Author: Sally Yuan

  • Residents share thoughts for Weston’s open space

    In Weston, you can’t walk more than a half mile before reaching a trailhead, a fact Kristin Barbieri says distinguishes the town from other Boston suburbs.

    “You can go wander off down a trail in Weston without looking very hard, and I find that completely unique,” Barbieri said at a recent public forum, an event designed to help residents envision Weston’s open spaces over the next decade.

    “I hope we continue to do that and open up more routes into our trails for everyone,” she added.

    Dozens of people spoke during the public meeting on Oct. 26, imagining a town with connected parks, fields, trails and safe bike routes. Residents expressed a desire for neighborhoods with access to open spaces and winter-friendly features on the Mass Central Rail Trail, amenities that would make Weston appealing in every season.

    The input, officials said, will guide the town’s Open Space and Recreation Plan (OSRP), a state-mandated road map that describes how the town will manage 2,000 acres of protected land and nearly 100 miles of trails through 2035. Massachusetts communities are required to have a plan for open spaces in order to qualify for state grants, including those that fund park improvements and conservation land acquisitions.

    “For us on the Conservation Commission, the open space and recreation plan is really our strategic plan,” said Conservation Administrator Jordan McCarron.

    The state’s shift to a 10-year update cycle has been better, he said, because many projects require long-term funding, consultants and coordination. The plan helps the town stay ahead of climate and maintenance challenges, McCarron said, such as invasive plants, forest pests and deteriorating trails. “We need to be able to access state funding,” he said, “and we can’t do that unless we have an updated and valid OSRP that’s been approved by the state.”

    Recreation Director Chris Fitzgerald said residents’ expectations have evolved since the last plan in 2017.

    “We’ve seen an increase in the variety of sports being offered in town and also the number of participants, both youth and adult sports,” he said. In response to demand, the town installed a cricket pitch at Cherry Brook Field for the Adult Cricket League of Weston last April.

    If the last decade was about building and upgrading, McCarron said the next decade is about connection. In a townwide survey, residents said they rely more on cars than they’d like when accessing open space and recreation areas. Instead, they would like safer ways to walk or bike.

    “This update is going to be focused fairly heavily on connectivity between our existing properties and neighborhoods, schools and athletic areas,” McCarron said.

    Scattered trail easements and nerve-racking parking problems, he said, are two issues that complicate residents’ access to natural areas.

    “The biggest outcome should involve just better connectivity to all of the recreational resources in town,” said Fitzgerald. “There will be more of them that you can reach without having to hop into a car.”

    Many speakers at the forum pushed the idea further, challenging Weston’s leaders to protect the town from development while becoming a regional model for managing climate-related issues.

    Nearly 20% of residents who took the survey said they don’t use Weston’s recreation offerings because they don’t know what’s available. Teenagers and older adults were highlighted as underserved groups. Other residents called for more children’s playgrounds, indoor recreation facilities and community events.

    “If people are not utilizing the recreational programming and facilities and our open space and trails, one of the main reasons is because they just don’t know about them,” McCarron said.

    Staffing issues, he said, are a challenge in the town’s Conservation Department, which manages 2,000 acres of land, more than 30 habitat meadows and nearly 100 miles of trails.

    “I’m the only full-time person, and I have two part-time staff,” he said, “but together they are less than one full-time equivalent.”

    McCarron said much of the hands-on work, from Stewardship Saturday projects to boardwalk repairs, is done by volunteers and the Weston Forest & Trail Association.

    “We still have to rely on … goodwill in order to get the real work done of keeping our open space accessible and in good shape.”

    Over the coming months, consultants and staff will update the inventory, set goals and bring the plan to boards and committees for support before submitting it to the state’s Division of Conservation Services. A final public presentation and state review are expected in early 2026, with the finished plan guiding decisions through mid-2035 or mid-2036.

  • Weston’s Knox: The K-9 whose game of fetch keeps community safer

    On a dark night in Belmont, police officers were convinced a man had tossed a handgun near a playground where two people had been shot. Officer Mike Rizzitello of the Weston police department unclipped Knox, his German shepherd K-9, and watched for the “proximity alert” – when the dog’s head snaps up, indicating he’s located the prize.

    “That night he just stops, lies down and stares. I shine my light and there’s the firearm underneath him,” Rizzitello said.

    To Knox, finding guns, shell casings, explosives, or missing people is a game with strict rules.

    “He’s toy-driven. Everything to him is play,” said Rizzitello. “Finding a missing person – he’s been trained that you follow human odor, (and) at the end, you’re going to get your toy.”

    Knox joined the Weston Police Department in 2018 as a 9-month-old puppy brought over from Slovakia. He looks every inch a sharp working shepherd – shiny black coat, ears standing at attention, dark, curious eyes, a strong wedge of a head positioned over a smoothly muscled body, ready for the miles he may be called to cover.

    Knox is named after Henry Knox, the Revolutionary War general who hauled artillery through Weston on the route to Boston, on what became known as the Knox Trail. Almost two and a half centuries later, a different kind of mover goes to work here, hauling answers out of the woods and out from under playground leaves.

    He was trained at the Boston Police K-9 Academy, where he spent 12 weeks learning human-odor tracking, and then 14 more weeks focused on finding explosives. Knox is trained monthly and certified annually, including a certification through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

    Now seven years into their partnership, Rizzitello and Knox operate as Weston’s K-9 team and as members of the Northeast Metropolitan Law Enforcement Council (NEMLEC) regional K-9 unit, which consists of roughly 30 dogs across the region trained to assist in missing-person searches, SWAT operations and other police work. By deploying multiple K-9s from across the region, police are able to surge into an area, cover more ground, and rotate crews to avoid fatigue.

    In 2025, Knox assisted during SWAT-executed warrant cases, missing persons searches and mutual-aid calls. He also works locally responding to bomb threats at schools, venue sweeps for VIPs and large public gatherings including the Boston Marathon and Bentley University’s commencement.

    Startup costs for Weston’s K-9 program came from the Stanton Foundation, which funded the costs for the dog, handler, and training fees before the town took over routine care.

    “Roughly, he costs us about $2,000 a year,” Police Chief Denis Linehan said, most of which is food and veterinary care.

    During a short demonstration at the Weston Police Department, Rizzitello hid a small odor-aid pouch, a fabric pad sprayed with explosive scent for the dog to locate. Caring little for strangers, Knox put his nose-down and swept every corner along the floor until his head snapped back, mouth closed to pull air across his olfactory system. Suddenly, there was a beat of stillness and a quick head-lift as scent lifted off the surface – the proximity alert. Knox glanced at Rizzitello and waited while his partner marked the find. Then the reward toy appears, and the tension transitions into play.

    “When the odor is so strong in the air, he doesn’t have to look at the ground anymore,” Rizzitello explained. “When I see his head come up and he starts sniffing the air, that tells me we’re near someone.”

    Why does quiet, affluent Weston need a K-9 team?

    Rizzitello, who’s been a police officer for 17 years, said Knox can track down people with his nose in ways officers’ eyes and ears cannot.

    “We’ve seen a large increase in residential housebreaks, stolen cars, and yesterday there was a scam for money,” he said. “Rather than calling other towns trying to get a K-9 we have one that’s here.”

    Public perception of police dogs is slowly shifting, Rizzitello said. “People see pointy-eared shepherds and think aggression,” he said. “But 90% of what these dogs do is passive locating.”

    Knox’s mere presence can also cool a potentially volatile event. “He’s never bitten anyone,” Rizzitello said. “A couple of times we brought him out and he de-escalated a situation. People decide they don’t want to fight a dog.”

    Off duty, Knox lives with the Rizzitello family.

    “My wife always says, ‘I can’t believe he’s a police dog,’” Rizzitello said, laughing.

    Linehan says Knox is “like having another officer out there that provides our residents with a level of safety, ” and credits the handler’s devotion. “A big part of the success of a K-9 program is the handler,” the chief said. “You can see the bond in how the dog works for him.”

    When called upon, Rizzitello says Knox is all business. But even hardcore cops need time off. For Knox, the perfect shift ends like it began —with a game. “He finds it and gets his ball,” Rizzitello said. “That’s the whole point – find the thing, get the toy.”

  • Antique and Classic Car Show about ‘engaging with people’

    Weston’s Town Green filled with conversation and camera phones, Saturday, Sept. 27, as the 28th Weston & Wayland Rotary Club Antique and Classic Car Show brought out rows of polished vehicles and a steady stream of families and car enthusiasts.

    By midday, organizers estimated more than 210 vehicles on the field and about 1,500 attendees.

    The car show is the Rotary Club’s primary fundraiser, according to organizer Richard DeVito Jr., with proceeds benefitting Weston and Wayland educational scholarships and other Rotary projects, including conservation, food security, international initiatives, and clean-water work.

     “Over 27 years, we raised $642,000 for scholarships,” he said. “We give away virtually everything we make.”

    All makes and models

    Near the curb, a white 1985 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS sat high on a 1979 Chevy Blazer 4×4 frame. Owner Mike Diesi said the build took four years and won first place at Boston’s World of Wheels in 2017 and 2018.

    Diesi rebuilt a small-block V-8 from a 1971 pickup, originally a 350 four-bolt main, into a 383-cubic-inch stroker he estimates at about 450 horsepower. He painted the engine white to fit the ghost-rider theme and seats Mr.  and Mrs. Bones in front — two skeleton “drivers” grinning through the glass.

    “I wanted to be different from everybody else,” he said. 

    As the first mass-produced American rear-mid-engine car, the Pontiac Fiero drew plenty of attention. A pair on display belonged to Kerri and Chuck Fiumara:  Kerri’s 1988 Fiero Formula “1 of 436 factory yellow,”and Chuck’s red 1988 Fiero GT. 

    “One of the first shows was at the GM Nationals in Pennsylvania, I won first place, and I almost died,” Kerri said, laughing. 

    Kerri said her interest started with Chuck’s high school model. 

    “I bought it because of him,” she said.

    Elsewhere on the Green, visitors weighed in. Christian Delbert, a Ferrari 308 QV owner, put it this way: “There are two different car owners… the ones who use their cars, and the ones who just have showpieces.”

    For DeVito, the event is about the people.

     He said that it’s important to engage the younger generation to keep the hobby and the community gathering alive. 

    “This is really about being face-to-face and engaging with people,” he said.