Habitat’s Annual Plant Sale And Goat Gala Set For Saturday, May 2

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Spend your morning stocking up on locally grown plants, then stick around to meet the sanctuary’s herd of goats as the Habitat Education Center & Wildlife Sanctuary‘s annual Plant Sale and Goat Gala on Saturday, May 2. The Habitat, part of Mass Audubon‘s wildlife sanctuaries system, is located at 10 Juniper Rd.

Plant Sale: 9 am – 1 pm

Habitat’s annual plant sale offers a variety of Massachusetts-grown herbs, vegetables, annuals, and perennials. This year’s offerings include: 

  • a selection of native plants to boost biodiversity in your community.
  • shade-tolerant plants, alternatives to monoculture grass, and species that support native pollinators.
  • a variety of garden herbs and vegetbles.

All proceeds support Mass Audubon’s Habitat Education Center & Wildlife Sanctuary and the Habitat Intergenerational Program, which brings people of all ages together for environmental stewardship and community projects.

Goat Gala: 1 – 3 pm

Come meet some of Habitat’s hardest working and hungriest property staff members: its friendly herd of Nigerian Dwarf Goats! Observe them as they start their seasonal browse on grasses in the meadow. Learn about the work they do throughout the season and what special adaptations make them perfect for the job. Enjoy games, activities, and raffle prizes. After meeting the goats, vote for your favorite! 

The Goat Gala is free with sanctuary admission. No registration is required. Parking is limited, so carpooling is encouraged. 

League Of Women Voters, Warrant Committee Hosting Warrant Briefing Thursday On May Town Meeting Articles

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Photo: The poster for the Warrant Briefing Thursday

The Belmont League of Women Voters and the Warrant Committee will host a virtual Warrant Briefing for those articles to be debated and voted in May this Thursday, April 30, at 7:30 p.m.

The briefing, held prior to the annual Town Meeting starting on Monday, May 4, is where residents and Town Meeting members can discuss and ask questions to town officials and department heads.

Paul Rickter, chair of the Warrant Committee will host the informational session. 

Viewing Options:

Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87263249283

 Meeting ID: 872 6324 9283

Live broadcast: Belmont Ch 8 (Comcast); Ch 28 (Verizon) 

On-demand: belmontmedia.org/govtv

League Of Women Voters Remote Candidates’ Night This Wednesday, March 25

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Photo: Candidates’ night is Wednesday

The League of Women Voters of Belmont is holding its annual Candidates’ Night on Wednesday, March 25 at 7 p.m. The event will be remote.

The night will start with a video “parade” by precinct of Town Meeting candidates, followed by short speeches and a Q&A with the town-wide candidates.

And just remember: Town Election Day is Tuesday, April 7.

Viewing Options:

After Three Spring Postponements, Belmont Town Day Scheduled For Saturday, May 16

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Photo: Join the crowd at Belmont Town Day on May 16.

Fourth time’s the charm as the Belmont Center Business Association will come to the Belmont School Board on Monday, March 23 for permission to hold its 37th Annual Town Day on Saturday, May 16 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Last year marked the third consecutive year that a forecast of rain caused the postponement of the annual Belmont Town Day to September.

Leonard Street from Channing Road to Pleasant Street will be closed from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

There will be multiple tables and tents along the Leonard Street occupied by local groups, non-profits, town departments, retailers and restaurants. There will be kiddie rides, basketball hoops, and, as always, the popular dunk tank.

The yearly Belmont Garden Club Flower and Plant Sale is expected to take place on May 16 from 9 a.m. to noon outside the Belmont Lions Club at the WWI memorial on Common Street and Royal Road.

Belmont’s Flag Retirement Ceremony At Vets Memorial On Sunday, March 15

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Photo: The Flag Retirement Ceremony will take place on Sunday, March 15, at 2 p.m.

The Belmont Veterans Memorial Committee is hosting a Flag Retirement Ceremony at Clay Pit Pond, the corner of Concord Avenue and Underwood Street, on Sunday, March 15, at 2 p.m.

The ceremony will allow the town to honorably retire and replace approximately 2,500 old and worn U.S. flags from the Grove Street Cemetery and others from the Belmont community, collected by the Belmont Hill Veterans Club.

This event serves as a tribute to our national symbol and those who served to protect it.

‘Don’t Be The Bunny’ That Misses ‘Urinetown,’ BHS Performing Arts Company’s Spring Musical

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Photo: Caldwell B. Caldwell (Bennett Sprague) singing about the dilemmas of being a rabbit in a modern world in “Don’t be the Bunny” from BHS PAC’s Spring Musical Urinetown.

URINETOWN
MUSIC AND LYRICS BY MARK HOLLMANN, 
TONY AWARD-WINNING BOOK AND LYRICS BY GREG KOTIS​

PERFORMANCES
Thursday, March 12 at 7 p.m.
Friday, March 13 at 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 14 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m​.

TICKET INFO
ADULTS: $15; STUDENTS/CHILDREN: $10; BHS Students: $5; Thursday and Sat Matinee, $10

BUY YOUR TICKETS HERE

In a drought-stricken future, all private toilets have been banned and citizens must pay to use public restrooms controlled by a powerful corporation. When an ordinary young man named Bobby Strong decides he’s had enough, he sparks a rebellion that turns his world upside down. 

The Tony Award-winning Urinetown the Musical is a hilarious and smart satire that pokes fun at musical theater while telling a surprisingly heartfelt story about love, power and standing up for what you believe in. Featuring a wide range of musical styles, big ensemble numbers [especially the end of Act 1] and a cast of bold, eccentric characters, the show is both wildly entertaining and unexpectedly thought-provoking.

This production features a large cast of Belmont High School student actors, a student-run technical crew, and a live pit band. From designing and building the world of the play to bringing its many unforgettable characters to life, the show highlights the incredible range of talent and dedication within the Belmont High School PAC.

Ezra Flam, Urinetown producer and director, said “[p]icking a show is always about looking at the overall sense of who our current students are, especially our 11th and 12th graders and what they bring into the show. And we have a lot of kids, especially in the senior class this year, who are improvisers and comedians, really funny kids. So we were looking for a show that had characters that had some of that silliness and fun that they can bring to it.”

Bringing back the musical first staged by BHS-PAC a decade ago, Flam said it’s nice looking at this production and see how the show has changed.

“Its got some things to say now that are different from when we did it 10 years ago, or when the show was written in 2001. The script reads a little differently than it did in the past. I don’t know ‘fun’ is the right word, more rewarding and interesting.”

This production carries a punch with “lots of kids” on stage, going through some complex dance numbers for how many actors are involved.

“The Act One finale is such a fantastic example of that movement. The character Officer Lockstock [William Sattler] says the act one finale is a big song and dance number for the entire cast, and it really is,” said Flam. “It’s that moment in the show where you have one group of kids singing and doing a set of choreography, while a different group is performing different lyrics and different choreography, and finally a different group is doing different lyrics and a completely different choreography. All this is happening when two leads are up on a piece of scenery that’s spinning and doing different lyrics and different moves, all at the same time. It nods to One Day More, the act one finale of Les Mis.”

This production has the advantage of it being performed in a space that everyone is quite use to.

“All of these kids have been doing shows in this theater for their entire high school career. And so I think last year was the year when really hit our stride on we’ve all been in this building. We’ve all been working here for four years, five years now, and we know what we can do, how to make the tech do all the things we wanted to do. This is a maturity of the theater space and of the program.”

Production Team

DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Ezra Flam
THEATER & MEDIA PRODUCTION FACILITATOR: John Parker
BPS DIRECTOR OF VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS: Arto Asadoorian

CAST

OFFICER LOCKSTOCK ………………………..…………William Sattler
LITTLE SALLY …………………………………………………….Trudie Innis
BOBBY STRONG…………………………………………….Calvin Barnes
HOPE CLADWELL………………………………………..Rayna Thomas
MS. PENNYWISE …………………………………………Caroline Lafkas
MR. CLADWELL…………………………….………….Bennett Sprague
OFFICER BARREL ………………………………………Quincy Crockett
SENATOR FIPP………………………………………………….Talia Siebert
MR. McQUEEN……………………………………………….Ben Guglietta
OLD MAN STRONG………………………………………..Joseph Barry
JOSEPHINE STRONG…………………….……… Teagan Imberman
HOT BLADES HARRY…………………….…………….. Malachi Smith
BECKY TWO-SHOES…………………….… Lou Aubanel-Battilana
SOUPY SUE……………………………………………………Grace Sullivan
TINY TOM………………………………………………..Quinton Hashemi
ROBBY THE STOCKFISH………………………… Sebastian Beattie

Belmont’s Lunar New Year Celebration Rolls Into the Center, Sunday, March 15

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Photo: Celebrate the Lunar New Year in Belmont Center on Sunday, March 15.

The Belmont Pan-Asian Coalition is hosting it’s annual multicultural Lunar New Year celebration taking place in Belmont Center on Sunday, March 15, with a rain date of March 22. The event will take place on Moore and Leonard streets from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. celebrating the culture, community, and the start of the New Year.

“The idea of the celebration is to integrate the API communities, with the the general fabric of Belmont,” said Julie Wu, BPAC president and a co-founder, who spoke to the Select Board via Zoom.

Hundreds of people attend every year we we showcase and honor the police and fire departments, as well as the Select Board members, as well as our Senator William brownsburger and Dave Rogers, and this year

Performancers include Tiger Crane Kung Fu, which is the sister organization of Belmont’s Wu’s Martial Arts, the Boston Korean Traditional Dance Group, while BPAC members and other local organizations will perform a dragon dance, as they did on Belmont Town Day.

This year the celebration welcomes a rolling Lunar New Year Parade which will make a special stop in Belmont. Beginning in Boston’s Chinatown and traveling through communities across Greater Boston, the multi-city motorcade is co-organized by the Chinese-American Heritage Foundation alongside partner community organizations. This year’s parade marshal is Middlesex District Attorney (and Belmont resident) Marion Ryan.

“We’ve received a lot of positive feedback about this event, including from our own membership, who express a lot of joy and pride at having their cultures represented in our town center,” said Wu.

The Belmont Pan-Asian Coalition is a multicultural group with a mission to amplify the voices and visibility of Asians in Belmont, said Wu. The members countries of origin is from all over Asia and the Pacific Islands, including Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, Nepal, Cambodia, Tibet, and France, while Coalition directors hail from Taiwan, Korea, India, China and the Philippines.

“We’re first and second generation immigrants, and we have a variety of political views, and we all work together for a common cause,” said Wu.

“It’s been a great event, and we’re hoping we’ll be as lucky with the weather, so it will also be similarly wonderful event this year,” she said.

“It’s a great event. Brings people to Belmont Center, brings people together. It’s a wonderful celebration and a lot of fun with amazing performances,” said Select Board Chair Matt Taylor.

Town Wide Cardboard Drop Off Is Back! (For One Day) Thanks To A Collection ‘Hiccup’

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Photo: Cardboard drop off is back on March 7.

Long dead since the collapse of the worldwide corrugated box market made the practice too pricy to hold, Belmont will see the return of an old-fashioned town wide Cardboard Collection Day next month.

Residents can load up flattened boxes in their vehicles and head to the DPW Yard, 37C Street (off of Waverley Avenue) on Saturday, March 7 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. where all those Amazon-type packaging will be collected, free of charge.

But in all likelihood, the drop off day will be a one-time offer. The collection is being facilitated with a $10,000 donation from Waste Management, the town’s trash and recycling contractor. Three weeks ago, many neighborhoods had “a little hiccup” with their recycling day pickup, which several upset residents let the town know about, said Town Administrator Patrice Garvin. DPW Director Jay Marcotte reached out to the WM reps and the company reimburst the town with the donation.

Cardboard drop off days were once a popular post holiday event in Belmont. In January 2021, nearly 350 vehicles waited an hour in line at the DPW Yard as the town collected 22 tons of cardboard filling five 40-yard long containers, two truck bays and six 6-wheel dump trucks. But a collapse in the price of recycling corrugated material after the pandemic made the service too costly for the town, with the practice stopping in 2023.

So March 7 will be a rare opportunity to relive a little of Belmont’s past.

“Load up the trunk and recycle some cardboard,” said Select Board Chair Matt Taylor.

Belmont Against Racism Sponsoring Black History Month Events In February

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Photo: Regie Gibson, Poet Laureate of Massachusetts, will be the featured artist on Friday, Feb. 27, at 7 p.m. (credit: convergenceensemble.org)

For the past 100 years, the month of February has been recognized as Black History Month, designated as a time to promote and educate people about Black history and culture. With the help of Belmont Against Racism, residents will have a rich array of events to attend to learn abou

Film screenings at Belmont Public Library, 336 Concord Ave.

  • Selma (2014) – Wednesday, Feb. 4, 6:30 p.m. (RSVP)
  • Just Mercy (2019) – Wednesday, Feb. 11, 6:30 p.m. (RSVP)

These powerful movies will spark meaningful conversations around justice, equity, and history.

2nd Annual Community Potluck, Karma Fine Crafts, 68 Leonard St, Belmont Center
Friday, February 13, 5 p.m. – 8 p.m. (RSVP)
Our community’s favorite event returns! Share a meal, connect with neighbors, and celebrate community care. Bring a dish, bring a friend, and come ready to enjoy the warmth of shared stories and food.
Click here to sign up to bring a dish.

Book Group Discussion at the Library
Monday, Feb. 23, 6:30 p.m. (RSVP)
Join us for a thought-provoking discussion of this month’s Equal Justice Book Group selection—a space for reflection, learning, and shared insight.

T-Shirt Design Competition (for Middle and High School students)
Feb. 1 – Feb. 20 (Entry Form)
Calling all young artists! Help shape the visual identity of BHM26 with a design that expresses what Black History Month means to you.
Click here for details.

BHM26 Finale CONCERT: An Evening of Poetry, Music & Conversation
Friday, Feb. 27, 7 p.m. (RSVP)
Black Box Theater, Belmont High School
This inspiring concert will feature:

  • Regie Gibson, Poet Laureate of Massachusetts
  • Reggie Harris, legendary folk musician, educator, and activist
    They’ll explore themes of identity, resilience, and social justice through spoken word, song, and powerful conversation. Don’t miss this unforgettable evening!

We Need Your Help!
In order to make these events successful, we’re seeking volunteers to assist with everything from event setup to spreading the word. You can make a real impact by helping us bring these community-centered events to life.
Click here to volunteer.

Come Attend Belmont’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Breakfast On Monday, Jan. 19

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Photo: Poster for Belmont’s 32nd annual MLK Community Breakfast on Monday, Jan. 19

Join the Human Rights Commission and Belmont Against Racism as they host Belmont’s 32nd annual MLK Community Breakfast at Belmont High School on Monday, Jan. 19 at 10 a.m. to honor his vision of equality and justice for all. There will be speeches, musical performances, and a METCO update.

Child care will also be available.

This year’s keynote speech – “Memory as a Map: Following the Path that Formed Dr. King’s Vision” – will be delivered by Dr. Sophia Boyer, co-founder/executive director of Cambridge-based Sankara Partners. Dr. Boyer’s work offers essential models for supporting communities through socially responsive, human-centered practices that foster environments where collaboration is energizing, purposeful, and deeply fulfilling.

All are welcome, but an RSVP is required. Reserve your spot in advance HERE