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.

Breast Cancer Car Wash Fundraiser This Saturday, Oct. 18

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After today’s rainstorm and all the muddy puddles your car will be splashing through, the next step will be finding a place to wash your car. In Belmont, that would be Belmont Car Wash in lovely Waverley Square.

On Saturday, Oct. 18, you can clean your vehicle while supporting Belmont High School’s service club’s fight against breast cancer.

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.

The money raised goes to the American Cancer Society’s efforts for breast cancer research, prevention, education and patient outreach and support

So far this year, the team has raised approximately $6,500 for breast cancer research.

Rain Won’t Stop Today’s Belmont Farmers Market

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While rain is on the way, the Belmont Farmers Market will take place today, Thursday, Oct. 16 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Belmont Center municipal parking lot at the corner of Cross Street and Channing Road.

The fall harvest is under way with apples. pears and root vegetables in abundance.

Guest vendors today are Westport Rivers Winery, DC Farm Maple Syrup, Sugar + Grain, Underwood Greenhouse, Seasoned and Spiced, joining the weekly vendors.

There will be no food truck this week.

In the Events Tent

• Face painting for kids and adults with Belmont resident Amber Espar from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

• Storytime in the Events Tent
 will tales about food & farms, for preschool and older children, 4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

• The Hoot Owls return to play old time string band music, 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The Week Ahead: Chinese Temple Exercise on Tuesday, Library’s Book Sale Begins Friday

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On the government front, the Belmont Board of Selectmen is meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. at Town Hall to accept the $400,000 from the Underwood Pool Building Committee raised to build the new Underwood Pool and a presentation on preserving the Silver Maple Forest.

The Beech Street Center will begin a six-session Chinese Temple Exercise program on Tuesdays from 2:15 p.m. to 3 p.m. starting Oct. 14. Join Trudy Eyges (herself an elder) in this course in which you will use every muscle and joint at low intensity. The course aims to improve your balance, posture, circulation. Emphasis will be on improving balance via a special Eastern walk. The program is $36 for six sessions.

The Belmont Conservation Commission is sponsoring a public, interactive review of the initial design for the Intergenerational Walking Path at Clay Pit Pond on Wednesday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. in the Selectman’s Meeting Room at Town Hall. 

Infant Lapsit Storytime is for infants and pre-walkers at Thursday, Oct. 16 from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the Belmont Public Library’s Children’s Room. Enjoy songs, finger plays, and rhymes chosen especially for our littlest readers.

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.

Celebrate the Beech Street Center’s fifth anniversary with “Boston’s house band” the Bo Winiker Band on Friday, Oct. 17 at 1:15 p.m. Free, but please sign up. Celebrate the Beech Street Center’s 5th anniversary with “Boston’s house band.” Bo narrates his program with funny stories and charming humor. Free, but please sign up. 

Belmont Yard Sales on Oct. 11-12

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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

• 57-59 Chandler St., Saturday, Oct. 11, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; and Sunday, Oct. 12, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Not (yet) permitted sales

• 92 Clark St., Saturday, Oct. 11, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• 13 Harvard Rd., Sunday, Oct. 12, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• 354 Payson Rd., Saturday, Oct. 11, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

• 42 Pine St., Saturday, Oct. 11, 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 Judge’ Opens Tonight; Catch Belmont’s Fleeting Moments on the Silver Screen

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Belmont’s fleeting moments of fame on the silver screen will take place today, Friday, Oct. 10, with the release of “The Judge,” the Hollywood motion picture that spent a couple of days last year in “The Town of Homes.”

The film stars Robert Downey Jr. as a big city attorney who returns to his Indiana childhood home where his father, Robert Duvall, the town’s judge, is suspected of murder. Downey sets out to discover the truth and, along the way, reconnects with his estranged family.

The movie – the first effort by the production company run by Downey and his wife, Susan – also stars Vera Farmiga, Vincent D’Onofrio, Ken Howard,  and the always great Billy Bob Thornton

The scene filmed in Belmont was inside a Fletcher Road house in early July 2013. Most of the film’s scenes were shot in western Massachusetts.

The movie is being shown at Apple Cinemas Cambridge in the Fresh Pond Mall, the Capitol Theatre on Mass. Avenue in Arlington and the Embassy Cinema in downtown Waltham. 

Watch the trailer here.

‘MacBeth’ Bleeds on the Beech Street Stage Today at 4PM

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The New Rep Theatre’s classic company returns to the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St., today, Tuesday, Oct. 7 at 4 p.m. to deliver a performance of the “Scottish Play,” Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.” 

Considered one of The Bard’s darkest and most powerful works, this tragedy dramatizes the corrosive psychological and political effects produced when evil becomes the means to power. The play is suitable for children over 12 and most adults.

Cost: $10 adults, $5 kids under 16. Come early for the best seats.

Breaking News: Cunningham Resigns From School Committee

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Belmont School Committee member Kevin Cunningham, known for his loquacious manner and attention to detail, is resigning from the committee effective when a replacement is found or by Nov. 15.

In a letter [see Cunningham’s statement below] to Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman, Cunningham said while he had hoped to complete his three-year term ending in April 2017, “I find that financial and family issues, long held in abeyance in favor of contributing to the schools, must now take priority.”

Cunningham and his wife, Lisa Gibalerio, are parents of three children in the Belmont schools.

Cunningham won re-election to the committee in April’s Town Election, receiving 3,501 votes as he and fellow incumbent Laurie Graham ran unopposed for the two open seats.

Cunningham won his seat when he topped the field of three with 2,101 votes as he and Graham beat out School Committee chair Ann Rittenburg for places on the committee. The year before, he finished a distant third with two seats available.

During his tenure on the committee, Cunningham directed most of his energy on budget and financial matters, work he won praise from colleagues and town officials for bringing an analytical, forward thinking approach to the school budget, using realistic, unemotional assumptions on revenue and spending.

He is also one of the architects of “One Town, One Budget,” a process Selectman Andy Rojas described at this year’s Town Meeting as creating a realistic budget “we all could support” through a collaborative effort between the school district and town government.

“I appreciate the movement of the School Department, and the Town generally, toward long-term financial planning, and I am so glad that all of us representing the public have worked together with respect and without rancor on the core issues of the district and town,” wrote Cunningham in his letter.

Cunningham also brought a natural inquisitive nature to the committee, which, at times, resulted in sometimes verbose “stream of consciousness” questioning that could approach Proustian lengths.

Yet each one of his questions brought to the fore important details to relative issues, from broad budgetary concepts to querying the need to send school trips overseas “when there’s just as much to see in Chicago.”

Cunningham’s replacement – to be selected by a joint committee of the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee – will fill the seat only until the Town Election in April 2015. Then the appointed replace, and any other registered voter can seek to fill the two-years remaining in Cunningham’s term.

With Cunningham’s resignation, three of the six seats on the committee will be open with incumbents Anne Lougee and Lisa Fiore expected to run.

Kevin Cunningham’s letter to Town Clerk Ellen Cushman dated Oct. 6. 

Dear Ellen:

I am writing today to formally resign from the elected position of School Committee Member, effective either when another qualified candidate is appointed jointly by the School Committee and Board of Selectmen, or by November 15, whichever comes first.

I am deeply grateful to my fellow citizens for having afforded me the opportunity to contribute to the Town of Belmont and our outstanding school system in this capacity for over three and a half years. It has been a privilege to work alongside so many people who are so skilled at – and devoted to – promoting excellent outcomes for all the students in town. I appreciate the movement of the School Department, and the Town generally, toward long-term financial planning, and I am so glad that all of us representing the public have worked together with respect and without rancor on the core issues of the district and town. I have been especially fortunate to serve along so many skilled School Committee members, current and past, and such highly qualified professionals throughout the school system.

I would truly prefer to continue to serve our town in my current capacity as School Committee member – I feel I still have much to offer, and serving feeds my soul. But I find that financial and family issues, long held in abeyance in favor of contributing to the schools, must now take priority.

And so I withdraw myself from my elected role. To the extent that I can still help the schools in a more limited way, I have informed the Chair of my availability.

Sincerely,

Kevin Cunningham

The Week to Come: Macbeth at the Beech Tuesday, Fire HQ Open House Wednesday

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Upper school students at the Chenery Middle School are invited to attend the 7th and 8th Grade Book Club at the Belmont Public Library on Monday, Oct. 6 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Young Adult Room. Come discuss The Waking:  Dreams of the Dead by Thomas Randall, eat snacks, and pick next month’s book. Grab your copy of the book from the New Teen Fiction shelf. For more information, call 617-993-2873 or send an e-mail to cmitchem@minlib.net.

Belmont Public Library will be rockin’ Tuesday night, Oct. 7, from 7 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. as the Belmont Cultural Council presents a concert of blues, folk and early rock & roll with Jumpin’ Juba in the Assembly Room. This concert is free and open to the general public. Jumpin’ Juba – featuring Steve Hurl (guitars, vocal) and Bruce Ward (piano) – mixes regional blues from Chicago, Memphis and New Orleans together with roots-y rock & roll, jazz, calypso, and Latin flavors.

Come see the Scottish Play performed on the Beech. The New Rep Theatre’s classic company returns to the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St., on Tuesday, Oct. 7 at 4 p.m. to deliver a performance of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.” Considered one of The Bard’s darkest and most powerful works, this tragedy dramatizes the corrosive psychological and political effects produced when evil becomes the means to power. Cost: $10 adults, $5 kids under 16

Eleanor Baker of AAA Southern New England will give a presentation at the Beech Street Center on “Winter driving: How to Go on Ice and Snow” on Tuesday, Oct. 7, at 1:15 p.m. She will share tips on how to deal safely with winter driving conditions. Baker is a certified instructor for AAA’s Driver Improvement Program.

The Belmont Fire Department is holding an open house at the Fire Department Headquarters on Wednesday, Oct. 8 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. as part of Fire Prevention Week. Pizza will be provided by Papa Ginos, and there will be demonstrations provided by members of the Fire Department. The HQ is located at 299 Trapelo Rd.

The Wellington Elementary School is celebrating International Walk to School Day on Wednesday Oct. 8 with nine celebrity walkers starting off (from 7:30 a.m. to 8 a.m.) from nine designated street corners as they bring students and parents to the school. Contact Diane Hutchins-Fridmann at dianehf98@gmail.com or 617-593-5014.

On the government side of things: The Zoning Board of Appeals will discuss a new eatery with a BBQ theme in the Belmont Street location once home to Gustazo Cuban Restaurant on Monday, Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. at  in the Belmont Art Gallary on the third floor of the Homer Building in the Town Hall complex. Teachers earning professional status will be honored by the School Committee at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 7 at 7:30 p.m. at the Chenery Middle School. The Planning Board will begin discussions on reviewing Special Permit Applications on Tuesday, Oct. 7 at 7:15 p.m. in the Belmont Art Gallary in the Homer Building. The Community Preservation Committee will announce which applications were selected and rejected in the preliminary round of this year’s grant applications on Wednesday, Oct. 8 at 5 p.m. at Town Hall.