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.

Plympton Selectmen met Monday March 27, preparing for May’s special town meeting and elections.

Town Clerk Tara Shaw reported there are 14 open seats to be voted on at the election. Some key positions include open seats on the Board of Selectmen, Board of Health, and two open seats on the Finance Committee.

Tara Shaw said that the last day to submit nomination papers, with the required 20 certified signatures, to the Board of Registrars is Monday, April 4, 2017.

The Finance Committee will join selectmen at the Monday, April 10, meeting to review the town’s FY18 budget before town meeting, according to Selectmen Chair Colleen Thompson.

One item in the budget that may need to change is the position of Town Clerk. Town Clerk Tara Shaw told selectmen how the job description and hours needed have changed for her position since the implementation of the new public records law (Chapter 121 of the Acts of 2016, “An Act to Improve Public Records”).

Shaw wrote a new job description for the Town Clerk position that includes the responsibilities associated with staying compliant with the state mandate. Shaw told the board that while there have been many new state mandates since 2012, the new Public Records law has added most of her new responsibilities.

In order to reduce the number of public records requests, Shaw has tried to put up as much information online as possible so that the records can be available to any who want them. Right now, she is the only one managing the website. She did however add that Bridgette Martins, selectmen’s assistant, will make emergency posts and announcements to the website from time to time.

When she first became Town Clerk, 22 hours per week was the assumed work load, Shaw said. In order to stay compliant with the public records law, Shaw says she’s worked on average 32 hours per week. Shaw is asking selectmen for an additional 10 hours per week and another two hours per week for administrative help.

Town Coordinator Dale Pleau told selectmen, towns of similar size have had to hire (a new position) for the Public Records Law. Pleau and selectmen all acknowledged the amount of added work Shaw has taken on. Thompson affirmed that Shaw’s need is legitimate.

The question discussed was if all of the new public records law hours should be added as a responsibility to the town clerk. Selectman John Traynor wants Shaw, the Board, and the Finance Committee to do a workflow analysis and breakdown of the new responsibilities. He wasn’t sure if some of these responsibilities would go to the new Town Administrator position, an administrative assistant, or even other departments.

Talks on this budget question as well as others will continue on Monday April 10, 2017 when the Finance Committee meets with the Board of Selectmen.

Traynor brought his board current on the progress on the IT Grant application, and the addition of another laptop to the grant. If approved, the grant funds will also be used to cover software costs that will be used to streamline the Public Records Law compliance process.

Thompson, who is also chairman of the Public Safety Building Committee, showed selectmen the prepared brochures showing the new police station that will be voted on at May’s Annual Town Meeting. The brochures will be distributed to all residents of Plympton, and there are copies in the lobby of the Plympton Town House.

The Public Safety Building Committee will host two open houses at the current police station, Thompson said:  Saturday, April 8, from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. and Wednesday, April 12, 2017 from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.

The next selectmen’s meeting is Monday April 3.

Open session will start at 6 p.m.

Usually, it takes awhile before freshmen make any sort of significant contributions to a team, whether it be in high school or college athletics. This is especially the case when there are six seniors and four juniors on the team, but that has been anything but the case for one Halifax native playing college softball locally.

On the Bridgewater State softball team, Halifax’ Shannon Grindell has not wasted any time adjusting to the rigors of college athletics. The freshman, who plays shortstop and third base, is emerging as one of her team’s top players.

In the first week of her collegiate career, she played in ten games and hit .324 with two doubles and 10 RBI. She even led the team with a .471 slugging percentage.

What has made her career in the making even more impressive is that she hit a homerun in her first career at-bat for the Bears against Mount Mary on March 5.

The Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference noticed her strong start to her career and named her their Softball Rookie of the Week on Monday, Mar. 13.

To start the week, Grindell had hits in seven of her 10 games and had a combined four hits in her past two games.

Grindell also had a memorable high school career at Silver Lake, from which she graduated in 2016. Some may remember she hit a walkoff homerun in the 11th inning of the Division 1 South sectional finals her junior year against King Philip in 2015.

The Bears were 4-6 on the season to start the season and spent the first week of the season playing doubleheaders in Naples and Fort Myers, Florida before they came back up north to start league play against UMass Boston on Thursday, Mar. 23. Thursday’s doubleheader against UMass Boston was also the Bears first home games.

When teams experience success in a season, then odds are they are going to be recognized for it in some way or another. Sure, not every team is destined for the championship each and every season — and some never make it — but it does not discount the work the team puts in on a daily basis. Not to mention it does not take away from positive character traits off the court.

Every year, the Patriot League does their best to recognize a few of these sorts of student-athletes who excel at their sport, away from their sport and in life. Recently, the league announced it’s All-Star roster and list of awards for both the Keenan Division and Fisher Division in both boys’ and girls’ basketball. Here is a look at which Lakers received league wide recognition.

Senior forward Cam Keefe earned the nod for the Keenan Division boys’ basketball All-Star team in his final season with the Lakers. The captain was a key component in his team’s high-powered offense and helped lead them to a playoff appearance.

In contrast, the Lakers girls’ basketball team had one of their youngest players earn a spot on their list. For them, freshman guard/forward Holly Reeder-Morning earned the nod, an indication of heir bright future with the rebuilding squad.

The girls’ hoops team also received the Patriot League Keenan Division sportsmanship award.

As for individual sportsmanship awards, junior forward Emily Hapgood earned the award for the girls squad while Cy Kenku was recognized for the same honor on the boys side for the Lakers

Junior forward Sydney Kehoe won the girls scholar athlete award for the Lakers while senior center Jack Bettle earned the scholar athlete award for his team.

Each team in the division had at least one All-Star while every team had a one scholar athlete and a sportsmanship award winner. The Whitman-Hanson boys’ team, who won the Division 2 South Sectional playoff bracket, had the most league All-Stars (four).

Firefighters responded to 911 calls reporting smoke coming from a dumpster near the main home on Fieldstone Farms, 21 Plymouth St., Halifax, on Saturday, on March 4.

Heavy wind and freezing temperatures could have made the fire much worse, but was quickly brought under control.

A bystander at the farm moved the flame-filled dumpster a few feet away from the house, helping to minimize the damage to the exterior of the house, said Halifax Fire Chief Jason Viveiros

The homeowner, Scott Clawson was not there when the fire began.  There were no injuries to humans or animals, confirmed Viveiros.

Early estimates of damage to the home were $5,000.  The department also received mutual aid from the towns of Pembroke and Hanson during the fire as they received a reported gas leak and medical calls simultaneously.