Saturday, April 15, Halifax resident Charles N. “Charlie” Bauer, Jr., was surprised by family and friends with a birthday celebration at Henrich Hall, featuring a cake made by his daughter, Nancy Lemon, and a catered luncheon for the more than 50 guests who came to wish him well.
Throughout the afternoon, a slide show ran with photos of a life well-lived. He is a veteran of World War II, Army Air Corps ball turret gunner, and worked as a plant supervisor at Goddard Memorial Hospital over 30 years until his retirement.
His son-in-law Herb Lemon, read the Citation that was read into the Congressional Record to be kept in perpetuity.

Saturday, April 8, the Plympton Police Station became a stop on the Easter Bunny’s route to deliver eggs all around. Hundreds of eggs were hidden around the station and outside in the yard. Eggs, prizes, raffles, donuts, games and goodies were enjoyed by all.

Saturday, April 1, the Halifax Elementary School gymnasium hosted hundreds of children all hoping to fill their baskets and have fun at the 22nd Easter Egg Hunt sponsored by the Halifax Youth and Recreation Dept.
Once again, Dick Steele, Director, led the activities, with the help of a large white furry flop-eared rabbit. Throughout the morning and afternoon, children enjoyed music, tattoos, balloon creations, face painting, bouncy houses, pizza, and hot dogs.
Children were separated by age groups to give everyone a chance to bring home a basketful of eggs.
Hundreds of area children enjoyed the day.

Alan Wheelock
Special to the Express
Plympton residents have an exciting opportunity to participate in a survey that seeks to gather their opinions on the future quality of life for their town. Starting now – and running throughout the month of April – townspeople can make their voices heard by completing a survey from the Plympton Open Space Committee. The survey will be available in hardcopy at the Library and at the Town Clerk’s office at the Town House. It is also posted electronically on the Town of Plympton website. A similar survey was conducted in 2016, and the responses to that iteration can be seen on the Town of Plympton Open Space Committee website.
For quite some time, when Plympton residents responded to surveys from the Open Space Committee, two primary areas of concern came through loud and clear: a) they want the Town’s rural character to be preserved, and b) they want to see continuing efforts to protect the purity of the aquifer on which all households depend for their water. Protecting our well water has been gaining in importance in the minds of respondents in recent years, as development pressures steadily increase. The current survey consists of 14 questions and takes only a few minutes to fill out.
This new survey also contains questions relating to recreational opportunities in Plympton, and the Plympton Recreation Commission participated in the development of the questions. Overall, respondents will find opportunities to express their opinions in writing in the survey, as well as filling out multiple choice questions that pertain to strategies for preserving land, how they and their families utilize our protected areas, how long they have lived in Plympton, and other areas.
Conducting these surveys plays a vital role in maintaining the Town’s ability to apply for grants that go towards land conservation. A recent – and vivid! – example of this is the half-million-dollar grant that Plympton was awarded by the state to help preserve Turkey Swamp. It was the largest land conservation grant in the town’s history and allowed us to permanently protect 300 acres of critically important white cedar swamp – some of the most ecologically important lands in southeastern Massachusetts. If Plympton had not been up to date with its Open Space Plan and survey, the town would have not been eligible for this critically important grant.

Please look for the Open Space Committee’s survey in April – the Committee is hoping for a large number of responses!

It was a beautiful Spring Saturday last weekend – perfect weather to stop in at the Mayflower Mercantile shop at 4 Mayflower Rd., Plympton, and partake of their Seed Swap, and learn more about the Plympton Garden Club and the efforts to bring it back to its former vibrant presence in the town.
It’s almost time to get a head start on your garden and start some seeds inside – about 4-6 weeks ahead of the last frost is what gardeners advise.
The Plympton Garden Club has a long history in Plympton and has undertaken many beautification projects, not the least of which is the annual holiday tree decoration at the Gazebo on the Town Green. The Garden Club has also spearheaded the Plympton Town-wide Cleanup Day, with the support of the Highway Dept.
Watch for announcements of Clean-up Day and the annual Garden Club Plant Sale.
A hot cup of coffee on a bright spring morning is just the thing. Lady Sunshine coffee brewers brought their trademark yellow VW Vanagon with all the coffee brewing paraphernalia inside to the Seed Swap where customers could buy a hot cuppa coffee. Elizabeth dreamed of building her own coffee shop and the stars aligned for her to bring the world a coffee community on wheels. You can’t help but smile when you see the bright yellow van coming down the road. That’s what it’s all about with Lady Sunshine – bringing a bit more sunshine into the world – one cup at a time.
Mayflower Mercantile, a wonderful old-fashioned store with everything you didn’t know you couldn’t live without, has more events scheduled for Spring:
Wednesday, April 5, from 6 to 8 p.m. Mayflower Mercantile will host an Easter Cookie Workshop put on by Le Sucre Bake Shop. Kacey will teach the ins and outs of decorating five different cookies using Royal Icing. This is a perfect workshop for beginners! Cost is $70 per person.
Stephanie of Gate & Garden Herbal Apothecary in Weymouth, will showcase her items the use of regional flora, using mainly personally foraged or home-grown botanicals. This is a special opportunity to acquaint yourselves with their herbal apothecary on Saturday, April 15, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.