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New tobacco regs in works

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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.

Rec inquiry complete: Report not ready to be released, Selectmen say

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HANSON — The Board of Selectmen expect to receive Labor Counsel Leo Peloquin’s report on the Camp Kiwanee investigation in the next few days, but may seek legal advice on the proper way to release it during an open session “sometime in October.”

Selectmen Chairman James McGahan made the announcement during the board’s Tuesday, Sept. 27 meeting. While Town Counsel Jay Talerman was present to participate in the special Town Meeting preview, he was not asked about the issue as the Kiwanee probe falls under the category of labor law, according to selectmen.

“As we get the report, we need to figure out what we have in it to be sure there’s nothing sensitive,” McGahan said. “If employees [are mentioned] we may have to redact some information. That will have to be determined by legal counsel.”

He said Selectmen will have to review the report to decide how to release its information.

Town Administrator Michael McCue was absent due to an illness in his family.

Former Recreation Commission Chairman James Hickey asked if those who might be mentioned in the report would be so advised before it was made public.

“I think that they would probably have to get it at the same time that the public gets it,” McGahan said. “But that’s something that we’ll have to figure out with the attorney. Frankly, I’ve never been put in this position before and I’m not clear on what we’re supposed to do for the next step.”

How to release

He indicated the board might have to meet in executive session before the release to determine how it will be done.

Selectman Bruce Young said the report could refer to “multiple individuals” if similar inquiries done in the past was a guide.

In a letter to the editor [see page 12], past Kiwanee Management Committee member Joanne Blauss said the investigation has left her without much hope in the matter.

“We thought it was going to be wrapped up in September and give the public a chance to look at it and talk about it before the Town Meeting,” Blauss said Monday.

“All we were really promised was that the investigation would be done by September,” said Wes Blauss. He said the major concern is regaining recreation programs for Hanson that can take place by-and-large at Camp Kiwanee.

“Weddings were meant to subsidize events at Kiwanee,” he said. “But now there will be no recreation [events] at Kiwanee next year. It’s booked solid.”

Concerns expressed

They said McCue had told them before Tuesday’s meeting that the investigation results would not be revealed at Tuesday’s Selectmen’s meeting.

She and others who have served on the commission had expected a “great reveal” on the findings of the nine-month investigation.

Among the events leading to those hopes being “squashed” were: a selectman’s dismissal of citizen rallies as “those fools in front of Town Hall,” the delay in delivering the promised “even-handed, unbiased report” on the commission and its management of Camp Kiwanee, and the closed-door “interrogation” of a 17-year-old seasonal worker at the camp.

The latter incident resulted in a complaint filed against Town Administrator Michael McCue by resident John Mahoney, who had been asked by the teen employee’s family to accompany him during the interview with Peloquin and McCue. Mahoney was denied access to that meeting.

Case closed

In a letter replying to Mahoney, Magahan wrote that the board had determined that McCue and Peloquin had acted appropriately.

“Consequently, the Board deems this matter closed,” McGahan’s letter dated Sept. 7 read.

Mahoney had charged that two part-time seasonal caretakers at Camp Kiwanee appeared for the Aug. 19 meeting in response to an email request from the Recreation Commission’s administrative assistant, instructing them to “make yourselves available” to meet with McCue at the Needles Lodge office.

“I asked to join them and was refused because, the lawyer told me, ‘it’s confidential, part of the investigation,’” Mahoney wrote in his complaint. While Peloquin represented town officials, Mahoney stated the caretakers “were not afforded the opportunity to have representation, either legal or otherwise.”

The other employee, after his interview told Mahoney the questions centered on a particular wedding about which a complaint had been lodged with the administrative assistant.

“The complaint is that the Town Administrator was not forthcoming about the nature of the meeting, nor that a legal representative would be attending, thus not allowing either employee to arrange for representation,” Mahoney wrote. “It is also a complaint that one of the employees … is an underage minor and should never have been subject to legal questioning without an adult present.”

The investigation is supposed to center on Recreation Commission practices and bookkeeping issues arising after an audit of operations. Wes Blauss said the questions instead have all involved drinking at Camp Kiwanee.

Both the Blausses had a recent meeting with McCue about “getting recreation back to the forefront and he wanted them to continue with plans for the play they had on the calendar, but dates required for rehearsal were largely booked for weddings.

Funding director

The wedding bookings also came up Sept. 27 during the Town Meeting preview when Dave Blauss asked how the town could rely on future bookings to raise enough money to pay a recreation director’s salary after the six-month period to be funded by warrant article 20. He said projections for fiscal 2018 are down, despite being booked solid through July 2017.

“We always know that because people book weddings a year to two years in advance,” Dave Blauss said in response to Young’s question of how that projection could be made. “The board should know what the income is coming in before we fill a position that we may not be able to fund.”

McGahan advised referring the question to McCue, who is now overseeing Kiwanee operations.

Finance Committee Chairman Michael Wojdag cautioned that the $273,000 made at Kiwanee in fiscal 2016, was offset by expenses that came in at $284,000 for that period with the loss offset by taxation.

“One of the purposes of the recreation director is to stimulate more rentals at the camp,” Young argued. “Right now, it’s not being run by a professional. It’s being run by part-timers and an administrative assistant.”

“The place needs to be run like a business,” agreed Selectman Kenny Mitchell. “You put the proper management in there, [and] you could absolutely generate more money for that place. … Me being a business guy, I think you take the risk.”

Reps host water Forum

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HALIFAX — Area residents filled the Great Hall of the Halifax Town Hall for a Water in Distress forum sponsored by Rep. Thomas J. Calter, D-Kingston, and Rep. Josh S. Cutler, D-Duxbury, Saturday, Sept. 24.

The standing-room-only crowd came to hear the many facets of the water situation, with Cathy Drinan, health agent for Halifax and Plympton, also representing the Monponsett Pond Watershed Association; Marianne Moore, Executive Secretary of the Monponsett Watershed Association; Jack O’Leary of Plympton, Chairman of the newly activated Central Plymouth County Water Commission, and Pine DuBois, Executive Chairman of the Jones River Watershed Association.

Calter began with an overview of the emergency legislation during a drought in 1964 that allowed Brockton to increase the level of Silver Lake, which has supplied Brockton with water since 1899. To do this, West Monponsett Lake would be dammed at Stump Brook, its natural outfall to the Taunton River, to force the water to flow backwards, through East Monponsett Lake, then to Silver Lake. This unnatural flow appears to be a major component in the stagnation of West Monponsett and the algae bloom of toxic cyanobacteria. Coupled with the huge increases in water demand by Brockton over the five decades since 1964, damage to West Monponsett Lake may be nearing irreversible, he said.

Calter said he wanted to bring together people who know the science behind the situation so a solution can be found.  Two Brockton city councilors also attended to learn about the concerns of Halifax, Hanson, and Pembroke citizens. Calter introduced Councilor at-Large Winthrop Farwell, Jr., and Ward 6 Councilor John Lally as friends of the negotiations.

Cutler, whose district includes Pembroke and Hanson told the assembly, we are all neighbors.  “We want to find a solution we can all live with,” he said.

Health Agent Cathy Drinan cited the measures that the Town of Halifax has taken to reduce phosphates in West Monponsett Pond which feed the  cyanobacteria.

Septic systems within 100 feet of the Lake must undergo complete Title V certification each year, cranberry growers have reduced the amount of fertilizer applied to the bogs when runoff goes into the lake; for cranberry growers to fertilize their bogs when the sluice gate is open to allow runoff to flow back to the Taunton River and not into the West Pond. Drinan outlined the grants she and the town of Halifax have applied for and received to treat West Pond with alum to bind with the phosphates and make them unusable as food for the toxic bacteria. DEP this year recommended a heavy alum treatment that will cost more than $400,000. The City of Brockton would need to contribute to the cost in order to make that happen, Drinan told the group.

Marianne Moore, who lives on the shores of East Monponsett Pond, is the executive secretary of the Monponsett Watershed Association, asked those present to become more active and aware, because even a small number of people can be heard, and legislators were very cooperative and eager to hear and help.

“Until four years ago, I had lived my busy little life – why would these legislators want to listen to me?” Moore said. “We reached out to them and they came to us — these four little people from Halifax. I believe the problem can be fixed.  I hope you all will become a little more active, more aware, of the active issues and try to keep moving the issue forward.”

Jack O’Leary, Chairman of the Central Plymouth County Water District Commission formed in 1964 encompasses eight communities: Brockton, East Bridgewater, Whitman, Hanson, Pembroke, Kingston, Halifax, and Plympton, to preserve the pre-existing recreational uses of the ponds … hunting, fishing, swimming, boating.

O’Leary has educated himself on the dangers of cyanobacteria and their toxicity.   

“What they are,” O’Leary said, “are single celled organisms mid-way between plant and animal.”

They have some chlorophyll in them so they react to sunlight by blooming and they are present everywhere, in every pond. It’s when they “bloom” and grow uncontrollably, and reach cell counts above 70,000 cells per milliliter, that they reach what the DEP considers to be toxic or harmful to humans.

O’Leary told the audience that stagnant water is a prime factor in cyanobacteria bloom.  He furthered that taking too much water from the ponds and reversing the flow of water from West Monponsett Pond leaves many areas in West Pond virtually stagnant, encouraging the algae bloom. If Brockton reduced its dependency on Halifax and Pembroke ponds by using other methods available to them, such as the Aquaria desalinization plant in Dartmouth, the ponds could be helped back to health.

“Our commission is answerable to all of our communities,” O’Leary said, and is working to protect the ponds.

As far as the health affects of the toxic bacteria, it can cause rash where it touches the skin.  He also told that he has read about cows that died after being allowed to drink water laden with cyanobacteria. There is also a new potential health affect – it appears that in communities that live around ponds with cyanobacteria infestation some long-term health affects are appearing due to the algae becoming airborne,  “which only makes it more urgent that we address this problem.”

Pine DuBois from Kingston, Executive Director of the Jones River Watershed Association, said what we are trying to accomplish is to make people aware of the dangers of diverting too much water.

The Jones River is the largest river draining into Cape Cod Bay. Silver Lake today is 5 feet down. As water is drained, the natural well springs collapse and they are gone for good, she explained.

“What we do to the environment day to day, matters to the people who come after us. So we really want to straighten out this problem,” DuBois said. “As I’ve explained to my friends over there from City Hall, Brockton does not have the ability to divert 30 million gallons a day from Monponsett Pond anymore.  They simply can’t. If DEP allows them to do that, they will not be living up to its obligation to protect the people of the Commonwealth and the environment.”

The drought is predicted to continue.

“So what can we do about it?  We cannot, nor should we, divert from Monponsett Pond or Furnace Pond into Silver Lake,” DuBois said. “Since 1964, there are so many more people living in this area, it’s not sustainable for them to be Brockton’s water supply any longer.”

Brockton spent an enormous amount of time, energy, and money – as did the rest of the Commonwealth – developing the Aquaria desalinization plant 20 miles south of Brockton on the Taunton River estuary.
From June 15 to Aug. 15, Brockton took 4 million gallons of water a day from Aquaria, then stopped.   

“In my humble opinion, they should be taking that 365 days a year,” DuBois said.  “Four million gallons a day would reduce the take from Silver Lake.  They take 10 million gallons a day each and every day from Silver Lake.”

In 1909 it was less than 2 million. By 1955 it was 4 million. By 1964 it was almost 5 million. By 1981 it became 18 million.

The issue was lack of attention to infrastructure, DuBois explained. The pipes are over 100 years old — and leaking.

Brockton had 30,000 people then and now, 116 years later, a city of a hundred thousand people cannot count on drawing its water from these ponds.

“Brockton should be using Aquaria and Brockton should be working to tie into the MWRA and we should be doing everything in our power to help them do that,” she said, to a large round of applause.

Silver Lake, to support this effort, can give Brockton a couple of million gallons a day, she said.  Not much more than that.

“You can’t take 30 million gallons a day from a six square mile resource and expect to sustain your population. I believe that the City of Brockton needs to reassess their finances to save their water resource. They need to use Aquaria and in the long run it would not be more expensive than using Silver Lake.”

She stressed Brockton should also be working toward getting onto the MWRA involved.

“Not a little bit in, but all in,” DuBois said. “Let’s start working on that now.”

Comedy show aids MD research

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WHITMAN — Two years after his “Rock & Comedy for a Cause,” show in Brockton raised close to $15,000 for the Jett Foundation which funds Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy medical research, Whitman native Mark Chauppetta is planning an even bigger event at Plymouth Memorial Hall.

“Komedy for a Kause,” will feature a stellar lineup of Bay State comic talent with Lenny Clarke, Steve Sweeney, Jackie the Joke Man Martling, Johnny Pizzi, Jerry Thornton, Christine Hurley and Richie Minervini taking the stage at the 1,300-seat hall, 83 Court St. Plymouth on Friday, Oct. 14.

The fundraising goal this time out is $40,000 or more. Doors open at 7 p.m. General admission tickets are $39.99 with $60 VIP tickets including a before the show meet-and-greet with the comics and appetizers available. A 50/50 raffle will also be conducted and a sports paraphernalia company will be on site, operating on consignment.

“The first show was such a success — it was a sell-out — that I needed a bigger venue,” said Chauppetta, a 1987 W-H graduate whose 21-year-old twin sons have Duchenne. “This is probably the biggest show, aside from Dennis Leary’s Comedy Comes Home every November at TD Bank Garden.”

Boston legends Clarke and Sweeney, who headline the show, are known for their support of charitable causes throughout Massachusetts.

“Lenny Clarke is one of the nicest, most charitable guys you will ever meet,” Chauppetta said.

Thornton is a “local guy turned sports radio personality” at WEEI and a former Hingham court officer, Chauppetta said. Martling is featured on the Howard Stern radio show and Hurley, from Plymouth, riffs on the “bad mom” ethos.

“She is becoming, bar none, the best female comic in the industry right now,” he said of Hurley, who is a sweet-natured mother of five off stage. “All Christine Hurley does is [dump] on her husband Jimmy Hurley. She’s so funny and a little blue.”

Minervini is a friend and frequent costar of “Mall Cop” actor Kevin James. Pizzi, who was on the last show lineup returns for another outing.

“He was so impressed with the last show he asked to be on my board for the next one,” Chauppetta said, and helped book the acts, all of whom are appearing for a reduced fee.

Chauppetta said he is now working fully with the Jett Foundation, which exclusively works toward supporting research into Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

The erstwhile Jerry Lewis Telethons, in comparison, raised hundreds of millions of dollars, but the funds were divided amid work on behalf of all the neuromuscular diseases — numbering more than 20.

His sons, now 21, are still doing well and drive an adaptive vehicle.

“They live life, they love life and they don’t let life get them down,” Chauppetta said. “I instill a lot of that in them.”

He proudly notes that his sons are two of the best wheelchair soccer players in the world, playing on a team that won the national championship in Indiana this summer.

“They’re no different than any ambulatory, normal person,” he said. “Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy attacks their muscles, it doesn’t attack their cognitive ability.”

Duchenne is almost genetic-specific to boys, although there are a few rare cases of females with the disease.

Chauppetta has taken an extremely active role in fundraising for research and patient care — including mixed martial arts bouts each year.

“I’ve been raising money for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy since they were diagnosed,” he said. “I’ve done everything from cage fighting to wrestling events. I’m a hands-on fundraiser. Now that I’m 47, I figure it’s time to shift toward less violence and more laughter.”

Chauppetta said downtown Plymouth, aside from featuring a large performance hall for the event, is a revitalized town center with several excellent restaurants. With tourism season ended, parking should be easier to find.

Once again, Yale Appliance and Lighting of Dorchester has again contributed a large sum to help defray expenses for the event.

Chauppetta, who grew up on Warren Avenue in Whitman, now lives in Carver and works in Brockton but is one of the coaches for the Hanson Warriors Youth Football program in which his 10-year-old son plays. He is also a W-H youth wrestling coach.

Panther Power tackles diabetes

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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.

Drought disaster declared

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By Colin A. Young

State House News Service

BOSTON — Eleven of the state’s 14 counties have been deemed “primary natural disaster areas” by the United States Department of Agriculture due to substantial crop losses that began with a February deep freeze and continued though a summer marked by severe drought.

Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth and Worcester counties were designated as primary natural disaster areas, the USDA said, “due to losses caused by frost and freeze that occurred from February 14 through May 4, 2016.”

Farmers in those counties are eligible for low interest emergency loans from the USDA’s Farm Service Agency, the USDA said. Farmers have eight months to apply for a loan to help cover part of their losses.

Farmers in Dukes, Nantucket and Suffolk counties — as well as several counties in Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont — also qualify for the loan program if their farms are in counties contiguous to the primary disaster areas.

A deep freeze around Valentine’s Day wiped out almost all of the state’s peach crop, farmers previously told the News Service, and the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs said Tuesday that other tree fruits were affected as well.

On top of the deep freeze, Massachusetts farmers have been hit this season with an ongoing and widespread drought that’s been blamed for contributing to wild fires, an outbreak of gypsy moths, higher rates of ant infestation, smaller than usual apples, loss of crops, a shortage of cattle feed, and an elevated population of mosquitoes able to carry West Nile virus.

The state earlier this month launched its own $1 million emergency loan fund to help farmers who have struggled with the impacts of the drought.

“We appreciate the United States Department of Agriculture taking steps to assist farms across the Commonwealth,” Gov. Charlie Baker said in a statement. “I encourage farmers adversely impacted by this year’s extreme weather conditions to explore the USDA programs and the state’s Emergency Drought Loan Fund.”

More than half of the state is experiencing an “extreme” drought, the second-most intense level of dryness on the federal government’s scale, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The 52.13 percent of Massachusetts in an extreme drought stretches from the Pioneer Valley to the Cape Cod Canal, and encompasses all of Metro Boston and northeastern Massachusetts.

“This year’s weather has been a great challenge to Massachusetts farmers; first with the winter freeze and now with a severe drought,” Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton said in a statement. “Despite that, our farmers have done a remarkable job at getting high-quality, nutritious food to market, and I urge Massachusetts residents to buy local to support our hardworking farmers.”

As of Aug. 19, when the application for a USDA disaster declaration was submitted, Massachusetts farmers had lost just shy of $14 million worth of crops, according to the USDA Farm Service Agency’s Massachusetts office.

The same 11 Massachusetts counties are also eligible for the USDA’s Livestock Forage Disaster Program, which compensates some livestock ranchers who have suffered “grazing losses on pasture land” due to the drought, EEA said.

“Our livestock and dairy industry is a significant contributor to the state’s economy, contributing over $70 million dollars annually,” Department of Agricultural Resources Commissioner John Lebeaux said in a statement. “We appreciate USDA implementing a program to address this specific sector.”

Massachusetts farmers interested in applying for the USDA aid should contact their local USDA Service Center for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures, the USDA said. More information is available at http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov.

Honoring a great Lady

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HANSON — In just a few weeks, Barbara Meiggs of Hanson will be 101 years old.

Friends, family and members of the selectmen and congress were among those who attended a special pre-birthday event at the Meeting House Lane community room Tuesday. Selectman Bill Scott presented the Boston Post Cane to Meiggs.

Hanson state Rep. Josh Cutler, D-Duxbury, presented her with a citation from the General Court and representatives of state Sen. Mike Brady, D-Brockton, and U.S. Rep. Bill Keating, D-Mass, were present as well as Veterans’ Agent Bob Arsenault and Town Administrator Michael McCue.

The tradition so honoring the oldest resident in town has been recently reestablished at McCue’s suggestion. He had presided over such programs in Mansfield and Avon — where worked with North Easton Savings Bank, which had started a program to replace missing Boston Post canes as a public service.

Jim Alfieri who was the presenter on behalf of the North Easton Savings Bank spoke briefly on the now-reinstated historical tradition.

The cane program was founded by the defunct Boston Post newspaper in 1909 as a promotional project. Canes made of ebony with gold grip and tip, for 700 towns in New England, including Maine, Massachusetts New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

No cities were included in the program, according to the Maynard town website, but some present-day cities were still towns in 1909.

In replacing the Boston Post Canes, Alfieri said it was discovered that the 700 original canes that were given out exclusively to male residents. Eventually women were recognized as the longest-living citizens in the 1930s, and thus were allowed the awarded canes.

Meiggs formerly of Whitman, was born Oct. 27, 1915. She graduated from Whitman High School at age 18. She was married to husband Carlton for 67 years. They raised two sons Russell and Weston.

Director of Hanson Multipurpose Senior Center Mary Collins told Barbara that her life has been inspirational to others. The center threw a 100th birthday party for Meiggs last year.

“If you ever want to see the most sparkling set of blue eyes… look no further than Barbara,” Collins said. “I believe the list of adjectives that best describes Barbara is absolutely endless. Inspirational is the strongest word. … I have had the pleasure of knowing Barbara for eight years and in that time I have witnessed her inspiring others.”

Many years of volunteering among the list of qualities she assembled in a life well lived, she said.

Collins quoted an essay from Ralph Waldo Emerson that she felt described how Meiggs lived her life.

“‘The purpose in life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.’ I believe this is truly how Barbara has lived her life.” Collins said.

Meiggs was a longtime volunteer at the Jordan Hospital starting in the late 1970’s at the receptionist office and eventually having a hand in the Bonnets for Every Baby program. Her hand knit bonnets were officially a welcome into the world for hundreds of infants over the years.

Rock the block for W-H Alumni programs

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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.

Arrests made in robbery

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HANSON — Hanson police made two arrests in an afternoon bank robbery on Tuesday after a car was located on route 228 in Norwell matching the alleged get-away vehicle.

At approximately 1:28 p.m., Tuesday, the Hanson Police Department received a report that the Rockland Trust Bank branch, located at 470 Liberty Street had been robbed, according to Hanson Police Chief Michael Miksch.

David A. Poulos, 28, and Paige A. Banagis, 24, both Rockland residents were charged in the crime.

Poulos was described as a white male, who did not show a weapon when he gave the teller a note demanding cash in large bills. Banagis was named as the alleged driver in the robbery.

Police broadcasted a description of the suspect alerting other towns to the incident and possible suspect/s. Officers from neighboring communities spotted the suspect vehicle and a stop was made by the Massachusetts State Police in Norwell. During the stop the suspect attempted to dispose of cash in the trash at the gas station.

The undisclosed amount of cash was recovered, said Miksch.

Hanson officers responded to the gas station and were able to make a positive identification of the suspect.   

Hanson Police, the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department BCI and K9 Unit, Massachusetts State Police and the FBI Bank Task Force also responded to the scene.

The pair is charged with unarmed robbery and larceny over $250 [an undisclosed total amount].

Banagis is being held on $10,000 bail. Poulos is held on $15,000 bail. They were due to be arraigned in Plymouth District Court on Wednesday.

The Hanson police are currently co-operating with the FBI Bank Task Force and State Police further investigating whether the suspects are responsible for bank robberies in other towns, Miksch stated.

“The Hanson Police Department would like to thank the above mentioned agencies as well as the Rockland, Weymouth, Canton, and Norwell Police Departments,” Miksch said.

Hanson gives a salute for an American Hero

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HANSON — Business owner and decorated World War II Army Air Corps veteran John J. Ferry was saluted for “a life well-lived” during the dedication of a memorial square in his honor Sunday, Sept. 11.

Ferry operated a gas and service station at the corner of Liberty and Winter streets for 50 years before his death on Dec. 20, 2015. John J. Ferry Square is now located at that intersection, next to the business his family continues to operate.

“We honor a common man, a working man, a family man, a man of God, a good neighbor — John Ferry,” said keynote speaker, retired Army Brig. Gen. Emory Maddocks, noting that Ferry had enlisted in the Army in 1942, the same year Aaron Copeland composed “Fanfare for the Common Man.”

Maddocks said he was honored to speak, and happy the occasion was not memorializing a person killed in war at a young age, “But rather to honor a gentleman who lived a full life in service to his country,” he said. “We gather today to honor a life well-lived.”

Ferry’s son Jack thanked the crowd gathered for their tribute to his father.

“If dad was here I think he’d shake his head over the fuss everybody’s making,” Jack Ferry said, noting he was a bit nervous about speaking. “He’d say, ‘It’s just another day, what are you worried about,’”

Jack Ferry also said the family had calculated that his father had driven by the corner somewhere in the neighborhood of 105,000 times in the 50 years he worked at his station, and thanked all those who helped organize the event.

The 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks was also on the minds of those in attendance.

“We pray for those who tragically lost their lives and for all those who continue to suffer the loss of their loved ones,” offered the Rev. Michael Hobson, pastor of St. Joseph the Worker Church, where Ferry was a communicant. “Today, we are especially mindful of the blessings that you’ve bestowed upon us in our local community of Hanson as we remember John J. Ferry — a man who gave of himself in so many ways in service to country and community.”

Ferry’s friend Jerry Coulstring Jr. of Hanson American Legion Post 226 outlined that service, which included 79 combat missions as a gunner on a B-25 medium bomber in the China-Burma-India theater of operations.

Coulstring recalled Ferry telling him he had to “get over there” and do his duty when war came.

“He just didn’t realize how far ‘over there’ would be,” Coulstring said. “‘Over there’ took him across Europe over to Burma.”

The rotation policy was supposed to send crews home after 25 combat missions — Ferry’s 79 exceeded that by more than three times, averaging three to five hours each in duration.

“He’s always been a hero to me,” Coulstring said.

His efforts —more than 300 hours of combat action — earned Ferry the Air Medal and Distinguished Flying Cross.

“I was proud to call him a friend and hold him in the highest esteem as both a hero and a great patriot,” Coulstring said.

Maddocks, too, spoke of Ferry’s military record, enlisting at a time when the Allied victory was far from certain, and recounted the service Ferry dedicated to his community after opening his first service station.

“John provided old-fashioned, Norman Rockwell, small-town service in capital letters,” he said. “This was a family business and his customers were neighbors and friends.”

Friend in deed

When those neighbors and friends ran into tough times, Ferry helped out.

“He became part of the economic foundation of his country, his commonwealth and our town,” Maddocks said. “John employed people … he paid his taxes, he was active in the community and became part of the fabric of this little town. … John would fix cars, sometimes, for nothing.”

He did a lot of things to help people get to work on time when times were tough.

“He’d give people gas so they could get to work and support their families,” Maddocks said. “To John, there was nothing more noble than somebody who worked for a living and tried to raise their family.”

A dedicated member of St. Joseph the Worker Church, Ferry was known to “bump somebody on the back of the head with a basket” if he thought one of his friends hadn’t dropped enough into the collection, Maddocks said with a laugh.

State Rep. Josh Cutler, D-Duxbury, presented Jack Ferry with a citation from the General Court, state Senate and Gov. Charles Baker. Selectmen Don Howard, James, McGahan, Bill Scott and Bruce Young also attended the ceremony, which was presided over by Veterans’ Agent Bob Arsenault.

Arsenault and Jack Ferry then unveiled the square marker. Wyman’s Nursery donated the mulch for the garden area.

Hanson resident and former firefighter Donald Teague played bagpipes prior to the ceremony and performed “Amazing Grace” following Hobson’s closing prayer. Singer Mary Renny performed “God Bless America”  as a plane trailing a banner — reading “A true American Hero John J. Ferry” — circled overhead, before those attending were invited to a collation, catered by A Fork in the Road of Bryantville,  in the Ferry’s Sunoco parking lot.

Representatives from the Hanson American Legion, the Fire, Police and Highway departments assisted with preparations for the ceremony, display of a giant American flag and traffic control.