Kingston resident Margaret Spalluzzi, believed to be the last living “Rosie the Riveter” in Massachusetts, was honored at a State House ceremony on May 2 where she was presented the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Ms. Spalluzzi, who is 102 years old, worked as a welder in the Hingham Shipyard during World War II. The women who performed this work did so to fill the jobs left vacant by men who were deployed during the war. Their doing so led to the term and cultural icon “Rosie the Riveter,” which was used to help recruit women to work in the factories and shipyards during that time.
Ms. Spalluzzi had been invited to a Washington D.C. ceremony on April 10 to honor other women from across the country in recognition of the importance of the “Rosie the Riveter” movement, but she was unable to attend. State Representative Kathy LaNatra (D-Kingston) then arranged to have the Congressional Medal of Honor delivered to Boston; Representative LaNatra then organized the presentation that took place at the State House.
Margaret made the trip from Kingston to the State House via chartered bus, along with more than 40 of her friends. The Friends of the Kingston Council on Aging, together with the Kingston Business Association, worked to raise funds to charter the bus for round-trip transportation for the event.
Margaret, who serves on the Board of Directors for the Friends of the Kingston Council on Aging, was joined on the trip by fellow board members and numerous other friends who wanted to be on hand for the special moment.
In organizing the event, Representative LaNatra said, “We were thrilled to honor Margaret. I have known her for more than 15 years.  She is a wonderful, bright, independent person who truly exemplifies the virtues of the Greatest Generation.”
She continued, “We’re all proud of her contributions to our country and our town, and I’m proud to call her my friend.”
Representative LaNatra thanked the Friends of the Council on Aging in Kingston, who worked with the Kingston Business Association to raise the necessary funds to charter the bus from Kingston into Boston for the ceremony.
Representative LaNatra presented the Medal of Honor along with Secretary of Veterans Affairs John Santiago and representatives of the U.S. Military. The group was treated to lunch at the State House following the ceremony.
Ms. Spalluzzi has been honored for her contributions several other times, which can be seen in the video links below.
Video (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Honoring Margaret Spalluzzi | Harbor Honor (youtube.com) .
Photo: Margaret Spalluzzi (center) is presented the Congressional Medal of Honor by State Representative Kathy LaNatra (D-Kingston), pictured at right. Shown at left is MA Secretary of Veterans Affairs John Santiago.

Tyler Equipment’s Halifax branch, opening in January, had an unusual request from Halifax Elementary School’s first grader Oliver “Oli Mack” MacKenzie. Oli needed help with a school assignment: to do a report on someone he knows who has an interesting job. With Oli’s mom Shaunnaand his first-grade teacher Emily Hogan, Dave Mascio, manager of Tyler Equipment, was able to coordinate a time to bring the job they do to the Halifax Elementary School. “I was the lucky one and I didn’t want to let him down,” Mascio said. Tyler Equipment is nearby, and the crew of workers there were able to make quite a statement bringing some dramatic vehicles for the students to see and touch. The Volvo L260 Loader “earth mover” was the star of the show, easily encompassing 15 first graders in its scoop. Mascio, and his crew Tim Kane, Dave Robbins, Phil Wild, and Tom Merry, answered questions. They never miss an opportunity to help out in the community. “Hopefully we made an impact on the students and showed them what we are all about,” Mascio said. Tyler Equipment is new to Halifax, but the company is 102 years old, based in Connecticut and East Longmeadow in western Massachusetts.

By Linda Ibbitson Hurd
Special to The Express
I was in my bedroom dusting and vacuuming recently and happened to look up over the closets where there’s a shelf holding several items. Among them a wooden plaque caught my eye. It’s a decoupaged picture of a little dog wearing a puffy bonnet with a little blue bird nestled into it and a thin blue ribbon tied in a bow around the brim. It brought back a Mother’s Day memory of when my son Brian was eight and my daughter Heidi was five.
After my marriage ended, I was lonely at times and had concerns about raising two children by myself. I was taking college classes at night and was exhausted, worried about finances and many other things. I got a job cleaning houses during the week while the kids were at school so I could pay the bills and put food on the table. When the kids were small I had gotten piggy banks for them to teach them the value of saving money when they received it. Brian, being the oldest, I was also pleased he hadn’t asked to take any out. It saved us from going hungry one night before I was receiving child support and had used the last of my money for the mortgage payment. There was no food, no money and I didn’t want to ask my parents, who had already helped me with getting a car when mine was no longer drivable. When Brian asked what was for supper that night I told him we’d have to have cereal. A few minutes later he came out to the kitchen carrying his bank with Heidi in tow carrying hers. I had forgotten all about the banks and was so relieved. When we opened them there was enough money to get food with some left over until I got paid at my house cleaning job. From the time they were little, I noticed how caring and generous they were; that’s never changed.
When Mother’s Day came that year I was especially distracted about money I needed for a bill and also had to study for finals as the semester was ending. I often got very little sleep but that Sunday morning I slept late and was so surprised when I got up that the kids hadn’t woke me. I went out to the kitchen and they were nowhere to be found. There was a note on the table in my son’s handwriting that read, “Mom we will be back.” I was relieved after reading the note and thought they must be next door but why didn’t the note say that. I got dressed and was about to walk around the neighborhood to find them when they burst through the door with expectant smiles lighting up their little faces. They were carrying a paper bag and Brian asked me to sit down because they had a Mother’s Day present for me. I was so surprised and doubly so as I had forgotten it was Mother’s Day. They handed me the bag and Brian asked me to be careful opening it. My mind was going a mile a minute wondering how they got these things and where, as I took the bag. Brian had to ask me again to open the bag. I reached in and pulled out the wooden plaque thinking the dog was so cute with her big eyes and hat. “Keep going”, Brian said. I pulled out little cheetah cats made out of china, some small plastic deer, a pretty candle and some candy. I looked up at them and was both speechless and torn because I was a little upset they spent money we might need again and torn because I was touched beyond words they did such a loving and unselfish thing. I wrapped my arms around them, squeezing them tight with lots of kisses. When the hugging was over I asked, “Where did you get these things and how did you get them without money?” Without hesitation and in a very confident way, Brian said, “The Runkles were having a yard sale so we took some money out of our banks to get you a present.”I started to say, “but we need to save.” That’s as far as I got. Brian came back with, “Mom, you deserve a Mother’s Day present, some things are more important than money.” This, from an eight- year-old. I looked at Heidi, her hearing aid was on and she was also reading our lips. She looked back nodding yes with a smile.
In that moment everything changed. I realized how consumed I’d been by worry about my own problems to the point I’d forgotten all about Mother’s Day. I also realized in spite of my worries my kids and I were okay and would remain so.
I felt bad forgetting about my own mother and how awful it would have been for her and what regret I would’ve been left with. I looked at my kids realizing the real gift they had just given me. I said to them, “Why don’t we go pick out a card and a gift for Gramma and go see her today?” They got all excited as we left to spend a wonderful day together.

PAYS, Plympton Athletic Youth Sports, celebrated Opening Day at the Holt Ballfield, behind the Plympton Town House, on Sunday, April 21, with Plympton Police Officer Laicey Ieronimo throwing out the first pitch.
Plympton’s Baseball, Softball, and T-Ball teams were all in uniform ready to open the season! PAYS is an all-volunteer organization for the benefit of Plympton’s children ages 5 to 12, encouraging the ideals of sportsmanship, honesty, loyalty, and courage, with emphasis on teamwork, cooperation, development of skills, and appreciation of the sport, regardless of the child’s athletic ability. Go to the PAYS website

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The eclipse-viewing event hosted by Halifax’s Holmes Public Library on Monday, April 8, brought all ages together at the library’s parking lot where the best view of the eclipse could be found.
The Holmes Library provided special eclipse glasses to all and a slice of eclipse-decorated cake.
The party began at 3 p.m. Kids were provided supplies to create their own special eclipse viewer and related crafts.

The Duxbury Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution held its annual award ceremony on Monday, March 26, at 1 p.m. at the Plymouth Yacht Club, presenting the winners of the Good Citizens award for the academic year 2024.
The Good Citizens Award is an annual award given to high school seniors for academic, community service, and citizenship excellence. Seven students were presented awards for their excellent essays.
The Daughters of the American Revolution is an organization with a rich history while also being relevant in today’s world. More than 1,000,000 women have joined the organization since it was founded over 125 years ago. They became members to honor their heritage as well as make a difference in their communities across the country and the world. Learn more about the amazing history of the DAR and what members are doing today to continue that legacy.

Plympton Police Dept. put a lot of smiles onto young faces with a bunny-hopping Easter egg hunt. While torrents of rain moved the fun and games inside, nothing could tarnish the event.
Bunny helpers filled about a thousand eggs with chocolate and candies. All the kids got a treasure trove of eggs to bring home, as well as Easter toys, crafts, coloring, games, and treats. It was a fun afternoon on a ferociously rainy day!
In addition, kids could also fill out an entry form for a free raffle and choose a chance for a fancy basket, some donated by Plympton residents. A fan favorite was a Paw Patrol themed basket.
The grand prize basket was won by Lauren O’Connor. Everyone had a wonderful time, with many thanks to the Plympton Police Dept. for hosting such a fun-filled rainy afternoon.

MassDOT will consider comments on the replacement of the Winnetuxet Rd., Plympton, bridge over the Winnetuxet River until Friday, March 29. Comments should be mailed to Heidi Davis, MassDEP Wetlands Program, 100 Cambridge Street, Suite 900, Boston, MA 02114 or email heidi.davis@mass.gov by the March 29 deadline.
After much commentary last fall, the new design of the replacement bridge, will be much the same as the existing bridge, but will be wider, to accommodate two lanes. A full superstructure bridge replacement is proposed, with most of the project underneath the bridge, making a stronger support structure.
DOT’s John Goggin, said the project is scheduled to be advertised this summer and a contract awarded in the fall. He anticipates that the majority of work will occur in 2025.
Wooden rails on the sides of the bridge will be similar to those currently in place, so it will essentially look much as it does today but will be much stronger.

Last Thursday, March 7, the Brownies and Juniors from Plympton Girl Scout Troop 70837 stopped by the Plympton Town House to bring cookies to the Council on Aging and the Plympton Food Pantry. They also delivered cookies to the Cape and Islands Veterans Outreach Center in Barnstable. This cookie season, from December through the end of February, the troop sold 2,700 boxes from their standouts at the Plympton Library and the Halifax Stop & Shop. The scouts braved the cold and kept their smiles as they sold box after box of cookies. Many customers told the girls to “keep the change” or made a donation, and from those funds, the girls were able to buy 187 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies to donate to the COA, the Food Pantry, and veterans.