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Area 58 Plans Open House

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Area 58 Community Access Media, serving Carver, Plympton, and Halifax, will be holding an Open House from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3. at Area 58’s studio, 96 North Main St., Route 58, North Carver, in the Honey Dew Donuts strip mall located between McDonald’s and CVS, just south of the junction of Route 44.

Visitors can tour the studio, see how a television show is created, find out how they can learn to use a camera or do video-editing themselves, discover the possibility of doing their own TV show, and meet and talk with people who have done just that.

Area 58 Community Access Media is found on channels 13, 14, and 15 on Comcast cable systems in the three towns. Channel 13 is for general public access programming. Channel 14 provides coverage of educational events and meetings and channel 15 does the same for government events and meetings.

The actual joining of the public access TV operations of the three towns was not a spur-of-the-moment decision, but was carefully considered by the towns involved.

The process began in 2012. Rich Goulart, Executive Director of Area 58, recalls how he was asked to develop a 5-year plan for Carver Community Access Television.

“I realized the only way we could truly increase our effectiveness was by partnering with neighboring communities,” he said.

Right around the same time, Halifax and Plympton were coming to the end of their contracts with Comcast and were looking for new solutions.

“I met with their Cable Advisory Committees, and the seeds for the partnership were sown,” Goulart said.

Those seeds came to fruition with the creation of Area 58 Community Access Media in 2015.

The name was chosen because Route 58 runs through all three towns, but Goulart admits with a smile that the station’s logo, featuring someone pointing a camera at a UFO, is a playful reference to the mystique of “Area 51,” a US Air Force facility in Nevada engaged in highly secret research projects which often has been connected to claimed sightings of UFOs.

Ron Clarke, president of the Board of Directors of Area 58, is firm on the operation’s value.

“Area 58 Community Access Media plays a vital role in the life of our towns,” he said, because it “brings us unfiltered coverage of government meetings and local events.”

What’s more, because such coverage is also posted to the station’s YouTube channel, the “ability to be aware of what is happening in our towns” is available to almost everyone, he said.

Clarke also looked forward to developing “more home-grown programs,” that is, ones produced by residents of the towns, a desire echoed by Larry Erickson, the station’s Program Manager.

“Channels 14 and 15 carry information an informed citizenry needs to have about local government,” Erickson said, “but I have to admit that Channel 13, the general access channel, is where my heart is.”

“I just love the idea of people taking the time, using the energy, showing the commitment, to do a television program not out of the desire for fame or for money but out of the love of the topic or the opportunity to be heard or just the fun of being on television, even if it is ‘just’ local access TV.”

Channel 13 now runs programming seven days a week from around 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., all of intending “to make channel 13 a channel worth watching,” Erickson said. “One with enough good stuff to make people pause in their channel-surfing to check out what’s on.”

Much of that programming now comes from public access stations around the country rather than being produced locally, Erickson said, but he added that “we are now running locally-produced shows focused on painting, on political commentary, on on-the-street interviews, on wrestling, on equestrian events; we show local religious services, and more.”

Erickson said his big hope for the Open House is to encourage more residents of Carver, Plympton, and Halifax to do locally-produced shows.

“We’ll provide the equipment, the space, the training, and any assistance you need,” he said.

“You provide the enthusiasm.”

Erickson noted that Ron Clarke called local access media “the last true bastion of free speech” and that “Area 58 is dedicated to maintaining that tradition.”

“Absolutely true,” Erickson said. “And the only thing better than free speech is more free speech.”

“Free speech and an informed public,” Erickson said. “What a wonderful marriage. And it’s organizations like Area 58 Community Access Media that perform the ceremony.”

Gas Averaging $2.08 a Gallon Heading into Thanksgiving

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Gas prices in Massachusetts drifted further downward ahead of what’s expected to be the busiest Thanksgiving travel period in a decade. AAA Northeast on Monday reported that the average price of a gallon of self-serve, unleaded gasoline is $2.08, down 4 cents a gallon from last week. The group’s survey on Monday found prices ranged from $1.95 to $2.19 per gallon of self-serve regular unleaded. AAA estimated last week that close to 950,000 people from Massachusetts are expected to drive to Thanksgiving destinations, up 5.1 percent over 2015. – Michael Norton/ State House News Service

Drug ODs, Car crashes in Halifax

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Halifax Police and Fire first responders put in a busy week with three reported drug overdoses.  The incidents were unrelated.  In each situation, patients were treated, two with NARCAN.  All three were taken to local hospitals.

There were two auto crashes, at the same location.

A Halifax man with potentially life-threatening injuries was freed using the “Jaws of Life” to free the man trapped in his vehicle after crashing into a tree on Thompson St., Rte. 105, at the intersection of Walnut St., just before 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19.

The driver, whose name was not released at press time, was alone in his SUV.

The man was conscious and suffering from multi-system trauma.

After removing the passenger side door, crews were able to reach him. He was transported by Halifax EMS to Boston Medical Center. Due to poor weather, medical helicopters were not available to fly, according to Halifax Fire Chief Jason Viveiros.

At the same location on Thompson Street, Friday night at 5:59 p.m., a 46 year old man was taken to Brockton Hospital with non-life threatening injuries following a single car motor vehicle accident, hitting a tree.

Plympton Selectmen take two letters of resignation: Planning Board Chairman and Council on Aging Director have resigned from their positions

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Plympton selectmen received two letters of resignation at their Monday night meeting:  Irving Butler, who had served on the Planning Board for a number of years, and also from Christine Maiorano, Council on Aging director, both effective immediately.

Maiorano noted in her letter to selectmen that she would be retiring to Cape Cod, where costs are much lower, as soon as her Brook St. home is sold.  Maiorano has served the Town of Plympton in many arenas, including as president and treasurer of the Plympton Garden Club, president and treasurer of the Plympton Historical Society, and director of the Council on Aging.  With each  endeavor she left the position in better condition.  She was the driving force behind making the Historical Society building handicap accessible with a wheelchair ramp, handicap accessible bathrooms and a chair lift to the second floor.   She also wrote the grants to get insulation into the building and lower the heating costs that are borne by the Historical Society.

Maiorano told selectmen in her letter she will be available to help make the transition as smooth as possible.   

Butler is also a member of the Community Preservation Committee, a position that he wishes to continue, and has worked as a volunteer with the Fire Department since he moved to town more than 40 years ago.  At the age of 84, Butler felt that he had to slow down and chose to serve on only one board going forward.

Both Butler and Maiorano were praised for their exceptional service and will be missed.

In other business, Rob Vautrinot, engineer, brought engineering reports to selectmen regarding the gravel permit on Ring Road, owned by Jeff Randall, that has lapsed.

Vautrinot explained that the former engineer who was handling the project for Randall passed away in October and Vautrinot has just taken over.  “What there is now is several piles of stuff.”   The sand is too fine to be used, except for footing in a riding arena, according to Vautrinot.   Colleen Thompson, chairman, told the board that the bogs will be planted without deeper excavation, as they will be “dry picked” and don’t need to be as deep.   The board will leave the discussion of the details of the permit to Zoning Enforcement Agent Bob Karling.

Bylaw Review Committee

Selectman John Traynor told his board that there are four citizens who have expressed an interest in the new Bylaw review committee and that three of the four are all members of the Board of Health.  “I would like to see a broader diversity,” Traynor said, and encouraged any Plympton resident who is interested in serving the community and likes an attention to detail, to contact Briggette Martin, secretary to the selectmen at 781-585-2700.   Traynor told the board he had contacted an acquaintance in the Department of Revenue to see if they could offer any assistance in bylaw review.  Traynor was told that the DOR does send a team out to give a presentation to the town to show how other communities have approached bylaw review and to offer suggestions.  “So they would point us in the right direction; give advice but not actually review our bylaws,” Selectperson Christine Joy said.  Thompson said she did not see an issue with having three members of the board of health, each of whom came from a different background: building, newspaper, and a person who has served on many different boards in Plympton.  “I would rather see a few more people on the bylaw committee,” Traynor said.

Regionalization

Exploration

Traynor also told the board that in response to selectmen’s stated interest in exploring regionalization, Fire Chief Warren Borsari has contacted fire chiefs in surrounding towns of Middleborough and Halifax.  Traynor said he thought that protocol would require the Plympton selectmen contact the Halifax board and then the chiefs would confer.  “If state money is coming to regionalization as it came to the regionalization of the high school, then it makes sense,” Traynor said.

   Joy said that she felt that Plympton Selectmen should write to all surrounding towns’ boards of selectmen to indicate our interest in exploring regionalization.  She also said that Plympton should reach out to Old Colony Planning Council for their assistance.  “We have a grant,” Joy said, for OCPC to help us look at regionalization opportunities.

   Selectmen will next meet Nov. 28 at 6 p.m.

Author honors heroic sacrifice of WWI nurse

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WHITMAN — Sometimes a muse finds their writer — and won’t let go until their story is told.

For retired Falmouth nurse Terri Arthur, British nurse Edith Cavell was one of these muses.

“Edith who?” one might ask.

Cavell’s work, dedication to humanity and determination to save the lives of about 200 British soldiers in German-occupied Belgium during World War I, led to her Oct. 12, 1915 execution by firing squad when the Germans caught up with her. The only woman so executed by the enemy during that war, Cavell’s death became an emotional recruiting tool for the British Army and launched a letter-writing campaign by American women’s groups to President Woodrow Wilson that is now recognized as a first step toward American involvement in WWI.

“Her death was [headlines] in every country all over the world,” Arthur said. “When they saw the headlines on Edith Cavell … [women’s groups] took her on as a cause celebré and they inundated Wilson with letters.”

In a way, Cavell’s stated life’s goal may have foreshadowed the circumstances of her death.

“Someday, somehow, I’m going to do something useful, something for people,” Cavell once wrote. “They are, most of them, so helpless, so hurt and so unhappy.”

But who was Edith Cavell?

That question took Arthur on a journey of coincidental events that led her to write “Fatal Destiny: Edith Cavell, World War I Nurse,” [2015, $19.95, HenschelHAUS Publishing], a book so well received in Britain that she was asked to adjust spelling and syntax for a British edition.

Arthur’s visit to the Whitman Public Library’s Local Author Series on Monday, Nov. 10 traced both Cavell’s story and how she came to write it. The Friends of the Whitman Public Library fund the series.

“It’s time to resurrect Edith,” Arthur said. “She has a message for us today. She showed courage and strength at a time when it was very difficult to do.”

Arthur began her talk with an anecdote of how DNA left in bloody fingerprints by ancient native peoples who constructed New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon settlements helped answer some questions about possible connections to other Anasazi dwellings in the region.

“The person I’m going to talk about today also left her fingerprints in history, but she’s been basically forgotten, like those builders were forgotten,” Arthur said. “It’s time to bring Edith back.”

The centennial of Cavell’s execution was observed last year and the centennial of WWI is ongoing through Nov. 11, 2018.

For Arthur, the journey began with one of those nursing-related gifts many nurses receive and are never sure what to do with: a book titled “Postcards of Nursing” by Michael Zwerdling. She finally leafed through it on a stormy night and ran across postcards depicting Edith Cavell, some of which depicted her death and images of the Grim Reaper. She read an outline about Cavell in the back of the book and was “blown away.”

“How is it that I, as a nurse, had never heard about this nurse?” she said.

It launched her on a search for information, which led her to others whose response was “Edith who?” Even during a trip to the UK, where she made a special trip to the memorial statue to Cavell in Trafalgar Square, Arthur was unable to find anyone staffing tourist gift shops nearby who had heard of Cavell, either.

Arthur then made a side trip to Cavell’s burial site in  Norwich where, as fate would have it, the city’s cathedral was holding a 90th anniversary service for Cavell the next day — Oct. 12, 2005.

A BBC reporter caught the sound of Arthur’s American accent and asked what brought her to the event.

“I said, ‘Well, I’m a nurse and I believe that what Edith Cavell did really represents nurses in every country,’” Arthur said, adding the next thing she new, she was being interviewed for BBC-TV news.

Arthur was hooked.

“I don’t know who got who first,” Arthur said. “I don’t know if I got Edith Cavell first or if she got me first, but after that, I was hooked.”

Arthur’s research took her from the Imperial War Museum, where she was able to purchase copies of Cavell’s letters, to Belgium, the Royal London and the Brussels Hospital named in honor of Cavell as well as the Tir National Prison where Cavell was executed.

Before she began writing, however, Arthur also had take classes in creative writing techniques such as finding the voice of a narrative and setting the pace.

The eldest daughter of an Anglican minister, Cavell studied nursing at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel about the time of the Jack the Ripper murders, because that section of London was where she felt she was needed. She worked there until she was asked to begin a nursing school in Brussels in 1907. She had worked in Belgium before as a governess.

When WWI broke out in August 1914, Cavell was visiting her family in England but felt it was her duty to return to Belgium. The Germans occupied Belgium, reaching Brussels by Aug. 20, 1915. Since September 1914, Cavell had been helping smuggle British soldiers into the Netherlands after initially caring for two wounded British soldiers who had sought her out. She took them in despite signs posted by the Germans all over Belgium warning of the fatal consequences of helping allied soldiers escape.

She was arrested with 33 others on Oct. 5, 1915 after a German spy had infiltrated the underground, was tried for treason by a German court martial on Oct. 7 and executed on Oct. 12, 1915.

After the war, she was exhumed by the British and returned to England for a state funeral in Westminster Abbey [a rare film clip of which may be viewed at iwm.org.uk] and reburied at Norwich Cathedral. Her pallbearers included soldiers she had saved.

Since writing her book, Arthur has been the only American invited to participate in anniversary ceremonies for Cavell in both Norwich and London.

Silver Lake Middle School “ELF” Performance Saturday night at 7 and Sunday afternoon at 2

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Get into the holiday spirit this weekend and enjoy an evening or afternoon performance of the Silver Lake Middle School Drama Club’s performance of Elf, The Musical, the hilarious tale of Buddy, a young orphan child who mistakenly crawls into Santa’s bag of gifts and is transported back to the North Pole.   Playing Buddy is Josie Cline of Halifax.

Performances will be Saturday night, Nov. 19, at 7 p.m. and Sunday afternoon, Nov. 20, at 2 p.m.

General admission tickets are $8, and students, children, and senior citizens are $6.  There are a limited number of reserve tickets on sale for $10.

Tickets will be sold at the door.  Doors will open 30 minutes before showtime.

The Silver Lake Middle School is at 256 Pembroke St., Rte. 27, Kingston, on the Silver Lake Regional campus.

Taking time to Honor Veterans

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Veterans were honored in Halifax Friday morning with a brief but solemn ceremony outside the Halifax Town Hall on Route 106, and the Third Annual Veterans Breakfast held earlier in the week,  showing the town’s gratitude for service to country.

Selectmen Troy Garron and Kim Roy took part in the parade behind the Halifax Police Dept. Color Guard, Boy Scouts and Fire Department.  The procession took them across the way to the monument dedicated to Halifax’s fallen at the intersection of Plymouth St. and South St. where a wreath was laid in their honor.  From there, the procession went back at where a wreath was also placed on the large rock on the Halifax Town Green, a gift of the Halifax Grange #253 in 1949, engraved with “Honoring Those Who Served.”

David Walsh, Commander of the Halifax VFW Post 6258, praised veterans and their service to their country.

Halifax veterans were also treated to the Third Annual Veterans Day Breakfast at the historic Pope’s Tavern on Monday morning, November 7, put on by the Halifax Council on Aging.  COA Director Barbara Brenton was pleased with the turnout.  “The dining room was full.  We served about 22 breakfasts.”

In addition to the good meal and good company, Greg Brasso, host of the WATD radio station’s “Veterans’ Voice” Thursday night program, spoke for almost an hour, answering questions from the veterans there, giving them ways to navigate through the process of applying for and receiving state and federal benefits, programs, and services for which they might be eligible.

Brenton is looking forward to next year, when the senior center might have additional capacity to serve even more!

Turkey Trot at HES

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By Kimberly Cicone

Special to the Express

Most of the 593 students of Halifax Elementary School took to the fields Wednesday, October 26th, to participate in the 18th Annual Turkey Trot.  Each year, the Turkey Trot focuses on healthy habits, school spirit, and recognition of a month-long food drive that benefits the Helping Hands of Halifax.   

Students ran the Turkey Trot by grade level in a cross-  country style run around the Halifax athletic fields culminating with a healthy snack provided by Nessralla’s Farm and hot chocolate courtesy of Halifax Walmart and Halifax Elementary School PTO.

Throughout the month of October, students, families, and local businesses have generously donated food items to be passed on to the pantry.  Proudly, 1275 donations were made by the students.    At the center of the donation are turkeys, an all-time high of 40 turkeys were purchased by the generous donations from local families, teachers and local businesses. Alex Meade, a Halifax parent and owner of Preferred Mechanical Services  of Pembroke, pledged 15 turkeys for the third year in a row.  Many thanks to all that donated!

In early November, the following Halifax Elementary School students, by virtue of their exemplary performances at the Turkey Trot, will help present our donation to members of the Helping Hands of Halifax.

1st Graders:  Logan Hellisek, Riley Walkus, AJ Saba, Brielle Robinson, Leland Dowd, Jake Ledwell, Monica Rekford, Brayden Toon, Alyssa McPhearson, and Ryan Carroll.

2nd Graders: Wiley Makepeace, Max McEwan, John Lindsay, Lilliana Parmeggiani, Jaelyn Guimares, Emily Keegan, Kylie Walsh, Quinn Pomella, and Aubrey Quirke.

3rd Graders:  Kylie Soucie, Thomas Powers, Ava Carroll, Tyler Carroll, Mason Gilcoine, Alivia Phillip, Caitlin Snow, Ashton Rosano, and Zachary Peach.

4th Graders:  Cassidy Conroy & Michael Delaney

5th Graders:  Katie Dyer, Nick Najaulis, and Jack Quigley.

6th Graders: Megan Laliberte and Daniel Sullivan.

Plympton resident tapped to run Boston Marathon with Tedy’s Team Bruschi’s Team

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By Jaime Castle

Express Contributor

Some people spend years training for the Boston Marathon. Lifetime Plympton resident Jocelyn Anderson only has 6 months until she hits Heartbreak Hill for charity.

A first time marathoner (Boston or otherwise) Anderson is running for the American Stroke Association. Created in 1997, the American Stroke Association is dedicated to prevention, diagnosis and treatment to save lives from stroke — America’s No. 5 killer and a leading cause of serious disability.  “It’s important to me, losing my father to stroke has been the major factor in my mission to run with Tedy’s Team” said Anderson. “I’m also proud to run on behalf of all the stroke survivors, like my friend and Tedy’s Team teammate Jaclyn Grundy.”

“I have a great amount of respect for the work they do and awareness they spread on recognizing the warning signs of stroke, as well as the work they do in the prevention of stroke.” said Anderson.

Anderson learned she was tapped to join Tedy’s Team in May, just 6 months after she took up running at the age of 33.  While she started running for her health, Anderson said “through the association with Tedy’s Team, it has become much more meaningful running to support a cause.”

There are two ways to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Runners either must meet a qualifying time or apply for one of many spots given to charitable groups. “It’s a huge honor to be able to raise money for the American Stroke Association, as part of Tedy’s Team” said Anderson.“I felt like this was a great way to bring awareness to the American Stroke Association and the great work that they do, and I am proud to run with Tedy’s Team”

Before the Boston Marathon on April 17, Anderson must raise $10,500. To make a donation online, visit www.bit.ly.com/runwithjoc or go to http://honor.americanheart.org and click on Tedy’s Team, then search for Andersons’ name.

Know the warning signs of stroke:

F – Face: ask the person to smile. Does one side of the face droop?

A – Arms: ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?

S – Speech: ask the person to repeat a simple phrase. Is their speech slurred or strange?

T – Time: if you observe any of these signs, call 9-1-1 immediately.

Halifax “Question 5” Debt Exclusion Fails

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While most of the Commonwealth dealt with four questions on their ballot, the Town of Halifax added a fifth.

“Shall the Town of Halifax be allowed to exempt from the provisions of proposition two and one-half, so-called, the amounts required to pay for the bond issued in order to pay for the repairs, renovations and expansion of the Council on Aging Center/Pope’s Tavern including the payment of all costs incidental or related thereto?”

The Halifax Board of Selectmen placed this question on the ballot in the event a future Town Meeting approves borrowing money for the renovation and addition to the Council on Aging Center/Pope’s Tavern but makes funding for the project contingent upon approval of a debt exclusion (an approved debt exclusion allows the Town to pay a particular debt with an increase in taxes above and beyond the normal levy limit). If this question was not placed on the November 8 ballot and a future Town Meeting approved borrowing the money contingent upon the debt exclusion, another election, at additional cost, would have had to be held.

Where Question 5 failed, 2227 voting No and only 1869 in favor, Halifax voters will not have the option of using a Proposition two and one half, so called, debt exclusion as a funding mechanism.

A future Town Meeting when this project will be presented, will have several options for funding, but will no longer have the option of debt exclusion.

The approval or disapproval of Question 5 simply provided or eliminated an option for funding the project.