The daily work week crawl through Belmont Center was made a tad more tolerable this morning, Thursday, Nov. 6 by some early holiday cheer in the form of a delightful latte from the staff – Dan Ciper, Mark Fantasia and Rhyan Sullivan braved the traffic – at the Leonard Street Starbucks.
Maybe, just maybe, they’ll decide to do this again before the reconstruction of Belmont Center corrects all the traffic and parking issues.
Anne Marie Picone came straight from her second job to Conley’s Pub and Grille on the Watertown side of Belmont Street.
The Belmont resident wasn’t there to watch Monday Night Football or grab a beer.
She came for Gerry.
“My first job ever was working at CVS (in Belmont Center) so I always cut through Champions. I’d always see Gerry and he was absolutely fantastic,” said Picone, describing Gerry Dickhaut, the long-time owner of Champions Sports Goods on Leonard Street.
So when she heard on Facebook Monday that Dickhaut had lost his house to an electrical fire last week, she immediately decided to stop by a benefit Dickhaut’s friends quickly assembled at Conley’s.
“I wanted to make sure I got to donate. Gerry’s a great guy,” she said.
Picone was just one of hundreds of residents, fellow business owners and people who Dickhaut got to know over the years who stopped by to place a donation into an athletic shoe box near the pub’s entry.
Tim Graham, who along with Andrew McLaughlin organized the benefit, opened the box to show it jam-packed with gift cards, checks, packages and cash, all for a man that many are calling a community asset.
“The turn out was absolutely amazing. It’s a Monday night and the place was packed all evening. The generosity was stunning,” said Graham.
According to residents, the money will go to help Dickhaut replace household and personal items destroyed in the fire as well as help pay for living arrangements for the next five months while the house is being restored.
Graham, who like so many other young people worked for Dickhaut while he was at Belmont High School and after college, said he heard a few days ago of Dickhaut’s misfortune “and Gerry is an amazing man who has done so much in the community that we just wanted to do something, anything for him.”
Graham said he couldn’t even make a “guest-imate” of the total contributed, “but I have seen some of the amounts that people have donated and it really is overwhelming.”
“I’m sure Gerry will be blown away. While he’s a very generous person, he’s also quite private so he might feel a bit awkward accepting this. But he’ll be amazed that so many people are thinking of him,” said Graham.
Just before noon, Thursday, Oct. 16, the National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for eastern Massachusetts including Belmont as torrential rains are expected to arrive in the area coinciding with the afternoon rush hour.
The warning will continue until 10 p.m.
Bands of heavy rain showers will deliver about one to two inches of rain in the afternoon and early evening, according to the NWS. There is a potential that some localized areas could see three to four inches in a short time period.
Be aware of areas that flood during these weather events. They include the Concord Avenue underpass of the commuter rail bridge in Belmont Center, areas of Waverley Street and along Common Street near the Wellington brook.
Just three-and-a-half weeks ago, Anne Paulsen said she “went home crying” after a meeting with the Board of Selectmen when it appeared the new Underwood Pool may not be built. The board had challenged the pool’s Building Committee to find $400,000 in just over a month or possibly see the entire projected shelved due to a sudden shortfall in funds.
“It was fairly depressing,” said Paulsen, chair of the Underwood Pool Building Committee.
Boy, how four hundred grand can change Paulsen’s demeanor.
On Tuesday, Oct. 15, the Underwood Pool Building Committee – the volunteer group that oversees the design and construction of the new two pool complex to replace the historic 102-year-old facility – presented the Belmont Board of Selectmen $411,000 which was raised to bridge a funding gap which occurred when in late August a low bidder for the $4.1 million construction job suddenly dropped out leaving the committee needing to bridge a $388,000 breach to the next low bid.
Paulsen also announced that just before the meeting, the committee signed a letter of intent with New England Builders & Contractors Inc. of Methuen, the project’s new contractor.
If there is not a lot of snow this year, New England Builders believe it can save most of the 2015 summer swimming season, said Paulsen.
Unlike the previous meeting with the Selectmen – where the board voiced its frustration at the lack of an “adequate” contingency amount in the pool’s budget – this will a day for happy as the town celebrated the achievement of raising the money in just over 25 days through the effort of residents with a boost from the town’s largest business.
Paulsen praised the efforts of fellow committee member Ellen Schreiber, who led the public fundraising effort, and former Belmont selectman Ralph Jones who, with his family, donated “a significant” amount to the cause in addition to flushing out donors.
Special acknowledgement was directed to the Belmont Savings Bank Foundation – the charitable wing of the Belmont Savings Bank – and the bank’s CEO and President Robert Mahoney who stepped in quickly to donate a $200,000 matching grant “that took what felt like an intimidating, possibly hopeless task and turned it into an exciting challenge,” said Schreiber.
“I had a sense that this was an important project … that it wasn’t just a physical asset but an emotional one,” Mahoney said.
“These were our three pieces of good luck,” said Paulsen.
Schreiber also acknowledged the town’s residents, from lifelong citizens to new families in Belmont for just a few years, who donated every amount from $10 to $25,000.
“People don’t give money for something they don’t care about,” noted Schreiber, who said in her years of fundraising, “I have never seen so much come in so quickly.”
Additional donations over the approximately $390,000 needed to fill the gap continue to come in, the money being placed in the project contingency fund.
“Congratulations to all of you. It was a daunting task at first,” said Selectman Chair Andy Rojas, thanking Mahoney for the bank’s challenge. “We’re happy to see the pool move forward and not miss a step.”
More than 200 Belmont residents sacrificed lingering in bed or taking a long, Columbus Day breakfast on Monday morning, Oct. 13 to work to make their town a little bit better.
Starting out at 9 a.m. from St. Joseph’s Parish on Common Street, they took off to spread, hacked, lugged, painted, sorted and planted until noon. They drove all around town snatch up countless bags of groceries waiting on front stoops. Finally, they eat Rancatore’s ice cream and Sorbet.
For the sixth time, Belmont came out to give to the community in the most basic ways on a day of service as the annual event – sponsored by the Belmont Religious Council – sends volunteers to locations where maintenance, gardening and a quick paint job will do a world of good. In addition, the most popular task is driving along streets to pick up grocery pages of can food, baking goods and sundries for the Belmont Food Pantry.
Over at the Lone Tree Hill Preservation Land parking lot off Mill Street, mulch was spread onto the trail head, invasive plants removed and the bicycle rack freed of vegetation.
“We absolutely count on [Belmont Serves] here,” said Ellen Cushman, who with Jeffrey North from the Belmont Conservation Commission, depend on volunteers to clean up the parking lot area, “which makes it very clear that we are not a ‘broken window’ syndrome, that we are caring for this very public area.”
A secondary result of the clean up is that many volunteers have never been at Lone Tree Hill “and this is a great welcoming event for them,” said Cushman, who is chair of the Land Management Committee for Lone Tree Hill.
Come spring, the bulbs planted at Joey’s Park adjacent the Winn Brook School will in all likelihood bloom, which along with scrubs and mulch, will add a dash of color and beauty to the location while kids painted the ticket booths at Belmont High School’s Harris Field.
At the Burbank Elementary School, a new layer of wood mulch was laid at the play structure by many current and past students while volunteers planted new shrubs and filled lawn bags with stray saplings and vegetation.
The Burbank is also the location of the start of an Eagle Scout project proposed by Belmont High sophomore (and Burbank alumni) Walker Thomas. By spring, the below-grade “bowling alley” site adjacent to the east side of the building will become a multipurpose area were a garden will be planted and where classes can take place.
“I’m working with the teachers and students to make it an environment that they can play in as well as planting an edible garden so they can have vegetables for their lunches as well as incorporate some aspects of their science curriculum,” Walker said as he, friends, fellow scouts and residents removed wooden planks and pavers while leveling the area.
The busiest location was the Belmont Food Pantry; that serves a growing number of Belmont residents who are finding it increasingly difficult to make their food dollars stretch from week to week. The more than 1,800 bags brought by volunteers to the location behind Belmont High School were examined outside for each item’s expiration date before being brought inside.
“This is our family’s second time, but we will be doing this all the time,” said Sheela Agarwal, who drove up to the drop off zone with bags filled with cans and paper products. Her young helpers – who served as lookouts from Brighton to Alexander streets and who slogged the bags into the vehicle – “made this a blast.”
“It was a great experience for these guys because this is about helping your neighbors,” she said.
Belmont Serves is the pantry’s largest donation day each year, said volunteer Laurie Graham, allowing the facility to stay stocked through Thanksgiving and Christmas and into January.
Back at St. Joe’s, Rev. Joe Zacco, pastor at Plymouth Congregational Church on Pleasant Street was participating in his first Belmont Serves. He had driven his motorcycle around to each volunteer site documenting the day’s effort with his camera.
“It was amazing to ride around the different sites to see the kids especially. I saw an 18-month old picking up weeds with his mom. It’s great to see service in action but also modeling service for others so that kids will grow up learning to be generous and giving and having that be second nature for them as adults,” he said.
On a sunny autumn afternoon this week, a mom and a banker proudly stood before a fundraising message on a sandwich board to complete a small community miracle.
Sandrick Road’s Ellen Schreiber (the mom) and Robert “Bob” Mahoney (the banker) met in front of the Belmont Savings Bank in Belmont Center on Wednesday, Oct. 8, to place a final sticker to the chart showing the level of support for a fundraising appeal to build the new Underwood Pool.
“We Did It!” read the sticker.
In less than four weeks, the persistence of a master fundraiser and the welcomed kick-off contribution from the home-town bank resulted in $400,000 being raised from residents and businesses to allow a well-loved town amenity to continue at the corner of Concord Avenue and Cottage Street.
It wasn’t all that long ago when, for a few days in late August, it appeared the future of Belmont’s new Underwood Pool was far from certain.
After Woburn-based Seaver Construction withdrew its $3.8 million offer on Aug. 28 to construct the $4.16 million new two pool complex on the site of the historic 102-year-old “swimming pond,” the Underwood Pool Building Committee – the public group that coordinated the new facility’s final design and its detailed budget – was faced with one of two prospects to save the project.
One was to find an extra $400,000 in less than a month (the town was required to select a winning bid on Sept. 26) to match the $4.55 million offer from new low bidder, New England Builders and Contractors, Inc.,
The other, take its chances and resubmit the design to bid with the outside chance a contractor would take on the job at or below budget.
If a solution could not be found, it was likely the pool’s design would need to be greatly altered, or the entire process scrapped, a situation Committee President Anne Paulsen described as “grim news.”
The only certainty was that there wouldn’t be a summer swimming season at the Underwood for the first time since 1912. By the first week of September, the new Underwood Pool – which Town Meeting members and residents voted to support with $5.2 million in public funds – appeared to be hanging on a thread.
In the end, the committee decided to toss the dice and see if it could raise the nearly $400,000 in just under four weeks.
As the project’s fate appeared sketchy, two fortunate decisions were made that would change the pool’s destiny. The first was selecting Schreiber to lead the fundraising task.
After a career as a software engineer, Schreiber was co-founder of the Boston Children’s Chorus, campaign manager for State Senator Will Brownsberger, and is now the finance director for a non-profit organization. Schreiber is best known around these parts as being the driving force with Diane Miller in rebuilding Joey’s Park adjacent to the Winn Brook School, raising more than $450,000 and recruiting more than 2,000 volunteers for a nine-day community build.
If you’re looking to get something done, Schreiber will be a good person to head it.
“Ellen is the perfect person for the job,” said Paulsen.
But even for someone who is accustomed to cultivating funds, the initial time limit and amount required was a challenge, said Schreiber.
“It was a lot of money to raise and we had a very short deadline. It was very intimidating, at first,” she said.
Schreiber and the committee caught a break early on when New England Builders agreed to keep its $4.55 million bid open for an additional month, until Oct. 30, providing some breathing room needed to raise the money.
The next fortunate decision was who Schreiber decided to visit first. Following the advice of Willie Sutton, Schreiber headed to where they keep the money. In Belmont, that’s 2 Leonard St., to talk to the man in charge of Belmont’s oldest and one of its largest institutions.
Since becoming President and CEO in June 2010, Bob Mahoney has transformed Belmont Savings Bank from a sleepy depositors-owned institution to a growing stock-issuing regional institution, doubling its asset size to $1.2 billion while expanding its retail operations into three nearby communities through its Star/Shaw’s supermarket branches.
Mahoney had read news reports about the pool committee losing its low bidder and the predicament it and the town found itself.
“I started thinking about it and even sent a note to the town’s Treasurer [Floyd Carman] with some ideas to bridge the gap,” said Mahoney.
Then in a moment of Kismet, Schreiber called Mahoney the next day.
“She said they were trying to pass the hat to raise $400,000, and she wanted to come over and talk to me,” Mahoney recalled.
In another coincidence, the board of the bank’s community and charitable entity, the Belmont Savings Bank Foundation, was meeting the next morning. When he brought up his conversation with Schreiber and the position the town was facing, many on the board began recalling their memories of visiting the pool. A senior member told how his father, who was a lifeguard, and mother, a swim team member met at the Underwood.
“That’s where I said, ‘I think we need to take a leadership role because [the pool] effects so many people.’ Then we started talking numbers,” said Mahoney.
How about $25,000? Somebody raised the figure to $100,000.
As a poker player sitting on a good hand, Mahoney decided to go “all in” by upping the ante to $200,000.
“I said if we want to be serious about getting this done, we needed that amount because there was not enough time to raise $300,000,” said Mahoney.
But $200,000 is something that can be done,” said Mahoney, noting the foundation – which receives its funding from stock shares it holds bought at bank’s initial public offering in 2011 – could contribute the amount since the bank stock has risen significantly.
“It’s a way of sharing the bank’s success with the town,” he said.
In one fell swoop, the fundraiser goal facing Schreiber was cut in half.
“The bank came through for us,” said Schreiber. “From my experience, this amount was unprecedented, unheard of.”
Just as important, the bank’s contribution was seen by many donors as a vote of confidence in the Underwood project and the fundraising campaign.
“It got us half way there and so people immediately became excited. It was a powerful statement because [reaching the $400,000 goal] was now a possibility,” said Schreiber.
With Belmont Savings’ financial and business backing, Schreiber did what she does best; convincing people to join “something special.”
The money started rolling in from all directions, more than 400 donations ranging from $10 to $25,000.
“No one gives money to something they don’t care about and clearly they cared about the Underwood pool. People sent notes with their checks and told about their memories, how their children learned to swim there, how they love the fact that the town has a facility anyone can come to,” said Schreiber.
Within three weeks after the bank’s contribution, Schreiber and Mahoney were able to come together to put their stamp (or sticker) on the success of their collaboration.
“It turned out to be a perfect fit for the bank,” said Mahoney. “The donation is what we are about and what the town needed, all coming at right time and the right amount.”
Schreiber looked back at the effort preserving outdoor summer swimming in Belmont more succinctly.
“People just gave from their hearts.”
The Belmont Farmers Market ends on Oct. 30. And the Belmont Food Collaborative has begun thinking about the next season. Do you have suggestions or comments? What did you like? What would you like to see changed? The Collaborative is interested in all comments. You can reply here, or use the “contact-us” page on our website to send a private message.
The Belmont Farmers Market is located in the town center parking lot at Cross Street at Channing Road. The market is open from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
This week’s guest vendors include: Turtle Creek Winery, The Amazing Smokehouse, Sara Ran Away with the Spoon, Soluna Garden Farm and Bedford Blueberry Goat Farm. And find all of the weekly vendors here.
The food truck is Benny’s Crepe Cafe.
IN THE EVENTS TENT
• 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.: Bridget Curzi returns to sing and play guitar, 2:00 – 3:00.
• 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.: Fred Astaire Dance Studio demo by two professional dance teachers.
• 4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.: Story time thanks to the Children’s Room of the Belmont Public Library.
• 4:30 p.m.: Ryan Lally, one of Boston’s rising young magicians returns with magic for kids and adults.
Help the Belmont Food Pantry by bringing non-perishable items each week. Find out about the Belmont Food Pantry, and see how the Market supports them.
Psst, Andrew MacDougall of the Boston Globe: The name’s Brams, Leah Brams.
In MacDougall’s logy write up of the cross girls’ country duel meet between Belmont High School and host Woburn High on Tuesday, Oct. 7, the correspondent described Brams as “a runner from Belmont” battling with Tanner’s star senior harrier Gina D’Addario “as the two entered the final 300-meter straightaway” of the race.
It took D’Addario breaking a quarter-century Woburn course record for her to defeat Brams – who came within one second of breaking the record herself – for the first time in three years and for anyone to defeat the Belmont runner since she first started racing for the Marauders. That “runner from Belmont” was undefeated for nearly three seasons and is now 4-1 head-to-head against the Woburn senior.
It was a long shot that Brams could go four years undefeated in Middlesex League competition and it took a record breaking effort to do so as the Tanners – which ran five top seniors against Belmont’s quartet of juniors and a freshman – defeated the Marauders, 20-41.
Brams will defend her two-time Middlesex League title against D’Addario later this month.
The boy harriers matched up better against Woburn, only falling by 25-31.
Volleyball on the verge of post season
Belmont High School’s Volleyball season could reach a milestone tonight, Wednesday, Oct. 8 against host Burlington. A win this afternoon over the Red Devils will send the Marauders (9-3, 8-2) into the post season as they will reach the 10-win mark.
Belmont has won their last two matches, at home vs. Winchester, 3-1, on Thursday, Oct. 2 and away, 3-0, against Wilmington on Monday, Oct. 6.
Soccer each pick up close shut out wins
Despite throwing everything at the Burlington High School Girls’ Soccer team – including playing nearly each and every player he had on the bench – it took a funky sort of goal for host Belmont (7-3-1) to come away with a 1-0 shutout against the Red Devils at Harris Field on Tuesday, Oct. 7.
Belmont’s junior forward Kristin Gay got a foot on the ball just inside the left post and slotted it into the back of the net after only 13 minutes of play in the first half to give the Marauders the only goal needed as the defense – seniors Lucia Guzikowski and Lizzy Ferrante, and freshman Natilie Marcus-Bauer held Burlington to a couple of shots on goal – and midfielders Ava Colasin and Alex Dionne controlled the Red Devils and prevented them from racing onto long passes. Guzikowski nearly double the margin six minutes later hitting the crossbar from distances.
“Another game that a complete team win as all players on team played very well,” said Belmont Head Coach Paul Graham who is inching towards his 300th career coaching win.
After losing two matches in a row – overmatched at home by Winchester, 2-0, on Sept. 30 and downed 1-0 to host Wilmington Oct. 2 – the Belmont Boys’ Soccer team got back in the winning column with a 1-0 victory over Burlington High in Burlington. Belmont now stands at 8-3-0, just two victories from the post season.
Field Hockey takes out frustrations on Red Devils
After tying Wilmington, 1-1, on Oct. 1 and then losing to non-conference power Concord-Carlisle Regional, 2-0, the next day, the Belmont High School Field Hockey (7-3-1) team took out their frustrations on host Burlington in racking up a 9-2 victory Monday night, Oct. 6.
While admitting that the Wilmington game was “not our best,” Belmont’s Head Coach Jessica Smith said the team played well against a power team from Concord.
“I like scheduling games against strong teams because it challenges us, especially with the playoffs starting in just a few weeks,” said Smith on Wednesday.
The team plays Wakefield on Wednesday, Oct. 8 before a rematch against one loss Reading on Harris Field Friday afternoon, Oct. 10.
The Underwood Pool Building Committee has reached its fundraising goal of $388,000 to meet the lowest bid to construct the new Underwood Pool complex, according to Ellen Schreiber, the committee member who headed the fundraising drive.
“This will allow the Underwood Pool Building Committee to award the construction contract and get started on the project ASAP, following the expected acceptance of the donations by the Belmont Board of Selectmen. The contractor has said that, if the winter weather cooperates, he will try to have the pool ready for next summer,” said Schreiber.
The fundraiser was started in September after a general contractor withdrew a bid within the Committee’s $4.2 million budget to construct a new two-pool complex to replace the current 102-year-old facility at Cottage Street and Concord Avenue. The next lowest bid came in at $4.6 million.
The fundraiser was given a considerable boost after the Belmont Savings Bank Foundation, the charitable offshoot of the Belmont Savings Bank, gave the committee a $200,000 grant in September.
The full story will be available after 1:30 p.m.
How can you make a real difference in Belmont, and still have lots of fun?
Hundreds of Belmont residents, of all ages, will join together on Monday, Oct. 8, Columbus Day, for the sixth annual Belmont Serves Day of Community Service.
“Belmont is community that values service to others. With a wide variety of projects for all ages and skill levels, Belmont Serves is both festive and the largest town-wide service project of the year,” said John Robotham of the Belmont Religious Council, which sponsors Belmont Serves.
All are invited to gather at St. Joseph’s Parish Hall (corner of Common and School streets) at 8:15 a.m. to register, have a light breakfast, and select a project.
After a brief orientation, projects teams begin their work at locations all over the town. Everyone returns at 12:30 p.m. for an ice cream celebration. The event concludes at 1 p.m., so volunteers can enjoy their afternoon time with friends and family.
Rev. Joe Zarro, pastor of Plymouth Congregational Church and vice president of the Belmont Religious Council, is excited about his first Belmont Serves Day:
“As a new resident of Belmont I’m grateful for this kind of community organizing, and Plymouth is thrilled to have an opportunity to serve in an interfaith, town-wide setting,” he said.
Doug John, president of the Belmont Religious Council explains why he looks forward every year to Belmont Serves:
“I like getting to make connections with fellow Belmontians of other faiths while doing worthwhile service within our community. I believe building a stronger sense of community cooperation is important for our town. “
The Belmont Food Pantry relies on Belmont Serves to completely restock their supplies for the fall. More than 2,000 bags of groceries were collected door-to-door at last year’s event.
In addition to the food drive, there will be conservation projects at Rock Meadow, Claypit Pond and Lone Tree Hill, as well as painting the ticket booths at Harris Field on Concord Avenue. There will also be an Eagle Scout project at the Mary Lee Burbank Elementary School. The project will clean and prepare an area of the Burbank School grounds for a second service date that will plant bushes and flowers that can grow and thrive in this shady area. Walker Thomas, the aspiring Eagle Scout, and his scout leaders will lead this project .
Belmont Serves has become a town tradition, with enthusiastic endorsements from the Board of Selectmen, Belmont School Department, and other community organizations. While the event is free and open to all, a suggested donation of $5 per adult will help defray the costs of food and related items. Community service hours can be earned by middle and high school students through this event. Additional information and on-line registration are available at the Belmont Serves web site.
How to donate to the Belmont Food Pantry on Belmont Serves Day
Teams of volunteers will be distributing grocery bags door-to-door with instructions. Just fill up your bag with non-perishable items (canned goods, paper items, toiletries), and leave it on your doorstep Monday morning, October 8, before 9:00 am. Donations can also be taken directly to the Food Pantry on Monday morning, at its new location in the modular building behind Belmont High School.
If you would like to help distribute grocery bags before Belmont Serves day, you can volunteer when you register on-line.
What should I wear and bring?
Please wear cloths suitable for outdoor activities (long pants, long-sleeve shirts, jackets if needed). For conservation and painting projects, plan on getting dirt or paint stains! Bring a refillable water bottle – we will provide fresh water refills, but not plastic water bottles. Bring work gloves for all outdoor work projects, and optionally bring rakes, pruning sheers, loppers, and shovels if you have them. Please put your name on any tools you bring and take them home!