It’s been 30 years – 30 gingerbread constructions – that Jon Wilhelmsen and his wife Ann Sobelewski have been replicating houses of note in Plympton to be unveiled, as it were, at their holiday Christmas party.
Ann says, “We started with our own house and then branched out to our neighbors and then to friends or people in the community who volunteer to do things for the town.
“One year we did the library – which was a lot of fun and a special gift for all they do for the community.” In 2020, COVID brought its own set of challenges and the couple wanted to give heartfelt thanks to the First Responders and built both the fire station and the police station. Jon delivered them to their respective destinations to give them a bit of gingerbread fun for the holidays.
The houses are entirely edible, though most people don’t end up eating them, Ann says. It is always a surprise; the recipient never knows that their house is the one being done. This requires subterfuge, which becomes more difficult as more people have ring doorbell cameras, because Jon needs to take photographs of the house that he can use to draw the plans.
“All in all, it’s just something nice to do at the holiday season and it’s even more special if the recipient has children or grandchildern,” Ann continued.
Jon adds that it takes between 12 to 18 hours, depending on the house, to draw the plans, make and bake the gingerbread and the windows, assemble and decorate.
A few other notable antique houses they have done include the double Cape at the corner of Ring and Main, the white Victorian in the center of town, the Mayflower Mercantile in the center on Mayflower, the Black Walnut Tree House on Ring Road, Just Wright Farm on Palmer Road and the Craftsman bungalow on Center Street. Not only are these architectural treasures in town, but as Ann notes, it is our thanks for all these folks do to make Plympton the town that it is. And we always deliver the building(s) to the owner the day after the reveal for them to enjoy – and for some to desperately figure out how to keep it indefinitely (it has not been figured out yet).
Former Rep. Josh Cutler pens new book about State House
Boston is a city known to be rich in history, so it is only fitting that the Massachusetts State House has served as the backdrop to events ranging from the creation of the gerrymander to the crusade against the “Red Menace” and the theft of the Sacred Cod. Former State Representative and author Josh Cutler dives into these stories and more, connecting them in his latest offering, Under the Golden Dome: Historic Talks and Tales from the Massachusetts State House, which was published by Clipper Press and released last month.
From the stirring oratory of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the inspiring words of Helen Keller, to the fiery rhetoric of Theodore Roosevelt and the fearless advocacy of Angela Grimké and Dorothea Dix, Cutler offers a vivid portrait of historic personalities as well as moments, spanning two centuries within the historic walls of the Massachusetts State House. Even the unexpected appearance of Jackie Gleason, the daring flights of Amelia Earhart, and the machinations of Richard Nixon find their place in the rich tapestry of history, politics, and human drama that has unfolded Under the Golden Dome.
Under the Golden Dome is the third book authored by Cutler. Previously, he examined the role of a young Federalist editor in the War of 1812 in Mobtown Massacre: Alexander Hanson and the Baltimore Newspaper War of 1812, published by The History Press in 2019 and winner of the 2020 Baltimore History Prize. Cutler also wrote about the abolitionist movement in Boston in the 1830s in The Boston Gentlemen’s Mob: Maria Chapman and the Abolition Riot of 1835, also published by The History Press in 2021.
“From my time serving under the golden dome, I’ve been intrigued by all that has transpired in the Massachusetts State House,” said Cutler. “Researching its history and sharing its stories has been a true labor of love.”
Before being elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, where he represented the sixth Plymouth district for 11 years, Cutler was a publisher and editor of the Duxbury Clipper.
Under the Golden Dome is now available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookshop.org. For more information, please visit https://joshscutler.com.
Closer look at the Green Book
WHITMAN – If not for the controversies and the 2018 Academy Award for Best Picture, won by “Green Book,” many white Americans might not have heard of the annual guide (1936 to 1967) by that name, offering travel advice, lists of safe and welcoming hotels for African-American travelers across the United States and ads for businesses – especially car sales.
Dr. Gloria Greis, the executive director of the Needham History Center and Museum, spoke at the Whitman Public Library on Saturday, Dec. 14 to add some informational meat on that skeletal knowledge in her talk, “Driving While Black.”
And area towns like Hanson and Kingston have earned listings in the guide over the years – for South Hanson, 1948, to be precise. More on that in a bit.
The Green Book got its name, in part, from the color featured in its cover designs, but also for its founder, Victor Hugo Green, who founded the guide in 1936, aided by his wife Alma, who took over briefly after his 1960 death.
A postal employee and travel agent in Harlem, Green was perfectly situated to make his guidebook the one people immediately thought of – despite the existence of at least six others – he could depend on a national network of postal employees to bolster the word-of-mouth campaign and, more importantly advertising, by his fellow postal employees.
While she admitted her presentation is “a little Needham-centric,” Greis, said that a few years ago, a local resident sent her a note asking if she knew Needham had an entry in the Green Book, sending her on a search for information on several other South Shore communities, as well.
But, initially, Greis, herself, hadn’t known what the Green Book was.
“I daresay, I was not alone in my ignorance and I daresay that my ignorance says something about the way we approach local history,” she told her audience at Whitman Public Library. “Despite general sense that modern history is comprehensive and everything is known, the historical record is surprisingly incomplete. Records get lost, or not recorded in the first place.”
She added that even towns like Needham, where today an ABC-affiliate television network is located, and has a well-regarded educational system, was in Colonial times, considered literate, but not literary.
People could read and write, “but they didn’t spend a lot of time putting their thoughts down on paper.”
Therefore, recorded history is usually found in official documents – tax rolls, town clerks’ records, church registers, town reports and the like.
“This is the history of the town’s leaders,” she said. “While this information is incredibly important, it’s very incomplete as a town history. It leaves out large segments of community experience.”
That is largely the experience of the working class, Greis said – “the routine rhythms of work and leisure, the accommodations of neighborhood, the attitudes, opinions and relationships that governed everybody’s everyday life.”
Often who gets to tell that history adds another layer of controversy, which is why the dramatic film “Green Book,” ran into trouble by literally putting a white character in the driver’s seat, not only of a car, but also of a Black character’s story.
“Piecing together historical information about the non-establishment groups in a town takes a number of different strategies,” Greis said. The Green Book is one of those.
Hanson, for example was among the 36 communities in Massachusetts with a listing – a small house at 26 Reed St., once owned by a woman named Mary Pina, was listed in the 1948 Green Book as an accommodation for African-American travelers and tourists both in a guest room in her home, and for campers in her spacious back yard.
“The [accommodations] tend to follow the highways and areas we still think of as vacation spots,” Greis said. “But not all. Some of them are on byways, like Needham.” And Hanson.
Hanson Health Board Chair Arlene Dias was amazed at that bit of historical news.
“There were a lot of Pinas on South Street, but I don’t remember somebody living that far up on Reed Street,” Dias said in a phone interview Friday, Dec. 20. “I’ve never heard of [the Green Book listing]. It is interesting.”
She said she would be calling family members who were more knowledgeable of the Cape Verdean population’s history in Hanson for more information.
“I had relatives that were Pinas, but they were on Pleasant Street,” Dias said.
Greis said that, as much as the Green Book offered guidance for the safety of travelers, it also offered economic safety for small businesses.
“It is a compendium of some of the most important people, successful businesses and important political milestones of the 20th Century,” she said. “It’s a who’s who of a rising class of African-American middle-class entrepreneurs.”
Before the advent of the Green Book and similar travel guide, Black travelers had to prepare ahead, packing food and enough gasoline for the journey, because there was no certainty that they’d find a safe place to eat, lodge, fuel their cars or even use the bathrooms, Greis said.
Green had written in the forward to the Green Book that it served as a way to ensure safety and dignity in travel until African-Americans were afforded equal opportunities and privileges in the United States.
“It will be a great day for us to suspend this publication,” he wrote.
The Jim Crow South was not the only area where travel problems might be encountered.
“These limits were imposed on African-Americans all over the country – even in the North,” Greis said. “We might not have had the actual signs, but we certainly had the signals.”
Even in Harlem during it’s “Harlem Renaissance” of the 1920s and ’30s, the more famous nightclubs like The Cotton Club, did not allow Black customers in the audience for performances of the biggest African-American entertainers of the day.
As Black workers found job opportunities in the North, especially in Detroit, their economic condition improved, but that was only one reason car ownership by Black Americans grew.
“Sometimes, it was the only way of getting easily from place to place,” she said. The Green Book and other guides also advised Black people to buy a car as soon as they were able to for that reason. “The Green Book guided them to services where they were welcome, reducing what Green kindly called ‘aggravation.’”
That aggravation could range from out-and-out violence to Sundown Towns, where the threat was thinly veiled.
Getting one’s kicks on Route 66, was evidently meant for whites only as there were no welcoming business along the route musically extolled from Chicago as one “motors West.”
The first Green Book in 1936 covered only New York and Westchester County in 16 pages, but shortly grew to more than 9,500 businesses in 100 pages covering the entire United States, Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean.
“Esso Oil, which was notable for its progressive hiring, including African-American executives, scientists and franchisees, distributed the book throughout its station network,” Greis said.
It was also aimed at the African-American Middle Class and was relatively unknown among people of color in lower economic strata.
The Interstate Highway system helped spell the end of the Green Book, both by presenting a more homogeneous appearance for travel – and bypassing many of the businesses that advertised in it.
Halifax mulls MBTA zoning consequences
Alan Ingram
Express correspondent
The Halifax Select Board, at their Tuesday, Dec. 17 meeting, discussed the recent Dec. 16 special town meeting, which saw a record-breaking 722 registered voters attending. Town Administrator Cody Haddad commended the Town Clerk’s office and facilities team for their efforts in managing the large turnout.
Haddad also reported that the Attorney General’s office had already contacted the town inquiring about the vote’s outcome that overwhelmingly rejected creating the state’s mandated MBTA multi-family zoning district in Halifax.
“We’ll wait and see,” he said. “I don’t anticipate legal action until the Supreme Judicial Court case comes down with Milton.”
The decision has immediate financial implications for Halifax. Haddad revealed that a recently awarded $125,000 grant for a regionalization study with Kingston now includes a caveat requiring compliance with all state laws, including the MBTA zoning law.
“We were able to pivot and actually give that grant to Kingston because Kingston will be in compliance,” Haddad explained. “The good news there is we’re not going to lose out on that because it was a regional grant approach.”
However, other ongoing grants could be in jeopardy. Haddad mentioned potential “clawbacks” for previously approved grants, prompting efforts to expedite projects and submit invoices quickly.
The town is particularly focused on completing energy projects, with heat pumps already installed at town hall.
In response to the vote, Board of Selectmen Chair John Bruno proposed including a resolution on the spring town meeting warrant instructing local representatives to work towards overturning the MBTA zoning law.
“I think it doesn’t have any legal effect, but at least it makes it clear where we stand,” Bruno said.
The Board also addressed concerns about the Pine Street intersection project. The town had previously allocated $40,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for an engineering study of the intersection, but the highway department has been unable to secure an engineer for the project.
Due to the deadline for obligating ARPA funds, the Board voted to reallocate the $40,000 to cover an overage in the highway barn roof project. However, Board members expressed frustration with the lack of progress on the Pine Street intersection improvements.
“I really do feel like we need some sort of update on what we’re doing with Pine Street,” Selig said. “I don’t want to lose this ARPA money to get back to the original point. That’s silly to give that money back to the state.”
The Board agreed to make the Pine Street intersection a priority for 2025 and requested a written plan from the highway department within 90 days.
As the meeting concluded, The Chair praised the professionalism of the town staff and the progress made in recent years.
“The professionalism that you guys have brought to this, and Cody and Pam and Irma, is just so far beyond expectations,” Bruno said. “It’s wonderful. Congratulations to you guys, and I think the town is really well served.”
Looking ahead, the Board discussed potential changes to future town meeting procedures, including earlier check-in times and clearer communication about start times on meeting warrants.
Halifax is considering a partnership with neighboring Hanson to provide veteran services after Hanson’s Veterans’ Service Officer (VSO) recently resigned. The potential collaboration could ensure continued access to veteran services for residents of both communities.
Town Administrator Cody Haddad informed Selectmen that Halifax is in communication with Hanson regarding the possibility of regionalizing veteran services.
“We’re in communication with Hanson on the Veterans position, doing some potential regionalization there,” Haddad said. “At the very least, we’re going to help our neighbors out in the meantime so that Hanson residents still have access to Veteran Services.”
The Board also learned that Halifax is extending support to Hanson by providing temporary Building Commissioner services. Hanson is currently without a building commissioner, and Halifax has stepped in to assist.
“We are working to assist them in the meantime,” Haddad explained. “I would anticipate probably at your January meeting some sort of agreement with Hanson just saying that we’re going to provide assistance to them. They’ll have to compensate us.”
Board member Jonathan Selig praised the town’s ability to offer assistance to neighboring communities. “It’s great that we are now able to offer other towns assistance and not be on the other end of that situation,” Selig said. “Kudos to Cody and the town to be in this spot.”
Haddad emphasized that while Halifax will be compensated for its services, the willingness of town staff to help neighboring communities speaks to their character.
“It shows that we have a team here that other towns want to look to for assistance,” Haddad said. “But also, we have the individuals in place who want to do it. Ed Bayly, our Building Commissioner, is all for it. Steve Littlefield is all for it. And that speaks to, I think, the character of the people we have.”
The Town Administrator noted that helping neighboring communities will be beneficial in the long run. “It’s always good to help out our neighbors because we never know when we’re going to need their assistance,” he said.
Author James Parr to visit Adams Center
Author James Parr will discuss his book “World War II Massachusetts,” on Wednesday, Jan. 8 at the Adams Center, 33 Summer St., Kingston, at 6 p.m.
Over 500,000 Massachusetts residents responded to the call of military duty during the Second World War, while many of the commonwealth’s citizens fought the war on the home front. Everyone around the state – including pets – found creative and essential ways to contribute to the war effort.
Thousands worked in factories, volunteered for Civil Defense, watched for enemy aircraft, and took part in salvage collections and bond drives, all while dealing with rationing, blackouts, rumors, and a host of other wartime inconveniences. Numerous more served on its military bases that were crucial to the nations defense. Parr reveals the stories of these brave and dedicated citizens – from the famous to the ordinary – as they faced wartime challenges.
Parr taught elementary school in Malden, Needham, and Framingham for 34 years before retiring in 2022. He has been a long-time volunteer at the Framingham History Center, where he created popular programs such as the Haunted Halloween Trolley Tour. His other History Press titles include, Dedham: Historic and Heroic Tales from Shiretown, Framingham Legends and Lore, and Murder and Mayhem in Metrowest Boston (with co-author Kevin A. Swope).
To register for this event, please visit our website at kingstonpubliclibrary.org. For more information, you can contact Steven Miller, Reference Librarian at (781) 585-0517 x6272 or at [email protected].
Kingston BOS appoint special police officers
The Kingston Board of Selectmen met Tuesday, Dec. 17. The Selectmen donned festive holiday sweaters. Kingston Police Chief Brian Holmes attended the meeting to speak on the appointment of special police officers and matrons. “We’ll be increasing the number and at the next scheduled meeting, I’ll be requesting that the Board authorize me to call for a list of permanent intermittent civil service part timers; there’s a functional difference between that and special police officers and I’ll be happy to explain that prior to and on the evening that I request that,” Holmes explained.
Selectman Kimberley Emberg read the list of appointments including Michelle E. Beck and Taylor A. O’Neill as Matrons and Darren J. Martin, Marks J. Brenner Jr., and Sean Percy as Special Police Officers. All terms begin January 1, 2025 and end December 31, 2025.
Due to a recent vacancy in the Veteran’s Agent position, Town Administrator Keith Hickey recommended the appointment of Sara Lansing following the recruitment process. The anticipated start date is February 3. Emberg noted that the Wage and Personnel Board, which currently only consists of two members, was split on the paygrade. Emberg said, “I get that we [the Selectmen] are the hiring authority and at the end of the day we can hire people at whatever step we think is appropriate… I can’t support a step 7 given the information we have before us this evening and what was discussed at the Board [Wage and Personnel] meeting last night.” The Selectmen decided to schedule a joint meeting with the Wage and Personnel Board to discuss further prior to approval of the appointment/hiring.
Emberg reviewed the Boards and Committees with openings including two on Capital Planning, one on Wage and Personnel, and a few openings on the Finance Committee. “There are more, but I wanted to call a couple by name,” Emberg said.
Hickey said the flashing school zone lights will be installed on December 26 and 27. “Weather permitting the school zone will be operational and all the necessary lighting up and running by the end of the calendar year so that’s good news,” he said.
Hickey praised the Council on Aging for their Christmas lunch where they served over 100 meals. “Everyone who attended seemed really, really pleased and had a great time. Holly Nighelli, the acting Director, and her staff did a tremendous job as did Santa Clause… everyone had a great time, ate well, laughed – it was nice to see,” Hickey said. Emberg also thanked those involved with the Santa ride through town and for all the donations for Toys for Tots.
The Selectmen reviewed a draft of a timeline for the annual town meeting. Selectmen Chair Eric Crone reminded those in attendance that the Selectmen elected at their December 3 meeting to move the date of town meeting earlier to April 26. Crone said that the Town Clerk has recommended that the election be held on May 17. They voted to approve the schedule as proposed.
The Selectmen also accepted a $1,000 donation to the Kingston Public Library for books, $10,000 to the Kingston Animal Shelter, $100 grocery gift cards to the Veteran’s Department, and $1,100 donation to the Veterans Department.
New York man charged in Walmart theft
A New York man was held in custody on $50,000 bail in connection with the theft of multiple high-priced ink cartridges from the Walmart store in Halifax, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz has announced.
Travis Moore, 44, is charged with one count of Larceny Over $1200 related to a July incident where he is accused of removing lamps from two cardboard boxes and stuffing the boxes with ink cartridges before paying the listed price for the lamps at a self-checkout station and exiting the store. Moore is also accused of stealing a cellphone charger. The total value of merchandise that was not paid for was $1435.85, according to Walmart Asset Protection personnel.
At a hearing held Thursday, Dec. 19, after the defendant presented himself in court, the Commonwealth moved for $250,000 bail. Judge Shelby Smith set Moore’s bail at $50,000 and set conditions of release which include staying away from any and all Walmart locations if released on bail.
Moore is next scheduled to appear in court on January 16 for a probable cause hearing.
New life for Plympton Almshouse
Deb Anderson
Express staff
Wednesday, Dec. 18, upper Main Street in Plympton closed to traffic to allow something seldom seen these days – a house moving down the road.
From 65 Crescent St., diagonally across from the Dennett Elementary School down the street and around the corner, the house was moved to its new location at 112 Main St.
The building, a classic Cape Cod style house, was also known as the old Plympton Almshouse. Jen Macdonald and Mike Lemieux, owners of Full Circle Homes, saw the potential in the project and hired Gordon Building Movers, the oldest family-owned and operated business in Hingham, who have done this sort of thing countless times in their storied 125-year plus history. Five generations of Gordons have been involved in this business, so Jen and Mike chose a business with lots of experience.
The move itself took more than six hours to accomplish, and the house now sits on its new location.
Jen told The Express, “It is now sitting on our lot at 112 Main St. for a further renovation and we are excited to restore it.” Mike is also enthusiastic about the new project, “It was quite the endeavor, and we still have a ways to go!!”
We can’t wait to see how this one comes out.
You can follow Mike and Jen of Full Circle Homes on their youtube channel, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCowhOniFhPVT4GdwdWClHCQ where they plan to show the journey of the Almshouse as an episode. See lots of in-depth details of how to’s there.
Brockton firefighter, of Halifax, succumbs to line of duty cardiac arrest
Brockton Fire Chief Brian Nardelli announced on Sunday the line of duty death of Firefighter Jeffrey Albanese of Halifax, just after 11 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 21.
He had suffered a cardiac arrest while responding to an incident on Dec. 9. He was resuscitated by his brother firefighters, Brewster EMS, and the medical staff at Signature Brockton Hospital.
Firefighter Albanese was transferred to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Boston, where he received incredible care, according to the Chief’s announcement. “He fought very hard but succumbed to his injuries. Firefighter Albanese fought a courageous battle with his family and brother and sister firefighters by his side.”
He leaves his wife and teenage twins.
Arrangements will be announced once complete.
Kingston Luminaries Saturday, Dec. 21
A Brief History
In 1986 a group of Kingston Call Force Firefighters initiated a volunteer program to rebuild the Surprize Hose House (circa 1888). Retired Firefighters Bud and Edgar Loring, Call Firefighter Dale Loring, and retired Deputy Chief, Dave McKee, finished rebuilding the Hose House during the centennial year of the Kingston Fire Department. Dale Loring stated, “We thought it would be nice to start a luminary night to promote the restoration of the Hose House.” Thus, the luminary tradition began on Main St., where just 30 candle-lit bags lined one side of the street, starting at the Hose House to the new fire station. The spectacular scenery presented included the newly refurbished hose reels that can still be seen today on luminary night. All call fire fighters’ wives would bake cookies and bring cider to give out to local people who carne to enjoy the luminaries. Today many new traditions have been added. It is held on the third Saturday of December. (Town of Kingston website)