Purple Heart ceremony Aug. 7

Needham’s annual Purple Heart Ceremony to honor local servicemen and women wounded or killed in combat will be held Friday, Aug. 7, National Purple Heart Day. 

Hosted by the Manson H. Carter VFW Post 2498, the ceremony will begin at 7 p.m. in Memorial Park with the raising of the Purple Heart Standard. The names of Needham Purple Heart recipients will be read aloud — more than 84 of whom are listed on the park’s Fallen Brave Memorial. The Purple Heart Standard will remain on the flagpole for three days.

The Select Board declared Needham a Purple Heart Community in 2015, formally honoring Needham residents who served in the armed forces. A proclamation from the Select Board on July 21 encouraged residents and local businesses to display the American Flag and recognize the town’s Purple Heart recipients.

Purple heart-shaped badges, initially named the “Badge of Military Merit” were first commissioned on Aug. 7, 1782, by Gen. George Washington, for soldiers who fought in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. The Purple Heart Award is the U.S. military’s oldest decoration.

Mural unveiling Sunday

The latest mural in the “From Needham to the World” series will be unveiled Sunday, July 19 at 10 a.m. featuring the life and extraordinary inventions of William Baker.

Baker was an inventor, entrepreneur, healthy food advocate and created the first amusement park on his Needham estate at Ridge Hill Farms.

The mural is located at the corner of Chapel Street and Great Plain Avenue. It is a project of the Needham Revitalization Trust Fund to highlight Needhamites who have changed the world through their lives and work.

McDonald’s to reopen this week

The owner/operator of the McDonald’s at 340 Chestnut St., Tim McCoy, expects the restaurant to reopen by the end of the week. The location has been closed since June 23 following a grease fire in the kitchen. No one was injured. 

Claxton, NHS ribbon cuttings delayed until summer’s end

Ribbon cutting ceremonies for Claxton Field and Needham High School’s new tennis courts will be bumped to the end of August/beginning of September. The Park & Recreation Commission decided on the delay during their June 22 meeting, to enable all relevant parties to be present.

After the planned-for June 5 date was derailed by the arrest of former Park & Rec chair Chris Gerstel on charges of alleged fraud, director Stacey Mulroy said she hoped to schedule the ceremonies before people left town for July 4 celebrations. “If we don’t hit that, we may push it off till September, just because we’re not going to get everybody we want to get.”

Although the tennis courts were completed in December 2025, their ribbon cutting was delayed due to interdepartmental scheduling conflicts. “There was just a lot going on in the winter, and we wanted to make sure we gave it its due diligence and not kind of rush it,” Mulroy said.

“Then what we wanted to do was piggyback the Claxton ribbon cutting, which was delayed this spring — it wasn’t delayed, it wasn’t as pretty as we wanted it to be,” she noted to the Commission. “It turned brown quickly, and we wanted to get it back up to speed.”

Mulroy added that scheduling two ceremonies on the same day would be simpler for individuals involved in both.

Rep. Auchincloss to host update in Needham

U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss will host a Congressional update and Q&A on Sunday, June 28 from 2-3p.m. at Needham High School. The free event is open to the public and is an opportunity to hear from the three-term congressman about his views and  work on behalf of the 4th District of Massachusetts.

Residents invited to Juneteenth ceremony Friday morning

Needham will observe Juneteenth National Independence Day with a ceremony on the Town Common beginning at 9:30 a.m. Friday, June 19. The federal holiday recognizing the end of slavery in the U.S. will be marked with a recitation of the Emancipation Proclamation, remarks and reflection.

Needham’s Select Board issued a proclamation June 9 outlining the holiday’s history and significance, read aloud by Select Board Vice Chair Joshua Levy during the meeting. Levy will be the host for the town’s commemoration.

Juneteenth, also termed “Freedom Day,” celebrates the delayed arrival of Union troops announcing freedom for enslaved Black Americans in Galveston, Texas, June 19, 1865 — over two years after Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021, making it the first public holiday to be legalized since Martin Luther King Jr. Day, signed in 1983.

Test pits are next step in action park plans

In a director’s report shared with the Park and Recreation Commission June 15, Park and Rec director Stacey Mulroy said they are working with the Department of Public Works to set up test pits for the action/skate park planned near Claxton Field. Mulroy said the test pits are currently being scheduled for construction.

Because the entire action park will be located on ledge from the old quarry, test pits will help clarify subsurface conditions, and identify where structural anchor points can be placed for the park’s construction. Once the test pits are complete, engineering firm Weston & Sampson and action sports experts Pillar Design Studios, will be able to move toward another version of the park, Mulroy said.

Partnering with DPW will help cut future construction costs, said Mulroy. 

Rosemary Recreation Complex opens

After delays to allow for staff training and water chemistry test results, pools at Rosemary Recreation Complex are ready for the summer season. The fitness pool opened for lap swimming and water walking Monday, June 8, and will be available from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., Monday through Friday. Open swim will begin Saturday, June 13, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the weekends, with weekday open swims beginning the week of June 28 from 12 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The splash pad was the first water feature to open, available from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week, free for residents and nonresidents alike.

Rosemary pools have accessibility features, with chair lift access, zero-depth entry to the family pool and floating wheelchairs on-hand.

Throughout the season, pool and weather updates will be posted to Park & Recreation’s Facebook page. Aug. 16 has tentatively been earmarked as the last day Rosemary pools will be open for the summer.

More information on hours, passes, swim lessons and the Sharks swim team can be found in the pool brochure.

Riding lawn mower accident

At 8:42 a.m. Tuesday, June 9, Needham police and fire personnel responded to a Hillside Avenue address on report of a riding lawn mower overturning on an individual, causing injury.

According to deputy police chief Christopher Baker, a second individual tried to assist, and was also injured in the process. Both individuals were transported by Needham Fire for their injuries. There is no further update on the status of the individuals or their injuries, said Baker.

Baker said the Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA) was notified and responded to the accident as well, since the incident involved commercial landscapers and is considered a workplace accident.

An OSHA spokesperson said they were not involved in the agency’s response and could not speak to specifics, adding, “as far as I know, we were simply responding to a workplace incident.” 

Needham police did not identify the individuals involved in the crash, or indicate the severity of their injuries.

The yellow-and-black mower overturned in a mixed residential neighborhood, just outside of Needham’s Community Council

New Historic District Commission focuses on preservation

Needham’s newest committee is the six-member Historic District Commission, charged with establishing new Local Historic Districts (LHD) to assist owners who choose to preserve the look and design of Needham’s historic houses during their ownership and beyond. Designating a property or neighborhood as an LHD ensures the historic exterior of the home will not be significantly changed. It requires a design review of any expansion or renovation. Such districts were established by state law in 1955.

Needham currently has one LHD, established by a two-thirds vote of Town Meeting in 2024. It is a one-house district, a phenomenon that is common across the state. The LHD consists of only the 1779 Jonathan Kingsbury house, currently owned by Elizabeth and Moe Handel, located at 3 Rosemary St. 

Moe Handel, who worked to create the LHD for his home, is a member of the new Select Board-appointed committee, which also includes Alison Borrelli, Gloria Greis, Brian LeMay, Sara Squeglia and Lauren Soper. The committee met twice in the last two weeks of May in order to speed the creation of a second LHD at 178 South St., the former home of NC Wyeth. According to realtor Michael Niden, the current owner hopes to sell the 1.25-acre property that includes a large backyard with dramatic frontage on the Charles River. The current owner has agreed to put the home in an LHD to preserve it, but a sale before special Town Meeting’s potential approval in October would complicate the preservation efforts.

The creation of an LHD involves significant legwork and state law requires a 60-day waiting period that includes opportunity for public comment. “If we miss the window, we may lose the property,” Handel said.

Alison Borrelli, chair of the committee and a Needham-based realtor, worked on Needham’s first LHD. She said that because of that effort, this project and the creation of any future LHDs will be more streamlined. 

Member Gloria Greis, who is also director of the Needham History Center & Museum, said that the owner of the 1730 James Smith House at 1706 Great Plain Ave. is also interested in creating an LHD. 

Vice Chair Lauren Soper said that ideally, all of the historic homes in town should be protected and that the committee should also work to create multi-home LHDs that protect the historic character of neighborhoods.

Handel stressed that this is a voluntary process and that it doesn’t work without the home owner’s cooperation.

“We’ve lost more than we’ve saved,” Greis said. “Being able to create a durable preservation mechanism has a lot of value. A lot of people say they don’t want their house torn down. Neighborhood stability does have an economic value.”

Town hosts picnic on June 6

A town-sponsored picnic on the Common is set for Saturday, June 6, from 12 to 3 p.m. Community members are encouraged to meet up with friends and neighbors, bring something to sit on and something to eat. Live music from Needham-based band “The Tear Downs,” bouncy houses, lawn games and “Needham Business Selfie Bingo” will be available. In the event of rain, the picnic will be rescheduled to Sunday, June 7.

NEF/NHS collaboration

A $50,000 grant from the Needham Education Foundation will fund the first of three phases for Needham High School’s new internship program. The program will create new opportunities for NHS students seeking work-based experiences within the community. According to NEF members and Superintendent Dan Gutekanst, a program like this has been in discussion for the past year. 

Most of the grant, $46,800, will be used to hire an internship coordinator for the upcoming academic year. This individual will partner with Gutekanst, the NHS Counseling Office, Principal Aaron Sicotte, community businesses, organizations and nonprofits, to prepare 80 additional internships, work experiences and job-shadowing opportunities for the 2027-2028 school year. The remaining $3,200 will be spent on materials and resources to develop the program. The program will benefit from the high school’s post-graduate program model and existing community connections, said Gutekanst, and will emphasize equitable participation for all students.
In a presentation to the School Committee on May 19, Gutekanst and NEF presenters acknowledged the program is “hugely ambitious” and “a big lift” that will require a leap of faith. School Committee members voted unanimously to accept the grant. More information on program timelines and goals can be found beginning on page 43 in the May 19 School Committee meeting packet.

Action Park/Pickleball

Park & Recreation’s first public meeting for Claxton Field’s action sports park and pickleball courts on May 21 encouraged Needham residents to share feedback on design schematics. Representatives from engineering firm Weston & Sampson and action sports experts Pillar Design Studios presented the conceptual designs.

Pickleball will be located along Central Avenue, and the action park in the quarry east of softball fields, with 23 parking spaces added to the existing lot. The current design features five pickleball courts surrounded by a 10-ft. vinyl chainlink fence, screened from the road by a landscape berm and tree plantings. A sound study is also being conducted.

Two designs with “all wheels” access are being considered for the action park. The first, lower-cost design is a beginner-friendly, back-and-forth lane style built at grade, featuring flats and street-oriented elements (manual pads, ledges, rails, straight boxes, curved boxes, slappy curves, China banks), with a nearby pump track. The second, above-grade design offers a higher technical level, with a circular design encouraging speed and transitions (stair sets, banked ledges, big flip pyramid, flat bars, step-ups, gaps, fun boxes), but no pump track. Both designs feature shade structures and handicap parking spaces. Skaters in the audience preferred the second design, but requested a few more technical elements. 

Planners hope to reach consensus around designs by mid-summer. These will be presented in another community forum before moving to the final design stage and board approvals. Town Meeting will vote on the action park and pickleball courts in May 2027. In the interim, residents at the meeting who are “heavy users” were encouraged to join a working group for one of the two projects.

Local man sentenced for fraud

Tony Francis, former head of Edgar P. Benjamin Health Center, was sentenced in Boston’s federal court on May 20 for improper use of EPBHC funds.

The 60-year-old Needham resident — former administrator, president and CEO of the nonprofit healthcare facility in Roxbury — faces six months in prison beginning July 15 and three years of supervised release. He is also required to pay a restitution sum of $43,655.50. Francis pleaded guilty in February 2026 to two counts of intentional misapplication of money from a program receiving federal funds.

According to a statement from the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, misapplications totaled over $190,000, though Francis later returned most of the funds. Around 2023 and 2024, EPBHC faced financial “deficiencies”, including a shortage of cash and inability to make payroll, federal prosecutors said. In April 2024, the center was appointed a receiver to manage operations.

Francis’ sentencing comes on the heels of federal administration efforts to eliminate fraud.

Town to mark Memorial Day

On Monday morning, May 25, Needham will commemorate Memorial Day with observances across town, leading up to a ceremony at Memorial Field at 11:45 am. The ceremony will include remarks by elected officials and others and the Needham Exchange Club will provide coffee and donuts. Following the ceremony the Needham VFW Post 2498 will host a collation at the VFW Hall on Junction Street.

The public is invited to all events, which will include a flag raising, rifle salute, wreath laying and short speaking program at these locations:

8:15 am – Public Safety Complex
9 am – St. Mary’s Cemetery
9:45 am – Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Cefalo Drive
10:30 am – Needham Cemetery
11:15 am – Town Common
11:45 am – Memorial Park

Services for Kayla Corrigan

Services are scheduled this week for 21-year-old Kayla Corrigan who died in a fire in her Needham home on Christmas Eve morning. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Visiting Hours will be held on Thursday, Jan. 8 from 3 – 7 p.m. at Eaton Funeral Home, 1351 Highland Ave.  On Friday, Jan. 9 at 11 a.m. there will be a Mass of Christian Burial at St. Joseph Church, 1360 Highland Ave. The Mass will be livestreamed at this link http://www.harborview.live/

The complete obituary is available through Eaton Funeral home.

Holiday Lights Tour

The Needham Women’s Club annual holiday lights tour of homes decorated for the season is underway and continues through December 31. For information about viewing the houses, go to needhamwomensclub.org.

Town operations not affected by government shutdown

There is no immediate impact on the Town of Needham from the federal government shutdown, according to Deputy Town Manager for Finance Dave Davison. “While there could be an impact on individual citizens, that too will probably not happen immediately,” he said. “Social Security payments will not be delayed so there is not an impact to seniors who rely mostly on the monthly pension payment for living expenses.” Depending on how long the shutdown continues, Davison said, “there may be longer-term issues for services and projects which can impact local government, private businesses and people.” 

Needham Thrives Festival Sept. 28

The inaugural Needham Thrives Festival to help build mental health awareness and skills takes place Sunday, Sept. 28 from 1-4 p.m. at Greene’s Field. Hosted by the Needham Resilience Network (NRN), in partnership with the Needham Community Council and the Charles River YMCA, the free event will include an exhibit area with more than 30 tables hosted by civic, health, cultural, fitness, arts and community groups sharing resources, information and activities to promote wellness. There will be activities including music, art and games as well as workshops and talks on mindfulness, nutrition, social connection, belonging and accessing mental health resources. In the event of rain the event will take place in Town Hall. For more information, contact Nichole Argo (argo.nichole@gmail.com) or Beth PInals (bpinals@comcast.net).

September 11, 2025

Water use restrictions imposed

Needham has implemented a mandatory, non-essential outdoor water use restriction. Effective now, outdoor watering is restricted to Sundays before 9 a.m. and after 5 p.m. This does not apply to handheld watering which is allowed daily.

The restriction follows recommendations from the Massachusetts Drought Management Task Force which voted to recommend to place the Southeast Region, which includes Needham, at a Level 1/Mild Drought Category. Updates and FAQs about the water restrictions will be posted on the town website. 

Pollard community meeting Sept. 10

The next community meeting about the Pollard Middle School Project will be held Wednesday, Sept. 10, at 6:30 p.m. Community members can attend in person at Pollard (200 Harris Ave.) or on Zoom at this link

Overdose vigil August 28 at 6:30pm

The Town will host a vigil in observance of International Overdose Awareness Day at the Memorial Park Gazebo Thursday, Aug. 28, at 6:30pm. The event is free and open to the public and will include speakers, a memorial flag display and the distribution of informational materials to support community members facing substance use challenges. International Overdose Awareness Day is an opportunity to remember those who have died and acknowledge the grief of the family and friends left behind. 

Cutler Park trail under repair

The Blue Heron Trail at Cutler Park Reservation is undergoing repairs and a section will be closed Tuesdays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Sept. 19. The Department of Conservation and Recreation is doing the repairs on the section extending southwest from Powell’s Island. Trail users are advised to turn around at Intersection Marker 32 if approaching from Kendrick Street in Needham or Intersection Marker 38 if approaching from Needham Street in Dedham.

August 14, 2025

Pollard Virtual Community Meeting Aug. 21

A virtual community meeting about the Pollard Middle School Project will be held Thursday, Aug. 21 at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom. Community members are invited to attend to learn about the project and share input. The public can join the meeting at this link.

July 31, 2025

Stormwater by-law listening session Aug. 5

The town is holding a Public Listening session Aug. 5 to discuss proposed changes to the Stormwater by-law. The recommendations of the Stormwater By-law Working Group will be shared. The Listening Session will be held at 7 p.m. in Powers Hall and virtually on Zoom. Recommendations will be presented and voted on at Town Meeting in October. 

July 23, 2025

New mural unveiling Sunday, July 27

The latest mural in the “From Needham to the World” series will be unveiled Sunday, July 27, at 10 a.m., featuring the life and work of Dr. John Dix Fisher, a founder of the Perkins School for the Blind.

Dr. Fisher was born in Needham in 1797 and became a physician and researcher of medical technology, particularly from France, which at the time was a mecca for medical innovation and where he visited the first school for students with blindness. His many contributions include introducing the stethoscope to the United States.

The mural is located at the corner of Chapel Street and Great Plain Avenue. It is a project of the Needham Revitalization Trust Fund to highlight Needhamites who have changed the world through their lives and work.

June 19, 2025

Juneteenth Observance Thursday morning

Needham will mark Juneteenth, the federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, with an event on the Town Common on Thursday, June 19, at 9:30 a.m.

The observance will be led by Select Board member Josh Levy and include a reading of the Emancipation Proclamation. The board passed a resolution recognizing Juneteenth in the town of Needham that said, in part, “that all residents be encouraged to observe Juneteenth as a celebration of the resilience of Black Americans and an opportunity for education about the true history of this country.”

Juneteenth commemorates the day in 1865, more than two months after the end of the Civil War and more than two years after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, when enslaved Black Americans in Galveston, Texas, were informed they were free.

June 12, 2025

The state’s Drought Management Task Force voted June 9 to end one of the wetter local “droughts” in recent memory.

The decision allowed the town on June 10 to lift state-required watering restrictions on outdoor water use effective immediately. 

The decision was voted at the state task force’s June 9 monthly meeting in which it received multiple reports related to rainfall measurements, streamflow conditions, reservoir capacities and other gauge readings that all pointed toward improved conditions in the state’s Southeast region, a broad area that includes Needham at its northern border and extends to the Rhode Island border and the bridges to the Cape.

Rob Megnia, senior service hydrologist for the National Weather Service, remarked that last month was the fifth wettest May ever in the Boston area.

“Hopefully we’re all going to be presenting good news this afternoon. I certainly am,” said Brian Loving, hydrologic monitoring branch chief for the U.S. Geological Survey during the Task Force meeting.

Loving reported that streamflow conditions at the start of May “were in the normal range. But after those rains, by the middle of the month we were much above normal at most of the sites.”

The restrictions had been in place since April 9. Needham DPW head Carys Lustig, in an interview prior to the restrictions being lifted, said her department did receive some calls from residents. “I don’t think they’re that upset,” she reported. “I think they’re more confused than upset.”

The most common calls, she said, were from people who referred to the signs the DPW had posted around town informing residents of the water use restrictions. “They’d say, ‘It says, there’s a drought. What do you mean there’s a drought? It’s rained a lot.’

“Some would say, ‘What are you guys doing, you know, to fight this?’”

Because the restrictions were mandated by the state, the town really had no means to avoid the restrictions, which the town would not have implemented of its own volition.

“Our wells are good, and we’ve got plenty of water,” Lustig said. “We’re not really in a situation of local concern at this point.”

June 5, 2025

Water ban decision expected June 9

The state’s Drought Management Task Force will meet June 9 to review whether Needham and the other communities in the state’s Southeast region should remain in the Level 1 “mild drought” status that has required the town to implement water use restrictions for the past two months.

The state implemented the ban on April 9. It has been requiring Needham to restrict non-essential outdoor water use. Outdoor watering may only take place on Sundays before 9 a.m. or after 5 p.m.

Economic Development manager post open

Needham’s Economic Development Manager, J.P. Cacciaglia, has “transitioned out of his role” according to an update from Deputy Town Manager Katie King to town officials. “We will be working to fill this position.” Cacciaglia was hired as economic development manager in the fall of 2023, succeeding Amy Haelsen who became director of Communications and Community Engagement.

March 20, 2025

Here are some deadlines to be aware of ahead of the April 8 annual town election:

March 29 is the deadline for non-registered voters to register to be eligible to vote in this year’s election.

Early in-person voting will begin at Town Hall on March 31. The polling station in Town Hall will be open during Town Hall’s regular business hours through Friday, April 4 at 12:30 p.m.

The deadline to request a vote-by-mail ballot is April 1 at 5 p.m.

Any registered voter wishing to vote “absentee in-person” ahead of March 29 may do so at the Town Clerk’s office window during regular Town Hall business hours.

Traditional in-person voting will take place April 8 from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. at the town’s five polling places:

March 13, 2025

Candidate forums scheduled

February 13, 2025

February 6, 2025

October 31, 2024

October 24, 2024

Voting Info

October 17, 2024

September 26, 2024

August 29, 2024

August 8, 2024

June 13, 2024

June 6, 2024

May 30, 2024

May 23, 2024