Hanson Pack 34 held its Blue and Gold Ceremony Thursday, Feb. 2, during which 15 Cub Scouts crossed over and become Boy Scouts. Above, – Blake Miller received his Boy Scout epaulets At left, Brady Adams crosses over to Boy Scouts See more photos, page 6.
Courtesy photos, Craig Guido
Whitman, Carter reach TA contract
WHITMAN –As they welcomed a new town administrator – set to start work on Feb. 21 the Select Board heard a sobering update on the state of the town’s finances from Budget Subcommittee member Shawn Kain.
Former Treasurer/Collector Mary Beth Carter has accepted a contract proposal to become town administrator, interim Town Administrator Frank Lynam announced during the Tuesday, Feb. 7 Select Board meeting.
“I’m already loading up her email,” he joked. “While I’ll be happy to assist in the transition, I’m looking to that light at the end of the tunnel [so I] can go back home and do what I was doing when I was doing nothing.
Chair Randy LaMattina thanked Lynam on behalf of the board and the town for coming back.
“I think, for the transition, you’re going to make that as smooth as it possibly can be,” he said.
“I’m excited for the town,” “Lynam said. “We’re moving into a new era [with] a different focus and I have nothing but confidence in the board’s selection of Mary Beth Carter.”
Carter thanked the board, as well.
“I truly appreciate your confidence in me,” she said. “I have known many of you for several years, and a few of you for over 19 years. You know my work ethic – and it has not changed. I will work tirelessly as an agent of the Board of Selectmen to carry out mandates and policies set by you.”
She pledged to work collaboratively with department heads, boards and committees to assist in the preparation and final presentation of the budget for fiscal 2024.
“I am really looking forward to being back in Whitman,” she said.
Budget review
Kain began the meeting’s work with a report on the town budget status and the Budget Working Group’s progress, noting it would take a couple weeks to fully update Carter so she can give her feedback for future action.
“We’re looking at the excise tax and the trash [fees], and because we’re through January now and we have an indication of what the first commitments were,” Kain said, noting that 75 percent of excise taxes were collected in the first commitment in January. “We have a pretty good indication of where we’re at, and surprisingly, we’re doing really well.”
He thought there would be a dip in excise tax revenues, but so far collections are $140,000 over what was collected by this point last year, pointing to estimates on both excise taxes and trash fees moving in the right direction.
Expenditures are showing this year is a “bit of an anomaly” for contract steps and lanes because of recent negotiations, he said, particularly in the fire department where an unusually large number of firefighters reached their 20-year mark.
“Big picture, again we’re looking at our level service,” Kain said. “When we look at level service, and that does include some of the salaries that we’re talking about … and the schools’ at 5 percent [assessment increase], we’re really close to a balanced budget.”
He is concerned that the town side still doesn’t know where the school budget will end up, however. Town figures are estimating 5 percent, but it looks like it would be more, Kain said, noting School Committee member Dawn Byers questions about what the town can afford.
“She talked about a false narrative, meaning that there is a little bit of confusion in the community about this,” he said. “What we can afford … of pretty much what we can afford within the tax levy.”
He said Byers is suggesting the town consider what it could afford if it didn’t take into account the tax levy and just compared it’s education costs to other towns, saying it’s “a different kind of big picture argument.”
“For us, one of the things that we really need to consider is what we can afford within the tax levy,” he said, where the Madden report was clear that 5 percent, or up to it, was what could achieve a balanced budget along with level-serviced town expences.
“For me, it still seems relevant that that 5 percent is still a good number to use,” Kain said.
Right now, with numbers coming in from the schools and department heads, the budget gap is a little over $1 million.
Lynam said the town is “kind of downplaying” the impact of the 5 percent on the town. While he agrees with the analysis that consultant John Madden did and that the town needs to support education, the 5 percent absorbs every dollar of revenue the town grows – and then some.
“That’s the type of thing we have to keep in mind,” he said. “We continue getting additional revenue from other local receipts, but at some point in time, just like the 3-percent budget growth started to become unattainable at the district level when we had state support and it faded, we are now building a budget that’s going to be difficult to maintain, even at 5 percent with the efforts we’re making.”
He said it was more critical that they jointly growth and expenditures to make the budget work, because voters will be the ultimate arbiters of how much will be spent.
“We have to start looking longer and harder at things,” he said.
LaMattina requested that Lynam meet with Hanson Town Administrator Lisa Green about the reality of what they are dealing with, because he is concerned that the School Committee has not yet voted a budget ceiling.
“It is frustrating that there’s a lot of things that possibly could be added between now and then that we will not be able to fund in this budget,” he said.
Lynam also expressed concern that the town has been financing capital improvements through free cash.
“That’s not always going to be possible,” he said.
“This is a really valuable, document guiding us going forward,” Select Board member Justin Evans said. “If we can … continue this process every year, it’ll help shape how we look at the whole budget cycle.”
He noted that town budget increases are also nearing 5 percent and cautioned that, if the town wants the schools to control budget increases, the town should do so as well.
COVID report
According to Fire Chief Timothy Clancy’s regular COVID-19 report, saying he is hopeful that the town’s numbers will follow predictions that numbers should be going down shortly, adding the town is still “not doing too bad.”
Over the preceding week, however, Whitman saw 35 cases among 291 tests performed for a 12.02 percent.
“We see a significant jump of almost 4 percent in the positivity rate, but also realize that’s not always accurate. It’s based on seven additional cases and we did less testing.”
He said health officials would continue to watch the numbers and keep selectmen advised.
Whitman eyes use for Carlton property
WHITMAN – Plans are being considered for the sale of the Whitman portion of land for development into a youth sports training center.
Select MA company representatives Matt Monroe and Steve McAuliffe presented their proposal regarding the Camp Alice Carlton land on Route 58, of which the town has been the holder and owner since the late 1980s.
Interim Town Administrator Frank Lynam said seven acres of the land are in Whitman and about 25 more are in Rockland.
“It’s essentially open space right now,” he said.
Select MA is a sports company that teaches soccer and manages ballfields, and are interested in having access to some of the Alice Carlton land, either through long-term lease or purchase, according to Lynam, who invited them to present their proposal to the Select Board on Tuesday, Jan. 24.
The plan already encompasses most of the Rockland property. The Hingham-based company is a club sports organization with 1,000 members.
Currently they have to go to Weymouth and Rentfield for the outdoor————- space they need.
“We’re kind of at an inflection point with our program,” Monroe said. “We identified this land that would suit our needs and … we had talked about plans [with Lynam] to initially put in full-sized fields.”
He said the company would like to use the facility for training its own members as well as donating time of field use to the towns for recreation departments.
“I think you guys downplay a little bit just how established your company is,” Select Board Chair Randy LaMattina said. “We are well aware.”
LaMattina said his family has several friends who have daughters who have gone through the soccer program.
“I think this is a fantastic opportunity for the town and, hopefully, for you guys, if there’s a partnership,” he said. “I see great advantage for the town in that partnership.
Hours of operation are currently through 8 p.m., and there are a limited number of abutters in the area, Lynam said.
The next phase is to evaluate the land and open a discussion on the plans and the company’s intent, which the board vote to support.
In other business, the board approved with regret, the rescinding of the common victualler’s license held by Waikiki House restaurant after the eatery’s owners announced their retirement and closing of the business.
Select Board vice chair Dan Salvucci noted the restaurant had been in business for about 40 years, and thanked them for doing business in Whitman, and wished them a happy retirement.
“I can remember us having twins and the young lady that worked there and owned it, she and her husband had twins,” he said. “I remember their two boys riding around the parking lot on their bicycles.”
Kits help police build bridges
WHITMAN — Plympton Police Officer Laicey Ieronimo and The Action Team have assembled sensory kits for local Police Departments, donating some to the Whitman Police Department last week. The kits will be places in all Whitman patrol cruisers for use when needed.
The kits contain various tangible tools (fidgets, pop-its, etc) as well as a card with breathing exercises. For some people, communication isn’t always going to be eye contact, words and speaking.
“We realize that a police officer’s presence can cause higher tension or anxiety just in itself,” Whitman Chief Timothy Hanlon said. “These tools could be a way to promote and allow for communication, but could also de-escalate a situation and show we are here to help. It is our job to connect with everyone in the community, even if sometimes it’s in a different way!”
Thank you to The Action Team, The Plympton Police Department, and to Officer Ieronimo for not only having this great idea but for sharing it with 13 local departments!
Hanson Police Chief Michael Miksch said his department has been notified they will be receiving the sensory kits soon.
Miksch said the Action Team has done other projects like this one.
“They’ve put together go-bag its for domestic violence victims so, if they need to go someplace, we have little bags with tooth brushes, diapers and other items they might need,” Miksch said. “They usually take care of us, Halifax, Pembroke and others.”
Miksch’s department has been involved with ways to improve communication for people who communicate differently, such as those with autism.
Whitman Police Deputy Chief Joseph Bombardier said Ieronimo is a recent graduate of the police academy who has been involved with the Action Team since high school.
“They reached out to us and asked us if we would be interested in participating,” Bombardier said. “She’s pretty remarkable. She’s running the Boston Marathon this year to raise money for charity, she’s got a lot going on for her.”
Bombardier agreed with Miksch about the need for different avenues of communication.
“It’s kind of an untapped area,” he said. “A lot of us aren’t really trained or equipped to handle it and I’m glad that people are stepping up and giving us the tools we need to at least, on a basic level, communicate with these people and make them feel comfortable. It’s a good thing for all of us.”
Ieronimo started the Action Team as a community service oganization in 2017, runing nearly 30 events for various charities, including care packages for Boston Childen’s Hospital (theactionteamorganization.com).
“I lead every event and get a lot of support from my hometown of Carver and local police departments,” she said. The sensory kits idea came from a coworker/supervisor when she worked in an elementary school while earning her degree in Occupational Therapy.
“As a police officer, we see people on calls in every capacity and every situation,” she said. “It’s our job to connect and communicate with everyone, even if it’s in a different way for some.”
CULINARY CHALLENGE
CULINARY CHALLENGE: SST culinary students took part in a SkillsUSA MRE challenge earlier this month as a test to see who should move on to a state competition. The entry-level competion to this year’s SkillsUSA competition had the students creating their own recipes from a miitary meal(s) ready to eat (MRE) package to see who would advance to the state competition in Natick. See more photos, page 6. Courtesy photos/SST Facebook
Building bridges to community
HANOVER – Hanson Multi-Service Senior Center Director Mary Collins has long faced the challenge of providing SHINE counseling services to a growing number of residents and their need for privacy, with her staff’s ability to work without the distraction of heavy foot traffic into Collins’ office.
The answer has been a renovation to a little-used space at the center, enclosing an alcove in the foyer to provide office space separate from the rest of the office, providing clients the privacy they need.
But in a town where finances are tight, who would do that work?
Hanson, one of eight member towns sending students to South Shore Tech, has received help from a program at the school that provides students with practical experience in their trades before they go into their cooperative education placements in the workforce.
“It’s been a great experience for a lot of our seniors,” Collins said. “[They] were so happy to see the young trades people in working on a project here. It’s been a great experience for our seniors and I think it’s been a good experience for the kids.”
Both the carpentry and electrical shops worked on the office project. Collins also said SST graduate Charles Baker, the town’s facilities manager was instrumental in putting the project together.
“We had a need and this was the best way to approach it,” Collins said.
Both Town Administrator Lisa Green and Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett also lauded the program, both as a way of giving students valuable experience and one that saves the town money.
“They did a great job,” Green said of the project at the Senior Center. “It provided them with really essential experience in the trade and basically the town paid for the materials. That was a real savings for the town.”
“I think it’s a wonderful way for us to save tax dollars,” she said. “The benefit is also that it’s usually kids from the surrounding communities, or our own community, that are getting an opportunity for experience and to give back to their community. Honestly, it’s a no-brainer, a win-win-win.”
She stressed that students are very carefully supervised by licensed professionals on the jobsites, in the interest of safety as well as practical and educational experience.
More familiar with the work SST students did at the town’s historic Bonney House in 2017-18, FitzGerald-Kemmett, who used to chair the Community Preservation Commission, said that project was a valuable lesson in unexpected challenges during renovations.
“When they got in there. It ended up being a lot bigger than what they had originally thought, and it was a lesson for all the kids” she said, noting that the supervising teacher had to go back before the CPC to tell them the project was more involved than they thought it was and that the students would fix what they came across, but stressed they would not do a slap-dash job, as the aim was to teach how to deal with such problems in real life.
“I think we’re super-lucky and would like to see us looking for more projects that we could partner with SST on,” she said. “They have wonderful programs that have benefitted the town in so many different ways.”
SST students are currently busy obtaining practical experience in their vocational fields while benefiting several of the school’s member communities, as members of the School Committee heard during its Dec, 21 meeting.
Vocational Coordinator Robert Mello, who has been a metal fabrication instructor since 2010, joined the administrative team in 2019, and has become and an excellent project manager, “finding the right balance between aggressively taking opportunities for students to have real-life work experience in their fields before coop, and ensuring we accept only the projects that are safe and suitable for our students,” Assistant Principal Sandra Baldner reported to the committee.
Mello highlighted some of those projects for the committee, but advised that the carpentry students are booked through June.
“If you have any projects for your town, please reach out, but it’s probably going to be next school year,” Mello said.
Hanson’s Senior Center privacy wall project was among several he outlined, as well as working with cosmetology students to arrange hair and makeup services to seniors at the center. SST students are also working on two projects for private citizens in Hanson — a shed and a deck.
In Whitman, the Fire Department is making use of student workmanship to fill in a section of a floor where a fire pole was once located and the tower where the department used to hang hoses to provide more storage space.
“It takes the door that basically now opens up to a ‘bottomless pit,’ so we don’t have any liability issues there for the guys,” Mello said.
Whitman Fire Chief Timothy Clancy said Select Board member, and representative to the SST School Committee Dan Salvucci has been a big booster for the program.
Clancy has liked what he has seen so far, noting the couple of small projects for the department that Mello described as important to making better use of space at the station.
“They are here and they are helping us,” Clancy said. “It’s where the old poles used to be, we don’t use it anymore because of some [safety] concerns.
The biggest part of the project is sealing off the hose tower floor and putting a ceiling in there to give us a bit more storage.”
He said it is probably saving the town a significant amount of money. But the experience is the key.
“They’re getting some good experience and seeing some of the fire world, too, which is kind of cool” he said. Clancy added that the application process started in the summer and the work was able to begin in the fall.
“We’ve always reached out to South Shore when we thought they could add some value to what we’re doing,” said interim Town Administrator Frank Lynam. “The whole idea of vocational training is to teach kids how to be tradesman and, certainly, if we have to opportunity, to work with them on municipal projects, it gives them experience with a qualified builder/overseer and it ultimately saves us money as opposed to going out and hiring a contractor.”
Students have also worked on an overhang to protect gas meters and turnout gear storage cubbies at the Hanover Fire Department. They are doing some wiring work at the Hanover Police Department for the dispatch room. Horticulture students have also been helping with cleanups of Hanover’s veterans’ parks ahead of Veterans Day and Memorial Day observances in Hanover. They are also providing those landscaping services for Abington.
Carpentry students built a shed for a drama club production at Scituate High School and two sheds for Norwell residents are in the works as well as some dugouts at the high school ball fields. Sheds for residents will also be constructed in Abington.
“We’ve streamlined the application process,” Mello said. “We cut out some redundancy with Docusign … it’s just click and done.”
At their own school, SST students are building a fence to park buses behind, were wrapping up work on a new suite at the school’s vocational offices and building a new transportation office to allow the district to end it’s need to lease space.
Vocational Coordinator Keith Boyle, who directs the coop program has placed more students than ever before in internships or part-time employment with companies in their shop fields, Baldner said.
“Students now expect to go out on coop, which is a change from us expecting them to go out on coop.” she said of the change in culture at the school that Boyle is spearheading. “This is a fantastic change for us.”
Principal Mark Aubrey also reported that, as freshmen began their shop assignments, and 90 percent of them getting their first choice – and 97 percent got their first or second choice.
“A lot has to do with the budget from last year,” he said, noting the school was able to hire four teachers in electrical, allowing every student with electrical as a first choice getting a spot. Another hire in culinary allowed an additonal 20 students a place in the program and horticulture took on another 18.
“Where we are spending our money on personnel is where the students want to go and where they want to be,”
SST anticipates a 2.5 percent expense hike
HANOVER — South Shore Tech is proposing a fiscal 2024 budget of $15,280,290 an increase of 2.5 percent over fiscal 2023 — the region’s School Committee learned at its Wednesday, Dec. 21 meeting.
“We’re building a budget for what we need,” Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey said, noting that district officials are watching revenue information. “You can’t build a legitimate budget without knowing legitimate revenue … but this is an initial starting point.”
That information gap regarding the budget bottom line is due to state rules granting new governors more time to draft their spending plans
SST is not affected by a 14 percent increase in state-mandated special education tuition because the district does not have students in out-of-district special education placements.
Hickey reviewed the SST budget development process and some of the highlights of the spending plan at an early stage that the committee and community should know about as well as giving updates on the MSBA process and district expansion as Marshfield decides if it wants to join the district. If that moves forward, it could appear on town meeting warrants this year, as well.
“The budget building process starts early for us because we have to certify a budget 45 days before our earliest town meeting,” Hickey said.
Three of the eight member towns hold annual town meeting in early April. To meet the February deadline for that, SST begins the process at the department level in October as work begins to built the district’s zero-based budget.
“Planning for this fiscal year, unlike a lot of fiscal years, is a challenge because we have a new governor, and with that the governor is afforded extra time to put out a budget,” Hickey said.
That means SST officials will not receive a clear picture of Chapter 70 aid until March.
But there is no debt for fiscal 2024, other than plans for replacing the existing bus fleet, which have been in the works for five years.
The sole capital expenditure in the budget will cover a new bid process for the propane bus fleet for which the lease was paid off early. In late FY ’24, the district can leverage the existing fleet for equity, retaining some spares for a lower lease payment.
He said the district will not be incurring debt until it is a “little deeper into the MSBA project.”
Hickey also anticipates a lower annual cost for the successor lease.
While enrollment for member towns is increasing, non-resident enrollment is falling off, largely due to state enrollment regulations.
The shifting of three positions from grants onto budgets for $117,435, including part-time nurse a speech language pathologist, a social worker and a shift to a full-time salaried athletics director are also planned.
Among the accomplishments of fiscal 2023 have been:
• A robust co-op education program;
• Securing outside funds through Skills Capital, Mass Life Science and CTI grants;
• The district has been invited into the Massachusetts School Building Authority funding program; and
• Students have shown strong MCAS growth despite pandemic pressures.
“We’re very happy to say that our co-op program continues [to be successful],” Hickey said. “It’s seen now as the ‘new normal.’ We have lots of students eager to go to work [while] doing what they need to do to keep their grades up. Our employer partners are stronger than ever.”
Competitive grants are providing $250,000 for automotive programs, and a $2.5 million grant for renovations to culinary arts and carpentry programs that will be detailed in a future meeting. The ESSER III federal COVID grant funds will also be used to support the fiscal 2024 budget. Nearly $450,000 in other grants support program positions at the school as well.
“I do not have numbers for next year, but I’m operating under the premise that they will be level funded,” Hickey said.
Hanson’s enrollment has increased by four students for the current school year and Whitman’s by 11. Only Norwell and Rockland have seen slight declines in their enrollment numbers.
“Enrollment matters,” Hickey said. “We know enrollment drives assessments.”
By January, the district will have an owner’s project manager to present to MSBA for the planned renovation and expansion project, so in February the organization can conduct it’s panel review of the OPM and potentially allow SST to begin the next steps, and the project team should be in place by the end of 2023. Hickey estimates that, at best, the final design and cost estimates could be brought to towns by late fiscal 2025.
Spirits of Christmases past
By Linda Ibbitson Hurd
Special to the Express
Asa Wallace was the father of four children. His oldest daughter Ceara was 19, attended a local college and earned money babysitting. His second oldest, Ben, was 17 then Joel fourteen. Both boys had after school jobs two days a week, which they alternated at the market in their small town. The youngest, Cassy who was 12, was just starting to babysit.
Asa was short on communication and sensitivity and long on gruffness but he loved his family and was a good provider. He wished his job in construction paid more but with the help of his wife Jane who drove a school bus and was very good at managing their finances, they managed. Where Asa was gruff Jane was the heart of their home.
Summer had ended and the fall season was in full swing. Asa had seen an advertisement in Yankee magazine for a build-it-yourself grandfather clock that came with plans and all the parts. The ad showed a picture of what the clock would look like all put together and the cost was affordable. Jane had always wanted one and he was thinking about it for Christmas. Asa started saving money. He was sure he could put it together and have it ready for Christmas and his parents who lived nearby offered to let him use their garage to work on it. Very unlike him, he even showed the ad to his son Ben who thought it was a nice idea.
Ben told his sister Ceara what their father had planned to do for their mother for Christmas. She was surprised her dad told Ben but was excited and thought it a great idea. She knew how long her mother had wanted a grandfather clock and how much she would love it.
Asa picked up a part time job on Saturdays operating a backhoe at a sand pit loading dump trucks so he would not have to take money out of his paycheck to save for the clock. He had to send for the plans in October to have the clock finished and ready by Christmas. The third week into October the weather turned very cold and there was a heavy snowstorm. All the work at the sand pit came to a halt and it wasn’t sure when they would be back up and running. He was eighty dollars short and could not send for the clock.
His family noticed he seemed more short-tempered than usual but it happened from time to time and they steered clear of him. Jane was used to his moods and didn’t think too much of it. Then he took Joel to task saying a “C” was too low a grade to get on one of his tests. He also got angry at Ceara’s boy friend saying 11 o’clock was too late to get home from a party. Then he got upset at Cassy and told her she shouldn’t take phone calls after seven at night. He was upsetting the entire household and Jane and the kids were upset.
Jane tried to talk with him to see if there was something wrong and he became very argumentative. She told him he was turning his kids against him with his behavior by getting on them about every little thing.
Asa went down cellar after Jane told him he better do something about himself. He started working on a lamp that needed fixing when Ben came down to see if he could find out what was troubling his father.
“Hey dad, looks like you’re in the dog house.” Asa just grunted. Ben tried again. “How’s it going with the clock?”
“Not too good!”
“How’s that?”, asked Ben.
In his gruff way Asa came back with, “Well, I lost my Saturday Job!” he yelled.
“You mean that’s how you were paying for the clock?”
“Well ya, what’ya think!”
“Well,” said Ben, “I didn’t realize that’s why you took the job, you just said they needed you.”
“They don’t need me now!” exclaimed Asa. “Well, maybe some other place might need some part time help?” Ben suggested. “Extra work’s hard enough to find right now with such cold temperatures and all the snow and ice.”
Ben looked at his father, “How much do you need?”
“I’m eighty dollars short, I’ll have to wait until next year,” Asa said looking down at the floor.
“You better get your homework done Ben, I have to finish up down here.”
“Okay dad.” Ben went upstairs to look for Ceara.
Ben told her what happened.
“So that’s what’s been going on! Why doesn’t he ever tell us anything?” Ceara sighed, saying “He makes you so mad you just don’t even want to care.”
“True.” said Ben, “But we do care, he’s really in a spot.” Just then Joel came looking for Ceara to get some help with his homework and Cassy came bounding into Ceara’s room as well.
“How come everyone’s in here?” Cassy wanted to know. Ben looked at Ceara,
“We might as well tell them, dad’s never going to.” Ceara nodded and they told Joel and Cassy why their dad had been in such a bad mood. “It’s hard to feel sorry for him,” said Cassy,
“He gets so awful sometimes,”
“Tell me about it,” said Joel.
Ben said, “I know but he also works really hard and this is something he really wanted to do for mom and if it were us that needed help, he’d help us.”
“Ya, after he yelled at us!” said Cassy. After a good laugh they tried to figure out how to help.
Asa came up from the cellar late that night. Jane had kept his supper warm in the oven and she and the kids had gone to bed. Asa was feeling pretty miserable about not having enough money to get the clock and also about upsetting his family. After he ate he got ready for bed. Jane was sleeping soundly as he started to get into bed and he was careful not to wake her. He noticed something sticking out from under his pillow. He pulled out a long white envelope and walked down the hall to the bathroom to open it so he wouldn’t disturb Jane. He turned on the bathroom light and opened the envelope. It was full of paper money and change. There was a note with it that read, Merry Christmas Dad, love Ben, Ceara, Joel and Cassy. When Asa counted it there was eighty dollars. A tear rolled down his cheek and his heart burst with love and pride as he realized what his children had done for him.
The clock came out beautifully and Mom loved it. It’s still in our family to this day. It lives in my brother’s house still happily telling the hours as it chimes away. Dad was never one to say he was sorry but we knew he was by the better way he treated us.
(Linda Ibbitson Hurd is a Halifax resident who grew up in Hanson and from time to time writes about her childhood memories. She shares these remembrances of Christmases past with our readers.)
Visions of sugarplums …
GINGERBREAD DREAMS: The Hanson Public Library hosted a pretty sweet Gingerbread House Decorating Workshop on Thursday, Dec. 15! Mandy Roberge, of Wicked Good Henna, provided gingerbread houses and various types of frosting, fondant, and a generous candy buffet to help participants make their own unique creations. Courtesy photos, Hanson Public Library
WINTER WONDERLAND
Whitman Fire Department seemed to have predicted the weather as they sponsored one of the trees receiving the most votes from visitors at the DFS Holiday Tree Lighting Dec. 9-11 in Whitman Park, left. Ryleigh Small is unsure about Santa, while her brother Brady happily poses for the camera during the vendor fair inside Town Hall, above. Mary Gallinger and daughters Elsa and Nora look through photos used to decorate ‘Are You Here?’a tree featuring photos of retired teacher Lauren Kelley’s past students, below. See more photos, page 6. Photos by Carol Livingstone
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