Photo: Yard sale in Belmont.
Yard sales in the “Town of Homes.”
• 62 Trowbridge St., Saturday, Aug. 8, 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. (Free cookies!)
Letter to the Editor: Moderator Asks Town Meeting To Be ‘Positive and Constructive’
Town Meeting Members:
In my eight years as Town Moderator I can recall few if any issues that have so aroused the passions of Town Meeting Members as the subject of [today’s] Special Town Meeting. I have taken advice from many people and spent many hours seeking to plan the meeting in order to focus the discussion in the fairest and most civil way possible.
Given the emotions surrounding this issue, I am concerned that the debate could easily deteriorate into accusations and personal attacks. While I will not allow that, I am making a special plea to each of you to keep your remarks positive and constructive. There are opposing opinions, of course, which is the point of a healthy debate, but one can make a strong argument for one’s position while still being respectful of another person and point of view. How we conduct ourselves tomorrow night will be important in allowing us to work together on this and the many important issues facing the town.
I urge your cooperation. Thank you.
Mike Widmer
Moderator
Summer Produce in Abundance at Belmont Farmers Market
Photo: Belmont Farmers Market.
The Belmont Farmers Market welcomes August with all of the summer favorites are available in abundance. Corn, peaches, peppers, summer squash, and tomatoes are ripe and perfect for easy summer dinners.
The market is open from 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Thursdays throughout the summer and lasting until the final week of October. The market is located in the municipal parking lot at the intersection of Cross Street and Channing Road in Belmont Center.
Schedule of Events:
- 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.: Tasting by Stone Hearth Pizza located in Belmont Center.
- 4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.: Storytime.
- 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.: Art at the Market: Local artist Anne Katzeff will be guiding this perennial favorite market activity for artists of all ages and abilities, especially children. Plenty of art materials will be available, and together we will draw or paint whatever captures our imaginations: veggies, fruits, flowers, people, breads, snacks, you name it.
Monthly and Occasional Vendors: Boston Smoked Fish Company, Coastal Vineyards, Couët Farm and Fromagerie, and Seta’s Mediterranean Food,
Weekly Vendors: Boston Smoked Fish Company, C&C Lobsters and Fish, Dick’s Market Garden Farm, Fior D’Italia, Flats Mentor Farm, Foxboro Cheese, Gaouette Farm, Goodies Homemade, Hutchins Farm, Kimball Fruit Farm, Mamadou’s Artisan Bakery, Sfolia Baking Company, Stillman Quality Meats.
Food Truck: Jamaica Mi Hungry.
Belmont Gallery of Art Celebrating Tenth Anniversary with Retrospective
Photo: The Belmont Gallery of Art.
In July 2005, the Belmont Gallery of Art opened its doors to the public for the first tinmevc exhibiting in the past decade more than 60 unique, compelling, inspirational shows and serving as a catalyst for raising the visibility and importance of the arts and artists here in Belmont and elsewhere.
To mark its milestone anniversary, the BGA will stage a special 10 Year Retrospective Show, “10!” in September 2015, to honor the work of the many artists who made the gallery’s first ten years such a wonderful success. The exhibit will feature one work from each participating artist.
If your work has been shown in the BGA any time in the last ten years, we invite you to submit new work for inclusion in the anniversary show. We invite the Belmont Gallery of Art’s supporters to join us in celebrating the first ten years of what’s become one of Belmont’s most important cultural assets.
Please visit the BGA’s website at www.belmontgallery.org for more detailed info and art submission guidelines.
Key Dates for the “10!”show.
- Deadline for submission: Aug. 31.
- Announcement to artists of works selected: Sept. 4.
- Drop-of of selected works at the BGA: Thurs., Sept. 17 and Sun., Sept. 20.
Belmont Under Severe Thunderstorm Watch ’til 8 p.m. Tuesday
Photo: Thunderstorms on the way.
Belmont, along with most of eastern Massachusetts, is under a severe thunderstorm watch until 8 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 4.
The National Weather Service issued the warning at 12:20 p.m., advising residents to be prepared for the potential for the development of thunderstorms which may produce large hail or damaging winds.
When a watch is issued, people should go about your normal activities, but keep an eye to the sky and an ear to the National Weather Service’s weather radio or local radio and television stations for further updates and possible warnings.
In addition, a tornado warning has been issued for an area just to the west of Route 3 near Chelmsford for 2:30 p.m.
This Week: Special Town Meeting Thursday, Magic on Monday, Lollipops for Breakfast
On the government side of “This Week”:
- The Belmont Planning Board will be meeting at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 4 at Town Hall to discuss several special permits for work on individual properties and, interestingly, a one-year extension of the special permit perviously granted to the applicant of the Cushing Village development. Hmmmm.
- The Conservation Commission is meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 4 at Town Hall to go over a request of the Harvard Running Club for a cross country meet at Rock Meadow on Sept. 26 and discuss possible projects in which funds could be obtained through an Community Preservation Committee grant.
- The Net Metering Working Group will be meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday, Aug. 4 and Aug 5 at 7 p.m. in Town Hall as it hammers away reviewing the financial model to assist a solar tariff design.
- Special Town Meeting takes on Thursday, Aug 6, at 7 p.m. in the air conditioned comfort of the Chenery Middle School auditorium. The meeting was called by the Board of Selectmen as a result of a citizens’ petition submitted by Paul Roberts (Precinct 8) and Bonnie Friedman (Precinct 3).
• It’s illusion and singing on the front lawn of the Belmont-Watertown Methodist Church as the church sponsors the 15th annual Magic and Song on the Lawn on Monday, Aug. 3 at 7 p.m. Head lighting the night will be magician Mike Bent’s “Abrakidabra” Magic Show and children’s singer Paul Sedgwick. It’s free and lots of fun.
• Pre-School Story Time at the Benton Library, Belmont’s independent and volunteer run library, on Tuesday, Aug. 4 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.
• Children Movies will be screened in the Belmont Public Library’s Assembly Room at 11:30 a.m., Tuesday, Aug. 4. Bring your lunch and a blanket to eat picnic-style as you watch Big Hero Six.
• The Beech Street Center presents The Ambassadors – Joseph Vincent and Joseph Andrea – who will bring the music of the Big Band-era to the Center on Tuesday, Aug. 4, at 1:15 p.m. Vincent was a finalist in a world piano-accordion competition. Joseph Andrea is a multi-instrumentalist and WW II veteran who, at the end of the war, was asked to form a seven-piece dance band to entertain wounded G.I.s, enlisted men, and officers. He played in various symphonies including the Boston Civic Symphony and the New England Symphony.
• This week’s screen of the “Chillin’ with Villains, Marvel movie” series is the latest version of the “Amazing Spiderman” (the one with Emma Stone and the English guy made in 2012) Tuesday, Aug. 4, from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., in the Assembly Room of the Belmont Public Library.
• At the Belmont Public Library’s “Superhero Extravaganza” for kindergarteners and elementary school students, kids can test their superhero skills with games, crafts and more as they develop their own superhero alter ego on Wednesday, Aug. 5 at 2 p.m. Superhero costumes encouraged.
• The John Baboian Ensemble with vocalist Sandi Bedrosian will bring jazz standards and original tunes to the Payson Park Music Festival on Wednesday, Aug. 5, at 6:30 p.m. (note the earlier start time in August).
• On Thursday, Aug. 6 at 10:30 a.m., Bonnie Duncan presents “Lollipops for Breakfast” in which Sylvia will discover a magical world on her quest to have lollipops for breakfast. This is a silly puppet adventure created and performed by Duncan. For all ages (including you adults)
• Join the Belmont Public Library for a pre-release book presentation with Daniel Korschun and Grant Welker, authors of “We Are Market Basket: The story of the unlikely grassroots movement that saved a beloved business” on Thursday, Aug. 6, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Assembly Room. The presentation will be followed by Q&A and discussion. Refreshments will be served.
Belmont Yard Sales, Aug. 1 – 2
Photo: Yard sale in Belmont.
Yard sales in the “Town of Homes.”
• 580 Concord Ave., Saturday, Aug. 1, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Drew Road at Beech Street, Saturday, Aug. 1, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• 85 Orchard St., Saturday, Aug. 1, 9 a.m. to noon.
• 27 Payson Rd., Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 1 and Aug. 2, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• 211 School St., Saturday, Aug. 1, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Belmont Savings’ Mahoney Leading Boston Catholics to See Pope in Cuba
Photo:
When Pope Francis visits Cuba in mid-September, there to greet him will be Belmont Savings Bank CEO Bob Mahoney with a group of approximately 135 Catholics from the Archdiocese of Boston.
“It should be just an amazing experience,” said Mahoney, Belmont Savings’ president and chief executive officer in an interview with the Boston Pilot.
Mahoney, a member of the Archdiocesan Finance Council who is helping to organize the trip,, said the group will attend the Mass Francis will celebrate Sept. 20 in Havana’s Revolution Square. The group will also sightsee Old Havana, attend local musical performances and visit the Caritas Cubana mission at Iglesia San Agustin, where a previous Boston delegation donated a new kitchen.
It will also be opportunity for the Boston delegation to visit and travel to the island nation during a time of monumental change as the United States and Cuba normalize relations after more that a half century of isolation.
“It’s just an amazing experience, getting to go to Cuba while Cuba is still Cuba,” Mahoney said as the communist country begins to welcome American investment and tourism.
Mahoney told the Pilot there is a possibility the delegation could be on the first direct flight from Boston to Havana when they depart on Sept. 18.
“That would be pretty cool,” said Mahoney, who has visited Cuba twice, once when Pope St. John Paul II traveled there in 1998, and when Pope Benedict XVI visited the island in 2012.
Pope Francis will visit Cuba Sept. 19-22 for his tenth trip abroad since becoming pope in 2013. He will meet with Cuban President Raul Castro, local religious groups and families, and will celebrate Mass in Revolution Square that Mahoney compared to “four Boston City Hall Plazas.”
“There will be well over a million people,” Mahoney told the Pilot.
The pope will then visit the United States for a five-day visit, Sept. 22-27, which includes attending the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, meeting with President Obama and giving the first papal address to a joint session of Congress.
Pope Francis and the Vatican played a key role in engineering talks between Cuba and the United States. The pope wrote letters to the presidents of both countries and tasked the archbishop of Havana to act as an intermediary.
Mahoney said there are still about three-dozen available slots for the trip, which costs $4,500 per person, or $8,000 per couple. That includes airfare, rooms, tourist activities and meals. There are special group discounts, inquire for details.
“It’s an amazing opportunity,” Mahoney said.
For more information, contact Donis Tracy, Educational Travel Alliance, Inc. (www.ETAcuba.com), at 617-610-3776 or DonisT.eta@gmail.com.
Belmont Light Urge Customers to Reduce Power Usage During Peak
Photo: Turn it down!
With temperatures today forecasted to reach the 90s again, Belmont Light has a request to its 11,000 customers: Lighten up on the power, please.
With today, Thursday, July 30, expected to be another high electricity use day, the town’s electrical utility is urging users to save energy and money by reducing electricity consumption during the hottest (or peak) part of the day, between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
“Every bit of electricity reduced during peak times will help Belmont mitigate rising electricity costs,” read a press release dated Wednesday, July 29, from Sagewell, Inc., the Woburn-based firm that is administrator of Belmont Light Energy Efficiency Programs.
“Nearly one-third of your electric bill is for the cost of procuring sufficient capacity for peak days and these costs are continuing to increase for all utilities across New England.”
And Belmont Light is providing tips to reduce peak electricity consumption:
- Adjust the air conditioning between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and turn off the air conditioning in rooms that are not used. Adjusting the thermostat even by two-to-three degrees helps.
- Use a microwave oven or an outdoor grill instead of a stove or a regular oven.
- Shift laundry and dishwasher use to after 7 p.m.
- Run pool pumps or use hot tubs before 2 p.m. or after 7 p.m. Shift other electricity use at those times.
If customers have any questions or would like advice on how to decrease peak energy consumption, contact Sagewell at 617-963-8141 or at support@sagewell.com
Strike Up The Summer Band: Belmont’s Once-A-Year Musical Get-Together
Photo: On stage with the Belmont Summer Community Band.
“You’re playing great,” said Arto Asadoorian as he directs a collection of amateurs and students in a hurry-up rehearsal of an overture from the Disney movie, “Frozen.”
Yet the drummer has yet to get a feel for the piece, which Asadoorian found a bit amusing.
“What, am I the only person to have seen that film a thousand times?” he wonders aloud from the stage of the Belmont High School auditorium last Tuesday afternoon.
Unlike the orchestra and bands he directs as Belmont Public School’s Director of Fine and Performing Arts, Asadoorian is putting about 40 residents, students and alum through the paces as the Belmont Community Summer Band prepares for its once-a-year concert on Wednesday, July 29 beginning around 7:30 p.m. at the Payson Park Music Festival.
Now in its second season, the band – filled with brass and woodwinds accompanied by percussions – will be preforming along with “Frozen” several works that are band standards, including those pieces that you’d likely hear at sitting in the town green somewhere in England.
For Asadoorian, who came up with the idea of creating a local band, it’s a chance to keep some of the high schoolers practicing and playing during the summer, an opportunity to welcome back former students and meet skilled amateurs who are looking to spend a few hours for a month – a total of three rehearsals – learning works to enjoy performing.
“In Belmont, we’re fortunate to have such a wealth of musical talent,” said Asadoorian.
“It’s a really nice way to all come together as a community of music makers and have come fun together,” he said.
There’s an easy rapport between players and conductor; the ensemble takes the music to heart and Asadoorian attempts to shape it into a concert piece despite the limited time together.
There are more hits than misses, with Asadoorian keeping the tempo and atmosphere light.
When a particular passage of music hits the mark, Asadoorian quipped, “Band director of the year – tell them to play what’s on the page.”
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