Celebrate Chanukah With Menorah Lighting at Belmont Center, Thursday Dec. 26

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Photo: The poster of the Belmont Center Menorah Lighting

Join your neighbors at this year’s Belmont Center Menorah Lighting taking place on Thursday, Dec.26 at 6 p.m. The ceremony featuring music, songs, and Chanukah treats will take place at the delta (Concord Avenue and Leonard Street} in front of the M&T Bank branch.

The annual event is coordinated by the Center for Jewish Life Arlington-Belmont which provides synagogue services, spiritual guidance, community outreach and education to inspire all Jewish people to discover a common bond of faith and observance.

What’s Open And Closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas in Belmont

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Photo: National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

Christmas is a day of gift-giving and reflecting on cheerful times from past years around the tree, gift giving, before decamping to the dinner table to watch the latest holiday movie on the Hallmark Channel and professional sports events or just relaxing with family and friends.

For those who don’t celebrate the day, several fine Chinese restaurants will be open, and movies are premiering on the big screen on Christmas. A Complete Unknown the Bob Dylan biopic starring Timothée Chalamet, and three animated pics: Mufasa: The Lion King, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and Moana 2.

And if you have a “need” to get out of the house, here are a few places around town closing early Christmas Eve and open on Christmas:

Christmas Eve early closings:

  • Star Market at 535 Trapelo Rd. will close at 6 p.m. The pharmacy closes at 5 p.m.
  • CVS: The store at 264 Trapelo Rd. is closing at 10 p.m. (the pharmacy at 6 p.m.) and 60 Leonard St. at 10 p.m. (with the pharmacy shutting its doors at 6 p.m.)
  • Starbucks at 110 Trapelo Rd. in Cushing Square will close at 5 p.m.
  • Dunkin’ at 353 Trapelo Rd. is closing at 8 p.m., while the store at 52 Church St. is closing at 7 p.m. The store at 350 Pleasant St. will shut down at 6 p.m.
  • MBTA buses and subway lines will run on a Sunday schedule. The commuter rail is on the weekend schedule.

Christmas Day

Dunkin’

  • The Dunkin’ at 353 Trapelo Rd. will operate from 4:30 a.m. until 8 p.m.
  • The 52 Church St. location in Waverley Square will be open from 4 a.m. to 3 p.m.
  • 350 Pleasant St. will be open from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Starbucks

  • The “Cushing Village” location at 110 Trapelo Rd. will be open from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.

CVS Pharmacy

  • The store at 264 Trapelo Rd. will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
  • The operation at 60 Leonard St. in Belmont Center will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Christmas.
  • The pharmacies on Trapelo Road and Belmont Center will be closed.

Star Market

  • Belmont’s supermarket, located at 535 Trapelo Rd., is closed for the holiday.

If you are looking to get around on the MBTA:

  • The Fitchburg/South Acton Commuter Line will operate on a weekend schedule, and buses in Belmont will also operate on a Sunday schedule.

Opening Day For Belmont High Hoops an Up (Girls) and Down (Boys) Affair

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Photo: Belmont vs Melrose

It was an up-and-down result for Belmont High’s Hoop teams on their opening day of the 2024-25 Boy and Girls’ campaign on Friday, Dec. 13. While the Marauders Girls romped past Melrose, the Boys wasted the efforts of a pair of impressive sophomores as the Raiders took home the victory from the Wenner Field House.

Boys: Melrose 51, Belmont 47

Belmont Head Coach Darren Martinez didn’t sugarcoat his team’s opening performance losing to a solid – but hardly great – Melrose squad. It needs to improve everywhere.

“There’s a lot to be learned on both ends of the floor, individually and as a team. We just had a lot of self-inflicted wounds that hurt you, I expected a little bit of sloppiness. I wish we would have come prepared, but just like I’ve always told you past couple of years, players win, coaches lose. So that’s on me,” said Martinez.

But Martinez saw a few sparks of optimism during the game, pointing to a pair of sophomores in Brayden Dargon and Pete McLaughlin who led the Marauders in scoring with 15 and 8 points.

It was somewhat understandable that the season opener would get off on a as Melrose (1-0) ran off to an 8-2 lead in the first four minutes only to see Belmont (0-1) go on a 9-0 run behind the slick play of Dargon to finish the first quarter up 11-8.

But just like that, the Raiders said “Hold our Gatorade” and matched Belmont’s surge with one of its own, an 11-0 spurt to snatch a 19-11 lead after 3:31 into the quarter, an advantage it would not give up for the remainder of the contest. Belmont did bring the deficit back to two, 21-19, but would trailed 23-19 at the half.

The third quarter saw the lead stay steady in the four to five-point range as Belmont’s guard kept the Marauders in range with a pair of knockdown jumpers as the Raiders entered the final eight minutes leading 37-32. Once again Belmont began hitting their shots and when Will Murphy hit a corner three with six minutes to cut the lead to a single point, it appeared Belmont had grabbed the game’s momentum for a late-game charge.

But Melrose’s senior big man Owen Mujalli would do what senior captains are expected in the final moments: put the team on his back. Mujalli first stole a cross-court pass and drive for two, then hit a spinning jumper for a deuce, and finished with a line-drive three to give Melrose a critical six-point spread, 47-41, in the final two minutes.

Belmont would fight back with a two-from Williams with 25 seconds remaining cutting the lead to a single possession, 50-47. But an apparent clean steal from a Belmont double team was blown as a foul, much to the noisy consternation of the Belmont Girls team watching in the stands. Mujalli – who scored 10 of his game high 18 points in the fourth – knocked down one of two from the charity stripe and ended the game with a defensive rebound.

“I’m gonna challenge my upper class and my juniors and seniors to be leaders and step up and help the young guys. To have sophomores step up like that is great, but I don’t think any great team is relying on sophomores to carry them,” said Martinez.

Next up for the Marauders will be an early season traveling two miles to historic rival Watertown on Tuesday, Dec. 17. It will be played at Watertown Middle School.

“The team showed its potential at times in the game, but they need to be better prepared mentally and physically for future games, especially against tougher opponents like Watertown, that’s for sure,” he said.

Girls: Belmont 70, Melrose 21

It was all smiles as the Girls’ Marauders entered Wenner Field House after the crimson and white dismantled the host Raiders by nearly 50 points, 70-21. “We beat them. Period,” a Marauder said emphatically describing the game between two mismatched Middlesex League teams.

Senior point guard Gabby Orfanos scored a game-high 18 points which included four threes, and sixth-player extraordinaire senior Brynn Connolly added 11 points. First-year Sarah Geller, who third-year head coach Shantell Jeter is high on after the preseason, started the game and knotted eight points.

Gabby had a real breakout game to show what she can do in every game while having a freshman on the floor to start tonight was also another message that we sent,” said Jeter.

Each of Belmont’s 14 member squad got a chance to get on the court in the game which Belmont outscored 22-1 in the first quarter.

“It was a good team effort,” said Jeter. “While they didn’t really have too much we still had a lot of opportunities to work on” a lot of our stuff” including a chance to mix and match lineups. Jeter also praised the team’s defense, producing a handful of five-second calls

Belmont will host its first home match against Watertown on Tuesday with tip-off at 6 p.m. said the Raiders will provide a much stiffer opponent this time around.

“We’ll have to be more intense. We gotta turn up every game,” she said.

0:18


Like about this game. I’m sure I’ll find some good things as well. When we listen and when we played together, when the ball moved, we got good shots.


yeah, we showed spurn to what we can do, and a lot of that is, you know, the bench has to be ready to play. You know, the starters played a lot in the second half, and a lot of it has to be with guys kind of not being ready, maybe nerds for the first game, a little bit of jitters.

I have to get them prepared, but they have to themselves, be mentally and physically prepared as well, so hopefully we bounce back on Tuesday, but it’s not going to be any easy against Watertown mastery.

What’s Opened, Closed In Belmont On A Wet Thanksgiving 2024

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Photo: Thanksgiving (c. 1935) by Doris Lee (1905–1983), Art Institute of Chicago

It’s going to be one wet and cold Thanksgiving.

From 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Belmont and eastern Massachusetts will be drenched with nearly an inch of cold rain with the expected high temperature reaching only the mid-40s. While snow could coat the ground in the Worcester hills and out west in Franklin county and there is some possibility of brief freezing rain statewide, the National Weather Service said as of 4 a.m. on Thanksgiving that it doesn’t have enough confidence in widespread icing occurring in eastern Mass. to issue a Winter Weather Advisory.

Despite the forecast, football is on the early morning menu as the 102nd edition of the Thanksgiving Day rivalry between neighbors Belmont and Watertown high schools will take place on Harris Field at (around) 10:15 a.m.

One of only ten recognized by the federal government, Thanksgiving is both a national and state holiday, so most businesses along with federal, state and town offices are closed shut.

In Belmont, town offices, the Senior Center at the Beech Street Center (which currently houses the Belmont Public Library) and the Benton Library will also be closed on the holiday and Black Friday, Nov 29.

But there are a few places where you can get away from the hustle and bustle of the kitchen to pick up a coffee or hot chocolate or hit at least one drug store to pickup your prescription you forgot about.

What’s open:

  • Starbucks in Cushing Square (Trapelo and Common) is open from 5 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thanksgiving and 5 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Black Friday.
  • Dunkin’ at Trapelo Road and Beech Street will be operating from 4:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. The location on Church Street in Waverley Square will be open from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. (go see the newly-remodeled interior that was renovated overnight!) The store at 350 Pleasant St. will be open from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m.
  • CVS at 264 Trapelo Rd. is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., while the pharmacy is open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
  • CVS in Belmont Center on Leonard Street is operating from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The pharmacy is closed.
  • Star Market in Waverley Square is closed.

Belmont High Football Thanksgiving Day Game vs Watertown (v.102) At Home

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Photo: Belmont will host Watertown for the 102nd time on Thanksgiving.

Belmont High continues its century-long Thanksgiving Day rivalry with neighboring Watertown as the two sides meet at Belmont’s Harris Field, Thursday, Nov. 28 at 10 a.m.

It’s a game Watertown has circled on the calendar after suffering the most lopsided result in the 101 games played when the Marauders beat up the Raiders, 47-0, at Watertown’s Victory Field. Watertown leads the series, 50-46-5.

It’s been a rebuilding year for both teams as the Raiders come into the match at 3-7 while the Marauders – who lost their two varsity quarterback within the first 15 minutes of the opening game against Shawsheen Tech – come in at 2-8.

Tickets for the game will be online only – in fact, your phone will be used to enter the stands. Go to https://gofan.co/event/2331689 to purchase your tickets. Prices are $10 for adults and $5 for students.

Town Sets Holiday Hours Through New Year’s

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Photo: Town Hall in Belmont

Belmont Town Administrator Patrice Garvin has released the holiday schedule for town employees and offices.

Thanksgiving holiday hours

  • Wednesday, Nov. 27: 1 p.m. Town Hall and town offices Early Closure.
  • Thursday, Nov. 28 (Thanksgiving), and Friday, Nov. 29: Town Hall and town offices are closed.

Winter holiday hours

  • Tuesday, Dec. 24: Noon Early Closure
  • Wednesday, Dec. 25 (Christmas): Town Hall Closed
  • Tuesday, Dec. 31: 2 p.m. Early Closure
  • Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025 (New Year’s Day): Town Hall Closed

Due to the holidays, no building, plumber or electrical inspection will be performed on Wed., Nov. 27, Thursday, Nov. 28, and Friday, Nov. 29. All inspection requests for these dates will be performed on Monday, Dec. 2.

In a meeting with the Select Board before the first night of Special Town Meeting, Garvin said while she doesn’t want to set precedent of providing early release before an official holiday, she did note that it is just “a few hours” that the staff will appreciate the gesture,

New Belmont Library ‘Topping Off’ Set For Thanksgiving Tuesday, Nov. 26

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Photo: The steel frame of the new Belmont Public Library on Nov. 24

The Library Building Committee is welcoming the community to a “topping off” ceremony for the new Belmont Public Library at 336 Concord Ave. The event will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 26 starting at 11:30 a.m.

The ceremony comes as the steel frame of the two story, 41,500 sq.-ft. structure has been erected in the past month by contractor G&R Construction. Speaking before the Special Town Meeting last week, Library Building Committee member Kathy Keohane said the building is on schedule with the completion of construction by late summer 2005 with an opening day set for sometime in the fall.

The practice of “topping out” a new building began with a Scandinavian tradition of placing a small tree on the top of a new building to appease the tree-dwelling spirits that had been displaced by the new building.

The last topping off occurred in Belmont was the Middle School section of the High and Middle School in March 2022.

Battle Of The MBTA Communities Maps On First Night Of Special Town Meeting Monday

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Photo: Map 1 will be debated along with a second map by Belmont Town Meeting

A vote of which of two maps Belmont will present to the state on promoting new future housing will highlight the first of three nights of the Fall Special Town Meeting taking place on Nov. 18-20 at the Belmont High School auditorium.

The meeting will begin at 7 p.m.

As the Town Meeting attempts to finish its work in three nights – “We will not meet for a fourth night under any circumstances” said Town Moderator Mike Widmer, – each night could go as late as 11 p.m. to accomplish the ambitious goal.

Monday’s agenda will see Town Meeting debate the MBTA Communities Act [ Section 3A of MGL c. 40A] requires towns such as Belmont to create at least one zoning district in which multi-family housing is permitted as of right and meets other criteria set forth in the statute. While there has been , the new zoning is “aspirational” as no new housing is required to be built under the law.

The maps – Map 1 was created over the past year by a citizen’s group and the Planning Board – have two large and one smaller subdistrict falling under the law.

The maps differ in one significant area: Map 1 – which will be presented by Planning Board Chair Taylor Yates – carves out three zoning districts; in the Waverley neighborhood, Belmont Center and a small subdistrict along Belmont Street at the Cambridge town line. Map 2, which will be an amendment to Map 1, retains the two larger zoning district but swopes the Belmont Street subdistrict with the property on Hittinger and Brighton where the Purecoat Plating facility and a dog daycare business is located and the Frank French business adjacent to the MBTA commuter rail line and Brighton.

Town officials and residents who have supported greater commercial development to provide additional tax revenue to the town are backing Map 1 while those advocating for more housing are supporting Map 2.

Before the map vote, there are three additional amendments – one will be a fix to an appendix item concerning the Belmont Housing Authority (known as Epstein Amendment 2), another on lowering building heights in the zones, and finally an amendment removing building footprint maximums and building separation requirements.

After what is expected to be a lively discussion on the amendments, Town Meeting will vote on Epstein’s Map 2 amendment first. If it fails to garner a majority of member votes, discussion will continue on Map 1 as the main motion. But if the Epstein amendment passes, Map 2 will replace Map 1 and will ultimately be voted on.

After votes on the three amendments, the main motion will be discussed and voted on. If the final map article fails, then Belmont will be out of compliance with Section 3A which could result in state sanctions.

Seventeen Educators Receive Professional Teaching Status

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Photo: Theresa Burke, a School Social Worker, being congratulated by Superintendent Dr. Jill Geiser for obtaining professional teaching status

Seventeen educators and staff members in the Belmont Public Schools can add “professional status” to their resume.

“Tonight we will recognize educators who have worked diligently over the last three years to earn this distinction,” said Mike McAllister, director of Human Capital who hosted the ceremony during a recent School Committee meeting.

Professional status is bestowed on teachers and other professional employees – including social workers, school librarians, nurses, counselors, and school psychologists – who have served in the School District for three consecutive years and have successfully completed the teacher induction and mentor-mentee programs, and pass the evaluation under a Developing Educator Plan. It provides added job security, allow them to pursue specialized training, and a path to move into school or district administration.

“It required not only that these educators teach successfully and work with their students, but also meet the high expectations of the community and the leadership of the Belmont schools,” said McAllister, who noted that this group faced challenges post-COVID – they were hired in 2021 – and excelled in their roles, often taking on tasks their predecessors didn’t expect.

“As we know, the journey from year one to three is an important time in a career,” said School Committee Chair Meg Moriarty. “Our work is to ensure that our early career teachers develop those skills that are needed to really meet our high standards.”

“The teachers who have earned these professional status have proven that they can consistently deliver on the district’s expectations around these practices,” Moriarty said.

Rebecca Burger Nurse
Nicole Budreau Grade 5 ELA/SS
Theresa Burke School Social Worker
Erin Collins Math Specialist
Jacqueline Duane Reading Specialist
Megan Gallo School Psychologist
Kathleen Harris School Nurse
Devon Kelleher Grade 4
Colleen Leary School Psychologist
Jeffrey Molk Chemisty & Biology
Meghan Newcombe English Language Arts
Ashley Peterson School Social Worker
Samantha Resnick School Social Worker/Adjustment Counselor
Sydney Skiba, Grade 4
Krista Urquhart Guidance Counselor
Oliver Ward Grade 5 (Math/Science)
Jason Zomick School Psychologist

Historic Run Ends As Belmont Field Hockey Fell To Andover In State Quarters Match

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Photo: Belmont coming off the pitch at halftime at the quarterfinals of the MIAA state championship

A brilliant sun was just setting on a crisp fall day as the final horn sounded over Lovely Stadium in Andover as the players of Belmont High School Field Hockey slowly made their way to the sideline. Many just wanted to hold on to their teammates while others stared down at the field. They wanted more time together, to continue the season, win just once more.

But the cold reality was the season had just ended, as Andover came away with a solid 3-0 victory over the Marauders in the quarterfinals of the MIAA Division 1 state championship.

Belmont Head Coach Jess Smith only regret was that for the first time in 21 games, the Marauders didn’t bring their A game to a contest which they needed to be their opponents equal.

“It was not our day,” said Smith “Things didn’t fall the way they needed to. It’s like a basketball; we were hitting the rim and the ball just keeps coming out.”

“Some of those players that could elevate their intensity a little bit, it just didn’t happen,” she said.

Not that 5th-seed Belmont didn’t have its chances. In the first quarter, the Marauders were banging on the 4th-ranked Golden Warriors door. Five times they drove the ball within seven meters of goal. The first opportunity came just a minute-and-a-half into the game when a ball squeezed through Andover’s goalie Lucy Baker’s pads only to be stopped on the goal line.

While Belmont had a 10-6 shot advantage and 10 penalty corners in the 60 minutes, each chance would go wanting. And Andover would prove ruthless, scoring on its first two shots all within 90 seconds in the first quarter. The initial goal at 8:28 by Ella Sewall was one of the rare times this season the defense were out-of-position and missed a critical opportunity to clear the ball from in front of first-year goalie Zoe Bruce. The Warriors second tally from Avery Pitts at 6:51 came from some top-notch passing on a penalty corner.

Senior co-captain Ana Hopkins – who centered “The Wall”, Belmont’s outstanding back line along with junior Neamh Lesnik and sophomore Elise Lakin-Schultz – felt that going behind so early on the road put the team on the back foot.

“We were confident coming into it but no one was expecting [Andover] to so quickly bang those two goals. Once our team gets down, we were kind of like … ,” said Hopkins shrugging. “I don’t think we had it in us today to come back.”

While Belmont saw solid performances from center back Hopkins. first year mid Mia Smith and junior captain Mackenzie Clarke, who attracted double and triple teams, the Marauders couldn’t capture the same momentum which they could find during its 16 game winning streak which included wins against top 10 opponents Reading and Winchester.

While Belmont did push forward in the third quarter, coming close on a shot that barely skipped by the far right post, Andover packed the middle of the field with players stifling the Marauders centering passes from the wings. A late goal in the fourth quarter – a well-placed shot from Caroline Samaras that snuck inside the left nearside post – was the coup de grâce for any Belmont comeback.

Smith said the disheartening ending to the season doesn’t take away from a historic year for the program: a Middlesex Liberty Division title – capturing the crown for first in nine years – and records for wins (18) and shutouts (13) – lead by Bruce who didn’t pick up the game until this year – along with scoring 93 goals while surrendering just 18.

“We did a really good job this year,” said Hopkin, who is one of five seniors on the team. “I’ll miss it forever.”

“In all honestly, it’s a great year. We made it further than we ever thought back in August when we worried we were a .500 team,” said Smith. “The nice thing is it’s a young team and now they’re going to expect this from themselves coming into next season. I think they’ll be really motivated for it.”