 By Carol Britton Meyer
It's a "go" for the 2021 Hingham Fourth of July parade! While the Fourth of July Parade Committee remained hopeful that the event would take place in some form this year, it wasn't definite until Gov. Charlie Baker's recent announcement that all Massachusetts businesses and industries -- including parades and festivals -- may now operate at 100 percent capacity. The State of Emergency will end June 15. "We're jump-starting the parade mechanism to get things in motion, "Parade Committee Chair Jim Murphy said recently. The committee has been working closely with the town's Incident Management Team Command Group in making a decision about whether this year's event would be cancelled, postponed, or go on as usual, with safety as the first priority. "The IMT Command Group felt that if the governor was comfortable with lifting all restrictions [as of May 29], we should be able to proceed with the parade in July," Town Administrator Tom Mayo, who is a member of the group, said recently. "We have asked the parade committee to work with the Health Department for suggestions and mitigating measures that may be available." The parade committee will continue working with the Command Group to ensure a safe event for spectators, participants, and the entire community. In the meantime, Uncle Sam (longtime Hingham resident George Ford, who has been in that role for years and loves it!) is reaching out to different bands to see if they're available. Great news, with more details to come!  Photo courtesy of Mark Cullings By Carol Britton Meyer
The 2021 Hingham Farmers Market is up and running at the Station Street parking lot Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. -- good news to loyal and new customers alike! “We're excited to be back and opening on time this year,” said HFM President Mark Cullings. The market will continue to operate as it did last year with COVID-19 protocols in place. Featured items include plants and beautiful cut flowers, fresh produce, delicious baked goods, meat, poultry, seafood, and many other tasty offerings. The market will continue to operate in the traditional walk-through style, with capacity limitations. The popular SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) matching program -- generously underwritten by The Fruit Center Marketplace -- is back, and the Hingham Institution for Savings has again provided a grant to underwrite some of the market's operational costs. Pre-ordering is available to customers who wish to use this option. This practice became useful and popular last year when the market implemented COVID-19 practices. Visit www.hinghamfarmersmarket.org to place your order ahead of time and to learn more about this vibrant market.  By Carol Britton Meyer
Friends, families, and other well-wishers will line Main Street on Saturday, May 15, to applaud and call out greetings to members of the Class of 2021 participating in a celebratory Senior Car Parade. The colorful, spirit-building event will start at 9 a.m. at the middle school, winding along Main Street to the high school. "The seniors will decorate their cars to reflect their plans for next year -- whether that be college, a gap year, work, or something else," Senior Class President Cameron Frank explained recently. Flags, washable car paint, and other decorations are encouraged. "The purpose of the parade is to celebrate our class. While we have had to abandon some of the more traditional senior celebrations [due to COVID-19 restrictions], this is one that we can pull off this year," Cameron said. This is a wonderful way for the entire community to support our seniors in a safe and fun way. So come on, everybody -- make a sign and plan to make some noise that day to cheer on the Class of 2021! By Carol Britton Meyer There's no better way to celebrate the long-awaited arrival of spring and summer than to stop by the Beach House snack shop at Hingham Harbor, which opened this week for the season. The snack shop is located in the new Bathing Beach bathhouse/community room building. Beach food and a variety of ice cream flavors -- everyone's favorite on a sunny day! -- are available, with a spectacular view of the harbor from the deck. The owners of Stars on Hingham Harbor, Tosca, Caffe Tosca, and Fireking -- which are all part of Eat Well, Inc. -- opened the Beach House for the first time last fall to rave reviews and are looking forward to a very busy season. Tosca Chef Kevin Long is overseeing the snack shop kitchen and creating the menu items. "It's a really nice spot, where families and other customers can sit on a blanket or beach chair by the water while enjoying a hamburger, hotdog, lobster roll, taco, and other offerings -- and an ice cream!" Fireking owner Greg Acerra said recently. "That's what summer is all about!" Hours of operation are seven days a week, from the end of April until October 1 and maybe later, 11:30 a.m. to 7 or 8 p.m. to begin with, and likely until later during the peak season.  By Carol Britton Meyer
Mark your calendars! The date of Town Meeting 2021 has been postponed from Monday, April 26, to Saturday, May 8, at 2 p.m., to allow for an outdoor session due to the pandemic. The rain dates are the following weekend -- Saturday and Sunday, May 15 and 16, at the same time -- because May 9 is Mother's Day. The Selectmen recently voted in favor of reducing the usual 300 quorum to convene a Town Meeting to 200 due to COVID-19 considerations, which is allowed under state law. The in-person town election has been rescheduled to Saturday, May 22. The polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. As an alternative to in-person voting on the day of the election, vote-by-mail applications are available at https://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/elepdf/2021-Vote-by-Mail-Application.pdf or by calling or emailing the Hingham Town Clerk's office: (781) 741-1410 or townclerk@hingham-ma.gov. There are five races in the town election: Selectman, Town Clerk, board of health, municipal light board, and board of assessors, which makes for a busy election season! By Carol Britton Meyer The proposed $15.3 million improvement project for the Route 3A, Hingham Rotary, and Summer Street corridor includes a permanent "road diet" and shared-use waterfront paths. The proposal -- which has been in the development stage for more than a decade -- includes a safer modern roundabout replacing the current rotary, new sidewalks, updated traffic signals, and a 10-foot shared-use path with a buffer along the waterfront -- all part of the effort to make the harbor front safer and more user-friendly for pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists. The permanent "road diet" on Summer Street between Martins Lane and the Rotary involves the elimination of one lane in each direction along that stretch. A 2018 pilot "road diet" -- deemed a success by town officials -- was a cooperative effort among Hingham, Hull, and Cohasset town officials due to speeding issues and the high number of accidents that posed serious safety concerns in that area. Most of the costs will be paid with state and federal dollars, with Hingham covering the design costs. This year's Hingham Town Meeting will be asked to appropriate $200,000 to pay for the remaining design engineering work through construction, in addition to earlier-approved funding for this purpose, totaling $819,000 for Hingham's share. The Town of Hingham would need to commit to the full design and related funding in order for the project to move forward.   By Carol Britton Meyer
There's good news for ferry and commuter rail riders! The MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board voted recently to resume as soon as possible full weekend commuter rail, Hull/Hingham ferry, subway, and bus service, which all experienced cutbacks a few months ago due to COVID-related low ridership numbers. A specific timeline has not yet been set, however. The decision was made to restore service to pre-COVID-19 levels even though ridership is not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels in the near future. The Towns of Cohasset, Hingham, Hull, and Scituate earlier teamed up to launch the “Save the Greenbush-Save the Boat” campaign in opposition to proposed cuts to transit services on the South Shore. This group, and the "Save the Ferry" grassroots campaign advocating for the continued operation of Hull/Hingham commuter ferry service, played a major role in the T's earlier decision to take the proposed suspension of the Hull/Hingham ferry line off the table. Cheers to members of these two groups for making a difference!  By Carol Britton Meyer
The Advisory Committee and Selectmen have unanimously voted to support the proposed $61.8 million school budget for the coming year, which includes 32 new positions to help address the learning gap experienced by students as a result of the pandemic and associated social-emotional issues. In addition, AdCom and the Selectmen support an overall fiscal 2022 $132 million town budget -- including the schools, municipal departments, capital outlay, and shared expenses. Four new positions are included on the municipal side. Voters at the May 8 Town Meeting will have the final say on the municipal and school budgets. Funding is in place for fiscal 2022, but how the costs associated with the new positions will be funded in the future is a concern and will likely lead to an override vote in 2022, Selectmen Chair Mary Power predicted recently. In the meantime, the Advisory Committee and Selectmen will be working with the School Committee to craft a long-term strategic plan for the schools to help address budget and other issues and to create a path forward. By Carol Britton Meyer
Two Town Meeting 2021 warrant articles relate to allocating funds to develop a climate action planning study and creating an 11-member climate action planning committee to oversee that process. Such a plan would evaluate a wide range of carbon emission reduction strategies and propose measures to achieve a zero sum of these emissions produced and taken out of the atmosphere ("net zero") by 2040 or another target deemed feasible within the borders of Hingham. This would be a town wide effort targeting the municipal, residential, and business sectors. Hingham Net Zero member Laura Burns said recently during a public meeting that "a lot of personal activity will need to change [to fulfill the "net zero" goal], and Net Zero will help the community figure out how to do that." This group is comprised of residents dedicated to raising awareness of the need for aggressive climate action; supporting the town’s efforts to cut emissions; and working to reduce carbon emissions across Hingham as quickly as possible through advocacy and education.  By Carol Britton Meyer
I realize as I'm writing this blog in mid-March on a sunny day when it's already 54 degrees at 8 a.m. -- a rare and welcome occurrence -- that more cold weather is on the way, and soon. But whether we have another big snowstorm or not, my heart is singing along with the birds in our yard, knowing that Spring is on the way! "No matter how long the winter, Spring is sure to follow," is one of my favorite proverbs and these words of wisdom are 100 percent true EVERY year!! The past 12 months have been challenging beyond measure in many different ways for all of us, but Spring is an opportunity for a fresh start as the daffodils and crocuses start to push their way through the earth and the days grow longer. It's also a time to reflect on all that we are grateful for and how we can spread joy to those around us. The official first day of Spring is March 20 this year. Enjoy!!!!! |
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