Man About Canton: Support CHSAA
By Joe DeFeliceDid you know …
James Halley, Class of 1961, president of the Canton High School Alumni Association, is asking CHS alumni to support their annual fundraising efforts by contributing to the only legitimate 501c(3) nonprofit organization for Canton High School. For a tax-deductible contribution, make a check payable to Canton High School Alumni Association and mail it to: CHS Alumni Association, 960 Washington Street, Canton, MA 02021. Last year, the association donated over $6,000 to Canton High for various causes, including two $1,000 scholarships; $2,500 for video monitors for the cafeteria and foyer; and $1,500 for display cases for the Performing Arts Department. For more information on the CHS Alumni Association, visit cantonhighalumni.org.
The Blue Hills Regional High School freshman football team finished the 2014 season undefeated with an overall record of 10-0. Two Canton residents, quarterback Andrew Bryant and center Jack Bourikas, were members of the team.
Fifty-nine million Americans on Social Security will see a 1.7 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) increase this month. They include 41 million retired workers and their dependents; six million survivors of deceased workers; and 12 million workers with disabilities and their dependents.
The anticipated opening of the new Canton Senior Center at 500 Pleasant Street is now early spring.
The Canton Men’s Club’s next meeting is Tuesday, January 20, at the Canton library at 10 a.m. The guest speaker will be Bernie Plante, project manager of Canton Holdings LLC, who will discuss the latest proposal for the Plymouth Rubber site on Revere Street.
The Canton Council on Aging Women’s Club will hold its next meeting at the Senior Center on Tuesday, January 20, at 1 p.m. The guest speaker will be Women’s Club member Deborah Lepore, RN, who will discuss “The Beauty of Nepal and its People.”
Effective July 1, 2014, the Canton Housing Authority went “smoke free.” There is no smoking inside apartments or outside on CHA property. All residents under control of the CHA have signed the no smoking lease addendum. Violation of this agreement could result in fees of up to $250 and eventually eviction. Guests and visitors are also not allowed to smoke anywhere on CHA property, and that includes apartments.
MAC was sad to see the closing of McMenamy’s Hamburger House, visited by many Cantonites, on Route 138 in Easton. The cozy diner lined with red leather and chrome stools has been around since 1954. Cheeseburgers for $3.20 and hamburgers for $2.90 with the beef processed in the kitchen was their specialty. The restaurant was one of a kind.
Wholesale gasoline has fallen below $2 a gallon while home heating oil is closing in at just over $2 a gallon according to trending on the NYMEX. Lower oil prices are a long-term boon to consumers and industrial companies.
In case you missed it, the Food and Drug Administration recently announced its long-delayed calorie labeling rules requiring establishments that sell prepared foods and have 20 or more locations to post the caloric content of the food and beverages “clearly and conspicuously” on their menus. The rules also include alcoholic drinks, if they are listed on menus. Customers often don’t realize how many calories they are drinking when they order beverages like margaritas and ice cream drinks.
Ralph Clough, a former teacher at Canton High School from 1952 to 1989, recently died at the age of 86. Mr. Clough was also the CHS boys varsity basketball coach in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He resided in Stoughton for 59 years.
According to Canton’s Senator Brian A. Joyce, Senate Chair of the Bonding Committee, the town of Canton will receive an additional $367,964 in Chapter 90 state road and bridge funding, which is a 50 percent increase over last year.
Massachusetts is one of the few states that allow drivers with a handicap placard to park at a meter without paying.
This past year, the Stoughton High School football team won its first ever Hockomock League (Davenport Division) title, finishing with a perfect 6-0 league mark.
The last time a nine-inning Major League Baseball game was played in which no one struck out was on June 29, 1985, at Tiger Stadium in a game between Detroit and the Toronto Blue Jays — almost 30 years ago.
It’s going to get more expensive next year when parking at state beaches, camping in state forests, and renting ice time at state rinks. The Department of Conservation and Recreation hasn’t raised its fees since 2008 for parking, 2007 for ice rinks, and 2003 for campgrounds. Next year a pass, which will cover parking for a year at DCR properties, including beaches, will jump from $35 to $60. Ice rink rentals will jump from $200 to $250 per 50 minutes of ice time, and cabin rentals in state forests will rise from $30 per day to $50, while campsite fees would increase from $15 to $22 a day.
The most expensive town in Massachusetts to buy a four-bedroom, two-bathroom home is Wellesley, with an average price of $1,090,089, according to a national real estate survey done by Coldwell Banker. Ranked second is Cohasset, where the average is $923,609. Seventh on the list is Canton’s neighboring town of Milton at $647,053. The most expensive market in the nation is Los Altos in California’s Silicon Valley, where the average price is $1,963,100. At the bottom of the national list was Cleveland, where the same house would cost $64,993. The national average in the survey is $295,317. Six other south shore towns were ranked among the 150 most expensive markets in the United States. They include Sharon (104th), Scituate (105th), Canton (109th), Hanover (118th), Walpole (134th), and Kingston (148th). In the top 500, Norwood is listed at 272 and Stoughton at 437. According to Coldwell Banker officials, the factors that are driving up home prices in the high-ranked communities in the south shore are location, the strength of schools, local economics, proximity to major highways, and rail service.
The Canton Recreation Department has changed its official name to the Canton Parks and Recreation Department.
A reminder from Canton Police Chief Ken Berkowitz: There is no all-night parking on any Canton street for a period of time longer than one hour between the hours of 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. of any day.
Why oil prices are declining: Most of us are surprised as oil prices continue to decline while the OPEC nations led by Saudi Arabia have been uncharacteristically quiet. In theory, OPEC can push prices back up by cutting the amount of oil it sells, but most of the OPEC countries that are well-off want to let prices fall to slow or stop production growth in the U.S. and Canada, where drillers require higher prices to make money. That way OPEC can increase its market share. Another theory is that Saudi Arabia and its allies want to force prices lower to increase pressure on fellow OPEC member Iran over its nuclear program. Saudi Arabia does not want Iran to have a nuclear weapon. Iran’s economy suffers if prices stay low, and its leaders could be more willing to limit nuclear development in exchange for a relaxation of sanctions. Either way, consumers in the United States benefit from the lower gasoline and oil prices.
And finally in the last week’s column, the FRS properties were listed as selling for $2.5 million. The Warren Group (Bankers & Tradesman) inadvertently listed that five properties had sold for $500,000 each when only one property, at 3 Rockland Street, sold for $500,000.
All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered. The point is to discover them.
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=28213
Posted by Joe DeFelice
on Jan 15 2015. Filed under Featured Content, Man About Canton, Opinion.
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