Books for All People, Purposes at Yearly Friend’s Library Sale

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Ninety-one year old Rosemary Cancian headed straight from the front of the line to where the non-fiction books were on sale.

“I’m always the first one at the door,” she said as she with two dozen other patrons came into the Belmont Public Library exactly at 9 a.m. for the first day of the annual Friends Book Sale on Saturday, Oct. 18.

“I’m here looking for books that I shouldn’t buy because I have so many unread at home,” said Cancian, viewing a few biographies.

For most of the participants in the annual event, the aim was finding a book – all donated to the library throughout the year – they would be interested in reading.

“There is always something here that you can put on your bookshelf. It will take you years to get around reading them, but it’s there when every you want it,” said Cancian.

Artist Hai Nguyen stacked a large column of coffee table art books outside the main sales room as he continued to browse.

“I will take some of the pages out [of the books] for some inspiration,” he said.

The sale’s proceeds allows the Friends to purchase museum memberships, bring authors and demonstrations to the library while adding to the technology available to patrons, according to Gail Gorman, a Friend who helped managed the sale Saturday.

“This is the biggest fundraiser of the year,” said Gorman, noting the books were priced to be sold with hardcover and upscale paperbacks sold for $1.50 and art and coffee table books at $3.

As with every year, the children’s section was the place to be as parents and children saw their opportunity to store up on books that can be read during the holidays, snow days and when it’s just too cold to go outside.

Maggie and her dad, Josh Loewenstein, where sitting outside the children’s room to read a little bit of the books they just purchased.

“We’re here to get books,” said Maggie, who is seven years old and from Belmont.

The day before, 32 Belmont school teachers from all grades were able to take 900 books for free back to their classrooms.

“A lot of first-year teachers come every year to build up their personal libraries,” said School Committee’s Laurie Graham who volunteers at the sale.

The real bargain came Sunday when anyone could haul away a bag full of books for $5, which lends itself to helping groups that can use the reading material.

“We have people who run shelters for women who come for the bag sale to stock their shelves. That’s nice to hear,” said Gorman.

After the sale, the remaining books were being packaged up by high school volunteers to be taken away by a book wholesaler.

“On Monday, we start the process all over again for next year,” said Gorman.

Arlington-Belmont Boys’ Eights Just Miss Top 20, Girls’ Battle at Head of the Charles

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The Arlington-Belmont Crew Club Boys’ Eights spent Sunday morning in the passing lane, far exceeding their 59th seed to finish a place out of the top 20 in the club’s best performance at the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta, Oct. 19.

It was a good day for both ABC squads – made up of students from Arlington and Belmont high schools – as they bettered their expected placement in the world’s largest and most popular rowing event held on the Charles River between Cambridge and Boston.

In the men’s youth eights event – in which each of the rowers has one oar – Arlington-Belmont came out quickly from the start located just before the BU Bridge to reach the first timing mark on the 4.8 kilometer course at the Riverside bridge just 12 seconds behind the leaders. By the next checkmark at the Weld Bridge at Harvard University, the team, coached by Mark Grinberg, blistered a 5 minute 15 second split from the Riverside Bridge which was the 7th fastest time for that portion of the race.

But the effort to pass numerous boats and the pace got the better of the team as it slipped to 21st at the finish at Brighton’s Christian Herter Park completing the course in 16 minutes, 30.15 seconds, just 2.5 seconds from a top 20 finish. The crew – cox Brenna Sorkin; stroke Max Halliday; seat 7, Louis Pratt; seat 6, Adrian Tanner, seat 5, Liam Lanigan; seat 4, Nicholas Osborn; seat 3, Eryk Dobrushkin; seat 2, Brendan Mooney and bow Alexander Gharibian – finished less than a minute behind winners, Oakland Strokes based in Oakland, California, which finished in 15:38.65.

ABC’s girls entry in the women’s youth eights rowed its best in the early portions of the race with a strong leg between the Riverside and Weld bridges but found the going a bit tough into a steady breeze heading home. The squad – coxwin Ellen Cayer, Catherine Tiffany, bow; seat 7, Sara Hamilton; seat 6, Jessica Keniston; seat 5, Sophia Fenn; seat 4, Bridget Kiejna; seat 3, Alena Jaeger; seat 2,  Catherine Jacob-Dolan and Julia Blass as stroke – made it through the difficult course including navigating the narrow bridge openings which victimized the Montclair High School girls’ crew just before ABC swung under. 

Next Sunday, Oct. 26, the varsity and novice squads will finish the season with a trip to the Massachusetts Public Schools Rowing Association’s Fall State Championships in Worcester where the Boys’ varsity eights will defend its goal medal.

The Week Ahead: Know More About Your Civil War Relative, Health Fair at the Beech

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On the government side of this week, the Board of Selectmen will meet an hour earlier than usual, at 6 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 20, and at a new location, the Beech Street Center, as the board will lead a major discussion on pension and OPEB costs to town residents and Town Meeting members. The School Committee will hold its annual Boston meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 21 at 6 p.m. at the Central Boston Elder Services at 2315 Washington St. to discuss the METCO program with Boston parents and students. The Planning Board will hold a public hearing on changes to three residential properties at 7 p.m., Oct. 21 in Town Hall.

The American Red Cross is holding a Belmont Community Blood Drive at All Saints Church on Monday, Oct. 20 from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the church located at the corner of Common and Clark streets.

Librarian and genealogist Connie Reik will share her knowledge of Civil War-era documents in an illustrated talk, “Beyond Pension Files: Discover Your Civil War Veteran in Federal Publications and Documents,” being held at the Belmont Public Library, Tuesday, Oct. 21, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the library’s Assembly Room. Those documents include histories of the individual battles, private laws, and petitions, claims, and pension record information found in the U.S. Congressional Serial Set.

The Council on Aging is holding its Health Program and Fair on Tuesday, Oct. 21 starting at 1:30 p.m. at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St. Spend an afternoon learning interesting information designed to improve your health. Presenters such as dentists, a physical therapist, an optometrist, a dermatologist, an audiologist, as well as representatives from the Newton-Wellesley Hospital Drive Safe Program, Belmont Health Department and the Belmont Food Collaborative will speak briefly about their topics. Before the fair, at 11:45 a.m., there will be a presentation about “Mindful Eating,”

Staff from US Rep. Katherine Clark‘s office will be holding office hours to meet with Belmont residents on Tuesday, Oct. 21 from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St..

 

The Belmont Art Association is holding a general meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 22 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Flett Room of the Belmont Public Library.

The Belmont Public Library is hosting a baby signing workshop on Thursday, Oct. 23 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Flett Room. Please register by stopping by the Children’s Room or by calling 617-993-2880.

 

Belmont Home of the Week: Single Family Affordability in SoTra

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In Lower Manhattan, there is SoHo (South of West Houston Street).

In Boston’s South End, there is SoWa (South of Washington Street – which, of course, is an impossibility as the throughway runs north to south).

And in Belmont, there is SoTra, as in South of Trapelo Road, where you are more likely than not find housing that can be called affordable for Belmont. The housing stock “below” Trapelo – from the intersection of Belmont Street to Beaver Brook Reservation – was built to meet the rising number of middle-class home seekers who were coming to Belmont with the laying of the trolley line in 1898 and the growth of Waverley and Central (at the intersection of Beech Street and Trapelo) squares. And that trend continues today as SoTra remains one location a double income-earning family can sneak into Belmont.

Much of the housing inventory includes two-families but there remains classic single family homes, such as the one on sale at 10 Cutter St. This 109-year-old Colonial “box” – located equal distance from Central and Waverley squares – is just north of 1,600 sq.-ft. with four bedrooms and one and a half baths.

A previous owner decided to knock down a few walls on the first floor to give the interior that 70’s “open layout.” So you wander from entry way into the living room, look around a partial wall to see the dining table which is next to a wide-open wood cabinet kitchen. The lower floor has high ceilings, hardwood floors and newer windows. The full bath has a deep, oversized Jacuzzi with a shower. There is a walk-up attic and a expansive basement with high ceilings.

A nice surprise to this century old home is a large wood deck off the dining room that overlooks the backyard, is perfect for entertaining overflow and overlooks an ample level backyard.

All this for $689,000, about a hundred grand less than the medium home value for Belmont homes. There will be an open house on Cutter Street today, Sunday, Oct. 19, from noon to 2 p.m. Or call Century 21/Adams KC for more information,  781-648-6900.

Belmont Yard Sales on Oct. 18-19

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Here are this weekend’s yard/moving/garage sales happening in the 02478 zip code:

Permitted yard sales by the Town Clerk

• 92 Clark St., Saturday, Oct. 18, 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• 130 Common St., Saturday, Oct. 18, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Supports the Belmont Cooperative Nursery School.

• 227 Common St., Saturday, Oct. 18, 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• 421 Common St., Saturday, Oct. 18, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• 285 Waverley St., Saturday, Oct. 18, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Not (yet) permitted sales

• 76 Becket Rd., Saturday, Oct. 18, 9 a.m. to noon.

• 567 Belmont St., Saturday, Oct. 18, 9 a.m. to noon., Helps the Christ Lutheran Nursery School.

• 25 Elm St., Saturday, Oct. 18, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

• 44 Harding St., Saturday, Oct. 18, 9 a.m. to noon.

• 6 Oakley Rd., Saturday, Oct. 18, 8 a.m. but the owner will be out there earlier.

• 354 Payson Rd., Saturday, Oct. 18, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

• 42 Pine St., Saturday, Oct. 18, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• 26 Wilson Ave., Saturday, Oct. 11 and Sunday, Oct. 12, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Weekend: Broadway, Books, Balls, Boats … and Pumpkins

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It’s a busy, busy weekend in Belmont and it all start’s Friday:

• Broadway Night 2014, the annual musical theater cabaret featuring the talents of the students of the Belmont High School Performing Arts Company, will raise the curtain on two shows, Friday, Oct. 17 and Saturday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. in the Little Theater at Belmont High School. The show, which includes solos, duets, and full company numbers, has become a wonderful tradition that opens the PAC season each year. Tickets $12 adults, $5 students.

• The annual Friends of the Belmont Public Library Book Sale begins on Friday, Oct. 17 with a sale for Superfriends and Benefactors. It will be open to the public on Saturday, Oct. 18 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 18 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Hardbacks and good paperbacks are $1.50, Coffee tables are $3, Cookbooks $3 while all children books are 50 cents. Come Sunday and fill a bag of books for some ridiculously cheap price. 

• The annual Belmont/Watertown United Methodist Church Pumpkin Fair takes place Saturday, Oct. 18 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the front lawn of church at 421 Common St., one block from Cushing Square. Food, pumpkin decorating, crafts, games, bounces, a bake sale along with a mega yard sale.

• On Saturday, Oct. 18, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., The Belmontian Club will partner with Belmont Car Wash in its annual fundraiser for Belmont High School’s “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer” team. The club, whose members will be out there drying vehicles, will receive all tips for the day and $1 per car for Belmont Car Wash.

• A rare Saturday afternoon game for the Belmont High School Boys’ Soccer team as the playoff-bound Marauders (9-3-2) take on the Tanners from Woburn High at Harris Field on Saturday, Oct. 18 at 2:30 p.m.

• Head over to the Charles River and witness the largest rowing event in the world, the 50th Head of the Charles. The Arlington-Belmont Crew boys’ and girls’ Eights will be on the water, along with 10,500 other rowers, on Sunday, Oct. 18; the boys’ from 10:10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., the girls’ from 12:45 p.m. to 1:10 p.m.

• Celebrate the Powers Music School’s 50th anniversary by participating in the season’s first Belmont Open Sings: “Carmina Burana” by Carl Orff on Sunday, Oct. 19 at 7:30 p.m. at the First Church in Belmont, Unitarian Universalist, 404 Concord Ave.. The chorus will be accompanied by two pianos and percussion with feature singers from Musica Sacra and area choirs. $10 per person; No reservations needed.

Special Town Meeting Limited to Belmont Center Reconstruction Pay Plan

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That was quick!

Belmont’s Special Town Meeting, scheduled for Monday, Nov. 17, will be a singular affair as town officials set an extremely tight window for residents to add anything else to the warrant.

The warrant, which is the agenda of items to be brought before and voted on by Town Meeting members, was officially open for a single hour, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 15, for citizens to submit petitions to be taken up by the town’s legislative body. 

“No one filed a citizen petition, though a couple of people had inquired last week how it could be done,” said Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman on Thursday, Oct. 16.

With nothing added to the agenda, members will have only one item to discuss, the $2.6 million Belmont Center Reconstruction Project.

Members will hear from town officials that while the blueprint for the long-awaited revamping of parking, pedestrian and traffic patterns in Belmont Center is complete, the financing is far from set after both state aid and the expected sales of the Cushing Square municipal lot and residential parcels off Woodfill Road – the sale of the town-owned parcels was anticipated to bring in approximately $2 million – never materialized. 

The Town Meeting will essentially determine if, and, or how money for the reconstruction will be secured.

“This is about a vision for your Town Center and that is what we really want to focus on,” said Belmont Selectmen Chair Andy Rojas at a September public meeting on the subject. 

That need for Town Meeting members to concentrate on an important infrastructure project resulted in the quick, open and shut, warrant.

“Town Meeting Members and citizens received several notifications from me that the Board of Selectmen were anticipated to call a Special Town Meeting for a specific purpose, the Belmont Center redevelopment.” The members also received an invitation to a public meeting on that topic, she said.

Arlington/Belmont Eights Row Sunday at The Head of the Charles

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Both the Arlington-Belmont Crew’s Girls’ and Boys’ Eights are hoping to build on their month of successes with a strong race against some of the best youth rowing crews from around the world as they participate in the 50th Head of the Charles Regatta,the world’s largest two-day rowing event, taking place Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 18 and 19, along the Charles River in Boston and Cambridge.

The A-B crew (shortened to ABC at events) is a club sport made up of students from Arlington and Belmont high schools. The team practices on the Charles River and Spy Pond in Arlington.

Along with 10,500 fellow rowers, the A-B crews will take on the twisting and challenging – and always daunting – three mile (actually 4.8 kilometers) course known for the 400,000 spectators that line the river and stand shoulder-to-shoulder on the six bridges from the start just before the Boston University bridge to the finish at Christian Herter Park in Brighton.

The boats will take between 18 and 21 minutes to complete the course.

The A-B’s Men’s Youth Eight will start 59th in the race in which the leading boats will take off at 10:08 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 19. The boat will carry cox Brenna Sorkin; stroke Max Halliday; seat 7 is Louis Pratt; seat 6, Adrian Tanner, seat 5, Liam Lanigan; seat 4, Nicholas Osborn; seat 3, Eryk Dobrushkin; seat 2, Brendan Mooney and bow Alexander Gharibian. The boys’ are coached by Mark Grinberg.

The A-B’s Women’s Youth Eight will be racing with 46 (out of 85 boats) on its bow. It’s race begins at 12:48 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 19. Cox Ellen Cayer will steer the boat with Catherine Tiffany in the bow, seat 7 is Sara Hamilton; seat 6, Jessica Keniston; seat 5, Sophia Fenn; seat 4, Bridget Kiejna; seat 3, Alena Jaeger; seat 2,  Catherine Jacob-Dolan and Julia Blass pulling stoke. Laura Rothman is the Eight’s coach. 

Both boats are coming off some impressive results including the boys’ taking first and the girls’ third in the New Hampshire Championships last week. And there is no rest for the crews as next weekend they will be at the Massachusetts Public Schools Rowing Association Championships where the boys’ go out to defend their gold medal.

 

Town, Schools Set Nov. 12 Application Deadline for School Committee Vacancy

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Interested residents will have just about a month to submit applications for a place on the Belmont School Committee.

But the person selected by the Selectmen and the School Committee will have to keep their running shoes on because they’ll need to win their seat all over again five months later.

In a joint letter released today, Friday, Oct. 17, the chairs of the Belmont School Committee and Board of Selectmen announced the deadline for applications to fill the vacancy left when Kevin Cunningham resigned earlier this month will be Wednesday, Nov. 12 at 4 p.m.

The School Committee’s Laurie Slap and Andy Rojas of the Selectmen said the two boards will meet five days later, on Monday, Nov. 17, in a joint committee to hear from and interview candidates before voting to appoint a new member to fill the vacancy left when Kevin Cunningham resigned earlier this month.

The selected appointee will be sworn in by the Town Clerk Ellen Cushman before the School Committee’s meeting on Nov. 18.

Under state law, the appointee’s term only lasts until the next Town Election; in Belmont that occurs in April, 2015. The person elected for that committee seat will serve a two year term, which is the remainder of Cunningham’s tenure.

Those interested in seeking appointment should write a letter of interest that will include:

  • The reasons for seeking the appointment,
  • Expertise, skills and perspectives they will bring to the committee, and
  • Identify the most pressing issues facing the committee, both through the April election and beyond.

Letters should be sent to:

Cathy Grant

Belmont Public Schools

644 Pleasant St.

Belmont, MA 02478

or via email at:

cgrant@belmont.k12.ma.us

Opinion: Halt the Automatic Gas Tax Hike by Voting ‘Yes’ on 1

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Letter to the editor:
Ballot Question 1 offers taxpayers the opportunity to repeal the automatic gas tax, an increase put in place by the Legislature last July while we were enjoying the summer.

This tax is egregious on many fronts. First and foremost, it is a regressive tax, costing the poor, those with less money,  to spend more of their income on getting to and from work. Conversely, our legislators who voted for this tax increase, do not have to pay for their own gas, or the new tax. We pay them to travel to their work through “per diems,” a daily payment for going to their job.

But what makes this tax so insensitive to the people (us) is that the tax is linked to inflation; that means that the tax will go up without our Legislators even having to go to work to vote on it. This tax is automatic every year. It can never go down.

Funding for the advertising of this tax has come from big business, unions and trade associations. We the people/taxpayers are David. Those who might benefit from government spending are Goliath.

Opponents of this initiative will tell you that that we need the $1 billion to be  raised by this tax to pay for roads and bridges. But just in the past two fiscal years, the Commonwealth raised even more than it expected by $1.1 billion for roads and bridges. They have a surplus. They already have enough. But they still want more.

Send a message to greedy legislators. Vote yes on Ballot Question 1. Repeal the automatic gas tax hikes.

Tomi Olson

Bay State Road