MARLBOROUGH — The 2023 edition of The Fly Fishing Show will begin its nationwide winter run Jan. 20-23 at the Royal Plaza Trade Center with everything for the fly-fishing angler from new products, seminars, classes, fly tying and fly casting demonstrations, and theater presentations to lodges and vacation destinations.
Royal Plaza Trade Center is at 181 Boston Post Rd. West, Marlborough; the nearby Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel is the show hotel with discounted accommodations. The show hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Fri.; 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Sat; and 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Sun. Parking is free. Fly Fishing Show® admission is $15 for one day, $25 for two days and $35 for three days. Children under age 5 are free as are Boy and Girl Scouts under age 16 in uniform. Children 6-12 are $5. Active military with an ID are $10.
There will be 22 Classes with the Experts including those with Gary Borger, Jason Randall, Joe Cordiero, Alan Caolo, Phil Rowley, Ed Engle, Landon Mayer, Steve Culton, and Women Only sessions with Sheila Hassan. Classes with Experts registration is $90 and includes admission to the show for that day. There are nine free daily seminars, continuous Destination Theater presentations and fly-casting demonstrations. More than $30,000 worth of national door prizes are up for grabs including a week’s guided fishing for two anglers at Tarpon Caye Lodge, Belize valued at $8,400; SET’s Spring Creek Lodge in Northern Patagonia for one, $5,450; a $5,000 credit on any Fish Partner Iceland trip listed on their website; five night, four days fishing package at Swains Cay Lodge, Bahamas Out Islands valued at $4,685; and two night, two days of fishing at the Big Land Lodge, Labrador, Canada, valued at approximately $4,000.
A complete list of door prizes is on The Fly Fishing Show website. flyfishingshow.com/marlborough-ma.

BOSTON – The Baker-Polito Administration today announced that $80,000 in grants have been awarded to three municipalities and one community group as part of the Technical Assistance Grant (TAG) Program, administered by Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP). 

TAG provides funding to enhance citizen participation in assessment and cleanup activities at waste disposal sites in their communities. 

 The town of Hanson will receive up to $20,000 and will use its award to obtain technical expertise to review and summarize recent reports for the local community. The National Fireworks disposal site in Hanover and Hanson where fireworks and pyrotechnics were once made. Contaminants of concern include metals, volatile organic compounds, and semi-volatile organic compounds in in surface water, soil, and sediment. In addition, Munitions and Explosives of Concern and Material Potentially Presenting an Explosive Hazard were identified in two areas in the southern portion of the disposal site.

HANSON — With the resignation of Town Accountant Todd Hassett, the Select Board on Tuesday, Dec. 13 voted to contract with an interim town accountant and meet after the New Year to develop a long-term strategy for hiring a new town accountant.

“[Hassett] has been with us for 10 years,” Town Administrator Lisa Green said. “He’s dedicated a lot of his time and expertise to doing well by the town. He is very well respected by all the department heads and all the employees and he really does a fantasic job and I want to reiterate that his service will be greatly missed.”

In the interim, however, Green said the town needs to have coverage and has received a proposal for interim accountant services from CPA Eric Kinscherf. But, based on Select Board concerns over cost and hours, Green prepared a request for proposals that went out this week.

Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said one of the concerns Hassett has spoken of was that while any person seeking the interim post may be competent and well-versed, the town should make sure that the town does not want junior members of an accounting firm working on Hanson’s accounts.

“Our point person who’s going to be the one meeting with our department heads, our person who’s going to be your point of contact and working with our auditors and working with the town treasurer and the assessor and all that stuff, should be him or another senior member who we should have an opportunity to meet,” she said.

The interim accountant would be on-site four hours a week, and would be available by phone or email for any questions that arise.

Select Board member Joe Weeks noted the town would be paying the interim accountant $1,500 per week, the equivalent of $72,000 per year. Plympton pays $64,000 for 25 hours a week, so he asked how many hours a week would Hanson’s interim be working.

“They will work as many hours as they need to make sure the town is being represented and serviced,” Green said.

FitzGerald-Kemmett said it is a similar arrangement to the one the town had with Hassett and the dollar amount is also very similar to Hassett’s.

“We’re losing Todd at the end of the month” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “We have to have an accountant to be working with people. I don’t think anyone’s suggesting this would turn into long-term, and if it were to turn into long term, we would have a more comprehensive conversation.”

Hassett has said the town needs a town employee in the accountant position.

In other business, the Select Board approved a request from Stalwart Productions to film portions of a film, “Invitation to Bonfire,” at Camp Kiwanee and to use the former Maquan School parking lot for production parking. The tentative date for that filim is currently in mid-January.

The board’s votes were more of a formality, since a contract has been negotiated, but they gave it unanimous support.

 Green said the film company had approached the town for permission to film and introduced assistant location manager Jamie Merz to speak about the request. Camp Kiwanee Facility Manager Roger Means and Deputy Fire Chief Robert O’Brien also attended the Tuesday, Dec. 13 Select Board meeting, as they have attended meetings with the film’s director and production crew to review how the facility will be used and safety requirements.

Green also asked the health agent and Conservation Commission to attend, as fake snow is planned for use during scenes being filmed at the camp.

“I think we want to definitely – and I’m sure guys would  do this – is follow the Boy Scouts’ ‘leave no trace’ motto,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

“I, myself, am an Eagle Scout, so I think I could do that,” Merz said, noting the producers have not yet determined if fake snow would be used.

“You should have led with that,” FitzGerald-Kemmett joked.

“Invitation to a Bonfire,” is part of an AMC show based off a book by the same title.

“We’re looking to film over at Camp Kiwannee for two days,” Merz said. “We’re in our last couple episodes of our series and a majority of our action takes place inside and outside of Frontier Cabin.”

The scene involves two actresses walking toward the cabin, a few conversations inside where one is poisoned.

“And then we are going to simulate burning down the cabin, Merz said. “I assure you, we will not actually be burning down the cabin.”

The majority of the fire work involved in that scene will be done in Brockton, where the production company will construct a replica cabin and burn that down, according to Merz.

There are some “practical effects” that Stalwart Productions wants to do on-site, and they are talking to the Hanson Fire Department about how to do that safely.

There are four key elements to that: installation of fake fireplace in the cabin constructed of a steel box fueled by propane tubes; a curtain from that fireplace going onto a dummy for the fire to trail along; Steel plating on the cabin floor would be used to protect the building from the blazing curtain.

“I’m having a little mini-stroke, but I’m sure you guys are on it,” said FitzGerald-Kemmett as he described the effect process.

Merz assured the board at least three firefighters, a pumper truck and a number of the production company’s special effects personnel would be on hand.

“Pretty much 90 percent of the fire we’re using is propane-based,” with a crew member staffing it, he said. “If anything were to go wrong, they’d just shut it off.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett said to Green that she hoped the town has looked into liability insurance and that the town is named in the policy.

Merz said the town is fully covered by a $1 million policy.

Whether or not the film crew needs to use fake snow, he said a white tarp under a snow “snow blanket,” and a cellulose product, such as paper is placed over those. They may also use a spray starch onto the top of those layers to resemble a frosty landscape of snow.

“That just gets rolled up and taken away,” he said. The cellulose is hosed down, noting that the material safety data sheets have been provided to the town.

Conservation Commission Chair Phil Clemons only concern was the particulate size of the cellulose, particularly if it is small enough to become airborne and, thereby dangerous around open flame.

Merz said he would look into it, but said it was more as a background effect.

“Back in the ‘wild West’ days, yeah, people would leave a mess,” Merz said. 

Recreation Chair Frank Milisi said the production company has been very responsive to the town’s concerns and have put down a $5,000 deposit to ensure the site is cleaned up before they leave.

Green said she received an email from Police Chief Mike Miksh about the filming at Kiwanee in which he said he has no issues with the project and looks forward to working with the crew.

The School Committee was updated, on Wednesday, Dec. 7 about discussions within the Whitman Middle School Building Committee to reconfigure the school from a grade six to eight to a grade five through eight school.
“We’re in the meat of those discussions right now,” Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak said about talks concerning whose decision that will be, how a decision would be made and other details. “However, I think it’s imperative that the school committee has an idea of why the leadership team wants to move to a five through eight [school].”
Parents have already been communicated with on the issue, but it seems apparent that the School Committee chair will have to sign off on any change in grade configuration. While it is not yet known whether the School Committee would also have to approve it, Szymaniak said a joint meeting between the School Committee and Building Committee is being planned.
“For this project to be successful in our community, the School Building Committee and the School Committee should be parallel,” he said. “We should have the same thoughts and understand the same limitations per se that might be impeding that process.”
Not only would a grade configuration adjustment mean a school culture and education change, but there would be a cost-factor involved increasing the price tag of the project, Szymaniak said.
Another potential cost-factor is the discussion surrounding whether to include an auditorium in the building. The district supports it because it gives students the same experience as students at Hanson Middle School, which has an auditorium. On the other hand, the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) does not reimburse for an auditorium.
“That’s strict cost to the town,” he said. “We will present information about why we think it’s important for our students to have that opportunity and our architects and OPM, through discussion with the building committee are also discussing why an auditorium might benefit the community as a whole.”
Szymaniak said that what is known is that the renovation/expansion plan is “very expensive” and would take longer than a new building.
The new school is also being planned as a three-story building, which permits different grade configurations.
Szymaniak is surveying parents of the preschool, Conley, Duval and the middle school to solicit their comments about the new school and a potential grade reconfiguration and auditorium.
Assistant Superintendent George Ferro, who has worked in middle schools for his entire career, before he became assistant superintendent, briefed the committee on the effects of various grade configurations.
“[Grades] five to eight is the spot where you can capture and do the most good for an adolescent,” Ferro said of the students who are ages 10 to 14 in those grades. “With the rise of social media and things of that nature, it’s really grade five [that’s] more aligned with a middle school setting.”
Ages 10 to 14 in the same building give students the chance to come to grips with themselves and social interactions so they can advance to high school with not only increased academic knowledge, but also in what it is likely to be a knowledgeable respectful young adult able to work together, think critically and take on new experiences that high school brings.
“We’re cautious,” Szymaniak said about a building with fifth to eighth-graders in it. “But we can design a program, like we’ve designed in Hanson, to keep them pretty separate, except for common areas or in passing times.”
As costs for a new school are calculated, Szymaniak said it is important to determine what is best for educating students.
“We have to give the building committee a lot of credit,” Committee member Fred Small said, noting that panel has spent a lot of time looking at the pros and cons of the issue. “Initially, I was a complete ‘Nah, we can’t afford it.’ As I spoke to more and more people, forgetting about the cost factor and just [looking at] what the benefits are, and determining, ‘Well, yeah.’”
While he is beginning to see the need, Small expressed concern that the school building will become so large, it fails.
Vice Chair Christopher Scriven asked what had initially led Small to feel a new school was something the district couldn’t afford.
“I think we owe it to other members of the committee, we owe it to constituents, to have an open mind and to approach this from a learning perspective,’ he said.
Dawn Byers asked what would happen if the building committee voted against bringing forth a project to the full committee. The fact that Hanson Middle School is already a grade five to eight school means there are already middle school students with different experiences in the district.
“It would be my hope we are listening to parents in the community,” she said.
Chair Christopher Howard said the full committee should request direction from the MSBA on how a plan is endorsed, adding he would not sign off on it unless there is a vote by the full School Committee.
He said the School Committee should attend any meeting in which the building committee votes, so the full committee would have information on how that vote is arrived at.
“I don’t see how someone like myself who hasn’t been involved in the process would just go into that and vote,” he said.
Member Beth Stafford said the building committee can take a vote and then the full committee signs off based on what the building committee has said.
“You haven’t been involved in all the work of the building committee and the sticking point is that most members of the building committee do not want Hanson members voting on it, because … it’s not Hanson’s pockets,” she said. “It’s Whitman.”
Where it goes from there is what Szymaniak is trying to find out, Stafford said.
Hanson member Hillary Kniffen expressed concern over the possibility that programs could be taken away from Hanson students, especially if the Whitman school project fails as ripple effects that would be felt.
“When we get into that, it becomes us vs them, and it becomes very problematic,” she said.

HANOVER — Now they wait.

SST has sent along all necessary paperwork from its feasibility study to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), according to Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey at the committee’s Wednesday, Nov. 16 meeting.

The information packet included the motions and vote taken to voted to move forward with the feasibility study process for planned renovation project at the school last month, and that meeting’s minutes.

“The next step is waiting for MSBA to give feedback on the procurement documents when we go out looking for an OPM (owner’s project manager),” Hickey said. He indicated he would like to stay on as aggressive a timeline as possible.

“It won’t be the end of the world if we don’t, but I submitted documents early enough in the hopes that they could give us feedback this month and we could go out on the street, put it out to bid, if you will, in December.”

That bid process indeed, began this month, as he met remotely with the committee Tuesday afternoon, Dec. 6 for procedural votes on advertising a request for services and adoption of the documents issued and to designate an OPM selection committee, to me populated with what is currently the four members of Capital Projects Subcommittee and Hickey as a non-voting member.

“Then we could move it forward,” Hickey said. “It buys us a month and that can add up over time.”

He foresees a “paper screening” right after Christmas and interviews right after New Year’s.

“We’re going to turn this around rather quickly, and hopefully, have a project manager recommended to MSBA so they can give their approval at their February OPM Panel Review Committee,” Hickey said.

Meanwhile, Marshfield officials has indicated the town is “supportive of a framework” that would allow them to join the SST regional district.

“It is something I think we can move along at a reasonable pace, but there are several things we have to do,” Hickey said.

The Department of Education has to provide feedback on the district’s regional agreement, which Hickey estimated is “90-percent done.” If the Education Department approves it, the district can bring it back to the regional agreement subcommittee to look at, while having the district’s counsel KP Law review it.

The subcommittee would then vote on recommending an amended regional agreement for the full committee to take action on it, putting forth an amendment to the agreement, possibly at the Wednesday, Dec. 21 meeting.

“My agenda has been, if it has to be changed, of course we’re going to change it, but I’m not interested in adding a lot of housekeeping changes,” he said. The key question is how Marshfield would share in the district’s debt burden.

The aim is for the issue to become a spring Town Meeting warrant article, with two communities — Abington and Scituate — holding those sessions in early April, the revisions need to be in place by late January, Hickey said.

Dollars for Scholars is kicking off the holiday season with the third annual “Decorate for Scholars” in the historic Whitman Park Dec. 9 to 11. 

Residents, businesses and community organizations can sponsor a tree for $100 and decorate the tree in a creative and festive manner. The tree sponsors will receive a five-to-six-foot tree, lights, a stand, and a sponsorship sign. There are a limited number of trees available. If interested, please contact Michelle LaMattina at mlamattina1974@gmail.com or 781-589-3151.

Additionally, there will be a vendor fair indoors at Town Hall and outdoors in the Park from 2 to 8 p.m.Saturday, Dec. 10. Please contact Dollars for Scholars if you are a craft vendor and interested in participating. Food trucks, performers and event sponsors are also needed. For more info, please contact Michelle at mlamattina1974@gmail.com or 781-589-3151.

Dollars for Scholars is an all-volunteer nonprofit which raises and awards scholarships to graduating high school seniors from Whitman and Hanson.