WHITMAN — It’s a paradox of sorts that — while most of us may know someone living with a form of dementia — it’s a condition that can be isolating and lonely for them and their loved ones.

The Rev. Colette Bachand-Wood, priest of Whitman’s All Saints Episcopal Church knows of that isolation as both the daughter of a dementia patient and a member of the clergy ministering to patients in nursing and hospice facilities.

“I really began to be interested in how we as spiritual communities respond to, and help care for, people who have members of their families experiencing Alzheimer’s and dementia,” Bachand-Wood said. She also wrote a book, “Do This, Remembering Me: The Spiritual Care of those with Alzheimer’s and Dementia,” [Morehouse Publishing, 2016, 111 pages, $14], which began a conversation in her church as to how those services can be offered.

Certified in several types of training to work with dementia patients and their families, Bachand-Wood has trained a six-member team of her church members in dementia awareness and has begun a dementia-friendly ecumenical worship service at All Saints from 10 a.m. to noon on the third Thursday of the month. The church, known as “the little brown church at the park,” is located at 44 Park Ave., in Whitman.

“What I find is that people become so isolated when they have this disease,” she said. “If you’re a couple who’s been married 55 years and you used to love going to church where everybody knew you. Your faith is really important to you, but now the wife has Alzheimer’s and it’s just too hard to get out of the house … what if I get to church and she starts acting up?”

It can also lead to isolation and tremendous stress for care-givers as well.

Bachand-Wood linked up with Dementia-Friendly Massachusetts, taking their training program, as well.

“I put all my experiences together and now have created a workshop for churches of any denomination for creating dementia-friendly congregations,” she said. All Saints is, as far as Bachand-Wood is aware, the first church on the South Shore, if not in the state, to achieve designation as a dementia-friendly congregation.

Her team at All Saints has taken three sessions over four months in which they learned what dementia is — as well as its forms, such as Alzheimer’s — as well as how to interact positively with dementia patients and the “dementia experience.” The latter involved creating experiences similar to the physical manifestations of dementia: bags of popcorn in shoes to mimic nerve pain, earplugs and semi-obscured sunglasses for hearing and vision loss and tying fingers together to hint of the frustration of arthritis and other loss of dexterity. Then they were asked to perform daily tasks with annoying noises played in the background.

“I had no idea until I did that how isolating and frustrating it can be,” Bachand-Wood said.

One of Bachand-Wood’s care team members, who also do community outreach at nursing homes, is Regina Gurney, who was partly inspired by Bachand-Wood’s book. Gurney also led a special needs Girl Scout troop when she was younger.

“It was just something I wanted to do,” Gurney said of joining the care team. “I like helping people and these are people that, while they have some people who care for them, not enough people know about dementia to relate to them.”

The team is trained to aid spouses if a problem crops up, to reassure them there is no need for embarrassment or worry. A professional home health aid from North River Home Care will also be on staff during services.

“There are people out there in our community that have stopped going to church because it’s too much work, they’re afraid they’re going to be embarrassed,” Bachand-Wood said. “To sit and pray would be so helpful for them — to be reconnected to their faith, so they don’t feel so alone and isolated — that’s really who I’m hoping to reach.”

The service can also be used as a drop-off for spouses to give them a respite. Services are followed by an engaging activity and a snack.

The dementia-friendly service depends on tactile and colorful devices as well as music to communicate with patients who often have lost verbal skills.

“We use things that are very familiar to people,” Bachand-Wood said. The Lord’s Prayer and hymns such as “Amazing Grace” often make a connection as do the tools and icons associated with communion.

In her book, Bachand-Wood writes of a woman whose verbal communication was limited to repeated phrases, but when Bachand-Wood began to set up an altar for a bedside communion, the woman held up the chalise and clearly said: “Remember me.”

“It was such a really great lesson,” Bachand-Wood said. “People with dementia are still inside … they’re in there. How can we help them reconnect with faith?”

Crosses, candles and color — key for dementia patients with failing vision — help restore that connection.

Music helps with that because research shows what dementia patients do remember are “emotional memories” of feelings experienced during the turning points of life. Music, too, is often part of those experiences.

HANSON — With a little more than a month to go before we celebrate Thanksgiving, the Hanson Public Library, and its Foundation, welcomed author Susan Playfair Oct. 16 to discuss her book on a component of that feast — the cranberry.

Playfair answered audience questions and sold copies of “America’s Founding Fruit: The Cranberry in a New Environment” and signed copies during her Sunday, Oct. 16 talk at the Hanson Library/Senior Center.

Along with blueberries and Concord grapes, cranberries make up the trinity of America’s native fruits, Playfair noted.

The cranberry, originally known as the “crane berry,” derives its name for the graceful bend of the plant’s flower. Commercial growing dates back to 1812 in New England and, by 1865, cranberries were being shipped across the country by rail.

“It truly is our iconic fruit, because, among other things, it was sent to King Charles in 1677 as sort of a diplomatic gesture to show what we could provide [as a colony] and as a sign of good will,” she said.

Health benefits

Long used as a food and a medicinal fruit by Native Americans, her book traces the adaptation of the cranberry by colonial immigrants and poses questions about the fruit’s ability to adapt to a warming climate.

“I was really curious about the cranberry and how it might react relative to temperature increases,” Playfair said. “It would, presumably be an indication of how other agriculture would also [be affected].”

It turns out, for example, that cranberry plants are flowering earlier, she said of information gleaned from growers with whom she spoke — two of whom provided access to 30 years of records, including flowering and harvesting timetables.

The plants also need between 1,700 to 2,000 chill hours to set fruit, and scientists are predicting that, by 2099, the climate in this area will be similar to that of the Carolinas now.

Playfair, whose great grandfather owned and managed cranberry bogs, graduated from Bard College and studied at Parson School of design and the French Fashion Academy, among other programs and has worked as an investment broker, fashion merchandiser, fashion and interior designer and author. She has also written a book on the future of the fishing industry titled, “Vanishing Species: Saving the Fish, Sacrificing the Fishermen.”

“When I was researching this book I actually came to Hanson several times,” Playfair said, and interviewed the late Ellen Stillman, who had worked for Ocean Spray for many years.

Local roots

Local residents with roots in the cranberry business also took part in the event. Joanne Estes, whose grandfather, Marcus L. Urann, founded Ocean Spray, brought in an album of photos and postcards depicting cranberry harvesting operations as well as a 1951 issue of Eastern States Cooperator, a growers’ cooperative magazine, on which she was a cover model. Hanson Selectman Bill Scott, a cranberry grower, and his wife Louise donated an assortment of Ocean Spray cranberry drinks for the refreshment table.

“This may be the most learned group that I’ve spoken to,” Playfair said. “Many of you have connections to the cranberry industry.”

Ocean Spray’s products were a way to use berries deemed too imperfect to sell as whole berries — such as white berries or damaged fruit — as reduced waste while increasing profit, Playfair said.

Questions from the audience ranged from the number of cranberry varieties on the market, to the difference between wet and dry harvesting, how the berry is found in nature — in the bogs formed in kettle basins left by the retreating glaciers — and research now being done on climate change.

“It was always dry [harvesting] when I was growing up,” Estes said. Scott said dry picking is not only more time-consuming, it also puts more stress on the vine because of the nature of the machines used.

“It was the only way to get frost protection in the old days,” Scott also said of flooding bogs before the shift to sprinklers. “It looks like an easy crop.”

They also asked how craisins have improved the cranberry commercial market.

“There is a huge market for craisins,” Playfair said. “There is also a fledgling cranberry industry in Chile.”

The latter was started by a West Coast restaurateur to ensure a constant supply of craisins, part of which are used for a cranberry drink he featured on his menu.

“The benefits to him, which are not so good for everyone else in this country, is that because his operation is in Chile, they get very favorable tariff arrangements,” she said. “He’s able to ship them directly to China. As I understand it, that was bought out one or two years ago by Ocean Spray.”

HANSON — In a gesture of peace, and as a reminder how learning from history can create harmony in today’s society, Indian Head School students and staff joined in a circle of unity for a dedication Tuesday afternoon to celebrate a single tree — and its exceptional beginning.

Guest speaker and award winning playwright, screen writer and author Jeff Gottesfeld  joined students for a discussion of how he came to write his book, “The Tree in The Courtyard: Looking through Anne Frank’s Window,” an age-appropriate read based on the life of Anne Frank from the perspective of the horse chestnut tree. The tree bore witness to the changes in her life as she played and eventually the reality she endured throughout WWII, the hidden annex and the Holocaust.

A purple plum tree was planted recently at the front of the Indian Head School representing a tree filled with caring and kindness. The real Anne Frank tree seeds were extracted and shared around the world after it fell in a storm in 2010, according to the author’s webpage. The seeds were then shared to grow Anne’s trees as symbols of peace.

Gottesfeld called his visit “a special day.”

In addressing the school prior to the dedication, Gottesfeld reminded the children that their new tree will be here for a long time

“Long after we are gone off this Earth it will remain,” he said. “Here is the mission I give you. It is to make sure that any other kids who come to this school know that this tree is not to be treated like any other tree because it is not like any other tree. It will care and love … If the kids who follow you care for it, watch it and love it. It will live a very long time and be very meaningful.  On the other hand … we can forget about the tree and it will just be like any other tree.  Like so much in life the choice is ours.”

Following the tree dedication Gottesfeld said the event was spectacular.

He was impressed with the children and their response to his work.

“It reminds me on days like this … what is possible,” he said.

He called the children living examples of better human beings.

“It reminds me why I write for kids,” he said. The dedication was well prepared, planned and beautiful, he added.

He also received leaves cut of green paper with resilient words such as: courage, faith, strong, giving, beauty, believe, love, to name a few, which were written on the back representing remarkable character and how they (as students) are learning to create a  better world and a better community.

Each class received a signed copy of his book. Grade four teacher Dianne Zuzevich received flowers and recognition  as a thank you for organizing the dedication with the school and Gottesfeld.

Reports of “scary clown” sightings at some Massachusetts school districts has prompted Whitman-Hanson Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ruth Gilbert-Whitner and Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources and Support Services Patrick Dillon to assure the school community that safety is a priority.

“There has been a national trend of clown sightings designed to create disruption in the community and within school districts,” the district’s statement reads. “WHRSD has not experienced such a disruption, however, neighboring communities have. We continue to monitor such events and will work with Whitman and Hanson police departments to prosecute individuals for their actions leading to any disruption of school assembly.”

Gilbert-Whitner and Dillon assure students, parents and the community that all events that threaten the safety and security of students, staff, and W-H campuses become top priorities and are addressed immediately.
“The Whitman Hanson School District as well as the Whitman and Hanson Police Departments appreciate the community’s continued support in keeping students and staff safe,” they said.

HANSON — A search of a Main Street apartment last week has led to the arrest of residents Jennifer Best, 26, and Marlon Teixeira, 27, on Wednesday, Oct. 5, according to Hanson Police Chief Michael Miksch.

Arrest warrants were obtained from Plymouth District Court for both Best and Teixeira of 230 Main St., Apt. 2 on charges of trafficking in Fentanyl and possession of a Class E substance. Hanson Police executed a search warrant at the residence as a result of information gathered from the reported breaking and entering.

“This apartment was the apparent target of the four individuals that had broken into the home earlier in the day [Sept. 29],” Miksch stated in a press release.

Seized in the search warrant was approximately 48 grams of a white powdery substance believed to be Fentanyl, $20,000 in cash, a small amount of pills (Xanax and Gabapentin), scales, and plastic baggies.

“Fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid pain medication that has led to thousands of overdose deaths each year around the country,” Miksch said.

Arrested on Sept. 29 and held pending a dangerousness hearing Oct. 6 in Plymouth District Court were Anthony Marcelino, 22, of Warren Ave., Brockton and Andrew Jorge, 31, of Vermont Ave., Brockton. Two other subjects are still wanted in connection with the breaking and entering.

Police have released photos two people begin sought in connection with the Sept. 29 from the Hanson home invasion. Anyone with information on the identity of the individual is asked to call Hanson Police at 781-293-4625.

On Oct. 5, Hanson Police along with Stoughton Police, U.S Marshals, Pembroke, Brockton, and State police located Best and Teixeira at a home on Lowe Avenue in Stoughton.

“Upon entry into the home to arrest Ms. Best and Mr. Teixeira officers located approximately 100 grams of Fentanyl and $1,100 in U.S. currency as well as drug packaging materials,” Miksch stated. “Lowe Ave in Stoughton is located next to a public school.”

Best and Texeira were arrested and transported back to the Hanson Police Department for booking. Best was held overnight at the Hanson Police Department on $100,000 cash bail for arraignment Oct. 5 in Plymouth District Court.

Teixeira was held at the Plymouth County House of Correction on $100,000 cash bail for arraignment Thursday, Oct. 6 in Plymouth District Court.

Stoughton Police will be seeking charges in Stoughton District Court on both Best and Teixeira.The Hanson Police are still searching for two individuals who were involved in the breaking and entering on Sept. 29.

The Hanson Police would like to recognize and thank the following agencies for their hard work on taking these dangerous drug and guns off the street while apprehending Best and Teixeira:

Stoughton Police, Pembroke Police, Whitman Police, State Police assigned to the Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section and K9 Unit, Brockton Police, U.S. Marshal’s Office, and Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department.

WHITMAN — As part of the Board of Health’s new Sale of Tobacco Products regulations, now in the process of being finalized, Walgreens is being advised they will no longer be permitted to sell tobacco products in Whitman.

The company was advised by letter on Sept. 20 of the regulations’ paragraph N, which prohibits the sale of tobacco products in healthcare institutions.

Some town officials, including a selectman as well as Town Administrator Frank Lynam, have expressed concern over the impact the paragraph might have on the business climate. Section 9 of paragraph N would also limit the number of tobacco product sales permits.

“I would guess that ties in with the number of licenses,” Lynam said. “By eliminating Walgreens as a distributor of tobacco products, they’ve cut down one of the licenses.”

Lynam said that license would likely not be issued to another store.

Health Board Chairman Eric Joubert said that is not the intent, and stressed the board has held hearings at which local store owners have testified about possible impact to their business.

“The letter essentially says if you’re in the health care industry you shouldn’t be selling cigarettes,” Lynam said. “That’s an interesting concept — that it’s up to us to tell people how to run their business. My only concern is we’re here trying to tell business we want them to come to town, we need their ability to create jobs and generate tax revenue and then we turn around and say, ‘but we don’t want you doing things that we might consider offensive’ and how is that being positive to a business environment?”

Joubert disagreed.

“This is not in anyway and attempt to reduce the number of licenses that are out there at the current time,” Joubert said of the regulations set to go into effect Oct. 31, 2016.

According to approved and signed minutes from Aug. 9 and 30, the board has agreed to remove a section restricting the sale and governing the pricing of single cigars was stricken from the regulations.

“The board received concerns from the retailers in the town of Whitman,” Joubert said. “The board allowed the retailers to express their concerns and reevaluated the areas that they felt were unfair or created  an undue burden on their business. … After our meeting with the retailers I think everybody felt comfortable with the outcome and we will all continue to work together to do what’s in the best interest of the town of Whitman and tobacco use reduction.”

According to draft minutes from the board’s Sept. 13 meeting, the board is seeking answers to “more questions for [Mass. Association of Boards of Health] MAHB lawyer Cheryl Sbarra” regarding the entire section pertaining to Section 9 (sale of tobacco products in healthcare institutions) before finalizing it or setting a number to permitted licenses.

“We are trying to do our research to find out what’s going to best fit the town and retailers,” Joubert said. “We promise that no one will lose their license that is currently licensed in the town of Whitman.  Through attrition the removal of licensure will occur in the event that we decide to proceed with this process.”

Joubert said Monday, via email while away on vacation, that he was not aware of any response from Walgreens, but he said the chain has understood that Walgreens has surrendered their license in other towns nationwide where such regulations have been enacted without issue.

“As far as voluntary surrender of licensure, Duvals was the forerunner years ago (2010 or better), making the decision upon their own to eliminate the sale of a harmful product in a health care sales environment, and have felt no ill effects from their decision,” Joubert said, noting that CVS joined them surrendering their license a year or so back voluntarily. “So, as you can see, the trend has been to eliminate tobacco products in a health care sales environment voluntarily, and the board will continue to seek surrender of licensure as needed.”

Whitman’s regulations also define the products and retailers concerned; sets a minimum age of 21 for purchase; governs sales permits and prohibits sale of blunt wraps or out-of-package sales; prohibits vending machines, non-residential roll-your-own machines or self-service displays; prohibits distribution or redemption of coupons and the sale of tobacco products by educational institutions. Fines are based on a scale, with $100 for first  violations, with higher fines and license suspensions for subsequent violations. Four violations — repeated or egregious violations — shall result in a license hearing to determine if a permit will be revoked.

There are 57 municipalities of varying size in Massachusetts now restricting flavored “other tobacco products” and almost as many with minimum pricing for cigars, according to the Mass. Municipal Association.

WHITMAN — A trio of Whitman families with children affected by type 1, or juevenile, diabetes (T1D) are again lacing up their sneakers and leaning on “Panther Power” to raise funds for research in the annual JDRF One Walk on Saturday, Oct. 1 at the DCR Hatch Shell in Boston.

Friends are joining the Drier, Carew and Manning families from Whitman to participate in the walk to raise money that will help create a better future for the millions of people living with type 1 diabetes. Over the past years this group has donated more than $120,000 to help find a cure. The total fundraising goal for the JDRF One Walk Boston this year  is $1,320,323 — and at $404,236.40 it is at 31 percent of that goal as of Monday, Sept. 19.

After the fundraising walk from 2 to 6 p.m., Oct. 1, the Panther Power team is hosting an appreciation fundraiser celebration after the walk at the Whitman VFW on Essex Street, to which the community is invited, featuring food, raffles, entertainment and fun.

Kathy Drier is well-versed in the impact of T1D. Her daughter Megan, 18, (now attending Emerson College) was diagnosed when she was 8 and her son JP, 16, was just diagnosed in May.

“It doesn’t run in our family so it was quite a shock,” Drier said. “We’ve researched, and it looks like only a 1:10 chance of a sibling also getting diabetes.”

She said a lot of what the families have learned indicates the environment can trigger a predisposition with which some people are born.

Tobey Carew’s daughter Hazel was 8 when she was diagnosed in January and Cailyn Manning’s 6-year-old daughter Charlotte was diagnosed in December. Charlotte and Hazel are related and live on the same street.

“I think it’s a huge lifestyle change,” said Drier. “What child wants to get a shot every time they eat?”

She noted that in her 12-household neighborhood there are three diabetics with T1D and, throughout Whitman, she has become acquainted with several families that are also affected — a situation that provides its own networking opportunities.

“Some of the children have been living with it for years as others are newly diagnosed and are fortunate to have such a wonderful support system from other families that have been affected with diabetes also in Whitman,” the families have written in a fundraising letter for the Oct. 1 walk and event.

Physiology

With T1D, a person’s pancreas stops producing insulin — a hormone essential to turning food into energy.  If you have T1D, you must constantly monitor your blood-sugar level, inject or infuse insulin through a pump, and carefully balance these insulin doses with your eating and activity.

“You have to keep track of all the carbs that you eat,” she said. “Whatever you eat, you have to counter with insulin.”

Her daughter has had to go on an insulin pump recently, Drier said, noting the pump comes with a device that delivers proper insulin levels based on carbohydrate intake.

Besides tracking food intake, diabetics also have to take care in regulating the amount of insulin they use, Drier said. Insulin levels that are too high are just as dangerous as levels that are too low.

“One of the reasons we’re walking is the improvements they’ve made since my daughter was diagnosed are amazing,” Drier said. “The long-lasting insulin, for one. When Megan was diagnosed, she was on such a regimented schedule as to what she could eat, when she could eat. She had to eat a certain amount of carbs every 2 ½ hours.”

The mothers said birthday parties, sleepovers and cookouts were every mom’s nightmare as they couldn’t always know what their kids were eating.

“It’s a learning curve,” Carew said.

Fighting back

Drier and close friend and neighbor Susan Colclough, whose son was also diagnosed with T1D 10 years ago, formed Panther Power for Dave and Megan to raise research funds. Soon after their first JDRF Walk, they met other families dealing with T1D and changed the name to simply Panther Power.

The team name has become a popular choice in Panther Nation.

“We’ve been one of the top 10 teams,” Drier said of the Boston walk’s 350-team event. “Our team has represented Whitman very well. This has been an amazing community.”

Panther Pride is a 159-member team with team T-shirts that have been popular sellers in town.

Can drives, golf tournaments, yard sales and other events have been used to raise funds in the past, but this year they decided on an appreciation fundraiser.

To donate, visit jdrf.org and search for team Panther Power.

WHITMAN — A big party for good causes is being planned in Whitman Center from 6 to 11:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 17 as the Whitman High School/Whitman-Hanson Regional High School Alumni Association raises funds for its scholarships and other programs supporting the school district.

The event, on Legion Parkway at McGuiggan’s Pub is the second Alumni Block Party, although it was not held last year.

Organizer Richard Rosen has obtained permission from town officials to close Legion Parkway for the event, and has obtained a one-day liquor license for the event to allow outdoor beer and wine sales. People can bring food out from McGuiggan’s or other area eateries.

“We think we’re going to have a very large crowd,” he said. More publicity via Facebook and other social media outlets and several classes are using it as a mini reunion.

While it benefits the alumni association, Rosen is encouraging the public to attend — no matter what their school colors were. He’s also hoping the ambiance of white linen-covered tables and the music of DJ Kenny Norris will prove an attraction.

The association has about 35 items donated as raffle prizes, there will be a 50/50 raffle and School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes will conduct a live auction.

“Those funds [raised] will be used for scholarships and whatever other things we can do to make the high school and school system a better place,” Rosen said.

The choice of date was an important decision for the success of the event, he said.

“When we did it the first time [in 2014], we did it in August,” Rosen said. “The turnout was OK.”

The association decided September was a better choice as people are back from summer vacations, but it will not clash with traditional Thanksgiving week plans.

“Thanksgiving is a time where a lot of people that are away at school or other places come home for the local football games,” he said. “We don’t want to compete with anybody and we want to do it outdoors.”

Rosen noted that organized class reunions are slowly fading out of fashion.

“Several years ago the Alumni Association was trying to coordinate reunions with multiple classes,” he said. “Even that’s becoming more difficult. Everybody’s busy.”

Organized in 1998, the Alumni Association has raised more than $100,000 for scholarships, gifts, donation and payments to local merchants for services benefiting WHRHS, according to Rosen.

Among them:

• $18,000 in scholarships (two $500 awards each year to a student from each town);

• $18,000 to install and maintain an Alumni Brick Way;

• $ 3,600 to install an illuminated flag pole at the Brick Way;

• $2,000 to install a sound system at the new athletic field;

• $1,000 toward the digital sign facing Franklin Street and

• $65,000 for the payments to local merchants for services and supplies.

“It was being run through the schools, but we were sanctioned by the School Department,” he said. “We’ve done it through fundraisers in the past, but each year it gets more difficult.”

Dances and athletic banner auctions have been featured in past fundraisers.

Hall of Fame

The Alumni Association is also soliciting nominations for the WHRHS Hall of Fame. Induction coincides with the National Honor Society’s induction ceremonies.

Graduates are eligible for nomination 10 years after graduation through letters submitted to Principal Jeffrey Szymaniak stating the reasons for a nomination. Only one person may be nominated per letter, but graduates may be re-nominated and letters are kept on file for two years.

The principal sends letters of acknowledgement to all letter writers.

A minimum of one, but not more than two nominees are selected each year by a screening committee of Alumni Association members, and voted by all members at a general meeting.

Relatives of the person making a nomination may not participate in the Alumni Association meeting at which the selection is made.

To make a nomination, send letters to: Whitman High School/ Whitman-Hanson Regional High School Alumni Association, P.O. Box 128, Whitman, MA 02382.

Among past inductees are Sha-Na-Na saxophonist Lenny Baker, Journey musician Stephen Smith, sportswriter Nick Cafardo, Olympic figure skater Tiffany Scott, who competed in the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, and late W-H football coach Dennis M. O’Brien.

WHITMAN — For 15 years now a small group of Whitman Woods neighbors have joined Kerri Lane resident Thomas Miller for a Friday game of pickup ball during the spring and summer months.

It’s not baseball or softball and they don’t shoot hoops, although they do play their games under a basketball hoop.

Their game is Ping-Pong, but serious players prefer the term table tennis, thank you.

“We were looking for something to do and we decided, ‘Let’s play Ping-Pong,’” Miller said before the last game of the regular season on Sept. 2. In past years they have been known to play into mid-October and finished off the last table with a New Year’s Day game last year.

“The table before this was not meant for outdoors, it was particleboard,” Miller said. Like the commercial says, the table was turning into “fall-apart-ical board.”

“It started to get a little bit yucky and we decided the last time we played in October last year it was good enough for probably one more game so we’d do a Winter Classic,” he said. “So we played on Jan. 1 and then we destroyed it.”

Luckily the weather that day was clear and in the high 40s, so it wasn’t like going swimming with the L Street Brownies.

The invitation-only games generally get going at 7 p.m. and don’t wind down until after 10. If they do disturb the neighbors on the cul-de-sac, Miller’s wife Lisa usually gets a call and relays the message via Text to quiet things down.

The whole thing started when he bought a Ping-Pong table without telling his wife, stashing it in the shed. After he told her about it, Lisa said she didn’t want it in the house.

Lisa found out when they were talking with a neighbor who asked when Ping-Pong started and she asked what he was talking about, Miller recalled with a laugh.

The newest table is owned by six of the players, having pooled their money for an all-weather model.

“The reason we did that is, if I’m not able to play every week and it’s in my shed, they should have access to it,” Miller said, adding that they use heavier outdoor Ping-Pong balls that are more wind-resistant.

Thus the curbside cul-de-sac “league” began. Miller’s son Riley, 14, runs the “junior league” of the Whitman Woods Ping-Pong Club. At the moment, it’s more of an honorary title — he is the only member. He also gives the adult players their nicknames, often with explanations known only to him.

As Miller spoke, Riley and Miller’s fellow Rockland-Hanson Rotary Club member Joe Pelligra volleyed a bit at the table and other neighbors out for an evening walk stopped to say hello. Miller and Pelligra are also both natives of upstate New York.

“I got pulled in when Tommy told me at Rotary he played Ping-Pong on Friday nights and said, ‘Why don’t you come over?’” said Pelligra, the only non-resident in the group. “I’ve known Tom for a long time. … He kept calling me and asking me to come, but I only started playing recently.”

The core membership in the “league” is six to 10. They play doubles, rotating players from the right.

Recently, the guys pooled their handyman skills to craft a light fixture atop a length of PVC pipe bent at a right angle.

“Now we can play for four hours,” Pelligra said.

“My wife just shook her head when she saw that,” Miller said. He pitched it to her that they could be hanging out at one of the local watering holes until 10 p.m.

Pelligra offered that it also hones hand-eye coordination and is good exercise.

“I love it,” Miller said. “I’ve been playing it since I was 12.”

When it gets chilly, the chiminea is brought out to keep things toasty.

“In the early days, when our kids were young — and we had two tables — we had a junior league,” Miller said. “Now they’re too cool to come down to play.”

HANSON — They say if you love what you do, you’ll never “work” a day in your life. For Whitman native KathyJo Boss, that is true — to a point.

She’ll also tell you it takes work and dedication to make dreams in the performing arts come true, especially when one of those dreams is helping the next generation of dreamers achieve success in dance, voice and acting.

“I love doing what I do,” she said. “I love inspiring people. This is what’s most important. I want to leave a positive impact on as many people as I can.”

This year marks Boss Academy of Performing Arts’ 15th anniversary, and third year at its current location of 782 Main St. in Hanson. Founding a studio has always been her “end goal.”

The New York University graduate has more than 40 years of experience on Broadway, in national touring theater, television and film. When her eldest daughter Kaylee was born Boss and her husband, now-state Rep. Geoff Diehl decided to move back to her hometown.

“We felt Hanson was a great town in which to open up a business,” she said of the studio, which used to be in a storefront at the 1280 Main St. plaza in Hanson. “My landlord was awesome, but we just outgrew our space.”

Still, she said it doesn’t seem possible that those 15 years have come and gone.

“When you’re in business for 15 years — and I’m sure it will only get greater — you go through great times,” Boss said. “It is truly a family here.”

Like any parent, she has watched her students grow and move on after graduation — whether or not they seek a performing career.

“I see a lot of awesome memories with kids that started when they were little [and] I just went to one of their weddings,” she said. “Both my  children were in the wedding.”

A lot of her students who want to pursue a stage or film career are doing that, holding Actors’ Equity and/or SAG-AFTRA cards. Others have celebrated marriage and family or are dealing with the loss of a parent.

“To me, the biggest thing is making the connection with the kids and seeing them grow into young people doing great things,” she said. “Whether that’s in the performing arts, which a lot of them are doing, or just in other things. … The common thing is that they take the structure and the discipline — just to have the courage to get up and speak in front of someone — and use them.”

Some of her students have gone on to do well in the military, and another is going for her doctorate. Hanson students Melissa Ford and Darren Bunch are among her alumni now working in film and theater in New York. Former student Hillary Keefe is now working in production.

The accomplishments of her students are her proudest achievements, but when her students cheer on not only each other, but other participants at competitions, she really enjoys seeing the growth in which she’s had a hand.

“To see my alumni come to my shows is the greatest gift for me that day,” she said. “I’m proud of the family that has been created here.”

Boss herself has come a long way from the shy 2 1/2-year-old whose mother brought her to dance class to help bring her out of her shell. Her teacher didn’t think KathyJo would want to go on stage for the year-end recital.

“I did go on stage and, obviously, I never came off,” she said.

She was later selected as a company member of the Boston Ballet. After graduating from NYU, she has continued to stay in contact with several of her teachers. She has performed on Broadway in a revival of “Cabaret” and as Lambchop in “Shari Lewis’ Lambchop.” Some TV and film work as well as commercials that have aired in Japan, eventually moving to California where she ended up doing production work, including live shows — and met Diehl who was then a writer.

Diehl still writes productions for Boss Academy, and her mom, who is a professional artist, does the scenery.

“I can give [students] the real story,” she said. “I can let them try it all … it only gives them more opportunity when they go to New York or LA.”

While there are several dance studios in the area, Boss said there is room for all of them in a state known for dance — it all depends on the kind of instruction a student is seeking.

She also sees a lot of change in the arts over the past 15 years. Dance, for example, involves more gymnastic moves than before, leading to the studio’s offering tumbling for the past four or five years. But there is always a need for the basics.

“I truly believe in the roots of the discipline,” she said. “With voice, they need to train in a classical way in terms of the technique.”

When students come in demanding to sing like the hottest pop artist on the radio, however, instructors have to help them take a realistic assessment of their vocal chords. Are they strong enough to sing a song like the over-produced recorded performances they hear?

Hip-hop has also made a difference in what students want to learn, affected by the success of the Broadway smash “Hamilton” and the reality show “So, You Think You Can Dance?” Boss pointed out.

“It does go with the trends,” she said. “It used to be the boy band style and then that swung around to what we see now. You stay on top of the trends, but you also stay true to the training.”

That is her aim for the future. She is also planning to give back to the community in a big way this year, the details of which she is not yet ready to disclose.