Year in Review: Notable stories from 2016

By Jay Turner

The following is an excerpt from the Canton Citizen’s 2016 year in review. Check out this week’s paper for a look back at some of the other top stories of 2016, including the development of the Paul Revere Heritage Site, the surprise departure of Reebok, and much more.

Storm-related tragedies rock Canton community

The collective hearts of the Canton community were broken in pieces over a 24-hour period in early February as residents learned of the tragic deaths of two of their own.

The victims, 6-year-old Kaleigh Kenyon, a kindergartener at the Luce School, and 48-year-old Tom Gunning, a beloved family man and youth sports volunteer, were both critically injured in their backyards by falling tree limbs and died just hours apart at neighboring Boston hospitals. The freak nature of both accidents — Kenyon was playing in the snow with her family at the time and Gunning was tending to an outdoor ice rink — underscored the severity of a winter storm that had dumped several inches of heavy, wet snow and surprised nearly everyone with its power and destructive force.

The news of the horrific double tragedy spread quickly across social media channels and prompted an immediate outpouring of support from all corners of the town. Indeed, for many Cantonites, including those who did not know the Gunning or Kenyon families personally, the enduring image of the past year will be the countless pink and green bows that adorned mailboxes, street signs, telephone poles, and other local landmarks over a period of several weeks as the community came together to grieve and to heal. Organized by a small group of residents with the help of many generous donors and a small army of volunteers, the aptly named Canton Memorial Bow Project would go on to produce hundreds of the colorful bows for residents and business to display, while groups such as the CHS and GMS student councils chipped in with thoughtful tributes and fundraising efforts of their own.

Several months later, as winter gave way to spring, additional tributes were held in honor of both victims, with the Luce dedicating a Buddy Bench in Kenyon’s memory and the Parks and Recreation Department unveiling the newly renamed Tom Gunning Field at Windsor Woods.

‘Free the Rez’ becomes a trending topic

The calls to “Free the Rez” that began in 2015 only grew louder this past year as a small but vocal group of residents harnessed the power of social media to demand equal access for all citizens at Canton’s Reservoir Pond. Launching their own Facebook group and becoming a regular presence at public meetings, the group shared their concerns with the mainstream masses, and the #FreetheRez movement went from an obscure hashtag to a full-blown rallying cry with the biggest complaint centered on the closure of boat access along the Pleasant Street dam.

While concerned citizens continued to voice their complaints on Facebook — and concerned abutters sought to protect their longstanding usage rights — town leaders turned to the Metropolitan Area Planning Council to study access and use issues at the Reservoir and report its findings back to the town. The final report, which was based partly on input from residents, included recommendations for boating speeds, access at the Earl Newhouse Waterfront, and prohibitions on certain watercraft. The BOS would later use some, but not all of these suggestions as the basis for its final set of regulations, which restored motorized access at Earl Newhouse and implemented speed limits, but did not ban jet skis as many residents had hoped.

Even with the approval of new pond regulations, the sniping continued between “FreetheRez-ers” and town officials well into the fall as the former renewed their call for equity while the latter accused their critics of misrepresenting the facts. However, the year seemed to end on an optimistic note as Selectman Victor Del Vecchio outlined his plans to develop a master plan with the goal of improving and opening up access at the Newhouse Waterfront.

Full-day kindergarten sails through town meeting

Following an unsuccessful citizen’s bid at the previous year’s annual town meeting, school and municipal leaders heeded the call for tuition-free, full-day kindergarten and made it a reality in 2016. In doing so, Canton joined the nearly 80 percent of Massachusetts communities that had already adopted a similar measure and eliminated the unpopular lottery and tuition system that had been a source of anxiety and frustration for many Canton families.

While voters had questioned the timing of the original proposal, submitted by resident Tony Braconi in 2015, the plan gained considerable momentum throughout the winter and early spring and came into town meeting with the backing of the Finance Committee, Board of Selectmen, and an enthusiastic group of parent supporters. When it came time for a vote, a clear majority of those present felt it was worth it, even agreeing to spend nearly $500,000 out of free cash reserves to help launch the program in September. While future years’ costs would have to be absorbed by the school operating budget, school officials recently announced some anticipated year-one savings and are looking into returning some of the excess funds back to the town …

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