Four In Running To Fill Vacant School Committee Seat

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Four residents have submitted letters of interest in filling the vacant slot on the Belmont School Committee when Tom Caputo became a member of the Belmont Board of Selectmen in April.

A joint meeting of the Board of Selectmen and School Committee will interview the candidates and select one of the four to join the committee. The meeting takes place on Friday, May 11 at 8:30 a.m. in Town Hall.

The residents on the short list to complete the two years remaining in Caputo’s term are:

  • Mary Boomhower
  • Sarabinh Levy-Brightman
  • Michael Crowley
  • Jill Norton

Below are very brief profiles of the four:

Boomhower has lived on Cutter Street (which is off Beech Street in the PQ neighborhood) for the past three years. Boomhower is not a member of any town committee or board. 

Levy-Brightman resides on Bow Street near the Burbank School. She taught American and world history at the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School before heading to the Harvard Divinity School to become the Coordinator for the Religious Literacy and the Professions Initiative.

Crowley is a member and current secretary of the Warrant Committee, the Town Meeting’s financial watchdog. He’s currently a Senior Fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law. He spent 10 years at the Office of Management and Budget in DC. He lives on Farnham Street.

Norton, the director of education policy at Cambridge-based Abt Associates, and previously a senior policy adviser for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Education, finished third for the two available seats on the School Committee in April’s election. She lives on Clark Street.

Meet Tara: Belmont’s Newest School Committee Member Speaks on Topping the Ticket and Her Agenda [VIDEO]

Photo: The Donner clan celebrating; (from left, top) Steven Rotman, Susan Donner Rotman, Audra, Tara, Hazel and Abigail Donner.

It’s 9 p.m. on a school night but Hazel and Audra are bouncing around the Donner house, running ragged all sorts of adults who had gathered at the Payson Road abode to celebrate a newcomers entry into town-wide elected office.

So the kids got to stay up a late as it was a special night as their mom, Tara Donner, topped the ticket for the Belmont School Committee in the 2018 Belmont Town Election held on Tuesday, April 3. The educator who teaches at Winchester’s McCall Middle School, secured 38 percent of the votes beating out incumbent Susan Burgess-Cox and fellow newbie Jill Souza Norton in a surprisingly close election with just 400 votes seperating the three candidates.

For Donner, who lives with her wife, Abigail, and their two kids in Precinct 6, the victory was a bit of a surprise for the Town Meeting member. She told the Belmontonian [view the video below] that she will work on the committee to create a district-wide anti-bias agenda and use her experience as a long-time classroom teacher – the first on the committee in several years – to bring a practical expertice to the board.

 

Sold In Belmont: Colonial, Cape and Townhouse All Top Seven Figures

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

• 51 Prentiss Ln., Colonial (1926). Sold: $1,700,000. Listed at $1,799,000. Living area: 2,718 sq.-ft. 9 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 147 days. Last sold: Aug. 2004, $1,556,000.

• 39 Gilmore Rd., Cape (1941). Sold: $1,150,000. Listed at $1,050,000. Living area: 2,775 sq.-ft. 7 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 3 baths. On the market: 29 days. Last sold: Aug. 2017. $765,000

• 30 Holden Rd., Condominium (1926). Sold: $627,000. Listed at $600,000. Living area: 1,761 sq.-ft. 7 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths. On the market: 66 days. Last sold: May, 2012, $590,000.

• 52 White St., Townhouse (2017). Sold: $1,060,000. Listed at $999,999. Living area: 3,060 sq.-ft. 8 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 44 days. Last sold: First sale.

Blizzard Delays Belmont High Students ‘Enough’ School Walkout To March 21

Photo: Poster image.

Tuesday’s blizzard has placed a hold on town high schoolers joining fellow students from across the country on Wednesday to collectively say “enough is enough.” 

According to the local student campaigners, nearly two feet of snow and the cancelation of schools on Wednesday will delay by a week Belmont High School’s participation in “ENOUGH: National School Walkout” by a week.

“Some … will go to the [Massachusetts] statehouse, but the walkout will be postponed until [Wednesday] March 21,” said Belmont High School senior Seneca Hart, who with Lydia Fick, Georgia Sundahl, and Gayané Kaligian is organizing the Belmont action.

The walkout – conceived and promoted by EMPOWER, the youth branch of the Woman’s March – will take place across the country on Wednesday, March 14, at 10 a.m. and last for 17 minutes to honor the students and teachers murdered at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School exactly one month since the crime.

When Hart – who is also the student liaison to the Belmont Human Rights Commission – first heard of the walkout, she felt Belmont High students should participate in the action happening.

“I used the Action Network to see if there was an event at my school because I knew I wanted to participate, but there wasn’t yet one. I saw a need and I filled it because this movement is important to me, and more than that, it’s really empowering students across America,” said Hart.
 
The senior believes the time is now for teenagers and students to speak up on the issue of gun violence and safety at school.
 
“So often we’re dismissed because of our age, and this is the first time a lot of us feel like we can finally prove we’re serious about change and know what we’re talking about,” she said
 
Hart said she and her colleagues’ efforts have been met favorably by their fellow students.
 
“So far most of the students I’ve talked to have been supportive and eager to help. I have encountered a few students who disagree with our goal— that we need stronger gun control on a state and national level — but for the most part those people have expressed that they still respect what we’re doing because this is democracy at work,” said Hart.
 
The walkout’s agenda in Belmont and around the country will be short and simple.
 
“We will not be having ‘speakers’ per say, but we will have a moment of silence, a reminder of why we’re walking out, and the student volunteers will be reading anonymous statements from students,” said Hart.

Tripleheader Thursday: Belmont Hockey, Hoops Semifinals Crammed Into One Afternoon

Photo: Belmont v Woburn at Woburn. (credit: David Flanagan)

Blame it on the nor’easter. Besides nearly a foot of snow and an awful morning commute, the big spring snow storm has rearranged the MIAA playoff schedule to where three Belmont High sports teams will be playing nearly simultaneously on Thursday evening, March 8, making it a heartbreaking decision for fans and some families which games they can or can’t attend.

The big move creating this triple play of Belmont playoff action occurred Wednesday, March 7 when the MIAA, the governing board of interscholastic sports in Massachusetts, postponed a slew of hockey matches including the Division 1 North sectional semis between Belmont, 12-6-4, and Waltham, 15-5-2, to be held at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell due to the increasing severity of a coastal snow storm. The board moved the contest up a day to Thursday at 5:30 p.m. Belmont will seek to continue its inspired streak of victories including defeating defending Super 8 state champions Arlington, 3-2, on a last minute goal. The winner plays in the North finals on Wednesday, March 14 in Lowell.

The move by one day puts Belmont Hockey in direct competition for fans and attention with Belmont’s two basketball teams who are playing its own doubleheader. At the exact moment the puck is dropped in Lowell, tip off is scheduled for the grudge match between two of the best in the Division 1 North sectional as fourth-seed Belmont Girls’, 18-3, takes on number one Woburn, 19-12, taking place at Burlington High School. The game is the third between the Middlesex League rivals with each team winning at home and sharing the league title. The winner will play on Saturday, March 10 at Lowell’s Tsongas Arena.

Immediately after the game, fourth-ranked Belmont Boys’, 17-5, will also meet Woburn, at Burlington High with a 7:30 p.m. start. The eighth seed Tanners, 15-7, will attempt to break its winless streak this season against the Marauders, beaten at home, 69-67, and at Belmont, 85-57. Belmont has won 10 consecutive games and are one win away from playing at the Tsongas Arena for the Division 2 North title on Saturday, March 10.

Religious Council’s Youth Mission Helps Rebuild Homes in Houston

Photo: Teens from the Belmont Religious Council’s Youth Mission at a Houston pre-school.
 
(Editor’s note: The article below was submitted by Doug John of the Belmont Religious Council, an interfaith council for the town.)
 
On Sunday, Feb. 18, a group of 28 teenagers and advisors from different religious faiths in Belmont left snowy New England to head to Houston, Texas, to help build houses damaged by Hurricane Harvey as part of the Belmont Religious Council’s on-going Youth Mission trips.
 
In Houston, we were housed in shipping containers converted into bunkhouses, in the parking lot of a Lutheran church. The living quarters were very tight, with 8 to 10 people crammed into each bunkroom. The Lutheran church provided food and a common meeting space.
 
Each day we were off to our worksites by 7:30 p.m. We took out walls, windows, ceilings and floor tiles. We put in new windows, plasterboard walls, and ceiling support beams. Everyone worked hard and was pretty dirty and exhausted by the end of the day. Each evening participants of a different religious faith made presentations about their religious practices.  Then we had circle time, where everyone shared thoughts about their day, as well as shout-outs praising different people in our group. There was a lot of singing and laughing and a little crying. 
 
Besides working hard, one afternoon we toured the Johnson Space Center and got to see the original mission control center as well as the actual last Saturn rocket and workspaces for future space exploration. Two afternoons after work, we went to a preschool where we read books and played with the kids. After work was done on Friday, we headed to Galveston to enjoy some time on the beach; the water was surprisingly warm for February.
 
The teenagers were, Heather Sorenson, Will Thomas, Abbie and Tyler Hafen, Barbara and Eddy Joseph, Ethan Andersen, Luke Jackson, Millie Sundahl, Grace Christensen, Andrew Choy, Harry Thidemann, Brad Harvey, Jake Parsons, David Ellison, Sam Harris, Ben Crocker, Eli Sseruwagi, and Mason Apke. There adult chaperones on the trip were David and Anne-Sophi Dankens, Daniel Adam, Dan Cherneff, Arianne Frank, Pastor Eric Wefald, Bret Sorenson, and Tina and Doug John. 
 
We got a lot of work done, made a difference in a couple of Houston families’ lives, made new friends, and had a good time. Next trip will be in 2020, and we highly recommend going.

Celebrate Belmont Public Library’s Sesquicentennial With ‘Books in Bloom’

Photo: Poster of the “Books in Bloom” event.

The Belmont Public Library marks its 150th anniversary this weekend with “Books in Bloom,” a celebration of the floral interpretation of books.

Friday Night, March 2, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.: First Look Opening Reception

Floral exhibit, music, light refreshments, door prizes and a cash bar.

Tickets are $20/$25 at door.

Tickets available at Belmont Public Library, Beech Street Center, Belmont Books and online. Snow date: March 3.

Saturday, March 3:

  • Flower Arranging Demonstration, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
  • Our Town, Our Library: History Intertwined, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Drop-in multi-media exhibit in the Belmont Historical Society’s Caflin Room.

Sunday, March 4: Family Birthday Party

Celebrate the library’s Sesquicentennial Birthday! Visit and decorate cookies, check out the Friends of the Belmont Public Library used book sale, design your own library, create some fun craft projects, and more!

“Books in Bloom” is brought by the Belmont Library Foundation, the Belmont Public Library, the Belmont Historical Society and the Friends of the Belmont Public Library. All events will be at the library, 336 Concord Ave. 

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Belmont Boys’ Hockey Hit By Rockets; Girls’ Hockey’s Unhappy New Year

Photo: Belmont’s Alec Moran (6) stopped by Reading’s Matt Coughlin on Saturday’s game.

Boys’ Hockey

After an inspiring 4-3 victory over perennial powerhouse Winchester midweek, Belmont High hockey was anxious to meet another tough Middlesex League opponent in Reading Memorial High which came to the “Skip” for a Saturday afternoon matinee looking up at the Marauders in the league standings.

But the intensity and breaks came from the Rockets bench – which included seven coaches – as Reading handed Belmont its second loss of the season with a 4-1 victory on Jan. 13.

Reading produced the most chances through the game with Belmont goalie Kevin Dacey required to make a series of difficult saves throughout the game while the Marauders offense which has been led by senior winger Steve Rizzuto – who scored his third hattrick of the season against Winchester – was stifled by Reading’s Matt Coughlin in net with 21 saves and a crew of big and mobile defenders.

Reading dictated the game’s pace and direction scoring early through junior forward Mike Tobin (who is a verbal commit in lacrosse to UMass-Amherst) just a minute in. Belmont came close to knotting the game from its top line of Connor Dacey, Will Dominiconi and Rizzuto who kept Coughlin busy.

The Rockets (7-2) doubled its lead even earlier in the second period than the first, after only 45 seconds with Tobin earning the brace from an excellent pass from Jake Emery. With less than five minutes remaining in the second Reading broke through again, with senior Dan Cranitch beating Dacey on a rising wrist shot glove side. 

Belmont’s best chances came down three as the Marauders dominated the remainder of the period but did not have anything to show for it at the end of two. 

An up and down third culminated in an open net by Matt Florenza with 20 seconds left. Belmont did spoil Coughlin’s away shutout as Tim Bailey took a Dennis Crowley pass and beat the goalie just before the buzzer. After some debate, the goal was allowed for the 4-1 final.

Belmont is 5-2-3 entering its Martin Luther King Day match with Catholic Memorial. (Late edit: Belmont earns a hard-earned tie with CM with a goal from, who else, Steve Rizzuto.)

Girls perfect 2017 leads to imperfect 2018 

Belmont High Girls Hockey was on fire in the first part of the season, specifically in 2017 when it rushed off to a 6-0-0 record with a high powered scoring offense, averaging four goals a game, with a bend but not break defense

But when the calendar changed to 2018, what was ablaze was extinguished as the Marauders are 0-4 for ’18. While some of the reason is the top quality match-ups – including meeting the defending state champions and the top-ranked team this season – two defeats came on consecutive Saturdays where Belmont could not hold onto late leads away from home. 

Not that Belmont has lost its scoring touch as the team is averaging three goals per game, but rather it would appear to be an inability to sustain a team confidence it held earlier in games.

Belmont did perform well against both Woburn (’17 state champs) and Winchester (a top 5 team the entire season) losing 4-2 and 5-3. What has been troubling has been the Saturday Night Falls. Against Lexington, the team let go of a two-goal lead in its 4-3 loss. This past Saturday, Belmont arrived at the Burbank Ice Rink to meet a Rocket team that was on its own three-game losing streak. After a first period knotted at one, Belmont scored twice to lead 3-1 at the end of the second period.

But as with its game against the Minutemen, Belmont saw the Rockets dominate the third, scoring four unanswered goals to fall 5-3 and see its record dip to 6-4-0. Belmont will be away from “The Skip” until next month, Feb. 4, when they host Newton South. 

Fire Damages Several Businesses in Cushing Square

Photo: Belmont Fire Chief David L. Frizzell at the scene

A building’s sprinkler system did its job preventing a fire from spreading and allowed the Belmont Fire Department to extinguish a one-alarm blaze that damaged three businesses in Cushing Square around 8 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 14.

A fire alarm was activated at 8:23 p.m. at 448 Common St. in what is called The Spirited Gourmet Building, said Belmont Fire Chief David L. Frizzell at the scene. When fire equipment arrived two minutes later, the fire control panel indicated a blaze in Pilgrim Shoe Repair.

Upon gaining access, crews discovered the store full of smoke and small fire in the back corner of the operation.

“The sprinkler’s worked controlling the fire long enough for our personnel to knock it down,” said Frizzell. Fire crews spent nearly two hours searching for “hot spots” in the walls and ceiling. Besides the Pilgrim, water damage was reported in The Spirited Gourmet and the Fred Astaire Dance Studio.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is underway.

The Marauder Empress: Belmont High Alumna (’81) To Become Consort in 2019

Photo: A current photo of the royal family; Masako (left), Naruhito, and their daughter, Princess Aiko.

It was inevitable but now the world knows for certain; Belmont High School alumna Masako Owada will become the Empress consort of Japan on April 30, 2019.

A member of the graduating class of 1981, Owada – who was named Masako, Crown Princess of Japan, when she married Crown Prince Naruhito in 1993 – will gain the consort title in 17 months after the announcement last week of the scheduled abdication of Naruhito’s father, 83-year-old Emperor Akihito who is stepping down from the Chrysanthemum Throne.

Owada’s journey to Belmont was not that uncommon for a child of a diplomat as her father, Hisashi Owada, was sent by the Japanese government to Moscow and New York before coming to Massachusetts as a visiting professor at Harvard Law School for two years. Living on Juniper Street with her parents and younger twin sisters, Owada spent her junior and senior years at the Concord Avenue school where she was a member of the French Club and Math team. After graduation, Owada didn’t travel far for college, attending Harvard. 

Belmont and Owada would next intersect in 1993 when her engagement to Akihito’s eldest son was announced. A short blast of interest in Owada’s former hometown from Japanese tourists occurred only to subside just as quickly.