Man About Canton: Burning Permit Rules

DID YOU KNOW …

As mentioned before in this column, permits are now available at the Canton Fire Station for the burning season that runs from January 15 to May 1. However, there are rules to follow. Permission must be obtained for each day of burning by calling the Fire Department at 781-821-5095. Open burning must be at least 75 feet from all dwellings, take place between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on land closest to the source of material to be burned, and be attended at all times by the permit applicant or designee. Burning can also be halted at any time if weather is dry or windy.

The town of Canton has spent over $450,000 on snow removal operations this year. The town budgeted $264,735, so it has spent its entire budget. But have no fear, the DPW will continue to salt and plow our streets and sidewalks. Because public safety is involved, snow and ice removal is one of those things on which the state will overspend. Available unbudgeted and uncommitted funds must first be transferred to the depleted snow and ice budget, and after those funds are gone, deficit spending can occur after the selectmen officially declare an emergency. Unfortunately, all those additional funds must be paid for, which will be done by adding those funds to next year’s tax rate.

The Boston Red Sox recently invited Canton’s DJ Gary Titus to audition for the public address announcer’s job. Gary did a fine job but was told that he would not be advancing to the final round. “I have absolutely no regrets,” he said, “and it was an honor just to sit in the same seat as former Red Sox announcers Sherm Feller and Carl Beane.”

Last summer’s Canton Men’s Softball League champions, Hanningtons of Canton, sponsored by Attorney Glen Hannington, has accepted an invitation to participate in the Sandy Hook Memorial Softball Tournament in Wallingford, Connecticut, during the weekend of April 13 and 14. Sixteen teams have been invited throughout New England.

Twenty-eight inches of snow fell in Canton in a 21-hour time span during the blizzard of February 8-9, 2013.

The fifth annual Fire/Police Charity Hockey Benefit will be held on Saturday, March 9, at the Canton ice rink. The Canton Police and Fire departments will play the Boston Police hockey team at 9 p.m. Admission is free, and donations will be accepted at the door. All proceeds from this event will go to the family of Canton Police Officer Ralph Centeno, who recently died from pancreatic cancer at the young age of 47.

MAC was saddened to see that well-known Cantonite Larry Walsh recently died at the age of 84. Mr. Walsh was the principal of all three of Canton’s elementary schools — the John F. Kennedy, Dean S. Luce, and Lt. Peter M. Hansen schools — before he retired in 1992.

The average price of gasoline in Massachusetts has surged over 35 cents in the past weeks to an average of $3.77 per gallon. According the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the increase was driven largely by crude oil prices, which have risen by about $6 a barrel since the beginning of the year. Crude oil accounts for nearly 70 percent of the price of gas.

Comedian and Canton native Bill Burr, brother of Canton Selectmen Chairman Bob Burr, will guest star on the popular Fox sitcom “New Girl.” Bill will play the cousin of Nick Miller (Jake Johnson).

A Canton man was among five Logan Airport cab stand workers who were recently arrested for allegedly taking bribes to let taxi drivers jump ahead in line. The workers, with a base salary of $63,000, would get $20 to $40 for allowing cab drivers to cut in line.

Some noteworthy people recently passed away. One of them was Stanislaus Frank Musial, 92, better known as “Stan the Man,” one of the greatest hitters in Major League Baseball history. Musial played 22 seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals, accumulating 3,630 hits (1,815 at home and 1,815 on the road) with a lifetime batting average of .331.

Christos Tsaganis, 87, founder of the popular Christos’ Restaurant in Brockton, which he and his wife, Bessie, opened in 1964. Christos was known as the “Greek salad king.” His bottled dressing is now sold at local supermarkets.

Lavonne “Pepper” Paire-Davis, 88, who was a star in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the 1940s and 1950s. Ms. Paire-Davis was a model for the character played by Geena Davis in the 1992 hit movie “A League of Their Own.” She chronicled her baseball adventures in the 2009 book Dirt in the Skirt.

Andre Cassagnes, 86, invented the “Etch-A-Sketch” toy in 1959, which has sold more than 100 million worldwide since.

Forty-seven percent of American households possess at least one firearm, according to a Gallup poll conducted in 2011.

According to a new study from the American Veterinary Medical Association, Massachusetts ranks last out of all 50 states for pet ownership with 50.4 percent of households owning a pet. Topping the list is Vermont, where 70.8 percent of households own a pet, followed by New Mexico (67.6 percent), South Dakota (65.6 percent), Oregon (63.6 percent), and Maine (62.9 percent).

We cannot tell what may happen to us in the strange medley of life; but we can decide what happens in us and how we take it and what we do with it, which is what really counts in the end.

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=19351

Posted by Joe DeFelice on Mar 7 2013. Filed under Man About Canton, Opinion. Both comments and pings are currently closed.