Man About Canton: ‘Doc’ Staiti Retires
By Joe DeFeliceDID YOU KNOW …
MAC congratulates Dick Staiti on his retirement from teaching at Canton High School. Dick, better known as “Doc,” spent 39 years as an educator, and 37 of these years were at Canton High School. For many years, Staiti was the CHS athletic trainer, and for the past five years he was the chairman of the science department. Staiti also holds a law degree from Suffolk Law School and plans to continue to practice law during his retirement. He has served as the Canton town moderator since 1996 and was a Canton selectman from 1980 to 1984.
The new director of assessing in Canton is Karen Zukauskas.
The Brazilian national charged in the June 24 car crash on Route 138 near Jiffy Lube that killed a Stoughton grandmother was an illegal alien. She has never held a valid Massachusetts driver’s license according to the Registry of Motor Vehicles, and according to immigration officials, she has been illegally in the country since May of 2002. She is being held on $250,000 bail.
State law allows residents to register vehicles without having a license or proving legal residency. The state legislators are trying to close this loophole by passing a bill requiring residents to have a driver’s license, social security number, or other proof of legal residence in order to register a vehicle. The bill has been around since 2005, but it looks like it will finally become law in 2013.
The selectmen voted to spend up to $17,500 to help pay for the cost of the July 4 celebration. The money will come from the NStar mitigation fund. The selectmen also authorized $15,000 to pay for the paving of Grand Street with the monies coming from the NStar account.
Temple Beth David in Canton recently welcomed its new spiritual leader, Rabbi Emma Gottlieb.
Canton School Committee member Liz Salisbury recently resigned because her family is moving out of town. The Board of Selectmen and the School Committee are seeking to fill the seat for the next ten months by August 1. Any interested resident can apply for the position by sending their resume to Canton School Committee Chairman John Bonnanzio, 960 Washington Street, Canton, MA 02021.
In the weather department, two records were set on June 21 in Boston: The high temperature of 96 degrees topped the old record of 95 set in 1928, and the second record was the low of the day was 80 degrees, topping the previous low of 74 set in 1942. It was only the second time in National Weather Service history in Boston that the overnight low on a June day bottomed out at 80 degrees. The only other occurrence was on June 6, 1925.
The state’s bear population, estimated at fewer than 100 in the 1970s, now stands at over 4,000 and growing by 8 percent annually, according to state environmental officials. According to wildlife police, “People in the more suburban areas are going to have to learn to live with them,” as black bears are moving from central Massachusetts eastward toward Medway, Medfield, and Dedham, and not far from Canton. The five-foot-tall black bear that scurried around Cape Cod before being tranquilized and shipped back to central Mass. made a return trip through Route 109, Walpole, Dedham, and Needham before being captured in Brookline and again returned deeper in the woods in central Massachusetts.
Wallace Gibbs is the president of the Canton Historical Society; Paul Mitcheroney is the vice president; the secretary is Cynthia McDonough; and the treasurer is Elena Gillespie.
Milford High School will be joining the Hockomock League next year. The girls’ softball team recently won the Division 1 state championship, beating Malden High School 1-0 in nine innings as Milford junior Shannon Smith struck out 22 batters, including 10 in a row, to complete a perfect 25-0 season. Canton High will get to see Smith’s amazing right arm next year as she will lead Milford High into the Hockomock League and try to improve on her 71-3 record over the past three years. Milford High head coach Brian Macchi has a Canton connection, as he was once the cleanup hitter for the Canton “A” semi-pro baseball team years ago.
Talking about coaches, Tony Falco of Canton was the assistant coach for the Division 1 state champion Xaverian High School baseball team.
Canton High School sophomore Erika Nannery was named to the Boston Globe All-Scholastic girls’ tennis team. The Hockomock League All Star compiled an 18-3 record during the regular season and reached the semifinals in the south individual tournament.
The Coca-Cola Company plans to invest $5 billion in India over the next eight years to boost the soda’s stake in the rapidly growing market. In India, Coca-Cola’s volume rose 20 percent, while in North America, it rose only 2 percent.
Drivers are seeing the cost of gasoline drop every week and could approach $3 a gallon by the end of the summer.
The Canton Teachers Association and the Canton Firefighters Union have agreed on a new three-year contract, and according to Town Administrator Bill Friel, all other bargaining units, including the police and public works, are expected to be settled by the end of August.
MAC would personally like to wish Nick Bartone a belated happy birthday. Nick turned 95 on June 24.
MAC sends out congratulations to Asia Sampson, wife of Canton’s Rick Sampson of Queen Anne’s restaurant, who became a citizen of the United States on June 29, when she was sworn in at the World Trade Center in Boston. Asia came to the United States ten years ago from Poland.
Holly Swinamer, 9, and her sister, Emily Swinamer, 7, daughters of Canton High School graduate Mike Swinamer, won gold medals at the 22nd annual ISI District 1 Figure Skating Championships held in Natick June 28 through July 1. The four-day event featured hundreds of skaters from all over New England. The Swinamer girls, along with Madigan Smith, 10, members of the Franklin Finesse, each received gold medals, a trophy, and were showcased in the “Parade of Champions” at the victory party held Saturday night. It was Holly’s third gold medal in three competitions in 2012 and Emily’s second gold in two attempts. Team member Alexandra Sousa was unable to compete but earned a medal in a previous competition. The team is coached by Joanna Zehme.
Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. –Buddha
This is all for now folks. See you next week.
Joe DeFelice can be reached at manaboutcanton@aol.com.
Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=15018
Posted by Joe DeFelice
on Jul 11 2012. Filed under Featured Content, Man About Canton, Opinion.
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