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		<title>Read the September/October 2026 BCF Newsletter</title>
		<link>https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/2026/09/01/8045/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Frederique]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 Sep 2026 10:00:29 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Newsletter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[September/October 2026]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/?p=8045</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Cambridge Real Estate Developments: Context for Hill’s Crossing Overlay District By Vincent Stanton, Jr. At Town Meeting this fall (or possibly next spring), the Belmont Planning Board, in collaboration with the Office of Planning and Building, will sponsor an article proposing a new zoning overlay for the Brighton Street General Business district, the Hill’s Crossing <a href='https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/2026/09/01/8045/' class='excerpt-more'>[READ MORE]</a>]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">8045</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>A Call for Authors</title>
		<link>https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/2026/08/28/a-call-for-authors/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Frederique]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 28 Aug 2026 18:45:49 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[September/October 2026]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Volunteer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Belmont]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[volunteerism]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/?p=8036</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Belmont Citizens Forum invites writers, researchers, photographers, and engaged neighbors from across Belmont to help shape the next generation of stories about our town. For more than two decades, our bimonthly newsletter has offered in‑depth, independent coverage of issues ranging from the Community Path and rail‑trail planning to Rock Meadow and Lone Tree Hill conservation, <a href='https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/2026/08/28/a-call-for-authors/' class='excerpt-more'>[READ MORE]</a>]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">8036</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Letters to the Editor</title>
		<link>https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/2026/08/28/letters-to-the-editor/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Frederique]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 28 Aug 2026 18:40:49 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[September/October 2026]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Belmont]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Letters to the editor]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/?p=8034</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Over the past two months, Belmont Citizens Forum received several letters from readers. These letters appeared in the September/October 2026 issue and are reproduced here for those who may have missed them. A letter from Larry Link In his article in the July / August Newsletter, Traffic Jam! TAC Raises Transportation Issues, Chip Gaysunas presented a <a href='https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/2026/08/28/letters-to-the-editor/' class='excerpt-more'>[READ MORE]</a>]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">8034</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Stonefield Farm and Boston Area Gleaners: Growing and Moving Food to Relieve Hunger</title>
		<link>https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/2026/08/27/stonefield-farm-and-boston-area-gleaners-growing-and-moving-food-to-relieve-hunger/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Frederique]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 27 Aug 2026 17:09:19 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Plants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[September/October 2026]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Volunteer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[agriculture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Belmont]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[food]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[food security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sustainability]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/?p=8032</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[By Jeffrey North On a summer day at Stonefield Farm in South Acton, rows of lettuce, tomatoes, and callaloo are harvested not for a farmstand or supermarket but for food banks, pantries, and community kitchens. That distinction captures what makes Boston Area Gleaners unusual: it operates as both a working farm and a regional food&#8211;access <a href='https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/2026/08/27/stonefield-farm-and-boston-area-gleaners-growing-and-moving-food-to-relieve-hunger/' class='excerpt-more'>[READ MORE]</a>]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">8032</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>4-H: A Place to Learn, Lead, and Belong</title>
		<link>https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/2026/08/27/4-h-a-place-to-learn-lead-and-belong/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Frederique]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 27 Aug 2026 17:00:32 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[September/October 2026]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Belmont]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Civic engagement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Youth]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/?p=8026</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[By Amalia Müller “I pledge my Head to clearer thinking, my Heart to greater loyalty, my Hands to larger service, and my Health to better living, for my club, my community, my country and my world.” The 4-H Pledge &#160; 4-H is an organization I participate in, and it has brought me my closest friends <a href='https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/2026/08/27/4-h-a-place-to-learn-lead-and-belong/' class='excerpt-more'>[READ MORE]</a>]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">8026</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Holding On and Letting Go</title>
		<link>https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/2026/08/25/holding-on-and-letting-go/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Frederique]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2026 21:41:51 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[September/October 2026]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Belmont]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Civic life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Essay]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/?p=8023</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[By Anne Marie Mahoney What should a bereavement support group and town government have in common? A deep respect for participants’ experience of loss. I do bereavement work, facilitating programs on coping with grief and loss in church settings and the Beech Street Center. Through Boston College, I teach other facilitators how to lead bereavement <a href='https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/2026/08/25/holding-on-and-letting-go/' class='excerpt-more'>[READ MORE]</a>]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">8023</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Our Environmental Stewards: Tim Johnson, Native Plant Trust</title>
		<link>https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/2026/08/25/our-environmental-stewards-tim-johnson-native-plant-trust/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Frederique]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2026 21:36:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Plants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[September/October 2026]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[native plants]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/?p=8020</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[This article is part of the Belmont Citizens Forum’s series on environmental leadership in Massachusetts. Native Plant Trust, based at Garden in the Woods in Framingham, is the nation’s first plant conservation organization and the only one devoted solely to New England’s native plants. It works across the region to protect rare and endangered species, <a href='https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/2026/08/25/our-environmental-stewards-tim-johnson-native-plant-trust/' class='excerpt-more'>[READ MORE]</a>]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">8020</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Fighting Algal Blooms: A Belmont High Schooler Has a Solution</title>
		<link>https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/2026/08/24/fighting-algal-blooms-a-belmont-high-schooler-has-a-solution/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Frederique]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2026 00:13:27 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[September/October 2026]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Water Quality]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Belmont]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Belmont High School]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pollution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Water management]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/?p=8018</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[By Omar Albarbari  Every summer, harmful algal blooms (HABs) affect lakes and ponds across Massachusetts, sometimes leading to swimming advisories or closures. These blooms can produce toxins that threaten people, pets, and wildlife. Monitoring is expensive, and many of our local bodies of water are affected by these algal blooms. At the time of this <a href='https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/2026/08/24/fighting-algal-blooms-a-belmont-high-schooler-has-a-solution/' class='excerpt-more'>[READ MORE]</a>]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">8018</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Completing Belmont’s Community Path Will Pay Dividends</title>
		<link>https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/2026/08/24/completing-belmonts-community-bike-path-will-pay-dividends/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Frederique]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2026 00:04:35 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Bicycles and bike paths]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bike Paths]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[September/October 2026]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Traffic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Belmont]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Belmont Community Path]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[community path]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/?p=8014</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[By Jeffrey North A share of a $200‑million‑per‑year corridor A recent analysis commissioned by the Norwottuck Network estimates that finishing the 104‑mile Mass Central Rail Trail from Northampton to Boston could generate over $200 million in new economic activity each year, driven chiefly by trail‑oriented tourism and associated spending.  The study projects 4 to 5.5 <a href='https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/2026/08/24/completing-belmonts-community-bike-path-will-pay-dividends/' class='excerpt-more'>[READ MORE]</a>]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">8014</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>87-101 Blanchard Road to Be Redeveloped as Housing</title>
		<link>https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/2026/08/23/87-101-blanchard-road-to-be-redeveloped-as-housing/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Frederique]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 23 Aug 2026 22:32:23 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Construction and Housing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Newsletter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[September/October 2026]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Belmont]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Housing]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/?p=8008</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[By Vincent Stanton, Jr. Cambridge Point is the biggest, but not the only Cambridge development that will impact Belmont’s plans for Brighton Street. Bordering the proposed HCOD on two sides was, until early August, a frumpy 1.5-story brick- and wood-shingled commercial building at 87-101 Blanchard Road in Cambridge. Built in 1970, it was the last <a href='https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/2026/08/23/87-101-blanchard-road-to-be-redeveloped-as-housing/' class='excerpt-more'>[READ MORE]</a>]]></description>
		
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">8008</post-id>	</item>
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