Volunteers Needed:  City Year For Kids is a program run by City Year Boston to provide a safe, fun, and low-cost program for Boston students in grades 1-5 during their winter and spring breaks. The dates of the vacation program are February 16th - 20th and April 20th - 24th.

This is a unique volunteer experience in which you can lead groups of children for the whole week, or just a day (http://www.cityyear.org/boston_ektid1033.aspx).

A Volunteer Team Leader:

• is needed on-site from 7:30 am - 4:00 pm
• must be 16 years of age or older
• co-leads a team of 10 to 12 children with a City Year corps member
• is required to attend ONE training session
• fill-out an application
• should be dedicated, motivated, inspired and creative!!!

If you are interested in volunteering, please e-mail to receive an application.

Every Day at Community Servings, volunteers help us provide free, home-style meals to hungry, isolated and critically ill individuals, their children and their caregivers.  This year alone 377,000 free meals will be delivered in 16 Massachusetts cities and towns, touching more than 1,400 lives and covering a service area of over 200 square miles.  Become a volunteer.  Help in the kitchen, with administrative duties, deliver meals on Saturdays, or help with other worthwhile tasks.  Contact Rebecca Ober at (617) 522-7777 x 228 or rober@servings.org. 

History Book Club, March 3rd 7:30 PM:  The book club will meet for its bi-monthly discussion of a selected work of social history.  Call the museum at (617) 796-1450 to confirm the date and selected book. The book club is free and open to the public. New members are always welcome.
 
An Early-Release Day Program: ELLEN JACKSON: A 19th Century Woman:  Thursday, March 12th, 3:30 PM - 5:oo PM, especially for kids 8 years old and over.  Meet Ellen Jackson! Ellen was born in 1825 and lived her entire life at the Jackson Homestead. Come see her house and the world through her eyes as a woman of the 19th century. Learn from costumed interpreter Camille Arbogast's performance about Ellen's life and times at this drop-off program. Cost: $10 ($8 for members); includes Museum admission, materials, and snack. Prepaid registration is required, and space is limited. Appropriate for ages 8 and up. Call (617) 796-1450 to register.
 
Newton's Historic Burying Grounds:  21st Century Outdoor Museums:  Thursday, March 12th, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM, for adults and interested teens)Part of the 2009 History Lecture Series, "Our Imprint on the Land," sponsored by the Newton History Museum and the Newton Free Library.
Harry Lohr, Chair of the Newton History Museum Burying Grounds Committee, will present a closer look at  Newton's three old burying grounds: the East Parish Burying Ground (1660), the West Parish Burying Ground (1781), and South Burying Ground (1802). These sites, the final resting places of many of Newton's most prominent early citizens, reflect local history and America's history as well. At the Newton Free Library, 330 Homer Street in Newton. Free.
 
Ellen Jackson:  A 19th Century Woman -- Sunday, March 15th, 2:00 PM, for families with children age 8 and older.  Bring the whole family to meet Ellen Jackson!  Ellen was born in 1825 and lived her entire life in the Jackson Homestead. Enjoy a costumed performance for the whole family, and see the house and the world through Ellen's eyes. Performance by Camille Arbogast. Cost: $20 per family ($15 for members). Prepaid registration is required, and space is limited. Best for ages 8 and up, come as a family. Call 6(17) 796-1450 to register.

Come and Meet Your Alderman:  Please join Ward School parents on Sunday, March 8th at 8:00 PM when the Ward 7 Aldermen Lisle Baker (Chair), Sydra Schnipper and Verne Vance come together for a discussion of issues facing Ward 7.  The event will be moderated by Marc Laredo, Chair of the Newton School Committee. Join us at the home of Mindy and Max Peckler - 188 Franklin Street (corner of Franklin and Waverly.  Use the door at the top of the driveway by the garage)  Please RSVP to Mindy Frankel Peckler at mpeckler@hotmail.com by March 1st. Maximum capacity 75 people, please respond early.

Critical Choices for Newton, 2009 and Beyond:  Discussing the Citizen Advisory Group Findings and Recommendations: To educate as many Newton residents as possible about the Citizen Advisory Group's findings and to invite our citizens to play an active role in the decision making process, the League of Women Voters Newton is organizing a series of discussions featuring each CAG report and its authors.   The first event will focus on the Revenue Report and will take place on Thursday, February 26th.  For details, directions and last minute changes in scheduling, visit the Newton League website at www.lwvn.org, email info@lwvnewton.org or call (617) 964-0014.

Newton's Community Preservation Committee will meet at 7:00 PM on February 25, 2009, in City Hall Room 209 to work on the next Community Preservation Plan and consider two current funding proposals:  preserving the exterior of the Newton History Museum and a survey of Newton's archaeological resources. For more information, including full agendas, funding guidelines, staff contacts, and a PowerPoint overview of the CPA law and Newton's program, check the website. 

Celtic Voyage:  On Sunday March 1st at 3:00 PM, at the Rashi Auditorium, 15 Walnut Park, Newton, the Newton Symphony Orchestra presents Celtic Voyage a concert celebrating the rich tapestry of orchestral music inspired by traditional melodies of the British Isles. The concert will feature husband and wife team; violinist, Joseph Scheer and harpist, Susan Robinson playing the Scottish Fantasy by Max Bruch.  Ms. Robinson, a native of Newton and Principal Harpist of the Kennedy Centre Opera House Orchestra will also play Alwyn's Lyra Angelica for harp and strings, a piece that shot to fame in 1998 when Michelle Kwan skated to an excerpt at the 1998 National Championships. The concert brims with Celtic melodies in Berlioz' Rob Roy Overture, Stanford's Fifth Irish Rhapsody, receiving its first New England performance in nearly 100 years and a Suite from Ron Howard's movie, Far and Away, by John Williams.

A free pre-concert lecture will be given by musicologist Steven Ledbetter one hour before the performance. He will be joined by the Chairman of the Stanford Society, John Covell, who will talk about Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, his works and his importance in the late 19th and early 20th
century renaissance of British music. Meet members of the orchestra and their instruments at a post concert reception. Tickets for Celtic Voyage are available at www.newtonsymphony.org or by calling (617) 965-2555; the prices are, $30 in the orchestra, $25 in the mezzanine, $10 for children under 14. Discounts of $5 per ticket apply for seniors, students and groups.