Animals in the Belmont Gallery’s Opening Reception

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DaVinci’s horses, Rousseau’s primitive wildlife, Picasso’s bulls and even Dogs Playing Poker, animals have been a presence in the works of artists since the first cave paintings.

This afternoon, a menagerie of pets and animals will be present for art lovers and animal lovers to see when the Belmont Gallery of Art holds an opening reception for its latest exhibit “Animal Art” today, Friday, Sept. 19, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Gallery located in the Homer Building in the Town Hall Complex in Belmont Center.

Prizes for ‘Best in Show’ and ‘Best in Breed’ will be awarded by jurors and veterinarians, Dr. Suzanne Kay and Dr. Dawn Binder, from Belmont’s Cushing Square Veterinary Clinic.

The exhibit features animal artworks in a variety of media — painting, sculpture, photography collage, fabric art — by more than 50 local and regional artists.

And visitors can help homeless and abused pets at the same time as ten percent of all sales of artwork will be donated to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals-Angell to support its mission to find loving families for abandoned and mistreated pets.

Light refreshments – maybe animal crackers – will be served. 

Photo: Timothy Wilson, Three Bills.

Belmont Raises Age for Tobacco, E-Cig Sales to 21 in 2015

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Joining surrounding towns and large municipalities like New York City, Belmont will prohibit the sale of all tobacco products and nicotine delivery devices such as e-cigarettes to anyone under the age of 21 beginning on Jan. 1, 2015.

The move approved unanimously by the Belmont Board of Health at an afternoon meeting on Wednesday; Sept. 17, also impose guidelines on the sale of flavored cigar wrappers and associated products favored by younger buyers to make smoking more enjoyable.

Anti-smoking advocates believe the new regulations will place a damper on older teens and young adults from experimenting with smoking when they are vulnerable to becoming addicted to tobacco.

“Needham has had a 21 [limit] for a decade and the smoking rates for kids there has gone down,” said Stephen Shestakofsky   of Edwards Street who has long been an anti-smoking advocate.

“We know that if you become addicted to tobacco at a younger age, it is much, much harder to quit. So this will make it harder for teens to ‘cheat’,” said Shestakofsky.

Belmont becomes the 30th Massachusetts town or city to adopt the 21 year old sales prohibition.

“We are not going to be an [island] … where kids say ‘well, I’m not going to you I can go [out of town],” said Dr. David Alper, vice chair of the Board of Health, noting that nearby Arlington, Newton, Winchester and Brookline have existing 21 year old sales restrictions while Waltham and Watertown are currently looking to raise their age limits.

The town also placed nicotine delivery vehicles such as e-cigarettes (which heats nicotine and water into a vapor without the cancerous byproducts from cigarettes) since there has not been long-term studies to show they are either safe while also being seen as a “gateway” to tobacco addiction. 

What’s important to note is that the regs are aimed at keeping young adults away from the products. This wouldn’t prevent adults from using it but it will teens,” said Shestakofsky.

Town Clerk Holding ‘Late’ Night Voter Registration Sept. 23

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To celebrate National Voter Registration Day, the Belmont Town Clerk’s office will remain open until 8 p.m., on Tuesday, Sept. 23.

Residents of Belmont who are citizens of the United States and will be age 18 or older on the day of the State election, Nov. 4, may register to vote at the Town Clerk’s office in Town Hall, 455 Concord Ave. Registrants should be certain to have identification that complies with the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).

A voter registration day will be held for Belmont High School students and staff on Wednesday, Oct. 8 from 10:40 a.m., to 12:40 p.m. outside the cafeteria at the high school. Staff and students who are U.S. citizens and will turn 18 on or before Nov. 4 can register to vote.

Just remember, the final day to register to vote or make any changes to your party, address or name, to qualify for the State Election is Oct. 15.

The Town Clerk’s office at Town Hall, 455 Concord Avenue will remain open until 8 p.m. on Oct. 15  to accept voter registrations and changes that evening; mailed registration form .

To learn more about registering to vote, HAVA, and upcoming elections, or to print registration forms, please visit the Town Clerk’s website or telephone the Town Clerk’s office at 617-993-2600.

Sold in Belmont: Big Bucks for Brick Ranch

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A weekly recap of residential properties bought in the past seven days in the “Town of Homes.”

• 22 Vernon Rd. Side-entrance Colonial (1934), Sold for: $717,500. Listed at $749,000. Living area: 1,841 sq.-ft. 6 rooms; 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths. On the market: 62 days.

• 17 Bartlett Ave., #2. Two-level condominium, Sold for: $515,000. Listed at $479,000. Living area: 1,828 sq.-ft. 7 rooms; 4 bedrooms, 1 baths. On the market: 90 days.

• 27 Common St. Brick English Tudor (1930), Sold for: $1,242,500. Listed at $1,250,000. Living area: 2,705 sq.-ft. 9 rooms; 4 bedrooms, 3 baths. On the market: 124 days.

• 59 Tobey Rd. Side-entrance Colonial (1930), Sold for: $780,000. Listed at $699,000. Living area: 1,632 sq.-ft. 7 rooms; 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths. On the market: 40 days.

• 110 Crestview Rd. Post-war brick Ranch (1960), Sold for: $1,122,000. Listed at $1,100,000. Living area: 2,251 sq.-ft. 9 rooms; 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 98 days.

• 24 Eliot Rd. Garrison-Colonial (1950), Sold for: $666,500. Listed at $699,000. Living area: 1,418 sq.-ft. 7 rooms; 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths. On the market: 123 days.

• 96 Country Club Lane. French Colonial (1937), Sold for: $1,480,000. Listed at $1,495,000. Living area: 2,993 sq.-ft. 11 rooms; 4 bedrooms, 4.5 baths. On the market: 107 days.

• 115 Winn St. A pretty Cape (1942), Sold for: $706,000. Listed at $649,000. Living area: 1,267 sq.-ft. 6 rooms; 2 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 36 days.

Belmont Fire Log: Fire at the Chenery, Lightning Strike Fries Outlet

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Possible lightning strike uses lawn to get inside

Sept. 7 – At a quarter ’til 11 a.m., a resident who was returning from vacation to his Plymouth Avenue house discovered charring to an electrical outlet and the adjacent sprinkler control unit in basement. Firefighters told the man the charring pattern suggests the damage may have been result of electrical storm and a “surge” that likely entered the home through the sprinkler equipment wiring. The homeowner was advised to keep the power “off” at the breaker to the sprinkler and the outlet until a licensed electrician could inspect damage.

Stuck in the elevator

Sept. 11 – For the second time in a week, a person had to be sprung from a stalled elevator. This time it occurred just after 2 p.m. in a Leonard Street office building.

Chenery fire put out quickly 
Sept. 12 – Just before the end of the school day at Chenery Middle School, about 5 past 2 p.m., the fire alarm rang throughout the building. A fire was quickly discovered in a third-floor boys bathroom when it was put out by staff. The entire Belmont company – Engine 1 and 2, the Ladder truck and Rescue 1 – rushed to the building at the corner of Washington and Oakley. Fire personnel found a heavy smoke condition present and began ventilating the area. Belmont Fire notify the Fire Investigation Unit. With fire and police at the school, the parking lot closed and parents already on their way to pick up their children, it was a crowded scene.
Kitchen nightmare

Sept. 13 – At a quarter ’till 8 p.m. a Claflin Street resident reported smoke in the building, possibly coming from a fire in an electrical outlet. The Engine 2 crew investigated and found a shorted receptacle in the kitchen. The power was shut down and the owner advised to contact an electrician.

In Bloom: A Sample of Belmont’s Green Garden Tour

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On Sunday, Sept. 7, 10 locations around Belmont – from community plots at Rock Meadow to small backyard spaces – participated in the 4th annual Belmont Green Garden Tour, highlighting organic and sustainable gardens that use their available spaces, whether big or small, with great efficiency and imagination.

Here are just a sample of the gardens presented this year:

Peggy Kornegger, Gilbert Road

Unlike many of the gardeners, Kornegger rents her home on Gilbert Road. But despite not owning her plot, Kornegger wanted to create a space where she could plant and grow an organic garden. She asked her landlord if she could have the run of a long neglected shade-filled backyard.

After seven years, Kornegger has repaired the building’s back wall, planted shade-friendly annuals and strategically placed a row of hostas to stop a mud slide down the driveway that occurred every time it rained. Her garden is filled with a wide variety of Indigenous New England plants, such as a native honeysuckle that attracts hummingbirds, as well as small statues of spiritual icons of  Buddha and St. Francis.

“I’m very spiritual and eclectic and my garden shows that,” said Kornegger. “Gradually, a mini-habitat is growing, and the yard is filled with life of all kinds.”

Karsten Kueppenbender and Siobhan O’Neill, Pine Street.

Located across busy Trapelo Road from a popular ice cream spot is Belmont’s newest bee habitat. The yellow and black beehive – is there any other colors to use? – that is new home to more than 1,000 bees is situated near the garage of the two-family Pine Street home of Karsten Kueppenbender and Siobhan O’Neill.

“My son wanted to have bees and we thought once he got old enough, then why not?” said Kueppenbender who has been slowly building his green garden beginning six years ago. They will not be harvesting any honey this year as the current crop will be used to allow the bees to use over the winter.

But the Pine Street location is more than just a honeycomb; there are raised garden beds where vegetables such as tomatoes (protected with wire as squirrels have taken to them), kale, swiss chard, along with earthier produce such as carrots and potatoes. There is even a small critter living just below one the beds.

The location is also where two praying mantises couples have come to dine, eats bumble bees but leaves the honey-variety alone, said Kueppenbender.

“That’s good for us,” he said. “Not so for the bumble bees.”

Joan Teebagy, Washington Street

There’s a large rabbit in a cage out front of Joan Teebagy’s house – a wonderful fertilizer, she notes – next to raised beds filled with a variety of cheery tomatoes, broccoli, squash and other produce. For the past nine years, Teebagy has been adding a little bit more each season to her front yard garden.

Out back is a brand new sunny backyard, made possible when a five-foot ash came down, where this year she grew native “painted” corn, the first time she ever grew it.

“My own ‘Field of Dreams,’ Teebagy proclaimed, said she will attempt to grind the kernels into flowers.

Teebagy has a virtual farm outback: there are a raft of ducks for the eggs – the sign at the gate warns all to close the gates less the they flee – a few chickens (“just visiting for dinner,” said Teebagy, with a knowing wink) a couple more bunnies along with Belmont’s only “barn” cat, Michu, which happily lives in the garage.

“The Animal Rescue League said she was un-adoptable and unfriendly,” said Teebagy as Michu saunters up to every visitor for a pet and a scratch. “I think they were wrong.”

Three Nights of Work on Trapelo Road Starts Tuesday, Sept. 16

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For the next three nights/early mornings, a half-mile stretch of Trapelo Road from Church Street to Flett Road will be under construction.

Beginning tonight, Tuesday, Sept. 16 and lasting until Thursday, Sept. 18, paving and repairs to the roadway will run from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.

As with an earlier overnight repaving job in July that effected Trapelo from Lexington and Church streets, the work by contractor Newport Construction is being conducted “under the lights” so to limited the impact on the 30,000 daily commuters that use the road, Glenn Clancy, director of the town’s Office of Community Development told the Belmont Board of Selectmen last week. 

And while the town did provide neighbors and residents living along the road a week notice of the work, Belmont Selectman Sami Baghdady advised Clancy that those effected by future overnight work be given a two weeks “heads up” before construction begins.

The work is part of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s $17.2 million Trapelo/Belmont Corridor reconstruction project.

Residents with any concerns on the night work can call Clancy at 617-993-2659 or by e-mail at gclancy@belmont-ma.gov. or Ryan Gleason of Newport Construction at 603-765-2173 during the late night work hours.

Belmont Field Hockey Overwhelms Second Visiting Team

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Belmont High School Field Hockey Head Coach Jessica Smith is never one who wants to pile on the score line.

“I feel so terrible,” said Smith as the team was ahead 6-0 with a minute left to play … in the first half of the Marauders game against visiting Stoneham High School on Friday, Sept. 12.

“I’m not that type of coach but what can I tell my team? Not shot?” she said, pulling off veterans to allow substitutes to play long stretches of the game.

By the end of a long day – the game started 45 minutes late due to travel problems for Stoneham – Belmont would score a pair of second half goals to win 8-0, creating a nice bookend for the week as the Marauders drubbed Melrose 7-0 on Tuesday.

“Two big scoring victories with lots of players getting goals but just as important, everyone got to play,” said Smith.

Kerri Lynch and the team’s midfield leader, senior Suzanne Noone, scored twice while starters sophomore Annemarie Habelow and Jacqueline Hill scored a goal each. Tallying goals off the bench were Kate McArthy and Hillary Fay. Goalies Kate Saylor and Nicole Crowley shared the clean sheet. 

“Gosh, this is a great team. We really don’t have a weak spot anywhere on the field and I have really good subs that I can put in who have been scoring and other good stuff on the field. It’s like I have a second layer in some positions,” said Smith.

And while the Marauders have put in 15 goals over the past two games, Belmont will be meeting teams with greater skills and talented players. On Wednesday, Sept. 17, the team travels to Reading Memorial High School, a team that “is always very hard. It’s a game that you really want to win and it’s hard every single time and it’s never easy,” said Smith.

 

 

Belmont Fire Honors Those Lost on 9/11

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The Belmont Fire Department held its annual 9/11 Memorial Ceremony marking the 13th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States at the FF Roland A. Weatherbee Fire Headquarters on Trapelo Road on Thursday, Sept. 11.

Firefighters remembered those who were lost in the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center, Pentagon and in Shanksville, Penn. Special tribute was paid to the 343 firefighters from the Fire Department of New York who were killed when the World Trade Center towers collapsed.

As a tribute to the FDNY, the Belmont Fire Department rung the department’s ceremonial bell, and held a flag raising ceremony. The flag was placed at half-staff by the Department’s Color Guard.

A floral wreath was presented by retired Chief of Dept. William H. Osterhaus and retired Firefighter Roy Sacco.

On and off-duty firefighters, along with several retired Belmont firefighters, participated in the ceremony.

 

Belmont Savings: Six Weeks to Show Support for ‘Beloved’ Piece of Belmont

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Belmont Savings Bank Foundation announced on Thursday, Sept. 11 that it will match dollar for dollar contributions to the Underwood Pool project up to $200,000. Specifically, the bank foundation has committed to contributing $200,000 which – if matched – would fully fund the remaining $400,000 needed to complete the project.

Recently, plans to rebuild Belmont’s Underwood Pool stalled after the winning bidder dropped out, potentially leaving the Belmont community without a public swimming area next summer.

“As a child, I used the pool and, subsequently, my children did as well, which is why I take pride in announcing this matching grant through our Foundation,” said Robert Morrissey, chairman of the board of directors of Belmont Savings Bank as well as the Belmont Savings Bank Foundation.

“With six weeks to go until the October deadline, it is imperative our community shows its support for this beloved piece of Belmont’s history.”

The Underwood Pool was originally constructed in 1912, and is believed to be the first public outdoor pool in the United States. Belmont had approved debt exclusion for a new pool to be built, with the grand opening originally scheduled for June 2015.

“We are grateful to our partners at Belmont Savings Bank, who understand how much Belmont residents care about the Underwood Pool, and have demonstrated a true commitment to making a positive difference in the community,” said Ellen Schreiber, who is helping lead the campaign.

“We urge businesses and individuals alike to join Belmont Savings Bank in donating by Oct. 31.”

Under the current circumstances, the Underwood Pool Building Committee was faced with redesigning and rebidding the project, in effect cancelling the pool’s summer 2015 season. The involvement of the Belmont Savings Bank Foundation enables supporters to raise the necessary funds in order to accept the current lowest bid before the upcoming October deadline.

“Supporting the rebuilding of Underwood Pool, the oldest municipal pool in the country, is one of those rare opportunities to truly help the community, and improve the quality of life for Belmont citizens,” said Bob Mahoney, president and CEO of Belmont Savings Bank.

“I am thrilled that our Foundation agreed to support the Underwood Pool, which has long been a touchstone in our town.”

Checks can be dropped off at each Belmont Savings branch. Checks should be payable to “Winn Brook PTA for the Underwood Pool” which serves as the non-profit (501c3) fiscal agent for Belmont Partners in Play.

Belmont Partners in Play is coordinating the fundraising campaign, with the total amount used exclusively for the new pool. Each donation is tax-deductible.

Checks can also be mailed to Ellen Schreiber, 49 Sandrick Road, Belmont, MA 02478.

If you have any questions, please contact Ellen at ellensch@verizon.net or 617-290-6216.

To donate online, please visit www.underwoodpool.com.