Michelle Smith
Express correspondent

2021 marks the 30^th anniversary of the Soule Homestead Education Center located on Soule Street in Middleboro right over the Plympton line. During the pandemic, Soule Homestead has played a crucial role in the  community by providing alternative, safe, outdoor space to help combat the effects of pandemic isolation. The Soule Homestead provided solace to the community but the community gave back to Soule. Although there have been many restrictions, it has been a busy time at Soule Homestead.

Every spring, the farm has put on Sheep Day with activities for adults and children, delicious food, sheep shearing and sheep dog demonstrations. However, the pandemic forced the farm to become creative with their traditional fund raising.  Last year the community showed their generosity when they gave to a virtual Sheep Day fundraiser. Meg Connolly Riley (Miss Meg) Executive Director, raised $12,000 by challenging the community to give money for her to cut her hair during the event. All of the regular children’s camps were cancelled as well. Meg and Katie Roberts (Miss Katie), Education Director, came up with the idea of offering private farm tours for families. According to Meg, “We wanted to remain a presence in the community and offer any kind of programming that made sense.” She said that some of the families who took advantage of the tours said that this was the first time that their children had done any activity outside of the home since the pandemic began.  A summer concert series featuring local bands with limited capacity was also a success.  The popular Farm to Table fundraiser became a delivery or pick up event.

Many families who had not previously known of the farm have discovered Soule Homestead and have taken advantage of the outdoor space that offers trails, animals and natural beauty. The farm is open during the day and people are encouraged to spend time exploring, having a picnic or spending time with the animals. Meg said that they have observed an increase in people at the farm who are coming just to take a walk and get out of the house. “Being in home has reignited an interest in the outdoors and we are committed to fostering that need,” Meg said.

The farm leases land to local farmers such as Plato’s Harvest of Middleboro who provide organic vegetables and Revival Farm of Plympton who  sell pasture-raised pork. Meg said that the pandemic has made people aware of the issues with food supplies and there has been an increased interest in knowing where their food is coming from.  Dave Purpura owner of Plato’s Harvest had a busy year. He also runs the Plymouth Farmer’s Market and they were able to get food out to those who needed it. Revival Farm has expanded their land lease at the farm due to increased demand. Soule Homestead rents out their kitchen to local businesses such as Emily Goonan of Goonan Charcuterie Co, Tom Wolfe who owns Wolfie Soups and Ellen Wilson of FreeRangers Farm in Plympton.

This year the Soule Homestead has continued to be creative with the programming offered.  According to Meg, “We have had to cancel events associated with Soule Homestead such as the Harvest Fair.” Large scale events with over 2,000 people like the Harvest Fair take months to plan. This year, instead, Soule Homestead will be offering a scaled down celebration with a two-day concert event in mid-September.  Music has always been an integral part of the offerings of Soule Homestead. Last summer concerts were offered and the first one had only 30 people including musicians and volunteers. The last concert of 2020 was capped at 80 people. This year the plan right now is to limit the concerts at 150 people including the band and volunteers.

On the last Saturday of every month there will be a pre-sold ticket concert series with bands, local beer and local food. On May 22, a sold-out concert with Hey Blondie! and opening act Jay Bird rocked the farm. Local beer was provided by Harper Lane Brewery in Middleboro and food by FreeRangers Farm in Plympton. On June 26^th, the Sarah Blacker Band will be headlining with Meghan Lynch opening the show. The performance is curated by WATD’s John Shea who hosts the show Almost Famous. Tiny and Son’s Glass of Pembroke has sponsored the summer concert series. The concerts are also sponsored by grants from Berkley, Bridgewater, Carver, Freetown, Halifax, Kingston, Lakeville, Middleboro and Plympton cultural councils as well as local agencies which are supported by the Mass Cultural Council.  These grants support the artists and helps with other costs allowing Soule Homestead to offer safe activities for the community. The concerts are “meant to be a relaxing, enjoyable night with family and friends,” said Meg. The goal is to provide an outdoor space where people can enjoy the music, spread out and feel comfortable.

This summer, Soule Homestead has been able to offer their children’s camp. With kids under 12 not yet vaccinated, the programming is for the kids to spend as much time outside as possible and to foster connections to their peers. This spring Katie offered a Farm Buddies program where pre-school aged children spend a relaxing few hours making connections with nature and the farm animals. Katie, has been working to understand and implement all COVID regulations in partnership with the Middleboro Board of Health.

Bob Nunes, the town manager of Middleboro has made it a priority to keep outside spaces open in the town during the pandemic.  For instance, the Middleboro library has been using the Soule Homestead to host outdoor programming such as story book hikes and they will be holding outdoor story hours in June and July. Local Girl Scout  and Boy Scout troops have been taking advantage of the outdoor pavilion which was built a few years ago as an Eagle Scout project.   Although school field trips have been cancelled,  some smaller private schools have been visiting the farm such as the Waldorf School of Cape Cod.

The community came together this spring to help re-vamp the Children’s Greenhouse. A grant from the Middleboro Rotary Club in conjunction with volunteers from Habitat for Humanity gave the Children’s Greenhouse much needed updates. According to Meg, “we could not have got it done without them.” The space, which they hope to be up and running this fall, provides nature nurturing activities such as a garden and a “mud kitchen.”

Due to the commitment of the staff, volunteers and donations the Soule Homestead and Education Center continues to provide an open space and programming that is fun, relaxing and essential for us at this time.

This beautiful field of flags was set up by veterans and members of the Halifax VFW Post 6258 to commemorate Memorial Day.  The 30 feet by 60 feet arrangement has just under 500 flags set two feet apart and will be on display until June 5.   The Town of Halifax will pay tribute to all fallen comrades at 9:30 a.m. with a “drive-by” observance at the various monuments on the Town Hall green and across the street.   

Photo by Deb Anderson

Sunday night Brett Sack came home from work to find flames tearing through the top floor roof of his home at 24 Dukes Brook Road in Plympton.   He was able to get his family to safety including an 8-year old girl and 3-year old boy.

Plympton Fire Dept. received the call at 9:11 p.m.  Fire Chief Stephen Silva was first on the scene and confirmed there was heavy fire through the roof and that all the occupants were out of the building.

There were no injuries.

Halifax, Kingston, Carver, Plymouth, and Middleborough fire departments all responded to assist through Mutual Aid.

The cause of the fire is yet to be determined and remains under investigation with a coordinated effort between the Plympton Fire Department and the Fire Marshall’s Office.   It is not considered suspicious.

A gofundme page has been set up to help the family.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/thesackfamily?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=sms&utm_source=customer-andr

While the family is looking for housing, donations of clothing is most needed, and gift cards for Walmart and Target to fill in the necessities.  Anyone willing to donate clothing and items is asked to contact Taite Beale through her Facebook page who is organizing the donations effort.

Kingston -– State Representative Kathy LaNatra announced that she secured funding for the Dennett Elementary School playground project in Plympton. The funding, which comes as part of the Massachusetts House of Representatives fiscal year (FY) 2022 budget, is in the amount of $25,000.

The funding will be used to increase the rubberized surface beneath the playground to increase the playground’s accessibility for students with disabilities and to create a safer environment for students to play. Initially, the project was listed as ADA compliant. Due to this funding in the FY22 House budget, the project will now increase to ADA+ compliant.

“Ensuring equitable accessibility in schools is of the upmost importance,” said Rep. Kathy LaNatra (D – Kingston). “This accessibility must extend to all facilities and the playground is no exception. Recess is a wonderful time for students to develop friendships and learn valuable social skills. In filing this budget amendment, I wanted to ensure that each and every student at Dennett would have the ability to do this in a safe, and accessible manner. I want to thank the Dennett School Committee and their commitment to the Dennett students. I was thrilled to have been able to assist in any way I could with this project.”

The Dennett Playground Project was published last week and the process of soliciting construction bids will begin in the coming weeks.

The project has been years in the making and has been a top priority of the current school committee. The project is funded through school choice funds, as well as the funding from the State budget.

The rest of the funding will come through Community Preservation Act funding, which was voted on at the Plympton Annual Town Meeting on May 12..

On April 26 Plympton Fire Captain Cheryl Davis was formally recognized for a myriad of accomplishments. Davis received the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) State of Massachusetts Certificate of Commendation for Exemplary Service to Humanity by Administering Emergency Medical Assistance.  Davis’ name will be submitted by the VFW to compete nationally with other winners from the United States, its possessions and Germany. Additionally, Davis was presented with a Commendation for Service to the Community on behalf of State Representative Kathy LaNatra and Speaker of the House Ronald Mariano. State Sen. Michael Brady also presented Davis with a Certificate of Commendation.

Chair of the Plympton Board of Selectmen Mark Russo was in attendance as was fellow Selectman John Traynor and Plympton Fire Chief Steve Silva. Both Russo and Silva recognized Davis for her efforts in coordinating Community EMS for Plympton as well as her hand in the structure of the new Plympton Ambulance.

The awards were not the first for Davis who previously spent nine years with the EMS division of the Fall River Fire Department. She was recognized in 2019 during the Massachusetts Firefighter of the Year Ceremonies for her heroism in assisting a vehicle that crashed into a building and caught fire in Fall River.

Davis, who has been in this line of work for 14 years, said she grew up in and around the fire station as her father was a firefighter. “I was kind of always around it,” she said. Davis has been a resident of Plympton since 2000 and bought her own home in town eight years ago. “I love the small community,” Davis explained. She continued, “I love living in a rural community; everybody kind of knows each other. It’s a very tight knit community.”

Davis has been instrumental in delivering care to Plympton residents during the pandemic. Through the Community EMS program, Davis and others were able to provide home Covid testing in addition to working with Halifax to deliver a small number of vaccines to homebound residents. She described the program as being in its infancy as it just received approval in March of 2020. Davis said she is looking forward to seeing the program expand outside of the pandemic. “We are looking for the program to grow outside of Covid to include home safety visits and working with seniors to make sure their homes are safe… and to assist them in any way that we can,” she explained.

Nancy Emerson of Oak Point in Middleboro, wife of the late Warren R. Emerson, has put together a display of the more than 150 Lions International trading pins she and her husband collected over his lifetime.

The official group is the International Lions Pin Trading Club and about 20,000 members from all over the world attend conventions in the United States and worldwide.  She shows in her display – just a fraction of the 3,000 pins the couple collected – pins from Russia and China, Denmark, and throughout the United States.

“We have not necessarily been to all the countries represented, but we have met people from all of those countries and traded pins with people from those countries.”

Nancy is especially fond of the Moscow pin. “Russia didn’t always have a Lions Club.  We had been in the Lions for quite a while before Russia had any Lions Clubs.”

Each club every year designs a pin for their trading club.   She pointed out a set that was Warren’s brainchild, the “Glossy Gobblers” turkey set.  Each member of their group would have his own pin – they each have a different saying like “eat chicken for Thanksgiving”.  People trading would have to go to each table of the members to collect a full set.

There are quite a few sets on display.  Nancy is particularly fond of the Pennsylvania quilt patterns.   As a quilter herself, Warren asked her if she would like for him to collect the full set and she said she would – so he traded and collected the set just for her.

Lions Club pin trading has a long history in Lions Clubs International.   Founder Melvin Jones who began the Lions Clubs in the 1920s designed the first pin – a single lion – in paper, to be pinned in the lapel of Lions members.  When Lions Club International came into being, a new pin was designed with two lions facing in opposite directions.

Through the years, pins have been designed and made from a variety of materials from paper to wood, to various metals and finishings.  Some of the older pins are true works of art, with bright, shining cloisonné.   Today’s pins use a process similar to cloisonné but using plastic instead of glass.

Warren Emerson was well known as an avid pin collector and earned several awards and recognitions.

Nancy said that through the years she and Warren would look forward to the various conventions, attending several during the year, and meet friends they have made along the way through the organization.

The pins remind her of the friends who gave them and she loves to share them.

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.

After a storied career spanning two decades as Plympton’s Library Director and a dozen years before that as a part-time worker at the circulation clerk, Debbie Batson is retiring at the end of the month.

“I’m a little nervous.   It’s going to be a big change,” she said, “but it’s time”. Is she going to miss  all that fun?   “Being the director of a small town library you get to do everything … which is overwhelming but also fun.  It’s different every day – there’s always something different you can do.  People make it.   The people make it good.  They become friends.”

We see them all the time.   When the little kids who came in for story time grow up and are bringing their kids in, “you know you’ve been here a long time.  I will miss that.” Even though we live in a small town how often do we see each other?  I will miss all the people.  But after almost 20 years as director, and 12 years before that at the circulation desk, it’s time.  There are some new faces in the library – relatively new – Chris Stratton from Kingston is at the circulation desk now since Kathy Keirstead retired, and Madelyn Pompei from Carver is in the children’s area.  The library world has changed a lot in 32 years; things move a little faster.  Somebody new will bring new energy and new ideas and I think that will be a good thing.”

What do you look forward to most?  “Being able to get up and do whatever I want.”  I won’t have to worry if the rain is coming in the library.  It will be nice not to have the building as a concern.”   They’ve had lots of critters in the library over the years – a squirrel for several weeks – nobody could catch it.  Finally one day the animal control officer was in the library and threw a net over it and caught it. For a while every spring there would be birds.  “We got so we were pretty good getting them out of here.”  And then there were snakes in the cellar … “not my favorite,” she said.

Was it more stressful to operate a library in the height of the pandemic? “Probably no more stressful than moving the library – all the books, shelves, everything – over to the Town House while the new library construction was underway,” she said.  School kids from Mrs. Bowden’s class, I think, took a day and made a line to pass books from one to the other all the way across to the Town House.   “We spent a whole summer with the library in the Town House working out of boxes.  Then we moved it all back.   And once was enough of that!  One pandemic, one moving a library,” she said.

“I couldn’t really imagine doing this when I started all those years ago at a part-time job, you know?   I had no idea that I would end up being director of the library for 20 years! I truly did not.”

“I can’t believe how quickly it has all gone by.  People always say that, but it’s true.”

April is Autism Awareness month and the Plympton Police are hoping citizens in the area will reach out to buy a special Plympton Police Autism Awareness patch.  The price is only $12 and it shows your support for a noble cause.

The program is sponsored by former Patriots’ player Doug Flutie, whose son Doug Flutie, Jr., is on the Autism spectrum.   

When Plympton Police were invited by the Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation for Autism to take part in this fundraising for a cause they didn’t hesitate.

Chief Matt Clancy and his department pulled together and designed this beautiful Plympton Police Autism Awareness patch that all the officers will be wearing for the month of April.

How can you get one?  Let Sgt. Steve Teri know how many you would like, make out a check to “The Doug Flutie Jr Foundation for Autism” for the number of patches times the $12 fee, then email Sgt. Steve  at steri@plymptonpd.org to arrange a convenient time for pickup.

All of the money raised goes to The Doug Flutie, Jr Foundation for Autism to help people whose families are impacted by Autism.