KINGSTON- Robert V. “Robbie” Silenzi, who graduated from Silver Lake Regional High School in May, held his first book signing event at the New Again gift shop in Plymouth this past weekend.

To no -one’s surprise,Silenzi has published  three picture books and has also illustrated them himself:

Robbie, to those who know him, has autism, and credits his teachers, Alex Frazier and Melanie Orcutt for encouraging him to pursue his dream  of becoming an author and illustrator.

Linda Redding,then Silver Lake Regional High Schoool media specialist, now retired, remembers Robbie, “I had the pleasure of working with Robbie at Silver Lake on several of his video video productions.  He is very creative, talented, and hard working.  Robbie was involved with Laker TV and has great skill in editing, as well as acting as a host.

Robbie has published and illustrated three books: The Canadian Cat Girl, that he has also made into a visual-audio book, Bear’s Musical Problem, and Antoine’s Cow Mother.  These books are available for sale at the New Again, 32 South Park Ave., Plymouth and online at www.TheBookPatch.com

This summer, Robbie is spending time at Area 58 studio in Carver to further advance his production skills.

The Plympton Board of Selectmen met Monday, July 8. The meeting began with Co-chair of the Open Space Committee Linda Leddy giving an update on two municipal lots that are for sale. A deal for one of the two lots recently fell apart during the purchase and sale process leaving two lots still available.

Leddy was originally told that the lots could not be listed in the MLS (multiple listing service) without redoing the legal work and paying the buyers’ fees. After speaking with a different broker, however, it was discovered that the lots could be listed in the MLS after paying just a flat fee of either $500 or $1000 and stating in the listing that the seller would not pay buyers’ fees. The broker working with Leddy said that Plympton was a desirable location with high land values.

The previous difficulty in selling the lots was likely due to lack of exposure; a problem that listing in the MLS should solve. The Board voted to move forward with this method of advertising.

Town Administrator Elizabeth Dennehy asked the Board to approve a proposal from Door Tech Inc. out of Bridgewater to make the town library doors accessible. The motion was unanimously approved. The Board also approved the appointments of Colleen Thompson to the Zoning Board of Appeals and Edward Sealey as gas inspector. Both appointments are for one year.

Town Clerk Patricia Detterman addressed the Board about concerns over the vault that houses the town’s records and important paperwork. Detterman said that the roof is leaking over the area where the vault is housed and is concerned that the contents are vulnerable to fire and water damage. Detterman visted other town halls and spoke with other town clerks regarding their criteria for the management of old records and deeds.

Additionally, Plympton Police Chief Patrick Dillon showed Detterman the manner in which the police department houses their paper records. Detterman asked the Board for their permission to have an electrician come in and talk to her about what the vault is capable of right now and what the possibilities are to make it safer in the future. Board member Mark Russo said, “I think there are a lot of pieces that we have to look at; we probably just need to get a sense of this stuff, see what it’s going to cost, get some quotes, and I think we’ll be looking at town meeting.” He continued, “I’m totally in favor of finally getting this thing done.” The Board voted to approve having an electrician come out to inspect the vault and offer suggestions for improvements.

Both Detterman and her assistant Jill Palenstijn have recently attended two meetings with the U.S. Census Bureau. It was advised that the town clerk meet with the selectmen to form a Complete Count Committee dedicated to ensuring that residents complete the census. It was also recommended that the council consist of a variety of trusted voices from the town such as those from a local church or the Council on Aging. The preference is that the census is completed electronically so the council would be responsible for setting up workshops at the library where the not so tech savvy could be guided through the process. Either count committee members or possibly high school students completing community service could volunteer at the workshops. The hope is that the census would be completed upon the first mailer that goes out with recipients responding online although the option to return via snail mail is still available. The last resort, and most expensive option, is the door to door approach for those that have not responded. The Board asked Detterman to reach out to possible volunteers for the Complete Count Committee to be voted on and appointed by the Board.  Detterman said, “We have a small town; we can do this, I’d like to be one of the first ones to finish the census count.”

Dennehy presented her update to the Board. She noted that there are several applications in for the position of animal control officer. The Board was in agreement that Chief Dillon and Selectman Russo will meet with the applicants and select finalists to go before the entire Board. Russo, who is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, joked about bringing his dog along for the interview. Dennehy also sent notes to the Halifax and Carver town administrators about the possibility for shared opportunities including joint grants or shared services for the Council on Aging. The Selectmen agreed that there is a great deal of enthusiasm for shared services and cited the success of Area 58 Community Access Media which serves Plympton as well as Carver and Halifax.

Dennehy also presented to the Board a new plan to hold department heads more accountable for their individual budgets and for keeping on track with said budgets. Finance Committee member Kathryn Shepard and Dennehy agreed to draft a joint letter with a new attachment to redo how transfer requests are done adding additional steps to ensure better collaboration and communication between the various departments, committees, and selectmen. The letter would be approved by the Board of Selectmen prior to being dispersed to the various department heads.

Town Accountant Barbara Gomez agreed to do a monthly financial printout to show department heads where they are in terms of their spending for the year. Each department head would be required to sign off on the printout to acknowledge they are aware of the state of their budget. They would also be expected to decide if a meeting with the Finance Committee or Board of Selectmen would be necessary to review their expenditures thus far.

Board of Selectmen Chair John Traynor expressed some concern over having all department heads participate in these additional requirements. The Board agreed and decided that only departments with a budget of a certain size would be subjected to this level of oversight.

Dennehy also briefly mentioned a letter from the Plympton Fire Chief requesting rate changes for the fire department details. In it, it was noted that rates had not been updated since July 1, 2015.

The Board also voted to approve the use of the Town House for several PAYS (Plympton Athletic Youth Sports) meetings on July 11, August 5, and August 8 contingent upon a room being available. They also voted to approve the use of the Town House on August 21 from 10 am until noon as the Council on Aging will have people handing out Go Packs to elders at no charge. The packs are valued at $50 apiece.

One of the final pieces of business discussed was the opening on the Community Preservation Committee. Russo said of the committee, “It’s a good committee, it’s a really good committee. It’s one of the best jobs in town. We actually have money. People come to us with good projects, we help spiff them up and make them even better. It’s a happy committee.”   

Anyone interested in serving on the Community Preservation Committee should contact Russo.

chairman of that Committee.

Celebrate Independence with Halifax Fireworks on Saturday night, June 29, at 9:15 p.m.  (rain date Sunday, June 30), at the Halifax Elementary School field.

Come join the party for an evening of family fun including kids’ face painting, music, food trucks and of course the annual Fireworks Display!

Bring your blanket or lawn chair-Food trucks to be announced

This event takes place thanks to the efforts of the Halifax  community.  The Fireworks Committee wants to thnk all of the local community members who have contributed their efforts to help make it happen.

The Halifax Fireworks is still in need of volunteers for the night-of the event and clean-up the following morning.

This is a perfect opportunity for students who need to fulfill their public service hours requirement for school to get those needed credits.

Please message the Halifax Fireworks Facebook Page to get involved!

Halifax Fire Chief Jason Viveiros was awarded  the top prize for service to the community and to veterans by the Halifax Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6258, the VFW National Public Servant of the Year.

Post Commander David Walsh presented the award at a  ceremony held Tuesday morning at 10 at the Halifax Fire Station.

Viveiros was recognized for his service to veterans in the community, and for his all around service to the community.

Viveiros was also the top choice for the VFW National Firefighter Award, presented to him by Jeff Najarian, Massachusetts Veterans of Foreign Wars State Commander.

The award is a national recognition of the achievements of one firefighter each year. Viveiros won the state competition, selected from all winners in the category of firefighting. Najarian said it was an “honor” to recognize Viveiros.

All VFW posts in the United States were asked to submit their choice for the firefighter they felt best exemplified the qualities needed to be an outstanding firefighter.  From all put forth in Massachusetts, Chief Jason Vivieros was chosen for the top position.

Viveiros accepted the congratulations of area veterans, firefighters and family who were in attendance at the brief ceremony that occurred during a light mist under cloudy skies.

Special to The Express
by Julie Walker
and Erik Todd,
Silver Lake Regional Middle School

   Twenty-six Silver Lake seventh graders put on their thinking caps, joined teams led by 7th and 8th grade Technology and Engineering  teachers Julie Walker and Erik Todd, thought through problems and invented solutions, participating in Project Invention Convention at Bridgewater State University on Wednesday, June 5.

    Out of four teams competing, three of the Silver Lake Middle School teams won trophies, and their Strider Flow, a bicycle-powered USB charger, won first prize!

      Each Invention Convention team had to research, design, and build an invention of any sort to present within ten minutes to the judges and audience.

The University provided each team a budget to spend on research and building their invention.   Weekly meetings, where students planned and built their designs, were held after school at Silver Lake Regional Middle School beginning on February 4 with some extra needed meeting times as the Convention neared.

Prior to showcasing their inventions, contestants could take advantage of a continental breakfast as well as hear a guest speaker.  After their presentations a luncheon was served while the judges reviewed the results.

The event culminated with awards and certificates as well as photo opportunities and gifts!

There were 10 schools represented at the Convention with a total of 17 teams, four of which were from Silver Lake.  Three out of the four Silver Lake teams won awards and the students were complimented all day long! Their hard work and commitment was evident in their projects and in the way they presented their inventions.

    The Invention Convention is a great way to make learning fun and exciting!

     Each year the Center for Pre K–12 Education Outreach at Bridgewater State University sponsors “Project Invention Convention”, designed to give middle school students grades 5 – 8 the opportunity to explore the world of science, technology, engineering and mathematics and work as part of a team while enjoying the process of collaboratively creating an invention.

Team teacher leaders choose 6 – 8 students to participate; they start planning out their invention ideas that lead to building their invention prototype. Students and teachers work throughout the school year to create their invention. Each June all teams travel to Bridgewater State University and present their invention to an audience and a group of judges. This is a competition and winning teams are chosen based on several categories.

Both students and teachers benefit in many ways, including

• Team building

• Communication skills

• Writing skills

• Presentation skills

• Educational but fun

• Activities related to science, technology, engineering and math

• Stimulates interest in students

• Invention can be patented

Maddy Barone was dominant this spring, and received high praise for her performance.

The Halifax native, Silver Lake Regional High School alum and pitcher on the Southern New Hampshire University softball team was chosen to be a Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) All-America Honorable Mention, according to SNHU’s official athletics website. With the selection, Barone became just the second player in franchise history to earn a spot on the list.

The 5-foot-8 junior was dominant for SNHU this past spring, emerging as the team’s clear-cut ace. She pitched in 33 games, including 30 starts. She went 20-7 with a 1.25 ERA while striking out 182 batters in 206.2 innings pitched. She hurled 23 complete games, nine of which were shutouts. Her ERA and innings pitched led the New England 10 Conference while her appearances, complete games and shutouts ranked second among pitchers in the league.

Barone’s top performance of the season came on March 25 against Post. In a complete game win, she allowed just one hit and two walks over seven innings and struck out eight batters. SNHU won the game 6-0.

Barone’s teammate, fellow Silver Lake alum and Halifax native Emily Critch, a sophomore, also had a highly-productive season. In 52 games, the catcher/infielder hit .266 with eight home runs and a .765 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage). After serving as the catcher in 2018, Critch primarily played third base this season.

SNHU went 38-15 on the season. Their season came to a close on May 11 following a 4-0 loss to Saint Anselm in Game 6 of the 2019 NCAA East Regional 1.

This past season, SNHU’s roster only featured one senior so with experienced players coming back next season–including Barone and Critch–the team has an opportunity to experience even more success next spring.

The Plympton Board of Selectmen reorganized Monday, May 20. Christine Joy is chairman, while Mark Russo is now vice-chairman and John Traynor is clerk. They spent a large part of their meeting working on an ongoing “parking-lot,” for issues that are on the backburner, but they want to track and put on the agenda from time to time in the future.

The parking lot has become lengthy over time, but some of the items on the list are ongoing, for example, IT-infrastructure upgrades that the board wants to monitor, although the board was crossing off issues that they had accomplished.

Selectman John Traynor led the presentation on the parking lot.

The issues accomplished included evaluating and formalizing the board’s goals and objectives for 2019, which they worked on with the Town Administrator, Elizabeth Dennehy, and appear on each meeting’s agenda. The Selectmen do not always go into much discussion on these goals and objectives at each meeting but ostensibly use them to guide their decision making.

Other items accomplished included coordinating the Green Communities Grant, which is ongoing and has become part of Dennehy’s responsibilities, she said, which allows the town to save money on energy expenses mainly through retrofitting existing building through grants to make them more energy efficient.

Another issue was solving the sound recording issues in the Selectmen’s Meeting Room with Area 58 Community Access Media. Any sound recording issues that existed have been deemed solved by the selectmen.

An intern, one of several sought, was obtained from Bridgewater State University to work with the Wage and Personnel Committee.

Finally, the professional team of auditors did finally make a presentation to the financial team, another long-term goal.

But, the “parking lot” continues to be lengthy, and additions were made, which was not concerning to Selectmen Russo or Joy, speaking after the meeting. They said that the parking lot was for items of less pressing concern but needed to be monitored.

This category included the following:

• A disposition process for town owned land, discussed at length, is in place, but the board is not completely comfortable with, they say.

• A master plan for the town campus, that continues to be on ongoing discussion, and the board is waiting on a report from the Old Colony Planning Council to give it direction.

• Completion of a town pavement plan, including road inventory and assessment with the Highway Superintendent.

• A technology master plan, that will include an infrastructure audit, a new server upgrade and long-awaited email updates.

• Concerns about the intersection of Main Street and Ring Roads – another enduring issue.

• Speed limits on Main Street, that Russo reports are controlled by the state and that there is not much that localities can do about it.

• Illuminating the entrance to Town House, that all on the board have agreed is unsafe.

• More volunteer outreach and recognition.

• A town flag policy for flags from the town center to Old Town House, a cause that Traynor has championed but other board members have not as enthusiastically supported.

• Working with more interns.

• Fixing the water problems in the basement of Town House, where people work.

• Renovating the old Police Station, possibly temporarily into an open space with cubicles and a conference room, until more final plans can be made for the space.

• Hiring an engineer to fix the parking lot on the Town  Hall Campus.

• A cleanup for the North Plympton Cemetery, on the Kinston line.

• A new septic system for Town House.

• Follow the Water Resources Working Group.

• Monitor Plympton senior citizens’ issues.

Finally, for the long term, the Selectmen said they will monitor the Carver Urban Renewal Project, the Rocky Harvest settlement compliance agreement, the Finance Committee and the budgeting process, future exploration of shared services and opportunities and the Dennett School water treatment project updates.

• The Plympton Board of Selectmen will next meet Monday, June 3, at 6 p.m. unless otherwise posted.

• Memorial Day is Monday, May 27; Town House will be closed.

• The Memorial Day parade line-up begins at 9:30 a.m. at the Old Town House, and the parade starts at 10 a.m.