Tour Newton shows off all the city has to offer

About a dozen people packed into a bus on Friday to tour Newton and all it has to offer. Half of the riders were visitors who decided to take the one-hour-long expedition through the main arteries of the city, the downtown area, Legacy Plaza and a number of business districts and parks.

Tour Newton has offered two tours thus far, but there will be more to come. Tanya Michener, associate director of Newton Development Corporation and a Tour Newton crew member, said the group leading the event will hold the next tours in June and October most likely. The goal behind the tours is to create community.

“That would be the ultimate goal, the altruistic goal,” Michener said. “It’s to create community with each other and just to make people aware of what is going on.”

John Lee, the tour guide, said even those who have lived in Newton their whole life can still learn new things from visiting the various areas around town. Whether it was the products and services provided by the Vernon Company, or how the Newton Arboretum is managed by a nonprofit and not the city.

In addition to Michener and Lee, the tour was attended by crew members Erin Yeager of Newton Main Street, Amanda Price of the Greater Newton Area Chamber of Commerce, Sveta Miller of DMACC Newton Campus and Deb Grief of Newton YMCA.

People might be surprised by what Newton has to offer, Michener said. And it is not the first time she has shown off the city and its amenities. In the past, she has given tours to employers. Almost every time without fail, she said, they would remark on how surprised they were about the city.

“When we give that same tour to locals, they’re like, ‘Oh wow! I always drive a certain route that I don’t even think about these other places and what they’re actually doing and what’s inside that facility,’” Michener said. “With these tours I also hope people can put a name to a face with people who will help them.”