Man About Canton: July 4th at ICC

Did you know …

Canton Recreation Director Liz Francis, her assistant Andrea Berardi, and the Recreation Commission are busy putting together Canton’s July 4th celebration. This year’s event will once again be held at the Irish Cultural Centre off Route 138 on New Boston Drive. MAC met with Director Francis, who said that the festivities will begin at 6:45 p.m. with free activities including inflatables, face painting, and airbrush tattoos. Food and beverages will be available for purchase at the ICC pub throughout the evening. A live performance by the popular band Classic Trax will begin at 7 p.m. The July 4th fireworks display is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. and is billed as one of the largest on the south shore. Please be prepared for a bag check upon arrival. Coolers are prohibited.

In addition to the Canton fireworks display, Boston, Stoughton, Sharon, and other area towns will be celebrating our nation’s independence with fireworks. You can also display the United States flag at your home as a show of national pride and respect, especially with our troops presently serving overseas.

The month of July was named to honor Roman dictator Julius Caesar (100 BC-44 BC). In 46 BC, he made one of his greatest contributions to history. With the help of Sosigenes, he developed the Julian calendar, the precursor to the Gregorian calendar that we use today.

An update on the Skating Club of Boston’s new skating rink at 750 University Ave. in Norwood: According to a story in the Norwood local town pages, the club is planning on constructing a 176,000-square-foot, three-rink ice-skating and training facility on the 36 acres of land formerly known as the Lost Brook golf course. Two of the three rinks will be solely for figure skating while the third rink will be used for figure skating as well as ice hockey. The Skating Club will allow up to 45 hours per week of discounted ice time for use by Norwood High School and Norwood Youth Hockey. Norwood Assistant Town Planner Patrick Deschenes said, “While the facility will be primarily figure skating, the draw for Norwood was the hockey teams having access to a rink of their own.” Construction has already started and the Skating Club is looking for an opening sometime during the summer of 2020.

Talking about Norwood, the town will hold a farmers market every Tuesday through October 15 from 2-6 p.m. on the Norwood town common. One can pick up an entire dinner, dessert, Jordan Brothers seafood, and Ward’s Berry Farm fruits and vegetables.

Today, 90 percent of baseball bats are made of aluminum, sometimes with a touch of zinc. A baseball hit with an aluminum bat goes about 20 percent further, according to the Anderson Bat Company.

Canton High School rival Oliver Ames will be spending $1.2 million for resurfacing the track and replacing the artificial turf field at Muscato Stadium.

The Massachusetts Senate recently voted unanimously to approve a bill that would ban Massachusetts drivers from using handheld cell phones behind the wheel. The Senate and House must now reach an agreement on the compromised bill. Governor Charlie Baker will sign the bill, making Massachusetts the 19th state to ban handheld cell phones.

MAC’s alumni, Northeastern University, has recently been recognized as an arboretum. According to an article in the Boston Globe, there are more than 1,400 trees from 143 species that line the walkways and open spaces. The arboretum is the only one on a college campus in Boston.

On July 4, 1826, exactly 50 years after the Declaration of Independence, former presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both passed away.

The new restaurant at the Paul Revere heritage site, Northern Spy, will be opening this fall in the historic Revere copper rolling mill building. The operator of the restaurant is David Myers, who also owns Loyal Nine in Cambridge. Classic New England dishes will be served. Myers has stated that the second floor of the mill will be dedicated to private events and will feature a historic exhibit space. He has also met with members of the Canton Garden Club to hear their plans for the heritage garden that will be located by the restaurant’s courtyard.

Goodbye to Queen Anne’s

On Thursday, June 27, the Canton Senior Center, headed by director Diane Tynan, held a “last hurrah” to honor Frank Sampson and his family with a barbecue, including hamburgers, hotdogs, and all the fixings. Sampson’s popular, well-known restaurant on Route 138, Queen Anne’s, closed its doors after 39 years of service to the community. Over 200 people attended. MAC was the master of ceremonies and selectmen Chris Connolly and John Connolly honored Frank with a town proclamation signed by all five selectmen. Frank thanked his late wife, Karen, and his children: Rick Sampson, who had taken over the business seven years ago; Karen McCourt, Helen Zade, and Franny McSheffrey. A special thank you went out to son-in-law J.R. McCourt, who was always there when needed, and his landlords, Leo and Joel Euse, who helped Frank through the years.

Queen Anne’s will be greatly missed by the thousands of patrons who have eaten there during the past four decades. Frank thanks everyone who supported him during the sad and happy times.

MAC learned the hard way that you have to put it out there even if it’s not well received. You just gotta go for it.

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=58306

Posted by Joe DeFelice on Jul 4 2019. Filed under Man About Canton, Opinion. Both comments and pings are currently closed.