Man About Canton: Looking for a tenant

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The former Cumberland Farms property at 777 Dedham Street remains vacant; however, as recently reported in the Citizen, a number of prospective buyers have expressed interest, most notably Dallas-based TopGolf, which operates state-of-the-art golf entertainment facilities. Other companies that have looked at the property in the past include FedEx and U-Haul. TopGolf has expressed concerns about the planned widening of Dedham Street and the proposed north-bound exit ramp off Route 95 onto Dedham Street.

Turnpike Cafe won the Canton Men’s Over 30 Softball League Championship, beating the American Legion team in the playoff finals. It was their third straight championship.

The American Legion team won the Canton Women’s Softball League playoff championship, beating Angelo’s Pizza in the best-of-three, up, down and up series. The Legion won the first game 17-4, lost the second game 14-2, but rebounded to clobber Angelo’s in the deciding championship game 24-1. It was the Legion’s fourth straight championship.

Stoughton Fire Chief Mark Dolloff recently retired after 32 years with the Stoughton Fire Department, the last four as chief. Gregory Goldberg, interim deputy fire chief, will temporarily take over as chief.

The town of Braintree, which holds its town election in November, does not have a race for any of the town officers, including the mayor’s position.

Selectmen recently approved a new three-year contract with the Canton Firefighters Union that includes a 2 percent pay increase in each year of the contract.

According to the American Pyrotechnics Association, Massachusetts, Delaware, and New Jersey are the only states that ban all consumer fireworks. There is a proposed 2016 ballot measure to legalize the possession and sale of consumer fireworks in Massachusetts.

Several years ago, the state legislature changed the name of the Department of Mental Retardation to the Department of Development Services and struck all references to “mental retardation” in the general laws, replacing it with “intellectual disabilities or disability.” They are now in the process of striking all references in the state’s general laws to “handicapped persons” and replacing them with “people with disabilities.”

There is a Massachusetts law that requires that children must use a restraint in cars until they are at least 8 years old or at least 57 inches tall.

Gas prices averaged $2.45 per gallon in August, which was the lowest average for the month since 2010. A year ago, the national average was $3.40 per gallon.

Old Rochester High School, known as the Bulldogs, was honored last month by the Boston Globe with the prestigious Dalton Award, given to the school with the best combined winning percentage. Old Rochester sports teams won 75.76 percent of their games, which was tops in Division 3 and the highest in eastern Massachusetts. The principal of the school is Mike Devoll, a graduate of Canton High School.

A full-page story on The Grape Leaf restaurant in Canton recently appeared in the Boston Globe in the section called  “Dining Deals in Greater Boston.” The restaurant at 515 Washington Street in Canton opened a year ago and specializes in middle eastern Lebanese dishes. The owner is Pierre Aoun, but he credits his mother, Boghdana, who has to give the “okay” on everything.

According to a recent report in the Patriot Ledger, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation is planning a controlled hunt to cull the deer population in the Blue Hills Reservation. The state had reported that there are at least 80 deer per square mile, or about 700 to 900 deer in all, living in the Blue Hills. A healthy level is 10 deer per square mile.

Not too many people have even heard of Jerry Nicholas Dior, who recently died at the age of 82, but his design of a hitter awaiting a pitch is the universally recognized symbol of Major League Baseball. Mr. Dior was an illustrator and graphic designer and was assigned to create an image to commemorate baseball’s 100th anniversary in 1969. His image is of a batter awaiting a pitch standing in white silhouette between a field of blue on the left and an angled slice of red on the right. The words “Major League Baseball” appear at the bottom in Helvetica capital letters. It has become the lasting trademark of Major League Baseball and one of the most enduring brand designs in marketing history. Mr. Dior did not receive a penny in royalties for his design but will be remembered as the designer of the Major League Baseball logo. Rest in peace Mr. Dior, you did your job.

The pleasure of doing good is the only one that will not wear out.

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=30883

Posted by Joe DeFelice on Sep 25 2015. Filed under Man About Canton, Opinion. Both comments and pings are currently closed.