Man About Canton: All in the family

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This year, the Canton town election has turned into a family affair. Running for selectman, we have Planning Board Chairman Jeremy Comeau, who had originally planned to run for a three-year Planning Board seat. His brother and Canton Citizen columnist George Comeau is running for reelection to the Board of Library Trustees, and we also have George’s wife, Patricia McDermott Comeau, running for the one-year Planning Board seat to fill a vacancy. MAC would have liked to see the third brother, Jonathan Comeau, run for selectman. Jonathan was the first person to announce his candidacy for selectmen back in April 2016, and as the Canton Citizen said in an article last week, “Jonathan has gained a sizable following on social media and emerged as an outspoken critic of the town on issues such as traffic, digital communications, and Reservoir Pond regulations.” On Facebook, Jonathan has addressed every issue facing the town over the past year, but to keep family harmony he decided to drop out of the selectman’s race.

Incumbent Selectman Victor Del Vecchio will be running for reelection. Victor has served as a Canton selectman for the past 15 years. His wife, Lisa Lopez, is the past chairman of the Canton Community Preservation Committee (CCPC).

With another family connection, we have Paul Alfano, who pulled nomination papers for selectman (but is not running) and was a former member of the Board of Health. His mother, June Alfano, was a longtime member of the Planning Board. It is interesting to note that Paul is not listed as a registered voter in Canton nor is he listed as a resident of Canton, but he is listed as an active registered voter in Bourne. MAC doubts he can run for any office in Canton, let alone selectman.

At one time, there were three selectmen living on Chapman Street, but one has since moved out. If candidate Jeremey Comeau is elected to the board, it will be back to three selectmen living on Chapman Street.

This year’s selectman’s race will feature at least three candidates vying for two seats: Del Vecchio, Jeremy Comeau, and former Planning Board member Chris Connolly. Tom Theodore has also taken out nomination papers, as has Nichola Gallagher, although Gallagher has decided not to run.

For those who watched the Super Bowl halftime show, it’s worth noting that the person who threw the football to Lady Gaga at the end of her performance was Canton’s own Brian Mann. Brian, who now lives in Texas, is the associate athletics director at Rice University. The ball he threw to Lady Gaga was a perfect spiral, which is not surprising coming from the arm of a former Xaverian Brothers and Dartmouth University quarterback.

The Canton Senior Center Women’s Club will welcome Police Chief Kenneth Berkowitz as guest speaker at their next meeting on Tuesday, February 21, at 1 p.m. Berkowitz will discuss the challenge of community policing. He has been a member of the Canton Police Department since 1992 and chief since 2005.

The Canton Men’s Club will also meet at the Senior Center on Tuesday, February 21, but at 10 a.m. The guest speaker will be Canton resident Marshall Myers, a pharmacist whose background includes retail pharmacy and the pharmaceutical industry.

The EM Duggan Company of Canton recently donated $13,000 to the Canton High School wrestling team for new floor mats. The EM Duggan Company has been in Canton for over 70 years and is the oldest family-run mechanical contractor company in the country.

Congratulations to Jack McGowan, grandson of Dorsey Wheeler of Canton, who was accepted early decision to Harvard University. Jack also signed a letter of intent to play football at Harvard. He is currently a senior at Catholic Memorial High School. His grandmother and his entire family are very proud and wish him the best of luck!

Finally, former Canton school superintendent and current Marshfield High School Superintendent Jeff Granatino decided to allow the school’s head football coach, Lou Silva, to return for one more season. The school administrators had originally made a decision to open the position to other candidates, but former football players and Silva supporters protested the decision. Silva has been the head coach at MHS for the past 36 seasons and has led the team to a 236-144-7 record and five Super Bowl championships.

It’s only awkward if you let it be.

That 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=35484

Posted by Joe DeFelice on Feb 10 2017. Filed under Featured Content, Man About Canton, Opinion. Both comments and pings are currently closed.