Nearly 800 Runners Set Record For Scharfman Race

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Photo: Elsa Kimberly winning the 2K race at the Dan Scharfman Memorial Run.

A bright cool fall Sunday morning; just the right combination for a road race in New England.

And 784 runners took the opportunity to help Belmont school to best use technol0gy as a record number of entries took part in the fifth annual Dan Scharfman Memorial Run 5K/2K Road Races held Sunday, Oct. 1. 

While the amount was still coming in mid-week, between $25,000 to $30,000 will be raised to fund the Dan Scharfman Education Innovative Fund which supports professional development for teachers and supply technology to all students.

“We were so excited that the 5th annual race had the most pre-registered runners for the 5K,” said Jamie Shea, the chair of The Foundation for Belmont Education which hosted the race that started and finished at Harris Field.

“This was a very very good day for runners and the [foundation],” she said.

Merle Kummer, Dan Scharfman’s wife, spoke to the runners before the race how her husband lived by the phrase; “If not me, who? If not now, when.”

“After Dan died [as a member of the School Committee], it was overwhelming to think about filling his size 13 running shoes. Today, we’ve matched him and raising him thirteen hundred running shoes!” she said.

Race sponsors included Cityside Subaru which also sponsored a pace car for the race, Belmont Savings Bank, Belmont Orthodontics, and Didriks and Local Root, which will be opening stores in Belmont Center in the next few months.

Belmont High senior Zack Tseng powered home to an impressive 16:43 to win the race with Joe Shaw second and Tseng’s teammate James Kitch in third. On the women’s side, Cambridge’s Rachel Henke – who is married to Jonathan Henke, the owner of Didriks and Local Root – won the 5K in 19:34 followed by Heidi Kimberly and Becca Pizzi. Chenery 5th grader Elsa Kimberly won the 2K for women in 8:57 while 15-year-old HaiYaing Peng won the men’s division in 7:30. 

Helping Refugees And The Hungry Part Of 9th Annual Belmont Serves

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The 9th annual Belmont Serves Day of Community Service will be held on Monday, Oct. 9,  the Columbus Day holiday. Individuals and families will be able to select a project at the start of the day, complete the entire project in one morning of work, and then come together for some pizza and Rancatore’s ice cream to celebrate a job well done.

The headquarters for Belmont Serves is First Church Unitarian Universalist, 404 Concord Ave., 

Belmont Serves is a family-friendly event, where all members of the Belmont community are invited to work together for one morning to make our town a better place for all. You can help make a real difference in our town, have some fun, and meet others who share a willingness to serve the community.

This year’s schedule of events:

8:30 a.m.   All volunteers sign-in at First Church UU
9 a.m.   Service projects begin
Noon   Service projects end
Noon   Pizza and ice cream celebration at First Church UU

This year, service projects include:

  • Door-to-door food drive for the Belmont Food Pantry
  • Conservation projects at Lone Tree Hill (former McLean Hospital property)
  • Clay Pit Pond clean-up and improvements
  • Sorting clothes at Plymouth Church to be donated to refugees.

Door-to-door collection for the Belmont Food Pantry— Teams of volunteers will be assigned to specific routes, collecting bags of groceries left at doorsteps for delivery to the Belmont Food Pantry. These grocery bags are distributed door-to-door throughout the town during the week before Belmont Serves day. Last year, we filled the food pantry with over 1,800 bags of groceries. This year we hope to do even better!

Conservation projects at Lone Tree Hill — You can help with pruning, parking lot maintenance and invasive vegetation removal at Lone Tree Hill (former McLean Property) conservation lands. Wear long shelves and long pants to avoid poison ivy. We will supply the tools, or bring clippers or loppers.

Clay Pit Pond clean-up: Volunteers will work on pruning existing shrubs, cutting/removing invasives, and picking up trash and debris.

Sorting donated clothes for refugees: Please help us sort the donated winter clothing at Plymouth Congregational Church. The clothing will be distributed to recently arrived refugees in the New England area. New donations will NOT be accepted on the day of Belmont Serves. If you would like to donate new or gently worn winter clothes for adults and children, you can bring them to Plymouth Church (582 Pleasant St.) Friday, Oct. 6 – Sunday, Oct. 8 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Burbank School grounds: Help with gardening and distributing wood chips in garden areas. If you can bring shovels and gardening tools, that would be helpful. Be sure to put your name on your tools.

For all projects (including advance distribution of grocery bags), please use the online registration form to register and select your preferred project.

Middle school and High school students will earn Community Service hours.

Six Projects Clear First Hurdle Towards Securing CPC Funding

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Photo: The Belmont Veterans Memorial project.

More fields being restored, a “re-do” and a saving a Belmont barn have submitted preliminary applications for funding by the town’s Community Preservation Committee, according to information released by the CPC on Tuesday, Oct. 3.

A total of six applications were received by the committee by its Sept.29 deadline,  according to Michael Trainor, who this week stepped down from the CPC Admin Coordinator position after five years of working for the CPC.

While five of the six have specific dollar amounts, one – the second request for an inter-generational walking path at the Grove Street Playground – was submitted without a price tag attached.

But in the preliminary application stage, “it’s not entirely necessary since the CPC is just looking at whether or not the project would be eligible to receive funding under Mass General Law and Belmont’s specific list of criteria,” said Trainor.

With the amount for the Grove Street project to come, the total dollars requested is $748,000. While the CPC will select the projects to obtain grants, Town Meeting will have the final say which receives funding.

The projects, the amount requested and the applicants are:

  • Town Field Playground restoration $180,000 (Courtney Eldridge, Friends of Town Field Playground)
  • Payson Park Music Festival shed/hatch $50,000 (Tomi Olson, Payson Park Music Festival)
  • McLean Barn conditions study and stabilization $165,000 (Ellen O’Brien, Lauren Meier, Glenn Clancy) 
  • Belmont Veterans Memorial restoration and enhancement $103,000 (Angelo Firenze, Belmont Veterans Memorial Committee)
  • Funds set aside for the Housing Trust $250,000 (Judith Feins, Belmont Housing Trust)
  • Construction of a Grove Street Park Intergenerational Walking Path TBD (Donna Ruvolo, Friends of Grove Street Park)

The Town Field project follows other park restoration projects including this year’s PQ Park renovation and the Grove Street Park path is similar in aim and name as the one approved for Clay Pit Pond. Tomi Olson’s hatch shell project was submitted last year but rejected after Olson could not produce the written support of abutters the committee had requested. Belmont received the abandoned dairy barn, located just south of the Rock Meadow Conservation Land off Mill Street, in 2005 from McLean Hospital. And the Belmont Veterans Memorial has been raising private funds to help pay for the renovation and construction on Clay Pit Pond.

Important dates for the applicants include:

  • Nov. 8, 2017: a public meeting to discuss the applications.
  • Dec. 4, 2017: Final applications are due
  • Jan. 12, 2018: The CPC selects projects
  • March 2, 2018: Project Summary Reports Due 
  • Late April 2018: League of Women Voters Meeting
  • Early May 2018: Town Meeting

Unbeaten Belmont Field Hockey Readies For Watertown Clash Thursday

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Photo: Belmont High’s Alexa Sabatino scoring against Melrose

Belmont High Field Hockey had an eventful past week: the team tied up one of the leading squads in New England (and Watertown slayer) Winchester, 1-1, on the Sachems’ home turf, knocked off Reading 2-0 at home and earned an excellent 1-0 away victory at Arlington.

And on Tuesday, Oct. 3, the team showed off its good form beating Melrose, 5-1, under the lights of Harris Field.

And the team’s reward for being 7-0-1 with six shutouts? Being excluded from the Boston Globe Top 20 rankings and having to take on 8-1-0 Watertown away at Victory Field for the second year running.

I ask you; where’s the love?

For Jessie Smith, Belmont’s long-serving head coach, the past four games have been preparing for the battle with the Raiders, the six-time Div 2 State champion who had its record unbeaten streak ended by Winchester in September.

“I’ve been pleased with how we have been playing. Our passing has been outstanding, and we’ve been scoring when we needed to,” Smith said.

In her best match of the bunch, Belmont hung tough against Winchester behind senior goaltender Christine McLeod who stopped 14 of 15 hard shots thrown at her, including making a spectacular diving save early in the second half. Smith pointed to the defensive back line of Emma Donahue, Johnna Crowley, Hanna Power and sub Meaghan Noone breaking up a number of Winchester’s attacks.

While Winchester did break through with 12 minutes to play as Shannon Crowe scored from a penalty corner, Belmont’s senior captain Alexa Sabatino beat Winchester goalie Brooke Ross with the equalizer five minutes later off of the Marauders’ first penalty corner of the game.

“After they scored, we really stepped it up. You could see they hadn’t given up and wanted to get that goal back,” said Smith.

After a solid 2-0 win over Reading, Belmont traveled to Spy Pond country where they encountered an improving Arlington squad.

With Arlington deploying a defense consisting of its entire team stationed between the ball and the goal when Belmont was on the attack, it took the Marauders a good 50 minutes to solve the labyrinth  of sticks and players as junior right attack Morgan Chase lifted the ball into net from eight meters out with nine minutes remaining in the game.

“Their defense was really strong which made it difficult to make our passes,” said Chase who is one of team’s leading scorers.

Tuesday’s game against visiting Melrose allowed Smith to clear the bench and use her entire team leading up to the Watertown match. Junior Mia Kaldenbaugh punched in a pair with Sabatino and sophomore midfield Katie Guden both scoring.

The final goal was by the future of Belmont Field Hockey as sophomore Cleo Theodoropulos grabbing the late tally, her first of the season.

Belmont will take on the one-loss Watertown team on Thursday, Oct. 5 at 3:30 p.m. at Victory Field

After losing to Winchester in a one-sided contest, Watertown has been on a tear, winning six consecutive games all by shutouts while scoring six goals four times.

For Smith, the game will be won by the team that controls the midfield.

“We have to keep our feet moving on defense and really push forward when we have the chance,” said Smith.

Wellington Principal Spangler Leaving In December

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Photo: Principal Amy Spangler

Amy Spangler, the respected and well-loved principal of the Wellington Elementary School, is leaving her position to return to the Pacific Northwest.

“I’m sad to be leaving such a great school and staff,” said Spangler to the Belmontonian at Wednesday’s annual International Walk to School event at the school.

Spangler said her effective resignation date would be in mid-December before the winter recess.

The reason for Spangler’s departure is the same that brought her to Belmont five years ago; she is following her husband as he takes a new corporate position across the country.

“Amy will be missed significantly. She runs an amazing school,” Belmont Superintendent John Phelan told the Belmontonian Wednesday. “She’s all about the students and the families. You could see that before school in the playground and inside the school when she’s with the children.”

Phelan said he is early in the process of finding a replacement for Spangler. He and his staff will first look at possible internal candidates before deciding whether to hire an interim principal or place an outside job posting. 

Phelan would like to have a quick turnover in filling the position so to allow Spangler time to mentor her replacement.

Spangler was hired in October 2012 by then interim superintendent Dr. Thomas Kingston to replace long-serving principal Amy Wagner. 

Sold In Belmont: Only Million Dollar Sales This Week, Please

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Photo: Three million dollar plus sales including a 167 year old Dutch Colonial on Brighton within sight of Little Pond.

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

• 5 South Cottage Rd., Contemporary townhouse (2008). Sold: $1,410,000. Listed at $1,438,000. Living area: 2,972 sq.-ft. 7 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths. On the market: 110 days. Last sold: Sept. 2010, $975,000.

• 167 Lewis Rd., Colonial (1935). Sold: $1,220,000. Listed at $1,375,000. Living area: 2,729 sq.-ft. 10 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 106 days. Last sold: May 2002, $755,000.

• 163 Brighton St., Dutch Colonial (1850). Sold: $1,190,000. Listed at $1,049,000. Living area: 2,592 sq.-ft. 9 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 57 days. Last sold: July 2014, $969,000.

Belmont Football Nearly Got The Best Of Powerhouse Reading

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Photo: Belmont wide receiver Will Ellet 6-yard touchdown vs. Reading

Last time Reading High Football was at Harris Field back in 2015; the matchup was ugly in many ways.

On a rainy Friday night, the Middlesex League powerhouse steamrolled the Marauders, leading 42-0 at halftime, while displaying an utter lack of sportsmanship.

This past Thursday, it was the winless hosts against the 2-1 Reading team, smarting from its second loss to Lexington in as many years six days before. After Reading’s star running back Jack Geiger took the first carry of the game 66 yards for a touchdown; it appeared the Rockets would make quick work of the Marauders.

But in a game that could prove to be a watershed for the team, Belmont refused to turn tail and run. Rather, the squad took the measure of the Rockets, staying within arms-length of the visitors throughout the contest, taking a near-record performance by Geiger to secure a 29-24 victory over the hosts. 

Geiger rushed for 266 yards – the fourth most by a Reading player – and scored Reading’s four touchdowns, with most of his yards coming from sweeps around the tackles as his speed was, at times, too much for the Marauder defense.

“That’s two weeks in a row that we’ve seen tough backs,” said Belmont Head Coach Yann Kumin. “Last week Woburn running back Isaiah Cashwell-Doe, and obviously [Geiger] is a great back, we saw him last year as a great back.”

While Reading (3-1) relied on Geiger, Belmont’s (0-4) senior quarterback George Fitzgerald was outstanding, throwing for 182 yards on 19 for 25 passing and a pair of touchdowns. With the passing game clicking, the Marauders’ running attack led by senior fullback Adam Deese and running back Tyler Reynolds was able to pick up critical yards in the game. 

After the Rockets’ initial score, Belmont – using short passes and runs up the middle – took the ball 47 yards to the Reading 25 yard line where Fitzgerald lofted the ball to the back of the end zone where wide receiver Jake Pollock outleaped two defenders to come down with the ball for the TD at the 4:08 mark in the first quarter to knot the game up at 7. 

Reading would retake the lead behind the running of Geiger, finishing the job with a 12-yard run midway through the period. Just to add insult to injury, a muffed hold on the point-after-touchdown was take in for a two-point conversion to up the Rocket lead to 15-7.

After both teams could not make their first downs, Belmont would take nearly six minutes off the clock on a 56-yard scoring drive, culminating with a Fitzgerald to wide receiver Will Ellet 6 yard touchdown with 21 seconds left to cut the lead to 15-14 at the half.

Belmont’s positive play in the first half was put sorely under pressure on the first play in the second half when that man Geiger repeated his first quarter heroics by romping 58 yards on the first play in the third quarter for his third touchdown in as many quarters. 

But once again, Belmont would not quit, marching from the Marauders’ 10 to Reading’s ten where Marauder senior kicker Aidan Cadogan hit a 27-yard field goal with 5:28 remaining in the third to cut the lead to 22-17. 

In the fourth quarter, Reading took the ball and grinding it down the field behind Geiger, ending on a 6 yard run straight up the gut to up the lead to 29-17.

Belmont appeared ready to head over the ball on downs, facing a fourth and one from the 30-yard line when lightning struck in the guise of running back Kilian O’Connell who hit the hole and found daylight, scampering all alone 70 yards for the TD that caused the bleachers to rattle and roll.

Down just five, 29-24, with 5:15 to play, it appeared Belmont’s fortune had finally smiled on the Marauders as Reading seemed to be falling apart with three consecutive penalties resulting in a first and 30 from its 25-yard line.

But facing a second down and 26 yards, it was Geiger again coming down the line and turning up the field to gain 25 critical yards. Reading would convert that and two other first downs to run out the clock to take home the victory. 

Kumin said the game showed the best of his team “with the effort they put forward and executing in the big moments when they had to to keep this game tight.”

“I’m proud of the team identity the boys brought to the table,” he said.

New Location for Police HQ, Renovated DPW, But Both A Decade Away [VIDEO]

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Photo: The future home (to the left) of the Belmont Police Department.

The future home of the Belmont Police Department will be located in a wooded corner of the Water Division facility at the end of Woodland Street. That’s if Town Meeting accepts the recommendation of the body created recently to analyze the town’s major capital projects.

But according to the chair of the Major Capital Project Working Group, the long-term solutions to the Police Department’s inadequate and substandard headquarters at the corner of Concord Avenue and Pleasant Street as well as constructing a new Department of Public Works facility could take more than a decade before the first shovel breaks ground on either project. 

“We are looking for some immediate fixes for both of these facilities to remediate accessibility and just to create a humane conditions for our employees,” Anne Marie Mahoney told the Belmontonian on Friday, Sept. 29 after it announced an initial outline on the future of two of the five town facilities – besides the police headquarters and the DPW buildings, a new ice skating rink, the former incinerator site and Belmont Public Library – the working group was in charge of reviewing.

The renovation/new construction at Belmont High School is well on its way under the charge of its own building committee and the Massachusetts School Building Authority. 

The first concrete step towards finding a solution will be an article in the Nov. 13 Special Town Meeting warrant which will include a request for “short-term remedies” at the current Police headquarters and the DPW buildings that will include updated changing and shower areas as well as improved office space, according to Mahoney.

The Working Group is holding a public meeting on Thursday, Oct. 19 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Beech Street Center to discuss both long and short-term plans.

The police headquarters will also have an exterior elevator shaft installed to make the building Americans with Disabilities Act compliant and install a fence and roof to create a more secure sally port when officers bring those arrested into the building.

The article will seek $370,000 – $230,000 for the police and $140,000 at the DPW – for schematic designs. Two line items in the town budget that the funds can be appropriated are either the Kendall School Insurance Account or the fines assessed against the former Cushing Village owner/developer for delays in closing the project, according to Town Treasurer Floyd Carman, who is a Working Group member.

“We want to make the building habitable for the people working there,” said Mahoney.

Once the designs are submitted, the town will come back to Town Meeting – Town Treasurer and Working Group member Floyd Carman said that would occur in May or June 2018 – seeking a bond authorization of between $4 million to $5 million for the remedies.

During this time the Working Group will complete a report that will discuss the long-term solutions including moving the police station to Woodland and renovating the DPW yard. Recent estimates have each building project costing north of $20 million. But the permanent solution “won’t be discussed for years,” said member Roy Epstein, who is chair of the Warrant Committee. 

“We don’t want a dust-up over money” when the cost of the projects will be broad estimates for years to come, said Epstein.

The reason the Working Group is not asking for a long-term fix immediately is how such projects are funded. Capital projects are financed through a debt exclusion, which will include the high school renovation/new construction project with an expected price tag of $200 million. 

“Funding is the issue which is why we are not going forward with an ask for both buildings. and that’s why they are always at the end of the line,” said Mahoney 

Yet there is at least one town department which would like to move forward on a long-term solution.   Assistant Police Chief James McIsaac, who was sitting in on Friday’s meeting, suggested the debt exclusion vote for a new police station be placed on the same ballot as the high school project, either in November 2018 or April 2019.

Created in February, the Working Group has been actively gathering data and interviewing parties impacted by the project. On Thursday, the members sat down with 20 residents from Woodland Road and Waverley Terrace to discuss placing the police station in the Water Division yard. 

“It went very well,” said Mahoney, with homeowners telling her their greatest concerns were landscaping and keeping the headquarters out of eyesight of the neighbors’ homes.