Lions Roaring Back With Trees, Wreaths This Christmas Time

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Photo: Selecting the right tree at the Belmont Lions Club tree sale

Alright, yes, I know Halloween is more than a week away and Thanksgiving’s turkey and football game is still off in the distance. But Monday, Oct. 18, residents were reminded Christmas is just around the corner as the Select Board approved the annual license for the Belmont Lions Club to sell trees and wreaths outside of its clubhouse on Royal Road at the commuter rail station.

The club will sell Nova Scotia gown trees – from the same farm since the sale began in 1957 – and wreaths, mantle pieces, baskets and many other holidays items from Friday, Nov. 26 through Friday, Dec. 24. But don’t dawdle: last year the trees sold out early so get them as soon as they come off the truck.

Lions Secretary Felix Firenze told the board it will continue the Covid-19 restrictions and contract tracing from last year at the site at the corner of Common Street and Royal Road just outside of Belmont Center. It will also keep last year’s hours of operation: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday; and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on weeknights.

“We have all the protocols that we needed to get through this pandemic and it was very successful for us [in 2020],” said Firenze.

In addition, the club will keep the revamped parking and pickup practice caused by the rerouting of the MBTA bus last year.

“It sort of ran right through [the site] but you soldiered on and worked your way through it and I’m thanking you for that,” said Adam Dash, Select Board chair.

In addition, the Lions have already set the date for the 2021 Traveling Santa: Saturday, Dec 18. So be good.

“It’s a wonderful operation, Felix, and a great service for our community,” said Board Member Mark Paolillo.

Despite Neighboring Community’s Rat Concerns, Pumpkins Are Welcome In Belmont

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Photo: Pumpkin … or problem?

Nothing signals fall than the appearance of the winter squash known as the pumpkin.

From mid-September to Thanksgiving, the humble pumpkin is a star; in the kitchen – pies, breads, spices and seeds – and especially for its aesthetic value: what doesn’t evoke the season than a slew of pumpkins on the stoop or a jack-o-lantern by the front door on Halloween? Nothing comes close.

But this year, the pumpkin is getting a cold shoulder in one of Belmont’s neighboring communities and it doesn’t have anything to do with cancel culture.

In Watertown, town officials are advising residents to chuck the real thing and replace it with plastic or ceramic orbs when decorating their stoops and gardens. The reason: rats. Well, rats and other vermin that have been sweeping through the town as if it was 14th century Hamelin.

Many homeowners have complained over the past year of an increase in rodents in a community has been a hot spot of commercial and town construction projects that disrupt them in their underground habitats. Shorter winters have allowed rat couples to have more babies and there’s the problem.

According to Larry Ramdin, Watertown’s public health director, the friendly urging from the town – it is not in anyway a mandate – is an attempt to remove a ready source of food for the local rodent population and that includes the orange squash.

“We have observed rat problems last year around this time. We are being proactive,” Ramdin told the Boston Globe.

“Did you know that putting pumpkins and other edible decorations outside your home can provide food sources for rodents?” Watertown health officials wrote in a Facebook post. “This year, please consider plastic decorations to help prevent rodents on your property and in Watertown.”

Belmont has also had its fair share of ratty issues in the recent past. A few year’s back, Joey’s Park in the Winn Brook neighborhood became a rodent housing complex with numerous underground burrows and the streets around Grove Street Playground have seen a sizable uptick in rats from overburdened trash containers and a problematic house on a nearby street.

But rest assured, the town’s Health Department is happy to tell residents they can keep the real thing this fall.

“At the moment we do not have reason for concern about Halloween pumpkins or any related outdoor activities,” said Wesley Chin, the Health Department’s director.

Belmont Boys’ Soccer Looks For Late Push To Secure Playoff Spot

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Photo: The Belmont High seniors on their night

Belmont High School Boys’ Soccer Head Coach Niman Kenkre knew if there’s a game to win on the team’s schedule, it’s going to be Seniors Night, which, coincidentally, was Kenkre’s birthday.

And they did, as three seniors scored three second half goals – two in the final two minutes – as the Marauders took down visiting Burlington, 3-0, Wednesday, Oct. 13.

Senior attack Mateo Estrada-Donahue got the game winner 10 minutes into the second half from a quick hitter at the top of the box that scooted into the left corner of the goal. Anthony Dokhan smartly converted a penalty before Charlie November stole the ball from the Burlington goalie and tapped in his first varsity goal of his career.

The win gave the Marauders an all important last season boost in the MIAA Power Rankings – you can throw out the old win-loss record/total points to determine who’s going to the playoffs – has Belmont 34th in Division 1, a mere two places from being eligible for the state tournament.

The win came at the right time – and not just being on his birthday – as the team went through “a difficult stretch” according to Kenkre. After starting the campaign with three consecutive wins, the Marauders lost seven contests in row, some in excruciating late goals to opponents they had dominated during the game.

“We were so optimistic after our start,” he said, with the belief they would make a run to win the Middlesex League. “Then everything that could go wrong went wrong” including injuries and last second goals.

“It’s so easy for players to get dispirited. I’ve seen professional teams go down the tubes with losing streaks less bad than ours,” said Kenkre, who played professionally in Iceland.

Despite three-plus weeks of defeat after defeat, the team didn’t waver from the game philosophy installed at the start of the season that realized the Marauders couldn’t be competitive with most of its opponents attempting to play a physical running game, rather relying on short passes and movement off the ball.

And last week saw the turning of the ship as the Marauders took five of a possible six points defeating Watertown, 2-0, to stop the slide, tying Wakefield, 1-1, for the first away points since the first week of the season and taking down Burlington.

“I’m expecting a strong end to the season. We can control is in our hands and then, hopefully, the power ranking formula will be in our favor and we can we can get in [the tournament] and that would be wonderful,” said Kenkre.

And while its the results on the pitch that ultimately matters, Kenkre got a bit emotional after the Burlington tussle on the camaraderie the players have for each other and him.

“I mean it’s just such an amazing group of guys and the thing is, it really speaks volumes to their character, that they have this spirit, this love for each other for me, for our coaching staff, even though it’s been a hard time for all of us,” said Kenkre.

“And for them to stay strong through all, to stay together and have the support and love that they show for me, it’s an incredible feeling and I couldn’t be happier. And for it to all come together with such a nice victory on my birthday, I mean, it doesn’t get any better than that.

Foundation For Belmont Education Thanks Record Number Of Runners, Supports For Successful 2021 Apple Run

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Photo:

For the first time in two years, the Foundation for Belmont Education’s Apple Run returned to its five kilometer tour of Belmont schools on the first Sunday of October.

With close to 800 runners – 689 pre-registered and 109 day-of registrations – the support of 60-plus event volunteers, the race committee, multiple sponsors, many in-kind donors and the Partners in Education made the annual community event a unmitigated success.

“We truly love this annual community-wide event and would like to thank the following community members for their generous support: Triogo owner Donna Ognibene, who expertly got everyone warmed-up and ready to race; DJ Paul Madden for keeping the motivation and excitement going all morning with his music; and Belmont High School senior Emily Kaiser for her amazing rendition of the National Anthem. Thank you to Belmont Center Business Association and Moozy’s Ice Cream & Yoghurt Emporium for their incredible generosity with prize donations,” said the statement,” said the FBE in a statement.

The FBE also thanked the Belmont Police Department, Belmont Department of Public Works, and Belmont High Volleyball Team for their tremendous support.

Platinum sponsor: Cityside Subaru of Belmont

Results sponsor: Belmont Orthodontics

Bib sponsor: Didriks and Local Root

Water table sponsor: East Cambridge Savings Bank

T-shirt sponsors: Anne Mahon, Shant Banosian and Rogaris Law

FBE Investors in Education: Belmont Orthodontics, Belmont Savings Bank Foundation, Cityside Subaru of Belmont, and People’s United Bank.

5K MALE WINNERS:

Russell Leino, 39 – 16:41
Jackson Coelho, 17 – 17:12
William Ronchetti, 25 – 17:59

5K FEMALE WINNERS:

Francesca Kitch, 17 – 20:42*
Meredith Mikell, 39 – 20:57*
Heidi Kimberly, 46 – 21:10*
* The top 3 women broke the previous course record!

FASTEST 5K PER AGE GROUP:

U12 M – Fridolin Meichsner, 20:07
U12 F – Sasha Romig, 25:58
13-19M – Giulio Valfre Zaydenman, 20:56
13-19F – Sarah Yu, 22:50
20-29M – Sam Belcher, 19:29
20-29F – Olivia Sedita, 21:46
30-39M – Yuxiao Wang, 21:24
30-39F – Menfru Li, 21:35
40-49M – Lixin Qin, 18:57
40-49F – Becca Pizzi, 22:00
50-59M – Kevin Hettenbach, 21:29
50-59F – Lili Zhang, 23:30
60+M – Roger Tobin, 25:42
60+F – Mary Ciampa, 30:10

2K WINNERS (U12):

Fastest F – Elise Tandy, 10, 8:38
Fastest M – Will Olmstead, 11, 7:59

TEAM WINNERS:

Largest team – Belmont Public Library Road Warriors
Fastest M team – BCAA (Belmont Chinese American Association)
Fastest F team – Belmont High School Field Hockey
Fastest mixed team – Trombone Gang

MOST FESTIVE RUNNING OUTFIT:

Kara and Campbell Sassone

Trustees Want Residents To Take A Tour Sunday Through Belmont’s ‘Failing’ Library [Video]

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Photo: Deteriorating infrastructure at the Belmont Public Library

On Oct. 4, the Belmont Select Board and Board of Library Trustees agreed a solution is needed for the failing library building. The constant failures – big and small – in critical library building systems are urgent, according to the Trustees; floods, leaks, electrical issues, an antiquated fire alarm system, and unreliable heating, air conditioning and elevators have put the building in a dire situation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB1UKswJFUk

On Sunday, Oct. 17, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Belmont residents can take one of two tours of the inner workings of the library and see the condition of the building.

INDOOR OPTION: Take a small group guided tour to see the failing parts of the library building.

OUTDOOR OPTION: The committee has recreated the tour experience outdoors, using posters, video, and knowledgeable guides to walk through.

The tours are led by members of the Board of Library Trustees, Library Building Committee, and Library staff.

For more information, visit www.NewLibraryFund.org

On The Move: Half Of Belmont’s Precinct Will See Changes As Part Of Census Reprecincting

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Photo: The proposed new precinct map of Belmont for 2022.

A boost of population from a condo development along Route 2 will require one of the town’s largest residential complexes to “move” into a new home precinct if the Select Board approves a new electoral map as part of the reprecincting of Belmont.

The town’s new precinct map in addition to the hows and whys that led to the four changes to the current chart will be explained at a public meeting to be held on Thursday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. as part of a Zoom Webinar.

In a preview sent to Town Meeting members from Town Clerk Ellen Cushman, the big news from Belmont 10 percent increase in residents since the 2010 US Census will see a pair of precincts “cross” current geographic boundaries to even out the populations in all of Belmont’s precincts as they increase from 3,100 to 3,400 residents.

The town’s Reprecincting Team – made up of Cushman, assistant Town Clerk Meg Piccione, GIS Manager Todd Consentino and the Director of Community Development Glenn Clancy – worked with a proposed map created by the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office with the goal is to balance the population of the precincts to ensure equal representation by Town Meeting Members, while considering the neighborhoods, and geographic dividing lines.

The team’s recommendation to the Select Board on Thursday will be precinct lines for Precinct 1, 2, 6 and 8 would be changed and Precinct 3, 4, 5 and 7 would remain in place.

The current Belmont precinct map with proposed changes in pink.

Precinct 6, which saw a drop in residents in the past decade, will expand north across Washington Street to take a good chunk of Precinct 1 from Long Avenue to Fairmont Street, and Chenery Terrace, a small part of Bow Road, all of Lincoln Street, a small part of Washington Street and Goden Street to Long Avenue. The shift also includes all of Road, Cedar Road, Lambert Road, Highland Avenue and Lincoln Circle.

With the inclusion of the Acorn Park Drive and its transitory population, Precinct 8 will see three parcels leaving – two smaller parts moving to Precinct 2 – with the largest portion going to Precinct 1 as it will cross the commuter rail tracks north to appropriate the Hill Estate which includes Vale Road, Hill Road and Pond Street, Yerxa Road and Bailey Road.

The largest practical change for Town Meeting is that members in precincts that have change will require the entire group of Town Meeting seats must be elected to represent the newly-drawn precinct. For Belmont that equates to a massive 36 seats open for election per those precincts at the 2022 Town Election on April 5.

Thirty six people will be elected in each of the precincts to three, two and one year terms determined as follows: the 12 candidates with the highest number of votes will be elected for the three-year term seats, the next group of 12 winning candidates will be elected to the two-year term seats and the final group of 12 winning candidates will be elected to the one-year term seats.  

Once the Town Clerk and the State are satisfied with their joint draft map of the precincts, Cushman will review the proposed draft with the Select Board at its Oct. 18 meeting which must vote at its Oct. 25 meeting to approve the final map and legal descriptions for official submission to the Commonwealth by Oct. 30.

You are invited to a Zoom webinar.

When: Oct 14, 2021 at 7 p.m. Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Please click the link below to join the webinar:

Passcode: 407802

Or One tap mobile : 

    US: +13126266799,,83908658063#  or +19292056099,,83908658063#

Or Telephone:

    Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):

        US: +1 312 626 6799  or +1 929 205 6099  or +1 301 715 8592  or +1 346 248 7799  or +1 669 900 6833  or +1 253 215 8782

Webinar ID: 839 0865 8063

    International numbers available:https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcbGQLdhV4

The Harveys Pace Belmontians To BAA Marathon Fall Finish Line

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Photo: Brian Harvey (right) in the 2019 Brendan Home Run

Brian Harvey toured the fall foliage from Hopkinton to Boston Monday quick enough to still order the breakfast special in Copley Square as the Belmont resident finished the 125th BAA Marathon in 2 hours, 21 minutes and 35 seconds just before the clock struck 11 a.m.

Running in his club’s annual 26.2 mile race, Harvey finished 29th overall out of 15,400 participants in an average of 5 minutes and 25 seconds a mile. No one should be surprised with Harvey swiftly conquering the course having been a five-time Division 3 All-American at Carnegie Mellon University and two time US Olympic Trials participant with a marathon PR of 2:17:50.

Harvey couldn’t immediately head back to Belmont after crossing the line as he had to wait for his wife, Stefani, to finish in a speedy 3:16:41 (670th women to finish), finishing behind Katherine Jamboretz, Belmont’s first female finisher who nearly broke three hours in 3:02:22.

Despite the time or placement, if it was the umpteenth or the very first time, or whether the race produced a personal best or was a struggle to finish, everyone who crossed the finish line on Boylston Street by the Boston Public Library accomplished a remarkable feat of courage and grit that will leave an everlasting memory to inspire future experiences.

Below are the finishers from the Town of Homes according to the Boston Athletic Association (which has in the past a hard time distinguishing Belmont, Massachusetts from all the other Belmonts FWIW)

FinisherTime
Brian Harvey2:21:35
Evan Vadenais2:38:59
David Marchefka2:56:33
Joe Shaw2:58:24
Katherine Jamboretz3:02:22
Matthew Taylor3:02:48
Tony Luongo3:03:48
Jeremy Frantz3:14:31
Cheng Zhong3:15:48
Stefani Harvey3:16:41
Mathew Swanson3:19:13
Douglas Hall3:20:25
Becca Pizzi3:30:34
Justin Bakule3:47:42
Katie Brace 3:55:06
Jianjian Wang3:55:23
Jenny Luongo3:55:59
Donald McLelland3:58:33
Laurie Nahigian4:10:26
Christine Bowe4:10:36
Patricia Wolff4:26:24
E G Griego 4:46:15
Veronica Baptista5:00:53
Kole Kelly5:05:11
Sarkis Chikijian5:08:16
Allison Colton5:58:23
Alexandra Kritharas6:04:37
John Carson6:17:10
Mary Simmons 6:17:55
Adam Quinn7:24:34

Fire Dept. Responds To HazMat Incident At Star Market Monday Night, One Taken To Hospital

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Photo: Belmont Fire’s ladder truck at the scene at Star Market on Monday, Oct. 11

A refrigerant leak in the basement of Star Market on Trapelo Road on Monday, Oct. 11 resulted in the state’s hazardous materials team being called to the scene by Belmont Fire officials.

In a press release from Belmont Fire Department Chief David DeStefano, Belmont Fire personnel responded to a call from the supermarket located at 535 Trapelo Rd. at 8:45 p.m. where they found an active leak of refrigerant filling areas of the store. Firefighters safety removed 18 employees and contractors in addition to customers while the incident commander requested mutual aid from Waltham Fire and assistance from the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services Hazardous Materials Team.

“We chose to house the Technical Operations Module or TOMS truck operated by the state here in our [Trapelo Road] Headquarters station for just such an incident,” said DeStefano. “The team was able to assemble and respond rapidly to our request for assistance. Working with neighboring agencies and partnering with the Commonwealth to leverage our capabilities provided efficiency and greater safety for our firefighters and the community in general.”

With assistance from the Haz Mat team and guidance from the refrigeration contractor at the scene, the system was made safe and the area ventilated. One employee was transported to Mt. Auburn Hospital for evaluation. While Belmont Fire companies operated at the incident Cambridge and Arlington fire departments provided station coverage.

The Annual Flushing Of Belmont’s Fire Hydrants Continues Next Two Weeks

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Photo: Ready to go

There is the annual running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain while in Belmont there is the annual flushing of the town’s hydrants.

And while not as exciting as dodging a 1,000 kg animal on slippery cobble streets, the yearly flushing helps ensure water quality and helps avoid random bouts of rusty water if there is a high demand for water, caused by a major firefighting effort or water main break, according to Mark Mancuso, manager of the Belmont Department of Public Work’s Water Division.

Starting this week – Tuesday, Oct. 12 – from 7 p.m. to midnight, hydrants with green tops will be opened. This could cause water discoloration in the system. Don’t worry: The water is safe for drinking purposes but residents should avoid laundering during flushing hours. Next week beginning on Monday, Oct. 18, all yellow hydrants will undergo the flush.

Any questions regarding this program? Call the Belmont Water Division at 617-993-2700 for answers.

Trash/Recycling Pick-Up Delayed A Day By Holiday; Weekly Yard Waste Collection Starts Oct. 25

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Photo: Put your carts out a day later than usual

Whether it was once Columbus Day or, now, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the holiday on the second Monday of October causes trash and recycling pickup to be pushed back by one day through town. So in the collection universe, Tuesday is actually Monday so don’t be surprised when you go out to collect your carts only to find them still filled.

With gardens shutting down and flower beds begin laid to rest, residents will still need to hold off placing their yard waste for curb side collection other than on the designated recycling day.

Weekly fall yard waste collection begins Oct. 25, and ends on Dec. 9.

And what exactly is yard waste? According to Belmont’s Department of Public Works, it’s leaves, twigs, grass, weeds, flowers, plants, hedge and shrubs prunings that are one inch or less in diameter and other easily raked yard waste. No tree limbs or branches greater than one inch in diameter.
NOT ALLOWED are food scraps, animal waste, trash of any kind, soil or plastic bags.

Just a reminder, yard waste must be placed in 30 gallon biodegradable paper bags or barrels marked with yard waste stickers. Close the bags by folding over; do not use staples or tape. Yard waste should be put out by 7 a.m. on collection days.