WHITMAN – The ranks of the town’s public safety departments officially increased on Tuesday, Jan. 23 with the swearing-in ceremonies for new firefighter-paramedics Justin Everson and Joseph Lasko as well as new police officers Roger Kineavy and Alyssa Andrews as part of the Select Board’s meeting, in the Town Hall Auditorium.
Fire Chief Timothy Clancy thanked the board and Chair Dr. Carl Kowalski and Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter for the evening before introducing his new personnel who had been hired off the Civil Service list after completing the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy and one-year probationary period with the department.
Everson started Aug. 8 2021. Having grown up in Pembroke, he is now a resident of Abington.
“Justin has proved himself to be a great addition to our department,” Clancy said. “One thing you can say about him – he’s committed to training. You always see him out there working on skills.”
He was Clancy’s first official hire as chief of the department.
Lasko started Nov. 14, 2022. He grew up in Marshfield and also now resides in Abington.
“I believe they’re neighbors,” Clancy said of his new crew members, and like Everson, Clancy described Lasko as an asset to the department.
“We see Joe out always training, reviewing equipment and looking to better himself,” Clancy said. “Most recently, he approached me about becoming a member of the regional technical rescue team.”
Lasko also holds an associate’s degree in fire science.
“Both these firefighters came to our department as an unknown, which is kind of different for our department we usually know the people we’re hiring,” Clancy said. “I can say they have proven themselves to be great additions to our department, the service of our town and a benefit to our community.”
After being administered their oath as firefighters by Town Clerk Dawn Varley, Justin Everson’s mother Elizabeth Dwyer pinned on his new badge and Joseph Lasko’s new badge was pinned on by his mom Karen Lasko.
Police Chief Timothy Hanlon said both had attended the 75th ROC Plymouth Academy.
Alyssa Andrews, a graduate of W-H, lives in Whitman. She holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Southern New Hampshire University. Before attending the police academy, she worked for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at Logan Airport.
Roger Keneavy lives in Whitman with his wife Bryn and their 6-month-old daughter. A graduate of Weymouth High School, he attended Quincy College and Petersburg College in Florida. He is a Marine Corps veteran, who served one tour of duty in Afghanistan and received the distinguished Purple Heart. He had worked for four years as a Plymouth County corrections officer before attending the police academy.
They both began their field training with the Whitman Police Department after graduating last week from the police academy.
After Varley administered their oaths, Andrews’ badge was pinned on by her grandfather, Wayne Andrews, and Keneavy had his badge pinned on by his wife.

WHITMAN — Chief Timothy Clancy reports that the Whitman Fire Department responded to a partial collapse in a vacant building on South Avenue on Wednesday Jan. 10.
A 911 call reported a collapse at a one-story building at 356 South Ave. at 9:32 a.m., according to Clancy. Upon arrival, firefighters found that a portion of the front wall had fallen over. No injuries were reported. That portion of the building is vacant and unoccupied. It is attached to a two-story building, which was not damaged. 
Firefighters quickly secured the building. National Grid and the building inspector were notified. Crews cleared the scene at 10:13 a.m. Traffic was not affected. The cause of the collapse remains under investigation. 

Hanson Scout Jack Rasa become an Eagle Scout, taking part in his Eagle Court of Honor along with seven other Scouts, Saturday, Jan. 6 in Hanover. To attain that rank, 14 merit badges are required, as well as a minimum of seven others, totaling 21, before the age of 18, and they must complete an Eagle project. Jack has 60 merit badges. Above, he lights candles represent the Spirit of Scouting during the ceremony. His parents Pam, left, and Rose Rasa, applaud after his Eagle rank becomes official. See more photos, page 6.
Photos by Carol Livingstone

HANSON – All the work is about to pay off for Hanson Scout Jack Rasa. On Saturday, Jan. 6, he will reach a goal he has dreamed of, planned for and worked toward since he was 10. He will officially become an Eagle Scout, taking part in his Eagle Court of Honor, along with seven other Scouts at 5 p.m. in Hanover Center School.
It’s an honor that only between 4 and 6 percent of Scouts reach the rank of Eagle Scout. Rasa is unique even among that number, in the 60 merit badges he has earned – earning him the higher distinction of Palms for that achievement.
There are 14 merit badges that are required – as well as a minimum of seven others, totaling 21 – for a Scout to obtain before 18, in addition to an Eagle project, to attain that rank. Jack has 60 merit badges. There are many levels of leadership roles and other requirements (camping nights, knife handling, fire safety, etc…to achieve during one’s Boy Scout years, too. Only .04 percent of Scouts achieve the rank.
Jack has also attended 16 different summer camps, averaging three per summer from Maine to New Hampshire, Connecticut, Vermont and Rhode Island as well as New Mexico.
Still, he remains, the humble, reticent person who does it all because he simply loves Scouting.
“It went well,” he said. “It all got completed. … A lot of the people at the American Legion [Post 226] came to help me with getting the flagpole back up.”
The Legion became enthusiastic participants in the project, in which Scouts must prove their leadership skills by doing the planning and supervision on their projects.
“We didn’t expect it,” Pam Rasa said. “We just thought we were going to go in and help do the façade kind of stuff out front. It turned into a much bigger project.”
“I like the fact that Jack saw the needs at the American Legion in Hanson – the hall needed a lot of TLC so I like that he got involved.” said Troop 38 Scoutmaster Gary Martin, who had conducted an Eagle Court of Honor for seven Scouts on Saturday, Dec. 30. “The great thing with his project, is that once he started getting involved and reaching out for help, people did start to offer lots of assistance for him, including the troop.”
Noting that leadership skills, including supervision of the project is a key part of how an Eagle Scout project is evaluated, Martin said the troop came together to help do the work of replacing a ramp at the storage shed and repainting the flagpole.
“They have to show a benefit and they have to lead the project start-to-finish – planning, scoping and then following up, making sure that the benefactor is happy with the work,” Martin said.
The Hanson Fire Department became involved as volunteers one weekend as they provided the help needed to remove the flagpole for repainting.
“That’s what’s great about Eagle projects,” said Martin Troop 38 of Troop 38 in the Cranberry Harbors District of the Mayflower Council in the Boy Scouts of America. “The boys are looking around for ways to be of service in the community.”
Martin said the number of projects demonstrates “a lot of good leadership opportunities” are out there.
“I think that’s one of the best things about Scouting, because Scouting is boy-led,” he said. “Scoutmasters are there to guide them and keep them safe, make suggestions, but the boys do the planning and lead their projects.”
Martin did admit that it can sometimes seem daunting for Scouts to come up with a worthy Eagle project, but noted there are lots of organizations in towns that could use a hand.
“The American Legions in Hanover and Hanson have been two of our benefactors,” he said. “Of course, Scouting is very patriotic, and we really celebrate the veterans and what they’ve done for us – and then there’s lots of conservation organizations in town. On the South Shore, there’s the Wildlands Trust and in Hanover, there’s an open space committee and the Cardinal Cushing Center and the big churches. That’s usually the big focus. Lots of trail work and things like that.”
The veterans are just as pleased with Rasa’s work.
“Jack did a good job,” George said Tuesday morning. “He’s a good kid.”
George said Rasa got credit for the new sign and gutters, too. They were part of his project outline, but George didn’t want liability problems for Scouts climbing ladders to work on the gutters, and his daughter’s sign company could produce a new one, instead of trying to recreate the old one.
Rasa is also being credited for the Roof repair, George said.
“It just turned into a great project,” Mrs. Rasa said. “I think he was able to influence the adults that go there to kind of care more about their Legion – and I think David George was a huge plus.”
George, who also serves on the Hanson Select Board, is an Army veteran and Post Vice, stepped in to help.
“He thanked us so much,” Pam Rasa said of George. “Jack got the fence replaced, did the flagpole and then the sign [which] Jack and his friend were going to repaint … David George’s daughter owns a sign company, so they put a new sign up.”
Jack’s project also involved clearing around a back fence, replacing a ramp to a storage shed and having the gutters cleaned, but George, concerned that someone might get hurt in the gutter project, hired a professional who worked with Rasa so he would be able to get the credit for that part of his project.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea for anyone to be on a ladder or on the roof, as that is a huge liability,” George said at the time. “Jack will be receiving credit for all his projects.”
His Eagle Board of review was held on Dec. 17, which approved Rasa’s Eagle rank. He has another review to undergo with 12 Scout leaders from around his Council who will question him about the project experience and make sure he followed all the guidelines before his court of honor, Pam Rasa said Friday, Dec. 29.
Jack is equally driven in his education and career goals, planning to enter the Coast Guard after graduating from Bristol County Agricultural High School in Dighton and then to pursue a career in environmental policing.
Among the things that made Bristol Aggie a good fit was that Mass. Environmental Police work with the Natural Resource Management major to protect endangered turtles in Massachusetts and use the school as a go-to for confiscated reptiles. 
Jack also hopes to attend Mass. Maritime Academy to major in environmental management.

When your high school business club – in this case, the Whitman-Hanson Regional High School DECA team – is preparing for their competition year and want to also give back to the community while learning about media relations, what is the best way to go about it?
Whitman Hanson brought the Toll House Cookie back to Whitman this week for a schoolwide fundraiser to support the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). The MDA fundraiser is part of a national initiative organized by DECA, the high school’s business club. 
“Whitman-Hanson has always studied in history class, [that] Toll House cookies were discovered in Whitman,” said DECA member Maren Bowman. “It was made in Whitman, the company started in Whitman, so our school decided to make cookies. Mr. Desantes had a really good idea – he’s a really smart guy.”
That idea was to make the cookies and sell them at the school store during lunch blocs.
It’s a big mouthful to bite off – and all the better when it’s flavored by a local institution, the Toll House Cookie. But, as they say, experience is the best teacher, so the students got to work. And the result not only raised $250 in the one lunch hour for the MDA, it provided valuable experience in researching, organizing, manufacturing – OK, baking – marketing and sales.
MDA is the DECA partner charity, Desantes explained.
“They create incentives for us to raise money for the nonprofit. If we raise the most money in Massachusetts, we earn a spot to attend the national conference to participate in the learning sessions,” he said. “There are many adults in the building who like to support our fundraising efforts knowing that the proceeds are going to MDA.
“We decided this would be a good idea, because then we could get more students into the store, because all kids want to do is eat some good treats,” Bowman said with a laugh.
It was on.
Cookies were baked by about 18 students in the retail merchandising class, which Desantes runs, according to Bowman. Students largely did the baking at their homes, cranking out about 12 dozen cookies.
As she spoke on Tuesday, Dec. 19, she said the baking team were still making more.
Last week, Whitman-Hanson business students baked and sold Toll House chocolate chip cookies, which were invented nearly 100 years ago in Whitman, at the DEN – the high school’s student-run retail store. “With the rich tradition of the cookie in our hometown, the students created the event to bring awareness to the famous cookie during our busiest time of year,” W-H Business Teacher and DECA Advisor Thomas Desantes said.
A junior now, Bowman had a marketing class with Desantes in her freshman year.
“He’s such a good teacher, I decided to get involved in DECA during my junior year,” she said. “He always saw hope in me. He always encouraged me to take other classes – I took visual merchandising. I actually worked at the school store when I was a sophomore and it was really [a] good way to understand how to start a business, how to advertise things. The school store was just a very good example.”
They also learned how to think on their feet a bit, as the Monday, Dec. 18 storm knocked out power at some students’ homes and baking duties was transferred to the school’s culinary room.
When they did come out of the oven, the iconic cookies were packaged – two cookies each – to be given with a $30 or more purchase of Den merchandise or students were able to buy three cookies for a $5 donation during the lunch block on Wednesday, Dec. 20.
“We think we’re going to clear our cookies during the lunch blocs,” Bowman said when asked if preorders were taken.
DECA is an organization for students in high schools and colleges around the globe who want to learn business, management, entrepreneurship, finance, hospitality and marketing.
While Bowman said she is not aware to specific future projects this year, she said DECA has done senior gift baskets for parents to purchase through The Den.
“Desantes always has good ideas,” she said and it’s rubbed off. The gift baskets had been Bowman’s idea when she worked at the school store.
“Seventeen Whitman-Hanson students will be traveling to the Massachusetts DECA State Competition in the spring to present our donation to MDA leadership in hopes of earning a spot to attend the national DECA competition in April,” Desantes stated. “The DECA fundraiser is also a collaboration with the Retail Merchandising class, which is responsible for operating The Den.”
The project will also be a presentation in competition at DECA with Bowman in charge of presenting to the judges in March.
“This is a special category unlike the role plays where students can present on a project they worked on at School,” Desantes said. “This is for the category Project Management Sales Project. I chose the students based on their performance in role plays at the District competition (but they did not qualify to compete in State role plays). The concept is to create a project to increase sales at the school-based enterprise which for us is The Den. There are usually about 20 groups who compete in this category. 
That presentation will include how well the cookie project did in actual operation, specifically how the students sold them, how the creative process worked and two other students will join her at states. Data will include how many cookies they sold, how many customers came into the store, including other requirements listed in a 21-page competition guide.
What will they call their project? We’ll have to stay tuned.
“We actually have been thinking about that for the past week,” Bowman said. “Today, we took pictures as a good example of advertising the cookies.”
The Express was invited to cover the initiative to demonstrate to the community the creative ideas our students are executing this year, and provide insight on how business seeks media coverage. Desantes also offered photo opportunities of the cookies being sold or even prepared in the school culinary arts center as media experience for photography students. 

By Linda Ibbitson Hurd
Special to the Express 
In May 1972, when my brother, Dave, graduated from high school he set out to travel across the country on his motorcycle, a Triumph 650 Tiger. He and a friend had planned the trip together. Four days into the trip the friend decided he rather go to California and left. Dave continued on, sticking to his itinerary to see the places he had dreamed about. 
A few weeks later when he made it to Glacier National Park in Montana, he was feeling lonely. He found an Animal shelter in a town called Missoula to see about getting a dog. In a row of cages, the last cage being the death cage, sat a little black dog a Dachshund-Pomeranian mix. Dave took him.
He was told to take caution as the dog may jump off the bike. He went into an athletic shop nearby and got a knapsack. He put the dog in it and drove slowly around a field to see if the dog would stay in it. He jumped out twice but then stayed in it.
Dave called him Dog. When he got back out on the highway, Dog jumped out and ran across all four lanes. Dave watched helplessly as vehicles veered to miss the dog in the heavy traffic. Dog looked across the highway at Dave as if to say, “Aren’t you coming?” and then crossed it again as Dave’s heart sank, thinking he would never make it back but he did. He picked him up, put him in the knapsack and told him he was naming him Lucky. 
Dave’s birthday is in August and our mom was hoping he would be home by then. Our youngest sister was born on his birthday when he was three and we always celebrated the two birthdays together.
When he didn’t make it home for the birthdays we were all disappointed, it just wasn’t the same without him and I know it bothered mom. One day at the end of Summer when you could feel fall in the air, I was helping mom move some things in her room and a framed picture of my brother fell off her cedar chest onto the floor. There was no reason for it to fall and she was alarmed feeling like something had happened to Dave. Within the hour the phone ran and it was him. He said he had a feeling that he should call home, and mom was glad to hear his voice. He told her he was low on money and was working for a Czechoslovakian family on their farm picking fruit so he could make enough money to get home. 
September passed into October and, after Dave drove through the Painted Desert, his bike wasn’t running well and got worse. He pulled into Albuquerque and found a motorcycle shop where the owner told him the main bearing was gone on the bike and he’d have to send away for the part. Dave found lodgings in a basement room of a condemned building where a group of Chicano men lived and he found work as an assistant cook and dish washer at a local restaurant.
The owner of the bike shop kept offering him money for his bike and told Dave the part hadn’t come in. It was now November. Our dad wanted to fly Dave home and he refused to leave without the bike. Dad called Spooner’s Bike Shop in Hanover, Mr. Spooner called Triumph and they in turn contacted the owner of the bike shop who had Dave’s bike and put pressure on him to fix it and return it to Dave so he could come home. 
When Dave left there, it was December and he wanted to be home for Christmas. A pleasure trip was turning into a survival trip as he drove through a torrential rainstorm in one state, a hurricane in another and then snow 12 inches deep and more. He had to make it with what money he had left, saving it for gas.
He drove without stopping and thanks to some insulated coveralls our parents sent him, he and Lucky survived one 30-degree night after he’d been driving well over 24 hours. The ground was too frozen to pitch a tent and he put all his clothes in the knapsack to keep Lucky warm while he held him and slept on the ground. 
The week before Christmas, we had a blizzard in Massachusetts, and we were all glued to the news. We hadn’t heard from Dave for two weeks. We knew from the news the weather and temperatures were not in Dave’s favor. All we could do was pray.
After the blizzard was over, I went to my parent’s to see if there was any news. All of us were there, both the radio and tv were on so we could hear the news and weather. It was late afternoon, and it was getting dark. Suddenly there was the familiar sound of a motorcycle. We all held our breath; did we dare hope it was him? We all ran to the window to look in the driveway. A bike, but no Dave. Then we heard the kitchen door open and when we got there in he came with a knapsack on his back and a little black dog peeking out. There was relief, happy tears and lots of hugs, the most beautiful sight to see and the best Christmas gift we could have gotten. 
 

WHITMAN – The town center has been gifted with another retail business – just in time to help shoppers find a gift for the particular people on their lists.

Mimi’s Closet Boutique – co-owned by Michele Allen, who lives on a nearby street, and her daughters Julie Taylor, 30, and Nicole Walls, 26, – opened at 83 South Ave., off Day Street in September, just in time to take off in time for the holiday shopping season.

Allen said the shop’s name is a loving nod to her own mother in-law, who loved clothing and accessories.

“She would have loved this store,” Allen said.

Part of their marketing strategy has been to direct customers to the door – as the store’s entrance is off Day Street, as they were searching for it on the South Avenue side.

“I have had a couple of in-home businesses, Town Pride Candles is one of them, I started that about eight years ago, and Two Sisters Design,” Allen said. “The person who was in this [space] before me was a photographer and she contacted me and said she had to give up the lease and did I want her space.”

Traveling in New Hampshire at the time, Allen asked her daughters to look at the space and see if they liked it.

“We really didn’t have an idea of what we wanted to do,” she said on Saturday, Dec. 2, a morning when Taylor and Walls were off. “So we did this, beginning in September.

The shop offers a lot of selection in a small space, and that is by design.

“It’s been great,” said Allen, whose day job is as an executive assistant at Voya Financial as well as a recording secretary for the Select Board. “It’s all new.”

While there have been a couple people stopping by on the assumption that Mimi’s Closet is a consignment shop, Allen stressed it is a boutique which they stock through a couple of wholesale vendors from which each of the three do their own buying.

And variety is their stock in trade.

“We have all generations doing the buying, so we attract all age groups,” Allen said. “We don’t show each other what we’re buying, we just all buy.”

Sizes range from extra small to 3X and designs that appeal to all ages.

The selection of plus sizes alone has motivated a lot of positive reviews both in the store and online, as well. In fact, the first thing Allen always asks new customers is, ‘How did you hear about us?’”

Most, it turns out, have heard about the shop from Facebook.

“A lot of them have said, ‘I came in because I heard about your plus sizes,’” she said.

Another “plus” is the price range.

“We try to keep everything $35 and under,” she said. “Our average price is $22 and we have a lot of things that are $17. Our rent is reasonable, so we can keep our prices low.”

The store also places items on hold from customers online, who either pay by Venmo or when they pick up.

“If people can’t get in during our working hours – between the three of us, we do four-hour shifts – my daughters both have kids, I work from home, so we post a lot of pictures of things we can hold.”

Taylor Swift’s line being extremely popular, when Allen posted that the brand’s slippers were back a few days ago, she said “The door kept opening.”

As Allen spoke a woman and her teenage daughter came in the store to browse.

“You should see on half days how many teenage girls are in here,” she said. “Then they’ve come in with their moms. … We’re grateful for the community support. It’s just been amazing.”

The owners hold shopping events quite often, including a “Sip and Shop” on Thursday, Nov. 30 that attracted about 40 to 50 people, during which tables were stacked with merchandise for customers to shop, including holiday sweatshirts and slippers which are part of the Taylor Swift brand.

“It kind of cleared us out a little bit,” Allen said.

The next event is a Mimosa Sunday from 10 a.m. To 2 p.m., on Dec. 17 and have decided to have a guest vendor at shopping events from now on.

Another new promotion gives customers a scratch-off for percents off or free items. if they’re shopping within five days of their birthday.

“It’s really been fun,” Allen said.

The shop has held four fundraising shopping events for local football and cheer teams.

“We like to give back to people who support us,” she said. “They get cash back for their teams and brought people in to introduce us to the community. We’ve met so many nice people.”

A lot of those people have already become repeat customers.

(Editor’s note: This updates a version of the story with an incorrect address. The boutique is at 83 South Ave.)

NORWELL – Though it’s been a program that had a slow start, the Plymouth County Comfort Dog Program has quicky gained advocates as one by one, police departments have gone to the dogs.
District Attorney Timothy Cruz developed the program to offer additional services to county communities, providing emotional support for the well-being of drug endangered children, students with adverse childhood experiences and others in need of emotional support in the county community.
“The schools, to me are really [important] now, as our kids are facing challenges that they’ve never faced before, whether it be from COVID issues, mental health issues,” Cruz said in his opening remarks at the event. “The kids were locked out for a while. Now they’re coming back, and a lot of schools are dealing with a lot of issues with the kids. The dogs have been a tremendous asset.”
Hingham was the first town to adopt the program, seeing some initial reluctance from the School Committee, but was quickly warmed to by educators who have seen its value in action. Now there are 14 departments employing the program.
Cruz credited the success of Hingham Chief David P. Jones and resource officer Tom Ford in really getting the program going a little over one year ago with that department’s first dog – Opry.
To celebrate that success, and provide more information about it, Cruz’ office held a meet and greet Wednesday, Nov. 8, featuring the dogs and their handling officers at JBS Dog Park at 106 Longwater Drive in Norwell. There was pizza, soda and cake for the humans and all-natural specialty dog biscuits provided by Polkadog Bakery in Boston.
But first, there was some mingling on the part of both officers and canines.
As Hanson therapy dog Ziva rolled over for belly rubs from handler and school resource officer Derek Harrington and Chief Michael Miksch, Hingham’s Opry, a mix-breed rescued from a Southern kill shelter, showed off her skateboard skills a bit with Ford. But, as more dogs arrived, Opry gave the skateboard a dismissive kick, sending rolling back to bounce off a wall. The arrival of the aptly named Star, a harlequin Great Dane from the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department, who grabbed all their attention as she sauntered in with Dennis Desrochiers.
Miksch said he had some hesitation about the comfort dog program, but that Ford, in fact, was a huge help to Hanson’s adoption of it,
Concerns about funding and the union’s willingness to take on the project were soon discovered to be unfounded. As soon as he mentioned interest in the program, Hanson provided funding mid-year even though there was no budget for it.
“The next thing, somebody’s calling me saying, ‘Hey, can I deposit $1,000 to the town for the dog?’” Miksch said, adding that Deputy Chief Michael Casey raised the initial funding on top of Hanson’s grant money. The union also bought right in and overcame a rough start when their dog, Lucy, had to be euthanized due to a kidney ailment.
“We unfortunately lost our first dog, but the support from the community kind of brought back the impact that she had. There was a lot of messages, a lot of support. … Lucy was worth her weight in gold to us to start off and Ziva’s showing the same [qualities].”
The handlers are the ones who make the program successful, however, Miksch said.
“The dog, in a lot of ways is the easy part, but you need the right handler,” he said.
Harrington advised to those averse to dog hair, this program is not for you.
“But, they make lint rollers, it’s all good,” he said. “We all have stories about how this effects our school, our community, our kids.”
Ziva helps with kids who don’t want to go to school by walking with them to class, he said.
When a W-H student took their life last May, Harrington said he was able to call on several other officer/dog teams in the program to help.
“That happened late at night,” he said. “The school, and the kids – her friends – didn’t find out until they showed up at school the next day and it was a disaster, however we were prepared because we have this network of community resource dogs. … It helped a lot of kids get through the day and open up and talk and have those conversations that they didn’t want to have.”
Jones said Ford’s work with Opry at Hingham High School, too, has impressed just about everyone.
“Opry’s not only the most-recognized ‘person’ in the school, but also in my department,” Jones said. “The connection that’s been made with students at the high school has been incredible.”
She’s got a weird personality, Ford said, but that seems to appeal to students. He said if there is a negative to Opry it’s that he can’t go anywhere without her.
“If you show up someplace without the dog – leave and come back with the dog,” he said.
While the Hingham School Committee had some reluctance to agree to the program, but results are speaking for themselves.
“It was a long road, but we’re having fun,” he said. Opry’s trainer makes time to go to the school the next day if there are any issues with the dog, Ford said. “The path is so much clearer [now] if you want to do this,” he advised departments considering the program.
In Halifax, Officer Paul Campbell is one of the newest participants in the program, having just completed the two weeks of training officers undergo with his dog, Roxie. They now transition to once-a-month in-service training.
“I participated in DARE Camp, and I saw the impact [the dogs had] on the children,” he said. “They loved the dogs. So that just attracted me to the program and how much it has a positive impact on children.”
He said Roxie, at six months, is an awesome dog.
“She has so much energy, a really good dog,” Campbell said. “I look forward to working in the community, getting in the schools and we’ve already had a big fundraiser.”
Plymouth County Sheriff Joseph D. McDonald Jr. spoke of the impact the dogs have on people’s lives – something, he said, anyone who grew up with dogs in their lives could understand, comparing it to the old expression, with negative connotations “going to the dogs.”
“Looking around here, I can say this – I think we’ve all gone to the dogs, but I want to thank you all for making that something positive,” he said.
Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office provides a mini grant to Plymouth County Police Departments to assist with costs associated with acquiring, training and caring for their comfort dog.
“The funding that we get – we’re able to utilize drug forfeit money, to put it back into our community – I think that makes a difference,” Cruz said.
Among the dog trainers on hand to speak about the program was Michael MacCurtain, owner of Hanson’s Five Rings training and day care business.
“The need [for the program] over the last several years has increased tremendously,” said MacCurtain, who worked on Whitman Fire for 20 years and had been asked to work with UMass, Boston, Abington and Hanover in training their dogs. Working both on an ambulance crew and alongside law enforcement, he also said the mental health of officers can also benefit from the dogs.
“We’d love to get them in all of our schools and also in our Boys’ and Girls’ Club,” Cruz said. “These dogs are making a difference.”