Town Clerk Holding ‘Late’ Night Voter Registration Sept. 23

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To celebrate National Voter Registration Day, the Belmont Town Clerk’s office will remain open until 8 p.m., on Tuesday, Sept. 23.

Residents of Belmont who are citizens of the United States and will be age 18 or older on the day of the State election, Nov. 4, may register to vote at the Town Clerk’s office in Town Hall, 455 Concord Ave. Registrants should be certain to have identification that complies with the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).

A voter registration day will be held for Belmont High School students and staff on Wednesday, Oct. 8 from 10:40 a.m., to 12:40 p.m. outside the cafeteria at the high school. Staff and students who are U.S. citizens and will turn 18 on or before Nov. 4 can register to vote.

Just remember, the final day to register to vote or make any changes to your party, address or name, to qualify for the State Election is Oct. 15.

The Town Clerk’s office at Town Hall, 455 Concord Avenue will remain open until 8 p.m. on Oct. 15  to accept voter registrations and changes that evening; mailed registration form .

To learn more about registering to vote, HAVA, and upcoming elections, or to print registration forms, please visit the Town Clerk’s website or telephone the Town Clerk’s office at 617-993-2600.

In Bloom: A Sample of Belmont’s Green Garden Tour

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On Sunday, Sept. 7, 10 locations around Belmont – from community plots at Rock Meadow to small backyard spaces – participated in the 4th annual Belmont Green Garden Tour, highlighting organic and sustainable gardens that use their available spaces, whether big or small, with great efficiency and imagination.

Here are just a sample of the gardens presented this year:

Peggy Kornegger, Gilbert Road

Unlike many of the gardeners, Kornegger rents her home on Gilbert Road. But despite not owning her plot, Kornegger wanted to create a space where she could plant and grow an organic garden. She asked her landlord if she could have the run of a long neglected shade-filled backyard.

After seven years, Kornegger has repaired the building’s back wall, planted shade-friendly annuals and strategically placed a row of hostas to stop a mud slide down the driveway that occurred every time it rained. Her garden is filled with a wide variety of Indigenous New England plants, such as a native honeysuckle that attracts hummingbirds, as well as small statues of spiritual icons of  Buddha and St. Francis.

“I’m very spiritual and eclectic and my garden shows that,” said Kornegger. “Gradually, a mini-habitat is growing, and the yard is filled with life of all kinds.”

Karsten Kueppenbender and Siobhan O’Neill, Pine Street.

Located across busy Trapelo Road from a popular ice cream spot is Belmont’s newest bee habitat. The yellow and black beehive – is there any other colors to use? – that is new home to more than 1,000 bees is situated near the garage of the two-family Pine Street home of Karsten Kueppenbender and Siobhan O’Neill.

“My son wanted to have bees and we thought once he got old enough, then why not?” said Kueppenbender who has been slowly building his green garden beginning six years ago. They will not be harvesting any honey this year as the current crop will be used to allow the bees to use over the winter.

But the Pine Street location is more than just a honeycomb; there are raised garden beds where vegetables such as tomatoes (protected with wire as squirrels have taken to them), kale, swiss chard, along with earthier produce such as carrots and potatoes. There is even a small critter living just below one the beds.

The location is also where two praying mantises couples have come to dine, eats bumble bees but leaves the honey-variety alone, said Kueppenbender.

“That’s good for us,” he said. “Not so for the bumble bees.”

Joan Teebagy, Washington Street

There’s a large rabbit in a cage out front of Joan Teebagy’s house – a wonderful fertilizer, she notes – next to raised beds filled with a variety of cheery tomatoes, broccoli, squash and other produce. For the past nine years, Teebagy has been adding a little bit more each season to her front yard garden.

Out back is a brand new sunny backyard, made possible when a five-foot ash came down, where this year she grew native “painted” corn, the first time she ever grew it.

“My own ‘Field of Dreams,’ Teebagy proclaimed, said she will attempt to grind the kernels into flowers.

Teebagy has a virtual farm outback: there are a raft of ducks for the eggs – the sign at the gate warns all to close the gates less the they flee – a few chickens (“just visiting for dinner,” said Teebagy, with a knowing wink) a couple more bunnies along with Belmont’s only “barn” cat, Michu, which happily lives in the garage.

“The Animal Rescue League said she was un-adoptable and unfriendly,” said Teebagy as Michu saunters up to every visitor for a pet and a scratch. “I think they were wrong.”

The Week to Come: Solar Power Pricing Debated Thursday, Clifford at the Library Wednesday

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• The Belmont Municipal Light Board (which is made up of the Belmont Board of Selectmen) and the Board’s Advisory Board will be holding a joint public meeting on Thursday, Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall auditorium to discuss the new net metering policy which will impact resident who have existing solar power units.

• The 7th-8th Grade Book Club is meeting for the first time this school year on Monday, Sept. 15 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Young Adults Room of the Belmont Public Library to discuss Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan. Let’s discuss, eat snacks and pick next month’s book. Sponsored by the Friends of the Belmont Public Library.

• Meet one-on-one with the staff of US Rep. Katherine Clark (representing the 5th Congressional District of Massachusetts) as they hold office hours at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St., on Tuesday, Sept. 16 from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. 

• Enjoy a free concert of music spanning three centuries with clarinetist and Belmont resident Marguerite Levin and pianist Sayuri  Miyamoto at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St., on Tuesday, Sept. 16 beginning at 5 p.m. The concert is open to the public.

• The Belmont Book Discussion Group will discuss the masterpiece One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez on Wednesday, Sept. 17 from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Belmont Public Library’s Flett Room. Everyone is welcome to attend. Copies of the book can be requested through the library catalog or call the library’s Reference staff at 617-993-2870.

• The Belmont Historical Society is presenting an illustrated lecture by author Chaim M. Rosenberg on the book, “Francis Cabot Lowell: The Man Who Launched America’s Industrial Revolution” in the Assembly Room of the Belmont Public Library on Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 7:30 p.m. 

• There will be a community blood drive at St. Joseph Parish, at the corner of School and Common streets, on Wednesday, Sept. 17 from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Call 1-800-RED CROSS for more information.

• If you have a child who’s just beginning to read, it’s likely that his second favorite pet is that big, red dog Clifford. And the book character is visiting the Belmont Public Library’s Children’s Room on Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 10:30 a.m in the Assembly Room. Enjoy stories, activities, and surprises galore. Bring your camera so you can have your child’s picture taken with Clifford. Sponsored by the UFund college investing plan as part of the MEFA U.Fund Start U. Reading Series. For more information, please contact the Children’s Room at 617-993-2880.

• On the government front, the School Committee is returning from summer vacation and will meet for the first time this school year in the Chenery Middle School on Tuesday, Sept. 16 at 7:30 p.m. The Planning Board will meet on Tuesday, Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. in Town Hall to discuss two new two-families (318 Trapelo and 13 Birch) seeking permission to build while the Board of Health is setting up shop on Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 5:30 p.m. to discuss increasing to 21 the age to purchase tobacco in Belmont as well as holding a “dog hearing” with “Diamond.”

• Al Natale and his Swing Orchestra will be performing a fundraising concert to benefit the Belmont Council on Aging for the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St., on Thursday, Sept. 18 beginning at 7 p.m. This performance includes vocalists Sandi Bedrosian and Jim Bramante, crowd-pleasers at last year’s concert. The concert is open to the public, so bring family and friends. A suggested donation of $10

Belmont Yard Sales on Sept. 13-14

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Here are this weekend’s yard/moving/garage sales (and a free item giveaway event) happening in the 02478 zip code:

This weekend will see two large neighborhood yard sales in Belmont:

• “Shop around the Block” at several homes on Hurd, Selwyn and Oakley roads on beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 13. It’s so large there will be two lemonade stands. Also, there will be bundles of Martha Stewart magazines waiting to be taken away. Park in the Chenery Middle School lot off of Oakley. 

• Dozens of households are holding individual sales on Kent, Regent, Brookside, Lorimer, Mayfield and Vernon roads off Mill St.) running from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 13. Perennials will also be for sale at 127 Brookside Ave. from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

• 236 Brighton St., Saturday, Sept. 13 and Sunday, Sept. 14, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

• 20 Ericsson St., Saturday, Sept. 13 and Sunday, Sept. 14, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

• 15 Exeter St., Saturday, Sept. 13, 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.

• 23 Leslie Rd., Saturday, Sept. 13, 9 a.m. to noon.

• 54 Park Rd., Saturday, Sept. 13, 8 a.m. to noon.

Only Eight More Market Days Left in Belmont

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There are only eight more Thursdays before the end of the Belmont Farmers Market season. Apples are starting to come in as are other fruits such pears, peaches and plums. They all are ready for canning and baking. 

The market is open today from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. (note the earlier closing time) in the Belmont Municipal Parking Lot at the corner of Channing Road and Cross Street behind the Belmont Center shopping district.

This week, the guest vendors are Turtle Creek Winery, Matt’s Amazing Smokehouse, Sara Ran Away with the Spoon, Soluna Garden Farm and Bedford Blueberry Goat Farm. For a list of weekly vendors, visit the market’s Web site.

This Week’s Food Truck: It’s Benny’s Crepe Cafe, starting at 3 p.m.

In the Events Tent:

•   Bob Leger plays guitar and sings from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

•  One of Boston’s best young magicians, Ryan Lally, returns to amaze us with magic, 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

•  The Belmont Public Library sponsors storytime for preschool and older children. Denise Shaver, head of the Children’s Department, reads from 4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Belmont Food Pantry
Bring non-perishable items each week to the Market tent. The Market has supported the Pantry with nonperishable food collection over the years, along with donations of fresh produce from the Market’s community garden project.

SNAP Payments

The market accepts and doubles SNAP benefits (formerly called Food Stamps) up to an extra $25 per Market day while matching funds last. Your donations to our parent organization, the Belmont Food Collaborative (belmontfood.org), help with programs like this. You can donate securely on the web site, or mail a check to PO Box 387, Belmont, MA 02478. We appreciate your support!

The Market is open on Thursdays through October 30, rain or shine.

Need a Ride to the Polls? Call, E-mail Belmont’s League of Women Voters

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The Belmont League of Women Voters will once again provide rides to the polls on Tuesday, Sept. 9 so residents can vote in the Massachusetts Primary Election.

Rides will be available from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. to any of the eight precinct polling stations in town. To arrange a trip, either call the league at 617-771–8500 or e-mail: Rides @ BelmontLWV.org

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. There are contested races for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Treasurer, Attorney General, Representative in Congress Governor’s Councillor and District Attorney.

The Week Ahead: Election Tuesday, ‘The Butler’ at the Beech Friday

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• The Massachusetts State Party Primary Election takes place from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. You have to be a declared voter of one of the parties or unenrolled to participate. The Belmontonian will have all the information you need to vote on the site Tuesday morning.

• Besides the Belmont Board of Selectmen at 6 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 8, the Community Preservation Committee  meets at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 10, while the Energy Committee will assemble at 8 a.m. on Wednesday. The Historic District Commission is meeting on Thursday, Sept. 11 at 7 p.m.

• Did you know that Isolina Gianino, an experienced tailor, does alterations, zipper replacements and other restorative measures at reasonable prices at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St? She’ll be there on Tuesday, Sept. 9 at 10 a.m. until noon.

• The Belmont League of Women Voters will be holding a league meeting from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 11 in the Flett Room of the Belmont Public Library.

• Local musician Liz Buchanan performs original songs and traditional favorites for little ones on Friday, Sept. 12, from 10:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. in Belmont Public Library’s Assembly Room.

• The Senior Book Discussion Group will meet Friday, Sept. 12th at 11 a.m. at the Beech Street Center to discussed “Seize the Day” by Saul Bellow.

• The Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St., will be screening the film “The Butler” at 1 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12. The film tells the story of an African-American whose 34 years of service as a butler in the White House reflects a period of unparalleled change in American history.

Hazardous Thunderstorms On the Horizon Saturday for Belmont

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After a morning of summer weather, Belmont residents should prepare for stormy weather Saturday afternoon, Sept. 6.

The National Weather Service issued a hazardous weather outlook for Belmont and all of Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire as “a line of showers and thunderstorm will sweep across the region” after 2 p.m. and lasting to 10 p.m.

“There … is a low probability of a very brief, weak tornado,” warned the Service which issued the report at 3 a.m. Saturday.

Torrential rainfall will occur with the strongest storms resulting in a very localized flash flood threat in come areas. A few of the thunderstorms may become severe producing locally damaging wind gusts and perhaps an isolated report of large hail.

If the power does go out, call Belmont Light’s emergency number: 617-993-2800. Don’t call 911. 

Nature in Simple Scenes: The Photographs of Will Bielitz at the Beech

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You may remember Will Bielitz as being one of the town employees in the Assessor’s Office. What you may not know is that Bielitz has been interested in photography since his teen years. Having learned some of the “old techniques” of dark rooms and wet film developing, he has progressed to digital photography and takes pride in the photos he takes now.

You can see Bielitz’s work in an exhibit at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St., until Sept. 11.

He has had photos published in the 2006 Town of Belmont Annual Report, Massachusetts Municipal Association’s 2012 calendar, the Belmont Savings Bank calendar of 2011, and two years of their Christmas card mailings.

This show highlights his various interests in subject matter, flowers, landscapes and simple scenes with a focus on nature.

This Weekend in Belmont: Powers Open House Saturday, Benton Open Late

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• The Benton Library – Belmont’s independent and volunteer-run library – will be open late on Friday, Sept. 5 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Make the Benton a stop on your way home or after dinner; its located at the corner of Oakley and Old Middlesex roads. See the latest New York Times Best sellers. Browse the collection. Buy some of our reasonably-priced sale books; all proceeds go to the Benton. Use our Wi-Fi. The Benton is open the first Friday evening of every month.

• Belmont’s Powers Music School – which is celebrating a half-century of providing music training to children and adults – is holding its Fall Open House and Instrument Petting Zoo on Saturday, Sept. 6, from noon to 3 p.m. at its home at 380 Concord Ave. 

Events include:

  • Free Early Childhood (age 1 to 5) Sample Classes: 9:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. (registration required here)
  • Face painting and drumming: 11:30 am
  • “Puff the Magic Dragon” Musical Story: 12:15 p.m.
  • Instrument Petting Zoo: noon to 3 p.m.
  • Fiddling/Mark O’Connor Method presentation: 1:30 p.m.

The Open House is the perfect opportunity to:

  • talk with our faculty and other students and parents
  • try an instrument
  • sample an early childhood class
  • listen to a fun, musical story
  • learn how lessons, ensembles, or orchestra can help you with other skills
  • register for our Fall semester

No reservations are required for the free petting zoo and musical story while reservations are required for the morning early childhood sample classes. The school’s faculty will be available to answer all of your questions about our classes and programs at the event.

• Sports is on the docket this first week of school for Belmont High teams with three big match-ups with neighboring rivals Watertown: Field Hockey at 3:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 5 at Watertown’s Victory Field; on Saturday, Sept. 6 soccer is up with the Girls’ Soccer hosting Watertown at Harris Field at 9 a.m. (that’s right – 9 A.M.!) and the Boys’ Soccer visiting the Red Raiders  at 10 a.m. In addition, Volleyball will host their first home game vs. Bedford on Friday, Sept. 5 in the Wenner Field House.

• Belmont’s Studio Cinema, at the corner of Beech Street and Trapelo Road, is holding over the popular foodie film “The 100-Foot Journey” with Helen Mirren. It will be shown on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 3:30 p.m., 6 p.m. and 8:15 p.m.