BMC Board News . . .7/6/25
Pictured at top: Steve Rosales, Ottavio Forte, Erica Di Tuoro, April Edrington, Hannah Fischer, Maryann Scali, Mike Tymm
Pictured above: Scott Sassone, Roger Fussa, Bob Imberman
In late March, Belmont Media Center honored outgoing board members, welcomed new ones and recognized outstanding volunteers at its 2024 Annual Meeting held in Waverley Square.
A highlight of the evening was the presentation of the David O. Nelson “Spirit Award” to longtime video volunteer, TV chef, inventor, retired teacher, artist, beekeeper and continuing board member, Ottavio Forte. Named after founding member of BMC, the Spirit Award is given to Forte for “exempliflying David Nelson’s commitment to lifelong learning, selfless public service, and spirit of adventure.”
Sheryl Grace, recently elected Chair, said that the board, working with executive director Jeff Hansell, had completed a recruiting effort to attract new board members with experience in fundraising, strategic planning, and technology to help guide the organization as it relocates operations into studio & offices spaces in the new public library and the middle/high school.
New members elected or appointed to the board of directors include: Scott Sassone, Bob Imberman, and Roger Fussa.
Sassone serves as the new School Committee appointee until 2028. Scott has experience in radio, television and podcasting and is the associate director of video production services at the Broad Institute in Cambridge. He and his family have lived in Belmont for 13 years. He coaches soccer and has twin 13-year-olds in seventh grade at the Belmont Middle School.
Imberman joins the board of directors bringing a professional background in strategic planning, implementation and tracking. He is the Director of Strategy at Upstream USA. Bob and his family moved to Belmont in 2010; he served two terms as Town Meeting member and has coached youth soccer and basketball.
Fussa is the Associate Director of Gift Planning, Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University. Roger served on Belmont Vision 21 Implementation Committee, the Diversity Task Force and was the fundraising chair on the Chenery PTO. He and his family live in the Winn Brook neighborhood.
Outgoing board members were Maryann Scali & Mike Tymm.
Scali helped bring Belmont Community Media Center into existence as a member of the convening committee in 2005. Maryann once hosted a program called “Around Belmont” and is active with the League of Women Voters, hosting the Warrant Briefings and Candidate Forums. She is active with the Belmont Woman’s Club and the Council on Aging.
Tymm joined the board in 2015 and was the longest serving chair, since 2017. He has helped film many community events like Town Day, Farmers’ Market and Turn on the Town. He plans to continue as a video volunteer with BMC.
Belmont residents Erika Di Tuoro, Hannah Fischer, Stephen Rosales and April Edrington were presented with awards for their outstanding volunteer service by Joanna Tzouvelis, BMC Volunteer Coordinator.
Fischer received the “Producer of the Year” award for her work as the producer of the monthly TV program, Community Calendar.
Edrington received the “Interviewer of the Year” award for a wide variety of work on community event coverage, local news and business segments.
Di Tuoro received the “Volunteer of the Year” award for her work as a production assistant, host, videographer & editor for News Now, Belmont Journal and Belmont Business Spotlight, and Kitchen to Kitchen.
Rosales received the “Volunteer of the Year” award for hosting of Belmont Journal’s Chat with the Chair, Belmont Bulletin and live election night coverage. He has a long history with Belmont Media Center as former host of “Talk of the Town.”
For more information about volunteer opportunities at Belmont Media Center or to learn more about the board of directors and Belmont Media Center’s mission, email Executive Director Jeff Hansell, jeff@belmontmedia.org.