HANSON — The Board of Selectmen discussed updates on the Maquan School repair project, as well as the Whitman Hanson Community Access contract during its Tuesday, Jan. 24 meeting.

With several issues arising over the conditions of Maquan Elementary School, real change needs to occur shortly, town and school district officials agree. The roof over the gym was recently repaired, but that is only a small accomplishment in comparison to many other problems with the building.

School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes updated the board on a rejected statement of interest in an accelerated repair. This will slow down repairs from February until sometime in the spring.

Next Monday, the School Committee’s Capital Improvements subcommittee will be meeting at Maquan to discuss the issues that have been brought forward. Hayes mentioned the town needs to “appropriate $15,000 to $25,000 to evaluate the entire system.”

Hayes listed electrical problems, an overhaul of the heating system, the lack of a sprinkler system, asbestos removal, and an upgrade of the fold-down lifts as some of the work still to be done at the school.

There is already difficulty in determining the priority of these problems, he noted.

“We have been operating without a sprinkler system since the 60s, I would think the sprinkler system may not be as big a priority as the heating system,” Hayes said. “You can’t be in the building with no heat.”

Selectman Bruce Young mentioned that the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) said that the building should have been replaced three or four years ago.

Depending on the evaluation of the school, there may need to be drastic steps taken moving forward according to Hayes.

“If [proposed repairs] reach 30 percent of the assessed value of the building then you need to bring the whole building under every code,” Hayes said.

The expectation is that Maquan will end up being over the 30-percent threshold.

“Every system should be replaced and that is why we will not qualify for the statement of interest (on the accelerated repair),” Young said. “It sets up a paradox between how many systems should we replace, when three or four years down the road you repurpose or you may not use the building.”

In other business, the board again placed the Whitman Hanson Community Access contract on hold.

As soon as the discussion started, W-H Community Access Board Chairman Arlene Dias, raised concerns over problematic language in the contract.

Section 3 Article J states: “The obligation to cablecast these meetings shall remain regardless of funding available to W-H Access.”

Dias and members of the board were confused as to how W-H Community Access could cover these meetings without having the funding to exist at all.

“We should take it back to the attorney to find out what the intent is,” said Selectmen Chairman James McGahan.

Town Administrator Michael McCue reported that discussions regarding the removal of the Plymouth County Hospital are still in the early stages. Much of the technical details appear to be in the works.

“They need to remove hazardous material before they start,” said Selectman Donald Howard, who chairs the Final Plymouth County Hospital Reuse Committee.

Howard also mentioned that the winter would be the ideal time to start this project, as it would prevent destruction related dust from contaminating the area.

Two structures are planned to remain after this process is over. The communication tower will be auctioned off rather than simply destroyed.

Prior to the Board of Selectmen’s meeting, the board’s Wage and Personnel Subcommittee discussed changes to the library director’s job description.

“This change comes from the library trustees, as they feel the current description has become outdated,” McCue said. The last change was made in 2004.

Some of the updates include additional duties such as increased oversight and attending various workshops. Additionally, there is a larger emphasis on education. Minimum qualifications list a “master’s degree in library science and five years of progressively responsible experience public library administrations.”

It also mentions an equivalent combination of education and experience will be adequate. Members of the board suggested that experience can be more valuable than education.

HANSON — While a group of Lakeside Road residents attended the Tuesday, Jan. 10 Board of Selectmen’s meeting to hear Conservation Commission concerns about the sale of two parcels on the road at public auction, they learned there were none. The conservation concern was confined to a narrow strip of land on Brook Street, which will not be sold.

Lakeside Road residents, however, voiced their own concerns about how — and to whom — public meeting notification letters on the matter were issued.

Conservation Commission Chairman Phil Clemons said he wanted to clear up any misunderstanding or confusion as his board’s part in the process is completed.

“There were two parcels that we thought would have value from the conservation standpoint,” Clemons said. “Lakeside Road was not one of those.”

Selectmen voted 5-0 to put aside the Brook Street parcel for protection from sale. Town Administrator Michael McCue reminded Selectmen of their vote in the fall against selling the Maquan Street parcel as well as to sell the two parcels on Lakeside Road.

Residents of the Lakeside Road were urged to provide contact information for notification of an auction date – most likely in the spring — for the parcels at 261 and 0 Lakeside Road.

“How many abutters were notified?” asked Lakeside Road resident Gail Joyce. “I’m at the end of Lakeside Road and I don’t know how many abutters are notified, because I didn’t even know about the meeting tonight until I heard it by word-of-mouth.”

“This meeting did not require notification,” McCue said. “The abutters that were notified were done out of courtesy, thinking they might be interested in attending this meeting.”

A man who lives next door to one of the parcels said he had never been notified of any meetings.

“For an auction of this type, they are not required to notify people,” said Selectmen Chairman James McGahan, noting that residents would have to be notified if construction was planned there.

The ConComm advised the town keep a parcel with an address of 0 Brook St., and another with an address of 308 Maquan St. — both small, watershed lands. The entire Maquan parcel is within the kind of buffer zone for which the Watershed Protection Act was intended to safeguard.

“We think the town will be well-served if we kept the shoreline and natural vegetation and restore the natural vegetation and kept it as a natural area to protect the shore of [Maquan] Pond and the water quality,” Clemons said.

The 1.9 acres on Brook Street is narrow with a long boundary on Indian Head Brook where native brook trout have been found, most of which is within the Watershed Protection Act.

Maquan school

School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes, who announced the statement of interest (SOI) to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) for a Maquan/Hanson Middle schools project has been turned down for this year, stressed the decision had no connection to the town’s rejection of a new elementary school project a few years ago.

“There were other districts who have greater needs,” Hayes said, suggesting they ought to go for accelerated repair funds toward a long-term goal, such as fixing the heating system for the short term. “There’s more submissions being put in to do those types of repairs or replacements.”

McGahan noted one of those schools had a roof collapse, and was in more dire need. Selectman Bruce Young said the boilers in the building are original to the 1968 school construction.

The School Committee voted Wednesday, Jan. 11 to resubmit an SOI for a Maquan School replacement project. Selectmen are scheduled to vote on the new SOI at the Tuesday, Jan. 24 meeting.

Interim library
director

In other business, Selectmen voted to appoint interim Library Director Karen Stolfer as the Library’s Records Officer. Stolfer graduated with her MLS in 2005 from Simmons College and started working at the Hanson Public library in September of 2003.

“Karen was the first person Nancy hired,” the library’s Technical Services/Systems Director Antonia Leverone told McCue. “I remember still being the Acting Director when Nancy and I interviewed Karen. … She was a patron as a school kid before she went to Wheaton. Since she came into the reference position she has been a tremendous asset to the library with her computer and reference skills [as well as her] friendly way with the patrons. The staff all think very highly of her, both professionally and as a colleague.”

HANSON — The town has a new Recreation Commission — as soon as the seven members approved by Selectmen on Tuesday, Jan. 10 are sworn in.

Selectmen voted by paper ballot for the seven out of a field of 13 applicants and distributed the staggered terms of office according to the number of votes received. Eventually all commission members will serve staggered three-year terms, but to start two of the posts come up for reappointment on June 30, 2017.

“I want to say thank you to these folks who stepped up and volunteered,” McGahan said to a warm round of applause from the audience after the vote. “There’s been a lot of controversy, a lot of news on this issue and, frankly, I thought it was going to drive more people away, but we’ve brought in a good group and we’re looking forward to moving on this year.”

The appointments were made by a 4-1 vote with Selectman Bruce Young voting against the move.

Serving on the new commission will be: Brian Fruzetti (five votes, term through June 30, 2019); Rachel Gross (four votes, term through June 30, 2019); Brian Smith (four votes, term through June 30, 2019); John Zucco (four votes, term through June 30, 2018); Sondra Allen (four votes, term through June 30, 2018); Annmarie Bouzan (three votes, term through June 30, 2017) and Diane Cohen (three votes, term through June 30, 2017).

After the commission members are sworn in, Town Administrator Michael McCue said he would contact them to arrange a first meeting date and plans to attend that session.

Also applying were: Kevin Cameron of 205 Partridge Way, Theresa Cocio of 1211 Whitman St., Wilbur Danner of 445 State St., Audrey Flanagan of 43 Baker St., John Mahoney of 96 Main St., and Donna Tramontana of 591 High St.

“I heard a lot from people coming up to me … many people out there want more community events up there,” McGahan said. “We obviously want to see some income generated as well. It actually brings the community together.”

The ballots

Selectmen voted in the following manner: Don Howard voted for — Allen, Bouzan, Cameron, Cocio, Flanagan, Fruzetti and Mahoney; McGahan voted for — Allen, Bouzan, Cohen, Fruzetti, Gross, Smith and Zucco; Kenny Mitchell voted for — Allen, Bouzan, Cohen, Fruzetti, Gross, Smith and Zucco; Bill Scott voted for — Allen, Cohen, Danner, Fruzetti, Gross, Smith and Zucco; and Young  voted for— Cameron, Danner, Fruzetti, Gross, Mahoney, Smith and Zucco.

Young also read the commission’s responsibilities into the record.

“They’ve certainly got their work cut out for them,” McGahan said, noting the first order of business will be helping to interview candidates for recreation director so Selectmen could vote on hiring one of their recommendations.

The vote on commission members was preceded by a heated exchange between resident Richard Edgehille and Young on where the hiring power for hiring that position falls under the Town Administrator Act and Edgehille’s asking for an opinion from town counsel. Edgehille maintained that the town administrator does the hiring.

“He doesn’t hire anybody,” Young retorted. “Who told you that?”

“I’m not looking for an argument, I’d just like it investigated,” Edgehille said.

“I’m not arguing, I can tell you right off the top of my head,” Young said. “The town administrator posts any positions that are open in the town of Hanson and then he takes applications and he interviews the candidates for those positions. But the relevant body is responsible for the hiring and the firing of the individuals that work under them under the Town Administrator Act.”

“I would like to hear that from town counsel,” Edgehille said.

“This is insanity,” Young said of that request, as McGahan gaveled for order. “I know people enjoy hearing from me, but this is not the way it works. … There is no debate about it.”

McGahan told Edgehille he would look into his question and get back to him.

Once the process got back to the applicants, McGahan asked each present to rise and introduce their qualifications.

making their case

Allen of 188 Elm St., a lifelong resident active at the camp, was not present due to work commitments.

Bouzan of 95 Woodbrook Lane noted her experience at Kiwanee, which she described as an excellent place for residents of all ages to get together.

“I started my career off at Kiwanee for the town of Hanson,” she said. “I wrote grants for the camp, I put together Halloween parties for the camp, I organized fundraisers for the camp and I just saw potential for the camp and I just want to give back a little for what it gave to me.”

Cohen of 767 Pleasant St., is a new resident of Hanson, having moved to town 18 months ago.

“My son has taken swimming lessons there for about five years and I fell in love with the place because it is uniquely Hanson,” Cohen said. “I was hoping to bring a little collaboration and cooperation into the Recreation Commission.” She is a special needs teacher in Weymouth and serves on that town’s public safety committee.

Fruzetti of 370 Elm St., is an advertising consultant who has completed a Plymouth County online training program in the conflict of interest law and filed a disclosure form indicating he has an immediate family member with a financial interest — his son Christopher who has worked at Kiwanee as a caretaker.

“I didn’t take swimming lessons at the camp, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care,” he said. “I’d like to see us come together and help the camp move forward.”

Gross of 35 Katy-Did Lane, owns an event marketing company, which works both on weddings and with communities over the past 15 years.

“I find that background is helpful in where the camp’s finding itself right now,” Gross said. “There’s a lot of re-branding that needs to be done as well as restructuring … I think that would be an exciting project to be part of.”

Smith of 38 Sandy Terrace is a facilities supervisor for Eversource. He stressed the need for bringing best practices for long-term planning to Kiwanee to preserve the facility for future generations.

Zucco of 101 Glenwood Place is also an entertainment specialist, specializing in corporate and social events.

“My specialties would be more on the artistic end, generating more money for weddings … elevating the quality of the weddings, or any corporate events that come in, but also making sure that Hanson residents have special privileges in the camp for doing things that outside residents wouldn’t have,” he said.

not chosen

Health Agent Tramontana and Board of Health Administrative Assistant Cocio could not attend because the Board of Health was also meeting Tuesday night.

Cameron, a previous Recreation Commission member who resigned a couple of years ago due to work commitments, has been involved in the hospitality industry for 25 years and said he wanted to help balance recreation and revenue needs at Kiwanee.

Danner stressed his past work at Kiwanee and service on Hanson Little League, town and regional school committees, Board of Assessors and a past Plymouth County Hospital Committee. The owner of the Meadow Brook and other area restaurants said he is “in a retirement mode” and has the time and financial experience to help make Kiwanee “an income property to the town and not a liability.”

In her third request to re-join the commission, Audrey Flanagan said her knowledge of the history and operations of Camp Kiwanee will be valuable at this time. She was unable to attend the meeting.

Mahoney has been an active member of Hanson Recreation Drama since 2006 and has volunteered many times to help build, rebuild and clean Camp Kiwanee, which he called a tremendous resource for the town.

WHITMAN — Heavy rain may have prevented some residents from attending, but the Whitman Council on Aging held an open house from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 5 to highlight the center’s new hours and the programs it offers.

The COA will now be open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesdays and  from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Fridays, “regular” hours of from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. will still be in force on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. The senior center will also be the town’s new location for processing passport applications.

Town Administrator Frank Lynam, who stopped by with Assistant Town Administrator Lisa Green for the event, lauded the change in hours.

“I think it’s wonderful that Barbara is reaching out to the community and offering our services for people seeking passports,” Lynam said. “Obviously, the intent is to serve the public, but also to give an opportunity to showcase our lovely facility and invite people who are young seniors to become familiar with the building.”

The open house, and a growing list of Tuesday evening programs are intended to demonstrate the benefit a senior center can provide — and there is some thought being given to change the name of the Whitman Council on Aging.

The Toll House Center has been suggested, but is not popular with some town officials. Barbara Garvey, Whitman’s Council on Aging Director Garvey and Green jointly suggested Tuesday that the Town Park Center might be an option.

In the meantime, upcoming Tuesday evening events will feature meet and greets with Police Chief Scott Benton and Fire Chief Timothy Grenno on Jan. 10 and a program on real estate tax exemptions with Assessor Kathy Keefe on Jan. 31. In February, a chowder supper is among the programs planned.

Both Garvey and Hanson Multi-Service Senior Center Director Mary Collins have noted the difference in the way Boomers approach aging — and, according to statistics, 10,000 of them have been turning 65 every day since 2011.

“It’s a huge problem,” Garvey said recently. “We’re trying to capture the Baby Boomers, the young seniors. They’re working, they’re caring for their grandchildren, they’re playing golf. It’s a different lifestyle than their parents led.”

She said it appears that Boomers view senior centers as a place “for very old people, and that’s not them.”

First time

One of those seniors with a younger, independent outlook stopped by the Jan. 5 open house for a tour and review of services offered — and made an appointment to discuss legal concerns during attorney Ronald Whitney’s monthly legal advice sessions at the COA.

“I just didn’t think it was time yet to come to the senior center,” a 76-year-old Whitman resident said as she enjoyed refreshments from Trio Café. “I thought I should see what’s going on, see if there’s some programs that I’m interested in.”

She had looked it up on her iPad to see what was offered in case she might someday need the services and decided to attend the open house. The weather almost dissuaded her, but she kept to her plan.

“I think this is a great idea,” she said of the open house. “Uusually I don’t even bother to go out on a rainy night, but I said to myself, ‘Get out, go. You said you were going to go over there.’ So I made myself come.”

According to the National Council on Aging (NCOA), 70 percent of senior center participants are women, half of those live alone. They also have higher levels of health, social interaction and life satisfaction, but have lower levels of income. Their average age is 75 and they visit their center one to three times per week for and average of 3.3 hours per visit.

Retiree Edward Dinardo is one such frequent visitor to the COA. He stopped by the open house to see what it was all about, and gave the idea high marks.

“It’s a good idea for people who have to work and can’t make it here during the day,” Dinardo said of the new Tuesday evening hours.

He said he likes the monthly “brown bag” food program, which supplies a bag of groceries to seniors, helping them stretch their food budget, and has enjoyed playing bingo and cribbage tournaments there in the past.

“We’re trying to change our programming so that it will interest younger people,” Garvey said, noting that a recent evening program on Medicare aimed at people approaching retirement was very well attended, including  those who had not been at the center before.

“We haven’t been open in the evening, but I’m thinking about maybe rearranging hours so that folks that aren’t available during the day would be able to participate and benefit,” Garvey said.

Services

Aside from a social outlet, senior centers connect older adults to services that can help them stay healthy and independent, and according to the NCOA, more than 60 percent of centers are focal points for services through the Older Americans Act. Those services include health, fitness and wellness programs; public benefits counseling; information and nutrition programs among others.

Garvey said events such as paint nights and the possible development of a bocce court are being considered at her center, and Whitman is one of the first towns in the area to offer pickleball, which lost some of its participants when the Abington Senior Center built three new pickleball courts. An Eagle Scout candidate, however, conducted a project to improve the Whitman pickleball courts adjacent to the Police Station last summer.

I see bingo attendance declining,” she said, but new games being offered have begun to draw interest. “Craft classes are well attended, I’m just trying to hone in on what’s successful and what’s not.”

A questionnaire about programs people would like to see is in the works. Every resident 60 and over also receives the Whitman Council on Aging newsletter.

HANSON — The community is mourning the loss of Hanson Public Library Director Nancy M. Cappellini, a loving person who made friends with colleagues and made her friends feel like part of the family.

Cappellini died at home Sunday, Dec. 18 after a long illness [see obituary, page 13]. The library was slated to be closed Thursday, Dec. 22 to permit the staff to attend her funeral.

“Nancy Cappellini was a positive, welcoming presence for everyone who came to the library,” said Library Trustees Chairman Jennifer Hickey. “She was a joy to work with. Everyone liked Nancy and the energy that she brought to every interaction.”  Hickey said to Cappellini, running the library was more than a job — she truly cared about the patrons, staff, Trustees and the Foundation.

“She will be sorely missed,” Hickey said. “Nancy became a good friend to me over the years, and I am heartbroken at losing her.”

The Board of Selectmen also honored Cappellini, observing a moment of silence in her memory Tuesday night.

“I know she’s had a great impact on a number of people — seniors and our kids in our town,” said Selectmen Chairman James McGahan. “I know that she’ll be sorely missed.”

Many of those who knew and worked with her in town government echoed that sentiment.

“She was such a special, uplifting person,” Town Clerk Elizabeth Sloan said. “It’s such a loss. She was such a presence in that library and even in Town Hall when she was here.”

Administrative Assistant to the Board of Selectmen Meredith Marini said she will remember Cappellini as a pleasant person with a ready smile.

“She had a great outlook on life,” Marini said. “It’s heart-breaking, she’s definitely too young to be gone.”

Those who worked closely with Cappellini were deeply shaken by the news of her passing, said Senior Center Director Mary Collins, whose facility shares the same building as the Hanson Public Library.

“It was a very family-like atmosphere,” Collins said of the library. “Each one of them (staff members) said to me that’s because she created that.”

Collins spent part of the day Monday with the library staff.

“It’s so personal,” Collins said of the loss. “I just feel truly that she was a woman of integrity and compassion and she always had what was in the best interest of the patrons in mind.”

Cappellini was always looking for ways to improve the library’s services and involve more people in programs, including the founding of the monthly Book-to-Movie group. She was also an advocate of agriculture, including a farm babies petting zoo in the annual summer reading program kickoff events and working to help form the town’s Agriculture Committee, on which she served as its clerk. She also served on a past reuse committee for the Plymouth County Hospital site.

“I think she was one of Hanson’s treasures, and hopefully people had an opportunity to know her,” Collins said.

Library friends and colleagues also spoke of their friend.

“I worked with Nancy serving as Library Trustee for five years, and I always admired her grace, humor, and patience,” said Trustee Helen Levesque wrote on Cappellini’s condolence page at the Keohane Funeral Homes website.

Library staff and trustees in Whitman were also saddened by Cappellini’s loss.

“Nancy was a wonderful woman,” said Whitman Public Library Director Andrea Rounds. “She was really well-respected in the library field and we’re so sorry to hear about her passing.”

Rounds said her Hanson counterpart will be truly missed.

“She was one of the most welcoming people,” agreed  Michael Ganshirt, administrative assistant to Whitman Town Clerk Dawn Varley and a Whitman Library trustee. “Every time you went in the library, she always came out and said hi and spent some time with you. The town is going to miss her greatly.”

Ganshirt, who is also president of Whitman and Hanson Dollars for Scholars, said Cappellini was supportive of that cause and “anything that anyone else did,” he said.

Whitman Public Library Senior Library Technician Mary Casey said Cappellini  had the remarkable ability to make one feel part of her family.

“She exuded such grace, compassion and warmth,” Casey said. “She met everyone with her radiant smile and had the ability to put everyone at ease.”

Casey recalled a Mass. Library Association conference dinner in May, during which Cappellini just happened to sit next to her.

“I had an extraordinary evening with her because … she was just a fun person, a very down-to-earth person, funny and just very graceful,” Casey said. “She was just a real lady.”

HANOVER — Hanson native Laurie Fusco — who is also a mom and advocate for youth with autism — and her son Kevin, 15, who has autism, joined several families for Pizza with the Police last Thursday and a viewing of “Be Safe: The Movie” at the South Shore Children’s Museum in the Hanover Mall.

Fusco was instrumental in bringing national advocate and educator Emily Iland, M.A., co-producer of “Be Safe: The Movie” to educate both officers and youths with autism and other disorders on how to safely interact with one another.

The group enjoyed pizza, watched the movie and then played games that helped role play and enforce behavior modeling students saw on the video first. Officers and guests were able to sit together and intermingle in an undisturbed,  non-threatening environment.

Iland who has an adult son, 34, with autism was first made aware of the need for education more than 20 years ago when her son had experiences with officers.

“I was very worried about him when he was out driving, because he has autism.” Iland said. “I wasn’t sure how he would do in meeting the police. It is as important to teach the police how to interact and understand how to interact with people with disabilities.”

In reviewing her efforts over the last 20 years and the education of 5,000 officers she realized it was still not enough.

“We have to also train our young people”, she said. “I discovered there were no tools to aid with teaching. I decided to do something about it.”

The movie was made by and for those with Autism Spectrum Disorder, according to a press release about the program about which Iland is so passionate. The DVD is a video modeling tool using games, activities and lessons to reinforce positive and safe behaviors when dealing with law enforcement.

Iland recently worked with Plymouth County Sheriff Joseph McDonald and Hanson Chief Michael Miksch in February training 50 officers and deputies on autism.

She joined forces with producer Joey Travolta who has a movie training studio and works with individuals with cognitive disorders, autism, ADHD, and various mental health disorders.

They created “Be Safe: The Movie” using specific techniques to educate youth on the autism spectrum on how to interact safely with police officers.

State Rep Josh Cutler, D-Duxbury, and Hanson police along with officers and police chiefs from several south shore communities attended the event.

“We teach individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder not to run, fight, or reach for the officer’s belt, or equipment,” Iland said. “In return for the officers — the event allowed a casual meeting with youth in their communities who may have a disability  — the officer can hear how they talk, communicate and can even offer mentoring skills to help them develop skills to grow positively within the community.”

Key behaviors which are enforced through the movie are that an officer must be able to see your hands. The organization handed out self-disclosure cards in which families may want to fill out with their information and specific accommodations.

“They can’t just reach into their pockets so we use the correct model on how to behave and ask for help,” said Iland.

As past president of the Autism Society in Los Angeles Iland is an award winning author, is an adjunct professor of Special Education at California State University, Northridge.  She is the author of Experience Autism training for law enforcement and is actively involved in initiatives and policies related to autism and safety, according to her bio emilyiland.com.

HANSON — Pastor Kristian Skjerli of Calvary Baptist Church, may not have planned on leading a church, but since he was a teenager he knew he had a calling to serve God in his community.

“It’s something I knew God was calling me to do back when I was 17,” he said. “It just took a little bit of a winding road that I didn’t expect. But it was a good road.”

Skjerli, 56, was approached to become senior pastor at Calvary Baptist about a year and a half ago, while serving as a deacon and member of the search committee to fill the vacancy in the pulpit after the Rev. Jeffrey Lavoie left to found The Well Community Church in Halifax.

“The thing that we want to make sure of, is yes we’re here to serve the needs of the community — whatever that is,” Skjerli said during an interview at his church Thursday, Dec. 1.

The church is a center to administer vouchers for families in need to contact the Salvation Army — the Hanson Senior Center fills that role for the elder population. The church also has begun an annual Thanksgiving dinner for dementia patients as well as an occasional thank you breakfast for the region’s first responders.

The church works with the Hanson Food Pantry as a collection location, as well as hosting a monthly support group for families who have lost children to addiction and is reaching out to determine how it can assist a program at East Bridgewater’s Covenant Community Church.

A group of Calvary Baptist members with trades backgrounds are joining forces to help people in need of minor repairs on their homes but can’t afford to hire a repairman. Residents purchase the material and the group performs the labor.

Calvary Baptist is also becoming involved as a participant in the Hanson Holiday Fest. Church member Jamie Bevelaqua is leading community outreach initiatives.

“The goal is to extend the hands and feet of Christ — that we are, literally, those hands and feet — so that as there is a need people can sense that we’re reaching out not only because we’re nice people, but because we have a message that drives us,” Skjerli said. The church also supports 39 mission projects around the world, as a way to aid its global community.

It’s the type of community outreach to which Skjerli has always been called.

“I started public speaking when I was 12 through a mission down in New York [City],” he said of a Baptist church group he belonged to that volunteered at an Episcopal mission, ministering to the homeless.  “I started sharing my faith and scripture as simply as a 12-year-old could.” Skjerli recalled.

Their mission was to provide information about services available to the homeless and to “give them hope because of Christ.”

“You have to look at things through their eyes,” he said. “Walk beside them at least, and feel what they feel, to get an idea of who they are.”

He recalled one man, a journalist from Los Angeles named Thomas O’Brien, who had struggled with alcoholism, and moved to New York for a job he was unable to find.

God’s love

“I asked him what the hardest thing was on the street, and he said, ‘Knowing that nobody cares about me. That — if I were to die today — nobody would know,’” Skjerli said. “I was able to share God’s love with him and that transformed me into recognizing the deepest need of people is to understand that somebody loves them, and God’s love is real and we understand it as we talk about this time of year through Christ.”

As a teen, Skjerli also helped found a program in his home church in the Brewster, N.Y., area to pick up kids and families who had no transportation on a church bus to provide rides to church and Sunday school.

“My heart was beginning to expand then, and my mind toward the needs of a community,” he said.

Born in Stamford, Conn. and raised in Danbury and in Brewster, N.Y., Skjerli, he and his family have lived in Scituate since 1994 — moving to care for his wife’s ailing parents. He graduated from Word of Life Bible College in upstate New York and at Cedarville College in central Ohio where he studied liberal arts and a Bible major.

His first ministry experience was as a teacher in a Christian school in Danbury. Eight years later they moved to Massachusetts, joining New England Baptist Church in East Bridgewater, where he was again asked to teach in a church-run school, doing so for 10 years.

While he never had the opportunity to go to seminary, Skjerli has preached at church and in a home church setting in addition to working with kids and learning sign language while at New England Baptist, which brought them to Calvary Baptist seven years ago. Skjerli now plans to continue study toward a master’s degree in counseling. It has been an unusual journey to the position of pastor, but one the church elders felt was strong enough in Biblical and pastoral knowledge to earn him the job.

“I have a strong Biblical education … I have a lot of experience in the pulpit,” he said. “Ministry has always been a part of my fiber.”

Skjerli served as a deacon under Lavoie and, as chairman of the deacons, the “leadership kind of fell into my lap when Jeff left,” due to a difference in philosophy. Skjerli then shared ministry with others trained in ministry while the search committee did its work.

When the time came to decide on whether to call three final candidates to serve as a guest minister so the church could get to know them, one of his fellow deacons asked Skjerli he would first consider being the new pastor.

He felt the decision needed thought and prayer, but accepted the post after undertaking a two-and –a-half hour question and answer session that ordained him.

“They needed to know who I was,” he said. He then preached a Sunday as a candidate pastor before being overwhelmingly winning votes from the congregation.

HANOVER — A proposed horticulture curriculum at South Shore Regional Vocational Technical School has taken another step forward.

Science Department Chairman Matt Fallano gave a PowerPoint presentation to the SSVT District School Committee during its Wednesday, Nov. 16 meeting, outlining how the program would start by offering a landscaping program. No vote was taken on the proposal.

Scituate member John Manning, of the Capital Projects Subcommittee, reported that Fallano and the group has toured facilities at a couple vocational schools that offer horticulture programs. School officials have met with counterparts at Silver Lake and Upper Cape regional schools regarding the cost and logistics of starting such a program.

All specializations would cover botany as well as soil properties and sciences, according to Fallano, who noted that small engine maintenance would also be covered.

“Right off the bat, if you’re starting to think what kind of jobs [are students being trained for], you can imagine what sort of background could be used or applied for,” he said.

The landscape and turf management program would include instruction on safety, design and estimation, maintenance and installation as well as turf management practices. Arboriculture, or tree sciences, would involve safety, equipment standards, tree climbing, tree maintenance and removal. Floral design and interior landscaping would teach greenhouse management, production and floriculture business operations.

“We would never start off with all three of them, so what we’re looking at is the soil sciences to begin with,” Fallano said. “You would not get this type of training at any other normal sending school. It’s perfect for a vocational-based school.”

It would eventually be a training ground for students interested in careers such as hardscape designers or architects, greenhouse and grounds workers, arborists, nursery or turf grass mangers and even farm managers.

“There’s a big push for small farms in the local area,” he said. “Having a resource that those farms can reach out to has been a [goal] for this area.”

There is also no feeder program for local horticulture businesses and a program at SSVT can also lead to college degrees. Students can also graduate with licenses or the bookwork for a license test when they are 18. That can boost earning potential.

Fallano also touched on the credentials the district should look for in a program director and committee concerns about accreditation. Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas Hickey is also looking toward grants to help fund the program startup.

Committee Chairman Robert Molla of Norwell indicated the start-up cost estimate would be included in preliminary fiscal 2018 budget figures when the committee meets again on Wednesday, Dec. 21.

In other business, Principal Margaret Dutch reported the MCAS performance of SSVT students in the Class of 2018 has been akin to moving mountains, describing how it translates to a graph.

“Because we are a regional school, we do not educate anybody until they get to grade nine,” Dutch said. “We take our students as they come from the eight sending towns, and wherever else they come from, and we try and get everybody on the same page and get them ready in less than two years to be successful on MCAS.”

The current junior class had 51 students who had failed the exam in grade eight — the first “mountain” on the grade chart, Dutch said. As sophomores taking the MCAS exam at SSVT, the same class had shown vast improvement.

“We [had] decided there was something we needed to do in order to make sure we didn’t have 51 10th-graders failing the MCAS,” she said. Targeted remediation and working with teachers to address problem areas for those students made that improvement possible. The high point of the scores curve last year — the second mountain — showed an increase in higher scores over the class’ grade eight marks.

“We’re not trying to compare ourselves with anybody else or what anybody else is doing because we are a unique entity,” Dutch said. “We are very proud to know that our teachers, with targeted intervention, can move mountains.”

Whitman Committee member Daniel Salvucci reported on some of the innovative vocational school projects highlighted at the recent Massachusetts Association of School Committee conference. The projects were tiny houses built by Southeastern Vo-Tech in Easton; an applications project at Assabet Valley to show teachers how effective a lesson plan was by symbols scanned by a free app on a teacher’s smartphone; a veterinary program offered at Norfolk Aggie and Massasoit as well as the new Essex Agricultural and Technical High School’s teacher mentoring program.

Salvucci said the tiny house project was popular with students because of the size.

“What they liked about doing it is that you had carpenters and electricians working so close together that they taught each other, and they worked together,” he said.

The committee also recognized Abington Graphics Communications senior Ryan Glynn as November Student of the Month and English teacher Allison Provost as Staff Member of the Month.

“Ryan is a focused, high-achieving student in class, but is also a great and caring person,” one of Glynn’s teachers wrote.

Another nominated Glynn as a “great overall citizen of the [SSVT] community” another noted he is a well-liked student-athlete saying, “No one had had a bad thing to say about Ryan.”

Assistant Principal Mark Aubrey said Provost was the student’s honoree for Staff Member of the Month after only two months as a teacher at the school. She had been a student teacher at SSVT about 10 years ago.

“When students nominated her they spoke of her being ‘very helpful, patient and kind, is that not something we want from every person in our lives, not just our teacher,’” Aubrey said.

There is no early release day at the high school Friday, Dec. 2. Lunch served that day will be: Cheese pizza, tossed salad, carrot sticks with dipping sauce, chilled and fresh fruit and milk.

HANSON — The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, Nov. 15 voted 3-1 to approve a request by the Watershed Action Alliance of Southeastern Mass., to use Camp Kiwanee for a one-day conference at a reduced rate. Selectmen Bill Scott voted against the discount based on his concern over the group’s intent of charging participants a registration fee.

“We had asked that any deviation from the rates of usage of Camp Kiwanee — any reduction in the rate — be brought forward to this committee,” said Selectmen Chairman James McGahan in the meeting broadcast on Whitman-Hanson Community Access TV. Selectman Kenny Mitchell was absent from the meeting due to illness.

The WAA submitted their request in a letter to selectmen, outlining their purpose and explaining that the alliance holds biennial conferences and workshops in intervening years. The coalition of 12 watershed groups’ regional conference was last held at Plimouth Plantation, which waived a fee in return for publicity as an event partner, in 2015.

They are seeking a similar sponsorship from the town to use Camp Kiwanee from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., March 16, 2017. The usual one-day conference rate for Camp Kiwanee is $1,000. The WAA requested a 50-percent discount.

Many conference attendees either work or volunteer for nonprofits with small budgets, the letter explained. It also offers reduced registration rates for students and low-income participants.

Two participating organizations, the Taunton Watershed and the Jones River groups, have connections to Hanson.

Town Administrator Michael McCue created a form for a discount request, which WAA representatives filled out, including backup information about the program and participating agencies.

“This would be a positive advertisement for Camp Kiwanee,” McGahan said.

“They charge a fee for people to attend, they’re not considered a nonprofit organization,” Scott said. “They generate funds from outside groups. I think it’s a good idea what they’re trying to do but I just wonder if we’re setting a precedent.”

McGahan and Selectmen Bruce Young suggested the registration costs might be a mechanism for covering the cost of the event and asked McCue to advise them if there is any reason to believe the fees are a profit-making device.

In other business, the board approved revisions to the complaint and service animal policies.

The only change to the complaint policy is that persons filing a complaint be the offended party or a parent or guardian. The service animals policy is a new one, allowing admission of service animals to town property for handicapped persons who need them. Under the guidelines, therapy animals are not considered service animals.

Selectmen also voted to place a Board of Water Commissioners vacancy, created by the Nov. 1 resignation of Mary Lou Sutter on the May 20, 2017 Town Election ballot, because the appointment made to fill the post was a short-term one.

Selectmen and Water Commissioners then voted 7-0 to appoint William Garvey of 66 Morton St., to fill the vacancy for now. If Garvey wishes to remain on the board he would have to run for election in May.

A South Shore Vo-Tech graduate, Garvey has an HVAC trade certificate, an applied science degree from Massasoit Community College in HVAC service and design and work experience in the field and has served on the Indian Head and Maquan Priority Repair Committee.