Solomon and Salmon Highlight Market Day in Belmont

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A Belmont musician from Zimbabwe and a new vendor are in the spotlight this week on Market Day in Belmont on Thursday, Aug. 14.

Belmont Farmers Market is held each Thursday, 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. through October. It’s located in the Belmont Center municipal parking lot at the corner of Channing Road and Cross Street.

Belmont’s own Solomon Murungu (Babawapepukai) will bring to life the culture, folklore and wisdom of the Shona people of Zimbabwe using the mbira, a musical instrument from southern Africa made of wood with staggered metal keys. Visitors are encouraged to join in and try the various mbira instruments on display.

On the shopping front, Farmers Market shoppers will get a chance to meet new vendor; Matt’s Amazing Smokehouse from Sudbury. Mike Baumann started his company last year in which he smokes fish “with a touch of class” using only local ingredients to offer a fresher, healthier, and tastier smoked fish. There is plenty of salmon (cajun, teriyaki, lemon dill and even salmon bacon!)  on his menu as well as smoked bluefish pate.

In season today is basil, beets, blueberries, broccoli, carrots, chard, cilantro, collards, cucumbers, garlic, kale, leeks, lettuce, mint, mizuna, parsley, peaches, peppers, scallions, summer squash, tomatoes, turnips, yu choi and zucchini.

Along with the regular vendors and Matt, occasional vendors this week are Bedford Blueberry Goat Farm, Sara Ran Away with the Spoon, Soluna Garden Farm and Turtle Creek Winery

The food truck will be Benny’s Crepe Cafe. Expect them around 3 p.m.

In the events tent:

  • 2 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.: Classical music by violinists Jocelyn Milton and Coleen Bennett.
  • 4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.: Storytime with Denise Shaver of the Belmont Public Library.
  • 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.: Solomon Murungu.
  • 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The Mystic String Quartet which consists of four local musicians; Karen Allendoerfer and Marianne Brown, violins; Ben Miller, viola; and Sandy Reismann, cello.

Learn More About the Town at Meet Belmont

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The 12th edition of the annual Meet Belmont is just around the corner.  This year’s event will be held in two weeks, on Tuesday, Aug. 26 from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the cafeteria at Chenery Middle School, at the corner of Washington Street and Oakley Road.

Meet Belmont is an opportunity for all residents – newcomers to those who have lived here for decades – to come together to discover what the town has to offer:

• Learn about town departments, local government, schoolsŸ

• Get information about recreation and arts programsŸ

• Find community organizations and activities that interest youŸ

• Register to vote.

Meet Belmont is sponsored by the Vision 21 Implementation Committee and co-sponsored by the Belmont Public Schools with support from Belmont Car Wash and Belmont Light.

For more information, email: meetbelmont@gmail.com

What’s Up this Week: Cryogenics for Kids, Dragons & Dreams

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Less than a month before the beginning of the school year but it still feels like summer as there is a limited amount of activities around Belmont this week. But next week will see the beginning of fall sports practice.

• Join the Belmont Public Library for the following movies for children on Tuesday, August 12 at noon Assembly Room

  •    Rosie’s Walk
  •    The Little Red Hen
  •    Petunia
  •    The Pigs’ Wedding
  •    Trouble in the Barkers’ Class
  •    Beverly Billingsly Borrows a Book

• Belmont resident Arnie Rosen has played guitar for more than 50 years and isn’t bad on several other instruments as well. The wonderful song leader is back to the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St., by popular demand for a sing-along on Tuesday, Aug. 12, at 1:15 p.m. The concert is free.

• Can you freeze a balloon? What does liquid nitrogen look like? How cold is “cold”? Learn which items freeze or defrost fastest and why cryogenics is such a hot field at the Einstein’s Workshop program for Young Adults about Cryogenics on Tuesday, Aug. 12 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Belmont Public Library’s Assembly Room. Registration is required either online or by calling 617-993-2870. For ages 10 and up.

• The Belmont Public Library is providing one-on-one Digital Library Help on Wednesday, August 6, from 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.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. every Wednesday at the Beech Street Center at 266 Beech St. The club holds American Contact Bridge League-sanctioned games. All are welcome to play. Cost is $7. Phone: 339-223-6484 for more information.

• The group Sciencetellers presents Dragons & Dreams, stories and science come to life through visually exciting experiments, will occur on Wednesday, Aug. 13 starting at 2 p.m. in the Belmont Public Library’s Assembly Room. If you’re in the room, you’re part of the story.

• Move, dance and sing along with acclaimed Brazilian musician Sulinha Boucher on Thursday, Aug. 14, from 10:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the library’s Assembly Room

• State Sen. Will Brownsberger will be holding office hours on Friday, Aug. 15, at 10 a.m. at the Beech Street Center.

Celebrate National Farmers Market Week at Belmont’s

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Celebrate National Farmers’ Market Week in Belmont on Market Day on Thursday, Aug. 7, one of the 8,268 markets in the US.

Still River Winery, Sugar + Grain, Rhythm ‘n Wraps and Seasoned and Spiced joins the market’s weekly vendors from 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

This week’s food truck is Rhythm ‘n Wraps, from 3 p.m. until Market closing.

The market is located in the municipal parking lot in Belmont Center, at the intersection of Cross Street and Channing Road.

In the Events Tent:

Tasting: Savinos Grill, the Cushing Square restaurant featuring foods of Italy and the surrounding Mediterranean regions, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Storytime: The Belmont Public Library sponsors storytime for preschool and older children. Deborah Borsuk from the Children’s Department will read from 4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Music: Karen Allendoerfer and Eric Wetzel return to play classical duets and solo pieces on the violin from 5 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Musicians from the Arlington Philharmonic at 5:30 p.m. Allendoerfer (viola), Chandreyee Das (violin), Pamela Ross (oboe), and Sandy Reismann (cello) will play classical and popular music at 5:30 p.m.

Bring non-perishable items each week for the Belmont Food Pantry. Find out about the Belmont Food Pantry and see how the Market supports them.

 

The Week Ahead in Belmont: Chef Gerry Making Flat Bread and Tea at the Beech

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If there is a non-holiday week in which Belmont becomes the preverbal ghost town, it is the first week in August. You can bring your antique cannon to Leonard Street, fire it and miss just about any living creature known to man before watching  the ball roll into the Wellington Brook. Here IS what’s happening in Belmont this week:

• Chef Gerry is back! After making sushi, California rolls and other great food at Belmont Public Library, Belmont resident Gerry Connolly – a Cambridge School of Culinary Arts Professional Chef Program graduate with 20 years of experience as a personal chef and event caterer – is coming to make flat breads and dressings on Tuesday, August 5 at 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. This event is free thanks to the generosity of Chef Gerry and the Friends of the Belmont Public Library.  Space is limited, so please sign up online or sign up by phone at 617-993-2870.

• It’s game day this Friday at the Beech Street Center as it holds “Tea and Games on the Patio” on Tuesday, August 5 at 1 p.m. There will be Scrabble, checkers, cribbage and Trivial Pursuit along with iced tea and cookies.

• Noon Movies for children on Tuesday, August 5 in the Assembly Room of the Belmont Public Library. Come join us for the following movies for children:

  • Yo! Yes?
  • Here Comes the Cat
  • Island of the Skog
  • The Nutshell Kids
  • Where the Wild Things Are.
• Mime Robert Rivest presents “Laughter is the Best Medicine,” a unique program of comedy and movement on Wednesday, August 6 from 2 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Belmont Public Library’s Assembly Room.

• Receive a free hearing test at the Beech Street Center on Wednesday, August 6 from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Your hearing aid batteries can be replaced. Mass Audiology offers this service free of charge to Center participants. Make your appointment by stopping by the front desk or by calling 617-993-2970.

• The Belmont Public Library is providing one-on-one Digital Library Help on Wednesday, August 6, from 7 p.m. to 7:30 p.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. every Wednesday at the Beech Street Center at 266 Beech St. The club holds American Contact Bridge League-sanctioned games. All are welcome to play. Cost is $7. Phone: 339-223-6484 for more information.

• Local musician Rubi performs original songs and traditional favorites on Thursday, Aug. 7, 9:30 a.m. or 10:30 p.m. in the Belmont Public Library’s Assembly Room.

The New Community Band Premiers at Payson Park Thursday

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The first-ever concert by Belmont’s new town band will take place at a special free event at the Payson Park Music Festival beginning at 6 p.m. tonight, Thursday, July 31.

Led by Arto Asadoorian, the Belmont Community Summer Band consists of wind and percussion players ages 14 to “too old to ask,” said Asadoorian. The band members – which has a good number of current high school musicians performing – have had three rehearses held over the past week to sharpen their skills. Expect the unexpected!

Opening for the band will be di bostoner klezmer, a trio of talented musicians who are adept at performing authentic, dynamic European and American klezmer music from 19th century European to 1950s “club dates.” Belmontonians will likely know one of the band’s members, Dobe (Dena) Ressler, who works as a Program Coordinator at the Beech Street Center. 

Payson Park is located at the corner of Payson Road and Elm Street.

Art Sprouts at This Week’s Belmont Farmers Market

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Market day in Belmont on Thursday, July 31 will feature Art at the Market, which includes a lot of fun art activities for the whole family from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The event, run by local artist Anne Katzeff and volunteer Jeanne Mooney, will take place in the events tent in the center of the market.

Belmont Farmers Market, open on Thursdays from 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., is located in Belmont Center’s municipal parking lot at the corner of Cross Street and Channing Road.

The summer harvest is coming in with corn and tomatoes leading the way. Think about making a cooling rustic gazpacho from the fresh produce at the market this week.

This week’s guest vendors are Still River Winery, Soluna Garden Farm and Bedford Blueberry Goat Farm, joining the market’s weekly vendors.

The food truck this week is Jamaica Mi Hungry, from 3 p.m. until the market’s closing. (Love the curry goat.)

In the Events Tent

Tastings: My Other Kitchen, a new Belmont restaurant that’s gotten great reviews, brings samples from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Storytime: The Belmont Public Library sponsors storytime for preschool and older children. Deborah Borsuk from the Children’s Department will read from 4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

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. Donations help sustain this program.

It Sounds Like the Beatles in Payson Park this Evening

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You will think that you’re at Suffolk Downs 48 years ago at tonight’s concert at the Payson Park Music Festival as the “best New England” Beatles tribute band, 4EverFab (shouldn’t that be “4EVAFab”?) comes to play in Belmont beginning just after 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, July 30.

“Featuring brilliant lead vocals, precise three-part harmonies and outstanding musicianship, 4EverFab plays The Beatles…From The Cavern Club to Abbey Road” reads their website, the group is currently on a 19-date tour of communities that selected them to perform at summer events. (The Beatles also had 19 dates on their 1966 US tour including at Suffolk Downs in Eastie.)

Here’s a Youtube video of the group.

Celebrating a quarter century, the Payson Park Music Festival takes place at Payson Park at the intersection of Payson Road and Elm Street. The concert is free. 

The Week Ahead: Yoga for All on Tuesday, Animals at the Library Wednesday

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• Noon movies for children on Tuesday, July 29, noon to 1 p.m., in the Assembly Room of the Belmont Public Library.

  •    The Empty Pot
  •    The Mysterious Tadpole
  •    Caterpillar and the Polliwog
  •    Bats at the Library
  •    Cook-a-Doodle-Doo

• The Massachusetts Senior Medicare Patrol, a state-wide consumer educational organization that helps Medicare and MassHealth (Medicaid) beneficiaries to protect against, detect and report healthcare errors, fraud and abuse, will be at the Beech Street Center on Tuesday, July 29, 1:15 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. MSMP provides education, guidance and assistance to beneficiaries and their caregivers to navigate the system such as help with issues such as resolving billing and healthcare quality queries and providing referrals as needed.

• Einstein’s Workshop program for Young Adults will be exploring hydraulics on Tuesday, July 29, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Belmont Public Library’s Assembly Room. Each participant will make and take home their very own hydraulics lift. To register, go online or call 617-993-2870.

• Yoga for everyone at the Beech Street Center from 5:30 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday, July 28: join Susan Harris, a registered yoga teacher and associate professor of Nutrition at Tufts University for this Iyengar-inspired class which practices yoga postures slowly and with attention to alignment and safety, adapted to the abilities and needs of individual students. Practice is done with bare feet; mats and props are provided. Cost: $15/class. Non-seniors, beginners and experienced are welcome. This is a non-Council on Aging class held at the Beech Street Center. For more information, call Susan at 617-407-0816.

• Visit with wondrous animals from all over the world with the program Creature Teachers on Wednesday, July 30, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the Belmont Public Library’s Assembly Room. This live animal program will educate and entertain. 

• The Belmont High School Teen Techs are back at the Belmont Public Library to help residents and patrons who are looking for help with computers, the internet, e-readers, tablets and the hows and whys of the social media world. The crew will be doing their tech wizardry from 11 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, July 30 in the Young Adult Room. Register online, stop by the reference desk to register in person or call 617-993-2870 to register by phone.

• Beloved local musician Liz Buchanan performs original songs and traditional favorites on Thursday, July 31, 10:30 a.m. in the Belmont Public Library’s Assembly Room.