Monthly Archives: May 2015

Come to the Senior Center on June 24 for the 20th Annual Health Policy Forum, moderated by former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis.  Panelist include David Seitz, special advisor to former Governor Deval Patrick; Amy Whitcomb Slemmer, Esq., health care attorney; and Katherine Swartz, Professor of Health Policy and Economics at Harvard School of Public Health.  The program is presented by Friends of Brookline Public Health and Brookline Adult & Community Education, in cooperation with Brookline’s Department of Public Health, Council on Aging, League of Women Voters, Commission for Women, and Department of Veteran’s Services.  6:00 – 7:00 pm, light appetizers.  7:00 – 9:00 pm, panel discussion.  Free, pre-registration not required.

Researchers are now uncovering the often forgotten history of slavery in the North.  On June 10 from 7:00-8:30 pm, Barbara Brown, Ph.D will focus on current research on slavery and freedom from slavery in Brookline from 1700 through the 1960s.   The program, Brookline’s Hidden History, will be explored through lecture, lively stories, and the examination of primary historical documents, including an unusual map of town property from 1744 indicating how many Brookline residents were slaveholders.   This event is part of Brookline Adult & Community Education’s Distinguished Lecture Series.  The program will be at Brookline High School. To register go to BA&CE or call 617-730-2700.  There is a $6 fee.

You can now access a listing of upcoming educational and cultural events directly from the top page of the BrooklineCAN web site www.brooklinecan.org.  This section, Upcoming Events http://www.brooklinecan.org/events.html, lists a selection of local offerings such as adult education courses, Recreation Department tours, programs at local universities, free films at the public library, art shows, and concerts.  For information on the organizations that sponsor these events, check out the Education http://www.brooklinecan.org/education.html and the Culture http://www.brooklinecan.org/culture.html  sections of the web site.

What were your favorite MFA exhibitions over the last 20 years or so?  If “Edward Hopper” and “John Singer Sargent” are on your list, this year’s Friends of the Library Annual Meeting speaker, Carol Troyen Lohe, will take you behind the scenes and tell you how they came about.  A curator of American Paintings at the MFA for nearly 30 years, Carol was the co-organizer of both these exhibitions and many more.  In her curatorial career she has also written catalogues, designed galleries, taught and lectured, and helped plan the new American Wing.  Come learn about what curators do—and why they love what they do–June 3 at 7:00 pm, Hunneman Hall in the Main Library, 361 Washington Street.

The Brookline Age Friendly Cities Committee has launched the production of a series of TV interview shows on the Brookline Interactive Group (BIG) local access channel.  The first show was aired on April 30 and is available on YouTube and the BrooklineCAN web site http://www.brooklinecan.org/#bigvideo.  The guests were Nancy Daly and Frank Caro, Chairs of the Age Friendly Cities Committee; Matt Weiss was the host and moderator.   Matt Weiss, Roberta Winitzer and Henry Winkelman will plan and carry out a yearly schedule of shows.  The guests on the next show, to be aired several times in June, will be Melissa Battite from  the Recreation Department and John Dempsey from the bicycle/pedestrian coordination group. Follow Age Friendly Brookline activities on the BrooklineCAN website http://www.brooklinecan.org/livable_community.html . Watch also for notices in this newsletter and on Twitter https://twitter.com/BrooklineCAN.

On Sunday, June 7 at 9:30 am you will have an opportunity to learn about the new design of Fisher Hill Reservoir Park as it is being built.  Brookline GreenSpace Alliance http://www.brooklinegreenspace.org/ holds a conservation restriction on this almost ten acre site to protect this land, which will become Brookline’s newest multi-use community park as open space in perpetuity.  RSVP is required; write to info@brooklinegreenspace.org or call 617-277-4777.

On Thursday, June 18, BrooklineCAN will present a free MIT AgeLab program on how our aging population is re-envisioning longevity. Featured speaker MIT researcher Dr. Lisa D’Ambrosino will introduce the major research work being conducted at the MIT Age Lab and will explain how design technology development at the AgeLab is helping older adults live independently for longer. She’ll discuss the ways that shifting population demographics will affect how we will live, work, play and do business. The 85-and-over US population, the fastest-growing group in the country, is projected to rise from 5.8 million today to 19 million by 2050. In Brookline, between 2000 and 2010 the baby boom generation, age 55-64, was the fastest growing segment of the Town’s population, growing more than 40 percent. This program will be held at the Brookline Senior Center, 93 Winchester St., on June 18 at 2:00. It is free and open to all, but registration is required. Call 617-730-2770.

Music, food, fun, flowers!  Celebrate with the Friends of the Minot Rose Garden on June 14, 1:00 to 3:00 pm at their 9^th Annual Stroll.  The garden is at Browne and St. Paul Streets, near Coolidge Corner.  Rain date is June 21.  For information on the stroll write to MinotRoses@verizon.net or see http://www.brooklinegreenspace.org/html/ExtraPages/061415RoseStroll.html and see  http://www.minotroses.org/MinotRoses/Welcome.html for more about the garden.

You don’t have to waste gas or travel far to experience the natural beauty of the wilderness.  Spend an afternoon visiting Hall’s Pond, one of three wildlife sanctuaries in Brookline, with the Recreation Department’s Environmental Educator.  The walk will focus on the natural history of the sanctuary as well as the plants and animals found there.  Wear sturdy walking shoes.  Tuesday, June 9, 1:00 – 3:00 pm. $8 for residents, $11 for non-residents.  Pick-up and drop-off at the Senior Center, 93 Winchester Street, and Soule Recreation Center, 652 Hammond Street.  To register and for more information:  recreation@brooklnema.gov , www.brooklinerec.com, or 617-730-2069.