Halifax Fire Chief Jason Vivieros

Jason Vivieros, Halifax’s Fire Chief, always knew that he wanted to be a Chief. At the TRIAD meeting on Tuesday the Chief told local law enforcement, public safety officials and the Council on Aging, about his journey to the top, and also detailed what’s new at the Halifax Fire Department. State Senator Tom Kennedy was also present to address the new law requiring headlights to be on during inclement weather and at dusk and dawn.

Beginning in 1991 Chief Vivieros became a Swansea volunteer firefighter. He enjoyed it greatly, but wanted to make firefighting his full-time career, and to accomplish that he realized we would need further education. The first step, back in the early 1990s, was to attend EMT school. This takes about a year.

After finishing EMT school, he chose to attend paramedic school, in 1996. This was a two-year process, and a relatively new concept.  It requires classroom training and 400-500 hours of practical training in a hospital ER, Intensive Care Unit, and Operating Room.

In 1998 the Chief became a paramedic in Fall River, but his goal was still to be a career firefighter. Finally, in 2001 he became a Sandwich firefighter-paramedic and spent the next few years moving up the ranks to become the EMS manager and finally a Lieutenant, learning valuable management and operations experience.

But he still didn’t have his own department to lead.

When he came across the open position in Halifax he stated that he was intimidated that Halifax had higher qualifications than most other departments in the state. After several rounds of assessment, interviews with selectmen, and other town officials, he was chosen to lead Halifax’s Fire Department and began last August.

Chief Vivieros spoke highly of the Halifax Fire department, which has only 8 full time firefighters, which he described as very young, very motivated and highly trained. Training for new firefighters today is intense, and all the full time staff in Halifax are paramedics. They cannot be hired, even as call firefighters, if they are not at least EMTs. All call and full-time firefighters receive on-going training and yearly state testing to maintain their EMT or Paramedic certifications.

Finally, Chief Vivieros spoke about a shift in firefighting in Halifax and in general towards prevention. He said that even though people joke about calling 911 for a cat stuck in a tree, that the department will still go out for that call, as it could prevent an accident whereby someone tries to climb a latter and falls– in fact, the department received a call for a cat stuck in a tree just last week.

Other examples of “Community Risk Reduction”, as this type of work is now being called, includes doing home assessments, using grant money to help provide smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors or even nightlights to seniors. They will even check that house numbering is visible and correct so that no time is wasted during an emergency searching for a house.

Another new concept he mentioned is Community Paramedicine, where Paramedics actually go out into the community as allied health professionals to treat patients. Paramedicine is in its infancy in the country, but Chief Vivieros is confident that this will spread rapidly.

One has to climb a tall ladder to become the Chief, and Chief Vivieros has made that long climb.

In Other News:

• State Senator Tom Kennedy was present to speak about the law he introduced and was recently passed requiring headlights to be on during inclement weather (including fog and snow when visibility is low), when windshield wipers are on, and at dusk and dawn. He stated that he never intended the law to include insurance surcharges, and has introduced an amendment to take out that section of the law.

• The Plymouth County Sherriff’s Department Farm will hold its spring celebration from 10-1 on Saturday, May 9th.  There will be a plant sale, t-shirts, a K-9 demonstration, and a petting zoo. The farm is located next to the Plymouth Ddistrict court, at 74 Obery Street in Plymouth.

• Safety programs for those at risk to wander or fall are available. Contact the Council on Aging at (781) 293-7313.

There is a pill-drop center at the Police Station to drop off unused medication.

All Hands on Deck! Towns Ready for upcoming ATMs and STMs

It was a final Town Meeting run-though Monday noon for Plympton Selectmen as they met with Town Coordinator Dale Pleau, Town Counsel Ilana M. Quirk, Town Clerk Tara Morrison, Town Moderator John Traynor, Jr., and several board representatives and department heads to rehearse the upcoming Annual Town Meeting on Wednesday, May 13, at 7 p.m. and Special Town Meeting within the Town Meeting at 7:30 p.m. at the Dennett Elementary School, located at 80 Crescent Street.

This review allowed town boards to become familiar with all the warrant articles and to have town counsel available to answer any questions still to be resolved.

In addition to the wages for town employees and contractual obligations for fire, police, and school employees, road maintenance and repair, some of the items which Plympton voters will be asked include:

The consideration of several new by-laws regarding solar energy installations.  These by-laws are the work of the Solar By-Law Review Committee and the Planning Board.

Creating a cable television public access enterprise fund, to accept fees paid to the Town by cable television licensees or any other funds received by the town for any cable-related services and to authorize Selectmen to enter into a grant agreement for the expenditure of those funds.

Plympton voters will also vote to:

• See if four parcels of town-owned land on Maple Street should be sold and the proceeds put into the Capital Stabilization Account.

• Rescind their vote at the 2013 Town Meeting approving the Silver Lake Regional School Committee to establish a Silver Lake Stabilization Fund.

• Employ an Engineering Project Consultant to review plans, proposals and final bids for construction of public safety facilities.

• Consider the quarterly payment of real estate taxes, rather than the semi-annual tax payments now in use.

There are 25 Annual Town Meeting articles to be considered on Wednesday, May 13, at the Dennett Elementary School, at 7 p.m.

On Tuesday evening, a similar meeting was held in Halifax, where Selectmen met with Town Administrator Charlie Seelig, Town Counsel Lawrence Mayo, Town Clerk Barbara Gaynor, Town Moderator John Bruno, and Town Accountant Sandra Nolan.

Halifax will hold its Town Meeting and Special Town Meeting within Town Meeting on Monday, May 11, beginning at 7 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room of the Halifax Elementary School, located at 464 Plymouth Street.

There are several items to consider in addition  to the wages for town employees and contractual obligations for fire, police, school employees, and road maintenance and repair.

Halifax voters will also be asked to approve:

• The sum of $142,000 to fund a public access studio and programming for FY16 and to establish a separate line item for this purpose.

• Water tower repair, repaint, and renovation .  Color swatches anyone?

• A $335 licensing fee for playing copyrighted music on town property, either live or recorded, and to establish an annual line item for such.

• Two new marked police patrol vehicles for $80,000.

• Two new computers and a scanner for the library, and a staff laptop computer for the Children’s Librarian.

• Computer equipment for the Elementary School.

• An emergency telephone for the Town Hall elevator.

• A new recycling truck and associated recepticles.

In non-money items, Halifax will also be asked to:

• Adopt a Right to Farm by-law to support agriculture as an integral part of the character of the Town of Halifax.

• Form an Agricultural Commission to support farming and help resolve farming disputes.

• Amend the Code of the Town of Halifax, Floodplain District.

• Prohibit the use of e-cigarettes and like devices in town buildings and property wherever the use of tobacco products is prohibited.

Warrants for both Halifax and Plympton are available online or at clerks’ offices.  They were also mailed to each voter.

On Friday, May 1st the HES PTO sponsored a fun night for the 5th graders and their families.  See photos of the event on our Facebook Page.

There’s still time to get something for Mom!

Check out these local merchants. Sponsored by Carleybelles.

This map shows the “Hop for HOPS” 5K race route, which starts and ends on South Street.

Now is the time to register for the 2nd annual “Hop for HOPS” 5K Run/Walk!

 About 300 runners and walkers raced the course last year… and this year looks to be even better! They’re currently at the early registration phase… which means it will only cost $25 for entry fee. But after May 17th the cost jumps to $30… and there’s no guarantee late entrants will get the cool new “Hop for HOPS” tech shirts runners are getting this year. Take a second… use the link below… and get yourself all squared away:

http://friendsofhops.weebly.com/hop-for-hops-5k.html

And don’t forget to stay for more family fun all afternoon:  face painting, and bouncy houses.

See you Saturday June 6th! “Hop for HOPS”… Rebuilding the Magic… One sweaty step at a time.

Hazel the cow. Photo by Stephanie Spyropoulos.

Jonathan Seelig, chairman of the Friends of HOPS (Halifax Open Play Space) committee, was happy to announce that the recent “Plops for HOPS,” held Saturday, April 11, was a huge success, getting the project more than $9,000 closer to its goal.

The Plops event, generously sponsored by The Rockland Trust’s Halifax branch, was a lot of fun for all.  Pony rides, a petting zoo, face painting and jumpys were just some of the events on hand. DJ Keith was there playing the tunes… Bellas 2 was there selling delicious food.

Congratulations to the big plop winners:

First Prize: Joe MacDonald of Abington; Second Prize: 4-year-old Dylan O’Brien of Halifax; and Third Prize: Lynne Jamoulis of Brockton.

Thank you all so much to everyone who helped make the “Plop for HOPS” such a huge success.

It really was a great day. Hazel the cow came through…

Mother Nature finally cooperated … and we raised some serious money for the Halifax Open Play Space. We are still tallying things up but it appears the Friends of HOPS took in a little over $9,000!

Cow Plop indeed!

A HUGE thank you to Rockland Trust for sponsoring the event. Also to Walmart, Stop & Shop, Monponsett Trading Company, John the Barber’s, Cinderella Nails, A Fork in the Road and Lou Lou’s Cafe for all donating gift certificates, Bella’s for the pizza donation, Terri Carman, the Farming Association, and Hanson Grain for lending us their animals for the day. Fun Faces with a Twist for the face painting. Mr. Nessralla for helping us land a cow, The Well Church for providing the bouncy houses, Keith from “Just Dance Productions” for playing the tunes.  And a special thanks to Celebrity Judges Selectmen Kim Roy, Troy Garron and Youth and Rec Director Dick Steele.

The list goes on and on…

And please, please, please remember our local businesses the next time you need something. They ALL have been so supportive of HOPS and the children of this town. It would be great to return the favor.

The Friends of HOPS had a blast and hope you did too.

See you all on June 6th for the second annual “Hop for HOPS 5K”!

~ Jonathan Seelig

See more photos of the event on The Plympton-Halifax Express Face book Page:  https://www.facebook.com/plymptonhalifaxexpress/posts/1614507518764064

Rick Hamelin at the wheel.

Master potter Rick Hamelin presents Spouting Off! Teapots from Around the World, a pottery demonstration, at the Holmes Public Library, 470 Plymouth St., Route 106, Halifax, on Saturday, May 9, at 11 a.m.

Watch as these teapots take shape and hear the history of their form and function: the English “Brown Betty”, an Asian teapot made from one piece of clay, a Lebanese two-walled tea pot, and a unique, mythological-form tea pot.

Hamelin has been potting since 1976 and is committed to learning about the historical Redware potters after learning of the Colonial and Early American industries in his native Central Massachusetts.

Pied Potter Hamelin can be taken linguistically apart and understood as a “Colorful Potter from a Small Town”. 

Pied means multicolored, potter is his trade, and Hamelin translates as “one from a small town.”

Hamelin makes redware pottery that is hand-thrown on the wheel and after a drying period, his wares are bisques.  Following bisquing, they are covered with a lead-free glaze of his own formation, then fired again.  An antiquing finish is applied to the unglazed surfaces as a final step.

The running cat paw prints on the reverse of all the Kulina Folk Art and Pied Potter Hamelin plates and platters began by one of his cats leaping onto the slab of clay.  He had found an old brick with a dog’s paw print on it and thought it to be a unique way to make an association between our work.

Hamelin has taught and worked in museums and currently lectures and demonstrates pottery throughout New England.

This presentation by the Pied Potter, Rick Hamelin, is supported by a grant from the Halifax Cultural Council, a local agency funded by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

The pottery demonstration will be followed by a light tea to close out our week-long Books in Bloom event and to recognize our library volunteers!

On Wednesday evening, Plympton Selectmen met and finalized many recommendations for warrant articles in their marathon push to finalize the warrant by next Monday. They briefly touched on other business, including the spraying of herbicides in town that a citizen brought up last week and co-inspections by Town Assessors and Fire Department personnel, while skipping several agenda items.

After Town Adviser Dale Pleau suggested that the Board could vote on article recommendations that evening, rather than waiting until next week, the Board did just that. Approving many articles in groups, without fully reading them aloud, and only pausing for questions or to make modifications, the warrant is in nearly final shape.

All warrant articles for the Special Town Meeting were approved. A proposal that Selectmen John Henry had presented earlier in the meeting regarding retiring debt was sent to Town Counsel and will be voted on Monday.

An ongoing issue regarding an article to send a grant to the South Shore Community Action Council, which provides fuel assistance, housing grants, and other services to low-income residents on the South Shore was stricken from the warrant. Questions of whether the SSCAC is cost effective or beneficial to the town were previously raised, particularly by the Council on Aging Director Christine Maiorano, and the Board would like to study the issue for another year. Several remaining articles were not approved because the Board wants the advice of FinCom and/or Town Counsel before voting.

Selectmen Chair Mark Russo, “just to be done” with the issue, proposed separating Fire and Assessor inspections as the Board had voted to previously allow. According to Town Counsel, Fire Department inspectors must be given access to a dwelling, but Town Assessors do not have to be given access to a dwelling. Those who refuse access to Assessors, though, risk their property being assessed on attributes not related to a full inspection. Therefore they may be artificially high, or simply incorrect. The board unanimously voted to reverse their previous decision and the inspections will be separate moving forward.

Michael Antoine, of 17 Oak Street, appeared in the audience for the second meeting in a row with concerns over spraying herbicides. Due to some confusion during the previous week’s discussion, implications that this is an Eversource power-line issue were incorrectly reported. In fact, Keolis Commuter Services, the MBTA’s operator of Commuter Rail, will be spraying only “as-needed” and to “touch-up” along a small section of the railroad’s right-of-way in the northern part of town.

Although both Selectmen Chair Russo and Selectman Colleen Thompson were sympathetic to Mr. Antoine’s concerns of the herbicide, similar to the commercially available brand “Roundup”, seeping into the groundwater or harming bees (Mr. Antoine is a hobbyist beekeeper), they both emphasized that the spraying would be minimal.  Thompson had looked into the issue and read several articles that Mr. Antoine forwarded to her, yet remained unconvinced than any action needed to be taken this year. The Tree Warden and Town Health Agent were consulted as well and do not have concerns, for bees or humans. “How would you know if your neighbor wasn’t using the same thing?” Selectmen Thompson rhetorically asked at the end of the discussion.

In Other News:

• Three use of town property permits have been approved: one each for the Plympton Youth Athletic Association to have a family night showing a movie, one for a group called “Moving with the Spirit” raising money to donate to Haiti to hold a bake sale, and one for the Girl Scouts to build a community garden as they did last year.

• There are still many vacancies in town government and there is plenty of time to run a write-in campaign. The Board emphasized that training was available even if one doesn’t have much knowledge of a particular board or committee. There are especially vacancies on the Planning Board and the Finance Committee.

• There are several opportunities for the public to learn about the Town Meeting warrant as well as several open Board meetings coming up:

• Monday April 27th, 6 p.m. Open Selectmen Meeting with FinCom

• Monday May 4th, 12 noon. Run-through of Town Meeting with Moderator, and all major participants.

• Saturday May 2nd, 10:30-noon. Public meeting hosted by Town Moderator and Finance Committee at the Plympton Public Library.

• Wednesday May 6th, 7 p.m. Opportunity for the public to hear about the warrant and ask questions.

• Monday May 11th, 6 p.m. Open Selectmen Meeting.

Editor’s note: Tracy F. Seelye, Express editor, contributed to this story.

The New England Seismic Network Weston observatory confirmed that Plympton experienced a minor quake at 3:45 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Alan L. Kafka, of the Weston Observatory, told the Express this morning that a small earthquake measuring just 1.7 on the Richter scale struck the area about five miles east of Bridgewater, at 3:45 a.m. on Tuesday, April 21.  These tremors are not at all uncommon, he said, and in fact quite a few have been felt throughout the region, in Brockton, Middleboro, and even Martha’s Vineyard.  All coming down the fault line that goes through Cape Ann, north of Boston.

One Plympton resident thought he was awakened by a particularly strong thunder clap at almost 4 a.m. Tuesday, “but it was close to the ground, not really like thunder.”  He didn’t realize just how close to the ground it was.

With all this activity, are we getting ready for “the big one”?  You just never know.  Earthquakes aren’t easy to predict, although these little tremors are to be expected.

Kafka, author of “Why does the Earth Quake in New England?” said Thursday, that earth tremors and earthquakes really do occur on a regular basis in New England. 

‘We will see him again,’ family, friends of Bruce Wood assured.

Bruce Wood

HALIFAX — Family, friends and fellow firefighters said goodbye to the man many knew as “Wood Duck” on a raw and rainy spring morning Friday, April 17.

The hearse carrying 43-year Halifax Fire Department veteran Bruce Wood, escorted by Halifax police and fire vehicles, passed the Town Cemetery — where he would be laid to rest — and under a giant American flag suspended from a HFD aerial ladder, on its way to a funeral service in Halifax Congregational Church. The department formed an honor guard to escort Wood’s casket into the church where an hour-long visitation preceded his funeral.

“Every Sunday and every Wednesday without fail, Bruce would stand and sing the songs that we’re going to sing today,” said the Rev. Joseph Wadsworth in his greeting to the mourners crowding the sanctuary. “He would sing with joy in his heart, conviction in his soul and a smile on his face.”

Two hymns, “Saved By The Blood” and “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus,” opened the service, which was closed with “Amazing Grace” and “On Eagle’s Wings.”

A celebration of his life, Wood’s funeral service honored his evangelical commitment to Christ as much as his humor and love for duck hunting and motorcycles.

“Growing up we called him anything,” his sister Beth Wood recalled with a smile as she recalled his first “cycle” — an old Vespa scooter he obtained when he “felt the need for speed.”

“At that time, we called him Easy Rider, Hell’s Angel, he loved it because he thought he was going fast” around area bogs, she said fondly. “The name Wood Duck came along, thanks to his hunting friends.”

“As there is a species of waterfowl called wood ducks, and Wood was a good shot who loved duck hunting, so a nickname was born. But this was a man known more for his dedication to faith than his recreational pursuits,” she added.

“After Chris passed away, my brother changed, and changed for the good,” she said. “He refound his faith in God. He was happier. He even smiled even more, if you can imagine.”

Several members of the clergy and friends spoke of how Wood’s rededication to his faith helped him cope with the death of his only son Christopher, who was killed in a motorcycle crash in 2009 at age 21.

“I believe God saw his good works and need him to come home,” Beth Woods concluded. “My brother was right with God.”

The Rev. Henry “Hank” Belcher, retired from Silver Lake Chapel in Plympton, described Wood’s return to faith following his son’s death.

“I guess I was one of the lucky ones, I knew Bruce when he was a kid,” Belcher said, describing him as a typical boy before talking about the call he received from Wood about his son’s death.

“He loved his son very much — he loved all of you very much,” Belcher said. “At the end of the [son’s funeral] service he said, ‘Hank, I’m going to come to church.’ That was a shocker.

“He came to church, and he came every Sunday,” he said joyfully. Belcher even gave Wood a Bible when he said he didn’t have one.

“He read it and he became a different person,” Belcher recalled. “He was a loving soul — he loved everybody.”

When Belcher retired, Wood decided he needed to find another church and on Belcher’s advice to pray about it, found Bible Baptist Church in Hanson. Belcher also encouraged Wood in his decision to become the Halifax Fire Department chaplain.

“Bruce is gone, but his memory will never be gone,” Belcher said. “God has given us a wonderful gift — we are walking computers. We have memories, and I pray the memories we have of Bruce will carry us through the days ahead of us. We will see him again.”

Pastor Mike Fernandez of Bible Baptist Church, where Wood was a member at the time of his death, said in his sermon, “Bruce was a straight-shooter,” with an assignment.

“He was praying he’d get everybody in the church one day,” Fernandez said. “Well, Bruce, here you are. … Right now, Bruce’s death is doing the work of an evangelist.”

It was also the work he did in life, handing out Gospel tracts, inviting people to church, praying for them and witnessing about Jesus.

“Bruce had the spirit of God inside him.” Fernandez said.

Fellow Bible Baptist Church member Peter Flores honored his friend as a “man of integrity — an honest man.”

Wood’s friend Harry Anderson remembered Wood’s smile under a giant black mustache when they first met each other in the 1970s.

He told of how Wood helped him impress his future wife with an airplane ride to view foliage, as well as their spring break adventure in Key West, Fla., and a winter hunting misadventure in the Berkshires.

Anderson, too, spoke of Wood’s spiritual rebirth after his son’s death.

“He was a better man for it,” he said.

After the service, mourners escorted Wood’s casket back under the flag, as it billowed in the breeze, to graveside services at Halifax Town Cemetery.