HANSON – The members of First Congregational Church in Hanson took a look back at the church’s first 275 years on Sunday, Aug. 27 as they look ahead to what the next 275 years might bring.
After the regular Sunday services, the congregation gathered in the Fellowship Hall for a roast pork dinner, and conversation over shared memories, before the second half of the program took place.
The church welcomed three new members – Jacob Searfoss and Joanne and James Levine – during the morning services, which member Phil Clemons said was “always a great time in the life cycle of the church.”
Smith’s sermon, dealing with how making adjustments has been essential to being “the Church” for 275 years.
“There’s a change taking place in the church landscape in America,” he said. “The role of the older, more established church fellowships – once called mainline denominations – is receding.”
As mainline denominations are the heritage of First Congregational, Smith, quoting a former pastor, said the church is open to appropriate change and well-suited to it by its guiding conviction that wherever two or more are together Jesus is among us, enabling us to adapt to those changes all around.
“Change has always been part of the Christian journey,” he said, advocating the use of the church’s 275th anniversary to consider the path to the future. “We can learn from our predecessors.”
He noted how less than 300 years after Christ had died on the Roman Cross Christianity had become the official faith of the Roman empire.
“We would do well to learn how they reached a pagan world, creating a community that provided unprecedented equality, regardless of social status, nationality or gender,” he said.
That message of learning from the past, was visited by Pastor Susan Webster Gray in her sermon after the fellowship hall dinner, on the significance of the 1774 Election Day Sermon of First Congregational’s first pastor The Rev. Gad Hancock, who criticized the “Devine Right of Kings” in the presence of Royal Governor of Massachusetts, Gen. Thomas Gage.
Ministers at the time were among the most educated in the colonies at the time.
“These sermons were life-changing to those who read and heard the spoken word,” Gray said.
Founded in 1748 during the Great Awakening, the First Congregational Church in Hanson, it’s pastor Hitchcock had been invited to Boston and “ignited a key spark that helped ignite our American Revolution,” Smith said earlier that morning.
“Civil authority is the production of combined society – not born with, but delegated to certain individuals for the advancement of the common benefit.”
Gray spoke of how the Election Day sermon is currently used by institutions of higher learning, including Hillsdale College in Michigan, as important because it presented the First Principals – the principles of freedom, equality and self-government.
“If I am mistaken … all America is mistaken with me,” Hitchcock had said.
While America had to fend off the British again in 1812, but a greater attac came from within, Smith noted.
“It is difficult for us to imagine now that our nation’s founders had not settled thre issue of slavery at the beginning,” he said. From abolition of the slave trade to emancipation, to removing the deceitful practices that have allowed prejudices to continue, “makes, indeed, for a long road to freedom.”
In the 20th century, the work has become a task of building the nation’s moral core.
“The wisdom gained from our past history has helped us to guard the flock during times of crisis,” he said, including the COVID pandemic. “Will we ever forget drive-in Easter? Live-streamed worship? Zoom-based Bible studies and church meetings?”
Challenges continue, including the distortions of the truth of Jesus, Smith sermonized.
“We are not an historical organization,” he said. “We have a history, but even more so, we have a present mission.”
Three guiding thoughts should guide the church into its third century, Smith said: We belong to each other; we care for one another; and together, we testify with the word of God’s grace.
Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett attended the event, presenting a proclamation from the board of Sunday, Aug. 27 as First Congregational Church in Hanson Day, as well as a citation from the General Court sponsored by state Rep. Josh Cutler, D-Duxbury and supported state Rep. David DeCoste, R-Rockland.
Who’s the Burger Master?
HANSON – So, who serves up the Best Burger in town?
Frank Milisi took the honors at the inaugural Hansoncontest hosted by Chimney Chap. He’s not only active on town boards and committees, he grills a mean burger, evidently.
The inaugural grill-off, held on the front lawn of the Chimney Chap, at the intersection of routes 27 and 58, was dedicated to deciding that very question, as local residents put their grilling skills to the fire. Streamed and recorded for rebroadcast on the Whitman-Hanson Community Access TV channels and website, the contest was also part of the service’s commitment to doing more “one-off” programs, rather than regular series shows in an effort to get more residents to use the service they invest in each month through their cable bills [See story Page 1], according to Executive Director Eric Dresser.
As the winner of the burger contest, Milisi took home a free grill and cart.
“This is a new location for us,” Rania and Scott Sarras, owners of Chimney Chap told WHCA-TV’s Ryan Tully said about the genesis of the July 29-30 event. “We would just love to hold events like this so the community can come together and have fun.”
Rania said the contest will return next year.
“It’s going to be an annual thing,” she said. “We hope to get bigger and better and hope to see everybody next year.”
Scott Sarras said the company also held a tax-free weekend event this past week during which they were grilling up goodies for customers.
Their once-home office for their business, is now at one of the more visible corners in Hanson. They took over the company in 2010, as it was passed on to them by the previous owners.
“When we took over, it was strictly chimney sweeping,” Rania said. “We took it from sweeping to full-service, A to Z, chimneys and fireplaces.”
That A to Z includes hearth stoves which run on wood pellets and gas-fueled stoves.
“We do outdoor living, meaning outdoor fireplaces, kitchens, patios, furniture and now we have electric fireplaces as well as infrared heaters,” Scott said.
Burger chefs were given free rein with the topping and condiments, but the “canvas” of this food art was a “basic burger – a patty on a bun.”
“That’s all that matters,” Scott told the grillers, in reference to the burgers.
The grills were impressive samples of Chimney Chap’s build-in outdoor kitchen work, as chefs prepared burgers and the accompanying go-withs, such as “over-salted bacon” as Milisi described the grilled pancetta on his burger, along with arugula and compound butter on a brioche bun.
“I have no idea what I’m doing,” said as he offered up his creation for judgement, but he said he was something of a burger connoisseur. “There’s a reason I look the way I do,” he joked.
A trio of judges sampled the contestant’s recipes and rated them on scorecards.
Another contestant on day one was frying up eggs to top off his burger, and still another used bacon cooked up on the grill’s cook top, yet another added sliced pineapple to their burger.
Milisi led in the two-day contest, after round one on July 29’s contest, with a score of 82 from the judging panel, with the competition trailing with scores of 68, 66 and 53.
Round Two the next morning saw ingredients and condiments such as spicy aioli, grilled onions, featured in a delightfully messy “Oklahoma Onion Burger.” Another day two offering featured savory seasoned Rueben burger, served on marble rye toast.
Milisi won with a score of 154.
John Snell, with a score of 145, took second place.
A dunk tank was featured and a raffle was also held during the event on both days.
Hanson heads off the head-hunters
HANSON – The challenge of attracting and retaining quality town employees was tackled by town officials this week.
The Select board voted unanimously to accept the recission of Town Planner Antonio DeFrias’ recent resignation, as well as new terms of his employment, at its Tuesday, Aug. 15 meeting. The Planning Board had also unanimously accepted the recission on Monday, Aug. 14.
The Select Board also voted to accept the updated job description — meeting later that night as the Wage & Personnel Board — which the Planning Board had approved, including grant-writing and reviewing of grant applications, progress reports and close-out documentation he is already doing. The job description also now includes work he also doing on strategic planning goals, fulfilling requirements to bring the own into compliance with the state’s MBTA family zoning laws,
“Because of Tony’s work on this we are compliant with this, which means opens up eligibility for many grants,” Town Administrator Lisa Green said. He will also continue working with the High Street Park Committee, working with MassDOT as the town’s representative and engineers on the $13 million Maquan Street TIP program.
“He’s already been doing [all of] this, but this solidifies and reflects that he is doing this additional work.”
Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett and Green said the town was fortunate to reach an agreement for his return as he was intimately involved in a number of projects including Maquan reuse, the Lite Control property, strategic planning and grant writing in addition to his responsibilities as town planner.
“We are not in an age any longer where employees are a dime a dozen,” Green said “Municipal government is not a place where people are banging down the doors to work.”
She said positions advertised are not attracting candidates for positions.
“We literally have had towns call our employees and try to persuade them to go to those towns for more money,” Green said. “Literally, it has happened in this town.”
‘A lot of poaching’
“Oh, there’s a lot of poaching going on,” FitzGerald-Kemmett agreed. She noted there are at least three area towns looking to hire town planners.
“Currently there are six surrounding communities looking for a Town Planner,” Green said, noting the salary ranges involved.
Duxbury is looking for a planning director at a salary range of $78,000 to $108,000; Rockland is offering $90,000 for a planner; Hanover’s range is $75,000 to $90,000; Acushnet is offering $75,000 and Avon just came online offering $75,000.
Green had suggested that a line item for a grant writer/procurement officer, which was never filled, despite Town Meeting having voted to approve it. The board’s discussion to leave that post vacant and officially shift those duties – which DeFrias has already been doing – to his job description along with all the other additional tasks he is doing.
DeFrais had tendered his resignation in mid-July, which was “met with a great deal of disappointment,” said FitzGerald-Kemmett.
He has been offered $95,000, of which $90,000 which was already been approved at town meeting is effective retroactively to July 1, and when Town Meeting approves the additional $5,000, it will also be retroactive to July 1, along with an additional five days of vacation.
Select Board member David George asked if the salary package would mean taxes would go up and was informed it would not.
A town by-law guides the offer of additional vacation time.
Green said Hanson has been very fortunate in this case because a community pursued DeFrias.
“We are in a time where it’s really important to retain employees,” she said, adding that adding vacation time does not hurt the town. “People now are very focused on a work-life balance. Money is not everything to them.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett also said the board took into consideration the of fact that DeFrias was already doing much more than is typically expected of a town planner. She stressed that he has been doing a “huge portion” of the town’s grant-writing, alone, which had not been part of his original job description. He has also been a huge component of the town’s Economic Development Committee. He is also expected to play a critical role in in the future plans for the Maquan property.
“Universally, the board felt that to try to replace someone of Mr. DeFrias’ caliber and get some traction and actually be able to effectuate change, would probably set us back a year or more – and we’re not being dramatic when we’re saying that,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. The agreement has been universally rejoiced in Town Hall, according to FitzGerald-Kemmett.
“To the person, every employee at Town Hall was thrilled that the board was making this decision,” she said. “It’s the first time that I know of, where the board has aggressively pursued retaining somebody.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett said the board did what any good town would do and discussed with DeFrais what it would take to convince him not to leave as well as why he wanted to go elsewhere. She said there were some personal issues that could not be discussed in an open meeting, but did say salary was one of them.
“We knew a while back, if we did a competitive analysis of salaries in surrounding towns that he was conservatively [speaking] being underpaid anywhere from $7,000 to $10,000,” she said.
With that in mind, they entered into an executive session negotiation with DeFrias and reached an agreement to retain his services.
Green said the terms were that his salary would increase, but he actually accepted a lower salary.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett clarified that DeFrias was initially offered more than the amount settled on, not lowering his salary.
New police officer
In other business, Cameron Carpenter was appointed a full-time Hanson Police officer, contingent on passing a background check, medical exam, psychological exam, firearms qualification and post-certification during the meeting. The appointment would be effective Monday, Aug. 28.
Police Chief Miksch said Carpenter fills a vacancy of more than a year, after the position went unfunded last year.
“It’s kind of tough, hiring cops right now,” he said. “There’s not a lot of people that want to do it.”
He said that, where the department used to receive 40-50 applications for a vacancy, they received 16 this time and, of those, 10 met the qualifications sought. Nine interviews were offered, but three did not show up and they had three excellent candidates out of the remaining six.
Carpenter was offered the position after “a tough decision.”
A W-H graduate who grew up in town and has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Merrimack College, partnering with Mass. Police Training Committee and while attending the academy under that program, he earned his master’s degree in the field.
“He is unique in that he has not worked as a police officer yet,” Miksch said. “That’s a lot of ambition for a young man to take on – for any person to take on.”
He has worked as an assistant caretaker at Camp Kiwanee and has experience in Duxbury as a beach ranger and has also worked as a natural resource officer for Barnstable.
“I’m sure he got used to people yelling at him about birds … so I think he can tolerate some stuff,” Miksch joked.
He has also amassed an impressive resume I volunteer work, including at the Lawrence Boys and Girls Club while at college, WHK youth hockey coaching and for the Hanson’s youth lacrosse program.
What’s new at WHCA
WHITMAN – If the work being done to upgrade the studio equipment at Whitman-Hanson Cable Access TV were a reality show, someone might have arrived, cameras in tow, to “surprise” the staff with the work being done in 48 hours or so.
They’d be giving interviews on the arrival of their benefactors about how much they needed an upgrade, only to be “surprised” as truckloads of equipment arrived shortly afterward with everything they ever hoped for – and some things they never thought of – to make WHCA the envy of the local broadcasting world.
But this isn’t “reality” television, and while the work being done at the WHCA studio on South Avenue in Whitman has taken more time than they’d like, Executive Director Eric Dresser said Monday he expects everything to be up and running by September.
“It’s more than just a redecorating, indeed,” he said.
Income received from cable subscriptions and internet Zoom, while use of that streaming platform has been peeled back of late, fees have financed the upgrade.
“It’s been wholly funded by WHCA,” Dresser said of the cost. “This is really what the capital money that comes down from Comcast is for. It’s part of the capital funds that come [to us] from your cable bill.”
It allows people to come in and create a show, as well as the cost of bringing in experts for locally produced programs in keeping with WHCA’s mission statement to “entertain, inform and educate the public” through the use of modern technical equipment, and training.
“We’re really trying to simplify the access,” he said. “You bring the talent, we’ll handle the tech.”
Then the goal will be to find people in the community who have something they want to talk about, host a show or appear on a show.
The work had been paused during COVID as everything went to Zoom and the resulting supply chain kinks delayed it a bit more, Dresser said.
“We had been talking about our capital plan for quite some time, and Zoom kind of turned everything on its head.”
Dresser said they found Zoom still has its uses, such as a platform for bringing in subject matter experts during meetings they broadcast.
“You can have the [experts] come in without having the logistics of having them drive down,” he said.
COVID also pointed to the fact that they were creating a lot of programs that were “basically vessels for a singular idea” rather than a series of shows.
“We’ve created a bunch of programs here that people can plug into like that,” he said [See related story, Page one]. Some of those are event-related like a recent best burger contest in Hanson.
“We just hope that the studio turns into another super-easy turnkey place for people to come to and do programs,” he said, whether in-person, virtual or hybrid.
He was speaking to members of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) at Whitman Park during the Boston 25 Zip Trip on Friday, Aug. 11 and he explained to them how WHCA could meet with them on Zoom, help develop public service announcements and calendar bits and longer interviews they can use at meetings or to promote their programs to other DAV chapters across the state.
In fact, the pandemic only highlighted the limitations of WHCA’s old equipment that people were already beginning to notice.
“People were starting to prefer to produce out in the field or to bring field equipment into our studio,” he said.
The reason?
WHCA’s studio was only able to broadcast in standard definition, even though its streaming platform uses high-definition. They have been stuck, like cable stations nationwide with standard definition because that is all Comcast would provide.
It’s like comparing an old Kinescope video of the Ed Sullivan Show to your typical cable news broadcast today. Streaming is done at a resolution of 1080 dpi while standard cable broadcasts at 480 dpi. While WHCA records and streams in 1080 high-definition, but has only broadcast over television in 480 because of the limitation of Comcast’s equipment.
“My guess is [Comcast] would have to do pretty significant infrastructure investments,” he said. The scope of that investment in Massachusetts’ 351 cities and towns is daunting on its own.
So what’s new at the studio?
They can use dimming effects with lighting now, where the choices had been only “on” or “off.” Color lighting can also be adjusted so the control room will have a degree of control they’ve never had before, Dresser said.
The control room itself has been upgraded.
“We worked really hard to make sure the equipment that we put in there is the same or extremely similar to what we have in other production locations,” Dresser said, offering the WHRHS equipment as a case in point. “We did that first for a couple of reasons.”
The WHRHS equipment was replaced last year, in part for the student training benefit and in part because of the IT breach at the school last summer. The two select board meeting rooms in Whitman and Hanson had video equipment replaced the year before that with software “95-percent the same” as what was installed at the high school and is going into the studio.
Of course, the old equipment which crowded the control room, but equated to a “yell from a very small voice,” has had to be removed before the new stuff can be put in.
“It did [have the right oomph] at its time, and its not to diminish any of [late Executive Director Steve Roy’s] the work,” Dresser said. “Steve was a wizard at putting all this stuff together. He had a very advanced setup in place here for the early part of the 2010-15 period.”
They also had to coordinate schedules with WHCA’s engineer, who lives part-time in Germany, because he had to remove a lot of wire. A lot of wire. They filled two trash toters with cable.
Some of it has been reused, but some will be offered as well as other discarded equipment to the public at something of a garage sale in the near future, Dresser said. The specific date will be posted on WHCA’s social media, with no reasonable offer refused.
Floors and Kitchens Today in Whitman redid the flooring, including some needed leveling.
Boys’ XC leaders excel on and off trail
Fall sports are right around the corner.
This week, the Express introduces you to the boys’ cross country captains at Whitman-Hanson Regional High.
Here is what they had to say:
Logan Bourgelas
“This is my second year as cross country captain and my fourth year being a member of the cross country team. I am also a member of indoor and outdoor track. This season I hope to be a strong leader for the team and have a successful and winning record. I started running cross country four years ago to try and get in shape for football but soon realized that cross country was the sport I wanted to stick with. Everyone on the team is so supportive and kind and has each other’s back. Cross country is not just a sport where you go and run for hours, it’s a team where you can make so many new friends and make a lot of fun memories.
“Outside of cross country and track, I am a member of national honor society and the president of history honor society.”
Alex Kehayias
“I run cross country because of the team aspect. The team is by far the most close-knit community I have ever been a part of in sports, and I hope to lead the team to great things with the help of my other captain!
“Outside of cross country and track, I am a member of the National Honor Society and Science Honor Society, and plan to apply to English and Math Honor Societies this upcoming school year! I am also the secretary of Key Club, an organization that helps give back to our community! I love hanging out with friends and meeting new people. Before I started running, I played baseball for 12 years where I was a right fielder and second baseman.“
Gavin McCarthy
“I run cross country for the mental and physical aspects; I believe it’s the most mentally and physically demanding sport. But it grants you some of the greatest outcomes in the long haul. I’m looking to become a role model as a captain, as well as pushing the bar further so everyone on the team can reach new levels of running. I also love lacrosse, which I’ve played for 12 years. Me and my twin Connor are going to be Captains this upcoming spring.“
Adam Vinton
“Outside of running cross country, enjoy fishing and hanging out with my friends. The reason I run cross country is I like feeling physically fit. It’s a cool feeling to progressively run more and more each week and feeling your body adapt to better handle it. Along with getting in better shape running helps me relax after finishing school. This season I hope we can win some meets as well as have everyone run good times.”
— Nathan Rollins
Slowing down on Auburn Street?
WHITMAN – Speed limits on Auburn Street are a concern for some area residents following road work on that roadway, prompting a request reducing speeds to 35 miles per hour from Bedford Street to Capt. Allen Way and 40 miles per hour from Capt. Allen Way to the Brockton line.
The petitioners say the speeds are similar those in heavily settled sections of Temple Street. No passing would be permitted between Bedford Street and Capt. Allen Way under the residents’ proposal.
Changing the speed limit would take more than a vote from the Select Board, according to Police Chief Timothy Hanlon.
“It’s not as easy as saying, ‘Let’s change the signs and get it done,’” Hanlon said. “I wish it was that easy, because I think probably, we’re all in agreement that those speeds are too high.”
The process is spelled out by and requires approval by MassDOT following a request from the town to the MassDOT district office, which then would conduct an engineering justification study after receiving proposed numerical speed limits from the city or town. The data is reviewed by the traffic and safety section before the state office of MassDOT prepares the regulation and it comes before the Select Board for approval. They also have to wait until the road is repaved to prove the effect on speeds.
Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter said that after the repaving, the police could use its sign board to survey speeds to determine the direction in which the town should go.
The Select Board voted to begin the MassDOT process now, so it would be in a better position to move forward faster once the repaving is completed.
“Our DPW department has limited the speed very well for over a year and a half and we appreciate that,” Robert Kimball, a resident of the Village at Auburnville, said during the Select Board meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 1. “Moving forward, we’re concerned about the speed. Once the new pavement is put in, it’s going to be a superhighway down there.”
Hanlon did agree that the “natural inclination” on a newly paved road with no bumps for a lot of people is to “put the pedal down a little bit more than you normally would just because the road surface is free of defects. That’s really the issue, I think,” he said. “It’s not just the speed, but once it gets paved correctly, we’re going to maybe see that increase.”
The Department of Public Works has been replacing sewer mains on the roadway, which had kept speeds lower.
Some 25 residents had petitioned the board for a reduction in speeds in 2021.
Kimball said there are two curves on the road in the section in which they seek speed reduction – one is “minor,” but the other, at Beaver Street, is “pretty significant” and there is an issue with site lines for drivers looking to the east as they try to exit Auburnville Way.
There are also no sidewalks on that section of Auburn Street, another concern as some of the elder residents of Auburnville Way no longer hold drivers’ licenses and walk to shops on Bedford Street.
“I know a lot of times, when you try to put a speed limit on a road, they do all kinds of fancy tracking of the speed and then they say that’s what the speed limit should be,” Kimball said. “I would like to see the speed limit put on before we get into that position.”
Prior to construction, sections of Auburn Street had a 45 mile per hour speed limit, he said, adding that the section between Hogg Memorial Drive and the Carousel Family Fun Center roller skating rink had changed considerably over the past 25 years.
“It was a rural area when I lived in another town,” he said. “It’s no longer that.”
There have been 165 new units of housing built in the area in recent years with another entering the design phase now.
Kimball read a list of other roads, some state-owned such as sections of Route 18, that have posted speed limits of between 40 and 35 mph.
“You certainly make a good case,” said Board Chair Dr. Carl Kowalski.
Carter said the current speed limit between Bedford and Beaver streets is 40 mph and from Beaver Street to the Brockton line it is 45 mph.
“There is a process in place for the town to make a request to the MassDOT district office to request special speed regulations,” she said. The steps would include the type of traffic study Kimball referred to, if that was something the board wanted to consider.
Hanlon said the department does receive periodic requests for traffic enforcement, which often involve concerns about speeding.
“We also have a couple sign boards we can put out and we do our own little traffic survey to see where we land as far as how many cars are speeding, how fast they’re going,” he said. The speed boards also record data for the department.
“It doesn’t flash back at you,” Hanlon said about the speed boards’ function. “Your speed doesn’t show up – that’s how we do the survey. It records in the background for every car that comes by.”
The Whitman Police conducted speed studies in March and April 2022, including the area of Auburn Street and Auburnville Way, each time recording speeds on the roadway for a week. The average speed was 34.7 mph toward Brockton and 40,1 mph headed east toward Route 18.
SST set to add another member
HANOVER – Marshfield is one step away from becoming a member of the South Shore Tech region, and another community has also expressed interest in exploring such an opportunity.
The Commissioner of Education approved the amended regional agreement with Marshfield, Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey reported to the region’s School Committee on Wednesday, July 26.
“[This] is the final step in the lengthy process that all of our communities and the town of Marshfield participated in,” Hickey said. “We’re in the process now … of some paperless method by which we will have a representative from each of our towns sign the document, as well.”
It all becomes official with the commissioner’s signature and all of the amendments will be approved and Marshfield’s membership in the district confirmed, effective July 1, 2024. The amended agreement will be posted on the district website southshore.tech.
Hickey said he also gave a tour SST in mid-July for Pembroke town representatives.
Pembroke formed a regional planning committee at their spring town meeting to “begin the process of having their own conversations about the merits of seeking to join our school district. The committee was made up of Pembroke Public Schools officials, a parent representative and the town manager.
“It was a great conversation,” Hickey said. “They asked a lot of great questions about the process [of joining the region], and about our plans going forward.”
He said the next step would be to activate SST’s regional planning subcommittee should Pembroke wish to pursue the prospect of joining SST.
“I was pleased to be able to have them,” he said.
While it is summertime, Hickey also said the district is “not taking its foot off the accelerator” in its plans to renovate and expand the school.
“Since the close of the school year, we’ve had multiple visioning sessions with our project manager, design team and consultant,” Hickey said. “Visioning sessions are opportunities for parents, students and staff to talk about what we would like to see in a new school. … We’re pushing to think about the design of the school and what we value in the school.”
The visioning sessions were recorded and are being posted on the website: southshoretechproject.com. Hickey said it is typical for school building projects to use a web address separate from a school district.
“You want to house all the important video archives and documentation in one location,” he said. “We will start work with the design team on taking the vision and putting it into an educational plan.”
The School Building Committee will ultimately include that educational plan so the design team can see what the district’s priorities are and begin to put it into various models for the expansion/renovation.
“We’re still a long way off from knowing that we’re going to do this design at this price, however, we should be able to start getting a picture of that close to the end of this calendar year,” he said. “The conversations will become less abstract and the options will become more clear.”
The website will also contain feedback from participants in the visioning sessions.
A series of School Building Committee meeting dates will be posted at a rate of about one per month, from August through December, with the August meeting devoted to what is going into the timeline over the next six months.
School officials and members of the School Building Committee will be making a site visit to Cape Tech in Harwich later in August, as SST’s architectural firm was the firm that built Cape Tech in 2015. A second site visit may be planned for early September.
“If we’re going to talk about how we prioritize what we value, it would nice to be able to set in a structure that represents some of what has probably been adopted by other schools,” Hickey said.
SST has a late September deadline for its first submission to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), which will include the educational plan.
Saving history
WHITMAN – Who can and should care for and clean old headstones at historic site such as Whitman’s Mount Zion Cemetery?
Whitman resident Leslie DiOrio has asked the Select Board on Tuesday, Aug.1 for official permission to do that work at Mount Zion. The Board granted DiOrio’s request for official permission.
She had pointed out Mount Zion qualifies as a National Historic Site, due to the date on the oldest stone there – February 1733.
“As a result, we can, as a town, obtain funding through the state of Massachusetts and Community Preservation funding for the upkeep of the cemetery, the stones and some of the groundwork,” she said.
She shared with the Select Board on Tuesday, Aug. 1 a copy of a letter she had sent to the Department of Public Works in May outlining her request for formal permission to clean the stones at Mount Zion, which is not far from her residence.
She also advocated a Cemetery Committee for Mount Zion, since it is the only cemetery in Whitman that does not have one.
According to the National Park Service’s website, “Soiling and staining of cemetery gravestones, monuments, markers, and statuary can result from soil splashing, pollution, rusting bolts or other metal features, bird deposits, and berries or sap dropping onto the stone. Biological growth, such as algae, lichen, or moss, can cover the surface, cause the stone to decay, and make reading the stone difficult.”
“The reason I feel strongly that a person should ask the town for permission, and I’m coming to you for permission, is that a lot of damage can be done by just walking in and cleaning with any substance and not knowing what you’re doing,” DiOrio said.
She has sought out the specialized training involved, she said, including attending lots of seminars and work cleaning historic stones in every New England state.
“This is something that I care deeply about, and as I clean these stones, I actually keep a family tree, and go on familysearch.org, which is a free website with a universal tree,” she said. “I have created documentation and pulled the official document for all the residents of that cemetery.”
She offered to take interested officials with her on Friday. Aug. 4 for the next work she planned to do.
Select Board member Justin Evans asked whether there is a level of training they should look for if anyone else came forward to seek permission to clean historic gravestones.
“You never want to hear they are planning to use soap or bleach or any kind of metal brush,” she said. Biologically-based cleaners are used on historic gravestones and markers.
DiOrio suggested asking about techniques and materials they planned to use, noting she has been asked those very questions every time she has sought permission to clean stones.
Board Vice Chair Dan Salvucci asked about liability, but DiOrio said that should not be a concern unless stones were being moved or renovated.
She told the Select Board that she has been cleaning the stones for about a year, having first broached the topic with the late Marie Lailer of the Historic Commission.
Lailer learned that the DPW maintains cemetery grounds, but not the headstones.
“I didn’t receive a response to this, but they did cover it in one of their board meetings,” she said.
DiORio also provided the Select Board with a copy of Terra Firma, a state document which informs about best practices in historic cemetery care.
“The reason I didn’t receive a response [from the DPW Commission] was that they felt that while they were not going to ‘get in my way,’ and were willing to allow me to continue the work there, they were not willing to give anyone ‘official permission,’” she said.
DiOrio’s said her understanding about the DPW Commissioners’ meeting was that headstone care should be families that give permission.
“The challenge with that is, it doesn’t follow best practices in cemetery care,” she said, emphasizing that is not meant to be criticism of the DPW. “But, when you talk about cemetery care and who grants permission, it really is the grounds of the cemetery, which is the town of Whitman in this case.”
Mount Zion is owned by the town of Whitman. Previously a family burial site, it was procured by the town in 1851.
“When you talk about families giving permission, it is down to the third generation,” she said. “For example, I can clean my great-grandmother’s stone, but not my great-great-grandmother’s stone.”
Her family is buried in Mount Hope in Boston, where DiOrio said she couldn’t just walk in and clean a stone, because it is a maintained, private cemetery in that case. Since Whitman owns Mount Zion, she needs town permission to care for stones there.
Historic Commission Chair Molly Schnabel said she agreed with everything DiOrio said, except for one thing.
“The state has the money for preservation and she’s right about these cemeteries,” Schnabel said. “We have money already.”
The Commission has $20,000 through the Community Preservation Act (CPA) and is seeking matching grants from the state.
“This cemetery should be on that group we’re looking to do,” she said. Once matching grants are obtained, they can hire state-approved workers come in and, while they don’t do stone preservation work, she said DiOrio’s idea is a good one, adding that the number of GAR stones [Grand Army of the Republic, the veterans’ organization of Union Army veterans after the Civil War] is remarkable, and that even though the town does not have a GAR building, its Civil War era history is remarkably well preserved.
“But it needs to be discussed, I think, with the historic commission,” Schnabel said of the stone project. “If you want to work with us on [the grant] that would be great.”
DiOrio said she is not applying for grant money.
Schnabel added there are three cemeteries in town that need to be watched, including one on Pine Street as well as Colebrook and Mount Zion.
“You can see some of the work [at Mount Zion] that Marie and I started and I’ve been continuing,” DiOrio said.
The Great Hanson Veggie Caper
By Linda Ibbitson Hurd
Special to The Express
In the Summer of 1960 when I was 13, I spent a lot of time with my best friend. We were the same age, and both named Linda. She was the youngest of six siblings and I was the oldest of four. We lived in Hanson, I on upper Elm Street and she down the end where it went into Halifax. She and her sister had the choice of attending school in Hanson or Halifax as the town line went through the middle of their house. They chose Hanson. The house, a big two-story old Colonial was on a beautiful plot of land where there was also a barn with a second story which housed a wrought iron workshop where her grandfather worked and a kennel for Golden Retrievers attached to the rear of the house.
One particular Saturday night when I had been invited for the weekend, Linda and I were having supper with three of her sisters, her brother in-law, their small daughter and Linda’s parents and grandfather. The conversation turned to a situation the married sister and her husband were going through. From the beginning of summer when their vegetable garden started producing, they found some missing when they got up in the morning along with shoe tracks in the garden soil. Then one morning they found a few items missing from their barn, which was a good distance from the street but right beside the house. They lived down the end of Elm Street near Hudson Street and not too far from Linda’s house. Their garden was in their side yard not far from the street. The police were investigating.
When supper was over, Linda and I helped watch her 2-year-old niece until her parents took her home. After they left and everyone headed for the TV set, we went outside to walk around until her mother called us in, saying it was time for bed. With lights off in every room and the house so quiet, we stayed up talking for a while in whispers. We were sitting on her bed when she looked at me and said, “Let’s go catch that burglar!”
“How’re we going to do that without waking everybody up?,” I asked. “I’ll show you,” she said.
We dressed in dark colors, took the sheets off the two beds in her room, tied them together then put them around the bed post closest to the window and took out the screen. She dropped the sheets down, only a few feet from the ground and we climbed out. We moved quickly to the road before anyone could see us and hoped her grandfather wasn’t up. It was a beautiful, still, summer night and the moon wasn’t quite full. We walked the distance to her sister’s house. The garden was full except for the bare spots where things had been taken and the lettuce and squash were closest and rather large. Linda whispered, “lie down between the rows of lettuce and don’t make a sound!”
As we crouched to lie down in the dirt between the rows of lettuce, she stepped on a dry twig which snapped, making a louder than usual sound in the stillness of the night. In the dirt we were lying flat with her nails dug into my thigh when she whispered, “don’t even breathe.”
All of a sudden, the back door slammed open under the overhead light and her brother-in-law Ray stepped out with a shotgun bellowing, “Who’s there!?” A shot rang out and we could hear it whizzing over our heads. Before another shot was fired, Linda stoop up screaming, “Ray, it’s us, me and Linda, don’t shoot!!” He made an anguished sound and broke the shot gun in half over his thigh, yelling, “Get in here right now, both of you!”
In we shuffled, heads down and were ordered into the spacious living room with wide speckled gray floorboards. We sat and awaited our fate. We got the third degree and answered all their questions. Ray was shaking and his wife Florence was white as a sheet.
“Do you know I could have killed you, what were you thinking?!!! “That we wanted to catch your burglar”, Linda said. He looked at me waiting for an answer “I wanted to help”, I said.
He put his head in his hands. After almost an hour and all the lecturing, he looked at Linda and said, “I’ll take you home and talk to your mother.” He looked at me and said, “You call your father right now!” Oh my God, I thought, I’m dead. I didn’t want to do it but I knew there was no way out of it. Linda argued for me but both Ray and Florence were adamant. I called my dad.
When my dad came and talked to Ray and Florence and we headed for home, he was very calm and never said a world. I could sense he wasn’t mad, not even lecturing me. I was relieved. The drive home was barley 2 minutes, we weren’t far from where they lived.
My mom met us at the door, intensely upset chiding, “Do you realize a policeman could be carrying you home dead in his arms? Do you know that!?” I looked at her and said, “well, he isn’t and I’m not”. “Go to your room!!” She shrilled. I went.
Linda and I weren’t allowed to get together for a while, we knew things had to cool down first. We both realized we were wrong and learned the valuable lessons of noninterference, that well-meaning intentions can go terribly wrong, and consequences can be irreversible. These have held us in good stead.
Whitman eyes Peaceful Meadows options
WHITMAN – Town officials are examining two possible avenues toward maintaining the Peaceful Meadows property as agricultural land and keeping the ice cream stand and farm operating.
Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter said one option is a bid being prepared for the Tuesday, Aug. 29 auction by Honrstra Farm of Norwell, who proposed to do just that, should they be the winning bidder. She also plans, with the permission of the Select Board to meet with the By-Law Study Committee to create a Right to Farm bylaw for Whitman residents’ approval at an upcoming Town Meeting, even if the Hornstra purchase does not come to fruition.
“Residents would still be able to enjoy the property, ice cream stand and dairy store that they have come to love in our community, and the 55 acres of agricultural land would be preserved in the future,” Carter said.
In business for more than 100 years, Hornstra currently delivers milk to Whitman customers, she said during the Tuesday, Aug. 1 Select Board meeting.
Another possible avenue is through ARPA, town funds or Community Preservation Act funds for the 55-acres of farmland or open space.
“The town does have some options if we were to purchase the property, however, if the winning bid is a farmer like Mr. Hornstra, we would have no opportunity to exercise the right of first refusal, nor do I think we would want to,” Select Board Member Justin Evans said.
Carter has met with John Hornstra, Jay Rosa of the state’s Department of Agriculture, Scott McFadden of the Wildlands Trust, Town Counsel Peter Sumners, Assistant Town Administrator Kathleen Keefe and Evans to discuss the upcoming auction.
“John Hornstra expressed his interest in purchasing the Peaceful Meadows parcel which includes the ice cream stand, the dairy store, the barns and the original farmhouse,” Carter said. “If he were the successful bidder at the auction, he would plan to have a working dairy farm at the location.”
Hornstra plans to maintain the ice cream stand and possibly expand the dairy store, Carter outlined. He is also interested in purchasing the 55-acres of agricultural land in conjunction with the Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) acquisition program offered by the sate, if it is financially feasible.
“A Right to Farm local option would benefit the town as it relates to the town’s interests in a possible APR entered into with the stats,” she said. “I believe having Hornstra Farm, another dairy farm, take over the Peaceful Meadows property, would be a positive outcome for the town.”
She also encouraged officials unfamiliar with the Hornstra operation to stop by their Norwell farm.
Evans said he also researched how other towns had acquired property like the Peaceful Meadows parcels in the past.
“If the purchase of the 55 acres – if the winning bidder intended to change the use of the property – the town would have the ability to match that winning bid and purchase it for ourselves,” he said.
It could either be placed under and APR or it could be purchased with ARPA funds or town funds for municipal use, or even use CPA funds to preserve it as open space – potentially farmland, trails or a similar use – as several other towns have done, according to Evans.
“I reached out to the town accountant today … and found out that we have about $273,000 in available CPC funds, between open space and the general purpose CPC funds, if we wanted to exercise that right,” he said. “We could also bond the purchase if we wanted to use CPC funds and make those payments with Community Preservation funds we would take in every year.”
The CPC takes in about $200,000 per year.
Vice Chair Dan Salvucci asked how much the property would be likely to be sold for at auction.
“That’s really hard to say,” Carter said.
“A lot more than we’ve got in Community Preservation …” he suggested.
“Oh, yes,” she replied.
Evans said a similar parcel in Rockland – a 36-acre parcel – went for about $800,000 two years ago.
“This [Peaceful Meadows property] is pretty wet, so I don’t know how that will affect things,” he added.
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