Put Your Two Cents In: New Belmont High On-Line Survey Ends Nov. 30

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Photo: Survey illustration.

The Belmont High School Building Project Community Input Survey is online, and the residents behind the proposed development want to hear from you!  Share your opinions on the Belmont High School Building Project by filling out the BHSBC Survey HERE before the end of the month. 

The Belmont High School Building Committee has received surveys from more than 1,200 community members, but we still want to hear from you. Take five minutes to complete the survey before the Nov. 30 deadline.

You can also sign up for email updates and learn more about the project, including timelines, videos, meeting schedules, presentations, and more, at www.belmonthighschoolproject.org

Questions can be sent to: BHS-BC@belmont-ma.gov

Immigrants Tell Their Stories at Belmont Interfaith Thanksgiving Service This Sunday

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The iconic Mayflower story of the Puritan Pilgrims voyage to the New World is the first tale of immigrants coming to Massachusetts. On Sunday, Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. at Beth El Temple Center, 2 Concord Ave., the Belmont Clergy Association will host the group’s annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Service. 

This year, instead of a sermon, there will be several short testimonies from today’s immigrants on the blessings and challenges of making a home here in America. There will also be readings and songs, with representation from Muslim, Jewish, Christian, and Baha’i voices.

Participants will include:

  • Rabbi Jonathan Kraus and Cantor Louise Treitman, Beth El Temple Center
  • Rev. Joe Zarro, Plymouth Congregational Church
  • Holly Javedan and Jen Hoyda, Baha’i faith
  • Rev. Joseph Garabedian, First Armenian Church
  • Rev. David Bryce and Sana Saeed, First Church in Belmont Unitarian Universalist 
  • Rev. Eric Wefald, Payson Park Congregational Church
  • Father Thom Mahoney, New Roads Catholic Community
  • Farah Abbas, Belmont Muslim Friends

There will be an Interfaith Choir singing, led by Cantor Treitman. If you are interested in singing in this choir, please arrive at 6 p.m., and if you are interested in getting advance music, you can contact Cantor Treitman at cantortreitman@betheltemplecenter.org.

Light refreshments will be served after worship, and we will be taking a collection to benefit the Belmont Food Pantry. 

League of Women Voters Holding Special Town Meeting Preview Monday

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Photo: Modular classrooms.

The Belmont League of Women Voters and Warrant Committee is co-sponsoring a warrant briefing to acquaint Town Meeting members and residents with the articles in the Special Town Meeting warrant.

The meeting will take place Monday evening, Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m. in the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St.

This is an opportunity for Town Meeting members and the general public to ask questions of town officials and department heads concerning any of the warrant articles prior to the Special Town Meeting to be held in one week on Monday, Nov. 13. Articles will include the financing of modular classrooms at the Burbank school and changing the selection of Planning Board members from appointed to elected.

Warrant Committee Chair Roy Epstein will lead the meeting.

BHS PAC Presents Fall Play ‘Peter and the Starcatcher’ Thurs.-Sat.

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Photo: “Peter and the Starcatcher” runs from Thursday, Nov. 2 to Saturday, Nov. 4

The Belmont High School Performing Arts Company presents the award-winning play “Peter and the Starcatcher” runs from Thursday, Nov. 2 to Saturday, Nov. 4 at the Belmont High School auditorium. Shows begin at 7 p.m.

Tickets are:

Adults: $12 in advance, $15 at the door.

Students/Children: $5 Thursday, $10 Friday/Saturday

Tickets on sale online at bhs-pac.org and at Champions Sporting Goods on Leonard Street in Belmont Center.

A theatrical adaptation of the young adult novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, “Peter and the Starcatcher” was a Broadway hit in 2012, with the stage adaptation by Rick Elice, featuring music by  Wayne Barker, telling the prequel of the Peter Pan story.

 

“[L]ike [one of] my favorite adventure stories, ‘The Princess Bride,’ this play is wickedly funny, filled with wordplay, clever gags and goofy mayhem that appeals to adults and children alike. Like the best works of the genre, it is a play is for all ages. For children, it is a new take on a familiar tale. For older audiences, it is a poignant story of loneliness and finding human connection, packaged inside a comedic gem,” said Performing Arts Company Producer and Director Ezra Flam.

“‘Peter and the Starcatcher’ is one of those stories, mixing fantasy and magic with a heartfelt tale of growing up, what it means to be a hero and the power of wishes,” said Flam.

The play is an adventure story, which tells the tale of how a young orphan boy ended up on a ship carrying a magical trunk full of “starstuff” that’s protected by an apprentice Starcatcher named Molly while the fearsome Pirate Black Stache determines to use the starstuff to become the most fearsome villain of all time. A shipwreck lands all three (along with a crew of pirates and orphan boys) on an enchanted island populated by mermaids and humorously terrifying “mollusk-people.”

A cast of 23 actors is supported by 75 students who are part of the production staff; working on building and painting scenery, making costumes, creating lighting and sound effects and working as production assistants. Under the supervision of an adult design team, these students are responsible for creating everything that appears on stage.

Through the collaborative efforts of the cast and student set crew, led by Scenic Designer Anna Moss and Technical Director Ian O’Malley, a collection of boxes, trunks, platforms and fabric become two ships at sea, a dark cabin below deck, a jungle, an island beach, and an underwater pool. The students on the costumes crew, under the guidance of Costume Designer Lila West, have created outfits for pirates, orphans, mermaids and more.

A Window Into Halloween In Belmont Center

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Photo: Third-grader Julia Zipkin with a four-eyed cat.

Kids and their parents brought brushes and watercolors to the fifth annual Belmont Center Halloween Window Painting Contest sponsored by the Belmont Center Business Association on Saturday, Oct. 28. 

Belmont Center businesses up and down Leonard Street saw their windows transformed into pumpkin patches, ghostly havens and other scenes of specters and ghouls by Kids from second to eighth grade – with parents in tow – paid for the privilege to express their scary vision of Halloween on the town’s main drag. 

Halloween-season window painting has a long tradition in other towns – several of Newton’s villages have participated for the past 20 years – and was brought to Belmont with the help of the owners of A Chocolate Dream.

Sponsored by the Business Association, the event’s proceeds were donated to the Foundation for Belmont Education.

High Winds, Hazardous Weather for Belmont Into Monday

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Photo: Wind damage in Belmont, winter of 2016.

Belmont has been placed under a High Wind Warning from 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 29 to 6 a.m. Monday, Oct. 30.

The town and region will also be impacted by moderate to heavy rain producing between one to three inches of rainfall into early Monday morning, according to the latest news release by the service at 4:34 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 29 that also issued a Hazardous Weather Outlook for eastern Massachusetts.

Winds from the Southeast will be steady at 30 to 40 mph with gusts up to 65 mph through early Monday morning. The area can expect tree damage and down power lines due to fall limbs from trees. The NWS advises homeowners to take action to secure loose outdoor objects.

If the power goes out during the storm, call the Belmont Light outage line at 617-993-2800.

Low lying areas and streets that typically became waterlogged in Belmont will likely to flood resulting in localized urban flooding due to the heavy rain.

A Cyber Security ‘Fireside Chat’ for Residents Monday at 7PM

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Photo: Poster for Monday’s event.

Belmont’s Information Technology Advisory Committee invites all residents to a “fireside chat” about cyber security with security expert Scott Donnelly on Monday, Oct. 30, at 7 p.m. in the Belmont Public Library on Concord Avenue. The event is free and open to the public.

Topics will include:

  • The latest news in cyber security and why it matters to you
  • Cyber threats you might face at home
  • Tips for protecting yourself online

About the speaker: Tackling national and corporate security issues for over a decade, Scott Donnelly is the Director of Technical Solutions at Recorded Future and a former officer with the Central Intelligence Agency. Scott and his team work closely with leading cyber security teams at Fortune 1000 companies and government organizations, where they help develop cyberthreat intelligence capabilities for threat hunting, risk mitigation, and incident response. Scott is a sought-after speaker at cyber security events and regularly contributes to recordedfuture.com‘s blog. He holds an MBA from Georgetown University and a BA in Political Science from Villanova University.

http://www.belmont-ma.gov/sites/belmontma/files/uploads/cyber_security_fireside_chat.pdf

For more information about this event, please contact ITAC member Glenn Wong,glennpwong@gmail.com

Tour Belmont High School At Building Committee’s Engagement Meeting

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How long has it been since you’ve been inside Belmont High? Last week? Not since your youngest has gone off to college? How about never?

Saturday morning is your chance to take a facility tour as part of the Belmont High School Building Committee‘s Community Engagement Meeting set for Saturday, Oct. 28, at 10 a.m. at the High School’s auditorium, 221 Concord Ave. The tour of the school will take place at 9 a.m.

The tour will allow residents to see the condition of the nearly 50-year-old building and what a new/renovated school will provide staff, students, and the public.

The agenda for the committee’s first weekend public meeting is:

  • High School Building Project Updates
  • District Alternative Solutions
  • Existing Conditions and Space Summary
  • Traffic Update
  • Exploring Site Options
  • Questions & Comments

The next Community Meeting will be Tuesday, Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. at Belmont High School with optional facility tours starting at 6 p.m.

The committee also has an online Community Input Survey at:

www.belmonthighschoolproject.org

To sign up for email updates and to learn more about the Belmont High School Building Project, including project timelines, videos, meeting schedules, presentations, and more, visit www.belmonthighschoolproject.org. Questions? BHS-BC@belmont-ma.gov 

Questions can be sent to BHS-BC@belmont-ma.gov 

Living With Coyotes In Belmont, Thursday At 6:30PM At Belmont Media

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Photo: A coyote.

When asked what to do when residents see a coyote taking a stroll through neighborhood streets or backyards, Belmont’s long-serving Animal Control Officer John Maguranis told the Belmontonian that people should follow a simple three-word phrase when they encounter the animal. 

“Don’t freak out,” said Maguranis, who is one of the leading experts on coyotes and their growing interaction in urban spaces. Too many residents immediately revert to “panic” mode when one of the wild canines is in the vicinity of their homes, which Maguranis said is unnecessary in nearly all cases when people and coyotes cross paths. 

Maruranis, who is the Massachusetts representative to Project Coyote, a national coalition of scientists and educator working to promote coexistence between people and coyotes, will be presenting a multimedia presentation about all-things coyote in Belmont on Thursday, Oct. 27 at 6:30 p.m. in Studio A at the Belmont Media Center, 9 Lexington St.

Maruranis will talk about:

  • Common misconceptions about the animal
  • Management and coexistence with coyotes
  • Human and pet safety 
  • The right way to haze coyotes, and
  • Tracking the animal.

The public is invited to ask questions after the presentation. The event will be televised live and rebroadcast for future viewing. 

Maruranis will give the same presentation at The First Church in Belmont, Unitarian Universalist on Wednesday, Nov. 15 from noon to 2 p.m.