MAC: Interesting Canton Stats

Did you know …

There were some interesting statistics highlighted recently in the Canton Citizen based on data compiled by the American Community Survey. They include the following: The median age in Canton is 42. Among Canton residents, 83.7 percent identify as white (compared to 92.5 percent in 2000). The percentage of residents identifying as Asian (6.9 percent), black or African American (5.9 percent), and Hispanic or Latino (4 percent) has more than doubled since 2000. It is interesting to note that there are more Asian residents of Canton than African Americans. The current population is listed at 22,562. There are currently 9,299 total housing units with 6,575 single-family and 2,724 multi-family units. As of 2016, the median household income in Canton was $93,672, which was the fourth highest among eight neighboring towns. Westwood was the highest at $140,335, followed by Sharon at $128,000 and Milton at $123,000. However, nearly a third of Canton households had incomes less than 80 percent of the area median income, while 7.4 percent of households were living below the poverty line. That’s 688 families in Canton that live below the poverty line. The average single-family home in Canton has an assessed value of $540,941, while condominium assessments are up to $301,915.

Plastic bags are “banned in Boston” effective Friday, December 14. According to the Boston Herald, it may seem like a good idea, but mostly it will be a pricey inconvenience. Businesses will no longer hand out the single-use plastic bags. Instead shoppers will need to bring their own bags or pay a minimum of 5 cents for the store’s reusable bags.

According to the Mass Green Network, 85 towns in the state have restricted the use of plastic bags, the latest being the south shore town of Scituate. Starting March 1, 2019, stores in that town will no longer be allowed to provide plastic bags at checkout. In a recent editorial, the Boston Herald said it was a “poor solution” and “the policy of charging shoppers for bags will hit small businesses and the poor the hardest. It’s effectively a tax on people without the leisure time or money to stock up on reusable bags and remember to use them every time they go to the store.” Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, called the ban on single-use plastic bags “unfortunate and not pro-consumer.”

The Canton Police Department recently announced the addition of its newest K-9, Riggs. A 1-year-old German Shepherd, Riggs will soon enter the K-9 police academy for training, after which he will replace Bosco, who is retiring to the family of K-9 officer Scott Brown.

Selectmen voted to keep the Earl Newhouse waterfront open year-round.

The “downtown” part of Canton is defined as the area from the Town Hall to Walnut Street.

The heating oil industry is the only one of the energy sources that offers fuel assistance to the elderly and low-income residents.

The two pot shops in Massachusetts brought in more than $2 million during the first week of recreational marijuana sales. The state netted $443,000. Marijuana is a big business in Massachusetts.

There is a growing phone scam called “spoofing.” Spoofing is when a caller deliberately falsifies the information transmitted to someone’s caller ID to disguise their identity through the use of a phone number that is similar to a resident’s number or a number that is easily recognizable, such as a Canton phone number. They are scammers; just hang up on them.

The next time you go by the Veterans Memorial Park at the Canton Corner Cemetery, drive in and see the individual white spotlights that illuminate each of the town’s six war memorials, highlighted by the newest memorial headstone dedicated to the Canton American Legion Post 24 and the six services of the United States. Each have individual Christmas wreaths with red bows hung on them. In addition, there is a 15-foot fir tree behind them decorated with blue lights. The overall patriotic scene is another fine production by Canton Veterans Agent Tony Andreotti. Viewing the war memorials at night is an impressive, unforgettable, and some say haunting experience.

The Canton Playground and Recreation Commission held its annual Senior Citizens Christmas Party on Sunday, December 2, at Saint Gerard’s parish hall. The Cactus Gang country and western band entertained the well-attended party, and food was provided by Queen Anne’s and served by members of the Recreation Commission and the Board of Selectmen.

The Canton Association of Business and Industry held its annual holiday event on Thursday, December 6, at Blue Hills Country Club.

Fifty-five children attended the annual Canton American Legion Post 24 Christmas party on Sunday, December 2. Many Canton clubs have seen a significant decline in attendance.

The Canton Council on Aging had another very successful holiday party at Brookmeadow Country Club on Tuesday, December 11. Entertainment was provided by Tom Bruhl’s one-man band, and the catering was done by the Lafayette House of Foxboro, who provided great food. Over 220 seniors attended the event, including MAC. Also in attendance were Canton Town Administrator Charlie Aspinwall, Selectman Chairman Mark Porter, and state Representative Bill Galvin. According to COA Director Diane Tynan, this year’s event was the 28th annual holiday party hosted by the Council on Aging. Everyone had a fantastic time, and judging from all the fun, music and dancing, you can truly say that 70 and 80 are the new 40 and 50.

The Canton Men’s Club meeting on Tuesday, January 15, at the Senior Center will have as its guest speaker former Canton Selectman George Jenkins. His topic of conversation will be “Canton’s Washington Street in the 1940s.”

About 750 south shore seniors, many of them from Canton, received a free four-course Thanksgiving dinner at Lombardo’s on Route 28 in Randolph. Originally founded in East Boston by Salvatore Lombardo and his mother, Nina, in 1971, for the dinner has been hosted by the Lombardo family for the past 47 years for people without a place to go on the holiday. Approximately 100 volunteers who gave up their time for the event served the dinner.

The U.S. Postal Service issued its first holiday stamp — a 4 cent stamp — in November 1962 and sold over 1 billion of those stamps. When it issued that 1962 Christmas stamp, the post office ordered its largest ever special stamp print run to date at the time — 350 million. The stamps quickly sold out. The Postal Service processed approximately 2 billion holiday cards in 2012. Last year the number was down to under 1.3 billion.

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. –Thomas Edison

That is all for now folks. See you next week.

Joe DeFelice can be reached at manaboutcanton@aol.com.

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Posted by Joe DeFelice on Dec 15 2018. Filed under Featured Content, Man About Canton, Opinion. Both comments and pings are currently closed.