Photo: Yard sales in Belmont.
Here are this weekend’s yard/moving/garage sales happening in the 02478 zip code:
Permitted yard sales by the Belmont Town Clerk are in bold:
• 315 Belmont St., Saturday, Sept. 3, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• 77 Davis Rd., Saturday, Sept. 3, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Photo: Chris Diozzi.
Chris Diozzi was the heart of one of Belmont High School’s great boys’ ice hockey team.
At 5’9″ and about 175 lbs, Diozzi was not the biggest athlete, especially for a defenseman. But as a reporter noted at the time, Diozzi “played large” on the ice, a testament to his grit and determination when skating in the crimson and white Marauders jersey.
“On a team of talented players, [Diozzi] was the frosting on the cake,” said his high shool coach, Dante Muzzioli.
Christopher Jason Diozzi of Boston drowned in the waters off Dennis on Cape Cod Saturday, Aug. 27. Diozzi was 31.
Reported missing by friends on Saturday night, his body was recovered Sunday afternoon, Aug. 28. In a statement, the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office wrote: “nothing at this time to suggest the cause of death was anything other than accidental.”
Diozzi’s death remains under investigation, with the state’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner handling the case, according to the DA.
For the past four years, Diozzi was an associate director of institutional sales at John Hancock Investments in Boston.
In Belmont, Diozzi – who excelled on the playing field and in the classroom – will be best remembered for his time on the ice at “Skip” Viglirolo Skating Rink, the home of the Belmont High School Marauders.
“Chris was that once in a lifetime player, a great person who just breathed confidence,” said Muzzioli, calling from Italy at his daughter’s wedding.
“He was the leader that we needed, a go-to guy in every sense of the word,” he said.
As a senior, Diozzi captained the 2002-3 Marauders to a co-championship of the Middlesex League, the first league title for Belmont in 40 years.
On a team with such outstanding athletes as Paul Garabedian, Peter Shelzi, Schuyler Wiggin, Kevin Vona and Mike Hannon, Diozzi was the player that everyone looked up as he led by example; scoring countless timely goals, getting back on defense to stop a breakaway and encouraging his teammates on the bench and the ice.
That season Diozzi and Garabedian were named league co-MVPs, leading the team to an 18-4-1 record and sending Belmont to the first of two consecutive spots in the MIAA Super Eight state championships.
“He was an impact player who [was on the ice for] more minutes than any other player I ever coached. Chris was that important,” said Muzzioli.
After a post-grad year at Deerfield Academy and a season with the Walpole Jr. Stars of the Eastern Junior Hockey League (where he played defense with future NHL-er Matt Gilroy), Dozzi took his talents to Trinity College (Class of 2009). There he was a four-year starter, playing 100 games and scoring 17 goals and 35 assists for 52 points, co-captaining the team his senior year and being named to the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) All-Conference Second Team.
In his senior campaign in 2008-9, Diozzi was a semifinalist for the Joe Concannon Award as the best American-born college hockey player in New England at NCAA Division 2 and 3.
For the past several seasons, Diozzi came back to the home rink in Belmont, joining his old coach on the bench to teach a younger generation the skills and embrace the passion of the sport.
“[Chris] was a success in everything he did because he dedicated himself to what he was doing. We should try to celebrate that life,” said Muzzioli.
Son of Thomas and Stavroula – Lou – Diozzi, Chris was the brother of Matthew and Andrew. Nephew of Angie Stefanou and William Kane and the late Anna Kane, and cousin of Stephanie and Stacey Kane, he is survived by many relatives and friends.
Visiting hours will take place today, Friday, Sept. 2, 2016, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Faggas Funeral Home, 551 Mt. Auburn St., Watertown.
Photo: Back to school, 2016-17.
Starting today, Thursday, Sept. 1, the gears begin turning for Belmont High School students as the 2016-17 term gets underway:
Thursday, Sept. 1
Orientation for Incoming Freshmen and Parents/Guardians: Orientation for parents and students will begin at 5 p.m. in the High School auditorium. The administration will speak about student life and how to be successful at BHS. Parents are excused at 5:30 pm. A tour of the building will be offered to students. Following the tour, students will pick up their iPads and then meet the Guidance Counselors and the Class Connectors. A pizza supper will be provided for freshman students and Class Connectors. Parents need to pick up their students at 7:45 pm.
Friday, Sept. 2
Tours for all new students in Grades 10–12 and parents/guardians: Any new student and parents/guardians are welcome to come to a tour of the building from 10 am to 12:30 pm. Pizza will be provided.
Tuesday, Sept. 6
Opening day for faculty and staff.
Wednesday, Sept. 7
Opening Day Students: All Belmont High School grades will report to school at 7:35 am for homeroom. Freshmen will report to the Auditorium for a brief assembly at 9:55 am. A Quick Reference Guide, including a list of items for Opening Day and the first week of school, has been uploaded to ParentPlus and StudentPlus accounts. The first day of school will be an FULL-DAY of classes.
Homeroom assignments for all students will be posted to your StudentPlus account. Students should report to homeroom at 7:35 a.m. where they will receive locker information. Homeroom teachers will explain the schedule and answer any other questions. After homeroom, students will attend each class on their Wednesday schedule and meet with teachers.
Information regarding the purchase of a yearbook through the Jostens Company will be available on the school website under students/yearbooks.
Important information for Grade 12: Senior students should bring a check for $50.00 made payable to “BHS Class of 2017” to pay for their class dues. Class dues are used to pay for graduation cap and gown and senior activities. Checks will be collected by the homeroom teachers. Please make sure your student’s name is on the check.
Cap and Gown information will be shared with you via the Naviance account.
Yankee Candle will deliver information on an individual fundraising opportunity that may cover all or part of a student’s class dues, yearbook, or prom ticket. Any student who needs financial assistance with class dues, yearbook, or prom ticket must participate in this fundraiser.
Wednesday, Sept. 7, 8, and 9
Please be advised that there will be no bus service available for Kindergarten students on these days. Busing for Kindergarten students will begin on Monday, September 12.
Thursday, Sept. 8
Photo: Cookies from Plymouth Congregational Church.
After 13 years, you could be excused to think that Meet Belmont – the annual late summer community “meet and greet” held Tuesday, Aug. 31 – would become old hat.
Think again.
At 7 p.m., the Chenery Middle School cafeteria was packed with kids, parents, couples and residents learning about Belmont for the first and some, the 14th time.
Nearly 100 non-profit organizations and town government departments were on hand to greet the wandering mob, with the noise high enough that normal speaking levels required leaning onto each other to hear what was being said.
Mark Maida of Longmeadow Road came to Meet Belmont with his two children, Aubry, 5, and Wesley, 3.
“We wanted to learn about all the things that are going on in Belmont and how we can be a better part of the community. There are a lot of activities to do in town and lots of organizations that go great work,” he said, carrying a load of pamphlets and other stuff in his arms.
Grouped by related interest – government agencies and committees along the wall, religious organizations next to each other – volunteers gave out information, novelties (kudos to Belmont Light with its sunglasses) and candy and treats to anyone interested to hear what they had to say.
“It’s great,” said Ellen Gitelman, executive director of Belmont World Film, the town’s film screening group, of being an exhibitor at Meet Belmont.
“Year after year, we get at least 30 to 35 people sign up for our mailing list. We see them at our Family Film Festival, the young families moving to Belmont, and they say, ‘Hey, you look familiar’ and I realize how I met them,” said Gitelman, who also said two businesses are eager to sponsor the festival after meeting her at the get-together.
By the end of the night, participants learned about the Garden Club’s Winter House Tour on Dec. 3, enjoyed the uniqueness of the Morris Dancers, how to register their cat with the town (Town Clerk Ellen Cushman registered just about 20 new voters) and how to register for sports camps run by the Recreation Department.
For the new organizers of this year’s Meet Belmont – Allen Babroudi, Natalie Leino, Erin Lubien, and Carol Trager – the night could not have gone more swimmingly.
“All of us are very proud of what occurred tonight,” said Lubien, noting that the rise in parents and children at the event was due to a closer connection with the schools, principals and groups like the PTA/PTO.
“We have been working around the clock for the past month doing this, and it came together at the end,” said Lubien, praising the 25 residents and students who volunteered Tuesday.
And for next year? Lubien said the group is already thinking about that night.
Belmont Garden Club.
“I’m coming for your cat!”
Belmont Media Center.
Organizer Erin Lubien (right) with Anne Mahon.
The voice of Belmont, officer Daniel MacAuley with Lt. Kristin Daley manning the Police Department’s table.
Town Clerk Ellen Cushman (left) with Asst Town Clerk Meg Piccione answering one of many questions about being a town resident.
Belmont Dramatic Club, the second oldest community theater organization in the country.
He’ll be fine.
Photo: Avery Bradley of the Boston Celtics putting his autograph on the new driveway court on Agassiz Avenue.
It’s not every day that Avery Bradley, Boston Celtic’s veteran guard who scores 15 points a game against some of best defenses in the NBA, is going to lose a game of driveway hoops to some preteen kid from Belmont.
But that is exactly what occurred this morning, Monday, Aug. 29, on Agassiz Avenue. One and done for the six year Celtics starter as he got only one shot off before getting “knocked out.”
“Oh, no. Avery,” yelled a bewildered Cedric Maxwell, the Boston great from the 1980s and still a fan favorite.
It was some morning at the last house on the dead end street as Bradley and Maxwell came to help break in a brand driveway court just outside the front door of Laura VanderHart and Jarrod Goentzel’s house that borders the Beaver Brook Reservation.
“This is just so exciting,” said VanderHart who watched their sons, 12-year-old Ian and Sam, who turned 8 Monday, mixing it up with pros, past and present.
The celebration was the result of the couple being selected a winner in the Celtics “Home Court” program which offers contestants the chance to have their home driveways transformed into a Celtics-themed home court, complete with equipment and Celtics gear in addition to a Celtics-style room makeover.
“We always wanted a court because it is at the end of the street,” said VanderHart, but after six years since moving into the house, it was something that needed to wait.
One night while watching a Celtics broadcast, Goentzel noticed the contest sponsored by Arbella Insurance and the team consisting of an essay on why a court should be constructed in your driveway.
“We should enter,” Goentzel told VanderHart, who wrote an article about how wonderful it would be that the entire neighborhood could all share the court due to its location.
“I was completely surprised when the Celtics called back,” she said.
You know you have arrived at the court by the bright green paint scheme as well as the signatures of Bradley and Max on the shamrock logo.
The celebration was topped off by Sam hitting the first basket, without the help of either Maxwell or Bradley.
Additionally, the Celtics hosted a free basketball clinic at nearby Waverley Oaks where Bradley taught basketball skills and stressed the importance of leadership, sportsmanship and community involvement.
His Belmont visit was the third time Bradley has participated at a Home Court opening, calling it a “blessing” that an organization such as the Celtics wishes to give back to the community and provide a safe place to play basketball.
Photo: Yard sales around town.
Here are this weekend’s yard/moving/garage sales happening in the 02478 zip code:
Addresses in bold have a town permit.
• 44 Flett Rd., Saturday, Aug. 27, from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. (“This is not just a sale, it is an event!”)
• 257 Beech St., Saturday, Aug. 27, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Photo: Interior of the store.
Vintages: Adventures in Wine, the Belmont Center store which holds the distinction of being one of the first granted a town’s retail alcohol license, has been sold to a MetroWest businessman.
The Belmont Board of Selectmen approved the transfer of the beer-and-wine-only license held by Albert Avenue’s Eric Broege and Carolyn Kemp to Swapnil Gandbhir of Framingham on Monday, Aug. 22.
The store is located at 32 Leonard St., adjacent to the restaurant Asai which is closing down to allow a retail operation to move in. The new owner has signed a ten-year lease with an option after the first five years to leave without a penalty.
Gandbhir said the past owners told him they wished to concentrate on their first business, a West Concord wine store with the same name.
As for the business, the only changes coming to the store will be the addition of American and other non-European vintages as well as prepackaged snacks.
“There will be no renovation of the interior so it will look the same as it has in the past,” Gandbhir told the Belmontonian after the meeting.
One of the final remaining “dry” towns in the Commonwealth in the 1990s, Belmont voted in 1998 to allow limited restaurant alcohol licenses. Seven years later, Town Meeting approved the issuance of a full-liquor and a wine and malt licence and voters approved the measure in April 2008. The Spirited Gourmet in Cushing Village was awarded the full license.
Photo: Superiors officers settle, now it’s up to the dispatchers union to sign on the dotted line.
The Belmont Board of Selectmen voted Monday, Aug. 22 approving a three-year deal – from July 2014 to June 2017 – between the eight members of the Belmont Police Superior Officers Union and the town.
The agreement, negotiated by Belmont’s Human Resources Director Jessica Porter, means only the Dispatcher’s Union remain without a current contract among the town’s unions.
The contract’s highlights include:
Photo: Speed may have been a factor in the one-vehicle accident near Belmont Center on Thursday, Aug. 25.
Late morning traffic came to a halt at one of the busiest town intersection when a dump truck carrying gravel took a tumble sometime before 8:30 a.m. at the corner of Pleasant and Leonard streets, on Thursday, Aug. 25.
No injuries were reported in the one-vehicle accident that shut down the busy intersection for nearly three hours as it took two heavy duty tow trucks to right the rig.
According to an eyewitness, speed was possibly the culprit leading up to the mishap. The Mack truck operated by Ritacco Bros. of Millbury was traveling down the steep slope of Clifton Street attempting to make the right hand turn onto Pleasant Street. Apparently, the truck was going too fast to navigate the corner and tipped onto its driver’s side.
Belmont Fire quickly arrived at the scene – the accident location is one block from the Leonard Street firehouse – and police closed to traffic on Pleasant in both directions.
Waltham Auto Tow arrived and successfully righted the truck at 10:10 a.m. Belmont Public Works’ Highway Division removed the gravel and inspected the roadway. The streets were opened about an hour later.
Belmont Police said any citations for possible traffic violations leading up to the accident would be issued once a formal investigation is completed by the department’s Traffic Division.
Photo: Kimball Fruit Farm’s owner Carl Hills with the hardware.
Champion tomatoes and a successful composting company with a fanatical following in its hometown of Portland, Maine highlight this week’s Belmont Farmers Market that takes place today, Thursday, Aug. 25 at the Belmont Center municipal parking lot at the corner of Cross Street and Channing Road.
The market’s hours are 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Long-time Belmont market day vendor Kimball Fruit Farm won multiple top five prizes at the 31st annual state Tomato Contest held this week at the Boston Public Market. A total of 92 entries from 28 different farms competed in four categories: cherry tomato, heirloom tomato, field and slicing tomato, and heaviest tomato.
The Pepperall-farm won first place in heaviest with a weight of 2.68 pounds, second and fifth in the heirloom category with the Mortgage Lifter and the Cherokee Purple.
Kimball Fruit Farm is a third generation family run farm owned and operated by Carl and Marie Hills.
A new company will be introducing their unique composting service to Belmont residents.
Garbage to Garden will swap your bucket of food waste from the curb weekly for a fresh, clean bucket and, if requested, a bag of compost. This is a new service to Massachusetts with Belmont and Arlington being the first communities to be served by the Portland, Maine firm, which in its hometown has one-in-seven households participating in the service.
At the market today: tomatoes and corn, basil, the last of the blueberries and the first of grapes, great produce, wine and sundries.
Schedule of Events