 "Everyone has been made for some particular work, and the desire for that work has been put in every heart.” – Rumi
After two amazing years as Executive Director of Harbor Media, I have made the difficult decision to transition out for an opportunity as VP of Marketing at a healthcare company in Boston. My last day will be Friday March 20th. I am so grateful for what we have accomplished at Harbor Media. In two years: we went from 25 members to 150, won two awards, got international recognition, increased hyper-local videos, built a podcast room, expanded our editing capabilities, added the town of Norwell to our services, created an internship program for students with special needs, opened up post-production internship program on Newbury Street in Boston, increased our revenue, and much more … We changed the way Public Access thinks and operates with innovative approach and entrepreneurial mindset. I know that Harbor Media will continue to do phenomenal work as it has a stellar team, forward thinking board of directors, all capable of serving this great community, and setting high standards for Public Access. This has been an incredible experience and a great honor supporting the South Shore communities. I'm thankful for the support of our board, partners, members, team, and volunteers for helping make Harbor Media a great hyper-local institution. If you wish to stay in touch with me, do not hesitate to reach out. My contact info and Social Media links are on my personal website: http://www.farzadwafapoor.com I look forward to celebrating all of Harbor Media's future successes together. “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” - A.A. Milne By: Carol Meyer
Mark your calendar for the May 2 town election, which will feature two races -- for selectman and school committee. All five candidates returned their completed nomination papers by the March 5 deadline. It's always more exciting when there are races! The most recent candidate to step forward is Rita Da Silva, who is running unopposed for William Ramsey's planning board seat, which expires this year. Ramsey and Kirk Shilts are candidates for the selectman seat currently occupied by Karen Johnson, who is not running for another term. Shilts now serves on the board of health, the water supply committee, and the sewer commission. There's also a three-way race for two school committee seats among incumbent Michelle Ayer, Stephanie Gertz, and Jennifer Benham. Edward Schreier is not running for another term. The following incumbents, who are running unopposed, also returned their papers: Town Moderator Michael Puzo, board of assessors member Greg Hall, Elizabeth Eldredge of the board of health, Hingham Municipal Light Board member John Ryan, Sewer Commissioner Stephen Harold, Housing Authority member Megan Buhr, and Recreation Commissioner Adrienne Ramsey. Be sure to exercise your right to vote!  By Carol Meyer When you think of the Hingham Farmers Market, the word "spring" will likely come to mind -- when the regular market opens for the season -- but as in the past several years, HFM is also holding a winter market to help us all get through the long winter months! This year's winter market is based at the Wompatuck State Park Visitor Center, 204 Union St., in Hingham, for the first time. The Visitor Center is easily reached just inside the park’s Union St. entrance near the high school, with plenty of room to spread out inside, plus ample parking. Market hours are Saturdays through March from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The new location came about through a cooperative effort with the state Department of Conservation and Recreation. This is the fifth year the HFM has offered a winter market, but the first featuring weekly sessions. Offerings include fresh eggs, poultry, pork, beef, seafood, Mediterranean food, coffee, bone broth, yogurt-based desserts, cookies, and Italian pestos. For updates and further information, visit the HFM’s website, www.hinghamfarmersmarket.org, or the HFM's Facebook page. HFMarket Matters, the market’s weekly newsletter -- published every Thursday during the market seasons -- offers the most current info. Be sure to sign up on the website or Facebook so you'll be in the loop. Have you been to the winter market? If so, what are your favorite offerings?  By Carol Meyer
I often remind myself to take the time to "Look around you!" One late afternoon recently while driving through Hingham on my way home at the end of a busy day, I felt a particularly deep sense of joy and appreciation. Beautiful homes surrounded me on the left and right, there was a light coating of snow on the ground, windows shed a warm glow from within, and all seemed right with the world. When I arrived home there was a beautiful flower arrangement from one of my sons sitting on the table, which further warmed my heart. I have always appreciated Hingham -- for its great schools, community spirit, captivating ocean views, overall sense of well-being, and a spirit of generosity in helping friends and neighbors during challenging times in their lives. Hingham residents rally to a good cause, share an almost endless stream of interesting posts on social media, plant beautiful gardens and take good care of their yards, and support what they consider to be worthy projects and actions at Town Meeting. The list seems endless. There's no special message here except to suggest taking the time to "Look around you" to discover sights and sounds that you may have never noticed before, however simple. It's a great feeling! Has anything caught your attention somewhere in Hingham lately that you never noticed before?  By: Carol Meyer
A new $7 million South Shore Country Club pool facility, including an eight-lane outdoor pool with splash pad, bathroom/locker rooms, and spectator area -- designed to accommodate a year-round "bubble" -- could open in 2022, contingent on Town Meeting 2021 support for the project. An opening that year would coincide with the Club's 100th anniversary. The Community Preservation Committee recently recommended spending $500,000 of the town's Community Preservation Act money for the creation of design/construction documents for a new town pool. The SSCC Management Committee is hoping to use a combination of additional community Preservation Act funds and town money for the overall project. Have you been a "regular" at the pool in recent years? If so, where will you go in the meantime?!  By Carol Meyer
There could be a new Hingham Centre playground this spring, as long as there is enough private funding to carry out the plan. The Selectmen threw their support behind the project recently with that contingency. The old equipment was recently removed. A group of residents started an initiative in the spring of 2017 to replace the deteriorating play equipment at Powers Field adjacent to the Hingham Centre Cemetery after the town surrounded the area with yellow warning tape due to safety concerns. Supporters have worked with town officials all along the way. The estimated cost is around $70,000. The group of residents supporting the project has raised about $30,000 so far and has verbal commitments for another $30,000. The remaining fundraising gap is expected to be closed soon. The most-recent, ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)-compliant design includes a seesaw, swing set with two swings and an attached "saucer" for children with disabilities, and a framed climber to replace the former seesaw, swing set, and jungle gym. However, not everyone is pleased with the plan. A committee made up of abutters and neighbors who live closeby is meeting to design a more low-key alternative to the approved plan. It's unclear at this time how coming up with an alternative design would affect the Selectmen's support for building the new playground as currently proposed this spring. What do you think about plans to build a new playground at this location?!  By Carol Meyer Hingham Historical Society is inviting residents of Hingham and surrounding communities to participate in the not-to-be-missed 44th annual Lincoln Day ceremony to honor local history and celebrate civic awareness and engagement on Saturday, February 15. Lincoln Day commemorates two famous Lincolns with Hingham roots: lifelong Hingham resident Benjamin Lincoln, Major General in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War and Abraham Lincoln, our 16th President -- a descendant of Samuel Lincoln, who settled in Hingham in 1637. The event, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 10:15 a.m. with a muster of the Hingham Militia at the Memorial Bell Tower next to the Old Ship Meetinghouse and military salutes at General Lincoln’s tomb in Hingham Cemetery. The proceedings will move inside at 11 a.m. for a short program led by the Rev. Kenneth Read-Brown, with participation by the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, the 22nd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Company, and a keynote address by Historical Society President Paula Bagger on the life and legacy of Major General Benjamin Lincoln. The winners of this year's 8th grade Lincoln Day essay contest will be announced and invited to join in the ceremonies. This program will be followed by a procession to the Abraham Lincoln statue in Fountain Square for the laying of wreaths; a stop at New North Church, which General Lincoln helped found; and a light meal at the Hingham Heritage Museum, where the Society is headquartered, at 34 Main St. Have you every attended this moving annual event? Do you plan to participate this year? Community Preservation Committee Recommends Funding Toward New Town Pool and Historic House Purchase1/30/2020
 Photo courtesy of Hingham Historical Society. By Carol Meyer
After months of considering nearly a dozen proposals for Community Preservation Act funding, the Community Preservation Committee is recommending several for consideration at the April Town Meeting, where voters have the final say. Topping the list are $500,000 for the creation of design/construction documents for a new pool at South Shore Country Club and $772,000 to help pay for the purchase of the circa 1665 Benjamin Lincoln House at 181 North St. by the Hingham Historical Society. Interesting fact: Its most famous resident, Major General Benjamin Lincoln (1733-1810), was the fourth Lincoln to own the house, built by his great-grandfather, Thomas Lincoln. The Lincoln family has lived there continuously ever since. Should the Society purchase the property, the owners have agreed to donate the home’s most historically-significant furnishings. Fundraising efforts are underway to cover the additional costs beyond the CPC recommendation. Community Preservation Act funding comes from a 1.5 percent annual taxpayer surcharge that Hingham voters adopted in 2000. The state matches a portion of the funds. CPA funds may only be used for open space acquisition, historic preservation, community housing, and limited recreational projects. The CPC is also recommending funds for: improvements to the Plymouth River tennis courts; restoration of the Second Parish clock tower; the Hingham Affordable Housing Trust's Housing Opportunity Fund; Lehner conservation area (off South Pleasant Street) improvements to mark the boundary between this land and adjacent private property rather than a fence; and clearing the brush from the historic Canterbury Street Cemetery and improving access to the property. Your vote will count at the April 27 Town Meeting! Any thoughts on any of these proposals?  Pharaoh L. Yahtues, 37, of Hingham, was arrested and charged with armed assault to murder, discharging an explosive, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building, possession of a firearm without a license, possession of ammunition without an FID card, disturbing the peace, and possession of theft detection removal device. ** Photo provided by Cohasset Police Department by Carol Meyer Hingham residents are joining Police Chief Glenn Olsson in praising the effective community-wide response to Saturday's incident at the Avalon apartments in the Hingham Shipyard, where a Hingham man was arrested after barricading himself in his apartment and shooting at SWAT officers following a Hingham Police response to a report of a disturbance in one of the units. The man eventually gave himself up after more than three hours of negotiations and was arrested without further incident, according to police reports. "Over the years we have trained a lot on how to respond to situations like this and that was evident today," Olsson said. "I'm proud of the whole operation and the successful outcome." Among the responders were Hingham Police officers, the School Department, the Hingham Fire Department, mutual aid from surrounding towns, and the Metropolitan Law Enforcement Council (Metro-Lec) SWAT team, which includes Hingham Police Officers Jeffrey Kilroy, Michael Gervasi, and James Brady, who is in training. The DPW set up barricades and cones to close off the area. School administrators -- including Supt. of Schools Paul Austin, Director of Business and Support Services John Ferris, and Foster Principal and Vice Principal Jennifer Newell -- really stepped up to the plate when they heard about the incident, providing buses to help evacuate the residents in the surrounding area and opening up nearby Foster School as one of the evacuation sites. The other locations were the Avalon community room and the intermodal transportation center (commuter boat terminal) at the Shipyard. A group of citizens set up a canteen truck and supplied food and drink while local businesses donated 15 pizzas after the Hingham Police Department ordered the food for the evacuees. Thanks to everyone who participated in this amazing and successful team effort.  By Carol Meyer
The harbor-front Town Pier by the Iron Horse Statue, Barnes Wharf where Hingham Maritime Center is based, and the one at Veterans Park near Whitney Wharf top the list of town wharves that need attention. There are others, but these are the lowest wharves -- and the most vulnerable. Raising each one by 3-1/2 feet will help protect the town from expected future sea-level rise and storm events and will also reduce risks to public health and safety, although this project won't solve all of Hingham's potential flooding issues. The goal is to make the town better able to ward off future flooding similar to or worse than the significant harbor inundation that occurred in March 2018. In the meantime, let's hope for mild winters! What's your favorite part of Hingham Harbor? Does expected higher sea-level rise in the future concern you? |
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July 2020
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