Home Care In Wellesley, MA

WELLESLEY, Mass. —

The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources announced that an infestation of the spotted lanternfly was found in Wellesley this week.

It marks the ninth Massachusetts city or town that has reported an infestation of the sap-feeding insect, known to damage vineyards, orchards, and agricultural commodities in other states.

"Wellesley received word this week from the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) of a confirmed infestation near Carisbrooke Reservation," the Wellesley Natural Resources Commission said.

Spotted lanternflies may be found on sides of buildings, in or on vehicles, or on host plants, including tree of heaven, grape, maple and walnut. They are known for "swarming behavior" during mating season.

What you should do when you see a spotted lanternfly?

Seth Wenig

Spotted lanternflies rest on a branch in West Orange, N.J., Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Since it was first detected in Pennsylvania in 2014, spotted lanternflies have wreaked havoc on the environment and the economy.

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It causes damage to trees and other woody plants by feeding on their sap.

While the primary host plant of the spotted lanternfly is the invasive tree of heaven, researchers have found that it also targets grapevines, hops, and fruit trees, giving it the potential to become a serious agricultural pest.

Matt Rourke

In this Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019, photo, spotted lanternfly gather on a tree in Kutztown, Pa. The spotted lanternfly has emerged as a serious pest since the federal government confirmed its arrival in southeastern Pennsylvania five years ago this week.

The Massachusetts Invasive Pest Dashboard reports sighting of spotted lanternfly infestations in Holyoke, Awawam, Springfield, Worcester, Shrewsbury, Fitchburg, Southborough, Wellesley and Weston.

The insects have been spotted in at least four dozen other Massachusetts communities.

Spotted lanternflies usually die with the first hard frost of the year, but any eggs they laid will remain, surviving over the winter until they hatch in May, the Massachusetts Introduced Pests Outreach Project says.

If a spotted lanternfly is found, Massachusetts officials are asking the public to take a photo or collect the specimen and report the sighting using MDAR's online reporting form.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, if a spotted lanternfly is found, take a photo, note the location, and report it to your state department of agriculture before killing it.

WELLESLEY, Mass — A national investigation is being launched into antisemitism and Islamophobia incidents across several college campuses including Massachusetts’ Wellesley College.

“Hate has no place in our schools, period. When students are targeted because they are—or are perceived to be—Jewish, Muslim, Arab, Sikh, or any other ethnicity or shared ancestry, schools must act to ensure safe and inclusive educational environments where everyone is free to learn,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona in a statement Thursday. “These investigations underscore how seriously the Biden-Harris Administration, including the U.S. Department of Education, takes our responsibility to protect students from hatred and discrimination.”

A complaint from two Jewish organizations was filed against Wellesley College last week following an email from resident advisors that read “that there should be no space, no consideration, and no support for Zionism within the Wellesley College community, according to the Brandeis Center for Human Rights under Law.

Although the RA sent a follow-up email expressing regret, she also posted on social media that the apology email was sent “with a gun to my head.”

According to the Brandeis Center, Wellesley President Paula A. Johnson advised the college community that the residential staff had learned from their mistake but did address the exact nature of the email. A faculty-hosted panel also descended into controversy, Brandeis says.

“We at the Department of Education, like the nation, see the fear students and school communities experience as hate proliferates in schools,” said Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon. “As we continue our active enforcement, the Office for Civil Rights is increasing transparency into our investigations for public awareness. As always, I emphasize that the Office for Civil Rights reaches conclusions at the end of investigations and that a school’s appearance on this list does not reflect a conclusion that the law has been violated.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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“Tonight we celebrate your remarkable accomplishments and honor your years of effort, your persistence in the face of challenges, and all that you’ve done to transform this community,” said President Paula Johnson in her remarks at the December 12 celebration for Wellesley students graduating this month. Most either had walked with the class of 2023 at commencement in May or will walk with the class of 2024 in the spring, but this special annual event acknowledges December finishers right when their Wellesley experience is ending.

The graduates walked across the stage and heard remarks from deans, students, and President Johnson, and the event ended with a festive toast to the class. Ann Zhao ’24, a cognitive and linguistic sciences major and the author of the forthcoming novel Dear Wendy, completed her degree this month, and she greatly appreciated the December finishers event. “It would otherwise make graduating feel super anticlimactic. I’d just be submitting my last final with no fanfare,” said Zhao after the event. “I also appreciate knowing who else graduated in December. I’m glad it wasn’t just me and a few friends.”

“I loved how supportive everyone was of each other,” said Maimoonah Shafqat ’24, a December graduate who majored in economics with a minor in environmental studies. “Even though it was a small crowd, we all clapped and cheered, and that made it seem really special.”

The event for December finishers was the brainchild of Melissa Jo Zambrana ’15, who had to graduate a semester late due to a concussion. She walked across the stage in May 2015, but officially graduated that December. “As the end of the semester was coming up, I realized my time at Wellesley was going to end, and I was going to just pack up all of my stuff and leave campus,” she said prior to this year’s event. “I thought, I’m not the only person who’s going to experience this, where we graduate and there’s going to be no celebration, we will just leave.”

Zambrana contacted the class deans to ask for some form of ceremony for her and her peers. Her request was granted, and the December finishers event has continued most years since. “It is a really nice way to recognize everybody’s achievement,” said Alison Black, dean of the class of 2024.

The celebration is a reminder that you accomplished something and you’re still connected to the Wellesley community.

Maimoonah Shafqat ’24

Zambrana, now assistant director of alumnae engagement at the Wellesley College Alumnae Association (WCAA), gave this year’s graduates advice about how to figure out what class year they belong to. “You don’t have to worry about your graduation year,” she said. “That was something that I was worried about. The students graduating can choose their year. They can choose whatever path they want to take forward.”

Over the last eight years, the event moved from the Schneider Reading Room to the President’s House, then online due to COVID, and finally to the Alumnae Ballroom. Black has fond memories of all the locations, especially the virtual celebration: “The attendance was awesome. People could invite family and friends from all over the world.”

The event involves collaboration between many different offices, and it has been “embraced by other people around the College,” Black said, becoming even more important with each passing year.

Perhaps the most significant aspect of the December finishers event is that it gives students a moment to pause and reflect on their time at Wellesley before moving onto whatever is next. “Graduating in December is bittersweet, since either most of your friends have probably left Wellesley or you are leaving early and having to say a premature goodbye,” said Shafqat after the ceremony. “The celebration is a reminder that you accomplished something and you’re still connected to the Wellesley community.”

“I am really going to miss the network of friends and mentors that Wellesley has helped me build,” said Zhao. “I haven’t had anything else quite like it, and I really think I’ve made some valuable lifelong relationships here, something I can't say about any other school I’ve gone to.”

As Johnson said to the graduates, “Your talent, your ability, and your knowledge earned you a place at Wellesley, but it was really your courage, resilience, and perseverance that brought you to this moment, and pushed you to succeed. You are leaving Wellesley stronger, more experienced, and more compassionate.”

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Our report last week that a new Popovers coffee shop and bakery is planned for Church Square had some feeling a sense of déjà vu from memories of a former popular eatery in Wellesley Square called Popovers Restaurant.

When it comes to the town’s history, we often reach out to Beth Hinchliffe, a longtime resident with an encyclopedic knowledge of the town. Sure enough, she had plenty to share about the old Popovers.

I’ve been thinking about Popovers ever since you mentioned the new one. Lots of good memories, for many years. So, here’s “more than you really want to know about Popovers.”

It was like Wellesley’s “Cheers”—run by husband and wife Angelo (known to everyone as Angie) and Paula Adams. It felt kind of like family because it was their family.” They were always there—Angie full of energy rushing around cooking, chatting, laughing, checking up on how everyone was enjoying their meal; Paula taking orders, collecting cash, asking about your children or dogs; both of them simply glad to see you.

Like Cheers, it was filled with regulars, and Angie would have your daily order on the grill as soon as he spotted you coming through the door. The food was good, solid, generous, familiar—hearty breakfasts; filling old-fashioned lunches; and the best muffins in town. They opened every day at 5 a.m., and kept going strong until they closed at 4 p.m. A lot of locals came almost every day—policemen, DPW workers, mailmen for early breakfasts; owners and employees of nearby stores for lunch; and high schoolers in the afternoon on their way home.

Angie and Paula particularly enjoyed those high schoolers. They’d hire them to work there, so taking orders at Popovers was many students’ first jobs. They’d “adopt” them into their family, and would proudly show up at graduations, sponsor sports teams, then keep in touch for years. Other high schoolers dropped by near closing time, hanging out and talking, and Angie would give them broken cookies and leftover muffins when he closed the doors for the day.

Popovers was a big world behind a tiny storefront—you could almost miss its entrance at 13 Central Street (now the site of Juniper), sandwiched in among other doors. The entrance was long and narrow, with a counter along the right wall and dark red upholstered booths along the left—then it opened up into a surprisingly large back room.

I was the editor of the Townsman during Popovers’ glory days, and Wednesday was our early and hectic day of design, layout, last-minute details, rushing to the printing deadline. The office was just around the corner from Popovers, so I’d arrive at 5 a.m. and Angie would always have a hot, fresh blueberry muffin, already buttered and sprinkled with extra sugar, waiting for me, wrapped tightly in silver foil in a plain brown bag. The reporters and I would frequently be at Popovers during the day—holding our meetings there over lunch; interviewing people at corner tables; and taking turns making a mid-afternoon run for their legendary, namesake popovers for the whole office.

Popovers opened (under different owners) in 1969, and one of their regulars was Angie, who used to bring his little daughters in for a Saturday treat. When the place was being sold in 1974, Angie bought it and it became an extension of his family for decades. In 1996, after it sadly closed, Vidalia’s Truck Stop restaurant moved in. For over 25 years, Popovers had been the good-natured, family-oriented heart of downtown Wellesley.

I still miss Angie and Paula; and those early morning blueberry muffins.

The Natural Resources Commission is asking residents in Wellesley, Massachusetts to report infestations of the spotted lanternflies.

The spotted lanternflies are an invasive species that attacks plants.

Wellesley received word this week from the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) of an infestation near Carisbrooke Reservation.

Spotted lanternflies (Lycorma delicatula or “SLF”), while not new to the Bay State, are being found in more communities across the Commonwealth. Worcester became the fourth to identify an infestation of them in September.

Some places in the country, like New Jersey, which advertises joining the "Stomp Team", and New York City, have asked residents to kill spotted lanternflies whenever they see the insects.

In Massachusetts, 33 communities have spotted lanternfly sightings since 2018, and of the state's four local infestations -- in Fitchburg, Springfield, Shrewsbury and Worcester -- three came this year.

Spotted lanternflies are around the size of a quarter, grey with black spots and have wings that are red underneath -- that part is visible when they fly. They're larger than many other insects in Massachusetts.

The spotted lanternfly feeds on plant sap, Orth said. Its straw-shaped mouth "causes a lot of damage to certain plants, particularly grapes, which is one of the reasons we’re concerned both for wild grapes here in Massachusetts and also for grape growers and vineyards here in the state."

In addition to grapes, spotted lanternflies threaten maple trees, hops, blueberries and over 100 other host plants, according to the Department of Agricultural Resources.

Not only can their feeding be harmful to plants, Orth explained, but a "sticky, sugary waste product" the insects excrete can also cause harm when there's an infestation.

"The 'honeydew' coats everything below where the lanternflies are," she said. "So it gets all over tree trunks and shrubs and grass and your porch, your car. And then it's all sticky and sugary, so it starts to ferment and it grows this fungus...that not only damages any plants that it coats, but it smells really bad and it can be a pain to deal with."

Orth said the insect originated in Asia and first appeared in the United States in 2014 in Pennsylvania. Spotted lanternflies were believed to have made their way there via a shipment of crushed stone and continue to hitchhike to other regions.

"We know that they are associated with the transportation industry, so we’ve seen spotted lanternflies come in on vehicles, cars, trucks -- also through railway transport," Orth said. "We’ve also seen them come in on shipments of things like pumpkins and mums and things that come in in the fall when adults are active from other states."

The first report of these insects in Massachusetts was in 2018, when a dead spotted lanternfly was discovered in a poinsettia plant, according to Orth.

You can learn more about the spotted lanternfly and report any sightings here.