Man About Canton: Canton Choral Society wins battle with Murphy’s Law

DID YOU KNOW…

Murphy’s Law made an unexpected appearance at the Canton Choral Society’s first pops concert on May 15 at the Canton Town Club, and the unwanted law lost the battle. Murphy’s Law says if something can go wrong, it will go wrong; and in this latest case, the law involved the electrotonic piano keyboard used by the choir’s outstanding accompanist, Susanne Osberg. To the chagrin of many, the piano quit midway through the concert. Musical Director Anne Tripp Miller apologized to the full-house audience several times while unsuccessful repairs were attempted, but a backup keyboard had to be obtained to save the day and the concert. While waiting for the replacement keyboard, the choir members very ably and harmoniously sang some of their program, as well as a couple of unscheduled songs, a cappella; and the program itself was ultimately presented in a new and interesting format by the singers. The music ranged from familiar Broadway show tunes to spirituals and other traditional Americana pieces, from Cole Porter, the Gershwins, Rogers and Hart, to Aaron Copland, Spencer Williams, and Stephen Foster. Throughout the program, Musical Director Miller did her customary good job directing the formally clad singers, with and without the keyboard, both of which were a pleasure to listen to. Overall, MAC was very pleased with this pops concert performance by the Canton Choral Society and once again recommends that you try to attend any of their future concerts. They are an outstanding group, and you won’t be disappointed.

Going on to other things, comedian Bill Burr of Canton recently performed a two-night standup comedy show at the Wilbur Theater in Boston. Bill’s brother is Bob Burr, who is running against state Senator Brian A. Joyce in the upcoming state election.

Speaking of Senator Joyce, those were interesting stories in the Boston Herald and Patriot Ledger which pointed out that Joyce seems to be playing both ends against the middle with the controversial Chapter 40B affordable housing law.

Patriot Quarterback Tom Brady and his wife, model Giselle Bundchen, are building a 22,000-square-foot mansion on 3.75 acres in Los Angeles, which is costing an estimated $20 million. The luxurious estate includes a covered bridge, six-car garage, eight bedrooms, two nurseries, a dining terrace, wine room, a covered loggia, and lagoon-shaped swimming pool. It is being built by Boston-based Suffolk Construction whose CEO, John Fish, is a good buddy of Brady. If Suffolk Construction sounds familiar, they recently built the huge River Village Condominiums with Canton developer John Marini at the corner of Walpole and Neponset streets here in Canton on the site of the former Emerson & Cuming factory, and before that, the Neponset Woolen Mill.

If you think the country has immigration problems, check out these statistics from the non-partisan Center for Immigration Studies: There are an estimated 220,000 illegal aliens in Massachusetts, and of those immigrants, 134,000 have jobs; 29,000 are students in public primary schools; 25 percent of their households receive welfare benefits; 11 percent of their households use food stamps; 20 percent of their households are covered by Medicaid; and 56,000 do not have health insurance.

MAC was saddened to see that Frank Hatch of Beverly recently passed away at the age of 84. You may recall that Hatch lost a close race for governor against Ed King in 1978; and as a state legislator, Hatch was the author of the so-called Hatch Act in 1965, which was the state’s landmark wetlands protection law.

MAC extends congratulations to town Finance Director Jim Murgia who recently received a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting. It was an outstanding accomplishment.

Happy birthday wishes go out to former selectman Donald Podgurski, who turns 80 years old on May 28.

Now that the recent annual town meeting is over, MAC will again point out that the great majority of registered voters did not bother to attend, and they left it to a few voters, many with special interests, to run our town affairs and spend our tax money. In case you weren’t paying attention, the School Committee once again raided our free cash account, this time to the tune of $440,000. Despite the alleged limitations of Proposition 2 ½, it seems they do it every year.

By now, most of you have received your property tax bill and were shocked at how much it has increased. Well, this is a revaluation year, and we also have to pay for the override we approved a year or so ago. To those who have been grumbling to MAC about their tax bills, MAC has learned they didn’t attend town meetings, and they voted for the override — which both spent a lot of the tax money they now have difficulty finding.

Finally, with Memorial Day just a few days away, MAC drove through the veterans lot at the Canton Corner Cemetery where the official ceremonies will be held, and MAC was very impressed with how nice it looks. Everything seems to be ready. The grass is freshly mowed, little American flags have been put on the veterans’ graves and everything looks neat and well-manicured. MAC has learned that 84-year-old George MacPhail has been spending each Friday voluntarily mowing the grass, wiping benches, and caring for the cemetery that we’re so proud of. He has been assisted occasionally by Bob Wyman and John Ionelli, as well as the regular cemetery maintenance staff. They will all be there tomorrow (Friday 5/28) at 10 a.m. to put the finishing touches on the preparations for Memorial Day; and if you’re available, why not go down there and give them a hand.

Success is for those who know what they want and go after it, no matter how difficult the path.

This is all for now folks; see you next week.

Joe DeFelice can be reached at
manaboutcanton@aol.com

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