Photo: Yard sale in Belmont.
Yard sales in the “Town of Homes.”
• 124 Bright Rd., Saturday, Aug. 22, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• 130 Bright Rd., Saturday, Aug. 22, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• 72 Chester Rd., Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 22 and 23, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
• 18 Lodge Rd., Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 22 and 23, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• 275 Payson Rd., Saturday, Aug. 22, 8:30 a.m. to noon.
Photo: Olivia Cronin and Ann Pan cutting the ribbon at the Belmont High School Food Justice Club’s Garden.
Looking for the dedicated plot of land – with its new fence, plants and a whole lot vegetables growing adjacent to the Grant Baseball Field at Belmont High School – Olivia Cronin thinks back a little more than a year ago when she and Maggie O’Brien decided to start a garden on campus.
“It’s very nostalgic, I’ll have a hard time letting go,” said the 18-year-old this past Monday, as she prepares to matriculate at McGill University in the next few weeks.
Olivia Cronin at the ribbon cutting.
“But the four girls taking over, it’s in good hands,” she said.
In its second growing season, the Belmont High School Garden and Food Justice Club held a ribbon cutting ceremony this past Monday, Aug. 17, to hail the garden’s success and recent improvements.
“It’s a celebration of the past two years where we saw a lot of improvement and success in the garden,” said Cronin, who along with fellow recent Belmont High graduate O’Brien, symbolically handed off the garden to the next group of student volunteers.
[Source: Video thanks Lucas Tragos/Belmont Media Center]
The student-led club founded the school’s first vegetable garden in the spring of 2014 “with the practical purpose was supplying food to the [Belmont] Food Pantry,” said Cronin, noting that all the food in the pantry is canned goods, so “it’s nice to have the fresh food,” including eggplants, beans and tomatoes.
“When they first came to us last year, they would have a small box with a few tomatoes and some beans. Now a year later, they came in yesterday with eight eggplants and two huge zucchinis,” said Food Pantry Director Patty Mihelich, whose non-profit receives the bounty of the student’s garden.
“I had a new person come to the pantry and she was so excited the fact that we had fresh produce which is so expensive at the stores,” said Mihelich.
The BHS Garden is cared for by students during the school year and summer and during the non-growing season the club hosts a Winter Food Drive, as well as other projects and trips.
During its first summer, the garden’s four beds hosted tomatoes, eggplant, bush beans, broccoli and beets, with seedling donations from Belmont Acres Farms.
In its second season, the garden received a grant from The Whole Kids Foundation to finance a cedar post fencing and blueberry bushes that will give the four garden beds some durability.
Ann Pan picking a tomato from the garden.
The student garden is now in the hands of Ammu Dinesh, Brett Koslowsky, Alena Jaeger and Ann Pan, with a goal of continue expanding, increasing the school’s involvement in the garden and promoting conversation about sustainable growing and food insecurity in Belmont.
“We hope to see the garden expand in the future,” said Cronin, “since this brings the whole community together, high school students providing for other community members in the same area.”
Cronin noted assistance from Belmont High Principal Dan Richards and Fred Domenici, the school’s head of grounds, Mike Chase of Belmont Acres Farm for seedling donations; Joan Teebagy of the Belmont Food Collaborative for writing The Whole Kids Grant; Suzanne Johannet of the Belmont Food Collaborative for her guidance and practical support; and Michael LaPierre of ML Fencing for donating the fence installation labor.
For Richards, the plot is an opening to broaden students outlook.
“The kids deserve all the credit for the garden from the very beginning in my office to today where they have faced all the challenges of keeping this going,” he said. “I think they learned a great deal of project-based planning and responsibility as well as giving back to the community.”
“And it’s another way for the kids to think about hunger and how to support people in need,” said Mihelich.
Photo: Knives under the stone.
There will be songs from a far-off land, a Thai tasting and the opportunity to sharpen your culinary equipment this week at the Belmont Farmers Market today, Thursday, Aug. 20.
Siraco Knife Sharpening will be in the Belmont Center parking lot, sharpening your knives, scissors, and garden tools while you shop.
Belmont’s Solomon Murungu will share the history of the mbira and demonstrate how to play this unique instrument made of wood with staggered metal keys. Visitors are encouraged to join in and try the various mbira instruments on display.
In the Belmont Center Parking Lot:
Siraco Knife Sharpening
On the government end of “This Week”:
• Pre-School Summer Story Time at the Benton Library, Belmont’s independent and volunteer run library, on Tuesday, Aug. 18 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.
• Kelsey Perkins of US Rep. Katherine Clark‘s staff will be holding office hours in Belmont at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St., on Tuesday, Aug. 18, from noon to 1 p.m.
• There will be a Genre Party for 4th to 6th graders from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 19, in the Assembly Room of Belmont Public Library.
• Blues Dogs with Belmont’s own Bob Jones will be performing at this week’s Payson Park Music Festival beginning at 6:30-ish p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 18 at the Payson Park Playground, at the corner of Payson and Elm.
• Belmont Public Library’s “Chillin’ with Villains – Marvel Movie Series” continues on Friday, Aug. 21 at 2 p.m. with a screening of “Dick Tracy” in the Assembly Room.
• Barbara Miranda, State Sen. Will Brownsberger‘s Chief of Staff, will be holding office hours in Belmont at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St., on Friday. Aug. 21, from noon to 1 p.m.
Photo: Yard sale in Belmont.
Yard sales in the “Town of Homes.”
• 393 Belmont St., Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 15 and 16, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• 405 Belmont St., Saturday, Aug. 15, 10 a.m. to noon.
• 531 Belmont St., Saturday, Aug. 15, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• 77 Grove St., Saturday, Aug. 15, 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
• 4 Harvard Rd., Saturday, Aug. 15, 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• 32-36 Lewis Rd, Sunday, Aug. 16, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• 538 School St., Saturday, Aug. 15, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• 579 School St., Saturday, Aug. 15, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Photo: Peaches are peaking.
August abundance continues at the Belmont Farmers Market. There’s peaches and blueberries for breakfast. Tomatoes with basil, mozzarella and fresh bread for lunch. And corn on the cob with a green salad for dinner. Perhaps with hamburgers and sausages from the grill. All this and more is available on Market Day this week.
Photo: Mr. Marauder.
The first day of school is always daunting, especially when it’s in a new building with people you don’t know.
In an attempt to ease those anxieties and make the transition from middle school a tad less stressful, the Belmont High School Connectors Program is sponsoring a Freshman Orientation for the approximate 300 raising 9th graders entering the High School on Thursday, Aug. 27, from 5 p.m. to 7:15 p.m.
There will be a smaller Connectors event for upper-class transfer students on Friday, Aug. 28 at lunch time.
Events for the new students will include:
The Connectors is a joint program of staff, teachers, students and the High School’s PTO to provide information, support and companionship so a new student’s adjustment to high school will go smoothly.
Photo: Off the slide and into the pool.
Lorraine Benoit had spent 10 hours on the job at the new Underwood Pool, literally opening the doors for the first day of swimming at the new $5.3 million facility on Monday, Aug. 10.
On a sunny, warm summer day, hundreds of Belmont residents – there was no official number because the counter was left in the front desk because it was so busy – entered the fence to take a dip in the two pools, rest on the grass banking and even voluntarily venture into the two bath houses to change and take a shower.
“Everything is ready to go. I’m just hoping everything goes well,” said Benoit, the pool’s manager who has been working at Belmont pools since 1964.
For the early birds who came early, it was a chance to finally test the facilities which took nine months to build from ground breaking on a freezing cold November day.
“I’m here to swim laps,” said Jim Crawford, one of nearly two dozen residents – most of them pre-teens and younger – who waited patiently for the official opening at 9 a.m.
“I figured I’d swim first thing in the morning and rest for the rest of the day,” said Crawford.
Julie Campisano brought her six-and-a-half year of twins who didn’t have to travel very far to reach the pool; they live across Cottage Street from the facility.
“We saw it being built all winter and couldn’t wait for it to be open. It’s so exciting,” said Campisano.
With many town officials present, including Town Administrator David Kale, the DPW’s Director Jay Marcotte and Health Director Angela Braun, the kids and adults marched in and much like when someone has a new car, tentatively entered the water, seemingly not wanting to spoil the new-ness of the premises.
But soon children where washing out of the slide, jumping off the diving board while the adults took a more placid approach, taking photos of their children or hitting the designated lap area.
“I’ve been coming here since I was a little kid and now I’m 73,” said Mary Turner, “from famous Waverley Square.”
Turner, whose children and grandchildren all learned to swim at the Underwood, said she appreciated the chance to do laps “since you really couldn’t do that in the old pool.”
By 2 p.m., the pool was nearing capacity as blankets covered the grass and the sound of kids and splashing could be heard from School Street to well down Concord Avenue. While the crowds diminished by afternoon, people were still arriving as shade settled across the entire location.
With the exception of the super slippery pool surface leading into the pools – especially noticeable in the “kiddie” pool when entering from the “zero entry” section – which required Department of Public Works employees to place bath and auto mats in the area, the “new Underwood” won a near universal thumbs up from residents.
“It’s been a great success, despite the little problem we’ve experienced,” said Anne Paulsen, chair of the Underwood Pool Building Committee, who stood drying off after test driving the facility. She said the slipping issue would be resolved after the pool is closed for the season when the contractor will apply a textured “sand” paint.
Just after 6 p.m., Benoit was preparing for the umpteenth “deep end test,” in which young swimmers demonstrate the swimming prowess required to allow them to leap off the diving board into 12 feet of water.
“It’s been fabulous today,” said Benoit, who praised the gaggle of lifeguards, many who had spent the entire day at the site.
“Everyone did a great job today,” she said as she drifted over to the next group of youngsters ready to brave the test.
Photo: The problem area at the Underwood Pool is the smooth entry area for the kiddy pool.
Only one day since opening to rave reviews and a full house, the town has decided to temporarily close the new Underwood Pool until Saturday morning, Aug. 15.
But for those who visited the facility on Monday, the reason for the closure is fairly obvious.
The three-day shut down will allow contractors and town employees to apply non-skid material to pool surfaces after several residents who first arrived at the pool Monday nearly slipped and fell since their feet could not grip on the smooth pool surface, especially at the entry of the “kiddy” pool.
The Higginbottom Pool (located at Belmont High School) will be open for public and lap swimming Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, August 12-14, from noon until 8 p.m.
For information on pool passes and future schedule updates, visit http://www.belmont-ma.gov/recreation