This Week: Maple Sugar and Concert Tuesday, Book Reading Thursday

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• On the government end of the things, the Board of Selectmen will meet today with the Belmont School Committee on Tuesday, Feb. 17 at 6 p.m. to discuss next year’s school district budget. The selectmen will also discuss the recommendation of the Financial Task Force to schedule a Prop. 2 1/2 override. 

• The Belmont Public Library is holding a maple sugaring program for kids on Tuesday, Feb. 17 from 10:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the Assembly Room.

• Staff from US Rep. Katherine Clark‘s office will be holding office hours at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St., on Tuesday, Feb. 17 from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

• Pianist Kathryn Rosenbach will present a free concert titled “Exploring the Fantasie” at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St., on Tuesday, Feb. 17, from 1:15 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.  A native Belmontian who teaches at the Powers Music School, Rosenbach will present a program of Bach, Chopin and Schumer.

• Belmont author Len Abram will read from his new book, The Medallion, Thursday, Feb. 19, from 7:30 p.m,. to 9 p.m. in the Belmont Public Library’s Assembly Room. Sasha Denisov, a Ukrainian immigrant and Chechen war veteran, drives a Boston cab, dreaming of buying his own taxi medallion and remarrying Ani, a Russian immigrant, whom he first married to get a green card and then fell in love with. This free program is part of the Library Friends Author Series. All are welcome to attend.  Books will be available for purchase and signing.
• State Sen. Will Brownsberger‘s staff will be holding office hours at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St., on on Friday, Feb. 20, at 10 a.m. 
• The Beech Street Center’s Movie Of the Month for February is “Waking Ned Devine,” on Friday, Feb. 20, at 1 p.m. The comedy is about Ned Devine, aresident of a tiny Irish town, who wins the lottery … but who his neighbors discover have died clutching the winning ticket. This puts the townspeople in a spot, since, if lottery officials discover Ned dead, the money is forfeited. When the community comes together in hopes of splitting the winnings 51 ways, they learn the importance of friendship and the value of money.

Freshman Krafian Leads Belmont at Div. 3 State Indoor Track Championships

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Photo: Freshman Carey Allard handing off to anchor sophomore Marley Williams in the 4×200 meter relay in the MIAA Division 3 state championships held on Feb. 13, 2015.

Anoush Krafian has been on the high school track and field circuit for less than three months but the Belmont High School freshman has made it known that she is a young force to be reckoned with after a series of strong performances in league and class races.

On the biggest stage she’s been on so far on Friday afternoon at the MIAA Division 3 indoor track and field state championships at the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury, Krafian showed off her prodigious talents by nearly pulled off a stunning result, just miss winning a high jump state championship placing runner up to Chicopee High junior Mia Facchini. Facchini, Krafian and third place Meaghan Kelley from Tantasqua Regional High School all cleared 5 feet, 2 inches but their placements were determined by the number of jumps taken during the competition. 

With that second place and another great result in the 55 meter hurdles, Krafian led Belmont High School Girls’ Indoor Track and Field team to a 9th place finish totaling 19 points, 12 coming from the freshman.

Krafian was the only 9th grader in the entire 24 competitor field for the 55-meter hurdles, reaching the finals after qualifying in the top eight. In the finals against seniors and juniors, Krafian sped over the five hurdles to a fifth-place finish, breaking the line in 9.05 seconds, an event won by defending champ senior Isabella DiMare from Notre Dame Hingham (who also won the 55-meter dash and placed third in the 300 meters) who took the top spot in 8.57.

Belmont’s other points came in two relays with the 4×200 meter with sophomore Julia Cella, junior Meggie MacAuley, freshman Carey Allard and sophomore Marley Williams taking third in 1:48.34 and the 4×400 with sophomore Alexandra Bailey, senior Lizzie Frick, sophomore Jenna Magno and junior Katherine Ognibene coming home in 4:21.59 for eighth place.

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The Marauders brought a young team that could make considerably more noise next year as several individuals gained great experience:

  • Williams ran a 7.64 in the 55 meter dash.
  • Cella (43.02) finished 9th, Allard (43.29) 10th and MacAuley (44.38) 15th in the 300 meters.
  • Bailey finished 11th (1:42.19) in the 600 meters.
  • Sophomore Amelia Rasmussen ran a 3:13.36 in the 1,000 meters for 11th.
  • Klimasmith took 10th in the 2 mile in 12:16.62.
  • Joining Krafin in the hurdles were junior Samantha Kelts in 11th (9.63) and sophomore Rachel Berets in 18th in 9.8.
  • Belmont’s 4×800 relay (junior Meredith Hughes, Klimasmith, sophomore Ally Meringer and Rasmussen) ran a 10:21.3 for 11th.

Over in the boys’ meet, a pair of seniors scored the eight points placing Belmont in a tie for 19th place.

Owen Madden came home in 5th in the 300 meters in 37.18, five one-hundreths of second out of fourth while Ari Silverfine ran a 2:36.86 to take 5th in the 1,000 meters. Both of Belmont’s relay teams just missed the points by finishing in 9th: 4×800 meter team of seniors Dan Rizzo, Charles Smith and Silverfine along with freshman Zach Tseng in 8:33.93 and the 4×400 meter of seniors John Decoulos, Madden, Silverfine and freshman Calvin Perkins coming home in 3:40.58, just a hundredth of a second behind Stoughton in eighth.

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Photos: The Aftermath of Belmont’s Latest Winter Storm

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Sunday’s winter storm brought Belmont to a halt as more than a foot of snow was deposited on top of five feet of snow that has fallen in the past three weeks.

3 Up, 3 Down, Tournament Bound: Belmont Girls’ Hoops Strides into Post-Season

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Three games in three days is a tough proposition for most professional teams. For a squad of high schoolers, a trio of games in as many days is a daunting prospect.

So when the Belmont High School Girls’ Basketball team was forced because of the numerous snow storms to play a triple header – two of the opponents playoff-bound with double digit wins – at the end of last week, the coaching staff was a bit concerned how the team would stand up to playing 96 minutes within 48 hours.

“It’s not what we are looking to end our [Middlesex] league schedule and get into the playoffs,” said Melissa Hart, Belmont’s head coach as the team was coming off a two-game losing streak and standing a single game from making the post-season.

But by 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 13, the Marauders had completed a three-peat, defeating Lexington, Wakefield and Winchester to stride into the Div. 2 North Sectional playoffs. With a pair of post-season tournament games on Monday and Tuesday remaining, Belmont has upped its record to 12-5, one of the team’s best marks in the past decade.

“It’s nice to be [in the playoffs] so some of the pressure will be off the team,” said Hart, after the team’s victory against 12-win Lexington, 51-45, on Wednesday, Feb. 11, giving the team its 10th victory and an automatic entry into the sectional tournament.

The match-up was the return of Lexington’s superstar Anna Kelly, the junior guard who scored 52 points the last time she visited Belmont’s Wenner Field House a year ago. But this time, Kelly picked up two quick fouls and sat on the Lexington bench for most of the first half.

Without their all-star point scoring and directing the squad, Lexington could not break Belmont’s unrelenting defense and the Marauders’ took the game to the Minutemen.

The game for Belmont was a tale of two players in the two halves. In the first 16 minutes, junior forward Sarah Stewart took charge, on the defensive side with four defensive rebounds, two blocks, a steal and several examples of court diving at loose balls and offensively by going three for five from beyond the 3-point line for  to power Belmont to a 28-10 lead at the half.

“Making [3 point shots] was unknown land for me,” said Steward, who said she has been encouraged by the coaches to throw up trey when she’s open.

“I now have a new home,” said Steward, who is known as Stewy by her teammates.

It was only a matter of time before Kelly would reemerge, and she did in a big way in the second half. The 5’6″ three year starter is a natural on the hardwood and she came out with a vengeance, throwing up threes and sweeping underhanded scoop shots, scoring 11 of her game-high 22 points in the third quarter to led the Minutemen back to 35-28 with the final eight minutes to play.

Soon after Stewart started the fourth with her third 3 pointer, the school’s fire alarm went off, sending players, coaches, the crowd and a collection of very young swimmers from the adjacent Higginbottom Pool out into the frigid cold for a few minutes before it was decided for everyone’s health that it was better to wait by the gym’s doors.

While many of the other players may have cooled off, freshman point guard Carly Christofori got hot for the Marauders. The 9th grader put a first-class steal on Kelly as the all-star was driving to hoop – one of Christofori’s three steals in the quarter – before racing to the offensive end to hit a trio of driving layups and going 3 for 4 from the charity stripe to score 11 of the teams 16 points in the quarter to secure the victory.

“To play against someone as good as [Kelly] and succeed some of the time is great,” said Christofori, who said the team needed to stay focus once the fire alarm went off “so we could concentrate on keeping the lead and securing the win.

Belmont’s trademark aggressive defense has been frustrating opponents who has met the Marauders for the first time and that was the case Thursday, Feb. 12 when Belmont handily defeated Wakefield, 51-30, on Seniors’ Night at the Wenner.

The Marauders pressured the Warriors – who came into the game with an identical 10-5 record – up and down the court, at times triple teaming the second Wakefield player to handle the ball. The result was 12 steals (four each from seniors Sophia Eschenbach-Smith and Elena Bragg) in a game that was the closest to a total “team” win this season. Ten Marauders’ scored and each of the 15 varsity players got time on the court.

Belmont led after the first quarter, 14-4, and 23-10 at the half with freshman Jenny Call hit two of her three 3-point in both the first and second quarter and senior center Linda Herlihy‘s mid-range jumper. The Marauders blew the game wide open with a 22-point third quarter with Stewart hitting all four of her shots.

By Friday’s away game, fatigue appeared to set in as the Marauders carried themselves over the finish line by defeating Winchester, 38-20, in a game that Hart described as “ugly.”

“Friday the 13th for both teams shooting,” she said.

Just how poor was it? Belmont led at the half 13-1. Herlihy scored a third of Belmont’s points finishing with 12 points, all from near the basket, while Call and Bragg each had 6 points.

Belmont now heads for a pair of games at the 2015 Spartan Classic in Lynn – the first against Bedford – before finishing the season with a home game Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 11 a.m. against Worcester North.

Parking Ban Lifted at 7AM, Monday; Followed by Partial Parking Ban

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The full Snow Emergency Parking Ban will be lifted at 7 a.m., Monday, Feb. 16. Until that time, a full parking ban will be in effect, including a ban on on-street parking as well as municipal and school parking lots. Violators will be ticketed and towed.

After 7 a.m., the partial Snow Emergency Parking Rules will be in effect which limits parking on most streets to the odd-numbered side of the street.

Trash will be picked up on normal schedule which due to the President’s Day holiday, will not begin until Tuesday, Feb. 17.

And parents will not have to fear a sixth snow day being declared; Belmont schools are on February recess for the entire week.

Snow Ends Noon Sunday, Now the Cold and Dangerous Wind Chill

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After more than a foot of snow has in Belmont in the past 18 hours, the fourth storm in the past three weeks is expected to end at noon, Sunday, Feb. 15 with a peek of sunshine expected this afternoon.

Nearby Lexington picked up 16.6 inches of snow while Winchester saw 13 inches fall, according to the National Weather Service.

But the departing storm will open the door for some of the coldest temperatures in recent history as well as wind chills reaching -30 to -45 below Sunday night that will make it dangerous to be outside for any period of time.

The National Weather Service has issued a wind chill warning, which is issued when the wind chill index is likely to fall to -25 degrees or colder for at least 3 hours. A wind chill index below -30 can bring about frostbite in as little as 10 minutes. 

Residents can expect lows below zero tonight, Sunday and Monday, Feb. 16, with northwest winds blowing steadily at 25 to 35 mph with gusts up to 65 mph.

The NWS advises that outdoor exposure should be limited. If you are heading outdoors, dress in layers and keep your hands and head covered to protect against frostbite.

Sold in Belmont: An English Cottage With Chinese Accents

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A weekly recap of residential properties bought in the past seven days in the “Town of Homes.”

• 16 Payson Terrace. English Cottage (1930) Sold: $822,092. Listed at $850,000. Living area: 2,324 sq.-ft. 10 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 67 days.

• 19 Lawndale St. #9, Newish design townhouse (2011), Sold for: $865,000. Listed at $879,000. Living area: 2,784 sq.-ft. 9 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 78 days.

• 76 Davis Rd. #1. Ground-floor condominium (1925), Sold for: $362,000. Listed at $389,900. Living area: 1,056 sq.-ft. 5 rooms, 2 bedrooms, 1 baths. On the market: 161 days.

When walking around the Cambridge Reservoir, a favorite detour is to take a walk along one-way Payson Terrace to see a remarkable house. The color alone – a burnt orange that radiates the evening sun – pops out amidst the brown sea of the surrounding brick and boxy Colonials.

The house at 16 Payson Terrace – owned by the same family since 1958 – is as much a residential outlier as the two-family mini-McMansions that have arisen in the Waverley neighborhood. Only this doesn’t crowd out and dominates the surrounding homes; it’s a dash of the exotic in a cool New England town.

The house’s striking hue is just the beginning of what makes this a one-of-a-king residency: the owners inserted whimsical Asian-inspired highlights to the property – a fence with the pickets made with Chinese-symbols, small male and female bronze figurines on the entry post tops and bold Chinese characters and flying, fighting dragons over the main entrance (with a bright red door) and along the eaves.

It doesn’t appear that the family had a direct connection to Asia – it ran Harvard Square’s Colonial Drug on Brattle Street for seven decades before closing in 2013 – so it might just be the joy of having your home be a small part of a far-away land. (I don’t know if a person from China would find this to be a nice gesture to the heritage of their country or oddly inappropriate.)

But it is the exterior that holds your interest: exactly what is it? The salesperson and the town say Colonial, but it is anything like the popular design seen all around town. Rather, it’s a contemporary of when the Colonial had its heyday from the 1910s to 1940s. While you can see many examples of its architectural cousin, the English Tudor, which gained favor in the 1930s, the house at 16 Payson Terrace is an English Cottage design, somewhat rare in Belmont. It has the characteristic distinct and beautiful asymmetrical pairing gables with a free-standing arch and flat-to-the-wall windows. But many “cottages” where built with stone or stucco exteriors; this is a wood frame. Quite distinctive.

The final sales price was lower than the town’s assessment by nearly $100,000 which is explained by a look at the interior: it doesn’t appear to have been touched for decades with the wear and tear of generations living inside. And what crazy wallpaper! I suspect an interior work crew will need about two weeks just to sand, remove, repair and paint the place before the owner would want to step into the house.

While the inside needs a great deal of TLC, a vivid part of Belmont would be lost if the new owners decide to replace the existing exterior color and remove the Asian characters to the all-to-typical “Belmont white.” I ask you: do you want to be just another pearl on a string or the ruby you will always admire?

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Ho Hum: Belmont Savings Reports Another Record For Annual Earnings

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Another year, another new benchmark as Belmont Savings Bank reported record annual earnings for 2014.

In a press release dated Feb. 12, the bank’s holding company, BSB Bancorp, Inc. reported net income of $1.4 million, or 16 cents per diluted share, for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2014, compared to net income of $645,000, or 7 cents per diluted share, for the same quarter in 2013.

For the year ending Dec. 31, the bank had net income of $4.3 million, or 49 cents per diluted share, as compared to net income of $2.0 million, or 22 cents per diluted share for 2013.

“2014 was another year of balance sheet and income growth. As our scale increases, we would expect further improvement in profitability,” said Bob Mahoney, the holding company’s president and CEO.

That growth was seen on both overall assets and in the bank’s core business, lending. By the end of the year, the bank’s total assets were $1.4 billion, an increase of $371 million or 35 percent from $1.1 billion on Dec. 31, 2013. At the end-of-the-year, deposits totaled $985 million, an increase of $220 million or 29 percent from $765 million in 2013.

On the lending side of the ledger, the bank witnessed end-of-the-year annual net loan growth of $340 million, up an impressive 41 percent from 2013. Increases were seen in:

  • Residential one-to-four family loans; $163 million.
  • commercial real estate loans; $87 million.
  • home equity lines of credit; $39 million.
  • indirect auto loans; $32 million.

“The continuing momentum in core deposit growth was an important contributor to our success in 2014. Each of our business segments, retail, business banking, municipal banking and commercial real estate, grew their customer relationships and their deposit base consistently throughout the year,” said Hal Tovin, executive vice president and chief operating officer.

As of 10 a.m., Feb. 13, the bank’s stock was reported at $18.76/share, just off its 52-week high of $19.35.

 

Grrrrr! Burrrrr! More Snow, Coldest Temperatures This Weekend

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Not only can Belmont residents expect the fourth winter storm in the past month to arrive this weekend, the snow misery will be matched up with bone-chilling cold.

The National Weather Service at 4:30 a.m. issued a Winter Storm Watch that will go into effect at 3 p.m. on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, and remains through 7 p.m., Sunday, Feb 15.

The snow will begin Saturday afternoon with between 2 to 4 inches before briefly ending around 10 p.m. The main storm, with gusty winds and possible blizzard-like conditions, will begin after midnight, Sunday, and lasting until the late afternoon. By the end of the tempest, anywhere between 6 to 18 inches of snow is expected to fall.

The snow will be accompanied by frigid temperatures with highs on Sunday and Monday, President’s Day, Feb. 16, barely breaking into the teens with nighttime lows well below zero.