Kids Yoga, Face Painting, Zucchini At Belmont’s Farmers Market

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Photo: What’s in the Belmont Farmers Market this week.

It’s yoga for youngsters, making faces and recently-harvested produce highlighting Market Day in Belmont today, Thursday, Sept. 8, in the municipal parking lot in Belmont Center. 

This week is the start of shorter hours for the Farmers Market, but only by a half hour, as it will be open from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. 

Vendors will have a wide variety of ciders, wines, syrups, fish, eggs, meat, cheese, crackers, bread, produce, flowers, snacks, fish & more. And this week includes kale, peppers, zucchini and other ground produce in abundance. 

PERFORMERS IN THE EVENTS TENT
• 2 p.m.: Bob Leger returns to sing and perform on guitar with classic, pop, rock, country folk and blues songs.
• 4:30 p.m.: Yoga for Kids with Belmont’s own Groundwork Yoga & Wellness – Belmont
• 4:30 p.m.: Face painting with Amber, a resident who loves transforming faces.

The municipal parking lot in Belmont Center, at the intersection of Cross Street and Channing Road behind the former Macy’s store on Leonard Street.

This Daye Helps Students, Parents Navigate Safely to School

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Photo: Jackie Daye, Wellington’s well-loved crossing guard. 

It may have been a rainy opening of the Belmont school year on Wednesday, Sept. 7, but for Jacqueline Daye, it was nothing but sunny greetings to everyone crossing the roads heading to the Roger Wellington Elementary School on Orchard Street.

A crossing guard employed by the town, the new school year is a return to the corner of Common and Orchard where Daye hold forth.

“Hi Jackie!” said a child, as Daye moves into traffic, halting cars and trucks with her handheld “stop” sign at the ready.

“Good morning! Welcome back, guys!”

“Hello Jackie. How was your summer,” asked a parent.

“It was great. I’m glad to be back.”

Small in stature, Daye’s easy smile and warm disposition can brighten a particularly gloom day before the students enter the classroom. From September to June, in rain, the heat and snow and on those perfect mornings and afternoons that interchange throughout the year, Daye is a constant in the Wellington community.

“I never miss a day of work,” she said. “My doctor said not to.”

For Daye, the best part of the job is “meeting the kids and the families who are excellent.”

“I meet a lot of people because of this job,” she said.

“I’m well loved around here,” Daye commented, with a big laugh.

And, joking aside, she is.

“Jackie is just about the most amazing crossing guard ever. She’s the best,” said Stacey Conroy, treking though the rain with her children.

“She remembers everybody, she welcomes us everyday. We’d be lost without her,” said the Bay State Road resident. 

Daye is one of 16 crossing guards hired and supervised by the Belmont Police who work approximately 15 hours a week allowing students, parents and residents to make their way safely across some of the busiest streets in town.

And when Daye moves out into the roadway, it’s all business. Hands outstretched, she looks at the traffic and stops it with a flash of her stop sign. On this first day, a vehicle heading down Common to Belmont Center had inched over into the crosswalk, eager – maybe too eager – to continue his commute, using his horn in an attempt to persuade Daye to let him through.

Daye would have none of that conduct, keeping her arm outstretched with her “stop” sign in the driver’s direction accompanied with a stern look. He didn’t honk a second time.

“Ugh! Can you believe that?” a parent told Daye, who just shook her head.

“Let’s all be safe,” said Daye, then her smile returned as she waves back at a student who called out, “Hi Jackie!”

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Election Day in Belmont: State Party Primaries

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Photo: At the polls.

Yes, it may not be the traditional Tuesday but for this year, Thursday, Sept. 8, is the date for the Massachusetts Party Primary Election.

(The reason for the day change is due to the first Tuesday in September being just one day from the Labor Day holiday)

Polls open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Resident may vote in the party’s primary only if they are enrolled in one of the four political parties: Democratic, Republican, Green Rainbow and United Independent. Enrollment in a political party does not affect your right to vote in the general election. In the general election, all voters receive the same ballot and vote for the candidate of their choice, regardless of party enrollment.

If you have chosen “Unenrolled” on the voter registration form, you may still vote in state and presidential primaries by choosing a party ballot and will remain unenrolled, which is commonly reffered to as “independent.”

In addition to the choice of four political parties listed above and unenrolled, there are also certain legal political designations in which you can enroll. If you enroll in any political designations you may still vote in the state and presidential primaries.

Candidates for election

It’s slim pickings as most races are either uncontested or no one is running for the position. There is a pair of races in the Democratic primary: for sheriff and Governor’s Councl. See the party’s ballot here.

In the most interesting race, two decade incumbent Marilyn Devaney of Watertown will attempt to remain on the Governor’s Council for a ninth term against a young, energenic William Humphrey of Newton who has been crisscrossing the district, knocking on thousands of doors and using a crew of equally young supporters to get the word out. Don’t be suprised if Humphrey takes this seat due to the sweat equity he’s put in the race.

Polling Places

For voting purposes, Belmont is divided into eight voting precincts, located as follows:

  • Precinct 1 – Belmont Memorial Library, Assembly Room, 336 Concord Ave.
  • Precinct 2 – Belmont Town Hall, Selectmen’s Room, 455 Concord Ave.
  • Precinct 3 – Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St.
  • Precinct 4 – Daniel Butler School, Gymnasium, 90 White St.
  • Precinct 5 – Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St.
  • Precinct 6 – Belmont Fire Headquarters, 299 Trapelo Rd.
  • Precinct 7 – Burbank School, Gymnasium, 266 School St.
  • Precinct 8 – Winn Brook School, Gymnasium, 97 Waterhouse Rd. (Enter from Cross Street)

Please adhere to the posted parking restrictions and use caution to ensure the safety of pedestrians around the voting precincts.

Preview: Belmont High Volleyball ‘Work Hard No Excuses’ [Video]

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Photo: Su Jing Chen (left) and Fiona Martin, co-captains of Belmont’s Girls’ Volleyball team.

Season after season, Belmont High School participates in a wide range of MIAA and club sports, which a majority of students participate. But for the most part, the squads are represented by their records or on the scoreboard.

The Belmontonian will give an opportunity for each team to present their hopes for the fall season ahead. Some are powerhouses; others will be rebuilding. But they all have expectations to build on.

The first team profiled is Girls’ Volleyball which is attempting to rebound from just missing the postseason by a single game and return to the 2014 15-5 team ranked 7th in the Div. 2 North Sectionals.

Betancourt Takes Charge At Diverse Butler

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Photo: Danielle Betancourt, the new principal at the Butler Elementary School in Belmont

In a recent interview on NPR, Diana Eck, professor of comparative religion at Harvard University, said the United States since 9-11 – the 15th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington DC is next week – “[has] grown aware not only of the danger of terrorism but also of the reality that their nation is far less white, Christian and European than it used to be.”

“These [immigrant] movements are not things that are somehow going to be stopped, and everyone sent home,” Eck said in the interview. “This is part of the natural evolution of who we are as America.”

“Diversity is now our destiny.”

That future can be seen in Belmont with a visit to the Butler Elementary School on White Street in the town’s Waverley neighborhood. Within the walls of the century-old building (built when immigrants from Ireland and Italy were moving into the area) are students from two dozen countries speaking more than 35 different languages and dialects.

And on the opening day of the school year in Belmont, Wednesday, Sept. 7, students and parents welcomed Danielle Betancourt as the Butler’s new principal.

Named in June to replace Michael McAllister (who moved to lead the Chenery Middle School)  Betancourt knows what it’s like living in a new land and learning to speak a language not her own. 

Betancourt lived with her family around the world, including three years in Moscow, Philadelphia, London for five years and in Massachusetts for the past 12 years. She was involved with a PTA at a primary school in England with her two sons (her oldest is finishing his degree at Georgetown while the youngest is starting his freshman year at UC San Diego), serving as co-president of the Wharton Kids Club in Philadelphia, and teaching at the Samantha School for English in Russia.

Betancourt matriculated at Fordham University where she was received a Bachelor’s Degree in Russian Studies, a Master’s Degree in Elementary Education from Boston College, and a Master’s of Education in Organizational Management from Endicott College.

Betancourt most recent position was as a vice principal at the Brophy Elementary in Framingham, after spending an 18-month principal internship at the Horace Mann Elementary School in Newton, where she has been a teacher in a full-inclusion classroom since 2011. Before the Mann, she served as an elementary teacher in the Boston Public Schools including as a first-grade teacher at the John Winthrop Elementary School in Dorchester.

The Belmontonian caught up with Betancourt as she attended a Butler PTA pre-school year picnic for kindergarteners and new students to the school at Pequossette Park on Aug. 31.

Q: The Butler is the most heterogeneous school population in Belmont with children coming from Russia, Nepal, South America and many regions in Asia. Does your history of living around the world give you an insight on the travails these families face?

A: I hope it helps since I understand what it is not only to live in other places but to transition your family in a new country. I’ve met families here who are coming from abroad with their kids, and I understand what it’s like to have the school as your “home base” where you make a community and friends, and that’s important.

Q: What languages do you speak?

A: I speak English, and I have exposure and experience with Russian, Italian and Spanish. I enjoy learning new languages because it’s the way we connect with one another. Sometimes, it’s just a few key phrases so I can reach out to others. I just met students the other day who were coming from another country. They didn’t speak any English, so I started to talk to them in their language. Right off, they felt a little bit more at ease and connected, and that’s so important in a new environment.

Q: What is your philosophy as an educator?

A: What I believe is that every child is to be known and challenged and that each one can learn and achieve and be successful. So it’s incumbent on everyone in the school community to make sure that each child succeeds. That will mean understanding the real difficulties for students and teachers when transitioning into English and becoming proficient.

Q: As this is your first principal position, what is your expectations at the Butler?

A: This first year is for me to learn from the staff and to appreciate what has been accomplished. What’s exciting is having worked in several different kinds of districts – urban and suburban – I can  … take what I have learned and add it to my repertoire and apply it here at the Butler. It’s like the concept of cross-pollination. That’s why it’s important to have diversity in that respect. So this year it’s about learning and building relationships with the community and the kids.

Q: So, is it an exciting time for you?.

A: Very exciting. I keep pitching myself. It’s such a wonderful opportunity.

Fast Facts on the First Day of School in Belmont

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Photo:
 
Get out your cameras, moms and dads! Today, Wednesday, Sept. 7, is the first day of the new 2016-17 school year at each of Belmont’s six public schools. Just 184 more days before the final day on Friday, June 23, 2017, – this school year into the first full day of summer – give or take one or two (or four or five) snow days awaiting us.
 
Day one: 
  • It is a full day for students grades 1-12.
  • No school for Kindergarteners; they little ones have to wait a day, until Thursday, Sept. 8  for half day sessions to begin.
  • There will be no bus service available for Kindergarten students on Sept. 7, 8, and 9. Busing for Kindergarten students will begin on Monday, Sept. 12.
  • It is a Wednesday schedule for all students, meaning an earlier than usual dismissal time.

Purchase meals and plans online here.

Belmont High School

Wednesday is Opening Day for Grades 9, 10, 11, and 12: All grades will report to school at 7:35 a.m. for homeroom.

A Quick Reference Guide, including a list of items for Opening Day and the first week of school, has been uploaded to each ParentPlus and StudentPlus accounts. 

Homeroom assignments for all students will be posted to StudentPlus account. Students should report to homeroom at 7:35 am where they will receive locker information. After homeroom, students will attend each class on their Wednesday schedule and meet with teachers.

Start Time: 7:35 a.m.

Dismissal times this year are:

  • Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 2:25 p.m.
  • Wednesdays: 1:25 p.m.
  • Wednesday Early Release will be at 10:30 a.m.

Chenery Middle School

Start Time: 7:55 a.m.

Dismissal Times:

  • Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 2:25 p.m.
  • Wednesdays: 1:15 p.m.
  • Wednesday Early Release will be at 11 a.m.

Burbank, Butler, Wellington Schools:

Start Time: 8:40 a.m.

Dismissal Times:

  • Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 2:50 p.m.
  • Wednesdays: 1:40 p.m.
  • Wednesday Early Release will be at 11:40 a.m.

(1/2 Day Kindergarten: 8:40 a.m. to 11:55 a.m.)

Winn Brook School

Start Time: 8:50 a.m.

Dismissal Times:

  • Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 3 p.m.
  • Wednesdays: 1:50 p.m.
  • Wednesday Early Release will be at 11:50 a.m.

(1/2 Day Kindergarten: 8:50 a.m. to 12:05 p.m.)

Preview: Belmont High Field Hockey ‘Never Settle’ [Video]

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Photo: This season’s Field Hockey captains: seniors AnnMarie Habelow and Julia Chase.

Season after season, Belmont High School participates in a wide range of MIAA and club sports, which a majority of students participate. But for the most part, the squads are represented by their records or on the scoreboard. 

The Belmontonian will give an opportunity for each team to present their hopes for the fall season ahead. Some are powerhouses, others will be rebuilding. But they all have expectations to build on.

The first team profiled is Field Hockey which is coming off the best regular season in school history last year – 14-2-0 – and a Middlesex League Liberty championship. 

Weekend Helicopter Mystery Solved: Blame It On Hollywood

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Photo: An internet photo of the low-flying helicopter flying over parts of Belmont over the weekend

It was something out of  film “Apocalypse Now”: A low-flying helicopter was buzzing parts of Belmont and neighboring Watertown starting around 8:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 2.  For more than an hour, the helicopter would circle over one neighborhood then buzz close to the ground only to hover again.

When residents called into Belmont Police, they were told the copter was “conducting night photography over Belmont.”

Then early Sunday morning, Sept. 4, before 6 a.m. the same helicopter winged its way over the town staying around for more than an hour, waking up many residents who were left asking the same question: what was really going on? Speculation included the flights being part of the airport’s noise abatement program and spraying for mosquitos.

For some Belmontians and other citizens, the truth a bit darker and was not being explained.

“Something isn’t right,” commented Mark McIver on the Belmontonian Facebook page. “I feel the BPD didn’t even know about this bs until they witnessed it and heard complaints.” … “Big brother does whatever he wants and the local boys report what they are told. Wake up people…”

“Sounds fishy..” wrote Edward Cartwright. 

Thanks to the Watertown News and its great editor, Charlie Breitrose, the mystery of the low-flying copter has been solved.

And you can blame it on Hollywood.

According to the News, after fielding a substantial number of calls on Friday and Sunday, Watertown Police began an investigation by taking down the identification number of the tail of the helicopter. The ID led to Norwood Airport and the helicopter which is owned by Wings Air, out of White Plains, N.Y.

“We were finally able to track down an employee who told us that they were contracted by CBS Films to do overall air shots for the ‘Patriots Day’ movie,” according to Watertown Police Chief Michael Lawn.

The film, which stars Mark Wahlberg, Kevin Bacon, J.K. Simmons (as Watertown Police Sgt. Jeffrey Pugliese) and John Goodman, chronicles the events of the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013 and the gun battle and manhunt of the Tsarnaev brothers. The film will have a limited release on Dec. 21 with a wide release on Jan. 13, 2017.

And it appears that the production crew may not have had the best understanding of the towns in the region.

“[Wings Air] stated that they filed their flight plan with [Federal Aviation Administration] and also contacted Malden Police Department for some reason but never contacted Watertown PD,” said Lawn. “We expressed our displeasure for this and they were extremely apologetic for causing this alarm and disturbance.”

The good news is that the overhead filming is complete, and the company has returned to New York.

“I will follow up [Tuesday, Sept. 6] with CBS Films and make sure they know how we feel and make sure this does not happen again,” Lawn said.

Labor Day Washout: Rain/Wind on Final Day of Underwood Pool Season

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Photo: Underwood Pool

It’s looking like it will be a wet end of what had been a gloriously hot and sunny swimming season at the Underwood Pool as the remnants of a hurricane that struck Florida on Thursday wanders its way to the region. 

The National Weather Service has already issued a hazardous weather outlook for Belmont and most of lower New England beginning Sunday night and lasting into Tuesday. While the track and intensity of the now Tropical Storm Hermine remain a question mark for the area, expect rain and gusty winds for Monday and into Tuesday. 

The pool is scheduled to be open this holiday weekend from 10 a.m. to 7:15 p.m. and on its final day, Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 5 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. 

No word from staff at the pool or the Recreation Department whether the pool will open for a final, rainy day. But stay tuned to the Belmontonian for updates.