Community Corner
ABOUT TOWN: A Tattoo Redo? Teacher Contract Progress? And More...
Welcome to "About Town with Mark Snyder," a column that will keep you up to the minute with what's what, who's who and what's going on around town. If you see or hear something we could use here, let us know by sending an e-mail to pmpco@aol.com.
SCHOOLS GETTING DOWN TO IT ON CONTRACT? The School Committee has scheduled Executive Sessions for "Collective Bargaining with Mulitple Units" on three consecutive nights this week: May 23, 24 and 25. I know that on , School Committee Chairman Tom Colburn wrote, "We are much closer to settling a contract than we were yesterday. I will continue to be in close contact with their negotiator over the next few days with hope of coming to an agreement."
Haven't heard back lately from Susan Cogliano, the President of the Stoughton Teachers Association. But, her group , has presented numerous petitions, and had some very eloquent speakers . Movement IS happening, if slowly.
ANOTHER SHOT AT INK? Elizabeth Dykeman Morales and her husband John Morales are still hoping to get their , in the building that formerly housed the Wyman Jewelers. Elizabeth is looking to have the town meeting vote that nixed her plans taken up for reconsideration on Monday night at Town Meeting Part VII.
Find out what's happening in Stoughtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
She wrote, "Tattoos are routinely seen on professional sports figures, fashion models, movie stars, public figures, college students and housewives. It is the sixth fastest growing retail business in the United States. Any potential for positive economic impact on the downtown area of Stoughton will benefit the community greatly."
One side of the coin is that the downtown is empty and could use any kind of business lift. The other side of the coin is that there ARE places in Stoughton that are zoned already to accomodate a tattoo parlor---but those locations don't have buildings owned by Mrs. Morales family. We'll see if Town Meeting changes their mind.
Find out what's happening in Stoughtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The Morales' DID get a majority of town meeting to agree to the zoning change that would let her---and anyone else--open up tattoo parlors in the downtown. But, zoning changes need a 2/3 vote, and it was well short of that. I believe that town meeting members WILL allow reconsideration of the article. But, I'm still not sure it can pass.
GRADUATION DAY: Megan Anne Vandenberg, daughter of Arthur and Jeanne Vandenberg of Stoughton, earned a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude in Sociology and Anthropology and Psychology, from Saint Michael's College, May 16, 2011, in ceremonies held on the campus of the liberal arts residential Catholic college located in the Burlington area of Vermont. Congratulations!
TOURS FOR MARY BAKER EDDY HOUSE: The historic at 133 Central Street in Stoughton is open for free tours, by appointment, through October 31, 2011. Mary Baker Eddy, the Founder of Christian Science, is one of the most influential women in history, in the field of religion. She is the only American woman to found a religion that went worldwide. She lived on Central Street from 1868-1870.
While living in Stoughton, she completed her first manuscript on Christian Science, The Science of Man. A tour of the house includes a visit to the shoe shop where Alanson Wentworth and his sons, who expanded the home in the 1830's, worked during the winter. The shop is a rare example of the "ten-by", the typical home workshop used by shoemakers from the late 1700's until the mid 1800's.
Longyear Museum in Chestnut Hill, owns the Stoughton-based Eddy house, and the other seven homes Eddy lived in while in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. To schedule a tour, call 1-800-277-8943 x 100.
SATURDAY IS CASINO NIGHT: 1st Annual "Luck of the Irish" Casino Night Fundraiser and Texas Hold Em Tournament will be held on Saturday, May 21, 2011, starting at 7 p.m. at the Irish Cultural Centre in Canton. Admission to Casino Night is $50. Cost of the Texas Hold Em Tournament is $150. The Irish Cultural Center is located just over the Stoughton/Canton line, off Rt. 138 at 200 New Boston Drive. For more information, contact Vanessa Leite by email (info@irishculture.org) or phone (781-821-8291).
STOUGHTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY YARD SALE: The Historical Society held a yard sale on Saturday at the Lucius Clapp Memorial Building at 6 Park Street in Downtown Stoughton, featuring costume jewelry, household goods, sunflowers, plants, maps, publications and T Shirts and more. Check out a photo of the yard sale from Patch's David Allen Lambert in the media gallery above.
