By Jeff Szymaniak
W-H Superintendent of Schools

The Whitman-Hanson Regional School District officially opened its doors for the 2021-22 school year on Wednesday, Sept. 1. Many things have happened over the summer months both in staffing and in our school buildings to prepare for Opening Day.

The District continues to use the theme “Semper Ad Maiora” which means “always toward the greater.” We are committed to providing opportunities for growth for the students and staff and moving the Whitman-Hanson Regional School District forward and out of the middle.  Our mantra for this year is “All In.” Our staff is All In for students, for learning, for inclusion, for staff, for school, for community and for each other.   

We have three new administrators in the district. Dr. Joel Jocelyn is the new principal at the Indian Head School. Joel comes to us from Newton where he was Principal at the Franklin Elementary School. Paul Duprey is the new Principal at the Whitman Middle School. Paul comes to us from Franklin where he was Principal at the Remington Middle School.  John Stanbrook is the new Director of Business and Finance. Prior to Whitman-Hanson John was the town administrator in Hanson. This spring, the district budget included adding staff, or interventionists, for remedial services and to assist students whose learning was impacted by the COVID pandemic. Thankfully, the federal government provided grant opportunities to offset the cost of adding staff.  In total, the district hired 35 new staff members to replace retirements, resignations, transfers, and long-term substitute positions.      

There was tremendous activity in most of the school buildings during the summer. The new driveway was installed near the pre-school entrance at the high school. The operations crew was busy emptying out the multiple storage containers that held classroom furniture and materials that were moved to create the six-foot social distancing needed to open last September. These items were returned to the appropriate school building for teachers to place back in their classrooms. Deep cleaning, painting and other building maintenance was done throughout the summer in preparation for Opening Day. The Whitman Middle School Building Committee met during the summer as the district proceeds in the Feasibility Study stage of a potential middle school building project. Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) is funding 57.74 percent of the feasibility study. If all goes well, the district will have a project manager hired by Jan. 1, 2022 who will contribute to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) in determining the best solution for a new or renovated middle school building.   

All instructional staff reported to school on Monday, Aug. 30 for opening day activities. New teachers were introduced, staff were recognized for attaining professional status (tenure), and we celebrated teachers for their years of service. The Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) as well as the District Accommodation Plan (DCAP) were discussed. To wrap up the formal part of the day, Eugene Hamilton, a unique speaker, delivered powerful message of motivation, the importance of teaching and kindness. A cook-out lunch, complete with an ice cream truck, was sponsored by Equitable Advisors, S.J. Services and Collegiate Press.

One of my goals this year is communication with parents and community members. The district has a Facebook page for members to follow. I also have a Twitter account @WH_Super where I will post district information.  We also have a new email address WHinfo@whrsd.org established for families to email their thoughts.  Please note that the email is public document and public record so please do not include personal or student information.  All school building principals and administrative support staff are available for questions or concerns as well as my office at 781-618-7412.

Let’s work together to make this a great year.

A DAY AT THE FAIR: Fair-goers slid down the giant slide in the mid-day sun on the opening day of the Marshfield Fair Monday, Aug. 23, after being canceled due to COVID last year. At right, Joe Keeley, 13, of Whitman with his goat, Alice, shared some time in the shade during the Marshfield Fair on Monday afternoon. See more photos, page 6.

Photos by Stephanie Spyropoulos

HANSON — A motorcycle crash took the lives of a father and daughter with ties to Halifax and Hanson on Friday night.

Former Hanson resident James Ripley, 58, and his daughter Jenna Ripley, 19, both of Halifax died following the crash on Route 58 Monponsett Street near Hill Road around 9:30 p.m. on Friday, according to District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz’ office.

Bouquets of flowers were seen placed at the base of a telephone pole on Sunday where the pair was killed. Jenna was pronounced dead at the scene, her father later passing away from his injuries at the Brockton Hospital.

A Harley Davidson motorcycle driven by James Ripley was heading south and left the pavement, according to Hanson Police in a written statement.

John Mahoney, who has owned the old Ripley Farm on Main Street for over two decades where the family grew up, said he knows them well.

He called the fatal accident “terrible.”

Jim’s father John Ripley who resides at the far end of the Main Street property was unavailable for immediate comment.

Ripley, who was known for his height, owned a tree company that he took over from his father. He was often seen driving through town hauling logs on his rig.

Mahoney described Ripley as a friendly, good guy, a burly guy — always waving as he drove by in his truck.

The accident remains under investigation by State Troopers, Hanson officers and officers assigned to the Plymouth County CPAC Unit according to District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz’ office.

WHITMAN — While August by no means signifies the end of summer vacation it is the culmination of seven weeks of the Whitman Park and Recreation summer program.

The summer experience, which has averaged 75 kids weekly, has been a joyous celebration of returning to see friends; engaging outdoors in nature and seeing unmasked   friends reunite after a long evolving school year.

New Camp Director Kathleen Woodward has been with the program for this past year. She emphasized that although recreation is finished this week the pool along with swimming lessons are still open and available.

Families can purchase pool passes and swimming lessons as part of the Town of Whitman. Information on the pool is available on the Town of Whitman website.

Camp Director of Recreation Gabby Callahan has served as both a camper and counselor over the last six years. She is now in her senior year of nursing at Fitchburg State University. She is leaning towards pediatrics.  She loves working with kids and is passionate about the recreation program. Along with her staff in the recreation department it is rewarding to have a hand in generating a positive outdoor experience for campers, she added.

The camp has been around for decades and has hosted countless families who undoubtedly have memories of the park including stories of squirrels that have finagled a lunch or two.

Callahan reminded the campers on Monday during day one of session seven that unzipped, unsealed snacks are fair game to the little critters in the park. The group shared a snicker at the incident in a previous session in which a tricky squirrel carried a brown-bag lunch up the tree before anyone noticed.

Each morning the campers check in, find their age groups, donning bright blue T-shirts they chat with friends until morning circle.

Rotation stations include entertainment such as: crafts, gym time and free play on the playground, swim time and sports with long time camp counselor Sports Director Nick Kardoose.

Themed crafts are always a suggestion as often times creative campers will come up with different ways to use the supplies such as: folding old fashion paper airplanes. The timeless generational pastime has been as popular as the Gimp braids used to make handmade bracelets.

Tether ball during game rotation is a hit as well as board games and free block that it is worked in for a lighter period of structure.

There is disc golf, kickball, relays, dodge ball, to name a few. Swimming is daily and for anyone who decides not to swim they can enjoy board games or sidewalk chalk.

Town Hall is the rainy day shelter when it is a complete washout for outdoor activities. It can be harder on rainy days but a new projector has allowed for movies. Camp counselors will bring in items that will engage or prompt activities such as a toy they had growing up. It can spark interest and is always age appropriate.  The location is in use for town related business so it makes it a bit harder to let go and run wild like the good old outdoors.

Science walks, lava lamps, using nature to create designs have been just a few of the hands on activities over the last two months.

Olympic week kick off during session number four was a build up to the Olympics. Campers created the Olympic ring symbol using paper circle plates among others daily projects.

“We had a huge emphasis on team building and working together so we incorporated mentoring with the older kids assisting the younger kids,” she said.

The recreation program did remain closed over 2020 during the height of the Covid Pandemic.

“We were so excited we got to run this year. It was up in the air and we received the OK. We are so excited. Kids need to be outside, interact and giving them something like this (program) is incredible,” said Callahan.

Reese Cordero a 2021 graduate of Whitman Hanson is also among the counselors this year at Park and Recreation. She was playing football during game time at the basketball courts. Taking turns with runners and hikers the lively group had a lot of energy to burn despite the dampness on Monday and looming rain.

Codero is planning on majoring in criminal justice at Roger Williams University in the fall. Her goal is to become a DARE Officer and work with the youth population.

She grew up in Whitman and said what she loves about Whitman Park and Recreation is seeing the happiness on their faces (campers) having fun and just being kids.

Visit the Town of Whitman website for information on sign-ups for all ages swimming lessons and family open swims which runs through Labor Day.

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.