The Week Ahead in Belmont: Chenery Courtyard Celebration, Climate Control and Curry

By Leave a Comment

• The Belmont community is invited to the 10th annual Chenery Courtyard Celebration of the Arts, taking place on Tuesday, June 3 from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., come rain or shine, in the Chenery Middle School courtyard. Theatrical and musical performances by Chenery students and the Belmont Senior Center’s The Bellaires will accompany the artwork by the Chenery students inspired by the courtyard gardens. Refreshments will be served.
• Attract butterflies and other pollinators to your garden by choosing host plants at “Pollinator Gardens – Buzz and Flutter” hosted by the Massachusetts Audubon’s Habitat Sanctuary’s Barbara Brown at the Beech Street Center on Tuesday, June 3 from 1:15 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. Learn a bit about some common plants and flowers and their connection to butterflies. This talk is open to the entire community.
• The Boston College Legal Assistance Bureau Clinic is coming to the Beech Street Center on Friday, June 6 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Services are free if you are over 60 and a resident of Belmont, Brookline, Waltham, Watertown and other surrounding communities. Appointments are 15 minutes long. Among the issues they handle are: Public Benefits (SSI, SSDI, MassHealth), housing, divorce, custody, child support, elder issues, and issues related to low-moderate income entrepreneurs. They can refer you to other resources if you need further assistance.
• Chenery Middle School students: Bring your homework by the Assembly Room of the Belmont Public Library on early Wednesday, June 4 from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. for lemonade and cookies. This is for middleschoolers only!
• The annual meeting of the Friends of the Belmont Public Library will be held Thursday, June 5 from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the Assembly Room of the Belmont Public Library.
• Sustainable Belmont in conjunction with Boston Metrowest Chapter of Citizens’ Climate Control will be holding a talk at the Belmont Public Library’s Assembly Room on Saturday, June 7 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. to help Belmont residents learn about creating a stable climate.

• The Powers Music School will be holding their All-School Recitals throughout the day on Saturday, June 7 and Sunday, June 8 at the All Saint’s Church at the corner of Church and Common streets.
• Learn what 1.2 billion people already know: making Indian food is both simple and tasty. Learn about creating one-pot Indian meals at a cooking demo with Kathy Chandrakasan and Priya Senthil at the Beech Street Center on Friday, June 6 from 1:30 p.m. They will show how simple the preparation of an Indian (vegetarian) entrée can be – with only a few herbs and spices.

Things to Do Today: Poet Burt at the Beech Street Center, Benton Storytime, Bates Touches New England

By Leave a Comment

• Belmont poet Stephen Burt, who literary critic Frank Bidart called “one of the most gifted poets of his generation,” will read from “Belmont: Poems” his highly-recognized collection inspired by his hometown from 1:15 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St. “Belmont: Poems,” received an NPR Best Book of 2013 and Publishers Weekly’s Top 10 Poetry Book of Spring 2013. His work was on the New York Times Book Review short list of best writing. Burt is a literary critic, poet, a professor of English at Harvard and a Burbank parent.
• Pre-School Storytime will be held 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.
• Davis Bates who will be “Celebrating New England: Songs & Stories for Everyone” at 4 p.m. at the Beech Street Center. Bates, a noted chronicler who was called by the late Pete Seeger “… a fantastic storyteller” and a winner of a Parents’ Choice Award, will sing songs from the past and present, as well as tell ghost, Native American and farming stories. There will also be sing-alongs, and a lesson on how to play the spoons. Special appearance by a wooden dog named Bingo. This program is supported in part by a grant from the Belmont Cultural Council, a local agency, which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
• The Belmont School Committee will present and vote on the district’s fiscal year 2015 budget at 7:30 p.m. in the small community room at the Chenery Middle School.
• Belmont High’s Girls’ Outdoor Track team will take on Winchester High at 3:30 p.m. on Harris Field.

Things to Do Today: Bunker Hill, Playtime, Learning to Dance, HS Sports

By Leave a Comment

Another sunny, spring day in Belmont today, Friday, April 11:

• In conjunction with One Book One Belmont 2014, the Senior Book Discussion Group at the Beech Street Center will discuss” Bunker Hill” by Nathaniel Philbrick. The author of “Mayflower” and “In the Heart of the Sea,” tells the story of the first, and perhaps bloodiest, major battle of the Revolutionary War. All are welcome to attend this book discussion that begins at 11 a.m. at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St. 

• Playtime, a drop-in, informal playgroup for toddlers and preschoolers, where both children and adults can meet new friends, will meet in the Children’s Room of the Belmont Public Library at 10:30 a.m. Call the Children’s Room at 617-993-2880 with any questions.

• A free demonstration on Learning to Dance will be held at 1:15 p.m. at the Senior Center at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St. Dance instructor Paul Hughes (www.ballroom-basics.com) will lead the demonstration. Participants will not need a partner to take the class.

• Lots going on in Belmont High sports: Girls’ Tennis takes on Winchester at the High School courts at 3:30 p.m., Baseball host Wakefield at 3:45 p.m. at Brandon Grant Field adjacent the High School and Boys’ Lacrosse return to Harris Field after defeating Stoneham to take on Reading at 4 p.m.

On they day in 1727, Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion” premiered at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig.