Any attempt to recount the top stories of the past year seems to have its roots in five letters — COVIDThe COVID-19 pandemic took over in so many areas of daily life after mid-March that it’s sometimes difficult to recall a time it wasn’t a constant preoccupation.

But the year opened — and closed — with communities choosing new town administrators. In Hanson, Selectmen welcomed new Town Administrator John Stanbrook on board in January, replacing Michael McCue who had been removed by the board the previous summer.

“He comes to us with impeccable credentials and years of diverse municipal experience and skills, which we know will serve us in good stead,” then-Chairman of the board of Selectmen Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

Whitman ended the year by selecting Hanover Finance Director Lincoln Heineman — as Selectmen prioritized the town’s financial outlook — to serve as Whitman’s new town administrator.

Heineman and Assistant Town Administrator Lisa Green were placed in nomination for the vote during discussion, prior to which Green excused herself from the Zoom meeting.

The board also voted to begin contract negotiations with Heineman.

Four finalists had been interviewed by Paradigm Consulting representative Bernard Lynch and the board during a lengthy session on Friday, Dec. 18, also conducted remotely.

Also interviewed were Millville Town Administrator Peter Caruso and Shirley Town Administrator Michael McGovern.

“To me, it was clear by the interview process and the paper résumés that, in my opinion, there was somebody who stood out to me,” Selectmen Randy LaMattina said of Heineman. “It was talking about fiscal policy, forecasting, models — where will we be in five and 10 years — and not only talking about these things, but having first-hand knowledge, actually participating in the development of these things, not just a seat at the table where you watched it happen.”

The towns were also busy from the start of 2020 dealing with the continuing debate over how towns should be assessed for the W-H Regional School District budget — an issue which preoccupied residents nearly as much as did COVID.

And there were presidential, state and local elections and a reckoning with systemic racism in the form of marches in both towns to protest the death of Gorge Floyd under the knee of a Minneapolis, Minn., police officer, among other fatal encounters between Black Americans and police across the country.

Town halls, libraries, senior centers and any activities that could attract more than 25 people were canceled or rescheduled in light of a March state of standard procedure in Whitman and Hanson, until summer when Hanson returned to in-person meetings with masks and social distancing protocols in place. Whitman boards continued to meet remotely, however.

By late December, Gov. Baker had to reinstate controls on gatherings of 10 persons or more until Jan.10, 2021. Hanson Selectmen Chairman Kenny Mitchell, therefore suspended meetings until Jan. 12.

Schools turned to remote learning within days of Gov. Baker’s initial order, sending ChromeBooks home with students who needed them, as well as to-go meals for children on free and reduced lunch programs.

By the start of the 2020-21 school year, the district — as well as South Shore Tech — had developed hybrid plans in which pupils were rotated through school buildings and ridership was limited on school buses.

For those students, however, the lost extra-curricular activities and annual milestones such as a lost state final basketball game, proms and graduations, were what will be remembered.

The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association canceled the state finals as W-H was scheduled to play Taconic in the Division 2 state final last Saturday. It was the program’s first-ever state final berth. As a result of the cancellation, W-H and Taconic

were named co-state champions.

The last day of school became a drive-by affair as teacher and staff stood socially distanced outside schools as rising students were driven by to wave and receive tokens from teachers.

On June 27, SST seniors, received their diplomas on a touch-free basis during a drive-in ceremony at the Marshfield Fairgrounds, a precursor of some national political rallies in late summer and the fall.

W-H’s graduation was delayed until July 31, and, even then, some students’ exposure to coronavirus forced a change from a socially distanced in-person graduation to a drive-up ceremony.

One by one, members of the senior class and family members who could fit in a single vehicle drove up to the school’s front entrance. They picked up their diploma from a low table and approached the spirit rock where they posed for individual photos with Principal Dr. Christopher Jones, Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak and School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes.

But there was good to be found, even amid the COVID pandemic. Police drive-by birthday greetings for kids, notes of encouragement left in Whitman Park and literal signs of support for community food pantries helped buoy spirits.

On Sunday, April 19, a steady parade of vehicles stopped in front of the LaMattina house on Whitman’s River Birch Circle all morning. They stopped long enough for Randy LaMattina or his wife Michelle to load something in the back before driving away. Residents were taking delivery of 18X24 Whitman Strong lawn signs, designed by 14-year-old Claire LaMattina to benefit the Whitman Food Pantry. She raised more than $15,000 in the project.

Things were less harmonious on the town and school budget front. A project grappled with since the fall of 2019, drawn out even further by pandemic-induced delays in town election and town meeting schedules. Town meeting quorums were reduced and sessions were held outdoors — an arrangement that also had to work around limited time windows around darkness and mosquito activity.

In Hanson, a $800,000 Proposition 2 ½ override failed by a vote of 1,121 against to 712 in favor during the June town election. Opponents argued the School Committee did not have the necessary two-thirds vote to post the article in the first place.

Financial decisions by both towns and the school district, to trim where possible and, a compromise formula helped both towns pass budgets, including school spending at midsummer town meetings.

“The budget is built on the assumption that we meet in the middle, in a transition from the current [school] budget method … to the statutory method, which is what most communities in Massachusetts that are regional are using,” Whitman Town Administrator Frank Lynam said in July.

Whitman voters unanimously approved the assessment compromise for the school budget before moving on to the school budget during an outdoor Town Meeting in the blistering heat at WHRHS ball fields Monday, July 27. The $15,367,392 school assessment line item in the Article 2 budget was also approved unanimously. Hanson voters also approved the amendment to the Regional Agreement governing the assessment formula, two days later to fall into line with the vote taken by Whitman. They also approved the Selectmen’s recommended school budget 434-83 and the budget as a whole, based on the Selectmen’s recommended budget of $11,214,177 — at Town Moderator Sean Kealy’s motion — after the assessment article passed.

TAUNTON — The Southeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (SEMLEC) joins the entire emergency responder community in mourning the death of Taunton Police Officer John Borges, who died Dec. 24 at age 49 after battling COVID-19.

Somerset Police Chief George McNeil, the control chief and head of the SEMLEC Search and Rescue Unit (SAR) recalled Officer Borges as the “glue” that held the team together and one of the region’s preeminent experts on search techniques.

“Officer Borges worked the midnight to 8 a.m. shift, and when there was an active search for missing person, he would regularly stay past his shift and continue to work, on his own time. He didn’t even put in for overtime,” Chief McNeil said. “I have been a police officer for 34 years, and I learned new things every time I worked with Officer Borges. He was excellent at his job — the job of finding lost people.”

Officer Borges was one of the founding members of SEMLEC SAR in 2003 and remained on the team through multiple control chiefs and leadership charges in Southern Massachusetts. He possessed a wealth of knowledge on missing persons cases. He was a search and rescue instructor who trained other first responders in the region, including state officials and first responders around the nation. He was also an expert and instruction in Incident Command Systems (ICS).

Chief McNeil recalled a case from 2009 in which a man went missing during a particularly cold night. There was a language barrier with the man’s family, as they only spoke Portuguese. Officer Borges was fluent in Portuguese and was able to bridge the communications gap with the family, an essential task that helped lead rescuers in the right direction. They found the man and reunited him with his family.

“We were involved in many searches together, and when SEMLEC deployed for a search and rescue mission, the people of South Eastern Massachusetts could count on Officer Borges to be there, coordinating the effort to find a loved one,” Chief McNeil said. “He made our communities safer.”

According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, nearly 180 police officers have died of COVID-19 in the U.S. this year. These are people who cannot abide by stay at home advisories and cannot always be socially distant.

SEMLEC is a mutual aid consortium comprised of resources from the police departments of 30 cities and towns. We respond when requested by a chief of police to assist with search and rescue, special events, or major crimes. We also draw on some of the most talented police officers in the region to form the SEMLEC SWAT Team, which deploys when needed to save lives and protect the citizens of southeastern Massachusetts. Members are all sworn police officers from one of the 30 member communities. Our units respond only when called by one of the 30 chiefs of police in our region.

WHITMAN — Usually, Marine Corps veteran Jim Murphy can be found each December placing holiday wreaths on the graves of fallen servicemen and women at Arlington National Cemetery.

This year, however, the response to the COVID-19 pandemic has limited access to the cemetery to military personnel to perform that honor as America marks the 79th anniversary of the Japanese attack on the United States military forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, leading to America’s entry into World War II.

Instead, Murphy attended a brief ceremony at the Whitman American Legion Post 22 in Whitman.

While the ceremony lasted only about five minutes, the solemn occasion was just as heart-felt for participants as if it had been a parade had taken place.

Color guards and honor guards from the Legion and Whitman VFW posts rendered salute to the fallen, while prayers were offered, “Taps” was played and a ceremonial rifle volley was fired.

Post Commander Walter Aylward offered a brief speech and participants then attended a breakfast reception inside the Post.

During the attack on Dec. 7, 1941, 2,403 service members and civilians who were killed during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. A further 1,178 people were injured in the attack, which permanently sank two U.S. Navy battleships (the USS Arizona and the USS Utah) and destroyed 188 aircraft, according to the National Park Service website.

This years Pearl Harbor Day Commemoration’s theme, “Above and Beyond the Call,” represents a milestone of its own, as the first Dec. 7 commemoration to follow the nationwide commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII.

WHITMAN — With COVID-19 taking a toll on social interaction as well as public health, traditional fundraising projects by organizations like Dollars for Scholars, which depend in large part, on in-person events, collections, have taken a hit.

“Every year we raise a lot of money for the seniors in Whitman and Hanson through fundraising and door-to-door,” DFS member Michelle LaMattina told Selectmen on Oct. 20 before their vote to support the project. “Obviously, this year it’s going to be very tough to fundraise because of COVID, so we’ve been trying to come up with some new ideas.”

LaMattina, whose daughter Claire raised about $17,000 for the Whitman Food Pantry “remotely” through a Whitman Strong yard sign effort, thought up a way to raise funds in a similar manner while celebrating the holiday season.

“We’re trying to make something exciting for the town to look forward to,” said. DFS volunteer Michelle LaMattina.

A Holiday Tree Lighting event begins from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Friday, Dec. 4 to Sunday, Dec. 6 and again from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Friday, Dec. 11 to Sunday, Dec. 13. Masks and social distancing are required and the public is asked to stay outside the gated area of the baseball field where the trees are set up except for display times.

Individuals, families, neighborhoods, clubs, organizations or companies to were able to sponsor a tree for $100. DFS provided the trees and lights, setting them up after Thanksgiving. Sign-up times were allotted to tree sponsors to come and decorate the tree to their liking, LaMattina said.

Monday’s wind-driven rain also delivered a blow to this new effort, setting the project back a bit, but the show must go on and — with organizers and volunteers working Tuesday to repair the damage.

Some, such as a Giving Tree featuring mittens and other wearables, had packaged them in zipper-close plastic bags. Others like the Fanilows of Hanson made certain their ode to Barry Manilow stayed decorated with wires. They wore red team T-shirts and Manilow face masks as they decorated their tree, situated next to a Charlie Brown Tree.

“He’s special,” said Jen Hickey or Manilow. “He’s not for everybody.”

“…And he wishes everyone a very Merry Christmas,” added Jean Dean.

Hickey said the DFS Committee gave each tree sponsor 90 minutes to do their decorating in small, distanced numbers.

“This was a great idea for fundraising,” one of the Fanilows said.

LaMattina said the response was overwhelming with 50 trees sold.

“If I had another 30, I could have sold them,” she said, noting people were calling her Saturday to ask about decorating a tree.

“Whether you want to drive around, if you want to get out of your car — but we will have DFS volunteers making sure there aren’t groups of people congregating,” LaMattina said.

ROCKLAND — Like most everything else since March 13, the Tri-Town Veterans Day observance was different this year.

The annual parade honoring Abington, Rockland and Whitman veterans was canceled over the summer, and replaced on Wednesday, Nov. 11 by a memorial ceremony, broadcast on Whitman-Hanson Community Access TV, outside Veterans Memorial Field at Rockland High School.

Participants included Veterans Agent for Rockland and Hanson Tim White, who acted as master of ceremonies; Air Force Col. Joseph Morrissey a Rockland High graduate; and members of the veterans organizations from Rockland, Whitman and Abington.

“It was not an easy decision for us to make not to have a parade, but under the circumstances, we all felt that it was the proper thing to do for safety and health reasons,” White said.

After an opening prayer was offered by Navy Chaplain Lt. Kristy Coburn.

“When the need was greatest, these brave men and women stepped forward to defend our freedom and, for that, we are eternally grateful,” she said. “Help us today, in the midst of the most challenging time in our history, to give proper honor and appreciation to those who served the cause of freedom.”

The Pledge of Allegiance was recited and the national anthem played before Col. Morrissey, assigned to the Hanscomb Air Force Base, delivered the keynote address in front of the memorial and stadium dedicated to Rockland’s veterans.

He recalled playing youth football at the stadium where he would gaze on the names engraved in the large bronze plaques, not old enough to understand what the meant.

“In the winter of 2017, while in Iraq, I was brought back to this stadium in my mind,” he said. “As I stood on the tarmac and watched flag-draped coffins that were being loaded on C-130s on their final flight home, those same goosebumps (he had felt during the national anthem at football games) returned to me.”

He noted there are memorial street signs throughout Rockland and the updated memorial outside the stadium was dedicated.

He said that kind of respect and town cohesion are why he and his wife chose the town as the place they wanted to live and raise their children.

The Rockland Police Honor Guard fired a ceremonial salute followed by “Taps” and a closing prayer by Lt. Coburn.