Plymouth County Register of Deeds John R. Buckley, Jr., spoke to the TRIAD group in Halifax on Tuesday, showing how the Registry works and what services it can offer.  Ken Vinton introduced Buckley saying that it has taken two years to get him to the speaker’s platform – due to the restrictions of the pandemic – and he was happy that TRIAD could finally hear his presentation.

“We at the Registry of Deeds in Plymouth have land records that go back to 1685!”  All of our deeds and mortgages and other documents are indexed, scanned as an image, and you can pull up the deed, a mortgage, the document, and a picture of the document comes up as well as the indexing information,” Buckley told the group, “making it very easy to use our site.”  During the pandemic they were able to run their offices.  “We are a customer service operation.”

Replicas of historic deeds were displayed including those of Deborah Sampson, Massachusetts’ official state heroine, James J. Kilroy, of the iconic “Kilroy was Here”, who was a resident of Halifax, and  “Mickey” Cochrane of Bridgewater who was a baseball player, the only one from Bridgewater to be inducted into the Cooperstown Baseball Hall of Fame.  Buckley offered the services of his Information Systems Administrator Christine Richards to look up deeds for those present and make a copy for them to bring  home.

Buckley offered several tips on avoiding scams to do with your deed.   Buckley said that Plymouth County residents are being targeted by an overpriced “service” from the out-of-state company, National Record Service Incorporated of Illinois, offering consumers certified copies of deeds for a fee of  $59.50.   “This issue has also come up in the past with a Washington, D.C. based company.  This time the notice being sent to Plymouth County residents is even more troublesome in that it solicits credit card information from the consumer for the overpriced and generally unnecessary service.”  Buckley told the group he has reported the matter to the Attorney General Consumer Protection Division for review as well as placing an advisory on the Registry’s website.

Consumers can obtain a certified copy of their deed, typically one or two pages, directly from the Plymouth County Registry for a fee of $1 per page at any of its Plymouth, Rockland, or Brockton offices.  The Registry also accepts requests by mail, with a self-addressed envelope, a reference to the book and page where the deed is located and a fee of $3.  Buckley encouraged any who have questions to contact the Registry’s Customer Service Department at 508-830-9200.

Buckley also encouraged those in attendance to investigate and use the protection offered to homeowners through The Homestead Act, protecting people’s primary residences against forfeiture to outside creditors.  The limit for a single person’s ownership is $500,000.  There is an automatic protection of $125,000 for a home that does not declare a homestead exemption with the Registry of deeds.  While it may be sufficient to protect a deposit made on the estate, it is likely not sufficient to protect the full value of the home.

Another item homeowners should be aware of is the recording of the discharge of their mortgage.   Banks and finance companies are not required to record the discharge of a mortgage; while some may, it is the responsibility of the homeowner to do so.  The Registry of Deeds can help with this simple process that is often overlooked.

Patrolman Joe Cushman told the group to be sure to check on the visibility of their street numbers, as it can cost precious minutes just looking for the right address to respond to an emergency call.  He suggested residents who need street numbers to call the fire department and they can likely help.

Dot Martel told the group that Generations will be meeting Thursday, Nov. 11, at 10 a.m. at the Police Station on the second floor.

The Generations Christmas party will be held Dec. 1 at the Holy Apostles Parish, catered by The Hitching Post restaurant in Hanson.

Linda Redding
Special to the Express

On Oct. 5, the Halifax TRIAD held the first in-person meeting since the pandemic closed public appearances in March of 2020. TRIAD is a partnership between local and regional groups to help inform and educate senior cittizens.  Meetings take place the first Tuesday of the month at 10 a.m. and usually take place at the Halifax Police Station.

For the October meeting, participants gathered in the Great Room of the Halifax Town Hall to hear a presentation by Director Michael Mahoney and the education team of the Regional Old Colony Communication Center (ROCCC) where emergency calls from Halifax and Plympton are answered and dispatched.

Halifax TRIAD president Ken Vinton noted  that the location of the call center in Duxbury, questions on response time, and why the change of location took place are all areas of concern for the seniors.

The team from ROCCC responded to the concerns,  provided an overview of the center, and explained what happens when a 911 call is made.

According to Director Mahoney, the trend across the state is for towns to move away from public safety answering point at the town level and join together in regional 911 communication centers.  The State provides grant incentives for the latest technology and to help fund staff providing a cost savings to member towns. There are between seven to ten  dispatchers per shift every day all day and night on duty to answer calls.

Staff members go through rigorous training and frequent professional development. programs  Calls can come in from land lines, cell phones, and text.  For the 2022 Fiscal Year  ROCCC is receiving more than $2 million in grant funding.

ROCCC is the fastest growing regional communication center in Massachusetts.  It now serves more than 59,000 residents from the six member towns with room to grow to 100,000.  It was the first call center in Massachusetts to be able to receive text requests and was the first outside of Boston to take direct cell phone calls. In addition to Halifax and Plympton other member towns are Duxbury, Hanson, Hanover, and Rochester.

ROCCC recently moved into a new state-of-the-art communication center located at the Duxbury Fire Station. Prior the new center addition, ROCCC was located in the fire station attic.  Even though residents of Halifax and Plympton are calling a center located in Duxbury, within 13 seconds help is being dispatched after you dial 9-1-1.

First responders are still local and ready to respond.  Local police, fire, and EMS all serve on ROCCC committees.

When a 9-1-1 emergency call is made, the dispatcher will ask several questions and keep the caller on the line. The ROCCC team noted that even though you are being asked questions help has already been dispatched and is on the way.  The questions provide more information to help the first responders.   Be prepared to verify your location.  State the emergency you are reporting and whether or not it is happening now.  The dispatcher may offer instruction to provide medical help.  Always remain calm and only dial 9-1-1 for emergencies.

For more information on the Regional Old Colony Communication Center (ROCCC) visit them online at https://regionalcomms.wixsite.com/roccc911.

Food, fun and fellowship was the theme of the Holy Apostle Parish Autumn Fest held at Our Lady of the Lake in Halifax on Saturday, Sept. 25.

The church officially merged with St. Joseph the Worker in Hanson in February to create Holy Apostles Parish with both churches retaining their names. The Autumn Fest was an opportunity for the parish to join together and celebrate the merger.

For more photos please see pages 6 and 7.

On Monday, Sept.  20, Plympton Fire and Police departments responded to a motor vehicle accident at the intersection of Palmer Road (Route 58) and Center streets.  First responders found a red Toyota RAV4 on its roof with its operator,  Deborah Lynch from Rockland, trapped inside.  Firefighters used the Jaws of Life to extricate her. The Plympton ambulance transported Lynch to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Police determined, according to their incident report, that the other vehicle, a white Subaru Forester driven by Meghan Dyer of Somerville,  travelling west on Center Street, failed to stop at the four way intersection, colliding into the red RAV4, causing it to roll over, strike an Eversource utility pole, and land on its roof.  Dyer was issued a written warning for failure to yield/stop.

Both vehicles sustained serious damage and had to be towed from the scene.

A solemn remembrance was held Saturday morning, Sept. 11, at 9:15 at the Plympton Fire Station  in honor of those who lost their lives Sept. 11, 2001, in the attacks at the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the crash in Shanksville, PA.  Cadence Sjostedt placed the wreath at the flagpole, where the flag was lowered to half staff.  First responders lined up and saluted.  Fire Chief Stephen Silva read the Firefighter’s Prayer to the assembly.

For more photos please see pages 8 and 9.

Melissa Smith
Express correspondent

Jen Macdonald and Mike Lemieux, owners of Full Circle Homes have come full circle several times since they first met. Their passion for the community, history, antiques of all sorts and each other is infectious. Their story started when they were teenagers.

Jen was best friends with Mike‘s sister in high school. They both went on what they termed an “awkward date” at age sixteen and met again years later at a cookout hosted by Mike’s sister. They discovered they both shared a passion for real estate.  Before they were married they bought a rental property together. Jen said , “if we can survive this, we can survive anything.” The first circle was complete.

They both had dreams for their lives: Jen had wanted a horse farm and Mike wanted to be an “A list” actor as well as  to have a place to ride his motorcycle.

Mike told Jen, “your dream is easy” so when the opportunity came to buy a farm in Plympton in 2015,  it was a win-win. Jen had a place for her horses as well as keep her two children in the Silver Lake school system and Mike had a place to ride his motorcycles. Jen said that when they moved to Plympton it felt like “this is where I am meant to be.” They felt that the community is friendly and it’s “a place where you can be yourselves,” said Mike. Their lives were coming full circle once again and the name for their business to buy and renovate antique homes was hatched.

Their passion is evident when they talk about their second house purchase in Plympton. After buying their home on Main Street, which needed work, the property next door came up for sale. The property that had a house on it was listed as land only. To them, the house was not a tear down and was totally salvageable. They took the risk buying the property and have since renovated and sold the home.

According to Mike, each renovation project tells a story about the home, the themes of the family that lived there, and the intersection with the town history. Their process is truly a team effort. Mike said “Jenny designs the home and makes the house a home; I come up with crazy ideas on how to do something. I focus a lot on the history of it. She will let the history inform her design decisions. She has really developed this cool sensibility on how to do it so when you walk into the room you feel like this is how it’s supposed to look.” When they are into a project, Jen said, “Its fun, it’s like a treasure hunt, you figure out the historical significance and then every person on our team has a part of the story.”  In one instance the story included Jen’s family history.

Jen and Mike had been interested in 39 Ring Road for years. When they were able to win it at auction they were thrilled. Come to find out Jen’s grandmother’s relatives, the Haywards, built the home in 1800 as part of the Hayward farm. Jen said that while they were renovating the home, they had already decided to keep and she had put her grandmother’s light in the kitchen, “It was totally meant to be.”

Jen and Mike believe that “community is about interconnectedness. It is less about us, but more about what we can contribute to bring people together in the way that can actually give something to the community.” When 41 Crescent Street, owned by the Kiersteads became available, Mike was able to convince Jen to buy it despite the many projects they were completing at the time. “I told Mike, I love this property, but I don’t know how we are going to be able to do that”, said Jen.

Mike believes when “an opportunity comes up, you gotta figure it out, like restoring old houses; people do this, I think we can figure this out.”  They were able to buy the home and are in the process of renovating it and they plan to keep it in their family.

Full Circle Homes recently bought the property across the street from 41 Crescent Street that is also part of the Kierstead farm. The land could have been bought by developers, but Full Circle Homes was able to purchase it. The property, as well as the house, were first owned by the Perkins family, then the Keirsteads, who then sold it to Full Circle Homes.  At this time, only three families have owned the property for the past 350 years, and that includes Jen and Mike.  Mike said “the goal long term is how to figure out how to keep it a farm and how to keep it so it sustains itself but to also figure out how and what that means to the community and community involvement.” He talked about ideas such as community land trusts or public/private partnerships.   Jen jokes when she says, “Instead of fixing up our own house, we bought a hayfield instead.”

The Mayflower Mercantile is also a Full Circle Homes venture.  The property was in rough shape when they bought it, but has been beautifully renovated.  They always wanted to have a store to sell locally made goods so people do not have to be reliant on companies such as Amazon. Mike said, “I always do everything with the mindset of think globally but act locally.”  They thought that the community could benefit from a place where residents could see their neighbors and connect. The store sells goods produced in Southeast Massachusetts including Plympton locals Hippy Pilgrim, Plympton Jam, and artwork by Martha Burns. The store also allows them a place to sell some of the antiques they have collected over the years. In terms of community and the Mayflower Mercantile, Jen said, “It is a nice way to bring it all together.  We enjoy that.”  They hope to someday expand to include a café.

Mike’s dream of being an actor is also coming to fruition. The couple was approached by producers for a show called Houses with History that will be premiering on HGTV on Sept. 29, at 9 p.m.  Jen and Mike said that they were filmed for seven months while they renovated six homes. They talked about the history of the homes and how they were renovating them.  Although they buy and sell the homes it is not a typical “flip houses” type of show. Mike says, “we do not flip houses we restore them.”  Jen is not as comfortable in front of the camera but said “Michael is more comfortable than the rest of us.”

The story of Full Circle Homes continues to be told by the houses they lovingly restore, the expansion of the Mayflower Mercantile and the future of the beautiful land they saved on Crescent Street. There seem to be many more “Full Circle” moments in their future.

After a nationwide search, Plympton Police Chief Matthew M. Clancy has been selected to serve as Chief of the Bureau of Capitol Police in the State of Maine; Chief Clancy’s last day with the Town of Plympton will be October 15, 2021.

As many citizens are aware, Chief Clancy was selected to serve as Plympton’s Police Chief in November of 2002 and remained in the position for 7 years, before accepting the Police Chief position in the Town of Duxbury.  After retiring from the Town of Duxbury, Chief Clancy returned to Plympton to serve once again as the Town’s Police Chief, this time on an interim basis, and has been doing so with great dedication for the past two years.

Chief Clancy has as extensive background in law enforcement, with over 35 years of service, 19 of which have been in the capacity of Police Chief.  Chief Clancy also possesses a Masters Degree in Criminal Justice and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.

Chief Clancy has worked tirelessly over the past two years to further professionalize the Plympton Police Department and has brought the Department closer to accreditation by improving upon policies and procedures during his tenure. Additionally, Chief Clancy has been instrumental in uniting the Department’s officers and staff by leading through example and he has also spearheaded numerous other significant projects, including facilitating major improvements in the Town’s technology.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Chief Clancy for his dedicated service to the Town of Plympton and we wish him all the best as he begins this exciting new chapter.