Man About Canton: Plymouth Rubber Proposal

Editor’s note: The Plymouth Rubber proposal referenced below was unanimously opposed by the Board of Selectmen at its meeting on Tuesday, June 18. Click here for details.

DID YOU KNOW …

The Plymouth Rubber project, if ever approved, presently calls for a 348-unit housing development, which includes 64 two-bedroom townhouses, 204 one- and two-bedroom apartments (of which 25 percent, or 51 units, would be set aside as affordable under the state Chapter 40R application), and 80 age-restricted units. The proposal will generate, according to a study, an additional influx of between 48 and 64 new children into the Canton Public School system. On the plus side, the project will generate 150 short-term and 178 long-term jobs and will result in an estimated $10 million spent on goods and services from Canton businesses. Also, if the town approves the proposal, it will receive a one-time payment of $972,000. The zoning articles on the Plymouth Rubber property were postponed at the recent annual town meeting. They may be reconsidered at a special town meeting in the fall.

According to the Census Bureau, a record 40 percent of all U.S. households with children rely on mothers as their main or only source of income. In 1960, the percentage was only 11 percent.

In a recent Boston Herald opinion article, “town meetings” are called an arcane and antidemocratic form of government, where a tiny, unelected minority of voters (in Canton, usually less than 200) make major decisions for the entire town. Town meetings, according to the Herald column, are “that inefficient relic of our puritan past.” MAC and many others feel it is time to abolish this form of government.

The CHS Alumni Association recently donated $4,000 for a projector to be used in the school’s library.

The Bank of Canton recently donated $10,000 to the Lt. Peter M. Hansen Elementary School to complete its beautiful new playground.

Canton High School English Department Chairwoman Marilyn Roache will retire at the end of the school year.

There are five Dunkin Donuts coffee shops in Canton, seven in Stoughton, six in Norwood, and 19 in Brockton. The Canton-based corporation, with nearly $9 billion in sales, plans to open between 330 and 360 new stores next year. It has more than 10,000 stores in 32 countries.

The state is still planning to build a highway off-ramp going north on Route 95 at Dedham Street.

Looking ahead, the 2013 Life is good Festival will take place at Prowse Farm in Canton on September 21 and 22. The ninth annual Reebok Road Race will be held on Saturday, October 5, at the Reebok campus off Royall Street in Canton.

The Canton Council on Aging will hold its annual “Cook In” on Thursday, June 20, at 12 noon at the Canton Town Club. Food will be provided by Foley’s Bar and Grill. The cost is only $5 per person. For information, call the senior center at 781-828-1323.

If you are interested in a harbor cruise, dinner, and fireworks, the Canton Council on Aging is planning a fun-filled evening on Saturday, July 6, aboard the “Viking,” departing from Onset Harbor at 3:30 p.m. It is a 2.5-hour cruise with live patriotic music on board and a sit-down, family-style dinner. The trip will depart from the St. Gerard’s Church parking lot with roundtrip motor coach transportation. The cost for everything is only $75 per person. Those interested can call the senior center at 781-828-1323.

The Canton Historical Society recently received two folders containing pictures of the October 30, 1879, dedication of Memorial Hall by an anonymous donor.

In Stoughton, Thomas Recupero ran unopposed for the selectman’s seat being vacated by John Stagnone.

Dr. Pat Johnson is leaving the Canton Finance Committee after seven years of service.

Canton resident Jack Campisano is retiring after 40 years as a letter carrier.

Frank Lautenberg recently died at the age of 89. Not many people know what Frank is noted for or who he was, but he left his mark on the everyday lives of millions of Americans. Frank, at age 89, was the oldest person in the U.S. Senate and the last of 115 World War II veterans to serve there. The liberal Democratic senator from New Jersey served almost 30 years in the Senate. He was the driving force behind the laws that banned smoking on U.S. flights and made 21 the drinking age in all 50 states.

Anthony Pazasis, 88, recently died at his home in Belmont, New Hampshire. Pazasis was well known in Canton during the late 1960s and early 1970s as the owner and publisher of the Canton Reporter newspaper. He and his top reporter, Sheila Cheimets, wrote stories that were sometimes controversial that other newspapers were afraid to follow up on. It also propelled Cheimets to become the first woman selectman in the town of Canton in 1972. Pazasis also owned two other newspapers. He was also a singer and musician, acting as a music director and organist for several Catholic churches around Massachusetts. He left his mark on Canton before moving to New Hampshire in 1978.

Another well-known name, Nicholas Campanelli, died at the age of 92. The Brockton native was the last of four brothers that built more than 30,000 single-family homes during the post-World War II period, many of them in Brockton, Randolph, Raynham, and Framingham. They also built 11 business parks in Massachusetts and built Brockton’s Westgate Mall, one of the first enclosed malls in the country. Former Brockton Mayor Jack Yunits said, “It’s like the end of a generation and the end of a great era.”

People who enjoy what they are doing, invariably, do it well.

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=21118

Posted by Joe DeFelice on Jun 20 2013. Filed under Featured Content, Man About Canton, Opinion. Both comments and pings are currently closed.