• What is becoming a great annual community event will begin at 4 p.m. on Friday, May 16 with the Promenade, in which those high schoolers attending this year’s Belmont High School Senior/Junior Prom will be “presented” to parents, siblings, friends and the public in the Belmont High School auditorium and just before they board the buses to take them to some ritzy hotel for a night of dancing and having fun.
• The best of the Belmont High School senior thesis papers will be honored at the annual Lillian Blacker Awards being held on Wednesday May 14, from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Belmont High School Library.
• Friday, May 16, is also the final day of school for graduating Belmont High Schools seniors, for many, completing 13 years in the district.
• 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 on Tuesday, May 13 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. Stephen Burt is a literary critic, poet, and professor of English at Harvard.
• Also on Tuesday, May 13, the Beech Street Center presents a free concert for the entire community with Davis Bates who will be “Celebrating New England: Songs & Stories for Everyone” at 4 p.m. 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 Public Library welcomes author Nicholas Basbanes to the Assembly Room at 11 a.m. on Monday, May 12 where he will discuss his book On Paper: The Everything of its Two-Thousand-Year History, which was named a Best Book of the Year by the American Library Association, Kirkus Reviews, Bloomberg News, Mother Jones, and the National Post of Canada. The book is a consideration of all things paper; its invention that revolutionized human civilization; its thousand-fold uses, proliferation, and sweeping influence on society; and its makers, shapers, and collectors. Donna Seaman writes of the book inBooklist, “Every facet of this celebration of paper is engrossing and thought-provoking.” Basbanes is the author of nine works of cultural history, with a particular emphasis on various aspects of books and book culture. All are welcome to attend this free program. Books will be available for purchase and signing. Refreshments will be provided. The Assembly Room is handicapped accessible.
• The Belmont Historical Society is holding its annual Meeting on Wednesday, May 15 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Belmont Public Library’s Assembly Room. Joe Cornish will give a presentation on ‘Recognizing Belmont’s Historic Homes: Historic House Plaque Program.’
• The Belmont Board of Selectmen will be approving the fiscal year 2015 town budget at its Monday meeting being held at 5:45 p.m. in the Conference Room at Belmont High School.