Broadway Night 2017 At Belmont High Friday, Saturday

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The Belmont High School Performing Arts Company presents its annual musical theater showcase Broadway Night 2017 at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 13 and Saturday, Oct. 14 in the Little Theater at Belmont High School.

Students will perform classic show tunes and contemporary works in an evening of song, dance, and storytelling. This year’s production features 23 solo, duet, and group songs, with a mix of humor, heart, romance and high-energy fun. The show will once again feature a dance number, choreographed by the PAC Musical Choreographer Jenny Lifson.

A highlight this year is the addition of a group number, directed by seniors Anelise Allen and Wonyoung Jang, featuring eight 9th-grade students. 

“Having these many freshmen make their PAC stage debut in the first show of the year is a real treat, and the song is going to be a highlight of the evening,” said Ezra Flam, the High School’s Theater Specialist.

Broadway Night represents the core mission of the PAC, with an emphasis on showcasing student work. The performers have selected, staged and rehearsed the songs almost entirely on their own, with just a small amount of guidance from Ms. Lifson. Also, the lighting design is done entirely by students, and the show ends with a student-directed number featuring the whole company, said Flam.

Tickets are $5 for students, $12 for adults and can be purchased online at bhs-pac.org or at Champions Sporting Goods on Leonard Street in Belmont Center.

New High School Building Project Seeking Seniors Opinion Friday

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Photo: The Belmont High School Building Committee’s logo.

The Belmont High School Building Committee is holding its next community engagement meeting with the town’s senior community in mind at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St. on Friday afternoon, Oct. 13 at 1:15 p.m.

The afternoon’s agenda includes:

  • High School Building Project updates
  • District enrollment update and grade configuration discussion,
  • Results of recent Education Visioning workshops,
  • Guiding principles of the project,
  • Conditions and space summary, and
  • Questions and comments,

Online Survey

The Belmont High School Building Committee wants to hear from the residents of Belmont. Our new online survey is available at www.belmonthighschoolproject.org. The committee invites residents to share your ideas, opinions, and thoughts on the Belmont High School Building Project.

Upcoming Community Meetings include:

  • Saturday, Oct. 28 at 10 a.m. at Belmont High School with optional facility tours starting at 9:30 a.m.
  • Tuesday, December 12 at 7 p.m. at Belmont High School with optional facility tours starting at 6:30 p.m.

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 on the project can be sent via email to: BHS-BC@belmont-ma.gov.

Helping Refugees And The Hungry Part Of 9th Annual Belmont Serves

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The 9th annual Belmont Serves Day of Community Service will be held on Monday, Oct. 9,  the Columbus Day holiday. Individuals and families will be able to select a project at the start of the day, complete the entire project in one morning of work, and then come together for some pizza and Rancatore’s ice cream to celebrate a job well done.

The headquarters for Belmont Serves is First Church Unitarian Universalist, 404 Concord Ave., 

Belmont Serves is a family-friendly event, where all members of the Belmont community are invited to work together for one morning to make our town a better place for all. You can help make a real difference in our town, have some fun, and meet others who share a willingness to serve the community.

This year’s schedule of events:

8:30 a.m.   All volunteers sign-in at First Church UU
9 a.m.   Service projects begin
Noon   Service projects end
Noon   Pizza and ice cream celebration at First Church UU

This year, service projects include:

  • Door-to-door food drive for the Belmont Food Pantry
  • Conservation projects at Lone Tree Hill (former McLean Hospital property)
  • Clay Pit Pond clean-up and improvements
  • Sorting clothes at Plymouth Church to be donated to refugees.

Door-to-door collection for the Belmont Food Pantry— Teams of volunteers will be assigned to specific routes, collecting bags of groceries left at doorsteps for delivery to the Belmont Food Pantry. These grocery bags are distributed door-to-door throughout the town during the week before Belmont Serves day. Last year, we filled the food pantry with over 1,800 bags of groceries. This year we hope to do even better!

Conservation projects at Lone Tree Hill — You can help with pruning, parking lot maintenance and invasive vegetation removal at Lone Tree Hill (former McLean Property) conservation lands. Wear long shelves and long pants to avoid poison ivy. We will supply the tools, or bring clippers or loppers.

Clay Pit Pond clean-up: Volunteers will work on pruning existing shrubs, cutting/removing invasives, and picking up trash and debris.

Sorting donated clothes for refugees: Please help us sort the donated winter clothing at Plymouth Congregational Church. The clothing will be distributed to recently arrived refugees in the New England area. New donations will NOT be accepted on the day of Belmont Serves. If you would like to donate new or gently worn winter clothes for adults and children, you can bring them to Plymouth Church (582 Pleasant St.) Friday, Oct. 6 – Sunday, Oct. 8 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Burbank School grounds: Help with gardening and distributing wood chips in garden areas. If you can bring shovels and gardening tools, that would be helpful. Be sure to put your name on your tools.

For all projects (including advance distribution of grocery bags), please use the online registration form to register and select your preferred project.

Middle school and High school students will earn Community Service hours.

Tzom Kal: Yom Kippur Begins Friday at Sunset

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Photo: The painting is a detail of “Jews Praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur” by the 22-year-old Maurycy Gottlieb c. 1878.

Yom Kippur, also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the year for the Jews.

Yom Kippur begins at sundown on Friday, Sept. 29.

The day’s central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue services. Yom Kippur completes the annual period known in Judaism as the High Holy Days or sometimes the Days of Awe.

Two years ago, the Belmont School Committee approved a pilot program to close school for one day in observance of the Jewish High Holidays beginning in the 2015-16 school year. A year later, after complaints from residents who declared the policy disruptive to the educational process and did not reflect the growing diversity within Belmont’s schools, all religious holidays were removed from the school calendar. 

With Two Days Left, Friends Of PQ Park Nears Fundraising Goal

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Photo: Putting up the new sign at PQ Park.

With a deadline of Saturday, Sept. 30, to meet the town’s requirement for private funding of $35,000 for the renovation of PQ Park, the Friends of PQ Park announced today that it is $5,000 shy of its goal in these final days.  

This grassroots effort, led by a team of volunteers called Friends of PQ Park, has been very successful thanks to the generosity and support of the Belmont community. Donors consist primarily of those who feel connected to PQ and to preserving our playgrounds and fields. This funding will supplement Community Preservation Act funds approved for the renovation. 

“If we can raise the remaining funds, we can act upon our design team’s plan that is going to be delivered earlier than expected,” says Ogden Sawyer, Friends of PQ Park treasurer.

“This is fantastic news, making it possible to break ground in early spring of 2018,’ said Sawyer.

“While the effort to raise $30,000 in 30 days has been an ambitious undertaking, we are thrilled with the success of this campaign.  We really need to push these last two days,” Ogden continues.  “We are making this plea today to our community to help us raise the last $5,000 before this Saturday’s deadline.  Any and all donations are welcome!”

“We are making this plea today to our community to help us raise the last $5,000 before this Saturday’s deadline. Any and all donations are welcome,” he said.

Visit the website to learn more and make your donation. Alternatively, checks should be sent to “Friends of PQ Park,” 31 Walnut St, Belmont MA, 02478.

The Friends of PQ Park, Inc., is a non-profit organization formed in 2017, following the favorable recommendation of funding for the revitalization of PQ Park by Belmont’s Community Preservation Committee.

Soccer Night In Belmont Kicks Off Saturday, Sept. 23 With Doubleheader

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It will be an afternoon and evening of top notch soccer the Belmont High School Boys and Girls varsity soccer teams  headline the second annual Soccer Night in Belmont on Saturday, Sept. 23, joined at the event by hundreds of younger players from Belmont 2nd Soccer and the Belmont Soccer Association, their coaches, and other members of the Belmont soccer community.

Soccer Night in Belmont will feature a doubleheader under the lights at Harris Field on Concord Avenue.

  • It is a game of the undefeated as Belmont High Girls at 4-0-0 take on 8th-ranked (by the Boston Globe) and 5-0-0 Winchester game at 4:30 p.m.
  • Two top 20 teams battle it out at 6:30 p.m. when 13th-ranked Belmont Boys (3-1-1) meet 7th-ranked Winchester (4-1-1). 

2nd Soccer and BSA players will participate by parading out with players during the pre-game ceremonies, acting as ball-boys and ball-girls, and competing in mini-games on Harris Field during halftime of both games.

“This event showcases our successful varsity teams and recognizes the role of Belmont 2nd Soccer and BSA in nurturing the talent that makes up these teams year in and year out,” said event organizer John Carson.  “We had a big crowd of 600+ in 2016 despite the rain, and we’re really hoping to exceed that this year.  It’s a really fun night that builds bonds between our “little kid” players and “big kid” high school players, virtually all of whom came up through the Belmont youth program.”

“We had a big crowd of 600-plus in 2016 despite the rain, and we’re really hoping to exceed that this year.  It’s a really fun night that builds bonds between our little kid players and big kid high school players, virtually all of whom came up through the Belmont youth program.”

Admission to Soccer Night in Belmont is free, and the first 100 kids wearing their team uniform will receive a commemorative soccer gift. Concessions including pizza, hot dogs, snacks and drinks will be available for purchase, provided by Parents of Music Students (POMS) so families can come for the games and feed the kids at the same time.  

Soccer Night in Belmont is sponsored by Belmont 2nd Soccer, Belmont Soccer Association, Belmont Savings Bank, Puma, The Rising, Phoenix Landing, with special thanks to Friends of Belmont Soccer  and Belmont High School Athletic Director Jim Davis.

Protect Your Financial Info From Cyber Attack At Library Talk Saturday

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Photo: Protect yourself from cyber attacks and data breaches. 
You may know Town Meeting Member Paul Roberts as a community gadfly, but he is also one of the leading voices in the world of cyber security as editor in chief of The Security Ledger. (If you run a business, manage an office or just worried that your personal financial information is being passed around internet cafes in the Ukraine, check out his website.)
 
After this month’s data breach of Equifax, which supplies credit information and other information services, could potentially affect 143 million consumers in the United States, what better person to talk about protecting yourself from online fraud and scams which Roberts will be doing on Saturday, Sept. 23 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Belmont Public Library.
 
In the two-hour workshop dubbed “Learn How to Protect Your Information Online,” Roberts, the chairman of the town’s Information Technology Advisory Committee, will discuss some common concerns of residents, including:
  • Are you concerned about online fraud such as identity theft or online banking scams?
  • Do you hear terms like “phishing attacks” but not know what people are talking about?
  • Are you interested in taking steps to protect yourself and your sensitive data online?
This class will give you the information and the tools you need to combat primary forms of cyber crime. Paul will then work with attendees on ways to improve their online security including the use of two-factor authentication and password managers.

Belmont Community Chorus Welcome All Singers For Fall Season

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Photo: The Belmont Community Chorus performing at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Breakfast in 2015. (Photo Jirair Hovsepian (c))

The Belmont Community Chorus welcomes all singers, ages 12 and up, who love to sing! 

The Fall session begins Monday, Oct. 2, and runs through mid-December. Rehearsals are Monday evenings, 7:30 p.m. until 9 p.m. at the Belmont High School Chorus Room, 221 Concord Ave.

For beginner to experienced singers alike, it seeks to provide an opportunity to gather regularly to sing with an ensemble, to improve their vocal skills – no matter the starting point – and to perform at local venues. 

No auditions required. The chorus sings a variety of exciting vocal music from yesterday to today. For more information, contact belmontcommmunitychorus@gmail.com, or visit www.belmontcommunitychorus.org.

Shanah Tovah: Rosh Hashanah Begins At Sunset Wednesday

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Photo: Happy New Year.

It will be a blustery start to the Jewish New Year as Rosh Hashanah 5778 begins at sunset, Wednesday, Sept. 20 and lasts until Friday evening.

Rosh Hashanah – which in Hebrew translates to “head of the year” – is a time of inner renewal and divine atonement. It begins the period of the High Holidays culminating with Yom Kippur on Friday evening, Sept. 29. It is a time for observant people to acknowledge their sins of the previous year and are judged for their transgressions by God.

Meals include apples dipped in honey to symbolize a sweet new year and at least one brisket dinner. Other traditions include participating in tashlich, Hebrew for “casting off” in which people go to a nearby body of water and throw in pieces of bread, which signifies the washing away of sin.

The holiday will effect after school activity and athletic events at Belmont schools. Under current district rules, teachers should be aware of the holiday when assigning homework and tests as some students will be attending religious services.