Things to Do Today: One Book One Belmont Author Speaks, Madrigal Singers at the Beech

• The Belmont Public Library welcomes author Nathaniel Philbrick for a talk on his award-winning book, “Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution” at 7:30 p.m. at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St. Winner of the 2013 New England Book Award for Nonfiction, “Bunker Hill” was selected as the 2014 One Book One Belmont selection. Philbrick’s presentation marks the conclusion of this year’s events. Refreshments will be served, and a book signing will be hosted at the end.

• Belmont High’s Dr. Jeff Shea will be presented the Massachusetts Teacher of the Year Award at an all-school assembly at the school at 9 a.m.

• Just back from their spring trip to Austria, the Madrigal Singers of Belmont High School will be giving a free concert on Tuesday, May 6 beginning at 3:30 p.m. at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St. The concert is open to the community so swing on by.

Varsity Boys’ Track and Field (vs. Lexington) and Boys’ Tennis (against Burlington) will be at home with the action starting at 3:30 p.m.

The Week to Come: One Book One Belmont Author to Speak, Mother’s Day Flowers

• The Belmont Public Library welcomes author Nathaniel Philbrick for a talk on his award-winning book, “Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution” on Tuesday, May 6 at 7:30 p.m. at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St. Winner of the 2013 New England Book Award for Nonfiction, “Bunker Hill” was selected as the 2014 One Book One Belmont selection. Philbrick’s presentation marks the conclusion of this year’s events. Refreshments will be served, and a book signing will be hosted at the end.

Belmont High’s Dr. Jeff Shea will be presented the Massachusetts Teacher of the Year Award at an all-school assembly at the school on Tuesday, May 6 at 9 a.m.

• On Wednesday, May 7, the Daniel Butler Elementary School will be celebrating Bike & Walk to School Day by forming walking groups led by exemplary cyclists and walkers to travel by foot or pedal to the Butler. Co-sponsored by Sustainable Belmont and state and national Safe Routes to School organizations, walkers will depart from their various locations around Butler at 8:15 a.m. to arrive at school no later than 8:25 a.m.

• Beginning this Friday, May 9 and running through Sunday, May 11, the Friends of Belmont Softball will be hosting its annual Mother’s Day Flower Sale at the Lions Club at the MBTA commuter rail station at Common Street and Royal Road.

• It’s the annual Belmont Pops Concerts where the Belmont High School cafeteria is transformed into a “Pops”-style arrangement with table seating where audience members will be entertained by Belmont High musicians while having light snacks and other refreshments. There are two concerts, on Friday, May 9 and Saturday, May 10 both starting at 7 p.m. Sales from tickets benefit POMS, Parents of Music Students.

• The Chenery Middle School’s 7th and 8th Grade Band Concert will take place on Thursday, May 8 at 7 p.m. at the Chenery’s auditorium.

• Belmont Against Racism will discuss the book “The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration” by Isabel Wilkerson on Thursday, May 8 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

• Just back from their spring trip to Austria, the Madrigal Singers of Belmont High School will be giving a free concert on Tuesday, May 6 beginning at 3:30 p.m. at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St. The concert is open to the community so swing on by.

DPW Open House Saturday Until 2 PM

The Belmont Department of Public Works is inviting the public to an open house to celebrate National Public Works Week today, Saturday, May 3 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the DPW yard at the end of C Street.

Please join us and bring the family to meet Public Works employees, see heavy equipment, ask questions, collect recycling and water conservation information. There will be raffles, cold drinks, balloons and coloring books for the kids!

 

Things to Do Today: Final One Acts, Sports Galore at Belmont High

• The final performances of Belmont High School Performing Arts Company’s annual One Act Plays take place tonight in the High School’s Little Theater at 6 p.m. and 8:20 p.m. One Act tickets are $5 for students, $10 for adults. Tickets are on sale at Champions Sporting Goods in Belmont Center and at the door but these performances traditionally sell out so get them early.

 “Guys and Dolls” presented by the students of Chenery Middle School will be performed at 7 p.m. in the Chenery’s auditorium. Tickets are available online and at Moozy’s at the corner of Trapelo Road and Belmont Street and Champions Sporting Goods in Belmont Center. Preconcert tickets are $10 adults and $8 for students. Tickets will also be available at the door with adults paying $12 and students $8. The final performance is Saturday at 7 p.m.

Lots of sports this afternoon at Belmont High School: Boys’ Tennis vs. Wilmington High at 3:30 p.m.; both baseball and softball get underway at 3:45 p.m. against Wilmington and Girls’ Lacrosse against Wakefield High at 4:30 p.m. at Harris Field.

• On this day in 1941, General Mills began shipping a new cereal called “Cheerioats” to six test markets. The cereal was later renamed “Cheerios.”

DPW, Butler Elementary Ready to Recycle on Saturday

Got recyclables but they won’t fit or won’t be accepted in the blue/green recycling bins?

On Saturday, May 3, there will be a pair of location where you can dispose of non-toxic (those have to be recycled once a month in Lexington) materials in Belmont.

• From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the DPW Water Division Yard at 35 Woodland St,. residents will have the chance to recycle things like textiles, bulky-rigid plastics, Styrofoam and paper to be shredded, courtesy of the Belmont Department of Public Works.

Since the event will take place during the DPW Day celebration, residents coming only to recycle items should enter by the DPW Water Division via Woodland Street and exit via Prince Street.

Any questions about the recycle event, call 617-993-2689.

• The annual Butler Elementary School Electronics Recycling Day will take place from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the school at 90 White St. This is a convenient, environmentally-friendly way to recycle electronics at rates lower than what the town charges.  So gather up your old monitors, TVs, – anything with a plug counts.  Rates will range from a buck to $30 for disposal.
Residents can swing by the Butler to drop off unwanted electronics before heading over to the DPW event.

Things to Do Today: Curtains Rising at School Shows, Liquor Licenses Meeting, LEGO Club

• The curtains are going up for “Guys and Dolls” presented by the students of Chenery Middle School at 7 p.m. in the Chenery’s auditorium and for Belmont High School Performing Arts Company’s annual One Act Plays at 7 p.m. in the Little Theater.

“Guys and Dolls” tickets are available online and at Moozy’s at the corner of Trapelo Road and Belmont Street and Champions Sporting Goods in Belmont Center. Preconcert tickets are $10 adults and $8 for students. Tickets will also be available at the door with adults paying $12 and students $8. Additional performances are Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m.

One Act tickets are $5 for students, $10 for adults. Tickets are on sale at Champions Sporting Goods in Belmont Center and at the door but these performances traditionally sell out so get them early. You get another chance to be in the audience tomorrow at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.

• The Belmont Board of Selectmen will be continuing an earlier public meeting on the four applications for full-liquor or a beer and wine licenses this evening beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St.

• In Control Crash Prevention will present “7 Ways to Make Good Teen Driving Memories” tonight at 7 p.m. in the Belmont Public Library’s Assembly Room.

• The Belmont Public Library’s LEGO Club for children in kindergarten through the third grade will be held in the Library’s Assembly Room from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. All LEGOs will be provided. 

Town Meeting members from precincts 7 and 8 are holding caucuses at 7:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Town Hall to fill representative vacancies.

• Quarterly real estate and personal property tax bills are due to the Treasurer’s Office at Town Hall by 4 p.m. on Thursday, May 1. You can make the payment online by going to the town’s bill payment web page. If you need assistance, call 617-993-2770.

Things to Do Today: Revolutionary Art, Rugby’s Final Home Game, Bridge at the Beech

• As part of the library’s One Book One Belmont 2014 events program, Nicole Claris from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston will presents treasures from the MFA’s collection of Revolutionary-era art during her talk “The Revolution in Boston As Seen at the Museum of Fine Arts” from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the library’s Assembly Room. The talk will include portraits of the key leaders who author Nathaniel Philbrick portrays in “Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution,” this year’s One Book, One Belmont selection. Claris currently supervises and trains the 120 actively touring Gallery Instructors at the MFA.  She also leads regular gallery talks for visitors.

• The Belmont High School Rugby Club team is on its way for a return trip to the state championships. So come cheer on the boys and girl at their final home game of the season as the XV take on Boston College High at 7 p.m. at Harris Field on Concord Avenue.

Town Meeting members from Precinct 2 will be holding a meeting in the Board of Selectmen’s Room in Town Hall to discuss articles in the upcoming Town Meeting warrant. The fun starts at 7 p.m. 

• Duplicate Bridge Club meets from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Beech Street Center at 266 Beech St. Every Wednesday the club holds American Contact Bridge League-sanctioned games. All are welcome to play. Cost is $5. Phone: 339-223-6484 for more information.

• On this date in 1885, the Boston Pops was founded by Henry Lee Higginson, who was its director and financial backer until 1918. 

 

Things to Do Today: Apollo at the Beech, Toddlers in the Libraries, Track on the Track

• The Apollo Club men’s chorus returns to the Beech Street Center for its annual concert at 7:30 p.m. The free concert is open to everyone in the community so everyone can enjoy this popular choral concert by the second oldest continuously performing men’s chorus in the United States. Founded in 1871, the Apollo Club performs all over the country with a repertoire that includes folk songs, love songs, sea chanteys, show tunes, classical and semi-classical compositions. Their director, Florence A. “Flossie” Dunn has been with the chorus for over 50 years.

• Spring break is over and the School Committee is back, holding its scheduled public meeting at 7:30 p.m. at the Chenery Middle School.

Two for the toddler set:

  • Pre-School Storytime will be held at the Benton Library, Belmont’s independent and volunteer run library, at 10:30 a.m. Seasonal stories and crafts for children age 3 to 5. Parents or caregivers must attend. Siblings may attend with adults. Registration is not required. The Benton Library is located at the intersection of Oakley and Old Middlesex.
  • The Belmont Public Library’s Children’s Room is holding Storytime for 2’s and 3’s.  Due to overwhelming popularity, this storytime is offered both at 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. Bring your little ones for stories, songs, and more. Both programs will take place in the Flett Room, across from the Children’s Room. 

• Belmont High School’s Boys’ Track and Field will host Woburn High at Harris Field with the first events getting underway at 3:30 p.m.

• The musical “Hair” opens on this day in 1968 at the Biltmore Theatre on Broadway. What was seen as the height of the hippy counterculture and the emerging sexual revolution entering mainstream entertainment, the musical today is seen as quaint in its depiction of the 60s.

Get to Know the Town Meeting Articles Monday Night

You just may want to miss viewing “The Voice” or “Dancing with the Stars” to come over to the Beech Street Center tonight, Monday, April 28, for a briefing of the Warrant articles set to be debated in one week’s time at the annual Town Meeting. 

The briefing – which is open to the public and is a great primer for Town Meeting reps – will start at 7 p.m. at the Center, located at 266 Beech St., 

This is an opportunity to ask questions about the 27 warrant articles with town officials and department heads present to provide information on items such as the general and school budgets, Community Preservation grants (including $2 million for the new Underwood Pool), dog kennels, the placement of medical marijuana dispensaries and repealing the snow removal bylaw. 

Michael Libenson, chair of the Warrant Committee – the fiscal watchdog group for the Town Meeting – 
will preside. 

This now annual event is cosponsored by the Warrant Committee and the Belmont League of Women Voters. 

The Week to Come: ‘Guys and Dolls’ at the Chenery, One Acts at BHS, DPW’s Day

• The classic “Guys and Dolls”, the musical tribute to Damon Runyon’s world of gangsters, small-time gamblers and showgirls of 1930s New York City, will be presented by the students of Chenery Middle School on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, May 1,2 and 3 at 7 p.m. in the Chenery’s auditorium. Tickets are available online and at Moozy’s at the corner of Trapelo Road and Belmont Street and Champions Sporting Goods in Belmont Center. Preconcert tickets are $10 adults and $8 for students. Tickets will also be available at the door with adults paying $12 and students $8. Belmont Savings Bank is this production’s main sponsor.

• Some of the best acting of the years will happen this week as the Belmont High School Performing Arts Company will stage its annual One Act Plays. Each performance will be directed by seniors who will lead underclassmen through their acting paces. The performances get underway Thursday, May 1 at 7 p.m. and Friday, May 2 at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. in the school’s Little Theater. Tickets are $5 for students, $10 for adults. Tickets are on sale at Champions Sporting Goods in Belmont Center and at the door but these performances traditionally sell out so get them early.Screen Shot 2014-04-28 at 5.26.33 AM

• The Belmont Public Works Department will be holding its Public Works Day this Saturday, May 3 at the DPW Yard at 37 C St. from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. If you have a kid who loves big trucks and construction equipment, this is your day to explore! New this year will be a recycling event in which the public can drop off hard to recycle items such as rigid plastics, textiles, paper shredding and styrofoam at the Woodland Street entrance. For more information, call 617-993-2689.

• The Fenway Brass Quintet will be performing American music as part of the Friends of Belmont Public Library’s Music on Saturday Concert Series on Saturday, May 3 at 3 p.m. in the Assembly Room of the Belmont Public Library. The concert, the final one of the series, will include music from early colonial America to the American Civil War.

• The Apollo Club men’s chorus returns to the Beech Street Center for its annual concert on Tuesday, April 29, at 7:30 p.m. The free concert is open to everyone in the community so they can enjoy this popular choral concert by the second oldest continuously performing men’s chorus in the United States. Founded in 1871, the Apollo Club performs all over the country. Their repertoire includes folk songs, love songs, sea chanteys, show tunes, classical and semi-classical compositions. Their director, Florence A. “Flossie” Dunn has been with the chorus for over 50 years.

• As part of the library’s One Book One Belmont 2014 events program, Nicole Claris from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston will presents treasures from the MFA’s collection of Revolutionary-era art during her talk “The Revolution in Boston As Seen at the Museum of Fine Arts” on Wednesday, April 30, 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the library’s Assembly Room. The talk will include portraits of the key leaders who author Nathaniel Philbrick portrays in “Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution,” this year’s One Book, One Belmont selection. Claris currently supervises and trains the 120 actively touring Gallery Instructors at the MFA.  She also leads regular gallery talks for visitors.

Quarterly real estate and personal property tax bills are due to the Treasurer’s Office at Town Hall by 4 p.m. on Thursday, May 1. You can make the payment online by going to the town’s bill payment web page. If you need assistance, call 617-993-2770.

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