Tragedy Prompting Belmont To Be First In State With Defibrillators At Fields, Playgrounds

By 1 Comment

Photo: An outdoor automated external defibrillator located at Westerly (RI) High School’s turf field.

June Howell  automated external defibrillator

“I knew they can save lives with very little training,” said Belmont’s Recreation Department’s Program Supervisor who said the town had purchased one to be located at the Underwood Pool during the summer and the Skip Viglirolo Skating Rink for the rest of the year. 

But the idea of bringing the equipment to the wider community took a back seat due to the cost and logistics associated in keeping the machines need to stay within a specific temperature range.

It took a tragedy on one of the Rec Department’s fields to renew Howell’s commitment to increase the number of AEDs  In May, during the first adult softball game played on the diamond across Concord Avenue from the Belmont Public Library, a player in his early 40s suddenly fell to the ground stricken by a heart attack. Before help could arrive, he had died.

“It was terrible,” said Howell who still shakes her head remembering the incident.  

Unfortunately, the likelihood of a person dying from a cardiac event like the one that occurred in Belmont is staggeringly high. Each year in the U.S., according to the American Heart Association, there are approximately 360,000 Emergency Medical Services (EMS)-assessed cardiac arrests outside of a hospital setting and on average, less than eight percent of victims survive.

But that does not need to the case if an AED is close at hand. The New England Journal of Medicine reported communities with comprehensive AED programs that include cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and AED training of the public have achieved survival rates of nearly 40 percent for cardiac arrest victims.

According to Howell, who told the story at Belmont Recreation Commission meeting on Monday, Dec. 3, “it’s time provide greater safety to the community.”  

As a result of the incident and the Rec Department’s efforts, Belmont is moving to become the first municipality in Massachusetts and one of the few in the entire US to install AEDs at its town-owned fields and playgrounds that can be used by citizens.

Howell said Belmont will copy a program in Westerly, Rhode Island, that has been up and running for nearly a decade. The seaside community currently has seven outside locations including the high school turf field and at the town’s beach.

Westerly, along with Warwick, have been designated HeartSafe communities, part of a long-running program underwritten by Rhode Island’s Department of Health. With an emphasis on quickly meeting the need of those in cardiac arrest, Westerly has installed more than 100 automated external defibrillators throughout town in public buildings, at schools and in its police vehicles while providing extensive public training in using AEDs. 

Like Westerly, Belmont’s defibrillators will be stored in climate controlled enclosures which enables them to be accessible on a 24/7 basis throughout all seasons. When the defibrillator is needed, a person calls 911 and Belmont dispatchers will provide an access code to open the storage compartment, enabling retrieval and use of the AED. Using an AED is “nearly foolproof,” said commission member and physician’s assistant Kathryn Jones, who enthusiastically supported the proposal. 

The first Belmont AEDs will be placed at five town-owned fields:

  • Pequossette (PQ) Park,
  • Grove Street Playground,
  • Payson Park,
  • Winn Brook Playground, and
  • Town Field.

The Recreation Division is currently meeting with the Belmont Fire Department and Belmont Light on the best sites for the equipment to be stationed and in bringing power to the posts where the AEDs will be located. It is also getting a quote from Zoll Medical, the town’s AED supplier, for the cost of additional equipment as well as maintaining and inspecting the devices once installed.

The Rec Department approached seven groups to assist in funding the venture and Belmont Soccer indicated it would fund the first $10,000 with Belmont Youth Baseball ready to step up to the plate. Howell said she’s looking for additional private funding to pay for the infrastructure work and possible town-wide training on using the equipment. 

Those who wish to donate can contact Howell at 617-993-2760 or email at:

https://www.belmont-ma.gov/users/jhowell/contact

While the town fields and playgrounds are crowded with youth and soon high school sports teams and activities, Howell said she sees the AEDs as “not specifically for kids but for every resident.”

“It’s amazing,” said Howell on how using a defibrillator increases the survivability of a person suffering a heart attack.

“It really will save a life.”

Opening Reception Friday For Belmont Gallery Of Art’s Annual Holiday Small Works Show

By 1 Comment

Photo: Poster of the 11th annual Small Works Holiday Show and Sale.

The Belmont Gallery of Art’s 11th annual Small Works Holiday Show and Sale will open its doors with a Festive Holiday Reception on Friday, Dec. 7, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. featuring spirits from Belmont’s Craft Beer Cellar and live music performed by John Fitzsimmons of Concord’s Colonial Inn. Events are free and open to the public.

The show and sale, which runs from Dec. 7 to Dec. 16, will feature special guest exhibitors Indigo Fire Pottery Studio on the weekend of Dec. 7 to Dec. 9. The sale offers original art by 30 local artists in a variety of media including affordably priced original paintings, ceramics, prints, photographs, collage, textiles, and wearable art – as well as jewelry and cards — with gift purchasing in mind.

The gallery will be open special extended shopping hours on Thursday and Friday nights through Dec. 15 and open on Saturday and Sundays through Dec. 16:

  • Mon./Thurs./Fri. 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
  • Sat., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
  • Sun. Noon to 5 p.m.

And just a reminder: Shoppers will need to bring cash or checks, since the gallery is unable to accept credit cards.

At this special time of year, many of us focus on finding the perfect gift for family, friends and loved ones. It can often be a challenge to discover something unique and not mass-produced. In response, a number of shoppers seek out holiday fairs, small shops and other places where gifts may be more unusual than those typically found in the malls and large box stores.

For residents of Belmont and neighboring towns, the search for special handmade gifts, including original pieces of art and other treasures, can be found right off Leonard Street in the Homer Building at the Gallery’s Small Works Holiday Show and Sale, offering original art by 30 local artists in a variety of media including affordably priced original paintings, ceramics, prints, photographs, collage, textiles, and wearable art – as well as jewelry and cards — all made by area artists with gift purchasing in mind.

Small Works Special Guests Exhibitor – Indigo Fire Pottery Studio

This year’s Special guest artists from Belmont’s Indigo Fire Pottery Studio. Located at 60 Concord Ave. is a full service pottery studio offering classes for beginners to professionals in a friendly, welcoming environment. Indigo Fire owner and artist Ned Levering was interested in partnering with the BGA on the exhibit to not only showcase work made by its fourteen featured artists, but to also make the community more aware of the clay art being made in Belmont.

Indigo Fire’s artists will be selling a wide range of stylistically, unique pottery at its special Holiday exhibit and sale at the Belmont Gallery of Art. “Buyers of all tastes and preference will be able to find a piece of pottery that’s just right for them,” says Levering.

The Belmont Gallery of Art is located in the Homer Municipal Building, third floor, which is part of the Town Hall Complex, just off Leonard Street at 19 Moore St., Belmont Center — behind Belmont Savings Bank — and across from the Commuter Rail stop. Wheelchair accessible.

For more info on Small Works and other shows, please visit the BGA’s website at www.belmontgallery.org or email director Rebecca Richards at: admin@belmontgallery.org

 

Is Town Government Accessible? Take The IT Committee’s Survey To Be Heard

By Leave a Comment

Photo: The survey by the IT Advisory Committee.

Is Belmont government – Town Hall, Board of Selectmen or the Shade Tree Committee – as responsive as you’d like it to be? What changes would you make to make the process less burdensome and more democratic?

The town’s IT Advisory Committee is now polling Belmont community members about their interactions with town government whether they are elected officials or the many appointed bodies and how the town might improve its interactions with residents and make the work these committees do more accessible.

The link to the survey is: https://goo.gl/forms/bEKdZ0BWPNFKXdA03

The Advisory Committee is looking to have as wide a possible sample size of Belmont residents. The survey only takes a few minutes.

Police Station Renovation Project Passes First Test With Funding Challenge Ahead

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Architect Ted Galante before the Zoning Board of Appeals.

It was smooth sailing as the renovation of the nine decades old Belmont Police headquarters at the intersection of Concord Avenue and Pleasant Street got its first thumbs up as it begins meetings to clear regulatory hurdles and obtain the funding for the historic preservation of the project.

“Step one done,” said Ann Marie Mahoney, chair of the DPW/BPD Building Committee which is overseeing the renovation of the police building and the facilities at the Department of Public Works after receiving unanimous approval from the Belmont Zoning Board of Appeals on Monday, Dec. 3.

“And this [vote] was good and wonderful being unanimous,” she noted.

The committee was before the ZBA seeking approval of a pair of special permits which would allow the circa 1931 headquarters project to bypass town regulations and increase the structure’s height and adding an additional floor to a portion of the building. Architect Ted Galante of The Galante Architecture Studio in Cambridge told the board the additional space would improve the building’s function and allow for a sallyport and revamping of the unsafe holding cells. There will also be a need to reconfigure the entrance to the parking lot from the corner of the intersection to a new curb cut slightly up Pleasant Street. 

The changes will correct complaints of the safety of the cells and meet Americans with Disability Act regulations, said Galante, bringing the building into the 20th century. “We want a building and facility the town can be proud of,” said Belmont Police Chief Richard McLaughlin.

ZBA Chair Nicholas Iannuzzi quipped that as Belmont is a “Town of Homes,” it’s unlikely any of the residents will ever be spending time in the new cell block, only out-of-town “visitors,” to which McLaughlin agreed.

Next up for the project will be a presentation before the Planning Board in January 2019 which will review the project specifically the building’s larger floor area ratio and the landscaping in greater detail. 

Earlier in the day, the committee delivered its final request to the Community Preservation Committee for a $700,000 grant to preserve the historic features of the building. While the majority of the $7 million budget will be paid for via a long-term bond financed by existing town revenue, the brickwork and other repairs to the facade is critical to complete the job.

But the request seeking funding comes during the most competitive grant cycle in the CPC’s short history. Already approved in  the 2019 grant round is $400,000 for the design of an underpass on the commuter rail line at Alexander Avenue while the Board of Selectmen is seeking $1 million to design and conduct an engineering study of a community path from Belmont Center to Brighton Street. In addition, six other requests are pending. The total requested by the nine projects if funded would exceed the nearly $2 million the CPC has to provide. 

“And we really need that money this [cycle],” said Mahoney.

Finalist For Asst. Town Administrator Visits Rec Commission; Everyone Left Happy

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Jon Marshall, the finalist for Asst. Town Administrator’s job.

The lead finalist for Belmont’s Assistant Town Administrator visited the town on Monday, Dec. 3 and impressed the group who he’d be working closely if he gets the nod.

Jon Marshall, the director of recreation in neighboring Arlington came to talk with Belmont’s Recreation Commission at its monthly meeting Monday to discuss his background and ideas if he lands the job to be Town Administrator Patrice Garvin’s right-hand.

While the meeting was billed as “a discussion with the Commission,” town officials noted that Marshall was the only candidate given the chance to talk with the group as he is the frontrunner for the position. 

In a curious aside, Belmont’s former assistant town administrator Phyllis Marshall was appointed Arlington’s town treasurer in October. 

And after talking for about 40 minutes, everyone from Marshall to the commission members were happy with what they heard.

“It was a great meeting with the commission,” said Marshall after the get-together. “I heard their thoughts on the community and things they’d like to see improved. There are things that we both can accomplish and hopefully, I will get the chance moving forward.” 

Marshall’s resume and background appear to match what Garvin said she was looking for in an assistant who would focus most of their time overseeing the Recreation Division, which is part of the Department of Public Works. Marshall has led Arlington’s rec programs since Sept. 2016, after working as the director of the Recreation & Parks Department in his hometown of Natick for four and a half years after being the department’s Program Director for seven years. During this time, Marshall served as the president and legislative chair of the Massachusetts Recreation & Park Association.

Marshall earned a Bachelor of Science in Social Work from Salve Regina University in Newport, RI, and a Certificate in Public Administration from Suffolk University.

The Recreation Division had undergone changes about 18 months ago in how the department is run and while complaints from residents on the range of services and how many of the programs have “gone stale” over time, “we see this as a work in progress,” said June Howell, recreation programs supervisor.

“We are on the right track but we need help moving forward,” said Howell. Marshall said part of the problem is requiring a small staff to do at times an overwhelming number of tasks.

“Sometimes the ability to take a step back and refocus, then get a view of the landscape of what’s going on in the community and then saying ‘let’s tackle it’,” said Marshall. One area that “really excites me in Belmont” is the opportunity to start non-sports programs as they do in Arlington. 

Marshall has also experience in keeping programs running despite the loss of space as what happened in Arlington. Belmont will soon be under the same constraints once construction for the new 7-12 school building begins in June. 

At times, the discussion appeared as if the commissioners viewed Marshall as the town’s next recreation director, peppering him with questions on how he would revamp the inner workings of the division to attract residents to its variety of programs and facilities.

But Marshall said his job would be to “drive the vision for the department while working to support the staff and the commission to make sure that some of the ideas and thoughts we come up with move forward.”

Responding To An Incident Of Hate At The Chenery

By 2 Comments

Photo: One of the responses made by a student after racist and homophobic graffiti was discovered at the Chenery Middle School.

On the week before Thanksgiving, a bathroom at Chenery Middle School was tagged with racist and homophobic graffiti in an unprecedented attack of hate speech at the school. In response to the act, Chenery Principal Micheal McAllister conducted a school-wide activity to explain what happened and what students can do to begin the healing process. Below is a question and answer with McAllister before the School Committee meeting on Nov. 27.

Q: In your email to parents after the attack, you said you were “stunned” that such an incident took place in Belmont? After two weeks of reflection and knowing that such incidents are happening every day around the country, do you remained as shocked as when first discovered the graffiti?  

Yes, I do. I have been here for 20 years and to my knowledge, an attack like this has never happened. I’m not that naive that it has never happened, it just never happened quite on that scale. It was really blatant done with a big thick marker right on the wall and the mirror. Now every middle school in the US has the f-word on the wall or someone says an unkind thing to another student, no one is immune to that. But this was on another, disturbing level. 

Chenery Principal Mike McAllister.

Q: Was this incident an example of ingrained racism and homophobia, or was this attention seeking by an immature young teen?

It’s hard to know what the motivation was because there wasn’t a lot of context for it. I have two thoughts on what occurred; that someone was being provocative and writing words they didn’t fully understand and that’s my hope. Or there was real animous to certain students in our school. But it doesn’t necessarily matter what the intent was at some level, it’s more on what the impact is on everyone else. Now that this is out and happened to people, the goal becomes how do you address it.

Where did you turn for guidance to respond to this incident of hate at the Chenery?

Unfortunately, every school is dealing with this, so there were a lot of examples of how schools are approaching the problem. Based on my school committee work in Bedford, Superintendent Jonathan Sills introduced me to the concept of Not in Our Town. It’s based on the Billings’ [Montana] example where the community came together after an act of antisemitism occurred. It’s a school program that says whether you go public or not, you’re making a statement. You’re either tacitly accepting it by remaining quiet or you’re getting out in front of it by saying “Not In Our Town.”

So I think I learned a lot from Superintendent Sills example but I also counseled with friends I have, with certainly my teachers, my assistant principals, and our superintendent [John Phelan]. I never had anyone say, ‘I don’t think you should go public, I don’t think this is a good idea, maybe we should keep this quiet.’

Q. What happened at the Chenery on the day before the Thanksgiving break?

The school has an extended homeroom which is 17 minutes long and on half days we have what we call team days. We asked teachers to set aside for a minimum of the 17 minutes for our response but most teachers gave us almost their entire day. First, we informed students what had happened. Their parents knew of the incident two days earlier so a lot of the children knew. We talked about how we are not the only town dealing with it. We walked them through four different towns in the last week alone that had an incident like ours. We talked about how they felt when they heard about it but also how the targets of this act may have felt and what’s the right way and wrong way to react; what’s helpful and what’s destructive. Finally the concept of Not In Our Town/Not In Our School. We showed them a five-minute clip from Billings about a community not unlike Belmont where something happens to one person and rather just saying, ‘Oh, that’s their problem,’ the entire community stands up and does something.

It wasn’t anything dramatic but it was just a statement that there’s something every one of us can do. And if 1,400 of us in this school does something, that’s better than just one person dealing with the incident.

The most visible activity was student’s writing on squares of construction paper their reaction to the incident.

We gave the students three prompts to write about; how did you feel, the second was what did you want the victims of this to hear, and third, what you want to say to the person who did this. Some kids responded to every prompt, some to one and some just said “I just want to ask ‘why?” Some said the person who did this must have their own problems, and maybe they need some help and our support.

In your email and in the activity, while there is a need for discipline, there is also restorative justice.

There are two types of justice; retributive and restorative. Retributive is the traditional “You did this, now stay after school for detention.” And there is a purpose for that. But there is also a piece of us that says, “When you break it, you have to fix it.” And that requires acknowledging that there’s someone on the other side of what you did. So in this age of smartphones, you might think that you’re only shooting a text message into cyberspace, but on the other side of the screen is a person who receives that. And we have a responsibility to that person. And it’s really easy to forget that for both kids and adults if you look at the trash that’s posted online today.

So we were trying to say on Wednesday was we have a responsibility to each other. Sometimes we make mistakes. We talk with kids a lot about intent versus impact, that sometimes the intent of what you wrote wasn’t clear but the impact was. Intent doesn’t undermine impact. So whether or not you intended to hurt someone, all that matters is that you hurt someone. And now we all have that responsibility to fix it. So that is what we are talking with kids all the time.

I would like to think that someone who wrote that was in school on Wednesday and they wrote something caring. So it was their opportunity to be restorative themselves, in addition, with the help from 1,400 other kids.

Q: What happened that Wednesday was a short-term, a one-day response. What is the long-term solution?

Unfortunately, there isn’t one thing a school can do. The best example to look at is Reading High School which has been dealing with this for a year and a half, especially in the past eight weeks.

For the educators at the Chenery, it’s the continuation of the work that we have been doing. We’ve been talking about culturally proficient teaching that welcomes all cultures into a school. What do we as teachers need to do in order to create an atmosphere where kids don’t leave part of themselves at the school’s front door? So that’s work that has been on-g0ing.

We introduced two tools at the beginning of the school year, the first is called “marking the moment” which is when something provocative or racially charged just happened, you must stop class and address that. It’s no longer acceptable to say to the child ‘be nice because we have algebra to do.’ But sometimes we fail to mark the moment so the second way is the concept called circling back. We can always say to students, “Hey, you said something the other day and it stuck with me and I want to have a chance to talk to you about that.” Because when we don’t say anything, we are still making a statement. 

I don’t think that two years ago I don’t know if we would have responded like this nor would we have teachers who would have felt confident enough to respond like this. So I think on some level we’ve been preparing for this. But the work continues. Every single day there is a mark the moment event.

Vigilance is the answer. Sometimes when you make it public, it actually makes it worse. That doesn’t mean its the wrong thing to do. Sometimes it becomes this game of cat and mouse or copycat. But the goal of going public is more than solely to stop the act of hate. It’s also to let other people know that you’re not going to sit back and let it happen. So it’s worth the risk. It’s just a drag that its happening everywhere.

Obituary: Ernie S. D’Agnelli, A Recreation Department Fixture Who Lived For Belmont

By 2 Comments

Photo: Ernie S. D’Agnelli.

If you or your children spent any time participating in an activity run by Belmont Recreation, you would have come across the big personality of “Ernie D.” For nearly a half-century, Ernie D’Agnelli was a driving force at the Recreation Division, from running it’s summer programs, maintaining the resemblance of order at the Field House to volunteering to cook the BBQ at the opening of the pool season.

“Ernie loved Belmont. He grew up here, went to school here, was a star on the sports fields and later became a coach for Belmont Marauder teams. More importantly, he was a mentor and role model to so many young people over the years,” said June Howell, his longtime friend and work colleague.

Ernie S. D’Agnelli, who touched the lives of generations of residents with his kindness and wide smile, died on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018. He was 64.

The cause was a heart attack, said Howell at Monday’s Recreation Commission meeting. 

For 41 years, D’Agnelli was a physical education teacher at the Maimonides School in Brookline. Known as Mr. D, he was an almost legendary personality at the private Jewish day school. But his heart was in the “Rec Department,” said Howell, where he had worked since he was a teenager. He started as a park instructor while in high school and later developed and ran the town’s first summer programs. He could be found at the Field House organizing games for adults during the week and supervising kids on Thursday nights at Open Gym. If there was a program that needed someone to run it, D’Agnelli was there to take on the task.

“He lived for Belmont,” said Howell on Monday.

D’Agnelli was raised in town and graduated from Belmont High School in 1972, where he was a Hall of Fame athlete. He matriculated and played football at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, graduating in 1976. He was an avid fan of Natick and Belmont sports, and for many years was an intricate part of several Belmont youth sports programs.

“We have missed his presence here in the office since his retirement but we will never forget his smile, his booming laugh or the impact he had on our lives,” said Howell.

D’Agnelli is survived by his wife Lynne M. D’Agnelli and their children Kristin Talarico and her husband Lucas, Kerrin D’Agnelli and Lindsay D’Agnelli. He was grandfather of Jack, Co, a and Colin Talarico. He was a son of the late Ernest and Angela D’Agnelli, brother of Lisa Kazanovicz and her husband John of Reading and Andrea Vona and her husband Kevin of Belmont. Also survived by many nieces and nephews.

Visiting hours will be in the Brown & Hickey Funeral Home 36 Trapelo Rd. in Belmont on Wednesday, Dec. 5 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. A funeral mass will be celebrated in St Joseph Church, 128 Common St. on Thursday, Dec. 6 at 10 a.m. The burial will be private.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made in his memory to the Maimonides School c/o Development Office, 34 Philbrick Rd. Brookline MA 02445.