Nessralla’s Corn Maze in Halifax opened for its 12th year in mid September to the delight of families near and far.

Fifteen acres were planted in the spring and cut to represent “Super Girl” in a challenging maze experience.

This young adventurer, Lydia Giarratana, 10, of Whitman, appeared as an aerialist in the sky as she slid down the zipline into the sunset.

Tuesday afternoon Halifax Police Chief Jao Chaves smiled as he accepted a check from Walmart manager Martin Disla to help fund a six-month trial for the Halifax motorcycle program.  Chaves, who has been chief in Halifax for the past year, came from New Bedford where his department used motorcycles.  Chaves has wanted to begin a motorcycle program in Halifax and got the go-ahead for a six-month trial from selectmen at an August meeting.   Officer Michael W. Schleiff underwent 40 hours of intensive training, focusing on how to use the bike to help in various situations.  Disla said that Walmart has helped in other aspects of its community outreach project with radar and protective vests for Halifax officers.  With Walmart’s help, the motorcycle trial program  will cost Halifax taxpayers nothing.

Both Plympton and Halifax first responders stood at attention while remembering those who were lost 18 years ago.

Plympton’s Fire Chief Stephen Silva led them out to the flag for a 10 a.m. service Wednesday morning.

Halifax Fire Chief Jason Viveiros led his department to the strains of bagpipes played by Nathan Campbell, the tolling of the bell by Firefighter Schindler, the reading of the 9/11 timeline detailing the flights of the three planes by Captain Cunngham, and the recitation of “The Firefighters’ Prayer” by Lieutenant Hogan.

Tolling the bell, Chief Viveiros explained, likely had its origins back in history when bells were  necessary to communicate over a distance.  Tolling four sets of five tones signals the death of a firefighter.

In Plympton, the bell ceremony was lead by Captain John Sjostedt.  Firefighters Steve Galambos and Shannon Worton lowered the flag.

Plympton photos by Stephanie Spyropoulos

Halifax photos by Deb Anderson 

The 70th annual East Middleboro 4-H fair was held on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, at the 4-H Fairgrounds on Thompson St. It has been a great family friendly event that kids and parents enjoy!

This true, old-fashioned fair has plenty to do for everyone. On Saturday afternoon there was an old tyme country auction, followed by the animal costume parade and then the tractor parade.

The East Middleboro Fair is sponsored and presented solely by volunteers. Most of our volunteers are members of the East Middleboro Community Committee or 4-H members and their families.

The Council on Aging (COA) as well as multiple concerned residents congregated at the Halifax Board of Selectmen meeting on Tuesday, August 27 to review options for an alternative location. The three options that had been explored in the past were to build a new center on Route 105, purchase All Seasons Restaurant, and renovate and expand Pope’s Tavern. Everything is back on the table as residents denied the appropriation of funds for all previous options.

Regionalization was one of the two main options discussed Tuesday night. Selectmen from both Carver and Plympton have expressed an interest in collaborating with Halifax on such an endeavor and Halifax town administrator Charlie Seelig is set to meet with representatives from those neighboring communities in early September. Vice Chair of the Plympton selectmen Mark Russo mentioned a Plympton owned plot of land measuring five acres that could potentially serve as a site for a regionalized Council on Aging. Plympton would be an ideal location for a regionalized building as it is centrally located. The Council on Aging pointed out the success of the regionalized cable access channel Area 58. Selectmen Tom Millias said, “It is certainly worth going down that road and investigating; we’d be remiss not to look into it.”

Council on Aging member Dick Wright also suggested the creation of a regionalized community center. In addition to housing the Council on Aging, such a center could be used for a variety of other purposes. The possibility of renting out such a place on weekends, using it for cub scout meetings, and holding movie nights for a small fee per resident were discussed. Wright said that a facilities manager would be necessary to schedule events, ensure that the building was cleaned properly, etc. Wright asked the Board for permission to form a committee to work with Plympton and Carver on researching how to implement such a plan.

Director of Building Maintenance Scott Materna presented a plan to build a new combined fire and police station and use the current police station for the Council on Aging. The current police station has many of the amenities needed for the Council on Aging including an ADA compliant elevator and a kitchen. While this would be costlier than regionalization, there are more grants available for the fire department and the Board noted that the fire chief is particularly good at securing grants. Regarding this plan, Materna did point out, “It doesn’t give them a single floor option which is a big one on their list.”

A concerned resident said, “Right now we’re talking about long term; we also have to talk about short term. It’s getting to the point where some of us cannot get to the upper floor because of the stairs and all.” Other residents told the Board that there is a painting class that cannot be attended by some participants as they can no longer climb the stairs to the room where the class is held. Yet another resident expressed concern that as other communities open newer senior centers, many of Halifax’s seniors are heading there instead to attend events despite preferring to stay in their own community. Interim Director of the Council on Aging Brenda Fitzgerald said, “I want to thank everyone for all the work they’ve put into the ideas. I want to also advocate as an outreach worker… for the seniors that have sacrificed. You know they’re not able to do the programs upstairs and we do need to find something for them now and not have those programs fall apart.”

An area of dispute between residents and the Board came when one resident accused the various committees in town of not working together and failing to inform the town of a specific dollar amount needed to fix or build the Council on Aging prior to it being voted upon at town meeting. That resident said, “The committees within the town, five minutes before town meeting, are telling us how they want to fund it completely different in the back room.” He continued, “That’s not the way it should be done.” Millias responded, “I just take exception to the fact that it makes it sound like we weren’t supporting of those numbers but those numbers were so fluid that nobody knew what they were until we got to town meeting.” Chair Troy Garron argued that previous initiatives had failed in the past because those that would be most affected by the vote failed to show up to town meeting. All parties at Tuesday’s meeting were in agreement, however, that the goal would best be pursued if there was more involvement from the various committees in town. Millias suggested that any committee dedicated to the Council on Aging cause include at least one member from most of the other committees in town. Garron also stressed the importance of the community as a whole understanding that this initiative is meant to benefit more than just the seniors in town. Garron explained, “I think that’s the one issue that we didn’t get across because people kept saying senior citizens, senior citizens. It’s a community center; there’s help for anyone who walks into that building whether they be 20 years old, 50 years old, 80 years old. I talk to people and they’ve never even been in the building.”

The residents and Board agreed that the next best step, prior to forming a committee, would be for Seelig to meet with representatives from both Carver and Plympton.  “We need to have a good front and have everyone on the same page,” Garron said.

Seelig updated the Board regarding the search for a new Council on Aging director. The search committee met Monday night to select six candidates to be interviewed. The screening committee will conduct the first round of interviews next week hopefully whittling the field to four potential candidates.

The Halifax Solar Committee also met with the Board for the first time in three years to present options for putting a solar field on the capped landfill in town.

The committee said that a new program known as the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) Program was established in late 2018 to support the development of solar in Massachusetts. The committee was told that they would need a 1-megawatt (MW) system, up from the 0.8 MW used now which would allow for expansion. One company was brought in to do a walkthrough of the landfill with Highway Surveyor Steven Hayward and said the site is a perfect location. The committee recommended a lease to buy option. Current estimates for the cost of the site are between $2,500,000 and $3,000,000. By year seven, however, the builder should recoup the cost of building the site and will likely be looking to sell at market rate. The committee expects that by year seven or year eight, the town could buy the system for around a million dollars and more or less have free electricity for life. Garron inquired as to the life expectancy of the panels and was told they typically last at least 30 years and are warrantied for 25. Maintenance for such a system would be minimal and would likely be limited to monthly checks. It would likely take 3-4 months to get approval from National Grid and another 3-4 months for building time. The committee said that they would have to go out to bid by the end of September or early October, bringing it before the town at the annual town meeting. The Board approved the committee’s request for a proposal to be sent out for a solar panel to be put on the capped landfill.

A tax classification hearing was held at Tuesday’s meeting with Holly Merry, the principal assessor/appraiser for the town of Halifax, asking for approval to create one tax rate for commercial, industrial, residential, and personal property. Merry said there is less than ten percent of commercial, industrial, and personal property in the town of Halifax. Merry also recommended that the town not adopt an open space lease discount for land that’s not developed. It was also recommended that they not adopt a residential exemption commonly used for cities and towns with large numbers of rental properties.

The Board of Selectmen approved Merry’s requests with Millias recusing himself as he serves on the Board of Assesors. Bills will go out on October 1 and will be due by November 1.   

The 152nd Marshfield Fair opened last weekend, bringing back the exhibits, the 4-H animals, the award-winning produce and flowers, and the best of local crafts for all to see.  What would a day at the fair be without fried dough and all the fun the midway rides have to offer?  People from all over Plymouth County and beyond enjoyed the fair, that closes on Sunday after another successful season.  If you haven’t been, don’t miss it.  Their schedule is online at marshfieldfair.org

At 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 13, Plympton Public Library hosted an astronomy presentation put on by Barry and Carolyn Decristofano.

An engineer and lecturer at Northeastern University in Boston, Barry brings a collegiate approach to the study of astronomy.

Describing himself as a “hobbyist astronomer,” Barry says his passion for the science came about at a young age, citing his first memories of the stars from when he was just a small boy.

Carolyn works as a science educator, and has published several books related to astronomy and other STEM topics.

Together, the two delivered a learning experience to their audience by working in synergy. “It was awesome. He was awesome. Barry makes it fun,” said one of the attendees.

The presentation kicked off with a brainstorming activity, in which Carolyn asked the audience to shout out some different aspects of the universe that they had interacted with that day. The first few included, “rain,” and “clouds,” and these were followed up by some shout outs from the kids, the more notable were “cheeseburgers,” and “my hot wheels set.”

Following this activity, Barry asked the group to consider the things that come up when one is thinking about the night sky, and asked participants to draw these things. Among the most popular were drawings of the moon, and Jupiter.

Barry went on to introduce the concept of constellations, and provided the group with a worksheet depicting the night sky to design their own constellations out of patterns they see themselves. Participants were then called up to the front and asked to draw their self chosen patterns on the projector for the group to see. This introduced an important take home point from the presentation: everyone is free to interpret and enjoy the sky in their own way. The collection created by the entire group was then labeled “The Plympton Library Star Map.”  After establishing an understanding of constellations, he then went on to provide historical insight into the concept, offering examples of many Greek constellations, such as Hercules, Scorpius, and others.

The discussion led up to the final activity of the evening, which was creating “big dipper finders,” a small paper device that can help one find the big dipper in the night sky in real time (which can be helpful for determining what direction is north). Along with the materials to build them, a guide for using these devices was handed out. The group struggled with the concept at first, but many managed to get a grasp on the idea.

This event marks the third astronomy-related visit to the Plympton Public Library for Barry. Once before, he gave another presentation similar to this, and has also set up a telescope on the lawn for stargazing, as well as to see views of the moon, jupiter, and more celestial objects. Following the end of this presentation, Barry & Carolyn gathered the opinions of the attendees about the best days and times, so a future presentation can likely be expected.

Although they trailed big late in the championship game, the Halifax 10U All-Stars rallied — and ended up taking home the crown.

The team hosted and defeated Norwell 9-7 on Sunday, Aug. 4 in the South River Baseball Minor Division Championship game, even though their chances of doing so were slim headed into the penultimate inning of action.

Down 7-2 to start the bottom of the fifth inning, Halifax rallied at the plate. They started things off by drawing a pair of walks and from there, their bats erupted. They knocked in seven runs on six hits and went up 9-7. The team then protected their lead on the mound in the top of the sixth inning to win the game.

“I have been coaching baseball for over 10 years now and have been with some great teams, but not like this one,” Halifax head coach Mike Nista said of this year’s team. “Every kid worked hard through the heat and played there best baseball today. I’m so proud and I’m going to miss it. I can’t wait until next year.”

The Halifax 10U All-Stars finish their season at 12-1. They went 9-1 in the regular season, earning the top seed headed into the playoffs. From there, they excelled. They got a first round bye and in the second round, they trounced East Bridgewater 12-0. In the third round of the tournament, they got revenge on Plymouth North, beating them 8-5. Previously, Plymouth North handed them their only loss of the season.

The championship team this season had a total of 13 players on it. They include: Marcus Wilson, Connor Martell, Jack Lynch, Max McEwan, Robert Crosby, John “JP” Palmer, Samuel “Bus” Laidlaw, Ryan Cyrus, Matthew Martell, Garrett Bodel, Tyler “T-Bone” Schmaling, Owen Graves and Brandon Nista.

In addition to Mike Nista, Scott Wilson and Steve Martell served as coaches for the team.

Halifax resident Lauren Kizelewicz will be riding this weekend in the Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC). PMC.org describes the event as “…an annual bike-a-thon that raises more money for charity than any other event in the country.” Since its founding in 1980, the PMC has donated $654 million for cancer research at Dana-Farber Institute. Riders choose from twelve different routes ranging in distance from 25 to 192 miles. Fundraising commitments range from $600 to $8,000. Every dollar raised by the riders goes directly to Dana-Farber.

Kizelewicz, who moved to Halifax last August with her fiancé, will be riding the two-day 192-mile course starting in Sturbridge and ending in Provincetown.

Kizelewicz grew up playing soccer for Brockton High School and currently plays co-ed intramural soccer at the Bridgewater Dome.

While this will be her first time riding the PMC, she has competed in the Falmouth Sprint Triathlon for the last seven years. The biking part of that event is only 10 miles.

“That’s pretty much the most biking I’ve done. I had never done over 20 miles before I just recently started training,” Kizelewicz explained. Kizelewicz, who works as a physical therapist assistant, said that finding time to train can sometimes be a struggle. Despite working full-time, however, she gets in several rides during the week with a longer ride on the weekend (in addition to some cross-training). She has also had to fight back after a recent setback. Kizelewicz, who said she is feeling good now, said, “I had a lapse in training because I had to have surgery but I started training again about three weeks ago.”

Kizelewicz said she was inspired to participate in the PMC by her friend Alicia Gay, who rode the 50-mile route last year. The friends plan to ride the longest route together this year. She was also inspired by another close friend Anthony DeRienzo who was diagnosed with stage 4 Burkitt Lymphoma a few years ago. DeRienzo is now cancer-free, but his battle left an impression on Kizelewicz. “That’s part of my motivation for riding. It’s just awesome what can be done for people who are going through that. I figured I would help a little bit.”

The PMC hopes to raise $60 million this year through the fundraising efforts of their riders. Kizelewicz and Gay have committed to raising $5,000 each this year and have already exceeded that goal. The friends were able to raise most of that money through a charity golf tournament they organized and held at River Bend Country Club in West Bridgewater this past June. Kizelewicz said they had about 20 teams golfing as well as several family members and friends that attended the catered event following the tournament.  Several businesses sponsored holes at the “Riding for a cure Pan-Mass charity golf tournament” including Monstah Customs, Dellbrook JKS, Mutual Bank, Jeef Berkey, The Woodlands, Granite City, and Wells Landscaping Inc. In addition to those sponsors, several businesses including the Boston Red Sox and Massage Envy donated to the raffles that were held during the tournament. Kizelewicz said, “The golf tournament was a lot easier than we anticipated and everyone had a blast.” In addition to the money raised at the golf tournament, she also received donations through posts on her personal Facebook page as well as notices hung up at her work. Riders are given through October to meet or exceed their fundraising goals. Kizelewicz’s profile page can be found at http://pmc.org/LK0162 and her donation page can be found at https://donate.pmc.org/LK0162.

Logistically, the start is scheduled for 5:30 a.m. from Sturbridge Host Hotel. From there, Kizelewicz, Gay and others doing the two-day challenge will bike about 109 miles to Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Bourne. Riders have the option to stay in the dorms or find other accommodations. The finish for the longest route will be at Provincetown Monument on Sunday where family and friends are invited to join the finishers for a party.

Asked what advice she would give to future riders, Kizelewicz said, “In terms of training, I would say make sure you get in a couple of long rides of at least 50 miles before you enter into the race day. In terms of fundraising, try to do something that people will have fun at.”

She plans to ride the PMC again next year but with a wedding on the horizon, she says it is a decision that will best be made after this weekend.

The Halifax Beautification Committee wants to thank all who have participated in the “Adopt A Planter” program. Twenty seven planters have been distributed and can now be seen throughout the town, at the police station, the fire station, the library, Town Hall, the Water Department, the Post Office, the Congregational Church, Pope’s Tavern, the Brockton Store, Rockland Trust, Mutual Bank, and Morgan Power Equipment.   

Special thank you to Tom Schindler, Erica Washburn, Kristen Barrows, Kathy Geisser, Stacy Varaou, Carmen LaRiviere, Laura Kinney, Friends of the Holmes Public Library, Barbara Brenton, Karen Salters, Amy Troup and Candy Kniffen for their special efforts in supporting this Halifax Beautification project.

Participants in this program provide and plant the plants, place the planters in agreed upon locations, and maintain the planters throughout the growing season.