HANSON — During an often-tearful ceremony Tuesday, June 4, the Board of Selectmen joined with the town’s state and federal legislators to bestow overdue honor to a Vietnam veteran.

“Just the idea that our service members weren’t respected during the Vietnam War is so foreign to me,” said Christopher Matthews, a legislative aide to U.S. Rep. William Keating, D-Mass. “I think it’s likely known now, with a sense of shame, that 50 years ago when our veterans returned from Vietnam, they did not receive the respect and honor that they receive today. … It’s an honor today to say on behalf of Rep. Keating, ‘Welcome home, Cpl. Mattson. Thank you for your service and congratulations on this award.’”

Matthews’ father, who served in Korea during Vietnam experienced hostility to his uniform at the time when returning home.

Marine Corps veteran Everett Mattson of Hanson wiped tears from his eyes as state Rep. Josh Cutler, D-Duxbury, spoke to “recognize and congratulate him for his tremendous patience awaiting receipt of his Combat Action Ribbon for service in Vietnam.”

As corporal in the 2nd Marine Div., Mattson served in action in Vietnam in 1966, seeing heavy combat during his service, but did not receive the citation, for which service under enemy fire is required. It was not until he launched a letter-writing campaign in 2004 for an eligibility review that he finally received the ribbon in 2018 — taped onto a letter, which “neither thanked Mr. Mattson for his service nor apologized for the time it took to send him his Combat Action Ribbon,” Cutler said. “Today, we’re here to rectify that, as a community, as a commonwealth, as a nation, to come in a small way to thank you very publicly.”

Selectmen opened their meeting with the ceremony correcting that oversight, with Selectmen Chairman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett asking Mattson to lead the Pledge of Allegiance.

Selectman Wes Blauss presented an official citation to Mattson from the town of Hanson, his voice breaking as he read: “The town of Hanson wishes to recognize you and express the community’s deepest appreciation for your service to your family, neighbors and countrymen.”

Cutler, state Sen. Mike Brady, D-Brockton, and Keating — through his aide Matthews — presented official citations in honor of Mattson. Keating, who was preparing for departure to France for 75th anniversary observations of the D-Day invasion on Thursday, June 6 was unable to attend.

“Our nation should be judged on how we treat our veterans who put their lives on the line to protect us, which means no veteran should have to wait for housing, health care [or] benefits they deserve,” Matthews said. “Certainly, no veteran should have to wait 50 years for an award that they certainly deserve.”

Brady thanked Mattson’s fellow veterans for attending the ceremony in support of him. Matthews and Hanson Veterans Agent Timothy White pledged to assist him with any services he might require in the future.

“It’s a heck of a long time, but I’m happy [the ribbon] finally came through for you, sir, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart and on behalf of the town of Hanson, I thank you for your service,” White said.

WHALING TALE: Storyteller Anne Barrett portrays 19th century sea captain’s wife Mary Chipman Lawrence’s shipboard life for the Hanson Historical Society’s annual din ner Thursday, May 2.

HANSON — All that was missing was the roll of the decks and the sea spray as storyteller Anne Barrett of Topsfield performed her one-woman show, “Life Aboard a Whaling Ship,” for the Hanson Historical Society’s annual fundraising dinner at Camp Kiwanee Thursday, May 2.

In 1856, New Bedford’s Mary Chipman Lawrence and her 5-year-old daughter Minnie joined Lawrence’s sea captain husband Samuel for a three-and-a-half year voyage on the whaling ship “Addison” before the outbreak of the Civil War led to the beginning of the end of America’s whaling industry. Barrett used Lawrence’s journal, published as “The Captain’s Best Mate: The Journal of Mary Chipman Lawrence,” as the basis for her performance.

Readings from the journal were interspersed with Barrett’s performance of sea chanties to bring the journal to life in the presentation funded by the Massachusetts and Hanson cultural Councils.

Mary was one of several whaling captain’s wives who brought boxes of Bibles aboard to distribute to crews, according to the book, “Rites and Passages: the Experience of American Whaling,” by Margaret S. Creighton [1995, Cambridge University Press].

“It is no place for a woman on board of a whaleship,” Creighton’s book quotes “Baltic” Captain James Haviland as saying in 1856.

While wives and children were not always embraced aboard ship, the journal Barrett brought to life presented a happier vision of the experience.

Lawrence’s journal painted a different picture.

“Ship owners and captains would discover there was a benefit tp having a wife and family on board,” Barrett would say as Mary. “It’s said that, sometimes, it had a rather a calming effect on the crews. … I would like to think that the ship and crew and my husband were the better for my being aboard.”

Life, as portrayed here was mundane, often congenial and sometimes comical, as when a sudden wave sent applesauce — made from the fruits of a stopover in New Zealand — flying across the galley floor.

Well, it seemed pleasant to Mary, except for an episode of food poisoning induced from leftover fried pilot fish, crew deaths from drownings while hunting the whales in longboats and harsh weather conditions.

“Often when I heard the sailors singing that song, I longed for my home port of New Bedford, even as I was enjoying the many pleasures of our voyage,” Barrett said after entering the stage singing a song about returning to New England.

As Barrett sat in a parlor chair, a table next to her held a framed photo of Mary and Minnie as well as a candle and a doll like the one for which Minnie sewed clothes as the voyage took place.

There was homesickness to deal with as well as the very real dangers of whaling under sail in the 19th century. Letters, for example could only be set home by way of New Bedford-bound whalers they passed along the voyage.

Stopovers in Maui in what was then known and the Sandwich Islands and Kodiak Island in what is now Alaska and Bristol Bay in the Arctic, prompted Mary’s now-cringeworthy descriptions of native peoples.

“I was much engaged with the appearance of the natives,” she wrote in her journal of the Hawaiians. “I confess that I am disappointed with the appearance of the natives. They are not nearly so far advanced in civilization as I had supposed. The good folks at home tend to hold them up as a model from which we would do well to copy. I do not doubt that there has been a great deal done for them, but there’s a vast deal more to be done to raise them very high on the scale of the world. From what I heard and saw, they are a low, degraded and indolent set.”

She did, however, admit in the journal that the influence of foreign sailors had been bad for the islanders.

One trip to arctic added more than 300 gallons of whale oil to add to 500 gallons already rendered from cetaceans on the journey, as well as whale bone, the baleen from right whales — then selling for the high price of $1.50 per pound — used in corsets and hoops for women’s skirts.

Barrett also outlined how Mary was an active member in the Falmouth Ladies’ Seamen’s Friends Association, which raised funds for furnishing, sewed bedclothes and supplied Bibles at the Sailor’s Home in the Sandwich Islands.

After the “Addison” returned from the voyage in June 1860, Barrett related, Mary Chipman Lawrence would be rolling bandages and knitting socks for the Union Army before the next year was out.

“Large-scale whaling diminished greatly at that time,” she said. “Of course, petroleum was taking over and the government purchased many whaling ships and sank them at the entrance to harbors of Savannah and Charlestown [to blockade Confederate shipping].”

Captain Samuel Lawrence went on to command a steamship for the Union Army, continuing that work after the war. The family later moved to New Jersey and finally Brooklyn. N.Y.

“The many lovely moonlit evenings on the ocean, the sparkling sun on the water, the interesting people we saw, the wonderful sights and the many friends that we made — all of those are memories that have lasted me a lifetime,” Mary wrote.

Barrett remained after the program to answer audience questions about Mary Chipman Lawrence and the program.

HANSON — Hanson Selectmen, with the support of the Finance Committee, agreed on an 8.5 percent — up from 6.5 percent — increase in the Whitman Hanson Regional School District assessment Tuesday, April 30, still leaving them several percentage points behind the regional School Committee’s proposed increase of 12.5 percent. The Selectmen also voted to support a warrant article to acquire the Hubbell/Litecontrol property and rehearsed town meeting.

Finance Committee chair Kevin Sullivan liaised between the selectmen and his committee, and after offering several detailed explanations of their recommendations on warrant articles for town meeting he went to meet with his committee to work out a compromise on the school assessment issue.

Sullivan said the money for the 2-percentage point increase was found in the snow and ice line item. The Finance Committee found about $17,000 to fund the increase.

He said that the snow and ice budget was rarely spent, and that they had been increasing it over time so that they were comfortable taking money from it for the school assessment and the Selectmen agreed.

The board was likewise comfortable supporting the increase in order to compromise with the school committee, but Selectman Chairman Ken Mitchell wants to change the process.

He said that they cannot be doing this on the eve of town meeting in the future.

Hubbell/Litecontrol property

Selectmen voted to support a warrant article at Town Meeting to accept the formerly heavily polluted 9.5-acre Hubbell/Litecontrol property with an eye to move the Highway Department there.

The board had a lengthy discussion about the pros and cons of receiving the property.

Selectman Matthew Dyer was at first suspicious that the company was giving the property to the town, noting that corporations generally are in the business of making money, not giving things away. He also noted that it could be used for commercial uses, bringing tax revenue to the town.

He changed his mind after the discussion, though, and voted to support the land transfer.

FitzGerald-Kemmett was vocally opposed.

“I don’t want to be the member of the board of Selectmen [who accepts] an ‘Erin Brockovich’-like property,” she said. She went on for some time explaining her rationale.

The property was heavily polluted and has been cleaned-up. It has been given a “clean bill of health,” according to Town Counsel Kate Feodoroff, except for “sensitive uses” like residential development. Wells cannot be dug on the land.

It can be used for municipal or commercial uses, and has been eyed for the Highway Department, which even FitzGerald-Kemmett admits is housed in an unhealthy building.

Selectman James Hickey asked the Highway Department if they could use the two buildings currently on the site to park equipment that is currently left outside until a more permanent solution could be found. The response was yes, and that seemed to seal the deal.

With only FitzGerald-Kemmett opposed, the Selectmen voted to support the warrant article, 4-1.

Hanson Public Library Director Karen Stolfer offered a brief preview of what library trustees would present at Town Meeting regarding a possible building project at the library.

She said that the library is currently involved in a planning project which requires two documents, a “strategic plan” and a “building program,” both of which have been completed.

The Library Board of Trustees adopted the strategic plan Sept. 29, 2018, and approved the building program March 5, 2019, after conducting an involved survey of library user needs, she said.

Stolfer said a presentation and documents will be provided at Town Meeting to inform the residents of different options that trustees hope the town will approve in the future, either an expansion of the current library, to approximately double its space, or a new library altogether. Flyers and a PowerPoint presentation will be provided at Town Meeting the strategic plan and building program are available online at hansonlibrary.org.

Improvements, including a fence to deter deer, are among the changes coming to the Hanson Community Garden this year. (Photo by Tracy Seelye)

HANSON — There is room for you to grow at Hanson’s Community Garden.

While it has been operated exclusively for Hanson residents up to now, nonresidents can apply for the first time this year, according to Green Hanson members Evelyn Golden and Kathy Gernhardt. Non-residents will be asked to pay a higher fee than residents.

“It’s only fair, but it’s still only $15 a growing season,” Golden said. “They’re going to spend more than that on their water bill if they were to grow their vegetable garden at home.”

The non-resident fee is waived if the application comes in through the Hanson Food Pantry on behalf of a client. A small variety of seeds can also be provided for those growers.

“We’ll provide the dirt and the water and the community — and the seeds — they just have to do the labor,” Golden said.

Applications for the 24-30 potential open garden sites are available in the Selectmen’s office in Town Hall. For more information, visit [email protected].

Golden and Gernhardt said improvements being made, including a fence to deter deer,   to bring more people back to the project. Soil amendments — aged manure and other quality composts — are also planned to encourage better plant growth.

Part of the fence project will include additional compost bins to improve garden sustainability in the future.

“We’ve lost gardeners because the crops were being eaten,” Golden said of the deer problem.

At least two of those who left because of deer damage have pledged to come back after learning about the planned fence. Including Scout and church groups which grew produce for the food pantry, nearly two dozen participants were involved in the Community Garden program last year.

The fence, an Eagle Scout project, will place a five-foot high chain link barrier around the garden. The Scout is still working on approval from the Eagle board, but is hoping to do it by May.

“The thought and the research is that we know you need eight [feet] or more for a deer to not scale it,” Golden said as the two spoke at the Community Garden site adjascent to the Hanson Food Pantry on High Street. “But, where it’s going to be chain-link [the deer] are still going to see all the white poles and it’s going to mess with their optical vision — we hope. That’s what researchers are saying.”

Gernhardt added that the higher and more closed off the fence is, it won’t be as welcoming.

“We want to make sure we’re presenting a welcoming facility,” she said.

Golden said the important thing is that, when deer don’t see a clear space in which to land, they are not going to jump a fence.

“That’s a really important project that we’re expecting to take place this year,” Gernhardt said.

A lot can be produced in the three-foot square patches based on the square-foot garden growing practice.

“It’s a little bit different from conventional gardening,” Golden said.

Take green beans, for example. Seed packets advise spacing plants two inches apart in a long row, which means 18 plants in a three-foot row. By planting crops by the square foot, you can grow 36 plants.

“It’s a more intensive way of growing,” Gernhardt said. “What we find in square-foot gardening is people tend to be more diverse [in plant selection] per box.”

It also helps deter weeds, and is very big on vertical growing, Golden said, adding that it also makes soil replenishment and crop rotation more important.

Cucumbers grown vertically can make a better crop yield as well as serving as a space-saver, she said.

Green Hanson is sponsoring a cleanup day at the gardens from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., on Saturday, April 20. A new 4-H group, the United Farmers, will also be focusing some of its project work at the gardens, Golden said.

The W-H golf team also selected the garden for its community service project this year, working at the site and donating funds to the project, as well.

“To us it was a huge donation, because anything helps,” Golden said.

Green Hanson is the garden’s umbrella organization through Sustainable South Shore. Working through Green Hanson, the garden received a $500 grant last year, Gernhardt said. After the Community Garden project demonstrates its own growth as an operation and community program, organizers can reapply for the grant.

With prom and graduation season upon us, school and law enforcement officials — along with Whitman-Hanson WILL — presented the documentary “If They Had Known,” on the dangers of mixing prescription drugs with alcohol in a program at WHRHS on Thursday, March 27.

“Prom season, graduation season are the most stressful time for high school administrators because of the level of choices that their kids can make during those times,” Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak said. Statistics show it is the peak time for risky behavior.

“It’s not to make people sad, it’s to make people think,” he said of the documentary screening, which the school plans to repeat for high school students.

District Attorney Timothy Cruz briefed the audience of students and parents on the points of the Social Host Law.

He said parents who host teen parties where alcohol consumption takes place, risk both criminal charges and civil liabilities when accidents occur as a result of underage drinking.

“If you know a parent that may be considering doing that, tell them this,” Cruz said. “Tell them it’s illegal. Tell them that, if you provide alcohol to a minor at your home, and, if they leave your home, your responsibility is not over. If they drive their car, after being inebriated by drugs, alcohol or whatever and there is — god forbid — a terrible accident and somebody gets hurt or killed, you will be sued.”

Szymaniak said there had already been a recent incident in which a group of seniors were caught having a party at a home during the school day.

Cruz and Szymaniak warned that local police also file charges against parents or 18-year-olds who violate the Social Host Law.

Szymaniak said he has “buried probably 25 kids” in his years a school administrator and the described regret their classmates experienced over not taking their keys before they got behind the wheel after drinking.

“We all want to be friends with our kids,” Cruz said to emphasize the point. “My answer has always been, I’ll be friends with them when they’re 25. Up until that point, I’m their father.”

He urged the teens in the audience to take care of each other and stop them from taking risks in their behaviors to save lives.

“I applaud these parents who have worked so hard to get the word out,” Cruz said of Winchester parents Geoff and Genny Soper, who are taking a lead role in the fight against the party culture of mixing prescription drugs and alcohol after their eldest son, Clay, died after taking Xanax followed by a night of heavy drinking.

“Their strength really impresses me,” Cruz said. “They are doing what they can to make sure that other parents don’t [suffer] what happened to them.”

A family’s anguish

The Whitman-Hanson WILL program featured the documentary about their son’s last night alive, “If They Had Known,” during a pre-prom and graduation season program held at the Dr. John F. McEwan Performing Arts Center.

The Sopers were scheduled to appear at the program, but Whitman-Hanson WILL organizers explained they felt unable to cope with the emotion of reliving the experience in a public setting at this time.

Founded in 2014, Whitman-Hanson WILL works to bring awareness to the importance of good decision-making about the use of alcohol and/or drugs.

“We’ve transitioned into all types of decision-making that are core for our youth, including texting and driving, drunk driving and all sorts of substances,” Szymaniak said. “The organization works with us in the community in the schools and in community outreach both in Whitman and Hanson.”

Clay Soper, then 19, was home for a winter break while attending the University of Denver, when he and some friends got together at one of their homes in 2015 when they decided to try Xanax before going to another house party where Clay had too much to drink.

His friends thought it best to get him in bed to sleep it off, but the mix of the prescription anti-anxiety medication and alcohol caused his heart and respiratory system to fatally slow down.

Friends’ efforts at CPR, when he was found to be pale and unresponsive were unsuccessful. Clay was pronounced dead at the hospital.

“You know who mixes,” Szymaniak said to the teens in the audience after the documentary was shown. “You know where the parties are, who know who brings what, you know what’s out there, and you know [what can happen] if you choose to do this or not.”

Hanson School Resource Officer William Frasier, Whitman Lt. Dan Connolly, Whitman Deputy Police Chief Timothy Hanlon and Hanson Lt. Mike Casey also attended the event in case parents had questions or concerns following the program.

Whitman Fire Chief Timothy Grenno, third from left, and Hanson Fire Chief Jerome Thompson Jr., third from right, talk with firefighters and residents of 81 School St., March 21. (Photo by Stephanie Spyropoulos)

WHITMAN — The last several weeks have been exceptionally busy for first responders in Whitman, Fire Chief Timothy Grenno said Tuesday. Amid day-to-day medical calls, the department has responded to four separate house fires since Feb. 13.

One of the fires occurred at 4:30 a.m., Tuesday, March 26, only hours after firefighters returned from an extensive brush fire on the Whitman Abington town line.

Early Tuesday morning the Whitman Fire Department responded to a report of a house fire at 142 Raynor Ave.

A passerby noticed the fire and called 911 also waking the family inside and helping them safely get out of the house. There were no reported injuries, according to a statement through Grenno’s office.

When firefighters arrived, the single-family ranch-style home had fire showing from an outside wall of an attached garage. The fire had extended up the exterior wall and the interior walls of the garage. Abington fire department responded to the scene to provide assistance.

The fire was quickly brought under control and firefighters successfully prevented the flames from spreading further into the house.

The initial investigation indicates that the fire started accidentally due to the spontaneous combustion of oily rags that were used earlier in the day to strip a floor.

“I would like to commend the passerby for their quick actions in calling 911 and having the wherewithal to wake up the family and get them out of the house,” Chief Grenno said. “Anyone dealing with oily rags or cloths should never leave them in a pile and should hang them up to dry or lay them out on the ground. As the rags dry, they give off heat and if the heat is not released it can cause a fire.”

At about 2:30 p.m., Monday March 25, Whitman Fire Department helped in extinguishing a large brush fire that started in Abington on Brockton Avenue .

“Upon arrival, firefighters discovered that the fire had spread toward the high tension power lines on the Whitman/Brockton town lines. The large swath of land sits near the town lines of the three communities. ‘Whitman deployed a brush truck, engine and shift commander to help coordinate extinguishing the flames’” Grenno said.

Firefighters from Abington, Brockton and Holbrook responded and were relocated to keep ahead of the flames.

It took firefighters about two hours to fully extinguish the fire, which burned about four acres of land. Firefighters successfully prevented the fire from spreading to any nearby buildings. No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire is under investigation, but is not considered suspicious at this time.

School Street

On March 21, a family was displaced at 81 School St., following a kitchen fire.

Later determined to be a grease firefirefighters from Whitman Hanson, East Bridgewater and Abington assisted in controlling and extinguishing the heavy fire and were able to prevent further spreading into the remaining multi family home.

No injuries were reported and four residents of the building were temporarily displaced due to fire, smoke and water damage to the home.

Initial investigation indicated that the fire was caused by grease in a cooking pan. The resident attempted to put the fire out with flour, but was unsuccessful.

The damage done to the home was estimated at about $60,000.

Chief Grenno commended the work of firefighters for their quick response and knockdown of the fire.

“Thankfully our ambulance had just returned from a hospital transport with two of our six on-duty firefighters on board,” Chief Grenno said. “Had the fire started 10 minutes earlier we would have only been able to send four firefighters and there would have likely been significantly more damage to the house. This incident, along with two other significant fires in recent months, highlights the importance of a properly staffed fire department.”

Firefighters responded to 134 Bayberry Road Feb. 23 for a reported chimney fire just after 9:30 p.m.

While en route, firefighters were notified that flames had extended into the one and a half story building.  A fire in a wood stove had extended to the chimney, exterior wall and ceiling.

The location of the fire presented firefighters with unique challenges, requiring them to do extensive work opening up of the home’s ceiling and wall in order to fully extinguish the flames.

“Our firefighters did an excellent job extinguishing a fire under complex circumstances,” Chief Grenno said.

There were no injuries as a result of the fire, and the home’s lone occupant spent the night with a family member.

Whitman firefighters were supported on scene by crews from the Abington, East Bridgewater and Hanson fire departments.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. The damage to the home was estimated at $40,000.

The largest fire, which reached six alarms for man power and EMS occurred to a three story apartment complex in the early evening on Commercial Street Feb. 13 in Whitman.

The house has since been razed.