Plympton-Halifax-Kingston Express

You are here: Home / Archives for News

‘Sand Wars’ spark debate

By

The Kingston Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, Dec. 19. Chair Kimberley Emberg was absent; Vice-chair Don Alcombright, who was donned in a festive cat Christmas sweater, led the meeting. Selectman Sheila Vaughn was wearing a Santa wig and beard to start the meeting.
Earth Removal Hearing
There was a public hearing for earth removal for PK Realty Trust. “The applicant asks to be able to remove 1,100,500 cubic yards of sand and gravel off site from 20 acres… off Route 44 for preparing the site for cranberry bog water supply, tailwater pond construction; the requested hours of operation are Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday 7 a.m. to noon,” Alcombright read. He further said that the plans are available in the Selectmen’s office at the Town House where they can be viewed during regular business hours.
Town Administrator Keith Hickey said that he had the opportunity to speak with the applicant before the hearing. Attorney Timothy Angley spoke on behalf of PK Realty Trust saying, “The bog is planned to be an organic bog that will ultimately be an education resource and facility that is going to be operated by the Cardinal Cushing school. This is planned to be a resource combining not only the bog but the wetlands to be able to provide a unique outdoor opportunity for students with special needs as well as other students from the surrounding towns and communities.”
President and CEO of the Cardinal Cushing Centers Michelle Markowitz spoke next. Of the work being done at Cardinal Cushing she said, “For almost 80 years now, we have been providing supports, education, vocational and recreational programming for students and adults with disabilities… farming is something that any one of us in this room could learn… we found that our students, the first few trips we made to the cranberry bogs were incredibly impactful; we saw their self-esteem soar.”
Bill Madden from JF Engineering said they were asked by PK Realty Trust to evaluate the property that they purchased. He said that they evaluated and reviewed the bylaw of the town regarding earth removal. “What we’re intending to do is create the level area for the cranberry bog to be constructed on, slope all the surrounding areas, and then come in and excavate for the bog and the water supply.” Madden said that a portion of the work will fall in the water resource overlay district. He said that monitoring wells were in place so that they can monitor the water table elevation any time during the construction process. He said that they filed a stormwater prevention plan through the US Environmental Protection Agency. “We want to return any water that we use for agricultural purposes right back to our tailwater pond… it serves both purposes – water supply reservoir and tailwater. That creates a closed system – nothing comes into the site and nothing comes out of the site,” Madden explained. He said that any excess water would be used for sedimentation and erosion control on the side slopes. He also said that they planned to start heavy vegetation growth early. The side slopes would be seeded as well. “All the areas around the bogs would be essentially our dike roads and sideways,” Madden said.
A Carver resident spoke saying that she was an abutter to a different earth removal project noting that it has amounted to a “sand mining” operation. “The permit was allowed back in 2011, here we are 2023. We have tolerated sand in our gutters, not being able to open our windows if there is the slightest breeze… everything in the house – the vehicles would get coated in sand silica. We have tolerated the tractor trailers and the dump trucks – 25 a day. The most I counted was 56 in one day. Now, if you can imagine the vibrations from these trucks going back and forth. We have dealt with a lot of things over the years. Are you prepared to protect any abutters that are close enough to this project from the downside of this project?,” she asked. “What my husband and I have gone through over the years, it sucks, it really sucks,” she said emphatically.
Madden then presented several reasons why this project was different than the one the previous speaker mentioned. “As I said, we’re not going to be impacting the roads, we’re not going to have travel, you’re not going to have some of the inconveniences or the long-term… we’re trying to have as minimal impact on the neighborhood as possible. There really aren’t any neighbors in this area – it’s industrial land and it’s open forest land,” Madden said.
Jimmy Powell, who is both a Kingston resident and the Ecology Program Director at the Jones River Watershed Association, said he reviewed the plans thoroughly. He asked, “is our earth removal bylaw not no touch ten feet from the water table?” He noted that the plan said otherwise and said, “that just seemed like an oversight to me.”
Meg Sheehan spoke next saying, “I’m an environmental attorney with decades of experience in environmental law working with public interest groups here in Southeastern Mass. I’ve worked on many, many earth removal projects including many with Mr. Madden.” She continued, “I just want to get right to the point here. This project is not allowed in the residential R8 zoning district.” She cited a court case where the town of Plymouth denied a project and the Supreme Judicial Court upheld the decision. “Many, many projects like this have tried to evade bylaws in Plymouth, Carver, sometimes quite successfully because no one is watching until now.” She said that the project in Plymouth was almost identical to this one except that it was for a Christmas tree farm. “This project is not allowed in this zoning district… if you approve this you are violating the laws of this State,” Sheehan said. She said that it didn’t matter the intention of the project or how many stormwater plans, etc. were in place. “This project appears to be one more ruse to get the sand and gravel out of there… I have seen 100 of these ruses… enough is enough and we are drawing the line,” she said. She urged residents to visit https://www.sandwarssoutheasternma.org/.
Selectman Eric Crone asked, “Can somebody tell me what the profit is on a cranberry bog versus annual profit on a cranberry bog of this size versus what is the profit 1.1 million cubic yards?” Sheehan said that they estimate it to be about $15 million. “The price of sand and gravel in Southeastern Mass has quintupled,” she said. She added, “The cranberry business as everyone knows is in an economic decline… it’s a breakeven business at best… who is kidding who, this is not about cranberries.” Angley replied that the quality of the gravel is worth maybe $3 million, not $15 million. He also said that the purpose of the project is to be an educational resource. Crone asked if that meant that it would be not for profit. Angley said that they would make a profit off of the materials mined but noted that it was minimal.
Crone asked, “There’s a ton of abandoned cranberry bogs, why not just take one that’s already built next to a pond, I mean they are all over the place so why not just take an existing one and make that an educational non-profit?” Angley said that it wasn’t possible to convert an existing one into an organic one. Crone retorted, “but that’s not what we found; we called and they said pretty much all the organic cranberry bogs in the State were converted.” Angley said, “That’s not my understanding and I may be misinformed.” He noted that the location near the wetlands and the access point made it ideal for the intended use.
Vaughn said, “I just don’t understand why we need to move 1.8 million tons of sand and gravel for a bog… I just don’t understand how we have to move all of that just to have an educational site for a bog for Cardinal Cushing.” She added, “I really think Cardinal Cushing is a great school; I think it is amazing… it’s just, to me, moving that much sand and gravel for a bog, it just doesn’t make sense to me.” Angley said that the long-term goal would be to make it more than just a bog with barns and livestock, etc.
Town Administrator Keith Hickey said, “I don’t think we’re interested in getting into a debate this evening between two counsels who have obviously opposing views on what this land will be used for.” He asked both Angley and Sheehan if they would provide some information that they can use in their peer review and their review with legal counsel. “I think, at this point, there’s a lot of questions from our point of view, from the Town’s point of view, with the amount of sand and things of that nature, we’ve asked… about needing some additional information before the Board of Selectmen can make a decision,” Hickey said.
Michelle Frost of Quincy spoke saying that her daughter is a student in the vocational program at Cardinal Cushing. “She has been afforded a number of vocational site opportunities; she loves the goat farm – that is a big one. She comes home with a lot of soap. She has done window washing; she has a really diverse set of opportunities… but it is the cranberry bog that is her passion.” She noted that this particular location was chosen for accessibility. “By building this to spec, you are opening this up to a tremendous amount of kids and adults who, their disabilities make it really hard for them to engage otherwise,” Frost said. “When you have a child with a disability, it is really hard to get to a place where you can look beyond that and just stop worrying, you have to find your new footing, so Cardinal Cushing and people like Michelle are critical to providing purpose and joy to other students,” Frost explained. She said that her daughter who works in the cranberry bog earns money that way and wants to eventually buy a home. “This has the potential to be a difference maker for so many students, like my daughter and the community, and the more people are around kids like mine, the more they learn the skill of looking past the disability,” she told the Selectmen.
Executive Director of the Jones River Watershed and Kingston resident Pine duBois spoke next. “When I first set foot in Kingston it was on an abandoned cranberry bog… and we turned that into an organic cranberry bog,” duBois explained. Children from Brockton and other locations were brought in to work and get an education on that bog. “So I really appreciate what was just said… but this site… taking down the site 75 ft to eliminate the drainage to Indian Pond… is going to damage the 3 ft deep to 4 ft deep Indian Pond 66 acre natural heritage site; it is an endangered species site. It is important to Kingston, it has been important to Kingston and it will continue to be important to Kingston as long as it can have water to fill it up and where that water comes from is the water that they are going to trap because it is no longer going to get to Indian Pond,” duBois said. duBois also shared concern that the geology and hydrology of the area will be changed potentially affecting the water table and noted that they will happily make other options in Kingston available to Cardinal Cushing for this purpose.
Vaughn said that they will continue the public hearing until January 16. Included in her motion was that PK Realty provide $10,000 for a peer review of the earth removal application. The peer review company must be selected from the Planning Board’s list of acceptable options. The Board voted unanimously to approve Vaughn’s motion.
Other Business
The Conservation Agent spoke to the request for the Blackwater Memorial conservation restriction. Little was said about the matter other than that a lot of work had been put in over the last year and it was now ready to be voted upon. The Board voted unanimously to approve. The Selectmen also approved some liquor licenses and live entertainment licenses.
Hickey asked that the Board rescind just over $24,000 of $50,000 of approved ARPA funds for several reasons outlined in a document shared with the Selectmen. He said that they have some additional ARPA fund requests. He said, “We’ll have about $10,000 in ARPA funds – we have to spend those funds by the end of 2024…. There is well over a million dollars that has been approved for a variety of projects primarily Water Department and School Department that have not been spent yet.” The new requests include a system that would notify the Fire Department members on duty if there was a call for service. The second request was for an air conditioning system for the Reed building used by the Recreation Department for a summer daycare program. The third item was for a new chiller unit for the elementary school. The final request was to replace the Opticom system at the intersection of Wapping Rd., Evergreen St., and Pembroke St. The Selectmen approved the uses.
Hickey provided a few more updates saying that the Wastewater Treatment Plant project had reached substantial completion. He also noted that the leaks in the fire suppression system at the Town House and Senior Center had been improved. He also said that the town has installed security cameras at the playground at Gray’s Beach due to ongoing vandalism.
Before adjourning, the Selectmen wished everyone Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas and complimented the town on the various holiday events around Kingston.

 

Learn About Lives of Whalers, Whaling Industry at Faunce School

By

Two docents from the New Bedford Whaling Museum, Nancy Gentile and Captain Michael Taylor, will present a program titled, “A Day in the Life of a Whaler,” on Tuesday, Jan. 9, at the Faunce School, 16 Green St., Kingston.
Gentile and Taylor will use a PowerPoint presentation to help describe the typical whaling vessel, captain and crew, geography of whale hunts, and products created from whales. The duo will also discuss details of the whaling business and talk about the wives that accompanied sometimes their whaling husbands on long voyages. The program also features a demonstration of how baleen and harpoons were used.
Gentile served as a research librarian in various capacities for 39 years in private and public libraries. He has been a docent at the Whaling Museum since 2017 and enjoys giving tours to visiting student groups and adults weekly.
Taylor spent the first half of his career in the British Merchant Navy, starting as an Apprentice in 1958 rising as high as Ships Master. In retirement he farmed in South America before returning to Massachusetts, where Taylor volunteers at the Whaling Museum.
To register for this event, please visit – https://kingstonpubliclibrary.org.
For more information, you can contact Steven Miller, Reference Librarian at (781) 585-0517 x6272 or at smiller@kingstonma.gov.

Fun for all ages – Silver Lake Hockey Annual Alumni Game

By

Started in the mid-1980s, the annual Laker Hockey Alumni Game is now celebrating over 35 years of fun for a good cause. This year more than 50 Laker alum participated in the two-hour fun game benefiting the association’s scholarships for graduating senior hockey players. For some, this is the only time they lace up their skates each year, while many others are still actively playing several times per week. They split the two teams by age, putting the crafty ‘older players’ in red against the new crop of recent graduates in gray. In addition to this fundraising activity, the Alumni also host a horseshoe tournament each year in conjunction with the Hockey Boosters. This year’s contest was taken by the gray team of more recent graduates.

 

Photos and text by Steve Gilbert
To purchase and see more game action visit
http://sgphoto.net

Silver Lake Middle School Holiday Helpers

By

The annual Holiday Party organized by the Silver Lake Middle School Student Council and SMAD club is a cherished tradition that brings joy and gratitude to students from both schools (The Silver Lake Middle School and the Head Start Preschool). The event is held in collaboration with the Head Start preschool program in Marshfield. Each year, the Student Council and SMAD club collect more than a hundred gifts to distribute to the children at Head Start.
During the Holiday Party, Santa and his helpers make a special appearance, adding to the excitement and magic of the event. They distribute the gifts to the preschoolers and engage them in holiday songs, arts and crafts, and games. The presence of Santa and the opportunity to receive gifts create a memorable experience for the children.
The event holds great significance beyond the festivities. It serves as a community service initiative that showcases the love and support that the students and their parents have for their local community. By organizing the Head Start Holiday Party, the Student Council and SMAD club provide their peers with an opportunity to experience the true meaning of the holidays.
Participating in community service activities like this helps the students learn the value of giving back and reinforces the importance of empathy in our society. The event instills in them a sense of charity and strengthens their belief in the power of helping others. It also fosters a spirit of togetherness and unity among the students, as they come together to make a positive impact on their community.
The Head Start Holiday Party has become a tradition that the students eagerly anticipate each year. It brings joy and happiness to the preschoolers at Head Start, while also leaving a lasting impression on the participants from Silver Lake Middle School. This event exemplifies the spirit of holiday giving and serves as a testament to the compassion and generosity of the Student council, SMAD club, and the entire Silver Lake Middle School Community.
~Mme Alison Farah

Laker Boys Hockey Win in OT over Bridgewater-Raynham

By

Photos and text by Steve Gilbert

Silver Lake Varsity Boys Hockey started their season with a bang back on December 13th with an overtime win over Bridgewater-Raynham Regional. The Lakers got out of the blocks early and stayed close with the Trojans before falling behind late in the game. That is when Silver Lake’ Senior Captain Patrick Murphy really turned it on scoring two goals in the last five minutes, one with just 16 seconds left in the game to tie it back up before also netting the overtime winner a few minutes in to complete his hat trick. Since that early season win, the Lakers dropped games to the powerhouse teams in Duxbury and Marshfield before evening their record against Dartmouth in their last game before the Christmas holiday.

Plympton COA Holiday Luncheon

By

The Plympton Council on Aging enjoyed a delicious holiday luncheon provided by the generosity of the Uplan Club, as they have in years past. The menu included roast beef, scalloped potatoes, and all the fixins! Yum!
The Friends of the Council on Aging provided raffles. After lunch the group took part in a holiday sing-a-long.

Comcast wins Halifax renewal

By

Halifax Board of Selectmen met Tuesday night, Dec. 19, at 6 p.m. following an executive session for the purpose of police chief contract negotiations.
First on the agenda was a public hearing to consider the renewal cable license renewal of Comcast for the Town of Halifax, as required by state law.  Selectmen Chairman John Bruno asked the assembly if there were any comments regarding Comcast and its performance as Halifax’s cable provider, and there being none, went on with the hearing.
Town Administrator Cory Hadad introduced Bill August who negotiated the proposed contract for the town.  August told selectmen that he exclusively represents municipalities in cable license renewal.  The contract he negotiated continues the existing 5% of gross revenues of Comcast go to operating budget and a level funding for  equipment purchase, which August said was strong, considering Comcast has lost 25% to 30% of its subscriber base statewide due to streaming, cord cutting, and new technologies.  Bruno closed the public hearing and found that the renewal license proposed adequately meets the public interests of Halifax and moved to approve the Comcast renewal license commencing April 22, 2024.  Jonathan Selig seconded the motion.  It carried unanimously.
Bruno moved that the board accept and acknowledge donations for Holidays in Halifax fireworks,  MacDonald Industries for $8,000 and Donovan Services Inc, (Dunkin’ Donuts) for $2,000.
Frank Johnson of Elm Street was appointed to fill the remainder of a one-year term as a democratic election worker, with a term expiring July 27, 2024.
Haddad brought a number of funding requests to be used by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) remaining balance.  Halifax has already allocated $600,000 toward the water department and have previously approved $480,000 toward H-vac upgrades for Silver Lake and have committed funds to several other projects.   “We have about $360,000 remaining.  We do have to have that committed by the end of calendar year 2024 and by committed, we would have to show that we’ve already ordered it, and we don’t want to lose that money.”  We want to make sure we’re spending that so in meeting with our financial team, we’ve come up with a few additional requests:  Financial Consulting $25,000.  Great Hall Audio-Visual.  We had allocated $50,000 toward that previously, but find that things are much more expensive than anticipated.  He noted that just replacing the curtain in the Great Hall was $110,000, so an additional funding of $40,000 would be needed to make that project come to fruition.  Vehicles for town hall:  Right now the town hall has one vehicle to use for town-related travel, mostly to inspection sites by the building department, board of health, assessing department, and conservation agent.  Employees may now travel in a vehicle labeled “Town of Halifax”.  The request is for $75,500 for two vehicles to be used by town employees on town business.
The Pine Street intersection engineering study should be a priority, Haddad said, in light of the uptick in accidents, and rather than wait for town meeting in the spring, Haddad said it would be a good use of ARPA funds that could be accessed now.  Bruno agreed, and Haddad said he’d try to get a “kick start” on the project and get an engineer in to begin.  An additional $40,000 was requested.  The motion was approved unanimously.
Selectmen then read the letter from the Conservation Commission asking that selectmen rescind the appointment of Kimberly King, due to excessive absences.  Ms. King asked selectmen to hold action on the matter until she can be heard in executive session as some of what she has to say cannot be heard in open session.   Selectmen will hold the matter for executive session at 5:30, Jan. 9, 2024.
An Open Meeting Law complaint filed by Gordon Andrews Dec. 6, stated that a particular matter of overlay zoning is before the board to give their recommendation at Town Meeting.  “Both Mr. Bruno and Mr. Selig are communicating in a Facebook group discussing their thoughts and deliberating on the matter”.  Andrews, in his complaint, is requesting members of the board go to an Open Meeting Law training course.  Andrews furthered that the AG’s office has continually had complaints against the Board of Selectmen.  (Bruno commented aside that it isn’t true) The AG’s office has found violations against the board (Bruno: Which isn’t true) and just because there’s a difficult choice to make doesn’t mean they should disregard the law.  They should be having these discussions and deliberations at a meeting where all the public is informed this will take place.”  Bruno countered, “Well, I have my own opinions about this because I think it’s ridiculous but we’ll go on with it.”  Selig responded because his name is mentioned in the complaint, “I did post something on our town page, in my opinion not deliberating, not discussing, but it was to offer a link to the town’s folk to a video that Cody had put together to offer more information on the town meeting.  I know the rules.  I know we’re not allowed to deliberate and discuss things outside of these meetings.
MBTA Action Plan:  the consultant is still working on the mapping.
Accepted the resignation of the Assistant Town Accountant as of Dec. 22, and Officer Al Hingst will be retiring at the end of the fiscal year, July 1, 2024.
Haddad told the board that the town has been awarded a $75,000 grant from the state to assist in   implementing online licensing and permitting.  Darlene Regan COA Director had advised selectmen that she had applied for a hybrid learning grant for the town of Bridgewater to offer hybrid learning to seniors.  It was $100,000 to Halifax and $100,000 for Bridgewater.  Halifax was notified that grant was approved.
From the first round of “Fair Share” infrastructure grants, Halifax will also receive an additional $153,000 in its Chapter 90 funding.
Bruno thanked the board for their work during 2023 and looked forward to another challenging year in 2024.  The board adjourned.  Their next meeting will be Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024.

KBB honors Mat Hamilton

By

The Kingston Business Association (KBA), a non-profit organization which supports Kingston and Kingston businesses, dedicated the lighting of this year’s Christmas tree in front of Solstice Restaurant in honor of Mat Hamilton.
The ceremony is one of the traditions associated with the town’s Luminary Celebration.
The 2023 honoree in the “Distinguished Community Volunteer” category is Mat Hamilton, a longtime resident who served his community through work on various town boards and organizations.  He was part of the Capital Planning Committee, the Community Preservation Committee, and served on the Finance Committee from 2004 to 2012. Mat has been married for 34 years to Fran (Shea) Hamilton. Both graduated from Norwich University in 1985. He is the loving father of triplets – Gavin, Lauren, and Emma. Mat and Fran became great friends with Paul Gallagher and his wife Sandy who also are parents of triplets.
Mat has spent many years in the contact lenses industry, volunteering in support of Kingston youth sports and is a board member of the local Hilltop Club.
Earlier this year, Mat was diagnosed with ALS. While he could not be present physically at the ceremony, his wife Fran and members of the family were there on his behalf. State Representative Kathy LaNatra presented a proclamation of congratulations from the Massachusetts legislature on Mat’s many accomplishments on behalf of the Town of Kingston.
The event also included a visit from Santa Claus, who provided some gifts to the crowd which included an after-event celebration at nearby Forty Second Brewing Co.
“Our community is enriched by all that Mat has done and the KBA is honored to dedicate the tree this year in his memory,” said Donna Smith-Bocash, president of the Kingston Business Association.
The Kingston Business Association Annual Tree Lighting began seven years ago; the tree was originally donated by the Mathias family as a memorial to their son Jeff who was the KBA’s first honoree. Every year the tree is rededicated to a significant Kingstonian, Other honorees since that first celebration have included Joseph Rebello, Paul Tura, Dick Arieta, George Boerger, Phil Burham, and John Iannucci.
The Kingston Business Association is a non-profit organization founded in 2015, with a purpose of helping support Kingston and Kingston businesses, as well as state and local legislation and governmental policies which promote new and existing businesses in Kingston.
The KBA also partners closely with the Plymouth Area Chamber of Commerce and is the core of its Kingston Advisory Committee.. For additional information, please contact dbocashkba@gmail.com.

The Best Gift of All for Christmas perserverance

By

A Christmas Story
By Linda Ibbitson Hurd
In May of 1972 when my brother Dave graduated from high school, he set out to travel across the country on his motorcycle, a Triumph 650 Tiger. He and a friend had planned the trip together. Four days into the trip the friend decided he’d rather go to California and left. Dave continued on, sticking to his itinerary to see the places he had dreamed about.
A few weeks later when he made it to Glacier National Park in Montana, he was feeling lonely. He found an animal shelter in a town called Missoula to see about getting a dog. In a row of cages, the last cage being the death cage, sat a little black dog, a dachshund and Pomeranian mix. Dave took him. He was told to take caution as the dog may jump off the bike. He went into an athletic shop nearby and got a knapsack. He put the dog in it and drove slowly around a field to see if the dog would stay in it. He jumped out twice but then stayed in it. Dave called him Dog. When he got back out on the highway, Dog jumped out and ran across all four lanes. Dave watched helplessly as vehicles veered to miss the dog in the heavy traffic. Dog looked across the highway at Dave as if to say, aren’t you coming and then crossed it again as Dave’s heart sank, thinking he would never make it back but he did. He picked him up, put him in the knapsack and told him he was naming him Lucky.
Dave’s birthday is in August and our mom was hoping he would be home by then. Our youngest sister was born on his birthday when he was three and we always celebrated the two birthdays together. When he didn’t make it home for the birthdays, we were all disappointed; it just wasn’t the same without him and I know it bothered Mom. One day at the end of summer when you could feel Fall in the air, I was helping Mom move some things in her room and a framed picture of my brother fell off her cedar chest onto the floor. There was no reason for it to fall and she was alarmed, feeling like something had happened to Dave. Within the hour the phone rang, and it was him. He said he had a feeling that he should call home, and mom was glad to hear his voice. He told her he was low on money and was working for a Czechoslovakian family on their farm picking fruit so he could make enough money to get home.
September passed into October and after Dave drove through the Painted Desert his bike wasn’t running well and got worse. He pulled into Albuquerque and found a motorcycle shop where the owner told him the main bearing was gone on the bike and he’d have to send away for the part. Dave found lodgings in a basement room of a condemned building where a group of Chicano men lived, and he found work as an assistant cook and dish washer at a local restaurant. The owner of the bike shop kept offering him money for his bike and told Dave the part hand’t come in. It was now November. Our dad wanted to fly Dave home and he refused to leave without the bike. Dad called Spooner’s Bike Shop in Hanover. Mr. Spooner called Triumph and they in turn contacted the owner of the bike shop who had Dave’s bike and put pressure on him to fix it and return it to Dave so he could come home.
When Dave left there, it was December and he wanted to be home for Christmas. A pleasure trip was turning into a survival trip as he drove through a torrential rainstorm in one state, a hurricane in another and then snow twelve inches deep and more. He had to make it with what money he had left, saving it for gas. He drove without stopping and thanks to some insulated coveralls our parents sent him. He and Lucky survived one 30 degree night after he’d been driving well over 24 hours. The ground was too frozen to pitch a tent and he put all his clothes in the knapsack to keep Lucky warm while he held him and slept on the ground.
The week before Christmas we had a blizzard in Massdachusetts, and we were all glued to the news. We hadn’t heard from Dave for two weeks. We knew from the news the weather and temperatures were not in Dave’s favor. All we could do was pray. After the blizzard was over, I went to my parent’s to see if there was any news. All of us were there, both the radio and TV were on so we could hear the news and weather. It was late afternoon, and it was getting dark. Suddenly there was the familiar sound of a motorcycle. We all held our breath; did we dare hope it was him? We all ran to the window to look in the driveway. A bike, but no Dave. Then we heard the kitchen door open and when we got there, in he came with a knapsack on his back and a little black dog peeking out. There was relief, happy tears and lots of hugs, the most beautiful sight to see and the best Christmas gift we could have gotten.

 

North Easton Savings Bank named Top Place to Work in Boston Globe survey for 2nd year in a row

By

For the second consecutive year, North Easton Savings Bank proudly announces it was named a Top Places to Work by The Boston Globe for 2023.
In addition to the overall award, the bank also earned eight Top Workplace Culture Excellence Awards for innovation, work-life flexibility, employee well-being, employee appreciation, professional development, compensation and benefits, leadership, and purpose and values.
These new awards for 2023 come on the heels of the bank also winning major awards in 2022 for Top Places to work (The Boston Globe), Top Workplaces USA (USA Today), and Best-in-State Banks (Forbes).
“I am grateful for the opportunity to be included on this esteemed list once again,” stated Rich Spencer, president and CEO of North Easton Savings Bank.  “I want to thank all of our amazing employees throughout the organization who work hard every day to support our customers and the communities we serve. But more than that, I thank them for supporting each other, being there for one another, and truly making our Bank a wonderful place to build a career.
An award-winning local bank with over $1.5 billion in assets, North Easton Savings Bank is uniquely situated to provide personal and commercial banking and lending solutions to southeastern Massachusetts.
Founded in 1864, North Easton has a proven track record of growing the community through fair banking practices, financial advising, and local philanthropy. Looking forward, North Easton is well-positioned as the preferred area banking partner with a powerful combination of convenient features like mobile and online banking and the personal, hometown touch of a local bank. North Easton Savings Bank is fully insured by the FDIC and the DIF and is an Equal Housing Lender. For more information, please visit NorthEastonSavingsBank.com.