Lead organizer of Highlands Village Day, Steven Feinstein, has ordered perfect weather for Sunday (11AM-4PM; see schedule) and sends this message out to all of Newton:
I can’t say this loud enough or more emphatically: Newton Highlands has great small businesses and business owners who jump at the opportunity to connect with all of us and provide the resources to enable a large, high quality event with free activities for our children. And Newton Highlands has some great people who, when asked, step up to the plate to volunteer their time, energy, and know-how to make a great thing happen. No arm twisting needed, I’m humbled and proud to live amongst people who add on to their already overbooked lives to work on something like Village Day. THANK YOU to all these businesses and volunteers:
- Thanks to Mike Kamio of Anna’s Taqueria. They were not able to open in time for tomorrow but Mike is saying hello to Newton Highlands in a big way. I could hardly finish asking and he jumped up to be the lead sponsor – Platinum level. As a result we have top quality bands at Village Day.
- Thanks to Nick Penna at Salon Capri and Susan Paley at The Village Bank. Parents will not have to buy tickets for bounce houses or face painting or caricatures because of their Gold level sponsorship.
- Thanks to Eunice Feller chef of Bread n Chocolate for a ton of professional quality graphic design work (including our new logo!) She will be delighting us again tomorrow with an array of the best quality carnival food you’ve ever tasted.
- Thanks to Karl and John O’Hara of O’Hara’s Food and Spirits for donating the beer garden (plaza in front of Bread n Chocolate). It was their idea, they worked out all the details, and will provide staff, beer, tables – all of it.
- Thanks to Ava Fantasia and Whole Foods for sponsoring the 5K road race. As a result we are having a bonafide timed race with online registration, posted times, and organic snacks for runners.
- Thanks to Green Planet Kids, Brookline Bank and Eastern Bank, our Bronze sponsors. Thanks to Fleck coffee shop for their financial support as well.
These businesses have made tomorrow’s event possible. Many of these businesses will be open tomorrow. They’ve given our neighborhood a great gift. Let’s say thank you tomorrow at Village Day.
And thanks to everyone on the planning committee, including subcommittee chairs Maureen Oates/road race, Chris Pitts/music, Anna McTigue/booths, Ward 5 Ald. John Rice/logistics (long time V Day organizer), Linda Gulman of Indulge!/auction, Eunice Feller of Bread n Chocolate/graphic design, May Chiu/graphics and printing, and so many others who showed up, advised, networked, etc. THANK YOU!
Let’s have the best Village Day ever. See you tomorrow!
I’ve,been amazed at the job that Steve Feinstein has been doing in the organizing of this year’s Village,Day. That spectacular weather forecast is just par for the course with steve’s amazing attention to detail. Bravo.
Don’t miss the jazz stage tomorrow. I hear,there’s going to be some great music going on.
Thanks also to Ava Fantasia and Whole Foods for sponsoring the 5K road race. As a result we are having a bonafide timed race with online registration, posted times, and organic snacks for runners.
Sorry for the omission! [Post is now corrected. — Bruce]
I just read this email and was delighted when I saw Bruce was posting it here, with a weather report.
It’s amazing how everyone, planners, volunteers and businesses in the Highlands support their Village and have tuned this day into a great celebration. Congrats to all.
And what a great treat for families not have to hear “Pleaeeeeese, just one more time” over and over and have to say “That’s all I’m going to spend on bouncing around. You do that enough at home.” over and over again.
The League of Women Voters will be collecting signatures for the charter reform petition…if you haven’t had a chance to sign yet, this is your chance! We will have a table where you can sign the petition (and where you can also register to vote) and we will have other volunteers in the crowd with clipboards.
For more information on the charter reform initiative, check out our website:
http://lwvnewton.org/action/charter-commission-initiative/
I just got back from Village Day – it’s wonderful this year and you should all go over there! Thanks to all the volunteers for your hard work and the sponsors for making it extra special.
The Highlands rocked it today. Great Village Day.
A huge success! Loved the music stage(s) – and indeed, a perfect temperature.
Ok, Jerry et al, let’s begin finding out from the powers that be if we can move Upper Falls village day to Chestnut Street and close it off from Oak St to the corner of Linden and Chestnut. Good past village days, but I think we need to get off of Pettee Street.
@Jo-Louise – I think I heard a while ago that that is the plan for this year.
Thanks for kind words, Jerry. Great to see so many people turn out today!
It was great fun. Best ever. And I made sure to pick up a few things in my favorite stores.
Steve,
You, the rest of team along with the sponsors absolutely rock!
Massive success. It was wonderful to see so many people enjoying the day.
Well done, you all must be so proud of yourselves.
This is what the rest of our villages must surely aspire to.
Thanks Marti and Simon.
We are putting out a call for photos and video clips that people may have from yesterday’s event. It would be great to share fun memories, especially since many people missed part of or all of the event. I know I never actually got to hear Dave Milazzo at the jazz stage, for example.
So if you have something you’d like to share, please post to our Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/NewtonHighlandsVillageDay
Thanks!
And mark your calendar for the next Highlands Village Day:
June 12, 2016
People have been asking me what an interloper from Waban was doing in the Highlands? For clarification, 13 years ago I asked John Rice to help me organize a Village Day for Waban. He opened his playbook and gave us everything we needed – Waban just had its 12th event last month.
We owe our sister Village a great debt and I was more than happy to “pay it back!” I will continue to help out for years to come as Steve, the HNAC, and John Rice are a gas to work with and the event was some of the best fun I’ve ever had in Newton.
Now that the bar line is so high, you can expect Waban to notch it up big time next year! I would love to hear from people what they liked, and maybe didn’t like, so that we can do better next year. John Rice has my vote for life – he is the real deal when it comes to community building.
Several people stopped at the Area Council tent to offer complements. While Steve gets well deserved kudos for putting together a great event, he used a method that can be employed throughout the city of getting the whole community involved. Several people took on roles new to them, learned a lot and got to meet and work with neighbors not yet known to them. Looking forward to doing it again next year.
One thing I particularly liked was the arrangement of the vendors so that the stores were easily accessible too. It’s a great way to support the businesses the way they supported the Village. I also loved the beer garden right on the little plaza. The entrance was cute and the food was accessible from both inside and out. One more thing, having the bouncy castles in the parking lot along with the other kids stuff kept the road clear and was nice and cozy.
I wasn’t sure where parking would be available so that would be good to publicize next year. I just avoided the problem and took the T from Newton Center to Lincoln Street. Free parking on Sunday.
Great day. Wish I had thought to take some photos.
I was bowled over by how good and exciting everything was. Steve is a wonderful and patient organizer, but he had a lot of very talented individuals who did everything in style and with good humor. I’m sorry John Rice couldn’t make it; but I know I speak for hundreds in the Highlands and beyond in thanking him for ordering up a special new green plaque for Rodney Barker Square and for supplying the beautiful wording on that marker that listed all the things that Rodney has done for Newton over the years. Rodney was a bit bowled over and really appreciated the plaque and the sentiments behind it.
I still hear that 12 year-old girl, Abby Matthews, and her band in my head. What a treat that was!
Thank you Steve!
I left out talking to the LigerBots members who were there. I was picking up a button and mentioned that I was sorry it was such a hassle to get them to St Louis. They all laughed and said they had a great time but were glad when they got home so families and other adults could stop worrying when there was nothing to worry about. They talked about all the things that could have gone wrong in the competition but didn’t. Such a great group of teens. And what a lot of great trophies.