Belmont Jazz Ensemble Performs at Cambridge’s Legendary Ryles Tonight

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Photo: The Belmont High School Jazz Ensemble.

You can’t get any better than the Belmont High School Jazz Ensemble.

The quintet of talented seniors – Max Davidowitz on drums, Mary Yeh, bass; Charlie Smith, piano; Rowan Wolf, tenor saxophone; and singer Zoe Miner – won over the judges at this year’s Massachusetts Association of Jazz Educators’ annual conference with their outstanding performance at the Berklee Performance Center in March, earning them the rarified status of being named gold medalists.

But the combo never got the chance to show their chops to the public three months ago after the concert they would have been part of was cancelled at the last minute.

So the group’s long-time director, Berklee professor Mazim Lubarsky, and the members decided to put on their own show. Tonight, Wednesday, June 3 at 7 p.m., the combo will be performing at the legendary venue Ryles Jazz Club in Cambridge’s Inman Square. The club, which hosts international and local jazz performers, is located at 212 Hampshire St. which is only 15 minutes from Belmont Center. 

Tickets are $5.

The night will also showcase guest performers – and fellow Belmont High students – Riley Grant and Alex Sun on trumpets and Sa-Sa Gutterman on trombone. 

Check out a video of the group here.

This is an opportunity for residents and fellow students to enjoy great music and get a chance to see young musicians – nurtured in the school district’s music program – at the start of their careers. 

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Belmont Garden Club’s ‘Tour’ Set for June 13

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Photo: Lilacs in bloom.

The Belmont Garden Club will host “A Tour of Belmont Gardens,” to celebrate the club’s 85th anniversary, on Saturday, June 13 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 
The tour – held rain or shine – will venture into seven local flowering gardens, the locations to be announced on the day of the event. 
Advance sale tickets are $25 and can be obtained by call Loretta at 617-484-4889. On the day of the tour tickets, with a map of the gardens, will be available at the Belmont Public Library for $30.

This Week: Town Meeting Returns Monday, Jazz at Ryles Wednesday, Garden Opening Friday

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Photo: Burbank Elementary School Garden.

On the government side of “This Week”:

  • The Board of Selectmen will meet on Monday, June 1, at 5:30 p.m. at the Chenery Middle School to sign a few contracts, approve applications and take a series of votes on Warrant Committee articles and amendments. 
  • The School Committee will discuss pending articles and amendments that will come before Town Meeting when it meets at 6 p.m., on Monday, June 1, and Wednesday, June 3, at the Chenery Middle School.
  • The Warrant Committee meet on Monday, June 1, and and Wednesday, June 3, at 6:30 p.m. at the Chenery Middle School to discuss financial articles and amendments. 
  • The Community Path Implementation Advisory Committee will meet at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, June 2, at Town Hall, where they will identify challenges with potential routes.
  • The Planning Board meets on Tuesday, June 2, at 7 p.m. where they will discus the next step on the citizen petition zoning amendment. 
  • The Underwood Pool Building Committee will meet on Thursday, June 4, at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall.

• Belmont Town Meeting reconvenes with its focus on financial articles. The meeting takes place on Monday, June 1, at 7 p.m. at the Chenery Middle School. 

• State Rep Dave Rogers will be holding office hours on Tuesday, June 2, at 9:30 a.m. at the Beech Street Center.

• The Benton Library, Belmont’s independent and volunteer run library at the corner of Old Middlesex and Oakley, will be holding Summer Pre-School Story Time at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, June 2, with stories and crafts for children 3 to 5. Younger siblings may attend with adults. Parents or caregivers must be present. Registration is not required. Pre-School Story Time meets at 10:30 a.m. every Tuesday and Friday throughout the summer.

• Sing-along with Julie will take place on Wednesday, June 3, at 10:30 a.m. in the Children’s Room.

• On early release Wednesday, June 3, from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m., Chenery Middle School student can stop by the Belmont Public Library’s Assembly Room, work on your homework, enjoy some lemonade and cookies, and try out an activity. This is for middleschoolers only, so high school students can do something else. The activity is funded by the Friends of the Belmont Public Library. Just drop in.

• The Belmont High School Jazz Ensemble, Massachusetts Association for Jazz Education’s gold medalists, will be performing at Ryles Jazz Club, 212 Hampshire St., Cambridge, on June 3 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $5.

• The Friends of the Belmont Public Library annual meeting will take place on Thursday, June 4, from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St.

• The LEGO Club for kindergarteners through second graders is back on Thursday, June 4 from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Assembly Room of the Belmont Public Library. Drop in anytime. Members will be creating their own unique LEGO structures. All LEGOs will be provided.

• The 7th-8th Grade Book Group from the Chenery Middle School meets Thursday, June 4, at 7 p.m., at Belmont Public Library’s Young Adult Room.

• The Burbank Elementary School Garden Opening Celebration will take place at 3 p.m. on Friday, June 5, at the school on School Street with ribbon cutting and activities for families in the new Garden Classroom and in Burbank’s organic vegetable garden, also established this year with co-sponsorship from Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom. 

Belmont Yard Sales: May 30–31

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Photo: Yard sales in Belmont.

Yard sales in the “Town of Homes.” 

• 96 Agassiz Ave., Saturday, May 30, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• 151 Beech St., Saturday, May 30, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• 30 Clark St., Saturday, May 30, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• 30 Davis Rd., Sunday, May 31, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• 13 Harvard Rd., Saturday, May 30, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

• 6 Hillside Terr., Saturday, May 30, from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

• 30 Moraine St., Saturday and Sunday, May 30 and 31, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• 179 Trapelo Rd., Saturday and Sunday, May 30 and 31, noon to 4 p.m.

• 449 Trapelo Rd., Sunday, May 31, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• 88 Winn St., Saturday, May 30, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Crowds View Parade, Solemn Remembrance on Belmont’s Memorial Day

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Photo: Veterans greet each other on Memorial Day, Belmont 2015.

On a muggy, overcast morning, Belmont residents came out to participate and watch the town’s annual parade and remembrance service on Memorial Day 2015.

One of the biggest crowds in recent memory sent the long-line of veterans, color guards, public safety officers, scouts, the combined Belmont high and middle school marching band and sporting teams such as Belmont Hockey and the Arlington-Belmont state champion crew off with cheers from Cushing Square down the Trapelo/Belmont corridor, onto Grove Street before stopping at Belmont Cemetery. 

Speaking before the assembled audience, the Reverend Paul Minor, co-rector with his wife, Cheryl, of Belmont’s All Saints Church, said the day is not just for those who sacrificed their lives defending the country but also “those who mourn the loss of loved ones throughout our history.” 

“We pray that inspired by their witness and service and sacrifice of blood that we would move forward in our own way to draw closer to our national vision of compassion, of mercy, of justice, of the rule of law,” said Minor, the sole full-time chaplain in the Massachusetts Army National Guard where he has achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. 

Sami Baghdady, chair of the Board of Selectmen, said that while the Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of summer, of backyard barbecues and escaping to the Cape, it is a day to remember the more than 120 from Belmont, from the Civil War to the war in Iraq, who died in combat or on active duty, including three remaining missing in action. 

“To Belmont, Memorial Day is much more than just another holiday,” as the enthusiasm of residents coming out to greet the veterans or pay their respect at the service “that we have not forgotten the true meaning and purpose” of the day. He noted earlier this month, the town approved funding to a committee to refurbish the town’s three main veterans monuments. 

Baghdady also praised the decade long service of the former town’s veterans agent, John Maguranis, and introduced the current agent, Bob Upton, for coordinating the day’s events. 

The day’s featured speaker, retired US Army Major General Robert Catalanotti – who was base commander of Camp Taji in Iraq a decade ago – asked residents that after the barbecues and all the other long weekend events are over, “resolve to continue the meaning of this holiday with your loved ones.”

“Later, when the sunsets, after the smell of hot dogs and burgers fade away, I ask you to stop and reflect on this day, and the soldiers who paid the price that we will never be able to match,” he said.

“Most of all, today is the day to tell the stories of the soldiers on the battlefields of decades past. So soldiers of yesterday and today are never forgotten by the children of tomorrow,” said Catalanotti. 

This (Short) Week: One Acts on Friday, Beech Street Open House, Arbor Day at the Butler

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On the government side of “This Week”: 

  • The Belmont School Committee is meeting on Tuesday, May 26 at 7 p.m. at the Chenery Middle School. 
  • The Warrant Committee meets on Wednesday, May 27 at 7:30 p.m. at the Chenery Middle School to discuss transferring funds from its reserve accounts to the school department to fill the current budget deficit. 
  • The Board of Selectmen will meet on Thursday, May 28 at 5:30 p.m. at the Beech Street Center  to be updated on the Belmont Center Reconstruction project and discuss the new “green space” in front of the Belmont Savings Bank. It will also go into executive session to discuss the sale of two parcels of town-owned land, the commuter parking lot in Cushing Square for the Cushing Village development and the lot off Woodfall Road.

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. 

• Town Meeting members from Precincts 1 and 7 will be meeting at Tuesday, May 26,
from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Assembly Room of the Belmont Public Library.

• Choices in After-Death Care will be discussed at the Beech Street Center on Tuesday, May 26, at 1:15 p.m. Come to a program presented by Raya Gildor, president of the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Eastern Massachusetts for answers. What are the alternatives to conventional burial and cremation? How can I find a low-cost coffin? How can you make a funeral more meaningful and personal? Can you really keep a deceased body at home?

• The annual Beech Street Center Open House is being held on Tuesday, May 26, at 4 p.m. at the center located at 266 Beech St. This is a great opportunity in a short period of time to get a taste of what the center offers, as well as taste the light dinner refreshments sponsored by the Park Avenue Health Center in Arlington. There will be demonstrations of fitness classes and bocce, and a short concert from its singing group, the Bel Airs. Exhibits of paintings, and quilts created in quilting group will be showcased.

• The third installment of Belmont Public Library’s eCamp takes place on Wednesday, May 27, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Assembly Room. Reference Librarian Joanna Breen and Technology Librarian Ellen Girouard will teach how to access the library from wherever you find yourself this summer, talk about Zinio and hoopla, and demonstrate other ways the library connects patrons to online media, in this free-flowing demonstration plus Q & A session. Enjoy snacks, practice with your device or a library laptop, and get connected to magazines, movies, music, and more. Register here or call 617-

• Grade 7 & 8 Chorus and Orchestra Concert under the direction of Margot Reavey (orchestra) and Christine Moser (chorus), will be held Thursday, May 28, at 7 p.m. in the Chenery Middle School auditorium. 

• Belmont Against Racism, The Belmont Human RIghts Commission, Belmont-Watertown Amnesty International and the Social Action Committee of First Church in Belmont, Unitarian Universalist invite the public to attend a program on Thursday, May 28 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Criminal Justice Reform: “What is being done in Massachusetts to address mass incarceration?” Speakers will include State Sen. Will Brownsberger, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, State Rep. Dave Rogers and Leslie Walker, executive director of Prisoners’ Legal Services. The event, which takes place at the First Church in Belmont, Unitarian Universalist, 404 Concord Ave., is free and open to the public. Parking may be limited at the church. There is more parking on the street.

• Celebrate Arbor Day with the planting of new trees this Friday, May 29, at 10 a.m. at the Daniel Butler Elementary School on White Street. All are welcome to join the students and staff. 

• The Belmont High School Performing Arts Company’s annual One-Act Plays take place on Friday, May 29, and Saturday, May 30, at 7 p.m. in the Little Theater at Belmont High School. The six plays – a combination of comedy, drama, satire and romance – are directed by 11th and 12th grade students with three written by BHS PAC members. All 36 actors and 60 crew members are also BHS students. It is the best night of theater in Belmont for the entire school year. Tickets: Adults: $12; Students: $5. Tickets are on sale at Champions Sporting Goods in Belmont Center and on-line at bhs-pac.org.

Belmont’s Memorial Day Parade Kicks Off at 11 AM

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Photo:

It’s the one day of the year Belmont comes out for a parade.

Marching bands from Belmont High School, and the Chenery Middle School, color guards and members from the Belmont Police and Fire departments, Veteran motorcyclist, marchers from local Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts troops and veterans will all take part in the 2015 edition of Belmont’s Memorial Day Parade and Public Ceremony beginning at 11 a.m., Monday, May 25, beginning on Trapelo Road adjacent to the municipal parking lot and Starbucks in Cushing Square.

All veterans and current military personnel are invited and welcome to join the other vets at the head of the parade.

Lining the route – up Trapelo Road before making a left at Grove Street and continuing to the Belmont Cemetery – will be families and residents cheering the marchers.

At the cemetery, a wreath laying ceremony will take place, speeches will be read, flowers laid at the graves of veterans, the names of Belmont citizens who died for this country will be honored, “Taps” played and a final salute will be given.

Belmont Yard Sales: May 23-24

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Photo: Yard Sale in Belmont.

Yard sales in the “Town of Homes.” 

• 65 Bartlett Ave., Saturday, May 23, from 10 a.m. to noon.

• 199 Beech Street Apt. A, Saturday, May 23, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• 35 Clarendon Rd., Sunday, May 24, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

• 80 Davis Road, Saturday, May 23, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• 9 Gilmore Rd., Saturday, May 23, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• 30 Moraine St., Saturday and Sunday, May 23 and 24, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Belmont Town Day 2015: Overcast with a Chance of Fun

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Photo: Town Day Belmont, 2015. 

When Eve Loncar heard there was going to be a dog show at Belmont’s Town Day festivities on Saturday, May 16, she thought why not enter her 10-month-old puppy Maxwell. She lived only a block away on Claflin Street and it would be nice way to spend the afternoon.

“We just walked right in,” said Loncar.

An hour later, she and her “Goldendoodle” left the annual event with the “Best of Show” prize (picked by the cheers from the assembled crowd) and a $100 gift certificate from sponsor Belmont Savings Bank.

“Wow, we got the house in the suburbs, the white picket fence and now a championship dog,” said Loncar, having moved to Belmont two years ago from Cambridge. 

The dog show was just one part of the day-long event hosted by the Belmont Center Business Association, now in its quarter century of existence. In addition to kids rides, businesses hawking their goods and services, and non-profits promoting causes, the day included an auto show, pony rides and plenty of food. Despite the overcast conditions, the rain held off and the day did not have the stifling heat of past years. 

Over by the dunk tank, special guest “dunkees” such as Belmont High Head Football Coach Yann Kumin, sat on the hot seat over a cold barrel of water to raise money for the Belmont Boosters Club. Coach “Q” had the misfortune of having the past head of the South End Youth Baseball Association throw a stinging fastball onto the target, sending him into the drink. 

 

This Week: Blacker Awards, Schools’ Art Show, Rugby Semis, Historical Society’s 50 Years, Concerts

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Photo: Art work at the annual Town-Wide Spring Art Exhibit.

This week’s government meetings:

  • The Belmont Vision 21 Implementation Committee is meeting Tuesday, May 19, at 7 p.m. in the Flett Room of the Belmont Public Library. 
  • The Warrant Committee will review the financial amendments and budgets for fiscal 2016 at its Wednesday, May 20, at 7:30 p.m. in the Chenery Middle School. 

• Music & Movement with Rubi, a movement and music program recommended for ages 3 to 5 (but 2 year olds are welcome) will be held in the Flett Room on Monday, May 18.  There will be two sessions: 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

• The Chenery Middle School Honors ensembles – band, chorus and orchestra – will performing in the school’s auditorium, Monday, May 18 at 7 p.m.

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. 

The second session of Belmont Public Library’s eCamp takes place on Tuesday, May 19, from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Young Adult Room. Reference Librarian Joanna Breen and Technology Librarian Ellen Girouard will teach how to access the library from wherever you find yourself this summer, talk about Zinio and hoopla, and demonstrate other ways the library connects patrons to online media, in this free-flowing demonstration plus Q&A session. Enjoy snacks, practice with your device or a library laptop, and get connected to magazines, movies, music, and more.

• Belmont Historical Society’s Viktoria Haase will take residents on a trip down memory lane, recalling Belmont in days gone by on Tuesday, May 19, at 1:15 p.m. at the Beech Street Center. The audience will be encouraged to participate and share their own stories and childhood memories of what growing up in this community was all about.

• The staff from US Rep. Katherine Clark will be holding office hours from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 19, at the Beech Street Center.

• The Belmont High School Rugby club hosts the semifinals of the Div. 1 Massachusetts Youth Rugby Organization High School championships against its great rival, Bishop Hendricken of Warwick, Rhode Island, on Tuesday, May 19, at 7 p.m. on the pitch of Harris Field. 

• The Belmont Book Discussion group will discuss Benediction by Kent Haruf on Wednesday, May 20, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Flett Room. The third novel set the fictitious Colorado town of Holt, “a claustrophobic place, where secrets cannot be hidden,” Haruf’s “beautifully spare prose charts the events of [a] summer with unpretentious aplomb.” 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 International Fiction Book Club will discuss at its monthly get together, An Unnecessary Woman, by Rabih Alameddine on Wednesday, May 20, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Belmont Public Library’s Flett Room. Join the club on the third Wednesday of the month for fun conversation, tea and snacks. Everybody is welcome. If you have questions, or need help finding a copy of the book, contact Kylie at ksparks@minlib.net.

• The Belmont Gallery of Art welcomes the Belmont Public Schools Fine Arts Department faculty who will install a collection of works by students in Kindergarten through High School seniors for the annual Town-Wide Spring Art Exhibit which opens on Wednesday, May 20, at 6 p.m. A wonderful sampling of work is showcased from the visual arts program and curriculum within the schools. Featured are pieces in a wide variety of media including paintings, ceramics, prints, drawings and three-dimensional work. The exhibit runs through June 8. 

• The Belmont High School English Department will present the annual Lillian F. Blacker Prizes for Excellence in Writing on Wednesday, May 20, at 6:30 p.m. in the Peter Holland Library at Belmont High School.

• A celebration of 50 Years of the Belmont Historial Society will be held on Wednesday, May 20, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Assembly Room of the Belmont Public Library. Viktoria Haase, curator of the Belmont Historical Society’s collection of historical documents, images, and artifacts, will present a special program commemorating the anniversary of the rejuvenation of the society in April 1965. Come and test your knowledge of local history in a fast-paced fun-filled “Jeopardy”-style game show. In addition, the society will announce this year’s honorees of the David R. Johnson Preservation Awards and the distribution of the latest set of the Society’s Historic House plaques.

• The Grade 6 Band, Chorus and Orchestra Concert, led by John McLellan and Sharon Phipps(band), Margot Reavey (orchestra) and Christine Servilio (chorus) will take place at the Chenery Middle School auditorium on Thursday, May 21 at 7 p.m.

• The Powers Community String Orchestra’s Spring Concert takes place on Thursday, May 21, at 8 p.m., at All Saints’ Church, 17 Clark St. Admission is free. The orchestra is comprised of advanced adult string players from Belmont, Arlington, Lexington, Cambridge, Boston, Newton, Watertown, and surrounding communities. Conducted by Channing Yu, the ensemble performs baroque, classical, romantic and contemporary masterpieces from the string orchestra literature.