WHITMAN — Staff and volunteers from Whitman-Hanson Community Access TV, as they say in show biz, took its act on the road — or at least across town — for the taping of some of its regular in-studio programs Friday, Aug. 4.

It’s the first such effort, other than football games and of a Hanson Town Meeting, for which the nonprofit organization has used its new transmission truck. Two programs, “Bring It On,” with Bob Hayes and “Andrea’s Fit Yoga” with Andrea Mariani were taped at Hobart’s Pond off Colebrook Boulevard before lighting curtailed the evening’s work. They plan to return this Friday to tape an episode of “Painting with Danielle” with host Danielle Tierney.

Similar programs are being planned for locales in Hanson, said Access Operations Coordinator Kevin Tocci.

“Kevin came to me with the idea and it was going to be one show,” said WHCA Executive Director Eric Dresser, who was Hayes’ guest for his show. “I said, ‘Boy, that’s a lot of work for a 30-minute show. Why don’t we try to tack a couple others on?’”

Dresser said it was too early to discuss details for the Hanson programs, which are still in the early planning stages, as they line up locations and obtain any required permission or permits from governing boards.

“We’d like to visit each of the two towns over the summer,” Dresser said.

Hayes said he was enthusiastic about taking his show on location as he and Dresser chatted while technicians worked to set up cameras, wiring and work out which microphones would best link cameras with the remote truck.

“I think it’s great,” Hayes said. “I know that it’s innovative for WHCA, but it’s been done other years — We’ve done Whitman and we’ve done Hanson and it just shows you that Whitman-Hanson Community Access cable is really being proactive in going after town stuff. We’re showing off the assets of the towns of Whitman and Hanson.”

He also noted that the location choice for the Aug. 4 programs bring some focus back on an area of Whitman with a lot of community history.

“It’s a beautiful place,” Hayes said.

The location also made itself heard in the programs as the wind picked up and a flock of Canada geese honked loudly as they flew from the pond for the evening.

“The ducks must hear me talking as they’re honking in the background,” Hayes said as cameras began to roll for “Bring It On,” and he introduced his guest and location.

“We’re here to discuss with [Dresser] what Whitman Community Access does,” Hayes said toward the camera, noting Dresser was hired in January to succeed the late Steve Roy as the WHCA executive director. “I’d be remiss not to mention we are here in Whitman at Colebrook Boulevard, which used to be known back in the ’70s and ’80s, as a local parking spot, so to speak. … It’s a beautiful place for anybody to come and walk through.”

Dresser has been executive director since January, coming from Hingham where he also served in that capacity on the local community access station.

“I think video is as important now as it’s ever been— if not more,” Dresser said, replying to a question from Hayes about the future of community access television. “I went over my data plan this month on my cell phone because of videos that were autoplaying on Facebook, so if we can help create more professional versions of those videos, if we can get some well-thought-out video statements out there … that’s as important now as ever. I think places like WHCA have a big role in that, in informing and educating individuals in using that technology better and providing that for the folks that don’t carry that studio around in their pocket and want to do something better.”

Dresser also said WHCA is looking for people both to learn technical skills as volunteers and to bring new ideas for the company to pursue.   

Tocci added that Hayes is a valuable volunteer himself, hosting several programs and serving as moderator for some Hanson political forums for WHCA.

“He’s someone who talks about the need to volunteer — and practices what he preaches,” Tocci said. “I can’t tell you how many hours a year he puts in, and if there’s an issue he wants to get it out there to the public.”

Tocci said Hayes is one of 40 volunteers WHCA has cultivated and they are seeking more under Dresser.

Hayes and Dresser both said the remote taping was a success.

“It went great — no issues,” Hayes said.

Dresser indicated that some technical aspects such as wireless equipment can always be an issue when one is taping in a new location, but that he was pleased with the results.

“There’s such a big difference between a studio shoot where you can control the environment, you control the lighting, a lot of times you can control the sound — the geese,” Tocci said. “But the beauty of this is we’re out in the community.”

He noted that passersby were interested and excited about the taping.

Next up for taping on location were Mariani and her assistant Emily Pollock for “Andrea’s Fit Yoga.” An instructor for more than 12 years, Mariani said that, while she also teaches pilates, yoga is better suited for instruction via television as there is less risk for injury if the home viewer does a move improperly.

She starts each yoga lesson with a stretching session to warm up.

“We get into a gentle flow and then we end with a savasana (corpse pose for rest), a meditation towards the end,” Mariani said. “I like to keep the material new and fresh so that you don’t get bored.”

Keeping the audience engaged is key both in her own studio and over the air.

The 23rd annual Plymouth County Drug and Alcohol Resistance Education (DARE) Summer Program may be a tough one to top. During the week, campers and staff watched an apparently-successful attempt to set a Guinness World Record while learning leadership and good choices, playing and interacting with new friends.

“The police officers and school resource officers would not be here but for the leadership of the Plymouth County police chiefs, many of whom are here today,” said Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz.

This year, about 50 officers in 23 departments participated, a record number, Cruz noted.

Speaking of records, Mark Kenny of Plymouth has long entertained by walking on his hands, but this week he not only brought his talent to DARE Camp on Thursday, July 27 — water day. He achieved what appears to be a new world record.

Inverted sprinting or walking on your hands while pulling a car was the challenge he set out to attain. Now, in coming weeks, officials from the Guinness Book Of Worlds Records will review video and authenticity of his stunt.

With nearly 500 campers and staff present along with an onslaught of police officers and media he will have plenty of documentation.

Kenny’s family was present to witness their dad’s success. His wife Mary, sons Will, 11, and Johnny, 15 and daughter Katie, 13, were among the crowd cheering, “Move That Car!”

The momentum of the crowd helped him get rolling, said Kenny who pulled a Cooper, which weighs approximately 2,800 pounds attached by a tether around his waist five meters while he walked on his hands, pulling it.

“I want to thank Mark for letting you guys be part of this special event,” Cruz said during his remarks at the Friday, July 28 graduation ceremony.

He has been walking on his hands for 20 years, exercises everyday with resistance and pushing weighted sleds and plans to continue using his talents.

Another impressive personal achievement was saluted during Friday’s graduation ceremony, a Duxbury girl was honored for her honesty in turning in a $20 bill she found under the bleachers in the WHRHS gym on the first day of camp.

“We try to teach the kids to make life decisions, to be responsible, be respectful and to be honest,” said Hanson DARE and School Resource Officer William Frazier. Hanson is the event’s host community.

Frazier had told her the $20 was hers if no one claimed it at the end of the day. He never saw her again until he called for her to come claim it at the graduation ceremony.

“That says a lot about her, her family and her community,” Frazier said. “So, where are you? Come up and get your $20.”

Frazier thanked Hanson Police Chief Michael Miksch for letting him be part of the DARE program as well as Whitman Chief Scott Benton and his town’s DARE officer Kevin Harrington and WHRSD officials for their efforts in support of the event. Hanson Fire Chief Jerome Thompson Jr. was also lauded for his department’s help in making the camp’s popular water day possible.

More than 20 police departments, the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department and the Massasoit Community College Police Department participated in the camp this year.

“These officers come to camp every day and give your child 110 percent,” Frazier told parents attending the graduation ceremony. “This camp does not exist without the extraordinary participation and dedication of each of these officers.”

Leadership service awards were presented to three campers in the name of police officers who have passed after careers dedicated to their communities — Robert Quigley and Helen Gray of Marshfield Police and Gerald Mont of Whitman Police. Camper Ava Dant was also honored for her work during the year to raise funds to make it possible for kids who might not be able to afford it to attend camp.

Cruz gave special thanks to the work of police and sheriff department officials whose work to control drug trafficking, especially of opiates, putting the money seized from drug dealers back to work in the DARE program to fight future drug problems through programs like the annual camp. He also thanked the nearly 20 businesses who donated food for lunches and snacks provided to campers during the week. The event concluded with the introduction of the 24 DARE camper teams, of which the top three winners of the team cheer competition had the opportunity to demonstrate their rhymes.

Members of Whitman-Hanson WILL, an anti-opiod abuse community group, met at the WHRHS library on Wednesday, July 19 to review past programs, a 2016 youth survey and current opioid overdose data.

The group will hold another meeting at the school’s library at 1:45 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 21 before planning a community-wide session at the Hanson Public Library on a date to be determined in October.

“We want to include the community in some of our discussions, because we have been primarily focused at the school and with law enforcement throughout Whitman and Hanson,” said Amanda Sandoval of the Brockton Area Opioid Abuse Prevention Collaborative. “We really want to have the voice of the community  involved.”

Attending the July 19 meeting were police chiefs Scott Benton of Whitman and Michale Miksch of Hanson; police officers Daniel Connolly of Whitman, and Elisha Sullivan of Hanson and Hanson DARE School Resource Officer William Frazier; W-H Principal Jeffrey Szymaniak, Adjustment Counselor Erin Monroe and Athletic Director Bob Rodgers as well as Ed Jacobs, the director of grants and sponsored projects from the Plymouth County DA’s office; Sandoval and Anna Dowd of the Brockton Area Opioid Abuse Prevention Collaborative — as well as a few community members. Member Maureen Leonard of WHRHS was unable to attend, so Symaniak provided an overview of past programs through the school.

Szymaniak echoed Sandoval’s message that the group wants to branch out into the community  in its efforts to being the message of making good choices regarding drugs and alcohol that are already being addressed at the school level.

“We really hit the ground running in 2014 and I think we’ve managed to do a lot in a small amount of time,” he said. “This is an important group.”

Past programs have included the drug-free community survey Rodgers reviewed, the PhotoVoice program depicting students’ artistic representations of their substance abuse concerns, guest speakers for students and the community as well as the Hidden in Plain site mock-up of a teen bedroom and how drugs can be hidden from parents.

Szymaniak noted how he has had to attend the funerals of too many former students, including three recently in Scituate, where he used to teach.

Sandoval suggested the meetings could alternate between school and community-based meetings such as the one they are planning for the Hanson Library in October.

One parent at the meeting asked for a parents’ program on cell phone applications teens use to communicate about things they want to hide from parents.

“Rather than meeting parents when they’re in this desperation phase where they don’t know where to go, they don’t know where to turn, I think it’s important to be proactive,” she said.

Benton and Miksch reported that overdoses are statistically holding steady — from nine fatalities among 49 overdoses in Whitman in 2015 to three fatalities among 41 overdoses in 2016 and — so far this year — three fatalities among 19 overdoses.

“Before you are going to see a significant drop from 49 to, say, 25 or 30 it’s going to be three to five years,” Benton said. “This has been going on for several years. … Those are sobering numbers when you consider we’re a 14,000-15,000 community.”

Death certificates are not always clear as to whether opioid overdoses are a main cause of death, he noted.

“When you can go in and say of these 38 cases, all of them were overdoses, not some are pending, you can go to the governor and keep saying, ‘We need money,’” Benton said.

Sandoval said all 27 police departments in Plymouth County are on board, sharing their data for realtime reporting of overdoses. It has revealed that almost half of all overdoses are not happening in the towns where victims reside, a statistic that is helping get them the help they need via programs such as Project Outreach.

Miksch noted that the high mark for deaths for Hanson residents was 20 in 2015 — and it shocked him because only half those fatalities occurred in Hanson.

Both he and Benton also said overdose deaths ranged in age from teens to adults in their 60s.

Combined with East Bridgewater HOPE, offering informational meetings in Plymouth and East Bridgewater as well as Project Outreach’s goal to have an officer, counselor or both visit the home of overdoses within 24 hours with information on rehab services.

“There’s no judgment,” Miksch said of the program.

Jacobs said the national statistic for overdose deaths is 16 per 100,000. There were 41 among Plymouth County’s approximately 500,000 residents in 2013 and 80 in 2014.

Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid frequently originating in China and Mexico, is the game-changer police said because it is more powerful and takes more Narcan to counteract. Drug-sniffing dogs can’t smell fentanyl and it presents a danger to police as it can be absorbed through the skin.

Sandoval said there have been three overdoses at Brockton Hospital where fentanyl had been added to marijuana the victims were smoking.

HANOVER — Faced with the need for expansion to accommodate new educational standards and increasing enrollment — and having been passed over twice in recent years for MSBA funding — South Shore Regional Vocational Educational Technical High School is preparing to make the argument to go ahead with the work on its own.

“We want to serve the communities and the taxpayers who are sending their students here, certainly, but the status quo isn’t good enough anymore,” said Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey. “Knowing what we want and asking once is important.”

That means preparing information to present to member communities illustrating the need for expansion, as well as how it can be done, with or without borrowing funds, to accomplish all the goals.

On Thursday, July 13 members of the SSVT Regional School Committee’s Capital Projects Subcommittee met to discuss that work, with the issue slated to go before the full committee on Wednesday, July 19.

“The Capital Projects Subcommittee is a logical place to start in terms of determining what steps we might take,” Hickey said. “A well-documented plan is expected to address that across the board.”

The aim is development of a master facilities plan encompassing the relative health of the building, such as Tri-County Vocational in Wakefield produced last year. Hickey supplied copies to the subcommittee for reference.

“We all know the motivation for the discussion — increased enrollment, increased demand — the building is not getting any younger,” Hickey said. “We know we need more space, what’s inside the space we have needs to be modernized, and there’s no guarantee that we’re going to get any support from the [Mass. School Building Authority] MSBA.”

The state funding agency has limited funds and an increasing number of applicants, some with more acute need. SSVT’s stabilization fund allows the school to plan and present an adequate argument to the member towns.

Possible out-buildings in which to place shops to free up space for other purposed in the main building are an option. Such self-contained buildings that are affordable within a budget year, are about 6,000 square feet are the type of project that the school can fund on its own in a single budget year. That size is considered helpful, but is not likely to be a lot in “the world of vocational shop space,” Hickey said.

The school, surrounded by wetlands does not have a lot of buildable space available and it uses a septic system because sewerage is not available.

Larger projects, perhaps a larger one that can be funded through borrowing or through a “deeper part of the stabilization fund, something that we could not have our kids in their shops do” are also possible.

“There’s not a whole lot that our kids can’t do,” said committee member Robert Mahoney of Rockland. He noted that the panel is not looking for the funding for a $100,000 feasibility study or a $6 million building. “We’re coming [to towns] for X-amount of dollars to buy eight out-buildings that’s going to be very minimal to bring us up to where we need to be.”   

Septic capacity should also be included in any feasibility study in case an expansion project triggers the need for adding a wastewater treatment facility for the school, Hickey advised. Septic capacity hinges on the demand and number of fixtures in the building.

When the new wing was completed in 1993 there were 460 students at SSVT with 650 expected as of the 2017-18 school year.

Hickey said that, while enrollment in sending towns is trending down, SSVT’s enrollment for those towns is holding steady — with out-of-disctrict enrollments increasing.

“We’ve got to stop what we’re doing,” Cohasset member Kenneth Thayer said “We’ve got to expand the building, get the building up to snuff. Students should be able to come in and go to school here. We want to add to it.”

He forecast that the new horticulture/landscaping and plumbing programs will be very popular, necessitating new space. He advocated that, if five out-buildings can be constructed, it may be cheaper to do now than “down the road.”

Hickey said, given present space constraints, the horticulture program may have to limit its first class to about 12 students. Building toward 50 by the time those freshmen graduate.

“Other then metal fabrication-welding, every shop has a footprint that is smaller than the Department of Education’s recommended square footage,” he said. Metal fabrication used to share space with industrial technology, which was discontinued 15 years ago.

The autobody shop is also being required to expand with another, enclosed, bay for welding aluminum. Certification for the program will hinge on that.

“It’s not a crisis right now, but NATEF [National Automotive Technician’s Education Foundation] has told us that, when we come back in 2020 or 2021, we won’t be able to certify the program if the existing footprint does not contain a segregated area for aluminum work,” Hickey said. “It’s that the industry is doing more aluminum work, and if you do regular collision repair work, and aluminum work, it could contaminate equipment.”

There was some good news on the feasibility study front, however.

Hickey said the school has an advantage in that it has local people who know construction and know the building well. Engineering firms would spend time obtaining that information.

“If you ask me what programs are most limiting with their space, I’m going to tell you it’s the ones that are over-subscribed and it is not safe to have the ratios,” he said. “We’re going to talk about the heavy-equipment programs.”

Mahoney wants to see out-buildings used to accommodate present students, rather than using them to attract more at this point.  Weight, ceiling height requirements and MSBA time limitations following previous roof projects limit options for adding another floor to the school.

“The good news is we have the capacity to look into this,” Hickey said.

HANSON — Police Chief Michael Miksch is preparing to offer an assessment center for sergeants in his department as part of the search for a new lieutenant — a position that has been vacant for about a year and a half.

“I would like to fill that position again,” Miksch said. “It’s needed. The way I would like to fill it is through an assessment center.”

The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, July 11 voted to approve Town Administrator Michael McCue’s recommendation to contract with Integrity Testing to administer the assessment center. Selectmen also approved the qualifications Miksch had drawn up for consideration for promotion to lieutenant.

McCue made the recommendation based on their program and as the low-bidder for the testing.

Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett asked if McCue and/or Miksch had “kicked the tires” on Integrity.

“They have quite a lengthy resume,” McCue said. “We’ve done that sort of search.” Miksch said he had no objections to that firm.

Miksch himself was hired through the town’s work with BadgeQuest on an assessment center. Evaluators would be captain level or above, and likely would include chiefs or deputy chiefs.

Miksch said he was partial to BadgeQuest, which was the assessment center he went through, but had no objection to Integrity Testing as he had placed it close behind BadgeQuest in his ranking of the five bidding assessment companies. Hanson Police Department also used a BadgeQuest assessment center for its last sergeant’s exam, promoting three off that list.

“It’s not your typical, multiple-choice Civil Service exam, although Civil Service does recognize assessment centers now,” Miksch said. “Being non-Civil Service, we can determine how we want to do promotions.”

The process combines a written portion, often as a report, following a practical exercise. No dates have been set for the assessment center yet.

“I like the assessment centers because they test the individual’s abilities, knowledge and skills,” Miksch said. “You either know something or you don’t. There’s no guessing if it’s A, B, C or D — you have to put out and produce.”

While all five Hanson Police Department sergeants will be welcome to take the assessment, only two meet the criteria required for advancement to lieutenant right now. For the others, it is a chance to go on the list at their three-year mark and to enable them to move on if they wish to take another opportunity.

To qualify for consideration for the lieutenant’s position, applicants must have three years of employment as a full-time Hanson Police sergeant. Tie scores will be broken by seniority and the score list will be active for two years and points will be given for advanced degrees, seniority and veteran’s status. A one-year probationary period is also included.

“Who would know more about the position you wanted to fill than you?” Selectman Jim Hickey said. “I think it’s a formality that we’re doing this.”

Credit where due

Miksch also took the opportunity Tuesday night to credit the officers and detectives who worked two recent theft cases, as well as those who are working to control the opioid overdose problem in town.

Hanson officers working the case of an armed robbery attempt at the Dunkin’ Donuts on Liberty Street June 14 were Sgt. Eugene Andrews and officers Marc Vigneau, Dan Godwin, Jared Meegan and Brent Peterson.

“This was the third time we’ve had a robbery or an armed robbery in the area,” Miksch said noting past incidents at Mutual Federal and Rockland Trust banks. “These [officers] have it down to a science. They go in, do a very good job of working together — knowing who has what cameras — they know the town, they know the businesses and the people, and they wrap up some of these things fairly quickly.”

Meegan was singled out for his observations of the would-be robbery suspect’s behavior and description earlier in the evening at Shaw’s supermarket, which proved invaluable to making an arrest, Miksch said. Meegan was a member of the Wellfleet Police Department before coming to Hanson three years ago.

“The officers did an outstanding job,” Miksch said. “The most notable one would be officer Meegan. … On his normal patrol earlier in the evening, he saw a vehicle with a male and a female in it that just didn’t sit right with him.”

Meegan then remained at the Shaw’s lot and ran the vehicle’s license plate, which came back to some Quincy residents. Other officers investigating the Dunkin Donuts incident — gathering surveillance camera footage from area businesses — noticing that one suspect was wearing the same pair of distinctive shorts Meegan had described as worn by the male at the Shaw’s incident.

“That was a big key for this,” Miksch said. “For us, a lot of things — one might say — is dumb luck, but I think sometimes you make your luck. In this case, they did.”

Detective Paul O’Brien worked to secure arrest warrants, two of which were from Norfolk County for Quincy evidence, which also helped Quincy Police clear three armed robberies, Miksch said. Abington is now looking at two others.

While the officers were in Quincy on June 16, Officer Elisha Sullivan and Sgt. Michael Bearce took a call for the breaking and entering of a vehicle at Shaw’s.

“They got some great information from a witness,” Miksch said. “The dispatcher David Munn did some great work putting a broadcast out very quickly. The Whitman Police stopped them at the CVS on Bedford Street.”

The Hanson victim’s property, as well as property from a number of other thefts, was recovered. Sgt. Peter Calogero also became involved in the case, working to obtain search warrants based on forensic evidence from cell phones and is working to return property.

“There was some great stuff in a two-day period that these guys did,” Miksch said.

Opioid battle

In addition to carrying Narcan to deal with opioid overdoses, Hanson officers have also been working within the limitations of legal restrictions imposed on narcotic evidence at overdose calls to arrest drug dealers.

Miksch said funding from Plymouth County DA Timothy Cruz’s office and the Sheriff’s Department have established a database to track incidents of overdoses as well as providing information to officers to “work our way up the supply chain” and make arrests of dealers.

Hanson officers are also working with groups such as East Bridewater HOPE and the Outreach Program in Carver and surrounding communities — which have since merged their efforts. The goal is to have an officer and a counselor show up at an overdose victim’s home within 24 hours to provide treatment information and a bed at a rehab facility.

Over the past 10 years, an average of two people a year reporting Hanson as their last address, died from opioid overdoses, based on statistics from Whitman-Hanson WILL. Since then, the number of reversals — people that have been saved — have increased thanks to the counseling programs.

“We’ve been doing a lot,” Miksch said. “You don’t see it … but detective O’Brien and officer Sullivan are my two outreach people right now. Every city and town in Plymouth County is involved in adding information to this database.”

He started off by saying that even the Dalai Lama hates ticks. While that is difficult to verify, it could be true — but Buddhist teaching frowns on the killing of any living thing.

By the end of entomologist Larry Dapsis’ talk “One Bite Can Change Your Life,” at the WHRHS Performing Arts Center Wednesday, June 28, one could assume few came away with a Buddhist outlook on the issue of ticks and the infectious diseases they help spread, but they had some advice on how to prevent being bitten.

“This is a beautiful summer evening, and I can’t think of a better way to spend it than by having a very robust discussion of infectious diseases,” he said.

The talk, sponsored by the Plymouth County Beekeepers Association focused on protecting oneself, one’s yard and pets from pathogens that cause Lyme disease, babesiosis, anaplasmosis relapsing fever and Powassan virus carried by ticks found in the region. Dapsis holds degrees in environmental science from Fitchburg State University and in entomology from UMass, Amherst. He has worked with the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension Service for six years and 24 years in the cranberry industry with Ocean Spray before that. He stressed that, prior to joining the Cooperative Extension Service, he had little experience with ticks.

“I had a very vertical learning curve,” he said. “To address that, I read everything I could get my paws on, and talked with a ton of people. I had to figure out what the landscape really looked like.”

Even the word “tick” elicits a visceral response from people.

“When I say people hate them, I mean everybody hates them,” he said invoking the Dalai Lama. “When a gentle soul like the Dalai Lama turns his back on a form of life on this planet, that is a headline.”

Dapsis said the Dalai Lama had tweeted out his disdain for ticks a few years ago. True or not, who could blame him?

The six New England states rank in the top spots on most lists for the incidence of Lyme disease in the United States over several three-year average studies.

“If there is any question that we are living at Ground Zero with this problem, this should take it off the table right away,” he said. While Barnstable County used to regularly rank at the top for Lyme in the state, Plymouth County has overtaken Barnstable in that statistic. Part of the credit for Barnstable’s improvement has been its aggressive work against the Lyme vector.

He has advocated the hiring of an entomologist for Plymouth County, and that position has been budgeted with the expectation that one should be hired by this fall.

During a question session after his talk, Dapsis was careful to point out he is not qualified to answer medical questions, but focused on how the insects spread diseases. While he focused on deer ticks, Dapsis noted that climate change has brought more aggressive pests such as the Lone Star tick — which hails from Texas as the name implies — and the illnesses they carry.

“We’re seeing plants and animals where we never used to see them before,” he said, noting that three years ago, the first established population of Lone Star ticks was found on the Massachusetts mainland at Sandy Neck Beach Park in West Barnstable. Samples from the six-mile stretch revealed that Lone Star ticks “own that area” which is in a migratory bird flyway.

The concern with the Lone Star ticks is that they can see prey and run toward it, unlike the blind deer tick that has to “quest” for hosts on the end of vegetation.

“This is an aggressive biter,” Dapsis said of the Lone Star, known for laying eggs in clusters of thousands which hatch into hard-to-see nymphs that stick together. “Within minutes you can get overwhelmed with hundreds of bites and the older stages are also very aggressive. … They can run with spider-like speed. If they can see you, they’re going to chase you.”

The main danger of the Lone Star tick is that it spreads diseases such as erlichiosis and other illnesses, and can trigger a red meat allergy. That includes any foods, including marshmallows, made with red meat or its components.

“This can range from hives to anaphylactic shock,” he said.

Once attached to a host, all ticks secrete a glue-like material to hold themselves in place until its feeding cycle, which can last for days if not detected and removed, is complete. That cycle includes the secretion of anticoagulants into the host to ease feeding on blood as well as agents to deaden nerves to help prevent detection.

Some animals like mice, rabbits and birds known as competent hosts can harbor the Lyme disease bacteria and transfer it back into the tick population. People are among the incompetent hosts that cannot infect a tick, but are a food source for the insects.

How to protect yourself?

Dapsis advocates the liberal use of insect repellent since the highest rate of Lyme is among children ages 5 to 9 and in the senior population, who have the time to be outside. New England winters are not harsh enough to harm ticks in the winter and synthesize glycerol, a natural anti-freeze, to protect them from the cold.

Repellants are the first line of defense.

Dapsis is not a fan of all-natural products because they are not always EPA-registered. Products with DEET, eucalyptus oil or, to his preference — permethrin — which is used for treating fabric and footwear.

“It’s a real attitude adjuster,” he said. “This is the most effective tool in the box.”

Products like K-9 Advantix or Frontline or tick repellent collars can help protect your pet from the vectors. Check with your vet to determine what is best for cats.

Removing a tick should be done with pointed tweezers, grasping the insect at the head easing it out backwards.

“If you crush that tick, you just might give yourself a nasty infection,” Dapsis said. “A tick gut is full of microbes.”

Most people flush the tick down the toilet.

Instead, keep the tick, date it, and if possible send it to a lab such as the entomology department at UMass, Amherst (see tickreport.com) to determine what microbes it might be carrying. You may not test positive for an illness a tick carries, he said, but it is a “starting point for a conversation with your doctor.”

WHITMAN — The Recreation Commission reminds residents of plans for its 49th Annual Family Fun Day in Whitman Park for the 4th of July.

Recreation Director Oliver Amado outlined the schedule of events and equipment upgrades during the commission’s Thursday, June 22 meeting.

“Everything’s been all set for the 4th of July for the last three months,” he said.

A water slide, music, clowns, moon walk, field day races and games, a dunk tank and egg tosses, touch-a-truck and more. The 5K road race, which preceded park events will not be part of the Recreation Commission’s events, should it take place.

But the commission is considering a run around the park perimeter if DPW work on path improvements is completed in time.

Amado replaced all field day equipment for this year’s events.

The schedule starts at 9:30 a.m., with the bike and carriage decorating contest, featuring more prize categories. The Family Fun Day games run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., with the pool open free of charge for residents from 1 to 5 p.m.

The Boy Scouts will again be selling hot dogs and hamburgers, snacks and drinks to fund their programs.

Park and pool

Amado also reported during the meeting that income for the summer park program has already reached the level needed to fund the program and all planned field trips this summer, with more money expected to come in.

“If money should stop coming in — which it won’t — it’s already enough for five weeks of labor, supplies and trips,” he said. “It’s already paid for.”

Any additional income would go toward more staff should enrollment for the program continue to grow as expected as well as to reinvest into the program for equipment and any other needs.

The pool program is also in the black for eight of the nine weeks offered between Town Meeting Article 2 and revolving accounts.

“We should be hearing bells go off,” said Commission member June O’Leary. “That’s amazing.”

Amado said a lot of money has been invested in the pool and park program this year. JJ Pools vacuums the pool every 10 days for $100 each time, and conducts daily spot-checks of the pump and chlorine levels — even though pool staff also does that — at no additional cost.

“We’re in real, real good shape,” he said. “Right now people are talking about how crystal clear the water is — you could read a quarter this morning from the bottom of the deep end. The quality of the water is bringing in people in droves.”

The autumn hockey league, which has just started accepting registration is up to $850, according to Amado and field use fees have brought in nearly $6,000.

WHITMAN — Selectmen on Tuesday, June 20, discussed eviction proceedings aimed at squatters inhabiting a recently foreclosed property on Temple Street as well as plans to honor the late state Sen. Edward Kirby at a Whitman Park ceremony on Saturday.

The board has proclaimed Saturday, June 24 as Edward P. “Ned” Kirby Day in Whitman, which will include a tree dedication in his memory at the Whitman Park bandstand at 11 a.m. Saturday.

June O’Leary of the Friends of Whitman Park said a great American elm tree, selected by the Department of Public Works, has already been planted and will be the centerpiece of the ceremony.

She said Kirby had been especially helpful when she first came to the Board of Selectmen for permission to work on improving the park 17 years ago.

“When I wrote my first grant, for $285,000, Ned was a big part of that,” she said. “We appreciate that.”

The short ceremony in the park will include presentation of citations to Mary Alice Kirby.

The Selectmen’s citation, researched by the board’s Administrative Assistant Laurie O’Brien, notes Kirby’s legal education and Korean War-era service in the Army’s Judge Advocate General’s office as well as his service as both a state representative for six years and a state senator and as an elected member of the Plymouth County Commissioners. He also served as an administrative law judge and a worker’s compensation appeals judge. Kirby was also instrumental in returning commuter rail service to the area.

“I wanted to recognize him,” O’Leary said. “We just don’t thank people enough, we really don’t. There are people in this town — like yourselves — that serve for years and that service should be recognized. I appreciated Ned, he was the type of person that you were glad to see coming … he had a wonderful outlook on life.”

Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski noted that both he and Town Administrator Frank Lynam had the same experience with Kirby at different times.

“He was the first person to welcome us to town,” Kowalski said. “He ran to us at church. … He was a terrific guy and I’m looking forward to Saturday.”

The land court authorized the foreclosure of the property at 1030 Temple St., in December. Subject to a recapture, the property owner — or their heirs — have a year to reclaim the property, of which time six months remains.

“I do have a concern that there are people, for lack of a better word, squatting in the property,” Lynam said, seeking the board’s approval to have the town’s land title attorney take the necessary steps to evict them and secure the building. “Although I’m aware there are people in the property, I didn’t want to move in the winter months because I’m also aware there’s a young child there and was reluctant to start an eviction process.”

Once the foreclosure process is complete, the town gets the proceeds of sale. according to Lynam.

“We’re into the property right now for a $76,000 in taxes, fees and interest plus whatever interest we expend to secure the property,” he said.

In other business, Selectmen approved year-end transfers and announced receipt of a Green Communities Grant, for which Assistant Town Administrator Lisa Green wrote the application.

The transfers included those from the Selectmen’s office for the elevator, accounts and street lighting. Transfers for the Health Inspector’s line and two for clerical expenses were also included, as well as a transfer for part-time clerical expenses at the Conservation Commission as well as a small transfer for additional clerical at the Council on Aging.

DPW is working on a water main project, replacing water gates that are more than 10 years old, on Bedford Street where the state is working on the reconfiguration of two intersections. Lynam said they want to take the opportunity to have the state do some of the work at what would be a discounted cost. The cost of the necessary engineering is just under $20,000, which is being transferred from retained earnings in this year’s budget to pay for those costs.

Green said the $197,408 phase two grant will allow lighting upgrades in the police station and DPW building as well as heating systems in the fire station and library, while make possible the purchase of an industrial sized steamer/kettle cooker for Whitman Middle School.

“By completing that grant, Lisa is returning to the town not only in savings, but in actual capital costs, more than twice her salary,” Lynam said.

Whitman and Hanson town administrators will meet with school district Business Services Director Christine Suckow over the summer to examine the numbers and create a document outlining revenue — and expenses for all departments and capital improvement needs — as they begin work on a comprehensive budget approach for next fiscal year.

Another meeting will be scheduled when that process is concluded, most likely before Sept. 11, as Whitman Town Administrator Frank Lynam urged a realistic fiscal outlook be ready by September.

Former W-H School Committee Chairman Wilbur Danner of Hanson had suggested appointing subcommittees to examine the “actual cost of the schools or the departments” and bring that information back for discussion.

“We can sit here and talk forever about what we need. We need something tangible … then work together to try and reach that goal,” agreed School Committee member Robert Trotta.

More than two dozen town and school district officials, School Committee members and concerned residents from both communities met Monday, June 12, conducting a wide-ranging discussion to begin the process of determining how to best coordinate town and school budgets to meet ongoing fiscal challenges.

“This is not a School Committee meeting,” said Chairman Bob Hayes, who facilitated the session Monday night. “This is a meeting of people in town and town officials. … [We’re trying] to be objective to try and settle some of this budget stuff, and it’s not just school budgets — the towns are having the same issues.”

The greatest need is one of more revenue to fund all town budgets, officials said.

“We’re trying to figure out how, collectively, how to move forward,” Hayes said. “For years people have urged us to start early to see what we could do. Now we’re off and running.”

He stressed the group is in no way trying to circumvent boards of selectmen, but rather seeks to come up with ideas for addressing financial challenges facing both communities.

State Rep. Josh Cutler, D-Duxbury, attended and state Rep. Geoff Diehl, R-Whitman was represented by staff member David Walsh.

“You’re not alone,” Cutler said. “Every town is facing these kind of challenges. … At the state level, we’re having the same sort of issues with revenue, our revenues are not meeting their benchmarks.”

New state revenue sources are being considered, such as an Airbnb tax or a surtax on the state income tax, as well as the revenue from now-legal recreational marijuana, once governing legislation is complete, he said. Absent major changes such as those, Cutler doesn’t expect to see Chapter 70 increases for the next three years or so.

“I think we should be suing the state,” School Committee member Fred Small said about cuts to such mandated reimbursement programs.

Hanson Selectmen Chairman James McGahan and Whitman Selectmen Chairman Carl Kowalski also attended along with Whitman Finance Committee member Shawn Kain and Michael Dugan of the Hanson Finance Committee.

“We’re coming down to two basic principals,” Dugan said. “Where’s the revenue coming from and what are the expenses we need to support. … Poor choice of words, but where the biggest fires are going to be.”

Schools represent about 33 percent of Hanson’s budget and 65 percent of Whitman’s. Student population also has an affect on those percentages.

Kain urged a greater level of transparency in the budgeting and financial planning process, with a long-term approach.

“If we’re going to ask people to sacrifice, it’s very important that we demonstrate to people how we’re sacrificing in all departments,” Kain said.

Lynam said gross estimates from the towns and the schools by August or September would help identify what the towns can expect for the next fiscal year’s budgets.

“The bigger picture is our ability to identify our resources, your needs and put them together to figure out how to meet them,” Lynam said. “The elephant in the room is how much of that budget has to be allocated to education. … What I would like to see from the schools is earlier estimates.”

Whitman resident Christopher George asked why firefighters and police personnel did not face the same layoffs as teachers during recent tight budget years.

“The only department that lost employees was the schools,” he said. “Every other town around us has figured out they need more revenue. … In the absence of more revenue, the other departments have, essentially, kept level service and at some point that’s got to give.”

Lynam said finding the revenue was the only viable solution.

“We’re not going to cut fire,” he said. “We’re not going to have people waiting for an ambulance for 13 minutes because only one shift’s on. You’re not going to cut police with everything that’s going on.”

He said there are three departments that deliver a “huge percentage of essential services” — the schools, police and fire department — along with public works.

“The rest of us are overhead,” Lynam said. “But without that overhead, nothing else gets done.”

Practically speaking, George said he is talking about an operational override that could result in cuts across the board to all departments if it failed.

“This group is talking more of getting together to see how we’re going to expand revenue, not how we’re going to kill each other,” Hayes said.

Whitman resident Marshall Ottina also urged that public safety officials be included in the meetings to help ensure the financial plan is comprehensive, representing all town departments.

“Department-wise [approach] tends to pit one against the other, and we don’t want to do that anymore because nobody wins,” agreed Whitman-Hanson Education Association Vice President Beth Stafford. “If we present a united front and present one thing ‘for the town’ … I think that’s really important.”

School Committee member Dan Cullity noted that the overall budget problem started in 2008 when the state reduced its Chapter 70 reimbursement from about 70 percent to about 50 percent. The state has also informed the district that the towns must increase funding closer to the expected target share.

Grants that have been depended on to fill the void and support needed programs are also beginning to run out, which present another budget challenge.

McGahan asked about the possibility of hiring a professional grant-writer, perhaps one paid on the basis of the successful applications they write.

“Grants are called soft money,” said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ruth Gilbert-Whitner. “They’re going to be here for a period of time and then they’re gone, so in terms of sustainability that’s a concern.”

The district often has to partner with other districts or educational collaboratives that better qualify with demographic profiles in obtaining grants.

School Committee member Alexandra Taylor asked about the likelihood of attracting more commercial development to benefit the tax base.

“From a practical standpoint, the only way to generate that revenue is to move Whitman and Hanson to a highway,” Lynam said. “We’re too far off the road to attract large businesses.”

While Whitman does well with small business, revenue raising is limited to taxes and fees, he said.

Elimination or charging fees for non-mandated busing of school children was also questioned as a possible revenue source by a parent. But Lynam argued families with two working parents often depend on that transportation for their children.

“That’s a voters’ decision,” he said.

Gilbert-Whitner also noted the district is required by law to provide transportation for any student who lives two miles or more from a school, and is reimbursed for transporting students within a mile and a half.

Whitman resident Cheryl George pointed to surrounding towns’ success in passing operational overrides to support all departments. But others pointed out, Whitman-Hanson’s regional school district, and the commercial tax base of those surrounding towns, makes the process more difficult.

Amid glances back on the past four years and glimpses of future goals, the 272 members of the Whitman-Hanson Regional High School Class of 2017 graduated Friday, June 2 with tears, cheers and laughter.

“As we leave here today, remember that we have all been blessed with enormous opportunities, and it is our responsibility to take each door that is opened to us and use it to make a contribution,” said Valedictorian Olivia Morse. “With the strife and conflict that is plaguing the world today, our courage, compassion, and determination is needed now more than ever.”

It was a night to celebrate great academic and extra-curricular achievement, but Principal Jeffrey Szymaniak also recognized graduates who had more pressing challenges to overcome on their way to a diploma.

Honor Society graduates, 12 military-bound seniors, band, chorus and show choir members, 81 Adams Scholarship winners, athletics participants and sportsmanship award winners, championship teams, Superfans, academic competition award winners, art students who participated in the Memory Project for orphan paintings and various art competitions, Mock Trial competition participants and seniors who have worked to support fundraisers for several local nonprofits were among the students recognized by Szymaniak for a round of applause from the audience.

“Today is about academic achievement,” Szymaniak said. “However, there’s some of you … that should be commended for actions that aren’t on any traditional awards list.”

He referred to “The Missing Awards List,” which he ran across on a blog that recognized students “brave enough to come to school the day after a bad day.”

“I wish I could give an award for those sitting here who did homework and studied while juggling a job, had to take care of siblings or a sick family member, to help pay the bills,” he quoted. “I wish I could give an award to those of you who cope with surgeries, allergies, medications, conditions, tests, procedures, doctors appointments, measured diets … as part of your normal.”

He also saluted the parents who take care of the students who don’t get the awards, applauding the award-winners while thinking “my kid, too.”

Student speakers also saluted the hard work all their classmates have done toward this day.

“Whether you believe it or not, each and every one of you seniors out there has become more mature and grown tremendously, not just in your education, but as a person over these four short years at Whitman- Hanson,” agreed Class President Lily Spicer in her welcoming remarks. “We’re not freshmen anymore and soon we won’t even be seniors. Together it is time to say goodbye. Enjoy this summer and within the next few months, we will all begin a new and exciting chapter of our lives.”

“Our time here has emphasized that life isn’t meant to be easy, and that the greatest things we could ever hope for arrive only with work and determination,” Salutatorian Emily Cook said. “Dreams and aspirations are what motivate us to act, to pursue success; but never let your dreams remain just that – figments and reminders of what could have been.”

Graduation night awards [below] were presented to: Emily Cook, Zara Rabinovitz, Madison Jolliemore, Emily Gonzalez, Michael Gorman, Jessica Gaudreau, Devyn Smith, Patrick Brown, Owen Lydon, Taylor McVeigh, Luke Tamulevich, Morse, Robert Caliri, Hannah MacDonald, Mikayla White and Spicer.

“Each graduating class is unique in its accomplishments,” School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes said. “Since their arrival as freshmen in 2013, they have participated in academic and athletic programs in a building that supports 21st-Century teaching and learning. … Now it’s up to the graduates to shape their future and, as you just heard, they have a future and it’s a great one.”

Hayes said the class has the keys to their own future success, but offered some advice.

“Confront challenges,” he said. “Learn to use your time wisely. Put down that cell phone and socialize with your friends and family. Look to the future with hope, embrace the world we live in and leave it better that you found it.”

Both Hayes and Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ruth Gilbert-Whitner encouraged the graduates to return often to touch base with the school because they will always be W-H Panthers.

“This is the best day ever,” Gilbert-Whitner said, quoting her grand daughter’s approach to life. “You’re just the best ever and it’s just so exciting to be here and feel the energy here this evening.”

In her prepared remarks, Gilbert-Whitner reflected on the meaning of success.

“Now, at this very moment in time, each one of you is a success, having completed all of the requirements to attain a high school diploma,” she said. “In earning your diploma this evening, you have accomplished a tremendous amount from the beginning of your public school journey in kindergarten to the stage this evening.”

She also quoted the poem “Success,” attributed to both Ralph Waldo Emerson and Bessie Anderson Stanley:

“To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;

To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;

To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”

Senior Sophie O’Brien, the class speaker, noted the obstacles that had to be overcome on the way to successfully completing high school.

“And along the way, many of us can agree in saying we got lost, or in other words, felt like we got defeated, or that we just wanted to give up,” she said. “But clearly, we got out of bed, and we didn’t let those late nights, bad grades, or tough losses, stop us because look where we are. We have made it to the biggest stage of our lives so far and made the journey worthwhile.”