The stories that shaped Lexington in 2025

Happy holidays, LexObserver readers. 

A lot happened this year in Lexington: thousands of people came to town to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington, a local launched a bid for governor, thousands of residents protested the Trump administration, Washington’s ICE policies hit home, and so much more. 

Here’s a breakdown of some of the biggest moments that caught Lexingtonians’ attention in 2025:

Lex250

Tens of thousands of people from around the world came to Lexington to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, which sparked the American Revolution, in April. The town hosted dozens of events, including its signature reenactment of the Battle, Patriots’ Parade, and the first ever naturalization ceremony on the Battle Green. 

To kick off the weekend of celebrations, the town hosted its annual volunteer awards at Cary Hall. This year was special though, because SNL star and Lexington native Rachel Dratch hosted. The hall was packed to the brim and full of laughter until the handcrafted wooden arch town leaders presented to the crowd broke in half. Laughs turned into gasps. But a few weeks later, the arch was fixed. It’s been on display outside Cary Hall since, displaying the amount of hours Lexington volunteers have put in. 

The Lexington High School building project moves forward

The town continued developing the design for the new Lexington High School building with regular meetings, community sessions, and more throughout 2025. Just before Halloween, the Massachusetts School Building Authority, or MSBA, committed to granting the town nearly $119 million to help fund the new school. A week later, Town Meeting voted to bring the project to a debt exclusion vote. And a month after that, that debt exclusion vote went before residents — and passed. 

Via Lago closes

Via Lago, a Lexington mainstay for 37 years, closed. The restaurant and catering business was one of those cozy local spots where the servers know your name. LexObserver heard from dozens of residents about how much they will miss the restaurant. 

ICE stop in town

ICE officers stopped a car on Waltham Street one morning to detain two men. As the officers pulled the car over on one side of the road, a school bus pulled over on the other to pick a Lexington High School student up for school. About 10 students and the bus driver witnessed the arrest. 

Unit C educators get a new contract

Educators who fall under Unit C of the Lexington Educators Association (LEA) signed new contracts after over a year of negotiations with the School Committee. Unit C refers to paraprofessionals, who are mostly part-time educators who often work one-on-one with students who have disabilities and behavioral issues. The educators and the union team who led them fought for higher pay, better professional development, and more respect. They ended up finding a compromise with the School Committee and ratified the new contract in June. 

Residents vote new faces into major town positions

Dozens of people ran for town leadership roles in 2025, from Town Meeting to major office positions. We covered the results, which showed incumbent Joe Pato got reelected to Select Board, alongside Vineeta Kumar who got voted in for her first term. Incumbents Larry Freeman and Eileen Jay were voted to return to the School Committee, and was Sarah Carter, who ran unopposed for a two-year seat. And Tina McBride was voted onto the Planning Board. 

Residents protested

Lexingtonians stood along the Battle Green, stuck lawn signs in their front yards, called their senators, and submitted public records requests, all to stand up for democracy. Every week (unless there was crazy weather), Lexington residents stood by the Captain Parker statue in the Center to protest Trump administration policies as a part of the nationwide “No Kings” protests. In Oct., the local “No Kings” protest exploded from a dozen or so residents most weeks to nearly 6,000 advocates from all over Massachusetts protesting on the Green. 

Residents also stood outside Hanscom Airfield to protest ICE flights out of the local airport. ICE flights have ramped up significantly since Trump’s inauguration in January.

And residents stood out to show their support for Ukraine in March. The protest came a few days after Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s contentious meeting in the White House regarding the minerals deal.

A Lexingtonian runs for Governor

Lexington resident Mike Kennealy launched a bid for governor in May, seeking to push incumbent Gov. Maura Healey out of office next year. Kennealy, a Republican, is a former cabinet secretary under Gov. Charlie Baker. In a conversation with the Observer, Kennealy said his priorities include affordability, diversifying housing, improving schools and job-force training, and collaborating better with Washington. 

MBTA service expands in Lexington

LHS students sweep GBH’s quiz show

A team of quiz bowl enthusiasts at Lexington High School won GBH’s annual quiz show for the second time last year. LexObserver sat down with the team to hear about their experience studying for and filming the show before it aired. The 2025 team consisted of students from all grades, so while it lost some members due to graduation in the spring, it retained some strong trivia players for this year. 

Less multifamily housing for Lexington

A group of residents created a citizen petition calling for the town to draw back on the amount of land on which it is committing to build MBTA Communities Act multifamily housing. Originally, the town committed over 200 acres of land. After building designs started to pour in, residents realized 200-plus acres felt like a lot. The citizen petition went to Town Meeting, and after lots of debate and amendments, Town Meeting voted to scale back to about 90 acres of land for multifamily housing. 

New murals

Lexington gained three new murals this year — two in East Lexington and one in the Center behind the Depot. The murals show the evolution of all the characters who have made Lexington what it is today. They were installed along the bike bath to draw riders to Lexington’s business districts to boost the local economy. 

Lexingtonian named Poet Laureate 

Gov. Healey named Lexington resident Regie Gibson the state’s first ever Poet Laureate. In this new role, Gibson will travel around the state to teach students about poetry. Healey’s investment in this position came at a time when Trump cut funding for education, namely the arts.