Photo: The Door by Magda Szabo

Wednesday, March 16

• If you attended or viewed the broadcast of Monday’s meeting of the Belmont Board of Selectmen, you will remember the members of the Belmont Informational Technology Advisory Committee as they told the board what the group is advocating. You can see the committee in action tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall as it holds its monthly meeting to review technology initiatives from the town, schools, Light Department, Police and Library.

• The Belmont Council on Aging and the town’s Recreation Department are teaming up to offer free intergenerational activities after lunch at 12:25 p.m. at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St. Today’s activity will by handprint crafts. Belmont residents and surrounding towns, age 60+, are eligible for lunch at the Center, and are welcome to bring guests of any age with them. Please call 617-993-2970 to reserve lunch.

• The Belmont Book Discussion Group will review the novel The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant, in conjunction with One Book One Belmont at the library’s Flett Room from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Everyone is welcome to attend. Copies of the book can be requested through the library catalog or call the library Reference staff at 617-993-2870.

• The Belmont Special Education Advisory Council (SEPAC) is holding a parent information session on the topic “Children and Anxiety” at the Winn Brook Cafeteria, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:45 p.m.

• International Fiction Book Club meets tonight at 7 p.m. in the library’s Flett Room to discuss The Door by Magda Szabo. The International Fiction Book Club meets monthly on the third Wednesday. The group eats snacks and talk about books by international authors. All are welcome to join. For information contact Kylie Sparks at ksparks@minlib.net

Photo: 

Today is March 15, the day in 44 BC that the emperor Julius Caesar was assassinated after being warned by a soothsayer: “Cave Idus, Idus Martiis!” 

Caesar: Who is it in the press that calls on me? I hear a tongue shriller than all the music that cry “Caesar!” Speak, Caesar is turn’d to hear.

Soothsayer: Beware the ides of March. (Shakespeeare’s Julius Caesar I,ii,15-19)

It’s a day to celebrate the fall of dictators and a day for those in the political arena to remember that your “friends” may yet be the cause of your downfall.

• The Planning Board is meeting at 7 p.m. in Town Hall to discuss amendments to the Single Residence C Zoning District and architectural guidelines for general residence districts.

• Tuesday is story time at both of Belmont libraries.

• Pre-School Story Time 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 visit with adults. Registration is not required. The Benton Library is at the intersection of Oakley and Old Middlesex.
• The Belmont Public Library on Concord Avenue will have preschool story time at 9:30 a.m. 
• Story Time for 2’s and 3’s is at 10:30 a.m.

• The Bel Aires, Belmont’s senior singing club, will be singing songs of Ireland at the Beech Street Center at 1:30 p.m. Led by Larry Martin and pianist Anne Donovan, the group sings classic favorites, seasonal, and patriotic tunes. Newcomers are always welcome. Cost: $2 donation.

• Teen Board Games will take place from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Belmont Public Library’s 
Assembly Room.

• The Movie Matinee at the Beech Street Center at 4 p.m. is “Shrek” on DVD. Enjoy this 2001 film again or for the first time. Adults and children alike can enjoy the impressive computer animation, music, and story that references many classic fairy tales with humor and surprising twists. Rated PG, this 93-minute film will be shown with English subtitles.

• The lottery for the 60 affordable housing units at Acorn Park, better known as the Belmont Uplands, will take place beginning at 6 p.m. in the Belmont Public Library’s Flett Room.

Photo: Book cover of Michael Greenburg’s The Court-Martial of Paul Revere: A Son of Liberty and America’s Forgotten Military Disaster.

• The Board of Selectmen has a full and busy meeting that gets underway at 7 p.m., at Town Hall starting with an update on long-troubled Cushing Village, voting to approve a request of proposal for the Community Path feasibility study, the appointment of the building committee members overseeing the High School’s renovation, discuss the next step in tackling the pension unfunded liability and lots more. The estimated time for the meeting to end is 9 p.m. I say more like 10:30 p.m.

• There will be a quick (!) meeting of the Municipal Light Board (made up of the Board of Selectmen) at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall to discuss the solar capacity limit now set at 1,000 kW. Increasing the number will allow more residents to install solar arrays, but that will cost money in lost revenue to Belmont Light. 

• A great talk from the Belmont Public Library’s Books and Bites Series: Author Michael Greenburg will discuss and read from his book The Court-Martial of Paul Revere: A Son of Liberty and America’s Forgotten Military Disaster, at 11 a.m. in the library’s Assembly Room.

Selected as a 2015 nonfiction “Must Reads Book” by the Massachusetts Book Awards, it is a riveting chronicle of Paul Revere’s only military service during the American Revolution in 1779, when certain victory quickly descended into a quagmire of arguing, disobedience, and failed strategy that was known as the worst American naval disaster prior to Pearl Harbor. Revere spent the next several years of his life actively pursuing a court-martial, in order to resuscitate his reputation.

Michael M. Greenburg is an attorney and is also the author of The Mad Bomber of New York:  The Extraordinary True Story of the Manhunt that Paralyzed a City. All are welcome to attend this free program. Books will be available for purchase and signing. Refreshments will be provided. Sponsored by the Friends of the Belmont Public Library.

• Do you look after young children during the week? The Belmont Council on Aging and Recreation Department are teaming up to offer free intergenerational activities on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, March 14-18. Monday’s event is a Magic Show for all ages at 1:15 p.m. Residents of Belmont and surrounding towns, age 60+, are eligible for lunch at the Beech Street Center, and are welcome to bring guests of any age with them. Please call 617-993-2970 by 11 a.m. to reserve lunch.

• Easter must be near as the Belmont Public Library is the location for the assembling of Peeps dioramas from 2:30 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. in the Flett Room.

• Girls Who Code will be coding in the Belmont Public Library’s Assembly Room from 4:15 p.m. to 6:15 p.m.

• Belmont Boosters will be meeting at 7 p.m. in Room 113 of Belmont High School.

• Belmont Storm Water Working Group’s monthly meeting is taking place at 7 p.m. in the Belmont Public Library’s Assembly Room.