HANSON – It may take a bit longer to complete plans, but members of the High Street Park Committee want residents to know they will have a chance to spend a Saturday in the park before too much time passes.
The Select Board helped the process along a bit more by voting to conceptually approve its plan layout.
High Street Park Committee members gave its presentation to the Select Board on Tuesday, Aug. 29 on plans for recreational facilities at the former Plymouth County Hospital property.
“We get lots of questions [about] ‘What’s going on up at High Street?’ and we know you guys are meeting fast and furiously and frequently,” Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “It’s just that progress is not necessarily visible to people, but that doesn’t mean there’s no progress.”
High Street Park Committee member Marianne DiMascio said she had been thinking the same thing, before presenting an update to the Select Board.
“It wanted to start by saying it’s a beautiful spot and a great place to visit,” she said. “We have an agenda here to look at yesterday, today and tomorrow for people who are not familiar with this spot.”
Infrastructure is being worked on as the first step in plans as well as for traffic flow and parking. They are also looking at where sidewalks, crosswalks and foot traffic would go, as well as where there would and wouldn’t be tree cover, vegetation, wooded area and an initial clearing for play areas.
Committee Vice Chair Don Ellis has been working a lot on utility plans in coordination with town departments which encompass plumbing, irrigation, septic, drainage and electrical services.
“This really is the piece that has taken a while to do,” DiMascio said. “You can’t keep doing things unless you know where the roads are, where the parking is, and so this has slowed us down, but I think we’re in a good spot now to move forward when some of these plans are done.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett asked if there was anything the Select Board could do to help the Committee’s work.
Ellis mentioned the old hospital well flushing and inspection, noting they have been having trouble getting call-backs because it is a commercial-sized well. The Committee is trying to determine if the well is still usable.
An issue raised was the cost of requests for proposals, he said.
One firm was also concerned with prevailing wage law, which does not apply to a survey, according to Town Administrator Lisa Green, but it would apply if any repair or construction work is done.
The Highway Department has cleared trees to enable inspection of the septic field and also took off the well head several times and reinstalled it. Health Agent Gil Amado helped with the Title 5 requirements for the septic system.
FitzGerald-Kemmett suggested the Committee meet with the Food Pantry Board, which was having concerns about placement of public restrooms near the pantry building, out of a desire to protect the privacy of its clients or to make that building an attractive nuisance.
Select Board member Joe Weeks, who also serves on the High Street Committee, said the town is lucky to even possibly have an irrigation source there, which would be crucial for much of what is planned for the site.
“It might feel slow and it might feel like it’s taking forever, but these things are meticulous and we want to make sure we’re doing it right,” he said.
The playground is the next consideration, but Weeks said there, too, they don’t want to “overpromise and under-deliver.”
“We want to do a ground-clearing and focus on that playground area,” he said. If they find the funding and get a playground done, Weeks said the Committee feels they will get a lot of use out of the park.
The former Plymouth County Hospital was razed in 2017. The facility had opened in 1917 as the Hanson Tuberculosis Hospital and was closed for good in 1992. It had changed its mission to that of a general hospital and the name was changed to Plymouth County Hospital when the tuberculosis died out with advances in medicine and, in 1982 its mission changed again to that of a long-term specialty care facility for patients with chronic and terminal illness, such as muscular dystrophy.
The Final Plymouth County Hospital Reuse Committee had been budgeted $1 million for the tear-down and returned $200,000 to the town.
“We did a lot of research about ‘could we keep it,’ but it was in quite a state of disrepair,” DiMascio said of the hospital building. It had also become an “attractive nuisance” to vandals and would-be ghost hunters over the years since it closed.
The site now hosts the Community Garden and lawn area behind the Food Pantry and a meadow with an 8/10 mile perimeter walking trail, part of the 218-mile Bay Circuit Trail that also stretches from Kingston to Newport, R.I. Entrances are located on Pierce Avenue and Bonney Hill Lane near the boardwalk.
The trail was funded by the state Division of Conservation Services as well as the town’s Community Preservation and Conservation committees.
“We’re hoping to have a grand opening in mid-October,” DiMAscio said.
A parking lot on Pierce Avenue can accommodate 10 to 12 cars and additional parking is available at 252 High St. There is no parking on Bonney Hill Lane.
The remaining goals are: building infrastructure, prioritizing features and projects, creating a phased plan, apply for the funding, build it and enjoy.
The playground will be the main project on the “tomorrow” list.
“We’ve been doing the research,” DiMascio said. “We really want to make sure that it’s designed for different ages, different abilities, different development levels and has interaction between people of different ages.”
While playgrounds are designed with children in mind, the Committee is also keeping parents in mind as well as the elderly.
“We’re thinking more broadly about it than 2 to 3-year-olds only,” she said.
An event area for events such as farmer’s markets, community events and gatherings and picnics and a stage area for concerts and performances as well as a pavilion or covered area could be included. Additional features in the thinking states are additional walking trails, a veteran’s memorial, a picnic area near the Bonney House, an orchard, avenue for picture-taking for events such as proms, weddings and family reunions. A Native American history and acknowledgment space is also being discussed.
In other business, Green announced the board is looking for volunteers to serve on a Master Plan Steering Subcommittee.
The town received a $60,000 grant through the Massachusetts One Stop for Growth Program to update the town’s master plan. The Steering Subcommittee will represent Hanson while Old Colony Planning helps guide officials through the process.
The number of volunteers needed is unclear at the moment, Green said, noting they “just want to get it out there” that they are looking for volunteers.
“Does anybody feel passionate – well, maybe not passionate, maybe just inclined – to be a [Select Board] member of the Master Plan Steering Subcommittee?” FitzGerald-Kemmett asked.
Select Board member Ann Rein said she would give the post a try.
Cows are coming home to Whitman
WHITMAN – Sometimes wishes do come true.
And wishes came true Tuesday, Aug. 29 for John Hornstra, winning bidder on the Peaceful Meadows ice cream stand, barns, home offices, equipment and more than 55 acres of land. But the wishes of town officials, the Wildlands Trust and loyal Peaceful Meadows customers hoping to keep the Whitman tradition going came true, too.
The town had the opportunity to right of first refusal on the sale should it have gone to a non-argricultural use, under the state’s 61A regulations on farming land. Whitman Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter was happy that it won’t be necessary.
“I’m thrilled that John Hornstra won the bids,” she said. “I think it’s going to be great for Whitman.”
Select Board member Justin Evans agreed it was a great turn of events for the town.
“It’ll be great to get cows back in the barn and really bring this place back,” he said.
“Everybody in town is … they’ll be ecstatic when the word gets out that we got it,” new owner John Hornstra said. “I honestly can say it’s a passion of mine. I’m the luckiest person in the world that I enjoy my business every day that I work, and I get to have my son work with me [who’s] 23, so it’ll be a great project.”
It’ll be known by a different name – Hornstra Farms – but Hornstra thinks people will see enough familiar about the future he has in mind for the iconic Whitman property.
“I’m glad to have it, and I hope I can continue what they did here and maybe have some cows, eventually here, and bring back a working dairy farm to Whitman,” Hornstra said of his winning bid. “Eventually, they’ll be back,” he said of the bovine bevy that had always been a popular attraction at Peaceful Meadows.
“The gentleman who built this in 1961 was a big inspirational person in my life,” Hornstra said. “I saw how successful this was, and that’s why I wanted to do it in Norwell.”
The immediate plan is to do some work on the barns, but he may try to keep the dairy store open during the holiday season in keeping with tradition before that renovation work is done and it reopens in the spring. There’s a lot of structural work to do in the barns, and one of them may come down, to be replaced by an all-automated, robotic barn where people can have their ice cream and see the cows being milked.
“We’ve got a ways to go,” he said of plans for a reopening date. “We’ve got a lot of fixing up and stuff like that – upgrading and stuff like that – but hopefully before Thanksgiving, but we’ll see.”
Soon some of the trademark red Holstien cows of the Hornstra Farms herd will also return a bucolic touch to the property, the fourth-generation farmer said after making the winning $1.75 million bid for the entirety of two property lots at 94 Bedford St.
Since Hornstra has no immediate plans to negotiate for Peaceful Meadows ice cream stand recipes (his Prospect Street, Norwell farm already makes their own old-fashioned ice cream, so we don’t know what to tell the person who reached out to auctioneer Justin Manning about the fate of Peaceful Meadows’ peanut butter sauce.
He said that, over the first information about the pending auction on the JJ Manning website received more than 500,000 views, 175,000 clicks, 27,000 emotions and about 4,000 shares.
“I think that it’s a day that is going to bring conclusion to what is the final chapter for the family,” Manning said before the auction Tuesday morning. “I think they’ve gotten to the point where they’re more than ready to pass it on, to end it. They need that closure. I think that maybe it’s a little sad for them, maybe a little sad for the town, and the people who came to get ice cream, but who knows what is going to be the next chapter here at the property.”
Hornstra said his plan was to purchase the two lots in their entirety, which is why he did not enter a bid for them separately.
“We work with John Hornstra so we’re very supportive of his bid,” said Scott McFaden of the Wildlands Trust, on the non-profit land conservation trust’s presence to support Honstra. “We’d like to see it stay in permanent farming, because we’re about land preservation.”
McFaden said the Hornstras ran a big risk on the day.
“There were people here who, most likely would have tried to convert it to something else,” he said. “I’ve talked to some town officials informally and they were very supportive of seeing it preserved.”
Hornstra agreed that he had support “everywhere.”
“Part of the reason I went to $1.75 [million], was I didn’t want to disappoint everyone on the South Shore,” he said. “It was a lot of hyped media stuff and Facebook stuff, and I couldn’t bear the thought of somebody else getting it. I’m one of those people who always want to do the right thing.”
After placing his winning bid, Hornstra first spoke to members of the family selling the property, before speaking with the press.
He said he came prepared to pay $1.5 million – having to go $225,000 over that.
“I went a little farther than I had to,” he said. “I saw my son standing next to me – I’m trying to support the next generation, so we went a little farther than we wanted to.”
Manning said on Monday it was a “coin flip” of the chances the property would remain in agricultural use, noting that real estate developers and a software company were among those interested.
As competing bidders approached Hornstra to congratulate him, one was heard to say he was “glad a farmer got it.” Hornstra, which also bottles milk for door-to-door delivery, already has Whitman customers on its client list.
He said the barns [which, like the other buildings and equipment included for sale at auction], being purchased “as-is” needed some work.
In his pre-auction instructions to prospective bidders, Manning said the first two parcels [94 Bedford St., divided between the ice cream stand, and other buildings and a second lot of the 55 acres behind it] would be auctioned separately.
All separate property lots were sold to the highest bidder, subject to the entirety, which is how both sides of the road were ultimately purchased by two separate bidders when bids were received greater than the individual bids. There would be no rebids of the individual lots.
Bidders were also cautioned that they were expected to have done their homework before the auction date.
Peaceful Meadows provided a lot of information down to the last five years of tax returns.
“With tons of information comes informed buyers,” Manning said. “If you are not an informed buyer, if you don’t know about this property and you didn’t go through all the information, and didn’t go through the properties, then don’t bid on the properties.” All properties are sold as-is.
Closing is slated to take place on or before Sept. 29, unless otherwise agreed upon by the seller in writing or if the buyer of the farm and ice cream stand went to a non-agricultural buyer, triggering the town’s right of first refusal under 61A.
As the bidding for the first two parcels as an entirety became competitive, Hornstra said he was just trying to decide where he was going. He held back from bidding on the two lots individually to get both as an entirety.
He looked at his son – who will be the fifth generation working the farm.
“He kind of rolled his eyes and I said, ‘OK, here’s $50,000 more, let’s see where it goes,’” he said.
Hornstra said he was not much interested in the other side of the road, bought as an entirety by a late-arriving group of Asian women, who said they had no specific plans for it, but wanted to preserve the land.
Back-to-school comes with issues
Library book selection and public comment poicies were clarified by school district officials as national debates came close to home on Wednesday, Aug. 23.
School Committee Chair Beth Stafford and Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak sought to “correct a couple of misunderstandings and miscommunications that have been going on” surrounding meeting protocol issues.
Aside from public comment guidelines, Stafford said the other miscommunication problem centers around the policy for selecting books used to augment instruction or to be included in the school libraries.
School book policies have been a hot-button topic nationwide.
Szymaniak addressed the policy on “groups that give us books.”
He said the words “books” and “donations” had been mentioned during a discussion of the crosswalk painting and library partnership Whitman PRIDE had appeared to ask be supported by the committee.
“I got some questions from some parents [and I’m] trying to respond to it,” he said. “We have a set guideline that we use, and not everybody in the world can just send their books here, although I will tell people in the public that we get donations of books from all over the country sometimes.”
WHRSD does have a policy – IJL – on library materials selection and adoption under which the School Committee endorses the School Library Bill of Rights as adopted by the American Library Association [See box].
Initial purchase suggestions for library materials may come from all personnel – teachers, coordinators and administrators. Students will also be encouraged to make selections. The librarian will make recommendations to be included in the school library, but final approval and authority for distribution of funds will rest with the building principal, subject to the approval of the superintendent.
Gifts of books will be accepted for the library in keeping with the policy guidelines and complaints will be handled in line with the committee policy on complaints and instructional materials.
“So, we do actually have a policy on how we accept books,” Szymaniak said. He noted the American Legion donates calendars to the district, which are vetted that, like all other donations, they are age-appropriate and user-friendly for school librarians based on DESE criteria and the professional judgments of the district’s teachers, administrators and professional staff.
“It’s not just anybody in the world can send us a book and put it in the libraries,” he said.
Stafford, who is a retired grade six social studies teacher, agreed that the policy prevents donations that are not reviewed.
“It is with Department of Elementary and Secondary Education guidelines, coupled with the research recommendations from the Educational and School Library organizations and the input from our professional staff, including the district librarian, curriculum coordinators and diretors, principals and my central office team that I rely on to make final decisions regarding textbooks and educational materials,” he said. “Suggestions or recommendations from any community member or organization about books or resources are simply that – recommendations.”
The School District goes by a formal review process based on the Massachusetts Students’ Rights Law, [MGL Ch. 76 Section 5] which states that all public-school systems, through their curricula, “encourage respect for the human and civil rights of all individuals, regardless of race, color, sex, gender identity, religion, national origin or sexual orientation.”
School administrators and teachers will evaluate all students with a rubric and specify that the demographics include, but is not limited to those who identify as Black, Hispanic, Latino, Asian, indigenous and multi-racial students, those with disabilities, are English learners, are LGBTQ+, students experiencing homelessness and/or financial insecurity.
The law is intended to help schools implement state laws impacting LGBTQ+, + students – including the state’s anti-bullying law, gender identity law and student anti-discrimination law.
The law is a joint initiative between DESE and the Mass. Commission on LGBTQ+, + Youth.
The committee also voted to have the policy subcommittee review the public comment policy for meetings.
In 2020 the committee unanimously approved a policy permitting a 15-minute window at the beginning of meetings to give members of the public an opportunity to speak about any subject on or off the agenda an within the School Committee’s portfolio, without comment other than a “thank-you” from the committee. Individual speakers are limited to three minutes for their comments.
“There will be some exceptions like during budget times when we need to speak to union reps,” Stafford said. “I want you to understand that, if I call on somebody during a time such as with the union reps when we’re talking about employees, then I would be calling on them.”
Vice Chair Christopher Scriven said the issue of public comment had been brought to his attention by people outside of the committee. and he asked for it to be placed on the agenda because he felt it very worthy of discussion.
“I think a lot of us take very seriously the notion that we represent our constituents, and we should have their best interests in mind,” he said. “If they have something to come up and speak to, specifically, as part of a discussion, as important as some of the ones we’ve had recently, I think we should be open to that.”
Member Fred Small agreed.
Scriven said the committee should, at least, get input from the rest of the board to make decisions on some kind of consensus.
Stafford said she would like to put it to the policy subcommittee, since it is a policy already. Member Dawn Byers agreed and made the motion to send the matter to the policy subcommittee.
“Unfortunately, the last couple of years, the policy was not followed,” Stafford said.
Speaking as a private citizen, Select Board member Shawn Kain commented during the public comment period that the discussion of Pride crosswalks, a proposed partnership with the Whitman Library and an LGBTQ+ scholarship should have permitted citizen’s input, and asked that it be reconsidered.
“Unfortunately, before the vote, you refused to let the public comment on the issue,” he said, noting the room was filled with parents, therapists, former School Committee members and at least one student. “As an active citizen in our community, I believe this is a red flag.”
Kain had expressed that opinion in a letter to the editor published in the Express on July 27.
“When we refuse to allow public comment, we do not benefit from potentially vital information that we otherwise wouldn’t be aware of and we deprive ourselves of the diverse perspectives that are not always available on the board,” Kain said, noting it feels arrogant ant exclusive to him – the opposite of the inclusive project being discussed.
Dan McDonough of Carriage Road in Hanson also commented on partnership of Whitman PRIDE and the Committee, especially in connection with the school wellness program.
Noting the nationwide debate, he said the “issue of gender confusion is very deadly and divisive.
“My main concern as a father is how early these discussions are happening,” he said. “My only concern is the protection of elementary school and how early we’re talking about it, and parents should be included in that conversation when we are talking about it.”
Szymaniak said the wellness program comes directly from the Commonwealth and has no association with Whitman PRIDE at all. That new curriculum was open for public comment through Monday, Aug. 28.
W-H offers Seal of Bi-Literacy program
The School Committee on Wednesday, Aug. 23 heard some welcome news about the Whitman Middle School project and a Seal on Bi-Literacy program and a time on learning grant worth $1 million over five years Whitman Middle School.
Committee members David Forth and Hillary Kniffen were absent and Glen DiGravio attended remotely.
Director of Equity and MTSS, Dr. Nicole Semas-Schneeweis and district Family Liaison for Multi-lingual Learners Felicia Barboza introduced the Bi-Literacy program discussion and what it means for students.
Barboza made some introductory comments in Portuguese, noting that, while it may have been surprising to hear her do that, it is one experience that many of the district’s multi-lingual learners have when they come to school every day when teachers, staff and other students speak to them in English.
She translated her Portuguese remarks, saying her name, title, and her background as a one-time WHRSD student. She said she was there to discuss bi-literacy.
“Regardless of the challenges of many of our multi-lingual learners face, they still rise up to the challenges many of them are presented with,” Barboza said, noting many are proficient in English by the time that they leave WHRHS. “We want to be able to honor them and award them for how much they have achieved by [attaining] proficiency in English.”
Being a multi-lingual learner is an asset and a huge part of the reason why she has the job she does, is because of her capability in speaking two languages. When Barboza was a student, the Seal of Bi-Literacy was not available, but was an opportunity she said she would have loved to have.
Unlike many of her students, English was her first language and Portuguese her second language which she started learning at age 7, while her students are learning English as a second language.
“Our hope is that by offering this distinction, it will encourage students to pursue a second language, while also maintain their proficiency in their first language,” she said.
Semas-Schneeweis said the Mass. Seal of Bi-Literacy recognized high school graduates who attain proficiency in English and one other world language by graduation.
“It is a credential that is recognized by both colleges and employers as a skill,” she said, noting that WHRSD now joins more than 170 other districts in the Commonwealth offering the seal and also recognizes the English language achievement of students who speak another language first.
Committee member Dawn Byers asked if they could predict how many years of a second language English-first students would need to study to attain the seal.
Semas-Schneeweis said it would be offered to seniors in the spring to give them the best opportunity as the program was piloted with juniors last year, but ideally, they would like to see some sort of world language program returned to the middle schools to help with the achievement.
Going into next year, the seal will be part of the senior-year curriculum, she said. It was piloted with the juniors because it was not something the seniors were expecting this spring – it was only something extra being asked of them.
Time on learning grant
Assistant Superintendent George Ferro announced the district has received a 21st Century CCLC grant of $214,000 to fund an additional learning time program for the Whitman Middle School for the next five years. Of that, $154,000 will fund programs during the school year and $60,000 for summer programs.
The total value of the grant over the five-year period is more than $1 million.
“As you know we’ve had what’s called an additional learning time grant at the high school for years, where we are able to offer [support to] students from eighth grade, coming into ninth grade who are identified [as] needing extra support,” he said “They have a summer program here, they earn some credits here and then during the course of the school year, students who are either identified, or self-identify, as having some academic or social-emotional needs … we always offer four days a week an after-school program.”
Ferro said late bus transportation offered to those students is a highlight of the program with no budgetary impact.
That type of enrichment will now be offered at WMS through the federal competitive grant offered through the state.
WHRHS Math teacher Christopher Szkutak, who has run the high school enrichment program, applied for the grant to bring the program to the Whitman Middle School, where a separate site coordinator will be appointed with Szkutak in charge of all 21st Century remedial and after-school learning.
Ferro said there are no funds at this time, through the grant, for elementary grades. The high school program also offers credits, called floating credits, to participating students.
“There was a decision made, with Chris Szkutak in looking at our numbers and in talking to the middle school principals, that at this point in time due to the needs of the Whitman Middle School – you can only go for one school at a time – we chose Whitman Middle,” he said. When the application period opens again next spring, they would apply focused on Hanson Middle School, according to Ferro.
The committee unanimously voted to support Committee member Fred Small’s motion to send Szkutak a letter crediting and thanking him for his initiative and efforts. Byers added her thanks and stressed that, for working parents like her, the transportation piece of the grant was invaluable.
Bus routes
While on the subject of transportation, Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak said some guidelines have been formed to help reduce the time students are spending on buses.
“It’s not door-to-door service, it’s a school bus,” Szymaniak said after parents complained when some children were on the bus between 45 and 50 minutes. He had called other area superintendents to see how they were dealing with any similar extended bus rides.
One modification would curtail the practice of buses entering cul de-sacs, in agreement with state guidelines, unless it is “really necessary,” he said noting that there could be a person in the area who should not be near children.
Elementary students would be asked to walk as much as .7 miles to a bus stop. Right now the furthest any student is walking is .61 miles. Middle and high school students would be walking up to one mile.
“Doing that changed some of the routes,” he said, noting Indian Head had some routes of about 28 to 42 minutes, now he said the longest ride for Indian Head students is 32 minutes and the shortest is 28. “The longest ride at Hanson Middle is 34 minutes,” he said. “The longest ride at Duval is 27 and the longest ride at Conley is 23 minutes.”
Szymanian said it should control dropping off at the end of the driveway.
“That’s the number one thing I seem to get phone calls about,” Small said.
“This is a change, but it’s a change for the good of all,” Szymaniak said, because ridership is tied to state reimbursement. The state requires buses to run at 75 percent of capacity.
The change would have no budgetary impact.
The School Committee’s discussion of meeting protocol and norms was postponed to the next committee meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 13.
“We would really like everybody to be present when we’re discussing the norms, because then everybody … would be in the game,” Stafford said.
Hanson church celebrates 275th anniversary
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.
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