Foundation’s Youth Spelling Bee on for Saturday, Nov. 14

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Photo: Spelling Bee.

Belmont School District students will be lining up to show off their spelling prowess as the 15th annual Foundation for Belmont Education Spelling Bee takes place on Saturday, Nov. 14

WHEN: Saturday, Nov. 14, 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. 

WHERE: Belmont High School Auditorium 

WHERE TO PARK AT BHS:

  • In the Belmont High School parking lots 
  • On the LEFT hand side of the entrance driveway 
  • On Concord Avenue 
  • On side streets near the Underwood Pool 
  • At the Belmont Memorial Library (after 5:00 p.m.) 

RULES: Click HERE for the Fall 2015 Spelling Bee Rules. 

FAQ: For a list of frequently asked questions click HERE.

ARRIVAL TIME FOR SPELLERS:  Check the latest list.

Spellers may participate in three or four-person teams. On the day of the Bee, teams go on stage in groups (swarms) and are given words from the list to write on a small team whiteboard (teams can designate one writer or rotate). 

The K-4 swarms are non-competitive. Teams will be told if their word is correct or incorrect, but there is no elimination. 

The 5th and 6th grade swarms are competitive using our famous “two stingers before you’re out” rules. Challenging, off-list words may be used, if needed. 

In preparation for the Bee, each team picks a name and is encouraged to wear attire (shirts, hats, etc.) to show their team spirit. Pizza, drinks and desserts will be available for sale in the cafeteria. Family members and friends are welcome to come and watch! Participants should check the FBE website before the Bee to determine approximately what time their team will be on stage.

Still have questions? Contact the Spelling Bee Co-Chairs, Christa Bauge or Jacqueline Kaiser, at beemaster@fbe-belmont.org

Belmont Rededicates Monument to The Dead of the ‘War to End All Wars’

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Photo: Selectman Jim Williams at the rededication of the WWI monument. 

The rain fell lightly across Belmont as the community came together to remember its dead on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, and to rededicate a staid and beautiful monolith bearing the names of the nine residents who gave their lives in the struggle known as the “War to end all wars.”

After reading the names and telling the stories a few, Belmont Selectman Jim Williams read from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Voluntaries” of which the last lines are laid on the back of the Bethel white granite monument and dedicated on this day in 1923. 

“So nigh is grandeur to our dust,
So near is God to man,
When Duty whispers low, ‘Thou must,’
The youth whispers, ‘I can.”

The Navy veteran of the Vietnam war checked his emotions, which wavered a bit, before saying that “we are humbled today to honor the town citizens who gave their lives to stand up to tyranny,” as he looked up to those who died nearly a century ago in the First World War. 

With honor guards from Belmont Police and Fire departments as well as the VFW, town and state dignitaries along with many veterans and family, Belmont came to the delta between Common Street and Royal Road and across from the commuter rail station, to view the renovated monument.

After falling on hard times in the past decades, the monument has been restored through the efforts of several private citizens lead by Retired Army Gen. Kevin Ryan, leader of the Belmont Veterans Memorial Committee.

Ryan pointed to residents such as Bill French, Sr., who sought to remember his friend who was killed in Vietnam, as pushing forward the idea of renovating Belmont’s two existing outdoor memorials – the WWI monument and the flag pole at Clay Pit Pond – with the creation of a third made up of small, low stones with plaques honoring veterans from the Civil War to the Iraq conflict at Clay Pit Pond. So far, money has been provided from the town’s Community Preservation Committee and private individuals; more will be needed to complete the work. 

Saying that the misty, cool weather was “great infantry weather” – which a few of the older vets quietly disagreed – Ryan detailed the lives of those from Belmont who did not return from WWI. A barber, congregates from nearby St. Joseph’s, a pilot, a lifelong sailor, a husband; they lived varied lives within the same community, but all volunteered to take up the cause of liberty and country.

A prayer, then a military salute, before “Taps” played by Belmont High School musicians Eleanor Dash and Alex Park brought to an end the day’s remembrance.

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Rededicating The Memorial To Belmont’s Great War Dead

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Photos: The restored memorial in Belmont.

On a bright autumn afternoon, the Belmont World War I memorial shined in a way it must have looked when it was unveiled 92 years ago.

The graffiti is gone, the grime washed away benches installed, and flowers planting around the monolith of Bethel white granite set in the island between Common Street and Royal Road.

Nearly a century old, the stone memorial honors the nine Belmont men who did not come back home from a Great War across the Atlantic.

Cirino, Craigie, Finn, Lincoln, McAleer, Nimmo, Patriouin, Smith, True. Names that would be lost to history if not for the monument.

But since the memorial was dedicated on Nov. 11, 1923 – which historian Dan Leclerc describes as “one of the best” in the nation – its location along a major roadway and a busy commuter rail station allowed the structure to be neglected. The stone begged for repairs, the grounds suffered due to sparse maintenance, the entire area became threadbare.

The transformation of the memorial is part of a larger plan to renovate and restore the town’s two monuments and create a third honoring those who gave their lives to the country. Led by the Belmont Veterans’ Memorial Project group, the members have raised money through the Community Preservation Committee, individuals and in-kind contributions to bring these monuments back to life.

And on Veterans Day, 2015, the first part of the mission will be celebated.

The rededication ceremony for the World War I Memorial will be held at 1 p.m. on Veterans Day, Wednesday, Nov. 11.

The ceremony will be attended by the Belmont High School Band with comments from the Board of Selectmen, words from Brig. Gen. Kevin Ryan (U.S. Army retired) and will include the color guards from both the Police and Fire departments.

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This Week: So Much! Authors Talks, Scharfman Recital, Memorial Rededication

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Photo: The rededication of the WWI memorial will be held at 1 p.m. Veterans Day.

The government side of things “This Week”:

  • The Belmont Board of Selectmen will hold an abbreviated meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 9 in Town Hall. 
  • At 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 9, the Selectmen will conduct a public ascertainment hearing on the performance of Verizon in its capacity as a cable provider.
  • The Community Preservation Committee is meeting at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 10 in Town Hall to discuss Belmont’s recreational needs, preliminary applications for CPC grants and preview the committee’s Nov. 12 public meeting.
  • The Belmont Board of Selectmen is hosting a community meeting to discuss a presentation of a new Minuteman Regional Vocational and Technology High School at 7 p.m. at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St.
  • The Belmont School Committee is meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 10 at the Chenery Middle School to discuss the district’s technology plans, a SPED update and the first quarter report.
  • The Capital Budget Committee will meet in the Selectmen’s Room at Town Hall at 5 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 12, to discuss outstanding capital projects and approach to coordinating, addressing and funding projects. 
  • The Board of Health meets at Town Hall at 5:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 12, to discuss the town’s off-leash permit program with John Marguranis, the town’s animal control officer.
  • The Community Preservation Committee is holding a public meeting to introduce the final application of projects seeking to fund. Each project’s sponsor will present their case before the public and the committee. The meeting takes place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 12 in the Selectmen’s Room at Town Hall.

• The ELS Conservation Circle for Beginners will be held from 10 a.m. to noon on Monday, Nov. 9 in the Belmont Public Library’s Flett Room.

• Belmont author Len Abram will read from his novel Debris: A Novel of Love, War and the Lusitania in the Belmont Public Library’s Assembly Room from 11 a.m. to noon on Monday, Nov. 9. Debris offers a human tale of courage and conflict, lives shattered and rebuilt, and loves formed and lost amid war’s debris. All are welcome to attend this free program. Books will be available for purchase and signing. Refreshments will be provided.

• The Belmont High School Girls’ Soccer team will travel to Marblehead on Monday, Nov. 9 for a 4 p.m. game against second-ranked Marblehead High Magicians in the quarterfinals of the Division 2 North sectional finals.

• 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 attend with adults. Registration is not required. The Benton Library is located at the intersection of Oakley and Old Middlesex.
  • The Belmont Public Library on Concord Avenue will be holding two sessions of Story Time for 2’s and 3’s, at 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. 

• A free recital from accomplished young baritone singer, Jacob Scharfman, will take place at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St., on Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 1:15 p.m. A Belmont native (he is the son of the late School Committee member Dan Scharfman) Belmont High School (2009) and Brown University (2013) graduate, Jacob performs frequently as a vocalist and director. His solo work includes engagements with the Boston Camerata, the Providence Singers (section leader), the First Unitarian Church of Providence (section leader), and Community Music Works. He currently sings with Schola Cantorum of Boston.

• Do you have a big reader on your holiday shopping list? Head over to Wellington Elementary School’s Monster Book Fair this week to discover hundreds of books for the kids on your list. This is one of the biggest fundraisers for the school and we appreciate your support. The Book Fair is open to the public at Wellington Elementary School, 121 Orchard St., for shopping the following days/times.

  • Tuesday, Nov. 10: 8 a.m. to 10  a.m. and 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. (Pizza is available for sale 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
  • Thursday, Nov. 12: 8 a.m. to 10  a.m. and 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. (Visit from Clifford the Big Red Dog 2:50 p.m.)
  • Friday, Nov. 13: 8 a.m. to 10  a.m. and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

More information including featured book titles, teacher wish lists and online shopping can be found here.

• It’s ‘Tween Tuesday at the Belmont Public Library, and the group will discuss the book Matilda by Roald Dahl in the Assembly Room from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 10. Copies of the book are available for checkout at the Children’s Room desk. Afterward, there will be a movie and snacks in this extra-long program. Register online or call the Children’s Room at 617-993-2880.

• Wednesday, Nov. 11 is Veterans Day. All town, state and federal offices are closed as is the post office, the district schools, the Beech Street Center and the public library. 

• A rededication ceremony for the World War I Memorial will be held at 1 p.m. on Veterans Day, Wednesday, Nov. 11 at the island across from the Belmont Lions Club and the commuter rail station in Belmont Center. The ceremony will be attended by the Belmont High School Band with comments from the Selectmen and will include the color guards from both the Police and Fire departments.

• The fourth-seed Belmont High School Girls Field Hockey team travels to Reading High School on Veterans Day, Wednesday, Nov. 11 to play the number-one seed (and 11th-ranked team in the US) Acton-Boxborough Regional High School in a Division 1 North sectional semi-finals. The match up between Belmont (16-2) and the undefeated, untied Colonials (19 wins) begins at 1 p.m. 

• Join other elementary school readers at the 2nd & 3rd Grade Book Club on Thursday, Nov. 12, 3:30 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. in the library’s Flett Room to talk about this month’s book, Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar. Register online or call the Children’s Room at 617-993-2880.

• Wall Street Journal columnist, Belmont native – his mother was a longtime teacher at the Winn Brook School – and author Jason Gay delivers a hilarious and true guide to modern living in his first book Little Victories: Perfect Rules for Imperfect Living. Four times a week, millions of people turn to Gay’s column where he give an amusing, fan’s view of the sports world, which he loves but doesn’t take too seriously.

Gay will speak about his view of the world as part of the Friends of Belmont Public Library’s Author Series at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 12 in the Assembly Room. It is free and open to the public.  Books will be available for purchase and signing.  The Assembly Room is physically-challenged accessible.

• Literacy Playgroup is a parent and child group that supports child’s language and literacy development on Friday, Nov. 13, 10:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. in Flett Room. You’ll play, read, sing and take home new ideas. Presented by educators from the CFCE grant program; for children age 4 and younger.

• The Senior Book Discussion group will meet on Friday, Nov. 13 from 11 a.m. to noon at the Beech Street Center to discuss Doctor Zhivago (Part One) by Boris Pasternak.

• The League of Women Voters is hosting a Brown Bag Lunch Talk on Friday, Nov. 13 at noon in the Flett Room of the Belmont Public Library on “Start School Later in Belmont?” with Andrea Prestwich, chapter leader of Belmont Start School Later campaign. Many feel that Belmont schools start too early, with adverse consequences for our kids’ health and safety. The talk is open to the public; bring your lunch, there will be beverages and cookie.

Open Reception for ‘Printmakers of Cape Cod’ at Belmont Gallery Sunday

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Photo: “Kayak at Rest” Color Woodcut by Evan Charney.

An opening reception for Printmakers of Cape Cod, the new exhibit at the Belmont Gallary of Art, will be held in the gallery on Sunday, Nov. 8 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The Belmont Gallery of Art is located on the third floor of the Homer Municipal Building in the Town Hall Complex at 19 Moore St.
Printmakers of Cape Cod, at the BGA from Nov. 6 to Dec. 11., features work by 25 members of the arts group Printmakers of Cape Cod. Techniques displayed include linocuts, screen prints, etchings, monotypes, photogel transfers and woodcuts. There are more than 50 works hanging in the show and a number of other prints are available for purchase in the BGA’s print bins.

Regular gallery hours are Thursdays and Fridays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Don’t miss The Boston Printmakers‘ 2015 North American Print Biennial at Lesley University, Nov. 8 to Dec. 12 at the Lunder Arts Center, 1815 Mass. Ave. in Cambridge.

Belmont Yard Sales: Nov. 7 (And a Ski Swap at Belmont High)

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Photo: Yard sale in Belmont.

Yard sales in the “Town of Homes.”

• 36 Bellevue Rd., Saturday, Nov. 7, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Proceeds will be going to Belmont Food Pantry.

• 65 Bow St., Saturday, Nov. 7, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• 69 Elm St., Saturday, Nov. 7, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

• 14 Pierce Rd., Saturday, Nov. 7, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• 7 Weber Rd., Saturday, Nov. 7, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Belmont High School Ski Team is hosting its annual Ski and Snowboard Sale today, Saturday, Nov. 7 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Great deals on new and used ski, snowboard and ice skating equipment featuring sales by Newton Centre Ski and Bike and consignment/donation.

Belmont Dramatic Presents Stoppard’s One-Acts in Four Performances

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Photo: A still from the Belmont Dramatic Club production of Tom Stoppard’s two one-act plays, “Dogg’s Hamlet, Cahoot’s Macbeth.”

The Belmont Dramatic Club is staging Tom Stoppard’s two one-act plays, “Dogg’s Hamlet, Cahoot’s Macbeth” as its fall production over the next week.

The production, directed by Francine Davis, includes the “15-minute Hamlet” plus two-minute encore.

The Christian Science Monitor calls Stoppard’s plays “a blend of comic nonsense and astringent political satire.”

The performances take place at Belmont Town Hall Auditorium, 455 Concord Ave.    

Performances will take place on Friday, Nov. 6, Saturday, Nov. 7, Saturday, Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 15 at 3 p.m. On-line tickets: $20 at info@belmontdramaticclub.org or call (617-460-2504 and leave a message.) General admission tickets will be sold at the door starting one-hour prior to each performance; our Box Office can accept cash or checks, but cannot accept credit cards. 

For more information visit www.belmontdramaticclub.org.

Founded in 1903, the Belmont Dramatic Club is the second oldest continuously operating and performing community theatre group in the United States.

Sports: Postseason Begins Thursday for Four Belmont High Teams

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Photo: 

A quartet of Belmont High School teams will begin their postseasons within a few hours of each other on Thursday, Nov. 5 

Belmont Field Hockey will host Central Catholic of Lawrence in a first-round Div. 1 North Sectional match at 4 p.m. at Harris Field. Here is your chance to see the 4th-ranked Marauders (14-2) in action against the 13th-seeded Raiders (10-6-2).

Belmont Girls’ Soccer travels to the edge of Logan Airport to take on the 6th-ranked Jets of East Boston High School (11-3-2) in a first rounder in the Div. 2 North Sectionals at 3:30 p.m. The Marauders are ranked 10th with a record of 11-6-0. 

Girls’ Swimming and Diving are in Waltham at Bentley College to participate in the Middlesex League meet. The event at the school’s Dana Center gets started at 2:30 p.m.

Finally, Cheerleading will be off to Woburn for the Middlesex League meet that begins at 7 p.m.

Trapelo Road Paving Resumes Monday, Except Delays Along Route

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Photo: Paving work in Belmont.

Starting at 5:30 a.m., Monday, Nov. 2, construction crews will resume paving Trapelo Road between Waverley and Cushing squares, according to Belmont Police.

The current construction schedule has paving work occurring on Monday, Nov. 2, Wednesday, Nov. 4, and Thursday, Nov. 5.

Police and town officials warn motorists to expect delays along the major thoroughfare that runs the length of Belmont from the Waltham to Cambridge town lines.

Town officials said that paving work is weather dependent and that the current schedule may fluctuate, although the latest forecast calls for clear skies and temperatures reaching the mid-60s into the 70s by the end of the week.

Due to cold temperatures it is not possible to complete the work during the overnight hours, necessitating daytime paving.

Questions about the project may be directed to the Office of Community Development at 617-993-2650.