What’s Open/Closed Veterans Day In Belmont: Town Offices, Schools, Post Office Shut For The Holiday; Trash/Recycling Delayed A Day

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Photo: Belmont’s World War I memorial, the town’s Cenotaph for residents who sacrificed their lives and who are buried overseas

Standing before the Belmont Lions Club, in the delta fronted by Common Street and Royal Road where in just a few weeks Christmas trees and wreathes will be sold, stands the staid and beautiful monolith bearing the names of the nine residents who gave their lives in the struggle known as the “War to end all wars.”

Cirino, Craigie, Finn, Lincoln, McAleer, Nimmo, Patrioun, Smith, and True.

Dedicated on this day in 1923 then known as “Armistice Day” and renovated in 2015, it stands as the town’s Cenotaph – an empty tomb – its monument to those Belmont sons who are buried elsewhere.

The World War I memorial during its rededication in 2015

Laid on the back of the Bethel white granite monument to those who died in World War I are the last lines to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Voluntaries,” written in 1863 to pay tribute to another company of young men prepared to sacrifice their lives for the sake of the nation.

“So nigh is grandeur to our dust,
So near is God to man,
When Duty whispers low, ‘Thou must,’
The youth whispers, ‘I can.”

Known since the mid-1950s as Veterans Day, today is a federal and state holiday.

What’s Closed:

  • Belmont Town offices, temporary library locations at the Beech Street Center and the Benton Library and Belmont Light are closed. They will reopen to the public on Tuesday, Nov. 12.
  • US Postal Service offices and regular deliveries.
  • Banks; although branches will be open in some supermarkets.

MBTA: Buses and subways on a Sunday schedule, while the commuter rail is on a weekend schedule. Go to www.mbta.com for details.

Trash and recycling collection: There will be no collection Monday; trash and recycling will be delayed ONE DAY this holiday week.

What’s Opened:

  • Retail stores.
  • Coffee shops: Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts are serving coffee all day.
  • Supermarkets.
  • Convenience and drug stores (CVS/Pharmacy) open regular hours.
  • Establishments that sell beer and wine are also allowed to be open.

Performing Arts Company’s Modern Production Of ‘Star-Cross’d Lovers’: Romeo & Juliet Wrapped In A Punk Shroud

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Photo: Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet is being presented by the Belmont High School Performing Arts Company.

The Belmont High School Performing Arts Company’s Fall Play is William Shakespeare’s ROMEO & JULIET.

The Bard’s great love story of “a pair of star-cross’d lovers” and the family feud that drives them to a tragic end gets a contemporary update by the PAC. Inspired by punk rock and grunge of the 1970s-1990s, the production produced and directed by Belmont High Theater Arts teacher Ezra Flam highlights the wild, violent, humorous and impulsive passions of youth.

CONTENT WARNING: The PAC Production contains depictions of violence, suicide and domestic abuse. It may not be appropriate for young children.

Performances are Thursday, Friday & Saturday. ​Nov. 7, 8 and 9
The curtain rises at 7 p.m. in the BHS Black Box Theater

TICKET INFO:
ADULTS: $12, CHILDREN: $7
​BHS STUDENTS/STAFF: $5 all performances

Tickets are on sale online. Advance purchase recommended.
BHS Students/Staff can get tickets in school during lunch the week of the show

Poster by Wynn Tenhor ’25

MBTA Communities, Citizen’s Petition On 5 Member Select Board Headlines Three Nights Of Special Town Meeting

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Photo: Mike Widmer, Belmont Town Moderator

Expect some late nights next month in the Belmont Middle and High School Auditorium as the Town Moderator announced the schedule for the Special Town Meeting.

Mike Widmer, the town’s long-standing Town Moderator, announced in a Friday, Oct 18 email after a planning session took place concerning the fall Special Town Meeting.

The “Special” will take place on three consecutive nights: Monday, Nov. 18; Tuesday, Nov. 19 and Wednesday, Nov. 20.

“We will not meet for a fourth night under any circumstances,” said Widmer, as the extra day(s) would bleed into the week of Thanksgiving which the planners said would be too inconvenient for members planning to travel and preparing for the extended holiday.

With a 72-hour limitation in mind, there’s a good possibility members can expect some rare – for Belmont Town Meetings – “Cinderella” meetings taking place.

“Though I would prefer not, we may need to go as late as 11 p.m. in order to complete our business in just three nights,” said Widmer.

Unlike previous annual and special Town Meetings when the more important articles are taken up on the final nights, Widmer said the fall special will begin with the big ticket items: implementing the MBTA Communities Act (3A) and amendments to the Inclusionary Housing and Design and Site Plan Review zoning sections. A citizens’ petition article to expand the Select Board to five members will be the first item of business on Wednesday, Nov. 20.

And due to the complexity of the zoning issues, Widmer set an earlier deadline of noon, Tuesday, Nov. 5 for members to submit proposed amendments to alter the articles.

While a growing number of member have been hankering for a virtual meeting, Widmer said given the current limits of town resources, the Special will only take place in person. But those campaigning for off-site attendance, Widmer said that “town leaders are committed to holding some form of hybrid at the 2025 Annual Town Meeting [in May 2025] and into the future if permitted by state law.”

The current remote and hybrid entitlement approved by the state legislature during the pandemic is due to expire in early 2025. “While this is my final year as Moderator, I will strongly recommend to my successor that Town Meeting have a permanent hybrid option, if permitted,” said Widmer.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day Is Monday, Oct. 14: What’s Open/Closed In Belmont; Trash Pickup Delayed By A Day

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Photo: Monday is a federal holiday.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day, celebrated annually on the second Monday of October – this year Oct. 14 – is a new federal holiday observed by the Town of Belmont to celebrate Native American peoples and commemorate their histories and cultures. 

You can read an essay on the native people who live in what is today’s Belmont by resident Dr. Mark Jarzombek, PhD, a history and theory of architecture professor at the MIT School of Architecture and Planning that was first published in the Belmont Citizen’s Forum of March/April 2024.

Curb side trash and recycling pickup will be delayed by one day due to the holiday.

What’s Closed:

  • Belmont Town offices, Belmont Public Library, and Belmont Light are closed.
  • The US Postal Service will not deliver mail, and post offices are closed.
  • Most banks, although branches will be open in some supermarkets.

What’s Opened:

  • Retail stores
  • Coffee shops
  • Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts
  • Supermarkets and convenience stores
  • Establishments that sell beer and wine are also allowed to be open.

MBTA: Holidays such as Juneteenth, Columbus Day, Indigenous Peoples Day, and Veterans Day do not have modified schedules; all services will operate on a regular schedule today and on those days.

HOOONNNKKKK! Touch A Truck Returns To Belmont Center On Saturday, Oct. 12

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Photo: Large vehicles like a Belmont Fire Truck will be at Touch A Truck this Saturday

Bring your noise cancelling headsets or earplugs! The noise returns to Belmont.

Belmont Youth Activities and D.A.R.E. Inc. in partnership with Belmont Center Business Association will present Belmont Touch-A-Truck on Saturday, Oct. 12, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The cavlcade of vehicles will be located at the Claflin Street Municipal Parking Lot in Belmont Center.

Take a tour of the parking lot for an up-close view of tractors, trucks, diggers, police cars, and fire engines from Belmont DPW, Light, Fire, and Police along with several local businesses and potentially room for a couple more. Sit in the driver’s seat, honk the horn, and take a photo in the front end shovel of the construction vehicles.

The rain date is Saturday, Oct. 19.

Belmont High Girls Volleyball Host ‘Marauders Dig Pink’ Match On Thursday, Oct. 10 [VIDEO]

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Photo: Funds raised by Side-Out go toward a clinical trial specifically for patients with stage 4 breast cancer,

Belmont High Girls Volleyball is hosting a “Dig Pink” match on Thursday, Oct. 10 against Reading with the junior varsity/first year game starting at 4:15 p.m. with the varsity to follow at 5:30 p.m. The team is raising funds for the Side-Out Foundation, a metastatic breast cancer research organization. There will be a concession stand and link/QR code for fans to donate to the cause. 

Belmont High Head Coach Jen Couture said the team is “excited to be part of The Side-Out Foundation and its Dig Pink initiative, and we need our fan’s help to make our campaign successful.”

Funds raised for Side-Out go toward a clinical trial specifically for patients with stage 4 breast cancer, the most advanced form of the disease and the least funded area of research.

Belmont Light’s Second Annual Public Power Week Open House On Monday, Oct. 7

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Photo: The Open House will take place on Monday from 3 p.m. – 6 p.m.

Belmont Light will be hosting its second annual Open House in honor of Public Power Week.

The Open House will take place on Monday, Oct. 7 from 3 p.m. – 6 p.m. at Belmont Light’s headquarters located at 40 Prince St., and will feature activities for the whole family such as:

  • Touch-a-Truck
  • Dress as a Line Worker
  • Safety Demonstrations
  • Kids Activities, and more

Public Power Week is a national event celebrating community-owned utilities and their benefits, such as reliability, accountability, and local focus.

Parking is available onsite. Refreshments will be served.

Public Invited To Groundbreaking For New Rink/Sports Facility This Thursday, Sept. 5 At 10 AM

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Photo: It’s a constuction site now but just wait.

The proposed skating rink and recreation center adjacent to Harris Field on Concord Avenue has as many lives as a lucky cat.

An initial attempt in 2019 to replace the dilapidated Skip Viglirolo facility with a public/private venture stalled before it even started. Then the first attempt in November 2022 at a publicly financed building failed at the ballot box. Even when a second chance vote was successful in April of ’23, the project was nearly scuttled when it was discovered to be millions of dollars over budget, requiring a last-minute bailout by Town Meeting in 2024. And those near-death moments don’t even include environmental issues, electrical changes and a slew of value engineering decisions that left the building bruised and battered.

But like that charmed cat, when all believed the project was a goner, it somehow shows up at the door having survived all the misadventures none the worst for wear – even if it’s missing a tip of its tail. For the past month, large earth-moving equipment has been … moving earth as the first evidence that the rink facility has become a reality.

On Thursday, Sept. 5 at 10 a.m., the Belmont community is invited by the stalwarts of the Municipal Skating Rink Building Committee to attend the public groundbreaking ceremony for the new rink and sports facility at the building site on Concord Avenue.

Join the Building Committee, members of the Select Board, and town administration, School Department and Committee, as well as representatives from Skanska, The Galante Architecture Studio, and the Owner’s Project Manager, CHA as they put shovels to dirt on this landmark occasion.

Closed-toe shoes are required at the site.

What’s Open, Closed On Labor Day In Belmont/ Trash,Recycling Pickup Delayed A Day

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Photo: the “Labor Day” stamp, issued on Sept. 3, 1956 (credit: The National Postal Museum)

With the big migration back to school beginning this week in Belmont, Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 2, ends the last big getaway weekend of the summer.

The holiday is rooted in the late nineteenth century, when labor activists pushed for a federal holiday to recognize the many contributions workers have made to America’s strength, prosperity, and well-being.

Before it was a federal holiday, Labor Day was recognized by labor activists and individual states. After municipal ordinances were passed in 1885 and 1886, a movement developed to secure state legislation. New York was the first state to introduce a bill, but Oregon was the first to pass a law recognizing Labor Day in 1887. During that year, four more states including Massachusetts passed laws creating a Labor Day holiday. By 1894, 23 more states had adopted the holiday, and on June 28, 1894, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday.

Labor Day is one of ten holidays recognized by the federal government, although the feds don’t require employers to pay workers for this holiday. Businesses traditionally provide their employees with a paid holiday as part of a benefits package because most other employers do the same.

Trash and recycling collection is delayed ONE DAY due to the holiday: If your pickup day is Monday, this week it will be collected on Tuesday, etc.

Closed:

Belmont Town offices, Belmont Public Library at both the Beech Street Center and the Benton Library, and Belmont Light are closed.

• US Postal Service offices and regular deliveries.

• Banks; although some branches will be open in some supermarkets.

• MBTA: Operating on a Sunday schedule. See www.mbta.com for details.

What’s Opened:

• Retail stores

• Coffee shops; Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts are open.

• Supermarkets

• Convenience stores and,

• Establishments that sell beer and wine are also allowed to be open.

Early Voting For State Party Primary Election Starts Saturday, Aug. 24

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Photo: Early voting starts Saturday, Aug. 24

Voters will decide their political party’s candidates for the general election in November at the State Primary Election on Tuesday, Sept. 3 – the day after Labor Day – with polls open from 7 a.m. to 8 pm.

But why wait until the day after the summer holiday to vote when you can perform that task before you head off for the beach or backyard? In Person Early Voting begins on Saturday, Aug. 24 and lasts until Noon, Friday, Aug. 30. All in person early voting will take place at the Belmont Town Hall. Here’s the schedule:

DateTime
Saturday, August 2410 AM to 4 PM
Sunday, August 25No Early Voting
Monday, August 268 AM to 7 PM
Tuesday, August 278 AM to 4 PM
Wednesday, August 288 AM to 4 PM
Thursday, August 298 AM to 4 PM
Friday, August 308 AM to Noon

The final day to register to vote in the primary is Saturday, Aug. 24:

  • by 5 p.m. for in-person requests at Town Hall,
  • by 11:59 p.m. for online requests, and
  • postmarked by the deadline date for mail-in requests.

Voter registrations received after 5 p.m. on the 24th will be entered after the election.

There is a caveat to vote in this election: voters enrolled in either the Democratic, Libertarian or Republican party can vote only in that party’s primary. Enrollment in a political party does not affect your right to vote in the general election.

Unenrolled voters may cast a primary ballot for any party. Voters in political designations are treated as “Unenrolled” voters for primary purposes, and so they may choose to vote in any one of the party primaries.

If you have any questions on elections in Belmont, contact the Town Clerk at ecushman@belmont-ma.gov or call (617) 993-2604.