Come Christmas Caroling in Belmont Saturday, Dec. 13 at 4 PM

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Celebrate the final 12 days before Christmas – how appropriate! – with an old-fashioned afternoon of Christmas caroling in Belmont Center.
For the third-year running, families and anyone who likes to sing (with no actual vocal skill required) are invited to come to the town’s Christmas tree next to Bellmont Cafe and the BankAmerica branch office this Saturday, Dec. 13 at 4 p.m. (weather date: Sunday, Dec. 14 at 4 p.m.) for an hour of singing familiar songs. There is the good chance passersby will be corralled to join the singing.
The weather Saturday is for a slight chance of snow showers before 11 a.m. with the chance of precipitation at 20 percent. The high will be 39.
“This is for anyone and families with small kids who want a holiday activity with almost no planning or effort required,” says organizer Amanda Retting.
Retting observed that the caroling is a good kickoff for anyone going on the Parents of Music Student’s Holly Jolly Trolley Holiday Lights Ride leaving from Belmont Savings Bank around that time.
The caroling will have the same format as previous years: everyone gather around tree, bring your own illumination (sunset will be at 4:12 p.m.) and print out your own lyrics. Children are invited to run around in circles around the tree instead of singing if that’s more festive to them.
This year, the Belmontonian will be bringing hot chocolate and decaffeinated coffee (it is 4 p.m.) to the event.
Any questions? Email amanda@moger.org
Below is the song list from previous years. Its likely that only the first two verses will be sung: The website for lyrics is http://www.carolingcorner.com/
1. Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer

2. Joy to the World

3. Deck the Halls

4. Jingle Bells

5. We Three Kings of Orient Are (Star of Wonder)

6. 12 Days of Christmas

7. Feliz Navidad

8. Frosty the Snowman

9. Little Drummer Boy

10. O Come, All Ye Faithful

11. Santa Claus is Coming to Town

12. Silent Night

13. We wish you a Merry Christmas

Time/energy/enthusiasm permitting:

14. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

15. White Christmas

16. Hark the Herald Angles Sing

17. Silverbells

 

Clay Pit Pond Breaks Bank, Street Ponding on Concord, Common

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Clay Pit Pond has breached its banks in two locations while several main streets in Belmont have become rivers themselves as a late autumn Nor’easter hammers the East Coast.

At 4:45 p.m., an Underground Weather station in Cushing Square reported 3.1 inches of rain falling since midnight. The National Weather Service has issued a flood warning for the area until tonight.

“We are having issues around town,” said Belmont Police Sgt. David Sullivan, the Night Shift Supervisor.

“There has been individual places where there has been flooding and sewage backups,” Sullivan said.

Water has advanced a few feet from the access road near the Field House parking lot at Belmont High School while the pond has swamped the low-lying area near the corner of Underwood and Hittinger streets, the location of the start of Belmont’s cross country course.

Nearby, Concord Avenue from the Cambridge line to the MBTA commuter line station at Belmont Center and Common Street at Dunbarton Road is experiencing “street ponding” where water has accumulated due to the rapid rainfall.

Belmont Fire Log: Toddler and Cooking Lunch Inside, Parent Locked Outside

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Gas, on and off

Dec. 1 – At half past 4 p.m., Engine 2 and Ladder 1 headed over the Belmont Public Library on Concord Avenue for a reported odor of gas in the building. Engine 2 investigated and found a slight odor but not of natural gas. A library representative told the crew the odor has occurred in past and dissipated by itself. What the firefighters did find was excessive stored material around the boiler. It will be corrected, said the library rep.

“Not Dishwasher Safe”

Dec. 1 – At a quarter ’til 11 p.m., Engine 1 was sent to a house on School Street to investigate this “odor” in the kitchen. The discovered the source of the smell: some plastic dining ware which was placed in the dishwasher melted during the drying setting.

Dig Unsafe

Dec. 2 – Barely a minute past 10 a.m., Engine 1 was dispatched to a single-family house on Glenn Road for a “gas emergency.” Turns out some yard workers dug a bit too deep and cut the gas main into the home. The gas utility was called and shut down the main service to the house. Engine 1 reported normal readings for carbon dioxide throughout the abode. After the search, the gas company told the firefighters they would handle it.

Toddler and lunch from the outside looking in

Dec. 3 – At 8:24 a.m., Engine 2 took off to a single-family house on Colby Street where a two-year-old was locked inside the building. He was not just trapped, the oven was also on and there was food cooking on the stove top. Mom allowed the crew from Engine 2 to take their 24-foot ground ladder and force entry through the second-floor window. Sure, there was some minor damage the the window, sash and locking mechanism but they freed the toddler before any thing serious could have happened.

No dessert for someone

Dec. 6 – At half-past 6 p.m., a fire alarm was pulled at a restaurant in Belmont Center. Engine 2 and Ladder 1 got there in no time, only to discover a very young customer was the puller. Bon appetite.

Banding Together to Make Wonderful Music in Belmont

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Belmont High School’s Wenner Field House was transformed Monday night, Dec. 8, from an athletics center into a concert venue for the 43rd annual Bandarama Concert.

Ensembles of winds, brass and percussions from elementary-school youngsters just starting out on Saturday mornings to the highly-skilled High School Jazz Band performed for parents and friends.

Light Icing Monday Night/Tuesday AM; Then the Deluge for Belmont

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First ice, then lots and lots of water.

No, it’s not the first steps in making a cocktail but the spate of nasty weather – ice, rain and wind – Belmont residents will face for the next day and a half.

At 3:21 p.m., the National Weather Service issued a Winter Weather Advisory that begins at 7 p.m. tonight, Monday, Dec. 8 until 5 a.m., Tuesday, Dec. 9 that will result in a minor accumulation of ice and snow on roadways and sidewalks.

The conditions will result in “slower than normal travel” due to the slippery road conditions.

“Drivers should allow extra time and be especially careful on bridges and overpasses,” the NWS suggests.

By Tuesday morning, heavy rains – between one-and-a-half to two inches with some areas receiving up to four inches – and strong winds will arrive for most of the day with the likelihood of flooding and street ponding (when water pools at low points in the roadway, generally as a result of inadequate drainage or improper grading) in areas around town. The winds, steady at 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 50 mph, will cause some trees and branches to fall and may lead to power outages.

If you power does go out, call Belmont Light at 617-993-2800. Do not call 911 unless it’s a true emergency.

The heaviest rain and strongest winds will occur during the evening rush hour on Tuesday.

Lougee Will Not Seek Re-election to School Committee

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After three-and-a-half years, Anne Lougee has decided to end her service on the Belmont School Committee by not seeking a second term at Town Election in April 2015.

Lougee’s announcement will create a second open seat on the Committee in the coming election. Also on the ballot will be incumbent Lisa Fiore, who is seeking her first full three-year term after serving the unexpired time of Pascha Griffiths, who resigned in 2013.

Lougee decided not to pursue re-election after the evaluation and selection process in November to replace School Committee member Kevin Cunningham, who resigned in September.

“It’s hard to walk away from a group of wonderful colleagues but I was encouraged by the number of well-qualified candidates who came before the committee and selectmen last month for the position,” Lougee told the Belmontonian.

Thomas Caputo was selected from eight residents to replace Cunningham. His term ends at Town Election. Caputo can file to run for the remaining two years of Cunningham’s term, challenge Fiore for her seat or decide not to run.

At his appointment, Caputo said he would seek election to the board.

Fiore, a Lesley University faculty dean with children in district schools, was elected in 2014 to fill the one-year remaining on Griffiths’ term. She told the Belmontonian in September she would likely run for re-election in 2015.

Nomination papers are currently available at the Belmont Town Clerk’s office; the deadline for their return is 5 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015.

Lougee, whose daughter is a 2011 Belmont High School graduate, was appointed to the committee in October 2011 to fill the remainder of the term held by Karen Parmett, who resigned. She won a full stint in the 2012 Town Election.

Lougee said the selection of Belmont Schools Superintendent John Phelan and promoted social/emotional learning throughout the district was two of her accomplishments serving on the committee.

In addition, Lougee emphasized from the time she was on PTOs that parents and officials must not take a myopic view of the town’s schools.

“You have to look at the whole system. It’s K through 12; you can’t separate it by school building or class,” said Lougee, a native midwesterner who came to Belmont in the 1980s and lives on Warwick Road with her husband, Roger Colton.

“You must know how it all works together for your child because they will be a graduate one day,” said Lougee.

In addition to the collegiality of the committee members, Lougee said she’ll also miss witnessing the growth of students in the classroom, in athletics and the arts.

“I love watching the kids test themselves and build their confidence,” she said.

Clang, Clang, Clang Goes the Holly Jolly Trolley on Saturday, Dec. 13

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The Parents of Music Students and the Belmont Savings Bank are sponsoring the inaugural Holly Jolly Trolley, a half-hour tour on an old-style trolley (just like the one in the movie “Meet Me to St. Louis” which showcased the song, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”) of the holiday lights of Belmont accompanied by Belmont High School musical groups.

The tours take place on Saturday, Dec. 13 from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are $15 with children that can sit on your lap riding free.

All proceeds benefit the outstanding music program in the Belmont public schools.

Tickets are available at Belmont Savings Bank headquarters at 2 Leonard St. or on-line at www.belmontpoms.weebly.com

This Week: Bandarama Monday, Panel on Loss, Grief and Hope Thursday,

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• Author Marjan Kamali will speak on her debut novel “Together Tea,” Monday, Dec. 8, from 11 a.m. to noon in the Assembly Room of Belmont Public Library. Selected by the Massachusetts Center for the Book as a “Must-Read Book 2014,” Kamali show us the complex life of Mina Rezayi, an Iranian immigrant, as she, her mother, Darya, and their family attempt to balance Iranian traditions with American culture. This book is a story of the tug-of-war between old and new, the universal quest for love and the unbreakable bond between mother and daughter. All are welcome to attend this free program.  Books will be available for purchase and signing.  Refreshments will be provided.

• It’s loud, festive and fun. Come hear the music of the Belmont Public Schools’ bands, representing musicians from elementary middle and high schools, at the 43nd annual Belmont Public Schools Bandarama! taking place Monday, Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. at Belmont High School. The Wenner Field House will be filled from end to end with bands, highlighted by a combined band performance of “Jingle Bells.”

• Join Heather Hurd of Blue Cross Blue Shield for a talk on “Heart Health” on Tuesday, Dec. 9, at 1:15 p.m. at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St. The talk is free but you should sign up.

• The Belmont Municipal Light Advisory Board will discuss and possibly vote on a solar distributed generation proposal at its meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 9 at 7:15 p.m. at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St.

• The Belmont Health Collaborative presents a panel discussion: “Grief, Loss, Recovery, and Hope, a candid conversation concerning the universal experience of living with loss,” on Thursday, Dec. 11, 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Belmont Media Center, 9 Lexington St. The panel will be moderated by Rev. Joe Zarro of Plymouth Congregational Church.

• Belmont Light is inviting residents to a “Celebrate the Winter Solstice” event at its headquarters at 40 Prince St. on Thursday, Dec. 11 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. They are asking residents to donate either new or gently used blankets, bedspreads, comforters or quilts for those in need.

• The Chenery Middle School Honors Concert takes place in the Chenery Auditorium at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 11. 

• The Book Discussion Group for 3rd and 4th grades will take place on Thursday, Dec. 11 from 3:15 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Flett Room of the Belmont Public Library.

• The monthly meeting of Belmont Against Racism will take place in the Flett Room of the Belmont Public Library on Thursday, Dec. 11 at 7:30 p.m.

• The 5th Grade Chorus Concert takes place at the Chenery Middle School auditorium at 9 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 12.

• The Belmont Gallery of Art will hold an opening reception for its Small Works Holiday Show and Sale on Friday, Dec. 12 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the gallery on the third floor of the Homer Municipal Building on Moore Street in the Town Hall complex. This is a not-to-be-missed chance to purchase affordable works of art by local artists including paintings, ceramics, photographs, sculptures, jewelry and cards. The show runs until Dec. 21.

• The Senior Book Discussion Group will meet on Friday, Dec. 12 at 11 a.m. at the Beech Street Center, continuing to discuss “Bleak House” by Charles Dickens (Chapter 32 through the end of the book). 

• The Beech Street Center’s Movie of the Month for December is 1989’s “Driving Miss Daisy,” with Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman on Friday, Dec. 12, 1 p.m. No cost.

• The Belmont Public Library continues its OTAKUrabu program. Watch anime, do a craft/activity, plan for future events and nibble on some Japanese snacks (while they last – they’ll go fast) on Friday, Dec. 12 from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Assembly Room. Provided to you for free, thanks to the Friends of the Belmont Public Library. Just drop in, no registration required.

 

State Names Belmont The Latest ‘Green’ Community

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(From left) Mark Sylvia, Undersecretary of Energy, Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs; David Kale, Belmont Town Administrator; Maeve Vallely-Bartlett, Secretary, Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs; State Rep. Dave Rogers; Andy Rojas, Chair, Board of Selectmen; Sami Baghdady, Vice-Chair, Board of Selectmen; Ian Todreas, Co-Chair, Belmont Energy Committee; Gerry Boyle, Belmont’s Director of Facilities, Meg Lusardi, Acting Commissioner, Department of Energy Resources. 

After being formally submitted to the Board of Selectmen this summer, Belmont was named by Gov. Deval Patrick as one the state’s latest Green Communities at a State House ceremony on Wednesday, Dec. 3.

Belmont was one of 13 municipalities named and is now eligible for grants up to $151,850 to encourage energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions and promote clean energy by the town.

As a designated Green Community, Belmont will be eligible to apply for future grants to fund local renewable power and energy saving projects.

“Collaboration has real power, particularly when we’re trying to do something new and innovative,” said Patrick.

Belmont became eligible to become a “green community” after meeting five criteria including

  • renewable energy-friendly zoning,
  • expedited permitting,
  • programs to reduce energy use by 20 percent within five years,
  • the purchase of fuel-efficient municipal vehicles, and
  • the an energy efficiency requirement – known as the “stretch” code – for new commercial/industrial construction, as well as residential construction of more than 3,000 sq.-ft. The Belmont Town Meeting adopted a “stretch code” in May 2011.

After expressing concerns of possible unintended financial consequences from being designated a green community, the Selectmen created a working group to review the proposal. As part of the application process, an energy audit by Marlborough-based Guardian Energy of all town buildings to review the lighting, water use, and windows was completed to create an energy reduction plan. The application was submitted to the state in October.

Next for the town is a more detailed analysis of municipal buildings and the costs associated with meeting the Green Communities goals. If the town does go to the next step and apply for grants, Guardian Energy will implement the required improvements.

Funded by a regional cap-and-trade program, more than $30 million have been paid out to city and towns since 2010. With the announcement, 136 of the state’s 351 communities have joined the program.

 

Santa Makes Annual Arrival (with the Mrs. This Time) to Turn On Belmont

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Photo: One youngster got very shy when greeting Santa Claus at the Belmont Savings Bank during the 24th annual “Turn on the Town” in Belmont Center, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2015.

Why was Santa and Mrs. Claus coming out of the basement of Champions Sporting Goods? It was expected the famous couple was coming down from their workshop beyond the Arctic Circle using the sleigh pulled by reindeers on the annual visit to Belmont Center to light the Christmas tree and say hello to all the town’s kids.

But there they were, climbing out of the section of the store where hockey and baseball equipment are located.

Turns out there was a “reasonable” answer to the question so many were asking on Thursday, Dec. 4.

“There’s a tunnel from the North Pole to the store. It’s easier,” said Champion’s owner Gerry Dickhaut.

Another mystery solved.

And before you could say “Ol’ Saint Nick,” Santa was on top of a Belmont Fire Department Engine for the short trip to the town’s tree and the official start of the 24th annual “Turn on the Town” celebration.

Residents came out with their children while pre-teens and some high school students wandered closed Leonard Street to participate in the night’s activities.

After the tree was illuminated, the Claus’ headed to the Belmont Savings Bank’s headquarters for a round of photos with a larger than usual number of toddlers who made it quite clear they didn’t want to sit on Santa’s lap.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be around somewhere before Christmas,” said Santa to a child and her mother.

Outside, Leonard Street was filled with free eats, the Belmont High School Madrigals (many who were auditioning at the same time for the spring musical), a petting zoo, Frosty and Rudolph and a train ride.

And in a sign of the times, one young girl took a “selfie” with Rudolph rather than wait for her mother to show up to take a photo.