NASHVILLE, TN – Kaitlin Rancourt of Halifax qualified for Belmont University’s Spring 2023 Dean’s List. Approximately 49 percent of Belmont’s 6,552 undergraduate students were named.
Belmont Provost Dr. David Gregory said, “For Belmont’s vision of becoming the leading Christ-centered university in the world to be realized, having a student body that is keenly committed to academic excellence, among other things is required.
Dean’s List achievements are consistently earned by a high percentage of the student body, giving evidence of an ever-increasing regard for scholarship across all programs. It is an honor to have a body of students as dedicated to stellar academic performance as it is to extra and co-curricular excellence.”
Dean’s List eligibility is based on a minimum course load of 12 hours and a quality grade point average of 3.5 with no grade below a C.
About Belmont University
Located two miles from downtown Nashville, Tennessee, Belmont University comprises nearly 9,000 students from every state and 33 countries. Nationally ranked and consistently recognized by U.S. News & World Report for innovation in higher education, the University offers more than 115 areas of undergraduate study, 41 master’s programs and five doctoral degrees. With a focus on whole person formation and data-informed social innovation, Belmont is committed to forming diverse leaders of character equipped to solve the world’s complex problems. For more information, visit www.belmont.edu.

The annual Kingston Memorial Day parade is back this year bigger and better. The parade will kick off at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 29, 2023 at the WWII War Memorial (across from Cancun restaurant), proceeding onto Landing Road, Main Street, Green Street and Evergreen Street. The event will end with a ceremony on Town Hall lawn.
All veterans are invited to participate by marching or riding along the parade route in provided transportation. Please contact the Veterans’ Services Department at 781-585-0515.
We encourage the Kingston community to turn out as spectators to honor our veterans and pay respects to the service men and women who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.
All residents are welcome to enjoy a free community cookout (behind Town Hall) immediately following the ceremony. Bring a picnic blanket or camp chair and enjoy a hamburger or hotdog served from the grill by Kingston town employees and volunteers.

Plympton selectmen met Monday night with the Board of Health and chairman of the buildings and properties committee, Jon Wilhelmsen, trying to discern whose responsibility it is to work with the state’s Department of Environmental Protection in siting a new well or wells, making up a public water supply to serve the town buildings complex as it develops.
Board of Health administrative assistant Cathy Ferguson told selectmen that Plympton has been in non-compliance with its water supply at the Town Hall, Library, and Fire Station, and has been working with the DEP to resolve these issues.
“This has to be done in a very specific way,” Ferguson said, “to comply with their directives.” Ferguson told selectmen that she hadn’t heard from DEP in several weeks regarding information she had provided them with and later found that the DEP had mistakenly thought that the Town Properties Committee and the Board of Health were presenting the same project. The Board of Health wanted to be sure that the siting of the well for the Town buildings complex be done properly, step by step, to ensure that not only present needs, but also future needs for these buildings are accommodated.
Town Properties Chairman Jon Wilhelmsen argued that their study should come first and the siting of the well for these buildings should come under Town Properties Committee’s umbrella of responsibility, as they are working under the authority of the Board of Selectmen.
Cronin said that Town Properties Committee has had plans drawn and work done that the Board of Health has not been made aware of. He said that in order to get the project done properly, they need to know what’s been done already.
Vice-chairman of the Board of Health Harry Weikel told The Express that he had requested any plans for the complex and were told that there were none. He said it wasn’t until he got a FOIA (Freedom Of Information Act) request, that the plans were given to the Board of Health – the day of the meeting with selectmen.
Chairman of the Board of Selectmen Christine Joy suggested that the two boards get together and meet with representatives from the DEP to untangle the misunderstandings.
The Board of Health and the Town Properties Committee agreed that they would schedule a meeting as soon as can be arranged with DEP representatives.
Wilhelmsen responded to a request for comment from the Express that he was not aware of the Board of Health or any individual asking for any information via a FOIA request, nor any FOIA request asking for the campus survey. He did say that in early March the Town Properties Committee was asked, via Liz Dennehy, Town Administrator, for any conclusions regarding the septic and/or well by Grady Engineering. Wilhelmsen replied to the Board of Health and the Town Administrator that Grady was simply hired to do a survey of existing conditions, and no conclusions were made. He emphasized that his committee has never refused to provide public documents to another commmittee/board or told a committee/board that they need to request via FOIA.
He furthered, “TPC was unaware until late last week that BOH was planning to undertake tasks that we already had in progress.” … “My hope is that we can make some progress at that meeting and move the project forward for the benefit of the folks who work up at the town complex and the town as a whole.”
In other business, selectmen signed a contract with Sarian Company, Inc., of Sandwich, a woman-owned business with more than 20 years experience in the field, to help determine what is needed in a small public water supply, which the town buildings complex would require.
BOH Admin. Cathy Ferguson pointed out that there are a number of wells serving town buildings: the library, fire station, highway dept., that are undocumented and the Board of Health has no information regarding them. These wells, once the public water supply is online, will be repurposed for landscape watering.
Selectmen heard from Wilhelmsen in his role as a Chairman of the Plympton School Committe, that the regional agreement with Silver Lake needs some amendments. Some of the services with Silver Lake are administered at the town level, such as K-6 education. Other services, such as Pre-K, and food services, are shared services administered by the Silver Lake Regional District but are not included in the regional agreement.
Wilhelmsen said that the agreement hasn’t been adjusted in 35 years and it is time to take that under consideration.
Selectmen signed a contract with K&G Remodeling for $134,250 to replace the roof, fascia, and gutters on the Old Town House/Plympton Historical Society building. K&G was the low bidder on the project, coming in at considerably less that was requested in the warrant article. Chairman Joy said they would adjust the figure on town meeting floor.
Selectmen also affirmed their vote not to exercise their right of first refusal for Upland Road Solar, 61 Upland Rd. Pending town meeting approval of their PILOT agreement. They also voted to execute a legal fee agreement with Ring Road Solar.
Selectmen voted to appoint Timothy Ferraro to the Conservation Commission, with his term running from May 8, 2023 through June 30, 2025, and Christine Kelly as interim administrative assistant from May 9, 2023 until dissolved. Geraldine Cellini was also appointed election worker from May 8, 223 until dissolved.
Christine Joy announced that the town clerk is still looking for election workers to count ballots for the annual town election. Contact the clerk’s office to sign up. This is a paid position.
Closing the meeting, selectmen noted their “RAVES” for the week. John Traynor told the assembly, driving around town he noticed ‘The hummingbirds are back!” Selectman Mark Russo noted that it’s spring, the dogwoods are all blooming and what that means is – it’s time for Town Meeting! It’s such a pure form of democracy… the opportunity to influence the direction of the town, short-term and long-term. His rave was for the huge amount of work put into the Annual Town Meeting Warrant so things can go smoothly at Town Meeting. Christine Joy noted that town meeting is so important to the functioning of the town.

The position of Town Treasurer was the only contest on the ballot in Kingston’s Annual Town Election Saturday, April 22. Kenneth B. Moalli won with 360 votes to Jessica M. Kramer’s 258 votes. Only 631 people cast their ballots.
The results are as follows: Sean P. O’Brien, re-elected as Moderator for three years. Donald J. Alcombright, a candidate for re-election and Eric Crone were elected selectmen for three years. Stephen J. Dunn is Assessor for three years. Paul M. Gallagher was elected Town Clerk for another three years.
David W. Gavigan, Jr. will serve on the Planning Board for five years; Mark R. Guidoboni will serve a one-year term on the Silver Lake Regional School Committee. Jeanne M. Coleman was elected to a three-year term. Coleman was also re-elected to the Kingston Elementary School Committee, as was Tricia A. Arleta. Robert R. Koska will again serve as Water Commissioner for three years.
There were no candidates for the Housing Authority, but 24 people wrote someone in.
Dennis N. Randall and Heidi M. Whipple were both re-elected to three-year terms on the Board of Health. No candidates ran for the two Library Trustee positions, but there were 127 write-ins. Recreation Commission saw Ellen M. Moynihan elected to the one-year seat and Patrick F. Roney was brought back for another three-year term that he will serve with Suzanne B. Haggerty. William Watson was re-elected Sewer Commissioner for three years.

The Halifax School Committee met on Monday, April 3. They began the meeting with their annual school choice hearing. Committee Chair Summer Schmaling said, “school choice allows residents and students from other towns to choose Halifax Elementary as a school that they can send their child to even if they don’t live in our district.” No one from the public asked to speak during the hearing and there was no conversation amongst the Committee on the topic. Superintendent Jill Proulx said that the Committee would need to cite a reason for declining school choice. Schmaling said that she felt it would be a financial hardship to the town to accept school choice as well as the negative impact it could potentially have on class sizes. The Committee voted unanimously against school choice.
For correspondence, Schmaling said that Committee member Jim Keegan had submitted his letter of resignation with a year left on his term. “His position is open on the ballot in the spring,” Schmaling explained.
Updates were given for the standing committees including PTO. It was said that they are running an HES apparel fundraiser. Discussion was also had at the last PTO meeting surrounding the increased costs associated with busing for field trips. There was some talk of fundraising per grade rather than per pupil since some grades have significantly more students than others.
Principal Kayne Beaudry said that Grade 5 had MCAS for ELA the first week of April and Grades 4 and 6 the second week of April. Grade 3 will have their ELA MCAS the week after April vacation. Beaudry also said that they had a 70 percent response rate to the School Council survey. Schmaling asked what the survey included. “Every couple of years, we put together a survey that we send out to families and it’s about the climate in the building, the effectiveness of our staff, the relationships that we’re building here in the school; and it’s all designed around our strategy for district improvement at the building level,” Beaudry explained. Beaudry said that the book fair during conferences raised almost $15,000. He said that the PTO “generously bought a book for every student in kindergarten through fourth grade.”
Beaudry told the Committee that each year they send out a student placement feedback form for parents. He said that placement teams are starting up now before the end of the school year. “We don’t take teacher requests, but we look for some feedback in terms of how their child learns best or if there’s any particular friendships or any details that a placement team will know,” he explained.
Assistant Superintendent Ryan Lynch said he had an update on the elementary school team leadership meeting on March 16. He said that Beaudry and Assistant Principal Brian DeSantes shared their data on student growth with the other elementary school principals in the district. “They played a leadership role in our session by sharing their data… and the way in which they track student growth and achievement over the course of the year… they did a great job with the visual display… we thought that was great to share with all of our elementary principals because data analysis is a key part of student growth,” Lynch said. Lynch said that the assessment tools used include both DIBELS and Star Math and Star Reading. Beaudry said that the most useful data is typically from the spring scores to the fall ones as there is usually a dip over the summer.

It was no April Fool’s Day trick at the Plympton Transfer Station. PayT, where Plympton residents using the transfer station are required to purchase special bags for their rubbish to help cover the ever-increasing cost of trash disposal.
Chief attendant Art Morin said that he only had to turn away three residents, two who didn’t have their sticker and one who didn’t have the new bright orange Plympton PayT bags.
As of Tuesday noon, Colleen Morin, Highway Dept. Admin., said she has sold 583 transfer station stickers. Last year at this time she had sold 637 stickers
Residents can purchase their PayT bags at the Highway Department on Palmer Road, Aubuchon Hardware on Rte. 58 in Carver, Plympton Convenience and Liquors, and Market Basket in Plymouth. As other stores join, they will be added to the list.
All in all, Colleen Morin said that people have been very pleasant and most seem to feel this is a good way to go. “I have had a handful of people (two farm people) who have been disgruntled over the charge.

The Kingston Public Library will hold a poetry contest from Wednesday, March 22 through Wednesday, April 12, for National Poetry Month in April. The contest is open to all residents of the Town of Kingston and neighboring communities.
Individuals may submit one original poem in any form, but it must be about the theme, “Connecting with Nature,” and suitable for a general audience. The poem may not exceed 35 lines, including line breaks and title. Poems will be judged on creativity, style, and adhering to the theme. Judges from the Greater Kingston area will pick winners in each age category.
The age categories for the contest will be children (ages 5 to 11), teens (ages 12 to 17), and adults (ages 18+). Winners will be announced on Thursday, April 20 or Friday, April 21.
In each age category, top prize winners are eligible to win a $50 Amazon gift card, second-place finishers can earn a $25 Amazon gift card, and the third-place winners will receive a $10 Amazon gift card. The prizes have been generously provided by the Friends of the Kingston Public Library.
The winning poems will be published on the Library website. Patrons must be able to pick up their prize at the Kingston Public Library.
To submit your poem, please submit two pages. The first page should be the title of the poem and the poem. The second page should be the submitters name, title of poem, entry category (children, teen, adult), grade (if applicable), address, phone number, and e-mail address (if available). Please do not put any identifying information on the first page, so judges only see the title and poem.
Submit your typed entry as a Microsoft Word, Google Doc, or PDF attachment by e-mail to [email protected] (Please use subject line – Poetry Contest). Typed entries can be also dropped off at the Reference or Children’s desk of the Kingston Public Library. Poems must be in size 12 font. Fancy fonts, colors, or illustrations are not permitted.
A full list of rules and guidelines is available at kingstonpubliclibrary.org. For more information, please contact Steven Miller, Reference Librarian at (781) 585-0517 x6272 or e-mail [email protected].