Last Wednesday, many active in Newton’s civic community gathered for the 49th Annual Honorable Theodore H. Mann Mayor’s Community Breakfast, hosted by the Harmony Foundation and sponsored by The Village Bank. In keeping with its theme of CommUNITY, the first in-person gathering for this event since Covid was held under one large tent, on the UMass Amherst Mt. Ida campus.
The keynote speaker was Dr. Adrian Mims, Sr., founder and CEO of The Calculus Project, which is currently helping over 10,000 Black, Hispanic and low income students in Florida and Massachusetts (including Newton) to prepare for success in Calculus Honors, AP Calculus, and AP Statistics. See NewTV’s video of Dr. Sim’s keynote speech about The Power of One.
Mayor Ruthanne Fuller hosted the event and presented Community Service Awards (NewTV video) to Ruth Hoshino (Director of School Health Services) and Joe Prestejohn (former owner of Cabot’s Ice Cream) for their long-time contributions to Newton.
The Rotary Club of Newton and Interim Superintendent Kathleen Smith presented Rotary scholarships (NewTV video) to Gianna Burgess and Gabriela Dos Anjos of Newton South HS and Sophia Murphy of Newton North HS.
Phoebe Anthony of Newton South HS presented a student speech (NewTV video), followed by a poem presented by Newton North HS students Hidaya Bukenya, Eva Janairo, and Annyka Saint-Preux (NewTV video).
The All-City Troubador Singers (NewTV video) and the Newton South Madrigals (NewTV video) also performed.
In a closing community reflection and prayer, Rev. Devlin Scott spoke on the theme of peace (NewTV video).