Hyde Community Center

Thanks to Barbara Darnell the Hyde Playground Garden architect and main gardener for making the beautiful flowers at Hyde Playground . Covid-19 shut down events at Hyde Playground last summer but it didn’t stop us from planting 1,400 tulips last October.

Once the tulips are finished Barbara plants annuals and those flowers mixed with our perennials keep the Hyde Garden in bloom all spring and summer.

Hyde Garden is supported by donations from the Hyde Community Center, Newton Community Pride and The Village Bank.

We all missed music, movies and plays at Hyde Playground last summer and we hope the spring and summer of 2021 will bring back community programming to the Hyde Bandstand. We are following the guidance from Governor Baker and City of Newton Health and Human Services Department and the Newton Parks, Recreation and Culture Department on outdoor activities due to Covid. Currently outdoor events can only have hundred and fifty people with groups separated by six feet but we hope by July more people will be allowed to attend outdoor performances. We may have to have tickets (for free) to limit attendance at Hyde Playground events.

Normally we start Summer in the Highlands concerts and movies in June on Village Day weekend but this year we are waiting until Friday July 9th. Currently we are planning on outdoor concerts and movies every Friday in July and August. Also, there are many indoor events that are contacting the Hyde on moving their activities outside due to Covid because Hyde Bandstand is the only permanent outdoor stage in the city. Newton Theater Company is going to have three nights of a play in June. Needham Community Theater will do a Shakespeare in the park play in July and Brown Box Theater will have a Shakespeare play in August. Highland Glee Club, Newton Library, Newton Parks Recreation and Culture all will have events on Hyde Bandstand this spring and summer. We are also working with a group that is celebrating black heritage for Juneteenth and we also will have two nights of storytelling in July and August.

The Hyde Bandstand schedule will keep changing and if you want updates on our programing go to hydecenter.org and add your email to get updates for Hyde Events.

Events at Hyde Bandstand are organized and managed by the Hyde Community Center the only nonprofit community center in Newton.

Summer in the Highlands is sponsored by the Newton Highlands Neighborhood Area Council, The Newton Parks, Recreation and Culture Department, The Village Bank, Newton Community Pride, Whole Foods Market, Newton Wellesley Hospital, O’Hara’s Food and Spirits.

Hyde Fundraising Making a Difference in our Community

As 2020 ends please evaluate supporting the Hyde Community Center. Attached is our year-end appeal.

Happy Holidays!

The staff and trustees of the Hyde Community Center.

Dear friends and neighbors,

Please donate during Giving Tuesday, the global movement of generosity on Tuesday, December 1 to support The Hyde Community Center.

Since 1988 The Hyde Community Center, nicknamed The Heart of the Highlands, has been the center of the Newton Highlands Community. We offer a wide range of free and/or low-cost programming for residents of all ages, and host a series of popular events, including the Winter Soup Social and a full schedule of movies, music, and live theater on the Hyde Bandstand.

We are the only nonprofit community center in Newton that does not receive government funding, and pre Covid-19 were the busiest community center in Newton. While the Coronavirus crisis has forced us to pause public activities, we took advantage of the time to continue to improve our facility—painting the walls and refinishing the floor of the gym; maintaining the garden; and ensuring that the park and playground remain clean and safe for community use with the City of Newton Parks, Recreation and Culture Department.

The Hyde rentals which provide our primary source of income were paused from March to September, and Covid-19 regulations severely limit our ability to return to full operations. Given the uncertainty as to when our programs can begin again, we are turning to you, our friends and neighbors, for support. Chances are, you have created memories at the Hyde—playing basketball, hanging with friends on a summer evening, watching your kids shriek their way through the Haunted House. Please consider a gift today in celebration of those memories, and in support of memories to be made in the years to come. Every gift, of any size, will make a difference for The Heart of the Highlands.

We miss you, we wish you well, and we hope to see you soon!

The staff and trustees of The Hyde Community Center.

To donate online with your credit card go to www.hydecenter.org or mail checks to Hyde Community Center P.O. Box 610171 Newton Highlands, MA 02461 or contact John Rice 617-201-7088 director@hydecenter.org.

                                                     Movies at Hyde Bandstand

                                                Summer in the Highlands

                                                        Hyde Playground Garden

While Covid-19 shutdown the Hyde from March to August we used that time to renovate our building. We sanded and stained all our walls, we removed many of  our window coverings and restored our windows. The largest improvement was that The Village Bank donated the funds needed to sand our floors down to wood, replace sections of our floor and relined and recover the floor with polyurethane. This level of Hyde floor restoration had not happened in thirty years.

We planted 1,400 tulips in Hyde Playground Garden last weekend which will be blooming next May!

Donations for the flowers came from Newton Community Pride, the Hyde Community Center and the Taipei Economic Culture Office in Boston.

Barbara Darnell is the lead Gardener for the Hyde Playground Garden.

                             Hyde Playground Garden 2020

                               Hyde Playground Planting – 2021

Saturday Oct 10, 2- 4 pm  Outdoor Storytelling at Hyde Playground/Bandstand in Newton! Come listen to great stories, or, maybe get inspired and put your name in the hat to tell your personal, true 5-minute story (e.g. Moth style) on the theme: Summer is Over. Ten names will be drawn from the hat!

Now Listen Here is bringing its storytelling open-mic to the outdoor stage at the Hyde Bandstand in Newton on Saturday, October 10 from 2:00-4:00pm. Prepare a 5-minute story (with no notes) on the theme of Summer is Over or just get ready to listen to great stories marking the change of seasons.

Audience members must pre-register on EventBrite, https://www.eventbrite.com/e/now-listen-here-presents-summer-is-over-tickets-123559895975

Wear a mask, and bring your own blanket or chair for social distancing on the lawn. Free with support from Newton Community Pride and the City of Newton Parks, Recreation and Culture and the Hyde Community Center. Registration required, due to COVID restrictions on attendance. Depending on attendance, walk-ins will be possible.

The Newton Highlands Neighborhood Area Council is hosting a Newton trivia contest and wants people to participate. 20 winners will receive a gift card to a Newton Highlands business.  You don’t need to get all of the questions right to win, but half of the prizes are reserved for people who do.  To submit your answers, fill in the PDF which is available at http://www.newtonma.gov/gov/neighborhood/highlands/default.asp and email it to NewtonHighlandsVirtualTrivia@gmail.com.  Answers will be accepted through August 21.  Winners will be announced at the Newton Highlands Neighborhood Area Council’s September 3 meeting.

HYDE Renovation and Restoration

Studio 2 the Beatles cover band would have opened Summer in the Highlands 2020 tonight followed by thirteen concerts and movies, two plays and a story slam. Unfortunately based upon the COVID-19 pandemic we can not have Summer in the Highlands this year and Hyde Playground won’t have dancing, music and live theater in 2020.

We will be back at the Hyde Bandstand Friday Night June 18th 2021.

We would like to thank our sponsors Village Bank, Newton Community Pride, O’Hara’s Food & Spirits!

Thank you the Hyde Community Center – Newton Highlands Neighborhood Area Council.

The Hyde Playground Taiwan Garden is in bloom with 1,200 tulips planted last fall by Barbara Darnell & Groot Gregory. Thank you Barbara and Groot!

The garden is funded by the Hyde Community Center, The Taipei Economic Culture Office and Newton Community Pride.