This year had it all: Laughter, tears, fighting, joy, politics, drama and an election that included all of that.

There were the stories that shaped Newton’s 2025. There were the people who made the headlines of 2025.

And now, we look at the unsung heroes of the year—people who helped get the big things done but didn’t get much recognition for it—and how they helped bring the good and mitigate the bad.

Here are Newton’s 2025 unsung heroes.

Terry Sauro of Nonantum speaks during a debate over Newton’s overnight winter parking ban, which was up for repeal on this year’s ballot. Seated behind her, left to right, are Peter Klapes, Jeremy Freudberg and Dan Cohen. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

The parking ban activists

Law students Peter Klapes and Jeremy Freudberg weren’t happy with the city’s 89-year-old parking ban, so they decided to do something about it.

In a show of grassroots civic action, the young men gathered more than 10,000 signatures, set up booths at events, made their case to voters and got a winter parking ban repeal on this year’s ballot.

The ban repeal gained steam, and people who wanted to keep the ban—people like Nonantum resident Teresa Sauro and Newtonville Area Council member Dan Cohen—organized their own campaign against the ballot question.

Both sides debated the merits of the ban with civility and respect, and when the ballot question was rejected by a slim margin, no one accused the other side of cheating. And in fact, both sides pledged to help the city craft a compromise parking ban that makes sense for the 21st century.

This is how democracy is supposed to work. But in these aggressively turbulent times, often an ordinary act is an extraordinary thing to behold.

Sharyn Roberts and Tami Roberts of the League of Women Voters of Newton host a booth at Newton’s Indigenous Peoples Day celebration on Oct. 14, 2025. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

League of Women Voters of Newton

Speaking of election highlights, the League went above and beyond its usual activities this year.

The League started the year off with a rally for democracy after the new Trump administration signaled a crackdown on sanctuary cities like Newton, a pause in medical research and a ban on DEI programs.

The rally was meant not only to express opposition to federal overreach but also to encourage people to pay more attention to politics and to run for local office.

“Support our state and local government by paying attention to what our representatives are doing,” LWVN Co-President Jane Harper told the crowd. “Observe a City Council meeting or a School Committee meeting, and comment on things that matter to you so that your elected officials hear from you.”

The League followed that up by publishing a ton of material on running for local office and working on a local campaign. And when Newton’s local election season got underway, the League hosted a bunch of events with the candidates to keep the public informed and engaged.

And it was a good thing they did that. Newton saw one of its busiest elections in recent history this year.

Whoever anyone voted for in November, they did so with a wealth of information, thanks to the League of Women Voters of Newton.

A food pantry in Newton prepares bags for delivery. Photo by Barry Wanger

The food pantries

Groceries got more expensive this year, as the Trump administration put tariffs on many imported products and American companies import a lot of goods.

Then, in November, just a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, a government shutdown had the Trump administration pausing SNAP benefits. A judge later ruled that the administration couldn’t do that, but by then the government was about to open back up anyway.

The food pantries didn’t waste any time.

“We’re seeing more and more people coming to us for help,” Jeff Lemberg of Newton Food Pantry said at the time. “Now, given the end of SNAP benefits for the month of November at least, we need to step up, and we are stepping up to help as many people as we can.”

The food pantries did step up, and so did Newtonians. Donations poured in, and a crisis turned into an inspiration.

The heroes of this troubling situation were the ones feeding families when the federal government refused to do so.

About a hundred people gather in the auditorium of Brown Middle School to listen to Superintendent Anna Nolin and School Committee Chair Chris Brezski discuss the current NPS budget crisis on March 27, 2025. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

The PTOs

In early spring, Superintendent Anna Nolin presented a budget recommendation to keep the public schools funded with current services. But Mayor Ruthanne Fuller announced she’d be allocating millions of dollars less than Nolin requested, due to lower-than-expected revenues and an increase in health insurance costs.

This was a year after Newton endured a two-week teacher strike at the end of an intense 16-month contract negotiation, so NPS families were not having any of it.

The city’s PTOs jumped in and organized parents to call the mayor’s office and show up at the many community meetings hosted by Nolin and School Committee Chair Chris Brezski.

And at those community gatherings, parents asked what more they could do to get the budget battle over with. At one event at Brown Middle School, a PTO member even suggested holding rallies in front of City Hall.

In the end, Nolin and Fuller were able to find cost savings and reach a deal to close the FY2026 school budget gap enough that the schools wouldn’t suffer service cuts.

The PTOs played a major role in helping to bring a compromise that saved the school budget while highlighting the need for school budget reform in Newton.

Public Buildings Commissioner Josh Morse delivers remarks at the opening of the Cooper Center for Active Living on Dec. 5, 2025. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

Josh Morse

Newton has been building more than it has built since the baby boom in the 1950s, as old buildings age out of usefulness and new growth requires new facilities.

As Public Buildings Commissioner, Josh Morse has ushered in an era of construction in Newton, with around $200 million in capital projects underway at the start of the year.

In 2025, Newton opened the new Lincoln-Eliot School building, broke ground on the new Countryside School building and opened its long-awaited Cooper Center for Active Living.

At the opening ceremony for the Cooper Center, people walked around marveling at the building details and saying things like, “Josh Morse is a genius.”

Morse has quietly overseen a transformation in Newton, and the city waits to see what he’ll do as the city’s chief operating officer starting Jan. 1.

Left to right: Older Adult Services Director Mignonne Murray, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, State Sen. Cynthia Creem, State Rep. Amy Sangiolo and former State Rep. Kay Khan pose for photos at the Cooper Center for Active Living on Dec. 5, 2025. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

Mignonne Murray

And speaking of the Cooper Center, Senior Services Director Mignonne Murray spent the year getting feedback from seniors, setting up new service offerings, consulting with city leaders about things seniors need now and will need in the future, and a lot more.

A year ago, the city published a report by UMass showing how the needs of seniors are changing and how Newton’s average age will likely rise in the coming years, necessitating an overhaul of how the city operates.

The push to make Newton an “age-friendly” city has involved planning every detail—from intersection improvements to bus stop accessibility—to cater to an aging population.

At the forefront of that effort is Murray, who has made it her mission to make Newton as close to a utopia for older residents as possible.