HINGHAM — Whitman Fire Department was among 12 regional departments providing assistance from firefighters, chiefs and station coverage as they aided the Hingham Fire Department in battling a four-alarm fire at a large house Monday afternoon. The blaze had spread to at least four other homes in the area.

No injuries were reported in the fire that is under investigation by the Hingham Fire and Police departments and the State Police Fire & Explosion Investigation unit assigned to the State Fire Marshal’s office.

While the 6,000-square-foot house was a total loss and other homes sustained damage. Three people were inside 4 Mann St. when the initial fire started and all got out safely. 

The family will also be displaced. Several homes in the area were evacuated as a precaution due the fire embers spreading to nearby houses.

At approximately 12:50 p.m., Hingham Fire responded to 4 Mann St. after receiving multiple calls about a home being on fire.

While responding to the scene, firefighters could see large amounts of smoke above the house and struck a second alarm. 

Upon arrival, the house was fully involved and a third alarm was immediately called for. At 1:30 p.m., Chief Murphy struck a fourth alarm as the fire continued to spread.

Area residents were asked water down mulch beds on their properties.

Three people were inside 4 Mann St. when the initial fire started and all got out safely. The family will also be displaced. 

Several homes in the area were evacuated as a precaution due the fire embers spreading to nearby houses.

About 120 firefighters from nine of the communities, Hull, Cohasset, Norwell, Scituate, Rockland, Weymouth, Quincy, Braintree and Hanover Fire departments responded to the scene and the Whitman and Brockton Fire departments sent chiefs to provide assistance and Abington Fire Department provided station coverage for Hingham.

The Hingham Police Department controlled access to the site and aided in evacuating neighbors from the affected area.

National Grid and Hingham Municipal Lighting Plant were working to restore gas and electricity to the neighborhood after it had been shut off by the utility companies.

— Tracy F. Seelye

WHITMAN – It’s  an empty storefront at the moment, with only new carpet and paint and a sign posted in the window suggesting what is to come, but by Friday, July 15 second-generation jeweler George Alexander plans to have the town’s new jewelry store – Alexander Jewelers – up and running. That’s less than a month after local institution Menard Jeweler closed after owner David Menard officially retired.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to own a store,” Alexander said on Tuesday, July 5 as he worked to prepare for the opening.

And there will be a familiar face at the store – for a while, at least – as Menard returns the favor Alexander once did for his shop by working there, while he shows his friend the ins and outs of watch repair.

It’s also a nice transition for customers.

“He’s going to make himself present here and help out, show me stuff that I don’t know about watches … it’s a good friendship.”

While Menard was conducting his going-out-of business sale, he also distributed 200 of Alexander’s business cards to customers.

“They were all asking who’s going to take over,” Alexander said of Menard’s customers. Menard also spoke about Alexander’s plan to the Express as his retirement sale was getting underway.

“I want to gain the people’s trust,” Alexander said. “The one thing I want people to know is I’m going to treat them the same that Dave did.”

But, for now, Alexander is playing a version of “Beat the Clock,” as he works to ready the space at 14 South Avenue for his opening goal. That work started about two weeks ago.

“I had to wait for the carpet to go down, get the wood ready [there are no counters or shelves in the space at the moment], I had to order signs, I had to have the alarm put in, the internet put in,” he said, listing the projects either completed or yet to be done.

He also had to wait for Menard to close his store before he could open.

“I would never do that to him,” he said about the idea of opening his store before Menard closed his doors for the last time. “Even Duval’s [owner Craig Duval] wouldn’t have let me open without his approval.”

Menard had offered the lease of his store space to Alexander, but, while the store seemed tempting, he admitted that Menard’s plan to sell the building complicated the prospect.

“Even though the space here is small, it’s all I need to do the work,” he added.

And Alexander was willing to wait out of respect for someone he has known for a long time.

Alexander said he’s been working side-by-side with Menard for nearly 20 years, doing custom jewelry making as a good friend and colleague.

He described his work as more behind the scenes.

“I’m more of a wholesaler,” he said. 

He said the space is going to be filled with machines for jewelry production, with a small counter area in front for customer service and retail business. He works in everything from 14 or 18 karat platinum, silver – anything. Alexander designs and custom makes jewelry. 

Like Menard, he learned the business as a boy working for his father’s jewelry business.

“I’ve been doing this since I was, probably, 10,” Alexander said, recalling his days going into the Jeweler’s Building in Boston where his father worked. “He brought us [Alexander and his brother] in, taught us the things we needed to know.”

The whole building, filled with jewelers with different specialties, provided an real education in everything from hand-setting to engraving and more.

“I went around to all the jewelers and became friends with them, and learned a little from each person,” he said. “I’m not a master at casting, a master at stone-setting, but I’m very proficient and – custom designing and working with metal, I’m the master at it.”

He sees going into business for himself as an easy transition. It’s always been the area in which he did wholesale work.

“Whatever work comes through the door … it gets handed to me, and the I do it,” he said of that experience. “When Dave closed, I could have continued doing that, but I wanted to be in the retail business. It’s more profitable and I get to deal with the customers directly.”

Speaking of clocks, that’s one item he doesn’t plan on working with, but he will be learning watch repair from the master.

“Dave is a watchmaker,” he said. “I can do watches, as far as batteries and stuff, but he himself said ‘Stay away from clocks,’” Alexander said with a laugh. “It’s just too complicated.”

Alexander stressed that Menard gave his customers the best prices possible compared to chain jewelers in malls, where a portion of their profits have to go to the mall owners – and their stock is lower-quality product, much of it made overseas.

“Handcrafted jewelry is becoming a dying art, and I truly enjoy it,” Alexander said. “Where an era of Menard jewelers has come to an end, I would like to offer my services to the town of Whitman, and surrounding towns and live up to the standard of great  service that Menard jewelers offered to the people.”

HANSON  — Town Planner Tony Defrias presented an outline of a vision for the former Maquan School property to the Select Board on Tuesday, June 21.

“This is just step one of 100,” he said. “This is just to talk about it.”

Defrias has made the presentation to the Maquan Reuse Committee, the Planning Board and the Economic Development Commission as well.

“Tony was thinking about generally the needs that the town has for the Library/Senior Center, sports and highway, was the original driver of the whole thing,” Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “I want to emphasize that nothing has been done to effectuate change in moving in the direction of what Tony’s about to present.”

If the board found value in it, a public forum or hearing could be scheduled.

Defrias noted that there had been discussion of library renovation expansion, what to do with the former Maquan School and the needs of the Highway Department when he came on board in Ocober 2021.

“I took it upon myself to take a look at this area to try to determine what might be the best use for those three parts of Hanson — Library, Maquan School, Highway Department,” he said. 

Defrias calls his proposal the Maquan Area Reuse Plan.

The school site at 60 School St., is a 17.8-acre parcel of open fields and woods as well as the school building and its former parking lot. The Library/Senior Center building at 132 Maquan St., takes up 3.33 acres with a building the two departments share and parking area and green space. The Highway Department at 797 Indian Head St., takes up 6.1 acres with multiple buildings and three youth baseball fields, a skate park and basketball court.

The three properties are more or less adjacent, with two roads and the Indian Head School between them.

“These are three pieces of land that the town controls,” he said. “You own them.”

An MSBA feasibility study conducted during the aborted new elementary school process in 2012 noted that while it was well-maintained, most of the fixtures were original to the building and were nearing the the end of serviceable life.

“I felt that one of the best uses for this is to raze the existing building — get rid of it completely — and what would be constructed there would be something [working title] Maquan Youth Athletic Complex,” Defrias said. He also suggested the facility could be named for Ruth Masters or carry over the Boiteri Field name, moving the ball fields, skate park and basketball court over to the school property and build a structure for concessions, public restrooms and offices with 93 parking spaces.

The small playground would be relocated.

“This is something that could generate money for the town,” he said.

FitzGerald-Kemmett said there has been “very strong feedback” that the property not be sold. Defrias also noted the building is not feasible for elder housing.

A 2019 Library study, meanwhile, has concluded that building is undersized to meet the needs of town residents. Additions could be made to both parts of the current building without interrupting services, or a new library could be constructed on the Maquan site.

The Highway Department, which is now two miles from all town borders, would be even further —  leaving a longer response time to the entire north end of town — at the Hawks Avenue site now under consideration. Expanding and improving facilities at the existing site could allow the Highway Department to remain in a central location and would be most feasible, Defrias said.

Office space for the IT director could also be relocated there, he said.

“If there’s any department in Hanson that is going to need to expand, its Highway Deprtment,” Defrias said. “Hanson has 70 private ways and that’s a large issue in town.”

Select Board member Ann Rein is going to chair the “resuscitated” Highway Building Committee, FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

In other business, the board voted to authorize the use of new election equipment, starting at the September state primary.

The new equipment, Poll Pads, for which funding was approved at Town Meeting.

HANSON – The Select Board on Tuesday, June 14 voted to support exploratory conversations with Silver Lake about what a possible regional agreement with that district might cost and look like. 

But any such conversation is not likely to happen anytime soon, as the town is expecting to have a cost estimate on de-regionalizing by this week.

“There’s two paths,” Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said – sticking with the de-regionalization process and deciding on negotiating with Silver Lake later, if at all – or to vote as a board to expand the role of the De-regionalization Committee to include exploration of a possible joining of the Silver Lake region.

Silver Lake School Committee Chair Paula Hatch has recently invited the Hanson Select Board to have more substantive conversations about the possibility of Hanson joining the Silver Lake School District.

Hanson Select Board member Jim Hickey initially met with Hatch to discuss that possibility, FitzGerald-Kemmett said emphasizing that, without the final result of the TMS study on the potential cost of de-regionalizing with Whitman-Hanson, the town has no real idea what they might be doing in the future.

Hickey said his meeting took place the day before a past Hanson Select Board meeting, so he had hoped to present it to the board the next night under the provision for presenting last-minute information. Hickey said, he thought it was too important to bring up at 9:30 at night — during a three-hour meting — so he waited until the following week. 

But, it still did not make it on that agenda.

“TMS has still not given us an answer yet,” Hickey said as his reason for the discussion with Hatch.

Town Administrator Lisa Green said she had reached out to TMS and was told the consulting firm’s estimate should arrive either June 20 or 21. FitzGerald-Kemmett agreed with Hickey that waiting for the De-regionalization Feasibility Committee to review it before the Select Board add it to a meeting agenda is the best idea.

Regardless of what we do, who we talk to, where we go if we stay,” Hickey said, there is a need to explore the four-year de-regionalization process, adding that he believes some of the W-H School Committee members have “lost their way.”

“I was just looking for other options for the town … and the students to be taught, but  not being gouged every year by Whitman,” Hickey said. “My phone conversation with Paula was to give the town of Hanson another option.”

Comparing Silver Lake’s cost estimate to the one the town gets from TMS, as well as calculating the votes on W-H’s School Committee could then be discussed, according to Hickey.

“Why would a de-regionalization committee look into regionalizing?” asked Select Board member Ann Rein. “To me, that makes no sense at all. … And I have serious issues with this anyway, because of the way that formula was changed.”

She argued that the regional agreement itself needs to be revisited in “an honest and fair way, and not because we’re the ‘richer town.’ That’s infuriating. We’re not the richer town.”

Hickey responded that the de-regionalizion committee had nothing to do with any discussions with Silver Lake.

“This was me, on my own, thinking outside the box, and I did not keep this information to myself,” he said, noting that while he did not keep his title a secret, he was talking to Silver Lake as a private citizen.

Noting that, impropriety could be assumed even where there was none on Hickey’s part, FitzGerald-Kemmett asked Select Board member Joe Weeks if he would be willing to work with Hickey as an ad hoc committee.

FitzGerald-Kemmett said that, in her recent conversation new Whitman Select Board Chair Randy LaMattina, she expressed Hanson’s intention to revisit the regional agreement, and he said Whitman, too, had an interest in revisiting it.

“Does it make sense for us to be sitting down with the Silver Lake regional School Committee?” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “I go back and forth on it.”

While the board could hold that conversation with the Silver Lake board, there are concerns over it wasting everyone’s time without negotiating with Silver Lake.

“For me, it comes down to there’s never anything wrong with having a conversation,” said Select Board member Joe Weeks, noting his only concern is with Silver Lake’s status, compared with W-H, as a town.

Rein, who said she de-regionalizing does not mean finding another region to join, also stressed she has “severe reservations” about dissolving W-H, given the money and time invested in the school system.

“Until we know if we’re going to de-regionalize, why even waste our time, or their time, talking about joining them?”  FitzGerald-Kemmett said of any talks with Silver Lake. “It’s my fervent hope that we don’t de-regionalize, but that we find a way to improve the relationship and effectuate something more positive for Hanson.”

Weeks said he’s fine with conversation, but if you formalize it with two people, it may be viewed as a formal negotiating.

“Whoever gives us the best deal, wins,” Weeks said, noting his priorities are making sure his kids are educated, his grandparents are not priced out of time and if people can afford to move to and live in town.

“Is [that] going to strengthen our position?” Weeks said, admitting he does not have an answer to that question.

Regardless, it is a conversation he said he is willing to take.

FitzGerald-Kemmett also asked why the state always refers to Hanson as the wealthier town in formulating funding regulations.

“I look around and that’s not what it feels like to me, but I guess I’m not the state,” she said about the formula for the statutory calculation of regional school costs.

FitzGerald-Kemmett also said she had spoken with W-H School Committee Chair Christopher Howard the previous week, reiterating what the prior board had said about communication between the two boards, as well.

“Inasmuch as we have to advocate for a budget and understand the budget, we need to have a more transparent, open dialog on an ongoing basis,” she said. “I appreciate and support the work that the School Committee does, but we are not elected to be School Committee members.”

Select Boards should not have to expect that the only way to discover information about the budget process is by attending School Committee meetings, and said Howard agreed.

FitzGerald-Kemmett said she also spoke about the situation with LaMattina, who also agrees to try having Howard and Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak come before the select boards of each town as early as possible in the budget process in order to provide a better and deeper understanding of the numbers there, what’s happening with the school budget and what’s being budgeted for.

“It’s a huge part of our budget and we just don’t have the transparency that we need,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

“A vast majority of people don’t learn what some of these subcommittees are doing until an article is placed on Town Meeting warrant,” Weeks said. Then an issue, such as a land transfer or a new project being funded is before the town.

Earlier budget discussions could get more information out to the public and result in more people attending.

Better
communications

In other business, FitzGerald-Kemmett suggested public office hours – a “Select Board’s Night Out,” of sorts – be held perhaps once per month, as one way to improve communication between the board and residents, seeking more ideas from the rest of the board.

She suggested the board could alternate who does it and discuss the days and times in which to hold them, as an experiment. 

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” she said.

Rein said both morning and evening hours should be considered to accommodate elder residents who don’t drive at night. 

“That [morning session] could be by appointment, where one of us wouldn’t have to sit there, waiting for someone,” Hickey said.

Select Board members would be available in a meeting room to discuss issues residents want to bring to their attention. Hickey suggested that Tuesday nights when no meeting is held and Town Hall is open, they could use the table in the adjoining coffee/lunch room.

“I’d really like you guys to think about what kind of things could we do improve our communication to the public, about things like Town Meeting –you get a vote, you should show up – election – you get a vote, you should show up,” she said.

Board and commission vacancies, the role of various boards and even “fun stuff” like town events need to be easier for residents to find out about.

“As the leaders of the town, we need to set precedence and try to be better at communicating,” she said.

That includes a policy requiring all boards and committees to post agendas in a timely  manner on the town’s website (hanson-ma.gov), and be more consistent with posting the Select Board agendas while encouraging other departments with doing the same.

“Yes, I know they are setting the hearing notices to the abutters, and all the good stuff that they’re supposed to do,”  FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “We’re doing the bare minimum and how’s that working for us?”

Rein, noting she is “pretty good with a computer,” said it is very difficult for residents to find information on the town’s website, to the agreement of other members of the board.

“I am not a web designer at all, but that website has got to be revamped and things have to be easy to find,” she said.

“We really have to do better at communicating with the public about a host of things,”  FitzGerald-Kemmett said, noting that Rein and fellow new board member Ed Hear had mentioned the issue to her, recommending that email addresses for all department heads be listed on the site to ease resident frustration with the phone system and leaving voicemails. Select Board members’ emails are already listed.

While the town has an IT person, she noted the significant overhaul envisioned “could take a while.”

Hear said he would like to see more information presented to residents, especially on controversial issues, at Town Meetings.

HANSON — The shortest distance between two points is a straight line is an adage that holds true just about everywhere — with the possible exception of state statute.

The board has pledged to continue discussing the issue with town counsel and planning officials with an eye toward presenting an update on the situation within a month.

Several residents of Lakeside Drive, a private road, crowded the Select Board meeting room Tuesday, June 14 to find out if there was a way to deal with the fence a resident with property on both sides of that road has built across it, blocking both vehicular and — in effect — pedestrian traffic as well from Rollercoaster Road. 

Rollercoaster Road can no longer be accessed from Lakeside Drive.

The town does grade and plow Lakeside, as it does all private roads approved by Town Meeting vote every year.

“I, too, have many, many questions as to what the objective is here,” Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “I think that’s beyond the scope of what this board can do. … The elephant in the room is private ways in general.”

The owner of the property in question at 252 Lakeside Drive did not attend the meeting, but the session was held for residents to voice their concern about the situation, but FitzGerald-Kemmett cautioned the board was legally limited in what they could say.

“I’ve believed right from the beginning this is not a town matter,” said Select Board member Jim Hickey. “It’s a private matter. It’s a private road, but I want to help and the board wants to help as much as we can.”

He said he would like to speak with the owner of the property to find out why he is putting up the fence.

“We’ve heard everything why we don’t want the fence there,” Hickey said, noting they have no reason why it shouldn’t be allowed.

“It is private property,” he said. “What I would like to talk to this gentleman about is why he did it.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett said the board will ask Town Counsel Katherine Feodoroff to work with the Planning Departments and Building Inspector on the issue.

“I don’t know that this is anything we’re going to be able to satisfy,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “That said, I’m going to try to effectuate some positive change here. I don’t know what that’s going to look like.”

Select Board member Joe Weeks said he understands the concern over discussions with town counsel that have to be conducted in executive session, but stressed the board is “on the side of trying to do what’s right for everybody.”

The erection of the fence may result in properties on the road not being in compliance with current dead end road zoning regulations,

But Police Chief Michael Miksch said that, as a civil matter, his authority over the situation is limited, but stressed that response times are not going to change.

“We’re going to get there,” he said. “We don’t usually use Rollercoaster Road to get to Lakeside — it’s a narrow road, it’s not a road I want to go down with an emergency vehicle, unless I have to respond on that road.”

He said there are roads like it all over town, and it presents more of a quality of life issue. Land court limits plantiffs in such cases to those directly aggrieved, not a town, he added.

“This is mainly a civil issue and I cannot deal with civil issues,” Miksch said. “There’s very few civil issues that police can enforce.”

Miksch noted that Fire Chief Jerome Thompson Jr., could not attend because he was working mutual aid on a large fire in Rockland.

FitzGerald-Kemmett said that if the board felt the situation did present a public safety risk, the decision it reached [to permit road closure] probably would have been different.

“We’re trying really hard to come up with a solution that makes sense,” Weeks said, but the fact that it is a civil matter ties the Select Board’s hands. “We haven’t come up to a situation like this in this way before.”

His concern is what it could do to the community and the open communication has been needed.

 “This is where we’re going to need Feodoroff’s office to work with the Planning and Building departments to see if that’s an option for a path forward,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said, stressing it is only an avenue to be explored.

Zoning Board of Appeals member William Cushing of 236 Lakeside Road said he grew up in the area and said the primary intent appears to be access to Oldham Pond, where the road closure at Lakeside and Rollercoaster would create a dead end with a right of way easement to the pond.

“We have a number of situations like this in Hanson,” he said. “This is the equivalent of saying, ‘I can put a gate up and allow who I want to pass, when I want [them] to pass.’”

It is the zoning enforcement officer’s role to enforce regulations through fines.

Nick Rubino of 279 Lakeside Road, who has lived there for five years, is an engineer with concerns about safety on the road and longer response times by taking the alternative route to Rollercoaster.

Another Lakeside Road resident, who is handicapped, said that, with one less access road and the frequency of storm damage to tree limbs, she is also concerned about ambulance response times.

“That is a safety concern for me,” she said. “I don’t feel safe.”

Matt LeBlanc, of 140 Rollercoaster Road, said his driveway has become one of the turnaround spots since the fence went up.

“I was going to put a sign up: ‘I didn’t close the road, please use my driveway,’” he joked. But seriously, he said he sees the fence as a safety issue.

“Either it’s a private way that you can enforce or it’s a private way that can be traveled through public access — you can’t have it both ways,” Cushing said.

Feodoroff said the Planning Board’s role in looking at access is the creation of new lots.

“This is a little bit different,” she said. 

“To not enforce this as a zoning enforcement issue is to set a terrible precedent,” Cushing argued. “I’m not saying you’re saying to set that, I’m saying [that] if it was to be set it’s a terrible precedent because Hanson has a lot of situations like this.”

Feodoroff said that, from a zoning enforcement perspective, there is a question over where a zoning enforcement officer have the right to enforce a private agreement between parties of a legal deed.

HANOVER – The South Shore Tech Regional School Committee on Wednesday, May 18 discussed a pair of “homework assignments” related to the schools expansion-renovation application from the Massachusetts School Building Association.

Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey said the MSBA has asked vocational schools in the funding pipeline to provide information – without the agency knowing the size of the school – on the vocational programs it might consider how they might meet strong labor market demands through the use of Chapter 74 funds.

That information will be forwarded to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for a preliminary review.

“It’s all just potential,” he said. “MSBA wants to know, up front, from the Department of Education, would this be a viable program?”

DESE’s career and vocational unit take a close look at the data to determine, based on the same labor market data SST uses, to make that determination.

No assessment from the school about how it would need to expand to meet the educational program need, would be due for some time, Hickey explained.

The committee voted to forward the information to the MSBA. The second vote of the evening earmarked $900,000 – an estimated amount based on similar projects and school sizes, that the school would need to conduct feasibility studies once approval for the next round is received from MSBA.

“They want to know that, at the local level, there is support for this,” Hickey said. “There are no guarantees, but if, in fact we do move further into the pipeline and we are accepted, part of that money that is involved in that feasibility study will be reimbursed.”

If it were approved today, that reimbursement rate would be about 55 percent, but the MSBA does not dictate the amount schools should budget.

In other business, the students at South Shore Tech Gay/Straight Alliance Club is setting up a Transition Threads, a clothing drive program in which clothing may be donated to that other students in the school or community can do a “shopping day” to obtain free clothing they would not feel comfortable buying in a store in front of their parents or other people.

“They don’t have to come out of the closet, but they can still get clothes that make them feel comfortable,” said student body president and School Committee representative Grace Michel of Pembroke. 

The GSA has also collected more than $200 that will be converted to gift cards.

WHITMAN – The Select Board said farewell to colleague Brian Bezanson during his final meeting on the job Tuesday, May 10, presenting him with a gifts from the Board and a small reception after the meeting.

“I know we’re all very appreciative of Selectman Bezanson’s  18-years of service on the Board,” Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman said. “We wanted to make sure, collectively, that we recognize that.”

“Brian Bezanson, this is your life,” Selectman Randy LaMattina joked.

State Representative Alyson Sullivan’s General Court Citation and a gift – of a gardening stool and pads to kneel on for weeding – were presented to honor what Heineman described as Bezanson’s many years of selfless service to the town.”

Sullivan apologized for her rough voice, which had been giving her trouble, but added that “it never stops me from showing up, especially for a friend like you, Brian.”

“I can’t really put into words how thankful I am to you, as a member of this board, over the last three and a half years, for myself up at the state level, and prior to that, while running for office,” she said. “I know this [decision to retire] was not a decision that you made lightly.”

She said that, while he may no longer be on the board, she does not believe his service to the town is done in any way, shape or form.

Her citation noted his exceptional public service for the town.

“I really appreciate that,” Bezanson said after the citation presentation, saying it was a complete surprise. “It’s been an honor and privilege to serve the community this long, and it’s been an honor working with you all.”

He credited the support of his family and the citizens’ “keeping me going, knowing that we do good here” with his longevity.

“On to gardening,” he said. “It’s been a wild ride.”

Board Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski thanked Bezanson for his years of service to the town.

“I will miss you all,” Bezanson said. “It’s probably been, other than my family, one of the highlights of my life.”

Bezanson made the motion to adjourn his final meeting, heard saying as it concluded, “Whose idea was this…?”

The board had earlier approved the town’s security camera policy governing park cameras, approved at town meeting the previous week, with very little discussion.

The Freedom of Information Act requirements on how long camera recordings must be kept on file will be followed.

With Town Meeting approval of a full-time facilities manager and Robert Curran’s looming retirement, hiring for the nonunion position will follow the personnel policies now in place, Heineman said.

The vacancy announcement and job listing would be made public via advertising in the newspaper and online as well as posting at Town Hall for 10 business days.

After applications are in, interviews will be conducted with specifics about the interview process to be decided when the application window closes.

It is a separate position from the building commissioner for which interviews were already underway.

Covid update

Kowalski had also read a letter from Whitman Housing Authority Executive Director Eileen Gibson, expressing appreciation for the work Covid Coordinator Danielle Clancy and the Whitman Fire Department did in providing vaccine and booster clinics for its elderly and disabled residents.

“We are blessed to have such a great team on the Fire Department who took such good care of our residents during the administration of the vaccines and who provide life-saving care for our citizens every day throughout the year.”

She gave special thanks to Danielle Clancy, who has managed the needs of the town as health agent while working tirelessly to organize clinics, maintain staffing and inventory and to register patients, “all while taking care of people unable to leave their homes and some of the town’s most vulnerable citizens,” Gibson wrote.

Fire Chief Timothy Clancy also provided a Covid-19 update to the board, reporting reported there was still 43 positive cases in town, “although a few more have come in during the last day.” 

Whitman’s positivity rate is 5.2 percent – the last time the positivity rate was that high was the third week in February. 

“This was not unexpected with the Easter holiday,” he said, pledging to continue monitoring the rates. The vaccination rate is now at 68 percent. 

The fire department is ready to restart vaccination clinics at a moment’s notice as soon as the CDC says it should be done again.

WHITMAN — Amanda Peterson says becoming a teenaged mom forced her to “grow up and become an adult very quickly,” as it forced her to leave high school to raise her kids.

The Whitman resident does not regret doing so, save for the sacrifice of her incomplete education — a temporary one, as it turned out.

“I am not ashamed or unhappy with my decision to have my children young — they are the most beautiful part of my life,” she said. “But, I put my life on hold for the sake of my babies. I left high school to raise them and support them.”

As she celebrated Mother’s Day with her children, enjoying the homemade gifts they gave her as they had breakfast in bed together, she reflected on how far she has come since making that difficult decision.

To pay the bills at 19, she looked to a job in the fast-food industry, working the front counter at McDonald’s.  She was a knowledge sponge, soaking up whatever information she could to move forward in her career and support herself and her daughter. Fast-forward 16 years, and she’s a department manager, with the career she had envisioned as a teen.

So, how did she translate asking customers the expected phrase “would you like fries with that?” to a management career in a business some dismiss as “flipping burgers?”

Turns out her employer could, and did help.

Peterson obtained her GED through the McDonald’s Archways for Opportunity program.

“I made the tough decision of putting my education on hold to raise my children,” she said. “I always wanted to go back to finish what I started, and do what I thought was best for my children. McDonald’s presented me with the opportunity and I jumped at it.”

Getting her GED had always been a goal she wanted to accomplish.

“I always felt like a piece of me was missing,” she said. “Now that I graduated, I feel like I found that piece and I am whole again.”

She enrolled in Archways for Opportunity in May 2019 and graduated in June 2020, working trough the pandemic as she and her family did their best to stay safe and healthy. The company continued to support Peterson by allowing her to study during breaks while offering her a flexible schedule so she could attend classes, take tests, work, and take care of her family.

“While it was not easy, McDonald’s helped me get it done,” she said.

That her employer supported her in her taking care of her family gave her a feeling of family on its own. Her General Manager Roberta Pratt also encouraged her to take part in the Archways for Opportunity program.

“They are some of my biggest cheerleaders. Everyone was so excited to find out I was pregnant each time,” Peterson said. “Work-life balance and supporting families is one of the best parts of management here. I am so appreciative of the time I am given to bond with my baby and heal after giving birth last month to my third child.”

Pratt seems to be, indeed, a cheerleader for her employee.

“Amanda’s goal has always been to show her children they can do anything they set their mind to,” she said. “It was her dream to finish high school, and I am so amazed by how hard she worked every day to achieve this goal for her family and to further her career. I am so proud of her!” 

Richard Hogan, the owner/operator of the North Weymouth McDonald’s where Peterson works called her an incredible role model for the program and the organization.

“We are grateful to have Amanda as one of our teammates. She’s hardworking, passionate and embodies the best of our brand values,” Hogan said. “The sky is the limit for her.”

While she doesn’t have an actual vision board for her future, Peterson said she is incredibly happy with where she’s at in her personal and professional life. But she does plan to one day own a McDonald’s restaurant.

“I am putting that out into the universe,” she said. “I set my mind to something and I achieve my goals. Down the line, it will happen.”

In the meantime, her kids are probably happy they can enjoy their favorite menu option — chicken McNuggets and cheeseburger Happy Meals. But, then, when mom is happy in her life, isn’t every meal a happy one?