HANSON — With a return to hazy and humid summer heat forecast this weekend, Hanson residents will have to find an alternative method of cooling off — Cranberry Cove is closed for the foreseeable future because of sand wasps.

Tarps are covering the beach and yellow caution tape bars people from the beach and kayak launch areas. Police and fire services have also been notified of the closure.

“The beach is probably going to be closed a week, maybe two, while we wait to see if [tarps laid over nests] are enough to get rid of them,” according to Town Administrator Lisa Green, who said the situation was brought to her attention early last week. “It’s not a seasonal closing as of yet.”

Camp Kiwanee has closed off the entire area, including the boat ramps and the parking area with yellow caution tape.

“There were some type of insects flying around the beach over there,” she said. “We don’t want to risk anyone getting stung and having an allergic reaction.”

Two exterminating companies were called and did come to the beach. One said the sand wasps were not their area of expertise, the other put “some type of powders” down, but it did not impact the insects at all, Green said.

“Health Agent Gil Amado brought me out there on Friday [July 30] and the wasps … were literally swarming the higher beach,” Green said. “It looks like a little tornado that they’re swarming in.”

Town officials purchased some large, industrial-strength tarps, as a lot of organic insect experts suggest online, to cover the area and restrict their access to ground nests.

“They would either die or move out,” Green said her research indicated.

While they bear a resemblance, sand wasps found at the cove (species Bicyrtes quadrifasciata), are not as aggressive as their  “social” cousin the yellow jacket, according to entomologist Blake Dinius with the Plymouth County Commissioner’s Office. But sand wasps don’t like being disturbed or sudden moves, as one makes while swatting them away.

The major concern is such sudden moves by beach-goers could lead to stings, and problems for people with allergies to bee stings.

“I’m working with the board of health on this topic,” Dinius said in a phone interview Monday, Aug. 2.

“They are almost completely harmless,” he said. “I cannot say they are completely harmless, because if you provoke them enough, they could possibly sting you. … The risk is low, but it’s still there. I just takes is one person that’s allergic, sits on the beach and swats at them.”

For such a person, that one sting could be deadly.

Green said one of the Camp Kiwanee caretakers had been stung.

“My first concern is having anybody — adult or child — getting stung,” Green said.

“I think it’s a smart decision for the town to close off the beach for now,” Dinius said.

Another way sand wasps differ from yellow jackets and hornets is that they do not live in large-colony nests they would aggressively defend. But that difference also points to why the beach was closed.

“If they are under a threat of a danger, that is where you could possibly get stung,” Dinius said. “With people who may be allergic to stings, I can definitely see why the Board of Health would be concerned about this kind of situation.”

The sand wasps — as the name suggests — prefer sandy soil free of vegetation.

“I can almost guarantee you that, if I walk into your yard, I’m going to find sand wasps,” he said. “A large aggregation like is going on at Cranberry Cove is a pretty unique situation that I haven’t ever seen before.”

Dinius said he wonders whether their presence is possibly due to nests in other spots — higher along the Maquan Pond shoreline or in nearby cranberry bogs — being too wet.

“With all the rain we’ve been getting, it makes me wonder if possibly some areas where they used to nest, that water level’s higher, or the vegetation has grown up and over,” he said. “I don’t know.”

He said he is not sure about the efficacy of the tarps, but he said he really does not feel chemical sprays are the answer either from a public health, environmental or cost-efficiency point of view.

“You’re not going to spray your way out of this,” he said.

The wasps don’t have an official common name, but he suggested one based on the “service” they provide.

“You can call them stink bug-eaters,” Dinius said. “I saw them bringing [to their nests in the sand] a lot of the stink bugs that invade people’s homes in the fall and winter.”

A native sand wasp, they are supposed to be in this area, according to Dinius.

Nests consist of a single female and offspring. If one can walk over the nest, they would most likely just buzz around you or fly away.

The sand wasp’s life cycle is 27-44 days in length, with 33 days being the average. They come out in late July and usually last until about the third week of August, but some parts of the country have seen them nesting until November, depending on the weather.

They tunnel in the ground, usually only six to eight inches, forming one to three chambers that are provisioned with multiple stink bugs per egg to feed each developing pupae.

They remember where the nest hole is after burying it to find more food.

“One female is going to have multiple burrows,” he said.

HANSON — There may only be two bridges in town, but as the song says, they’ve got a name.

One of those names, Mary “Gret” Lozeau was honored at noon on Monday, July 26 as a salute to her life of gratitude and connection to others.

After working to name a bridge connecting Hanson and Hanover after the late state Rep. Charles Mann, who had also served as Hanson’s Town moderator, state Rep. Josh Cutler, D-Pembroke, worked with state Sen. Mike Brady, D-Brockton to name the small bridge over the Shumatuscacant River on West Washington Street after Gret Lozeau.

Gerard Lozeau offered a reading of his late wife’s favorite gratitude prayer during the event as her extended family and friends in the community joined the legislators for a brief dedication ceremony. A reception followed at the Old Hitching Post.

“I am reminded always that the most important things are without a price — health, happiness and relationships,” he read. “With this attitude, every day becomes a day of Thanksgiving.”

The prayer pointed to gratitude as one of life’s greatest gifts that is free for the choosing. He said his wife not only advised kindness to those who need it, but she modeled it in her daily life.

“A bridge brings people together, Gret was someone who brought people together,” Cutler said in opening the dedication during which her grandchildren helped her husband, and her children unveil the new signs.

Lozeau thanked Cutler and his staff as well as Brady for their efforts.

“It was a pleasant surprise and an honor that would greatly please Gret,” he said. “Tonight, all she would be talking about would be the people involved, who participated prior to today, doing the ceremony and the reception.”

He said that Gret would have touched base personally with everyone involved — one of her most endearing qualities.

“We know how much Gret meant to all of you,” Cutler said as the midday traffic on the roadway picked up. “She was one of the first people I met in Hanson. She was such a welcoming person and had done so much for the community over the years.”

Brady also addressed the gathering as he and Cutler presented the official parchment declaring the bridge name to her family.

“I’m grateful to be here,” Brady said. “I know Gret meant a lot to this community and it’s great to see the turnout and for the family, as well.”

He noted that the past year and a half have been difficult for many families, including his own. Brady’s brother, who had been diagnosed with COVID, had passed away from a heart attack last year.

“A lot of families have gone through a tough time,” Brady said. We’re still not out of it … I’m just happy that we can gather here publically with all our good friends and family members,”

Lozeau also noted that one of Gret’s college classmates had written to him that, after the death of a beloved spouse, one’s viewpoint of the future evolves — often with unfamiliar signposts.

“After today, I will be able to respond to her that at least one signpost in Hanson is a very familiar one, and it’s helping me to find my place, wherever that is,” he said.

WHITMAN — Sometimes it helps to be able to laugh at yourself, or at least at  the problems life puts in your way.

Whitman’s newest Eagle Scout Danny Kenn of Troop 22 evidently has that ability, and it came in handy as he provided the leadership, planning and fundraising needed to complete his Eagle project, the demolition and removal of an old utility shed at Colebrook Cemetery as well as the construction of a new shed.

One such joke gift was a white plastic megaphone with “Foreman in-Chief” written on it for his grandfather.

“For anyone who was at my project, you would have heard him,” Kenn said. “He’s very vocal about his opinions and how things should be done.”

Kenn also admitted to some humorous miscalculations in the project, in giving a pair of metal saw horses — to replace the ones he sawed through — to his dad, inscribed “You supported me” and “When I needed it most.”

“You can have the ones you sawed through,” his dad James Kenn Jr., said.

In addition to a bouquet of flowers, he presented his mother Tracey with a framed photo — a close-up of their clasped hands with the inscription: “Behind every great Eagle Scout is a great mom.”

Such sentiments of the inspiration provided by family and friends, and attainment of leadership goals, were the real themes of the day.

“Long trip, huh?” Eagle Project Committee Chairman Geoff Youngman said to Kenn, noting he wasn’t sure if COVID disruptions wouldn’t interfere in completion of the project. “Success in this effort will become evident in the way this Eagle Scout will set a social pattern for all the lives he may touch.”

Scoutmaster Shawn McCollem stressed the responsibility of achieving Eagle rank.

“This is a great undertaking,” he said before administering the Eagle Scout oath to Kenn. “As you live up to your obligations, you being honor to yourself and to your brother Scouts. If you fail you bring down the good name of all true and worthy Scouts.”

His mother Tracey and father Jim Kenn Jr., pinned on his Eagle badge and he, in turn presented pins to his parents and grandparents, as well as mentors’ pins to those people he selected to honor for the advice and inspiration through his Eagle project work, including one for his father.

Kenn earned the 21 Merit Badges, 13 required, that are needed to attain Eagle Scout rank.

His Eagle Court of Honor — divided in two, with the ceremony at The Spellman Center of Holy Ghost Church and a collation at the Knights of Columbus, because of COVID restrictions — was also filled with humor in the form of good-natured ribbing and gag gifts to his family and friends.

“America has many good things to give you and your children after you, but these good things depend on qualities instilled in her citizens,” McCollem said. “She has a great past and you are here to make her future greater.”

Senior Patrol Leaders Scott Brodie and Samantha Kenn served as masters of ceremonies for the event.

Troop 22 Scouts participated in the ceremony with Brodie and Samantha Kenn lighting the candles that symbolize the three facets of Scouting that Scouts pledge themselves to — duty to: God and country, to others an to self — and the 12 points of the Scout Law. Members of the Troop also described the rank advancements and how Kenn personified them through his Eagle project.

Among the honors he received in recognition of the Eagle rank were: a congratulatory letter from former President George W. Bush; a proclamation and designation of Saturday, July 17 as Danny Kenn Day in Whitman; and a Good Citizen Citation from American Legion Post 22.

Warner spoke of Kenn’s propensity for taking time to decide to take on a leadership role and how he excelled at leading once he made up his mind.

“Sometimes that’s what it takes,” he said before presenting Kenn with a Native American possible bag as a gift. “It’s just something that gets you to that point. … Something clicks and you say, ‘This, I can do,’ When you make that decision — not parents, not friends, not your boss — that’s when the magic happens.”

Congratulatory messages to Whitman’s retiring Fire Chief Timothy Grenno were written on a giant send-off banner by fellow firefighters, including Chief Jerome Thompson Jr., of Hanson, front above. State Sen. Michael D. Brady, D-Brockton, presented Grenno with a commendation for his 37 years of service, as Whitman Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski and state Rep. Alyson Sullivan, R-Abington, looked on. See more photos, page 6.   Photos by Stephanie Spyropoulos

After last year’s COVID cancellation, Whitman found that waiting a day due to rain couldn’t put a damper on it’s July 4th celebration in the park Monday, July 5.  Nick Kardoose, left,  director of sports for the Whitman Recreation program cheered on Justin Fisher, 3, of East Bridgewater who had a slow start in the sack race. See more photos, page 6.

Paparazzi  parents, family and friends gathered to photograph the special night for the  eighth-graders on the Hanson Town Green before their year-end dance and dinner at Somewhere Else Tavern, in Bryantville on June 17. See more photos, page 6.

WHITMAN — Pat Tibaudo is not always recognized as a veteran — sometimes even overlooked as such while volunteering during DAV Poppy sales or marching in parades in a VFW uniform. It’s a reason she has a “Woman Veteran” bumper sticker on her car.

It’s not a unique situation, VFW Director of National Security and Foreign Affairs Sarah Maples wrote in an essay in The Atlantic magazine in November 2017.

“Without the uniform, there is no outward indication that these women are veterans, Maples wrote. “Women are often denied recognition for their military accomplishments.”

Far from seeking glory for her own service, Tibaudo is, however, determined that women veterans receive due respect.

She is a 30-year veteran of the U.S. Naval Reserve, deployed to war zones three times, including to Spain in a storekeeper unit in the Supply Support Battalion from 1990-91 during Desert Storm (she also was assigned brief excursions into Kuwait). She was deployed to Iraq in 2006 and in Afghanistan detached to an Army unit as an individual augmentee in charge of training local troops and overseeing a women’s barracks — among a few other jobs — and has served as the first, and so far the only, female commander of the Whitman VFW.

She is currently an adjutant with the Whitman post, joining the organization in 1995.

“I volunteered when they needed people for bingo, when they needed people for color guard,” she said.

The Whitman VFW Color Guard ended up being the state color guard as well as the local unit.

“Every weekend I was marching for something,” she said.

Tibaudo said she stays with the post because there are not enough veterans joining and helping with volunteer projects, such as the Voice of Democracy, right now.

“I just have a good feeling every time I’m doing something,” she said.

Tibaudo is in charge of the  Whitman VFW’s annual Christmas party for Brockton VA patients and volunteers to pack food for veterans at Patriot Place.

She says there is nothing she would do differently, if she had the chance.

“I have no regrets,” she said. “The men are so used to having women now in the military, that it’s no big deal. … We watch each others’ backs, that’s what it comes down to. We’re there for one purpose — the mission.”

Being overlooked is mostly a civilian blindspot.

She relates a story of a time when, wearing a Navy veteran cap, a woman asked who she borrowed it from, assuming the answer would be a husband or male relative.

“I said, ‘It’s mine,’” she recalled. “How many times have people, even in my uniform, have pushed me to the side and thanked the guys?”

Such difficulties with the veterans’ community are rare, Tibaudo stressed, but they do happen. When she returned from Afghanistan, she was awaiting surgery in Virginia and went to a local VFW with a friend and were kicked out.

“I don’t know if they didn’t believe me or not, but I had to leave,” she recalled. “I showed them my regular military ID.”

But, while that can be frustrating, the Avon native, who now lives in Norwood, always had an interest in serving. Her brother was in the Army. While he was at first adamant that she not join the military, he later changed his mind.

“In the end, he ended up being my biggest supporter,” she said. “It’s my way of giving back.”

She was initially drawn to the Navy Reserves in 1979, giving thought to transferring to the Army after her second deployment, but stayed with the Navy, even as she was attached to an Army unit in Afghanistan a “Sand Squid,” as Army personnel called her. She retired from the Navy as a chief. She was working in civilian life as a storekeeper so the Navy assigned her to supply, later called logistics.

During her military career, Tibaudo earned certification for driving an explosives forklift so she could transport ordnance as  supply personnel. She also drove and up-armored Humvee as a lead convoy driver in Iraq on occasion.

“The guys requested me [as a driver], because — one thing about a Humvee, if you take too sharp a turn, it tips over — if you tipped over the gunner’s gone,” she said. “To me, that was precious cargo I was carrying.”

When she joined, she had been divorced with two young children and said the Navy Reserves never saw her status as a single parent a deterrent.

“I just had to make sure that I had somebody, in case I got deployed, that would be responsible for them,” she said.

She has definitely traveled a lot of the globe in 30 years.

“I was one of the lucky ones, I came home,” Tibaudo said, becoming quiet-spoken, as she demurred from going into in detail about her military experiences beyond general job descriptions. “When you sign that piece of paper …” she said, her voice trailing off. She retired from the Navy Reserves in 2010.

She still worked her civilian job as a nursing assistant for the cardiac floor at Brockton Hospital, where she worked for 25 years.

HANSON — Nearly 100 participants registered for the all- ages Fishing Derby held at Cranberry Cove in Hanson on Sunday.

In collaboration with The Rockland-Hanson Rotary Club local family Anthony Grasso and wife Lindsay owners of Anthony Grasso Electric sponsored the event.  The couple assisted in handing out trophies and decorated medals for winners in categories that included:  most fish caught during the event, which was achieved by Joey Hayden, 10, of Hanson and John DeLaney, 14, of Whitman and Noah Studley also of Whitman all the way through to the tiniest catch of the day given to Mason Weckbacher, 5, of and Sophia Maroney, 8, both of Whitman.

The well-attended event drew families as far away as Quincy and was held in ideal weather and two brand new fishing poles went to top winners.

The age groups began from the littlest anglers in pre-K through teens with fishing poles, nets and bait in hand, and lots of sunscreen. The edge of the Cove was decorated with hats, and casting rods from the beach to the shoreline just below the path to Needles Lodge.   

Ryan Maroney, 13, of Whitman reeled in a catch just under eight inches and as it was being measured the fish performed a back flip evoking laughter from volunteers Wendy Brown and husband Josh Hockenberry of Hanson.  The pair was in charge of jotting the length and then assisting in freeing the fish back to the pond as on lookers reacted to the “good size” of each scaly creature.

Goodbyes were not difficult as brother and sister Ruby, 2, and Sydney Hockenberry, 4,  of Hanson got close enough to react to the fish with a shiver quickly deciding they did not want to touch their squirmy sunfish. The event drew all ages including grandparents who waded in the water to help catch and cast — or untangle — the occasional fishing lines. Kim Anderson and Helen Mastico of the Rockland -Hanson Rotary Club attended the event during the prize presentation.

For the 266 members of the W-H Class of 2021, the postponement of graduation to Saturday, June 5 due to threatening weather was just another bump in a road of adjustments they’ve had to make since COVID-19 closed classrooms in March 2020.

“I think it would be appropriate for us all to take a moment and reflect on the journey that has brought us here today,” said Principal Dr. Christopher Jones in his welcoming remarks. “There have been hardships overcome, joyful moments, and relationships both created and lost, but we have persevered.”

He then released two graduation balloons in memory of two W-H teachers who passed away during the school year.

Perseverance has been a hallmark of this class, and the community supporting them. The outdoor ceremony — another departure from recent tradition — was something of a graduation for the seniors’ families, teachers and the towns in which they live, as well.

Retired School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes, speaking at his last commencement ceremony, may have spoken for many when he forcefully exclaimed, “Goodbye, COVID!” to open his remarks.

Student speakers also related how the challenges of the last 15 months or so have affected them, as well as how they have not permitted the pandemic to dampen their outlook.

There were also timeline corrections — as speakers had to edit speeches on the fly, referring to “this morning,” instead of the “this evening for which they had prepared.

“The whole world seemed to have caved in on us, in some of our most important and memorable years of education,” Class President Delanie MacDonald said in response to the many admonitions her class had heard to “look on the bright side” during the pandemic during her welcoming address. “Were they perfect? Absolutely not. But they served as a gentle reminder to always be grateful for what you have, not envious of what you don’t.”

Still, she saw some humor in the events of the past year or so.

“This year taught us that imperfection isn’t just OK, but has actually been kind of welcoming,” MacDonald said. “What a relief to not have to dress up, fix your hair, remember which outfit you’ve already worn that week, and so on. This year allowed us to be more ourselves than ever before.”

She challenged her class to embrace the imperfect as they go on with their lives.

“There’s no question that this year was a disaster,” said Salutatorian Payton Bourgelas. “It felt like we were in a constant cycle of adapting and then readapting and then tearing it all down and starting over. … Perspective on what truly matters in our lives. Perspective that the ‘little things’ are what we will carry with us long after our time at W-H.”

She singled out, the teachers who gave space to students having trouble with stress, the prom at Gillette Stadium and the Senior Day organized for the class as examples of the little things that may not have been a lot, but were enough to show seniors that someone cares.

Such life lessons were reinforced by Valedictorian Abigal DeLory.

“Don’t be scared to try new things, whether it’s crocodile pizza on a trip to Australia or a new extracurricular activity,” she said. “Question everything, and challenge the status quo. … Treat people with kindness, just like Harry Styles always says. You never know what someone is going through, and a small act of kindness can go a very long way. … Everybody is on their own path, and no single path is objectively better than another.”

Citing her own intention to travel the country during a gap year before deciding on her future, DeLory concluded by advising her fellow classmen that they have the freedom to choose their own adventure for life, “so choose wisely.”

Winner of the student speech competition, Anna Williams, offered thoughts on the meaning of goodbye.

“High School is going to change you in unexpected ways, but do not try to avoid this change. This change is good. This change will help us grow. This change is what we need to use to make this world a better place,” she said. “As we go through life, we are going to experience failure and obstacles needed in order to reach success. However, it is these failures and these obstacles that are pointing us into the right direction–to achieve our goals.”

Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak advised the graduates on life lessons is 27 years as an educator have taught him, including that they remove the words “should’ve, would’ve and could’ve” from their vocabulary.

Hayes, in addition to kicking COVID to the curb, advised students to soak in their last day among their entire class and the teachers that supported them over the past four years.

“In the face of many obstacles, you have chosen to rise, grow and succeed instead of wavering,” he said, noting those traits show their character. “You faced a pandemic head-on, not only for one academic year, but for two.”

Jones, in relating a difficult story of his own high school challenges on the wrestling team, advised students that the only thing that truly made their experience meaningful was not quitting because it seemed hard.

“You found out along the way one of the most valuable secrets to life: No matter how down and out you are, you always have more to give and just on the other side of that is where your success lies,” Jones said.

Hanson Selectmen Joseph Weeks, above from left, and Kenny  Mitchell escorted Janet Hamilton of Ladies in Mourning following her wreath lying at the Memorial to the Unreturned at Hanson’s Fern Hill Cemetery during Memorial Day observances Monday, May 31. VFW Auxiliary member Pat Tibaudo and American Legion  Commander Walter Aylward lay a wreath at the Veterans’  Lot at Colebrook Cemetery. See more photos, pages  6, 8 and 9.

Photos by Stephanie Spyropoulos, top/Tracy Seelye, right