June 28, 2020
~ Building Community One Positive Story at a Time
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Your BuzzAround supports the dignity of all human beings, is actively anti-racist, and supportive of good law enforcement policies.
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Positions Still Open!!!
While many people were elected to fill various municipal positions as a result of the Town Election on June 20, there remain three vacant positions because while there were write-in votes, the Town Clerk has notified that no one received more than one write-in vote for these positions:
Park Commission - term to expire in May, 2021
Park Commission - term to expire in May, 2023
Library Trustee - term to expire in May, 2023
If you are interested in serving on the Board of Library Trustees, contact Jean Gallant, the Director of the Holmes Public Library, at 781-293-2271, for information about what the Trustees do.
If you are interested in serving on the Parks Commission,contact Tom Schindler -
facebook/tom.schindler.716
for information about what the Park Commissioners do (he's the only person on the Commission right now).
Charlie Seelig
Town Administrator
(781) 294-1316
Photo credit: Sue Basile
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Historical Tidbit:
Dandelion A Weed You Can Eat
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Yes, we call them a weed, but as an early spring treat in the early 1900's they would be picked for a dish of dandelion greens. This natural food was used in recipes to add a different kind of taste. Children would be sent out to pick and then the stem and blossom would be plucked from the greens and stewed on the stove top. It was a delicious dish served with vinegar for a sauce. The dandelion greens are somewhat like spinach when cooked. The root was also used as an addition to salads and an extract could be made to make tea, coffee and wine.
If you feel adventurous and want to try something different, just be sure that the dandelions you pick are not covered in pesticides or other chemicals before eating or cooking them. To be on the safe side, you can go to a store that sells natural foods and buy them.
A number of my family members would talk about the "stewed greens" and wine made with dandelions they had picked. I know one of their favorite fields to pick them in was on the east end of Plymouth Street at the Plympton line.
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~ Respectfully submitted,
Sue Basile
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Town Hall
781-294-1316
Office personnel available through phone
and email only.
For needed updates, check the town website.
Holmes Public Library
781-293-2271
Office personnel available through phone
and email only.
Council on Aging
506 Plymouth Street
781-293-7313
Office personnel available through phone
and email only. All in person activities and
events are suspended.
Food Pantries
Halifax Congregational Church
503 Plymouth St. (Rt 106)
781-293-6393
Tuesdays -2:30 - 4p
St Vincent De Paul
Our Lady of the Lake Church
580 Monponsett St, Halifax
(781) 293- 7971
2nd & 4th Saturday 9a
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Congratulations
Diane Ribeiro
won a
$20 gift certificte to
Color Street nail polish strips
from independent consultant Katie Ray
You should play our
Historical Tidbit Trivia Game
at the bottom of this newsletter.
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Halifax Elementary School
Class of 2020 Farewell
The 6th grade farewell on June 18, 2020.
Video courtesy of
Jackie Thibeault
/ HES
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Potential Sidewalks
The Town of Halifax has applied for two "Shared Streets" grants offered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts:
1) To install a sidewalk along the north side of Plymouth Street from the one end of Cranberry Drive to the other end of Cranberry Drive;
2) To install a sidewalk along the east side of Monponsett Street from Parsons Lane/Halifax Housing Authority to Halifax Meadows.
Because of the State's requirements, the proposals are being reviewed as separate proposals.
The two proposals can be found on the Town's web site:
The greater the support shown by the residents of Halifax, the better the chances are that the Town will receive funding.
If you have any questions, please contact the Selectmen's Office at 781-294-1316.
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Kids' Kurbside Summer Reading Program
A new program has launched at Holmes Public Library to promote summer reading for kids. Miss Holly will be selecting books based on your kids interests. They can choose from a selection of Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Animals, and more.
Ages range from 3-young adult.
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Download this E-book - No Wait!
White Fragility by Robin Diangelo
The New York Times best-selling book exploring the counterproductive reactions white people have when their assumptions about race are challenged, and how these reactions maintain racial inequality. In this "vital, necessary, and beautiful book" (Michael Eric Dyson), antiracist educator Robin DiAngelo deftly illuminates the phenomenon of white fragility and "allows us to understand racism as a practice not restricted to 'bad people' (Claudia Rankine). Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and by behaviors including argumentation and silence.
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The Buzz Off For Kids With Cancer Fundraiser By Lori Costa-Cline
On June 7th my son James, my husband
Don Cline
, our friend
Christy Fuller Winslow
from Plympton and I had our heads shaved by the Amazing
Teeka Lynnes
for the One Mission Buzzoff. This 11 year old charity was started by the Haseotas family (think Cumberland Farms and the big house in town).
There's so much division in our world but I think we can all agree cancer sucks and being a kid with cancer really sucks. I challenge you to find someone who has not been affected by cancer in one way or another.
As you can guess, the pandemic has limited our fundraising efforts. Thankfully before it started we had already raised about $600 which we have in checks and cash to be mailed in. We are still far short of our $1500 goal.
If you are interested and able we would really appreciate your support with a donation.
Thanks for your consideration.
For more information on Buzz Off and One Mission, or help Don and Lori Donate, visit the
Buzz Off website.
Photo credit Cierra Isakson Photography
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Planned Power Outage
National Grid has announced that there will be a planned electric outage on
Wednesday, July 1, 2020 from 4a to 5a for the following locations:
15-138 Hemlock Lane & 0, 481, 499 Plymouth Street
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All the basics of the birds & bees
Bird feeders & seeds
Garden & bee keeping supplies
1000 Plymouth St (Rt 104) Bridgewater
(508) 697-0357
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Link above has all details.
*Patrons can email
hfxpl@sailsinc.org (please provide name, phone number, and address) or call 781-293-2271 to request specific items.
*Patrons place holds via the online catalog
www.sailsinc.org to request specific items.
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Both Ponds are Open!
West Monponsett Pond: Cyanobacteria: 8,626 cells per mL, well below DPH’s safety threshold of 70,000 cells cells per mL.
East Monponsett Pond: zero
There are some microscopic “creatures” that eat algae! They are the pretty ones. Nice to know we are getting some help on that! See the picture of Chrysophyte - Dinobyron that enjoys eating algae.
Enjoy!
Cathleen Drinan
Health Agent
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Halifax Council on Aging Hosting Free Tai Chi and Yoga
Area 58 Community Access Media will be airing Tai Chi for beginners on
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 11a on Channel 14 for Comcast subscribers
. We are working on airing yoga also!
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The Halifax Annual and Special
Town Meetings
Saturday, July 11, 2020 at the Halifax Elementary School starting at 9:00a
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COMMONWEALTH PLACES GRANTS
AVAILABLE
On Friday, MassDevelopment
announced
$225,000 in funding for a new round of Commonwealth Places grants. This Commonwealth Places COVID-19 Response Round: Resurgent Places funding is being made available specifically to help community partners prepare public space and commercial districts to best serve their population during communities’ economic recovery efforts.
Eligible projects may include outdoor seating spaces, sidewalk retail venues, partitions to support social distancing, and more.
Non-profits and community groups are eligible to apply for grant awards of up to $25,000. Up to $10,000 per project may be awarded as an unmatched grant; awards greater than $10,000 must be matched with crowdfunding donations. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until July 31, 2020.
Read more in the Request for Proposals here.
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Grant's sends out support & care to all of our communities.
We're all in this together.
10 Bedford Park, Bridgewater
(508) 279-0950
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52 Weeks Logo & Link Ad in 1 Hive
For $99 / each month, your Logo & Link ad is in 1 Buzz Around town e-newsletter each week. Ad rotates monthly between Bridgewater, Brockton, East Bridgewater, Halifax, Raynham, West Bridgewater & Whitman.
Read more
buzzaround.info
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You choose a charity and Bridgewater Savings makes the donation!
Proudly supporting the community since 1872.
We're proud to donate $2,000 more to local charities. Please 'like' a charity and make a selection daily through July 31st. All money will be donated pro rata based on the number of 'likes' each charity receives.
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Books For Brockton: Brockton Public Library organized by ...
Join me in making a real difference. Brockton Public Library provides access to educational & cultural programs and resources to the greater Brockton Area, free!!! Brockton Library Foundation ... taking this a step further ... is giving away...
Read more
www.gofundme.com
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Town Hall Re- Opens June 22
The Halifax Town Hall will re-open its doors beginning on Monday, June 22. The building will be open during its normal business hours: Monday-Friday 7am to 4pm, but as usual, not all offices are open during all these hours. Visitors should check the Town's web site:
halifax-ma.org
for when individual offices are open.
This decision was not made lightly.
The most recent guidance from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health states that Town Halls should severely limit their occupancy. However, a municipality may determine that a municipal office can exceed the maximum occupancy level (which is far less than the normal maximum occupancy) if the municipality determines that it is in the interest of public health or safety considerations or where strict compliance may interfere with the continued delivery of a critical service, as determined by the municipality. Halifax has made that determination in regards to Town Hall [decisions about the opening of the Holmes Public Library and Pope's Tavern/Council on Aging will be made on a building-by-building basis].
If the Town decided whether to open Town Hall on the basis of whether it was a wise medical decision, the Town Hall would remain closed. The Town Hall has been closed for over three months and services continue to be provided. Yes, there are times when it is inconvenient for residents and visitors to find the Town Hall is closed. Someone wants something _NOW_ and feels aggrieved. But most of time, phone calls, e-mails, and the boxes to drop off bills and pick up documents have been sufficient.
A wise medical decision would be one that was made to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID. Opening Town Hall will have the opposite effect. Open Town Hall, increase the number of interactions that everyone has, increase the possibility of transmission.
So, if the Town Hall should stay closed based on looking at ways to prevent the transmission of COVID, why open it?
While there may be disagreement whether Town Hall is a "critical service", I believe that Town Hall plays a vital role in making Halifax a community of people, rather that simply a geographic designation where people happen to live. We enter municipal buildings to take actions that help create our community such as obtaining a marriage license, apply for a building permit, and yes, pay taxes. We gather in these buildings to meet together to make decisions that will benefit Halifax, the people who live here, and the businesses that make Halifax their home.
That's why we are balancing the challenges of preventing the transmission of COVID with the need to preserve Halifax as a community. That's why the Town Hall is being re-opened.
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WEEKLY TRIVIA GAME
Historical Tidbit Question:
What should you do before eating dandelions?
Email us your answer at:
Please include your name, phone number with your answer.
By entering, you give us permission to print your name in next week's Buzz Around.
On July 1, 2020 we will randomly pick a winner from the correct answers.
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Summer & Books
“
And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.”
~ F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
“It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside.”
~ Maud Hart Lovelace, Betsy-Tacy and Tib
“Come with me,' Mom says.
To the library.
Books and summertime
go together.”
~ Lisa Schroeder, I Heart You, You Haunt Me
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Summer & Books go together. Just like summer and magic.
Let's spread the magic.
We are collecting books and funds for the Brockton Public Library.
And we are getting ready for the book drive. So make a pile for your gently used / not written on books. : )
~ Jacquie
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The Buzz Around is brought to you this week by: Jen Bellody, Theresa McNulty, Janice O'Brien, Stacy Rancourt, Sasha Rockwell, Jacquelyn Rose, Kayla Rose
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Copyright 2020 Buzz Around Halifax.
You have our permission to share and copy this issue in its entirety as much as you like. If you take it in part, please give credit: ("Buzz Around Halifax 6/28/2020")
Disclaimer: At the Buzz Around, we promote community and family. Occasionally, there will be links to town committees and other non-profit groups, as a way of sharing local information. Individual groups are responsible for how they represent themselves on their websites and in their promotional materials.
The Buzz Around does not claim to support any particular view.
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