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School Lunch Menus for Feb. 28 to Mar. 5

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Dennett Elementary School

 

Monday – Baked macaroni and cheese, dinner, Romaine side salad, fresh fruit.

Breakfast – Mini pancakes with syrup, bacon.

 

Tuesday – French toast sticks with syrup, sausage, carrot sticks, warm applesauce.

Breakfast – Cheese omelet, sausage.

 

Wednesday – Popcorn chicken, whipped potato, corn. Tomato and cheese salad, chilled fruit.

Breakfast – McDennett Sandwich. Yogurt.

 

Thursday – Twin mini cheeseburgers, Romaine salad with dressing, Gold Fish crackers, fresh fruit.

Breakfast – Mini waffles with syrup, bacon.

 

Friday – Cheese pizza, Caesar salad with dressing, baked potato chips, hummus, fresh fruit.

Breakfast – “Chef’s Choice.”

 

Halifax Elementary School

 

Monday – Hamburger or cheeseburger on a bun, lettuce, tomato, pickles with baked beans and vegetable sticks.

 

Tuesday – STICKER DAY! Chicken Fajita with Salsa, Rice, Mexicala corn and vegetable sticks with dip.

 

Wednesday – Pizza sticks with sauce, green beans and and vegetable sticks with dip.

 

Thursday – Pancakes with syrup, ham, roasted carrots and potato puffs.

 

Friday – Macaroni and cheese, with broccoli and and vegetable sticks with dip.

 

 

Silver Lake Middle School

 

Monday – Chicken and Cheese Quesadilla, rice pilaf, Mexican corn, chilled fruit.

 

Tuesday – “Pasta Bar”, bread stick, green beans, fruit cup.

 

Wednesday – Breaded chicken nuggets with dipping sauce, gravy. Mashed potato, broccoli, chilled fruit.

 

 

Thursday – Nachos with seasoned beef, lettuce, tomato and cheese, sweet potato fries, fruit cup.

Friday – Big Daddy’s cheese or pepperoni pizza, fresh garden salad with dressing, fresh fruit, hummus.

 

 

 

Silver Lake High School

 

Monday – Chicken and Cheese Quesadilla. Rice pilaf, Mexicorn cornk, chilled fruit.

 

Tuesday – “Pasta Bar”, bread stick, green beans, fruit cup.

 

Wednesday – Breaded chicken nuggets with dipping sauce, gravy, mashed potato, broccoli, chilled fruit.

 

Thursday – Nachos with seasoned beef, lettuce, tomato and cheese, sweet potato fries, fruit cup.

 

Friday – Big Daddy’s cheese or pepperoni pizza, fresh garden salad with dressing, fresh fruit, hummus.

 

Halifax Chief has staffing plans model

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Halifax Chief has staffing plans model; No new stop sign

On Tuesday, November 24th the Halifax Board of Selectmen met and held a stop sign hearing, heard from Fire Chief Jason Vivieros about staffing changes, preliminarily approved two Eagle Scout projects and met with the FinCom and department heads to discuss the upcoming budget season.

Sign stopped

The board discussed a resident request for a “Stop” sign at the intersection of 12th Avenue and Lingan Street.

The matter originally was referred to the Traffic Study Committee, a committee that advises the Board of Selectmen concerning traffic safety issues such as speed limits, signage, crosswalks and commercial traffic.

The Traffic Study Committee meets monthly, but the Express was unable to obtain minutes from the meeting where this specific request was discussed as of press time.

Police Chief Edward Broderick, a member of the Committee, stated to the Board that the Committee had determined any “Stop” sign would be unenforceable at that intersection, but that they were open to a yellow, triangular warning sign such as “Slow” or “Children Ahead.”

Generally, according to Town Administrator Charlie Seelig, a variety of factors are taken into account when determining signage, including the amount of traffic in an area.

Federal and State laws must be followed as well as Halifax’s own traffic by-laws.

The “Stop” sign was denied, but Selectman Troy Garron asked that a letter of explanation be sent to the residents in the area.

Several other citizen requests for signage have come in, and are now with the Traffic Study Committee, which meets at the Police Station on the second Wednesday of the month at 11 a.m., according to the Town’s website.

Staffing changes at the Fire Department

Fire Chief Jason Vivieros came before the board to present staffing changes that he plans to implement in the coming years.

These changes are being made in consultation with the Fire Study Committee. His stated goal is to fill gaps in fire and EMS coverage, address safety issues, enhance the ability of the department to address administrative functions and to engage and create incentives for call firefighters.

His proposal, according to his projections, will actually reduce taxes while increasing staffing, by increasing ambulance fees and shifting the timing of when full-time firefighters are staffing the station to the busiest times of day.

Currently, Halifax has eight full-time firefighter/paramedics, two of which need to be on duty 24/7 to man an Advanced Life Support ambulance. There are 20 call firefighters, 13 of which are EMTs. Paramedics have more extensive medical training than EMTs.

This current situation does not meet the recommendations of several National fire-fighting associations. The station is unmanned several times a day when staff are out on calls, therefore call personnel are needed. On average, this adds five minutes to a response time.

If no or not enough call personnel “sign-on” to a call, Halifax must rely on mutual aid agreements with neighboring towns. In 2014 alone, no call personnel signed-on to a call 11 times.

Vivieros stated that Halifax “relies heavily” on mutual aid.

Call volume has gone up, as well, as the median age has increased in town. Vivieros projects 1,535 calls for 2015, up from 1,121 in 2006.

The Chief will therefore add two full-time day positions, and shift some night coverage to part-time personnel, increasing staffing during the busiest times of the day.

Any savings found will go back to the general fund or reduce the general tax levy.

FinCom, department heads, and level service

The Finance Committee met concurrently with the Selectmen along with department heads to hash out some numbers for the FY’17 budget.

The focus of the discussion was the unpredictability of the Silver Lake Regional School District budget, and the need to essentially guess certain unpredictable areas of the budget, such as the special education budget.

The idea of telling SLRSD an amount of money that Halifax can live with and insist that Silver Lake work with it was floated.

Department heads were instructed to provide “level-service,” that is, the same amount, or level, of service as last year so that taxes do not have to be raised (or only raised the least amount possible.)

Eagle Scout proposals ‘wow’ the Board

Jakob Burgess, a freshman, and Michael Connors, a sophomore at Silver Lake Regional High School, came before the Board to ask for permission to move forward with their community service projects in order to obtain the Boy Scout rank of “Eagle Scout.”

Burgess is seeking to spruce up the Margaret Meyer Outdoor Amphitheater by repairing the stage, railing and eight benches, all in need of restoration. Connors is seeking to put up new, clearer signs along with some landscaping at the ball fields at the Vaughn Athletic Complex adjacent to the Police Station.

Although the Selectmen expressed their initial approval and enthusiasm for the projects, they also began educating the young men on the subject of municipal bureaucracy.

Both gentlemen will have to seek the same approval as anybody else from various boards, committees and officials in town. Connors was especially cautioned that because his project falls within a historic district, he will have to conform to the requirements of the Historic District Commission.

 

Margaret “Peggy” Fitzgerald, 84, Halifax public servant

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Margaret “Peggy” Fitzgerald, 84, of Halifax, passed in her home, after a long and heroic battle with cancer.

A loving wife of 60 years to Tom; devoted mother to Tom, Michael, Brian and Margaret (Dietz); Nana to Stephen, Taryn, Charlie, Olivia, William, Mimi and Grace; Mother-in-Law to Michele, Kristen and Brian; lifelong champion for the town of Halifax; and keeper of a warm, welcoming home for an endless stream of nieces, nephews, sisters, brothers, friends, colleagues and occasional strangers.

Peggy’s was a life defined by service, courage and generosity, suffused with a joy in the simplest pleasures of life. A 75-year resident of Halifax, she served on a dizzying array of boards and committees, including as Chairman of the School Committee and Board of Selectmen, Town Accountant and member of the Finance Committee. During her 50 years of service to the town and region, she helped navigate the Silver Lake School System through a complex and emotional split from Pembroke and served on the Alewife commission to repair dams and return fish to the rivers of Plymouth County.

As a public servant and active citizen, Peggy never feared to speak her mind for what she knew was right, but also never was afraid to recognize a better idea or embrace a shared viewpoint to reach a common goal.

She was an avid gardener, and her work was admired daily by the thousands of passers-by on Route 106 in Halifax, as well as by the daily mass of elementary school children boarding buses across the street every morning. She loved the physical work of the garden, toiling alongside her husband, and she and Tom dined all year on the fruits of their labor.

Peggy lived a life of learning and exploration. She could impress with her knowledge of art, history and architecture and she never passed a museum or garden she could not linger in for hours.

She pursued further education, both due to her belief she should always be able to help her children with their own studies and to satisfy her own never-ending curiosity.

A staunch believer in the power of the democratic process, Peggy followed politics at the local and national level with equal passion, devouring television news and newspapers and embracing debates with like- or opposite-minded friends and family members.

Born in Roxbury in 1931, she moved to 13th Avenue in Halifax in 1940 and lived with her parents James and Margaret, and siblings James, Mary Ann, Robert, Ellen, Ann, Larry, Kathleen, and Judy.

Her family gained local fame after World War II when her father James was identified by Yankee Magazine as the ‘Kilroy’ of ‘Kilroy Was Here’ – the well-known saying carried by American troops throughout Europe. Peggy and Tom married in 1957, and purchased their house on Plymouth Street in 1958, which she called home for the rest of her life. She spent her last days in peace with Tom and and the constant buzz of visitors, watching the leaves turn along the Monponsett lakes from her cottage on Paradise Lane. She will be missed.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Halifax Food Bank, 503 Plymouth Street, Halifax, MA 02338. Visiting hours were in the Sullivan Funeral Homes, 2 Maquan St.,  at the Junction of Rtes. 14 & 58, Hanson, Thursday, Nov. 5,  from 5 – 8 p.m.  Her funeral Mass will be celebrated at Our Lady of the Lake Church, 580 Monponsett St, Halifax, Friday, Nov. 6, at 11 a.m.  Burial will be in Halifax Central Cemetery. For directions and to sign Peggy’s online guest book, go to  SullivanFuneralHomes.com

3 Reasons To Advertise in the Express Holiday Gift Guide

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Just in case you need 3 reasons to advertise in the Express Holiday Gift guide, I will give them to you. Believe it or not, the holidays are right around the corner, and we all know how hectic that season gets. A 2008 holiday stress poll by the APA showed that more than eight out of 10 Americans anticipate stress during the holiday season.

3 Reasons To Advertise in the Express Holiday Gift Guide

The Express Holiday Gift Guide will appear in print December 3rd and 4th, and online December 5, 2015.

3 Reasons To Advertise in the Express Holiday Gift GuideIt is my job as the Express Media Editor to help you local business do what you do best – sell your wares. That’s is why we have developed a way to put you in front of local customers in a way that won’t break the bank.

3 Reasons to Advertise in the the Express Holiday Gift Guide

  1. Affordability. For only $35*, you get to showcase one of your best products. It can be an item, a craft, a gift certificate – any offer that you are proud of and want to sell. Talk about a  compelling reasons to bring customers into your store!
  2. Exposure. I almost listed this as the first reason to advertise in the gift guide, but I changed my mind. I thought you needed  to now about the affordability factor. But this is actually my favorite reason why you should advertise in the Express Holiday Gift Guide. We have almost doubled our Facebook fanbase in the last six months.  Our posts receive an average of 1,000 views. We also have a print audience of approximately 3,000 readers. Plus our websites are visited an average of 79 times per day. This brings you to your potential customers in a multi-platform approach.
  3. Value-Packed! This gift guide is beautiful. It prints in color, we feature one of your items in the center spread, the digital, online version will link to your website or email, you pick the item that you want to showcase.
3 Reasons To Advertise in the Express Holiday Gift Guide

This is an example of how the listing will appear in print and online. The online version can link to your store’s web site.

I am so proud to be able to offer you this cost-efficient, effective vehicle of bringing you sales this holiday season! It’s sure to be a feature we will repeat for years to come.

Our Express Holiday Gift Guide prints December 3rd and 4th in both the Whitman-Hanson Express and the Plympton-Halifax Express, debuts online December 5th. *Book your space today! After November 15th, the price jumps to $45.

Questions? Call Larisa at 781-293-0420 or email me at graphics@whitmanhansonexpress.com.

Read more about dealing with holiday stress here at the American Psychological Association.

Barriers to be placed at Halifax’s Route 58 boat ramp

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Sometime Thursday, October 1 or Friday, October 2, jersey barriers will be placed at the Route 58 boat ramp and the Lingan Street/4th Avenue boat ramp in order to prevent easy access to the ramps. This is being done because, despite having signage up indicating that West Monponsett Pond is unsafe to use for recreational purposes (swimming, boating, fishing), many people have continued to use the Ponds. The barriers will be removed if two consecutive weekly samples show algae counts of less than 70,000 per milliliter. The counts this year have been significantly less than last year but still above this limit so the advisory has been in place since the middle of July.

While the Town is putting up barriers at these two locations, there are other locations for which the Town does not have jurisdiction and there are a number of residents with docks or other ways of obtaining access to West Monponsett Pond. The Town will not be patrolling West Monponsett Pond, ticketing or fining anyone, but wanted to discourage residents and non-residents from using the Pond due to health concerns.

East Monponsett Pond will continue to be open for all uses.

Please contact Charlie Seelig, Halifax Town Administrator, with questions at 781-294-1316.

Special Election Primary will be held on Tuesday, October 6, 2015

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Primary-ArtPolling places in Halifax and Plympton will be open Tuesday, Oct. 6, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. for the special election primary to select candidates for election on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

The special election for State Senator for the 2nd Plymouth and Bristol District was caused by the untimely death of Senator Thomas P. Kennedy, a Democrat from Brockton, who died June 28 of this year.

In Plympton, voting will take place at the Town House, 5 Palmer Rd., Rte. 58.  In Halifax, voting takes place in the All Purpose Room of the Halifax Elementary School, 470 Plymouth St., Rte, 106.

The only candidate on the Republican ballot is Geoff Diehl, State Representative serving Whitman, Abington and East Bridgewater in the Seventh Plymouth District.

The Democratic ballot will see two candidates, Representative Michael D. Brady of the Ninth Plymouth District in Brockton, who will square off against businessman Joseph Lynch, also of Brockton.

Neither town clerk expects much of a turnout for this special primary election.

State AG approves Halifax AgCom

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cowHalifax Town Administrator Charlie Seelig announced Wednesday that the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office has approved the Town’s by-law establishing a seven-person Halifax Agricultural Commission.

Six of the members are to be from the active farming community and there will be one resident at large of Halifax.

The members shall serve as facilitators for encouraging the pursuit of agriculture in Halifax, shall promote agricultural-based economic opportunities in Town, shall act as advocates, educators, and/or negotiators on farming issues, shall work for preservation of prime agricultural lands, and shall pursue all initiatives appropriate to creating a sustainable agricultural community.

Residents interested in serving on the Agricultural Commission should download the “Talent Bank” form from the Town’s web site and return it to the Board of Selectmen’s Office or call the Office at 781-294-1316 by no later than September 29.

Total outside water ban for town of Halifax

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waterbanFIDon’t turn on the hose beginning September 1 for any outside watering as a complete ban begins.  Restoration of the Halifax water tower begins September 1 and the tank will be emptied and readied for painting, inside and out. Halifax residents may use their wells for irrigation but must prominently display their well permit numbers, or risk being charged in violation by the Halifax Water Dept.

While it is hoped that the work will be finished by November 1, it might not be completed until as late as December 1.  Keith Swanson, Halifax Water Superintendent asks for full co-operation from residents to assure there is enough water for drinking and fire protection.

O’Neil gives new access Cato’s Ridge in Plympton

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The Green Team, part of the “Youth Unplugged” project of the Wildlands Trust, helped create the new trail from Ring Road to the Cato’s Ridge Conservation Area, part of Plympton Parks. For three weeks this summer, outstanding science students from Brockton, Duxbury and Plymouth high schools learned about and participated in South Shore conservation, agriculture and science projects, among them Plympton Parks.

The Green Team, part of the “Youth Unplugged” project of the Wildlands Trust, helped create the new trail from Ring Road to the Cato’s Ridge Conservation Area, part of Plympton Parks. For three weeks this summer, outstanding science students from Brockton, Duxbury and Plymouth high schools learned about and participated in South Shore conservation, agriculture and science projects, among them Plympton Parks.

The Plympton Open Space Committee and the Friends of Plympton Parks are delighted to announce that there is a new access to Cato’s Ridge Conservation Area from Ring Road.  Thanks to owner Roger O’Neil, residents can once again enjoy the beautiful wetlands and winding paths through his large marsh and continue on to enjoy the trails through Cato’s Ridge. To find the new entrance, look for the Plympton Park sign about 50 feet east of #23. Parking is allowed off-street, outside the entrance gate to the Dennett School, just around the corner off Crescent Street.  Please do not park on Ring Road. Trails are open dawn to dusk.

The new trail from Ring Road was largely created by the Green Team, part of the  “Youth Unplugged” project of the Wildlands  Trust, which provides many kinds of partnership support to the town’s open space initiatives. For three weeks this summer, outstanding science students from Brockton, Duxbury and Plymouth High schools learned about and participated in conservation, agriculture and science projects throughout the South Shore, including this one for Plympton Parks. They did a great job and said they loved being part of Parks project. We thank them and our loyal local volunteers, especially Dave Albierti, for creating this new access .

This October, we are looking forward to opening Churchill Park, off Main Street, which will provide parking, trails and another access to Cato’s Ridge over a long boardwalk that has more than 250 special inscriptions. Watch for work days to help out and be ready to celebrate!