Opening night at Belmont World Film Monday with NE Premiere of ‘Parisienne’

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Photo: Still from the movie Parisienne which has its New England premiere at the Belmont World Film at the Studio Cinema.

Opening night at Belmont World Film features the New England premiere of Parisienne on Monday, March 21, at 7:30 p.m. at the Studio Cinema, 376 Trapelo Rd.

Set during the 1990’s and based in part on director Danielle Arbid’s (director of Beirut Hotel shown at the festival in 2012) experience as a young émigré in Paris, the film follows 19-year-old Lina, who moves in with her aunt and uncle in order to attend a university. Alone and naive, Lina is looking for the freedom she has never found in her home country of Lebanon.

Parisienne is the first film in Belmont World Film’s 15th annual International Film Series, “To Have and Have Not,” which sheds light on the growing inequalities of wealth, class, race, and gender that affect society and on how such disparities are portrayed in art and popular culture in different parts of the world.

“In an industry that is currently under fire for lacking in female diversity, we are proud that a third of our films this year are directed by women, including this opening night film,” says Belmont World Film Executive Director Ellen Gitelman.

“Now that immigration plays such a large part of today’s political debate, opening with this film could not be more timely.”

Screenings take place mostly on Mondays at 7:30 p.m. at the Studio Cinema, except two screenings at the West Newton Cinema, 1296 Washington St., on April 11 and 18, and two Sunday screenings on April 17 and May 15. The series is funded in large part by a $5,000 grant from Mass Humanities, which uses scholarly disciplines to enhance and improve civic life in Massachusetts. 

Tickets are $11 general admission and $9 for students and seniors in advance online and $12 and $10, respectively, at the door. The Belmont World Film “Passport” includes eight admissions for $75 and can be shared with one other person. Tickets for films, passports, and receptions are available online and passports are available for purchase in person for cash on the day of show starting 30 minutes prior to each screening.

For more information, visit the series’ web page, call 617-484-3980, like us on Facebook or follow us @BelmntWorldFilm.

First Day of Spring Snow Storm to Impact Monday Morning Commute

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Photo: You remember the drill.

Spring officially begins in Belmont on March 20, at 12:30 a.m. Twenty-four hours later, you’d believe it was last winter as a First-Day-Of-Spring Winter Storm Watch is in effect from Sunday afternoon to the Monday morning commute according to the National Weather Service in Taunton. 

While exact accumulation amounts are still up in the air, the best estimate is between four to eight inches of heavy wet snow will be dumped in eastern Massachusetts including Belmont.

The most substantial rate of precipitation will occur just after sunset on Sunday before tapering by Monday morning.

This Day, March 16: Tech Advisory Meeting, Book Clubs,

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Photo: The Door by Magda Szabo

Wednesday, March 16

• If you attended or viewed the broadcast of Monday’s meeting of the Belmont Board of Selectmen, you will remember the members of the Belmont Informational Technology Advisory Committee as they told the board what the group is advocating. You can see the committee in action tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall as it holds its monthly meeting to review technology initiatives from the town, schools, Light Department, Police and Library.

• The Belmont Council on Aging and the town’s Recreation Department are teaming up to offer free intergenerational activities after lunch at 12:25 p.m. at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St. Today’s activity will by handprint crafts. Belmont residents and surrounding towns, age 60+, are eligible for lunch at the Center, and are welcome to bring guests of any age with them. Please call 617-993-2970 to reserve lunch.

• The Belmont Book Discussion Group will review the novel The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant, in conjunction with One Book One Belmont at the library’s Flett Room from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Everyone is welcome to attend. Copies of the book can be requested through the library catalog or call the library Reference staff at 617-993-2870.

• The Belmont Special Education Advisory Council (SEPAC) is holding a parent information session on the topic “Children and Anxiety” at the Winn Brook Cafeteria, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:45 p.m.

• International Fiction Book Club meets tonight at 7 p.m. in the library’s Flett Room to discuss The Door by Magda Szabo. The International Fiction Book Club meets monthly on the third Wednesday. The group eats snacks and talk about books by international authors. All are welcome to join. For information contact Kylie Sparks at ksparks@minlib.net

Run With A Champion on April 10 At Inaugural Becca Pizzi 5K

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Photo: Becca Pizzi.
In four weeks, you’ll get the chance to run with a world champion, and you won’t have to leave Belmont.
On Sunday, April 10, the inaugural Becca Pizzi Family Fun Run will take place over the same route as the Brendon Home Run. Sponsored by Belmont Savings Bank, the Family Fun Run is the newest road race in Belmont, celebrating Pizzi winning the 2016 World Marathon Challenge in which she ran – and won! – seven marathons in seven days on seven continents.
The race will also act as a special send-off celebration for Pizzi and all Boston Marathon runners who will run the historic 26.2 mile BAA event eight days later.Speaking before the Board of Selectmen at its meeting Monday, March 14, Pizzi said the race is her way of giving back to the community that supported her during the Marathon Challenge. 
Race proceeds will benefit the Becca Pizzi Scholarship Foundation, which will help high school students as they head to college, just as she was a recipient of a scholarship also.
The 5K (3.1 miles) race will start and finish at Belmont High School’s Harris Field track at 9 a.m. with a one-mile kid’s race will take place at 9:05 a.m.The race will include a 5K run. It will also include a 1-mile run for kids around the Belmont High School track.T-shirts will be available for the first 200 5K registrants. Stick around after the race for awards and fun activities!
Registration:Register here on Racewire.com. Registration fee is $25 for 5K runners and $10 for kids running in the 1-mile race.
Route:The 5K will begin and end on the Belmont High School track. See the route map below.
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This Day, The Ides of March: Planning Board, Story Time, A Housing Lottery

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Photo: 

Today is March 15, the day in 44 BC that the emperor Julius Caesar was assassinated after being warned by a soothsayer: “Cave Idus, Idus Martiis!” 

Caesar: Who is it in the press that calls on me? I hear a tongue shriller than all the music that cry “Caesar!” Speak, Caesar is turn’d to hear.

Soothsayer: Beware the ides of March. (Shakespeeare’s Julius Caesar I,ii,15-19)

It’s a day to celebrate the fall of dictators and a day for those in the political arena to remember that your “friends” may yet be the cause of your downfall.

• The Planning Board is meeting at 7 p.m. in Town Hall to discuss amendments to the Single Residence C Zoning District and architectural guidelines for general residence districts.

• Tuesday is story time at both of Belmont libraries.

  • Pre-School Story Time at the Benton Library, Belmont’s independent and volunteer-run library, at 10:30 a.m. Stories and crafts for children age 3 to 5. Parents or caregivers must attend. Siblings may visit with adults. Registration is not required. The Benton Library is at the intersection of Oakley and Old Middlesex.
  • The Belmont Public Library on Concord Avenue will have preschool story time at 9:30 a.m. 
  • Story Time for 2’s and 3’s is at 10:30 a.m.

• The Bel Aires, Belmont’s senior singing club, will be singing songs of Ireland at the Beech Street Center at 1:30 p.m. Led by Larry Martin and pianist Anne Donovan, the group sings classic favorites, seasonal, and patriotic tunes. Newcomers are always welcome. Cost: $2 donation.

• Teen Board Games will take place from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Belmont Public Library’s 
Assembly Room.

• The Movie Matinee at the Beech Street Center at 4 p.m. is “Shrek” on DVD. Enjoy this 2001 film again or for the first time. Adults and children alike can enjoy the impressive computer animation, music, and story that references many classic fairy tales with humor and surprising twists. Rated PG, this 93-minute film will be shown with English subtitles.

• The lottery for the 60 affordable housing units at Acorn Park, better known as the Belmont Uplands, will take place beginning at 6 p.m. in the Belmont Public Library’s Flett Room.

This Day, Monday, March 14: All Night With the Selectmen, Revere’s Disaster, PEEPS!

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Photo: Book cover of Michael Greenburg’s The Court-Martial of Paul Revere: A Son of Liberty and America’s Forgotten Military Disaster.

  • The Board of Selectmen has a full and busy meeting that gets underway at 7 p.m., at Town Hall starting with an update on long-troubled Cushing Village, voting to approve a request of proposal for the Community Path feasibility study, the appointment of the building committee members overseeing the High School’s renovation, discuss the next step in tackling the pension unfunded liability and lots more. The estimated time for the meeting to end is 9 p.m. I say more like 10:30 p.m.
  • There will be a quick (!) meeting of the Municipal Light Board (made up of the Board of Selectmen) at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall to discuss the solar capacity limit now set at 1,000 kW. Increasing the number will allow more residents to install solar arrays, but that will cost money in lost revenue to Belmont Light. 

• A great talk from the Belmont Public Library’s Books and Bites Series: Author Michael Greenburg will discuss and read from his book The Court-Martial of Paul Revere: A Son of Liberty and America’s Forgotten Military Disaster, at 11 a.m. in the library’s Assembly Room.

Selected as a 2015 nonfiction “Must Reads Book” by the Massachusetts Book Awards, it is a riveting chronicle of Paul Revere’s only military service during the American Revolution in 1779, when certain victory quickly descended into a quagmire of arguing, disobedience, and failed strategy that was known as the worst American naval disaster prior to Pearl Harbor. Revere spent the next several years of his life actively pursuing a court-martial, in order to resuscitate his reputation.

Michael M. Greenburg is an attorney and is also the author of The Mad Bomber of New York:  The Extraordinary True Story of the Manhunt that Paralyzed a City. All are welcome to attend this free program. Books will be available for purchase and signing. Refreshments will be provided. Sponsored by the Friends of the Belmont Public Library.

  • Do you look after young children during the week? The Belmont Council on Aging and Recreation Department are teaming up to offer free intergenerational activities on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, March 14-18. Monday’s event is a Magic Show for all ages at 1:15 p.m. Residents of Belmont and surrounding towns, age 60+, are eligible for lunch at the Beech Street Center, and are welcome to bring guests of any age with them. Please call 617-993-2970 by 11 a.m. to reserve lunch.

  • Easter must be near as the Belmont Public Library is the location for the assembling of Peeps dioramas from 2:30 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. in the Flett Room.
  • Girls Who Code will be coding in the Belmont Public Library’s Assembly Room from 4:15 p.m. to 6:15 p.m.
  • Belmont Boosters will be meeting at 7 p.m. in Room 113 of Belmont High School.
  • Belmont Storm Water Working Group’s monthly meeting is taking place at 7 p.m. in the Belmont Public Library’s Assembly Room.

Marauders Sets Sight on North Championship vs Rival Watertown

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Photo: Head Coach Melissa Hart at practice.

During a short break at Thursday’s practice, Belmont High Girls’ Basketball Head Coach Melissa Hart points to a team title banner high on the wall of the Wenner Field House, as her team searched for the last time the girls won a sectional championship.

“State Championship Girls Soccer” the banner reads. Hart knows it’s up there because she was the team’s goalkeeper.

“And we also started against Marblehead,” said Hart, referring to the first playoff game her team won, just like the team she now coaches.

Soon afterwards, it was back to practice: running plays, three-on-three full court games, and running “suicides.” The drills have a lighthearted feel as the girls demonstrate a comfortable comradery found on teams with a special chemistry.

After practice ended, Hart looked back at the wall.

“I want these girls to have a banner up there,” she said,

That wish continues on Saturday night, March 12, at 7 p.m. at the Woburn High School gym when Hart’s Marauders will battle traditional and historic rival, neighboring Watertown High School for the Division 2 North championship which the Raiders won last year.

The road to the championships has been a thriller as the 10th-ranked Marauders have upset the 7th (Marblehead), 3rd (Arlington Catholic) and the 2nd (Newburyport) seeds, twice on the road and the last game on a neutral site. It’s a run that many outside of Belmont didn’t really see happening coming into the tournament at 11-9, having badly stumbled in the middle of the season.

But over the final two weeks of the regular season and during this run, the team has begun to come together, working confidently on both sides of the ball. Unlike earlier in the season, including it league game with Watertown, the girls are unlikely to panic or play scared when pressured by good players and teams.

In each of its playoff games, Belmont has faced deficits – in the last two, falling behind in the second half – only to continue to play their game and pull the game out.

“The girls have the confidence now that they are as good as they are,” said Hart. “They know they’re good enough. They’re in a good place,” said Hart.

Hart said the familiarity of Belmont with Watertown – the squads are in the Middlesex League and many of the players are on the same or rival AAU teams – takes away the element of surprise when approaching the game as a coach.

“It’s basically the same team they had last year,” said Hart, referring to last year’s sectional semifinals in which Belmont could not overcome a double-digit shortfall to fall 49-40.

“We’ve seen plenty of [Watertown]. We know what they have and they know us to a certain extent,” said Hart.

Watertown’s All-Star Junior Center Shannon Murphy usually leads the scoring. Other big contributors are senior forwards Katelyn Rourke and Felicia Korte – who is also a good defender – and senior guard Nicole Lanzo. Senior point guard Michaela Antonellis brings up the ball and plays tough D, as she did in the Raiders’ semifinal win against Triton.

“[Watertown has] got good players like  Antonellis. They’re tough. Their two posts (Murphy and Rourke) are tough and they are legitimate threats.”

“But we’ve seen a lot of great posts in the last week and a half, a lot of big girls who are all-stars. We were able to stop them from hurting us. We know what to do,” said Hart.

Belmont’s heart and soul is its three senior co-captains – Sarah Stewart who takes on the center or tall forward, Samari Winklaar who led Belmont in scoring against AC and Irini Nikolaidis who hit five straight free throws in the final two minutes vs Newburyport.

The Marauders is also a young squad. The point guard is sophomore all-star Carly Christofori who works with sophomore Jenny Call in the back court. First off the bench are freshmen who in the past two weeks have become steady contributors: guard Meghan Tan and center Jess Giorgio who is becoming a real stopper down low. There could be times when Belmont will have three sophomores and two freshman on the floor.
 
Watertown Head Coach Patrick Ferdinand told the Watertown News that “Belmont, [has] a lot of good basketball kids out there. The coach, Melissa, is extremely smart and they work really, really hard.”
 
The Raiders will not come into the game expecting a repeat of the past two games against the Marauders.
 
“It doesn’t matter (what happened in the first game). It’s 0-0. We don’t look at what happened before. We just look at some stuff that happened that game how we can fix it or go off it,” said Ferdinand.
 
 Hart believes that Watertown will enter the game with a positive outlook to the contest due to its past success in the tournament including last year’s trip to the state semifinals and a 23-1 record.

“Watertown has built confidence over their years of success,” said Hart, noting it’s Watertown’s fourth time in the North finals.

“When teams win a lot they expect it a little more. That’s how [Watertown] carries themselves,” she said.

Hart said Belmont is beginning to feel that same self-assurance during its impressive three-game run.

“And now our girls are starting to realize that they can carry themselves that way too,” said Hart.

IMG_2041 IMG_2046 IMG_2054 IMG_2056 IMG_2059

Belmont To Be Recognized as Purple Heart Community April 22

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[This is from a town press release]

Photo: The image for a Purple Heart community.

Veteran Service Officer Bob Upton has announced Belmont will be formally recognized as a Purple Heart Community by the Military Order of the Purple Heart.

A ceremony of acceptance to the Military Order of the Purple Heart will be conducted at 10 a.m. on Friday April 22, at the Belmont Public Library, 336 Concord Ave. 

Chartered by Congress in 1958, The Military Order of the Purple Heart is composed of military men and women who received the Purple Heart Medal for wounds suffered in combat. Although membership is restricted to the combat wounded, the organization supports all veterans and their families with a myriad of nation-wide programs by Chapters and National Service Officers.

Belmont officially proclaimed itself a Purple Heart Community on Dec. 14, 2015. In recognition of this distinction Leo Agnew, Commander of the Massachusetts Division of the Military Order of the Purple Heart will present the town with its Certificate of Recognition.

The Purple Heart is awarded to members of the armed forces of the U.S. who are wounded by an instrument of war in the hands of the enemy and posthumously to the next of kin in the name of those who are killed in action or die of wounds received in action.

The Veteran Service Office is reaching out to all Purple Heart recipients and/or their family members to attend this event. The public is invited to attend this event and to join with us in honoring and showing our appreciation to our Purple Heart recipients on this important occasion.

For more information please contact VSO Bob Upton at 617-993-2725 or by email to rupton@belmont-ma.gov

Before Saturday’s Final, Head to Annual Hoop Shoot-Out to Halt Malaria

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Photo: The poster for Saturday’s “Hoop Shoot-Out.” 

Before heading off to Woburn to support the Belmont High Girls’ Basketball team in their championship run, find out just how difficult it is to make a free throw.

The Belmont-Watertown United Methodist Church’s annual “Hoop Shoot-Out” to raise funds for Imagine No Malaria will take place Saturday, March 12, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the church’s gym located at 421 Common St., Belmont.

Enter the gym via the doors at the parking lot off Palfrey. 

The church is nearing the conclusion of a very successful national INM campaign. In the past five years, the children’s death rate from malaria has been reduced from once every 30 seconds to once every two minutes. This is a significant improvement allowing more children to reach adulthood and allowing for a more productive society. As little as $10 saves lives by providing insecticide-treated bed nets, education, and treatment.

Shooters and sponsors are needed. Anyone of all ages can participate: the idea is to sink as many foul shots as you can in two minutes. Just bring a list of sponsors (amount per basket or flat rate). Or come for the fun!

Show up anytime between 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and your cheering squad is welcome.

For more info, contact the church at 857-600-1282 or office@bwumc.org

Annual Acoustic Coffeehouse Thursday to Help End Homelessness

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Photo: Image.

Belmont High School’s Working to Help the Homeless Club will host its third annual acoustic Coffeehouse on Thursday, March 10 at 7 p.m. in the school’s cafeteria.

With music, ice cream, and homemade goodies, it is sure to be a great night. Open to all, tickets – which includes ice cream and other treats – are $5 at Champions Sporting Goods in Belmont Center and at the door.

Our performers will include:

  • Naria Sealy, Ashley Townsend, and Nic Neves
  • Wonyoung Jang, Evan Wagner, and Ben Crocker
  • Jasper Wolf, Nico Albano, Tommy Slap, Tino Decoulos, Aidan Hamell
  • Isabella Jaen Maisonet and Olivia Pierce
  • Ashley Townsend
  • Michael Rodriguez and Nathaniel Taylor
  • Becca Schwarz and Amelia Ickes
  • Kail Pellicane
  • Navya Jain and Mahima Sindhu
  • Jen Tan, Emily Logan, and Lilikoi Bronson
  • Josie Cooper and Kiara Holm
  • Elizabeth Galli and Viola Monovich
  • Rafi Wagner, Benton Jones, Jack Merullo, Matt Thompson, Bella Martin, Haig Hovsepian, Nic Neves, Clay Moyles, Danny Holt and Joe Wenzel
  • Ben Covell
  • Barry Eom

Last year’s coffeehouse was a huge success, raising over $1600 for the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter Youth Housing Initiative (Y2Y Harvard Square). Working to Help the Homeless Club decided to donate the money to the same cause this year as well.  Y2Y Harvard Square is the second youth-only shelter in the Boston area, serving homeless people between the ages of 18 and 24. The shelter, which opened in November, is run by Harvard students and works to create safe and secure futures for homeless youth (hence the name Y2Y, or youth to youth).

The Coffeehouse for a Cause is sure to be a blast and benefits an excellent cause. Show your support for Belmont High School’s exceptional performers and the Working to Help the Homeless club.