Fair-goers slid down the giant slide in the mid-day sun on the opening day of the Marshfield Fair Monday, Aug. 23, after being canceled due to COVID last year. At right, Joe Keeley, 13, of Whitman with his goat, Alice, shared some time in the shade during the Marshfield Fair on Monday afternoon. See more photos, page 7.
Photos by Stephanie Spyropoulos
By Stephanie Spyropoulos
Express staff
HANSON — A motorcycle crash took the lives of a father and daughter with ties to Halifax and Hanson on Friday night.
Former Hanson resident James Ripley, 58, and his daughter Jenna Ripley, 19, both of Halifax died following the crash on Route 58 Monponsett Street near Hill Road around 9:30 p.m. on Friday, according to District
Julianna Harvey, Paige Sherry, Lily Gustafson, and Delaney Callanan all from Halifax, pose in their finery for the Silver Lake prom at Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, held last Thursday. More prom pictures on pages 6 and 7
Silver Lake High School will present The Little Mermaid, streaming LIVE to your livingroom Thursday, April 29, Friday, April 30, and Saturday, May 1. All shows stream at 7 p.m. Go to www.SHOWTIX4U.com. Tickets are $10, $8 students and seniors. Putting on a musical during a pandemic was a challenge met by the cast and crew. Note the masks with clear panels so faces show through. See more on Page 16.
One baby girl made a grand entrance in Halifax last Thursday giving her dad Ryan Walsh and mom Christina an exhilarating story as she entered the world at 1 a.m. in the family’s home.
Michaela Rose is a healthy 6 pounds 13 ounces and 18 inches long with a full head of dark hair. She has a big sister Melanie, 3, who slept through the whole event.
The family was waiting to find out their induction plan for the following day when Christina woke up feeling “off” Wednesday just before midnight. Thinking she was nervous about the next day’s induction she timed a few contractions that did not seem regular for the first few minutes.
“I woke up Ryan and said get the papers upstairs,” she said
Thinking they were going to call the doctor on her status and head to the hospital. Within five minutes things changed fast. Really fast! Instead she was yelling “call 911” from the bathroom in the time it took Ryan to get up the stairs to grab keys and sneakers she reached down and the baby’s head was emerging.
He jumped over and down the landing of their split level ranch stair and she heard his feet hit the floor, she said.
By that time he was already on the phone with 911 and the dispatcher was giving instructions to assist with the imminent arrival of baby Walsh. The second time parents said the entire delivery from the midnight wake up to the baby’s arrival at 1:15 was unbelievably rapid.
Halifax Police Officer Michelle McIntyre was first on scene- a mom herself -and credited long time Regional Old Colony Communications Center 911 dispatcher Christina Manning of Hanson who had given calm instructions to dad who was keeping mom as composed as he could.
“She told me to cradle the head and check the umbilical cord, it was slightly around her neck but I kept my finger there to keep it loose,” said Walsh.
The couple credited and thanked everyone for the help they received from start to finish.
Christina said she had been to the hospital so many times for routine care in the previous month that nearly all the nurses knew her and came in to congratulate them and see the baby.
We were the talk of the delivery floor, she said.
The couple recalled the delivery together with first responders in a more lighthearted and stress less circumstance at their Halifax fire station reunion on Monday.
The story included a few laughs that dad Ryan (whose birthday was the day Christina went in to labor) had no medical background other than being a boy scout.
Knowing that nobody except Michaela had planned this arrival, Christina said she closed her eyes and hoped for the best.
Appearing to tell the story rather calmly she said she still feels all the adrenaline and excitement of the arrival- she may be slightly in shock.
But there was no doubt that Michaela was on her way.
The update from radio dispatch was that the baby’s head and shoulders were out and by the time she ran up the driveway the baby was delivered and with mom and dad, said Officer McIntyre.
Arriving in moments Halifax firefighters and Paramedic Bridget Riley who has been a firefighter for five years and a medic for two said it was her first delivery. She thanked Ryan for letting her cut the umbilical cord. He replied the event was a blur at that point with everyone laughing and relieved that everyone was healthy.
The team of first responders with shift Lt. Joe Gibbons also on the medical response with EMT Mike Delcourt swaddled the baby and cleared the airway as they packed the family up to head to Brockton Hospital.
Three year old big sister Melanie missed all the commotion and was more excited to wake up and find that her Auntie Lynn (Mom’s best friend) slept over at her house, said dad.
PAYS hosted a Track or Treat event held at the Dennett Elementary School athletic fields on Sunday, Oct. 25. Families signed up to keep with Covid regulations and families, volunteers and coaches each decorated a themed table. Treats were pre-wrapped and several creative ‘hands-free’ deliveries were incorporated in the fun. Approximately 12 tables were spaced out around the track as guests arrived during their allotted times.
Finding a balance between outward and inward emotions as well as the boundaries of body and buildings have been current challenges so many businesses have faced during the pandemic.
Two local women both Halifax residents are using the opportunity presented by the lockdown to reinvent space and grow their businesses in Hanson.
Local artisan and vendor Amanda Bright, of Always Bright Creations, and Naturespeaks2you’s Sara Beth Ostrander (who goes by Sara Beth) are sharing space and offering a variety of items for all age groups in an outdoor vendor-style tented area in the parking lot of their normally indoor space is at 500 Liberty St., in Hanson — across the street from the fire station.
They are extending into the community at a time it is most needed including a practice of positivity they call “raising the vibration.” The changes during the pandemic have taken a toll on the well -being of so many.
Bright’s displays contain countless inspirational hand-made items thet include: wire wrap and organite jewelry, mirrors and coffee cups with both funny and positive sayings, and the ever popular tie-dye trend. She hand dips and creates patterns on her T-shirts, bandanas and table decorations; the hues are instantly uplifting. She twisted and created more than 50 shirts that were nearly sold out by Sunday afternoon.
Sara Beth who normally teaches inside her space at the naturespeaks2you has two and a half decades of self-teaching in geology. The more she learned about the healing powers associated with rocks and crystals she knew there were dozens of reasons she sought to teach others.
She is well-versed in the healing properties of natural rock formations using them in her everyday life as well as in mediumship practice and intuitive healing services that she offers at the naturespeaks2-you. She showcases her own handmade jewelry, and gifts inspired by nature, which she hand-collected from crystals throughout New England. A portion of her own journey has been as a member of the Southeastern Massachusetts Mineral Club. She has an inherited passion for teaching the younger generations about minerals and rocks, which has carried through three generations in her family.
COVID has changed some of the classes and in-person services but her intuitive development services are offered remotely on a case basis and one on one individual class as the State restrictions allow.
On Sunday the tent sale featured both full and partial dinosaur prints collected in the Connecticut River valley, according to Sara Beth.
She also has museum quality replicas of many different dinosaurs.
Numerous items seen on Sunday’s outdoor sale belonged to an avid collector of 50 years, a fellow mineral club member who has recently fallen ill. They are working together with the family to try and get his collection out for purchase with money supporting the family and his medical bills. Along with the opportunity she aims to pique the attention of younger generations educating them on crystals and the energy found in natural formations.
“It is cool to see people come over and pick the crystals up … and see the excitement of what people are drawn to- it is what serves them,” said Sara Beth.
Bright who has done great reflection and self improvement has found her passion after losing her mother in Dec. 2018, it coincided with the breakup of a toxic two-year marriage.
She had depression and complex PTSD, with financial insecurity that forced her to move back home. She thought she was at rock bottom and in her own words “felt like giving up.”
“I was a mess,” she said.
Empowering herself and realizing giving up was not in the cards she started writing on her mirrors screaming self love and self worth at herself by writing ‘you got this! … you are strong. You are beautiful.” Each day finding strength and literally writing these affirmations on and in all of her reflective surfaces.
She began crafting, picking wild flowers and drying them teaching herself how to make smudge sticks and balls made from organic white sage and an assortment of beautiful handpicked flowers and herbs as well as Dream Catchers handcrafted and made from the grapevines right in her own back yard in Halifax.
They are planning to host their outside sale 12-5 on Sundays and a second day weather permitting. All of their sale and contact information as well as updates on their tent sale are located on Facebook pages Always Bright Creations and Naturespeaks2you .
With temperatures 90 and above most of the week, customeers have been cooling off at Mea’s Dairy Barn in Halifax with their ice cream temptations for the past 19 years.
It all began when she heard how busy and overwhelmed the medical staffs at local hospitals were with Covid 19 patients.
Chris Tompkins- also known as Chrissy- a resident of Halifax since 1994, knew she wanted to do something to help.
She learned of the mask shortages that were affecting medical staff and the need to wear masks in public for citizens so she borrowed a sewing machine in March and started sewing masks and hanging them in baggies on her front tree, she said.
Tompkins has two nieces who have young children all under age 7, both are emergency room nurses at the Signature Brockton Hospital. She heard of the daily struggles many were experiencing.
The tree has been thriving ever since. Items do change daily and are also spread out on a table now as well, with the efforts of others providing items not going unnoticed.
She calls her sewing circle a tribe of local woman who are each inspiring in their own ways lending one another sewing supplies, fabric and adding to the donations for Halifax residents.
Marie Cody, a staff member at the Halifax Library, loaned me the sewing machine and materials. She did so much … I wouldn’t have been able to do it without her help at the start, said Tompkins.
She also worked on a project with Ruth Mc Grath each completing and taking half of their 100 handmade facemasks and dropping them off at the Veteran’s Hospital in Brockton.
Both women play cribbage with a resident there once a week. She misses the interaction and knows that the elderly are a group at risk of depression during isolation due to quarantine restrictions and separation.
She serves dozens of the Halifax elderly as she is also a longtime van driver for the Halifax Council on Aging on Mondays and Fridays.
Keeping in contact with her regulars who have become her friends is important to her as well.
Her passion for giving back came when she said she was at her lowest, losing her home in the real estate crash, raising three children after working night shifts for 14 years with the Brockton Postal Services, and often sleeping only two hours a night. She realized taking care of her youngest who was diagnosed with Autism was the deciding factor to her leaving her full time job. She lost her home.
“I was at my lowest. Elaine Dolan’s words were
“Go volunteer and you will realize you don’t have it so bad.” Dolan was head of the housing agency in Halifax, now retired, and remains a friend.
“It was the best advice I ever had been given.”
She also keeps in mind the famous adage, “What goes around comes around”.
“People laugh when I say ‘What comes around goes around’… She knows may sound as if she is saying it backwards, but in her philosophy she believes if you have something (it comes to you first) you should send it back – by paying it forward, she said.
She recently connected with a Halifax resident Jessica Erwin who started her own giving tree, said Tompkins.
She called the efforts of others inspirational and encouraging. It is extremely important showing so many residents are pitching in and all helping one another.
“It is restoring faith. People are trying to reach others and I believe 100 million percent the community of Halifax is creating community involvement. It becomes full circle.”
A new addition to the Halifax Local Face book page is a Feel Good Friday’s nomination or shout outs.
If someone reaches out via direct message they can nominate another resident for their act of thoughtfulness. It is important that their gesture did not go unnoticed, she said.
If someone is struggling they can also private message Tompkins through the page and receive confidential pick up of items they may need.
As a site manager for Brockton Council on Aging Meals on Wheels for more than ten years she is used to prepping meals for 40 plus people on community lunch days two days a week. Now that those gatherings are on hold she decided to continue cooking and feeds about five families a week in town from her own kitchen.
With a private message and confirmed serving details she can help someone who is in need. This past week she had chili and a vegetarian soup.
The meals are a non-contact pick up – for more details contact her directly through the Halifax Local page.
To drop off donations of canned goods or items of necessity to the Giving Tree she is located at 37 Chestnut Road Halifax off route 36. Tompkins gently reminds if you drop off carefully check any products for expiration dates. She can always be reached on the Halifax Local page.
Ambulances from all over the South Shore helped transport 34 students and staff of Silver Lake Regional High School Friday, Feb. 7, who were sickened by a noxious odor in a regular classroom. A Hazardous Materials response was mounted and first responders went into the classroom to determine the severity of the situation.
As of press time on Thursday, Feb. 13, no cause had been determined.
In a statement prepared by Silver Lake Superintendent Dr. Jill Proulx through the Silver Lake portal, students and their families were told that no cause was found for the odor. Hazmat was not able to determine the source, but they did confirm there were no life-threatening hazards. Extensive air and surface testing was done by the HazMat team using a variety of metering and testing devices.
“In addition to the first responders and staff, I want to thank our students. They were patient and brave during a difficult situation. I want them to know that we will always do everything in our power to ensure their safety. On behalf of Silver Lake, thank you for your patience, kindness and courage,” said Proulx in her statement.
The Fire Chief and Health Department determined students and staff could re-enter the building once the cleaning of the 1100s and 2100s was complete. Service Master was contracted to complete a thorough surface and air cleaning using ozone scrubbers of classrooms, lockers and duct work, according to Proulx’s statement. Staff and students were reportedly released from the hospital due to incident at the high school and were home safe as of 8 p.m. Friday, Feb 7.