After two years inside it was obviously time to get out and celebrate.  Families lined the parade routes, veterans, kids, and adults marched, and solemn words were spoken to honor the fallen and those who served.

When the parade concluded and all the words were said, in Plympton, people went on to a cookout and a Touch A Truck display, both put on by the Plympton Fire Department.

Kingston rolled out the welcome mat and invited all to come celebrate at their post-parade cookout with some of Kingston’s best chefs preparing the food, alongside some well-known Town Hall persons..

Everyone was ready – and the weather couldn’t have been better.

Getting the Plympton Town Green ready for Memorial Day was a job made much easier by the volunteered hours of Plympton’s Boy Scout Troop 53 and Kingston’s Troop 4480, under the leadership of Scout Master Mike Domey.

The Scouts cleaned and raked and mulched around the Plympton Public Library as well, putting down mulch and placing flags on veterans’ graves on Friday.  Vicki Alberti and Briggette Martins planted the flowers.

The Memorial Day Parade forms at the Old Town House at the intersection of Main and Center streets and steps off at 10 a.m. Monday morning, Memorial Day, The parade  will march to the Town Green where the benediction will be said, and the poems recited, and “What Memorial Day means to me,” read by a Dennett Elementary School student..

When her brother woke the household early Tuesday morning with the cry that there was a fire in the barn, Ruth Ahola looked out and saw the building all in flames.  “The four of us came running out the front door.  The barn was just totally engulfed.   You couldn’t even get close to it,” she said.  “My pony was inside and we knew he was gone.”   The West St., Plympton barn was reduced to charcoal and ash.

The rest of the more than a dozen horses had spent the night outside and were safe but the flames and noise of it all terrified them and it was all Ruth and her family could do to keep them from running back to the barn, a place usually safe.    “I needed halters,” she said.

All the halters and lead lines were ashes in the barn.  They were able to collect the horses and ended up tying them to trees with ropes.  “I’ve heard of barn fires that happened to other people, and you feel for them.  You do.  But when you experience it, you know what a deep loss it is.”   She recalled the horses from years past that are gone, but their halters with the names engraved on brass plates were keepsakes in the barn – all gone now.

“It could have been so much worse,” Ruth said.  “I have to look that it could have been 14 or 15 died … I want to say that we were lucky that we only lost one.  I have to look at it like that.  That’s the only way to make sense out of it.”

Out of desperation, Ruth put a plea on the Facebook website “Plympton Helping Plympton” asking for halters and lead lines.  “Lost everything…”

“I can’t relay how much the people of Plympton have given – the people who came – neighbors – just people – asking what they can do to help.  What do you need?   Horse people are great people.  Plympton people are great people,” she said.  Tractor Supply gave them whatever they needed to help now.   Someone came with a whole stack of new feed and water buckets.  There is a large mound of donations from many people, all of whom just want to help.

Ruth has lived in Plympton since they built their house in 1988, built the barn in 1989.  “It’s a long time,” she said.  It’s such a nice town.”

Her best friend set up a “GoFundMe” page for them and if you want to help you can go to gofundme.com/barn-fire-in-massachusettsfamily-lost-everything?

Plympton Fire Captain John Sjostedt says that the fire remains under investigation.

Saturday morning, April 9, brought quite a thrill to youngsters taking part in the 21^st Annual Egg Hunt Spectacular from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Halifax Elementary School.  Youth and Recreation Director Dick Steele welcomed all.

The cool, bright morning leant itself to outdoor festivities for this rain or shine event.  Indoors in the Halifax Elementary School gymnasium, there was face painting, the ever-popular balloon man, Moonwalk, Jelly Beans Guess Jar, and Meet the Halifax Holiday Bunny!

Hot dogs, pizza, Gatorade, and water were served with coffee and hot chocolate supplied by Dunkin’ Donuts.

To give everyone an even chance, egg hunt times were listed according to grade with preschoolers beginning at noon, and grades progressing every 15 minutes through grades four and five.  Helpful volunteers set up the egg hunting grounds between each group.

North Easton Savings Bank sponsored the event.

“This is the best country in the world,” Kozhaya “John” Nessralla told the TRIAD group assembled April 5, the first Tuesday of the month.  He told them that when he came to the United States in 1958 when he was 15, there was a lot to comprehend, coming from farm life in Lebanon.   He had never seen television in Lebanon and there wasn’t any running water.  Turning on a faucet and having water come out was magic.  Electric lighting at his Lebanon farm was one light bulb in the middle of the room.  When he began school at Brockton High he couldn’t speak or read any English.

Farming is hard work, but for him is a passion.  He loves it.  He learned the craft as a little boy following his father around the farm in Lebanon where his family grew apples, flowers, and vegetables.  Farming teaches you how to respect nature because “you are at its mercy,” Nessralla said.  If it rains for three days, you wait a week to work the fields again.  “I like the greenhouses.  There you have some control,” he said.  His six greenhouses right now are full to bursting with spring flowers, vegetable and herb seedlings, all getting ready for the season ahead.  All the pots of flowers, the pansy bowls, the flowering bulbs for Easter will come from his greenhouses on Hemlock Lane.  “The only flowers we sell but don’t grow are Easter Lilies.”   

Ken Vinton, president of TRIAD, was pleased that Nessralla could take time from his busy spring work to speak to TRIAD.  “You make the time for the community,” Nessralla answered. Vinton also thanked Nessralla for all of the donations over the decades that Nessralla has given to the town.

When his Uncle Abdu came to Halifax in 1947, they built their greenhouses on the site of the old Sturtevant Farms at the intersection of Routes 58 and 106.  “From there, we grew a little at a time,” Nessralla said.  His father and uncle began the Nessralla’s in Marshfield, and they took over Penniman Hill Farms in Hingham, and other members of the family have similar businesses in Wareham and Avon.

“Farming is hard work,” he said.  Today, he and his brother farm 150 acres in Halifax.  It takes a strong work ethic to work the land, he said.  He has loved living and working in Halifax and feels privileged to be a part of the community.

Monday afternoon at 3 p.m.  more than a hundred people came out to honor Troy Garron for his 32 years as selectman in Halifax and service to the community.

Selectman chairman Gordon Andrews emceed the event, first introducing the state representatives, Kathy LaNatra (D-Kingston) and Josh Cutler (D-Duxbury) to the podium.  Cutler will represent one precinct in Halifax beginning July 1 due to redistricting caused by the new numbers in the 2020 census.

Both representatives spoke of their respect for the man who mentored them in their political aspirations.  LaNatra presented Troy with a proclamation from the State House.

State Senator Michael Brady also brought a proclamation from the Senate.

Representing the Plymouth County government, State Treasurer Tom O’Brien, County Commissioner Jared Valanzuelo, and Plymouth County Registrar of Deeds John Buckley.  The three presented Garron with gifts from the county.  O’Brien recalled leaving a Middleboro restaurant with Garron and witnessing an assault and purse snatching in the parking lot.  Garron told O’Brien to call 911 and went after the attacker, caught him, and held him until police could arrive.   “That’s the kind of guy he is, he gets it done.”

Police Chief Joao A. Chaves gave Troy a plaque thanking Troy’s service to the police department not only in his role as police commissioner but also in his all-around support of the department.

Andrews completed the plaques and proclamations by reading a proclamation from Gov. Charlie Baker.

Veterans Agent Steve Littlefield spoke to the gathering about Troy’s life, from his birth in Chicago, one of 11 children, played on a championship football team in high school ro making the Olympic preliminaries in the 100-yard dash.  In his third year at the University of Illinois, he was drafted to serve in 1963 during the Vietnam era.

He moved to Massachusetts where he lived with his brother Larry who played for the Boston Patriots for nine years.  Troy helped Larry with his martial arts school and there he met his wife Marilyn who has been with him ever since.

Corey told of Troy’s career in law enforcement, focusing on rehabilitating troubled kids, that ultimately brought him to Halifax so he could begin working for the Greater Boston YMCA Juvenile Justice Program.  There he was in charge of 58 young people who were being held in court or serving time.  Troy wanted to show them a new way.

The veterans’ agent went on to detail Garron’s life in service as a selectman, staying true to his motto of “fair, firm, and consistent”.

What’s a birthday party without birthday cake?  The complement of well wishers enjoyed a slice of cake and coffee as they congratulated the retiring Mr. Halifax.