environmental Justice from the PBS Eco Sense for Living explores the intersection of environmentalism and the social justice movement with representatives from the Partnership for Southern Equity and the NAACP. Free Pizza & Drinks more info 

Race Reels is also offering a $75 cash stipend for middle school and high school students interested in helping out at Race Reels. Students interested should fill out a Help Wanted form. 

Simon Shaheen and Guest Artist - A concert in Support of Anera's Humanitarian Aid to Gaza

April 14 Mosesian Center Watertown

This music program brings together a number of talented musicians who represent various musical cultures including Arab, Iranian, Indian and American. The musicians will present instrumental and vocal performances of traditional and cross-cultural fusion music. The concert will end with a Palestinian Folkloric Suite that has been arranged by Simon Shaheen for this event.

This concert is made possible with support from the Cultural Dialogue through the Arts Fund, housed at the Center for Arab American Philanthropy (CAAP).

Proceeds from the concert benefit Anera, a non-profit helping refugees and others hurt by conflict in the Middle East. Tickets are 3 tiered- Benefactor is $55, Standard is $35 and Student is $20 more info

Thomas Suarez: Genocide from the River to the Sea: Endgame of Israel’s 76 Years of Terror

Thursday, April 18 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm EDT. 

First Parish Church in Cambridge, 3 Church Street, Harvard Square

Discussion of Suarez’s new book  Palestine Hijacked: How Zionism Forged an Apartheid State from River to Sea  more info

What Can We Learn from Our Forever War in Ukraine? with Ambassador Chas Freeman

Thursday, April 11 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm 

Chas Freeman is a former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security during the Clinton Administration. His 30+ years in the United State Foreign Service included posts as U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia; Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs; Deputy Chief of Mission and Charge d’affaires in the American Embassies in both Bangkok and Beijing; and Director for Chinese Affairs at the U.S. State Department.

Register Here

STOP THE GENOCIDE & STAND FOR GAZA Rallies at Congressional Offices

Thursday, April 11

Locations and Times

• Boston – Sen. Warren & Markey’s offices – JFK Federal Bldg., Cambridge St & Sudbury St, 5:00 pm
• Worcester – Rep. Jim McGovern’s office, 14. E. Worcester St, 5:00 pm
• Malden – Rep. Katherine Clark’s office – 157 Pleasant St., 5:00 pm
• Lowell – Boarding House Park, near Rep. Lori Trahan’s office, 40 French St., 4:30 pm
• Salem – Rep. Scott Moulton’s office – 21 Front St, noon
• others to be announced. Find more information and updates HERE

Earth Day/ Earth Month Events Take part in the numerous opportunities to recognize and participate in earth Month including our own Monthly Meeting Planet vs Plastic. see above.

Charles River Cleanup Watertown

Saturday, April 20 10--Noon

700 Pleasant Street Stop and Shop Parking Lot



Another way to celebrate Earth Day. Let's remove all the Winter's debris and plastic before it reaches the river. Bring your friends and families. Come and stay as long as you like. We will provide tools supplies and snacks.

Sponsored by Watertown Citizens for Peace Justice and the Environment, First Parish, Watertown, and Resilient Watertown

Pollinator Walks - Watertown Walks

April 25 1:00 - 2:00pm

Meetup in Saltonstall Park's red brick plaza, next to City Hall, 149 Main Street

Join Pam Phillips from Friends of Bees to learn about our native pollinators, what they look like, and where you might find them.

In the event of rain or snow, this walk will be cancelled. To receive reminders and notifications about Watertown Walks, sign up here.

Compost & Baby Oak Tree Give Away

Saturday April 27 10am - 2pm

at DPW 124 Orchard Street

Watertown is offering free finished compost to residents from. Black Earth’s finished compost created using food scraps from Watertown residents.

The forestry department will be giving away baby oak trees for residents to plant on their own property. Learn more here. here

Help Out Days Pollinator Pathways

Join volunteers from Watertown Community Gardens in maintaining our public gardens, which support native bees, butterflies, birds, and more.  details here



Boylston Street Bump Out Gardens

Saturday April 14 1-3 175 Boylston Street

Filipello Park Butterfly Garden

Sunday April 21 1-3PM 191 Grove Street

Watertown Cambridge Greenway Invasive Plant Removal May 11 1-3 490 Arsenal Way

Calls to Action!

Weekly Vigil Peace and Common Security Working Group

Join us on Saturdays in Watertown Square from 12 noon to 1:00 PM under the banners - "Let Gaza Live" "Permanent CEASEFIRE in Gaza and Palestine". Bring a sign or make one when you arrive. If it is raining or snowing we will not gather for the vigil. 

more info



Watertown We Need Your Signatures!

The Peace and Common Security Working Group is on a mission to get Watertown folks to sign three initiatives and help get signatures from friends, neighbors and family members. 

• Petition to Representative Katherine Clark to support the goals of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. sign online here

• Watertown for Palestine (W4P) and Call for CEASEFIRE in Gaza. A letter to Senator Markey, Senator Warren, and Representative Clark calling for an immediate ceasefire.   link to the letter

• Citizens Petition to the Watertown City Council.to support a call for the U.S. to lead a global effort to prevent nuclear war by, among other steps, actively pursuing a verifiable agreement among nuclear-armed states to eliminate their nuclear arsenal. 

We will be collecting signatures and sharing the on-line links and QR codes at various locations in Watertown in the coming weeks and months. Please consider joining us. We will provide talking points for each initiative. In the meantime, you are invited to sign in person by visiting 14 Bates Road where you can also take copies of the petitions and flyers to gather signatures at community meeting, social gatherings and houses of workshop.  

link to more details or scroll below.

Save these dates

Annual Potluck Dinner and Meeting

Sunday, June 2

Our featured speaker is Stephen Kinzer, a powerful and informed speaker, author, journalist, and Boston Globe opinion columnist with extensive and critical foreign policy experience.

First Parish of Watertown Unitarian Universalists

35 Church Street,

5:30 PM - Potluck, 6:30 PM - Program

Summer Life-Friendly Garden Tour

Sunday, June 23 10 AM-2

It’s the last Sunday of National Pollinator Week, and it’s about the time when Monarch Butterflies reach New England. As Watertown is a signatory of the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge, we will explore how we support Monarch Butterflies by gardening without chemicals, planting milkweed and nectar plants, and celebrating the living beings around us.

Working Groups Meetings

Friends of Bees and Pollinator Pathways

Thursday April 11

6:30 -8 PM

also Thursday May 9

Peace and Common Security

Sunday April 14

7-8:30 Zoom

Pigsgusset Initiative

Monday, April 15

5:30 - 7:00 PM

6:30-8 PM

Watertown Faces Climate Change

Sunday April 21

5-6:30 PM In-person and zoom

Church of the Good Shepherd 11 Russell Ave

Refugee Support Group

Wednesday, April 24

6:30-8 PM

Watertown Faces Climate Change

Sunday May 5

5-6:30 PM In-person and zoom

Church of the Good Shepherd 11 Russell Ave

Peace and Common Security

Sunday May 12

7-8:30 Zoom

More Info on Petitions

WATERTOWN – WE NEED YOUR SIGNATURES!

The Peace and Common Security Working Group is on a mission to get Watertown folks to sign three initiatives and help get signatures from friends, neighbors and family members.

Petition to Representative Katherine Clark. We are asking her to support and endorse House Resolution 77 which calls on the United States to embrace the goals of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. H. Res 77 was introduced by her colleague Rep. James McGovern and endorsed by colleagues from across the political spectrum including Ayanna Pressley, Stephen Lynch, and Richard Neal. You can sign the petition on line at https://chng.it/JH4vDXFn8b

Watertown for Palestine (W4P) and Call for CEASEFIRE in Gaza. We are collaborating with W4P, a local group initiated by Arab-Americans, to collect signatures on a letter to Senator Markey, Senator Warren, and Representative Clark calling for an immediate ceasefire. Here is a link to the letter and the form to sign on. This initiative is spreading across Massachusetts with similar groups in Malden, Medford, Cambridge, Arlington and cities and towns in Western Massachusetts.

Citizens Petition to the Watertown City Council. We want the City Council to support a call for the U.S. to lead a global effort to prevent nuclear war by, among other steps, actively pursuing a verifiable agreement among nuclear-armed states to eliminate their nuclear arsenal. A Citizen Petition requires the City Clerk to certify that 150 Watertown voters have signed the Petition. Our goal is to collect many more signatures than required and engage voters in a discussion about the existential threat of nuclear war.

We will be collecting signatures and sharing the on-line links and QR codes at various locations in Watertown in the coming weeks and months. Please consider joining us. We will provide talking points for each initiative. In the meantime, you are invited to sign in person by visiting 14 Bates Road where you can also take copies of the petitions and flyers to gather signatures at community meeting, social gatherings and houses of workshop.