Flu shot identity theft scare over

Wellesley senior citizens no longer need to be worried sick about their Social Security numbers and other personal information falling into the wrong hands, according to town officials. Wellesley Board of Health officials, with help from police and the postal service, have recovered a previously missing envelope destined for Medicare that included the personal information of about 500 senior citizens who got flu shots last fall. Here's a story/video report. Health officials say a mechanical issue at the post office caused the problem and used a reverse 911 system to let the flu shot recipients know that their information was indeed safe.

 

 

 

 

Override avoided -- not everyone's happy about that

The School Committee's vote earlier this week to cut $1.2 million in costs helps the town avoid putting an override vote to the public. Committee 21, however, says the news isn't as good as it might seem, suggesting that the School Committee rushed its vote even in light of new evidence that the town might be getting more revenue than it previously thought. 

 

 

 

 

 

"The Sound of Music" coming in March

Get ready for yodeling and schnitzels. The Wellesley Players perform "The Sound of Music" March 14-22 at Babson's Sorenson Center for the Arts. Ticket info.

The cast includes a couple of young Wellesleyites: Drew Hawkinson, who plays Kurt (back row, all the way to right), and Elise Hana, who plays Brigitta in some of the some shows (front row, 2nd from left). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to make a baby feel really special

Wellesley entrepreneur Ruth Keyes started up a personalized baby products business while living in San Francisco about 4 years ago following the birth of her oldest daughter. When Ruth and husband Chris moved their family to Wellesley, the business came with them. We asked Ruth about her business, called BabyKeyes, to learn a bit more:

 

Is this a one-woman show, or how big is your organization?
It's me doing the work for now; I also have an investor.

Where do the products come from?
Various sources - I found most of the companies through what I thought lasted the best on my kids (i.e. wash, bleach, etc.).

Who does the personalization/what's the process there?
Right now, me! I have several machines up in my office in the house.

Can you quantify in some sense how big a business it is?
This completely varies based on how much advertising we do. For instance, we're now pregnant with our 4th so I was tired, shut off the advertising and from our existing client base we'll have over 70 orders this month. When we advertise it can be 3 to 4 times that. It is nice because I can basically be as busy as I want and still be a mom first.

Monograms are great....except for hand-me-downs. Is there really much demand for personalized stuff on very small children who outgrow their clothes so fast?
Most of the purchases are for gifts. The items such as the totes, dresses and ponchos aren't, but primarily the baby items are. So people think less in terms of hand-me-downs versus a little luxury to pass along.

How if at all are you marketing the business locally?
Right now, not much. I did several home shows during the holidays (Wellesley Mothers Forum and friends). These were great in getting our name out locally here.

 

 

 

Wellesleyites look to hit the jackpot with startup

We're not quite finished with the Keyes family yet....

You might have read last week about a new company called Jackpot Rewards that's promising millions of dollars in sweepstakes winnings for lucky entrants. The twist, and what the company's investors emphasize sets it apart from seedy sorts of sweepstakes outfits, is that half of the company's profits will go to children's charities around the world (speaking of charities, check out the Townsman's piece on the new Fund for Wellesley). While much of the press coverage last week focused on big name investors such as Peter Lynch and Boston ad exec Jack Connors, this is a company with a huge Wellesley flavor, including VP Chris Keyes, husband of the above-interviewed Ruth Keyes. What's more, Jackpot Rewards CEO and founder Jim Miller, as well as VPs Matt Connon and Dave Eggers, all reside in Wellesley, too.

Market watchers are intrigued by the company, though some have questioned the business plan and others wonder about legal/gambling issues. Even the company's investors admit, though, this is venture is something of a gamble.

 

 

Meet the candidates tonight

Candidates for Wellesley's Board of Selectmen will share their views tonight at 7pm at Wellesley High's cafeteria in advance of next week's election. 

 

MassBay spending draws fire

MassBay Community College prez Carole Berotte Joseph is firing back at critics of the school's spending -- some say overspending -- on marketing and public relations via consultants (somewhere in neighborhood of $450K in past fiscal year). The Globe quotes Joseph as saying: "Criticisms about spending in the public relations and marketing areas are shortsighted," Joseph said in a statement. She said the college's overall marketing efforts have trailed that of its peers for years, and that the recent spending marks the first major investment in the area in a decade.

The spending has gone toward developing an alumni magazine and spiffing up the Web site (though the Web site still seems like a work in progress. Click on something like News & Events for example and you get: "Coming Soon!"). 

 

 

 

Hunnewell Principal weighs in on push for better school leaders

Sheryl Boris-Schacter writes an article for Education Week titled "Good Principals by Fiat?" that starts off like this: 

At this point, there are few educators or policymakers who would question the link between effective school-based leadership and students’ academic achievement. A consensus of sorts is even emerging on the importance of making principal-preparation programs more rigorous, educational decisionmaking more local, and on-the-job mentorship more prevalent. ( "Toward the ‘Highly Qualified’ Principal," Dec. 12, 2007.) Analogous to what is happening with teacher professional development, the push for continuous improvement and learning for novice and veteran principals is beginning to gain traction... (You'll need a subscription to read the rest.)

How a current Wellesleyite changed Texas basketball back in the '60s

James Cash, now of Wellesley, was the first African-American to play for Texas Christian University's basketball team back in 1965 and helped lead the team to the Southwest Conference championship 40 years ago. The Fort-Worth Star Telegram tells the story here. A snippet from the story on Cash, who went on to become a professor at Harvard Business School:

The TCU basketball team, Cash recalled, traveled to some places that still clung to segregation, like barnacles to a sinking ship. And he said he can still remember hearing some ugly insults and enduring some awkward moments at restaurants and hotels.

"But it wasn't in my makeup to let anything like that penetrate my psyche," he said. "By the time I was a sophomore, a lot had happened, and other schools were recruiting African-American athletes. Once the barriers were down, nobody wanted to be at a competitive disadvantage."

 

 

 

 

 

Wellesley mailbox mashup

Ever not been able to find a mailbox in town when you need one? Here's a mashup (a Web application that combines data from multiple sources) that plots out mailboxes in the 02481 zip code and one for 02482 in Wellesley. If you've come across other interesting mashups or have one of your own related to Wellesley, let us know.

 

 

 

Wellesley Roche Bros. and the out-Whole Fooding of Whole Foods

The Boston Globe pays a visit to the new Roche Bros. in town, noting that it's big enough to do snow angels in the aisles. The point of the column is that towns see having a Whole Foods or Whole Foods-like store as a sort of status symbol. The column also paraphrases a Roche Bros. VP as saying that the Wellesley store won't have as much foot traffic as another nice Roche Bros. in West Roxbury, but that the people here are expected to spend more. "Wellesley is Wellesley is Wellesley," the writer notes.

 

 

 

 

 

Which way the wind is blowing at Babson

The school this spring plans to become the first Boston-area college to use wind power, according to enterprising grad students at Babson who led the wind turbine project. More here and here.

A groundbreaking for the turbine takes place on March 27 as part of a broader Entrepreneurial Energy Expo set for that day.

 

 

 

Recyclable of the month: Glass

From the Wellesley RDF:

 

Glass is an amazing resource—it can be recycled an infinite number of times! Recycling a single glass container produces enough electricity to light a 100-watt bulb for four hours. In Wellesley, refundable glass bottles are now recycled with other appropriate colored glass, simply sort by color onto the trays. Glass is technically biodegradable…but it would take about 1 million years for a single glass bottle to completely break down.

The Wellesley RDF makes it easy to sort your glass by color—just follow the signs! Remember to rinse out your glass containers and refundable glass bottles before you bring them to the RDF. Leave your old ceramics, drinking glasses, and other excluded items at home; mixing these in with recyclable glass will seriously contaminate the final product. Take a “Step UP!” and spare a few moments to sort and clean your glass containers.

For more information, contact Superintendent Gordon Martin at :

781-235-7600 x 3340, or visit the RDF website:  www.wellesleyma.gov