Plympton Selectmen met on Tuesday, May 30.  Normally the Board doesn’t meet following a Monday holiday, but newly elected Selectman Mark Russo requested the meeting in order to establish written objectives and priorities for the town for the year.

When naming their individual objectives, all three Selectmen emphasized successfully hiring a Town Administrator. Russo said, “Getting the right person is the number one priority.”

Right now, the Board is strongly considering using the Collin’s Center firm based out of UMass Boston, for their search. Another option is also being explored, but details were not discussed. Selectman John Traynor said, “I am impressed by the Collin’s Centers process,” referring to their screening process and identification of town goals and values from the beginning of the search process.

As another goal, Selectmen Chair Christine Joy wants a larger social media presence for the town. All members of the board agreed and said that this could be one facet of the responsibility for the new town administrator.

Other priority objectives included the planning and building of the new police station approved at the Annual Town Meeting. John Traynor identified public safety in general as a priority because of the future plans for the fire station down the line. The Dennett School water system, promoting volunteerism, upgrading IT, economic development, and grants were all discussed in brief as other important goals for town improvement.

Mark Russo believes Plympton is in a unique situation where they may be attractive for grants. He said, “Plympton was one of the first Community Compact towns in the state.”

Community Compact was an executive order from Governor Charlie Baker put in place on January 23, 2015. The purpose of this executive order as put by Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito is “To elevate the administration’s partnerships with cities and towns in all communities of the Commonwealth.” John Traynor added, “We have a good story.

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Traynor told the Board that he’s been in discussion with three different consultant groups regarding the Fire Department/EMS study. The three groups mentioned include Ernest Horn, the Matrix Group, and the Carlson Group. Traynor said, “All three will get me a proposed approach later in the week.”

Selectmen finished establishing which board member will be liaison for the different boards and committees of the town.

John Traynor will be the liaison for the following:

• Fire Department • IT • Finance Committee • Town Clerk • Historical Society • Cultural Council

Christine Joy will be the liaison for the following:

• School Committee • Building Department • Planning Board • Zoning Board • Board of Health • Bylaw Review Committee • Animal Control • Highway Department • Old Colony Planning Council • Recreation Commission • Tree Warden

Mark Russo will be the liaison for the following:

• Police Department • Public Safety Building Committee • Conservation Commission • Garden Club • Historic District Commission • Library • Council on Aging • Agricultural Commission  • Community Preservation Committee  • Veteran’s services

The Board also discussed whether or not boards and committees should be required to video tape all of their official meetings. Originally this was something the board wanted to think about implementing in April of this year and sent out letters previously to the different boards, departments, and committees to let them know what they were thinking of doing.

Both the Board of Assessors and the Board of Health expressed concerns. The Board of Selectmen also recognize that this is something they could only enforce on committees they appoint. They are not able to enforce this on other elected boards without a change to town bylaws.

There was some disagreement between John Traynor and Mark Russo on the level of transparency that the boards are already giving. Russo says the boards are showing transparency by posting more detailed agendas to the town website prior to meetings. He also said that people who see something that interests or concerns them on the agenda can go to a meeting and have in the past.

Traynor said he disagreed and would like to see committees and boards post their meeting as online videos as the selectmen do. He said that in other towns, this is done easily by turning on a laptop with a web camera in the meeting room and simply posting after the meeting.

All members of the board agreed this isn’t a priority at this time and will be focusing their time on hiring a town administrator and other priorities identified at the meeting.

Good luck finding a flaw on this year’s Silver Lake High softball team.

Throughout the regular season, they absolutely dominated the competition–yet again–and finished it up with a 22-0 record, which marks the second straight year they’ve won out the regular season. As a result, they are now the top seed in the MIAA Division 1 South playoff bracket. With that in mind, it makes sense because they are ranked No. 1 in the state in The Boston Globe and the favorites in their respective bracket.  In fact, the Lakers won their eighth straight Patriot League Keenan Division title this year and they have won the title in 10 of the last 11 years.

Coming into the playoffs, the Lakers had allowed just four runs in their last 10 games and in that span, they never let up more than one run in a game–an indication of how dominant Jillian Richards has been on the mound for the team.

At the plate, the Lakers have a lineup that can strike fear in their opponents from start to finish. At the top of it though are catcher Emily Critch and shortstop Caroline Videtto, both of whom were on last year’s ESPN Boston All-State team, are yet again having strong years.

In addition to Critch and Videtto, Richards hits well and both Anna Battista and Amanda Harris put up strong performances against Quincy on May 24; Battista got three hits, drew a walk and scored three runs while Harris got two hits, drew a walk and knocked in three.

On the basepaths, Michaela Nista has been a valuable pinch-runner, frequently running for Richards. Nista scored three runs in the Lakers win over Quincy.

The Lakers will face either Duxbury High or Bridgewater-Raynham in the first round of the playoffs this Friday, June 2 at home with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m..

Take a look at the UMass Dartmouth Corsairs baseball team’s lineup and you might recognize a familiar name: Josh O’Neill.

Over the past few years, O’Neill, a Halifax native who graduated from Silver Lake Regional High in 2014, has made himself a key piece of the Corsairs lineup. He’s played in 111 and this past season, he had his best performance to date. In 42 games, he owned a .301 batting average, posted a .373 on-base percentage and a .756 OPS (on-base plus slugging). A tough out throughout his career, O’Neill drew 12 walks and only struck out on 14 occasions. He also hit a pair of home runs, the first two of his college baseball career and stole 12 bases on 15 attempts.

Defensively, O’Neill, who bats and throws right-handed, mostly plays second base and helped turn 25 double plays for the Corsairs this past season.

In 45 games this season, O’Neill’s Corsairs finished at 25-20; their season wrapped up on May 13.

While O’Neill enjoyed success in his previous two seasons as well, the 2017 season was a major step up for him in terms of getting base hits. Albeit he owned a strong on-base percentage as a freshman and sophomore, this year he bumped up his batting average by 87 points. Prior to 2017, he was a .214 hitter for the Corsairs.

At Silver Lake, O’Neill was a standout athlete. He played three sports–soccer, basketball, and baseball–and was a varsity athlete from his sophomore year onward. His senior year, he was a key piece of a Lakers baseball team that made it to the Super 8 tournament held at Campanelli Stadium in Brockton.

Last summer, O’Neill played for the Bourne Mariners of the Cranberry League.

There was a point at which the Silver Lake boys’ lacrosse team’s chances of making the postseason this year appeared to be nil. To start this week, however, they just needed to win one of their last four games.

Though the Lakers started the year at 3-6, they have emerged into one of the hottest teams on the South Shore in the second half of the season. Handling their Patriot League schedule well, they pulled off five straight wins following their 12-5 loss to Scituate two weeks ago. Ultimately, the streak came to an end on Tuesday, May 16, with a 16-8 loss to a powerful Abington club, but the Lakers progress is noteworthy. That loss put them at 8-7 and dice they play an 18 game schedule, it means they need nine wins for a playoff spot as opposed to 10.

Against Whitman-Hanson on Friday, May 12, the Lakers showed signs of that progress in their 9-2 win.

The Lakers shut out the Panthers in the first half while the first quarter was scoreless, the Lakers offense erupted in the period that followed. Moving the ball well, they were able to score in bunches and put up five unanswered goals, which gave them a 5-0 lead going into halftime.

In the second half, the Lakers put up two goals apiece in each of the quarters to follow while only allowing one goal per quarter.

Sean Daly, Tyler Heath and freshman Greg Wolff led the way in the win for the Lakers, putting up two goals each. Daly also had four assists. Drew Neal, Justin Lloyd and freshman Matt Dole had the Lakers other goals; freshman Dhruva Nugent had an assist in the win.

The Lakers final two games of the year are against teams of similar records: Sandwich, who began the week at 7-7 and Rockland, who was 7-6.

Members from the Plymouth County Commissioners’ office met with the Plympton Board of Selectmen at their meeting on Monday, May 5, 2017.  Selectmen Clerk John Traynor was not able to attend the meeting.

Those who joined selectmen from the Plymouth County Commissioners’ Office included Commission Administrator Frank Basler and Commissioner Sandra Wright. Plymouth County Treasurer Tom O’Brien also joined the meeting. O’Brien said he was excited to be back in Plympton because he used to serve Plympton as a state representative on Beacon Hill.

The purpose of this visit was to present the county’s operating budget for the fiscal year to the Board of Selectmen. This proposed budget forecasts the budget for Plymouth County to be $10,172,195.

However, 2018 county revenue is also estimated at $10,172,195.15, meaning a balanced budget is projected. It is worth noting that a projected $275,000 of that budget is projected to be put in an OPEB Liability Trust Fund, essentially a reserve fund to be spent in case of emergency.

The budget is increasing from 2017 to 2018 by about $449,000. New services are being added by the County, one in particular is the addition of an entomologist to help educate communities on how to prevent Lyme Disease.

According to the Commission, Massachusetts ranks third in the United States in the number of reported cases of Lyme Disease. Plymouth County ranks an alarming third in the entire state. O’Brien says that the whole purpose of this new position is to address this problem using education as a means of prevention.

Some of the increase in the budget is due to raises for existing positions. Specifically, raises in the Plymouth County Commissioners’ Office the budget by roughly $58,000.

O’Brien told selectmen that more services and responsibilities are being added to the office, particularly to Commissioner Administrator Frank Basler.

Plympton Board Chair Collen Thompson asked if the position of assistant grant writer was no longer funded. O’Brien confirmed this, but emphasized Basler’s experience as a grant writer.

Selectman Christine Joy spoke about Plympton’s own intentions to use grants to fund new software to be used to be compliant with the state’s new Public Records Law.  O’Brien mentioned that Basler does a lot of this work for Plymouth County. Obrien says, “Frank can be helpful as a resource.”

Joy also brought up that the town is looking to hire a Town Administrator. The board was told the county does offer services and feasibility studies in helping to hire local government employees for a small fee.

Frank Basler brought up that the town of Onset used the county for assistance with a new fire department. Basler told the board that Onsett said they paid about a third of what they would have paid compared to using a consulting firm.  O’Brien also told selectmen that Basler or himself would be willing to sit in on interviews if Plympton would like.

O’Brien thanked the Board for having them because he says they’ve had a problem with one town already voting against the county budget without it being formally presented. He says, “Unfortunately in one community, they decided they didn’t want to take a vote on the budget without ever hearing anything about the budget.”

He says there were a few other towns that had made a vote on the budget before presentation and since speaking to them, the Commissioners’ office was able to get those communities’ to rescind their votes.

The budget itself can be found at www.plymouthcountyma.gov.

Dennett Elementary School Water Update

Jon Wilhelmson from the Dennett School Committee met with the Plympton Board of Selectmen to give an update on the issues of copper and lead in the water at the Dennett Elementary School. Wilhelmson says that Dennett School Principal Peter Veneto was on a conference call with someone from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) who strongly encouraged the school committee to get the funds for the water treatment system.

Wilhelmson says there was some evidence of a sampling error on the lead testing, however the current treatment system is still below EPA standards. The funding for the water treatment center is being addressed in a warrant article for town meeting. According to Principal Veneto’s conference call though, there will be fines and further complications if the funding is not procured at Town Meeting.

Other News

Board of Selectmen Clerk John Traynor has been doing research on consulting firms to assist in hiring a town administrator. Colleen Thompson and Christine Joy both agreed that Traynor will also follow up with Plymouth County as part of his research.

This was Colleen Thompson’s last meeting as a member of the Board of Selectmen as this is the last meeting before Town Meeting and town elections. Town Meeting is Wednesday, May 17, 2017 and town elections are Saturday, May 20, 2017. The next Board of Selectmen Meeting is Monday, May 22, 2017.

The Toll House cookie is now the subject of a children’s book currently in preorder status and due for publication in June.

“We’re getting excited because [publication] is getting close,” Whitman native and author Kathy Teahan said Monday. “It’s just such a huge part of the history of Whitman and Ruth Wakefield is such an amazing woman for fulfilling her dreams.”

Based on the true story of how Wakefield created the now-famous cookie at the Toll House Restaurant, “The Cookie Loved ’Round the World” relates “how … a cookie took hold of the people of Whitman, the state of Massachusetts, and the rest of the country,” according to the presale page of East Bridgewater based SDP Publishing Solutions (sdppublishingsolutions.com/bookstore).

A portion of the sales will be donated to groups dedicated to fighting world hunger, but Teahan has not yet decided which ones.

“We are blessed to have so much food, for the most part, in this country, but there are still a lot of people struggling both here and all over the world,” she said, adding her book touches on the issue in places. “I’m hoping to educate kids and have some of the money from the profits go toward helping that issue.”

Teahan said she wrote the book to inspire young people to follow their dreams.

“The story about Ruth Wakefield and her cookie expresses how hard work and perseverance can make good things happen,” she said.

Teahan said the way the cookie, included in packages from home to overseas troops during WW II, was inspiring in the way it became an international hit.

A retired teacher and state legislator, Teahan worked as a salad girl at the Toll House Restaurant after the Wakefields sold the restaurant — one of her summer jobs to pay for college. Two of her aunts had also worked there and Teahan uses one of them as the book’s narrator.

She has always been interested in writing, having her eighth-grade classes write picture books for third-graders during her teaching days at the Gordon Mitchell Middle School in East Bridgewater. Teahan also taught English at Whitman-Hanson Regional High School.

Teahan began work on the book by “jotting down things that I knew” and doing online research. John Campbell and the Whitman Historical Society and former Toll House waitresses were also key resources.

Drawing conclusions

The book is illustrated by former Express graphic designer Larisa Hart of Duxbury. It is Hart’s first outing as a book illustrator but says it won’t be her last.

Brimming with ideas for her own book eventually, Hart says she’d take on more projects like this one “in a heartbeat” and related how the opportunity came about.

“Kathy came into the office one day,” Hart recalled. “I’m not sure how she met [Express Newspapers owner-publisher] Deb [Anderson], but she knew Deb and she was saying she needed an illustrator for the book.”

The plan was that Teahan’s son, Bob, would illustrate. When his work schedule interfered, she needed a new illustrator and mentioned it to Anderson while the two were discussing plans for their 50th high school reunion. Teahan and Anderson graduated W-H together in 1965.

“I mentioned that my son wasn’t going to finish the illustrating process because he didn’t have time,” Tehan said.

Anderson knew that Hart was also an artist and suggested her to Teahan, a suggestion Hart says changed her life. After Hart sent some samples of her work to be reviewed by Teahan and the book editor, she started a new artistic adventure in which she had to translate the story to full-color drawings.

“I really loved her work,” Teahan said of sample sketches Hart provided for her to review. “She’s such a good person and her pictures are wonderful.”

Hart said the author and editors provided direction, which she let “steep” to help her  figure out how to incorporate the directives into a picture.

“Each illustration goes through almost seven phases starting from a thumbnail sketch and different sketches to line art and to colored art,” she said of the 16 illustrations she did. “It was pretty intensive.”

While illustrating the book, she was also starting a very technically exacting new job.

“It was a lot of work, but it was well worth it,” Hart said. “I got better and was more confident as I went along on each of the pictures, so it’s been amazing.”

It has also translated into a new skill for its illustrator.

The Wacom tablet on which she is working, allows Hart to paint in images with a pressure-sensitive stylus for a watercolor effect.

“I’m able to make a realistic-looking watercolor painting using layers and layers of color in the illustration,” she said. “I’ve [also] worked with editors before, but not as critiquing my art — they’re lovely to work with and Kathy has been so gracious, so supportive.”

Teahan is self-publishing through SDP Publishing Solutions because she had doubts about the potential popularity of the book, but added the initial feedback she’s been getting is encouraging.

“I feel like it was meant to be,” Teahan said. “Our history for such a long time didn’t include the women who made such a huge impact and did so many outstanding things.”

Teahan, who now lives in Harwichport, is also planning a memoir of her term as a state legislator and other children’s books as future projects.

There’s not really a much better way the Silver Lake high baseball team could have started their season, especially after graduating a talented senior class last year.

No, they are not on their way to an undefeated season anymore, but they still have one of the best records in the state.

Beginning the year with seven wins in a row, the Lakers took their first loss of the year Monday, April 24; they fell 6-3 to the Hanover Indians.

Regardless, the Lakers have plenty of reason to be confident this season. After all, their record speaks for itself.

For starters, their starting pitching core is strong. As expected, junior Dan Collins has emerged as the team’s ace.

He won each of his first three starts. Each time, he hurled a complete game and in the process, struck out a total of 33 batters.

Complementing him is a freshman southpaw, Nolan Hughes, who has picked up wins in both of his career varsity outings. He tossed complete games in both of those outings and in his most recent win he struck out eight batters. Senior Trevor Dennett gives the Lakers another particularly strong arm in their rotation; he threw a two-hitter against Duxbury on April 14.

At the plate, three-year varsity starter Josh Harvey has consistently been one of the team’s top bats, showing off extra-base power.

Speaking of which, their senior center-fielder, Aidan O’Neill, blasted a home run earlier in the season.

Junior shortstop Mike Quigley, who had an RBI in the team’s win over Bridgewater-Raynham last week, is another key piece of the team’s lineup.

The same could be said for Collins when he is in the lineup, manning third base and junior outfielder Alex Bejarano, who began the year hitting .471 (8-for-17).

The Lakers next game is this Friday, Apr. 28, at home against Scituate High School (4:00 p.m.).

Many people will pay more attention to what a team can do at the plate; in reality though, the offense does not need to work as hard or be as successful if the team receives a strong outing on the mound. In fact, if a team does not receive a strong outing from their pitcher, they might not be able to contend at all — no matter how much talent they have on offense.

For the Silver Lake High School baseball team, that pitching has been a major key to their success this season. On Tuesday, Apr. 11, the Lakers got locked up in a pitchers’ duel alongside the Plymouth South Panthers — and the Lakers pitching proved supreme. Taking it to extra innings on the road, they were able to come away with a 1-0 win at Forges Field. The win improved the Lakers to 3-0 on the season.

Dan Collins was sharp throughout, pitching a complete game and earning the win, which made his record 2-0. The starter tossed eight scoreless innings, struck out 15 batters and held the Panthers to just two hits.

The Lakers also could not do much offensively but once the final inning–the eighth inning–rolled around, they were able to do something.

Mike Quigley got on base via a walk and he ended up scoring the game-winning run. Aidan O’Neill smacked the game-winning hit up the middle to give the Lakers their 1-0 lead.

For most of the contest though, the Lakers offense was silent. They had a strong to score off with two men on base in the third inning with one man down, but a pair of strikeouts halted that effort.

Collins did not even allow a hit until there was one out in the fifth inning. He then intentionally walked a batter and followed that up with a strikeout to finish the inning.

The Lakers next home game is Monday, Apr. 24 against Hanover.

When you’re one of the top programs around, it’s hard to get much better.

With that in mind, it would be tough for the Silver Lake High softball team to improve upon last year’s team after winning out their regular season and making a deep playoff run. After all, they did go 25-1, win a Patriot League title, and make it to the Division 1 South Sectional finals. Albeit that may be a challenge to duplicate that sort of year. However, there is no reason why they could not have yet again another successful season.

Of course, the team is without last year’s Gatorade player of the year, Maddy Barone, and they likely do not have one player who can directly fill that void. But hopes are high for pitcher Jill Richards, who will likely be a workhorse starter for the team this season. As a sophomore and a junior, Richards threw six scoreless outings which is important because starting pitchers in softball are used more frequently and for much longer outings than baseball pitchers. To put it this way, Barone went 23-1 with a 0.47 ERA and 215 strikeouts last season.

Looking up and down the lineup, the Lakers have what it takes yet again to produce some runs. They return three (senior) Patriot League All-Stars: catcher Emily Critch, shortstop Caroline Videtto and center fielder Kelly Danahy. Last year, however, Danahy played second base.

Speaking of experienced players, senior  Anna Battista is back on varsity for the fourth straight year and she will be the team’s everyday right fielder.

The Lakers have a versatile team this season. Senior Alex Ruprecht, juniors Brenna Walsh and Coyle Shropshire, plus sophomores Hannah Mitchell, Amanda Harris and Izzy Ruprecht are all capable of playing more than one position. And junior Michaela Nista and freshman Ali Sylvester will also make meaningful contributions to the team all season long.

The Lakers next game is Monday, Apr. 17 against Bridgewater-Raynham at noontime on the road.

After last year, there is really only one direction the Silver Lake boys’ lacrosse team can move.

The young squad hit a learning curve last year on their way to a 1-17 finish where the lone bright spot was a 12-4 win against a Milton in their final game of the season. Milton did not win a game last season.

Fortunately for the Lakers, however, they had a rather small senior class last year and only lost three starters to graduation. Unfortunately for them last year, two of those regulars were hurt for most of the season. On the bright side now though, it means their squad built up experience last season and is used to competing at the varsity level.

This year, the team will most likely be led by senior Drew Neal, who was the team’s leading scorer last season and their lone Patriot League All-Star.

Looking deeper at the attack, senior Nolan McDonald should be another major asset to the team, like he was last year. The same could be said for junior Owen Nally, who netted three goals in the team’s win over Milton last season.

Sophomore Preston Nichols, who emerged as the team’s goalkeeper early in the year last season is expected to resume his duties in net once again this season.

Of course, while this sort of experience will help the Lakers, it will not cure all of their problems. They still dropped 17 games in a row last year and struggled at times, but they did finish out the 2016 season strong. In addition to that win over Milton, their second to last game was a tight 9-8 loss to Abington where the Lakers were competitive throughout the contest.

Playing a tough Patriot League schedule does the Lakers no favors, but it does afford them the opportunity to compete against quality competition nearly every single game.

The Lakers won their  season opener against North Quincy/Quincy in a non-league matchup on Monday, April 3 with a score of 11 – 3.  In their first home game, Monday, April 10,  Lakers will face Oliver Ames, who went 10-10 last year.