Man About Canton: Scituate Relief Fund

DID YOU KNOW…

Friends of former Canton residents Carey Doolan and Cliff Thompson have organized an event to support the couple and their Scituate neighbors who were devastated by December’s blizzard. “A Canton Homecoming for the Scituate Family Relief Fund,” which is scheduled for Friday, February 4, at the Canton Town Club. The fundraiser will run from 7:30 p.m. to midnight, and tickets are $15 per person or $25 per couple. The evening will include appetizers, dancing, raffles, a silent auction, and a cash bar. Advanced ticket orders are requested. Please contact Stacey at 617-953-5364 or email staceyamiz@yahoo.com to place your order.

Property owners must be aware that a controversial ruling last July by the state Supreme Court now requires that businesses and homeowners be liable for slip-and-fall injuries caused by natural and artificial accumulations of snow and ice on the sidewalk in front of the property, as well as in parking lots. As it now stands, you have a duty to keep your property free of hazards for invited guests, and those hazards include snow and ice. So MAC suggests you get out your shovels and stock up on sand and melting salt.

You probably haven’t noticed or seen it yet, but the backside (tails side) of the new 2010 copper penny has been changed by the U.S. Mint. The new pennies no longer have a reproduction of the Lincoln Memorial with a sitting Lincoln, which has been on the penny since 1959. In its place is now a “Union Shield” and a stamped acorn of 13 stripes capped with the motto “E. Pluribus Unum;” on the “heads” side, the Lincoln profile remains unchanged. The Mint authorities say it will be years before the new shield pennies become as common as the Lincoln Memorial pennies.

The town of Canton had 255 residents apply to FEMA for financial assistance after the March 2010 floods. The total awarded to the applicants was $746,120.10.

Massachusetts banking officials say they have found more than 300 unauthorized ATMs in Massachusetts in places such as convenience stores and gas stations.

The recent passing of baseball great Bob Feller, a former Clevelend Indians pitcher, at age 92, brought back some fond memories of the time he visited Canton back around 1956. At that time, Feller was a spokesman for Motorola, and he came to Canton on behalf of Gene Oles, Canton’s local Motorola dealer. As part of his appearance, Feller visited Draper’s Little League Field off Dedham Street where he demonstrated his famous pitching delivery and offered some pointers to the assembled Little Leaguers and a large crowd of Canton residents. MAC was privileged to serve as Feller’s catcher that day, and he received an autographed baseball for his efforts, which MAC cherishes to this day.

MAC is happy to see that the new fitness center at Canton High is getting close to completion. Completely funded by donations, the center will be used by CHS fitness classes during the school day and by staff and students after school. The fitness center will be officially named in memory of Scott M. Herr, who passed away last January.

MAC and many others were saddened by the recent passing of Ed Gilmore at age 80. Even though he was retired, he continued to do a lot of work for various Canton charitable and religious groups; and for many years, he was the treasurer and unsung leader of the St. Vincent de Paul Association in Canton, which does so much for countless people in need. Ed will be missed.

Now that Christmas is over, you might be interested to learn that the National Christmas Tree Association reports that close to 30 million real Christmas trees are sold in the U.S. each year. They also report that while many of our trees come from Canada, there are 15,000 Christmas tree farms in the U.S. and fresh trees will last from four to six weeks.

According to Scarborough Research, 48 percent of U.S. homes have a high-definition (HD) TV set; and according to Pet Supplies Plus, an estimated 50 percent of U.S. households have pets.

The Sharon Historical Commission has presented the town’s annual preservation award to two of the developers of the former Wilbur School. One of the award recipients was Joseph Timilty, who represented Frontier Enterprises of Canton, which specializes in rehabilitating historical buildings.

In case you weren’t aware of it, the Massachusetts Salvation Army is now based on Shawmut Avenue in the Shawmut Industrial Park off Dedham Street in Canton.  It is under the command of Divisional Commander William Bode.

Artist/curator Catherine Hamilton will welcome visitors at the opening reception of the Mass Audubon Visual Arts Center’s new exhibition, Ink, Internet & Identification, on Sunday, January 16, from 1-5 p.m. with comments by the artist at 3 p.m. Light refreshments will be served.

Finally, it appears another car has crashed into the stone wall at the Canton Corner Cemetery across from Randolph Street and the top couple of layers of the large stones have been knocked down.

Today is the tomorrow you looked forward to yesterday.

This 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 Jan 13 2011. Filed under Featured Content, Man About Canton, Opinion. Both comments and pings are currently closed.