Man About Canton: Ice Bucket Challenge

Did you know …

The “ice bucket challenge” to help raise awareness and money for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease) is sweeping across Massachusetts and moving across the entire United States. The way it works is if you are challenged, you have 24 hours to record a video dumping ice water (with ice cubes) on your head. Then you post the video online while passing along the challenge to several other people. If you complete the challenge, you donate between $5 and $100 to an ALS charity of your choice. In the past three weeks, the ALS Association has collected over $1 million, while over that same period last year the association collected only $22,000. By the way, if you don’t accept the challenge, you are asked to donate $100 to ALS.

Pete Frates, 29, a former Boston College baseball player, was diagnosed with ALS in 2012, and it was his friends who started the ALS ice bucket challenge to raise awareness about this deadly disease. Many Cantonites have participated in memory of Billy Cravens, who recently died from ALS.

Selectmen recently voted to only allow motorboats on the Canton Reservoir belonging to citizens whose property abuts the pond. MAC and many other Cantonites wonder if this is legal. Shouldn’t the selectmen ask the town counsel for a decision since the town owns the reservoir? In MAC’s opinion, all Canton citizens should have equal access from the Earl Newhouse boat launch at the Williams Estate owned by the town.

In an email sent to MAC, a writer asked the following questions: “What is going to happen when the abutters of the reservoir ask the town for weed control on the pond? Will the abutters only pay for that or will the town pay? This would be like saying only the abutters of a town playground can use it and no other citizens.” He has a point. Boats without motors are still allowed, but the selectmen will have to come up with a long-term solution for motorboats.

Michael Breviglia of Canton lost to Hingham’s Andrew Boyle in the final match in the Boys Senior Division at the 75th Annual CYO Junior Golf Championship held at the Ponkapoag Golf Course in Canton.

The following positions were recently advertised for the town of Canton: assistant recreation director, human resources specialist, accounting coordinator-payroll for the Finance Department, and a special heavy equipment operator for the DPW.

T&B Pub at 521 Washington Street is in the process of transferring its all-alcohol restaurant license to Gaita Enterprises Corp d/b/a Rosetta’s Italian Restaurant.

The state will spend $2.7 million to restore the Ponkapoag Golf Course back to its original 36 holes.

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 3,396 confirmed cases of Lyme disease in Massachusetts in 2013. In 2003, there were 1,532 cases. The increase in Lyme disease, which doubled in 10 years, is attributed to the explosion of the deer population in Massachusetts.

Town Spa Pizza, located at 1119 Washington Street in Stoughton, recently celebrated its 59th anniversary. The original Town Spa started out in 1955 on Porter Street before moving to its present location on Route 138 in 1986. According to the Spa’s menu, they use over two tons of cheese each week in making their pizzas.

Mark Roy, executive director of the Canton Housing Authority, has been elected to the board of directors for the 2014-2015 season for the Massachusetts Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials.

Former Red Sox pitcher John Lackey had Tommy John surgery after the 2011 season and collected $15.25 million without throwing a pitch in 2012.

Talking about the Red Sox, only 13 players remain from the 25-man roster that won the World Series last fall. They may be the first team to ever go from last place to winning the World Series and then back to last place.

The “roundabout” at Pleasant Street and Lincolnshire Drive, recently approved unanimously by the Canton Board of Selectmen, will cost between $250,000 and $350,000, according to Canton’s Public Works Superintendent Michael Trotta. The single-lane roundabout would reduce speed to 20-25 miles per hour.

In MAC’s and many other residents’ opinions, the new roundabout is a waste of money and nothing more than a luxury item. The traffic problem that should be addressed is at the intersection of Washington and

Randolph streets. The traffic on Randolph Street seems to always be backed up getting onto Washington Street, while traffic at Pleasant and Bolivar streets seldom has a backup. The roundabout at Pleasant and Lincolnshire will include new crosswalks.

How, when, and where you say something can actually be more important than the message itself.

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=26517

Posted by Joe DeFelice on Aug 22 2014. Filed under Featured Content, Man About Canton, Opinion. Both comments and pings are currently closed.