School’s Out! Summer Recess Begins; Town Clears Out

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The calendar says that summer begins on Saturday, June 21.

But every Belmont parent or student knows that summer officially starts late in the morning of today, Friday, June 20 as the six public schools close their doors for the summer recess.

Several schools will have ceremonies on the final day of the school year with fourth graders and eighth graders marking their last day in elementary school and at the Chenery Middle School.

Today is an early-release day of the public schools. Here is the schedule:

• 10:30 a.m. for High School,

• 11 a.m. for Chenery Middle School and

• 11:40 a.m. for elementary schools with the exception of the Winn Brook which releases at 10 minutes until noon.

Today also marks the unofficial start of the summer get away as families and residents begin the annual extended vacations and trips away from the “Town of Homes.” It is reported that upwards of 10 percent of the population will be away from Belmont from July 1 to Aug. 31.

Belmont Weekend: Pool Blast Off Sunday, Bright Corner Fair, the ‘Chef’ at the Studio

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• The Belmont Recreation Department will be holding the 6th annual Summer Blast Off Party at the Underwood Pool on Sunday, June 22, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Join the celebration of the Underwood Pools’ farewell season with music, games and fun.

• The Bright Corner Summer Fair will be held in the strip mall at 70 Concord Ave. on Saturday, June 21, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event is sponsored by the three businesses – East Boston Savings Bank, Indigo Fire and Mathnasium – in the mall and Belmont Dental Group.

• Blockbuster, smockbuster; forget all the loud, visually-maddening mega-films aimed at stuffing young people in movie theaters. Playing at Belmont’s Studio Cinema is “Chef,” a “small” film directed, co-produced, written by and starring Jon Favreau with co-stars Robert Downey, Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sofía Vergara, Dustin Hoffman, Oliver Platt and John Leguizamo. Show times are 3:30 p.m., 6 p.m. and 8:15 p.m Friday, Saturday and Sunday. See the trailer here.

 

Final Cut: Frank’s Barber Shop Closes as Commercial Market Shifts

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Frank Cannalonga has been a Belmont barber for the past half century.
And if you count the first ten years spent with his brother-in-law’s shop in Watertown, it’s been 60 years “cutting hair,” Cannalonga said.
“I have been here 50 years at this barber chair. That’s a lot of standing,” said the 84-year-old Robinwood Road resident.
As satirist Fran Lebowitz observed that “you’re only as good as your last haircut,” then you couldn’t come to a better place than Frank’s Barber Shop at 113 Trapelo Rd. across the busy street from Starbucks and the town’s municipal parking lot.
Frank or his long-time partner, Fred Sacco, sits you down and gets to work, with a razor and scissors, sometimes both in the same hand. They show the efficiency of more than a century as barbers, cleanly making the unruly presentable with a preference to the “high and tight” style that has become fashionable again.
On one recent Saturday, a Watertown kid’s thatched thick hair is buzz cut into shape.
“He’s one big cow lick,” said the pre-teen’s mother to Frank as Fred puts the finishing touches on a regular, explaining he can now go home to his wife.
“I don’t know if I want to now,” he said laughing.
Not a “hipster” barber salons with names such as Gentlemens Choice or The Barbershop Lounge where cuts run up to $50, Frank’s doesn’t have on-line appointment scheduling (“Oh no,” said Frank when asked if the store has a Web page. “They know when we are open.”), leather couches or alternative music booming in the background.
Just a couple of threadbare chairs where customers or an appreciative parent can sit and talk in the two-chair establishment. A television is in the back “when the game is on,” lollipops nestled adjacent to the cash register at the ready for anyone who needs one, a plaque of appreciation from the Lions Club and a family photo on the shelf.
And the prices: $16 for the “regular”, three more of the “razor” cut. You can get your hair styled but “most come in for the regular,” said Cannalonga.
This coming Saturday, June 21, Frank’s will close like it always does around 4:30 p.m. but only after the last customer has been dusted with talcum powder and Frank rings in the sale.
It will also be the final Saturday for Frank’s, as the traditional barbershop shuts its door for the last time.
“And that will be it. I’ll come by a few days later to clean up the place and that will be it,” said Cannalonga.
In a trend that is becoming more familiar in Belmont this spring, as the state economy has recovered and the town awaits major development and infrastructure projects to start, commercial leases are either shooting skyward or existing businesses are not given the opportunity to renew their leases as landlords sights have turned to more lucrative enterprises.
Customers still park in the lot at what was once One Stop Market at the corner of Pleasant Street and Brighton Street only to be surprised to find the long-time convenience store locked and empty.
“Thanks for everything!” reads the sign at the front door.
Others are feeling the pinch. Gustazo Cuban Restaurant & Cafe at School and Trapelo is leaving for Waltham while other mom and pop shops wait to see what their owners are thinking.
Frank’s is one of those casualty of Belmont’s changing commercial scene.

“Well, I wasn’t quite ready. I could have worked another year or two before getting out. But I wasn’t even offered the chance so that’s where it is,” said Cannalonga. 

Frank’s landlord, Harry Misakian of Misakian Belmont LLC, which owns the commercial block that runs along Trapelo onto Common Street, could not be contacted.

Frank’s and his neighbors including the Christian Science Reading Room and  are leaving months before the first shovels are anticipated to hit the ground for the construction of Cushing Village, the 186,000 square foot development that will bring nearly 35,000 square feet of new retail and more than 110 high-end residential units to Cushing Square, across the street from Frank’s.
Rumors have an up-scale man’s salon occupying Frank’s spot.

What he will miss the most is the customers, “because after 50 years you build up quite a few friends,” said Cannalonga.
Sacco will soon be working for “our competitor across the way, a nice kid,” he said.
But there is no bitterness from Frank on leaving before he had hoped.
“It’s been a good run,” said Cannalonga.

Sold in Belmont: Townhouse on Warwick Clears $930K

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

4 Warwick Road. Townhouse condominium (2005), Sold for: $930,000. Listed at $869,000. Living area: 3,164 sq.-ft. 8 rooms; 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 125 days.

1041 Concord Ave. Extended Cape (1941), Sold for: $699,900. Listed at $699,900. Living area: 1,474 sq.-ft. 6 rooms; 3 bedrooms, 2 bath. On the market: 54 days.

15 Barbara Road. Colonial-ish “mishmash” (1992), Sold for: $1,850,00. Listed at $1,875,000. Living area: 4,403 sq.-ft. 12 rooms; 7 bedrooms, 4.5 bath. On the market: 63 days.

56-58 Gilbert Road. Multi-family (1992), Sold for: $750,00. Listed at $650,000. Living area: 2,274 sq.-ft. 10 rooms; 4 bedrooms, 2 bath. On the market: 71 days.

33 Winter St. Ranch (1992), Sold for: $899,00. Listed at $939,000. Living area: 2,330 sq.-ft. 5 rooms; 3

bedrooms, 2 bath. On the market: 134 days.

Belmont Market Day: Jamaica Mi Hungry Food Truck and Late-Spring Greens on the Menu

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Summer is almost here, but there’s still time to enjoy spring’s bounty at this week’s Belmont Farmers Market.

After a long winter and a wet spring, assorted greens are bursting out of the fields and into the market. Check out our vendors for their early-season chard, radishes, spinach and other fresh goods like honey and eggs.

Weekly vendors: 

C&C Lobsters and Fish, Carlisle Honey, Dick’s Market Garden, The Farm School, Fior d’Italia Pasta, Foxboro Cheese Company, Goodie’s Homemade, Hutchins Farm, Kimball Fruit Farm, Mamadou’s Artisan Breads, Sfolia Baking Company, Stillman’s at the Turkey Farm

Occasional and guest vendors: 

Bedford Blueberry Goat Farm, Belmont Municipal Light Department, Rad Urban Farmers, Soluna Garden Farm, Sugar + Grain, Westport Rivers Winery.

Food truck: Jamaica Mi Hungry, 3 p.m. to closing. The truck’s owner, Chef Ernie, was at the Belmont Day School for three years. 

In the events tent:
2 p.m. to 3 p.m.: Music by Bridget Curzi
4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.: Storytime with the Belmont Public Library
4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.: Music by The String Beans

Learn about all of our vendors on our website.

Things to Do Today: Library Foundation Meeting, Create Your Own Cartoons

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• The Board of Library Trustees and the Belmont Library Foundation – the group that exists to promote the construction and endowment of a new public library in Belmont – will be holding a special meeting at 7 p.m. in the Assembly Room of the Belmont Public Library to update the public on the foundation and the future of the organization.

• The Benton Library, Belmont’s independent library at the corner of Oakley and Old Middlesex, is open today from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Come by this community jewel and stay a while.

• Anyone interested in residential solar power should come to the meeting of the Belmont Municipal Light Advisory Board at 7:15 p.m. in the Community Room of the Chenery Middle School, 95 Washington Street (parking is on the Oakley side) where the board will discuss “solar distributed generation policy and pricing.”

• Heads up: A week from today, Thursday, June 26, the Belmont Public Library will be holding a “Create Your Own Comics” for kids 10 and up with cartoonists Veronica and Andy Fish. Learn about comics history, character design and the comic creation process. Leave with material and resources to create your own comic. It takes place from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Assembly Room. Those interested can sign up here!

Belmont Community Summer Band Seeking Musicians for July Concert

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Summer is the season for being outdoors.

And if your are a woodwind musician or percussionist, you can still enjoy being outside and perform with some of your neighbors with a new group, the Belmont Community Summer Band.

According to Arto Asadoorian, the Belmont Public School’s Director of Fine & Performing Arts, the band is open to wind and percussion players ages 14 to “too old to ask.”

The BCSB will rehearse three times in late July:

The culminating performance will take place at Payson Park in the evening on Thursday, July 31 at 6 p.m.

Anyone interested in signing up can do so by completing this Google Form or go to the link below:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1rBglA3Pwyvmu2Gd8uDkDl5N7OI3bq7zO7PT-xGYUe-U/viewform?c=0&w=1&usp=mail_form_link

For information about the Belmont Community Summer Band, contact Asadoorian at aasadoorian@belmont.k12.ma.us.

Fond Farewell for the Temporary, Interim, Long-Term Superintendent

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When State Sen. Will Brownsberger read the proclamation for the Massachusetts Senate honoring Dr. Thomas Kingston, Belmont School District’s longest serving caretaker superintendent, it declared Kingston being “the semi-permenant, interim superintendent” of the school system he ran for the past three years.

“It says that,” said Kingston, before members of  the Belmont School Committee, town officials, educators and residents who came to the Belmont Gallery of Art on Monday, June 16 to thank the educator for his service to the town’s schools.

“It’s been a great three years in Belmont although I didn’t expecting three years in Belmont,” said Kingston, who received a proclamation from the House of Representatives from State Rep. Dave Rogers.

Kingston, who spent seven years as Chelsea’s Superintendent of Schools, was hired in June 2011 for a single year as interim superintendent who file the gap left with the departure of his predesessor George Entwistle.

Yet due to the lack of qualified candidates, his leadership skills and willingness to remain in the position, Kingston’s tenure stretched from one to three years, a time in which observers praised Kingston for his steady hand overseeing the district’s educators and steadying influence during three budget cycles.

“I really enjoyed the opportunity to work in this kind of community with this kind of dedication to education which in many ways was a complement to what I was doing in Chelsea,” said Kingston.

“One of the most meaningful things for all of us has not just been the counsel you gave to us but also that you sought the advice of school committee members, the leadership council and people in town about what this community is and that’s a very profound experience,” said Laurie Graham, school committee member who thanked Kingston’s wife, Sue, “for letting us have Tom for the past three years.”

After his extended stay in neighboring Belmont – Kingston is an Arlington resident – he will be working part-time with new superintendents, an experience he likens to being a “utility infielder.”

The celebration included parting gifts – a “Belmont Rocks” T-shirt, an altered magnet that now says “‘Exiting’ Belmont”, and a daily calendar of literary phrases – in addition to a cake that Kingston supervised its distribution.

 

Payson Park Music Festival Begins 25th Season with Battle of the Bands

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Bring the kids, a picnic and enjoy the first days of summer by attending the Payson Park Music Festival which opens tonight, Wednesday, June 18, celebrating a quarter of century of offering an outdoor musical venue for Belmont residents and those from surrounding communities.

The first concert of the season will be a “Battle of the Bands” with groups mostly made up of students from Belmont High School. The concert is sponsored by the Belmont Savings Bank.

The show gets underway at 6:45 p.m. at Payson Park at the corner of Payson Road and Elm Street. 

The season runs every Wednesday evening until Aug. 27. In addition to the evening programs, four children’s concerts will occur on consecutive Fridays at noon beginning July 12.

There will also be a special Thursday concert on July 31 by the Belmont High School Community Band led by Arto Asadoorian, the fine arts director at Belmont High.

Things to Do Today: Digital Help at the Library, Bridge at the Beech

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• The Belmont Public Library is providing one-on-one Digital Library Help on Wednesday, from 11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the Reference Room. Learn how to download eBooks from the library and set up a device. Get started with Zinio to read free digital magazines. E-mail and Internet basics, social media, or basic computer skills. Registration is required; register online or call 617-993-2870 to register by phone. Some services require downloading an app.  Please come prepared with your Apple ID, Adobe ID, Amazon Account information, or other password and log in information for your device.

• Duplicate Bridge Club meets from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Beech Street Center at 266 Beech St. Every Wednesday the club holds American Contact Bridge League-sanctioned games. All are welcome to play. Cost is $7. Phone: 339-223-6484 for more information.

• One hundred and ninety-nine years ago, one of the great battles in history took place near the town of Waterloo where a French army under Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by the combined British and Prussian forces led by the Duke of Wellington and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher. Napoleon would soon be sent into exile on the South Atlantic island of Saint Helena.