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Lakers grad will pitch for Brockton Rox this summer

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There will be a Silver Lake connection on the Brockton Rox once again this summer.

Silver Lake High grad and Halifax native Michael Quigley is set to pitch for the Brockton Rox of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League this summer, the team announced this past weekend on social media.

The 2020 Silver Lake grad had a brief stint with the Rox at the end of the 2020 season — before he played college baseball. In it, he pitched two games and allowed two runs in four innings pitched. In his second appearance of the season, he pitched three scoreless innings.

After making six appearances for the Division 1 UMass Lowell baseball team as a freshman, Quigley has carved out a role as a regular in the team’s bullpen this season. As of the start of this week, he had already pitched in six of the team’s 16 games thus far. It was the third-most appearances by any pitcher on the team.

Quigley had a standout career at Silver Lake. He threw a no-hitter in his first career varsity start as a sophomore for the Lakers. And he was named Patriot League MVP his junior year. He was a four-year varsity player, but didn’t get to play his senior year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Book stays in SL curriculum

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The Silver Lake Regional School Committee met in-person on Thursday, March 17. Committee Chair Paula Hatch opened the meeting to public participation and parent Janet Stanford asked to speak regarding the book, “So Far from the Bamboo Grove”. A parent had raised concerns over the content in the book which spurred the creation of a review committee who was to investigate further and make a recommendation to the School Committee. Stanford read the passages in question, which included mention of rape, during the meeting. Stanford, who identified herself as a therapist and former guidance counselor, said there was no warning from a teacher that the students may be reading something troubling. She further said she would have hoped that an alternate book would have been made available to students. Stanford said she felt that the teacher’s response did not address her concerns and only defended the merits of the book. She had similar complaints regarding her conversation with the ELA Director. She did say that her conversation with Middle School Principal Jim Dupille went better but expressed concern that no one had suggested her daughter visit with a guidance counselor. “I understand that not every student is going to be upset by the book, but some may,” Stanford explained. Stanford also said that she was denied the opportunity to be part of the review committee. She also emphasized that while she was not in favor of banning books, she felt that it should be raised to the high school level.

Assistant Superintendent Ryan Lynch led the discussion on the review of the novel. He said the review committee was comprised of 11 members including the ELA coordinator, the middle school adjustment counselor, The middle school principal, three members of the School Committee, a middle school parent, a seventh -grade ELA teacher, an eighth-grade teacher, a librarian, and an eighth-grade student. “It was a collaborative positive meeting…we valued participation and everyone’s voice being heard,” Lynch said. “The Review Committee reached a unanimous consensus that “So Far from the Bamboo Grove” is an appropriate instructional resource for the seventh-grade ELA curriculum. The Review Committee recommends that teachers continue to communicate with parents about instructional goals and content being used in class. And the Review Committee reminds families that an alternate text can be offered to a student if needed per the district policy,” Lynch explained to the larger School Committee. Committee member Gordon Laws pointed out that the text could be triggering for students who may have experienced trauma and spoke in favor of parents having the opportunity to review the content ahead of time and select an alternative text if necessary. Committee member Leslie-Ann McGee suggested parents be able to access a syllabus at the start of the school year. The School Committee voted to unanimously support the review committee’s recommendation.

Dupille provided a principal’s report. He said that the Grade 6 orientation was held earlier that week and went very well. Dupille said that 12 of the school’s chorus students were selected to participate in the Junior District Music Festival in Scituate. Dupille also told the Committee about a new tutoring program that brings high school students in to help tutor middle school students who may be struggling in a certain content area. Dupille said that March Madness will be taking place culminating on Friday, March 25 in a pep rally, student vs faculty basketball game, and a dance.

High School Principal Michaela Gill said that the third Credit for Life Fair would be back in-person after being held virtually last year. Gill said the entire junior class would be attending. “I would really like to extend a huge appreciation for our advisors,” Gill said. The Fair teaches students how to make “real life financial decisions.” Gill also said that they kicked off their unified sports at Silver Lake in partnership with Best Buddies and the Special Olympics. She said they would be starting off with a track season this year with a basketball season to be added next year. MCAS have begun for ELA. Math will be in May and science in June.  Gill said that the CTE deadline will be April 1 and she told the Committee that nearly 50 percent of the eighth-grade class has applied to be part of CTE. She called it a testament to the program.

Senior Callie MacInnis, who will be studying mechanical engineering in the fall, spoke on behalf of the Student Council. MacInnis said she thought that the inclusion week that the school held went “very well.” She said that individual winter team sports would be having their banquets soon. “The mask optional after break has been going very smoothly in my opinion… the people that do [continue to wear them] don’t get criticism for it which I know was a worry,” MacInnis said. MacInnis also spoke out in favor of the book discussed earlier in the meeting saying that she read and studied it when in seventh grade as well and found it to be appropriate. She also commended the teacher’s communication with students regarding some of the potentially troubling material in the text.

Assistant Superintendent Ryan Lynch said that they recently had a professional development day with a focus on social and emotional learning and anti-bias training. Lynch said that 85 percent of the staff responded favorably when surveyed regarding the training.

Superintendent Jill Proulx shared version two of the budget with the Committee, first outlining some of the changes included. She said a middle school leave of absence would result in a $40,000 savings. There were several other small savings. She said that two high school retirements would result in a savings of $55,000. “The budget in front of you… is a net change increase of $2,000,” Proulx said. She continued, “The total budget is an increase of 3.74 percent – an increase of $1,020,066 more than last year.”

She proposed several reductions to fund curriculum coordinators for Grades 7-12 including an arts coordinator for Grades 7-12. Proulx expressed concern for the music programs. “We need to save the music, it’s the reality; the only way we can do that is by being like other elementary schools in our State and in our area by offering instrumental lessons for K-5,” Proulx explained. She also told the Committee that the administration would like to see the assistant principal at the high school restored to a 12-month position. Proulx said that they would also like to see a behaviorist at the middle school at an additional cost of $24,000.  If no cuts were made, the additional requests would bring the total increase to 4.068 percent.

Committee member Jason Fraser said he came into the night’s meeting prepared to support the increase of 3.74 percent. He said he would ask the Committee to think about the sustainability of the budget as well as the ramifications of bringing a budget increase over 4 percent to each of the town meetings. Halifax has expressed concern over their inability to support the regional budget. If forced to support it, it would likely mean decimating the Halifax Elementary School budget as it would be the only large town department not already at minimal funding. McGee said that it pained her to pit one town against the other two towns saying it went against the spirit of regionalization. She commended Hatch for getting the tri-town meetings together earlier in the budgetary process. The Committee voted to approve the 3.74 percent increase as presented in version two of the budget with Laws being the one dissenting vote. Fraser stressed that the Committee voted the bottom-line number but said it would be up to the discretion of the Superintendent to determine how to utilize those funds.

Fraser began his legislative update by saying that the Chapter 70 funds were being eroded due to charter school tuitions. He said that just as charter schools reach out to public school students to entice them to transfer, the law also affords public schools that same ability to reach out to charter school students. He suggested that the Committee “commission our administration over the summer… to maybe put together a pamphlet/flyer that they can send out.” He suggested the flyer include mention of the wonderful programs at the various schools. “To show what we have to offer,” Fraser explained.

Halifax eyes increasing BOS to five

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The Halifax Board of Selectmen met in-person on Tuesday, March 8. Town Administrator Ed Thorne provided an update on the community survey reports that looked at the number of selectmen per town as well as open town meeting versus representative town meeting. The first survey investigated 30 communities on the South Shore and the other looked at communities across the State with populations of 5,000 to 10,000. Of the 30 on the South Shore, 23 had Boards of Selectmen and seven had Select Boards. The vast majority had five members while eight had three members. Of the 86 communities looked at across the State 50 had five and 36 had three. This survey was conducted as the Selectmen consider an article at town meeting to go from a three-person Board to a five members.

The other report discussed was what Thorne called the “Stump Brook Dam Report.” Thorne said that Selectmen Chair Gordon Andrews visited the site with the Board of Health agent and had a lengthy conversation with MA Wildlife. “Did you see any beavers?” Selectman Ashley DiSesa asked. “We found muskrat and they were trapping for beaver,” Andrews responded. He said the Board of Health needs to issue an Emergency Order for the trapping of the beavers. He said the Conservation Commission may need to do so as well for the removal of the dams. Thorne said the level of the pond is up, but nothing can be done as the beaver dam is in the way. Andrews said that currently the State is handling it but if it falls outside of their jurisdiction, the town will need to pickup the cost of trapping the beavers. Andrews said that they believe that there are at least 4 lodges in Burrage. Andrews said that ultimately the town would likely need to increase funding for trapping. He specified that the traps are no kill traps. A 55 lb beaver has already been removed.

The Selectmen had an appointment with Don Barrows, the President of the Monponsett Watershed Association. “The most important thing that we see this season is weed eradication,” Barrows explained. “We’ve got to do something this year, we can’t wait,” he continued. He noted that there was funding for the ponds available and Thorne said that it should cover the cost. Thorne said that the amount should cover the aloe treatment as well as the weed eradication for both the East and West ponds. Thorne said the work should be done in May. Barrows said that he had not yet heard if the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) would be conducting testing of the ponds.

The Selectmen also met with Highway Surveyor Steve Hayward to discuss the condition of the roads including potholes. Hayward said that he just had an additional mile of work come in at an estimated cost of nearly $400,000.

Andrews told the other Selectmen that there would be an increase of $24,572 for the out of County tuition rate for Norfolk Aggie. He said that the town has two students currently enrolled.

The Selectmen also discussed the intermunicipal dispatch agreement with the ROCC. Fire Chief Jason Viveiros said there would be a $50,000 increase this year. He noted that in the five years they have been with the same service, the price has remained steady. “We’ve had a great service there; it’s been a considerable savings from when we were doing dispatch in house,” Viveiros explained. He also explained that there are a lot of things that the ROCC does that people are not aware of such as replacing a computer system for $50,000. The Selectmen voted to approve the agreement.

Andrews read from a status report for municipal and school buildings. He said that the wiring for the Town Hall front door is complete. The backflow preventer was weeping at the Elementary School and needed to be drained during the vacation break. The cost to prevent future draining is $5,300. The windows are installed at Pope’s Tavern. There are leaks under the windows at the library and due to the size of the project, its cost will need to go into the capital plan.

Andrews also said that they had received a letter from the Silver Lake Regional School Committee asking to use some of the town’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to support upgrades to the schools’ HVAC systems. The Selectmen agreed to review it further at a later meeting.

Information Technology Director Cesar Calouro was there to discuss potentially using ARPA funds for network security. Calouro said the amount needed was listed as both an ARPA request as well as being included in the capital plan. The amount listed in the capital plan was just for Police, Fire, and Water. He said the life expectancy of the equipment should be ten years. “I think you’re better off just going with the capital request for Police and Fire,” Andrews said. Calouro said that if the amount was included in the capital plan his budget would be going up. DiSesa said she wanted to delay voting until she could investigate it further.

Andrews said there is a petition article for zoning at the Special Town Meeting to change the location requirements for marijuana establishments. “It’s been certified; there are 100 signatures,” Andrews said explaining that it was enough to consider it at the Special Town Meeting. Andrews said that the Planning Board should hold a public hearing on the matter.

The Selectmen voted to issue the RFP for a lease-to- own option for the solar farm per discussions from previous meetings.

The Selectmen had a request from the V.F.W. to establish a field of flags on the Town Green from May 14 to June 4. “The field consists of 500 flags,” Andrews said. The Selectmen approved the request.

An update on a relocation of the Council on Aging was discussed. DiSesa said that of the two options provided for relocation, one was not suitable and the other involved a lot of legal paperwork. Andrews asked DiSesa if she would be in favor of approving $15,000 in ARPA funds to move forward with a set of plans to present at Town Meeting. DiSesa said she would but would like to see an article at town meeting that covers both the cost of design as well as the entire project. The Selectmen approved the $15,000 during Tuesday’s meeting.

Andrews read that the Town Clerk had certified the resignation of longtime Selectman Troy Garron effective March 28, 2022. “I would like to take the opportunity to thank all those people who supported me over the years, and I hopefully haven’t disappointed anybody,” Garron said before explaining that he is taking time for family. He called it a very difficult decision before being met with resounding applause from those present. “You’ve done a lot for this community,” Andrews said noting that Garron was first his soccer coach before serving on the Selectmen Board with him.

Troy to retire after 32 years

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Effective March 28, Troy Garron will be resigning as a Halifax Selectman after 32 years and 11 terms. Garron will also be celebrating another big milestone that day – his eightieth birthday. Garron was born in Cook County Hospital in Chicago and was raised in Argo, Illinois where he was one of 11 children. “My grandmother and mother had a great influence on me as well as my older brother,” Garron explained. The older brother mentioned is Larry Garron, a member of the AFL Hall of Fame, who played for the Patriots from 1960 through 1968. Troy, himself, played on a championship football team in high school that went 13-0. He also made the Olympic preliminaries in the 100-yard dash. Garron was in his third year at the University of Illinois when he was drafted in 1963 during the Vietnam War.  He served three years.

In 1969, he moved to Massachusetts where he lived with his brother Larry in Framingham. “Larry had a martial arts school, and I went down to work out one day in one of his classes and I met Marilyn there at that time,” Garron said of the first time meeting his wife. “Of course, it wasn’t in fashion for blacks and whites to get married at that time; over 52 years ago,” he said of their marriage.

Garron spent much of his career in law enforcement with a focus on rehabilitating troubled kids including his work as the Commissioner of Youth Welfare. “I was one of the individuals keeping kids off the street,” he said. Garron also worked as a probation officer. “I love working with kids,” he said. During his time as a probation officer in Springfield, Garron was part of a program that paired troubled kids with college students to hopefully show them another way of life.

It was his love for helping kids that ultimately led him to Halifax in 1973. Garron and his wife took their two young children and moved to Halifax so Garron could begin working for the Greater Boston YMCA. Garron worked for the YMCA Juvenile Justice Program out of Halifax where he was in charge of 58 youths who were being held for court or serving time. Garron said the goal of the program was “to try to show them a different kind of lifestyle.” He continued, “Some of those kids had never been out of Boston and had never seen grass… we had classes, we had sports for them, counseling.” The program was closed in the early 1980s. Following his tenure there, Garron began working for the Plymouth County House of Corrections.

Garron and Marilyn purchased a home in Halifax and their now four children attended Halifax Elementary School and eventually Silver Lake. Garron said of Halifax, “I liked the quaintness of it; it reminded me of the town I grew up in which was just outside of Chicago. It was a community… everybody looked out for everybody.” Garron said that he wanted his children to be involved in sports and Halifax had recently started a soccer program, so he volunteered to coach despite having little knowledge of the sport. He ended up coaching soccer for 12 years. Garron also founded Halifax’s first track and field club. “We had really good success for seven years,” Garron said of the club. They traveled all over the State including Boston where they participated in the State Police Tournaments. “It was an enjoyable thing; I loved it,” Garron explained.

Garron, who earned his master’s degree in education with a concentration in personnel management from Cambridge College, first served Halifax as a member of the Wage and Personnel Board for three years. He would also serve the town as the representative to the MBTA, the representative to the Plymouth County Advisory Board, and as the representative to the Plymouth Old Colony Planning Council. He would hold those positions for 20 to 30 years each.

Garron said that what first sparked his interest in running for selectman was a town meeting at which different department heads were stating their goals. He said the head of the Recreation Department spoke at length and made a request for $1,000 to redo the baseball field and track. Garron recalls a resident saying that they did not care if the fields were redone as they did not have school aged children. From there, Garron said he wanted to have a hand in policy making in the town and was told that running for selectman would be one way to do that. He first ran in 1989 when he was defeated by Candace Kniffen. Determined, Garron ran again in 1990 becoming the first Black selectman in Halifax serving alongside Kniffen. Over the years, Garron has become a mainstay on the Halifax Board of Selectmen, serving alongside many others.

Asked what he hopes for Halifax in the future Garron said, “I wish them all the world. I just hope they will be more conscientious of the senior citizens in town. They do well with the schools – the elementary school and the baseball programs and the playgrounds but the senior citizens, we need a senior citizen center – a new center,” Garron said. He noted that the current space for the senior citizens is antiquated and not handicap accessible. “I hope that the town prospers… we are a conservative town and hopefully they will loosen up a little bit,” he continued.

Garron said that some of the many things he particularly looked forward to as a Selectmen were the dedications of flower gardens to different people, clean-up days, and Eagle Scout ceremonies for the Boy Scouts. Garron said his motto has always been fair, firm, and consistent. “I tried to be fair to all the issues that came before the Board no matter how I felt about the individual, firm once I had enough information to make a decision, and consistent in the first two,” Garron explained. He said that he prides himself on respecting others saying, “I realize that every decision I make affects somebody’s life.”

Plympton’s Fire Dept. grant proceeds

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Over the past several months the Plympton Fire Department has been awarded multiple public safety grants.  According to Chief Silva, “grant money is the backbone of a department our size.  Without these programs we would not be able to provide innovative and needed services to the residents and visitors to our town.  There is simply no way a town of our size could afford to keep pace with the ever-changing challenges for Public Safety, while keeping our members who are serving the public safe.”This year alone we have been awarded:

• A 2021 Custom Forestry / Brush Unit  FEMA $240,000.00

• 12 Self Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) with extra cylinders   FEMA    $84,000.00

• 19 Personal Thermal Imaging Cameras DFS     $12,000.00

  • 9 Personal Carbon Monoxide Meters

• Public Safety Drone with Training   VFA       $1,900.00

• Joint Fire Police Training with equipment CSTF     $11,000.00

• Haz Mat (CBRN) Masks and Filters  CESF    $11,800.00

• 2 Multi Band Portable Radios EMPG      $2,700.00

• 4 year recruitment and retention program funding FEMA  $150,000.00

• 1000 COVID Home Test Kits  Ply County   $16,000.00

• Student and Senior S.A.F.E. DFS     $6,230.00

TOTAL   $523,830.00

Thank you to our team here at Plympton Fire Department for all the hard work and diligence for obtaining these awards!

Chief Silva

‘Thumbs Up’ verdict for Mock Trial

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District Attorney Timothy Cruz presented a Mock Trial for the people of Halifax in the Halifax Town Hall Great Room, attended by close to 50 people, as TRIAD’s March 1 presentation.

Explaining through action, the Mock Trial showed how the judicial system works at the trial level, using locals to act out the various roles.  TRIAD president Ken Vinton acted the part of the judge, complete with judicial robe, presiding over the event.

Jo Schofield, a mainstay of the Halifax senior population, was the defendant, and various witnesses were called to testify for or against the charge that she had over-celebrated her birthday and was driving while intoxicated.

First to testify was the bartender at the fictitious Ken’s Pub, who stated under oath that she served Jo and her friend Dottie two Manhattans at the bar while they waited for a table to have lunch.   When seated, they had another adult beverage while they dined. The bartender then stopped serving alcohol to Jo, who then became belligerent and stormed out of the pub, got into her vehicle, and crashed into a car in the parking lot.

Officer Cushman took the stand and stated that the defendant failed a field sobriety test at all levels: slurred speech, standing on one leg for a time, and walking a straight line, heel to toe, for ten paces.

When Jo took the stand in her own defense, she claimed to be sober when taking the field sobriety tests, and her inability to perform the tasks had to do with her age – 86!  “See if you can stand on one foot for five minutes when you get to be 86!” she told the court.  And also claimed that the bartender was mistaken in her drinks count, and that she had only had one Manhattan at the bar and had ordered a nonalcoholic beer with lunch.

Jo’s best friend Dottie testified on her behalf saying that the bartender’s memory must have been in error and  they had not over-imbibed.

District Atty. Cruz acting as prosecutor, asked Dottie if Jo was her best friend who drove her everywhere she needed to go.  Dottie agreed.  And would she do anything to help her best friend.  Dottie said yes.  And would she swear to her friend’s sobriety to help her friend.  Dottie admitted that she probably would.

Judge for the day Ken called on the jury – those in the audience  – to render a verdict – and it was guilty.

The verdict for the event was a resounding “thumbs up” for a fun and informative morning.

TRIAD meets the first Tuesday of each month at 10 a.m., regularly at the Halifax Police Station’s second floor meeting room.  This coming April 5 meeting will feature Kozhaya “John” Nessralla, who will speak about his family’s long history in Halifax.  All are welcome to attend.

Hydrogeologist meets BOS

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The Plympton Board of Selectmen met virtually on Monday, Feb. 28. They had an appointment with hydrogeologist Peter Newton of Bristol Engineering Advisors to review the Rocky Harvest Farm water use. Selectman Mark Russo said, “A little over a decade ago, some decisions were made in town that allowed the Rocky Harvest Company to harvest water in town…they are perceived by many as a misguided decision.” He said that hundreds of thousands of dollars had been spent fighting the decision for a decade and the courts were “not sympathetic.” Russo said that at last year’s Annual Town Meeting they asked for a modest appropriation to spend on having a hydrogeologist explore Rocky Harvest’s reporting and to provide information on the impact of the harvesting of the water.

Newton said that due to COVID he was unable to go into the State’s offices and review the “boxes and boxes of documents” pertaining to the matter. He said that his review was based on those documents that he was able to obtain. He did obtain the application that Harvest Farm filed for access as a public water supply.  “They are authorized to withdraw up to 100,000 gallons a day,” Newton explained. He said that they don’t meet the criteria for the Water Management Act to apply. He said that those that fall under the Act’s purview are held to the guidelines and limitations placed on them by that Act. “They fall below the threshold for the State’s permit,” he explained. He said they have an approved rate of 50 gallons per minute or 72,000 gallons per day. Based on their reported withdrawal they are not subject to any State compliance. “Their water use has been creeping up over the past five years,” Newton said citing specific amounts withdrawn since 2016.

“I guess the short answer is there is nothing that I could see in the documents that I reviewed that says that what they’re doing is not consistent with what the State would require; the caveat there is… approval forward relies on them to submit their own documentation to the State and frankly the State doesn’t have the capability to audit,” he explained.

Newton also said that his job is far more complex than it used to be when the primary focus was strictly on ensuring clean drinking water. He explained that part of his job now is identifying the effects the water withdrawal has on streamflow, wetlands, species, etc. “It’s a much more complicated analysis now to address those questions,” he said. “It doesn’t seem to me likely that if they’re pumping at the rates they are reporting that there is likely to be significant impacts to homeowners or private wells nearby,” Newton told the Selectmen. Selectman John Traynor asked how often the water is tested that is taken out by Rocky Harvest. Newton said he was unsure but said they were required to test. He said it was regulated by the FDA not the EPA because it is bottled.

Russo said that the thing the town should be doing each year is checking on the annual reporting and max per day volume. Russo asked Newton if they should be doing anything else. “That’s really the only thing you have available to you,” Newton replied. “To be honest with you, DEP is understaffed and overworked,” he continued. Russo asked about the accuracy of Rocky Harvest’s reporting. Newton said the town could ask for the meter calibration records. “It’s good to know that we have something that we can do,” Selectmen Chair Christine Joy said.

Selectmen were scheduled to meet with Area 58 but there was no representative on the call, so they agreed to table the conversation for a later date.  Selectmen and Town Administrator Liz Dennehy said that they would like to discuss a hybrid style meeting moving forward so that some members could be present in person while people could still attend virtually.

Selectmen discussed having the Council on Aging exercise class move back into the Old Town House. Dennehy said they were ready to have them return to the building. She briefly touched on getting Wi-Fi in that building but said first they would have to get a phone line installed. She said the cost would be roughly $110 per month. “My feeling is we ought to do it,” Traynor said.

The Selectmen also reviewed the right of first refusal option pertaining to a parcel on Ring Rd. Russo said that no one in town responded saying they were interested in purchasing the property. Russo said that he strongly recommended having a public hearing on the matter before deciding how to proceed. The hearing will take place during the next Selectmen’s meeting.

The Selectmen and Dennehy discussed town meeting preparations. Dennehy said they reached out to the company that had previously provided IT services for Town Meeting. She said the town will once again secure their services. Town Meeting will likely be spread across multiple rooms at the Dennett Elementary School.

Selectmen and Dennehy also discussed the process for Board of Selectmen appointments to various boards and committees in town. Dennehy said there were a few openings in town. “As far as the reappointment process for town employees; there seems to be a disconnect in town as far as who needed to be reappointed and who didn’t,” Dennehy explained. She explained that anyone that is customarily reappointed on an annual basis does not need to go down to the Town Clerk’s office every single year to be sworn in. She said they are also trying to get ahead of any members who may not want to be reappointed before the end of the fiscal year.

Dennehy gave a Town Administrator’s update saying that there were 27 applicants for the Police Chief position. She said the preliminary screening committee would be meeting with her to go over the interview structure. “It appears on the surface that we have a lot of qualified applicants including two internal candidates,” Dennehy told the Selectmen. She also told the Selectmen that the Board of Health lifted remaining COVID restrictions.

Dennehy told the Selectmen that they had correspondence from Silver Lake Regional Schools asking for support for upgrades to their HVAC systems. She said that the town had already previously agreed to their share of the project which is estimated at $190,000. The ARPA funds, which are limited in use, will be used to fund their share of the project. Joy said that it was one of the approved uses. Dennehy also shared that she had correspondence stating that Kimberly Russo was resigning from the Bylaw Review Committee.

Icing on the cake

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They are the champions — the state champions that is.

The Whitman-Hanson Kingston Peewee A U12 Hawks hockey team wrapped up their season with a 2-1 victory over Burlington to win the Peewee Tier II Small State Championship on Sunday, Feb. 27.

The Hawks did it in style, too, flying back from a 1-0 deficit with five minutes to play.

Amari DeJesus of Abington knotted the score at 1-1 with under five minutes remaining off a play set up by Whitman’s Max LaRosa and Collin McLaughlin as well as Hanson’s Shaun Farrell and Sean Sweeney.

Sweeney wasn’t done there.

Just minutes later, he won the puck at the middle of the ice and split two defenders for the breakaway goal to put WHK up 2-1. That was the difference.

Hawks goalie Bren Dougherty, also of Hanson, gave up just six goals in five games during WHK’s tournament run.

“It was an overwhelming feeling when that final buzzer went off and we had achieved our goal,” said WHK head coach Ryan Cole. “Our team has all types of players on it. We have been focusing on that every player has role on a team and that individual skill doesn’t win championships. It is doing the little things that wins championships. This group of young boys and girls was able to understand that and made a dream come true.”

Katrina Huff-Larmond pulls nomination signature papers for 2nd Pymouth & Norfolk senate seat 

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RANDOLPH – On Monday, Feb. 14, Randolph Town Councilor Katrina Huff-Larmond took an important step in her campaign for the 2nd Plymouth & Norfolk State Senate seat by taking out nomination signatures papers at the Commonwealth’s Elections Division in Boston, MA. Huff-Larmond now must collect at least 300 signatures by May 3, 2022 in order to get on the Sept. 6 Democratic primary ballot.

“I am running for State Senate because the residents of the 2nd Plymouth & Norfolk need active and engaged leadership for our communities to succeed,” Huff-Larmond said. “When COVID-19 first hit, our community wasn’t getting the attention or resources that we needed, despite having one of the worst infection and spread rates in Massachusetts. Working with my fellow town councilors and our town manager we reached out to leaders on the state level, and thanks to that work we got the support that our community needed. The issues that caused Randolph, Brockton, and the other communities of the 2nd Plymouth & Norfolk district to be overlooked and ignored during the pandemic aren’t going away just because COVID numbers are declining, and we need an advocate on Beacon Hill to really address that.”

If elected Huff-Larmond would be the first woman to represent the 2nd Plymouth & District in the State Senate, and the first person of color to represent any of the communities in the district on Beacon Hill. This is not Huff-Larmond’s first experience breaking barriers in a run for public office. In 2015 Huff-Larmond was the first woman of color ever elected to the Randolph Town Council (no women of color were ever elected to Randolph’s earlier Board of Selectmen), and was the first woman to serve as Council Vice President.

Katrina Huff-Larmond, candidate for State Senate in the 2nd Plymouth & Norfolk district, is a clinical social worker and experienced community organizer.

A graduate of Northeastern University and Simmons College, Katrina has worked with at-risk youth and young adults for more than 30 years across Massachusetts, including in all seven of the district’s communities.

She also advises companies and institutions on workplace culture and diversity and teaches social work classes at several Boston-area universities. As a Randolph Town Councilor since 2015, Katrina has successfully advocated for more youth programming and for more transparent & professional municipal government.

Katrina was a leader in the successful 2021 fight for more fair and more diverse state legislative districts which created the new 2nd Plymouth & Norfolk district among other gains. The 2nd Plymouth & Norfolk state senate district consists of Randolph, Avon, Brockton, Whitman, Hanson, Halifax, and East Bridgewater.

Katrina lives in Randolph with her husband, son, and dog Andre. To learn more about Katrina, visit katrinaforsenate.com.

Farewell dinner planned for Fr. Lee

By

Linda Redding
Special to The Express

On Saturday  Feb. 26, at the 4 p.m. Mass at Saint Joseph the Worker Church in Hanson, Father Hobson, announced that Father Kwang Lee has been appointed to a new parish assignment by Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley, Archbishop of Boston.

Effective March 12, 2022, Father Lee will serve as Parochial Vicar of Our Lady of Grace Parish serving Groton and Pepperell, as well as Saint John the Evangelist Parish in Townsend.

Father Lee has served  Our Lady of Lake Church in Halifax and Saint Joseph the Worker Church in Hanson since 2015.

 It has been a year since the two churches have formally combined as the Holy Apostles Parish.

In addition to his parish duties, Father Lee also was chaplain at hospitals in Brockton, Milton, and Plymouth.  He also served as chaplain for the Hanson Fire Department.

A farewell dinner for Father Lee is planned  for Thursday March 10, at 6 p.m. in the parish hall of Our Lady of Lake Church in Halifax. .

Please contact the parish office at 781-293-7971 by March 6, 2022 if you plan to attend the dinner.